Bard is Broken | Dungeons and Dragons 5e Guide
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 1 ก.ค. 2024
- The Bard might be the most broken spellcaster in DND 5e but what makes it so powerful? That's what you call a magical secret. Enjoy this Bard class guide for Dungeons and Dragons 5e! Every time I look at the Bard in Dungeons and Dragons 5e-whether I’m a player or the DM-I tend to forget exactly how overpowered they can be in later levels after an early game of vicious mockery and silly jokes. And now, Tasha's Cauldron of Everything brought us the College of Creation and the College of Elloquence, Xanathar's Guide to Everything gave us the College of Glamour, College of Swords, and the College of Whispers, and we've been going steady with the College of Lore and College of Valor. But we can't forget about the College of Spirits either!
That said, let's take a look at why the Bard is broken in DND 5e!
00:00 Intro
00:18 Bards in DND
01:01 Ability Scores & Species
01:43 Level 1
05:05 Level 2
06:25 Level 3
07:45 College of Creation
09:26 College of Eloquence
10:41 College of Glamour
11:52 College of Lore
13:01 College of Spirits
14:00 College of Swords
15:09 College of Valor
16:12 College of Whispers
17:27 Level 4
17:44 Level 5
17:51 Level 6
18:26 Level 10
19:19 Level 14
19:22 Level 18
19:29 Level 20
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For lore bard cutting word it's attack roll ability check or damage roll, not saving throw sadly.
You're absolutely right! I must've misspoken but good catch. I'll make sure to pin your comment in case anyone else is confused!
This is why you pick Eloquence Bard. A d8 off of any saving throw! It's so damn fun
@@StarryxNight5 Its nice but I like extra magical secrets more. Never have enough spells.
This may be the most criminally underrated channel on TH-cam.
Thanks so much!! I'm glad you're enjoying it! TH-cam will wise up eventually ;)
My bards are typically Life Cleric 1/Valor Bard x so I can grant Bardic Inspiration allowing a ally to add to Ability, Attack, Save, Weapon-Damage, AC as a reaction, increase a healing spell's effectiveness or the damage of one target of a damaging spell. Plus when my character uses Healing Word or Cure Wounds I get to add more bonus to the healing & wear heavy armor.
That 1 level cleric dip is almost never a bad idea but I don't often see it with bard! Nice!
I like having 2 levels of paladins or cleric if I will go for a sword or valor bard(and sometimes eloquence). But I rarely focus on a caster character.
My favorite has 6 levels of eloquence bard, some inquisitive rogue levels and crown paladin(Siamorphe) if I am playing a noble Human in a game set in Sword coast this theme is often my favorite. I sometimes spice it up with cleric of Siamorphe instead (order or knowledge)
Of course the original elf bard idea good at swordplay, archery, arts and arcane arts holds a special place for most of us old players. Ancients paladin, bard is often fun.
Or a dark elf swordancer revering moon maiden. (While stereotypical, still fun nonetheless)
I also like the half elf or moon elf lurue followers with bard/paladin levels they probably make the best theme for a free spirited good aligned adventurer. And total saving throw bonuses to party simply is insane with the correct build.
I also occasionally like the naturalist half wood elf/eldarin (monkish hermit, not necessarily a monk or druid) bard who plays his bamboo flute in forests, caring for the plants and animals, while still upholding arcane arts, music, swordplay and archery like all Seldarine followers. Even nymphs get dumbfounded by such glamour. But it often doesn't suit a party game so better as npc I guess.
I care about theme more than optimization, a correct theme works well enough anyway, it doesn't need to be the best. A Battlemaster(or banneret rarely tho) war cleric of Red Knight, for me is the most martial character. And best bard template that works for me is the noble knight who is fond of arts and politics if human, or a long lived elf with versatile skills with both bow, sword and spells as well as in arts. (Though not a master of fighting, it still can be useful) Still I don't find it as much fun as the human version.
Bards are hands down one of the best classes in the game. every party needs a Bard (pun intended)
They’re certainly the life of the party!
