How to Build a Bard for Beginners in Baldur's Gate 3

[@italianspartacus]

Thanks so much for watching my bros! Paladin is up next! :D Full Bard Abilities ► bg3.wiki/wiki/Bard Follow me on Twitch! ► www.twitch.tv/italianspartacus Beginners Guide to Terms ► kzbin.info/www/bejne/ioLVe42GqdOkeLc Become Part of the Community ► discord.gg/UuPSgYDKSy

[@carolxs]

Paladin + Bard multiclass? =P

[@TopShot501st]

Respecing Astarian as a Bard was hilariously fitting to his character

[@charlesmwolf]

it does kinda fit astarion, but I actually respec shadowhart into life cleric / lore bard to really focus her as the support character for most of her actions.

[@loganmech]

Literally only here to reclass Astarion.... Lol

[@ethangibson4518]

I’m specing my custom as a College of Lore but Astorian is going to be a Gloom Stalker Assassin which also feels like it fits

[@rwulf]

Regarding Actor feat: this feat will give you expertise in deception and performance even if you do not have proficiency in the skills. What this means is - if you are planning on taking the actor feat, you should avoid taking deception or performance or, better yet, respec out of them when you take the feat. this also means you should avoid taking backgrounds that grant you either deception or performance because you cannot respec out of background proficiencies and they are essentially wasted once you take Actor.

[@Megalomaniac_Trans_Lesbian]

I sure do love being a wood elf bard or rogue with expertise in six skills and proficiency in six others. That definitely feels balanced and intended

[@omenmarin7903]

I found bard one of the most BUSTED classes in the game, for 2 reason, they good in combat, and good outside of combat; they take the "jack of all trades" phrase to a whole new level and they are fantastic for role playing too, since they charisma skills are insane

[@brianbalcer]

I like my Bard. First time playing something that isn't more DPS oriented. Sure, I don't do as much damage as I normally am use to but I still do decently with duel hand crossbows and the damaging spells I have access to. The best thing so far has been the versatility. So many proficiencies. I can fill so many roles with this one character. The face of the party that is amazing with all the social skills, great utility with buffs and debuffs and some healing, and also fill the Rogue role with great sleight of hand and dex and stealth. That's like 3 characters rolled into one and it really frees me up for the other characters I can bring with me. Basically any combination of companions seem to work well with a Bard. I am finding the damage to be decent for a utility role class. This is with playing as Lore Bard. I'm sure the other subclasses can do a bit more damage

[@perer005]

Remember that if you are playing with Gale then you can get a lot of the Ritual Spells from him so you don't need to spend energy learning them yourself!

[@davidcrawford5324]

Not to mention that although the spells he recommended using ARE ritual spells, the ones he had shown were the non ritual versions and DO in fact use up a spell slot. It says so right on the tooltip. Always double-check the tooltip to ensure you are using the right one.

[@robinthestate6548]

​@@davidcrawford5324they are that level of spell. If you cast them off combat tho, They don't consume spells.

[@davidcrawford5324]

@@robinthestate6548 Good to know thanks. I'll keep that in mind.

[@robinthestate6548]

@@davidcrawford5324 no worries. Also, if you can upcast it to level 2+ you can buff multiple friendlies at once.

[@realstunt3571]

How? Gale can only learn himself no? He can teach spells to others?

[@Bearyboo87]

It doesn't matter what you do, YOU MUST SING OBNOXIOUSLY OFFKEY WHENEVER YOU DO IT! Wait this isn't the tabletop game... as you were.

[@Isvoor]

You can perform with your musical instrument for free at the end of your every turn so that there's constant background noise coming from your bard!

[@Bearyboo87]

@@Isvoor that's very true! But the goal (for me) is to be equal parts charming, useful and annoying. I'm a dad it's my sworn duty...

[@kalbarnes2494]

DMs who make bards do that are stupid and you won’t change my mind. Do they make folks playing fighters/barbs get up and display their physical prowess? No. Do they make wizards do a pop quiz when doing an arcana check? No. If they do something similar for each character, then fine, I could see some party’s enjoying that.

[@Bearyboo87]

@@kalbarnes2494 read the other comments, this is what I do to enjoy myself when playing a bard. Forcing others to do anything as a DM is a shit thing to do. You can't make people RP on your terms and If you do you've missed the point. That being said this was 90% a joke, yes I've done this specifically when playing with my kids because THEY also have fun. You've reacted in a really odd way to an out of context comment, from a place that I suspect someone has wronged you previously. Do not project that on others

[@TomJakobW]

@@Bearyboo87 true, that felt projected *hard*

[@anxiousx]

As a PS5 player waiting for a release in 2 days who aiming to play as a Bard this video is perfect!

[@jordanlopez222]

I'm in the same boat

[@dandan2160]

How are you liking it?

[@KingEaglez29]

@@dandan2160it's freaking awesome just wish I had friends to play with for a dedicated multiplayer run.

[@dandan2160]

@@KingEaglez29 I'm currently trying to talk my wife into for some couch coop

[@KingEaglez29]

@@dandan2160 good luck I hear it's a lot more fun with dedicated players.

[@tamtentonda]

Just so you know, i noticed you keep recommending high elf for the cantrip. Its a good idea however if you choose any attack roll dependent spell you use INT for the roll instead of say CHArisma for Bard or WISdom for cleric. This is also why Shadowheart often misses her firebolt cuz she stacks WISdom not INT. So id stick to minor image, friends etc.

[@AzureRaven2]

I appreciate you clearing this up! I suspected it was the case but wasn't sure.

