saaame! In fairness I played on easy mode but was solo playing as karlach om those things were a nightmare I HATE that spell that makes you drop your weapon!
@@qhu3878 idk. when you walk into the goblin camp, your tav(/durge?) makes a comment like “the goblins have captured a bard” or something. volo also goes around telling stories in song form. you can have a conversation with jaheria about him at last light inn. his quest reward for saving him (i think after you let him do eye surgery) is a chest piece for bards. the evidence strongly supports him being a bard in bg3
He's an npc they can make him a wizard that can play music. Would explain why his performance is awful. I thought he was the worst lore bard ever til I found out he was a wizard in Canon texts@@jesseh.5223
Thank you for this great video, you really put your time into this , I really liked it and had a good time watching it. Also what you did in this video gave me good ideas as I want to do a bard run myself, even though I won't follow the skills in exactly the same way. Finally, happy new year to everyone, and to me too :) # No Companions, No Multiclassing, No Illithid Powers, No Respeccing, No Barrelmancy, No Combat Saves, No Karmic Dice, Tactician Only # Level 1 (Half Orc) Vicious Mockery, Friends, Thunderwawe, Longstrider, Sleep, Tasha's Hideous Laughter, Hand Drum, Charlatan, S8, D17, C14, I12, W10, C14, Perception, Performance, Persuasion # Level 2 Song of Rest, Jack of All Trades, Feather Fall # Level 3 College of Swords, Deception, Persuasion, Two Weapon Fighting, Cloud of Daggers # Level 4 Light, Hold Person, Dexterity+2 # Level 5 Plant Growth, Stinking Cloud # Level 6 Countercharm, Shatter, Knock, # Level 7 Confusion, Plant Growth swap to Blindness # Level 8 Invisibilty, War Caster # Level 9 Dominate Person, Longstrider swap to Hold Monster # Level 10 Slight of Hand, Performance, Minor Ilussion, Hypnotic Pattern, Blur, Counterspell # Level 11 Otto's Irresistable Dance, Confusion swap to Glyph of Warding # Level 12 Resilient: Wisdom, Dissonant Whispers.
This is my favorite BG3 video on the internet. I enjoyed the fighter run and I’m liking the monk so far but I felt like you put the most roleplay effort into this one. Bard is just the fun class. I hope you continue to make these, an evil solo run would be particularly interesting :)
With ARCANE ACUITY build like this Glyph of Warding (Sleep) also become godly. You can even make a certain dragon sleep indefinitely 100%. Don't "sleep" on this spell, it also gives you great flexibility since you get to choose whatever type of damage you wanna do.
You can sneak past the magma mephits in grymforge and they won’t spawn in, you can also keep scratch in your camp until he gives you a ball, then he’s summonable as a familiar for the rest of the game, so he can be respawned if he dies
I know that it's an old video, but if it helps anyone playing bard in the future then I'll gladly leave this comment. Up by Alfira there is a small chest close to the ledge that has a hat in it that heals anytime you use a bardic inspiration. It's really helpful and i haven't seen anyone actually ever use the hat for their bard even though it seems really good for extra healing for early game bards!
It's crazy... you do it all lonewolf at the hardest... meanwhile lvl 5 I went to the Spider queen in Blighted town with a full party... she did 82 on my Paladin with 1 hit lol
Fun fact I think it's actually strictly optimal to unequip your instruments as a bard bc carry weight is the only thing beyond cosmetics that they affect.
Is there actually a benefit to throwing a potion at your feet rather than just chugging it? I get doing it if you have allies so you get multiple heals for a single pot, but I never understood the idea of doing it for a single target
It uses just one attack to throw it, instead of a bonus action, and a lot of the time a bonus action is more valuable than one attack, especially with the mystic scoundrel ring in this build
What was the end build for your run? You’ve inspired me to make a good aligned lolth sworn drow bard inspired by Drizzt Do’Urden (I know he’s not a bard, humour me) and I’ve nearly finished with my playthrough and am thinking of taking her to honour mode
Do you think you got more utility out of the Plant Growth pick for your 3rd level spell over Hypnotic Pattern? I realize it requires concentration, but hypnotic pattern completely trivialized all of Act I for me, including the creche fights.