I honestly can’t wait for these videos! Not only the brilliant content but the great intros!
Thanks so much!! I’m glad you’re enjoying them! Two more before I move my focus to the next edition of dnd!
Not necessarily broken and in theory something any class can do given enough time and motivation: A party member played a practical joke on me by having my Tabaxi bard's hair turn red, making him bright red all over.
Instead of moping about it and/or finding the nearest Remove Curse I decided I'd roll with it:
-In the next two weeks my bard convinced several caravan masters to import red hairdye into the city, creating a huge surplus and thus lowering the price.
-During those weeks he located all the other social influencers in the city (both high and low society) to dye their hair red.
-He also visited most city barbers and fashionista to get them to suggest Red as a fantastic hair colour to their clientele, either because they'd believe in it or because it was the cheapest dye.
-To top it off he organised a concert at the pleasure-house/dance-club where he occasionally performed aptly named: "Red is all the Rage", making sure everyone knew entry was free for those with red hair.
As said, anyone could do this kind of stuff with proper preparation but a bard has a big advantage in the social field. If they set their minds to something they can achieve huge effects.
Hahahaha way to spin that in your favor! Red is all the rage and bards are perfect for convincing everyone of just that!
@@ConstructedChaos afterwards they didn't try to play any practical jokes anymore. Figuring it'd only turn out in my favour anyway.
Mind you, it was an urban campaign so all the contacts I made along the way turned out to be quite useful.
As always, you don't disappoint. Great video 🎉
Thanks as always, Grym!! I’m happy you enjoyed it!
This video is amazing, honestly I don't understand why you don't have at least 100k subscribers. Great editing, a lot of useful informations and a good exposition 💪🏻 keep up the good work
Thanks so much!! We’re well on our way and nothing can stop me now!!
Excellent as always. Great job!
Thanks man! That means a lot coming from a fellow bard!
I have a bard thats a half-high elf, specifically he is a noble that has grown up mostly in a more comfortable position of background with his father (his mom died during birth). And directly, he has studied the arts of music of songs and history since the early ages of 13-19 years old as he was mostly taught other important things like how to create a unique experience of magic since age 6 to 10. He has never been through travelling parties before specifically, so my best point is that eventually overtime when I try playing for first time. That he learns and adapts to exploring with others, and perhaps he maybe learns more things about himself that he might have never known about himself before during it.
In short terms for his backstory a Lil (w.i.p):
He grew up learning the knowledge of song and music, reading books in the library and adapting to understand it and its history. By the time he was a adult he had already read almost every book he could get, but yearns for more. Which leaves a pity of him feeling mostly empty as he wishes to learn as much as possible through out his life while alive. Perhaps his *want* is to find a certain amount of knowledge or perhaps is trying to find a *certain type* of information of knowledge to gain the upmost importance of being worthy due to his emptiness of yearning more information.
And his *need?* perhaps I'll find out when I first play DnD for my first time. Giving him a mystery to what his yearning or searching for is a interesting way that builds his character. And likely, whatever his need becomes, is what becomes his arc during his growth. 😅
(I copy and pasted this from a previous TH-cam I commented one btw)
Cool character concept! Sounds like a lot of fun to RP through!
8:50 The best use of this ability is to summon a falling piano on an enemy!
It turns out that Wile E. Coyote was a bard all along!
The most broken bard build I played was the musical assassin build. I picked half-elf as my race and then I went with college of whispers and took the sharpshooter and crossbow expert feats. Then I took a few levels in rogue for cunning action.
With his extra psychic damage from his subclass using his bardic inspiration as well as the extra damage and ignored cover from sharpshooter.
Plus the extra attack from crossbow expert he became a musical whirlwind of death.
Becomes even more busted if you take a few levels in fighter for action surge. You have it all at that point, extra damage, extra attacks, extra expertise, aoe spells.
Insane burst damage. He wrecked a few boss level threats when I played him. The dm had to get real creative to find ways to take him out of the fight quickly.