[@jsn-_-smoke8786]

Lmao I was wondering why shadowheart always wiffed firebolts

[@TheRedAzuki]

Friends is Op at balanced cuz always gets advantage

[@italianspartacus]

AWESOME point, totally forgot to point this out dude - thank you!

[@ganjiblobflankis6581]

This could definitely be fixed for QoL. The frost staff you assemble in the underdark grants access to frostbolt as an action cantrip and on my druid it used Wis for the attack roll. Do not know if this applies to other spells/cantrips or if it works for Cha casters, but the point stands.

[@davidcrawford5324]

Due to the fact that Bards are major skill monkeys as ItalianSpartacus so eloquently put it, you can easily set up your bard to give you ALL of the skills and proficiency/expertise bonuses that are typically utilized on a rogue. So long as your bard is set up to be Dex based, you will have everything you need. Perception, Stealth, Sleight of Hand, etc. While you do miss out on sneak attacks or any other rogue only skills/abilities, you can easily get by without them. Unless you desperately want the extra bonus actions awarded to the Thief subclass you can simply use your bard to do all of the rogue stuff AND be the face of the party, AND be support or go College of the Sword and do the heavy hitting yourself. In this way you can respec Astarion into something else such as Ranger or a caster class or even a frontline fighter/barb or whatever you desire, and have everyone else go ham on damage with Shadowheart as your heal/buff bot. Using Enhance Ability or Cat's Grace to give yourself advantage on every dice roll for every disarm trap or lockpicking or pickpocketing activity is nice too. You'll seldom lose a roll in this manner when your bonuses are high enough.

[@scottrackley4457]

Cat's Grace is cheating, no lie.

[@beastiebro]

Mephistopheles Tiefling is my fav for lore bards which works well bc Tieflings use Charisma as their spell modifier :)

[@kev_sen]

All bards use Charisma for spell mod.

[@beastiebro]

@@kev_sen um yeah, exactly… that’s why cantrips/spells from Tieflings are good bc they ALSO use CHArisma unlike the High Elf cantrip which uses INTelligence

[@steveskeet1]

I wish I was a complete nerd like this guy and understood the game in this depth. ❤

[@Average1212]

I'll definitely give the paly/bard a try on my next playthrough. Using the hag hair on charisma, gives you a ton op options to play with lock/pally/sorc/bard and all the various mixes.

[@valerius88]

18:28 Yes, Feather Fall is also a ritual spell. So is Speak with Dead which you can pick up later. I have all of these in my current Bard playthrough and it is FANTASTIC to be able to cast over and over again. Really changes a playthrough to never have to take fall damage, for all of your party to increase their movement speed, to be able to always talk to animals, to be able to always talk to the dead, etc.

[@PeacefulOz]

The Bard Paladin is my main. I would suggest starting bard. I did it mostly for RP reasons but it also makes sense for optimizing. The early parts of the game dont require you to be able to do big damage so smite isn’t that necessary and your flourish can provide the needed ac boost. I would go 6 swords bard to get the extra attack and to get your flourish back on a short rest. Then take two paladin of your choice and finish bard. I suggest spirit guardians and counterspell for your magical secrets.

[@AurioDK]

I think the game is bugged currently, you only inherit the equipment rules from the first class chosen, not the second. That´s why if you go rogue/ranger you need to choose ranger first or you can´t use ranger weapons, I tested the latter and it´s true. Whether it also applies to paladin/bard I don´t know.

[@PeacefulOz]

@@AurioDK Didn’t notice that as an issue with any of my multiclass testing but I had started ranger first when i was building the ranger/rogue so that bug could have slipped by. Was able to use martial weapons of my choice and gained shield proficiency after going paladin. You obviously wouldnt gain heavy armor prof unless you start paladin so that could be a drawback if you were going the strength route.

[@vincentkeith5259]

Not haste?

[@PeacefulOz]

@@vincentkeith5259 haste would be a solid choice. With the easy access to potions of speed and items that provide haste these would be my choices. There is an excellent bow that you can equip that provides fire and cold resist and haste per LR. There are lots of great choices though. Fireball would be fun. Shield for defense. Really can pick what you find the most fun that fits your theme. I find counterspell is just one that is hard to go without and SG gives nice sustained aoe. I combined this with plant growth and just kept all the enemies locked down with my tanky bard.

[@Isvoor]

The High Elf cantrip is int-based. Not a good idea for an offensive bard spell, but for Friends, sure. But how can you resist using Vicious Mockery every turn?!?! Best spell in the game. I love going lore bard and basically insulting my opponents in and out of my turn the whole time. Now if only we got more character voices so that I could have a proper, rumbling dragonborn or deep dwarf voice for those insults. Cutting Words from Lore Bard honestly feels better than Valor Bard's Combat Inspiration, for AC specifically because Cutting Words is a reaction on anyone (not bonus action on 1 person) to decrease an enemy's attack roll. Didn't notice you mentioning that. Combat Inspiration is still good, I'd probably reserve it for boosting damage. Valor bard also gets an extra attack, not just Swords. Oh and make sure to check the reactions tab in the spellbook and set it to "ask" when to use barding inspirations! I wasted a lot of bardic inspirations on trivial or hard-to-stop attacks before I did that.

[@InternetStudiesGuy]

It says that the high elf cantrip is int based but at least on shadowheart it is very obviously based off wisdom anyways, despite the description.

