Baldur's Gate 3 Bard Guide - All Subclasses (Lore, Valour, Swords)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 2 ส.ค. 2024
- Baldur’s Gate 3 Bard Class Guide - In this Baldur’s Gate 3 Bard Class Guide, I’m going to be covering the Bard Class, including all 3 Subclasses, and providing you some useful information. I’ll be doing more Build Guides for Baldur’s Gate 3, but for now, let’s just look at how Bard functions and its basics.
Baldur’s Gate 3 Bard Guide Features
Abilities: Charisma, Dexterity, & Constitution
Subclasses: College of Lore, College of Valour, College of Swords
Unique Features: Bardic Inspiration, Song of Rest, Vicious Mockery
Spells: Support & Buffing, some offensive Spells
Proficiencies: Light Armour & Simple Weapons, Hand Crossbows, Longswords, Rapiers, Shortswords
Hit Die: +8 HP + CON Modifier at level 1 & 5 + CON modifier each level after
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Timestamps:
00:00 - Baldur's Gate 3 Bard Class Guide
00:15 Bard Class Guide
00:58 Bard Character Creation
03:32 Bard Actions
07:30 Bard Equipment
08:14 Bard Subclass
11:25 Bard Multiclass
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Hey, i want to edit some companion pages! I found some new approvals foor karlach and wyll, but I seem to not have enough permissions. How can i add the comments?
I put the edits in the discord under bg3 discussion.
Hi! I can't see your comment, you can message the Fextralife (Fex) admin account on the discord or post to the #wiki-to-do-issues channel
But you should be able to edit the wiki, are you using a VPN perhaps? You can also try making an account on Fextra so the editing process may be smoother. Let me know how it goes!
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My buddy said with our group, he wanted all of us to run Bard Dragonborns and name our band Imagine Humans
Fucking genius
😂😂 incredible
Fuxking Epic. And everybody playing a different instrument, same song in tandem. We are going to need a video of this asap lol
tell your buddy he made an Idiot in the Philippines laugh, me. hilarious hahahah
That’s so good 😂
I tried Bard as a half-joke on release night and now I'm 50 hours into the game. The Bard, appropriate to it's class fantasy, has a very creative play-style both in and out of combat.
Who are on ur team if you don’t mind me asking thx!
@@richu2350probably Shadowheart, Gale and Karlach or Lazel
@@AvianEditsthis are the party members I use. Wyll is left out most I would say
@@BlackJackZach I also use this combo, and am wondering if I should swap Wyll in and Gale out. I've enjoyed talking to Gale but I'm really interested in seeing how Karlach and Wyll interact now that I've properly reintroduced them.
@@BlackJackZach understandable
One of the greatest things I noticed when testing out a bard is that you can use your "perform" to start playing motivational songs (only for flair) without spending an action or bonus action as long as you do it right at the end of your turn.
Your enemies will be fighting a desperate battle for survival, while that one jackass is playing a tavern song with drums in the background and throwing some insults for good measure.
Did you know? The musical instrument in this game has different animations and songs. Moreover, each class has unique animations! You can try casting a same spells or weapon in each class, and they will cast spells and perform attack moves differently.
This game is truly awesome; I love this game!
For my bard, i choose Flute.
Further, if you have multiple Bards they can sync up and play a song together (so the tooltip says).
i am using a violin but i have a stash of every instrument so i can rotate.
It always looks like my bard is about to embark upon an epic guitar solo every time he casts a spell. It’s awesome.
Also yes you can play with other bards… I played with one bard that visited my camp. I now have her lute.
I picked the lyre but I’m starting to regret it. I need to find other instruments
@@user-mu8ok5xf8d
Spoiler (so I added space here);
There's an instrument directly on the beach when you start. I believe it's the drums.
There's also a Spider Lyre that plays a unique song, but I didn't use it myself. I don't know if it sounds different.
I chose the Bard-Lock for my first playthrough and it was the correct choice for me. So much fun! Very versatile in combat.
You doing a blaster, or melee? I'm trying a melee/control bardlock. Seems pretty fun so far
Same here, what was your level breakdown?
Oooo I didn’t think abt college of swords plus pact of the blade that sounds fun!