Sounds like a pretty rad character conceptually too! I don't see that many bards with a dark style of RP like this.
@@ConstructedChaos This characters crowning moment of awesome was the time he almost single-handedly wiped an encounter and later brought an entire criminal organization to its knees with the help of the party and the royal guard.
All because one of their leaders failed to pay the piper and got too greedy for his own good.
@@ConstructedChaos Want me to send you the build? I won’t lie it’s a bit busted.
Bards are amazing, mine wears seven rings, engagement rings. Four female patrons , two males, and a particular shape changing dragon, I think, that approaches me at random from time to time. Yes it drives my DM crazy
Hahahaha I love that they brandish the rings proudly! Sounds like quite the character!
I’m about to play my first game!!! I’m planning to play 2 hexblade/ college of swords the rest of the way. I can’t wait
Very nice combo there! We have a character in our livestream campaign that's playing pretty much the same multiclass and they are a FORCE!
Hey! I am playing the valor bard and ♥ this character. Playing the bard is top. Thanks for the video!
Excellent choice!! I'm glad you enjoyed it and happy adventuring!
Great Video. I'm glad you didn't harp on Valor Bard and I wanted to leave this here:
Valor Bard is great as a Support Gish , not necessarily a Damage Gish. Their inspiration ability at lvl 3 (combat inspiration) fairly uniquely actually improves the versatility and power of their bardic inspiration for their TEAM. Where as most, swords most infamously in comparison, becomes a self resource, i.e. it takes away uses from your allies. Extra attack along with a decent magic weapon allow the Valor Bard to not need a dmg cantrip, where most bards struggle. Plus they get the best armour of any Bard, all in all they make for the best take all comers Battle Support Mage Bard. You don't need a special build or anything.
That makes a ton of sense! Thanks for the added insight on the topic of the valor bard. I love support builds and so I gravitate towards the bard in general. You might be surprised to know that my first bard was a valor bard / barbarian multiclass. It wasn't really optimal but it was a lot of fun to run into combat and dish out inspirations by saying "no, do it like THIS".
Iam playing my first bard now. She was originally going to be eloquence but I think my male bard who plays everything will be that. My female bard is a storyteller, Lore Bard. I might dip into Tempest Cleric for some ac. But just 1 lvl. She suffers from depression, a kalashtar, and most great performers suffer depression. Well, session one she tried to throw herself from a bridge. I'm really looking forward to collecting the local Folklore. And eventually getting find familiar. My dm says that she can have a pipe fox. If you know about these creatures, they too also love to hord knowledge. She's 45 years old, divorced and her only son died of a mysterious disease. Later she will learn it's a vampire. We're playing in an underworld type of campaign. So far it's been great. Valeriya Volkov is her name and I'm doing a Russian accent. Great video. Yes, I took vicious Mockery and Silvery Barbs. I also took minor illusion for sound effects for my stories.
There are a lot of good subclasses for bards. Of course I find some seriously lacking.
Keep up the great work! ❤
Wow! There’s a ton of depth to Valeriya here and I’m sure your DM is stoked about having so much to work with! Well done!
@@ConstructedChaos thank you. I do , do a lot of homework when deciding on a character
I love this class.
Been playing a Creation Bard/Twilight Cleric 2…as a kenku. 😂 Grabbed the Misty Visions invocation from Eldritch Adept, so he communicates like Sandman from Rise of the Guardians.
Survived to lv 11 so far as the only healer in our party, and having a blast creating and animating stuff, and occasionally rolling 30+ on lute performances 😁
Wow! What a cool and unique combination of classes and abilities!
For Stealing from the Hot 100 or your other favorite playlist, Xanathar’s Instrument Proficiency lets you write a song every long rest. After enough time, you can literally Planeshift Ed Sheeran’s Discography to the Forgotten Realms. (Replace Artist and Setting as Appropriate, and Take Requests from the Table.)
I honestly love hearing modern tracks transposed into medieval compositions. There are several really good medley albums out there!