[@cooppugh1691]

Lvl 1 life cleric(for heavy armour and extra healing), lvl bard until you get the 17 int head, then 1 lvl in wizard(give 4 spells that you can learn from scrolls), followed by the rest into bard. You will be a Rizzlord who can pass almost any check, and probably the most versatile class in combat. Puts the game on easy mode and enables whatever RP you want to do. Plus you can use dex gloves and elixir of strength to become an absolute stat goblin

[@digifan02]

To throw it out there, the dark urge can be made a hero or villain just like any other origin character. It can add depth to an evil playthrough but also flesh out a hero by fighting the urge. Especially if you are a fan of the original games i can not suggest it enough but its an enthralling mystery even if you are not (Like me)

[@skullaveraz]

I’ve only ever watched the Lore videos of the previous 2 games but it sounds like the urge has something to do with Bhaal. Maybe the urge is a bhaalspawn too? Lol

[@nathanfivecoate5848]

​@@skullaverazUrge is definitely a Bhaalspawn. The intro cinematic for the character had a ring of glowing blood drops on the pedestal around the character, giving it away for me at least

[@JosieJOK]

Bards get rapier and hand crossbow proficiencies from the class. If you want to rock a shield, you’ll have to pick a race that gets that proficiency. My Wood Half-Elf Lore Bard is rocking a shield, since half-elves get that proficiency from their race.

[@canade01]

This series is excellent, great work!

[@karllong]

Nice to see some more bard love, I played through the original BG 1&2 as a bard and it was the most fun I had and was slightly concerned that the 5e/bg3 bard would not be as cool and glad I was wrong. It's a shame you can't take over a bar/theatre as your stronghold as you could in the original but here's hoping for some DLC/expansions. BTW I would not characterise the swords bard as only a self buffing marshal character because you can use your bardic inspiration to buff allies OR use it to perform flourishes etc. My quick tip is to buff everyone before a short rest with any you have left over and then start any encounters with everyone prebuffed and your inspiration font full so to speak. I do love the lore bard for flavour but in the end the swords bard is just so effective it's worth giving up the first magical secrets for an extra attack and the flourishes. The flourishes are so effective they are almost OP, if the attack lands the enemy gets pushed back and there appears to be no saving throw. I finished my first playthrough on tactician with a bardadin with 2 levels of palli and 10 of bard and it was super effective. I went with oath of vengence and you could add a d4 of radiant damage to allies attacks with no concentration and a d4 of radiant to your own attacks using concentration. Also accidently broke my oath and that was a fantastic little side plot in it's own right even getting a new camp companion until I paid up to get my oath back. On a second playthrough with a pure bard built for dualing now and amazed at how much new content am finding especially considering how completionist I was trying to be. Looks like 200hrs just scratched the surface :) have fun everyone.

[@zero11010]

Try lore bard. It’s one of the best support characters in the game. Make shadowheart a life cleric and set her up as the healer and tank. Have your bard built to be the lock picker. Now you have two companion slots and everyone else in the whole game can focus on dealing damage. The cutting words from college of lore is absolutely huge. You have a bunch of the bardic inspiration dice. They recharge on short rest. You’re able to use these to change a hit into a miss which basically makes them extra heal spells that recharge on short rest. Also, you can use them to force an enemy to fail a saving throw to prevent yourself from wasting spells. Lastly the extra magic secrets are a pretty big deal. It’s DEFINITELY not damage focused (there are specific levels where you get access to make spells and in the right fight it can deal high damage … but, where it excels is pinpointing key enemies and taking them out of the fight for a few rounds while companions melt through the others. So, now companions that are druids, warlocks, wizards, or sorcerers really only have to focus on dealing maximum damage. They don’t even have to think about support oriented spells (except the ones that are dual purpose like hunger of hadar or spike growth).

[@karllong]

@@zero11010 Yes I love the lore bard and in fact played that for the first 6 or 7 levels because it is for me a more quintessential bard in flavour and RP. Once I tried out the swords bard though the combination of support and dmg was just too potent. As I said the swords bard can still buff, CC and do damage and tbh on a 4 person party I need everyone to lay down some damage and support. Same reason I use the tempest cleric and not the life cleric :) Killing the enemy quickly is sometimes the best support. Anyway, if I had the flexibility of a 6 person party I might be able to afford more support focused ppl, but tbh that's not my style :)

[@zero11010]

@@karllong gotcha. Well, I ended the dragon Ansur in 2 rounds. The Rafael fight was pretty trivial, too. 2 purely DPS focused characters seems like it’s plenty. I have a bunch of ideas for future playthroughs maybe I’ll try more damage at some point and see how that goes. 👍

[@johnymousAnonymous]

Honestly college of swords bard is crazy, the ranged two attack flourish let’s you target the same enemy with both hits and when you combine it with a second hand crossbow (which adds your dex mod if you choose the right combat proficiency) and the level 5 extra attack, you can drop 5 attacks in one turn and it just sweeps most of the bard spells I use are support or debuffs and then I just blast

[@ProbeAway]

I recently discovered that you don’t even need two weapon fighting (even though it’s free for swords Bard) to add your Dex modifier to an off hand crossbow. It’s only required for melee weapons

[@AurioDK]

The dex modifier added to the second crossbow is a bug unless you have an item which specifies otherwise. They will be fixing that soon .... I am using it now :)

[@burritodog3634]

what race did you go

[@ProbeAway]

@@AurioDK yes I suspected that was the case! But we might as well use it until it’s fixed ;)

[@ProbeAway]

@@burritodog3634 I went wood half elf for the shield and stealth proficiencies, darkvision and extra movement. Gith would be good for the psionics abilities and maybe Lightfoot Halfling for the lucky trait. It will work with just about anything though

[@fitmcdeezy8778]

I always picture high elfs with blood shot eyes hitting a joint just chillin

[@randyb4191]

I'm a college of valor bard right now, my party is mostly martial and it feels so good adding a d8 to a fighters crit.

