@daveysage.....yes, special effects seem to work even when armor reaches zero, as observed in regen armor.....regen armor regens not health, but armor...
A bug: In tactical battles involving large number of enemies, sometimes the game freezes when the enemy has to make the move....had to reload the game.
..and Storm literally makes any attack by the enemy useless!...but it has to be used after the 'legend attack' since using legend after storm nullifies the storm's effect..very useful against the gods- did not use a single potion against them!
Bard is a great choice! Legend+First attack clears everything. Legend converts weapon attack into Flute(Equipment) attack. So, invest all forging in equipment(flute) and not at all on the weapon. Since you do not use 'power' at all, u can also make use of churches which reduce power but increase something else eg: Necro. Focus on getting Dex since flute completely depends on dex.
Do not invest in weapon
Consider showing positive buffs in green and negative buffs in red when we see the stats in the battle, it helps a lot!....vulnerability for example can be shown in red.