I played a Swords Bard in Baldur's Gate 3 and i really felt like there was absolutely nothing my character couldn't do. I didn't even have a party composition. I just kept switching companions because no matter who i had in the party i never felt like there was a role that wasn't filled. Half the time i didn't know what to do on my turn because i had so many options. And by the time the rest of the party ran out of all their resources and needed a long rest my Bard felt like he was just getting started!
The lead game designer for BG3 said in a video about the classes that Bard is the closest you can get to being classless, and it's so accurate.
That's honestly a great point! The swords bard kinda just adds one more thing for your bard to be good at--melee combat. You become even more of a monkey wrench in that regard!
@@ConstructedChaos Not to mention in BG3 they actually buffed the swords bard quite significantly.
They made it so you can use the blade flourishes as long as you have inspiration dice, not just once per turn.
With the slashing flourish they made it so instead of dealing an inspiration dice worth of damage to the secondary target, you just make a free attack against them, and with ranged weapons the targets don't even have to be next to each other, just in range of your attack, so with a bow you can literally shott in 2 opposite directions at the same time. And both attacks add the inspiration dice damage when they hit.
And with the mobile flourish instead of moving to the character you pushed up to your movement speed, you just teleport within 5 feet of them, so if you push them with a ranged attack you practically get to misty step...
And then i found equipment that buffed my attacks when i used spells, and buffed my spells when i used weapon attacks... And a scimitar that gave me a Bonus Action attack... So i ended up with 5 weapon attacks per turn that got buffed whenever i would cast a spell...
@@AndreyKrichevsky wow!! Those are some nice improvements! I had no idea since I still haven’t been able to play BG3. I want to so badly, though!
@@ConstructedChaos Don't feel too bad about it. With the steady updates the game has been getting better and better every month. By the time you get to it it'll have all of the quality of life and extra content stuff people have been asking for (they've already added most of it), so you'll get to play the best version of the game!
You definitely need to play it at some point though :)
@@AndreyKrichevsky rad!! It really is my kind of game. I often play for story and prefer strategy over fast/reactionary gaming experiences so I know I’m going to love it!
One of my bards detonated a whole bag of holding's worth of alchemist's fire under a wagon as a distraction, not knowing the rogue was hiding on top of it.
Another one convinced the party wizard to pretend they didn't know the ranger when he blundered into a villains' assembly covered in their leader's blood. Aced the Deception check and left the hall with the wizard unharmed. Never saw the ranger again
Hahaha "I don't know why but all my allies keep dying on me.... weird..."
Speaking the truth. Ive played Bards more than any other class and I keep trying to play one, but I keep having to tell myself "Try something else for a change."
They are capable of so much! It’s hard not to just be a bard when it fits nearly any character archetype!
Hey man. Great video as ALWAYS !
One thing really bugs me though. The end. Pls. :D Maybe a fadeout of music and a logo or something .
Best regards.
Hey friend!! Thanks so much for the input! Sadly, TH-cam’s algorithm looks poorly on long endings as people tend to click away so I’ve learned that wrapping up quickly is best for the channel 😅
Are these back!?! These are my favorites! Bardy Boys!
Oh we are back baby!!! Hahaha sorry this one took so long. I was fighting an illness and a ton of work that slammed me during my busy season in October/November
@@ConstructedChaos You're good, we're all dealing with stuff. I'm just happy to see more!
@@paraschauhan1603 well I’m close to my goal of going full time by the end of the year so I’m hoping that means more regular videos and more live streams! We’ll see what 2024 brings!
@@ConstructedChaos Excited to see that, well done, sir!
@@paraschauhan1603 Thank you much!!
I just found out you can use cutting word against Initiative rolls. I had no idea, but saw it on another channel, so I googled it and it was confirmed by J. Crawford.. Looking forward to my game tonight to see if I want to use that. "everybody roll init".,(rolls) bbeg gets good roll " Aw dang, you're feeling a bit slow aren't you"(roll minus my cutting words roll) depends on what they roll and what we roll, but I'm hoping to get to try it.