[@ryanz486]

I have 2 Bards going. My second run, just a regular good bard. And also a Dark Urge Bard. Beat the game with a Moon Druid, and while my heart and preference is with Druid still, Bard has been extremely fun so far.

[@Idkgoogleitbro]

Nice, we have similar taste

[@lorsev3840]

I play my bard as the ultimate support, 10 lvl of lore bard to get 4 extra spells from any class and 2 in life cleric for bless and increase power on the healings, With this setup i take the role of the healer, the buffer, the disarm/lockpicker and the talker so i can switch companions without losing anything and experience all their quests.

[@bigwig8657]

To note for half stat feats, you can get the skill point from the hag so its quite easy to get 20 main stat by level 4.

[@tangahkoncek6841]

Does hag buff still gone if you die or respecc after patch1?

[@icyknightmare4592]

@@tangahkoncek6841 No, it should still be there. It just doesn't show up in the level up menu. If I respec I see 19 Charisma, but when I finish leveling again it's actually 20.

[@vincentkeith5259]

I have this bad habit of starting characters and getting to level 4 or 5 and then starting over. Part of it is running into events that just wreck my party, like that Gith patrol under the bridge. Part of it is finding a character I sync with. So, I have a level 5 monk and ranger, and a level 1/3 cleric/bard which is okay, but… I think I might respec him. Then - goblin camp or try to get past that damn patrol? Advice anyone?

[@gregorde]

Deep gnome and githyanki are arguably the best races if you’re going lore. And take counterspell as magical secrets

[@kylecarey4189]

Gith master race

[@Average1212]

Gith are seriously slept on if they had dark vision they would be perfect.

[@arkuspendragon]

I wouldn’t recommend a offense cantrip as a half elf or elf, because they use int as a modifier

[@mistahwaffles3196]

Is this only for the elf offensive cantrip? Everything else is charisma? I'm new to D&D and BG.

[@arkuspendragon]

@@mistahwaffles3196 for the racial one it’s is, at least it was I realize after doing a half elf sorc, the cantrip from race was int

[@meowmageddon]

False, it's cha cast for bard

[@arkuspendragon]

@@meowmageddon it’s of course, but the cantrip you get as a race feature it isnt

[@meowmageddon]

@@arkuspendragon false, bard is a charisma caster, it will use charisma, paladin would use cha, as would warlock. If a barbarian gained the cantrip, it would use int because they are not innately a caster.

[@exsidus]

20:25 “hey my rice is done” the only thing I understood here 😂 I’ve never played any D&D and I went and purchased this game because everyone I have on my friend list is playing….. I am struggling here😢

[@tytar1037]

The spell that makes people dance is incredible😂

[@zero11010]

Thinking about putting a band together. It would come online at level 7. One full bard. Everyone else takes level 6 and 7 in bard. That’s four songs of rest. This gives 6 short rests per long rest. That’s a LOT of short rest stuff … your ki points, combat maneuvers, Paladin oath stuff, cleric channel divinity, warlock spells, Druid wild shape… plus all the special weapon attacks and magic gear that recharges on short rest. I’m guessing you wouldn’t need to do long rests more often than once per 2-3 levels. That sounds crazy. And fun. And crazy fun.

[@tangahkoncek6841]

Dont stop there, hire a hireling, make them bard, use their song of rest and bench em

[@WTFreddie]

Great videos man

[@persistentpally]

My love for BG3 is the roleplaying options - storyline is very solid, and you get to blow things up when it's time. Oath of Ancients is an "Out of Comfort" zone where you have to be very careful not to initiate combat on a whim. Vengeance is reserved for characters like Karlac (Barbarian is solid, but I like the Oath of Vengeance going against the Paladins of Tyr. It also fits with her desire to break from her Zariel Combat Tool). Here were go again with analysis paralysis...in the words of Nike...Just do it!

[@JJ-qo7th]

I'm waiting to receive a reimbursement for some things. When I get it, I'm buying BG3, and I think I'm going to try to replicate the build that I had for a (lore) bard I played from levels 1-12 in Hoard of the Dragon Queen/Rise of Tiamat. The rest of the party was crazy damage monkeys. I took Aura (Warden) of Vitality as one of my Magical Secrets at level 6, and a one-level dip in Life Cleric to get that sweet, sweet Disciple of Life bonus to my healing. I know the Life Cleric is probably still the gold standard for healing, but it wasn't just about being the healer. Cutting Words and Vicious Mockery brought damage mitigation by forcing more attacks to miss. Suggestion and Hypnotic Pattern (among others) brought damage mitigation by parking some of the tougher enemy combatants out of the fight until we were ready for them. Aura (Warden) of Vitality was only for when fights got pretty hairy or when we needed to top off between fights. 2d6 + 5, ten times, is a fantastic amount of healing to produce for a third-level spell slot. From what I'm reading, Larian interpreted this interaction the same way I did and my DM did. I think this general toolkit served much more effectively in keeping the party alive and healthy than a single-classed Life cleric might have done, _and_ I got to be a bard which is just...so much fun. I would play that bard again at the drop of a hat.

[@yasinachekzai2567]

College of Swords sadly doesn't get shield proficiency though, so unless you chose Human or Half-Elf, duelling is maybe not as good as it could be.