Why would you take vicious mockery if you're going to go Sword Bard, and set dex to 17? Like, I could at least *somewhat* understand it if you wanted to go Lore Bard (even then it's weak) but on a SWORD BARD? 2 basic hand crossbows, on lvl 2, do more damage than vicious mockery on lvl 10- (1d6+3)*2 because off-hand attack, that's 13 average damage, by lvl 2. Even beefed up Vicious Mockery, with Potent Robe and 20 charisma, does less damage- 3d4+5=12.5...
Not really 13 dmg but 10, it takes a feat to add your modifier to the offhand attack damage. But I see what you’re saying. Even then remember that vicious mockery can apply a status, which could play into a build with certain item sets or in this build’s case can be used as a bonus action. It’s also a staple of the bard class, not having it would be like not taking eldritch blast on warlock (even if a lot weaker).
@@okami1272 1. It only requires a feat (specifically crossbow expert) in tabletop, not in BG3. 2. When I wrote this comment, over 6 months ago, off-hand hand crossbows added the dex modifier by default even without the two-weapon fighting style. This has been changed since and now you do need the fighting style, but still, swords bards get that at lvl 3, and you can get to lvl 3 before you even fight the goblins at the entrance to the grove. 3. Crossbows can apply a lot of status' too, for example reverberation if you use drakethroat glaive to give your main one +1d4 thunder damage, which with gloves of belligerent sky and boots of stormy clamour, with 2 ranged slashing flourishes, means you can apply a total of 16 stacks of reverberation (split in whichever way you want them to be split) or up to 4 instances of "applying a condition" with a single action, and/or knock up to 2 enemies prone. Vicious mockery can't do any of that, a disadvantage on a single attack roll is a lot weaker than prone and -3 to all str/dex/con saves, and by that point, just the +1d4 thunder damage from the weapon enchantment would deal more damage than an entire vicious mockery. 4. You can rush for gloves of belligerent sky, you can rush for boots of stormy clamour, you can even rush for ne'er misser and drakethroat glaive, but the ring that lets you cast vicious mockery with a bonus action is in act 3, meaning there is no way of rushing for it. You can't get it until you free/kill Nightsong and defeat Ketheric, after which you can't go back to anywhere in act 1. 4.5 Wasting a potential of Band of the Mystic Scoundrel, an ability to cast any of 2 most bullshit-op CC-based spell schools, while still doing damage with normal attacks, on casting vicious mockery, is a war crime. 5. There is no such thing as a "weak staple spell". EB is a staple, *because it's strong,* in tabletop is outright busted when compared with any other cantrip and even lvl 1 damaging spells. Vicious mockery is only considered a staple, because it's a meme spell, because using hand crossbows in tabletop is essentially locked behind taking "crossbow expert" feat, so a full caster like a bard wouldn't/won't often take it, and because in tabletop you have access to all bard subclasses, many of which (looking especially hard at you, eloquence bard) can't attack twice per action, making hand crossbow a dubious part of their equipment, but can shit on swords bard, and the DM, with sheer unadulterated nonsense... which is a reason why they're not available in BG3.
@@IndependentObserver You made a big essay about tabletop but we’re talking bg3 here. And if i were in the dev’s shoes, I’d force the use of a feat to get that result anyway, bards are supposed to be a CC, interaction focused and supportive class at base. What would you take as a second cantrip then? I’m curious, i don’t think there’s many better options tbh
Bardtholomew essentiwlly doing the companions' personal dungeons _without them_ is too perfect.