Absolutely! Cutting words is insanely useful!
Our homebrew 2e world opened up multi classing and removed level caps for the various races (among other things). For a VERY long time I have been a multi class mix and match player.
I went kinda nuts with muti class builds at first when I finally jumped to 5e. After a couple years of experimenting, I "found" the bard kit. That was it, that's the kit I've played since.
My current active characters are a 2 level fighter dip level 13 valor bard, a level 11 valor bard, and a level 3 swords bard.
In all cases, I do NOT play them especially optimally. All three are played as strength based melee fighters with a boat load of utility.
The valor vs swords debate for melee bards is valid. I kinda favor valor for three reasons: combat inspiration is super helpful to the party, access to great weapons fits my play style better and the level 14 valor perk will be super fun when I team it with spells like sunbeam (I'm SO close to trying that out). The drawback to valor is the build being a bit lackluster in damage potential till you unlock those level 10 magic secrets spells. My fighter dip bard is an absolute beast NOW, but it was painful as hell waiting till level 8 for multi attack and level 12 for those magic secrets spells. Valor bards, the way I play them anyway, do not "mature" till much later in the game.
I'm digging my sword bard so far. Downside is it's a selfish build that does NOT share bardic inspiration, does not allow for great weapons, and even though you DO gain fighting style choices there is no shield proficiency to go with that dueling option. The urge to try a sword bard with a 2 level dip is strong. Upside is juuuuuust enough DPS boost/ combat versatility added by the blade flourish features for the blade bard to not feel under powered in combat at early levels. So far, I'm definitely leaning college of swords being more "fun to play" than valor.
Yep! I’ve played swords and valor and felt pretty much the same-even if the swords bard feels a bit more selfish as you say.
playing a level 8 bard right now. I already have 20 charisma and I use expertise and silver tongue to make it impossible for me to roll anything less than a 20 on a persuasion or deception check. I still have to come up with my lies word for word and tell the dm exactly what my char is gonna say and make them somewhat believable but its still pretty busted
It's absolutely wild and creative players will always find a way to use those social skills!
Inspiration is pretty awesome
Yes indeed! Just gotta make sure your allies remember they have it!
Ok, best Bard thing I did was in 3rd, which I think the class was just as good in 5th but even better in 2nd. Whole party was knocked out, Gnome Bard was the last one standing. I Bardic Knowledge for Geology and looking for a lava vein, hoping to get the dragon to pounce on me. Nat 20 to find a lava vain, nat 19 to intimidate. As Bard I was able to manipulate it into just trying to pile drive me. I expected to die, but DM gave me a dex save and I got another nat 20!!!!! epic party save, cause then I was able to heal the rest of the party!
Holy cow! The dice were on your side that day!!
I prefer Valor Bard between the two (swords vs valor) but thats mostly because I get to use a longbow and not have to fight melee or waste features like I would have to with Swords (no use of the spellcasting focus, the flourishes are much more niche, and neither fighting style benefits ranged)
Totally fair preference!
Also, Lore bards get additional magical secrets at level 6(Eldritch Blast and Shield please and thank you!!!!!). These spells DON'T count against your known spells!! Does the same thing apply at higher levels of the base class or not?
Sadly, the base class features DO count them as spells known! Even still, magical secrets are awesome and I love that the lore bard gives you more of them!
The Bard capstone at level 20 is horrible. Just homebrew it to their proficiency bonus increases to +8. It's a much more thematic and fun capstone ability.
I could totally go for that!
Hey Alex, if given the choice, I'd choose the Valor bard over the Swords bard all day long and twice on Sunday simply because of the medium armor, shield and martial weapon proficiencies!!
That's totally fair! I have played both and I do think the Valor bard is "better". But I like the flavor I often get from the swords bard.