[@johnymousAnonymous]

I think two weapon fighting is better unless you plan on being mostly a spell caster anyway (in which case pick college of lore) the ranged two attack flourish lets you target the same enemy with both hits and when you combine it with a second hand crossbow (which adds your dex mod if you choose two weapon fighting ) and the level 6 extra attack, you can drop 5 attacks in one turn and it just sweeps most of the bard spells I use are support or debuffs and then I just blast my crossbows, at level 6 I was regularly doing 25-40 damage per turn without needing to fulfill sneak attack requirements, while having some of the best spells in the game (for me I used vicious mockery/dissonant whispers/hypnotic pattern/ both healing spells/faerie fire)

[@Riftstorm_Zone7]

@@johnymousAnonymous what starting stats would you reccomend?

[@karllong]

Dualing gets gud once you finish off a monster from act 1 that makes a reappearance in act 3, complete that quest line and you get a dualing sword that it becomes worth respeccing around. My swords bard has just the rapier, no shield and a 22 AC and 3 main hand attacks, once you do a defensive flourish your AC at 26 you get pretty hard to hit.

[@TheRedAzuki]

​@@johnymousAnonymousdropping dissonant for longstrinder is good, its ritual so used outside combat costs no spell slots, gives your entiree party 3m extra per long rest

[@arkuspendragon]

I use that with thief subclass for rogue, with duel weapon it helps with the double shortswords and double hand crossbows. What I did with my astarion, 3 lv in rogue (thief), 1 lv in warrior for archery and rest college of sword it’s pretty fun

[@PrimetimeD]

I think I'm going to build a bard based on one of the members of Dethklok.

[@JayDastion]

For Magical Secrets I can’t recommend Command enough. When you upcast it you add additional targets - it gives you a really good low spell level control option that doesn’t use up your Concentration and it’s so flexible. All options make them lose a turn but depending on which command you give you can make the enemies flee to provoke, make them drop their weapons (an action to reequip it assuming you don’t pick their weapon up first), lay prone, etc. Note that you make enemies unable to move(ie fear) AND prone they lose their turns because they don’t have any movement to use to stand up.

[@jayviktor6130]

Don't forget the gloves of Archery. You can use a long bow too.

[@javier6483]

My first character was a "crackhead Gith" Bard a friking Swiss army knife, and it made the game easy mode, I don't want to spoil anything ... but words have power a lot of it, lmao. In fact, charisma made the game so stupidly easy that I'm having a lot of decision paralysis now that I want to start another playthrough and all the most powerful classes I like have high charisma and are so OP...

[@biotechisgodzilla]

I used to hate brd. But you remedied that! 😊

[@williamreece5763]

I'm having trouble with my build plz help, I'm new to d&d and I just got this game andi lo e it but I keep looking at the classes and stuff like you would in diablo like some classes and builds wont work and get you killed, so here's my dream build for roll playing that I made amd just wanted to make sure this is not gonna be real weak, it's a woodelf bard and my background is entertainer I really got excited when I found out you get to be a actual bard and play things LOL I also heard they are very powerful at buffing other characters and I also want to use my switch long swords wth a bow to deal damage while I'm buffing my crew out. Is this a bad build like am I making the game harder with it to where it's gonna be impossible tp kil anyone, Like I said I'm new so plz help

[@drunemeton]

Those are some very solid choices for a Bard! You posted 9 days ago so I hope that you’re enjoying this amazing game.

[@kzxkzxkzx]

Great video, tho I can't believe it's yet another bard video who totally sleeps on the Zariel Tiefling race. Thaumaturgy is just so incredible strong as a high charisma party face bard character.

[@TheRedAzuki]

Friends cantrip achieve the same thing and got no real drawback below tactican but yeah, if you dont wann go friends and only intimidation then go for it ^^

[@Sp1tfire_5316]

I'm playing as a college of Valor sage half high elf bard and was considering multiclassing into Rouge or Cleric. Cleric for more heals and guidance or Rouge for the stealth attacks since I enjoy it so much. I often have shadowheart in my party as my heal support but kinda wanted to change it up by bringing wyll or gale. I love playing as a very charismatic support while being sneaky but I feel like I'm trying to do to much on a single character do u have any suggestions?

[@italianspartacus]

I'd go valor and rogue/thief! You'll have extra bonus actions to get the most out of your bardic inspiration! Then you can also take care of lockpicking n disarming traps. You'll be the ultimate support gigachad!

[@Sp1tfire_5316]

@@italianspartacus Ok thanx I've been wanting to multiclass for awhile but wasn't sure what combinations were good along with what level I should start going for another class. It seemed very complicated for my simple potato brain lol

[@MikeDaFarmer]

feather fall lasts ten turns or something like that my friend. Thanks for the video

[@antoinethibierge9418]

What kind of stuff do you put on a college of lore bard ? Stuff that give you spell, bard stuff ? My main challenge is to connect with my control type of spell (often with saving throws) but I can’t find stuff that looks to help with that…

[@PeppermintLeo32]

Been watching all of these videos patiently waiting for the Druid one 🤥

[@maougha]

Oh god, I'm gonna spend a week in the character creation before even starting my first play through.

[@sarchiaponeseriale4380]

Great video! Grazie

[@Yuki1888]

Thank you very much.

[@fylimar]

Proud halfling lore bard here - she never botches a charisma skill check

[@stinkymuffin]

1. Have Bard use perform and play a song to draw a crowd. 2. Fireball/Lightning Bolt/Gylph of Warding 3. ??? 4. Scroll of Revivify on Bard. If you dont want to use your Bard as bait then a different character needs to have musical instrument proficiency. To do this have a non bard talk to Alfira the Bard in the druid grove and pass the performance checks to help her. That character will get musical instrument proficiency and be able to use perform. Also you can play together with all your other party members that can also use perform. I did this with Karlach and now she looks awesome playing a lute before she gets absolutely blasted.

