Bard is Broken | Dungeons and Dragons 5e Guide

thought are broken they sing songs and swing dongs just don't use them wrong BS are largely known as cocky menstruals that utilize their silver tongues to lay and lay waste to enemies and allies alike some of the shenanigans lend from stories that would lead you to question the biology of certain monster species it's always an entertaining joke but in reality BS are so much more than that they're meant to represent the artists of a magical world that might utilize paints dance or spoken word just as well as a musical instrument and like most Renaissance artists BS are well-versed in a variety of topics generally reliable and versatile in most situations that they aren't outright brilliant in and what they are brilliant at is charisma bards are Charisma based casters so you're going to want to prioritize that ability score and possibly dexterity followed by Constitution and then just about anything you feel would be flavorful with just how versatile bars are your strength intelligence and wisdom scores can fall anywhere depending on how you want to roleplay your character what is clear and consistent is that you'll want to settle on a species option that gives you a nice boost to Charisma and dexterity so half elves tling Sader and changelings all offer really interesting thematic booms along with great ability score increase PES for a bard of course you can also opt for the custom origin rule from Tasha's cauldron of everything that allows you to assign these boosts however you'd like you know express yourself then before things get too broken starting at level one your Bard will have a d8 hit die as well as Proficiency in light armor simple weapons hand crossbows long swords rapers short swords and any three musical instruments of your choice along with dexterity and Charisma saving throws and any three skills in the game game why yes you did hear that right bars are able to channel their talents into whatever Direction they choose right off the bat so you could be a spooky Bard with Proficiency in intimidation or a wisened Bard with Proficiency in perception to the window to the wall to the wall but most importantly you'll be unlocking your spellcasting feature right away at level one I usually don't mention this but do also make sure to talk to your DM about using the expanded spell list from Tasha's cauldron of everything for some extra flavorful options that can also pack a punch now earlier we said that the Bard is a Charisma based Caster this of course means that your spell attack modifier will be your proficiency bonus plus your charisma modifier and your spell save DC will be that plus 8 further The Bard is also a spells known Caster so that means that you'll be stuck with the spells that you select between level UPS rather than preparing new ones at the start of each adventuring Day rules is written you can only replace one spell you know per level up so you'll really want to put some extra thought into what you pick to begin you'll get to choose two can trips and four first level spell slots from your barred spell list to use with your two first level spell slots here's a table that dictates what other spells and spell slots you'll get as you level two and on that note you should probably consider Mage hand for some creative gaffs vicious mockery to debuff and damage enemies with clever insults silvery barbs because it's the best spell in the game and Tasha's hideous laughter for some fantastic early Battlefield control with all these options for bolstering your party it should come as no surprise that you'll be doing even more with Bic inspiration the Keystone feature for BS that you'll be utilizing throughout the game by making use of your bonus action you can choose one creature within 60 ft of you that can hear you and Grant them a Bic inspiration die which is a D6 at this point then that creature can roll the die and add it to any one ability check attack roll or saving throw within the next 10 minutes creatures can only have one inspiration die at a time and they do lose it once it's used but the feature comes in extremely clutch in situations where your party really needs one more success at a very critical moment you can grant these Inspirations a number of times equal to your charisma modifier per long rest and the size of the die grows to be a d8 at fifth level a d10 at 10th level and a D12 at 15th level scaling quite nicely as challenge ratings and DCS grow in the Run of your campaign you can technically even use these Inspirations for death saving throws and if your DM is okay with using optional rules preachers can even use your inspiration die to increase the effectiveness of spells they cast that heal or do damage so as long as your allies remember to use The Inspirations you give them it's a really strong use of your bonus action on most rounds of combat and during skill challenges even if you can't Inspire yourself with your own music because well you're more aware than anyone that you're just a hack that steals melodies from the top 100 charts and now that you and your allies are hitting way above your weight class we move on to level two where you become a jack of all trades beginning at this level and for the rest of your musical career you'll be able to add half your proficiency bonus rounded down to any