@@BobicusRocketus Blaster mainly. Its why I chose to multiclass with warlock for eldritch blast. But I did take pact of the blade so I can use whatever weapon I find and still have it be useful should I need to attack something in melee.
@@alexcampo5326 I haven't gotten a character all the way to level 12 yet, but I'm going for lore Bard 8 Fiend Warlock 4.
Just a point of clarification - in the current version, selecting Lore as a subclass at level 3 rewards you with proficiency in any 3 new Skills and Expertise in 2 Skills. It is not limited to Arcana, Intimidation, and Sleight of Hand.
Most helpful comment
The only class in any RPG who is a "jack of all trades, master of all"
Lmao
As it should be. Bard supremacy is the only good supremacy
Geth sorcerer is also a great jack of all trades if set up properly and is a better MC than bard because bards can't inspire themselves.
I know another game, mmorpg city of heroes(now in form of homecoming), soldiers of arachnos are exactly that, even buffing through leadership skills. Not the same kinda game as this though for sure.
That implies Bard is better than Paladin, Fighter, Barbarian, and Monk at close range.
Better than Warlock, Wizard, and Sorcerer at spell casting.
Better than Cleric at healing and Support.
Better at utilities Rogue and Ranger.
Which also implies, the best team comp is 4 Bard.
Honestly Bard just feel like a class you pick last because you wanted your team comp to include certain companion and so you pick Bard to be handle multiple role.
There's an amazing rapier you can get in Act 3 that lets you crit on 19 if you don't have a shield in your off-hand. Feels like it was designed for a College of Swords Bard.
Playing Bard (Swords) for my first play through, and I’m pretty deep into Act 3 now. It’s been so much fun. Loving all the dialogue options, the cool aoe spells, and good melee, it’s been a great first choice of a class. I’m big on seeing as much dialogue stuff as possible during my first time throughout a game, then going different routes for other playthroughs.
Bard has some of the most fun dialogue unique to them. Especially with other bards.
A Bard persuading your enemies to kill themselves is so funny. Exactly the character i want, sometimes good sometimes a jerk but never evil.
There is 1 weapon that is easily missable at end of act 2, the effect allows you to add spellcaster to attack. Making it a pact weapon without needing lvl 3 in warlock which makes a 10bard/2warlock an amazing hexblade build.
This weapon contains a big story spoiler so I don't want to say what it is. But you must pass a persuade check by asking for a reward.
Just keep this in mind during your hero playthoughs you can miss amazing gear by never asking for the rewards.
It's attack only, not attack and damage.
This is good to know. The last bit in particular is solid advice. I'll keep it in mind.
what's the name of the weapon?
@@adamleblanc5294 the name is will give away the story arc. so here is your SPOILER warning.
infernal rapier
@@Tremain uses your Spellcasting Modifier for Attack Rolls and Damage Rolls .
you can also place a candle down in combat and use a bonus action to dip it and gain an extra 1d4 fire damage.
the sword also grants the ability to use a Level 6 Conjuration Spell. to summon a Fiend once per long rest.
I did a half-drow lore bard. Level up to 6 to get magical secrets (counterspell and lightning bolt), now working my way to 2 levels of warlock to get eldritch blast and invocations. Then the rest into bard. Super useful in combat with hypnotic pattern, dissonant whispers, cloud of daggers, faerie fire, etc. A ton of fun.
I've finished my 1st playthrough and thought about new one on tactician difficulty and as a bard, and here comes the guide, thank you!
1 level of war cleric is amazing for swords bards, you can then use your bonus action to do a flourish as well as just your main actions / attacks. You also get guidance and thaumaturgy which are super useful for the party, and level 1 cleric spells are pretty good too.
Yeah, I started my bard as a Tempest Cleric to get the heavy armor and martial weapons, plus some solid support spells. I was planning on doing 3 levels of Warlock for pact of the blade so I don't need DEX, and Bard for 8 levels. I am still thinking hard about if I want to keep the cleric or not, because Valor Bard still gets med armor and shields, and I could use that last level to get better Bard spells or to get a feat from lv4 Warlock. So many choices
Thanks, Fextralife, for making these guide videos -- I think you and people like you who help players out like this are outstanding. I really appreciate what you're doing for us 🙂
Been waiting on this class guide the most. Thanks dude!