[@giannisuvs5293]

@ItalianSpartacus Hello mate! I would like to play a lore bard 10 / warlock 2 range spell caster. Should I start with lvl 1 Bard or Warlock? (if starts with warlock which patron fit better?). Also what race do you suggest in this case?

[@scavenger6268]

"Come ye children and learn of a tale, Come to where the shadow's dead dwell, Come and speak to me of your sorrows do tell, Come and share with me mushrooms venomously sweet, Make sure to kill the others or your body they will eat, Hope to live? Then make no retreat, For to survive Iratus' dark dwelling death fleet, In itself is a grim feat!!" -Chorus of Shadows, Tundran Expedition #1347

[@curtisthornsberry4236]

I really like high elf/half high elf as they get friends as a cantrip. Why not take actor first, get to 18 for the +4 bonus, then ability increase? Takes the same amount of time to reach 20. Unless you intend make a certain deal, which I’m inclined to unless I play a paladin.

[@Average1212]

friends is a great way to make everyone hostile on tactician.

[@curtisthornsberry4236]

Oh really?! I’m glad to know that before I go into a tactician game.@@Average1212

[@Average1212]

yea after you use friends almost everyone is hostile the second time you meet them, you get a skill check to calm them down, and if you use friends again they get hostile. I don't know how it works on regular but on tactician it isn't good if you want to ever go back to that place again.@@curtisthornsberry4236

[@CyberZombie]

Don't forget the bard hat available in act 1.

[@zelandakhniteblade5436]

In your bard multiclass options, you missed out cleric. Life Cleric 1/Lore Bard 11 is one of the best support characters in the game, while Life Cleric 1/Warlock 2/Lore Bard 9 is a decent support character who is also pumping out consistent decent damage. You mentioned the Paladin 2/Sword Bard 10 and Paladin 6/Bard 6 Bardadin builds and the particularly well liked Bard 10/Warlock 2 but you skipped the unusual but cool Paladin 2/Warlock 4/Sword Bard 6 combination. I would regard all 3 of these additional builds to be more relevant and more interesting to play than the Sorcerer multiclass.

[@nikkyxo]

im dumb and completely new but how did you get to the subclass? i’m making my character now and dont see it lol soo dumb

[@JosieJOK]

You have to get to Level 3; then you get to choose.

[@vincentkeith5259]

Questions about Bard/Pally vs Pally/Bard (who get spec'd first) Background. I have not gotten very far - one character (monk lvl 3 has almost made it to the Goblin Camp - (they're wandering around by the Gnome Windmill). I wanted to see what some others were like - it's a habit. So I have a Ranger (level 3 I think) and a level 3 Cleric/Bard (1/2) - for some reason I thought he was 1 level higher but I just looked. I thought I'd respec to Pally/Bard - I like fighting more than casting and I can get enough casting between Shadowheart & Gale. So, I like the idea of Sword Bard. So far, I like them all, but I think I like the Bard best. I 1. I think I spec'd into a background of Entertainer - but I don't remember - is there an easy way to tell? 2. My Bard is Human (I'm a long time skill junky - can't help it). When I spec Pally first, I end up with fewer skills above zero than if I spec Bard - then 2 levels of Pally. Is there some downside that I'm missing to going Bard first? If it's just a few HP then I'm okay with that. I may just Start over, but I think the 2 levels of Paladin will probably come after the first level as Bard unless there's something I'm missing.

[@countzero7338]

I am playing a college of swords bard. Level 9 now, but putting 2 level into paladin seems a could idea. I have to respec anyway since i found some gloves which automatically set my dex to 18 which frees alot of points.

[@MarkusAndersen96]

20:27 "hey my rice is done". what? haha

[@italianspartacus]

Hahahha my rice cooker plays a little medley when it's done! Usually the mic picks it up

[@MarkusAndersen96]

@@italianspartacus Yeah on a second listen I could hear it too! Rice cookers are so amazing, I have one myself :) Thanks for the guide btw!

[@italianspartacus]

My pleasure brother!

[@joshmcc3182]

Bard is way cooler than having a wizard in your party, so worth.

[@danielalilulelo]

Am I crazy for going Bard on Tactician mode 2º playthrough? (First experience with D&D) Ahaha

[@italianspartacus]

Nahh! You'll skip most of the fights because you can talk your way through em mwhahah

[@rusteddenial453]

I will def be rping as dnd brooke

[@shl6367]

Thank god this is not a sword bard dual hand crossbow build guide Edit: Durge only shuts off one quest with a very lovable npc. Everything else with Durge are additions

[@zero11010]

1:56 if you take firebolt as a racial cantrip what is your casting attribute for this? Is it intelligence or charisma? I would hope charisma, but usually these would be considered wizard spells by default which may make them intelligence based. If it doesn’t use your main casting attribute that changes the type of cantrip you would want to take with your racial cantrip.

[@italianspartacus]

It's true I messed up here - It uses intelligence :( I correct this in my future videos, but unfortunately made the mistake here

[@zero11010]

@@italianspartacus no worries. I do think this makes these races pretty weak. There aren’t many cantrip options you can take that are particularly useful with it. Maybe minor illusion … maybe. Don’t get me wrong. I went with a big dumb blue dragon and I knew it was just for looks. I think the resistance to lighting came in handy once. I think I used the breath attack twice in 12 levels. Sure was a pretty pearlescent blue dragon though.