You are the first person I have seen say the magma mephit fight is hard and that means so much to me. I thought I was alone
saaame! In fairness I played on easy mode but was solo playing as karlach om those things were a nightmare I HATE that spell that makes you drop your weapon!
@@irishchick6315 I play mostly honer with a full party and they are just as bad. Fuck magma maphits
Heat metal is overpowered!
This fight made me lose the spellsparkler I had on Gale because I didn’t have any fire elixirs and the heat metal put it into the lava somehow
Watched each act individually and now watching the whole thing
Do it again
I needed more bg3 content thanks man! I watched all the parts before and now I’m going to do it again
My dog's name is Bartholomew, so every time he heard "Bardtholomew" he came over like "who called?"
funnily enough volo is distinctly not a bard but rather an obnoxious wizard
Yeah it explains why he’s so bad at barding 😂
5months late, but i’m pretty sure in BG3 he _is_ a bard, but in actual DnD he’s a wizard
@@thespreer2142 he's a wizard in bg3 too, his only spells are grease, colour spray and magic missule
@@qhu3878
idk. when you walk into the goblin camp, your tav(/durge?) makes a comment like “the goblins have captured a bard” or something.
volo also goes around telling stories in song form. you can have a conversation with jaheria about him at last light inn.
his quest reward for saving him (i think after you let him do eye surgery) is a chest piece for bards.
the evidence strongly supports him being a bard in bg3
Artificer it is
Now THIS i will fall asleep to in the BEST way
Heck yeah that's why I made it
fun fact, volo is not a bard, but a wizard who happens to play instruments and write books
You have to multiclass to play an instrument, so he's got to be at least a little bard, right? 😂
@@jesseh.5223could have just met alfra
He's an npc they can make him a wizard that can play music. Would explain why his performance is awful. I thought he was the worst lore bard ever til I found out he was a wizard in Canon texts@@jesseh.5223
Man the fight with Grym is tough with a full group. I'm very impressed you could beat him with no exploits.
Thank you for this great video, you really put your time into this , I really liked it and had a good time watching it. Also what you did in this video gave me good ideas as I want to do a bard run myself, even though I won't follow the skills in exactly the same way. Finally, happy new year to everyone, and to me too :)
# No Companions, No Multiclassing, No Illithid Powers, No Respeccing, No Barrelmancy, No Combat Saves, No Karmic Dice, Tactician Only
# Level 1 (Half Orc) Vicious Mockery, Friends, Thunderwawe, Longstrider, Sleep, Tasha's Hideous Laughter, Hand Drum, Charlatan, S8, D17, C14, I12, W10, C14, Perception, Performance, Persuasion
# Level 2 Song of Rest, Jack of All Trades, Feather Fall
# Level 3 College of Swords, Deception, Persuasion, Two Weapon Fighting, Cloud of Daggers
# Level 4 Light, Hold Person, Dexterity+2
# Level 5 Plant Growth, Stinking Cloud
# Level 6 Countercharm, Shatter, Knock,
# Level 7 Confusion, Plant Growth swap to Blindness
# Level 8 Invisibilty, War Caster
# Level 9 Dominate Person, Longstrider swap to Hold Monster
# Level 10 Slight of Hand, Performance, Minor Ilussion, Hypnotic Pattern, Blur, Counterspell
# Level 11 Otto's Irresistable Dance, Confusion swap to Glyph of Warding
# Level 12 Resilient: Wisdom, Dissonant Whispers.
This is my favorite BG3 video on the internet. I enjoyed the fighter run and I’m liking the monk so far but I felt like you put the most roleplay effort into this one. Bard is just the fun class. I hope you continue to make these, an evil solo run would be particularly interesting :)
The Bardtholomew's Greatest Hits album!
This style of video and length is perfect. Please do more class runs !!!
Iconic, it was amazing to see the rise of such superstar
Bardtholomew saving the world due to his insecurity is such an unexpected plot 😂
I’m loving this series. It’s stupid in the best way and made me laugh. 10/10
love these videos. currently doing a monk playthrough, can’t wait to see yours !!