ability check that you make that you aren't already proficient in so is the Rogue going to be better than you at picking locks probably is the Barbarian going to be better at smashing stuff definitely but there are always going to be situations where you need to fill in the gaps and save the day as an absolute Wild Card what's more exciting the wizard succeeding on their 10th Arcana check in a row or the bards somehow stumbling onto the next mysterious plot point in your campaign I know my answer Pro tip this even works for initiative roles ability checks for counter spell and more but also at second level you'll gain the ability to heal up your party during a short rest with a soothing Melody nobody said medicine had to taste good right realistically your song of rest might go a bit underappreciated in today's climate of less combats per day and less need to rely on an extra 1d6 of healing during a short rest but it can come in handy during particularly long dungeon crawls especially when the song's Effectiveness increases to 1d8 at 9th level 1 d10 at 13th level and 1 D12 at 17th level then at third level we get one of my favorite generic features in D and D expertise with this dis ability you'll be able to choose any two of your skill proficiencies and your proficiency bonus doubles for that skill at this point that means you'll be getting a plus four to those skills even without including your ability modifiers and it gets even better later when your proficiency bonus becomes a plus six for a total of plus 12 for those skills without factoring in any other bonuses at that level in your campaign you'll probably have a pretty good idea of where your expertise should go and what your party needs in order to help them succeed or or you can just choose persuasion and deception for good measure and talk yourself into and out of trouble whenever you see fit and this decision isn't the only one you'll have at third level you'll also get to choose your Bard College subass now I've heard a lot of people get confused about this terminology in the past a barred College doesn't mean you literally attend a school though you could flavor it that way if you'd like really you'll be choosing a focus for your Bic affinities something akin to a school of thought and as I'm sure you can imagine there are a lot of options to choose from so I'll give a brief overview of each of them here with certain features highlighted but I'll save the more intricate details for future videos and character builds that I'll be sure to link in the guide as we go along first up we have the College of creation one of the newest options from Tasha's cauldron these BS view the beginning of reality as a work of art and aim to share this beautiful vision of the first dragons and gods with the rest of the world beginning when you take the subass your Bard will be able to to add additional effects to their Bic inspiration uses such as multiple roles to choose from for each baric inspiration on an ability check extra Thunder damage to creatures within 5 ft of a creature targeted by an attack that uses inspiration and even temporary hit points equal to your charisma modifier for any creature that uses inspiration to Aid them in a saving throw you can even create non-magical items out of thin air beginning with medium-sized items at level three large items at sixth level and huge items at 14th level did someone call for a trebuchet no you were supposed to be making a key for this door later on you can animate a non-magical item within 30 ft to fight alongside of you while using your baric Inspirations with the same bonus action that you use to command it the item itself has a fly speed with hover deals 1 d10 plus your proficiency bonus and force damage with its attack and automatically increases or decreases the speed of creatures that start within 10 ft of it not too shabby for a flying sex toy and then at 14th level you'll get an enhancement for your item creation feature that allows you to create more than one item at once did someone call for five trebuchet oh right in all seriousness you can't really go wrong with the subass it takes what The Bard is all about and makes it even better silly jokes with a mix of clever Solutions in and out of combat but that is nothing compared to what the eloquence Bard brings to the table characters of this college take political Intrigue to a whole new level with logical approaches to social interactions with a cultured High Society flavor right away at level three your bar will always roll a tin or higher on the die for any deception or persuasion check that's really strong at any level of play and if you combine this with expertise you'll have every NPC wrapped around your little finger your charisma is apparently so strong that you can even use your baric Inspirations to negative atively impact enemy saving throws as well from there you'll gain abilities that don't burn your Bic Inspirations if your allies fail the roles that they use them on have creatures understand you even if you're speaking in a different language that they don't know and at 14th level Inspire others for free as a reaction to one of your allies using your Bic inspiration successfully I think a lot of people tend to underestimate the eloquence Bard since so many of these abilities aren't necessarily combat oriented at