Bard of swords multiclass. Lock or ranger.

[Satori]

I am making a swordbard mc.
Decided i want a Drizzt background with twists. So dual wield dmg with some spells/utility.
Am sure about this.
Either seladrine drow or halfdrow.
Multiclassing him a little will enhance his melee dmg a bit and add flavor.
Not interested in pala,fighter,rogue.

First i was thinking bardlock/hexblade. This seems like the most optimal and seems to fit. I know how i would build him. 2lock 10 bard. or 3 lock 9 bard. Darkness+devilsight seems like a great addition as well..
But now i decided i want Wyl in my party and him to be a lock+lorebard. Dont want too much overlap. And i rly like the theme of ranger/bard for my character.

So, to decide i need more info plz on how i would build a swordbardRanger.
I realize its not optimal, but how would be the best way to make it work, while it would fit the character?

Thinking 3 hunter for the extra melee-dmg. Gloomstalker seems more popular and rly good, but i think hunter will fit my playstyle better. Mainly because i dont enjoy stealth that much and i will dual wield.
Start as 1 ranger, 3 bard, 2 ranger (get hunter subclass), rest bard.
Maybe 1 ranger, 6 bard (extra attack), 2 ranger. Probably better.
Or go 5 ranger at some point, but i dont need extra attack coz i get that at 6 bard (sword). Seems not worth it.
2 ranger levels may be a decent option?
Maybe add 1/2 Cleric (mielikki)?
Is wisdom/charisma an issue? Think i can focus on the bard spells and just use ranger spells that arent dependant on wisdom? get decent stats in dex/cha/con. some wisdom.
spellslots? Seems okish. 1 each bard level and 1 for 2 ranger levels i think.
other issues?

[sevensided]

If you're looking at making a Drizzt expy, why bother with Bard at all?

[Clive Hawkins]

Drizzt is a Fighter 11, Ranger 3, Barbarian 1, Monk 1

He's had a weird life.

[Satori]

good point.
coz of the utility and all the proficencies for the first playthrough. And i think i would really like the sword bard. Also think its kinda cool that drizzt will take a liking to music. Another layer is that he can learn from Wyl.

[sevensided]

Originally posted by Satori:

good point.
coz of the utility and all the proficencies for the first playthrough. And i think i would really like the sword bard. Also think its kinda cool that drizzt will take a liking to music. Another layer is that he can learn from Wyl.

Not terrible reasons, though I will point out that Ranger does get a plethora of skills.

[Satori]

Originally posted by sevensided:

Originally posted by Satori:

good point.
coz of the utility and all the proficencies for the first playthrough. And i think i would really like the sword bard. Also think its kinda cool that drizzt will take a liking to music. Another layer is that he can learn from Wyl.

Not terrible reasons, though I will point out that Ranger does get a plethora of skills.

Again. Fair enough. But i am settled on swordbard.
My real question is... how would i build it with ranger?

[sevensided]

Originally posted by Satori:

Originally posted by sevensided:

Not terrible reasons, though I will point out that Ranger does get a plethora of skills.

Again. Fair enough. But i am settled on swordbard.
My real question is... how would i build it with ranger?

Gloomstalker is your best bet if you're deadset, and no more than 3 levels , so you can get 5th level spells with your 9 levels of bard. GS 3 will give you the best lvl 3 ranger suite in the game.

[Satori]

aight, how would the build progression be plz?
Thinking 1 ranger, 5 bard, 2 ranger, rest bard?
Will look more into this now. Ty for giving some direction.

[LordAnubis]

Go straight 5 warlock or 5 ranger to get extra attack as early as possible (warlock gets it through invocations), then respec into your optimal build as you continue to gain levels.

Edit: remember, respecing will allow you to change everything about your character except your race, including you ability scores. So you can start with one build to carry you through early game, then respec to how you need for your multiclassing to work without you feeling left behind on the power curve.

[Satori]

but sword bard gets extra attack at 6 bard. So dont think ill need that.
Maybe just playing 5 ranger can be good. then respec at 6 to 3 bard. 3 ranger.
But ill have to wait 6 levels to get the multi-class flavor. Think ill pref 1 ranger, 3 bard.

[sevensided]

Originally posted by Satori:

aight, how would the build progression be plz?
Thinking 1 ranger, 5 bard, 2 ranger, rest bard?
Will look more into this now. Ty for giving some direction.

If you don't want to bother with respecs, go bard 6 levels, then ranger 3, then rest bard.

Also, if you don't find a lvl 5 bard spell that interests you, go ahead and go bard 8/ Ranger 4 for the extra asi/feat

[LordAnubis]

Swords Bard doesn't get extra attack until level 6, and if you take a level of ranger before that, that means you are waiting until level 7 to get your extra attack. If you are ok with that, then build your character how it works for your story.

[Satori]

i dont mind respeccing. Actually like it.
Deciding 5 bard spells is far away. I like to focus on what to do thil around 6.

[Satori]

Originally posted by LordAnubis:

Swords Bard doesn't get extra attack until level 6, and if you take a level of ranger before that, that means you are waiting until level 7 to get your extra attack. If you are ok with that, then build your character how it works for your story.

Yeah think i dont mind being not optimised and in return for more fitting roleplay/story.
So thinking 1 ranger, 3 bard. Then i dont know. 2 ranger or 2 bard?

[Satori]

Originally posted by sevensided:

Originally posted by Satori:

Again. Fair enough. But i am settled on swordbard.
My real question is... how would i build it with ranger?

Gloomstalker is your best bet if you're deadset, and no more than 3 levels , so you can get 5th level spells with your 9 levels of bard. GS 3 will give you the best lvl 3 ranger suite in the game.

Isnt gloomstalker more of an assasin ranged subclass? I dual wield and dont liek stealth that much. So isnt hunter more fitting then?

[ez game ez life]

like you said, not optimal, but if you really want to live the class fantasy of a bard/ranger, go for it. here my initial stat suggestion: str 8, dex 16, con 12, int 8, wis 14, cha 16