Another banger! Everytime you Upload my day turns better.
i love how hilariously useless jaheira always is during the assult on moonrise
this is like cocomelon to me, i can't stop watching
Haha thank you!
With ARCANE ACUITY build like this Glyph of Warding (Sleep) also become godly. You can even make a certain dragon sleep indefinitely 100%. Don't "sleep" on this spell, it also gives you great flexibility since you get to choose whatever type of damage you wanna do.
Ah yes we watched them individually but we would gladly watch as whole again. 👊🏻🍷
I love your humor omg 😂I can listen to you all day❤
You can sneak past the magma mephits in grymforge and they won’t spawn in, you can also keep scratch in your camp until he gives you a ball, then he’s summonable as a familiar for the rest of the game, so he can be respawned if he dies
Bless you , you're my hero for this year
Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas to you too!
WE NEED BARDTHOLOMEW CONCERT HERE IN EARTH
Great playthrough!
I enjoyed the whole video. You’re very funny. 😂😂😂😂😂
I know that it's an old video, but if it helps anyone playing bard in the future then I'll gladly leave this comment. Up by Alfira there is a small chest close to the ledge that has a hat in it that heals anytime you use a bardic inspiration. It's really helpful and i haven't seen anyone actually ever use the hat for their bard even though it seems really good for extra healing for early game bards!
Had the perfect opportunity to say “touching tips” instead of the tentacles in the beginning 😂
world's best bedtime story
15:10 "for this build"
Time to do an all bard party on honor mode, Orcs on Tour
It's crazy... you do it all lonewolf at the hardest... meanwhile lvl 5 I went to the Spider queen in Blighted town with a full party... she did 82 on my Paladin with 1 hit lol
Hey man, hoping you do similar for every class im really enjoying these!
Jesus yall are crazy coming up with some of this
Watched this like 3 times now
Fun fact I think it's actually strictly optimal to unequip your instruments as a bard bc carry weight is the only thing beyond cosmetics that they affect.
I must be a fan of Bardthalemew, because I followed him all the way to the curtain call.
25:39 what, are you playing Potemkin?
The Truant Movie
Harper Megyn died on my own playthrough as well as a friend’s. Starting to think she LOVES dying 😭
A Christmas gift 🎁
love bg3 movies 💕
I want to see you do a consumable only run.
Raphael has a second form?? Wow, I never saw this in my playthrough or any other videos
Soooo good
Ive never seen gut get killed like that what
Is there actually a benefit to throwing a potion at your feet rather than just chugging it? I get doing it if you have allies so you get multiple heals for a single pot, but I never understood the idea of doing it for a single target
It uses just one attack to throw it, instead of a bonus action, and a lot of the time a bonus action is more valuable than one attack, especially with the mystic scoundrel ring in this build
@the_truant Ah right, that makes sense. Completely forgot doing it that way probs plays into your build for the run lol
Please upload soon I miss your content
On its way soon, I promise! Just got busy with the holidays!
I am shocked you didn’t use Phalar Aluve? It’s OP on a swords bard
Honored Mode next?
Am i the only one to turn off the light sources in the bridge trial?
Everyone ive seen on youtube has either jumped or used the map
What was the end build for your run? You’ve inspired me to make a good aligned lolth sworn drow bard inspired by Drizzt Do’Urden (I know he’s not a bard, humour me) and I’ve nearly finished with my playthrough and am thinking of taking her to honour mode
Do you think you got more utility out of the Plant Growth pick for your 3rd level spell over Hypnotic Pattern?
I realize it requires concentration, but hypnotic pattern completely trivialized all of Act I for me, including the creche fights.
I continued watching and can see you swapped over to Hypnotic Pattern. WHOOPS. Shut up, me.
could've named him Lurbuk
nice
Ever been told you sound a lil like baro-dur from kotor2?