first glance but The Bard was never really about that anyway and trust me at times your DM may even ask you to turn down the charm as you break through any social barrier they throw your way with this broken subass now with a somewhat similar flavor let's touch on the College of Glamour These Bars hone their theatrical craft in both the light and dark parts of the faay wild as they use their magic to enchant and Captivate those around them when you take the subass at third level you'll be able to Grant temporary hit points to your allies within 60 ft by expending a use of your baric inspiration and allow them to instantly move up to their movement speed as a reaction without incurring opportunity attacks what's more you'll be able to charm audiences of your performances if you can get them to watch you for a minute and fail a subsequent wisdom saving throw granted this ability is a bit more Niche but you'll enjoy the resulting roleplay that spawns from it as you move into later levels where you can cast the command spell as a bonus action without expending a spell slot for a full minute and eventually Force enem to make a wisdom save the first time they attack you on each turn over the same minute duration while these later abilities can only be activated once per short rest after level 14 and once per long rest up until then it can be pretty potent when the ability comes online couple that with a heaping helping of temporary hit points for your allies and you'll find a pretty nice bang for buck subass in the College of Glamour which brings us to one of my personal favorites in the College of lore as the name might indicate this subass is all about truth and history history rather than lies and politics in collecting their own personal library of knowledge and learning lore bards will get three extra skill proficiencies along with the ability to expend aaric inspiration as a reaction to subtract from an enemy's attack roll ability check or saving throw all at just third level and let's just think about that for a second impeding enemy dice rolls as a reaction is exactly why silvery barbs has become one of the most powerful and annoying spells in the game now you get something similar without using a spell slot and this subass gets even better from there when you get to take any two spells from any class at level six and use your baric inspiration for your own ability checks at level 14 all that combined makes the lard one of the strongest out there it's easy to see why I love this one and why some of these features will make your DM pull their hair out rather than just grit their teeth at your lackluster sex jokes but the flavor train has not left the station just yet as we now get a look at the College of spirits another one of my favorite subclasses granted this option was introduced in The Raven LOF Source book so your DM may choose not to include it as an option but I'd be remissed not to include this haunting entry at the start you'll be given the extremely useful guidance can trip and the ability to bestow various bounds to your allies determined by the role of your Bic inspiration dot while the effect is random most of the options are quite good and get better as you level up your inspiration die and gain access to more and more of the list speaking of as you level you'll also gain the ability to add a D6 to the damage or healing of any b spell you cast temporarily learn a spell from any Class via an hourlong ritual and eventually roll twice on the random table of Boom from earlier and pick the preferred result now while I'd like to be able to choose the Boon I use by level 14 the ability to temporarily learn any spell each long rest deal extra damage and healing and just gain access to the guiding can trip makes this quite powerful and really flavorful if you're looking for that spooky Vibe next we have the College of Swords which as you can imagine takes a shot at bringing your Bard into melee combat at third level you'll get a very necessary Proficiency in medium armor and the Scimitar as you can also use any simple or Mele Marshall weapon as a spellcasting focus you'll also get a pretty necessary fighting style for a plus two bonus to damage rolles or the ability to use two weapon fighting and a feature called blade flourish which allows you to perform several special attacks once per turn by expending a Bic inspiration die to deal extra damage increase your movement speed beef up your AC and much more from there you'll get an extra attack at six level and later avoid burning baric Inspirations on your blade flourishes by opting to use just a plain old D6 instead if anything this subass is fairly well balanced and does a decent enough job at turning your Bard into into a melee combatant it's especially capable in early levels and works really nicely with some multiclass dips into something like hex blade warlock or maybe even Paladin and in much the same way Valor bards aim to do a similar thing as one of the first subclasses introduced in the players handbook I like to imagine the College of Valor as beefy BS that pound on war drums as they March into battle or at least sing about epic fights in their Local Tavern to start you'll gain proficiency with medium armor Shields and Marshall weapons notably in improvement from the swords B who does not have Shield proficiency and your