rmontiago: Yeah bard can be solid all the way in VI and VII but I usually derp into Ninja with them late into VI. I haven't played as much Wizardry 8 but I think gadgeteer is really "better" overall between Bard and Gadgeteer but I haven't 'beaten' 8 so I won't say that with any certainty.
And to follow up on DTgreene's statement about rangers, I just found compared to everything else I looked at they just didn't have the options that say Samurai or other melee oriented classes bring. Being able to launch a "moderate" damage attack from the back row 1 time is not worth just being a constant let down in all other areas, a waste of Spell Points when you heal them, and there is nothing they have that makes up for being as they are in vanilla VI. I also found them pretty disappointing in VII, and changed them over to NIN some time deep in the run and they were better off by leaps and bounds. I'm not sure if they are a bugged class, but they sure seem bottom tier, right along fighter and thief, just with minor spell casting abilities.
I'm tossing around the idea of going heavy monk maybe by "mid game" in this VII run, all monk and 1 bard possibly, just to spice it up.
I think it's not a bug, but rather a balance issue. The developers weighted the value of ranged weapons too heavily. Unlike in games like Ultima 3-5 and Nox Archaist (and even Wizardry 8), there's no tactical combat, so you don't need to spend turns moving close to the enemy in order to attack, so ranged weapons don't have an inherent advantage over melee weapons, certainly not enough to justify high XP requirements and limited armor selection, not to mention the issue of ammunition,
A related observation is that Sir-Tech has also over-valued single use items, like scrolls and potions; this is why Alchemy is such a good way to make money in Wizardry 8, but it also hurts the usefulness of scrolls, especially when it's something like Magic Missile. It doesn't help that the scrolls can fail when you do use them, and there's a skill specifically for using scrolls, which can fail, wasting the overpriced item. (Wizardry 8 merged it into Artifacts, which helps; then again, the class that gets the 25% skill bonus to Artifacts is usually too busy casting spells (and is fortunately really good at it).)
By the way, please don't capitalize the first two letters of my username like that; they're the initials of a person I detest. (Won't go into this publicly here due to the "no politics" rule; if you want details, send me a chat message, or you could just guess and probably be correct.)
rmontiago: I haven't played as much Wizardry 8 but I think gadgeteer is really "better" overall between Bard and Gadgeteer but I haven't 'beaten' 8 so I won't say that with any certainty.
It really depends. In Wizardry 8:
Bard:
* Gets instruments early, getting 2 before leaving the monastery and a 3rd before even reaching town. Gadgeteer only gets 1 gadget, and it's not until the end of the monastery, so no gadget use before that.
* Gets the party heal (which is actually good in Wizardry 8 for a change) relatively easily and in 2 locations; Gadgeteer gets it near a big fight (though it's possible to get it without triggering that combat).
* Late game, gets a heal + stamina restore + status cure; at a high enough level, the bard can even get a net gain of stamina by using it on herself*.
* Gets a Communication bonus and gets Pickpocket (even if Pickpocket isn't that great in 1.2.4, which is the version GOG gives you).
* Note that Bards do *not* get regular spells in Wizardry 8; a transferred Bard may have a bit of Wizardry skill from the transfer, but will have no use for it.
Gadgeteer:
* Eventually gets some really nice low level gadgets, including such spells as Guardian Angel (provides temporary HP) and Noxious Fumes (damage + status).
* Can use gadgets if silenced or in an anti-magic area (bard instruments will fail).
* Gets instant death attacks later on (but watch out if they backfire!)
* Gets a special Omnigun. Unfortunately, this weapon has a tendency to blind enemies, which makes them run away, which is really annoying in battles that aren't that difficult, and only desirable against melee enemies in difficult fights.
* Is better at lockpicking (but doesn't get the 25% bonus; it goes to Modern Weapons instead)
* Can't be obtained via transfer. However, if you side with the T'Rang in Wizardry 7, you can start in an area of Wizardry 8 that is close to those nice low level gadgets, and you can use the "Replace Character" feature to start a new one from level 1. (Class changing in Wizardry 8 usually isn't a good idea.)