Baldur's Gate 3 Bard Guide - All Subclasses (Lore, Valour, Swords)

in this Baldur's Gate 3 Bard class guide I'm going to be covering The Bard class including all three subclasses and providing you some useful information I'll be doing more build guides for Baldur's Gate 3 and Bard specifically but for now let's just look at how Bard functions at its basics Arts play a supporting role in many parties but they can also handle dialogue effectively thanks to high Charisma they can lock pick and disarm traps thanks to decent dexterity and lots of skill proficiencies they can partake in melee arranged combat quite effectively and they can even cast some offensive spells if the need arises in short bards are a bit of everything and will likely find a home in any party you create barns don't choose a subclass during character creation like some classes so every Bard starts with the same class features and they will often take a subclass that better fills the needs of their party need more spell casting take College of lore need more martial prowess take College of Valor or College of sorts Arts have more flexibility than just about any class in the game and barred subclasses further illustrate this point in this section we'll take a look at how to set up your bar during character creation for best results we'll begin with abilities first since this is arguably the most important part aside from choosing your subclass your primary abilities as a Bard are Charisma dexterity and Constitution Charisma determines how difficult it is for enemies to save against your spells it will improve your dialogue skill checks the dexterity improves Armor class initiative which allows you to go sooner in combat it improves attack rules with ranged Infamous weapons as well as damage with these weapons and improve sleight of hand stealth and acrobatics Constitution is there to help keep you alive via HP and also to help you maintain concentration on spells like cloud of daggers very fire or whole person should you get hit while concentrating on them for this reason I strongly recommend that you invest 16 in Charisma and 16 in dexterity during character creation you can leave Constitution at 14 since you likely won't play a full-on martial character immediately and even if you do you will likely have another melee unit that helps soak up the damage know that I've changed this from the recommendations as it's more optimized for your character during the early goings of the game when it comes to races if you're planning to go College of lore then I recommend either get Yankee Elf or half elf githyanki provides The Bard with medium armor proficiency they wouldn't otherwise get as well as astral knowledge allowing them to gain proficiency and one ability each long rest they also gain Misty Step at level 5 which can help with barred positioning Alpha is great for perception proficiency and Longboat proficiency if you plan to use one they also have Fey ancestry which provides advantage on saving throws against Charmed and sleep immunity they also gain dark vision which can help you land your attacks in Dark Places half elf for shield proficiency as well as Fey ancestry they also gain dark vision which can help land your attacks in Dark Places and half what else gives you stealth proficiency if you plan to go College of Valor or College of Swords half work is not bad for dark vision Relentless endurance and higher melee critical damage than other races especially if you plan to play a melee focused part half elf or human is also good on College of Swords since they won't have Shield proficiency otherwise and this allows them to go one-handed in Shield if they want drow is also not a bad idea for any of these subclasses since you pick up fairy fire and darkness as once per day casts at later levels along with Superior dark vision perception proficiency and Fey ancestry for skills you'll minimally want proficiency and persuasion intimidation and deception since you should be handling the dialogue in your group if playing a Bard unless you bring will along you can use your background to take charlatan which will give you deception and sleight of hand but if you plan to go College of lore you might want to select Guild Artisan for persuasion and insight since you'll pick up sleight of hand and intimidation at level 3 automatically at level 1 bards gain bardic inspiration allowing them to bolster an Ally's attack roll ability check or saving throw by 1d6 or one to six be sure to set up the reactions of your party members to better utilize this by hitting L and Ticking everything to on and to ask note that bards cannot use Arctic inspiration on themselves Barnes also gain level 1 spells along with two level one spell slots and two can trips including vicious mockery vicious mockery can be used every turn if needed to make an enemy attack have disadvantage while dealing a small debt of damage which can help protect your party members that may be toe-to-toe with dangerous foes only bards and warlocks gain this can trap through progression every other class must take a feat in order to acquire it note that bards don't need to prepare their spells and can cast any spell they know as long as they have the spell slot for it but they learn fewer spells than some other spellcasters level 2 bards gain half their proficiency bonus rounded down to all skills they aren't proficient and making them even better at more skill checks this will be plus one until Level 9 where it will increase to plus two bards can also use song of rest from this level onward to provide the effects of a short rest to the entire party replenishing HP and recharging any class features that recharge on short rest for all party members this is great when running a party that benefits a lot from short rest like warlock fighter and Bard itself at level 3 bards gain access to level 2 spells and gain level 2 spell slots and can upcast level 1 spells with these slots if they can be bards also gain expertise and two skills at