I’m absolutely loving playing through with a bard as my character.
Supplemental heals. Enough dexterity to attack with weapons, or a bow. Enough charisma to use spells. Lots of status spells to steal actions from enemies. Some AOE damage for groups. Cutting words and vicious mockery to make enemies miss their attacks or fail saving throws on spells. Plus! With the dexterity and expertise they’re able to do all of my lockpicking and trap disarming. This gives me two companion spots to rotate people through because shadowheart is a tank and main healer as a life cleric.
It’s fantastic!
Almost forgot about song of rest! A third short rest per day is huge! Especially if you have companions with abilities that recharge on short rest. So, more spells for your warlock, more ki for your monk, more maneuvers for your battlemaster fighter, and more usages of equipment that recharge on short rest.
The college of lore grants you more spells from any class. This is based on spell level. So, you can get fireball … a third spell level spell that most casters get at level 5, and you can get word of radiance a third level spell that paladins don’t get until level 12 (one third level spell slot grants you something like healing word as a bonus action and ranged heal that heals for something like 2D6 and lasts 10 rounds … which is basically like 10 second spell slot healing words for a single third level spell slot).
Been having a blast on my Bard! Thanks for all the awesome guides!
Playing as bard/sorc, and I'm having a blast. The dialogue options are hilarious, and when I'm not dishing out damage vicious mockery and cutting words are THE BEST.
YOU....ARE....THE MAN! Just 8 hours ago I was digging for an up to date, concise Bard guide. All I found was half-done out of date material. And just yesterday I was watching your Warlock guide wishing you had more.
What we've all been waiting for!
I bought Baldur's gate today and you post the Bard video today! Perfect!!! Thank you!
Dipping 1 or 2 into Bard for Dex Martial classes makes all the sense in the world when you take into account the game play aspects of Bard. They seem to have the most conversation options of any class and have numerous ways to impact combat and the story line. I took 1 level of bard at 2nd level for my Ranger and haven't regretted it.
I thought bard would just be okay to start as. Now it's literally my super weapon of my party with john wick style shooting and melee, crazy spell combos and amazing party support
Exactly. And bards can easily persuade potential enemies to avoid a fight which is always useful
A Bards Tale was one of my favorites as a kid, I’m rocking Bard!! Who’s with me 🎉
Beer beer beer.. a long time ago way back in history...
Gah! Every time you come out with a build video I rethink my plan! I was going to go with a Devotion Pally and maybe multi with Warlock, but Bard looks like it’s so versatile and I love the idea of jamming with other performers! Man, I can’t wait! I got a new PC on the way and I am giddy with anticipation!
Thanks for the work you've put into this. It shows
My lovely boyfriend gifted me the game yesterday and I was trying to figure out what to choose. Picked bard out of random because I love music and figured it would be a good support character as I enjoy supporting my team than being the main damage dealer. Such a great pick and this video helps a whole lot on how to make better combos with my bard
Bard and Monk may be the most fun to play in the game rn. Great video!!!
There's a blade in the underdark that gives a boost to performance checks and is one of the rare finesse longswords called Phalar Aluve.
This series is just amazing guys, keep it up :))
Started another new character last night, choose bard & decided to go fully into healer bard; Only at Lv5 rn in act 1 but when I heal someone they gain, blade ward, bless, & temporary hit points. Bardic inspiration also heals 1 D6 thanks to the hat by Alfira & I gain temp hit points from the tunic Volo gives you. It’s actually a really fun build so far, I might spec 2 levels into life cleric for the extra healing potency.
I tried machinegun bard with 2 hand crossbows. Now i look like a vampire hunter and im digging it.
Im crushing every single skill check in dialogue, support my team and still do the most dmg while
having 19-23AC as a ranged character.
I searched for this last night and only found your one from a year ago which I watched, only to just see you dropped this, guess I'm watching part 2. Thanks for the guides.
Thanks!! I was picking up redundant proficiencies with my bard, gonna respec to fix that. Oh, and Lightfoot Halflings are amazing too, they make it easier to pass checks, since your chances of a critical failure are absurdly lower, and with expertise a lot of times even a 2 will pass you in the check
Great video. I'm excited for the druid class guide
I'm playing Swords Bard and really loving it.