allies will also be able to use their Bic Inspirations to add to their weapon damage or their AC of course this subass will also get an extra attack at sixth level and you'll get the chance to make an attack as a bonus action when you cast a Bard spell as an action at 14th level I've honestly heard plenty of debate on whether the swords Bard or The Valor Bard as a better pick here and I personally have to admit that I prefer the plethora of options and flexibility that I get with the swords bar but a lot can be said about the Valor Bar's access to Shield proficiency and how nice an extra D6 for damage or AC is as early as third level it's certainly not a bad option then we arrive at the College of Whispers you might liken these bargs to Rogues in the sense that they use their abilities to keep and uncover secrets that Empower themselves while assuming a relatively innocent facade and as on brand as ever at level three you'll gain the ability to deal 2d6 extra psychic damage on your weapon attacks by expending a Bic inspiration die with that damage increasing to as much as 8 D6 later and you'll also gain the ability to frighten a creature after speaking to them for a minute against a wisdom saving throw later on you'll be able to conjure the Visage and surface memories of individuals that die within 30 ft of you as a powerful disguise and eventually charm creatures as an action against a wisdom saving throw by convincing them that you know their deepest darkest secret so as if if the Bard wasn't already going to win every social encounter they come across the Whispers Bard Hedges their Bets with blackmail and threats while this isn't necessarily one of the best B subclasses out there it is extremely flavorful sure you could just multiclass into Rogue instead but what would be the fun in that after all there are not really any bad options for Bard subclasses so I've always felt free to just move in the direction that my character's flavor takes me and that takes us to fourth level where we get our first stability score Improvement we'll also get more at 8th 12th 16th and 19th level where we can also replace skills we've chosen for expertise or replace a can trip if your DM is okay with using the new optional class features from Tasha's cauldron then at fifth level we won't have to wait for a long rest to replenish our Bic Inspirations and they'll come back on a short rest instead sixth level sees us gain a pretty useless counter charm ability that takes an action to give your allies within 30 ft advantage against being frightened or Charmed until the end of your next turn I'd hope to at least give my allies outright immunity to those conditions but hey they can't all be Winners instead cheer yourself up with some new awesome B spells like aid for a huge party HP buff Liam in's tiny Hut to protect the party during rests hypnotic pattern to completely debilitate enemies in combat and polymorph as if you needed yet another option to get you out of most situations but you'll become your own get out of jail free card at 10th level when you get another round of expertise so you'll have a total of four skills that you can double your proficiency bonus for by this point your B is going to be your allpurpose solution for just about any skill check situation as well as a pretty apt combatant as you'll also get your first round of magical Secrets this feature which also comes online at level 10 allows your bar to learn any two spells from any classes this feature is insane and it's why late game bars are about as broken as it gets throughout making these guides for each class there have been several classes with access to specific spells that made them stand apart from the rest The Bard takes that exclusivity and just adds it to their own act eldrich blasts Spirit Guardians conjure Woodland beings Fireball it's all fair game and if you have trouble deciding you'll get to learn two more Spells at 14th level and two more Spells at 18th level this is the biggest reason for The Bard's Brokenness but it doesn't stop there as at level 20 when you roll initiative and have no Bic inspiration left you'll regain one okay like I said before they can't all be winners but you'll hardly care when you have access to every broken spell in the game and trust me there are a lot of those on top of all the wild spell slinging Antics and the wish spell in particular you'll have the ability to outperform most other classes in their own skill challenges while inspiring them to do better with D12 B bonuses to attack rolls ability checks and saving throws so be sure to share the most broken B Mayhem you've witnessed in the comments below and until next time go out there and make some chaos

Channel: Constructed Chaos

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Keywords: Tasha's cauldron of everything, dungeons and dragons, xanathar's guide to everything, bard 5e, bardic inspiration, college of creation bard build, college of creation bard, college of eloquence bard 5e, college of glamour bard 5e, college of swords bard, college of lore bard 5e, valor bard, swords bard 5e, bard subclasses 5e, college of spirits bard, college of whispers bard 5e, magical secrets bard 5e, vicious mockery, bard dnd 5e guide, bard subclasses ranked, bard

Id: HnfWcEHHdOk

Length: 20min 9sec (1209 seconds)

Published: Mon Dec 11 2023