this level expertise doubles the proficiency bonus of skills that The Bard is proficient with making them even more effective level 3 bards will also choose their subclass from College of lower College of Valor and College of swords and we'll get into what is different between them in The Bard subclass section bards gain one feet from the feat list at level four they could choose ability improvement taking Charisma to 18 which impacts dialogue spell difficulty class spartic inspiration charges or they could choose resilient Constitution for better concentration checks or warcaster for the same reason bards cast many spells that require concentration so either these are a good choice at level 5 bards gain access to level 3 spells and gain level 3 spell slots and can upcast level 1 and level 2 spells with these slots if they can be arnic inspiration will also change from a D6 to a d8 at this level increasing the effectiveness of it by providing a higher range of role possible Arctic inspiration will also replenish from this point onward with a long or short rest allowing you to get these back much more often and is a huge upgrade for each bar this is why I mentioned song of rest being good for bards earlier bards gain counter charm at level 6 allowing them to provide advantage on saving throws against Charmed or frightened to themselves and allies within 9 meters for three turns as an action at level 7 bards gain access to level 4 spells and gain level 4 spell slots and can upcast level one two and three spells with these slots if they can be guards gain another feat from the feat list at level 8. they can choose ability improvement taking Charisma to 20 or they could choose resilient Constitution or warcaster if they haven't already at level 9 bards gain access to 5 spells and gain level 5 spell slots and can upcast level 1 2 3 and 4 spells with these slots if they can be at level 10 bardic inspiration will change once again from a d8 to a d10 increasing the effectiveness by providing an even higher range of role possible bards also gain expertise and two skills again at this level also at level 10 bards can select two spells from a list of magical Secrets these are spells from other classes they would not otherwise be able to learn they range from Level 1 to level 5 spells and some of them pack quite a punch Choose Wisely a level 11 bards gain access to level 6 spells and gain level 6 spell slots and they can upcast level one two three four and five spells with these slots if they can be this is the highest level of spells bards can learn in bg3 bards gain their final feat from the feat list at level 12. they could choose ability improvement taking Charisma to 20 if they haven't already or they could choose resilient Constitution or warcaster thank you moving on to equipment the equipment bars used largely depends on what sort of bar you are making but most spards will minimally use light armor and a ranged weapon and a finesse melee weapon like a Rapier or short sword if you're playing a college of lorbard you'll likely lean on your ranged weapon for most of your attacks when you're not casting spells you will use a shield if you picked half elf or human and medium armor if you went get Yankee however if you're playing a college of Valor Bard you'll likely be using medium armor and a shield and a Rapier or short sword using a ranged weapon mostly and mailing one force 2. if you're playing college of Swords you'll likely be in medium armor using two finesse melee weapons and a ranged weapon since you will not have Shield proficiency unless you got this from your race if you have Shield proficiency then you can choose either one-handed in Shield or dual wielding with your fighting style your choice of Bard's subclass is relatively simple do you want more spell casting if yes then go College of lore if no then you'll choose between College of Valor and College of Swords based on what they provide you which we will cover in this section let's have a look at these things before we wrap up this guide with some multi-classic tips all bards gain initial subclass features at level 3 when they select their subclass and once again at level 6. these subclass features are the only things that distinguish Bard subclasses from one another making it a little more cut and dry than some other classes up first is College of lore at level 3 College of lore bars will gain Proficiency in Arcana intimidation and sleight of hand for this reason it's a good idea not to choose these proficiencies during character creation or they will be wasted they can also gain cutting words at this level which allows them to use their bardic inspiration as a reaction to apply a penalty to an attack roll ability check or damage dealt this can be used to prevent damage and what's great is that it can be used as a reaction so you do not need to cast it ahead of time make sure you go to your reactions and tick this on to ask so that you can use it in combat when you want at level 6 College of lore bards gain magical Secrets all bards gain magical Secrets at level 10 but College of lorebards gain extra ones at level 6. from here you'll be able to select two spells from the list that you will learn instantly but these will all be level 3 spells or lower compared to the ones you learn at level 10 which can be up to level 5. this makes College of lore bards have more versatility in their spell casting compared to Valor and swords bars up next is College of Valor at level 3 College of Valor bards are going to give you medium armor proficiency Shield proficiency and Marshall weapon proficiency for this reason choosing a race solely for any of these proficiencies is a bad idea as they will become redundant also at this level bardic inspiration changes to combat inspiration and to also allow you to apply it to a party member's damage roles or Armor class at level 6 College of Valor bards will gain extra attack allowing them to perform a second attack in combat if they use their first action to