Thanks for the well written - in depth guide, however having a level 107 bard cleric myself, i must say the tambours, at least guard and mana tambour are a MUST have for solo play aswell... It is probably BECAUSE you dont have Prism maxed that you experience frequent tambour loss when getting attacked, but when you have it maxed it is certainly worth while using them. (At level 100 with a 44% reduce in damage taken).
For all of you who think this build is not even worth trying, i begg to differ. Bard cleric at a high level is THE BEST taxi character at low level monsters. No mana potion requirement, no speed drugs needed, fast and powerful attacks that will KS any other build, and you can still ressurect dead party members if necessary.
With my bard cleric at least, i manage to keep up with almost any other build in PVP, no INT char can 1 hit me with mana tambour on, and no STR char with guard tambour... Killing opponents is easy, generally 2 hit on any INT (except nuker with snow) and STR chars 4-5 hits with very fast attacks. But for those super tanky opponents, dont worry either, offering is your best friend

switch to cleric, and with light armour, your own defence buffs and bless spell, you will be free to use it even though it needs 95%+ HP to cast.
And never forget party play and leveling.. the most sought after character for a party, hence, easiest to level.
Good luck to all you Bard Cleric lovers out there