Playing a College of Lore Bard and I'm honestly impressed by how good it is.
Collage of Lord Bard is hands down the best class for a first playthrough. It's the best party face class, plus it's average or better at everything. It provides a lot of versatility in combat. You're a backup healer, you can lock down problematic enemies, deal extra damage to backup your main DPS caster, boost your mele DPS, you have great crowd control. I like having a bard as my PC because they can handle pretty much everything and I don't need to worry about thinking which party member is going to do what thing outside combat. The bard has it. By level 10, I'm regularly able to get 30+ on speech checks as well... such a good class.
Every class has its things.
@@barcster2003 they sure do. My war cleric does a ton of damage and has like 20 AC. My ranger is pretty neat too.
@@adamleblanc5294 You keep spamming about how collage of lore bard is the best because its a face of the party but any other bard subclasses also can do it so stop with that nonsense.
@@Alen725 I think they meant that as a general bard thing, and then the other points specifically college of lore
Not, gonna’ lie… I might’ve giggled a little bit when I saw this in my feed. I’m having so much fun playing as a Bard in this game! 🎻
Thanks for all the great content.
A couple of notes about some slightly outdated information:
-Darkvision does not appear to have any function in the current state of the game. Larian has not yet commented whether or not this is intentional, but as it stands, it doesn’t do anything (like it did in EA).
-Bardic Inspiration is not based on CHA modifier anymore. It is now just a flat 3 uses at level 1, 4 at level 5, and 5 at level 9. This does mean that more martial-focused bards can completely forgo CHA if they wish.
On another point, College of Swords is amazing with a level or two of Fighter and a strength focused build to get Martial weapon proficiency (heavy weapons in particular). Picking up great weapon master is really nice here; you always have a useful action, bonus action, and use for your concentration. You can get both Con saves proficiency and heavy armor proficiency to give you more sticking power in melee. You can use Mobile Flourish (Ranged) to hit a distant enemy with an arrow, then teleport (no action required!) to the enemy and follow up with one of your melee attacks. Defensive flourish is broadly considered the “best” default choice due to how much value a flat +4 bonus to AC is, but if you can get an additional Great Weapon Master attack via Slashing Flourish, then its probably a better use of the inspiration die.
Great tips!
Thanks, this is exactly what I’m going to do. I wanted a fighter but the low charisma changed my mind for my first playthrough. Gonna try to do this
This game is so good, I absolutely hate it when things end! I'm currently in the midst of Chapter 3 and already embarking on my second playthrough 😂. I'm thinking a bard could be my next class choice. My first playthrough was as a Tiefling Warlock, which was quite an adventure!
This is the class i finally settled on , College of Valor Zariel Tiefling Dex/Cha based. I am the healer/lockpicker/support class with some great finesse/ranged weapons to fight with. Thaumaturgy and smite abilities. Also have the necklace of Guidance so i completely cover the Cleric class and the rogue class minus the sneak attacks. at level 3 i have a 19 AC and can cover all conversation rolls with ease. Looking forward to the lvl6 two attacks ability.
8 str 16 dex 14 con 10 int 10 wis 16 cha @ level 3 Urchin background with deception persuasion and performance skills.
Bard. Do not need a thief because the bard can unlock and disarm and stealth anything. Want to speak to every animal in the game? Check. Want THREE short rests per long rest? Done. My party runs around with permanent extra movement because longstrider is a ritual! Do not have to fight because the bard can talk his way through anything. Want to go back and fight every single encounter you talked your way past? Easy. Damage? 2 levels in Warlock and the Charisma based cantrip that goes up based on CHARACTER LEVEL not class is wrecking faces. I usually just flat out forget I even have bardic inspiration and performance and even most of the spell slots.
There's stuff other classes can do but yes Bards can be versatile.
Bardic inspiration can also be used out of combat for different rolls, so it helps getting successful conversations!
What race and subclass did you go with?
Look forward to your ranger guides my dude :3
These videos are really tiding me over until the PS5 release. So thanks for that 😅
Thank you for all the info.
