Bards are SO Fun! Your Opinion and Build Choices? (Lore/Valour?)

[Willow]

So, my b/f talked me into try this off of his library, and I decided to give it a whirl and see what the game was about. Just a quick background --> I missed out on playing DnD when I was young and he's constantly explaining references to it in shows like Big Bang Theory and the new Honor Among Thieves movie; I never played EQ I/II, DDO and barely touched WoW...

I started up BG3 without much hope or enthusiasm. Made a character, went through the ship. Made another. And another. Hmpf, yeah...it's ok. And then of course, I looked at the Bard class during creation and started fiddling with the looks of a Wood 1/2-Elf character, chose a violin to travel with, and was off...and DONE!

What path did you choose for your Bard? I was thinking of whom I would want to replace in a normal 4-character party lineup, so this first time with the class I'm leaving Astarion in the camp and building my girl as a tricky-sneaky musician who left the woodlands to pub-crawl, sing and play in seedy, smoky taverns scattered throughout the lands. Pumped up Charisma and Dexterity, and ventured forth.

Oh yeah, this is a fun game now! My b/f's playing volume wars with me now while he's watching TV; I of course, found out which volume slider cranks up my Bard's music...and the Logitech Z-5500 takes NO prisoners!

I wish we had bagpipes! I wish someone better than me with making game videos would do something like this for BG3! https://youtu.be/MPZFn1-AeWI

TL/DR version:

Now I'm about to choose between the two subclasses; what did you pick and why? I just found a second hand crossbow on a dead body after the fight at the Druid town gates and now I'm using those in each hand --> crazy fun! What weapons do you prefer?

Sorry about the wall of text here, but I just wanted to share a bit.

Thanks for any advice and tips you can give with the class!!

~Willowynd~

[Malus]

You can kill that guy at the gates your self and then pick pocket his corpse just for the hand XBOW.

I go Valor. I just like the weapon choices and AC buff it gives. You can do good DPS if you go Dual Wielder feat at LVL 4. 2 Rapiers are just cool looking.
Both are great though. Cutting Words is OP no doubt.

Glad you found a class you like. If you look at the guides you can learn to make your own party of 4. Really adds to the repeatability of this game.

[Pan Darius Cassandra]

I usually play Valor Bards in BG3, but what I really want is College of Whispers.

Vicious Mockery is one of my favorite spells in the entire game.

[WeenerTuck813]

Dear OP,

Lore Bards are arguably the best class in D&Ds entirety.

They might not seem it in EA, but they are absolute Gods as the game progresses.

Not only do they get Cutting Words - an ability so OP I’ve had DMs refuse to allow it…

But they also get to steal spells from other classes as they level so you can flex your bard to do anything.

Want to be able to flex heal? Steal aura of Vitality from Paladin.

Want a ranger blast spell? Steal Fire ball or Eldritch blast

Want to be a buffer? Steal stuff like haste, Holy weapon, etc.

I haven’t played in a while so some of those spell names might be off, but you get the idea. They’re as good as rogues at skills and sneaks, and can flex into a full on top level spell caster that fills any role. AND get get bardic inspa/Cutting words

[Ronin Gamer]

I'm not much of a bard person as a main character myself. They certainly are useful in a party though, won't deny that.

[Farsha]

Also Bards are great to multiclass with other Charisma classes.
If you want Smite and heavy armor get 2 lvls of Paladin ( you will delay your casting only by 1 lvl as Paly is a half caster)
If you want really good ranged dps go Warlock.
Or if we get Hexblade 1 lvl will give you Charisma for everything.
And you can even take few lvls of sorcerer to get meta magic.
All Charisma dips are great for Bard.

