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Bards are Arcane Leaders with a "sub-role" of Controller. Their limited to the same sort of weapons as in 3.x (i.e., nothing you wouldn't expect), plus wands, and have the same staying power (in HP, surges, etc.) as Clerics, meaning their not TOO squishy.Bards still focus on Charisma, but they get mileage out of Intelligence and/or Constitution also. For instance, the powers they have that are sort of their version of the Warlord's Commanding Presence (it's called Bardic Virtue) can let an ally that misses an attack move, or let an ally that hit gain some temporary HP, with the first having an Int-based bonus and the second a Con-based bonus. As the article says, "All bards use Charisma for their attacks. Intelligence increases the effect of tricky attacks, and Constitution is best for powers that inspire allies."4E still reign supreme in the variety department, getting 5 trained skills at 1st level (Arcana plus 4 from a big list) AND a natural bonus on untrained skills, plus the Multiclass Versatility feature which lets them take multiple [Multiclass] feats. For healing, they get the same "X Word" power as other leaders, plus an ability that lets them heal allies better during short rests. Along with the fact that they are also Ritual Casters, that means they can probably act as an EXCELLENT fifth character, being decent at a lot of things and GOOD at a few things. Oh, and they STILL are better at Diplomacy, getting an encounter power that gives a nice bonus to it, but I hardly think it's Diplomancer-level power.As far as powers go, Bards have a LOT going for them that I personally like. For instance, they have MULTIPLE powers that automatically mark the target FOR ALLIES. For instance, if a Bard uses his misdirected mark at-will, the target takes some damage AND one ally within a certain number of squares marks the target. I think by this alone the Bard is the Paladin's new best friend, but I'll have to check the wording on Divine Challenge before I'm sure.Other than that, Bards get a lot of powers with the Psychic keyword that are either sort of reminiscent of the Illusionist Wizard powers from a while back, or are a lot like standard Leader powers (sliding allies, healing allies, protecting allies with a sanctuary-like power). They also get several Utility powers that give them skill bonuses or give skill bonuses to allies (i.e., inspire competence). At higher levels, Bards get powers are more Wizard-like with significant control effects (including powers that dominate or slow), but also good traditional bard spells and abilities (hideous laughter, unluck, illusory disguises for the party, invisibility for the bard and/or his allies, etc.)Overall, it seems like a REALLY cool class and one I'd want to play, but nothing really all that different from what folks were expecting (except you loonies that thought he'd be a Primal Controller or some mess like that ). I think PHB2 is going to be totally worth the money, and I'll be waiting for it.