I made a STR based valor bard. It's been a super fun face character. I picked a hill dwarf as my race to make up for my low CON score because it gets extra HP. Maxed out STR and CHA and set DEX to 14 to get max AC with medium armor. I'm only level 6 right now and just got my extra attack. I am thinking of taking a two lvl dip into fighter for action surge, but i may just go straight 12 lvl valor bard.
The 2 level dip for Action Surge is so very much worth it. The plays you can set up with 2 consecutive actions at the start of combat is crazy.
Bard is really the jack of all trade , i have great time playing 1 lvl hexblade and the rest in college of sword in dnd 5 e campain
My wife's bard started with a level of Life Cleric, making her Bardic heals more potent, and giving her access to heavy armor and shields. It also means she's got Bless and Guiding Bolt early on, which has been a huge boon. At this point, she is a level 1 cleric/6 bard of swords, and she's rocking a 21 AC!
Yes clerics can have alot of armor.
War domain cleric 1lvl then dual sword bard the the rest
Good god, i could listen to you narrate ANYTHING 😂 Great video! 👍
Currently running dual hand crossbows and having a blast with it as a lore college bard :)
god I feel so stupid, didn't occur to me that I can dual wield hand crossbows; still learning new things about this game every day
My lore with dual bows instead of swords?
Your videos are definitely the best! Thank you so much!!!
Thank you! Happy you enjoy them
Dipping into Warlock to get the improved Eldridge blast and pact of the blade really rounds out the bard offensively.
I'll be playing for the first time in a couple days. I've never played any games like this, only rudimentary ones. I chose a hard and have been down a rabbit hole and am liking it more and more lol
How was it, I’m still playing through it and it’s been a blast. I’ve been enjoying Monk and Fighter most! My furthest character is a Sorcerer though. So many I want to try in the future too.
Thank you, I decided to go for a School of Valour bard right now as I wasn’t sure what to pick there. I like being a social, charismatic character, it’s fun to get funny dialogue options and being able to talk my way out of a lot of situations. My character is a Drow Half-Elf, which I chose for roleplaying reasons.
Drow + Bard = Social Cheat Code. There's literally nothing in the game I haven't been able to talk or bulky my way out of. Some of the lines are very cheeky.
Combat inspiration at level 5 does not work anymore. It is buggued
Bard may not sound fun, but if you value owning conversations, and level up the playing field in battle, Bard is for you.
I don’t like build guides. I love there class guides. These have just the right amount of information and recommendations without tell exactly what to do. It all feels like informed suggestions.
I did one level of Life Cleric and then full bard with a concentration on healing/CC spells. Heavy Armor, Shield, heal bonus from just one level of cleric. Great support and rarely miss a conversation check.
Can i ask what proficiencies you lost multiclassing into Bard vs vice versa. Thanks.
you can also take a feat that allows you to take couple druid spells. goodberry for example scales with the +2 +spell level on it's healing. Which is pretty handy. If you don't mind sacrificing a feat for utility that is.
@@666slateran666yes heavy armour bard, Cleric1/Bard. Shadowheart my support and tank.With adamantine shied and Armor she barely gets hit with 22 ac at level 7
@@666slateran666 there's no reason to not go heavy armor on everyone (if you have the proficiency) that doesn't care about stealth checks. Even barbarians can get more AC from a good set of heavy armor than from unarmoured defence
@@choocharoo No intimidation or sleight of hand. I prefer deception and suggestion and I use Astarion for harder locks/traps
Watching all your vids about classes and guids, got the ps5 version coming out next month
Love it! Would like to see Fighter next :)
You're WILDLY sleeping on Cutting Words. It lets lore bards apply a penalty to saving throws in reaction to enemies passing their saves, as long as they didn't use a reaction elsewhere. It is INSANELY powerful for forcing crowd control through.
Elf Ranger/Lore Bard sounds good. Lots of Weapons/Archery ,Cantrils and Spells. Gloomstalker gets 24m Darkvision, Summon Fiend & Speak with Animals....Also Heavy Armor with Knight Perk! Would make a Awesome Battlemage Stealth Archer🤷♀️
Great Vid. Was waiting for the MC section and hoped you had answered my question. It was not so here it goes hoping you see it.
