Let's have opinions on bard subclasses

[craig234]

Not the basic 'what are they', but a bit more detailed pros and cons.

[craig234]

What are some essential spells to suggest for lore 'secret spells'? I know haste is popular but don't like tying up a char and concentration to get another attack...

The earlier suggestions I agree with include counterspell, fireball, spirit guardians. What others?

[iamcorn]

Publicado originalmente por craig234:

What are some essential spells to suggest for lore 'secret spells'? I know haste is popular but don't like tying up a char and concentration to get another attack...

The earlier suggestions I agree with include counterspell, fireball, spirit guardians. What others?

Warden of Vitality is pretty cool. Don't know WHY they renamed AURA of Vitality to Warden, but that's an option.

[AokiYakumo]

Publicado originalmente por craig234:

What are some essential spells to suggest for lore 'secret spells'? I know haste is popular but don't like tying up a char and concentration to get another attack...

The earlier suggestions I agree with include counterspell, fireball, spirit guardians. What others?

For support, go Bless, Sanctuary, Warden of Vitality, Crusader's Mantle, Haste, Counterspell, Mass Healing Word, Revivify, Remove Curse, Death Ward, and Conjure Elemental.

For control, you can go Hunger of Hadar, Spike Growth, Entangle (something I actually WOULDN'T recommend in traditional 5e tabletop because you can also get Web which is just better in every way, but in BG3 there's little to no difference so I went with the lower level option), Slow, Sleet Storm, Hex (particularly good for Swords Bards since - as mentioned prior - their spellcasting ain't exactly the prime real estate like it is for Valor/Lore), and Wall of Fire.

For damage, you can't go wrong with Fireball or Spirit Guardians, but the ones I'd recommend that aren't from the control list are Ray of Frost, Ice Knife, Guiding Bolt, Spiritual Weapon, Call Lightning specifically (you can take it and/or Lightning Bolt but Call Lightning is WAAAY more spell slot efficient), Ice Storm, and Cone of Cold.

Of course, if you're Valor/Swords, then you can't go wrong with Thunderous Smite and Armor of Agathys (but take AoA only if you aren't the beneficiary of Tharciate Vigor, because otherwise you miss out on 20 THP for any given adventure day). Thunderous Smite gives Swords Bards something to do with their other spell slots that isn't of the carbon copy control variety (and it allows them to maintain good DPS numbers when Flourishes get taken off the board, long enough to get them to the next short rest), while AoA is a damage shield and a buffer of HP - which for a melee Bard in particular is important because front line and sh*t (don't wanna get geeked by a mook while you're dashing and slashing). Granted, AoA loses value if you go full AC-Tank (it's possible to hit AC 26 while giving constant disadvantage to enemy attacks, and you can spike it higher with a Defensive Flourish - which is why I didn't recommend Shield - which means with a Radiant Orb Cleric in the party you basically never get hit unless it's a dupe crit), but if you can't hit those crazy high AC numbers than this gets a ton of value.

[FunkyMonkey]

Publicado originalmente por craig234:

What are some essential spells to suggest for lore 'secret spells'? I know haste is popular but don't like tying up a char and concentration to get another attack...

The earlier suggestions I agree with include counterspell, fireball, spirit guardians. What others?

I would give honourable mention for Command, too. Great non-concentration CC spell. If you have another spell you always concentrate on during fights, Command is a great complimentary spell.