Community

Cantrips
Charming, but I am not certain they are needed (conversely they almost certainly aren’t overpowering)

Bardic music
4 choices seem a bit much at start.   Restrained is very powerful.  Inspire confidence has always seemed like a silly one to me (Bluff, Bluff, Bluff, the stupid ogre ;-).  I would trim it down to 2-3 with a couple extras as feats. 

Level 1 At-Will Spellsongs
Inciting Strike - Bard Attack 1 – Very Good
Improvised Jab - Bard Attack 1 - Very Good
Inhibiting Song - Bard Attack 1 – Poor
Warning Yell - Bard Attack 1 - Good.

All the powers are within the reasonable range of at wills.  As a whole I think their at will selection might be better than it should be though.  Making them competitive with clerics merely makes Warlords seem weaker than they already do. 

Level 1 Encounter Spellsongs
Distracting Shout - Bard Attack 1 - I would eyeball this at a d8
Ghost Song - Bard Attack 1 – If all classes were balanced against clerics they would be tougher than they are.  Too good for a will targetter.  I would reduce the damage to d6. 
Critical Strike - Bard Attack 1 – A lot going on, but good.   
Amplifying Verse - Bard Attack 1 – Overly redundant, 2W no heal would be my guess. 
Phantom Blow - Bard Attack 1 – Average. 

Overall too many powers for first level, and I think a tad above average.  Need a true double damage option. 

Level 1 Daily Spellsongs
Burst of Awe - Bard Attack 1- Poor
Accelerated Strike - Bard Attack 1 – Good
Immediate Assistance - Bard Attack 1 – Too defendery, and awfully good at that.  If I saw a need for a power like this I would at least limit it a bit more. 
Tasha's Hideous Laughter - Bard Attack 1 – Poor
Shadow Image - Bard Attack 1 – Too far below average to be worthwhile.  I would say up the damage or make it sustain minor. 
Grease - Bard Attack 1 – Poor. 

Perhaps the weakness of their daily powers makes up for the high quality of encounter and at wills at 1st, I would prefer more across the board balance.  Again too many choices at this level. 

Level 2 Utility Spellsongs
Refreshing Song - Bard Utility 2 – Better than similar powers for no reason I can see. 
Improvisation - Bard Utility 2 – Good (Perhaps a tad too good)
Inspirational Boost - Bard Utility 2 - Good
Lively Step - Bard Utility 2 – Good

Nice. 

Level 3 Encounter Spellsongs
Two powers that daze seem redundant, even if they have different deliveries.  I think you default to a d10 more often than you should for damage, that said, looks good.

Bard Daily Spellsongs 5
Glitterdust - Bard Attack 5 – AOE Blindness seems awfully good. 
Wave of Grief - Bard Attack 5 – Restrained remains too good.  I am a bit confused about when the restrained ends as well.  I am assuming that Save ends overrides until the end of the encounter. 
Battle Hymn - Bard Attack 5 – Should the extra limit apply to the hit as well?  And is it needed. 
Sonic Weapon - Bard Attack 5 – Nice

Level 6 Utility Spellsongs
Combined Talent - Bard Utility 6 – Really good, perhaps too good (but also cool). 
Soothing Touch - Bard Utility 6 – More complicated than it needs to be. I would go regain use of second wind.   

I think you like until the end of the encounter powers more than the designers think you should, you also tend to overcomplicate some things in the effort to make them more distinct from their origins.  In these cases I would lean towards simplicity. 

Level 7 Encounter Spellsongs
Hold Creature - Bard Attack 7 – Ranged 6? 
Deafening Blast - Bard Attack 7 – Outside the reasonable power range for this level (aka better than the wizard power of the same level), even more so for a leader type. 
Tactical Precision - Bard Attack 7 – Is there any basis for a power this good elsewhere?

Woof, prior to this level, minor complaints aside, I would allow this class.  This is just a bit too much. 

Level 9 Daily Spellsongs
Dirge of Discord - Bard Attack 9 – We seem to be drifting more out of range as we go up in level.  On a 1-5 I would rate this a 7. 
Whirling Blade - Bard Attack 9 – Again woof. 
War Cry - Bard Attack 9 – This one I like.


Ok I know that the classic bard was defined by his poorly defined role, but he also wasn’t very good. 

I think you need to tone down the controller elements.  At the very least powers which are cut and paste from wizard should not then gain extra features.  I would lose most of the controller specific elements, keeping just enough for good flavor and a bit of versatility.  (Aka you have way too many area attacks for this class)

I think we need to remember that will is the lowest average defense, and so when converting vs. fort attacks into vs. will attacks we should be giving something up, not gaining. 

I would look closer to warlord than priest, I am not sure if warlords are underpowered, or cleric over, but balancing against cleric will kill the warlord for good. 

I think your "second wind but not" thing is simply complication for the sake of it, it also leads to a bit more bonus in most of these cases than seems warranted. 

Ok you have probably guessed I am a critical person.  Overall I think I like it.  But you need to really consider it against a tight core of classes.  Being as wizardy as a wizard and as clericy as a cleric is simply too good.  Top that off with dex based melee and I think you are combining too many roles into one, which is of course the classic definition of the Bard, but you aren’t giving up enough for it. 

As a side not I think most games place way to much of a premium on versatility, overcharging for it, so I am not saying you must cripple a template to let it be a tad versatile, just that full healing and multiple area powers at virtually every level is too much. 

Now that you have read my review you would almost certainly not guess how much I like your work ;-)