I was gonna create Cleric (ability points for bard) to get shield and heavy armor and the cantrips. The plus to healing is nice as life as well. I would then go into bard and take it all the way to 11. My question is what am I losing by going cleric 1st? If I go bard first and then dip cleric for a level at 2 im losing out on heavy armor. I can still get shield from half elf but the fantasy is gone.
Thanks in advance.
I'm enjoying my Swords Bard X/Paladin 2 a lot. High defense and mobility options and an abundance of spell slots to Smite with!
Is it better to go swords bard 10/Paladin 2 or swords bard 8/paladin 4?
@@tanhy7334sword bard 10/paladin 2 is much better since at lvl 10 you get magical secrets (2 powerfull spells) and improved bardic inspiration. All you really want from paladin is the proficiencies and divine smite which you get by level 2.
@@tanhy7334 like said in video on lvl 10 all bards are getting secrets (spells of your choice) so I think bard 10 is way to go.. Otherwise 6/6 (bard 6 gets extra attack swords/valour)
@@tanhy7334I have that same question. Not sure what I'm losing going paladin 2 bard 10
@@braintrust02if not taking PLD to 6/7 it is better to do Bard 10 for secrets. Unless there is a real big feat need.
Gith bard 2/cleric or druid x Gives +4-7 depending on guidance roll to all to all int, wisdom and cha skills, my best skill monkey (12 int 16 wisdom 12 Cha, all cha skills picked) Use wild shape or cantips/spells for damage.
Comparing the Magic Secrets spell selection images (available in this video) for College of Lore Bards at level 6 and for other subclass bards at level 10, there are only two spells College of Lore bards can get that other bards cannot: Fireball and Call Lightning. Fireball is very well known (and powerful) but Call Lightning is interesting: not only is it only available to some subclasses of Druid and Sorcerer (Wizards can't get it at all), it also remains "castable" after the first use of the spell slot. I'm not sure whether it's dependent on concentration, but even if it is, saving a spell slot every round for an aoe spell sounds pretty useful. So it's not only a very "selective" spell in terms of availability, it's also unique in how it works. Worth considering if going for College of Lore.
Just for anyone reading, concentration is indeed required to maintain Call Lightning, allowing you to recast it each turn, this is potentially quite powerful since it does good damage and you wont be using a spell slot each turn after the 1st.
Thanks for the video
Great guide! Thank you. I'm new to BG. How does spell casting work if I'm using two weapons as a sword bard? Would I still be able to cast all the same helpful spells? Would I need to use an action to switch a weapon for a free hand? I like the idea of duel wielding as a two weapon sword bard but will choose dueling if it will get in the way of my ability to cast spells. Any clarification would be much appreciated!
The amount of dialogue checks Bard lets you pass is reason enough to make it one of the better 1st playthrough characters.
I'm playing a multiclass bard now. I started with Wood Elf(Noble) Any Race with a skill proficiency can get all skills with this build. Started as Rogue for skills and Expertise. Then I took 1 level Cleric(Knowledge) for 2 more skills and Expertise. After this I'm going all in on Bard(Lore) with focus on all INT and CHA skills and I will have Expertise in all of them. I picking Slight of Hand for the last one. For my 2 Feats, I got Actor and will get Skilled
I'm using the Warped headband of Intellect and the Dex Gloves so my stats are STR 8, DEX 18, CON 14, INT 17, WIS 16, CHA 19(18 with -1 from the Smuggler's ring, but +1 from Hag's hair). So far I'm Level 6 and as Wood Elf(started with 2 skills from Race), I'm only missing 2 skills and I might drop Skilled and get CHA up to 20. Survival and Medicine is not that Important :P Expertise in 10 skills is nice though ^^
Bard with magic initiate : warlock or magic initiate : sorcerer for more combat casting cantrip is also a good idea imo.
A single level on draconic sorcerer gives you +3 of AC with no armor (so you cna use many of the amazing clothes in the game) some nice damage cantrips ,the shield spell and most importantly (if you chose white dragon) armor of agathys for extra health and returning damage on melee. Starting as a sorcerer then bard until lv 6 (for the extra attack on college of sword or valour) and then a second lv on sorcerer for the metamagic, then untill lv 10 bard is a very effective way to multiclass with bard.