[@ninetoevapes3175]

You know I’m not sure if anyone else has mentioned this maybe I’m going to look totally stupid for saying so but you and fightincowboy have a near identical voice near same speech patterns too and little quirks while speaking idk I enjoy both channels heavily just an observation no offense meant uhhh sorry if I look or sound like a moron 😂

[@italianspartacus]

Hahahaha nope I've heard it plenty and I fucking love his channel so that's high praise!!

[@jordanlopez222]

I'm having trouble deciding if i want to be just a swords bard or a paladin/bard 🤔

[@DukensteinA1]

This is great! Can you do ranger next? Thank you!

[@italianspartacus]

I just finished it, it's coming out in two days, paladin is tomorrow :)

[@fethend]

A minor comment on the racial suggestions, with Gith. Overall, not a bad choice, but LESS valuable for Bard than some others (super valuable on rogue), for its auto-proficiency. Bard gets Jack of All Trades, which gives half-proficiency to everything they're not proficient in. Rogue however gets the one that makes it so you can't roll below a 9 on any you do have proficency in. It's still a solid choice, it's just not as good for Bard, who already can mitigate not being proficient.

[@williamreece5763]

Hey I'm new and made a wood elf bard college pf sword and entertainer background, is this a good build, want ro play bard but don't want t to get destroyed either

[@italianspartacus]

Absolutely :)

[@williamreece5763]

@@italianspartacus okay I wasn't sure if it was or wasn't like games like diablo when if you make tour build how ever you want you end up having a build that will get you killed lol, I love my build that I listed up top but didn't know if this was something that would get me destroyed or not, I just got this game the other day and it's my first d&d game so I'm still very much learning

[@italianspartacus]

You'll be totally fine, I promise. Sword Bard is VERY strong :)

[@williamreece5763]

@@italianspartacus so woodelf was the right choice, also what enemy debuff and ally buffs should I use tha are amazing lol

[@maxil8988]

Bardic Inspiration worked fine but ever since it upgraded to Combat Inspiration, it never works anymore! It doesn't proc as a reaction to let me activate it. I don't know what I'm doing wrong, it has to be a bug. Anyone had that issue too?

[@italianspartacus]

Hmm maybe it shuts itself off. Look at your reactions rand make sure you've set it to trigger? You can click the icons in the right above your bar.. Or go to your spellbook and you'll see a tab called reactions!

[@maxil8988]

@@italianspartacus I did and it should be on. But I'm confused, do I need to use the actual bonus action and put it on someone for it to work? Because I swear early game, it just activated without me having to use it, it just gave me a reaction when someone else fought which then activated it

[@maxil8988]

(similar to the lucky feat) Maybe I just imagined it but I could have sworn it worked before as a reaction without me putting it on someone

[@ju00]

Love your guides...more ppl need to sub...honestly

[@yazan80]

If you want to do good dmg with double crossbows do you have to take CoS or can you do as much dmg as CoV?

[@ivanahhahmpaloht9153]

The "crackhead" Gith 😂

[@xXFoiXx]

This is really good but I strongly disagree about his advice of putting uneven numbers in stat allocations. Put it at 16 not 17 yes there are some things where you later might get a +1 and thus want an uneven number but you can always respec. Respeccing costs basically nothing

[@ShadoW_isles]

Is Bard -college of lore -high elf good?

[@krishuan1368]

I wanna make a Necromancer Bard…. I’m on ps5 so I haven’t played yet but I’m 3 days it’s up

[@jmajick4415]

Ritual Spell Name Class Detect Thoughts Druid Disguise Self Bard, Cleric, Fighter, Ranger, Wizard Enhanced Leap Druid, Fighter, Ranger, Wizard Feather Fall Bard, Fighter, Wizard Find Familiar Fighter, Warlock, Wizard Find Familiar: Scratch Cleric Longstrider Bard, Druid, Fighter, Ranger, Wizard Silence Bard, Cleric Speak with Animals Druid Speak with Dead Rogue, Cleric

[@jamesc7894]

I sing when I play. I know you do too and it’s ok.

[@Hightower489]

Can anyone give me advice? I'm new to DND mechanics. I have an idea of a half-orc bard, raised by humans. Competent at speaking and singing, and also tough in the occasional barfight. Is it possible to make that work?

[@S0LIDSNEK]

Of course you can make it work! All race/class combos are viable, just make your dream character and dive in! You can always turn down the difficulty while you learn the new char/mechanics

[@Hightower489]

@@S0LIDSNEK Neat! I look forward to playing it, and thanks for the reply.

[@zero11010]

If you want the game on easy mode … make your main character a Halfling bard from college of lore. It’s pretty crazy. It may not be fun because it starts to make the game easy regardless of tactician or whatever else. You’ll dominate all the dialog stuff and handle all the lockpicking. Set shadowheart up with life domain. She’s able to tank and heal. Then you have two companion slots who can just DPS (bard for support and cleric for heals). Astarion as rogue/monk or rogue fighter. 3 levels of rogue for third and open hand monk or battlemaster fighter. (4 levels of rogue to get the third feat at level 12). Lots of options for this. Two weapon fighting is wonderful. Great weapon fighting is also fine. The polearm master build (great weapon variant) is also fun. For monk you can cheese with the tavern brawler or go dex focused and it’s still great. Lae’zel as whichever above combo Astarion didn’t take. You’ll be doing four attacks per round. And it’s amazing. One of these can be champion fighter to make a crit monkey. This is easier in act 3, or you can hire the Halfling and use them for it (the lucky racial makes them hit more and crit more, especially with advantage). Halsin is fine as the manimal. Though spore Druid is good and after the last patch there is talk of spore+monk. Jaheria works well as a spore Druid. I think if you go spore you want to go with summons. She will burn through resources and having a summon out helps slow that down some. Karlach is tricky. Just like with spore Druid barbarian is a lot of fun, but they run out of rages and then you’re just sad. Barbarian is certainly fun, but you’ll bring her out and try to only rage every other fight .. and she’ll still run out if resources and get left back at camp to eat dirt or whatever. Wyll is an eldritch blast machine. By the time you get to act 3 you’ll find weapons just don’t hold up. (1D10+1D6+12)x3 per attack action is just crazy, and you can certainly tune it up from there.