Well, to each his own, I guess!! LMAO
I kind of want my bard to act as this beacon of good vibes. Not really using their abilities for their own personal gain but to rather uplift others in or out of their party. Star-crossed lovers quest? With the power of the bard I want to help your families see reason, perhaps this love between your eldest heirs can bring these two families back together and end a war? Maybe not, but the hope is always there and with the power of hope, love, and music anything is possible!
Cringe I know, but also really wholesome!
Not cringe at all! In fact, I'd imagine this is how the bard was intended to be!
I see your bard and I raise you one wizard (subclass? Doesn't matter), because as a pure spellcaster they are better IMHO (they suck in social stuff, even if you build for it (even +2 Charisma is nothing compared to the bard and you will not be min-maxing if you build for a little charisma), while the bard can talk rings around anybody!)
Bard is a full spellcaster too, though. Seriously, don't underestimate magical secrets!
My party is using the dnd beyond app and I was trying to add silvery barbs but it didn’t have any results :(
Silvery barbs is from the Strixhaven book! It isn't part of the base content and some DM's don't allow it but I've found most do!
Oh dang, thanks for the info! @@ConstructedChaos
13:14
Not only is spirits setting specific, but so is silvery barbs, you are not obligated to allow it
I don't like banning spells or abilities, my exceptions are usually flying races + silvery barbs
Yep! I mention that in my video on silvery barbs specifically but I find most DMs do allow it. Probably still should have mentioned it here so thanks for the good catch!
Playing a half-elf Lore bard, and it's been a BLAST.
Hell yeah!! Lore bards are the bees knees! My most recent bard was a college of lore firbolg that collected ghost stories!
@@ConstructedChaos mine is a poor girl who basically got the Pretty Woman treatment... until his wife found out and chased her out of the country. Now she's fallen in with the party for >reasons< but is focused on joining high society on her own terms.
She wants ALL THE MONEY, of course.
@@CooperAATE ohhhh very interesting angle for a lore bard! I dig it!
As somebody who’s played multiple editions (or at least their facsimiles) I’ve always hated Bards. They’re not even true bards, they’re magical minstrels.
A bard shouldn’t be a player class, it should be a hireling that you pay to travel the land and recite poems about how great the PCs are.
That's totally fair! And the bard is mostly depicted as you mention here. But there isn't much stopping you from doing exactly what you want using the mechanics provided!
A dragonborn can be good for bards if managed properly.
Absolutely! Just look at the thumbnail for this video! 😊
@@ConstructedChaos I get into so many arguments over dragonborn bards.
Omg it’s happening. Stay calm people stay calm!!!!
Hahahaha resident bard has entered the chat! 😂
Look no further for a perfect example of what a bard does 😅
Alright now let's see the Fighters are Broken video
Yessir! I'll put out a poll tomorrow between fighter and barbarian but I'm pretty sure fighter will win so I'm starting work on it now :)
When do you get to the part where bards are broken?
There are several points throughout the video. Specifically I speak on magical secrets and lore bards and a few other things.
Never forget Songsab Ootme
He wouldn’t allow it anyway
The flying sex toy😂 I want to know who created it. Although it was pixelated it still manages to have shape and form 🤣
Hahaha Whatever gets the job done!
Jak jsi začal mluvit o Song of rest ab., napil jsem se piva a o 2 vteřiny později jsem si poprskal celý mobil a nohy. Moc děkuji.😂
Hahahaha you're very welcome! Do you feel more rested now?
@@ConstructedChaos To bylo dobré. Zpátky k tématu. Hrál jsem Lore, Creation, Sword a Eloq. a nejvíce mě bavil Creation bard.
Silvery barbs doesn’t show in my options
It’s from the Strixhaven book but it’s so good that I just had to include it here
Don't be a coward, play a dwarf bard *DRINK* your way through the game!
Hahaha nothing wrong with that! A dwarven drunk monk would be a lot of fun!
I disagree. The barbarian is rarely better than the bard at smashing stuff.
I suppose it depends on who or what they’re smashing 😂😂😂
Or just read the books and build what you want creatively…like a bard.
I completely agree with your sentiment. Was there something in the video that made you feel like I don’t?