I'm playing a mephisotphales tiefling bard in college of lore. No mutliclass, but trust and believe I'm gonna bard-lock on my next run.
Great video👍👍🔥🔥✌✌
Thanks so much for this video. I've been planning out my first playthrough (ps5) and I wanted to do a bow swords bard. Quite disappointing thw flourishes don't work on ranged.😢
Good news, the flourishes DO work on ranged. :D
I have pre-ordered the game for PS5, going to recreate my first D&D character - Half-elf Bard!
Dumb question where did the picture from the thumbnail come from?
Funny how I was thinking of how I should multiclass bard into sorcerer and as I'm thinking about Bard 3 / Sorcerer 9, you say it. I think it's meant to be.
Amazing videos man. Still waiting patiently for the Sorcerer class guide :D
I ALWAYS go speech/charisma in my games, and I’ve been a musician for 30 of my 34 years of life.
Bard was a no brainer for me, and I was surprised to see it where it was on the list.
I’ve been having so much fun with this game
I don't know if you read these but thanks for the guides man. There's a lot to learn in this game so thanks for the help
I do read the comments, very happy the guides help!
Just a quick question,Thinking for going 9 warlock 3 bard..but any hints on what way to level up,ie,do straight 9 lvl ups of warlock and then 3 bard or is there a better way?
Probably should have mentioned that college of lore bards can use their inspiration to reduce enemy saving throws. Makes them by far the best class for big deal single target spells like hold person/hold monster.
No you reduce ability check, not saving throw...
2:48 everyone overlooks Halfling. The lucky racial is a big increase for damage output (more than halforc getting an extra weapon die on crit).
Lucky turns failures into successes on skill checks and it turns misses into hits and crits. This also turns saving throw failures into successes.
Over time this is HUGE! In terms of raw damage alone it’s worth more damage than a 5% chance to do one extra weapon die of damage.
The more you roll dice the more this will benefit you. So, more attacks makes Halfling even better. More skill checks, more time having to roll saving throws.
Not having dark vision really isn’t a big deal. There are enough items in the game that this isn’t a problem and the light cantrip sure is easy to cast.
Half Orc actually triples damage on Crit in BG3, it's not an extra die
@@CsStrez Nope. While that's what the tooltip claims, that's not how it actually works if you check out the combat log. As of right now Savage Attacks adds a die (like in the tabletop) and does not raise the multiplier (so a Greatsword only does an extra 1d6, meaning you want a 1d12 weapon instead).
There's more to it (like bugged interactions with other damage effects errneously also getting an extra die when they shouldn't), but that's the basic gist of it.
I thought the lucky thing only works when rolling a 1?
@@robjsmiles it does. If half orc works in this game like it does in the tabletop (one weapon die rather than tripling ALL dice rolled) then Halfling is worth more damage over time.
It’s all about misses. Misses hurt damage over time. I don’t know how much detail you want. You can stop here and take my word for it.
Or … here is a little bit of the math ….
Imagine you hit on a roll of 10. You crit on a 20. So, you miss on 1-9. Hit on 10-19. Crit on 20. Let’s assume each hit does 1D10+3 damage (8.5) and a regular crit does 2D10+3 (14) and as an orc a savage crit is 3D10+3 (19.5).
0 damage times 9 misses
8.5 damage times 10 hits
14 damage times 1 crit
Avg swing does (0+85+14)/20 = 4.95 damage.
The missed hits that do zero damage drop this a ton because nearly HALF the time you fail to do any damage at all.
Then you can compare damage with savage critical.
Then you can compare damage with Halfling luck.
This helps you figure out average damage per swing. You need to account for misses. Most people just think about the critical hits.
When you reroll that natural 1 you’re turning it into a hit more than half the time. You’re also turning it into a critical hit 5% of the time.
When you consider thousands of weapon attacks an increase to accuracy is worth a lot more than a small increase in damage on the hits.
If you know how to write any code I can walk you through how to write software that will simulate hundreds of thousands of strikes and add it up. Or, you can trust me.
Halflings are dope. Plus, that reroll happens on saving throws and skill checks. The more you roll the better it gets.