I think you changed the difficulty at the Raphael fight😅
Who killed princess Gut there?
10/10!
You’d be a good DM
Aw shucks I like to think that I am
Dror is a bad spell caster but very talented lover 😳
1:20:25 t-pose
Jaheira is a surprisingly bad tactician...
Why would you take vicious mockery if you're going to go Sword Bard, and set dex to 17? Like, I could at least *somewhat* understand it if you wanted to go Lore Bard (even then it's weak) but on a SWORD BARD? 2 basic hand crossbows, on lvl 2, do more damage than vicious mockery on lvl 10- (1d6+3)*2 because off-hand attack, that's 13 average damage, by lvl 2. Even beefed up Vicious Mockery, with Potent Robe and 20 charisma, does less damage- 3d4+5=12.5...
Yeah but not like there's any better choices for the second cantrip slot. Do you have a better idea? Frikin LIGHT?
Not really 13 dmg but 10, it takes a feat to add your modifier to the offhand attack damage. But I see what you’re saying.
Even then remember that vicious mockery can apply a status, which could play into a build with certain item sets or in this build’s case can be used as a bonus action.
It’s also a staple of the bard class, not having it would be like not taking eldritch blast on warlock (even if a lot weaker).
@@okami1272 1. It only requires a feat (specifically crossbow expert) in tabletop, not in BG3.
2. When I wrote this comment, over 6 months ago, off-hand hand crossbows added the dex modifier by default even without the two-weapon fighting style. This has been changed since and now you do need the fighting style, but still, swords bards get that at lvl 3, and you can get to lvl 3 before you even fight the goblins at the entrance to the grove.
3. Crossbows can apply a lot of status' too, for example reverberation if you use drakethroat glaive to give your main one +1d4 thunder damage, which with gloves of belligerent sky and boots of stormy clamour, with 2 ranged slashing flourishes, means you can apply a total of 16 stacks of reverberation (split in whichever way you want them to be split) or up to 4 instances of "applying a condition" with a single action, and/or knock up to 2 enemies prone.
Vicious mockery can't do any of that, a disadvantage on a single attack roll is a lot weaker than prone and -3 to all str/dex/con saves, and by that point, just the +1d4 thunder damage from the weapon enchantment would deal more damage than an entire vicious mockery.
4. You can rush for gloves of belligerent sky, you can rush for boots of stormy clamour, you can even rush for ne'er misser and drakethroat glaive, but the ring that lets you cast vicious mockery with a bonus action is in act 3, meaning there is no way of rushing for it. You can't get it until you free/kill Nightsong and defeat Ketheric, after which you can't go back to anywhere in act 1.
4.5 Wasting a potential of Band of the Mystic Scoundrel, an ability to cast any of 2 most bullshit-op CC-based spell schools, while still doing damage with normal attacks, on casting vicious mockery, is a war crime.
5. There is no such thing as a "weak staple spell". EB is a staple, *because it's strong,* in tabletop is outright busted when compared with any other cantrip and even lvl 1 damaging spells. Vicious mockery is only considered a staple, because it's a meme spell, because using hand crossbows in tabletop is essentially locked behind taking "crossbow expert" feat, so a full caster like a bard wouldn't/won't often take it, and because in tabletop you have access to all bard subclasses, many of which (looking especially hard at you, eloquence bard) can't attack twice per action, making hand crossbow a dubious part of their equipment, but can shit on swords bard, and the DM, with sheer unadulterated nonsense... which is a reason why they're not available in BG3.
@@IndependentObserver You made a big essay about tabletop but we’re talking bg3 here.
And if i were in the dev’s shoes, I’d force the use of a feat to get that result anyway, bards are supposed to be a CC, interaction focused and supportive class at base.
What would you take as a second cantrip then? I’m curious, i don’t think there’s many better options tbh
@@okami1272 read again. Most of it is about BG3, and responds directly to all your disagreements.
first