[Willow]

What race do you favor, and how do you spread your stats? I went with a 16 dex, but that's a waste if you go Valour Bard and medium armor, right (+2 max dex bonus)? I've been told that anyways; the spell checks really help thought with +3 Dexterity and + 3 Charisma, and missile combat is pretty fun for me with dual hand crossbows. One of the reasons I went with wood half-elf was for the extra speed and stealth, since I wanted to replace Astarion, but maybe I would have been better off doing something with more strength and constitution and taking less dex, and maybe replacing Lae'zel and taking her armor

So are more people leaning towards Lore bards and a char/dex build?

Thanks for the help!

Willowynd

[Pan Darius Cassandra]

I like Wood Elfs, but Drow also make really good Bards.

I lean towards Valor because I like the medium armor. 16+ Dex is still higher initiative, bow attacks and Dex saves. You can never have too much Dexterity!

[Warspawn]

Originally posted by Pan Darius Loveless:

I like Wood Elfs, but Drow also make really good Bards.

I lean towards Valor because I like the medium armor. 16+ Dex is still higher initiative, bow attacks and Dex saves. You can never have too much Dexterity!

I'm finding out this as well; sure a bit of strength helps out a bunch if you're packing more gear, doing long jumps, or wielding heavier weapons, but I'm finding my role as a bard to be more supportive than front-line. Maybe I'm doing it wrong, but it's hella fun!

Speaking of support...I totally forgot about Drow and their passives. The longer dark vision would be great for scouting, and having the advantage dice from fairie fire would be pretty awesome, as would dancing lights so I'm not juggling a torch with people who can't see in the dark. Should I dual-wield scimitars? Hmm...now I want a panther pet, of course



~War~

[Malus]

Go Drow are Teifling for a different experience.
You will be treated different by some and have different options.

Over all though I think the HALF Wood elf is great choice. Allows 16 Ch and 16 Dex plus movement bonus

[Willow]

I just saw that there's another class that can use instruments, the Warlock? I didn't know if they did performances like Bards do, only saw that there was a choice they had in a video...

Willowynd

[Pan Darius Cassandra]

Originally posted by Willow:

I just saw that there's another class that can use instruments, the Warlock? I didn't know if they did performances like Bards do, only saw that there was a choice they had in a video...

Willowynd

Any character with proficiency in Performance can play.

[Belegc]

I built my Bard as a Half-Elf (Wood) - 16 Str., 14 Dex, 12 Con. 8 Int, 10 Wis., Cha. 16.
Charlatan Background gives Sleight of Hand and Deception Proficiencies. added Persuasion, Performance and Perception (Expertise goes to Sleight of Hand and Perception for double bonus) as I didn't want to take Astarion.

Went with Valor for Medium Armor + Shield + Martial weapons.
I like using Tasha's Hideous Laughter (its automatic crit. for anyone 1.5m from the target), Heat Metal (for enemies wearing metal gear), Shatter, Dissonant Whispers and also some utility like Speak with Animals :). Combat inspiration is great as well (especially with that hat that heals the target).

[Metalogic]

I'm trialing out a Female Seladrine Drow Bard (will take College of Valor at level 3), seems quite fun so far. Main benefits:

Fey Ancestry: The Feywild casts a veil over your mind. You have advantage on saving throws against being Charmed, and magic can't put you to sleep.
Dexterity +2
Charisma +1
Superior Darkvision: This creature can see in the dark within 24 m.

Drow Spellcasting:

Dancing lights: Create wisps of light that illuminate a 12m radius.
Drow gain access to the Cantrip at level 1. Charisma is their spellcasting ability for this Cantrip

Faerie Fire: Encase multiple targets in colorful light. The targets turns visible, and attack rolls against the targets have advantage. Ignores allies with the Sculpt Spells feature.
Drow gain access to this spell at level 3. They can cast it once, regained on a long rest, and charisma is their spellcasting ability for this spell.

Darkness: Create a cloud of magical darkness to Heavily Obscure and Blind creatures within. Creatures cannot make ranged attacks into or out of the darkness.
Drow gain access to this spell at level 5. They can cast it once, regained on a long rest, and charisma is their spellcasting ability for this spell.