This also means a dual wield Halfling fighter/rogue with champion fighter and extra attack is an absolute beast. It will miss less often. Crit more often. And the damage will be extremely consistent. You can hire the Halfling bard hireling and respec them to try it out. Go all strength. Let them dual wield long swords or whatever. Switch to a Dexterity build in act 3 after you get Orin’s legendaries to apply vulnerability on piercing damage.
The build spends zero resources and will melt bosses. It’s just as effective after 15 fights in a day as it is in the first fight of the day. None of this childish “look I can do 500 damage in one attack as long as I go long rest after each fight, and also the build doesn’t work until you’re 130 hours into the game”.
LETS GOOO ! I picked the school of lore.
Please do a video adressing the OP lvl 11 sorcerer build with 1 lvl in wizard + headband of intellect. You trade a third feat for the ability to prepare four extra spells from wizards spellbook and you dont lose any damage because you can still full send charisma. Late game the spells you prepare could be level 5 & 6 granted you find scrolls of them, anything from spellbook will cast with intelligence so limit them to spells you wouldnt directly target enemies with, like the level 5 spell summon elemental or level 6 spells divine barrier and wall of ice.
I’m doing a dark urge drow Lore college bard playthrough and I love it. At character level 7 I’ve gone 6 bard plus a single dip into war domain cleric for heavy armour, shield and some nice utility spells (and thematically fits as war is a canon domain for Lolth, but a male Drow is not going to be anything but a novice).
As a player character it’s perfect because it means every dialogue check is a sinch (with proficiencies, expertise, guidance and a high charisma my only enemy is a natural 1), in combat can crowd control, dish out spell damage, use weapons and cutting words is just fantastic (knowing you’re about to be hit, flinging an insult and making them miss never gets old). Essentially you’re always doing something leaving the party to do what they are good at and filling the gaps as the situation demands.
I was going to go bardlock but right now I’ve got enough to do with every turn that an Eldritch blast doesn’t really fit in and would mean either giving up my cleric dip, or not getting magical secrets.
Does it matter when you take the cleric dip? I am thinking of taking 1 or 2 levels of cleric, and then 10 or 11 levels of bard. But idk when to take the dip. Suggestions? Also, suggestions for how many levels of cleric to take (1? 2? More?). Thanks!
@@half_a_kman977 I took my dip at level 7. Delaying the power spike at level 5 is too painful as a caster and then level 6 gives magical secrets as a college of lore bard which means more spells. Only took a single dip as I still want (eventually) 6th level spells and got everything I wanted from that one level (a single use of guided strike when my focus is not weapon attacks doesn’t make a whole lot of sense).
My alternative was to go Tempest domain which would have then meant two levels to get destructive wrath and maximise a single lightning spell but sacrifice 6th level spells.
Either way would work. The other factor was trying to stay within canon for deity and domain even though this isn’t enforced in BG3.
@@flemsha Thanks, really helpful!
I think you should have mentioned 1 level dip into Domain of Healing cleric. Heavy armor and shield proficiency, improves your heals, etc.
Right. That settles it. I'm doing a Half-Orc Bard for my “The Dark Urge” playthrough. 😁
Tiefling is also a great choice for college of valor.
Definitely rolling bard on my 2nd playthrough
Forest Gnome College of Lore is a blast.
Is 1lv for my bard in Life domain with Cleric a good idea? (For shield, heal and armor?) I just started and I'm level 3, I'm still trying to understand (My party so far is Warlock melee (with Fighter lv 1 so far for armor & greatsword, Astarion as assasin/rogue and sorcerer) I'm trying to understand what's the best thing to do with my bard for this team
bard at lvl 7 and warlock pact of the blade at lvl 5 gives you 3 attack actions per turn tho dealing with the weapon pact every long rest gets annoying pretty fast
8:45 a mistake here- Lore bard gets to choose their 3 skills and 2 expertise, you just have to click the "class: bard" icon to change that
Source: discovered it during a series of misclick induced reloads on my way to pick Sword Bard
I hate and love that Bard is actually one of the most powerful and versatile class
This was the final piece of the puzzle for my bardlock to reach new heights! Great vid and build guides as always! 🧩
When you dip into warlock does pact of the blade work for ranger weapons?