Or so I'm told. Looking around, I see lots of abilities that bards don't have, many of which are very desireable (gate, bind, mem blur, stun, fast healing, fast damage, hp buff, harmony, FD, well, see the table). Do bards really have more than other classes? So I created the below table. It shows all the classes, and what abilities they have. Sure bards have a unique set of abilities...but so does every class.

Most likely you could have 100 people make this table and get 100 different answers, so it's by no means definitive. However it's somewhat close. A few of the abilities might change if someone else were to do it, and who has the most or 2nd to the most or 3rd to most might swap around, but pretty much anyone's chart will show that bards, enchanters, shamans, druids, and necros have a lot of abilities, and other classes have less.

If bards are weaker because of the number of abilities they have, then by that same argument, so should enchanters, shamans, druids, and necros be weaker.

I did this chart out of personal curiousity, not to prove anything. It's as objective as I can make it. This is the first draft, I'm sure there are errors in the chart that people will email to me. I also expect to get plenty of "you only counted ability X one time, it's way more powerful than ability Y!" even though such comments have nothing to do with the chart. This just lists the total number of abilities. Of course some abilities are better than others, otherwise the class with the most abilities would be the best.

GZ said he used a chart like this when creating classes in beta. Too bad nobody has a copy :/.

Here's my chart:

Abilities	Bard	Cleric	Enchanter	Druid	Magician	Monk	Necro	Paladin	Ranger	Rogue	Shaman	SK	Warrior	Wizard
Fast spell damage		1	1	1	1		1		1		1	1		1
Spell damage	1	1	1	1	1		1	1	1		1	1		1
Fast (combat) healing		1		1			1	1	1		1
Slow healing	1	1		1	1		1	1	1		1	1
Debuff mob stats	1		1	1			1		1		1	1
Summon food/water		1		1	1						1
Racial illusion			1
Non-player illusion			1	1			1		1		1
Illusion others			1	1
Long range attack (>200)					1			1	1	1		1	1	1
Blind		1	1	1							1
Cure Poison and/or Disease	broken	1		1			1	1	1		1
True North		1	1		1		1	1			1			1
Divine Aura/Invulnerability	1	1					1	1
Lull/calm/lament	1	1	1	1			1	1	1			1
Unresistable lull				1					1
Fear	1	1	1	1		1	1	1		1		1
Sense Dead		1					1	1				1
Increase hp (self)		1	1	1	1		1	1	1		1			1
Increase hp (others)		1		1				1	1		1
Increase STR	1		1	1			1		1		1	1
Increase STA											1
Increase AGI	1		1								1
Increase DEX	1		1								1
Increase WIS	1		1								1
Increase INT	1		1
Increase CHA	1		1								1
Increase PR	1	1		1			1	1			1	1
	Bard	Cleric	Enchanter	Druid	Magician	Monk	Necro	Paladin	Ranger	Rogue	Shaman	SK	Warrior	Wizard
Increase MR	1	1	1	1	1		1				1
Increase DR	1	1		1			1	1			1	1
Increase FR	1	1		1	1				1		1
Increase CR	1	1		1	1		1				1	1
Invis to Undead		1	1				1	1		1		1		1
Invisibility	1		1	1	1		1		1	1	1	1		1
Night vision/light item	1		1	1	1		1		1		1	1		1
Sense Animals				1							1
Lower resist(s)	1		1	1	1		1				1			1 (innate)
Unresistable lower resist(s)	1		1	1	1						1
Snare	1			1			1		1			1
Root		1	1	1			1	1	1		1			1
Pet		1	1	1	1		1				1	1		1
Durable pet (doesn't poof)			1	1	1		1				1	1
Charm	1		1	1			1				1
Cancel magic	1	1	1	1	1		1	1	1		1	1		1
Summon weapon		1			1			1
Locate corpse	1						1					1
Increase AC (others)	1	1	1	1			1	1	1		1
Give vigor	1	1	1	1				1	1		1
Gate		1	1	1	1		1				1			1
Bind Affinity		1	1	1	1		1				1			1
Glimpse									1		1			1
See Invis	1		1	1	1		1				1	1		1
Sense Summoned		1			1									1
Stun (interrupt)		1	1	1				1						1
Stun		1	1					1						1
Mes <=55	1		1				1
Mes >55			1
	Bard	Cleric	Enchanter	Druid	Magician	Monk	Necro	Paladin	Ranger	Rogue	Shaman	SK	Warrior	Wizard
Increase ATK	1	1	1	1			1		1		1	1
Shadow Step	1						1					1		1
Damage Shield	1		1	1	1		1		1			1		1
Healing damage shield		1
Slow	1		1						1		1
Haste	1		1								1
Haste pet			1	1	1		1				1	1
Increase movement	1			1					1		1
Increase pet movement					1
Increase faction	1		1
Sentinel			1
Eye of Zomm					1									1
Summon container					1						1
Bind Sight	1		1						1		1			1
Increase mana regen (others)	1		1	1
Increase mana regen (self)			1	1			1				1			1
Increase max mana			1
Enchant metal			1
Enduring Breath	1		1	1	1		1		1		1	1
AoE damage	1	1		1	1		1		1		1	1		1
Invisibility to Animals				1							1
Memory Blur		1	1		1		1
Identify	1		1		1		1							1
Feign Death						1	1					1
Voice Graft							1
Rune (big, buff)			1				1					1		1
Rune (small)	1		1				1					1		1
Shrink											1
	Bard	Cleric	Enchanter	Druid	Magician	Monk	Necro	Paladin	Ranger	Rogue	Shaman	SK	Warrior	Wizard
Group gate				1										1
Transfer mana					1		1
Resurrection		1					1	1
Summon corpse							1					1
Imbue gemstone		1	1	1							1			1
Levitate	1		1	1	1		1		1		1	1		1
Drain (significant) mana			1
Teleport to safe spot (Egress/Abscond)				1			1							1
Call of the Hero					1
Gate target	1													1
Skills
Forage	1			1					1
Dodge	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Parry	1							1	1	1		1	1
Riposte	1					1		1	1	1		1	1
Block						1
200+ Defense	1	1		1		1		1	1	1	1	1	1
Can wear armor	1	1		1				1	1	1	1	1	1
Hide	1								1	1		1
Sneak	1					1			1	1
Backstab										1
Flying kick etc.						1
Pick locks	1									1
Sense traps	1									1
Disarm traps	1									1
Dual wield	1					1		1	1	1			1
Double attack						1		1	1	1		1	1
Triple attack													1
	Bard	Cleric	Enchanter	Druid	Magician	Monk	Necro	Paladin	Ranger	Rogue	Shaman	SK	Warrior	Wizard
Track	1			1					1
Alchemy											1
Make poison										1
Apply poison										1
Bash								1				1	1
Kick						1			1				1
Mend						1
Taunt								1	1			1	1
Instant DD (Harm Touch)												1
Instant heal (Lay on Hands)								1
Totals (121 possible):	57	40	58	56	35	12	53	33	43	19	57	42	12	33