attack this puts them on par with most martial classes that also have this feature and they can still cast a boatload of spells to boot and this brings us to College of swords at level 3 College of Swords bards gain medium armor proficiency and Scimitar proficiency this means they benefit from racial weapon proficiencies much more than College of Valor bards and elf gives you access to Longbow for instance which is more damage than a short bow they also don't gauge Shield proficiency so if you want to use a shield then they would be better off choosing human or half elf or multi-classing with another class that has Shield proficiency College of source boards all also gain their choice of either dueling or too often fighting from fighting styles at this level dueling is great for sword and shield type play and two weapon fighting for dual wielding if you don't have Shield proficiency from race or multi-class then you'll sort of be shoehorned into choosing two weapon fighting College of Swords Parts also gain flourishes at this level allowing them to perform special attack actions using their bardic inspiration attacks which also deal increased damage these can be used at both ranged and in melee so there is some flexibility these can drastically increase the performance of any Bard in combat especially since after level 5 bardic inspiration replenishes on every short rest at level 6 College of Swords bards will gain extra attack allowing them to perform a second attack in combat if they use their first action to attack just like College of Valor bars in this section we'll take a look at multi-classing a Bard in bg3 and what other classes you might multi-class with keep in mind this is not a complete list but rather helpful suggestions to make a good pairing the first most likely place a Bard with multi-class is likely after level 3 so they can pick up a subclass and the immediate benefits that come with that multi-classing here would also give them many skill proficiencies expertise and two Skills 6 spell slots Arctic inspiration and song of rest on top of those subclass features if you don't multi-class your bar to level 3 the next best place is probably after level 6 in order to gain magical Secrets if you went College of lore or extra attack if you went College of Valor or swords you will also take improved bartic inspiration font of inspiration and counter charm with you as well which are all good pickups and the last place you're likely to multi-class a Bard is after level 10. all bards gain magical Secrets expertise and two more skills and the final Improvement for Bardock inspiration at this level Paladin Sorcerers and warlocks all use Charisma to cast their spells so they make solid choices for pairing with Bard however you can mix and match with some martial classes as well to pick up some more martial prowess I like two levels of Paladin and then 10 levels of Bard because you gain armor proficiency Shield proficiency you gain Divine Smite and you can use Divine Smite far more often with the amount of spell slots bars gain these proficiencies are more relevant if you win College of lore but Divine Smite is reason enough to multi-class with paladin on its own six Paladin and six Bard is also good for Aura of protection and extra attack on the Paladin side though you do lose out on higher level spells I like three levels of Bard and nine levels of sorcerer but only with College of Valor swords in order to pick up medium armor proficiency and either flourishes or combat inspiration this provides you more offensive Firepower on the spell front while still gaining some martial capabilities I take either draconic bloodline or storm sorcery on sorcerer since both of these subclasses gain features at levels 1 and 6. you could also do six barred and six sorcerer to gain extra attack but much like with six Paladin you will sacrifice higher level spells to do so I like three levels of Bard and nine levels of warlock for similar reasons however warlock can eliminate the need for more than 14 dexterities since you can make Eldritch blast in melee attacks with Charisma while College of Valor or swords provide medium armor and warlock's Bell slots replenish on short rest and bards have song of rest plus warlock spell slots don't go higher than level 5 anyway which they reach at level 9. you could also go nine barred and three warlock to gain pack to the blade still gain extra attack on your Bard and attack with Charisma instead of dexterity multi-classing barred with martial classes makes sense in a lot of cases but it doesn't make much sense to me for most martial classes to dip one or two levels into Bard to gain some spells for this reason I think it's far more likely bards will dip one or two levels into a martial class instead two levels of fighter for instance would provide armor and shield proficiency should they need it a fighting style and action surge giving them an extra action once per short rest three levels of thief would give bars an extra bonus action they could use to distribute bardic inspiration more quickly in combat along with some sneak attack damage you'll miss out on magical Secrets expertise and a d10 Barton inspiration die if you take this though two levels of Barbarian also gets you Reckless attack which can drastically Help The Bard connect with attacks in combat just make sure that you only rage when you don't want to cast spells because you can't cast them while raging so that wraps up our Bard class guide I hope you guys found this useful and it gave you some helpful information towards playing Bard Bard is a phenomenal class in bg3 and if you haven't played it I highly recommend it as always if you guys have other barred tips for new players be sure to leave them in the comments and if you have questions leave them there as well and I will try and answer them as soon as I can [Music] thank you

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Id: Ndzgj1_wJ2s

Length: 15min 1sec (901 seconds)

Published: Sun Aug 13 2023