Also, "Song of Rest" can recharge "Jack of All Trades"! So I would use "Jack of All Trade" BEFORE "Song of Rest".

The best uses for Birdsong is to:

1. Give "Advantage" to two other heroes, (especially useful for Artus and Dragonbait.)

2. Give an extra charge to the utility powers of other heroes.

So she is really just a support character.

The best opportunity for Birdsong to use "Jack of All Trades" or "Song of Rest" is when you have to gather all heroes on the same tile to solve a floor puzzle, (i.e., when you have to put a hero on each marked spot on the ground/floor to solve the puzzle.) In which case, you want Birdsong to be either the first or last one to arrive on the puzzle tile, to save actions/time. I think the puzzle could be a DLC content, I'm not sure.

Always put Boots of Elvenkind + Daveak's Cloak on the same hero as the two items synergize. I put both items on Birdsong to make her more useful. She is swift and can dodge traps, so I move her around to bypass traps and reveal new tiles. So she can use the boots power more often (50% chance of not activating/triggering an encounter when revealing a new tile,) which in turn help conserve the cloak power (dodge one attack -- very useful when revealing a new tile;) also, for whatever reason, monsters in newly revealed tiles have a tendency to bypass and move past Birdsong to target/attack another hero (if one is nearby.)

Both Bardic Lore and Dispel Magic are passive utility powers. The key difference: Bardic Lore automatically activates repeatedly and more than once in a quest. On the other hand, Dispel Magic can be used ONLY ONCE per quest. Once Birdsong uses Dispel Magic, the power is expended and cannot be used again (until she recovers it.) That makes Dispel Magic is a HORRIBLE power. Dispel Magic is the worst of Birdsong's three utility powers, and Adrenaline Rush basically does the same thing but more useful, (i.e., Adrenaline Rush can suppress any encounter instead of just a magical one,) so I will never select Dispel magic if I play the game again.

BTW, Dispel Magic is really NOT a "passive" power -- because you would still have to select to select and use it to suppress a magic encounter.

Birdsong is great solo in Curse Spreads. Fast and can move over traps so don't waste time disarming. It takes several runs to find the place and a single char is better because it is usually pretty far from the start. A full crew can only move a file tiles form start, so use a solo. Get Birdsong max armor and her ability to cancel several curse checks makes her idea for this one.

7. Song of Rest. Birdsong has 4 x dailies but this is the best. Pop this and all Heroes WITHIN 1 tile of her EITHER regain 1 Utility power OR heal 8 HP. Which effectively makes her the best healer in the game. Not when she fires SoR she can also renew her JoAT.

8. Hypnotic Pattern. Pop this power and you can stun ALL monsters on a single tile from 3 tiles away, very useful for where you reveal a tile and 3, 4 mobs appear on the same tile V. an isolated hero.

Dramatic Strike / Impressive Bladework: Her other daily powers are useful for damage but if you want to use her a TRUE BARD and get a lot of mileage out of her pair up SoR and JoAT to make a buffing machine.

4. Jack of All Trades. Here is where she begins to shine. She fires off this power and all party members on the same tile get to refresh one use of one of their utility powers. On a longer map this possibly makes her the most useful character. Also when used in combination with other powers can be doubled or tripled. i.e. Giving your other 4 party members an added 3+ Utility power uses = 12+ added power uses. -- Now that is a useful character.

5. Bardic Lore. As mentioned by others gives you the ability to choose between 2 chest drops, a very good way to farm the right materials and lessen the grind to legendary weapons and armour and therefore conquering all the Hard/Horrible levels.

6. Dispel Magic. Suppress/cancel encounters. Once you are of the Horrible levels, shortening the encounter list can be very useful in survival. It is almost the opposite of JoAT, but rather than renewing powers it prevents you from having to expend them.

STEAM Character limit need to post a 2 part answer.

I think Birdsong is exactly what she should be: As a Bard she is useful in nearly every situation, she may not be the best but she has the tools to be of use at all distances and all situations. In the longer maps her Bardic powers help everyone be better for a longer period of time, making her a very powerful character.

Here are my reasons:
1. Bardic Inspiration. Hits for average damage with mediocre accuracy. However, as mentioned below, hit or miss she buff 2 team mates with advantage hit or miss.
2. Poison Darts. Average damage and average accuracy at 1 tile distance. It's not bad but also debuffs mobs with disadvantage with 18+ roll.
3. Flashing Blade. Same damage as darts, slightly better accuracy. On rolls of 18+ gets +1 damage. I usually DO NOT use this one as I don't depend on her for damage

I know it's a super old thread, but I simply have to say this - Birdsong is an absoilute beast of a support character. Jack of All Trades potentially gives all party member a free utility spell. Song of Rest can easily fully heal your whole party, which saved my ass numerous times. Dispel Magic is a great spell for the beggining of the level when you are starved on adrenaline and simply NEED to counter a nasty Encounter. And her Bardic Inspiration gives advantage to 2 people WHILE doing the same single target damage as everyone else. As soon as you stop looking at pure dps you can see that Birdsong has AMAZING utility.