[@lucasw2578]

Which subrace for halfling?

[@zero11010]

@@lucasw2578 they all have the racial ability. Pick the one with stats that are better for the class you’re doing.

[@DKMaester]

Please stop telling me not to min/max. I also want to have fun.

[@italianspartacus]

Hahahahaha

[@craverguy]

What outfit is your Drow wearing in the thumbnail? It looks cool.

[@italianspartacus]

The Bard equipment from act 1! You can get the hat at the emerald grove on the hill by the tiefling bard

[@craverguy]

@@italianspartacus how do you get the colors to look like that?

[@italianspartacus]

I think that's one of the dyes! General Drake might be the name??

[@olishonick]

Im a black metal drow bard named "the dark urge"

[@KadayiPolokov]

Crackhead Gith. On point with that one.

[@JMOlsen_]

Drow make excellent bards, even if their societies rarely produce them. But really not a beginner-friendly class.

[@zzz-cb3xe]

Why?

[@JMOlsen_]

@@zzz-cb3xe Fairly high degree of complexity. Primarily a support class. Low survivability at early levels combined with slow spell progression. For those reasons likely extremely frustrating for players new to D&D.

[@pieter3525]

Seems like the best choice to pick If you want to avoid combat as much as possible? ( I suck at combat, I try to do my first run quasi-solo)

[@jakejakeson8619]

If your bard is the main character doing all the talking, you cannot take advantage of the bardic inspiration.

[@thefallzversion]

Ranger please before Saturday 😂 pleeeeeeeeeaaaasssse

[@italianspartacus]

It's... On Friday!!! Just finished it /)

[@tangahkoncek6841]

​@italianspartacus please tell me that you conjure barrage with Great Weapon Master and multiclas war cleric for more radiant damage and spellslot please

[@dextrip25]

Are humans not good for bards?

[@perer005]

Hard to pitch anyone to not play full Bard with Lore Bard. If you want the Sword/Valor playstyle you could play so many other builds, only on way to get Lore Bard :D

[@Dagda_Vargr]

Go check the rice.

[@goingtobabylone]

Are you sure Longstrider is a ritual spell?

[@davidcrawford5324]

It is, but the one he showcased is NOT the ritual version. The ritual spells will have an icon of a hand drawn green 5 pointed star on them in the tooltip so you will know which ones to use to avoid using a precious spell slot

[@kev_sen]

Out of combat it functions like one and doesn't waste a spell point. So you can buff your whole party with 3 movement speed without wasting any spells same with long jump.

[@flyfishizationjones4940]

Can we have a longer conversation about how to pronounce “drow”? I’ve played D&D since the 90s and have always heard it pronounced like “throw” with a D, until around the time BG 3 dropped. It’s possible I have been living a lie.

[@italianspartacus]

i went into a reallll big rabbit hole on this, but i guess the big community consensus is "drow" as dr-ra-ow but i used to pronounce it how you did, "Dr-o" so conditioning myself has been wild hahah

[@flyfishizationjones4940]

@@italianspartacus I still think the OG pronunciation sounds way cooler. 😂

[@italianspartacus]

I agree dude hahahah

[@doncheedleismydad4540]

So, what are cantrips? I have kinda just been playing with what sounds cool. I have just been asking myself what Slash would do 😂. This game is fun but there is just so much.

[@Axterix13]

Cantrips are level 0 spells, which basically means you get unlimited casts on them per day.

[@JayDastion]

Take Actor first. Going to 19 CHA doesn’t give you any benefit over 18 so you might as well take Actor first and benefit from it. In addition, Actor grants both Proficiency AND Expertise. So be sure to respec out of proficiency in Deception & Performance before taking it - which means you don’t want to take a background that grants those since you can’t respec your background (not an issue if you go Dark Urge anyways 😊). Doing it this way a Human or Elven Bard can have 11 skill proficiencies (1 Race, 2 Background, 3 Class, 3 Lore, 2 Actor) and half proficiency in the rest.

[@jasonblanke321]

I multi classed my bard with ranger 😂

[@kev_sen]

I think it's the strongest multi class in the game at level 12

[@stefenleung]

Look like you spend 5mins to talk about races when you said don't min-max ... Some correction, 1) College of Sword don't get shield proficiency. You can either get it from multiclass or race (human). 2) Bardic attacks use cha instead of str or dex, and only count the mainhand weapon. For good, you only need to focus on cha and ignore dex except for ac. For bad, after the 5 bardic attacks (2.5 turns), your normal attacks do shitty dmg with 14 or 16 dex/str. A nice solution is multiclass with warlock/pack of the blade, then all your melee attack use cha.

[@karllong]

Finesse weapons will be scaling from dex, there are some weapons that scale from cha like jaheras scimitar but dex is important. Personally i've been availing myself of the gloves of dex and using finesse weapons.

[@stefenleung]

@@karllong bardic attacks scale with cha tho.

[@karllong]

@@stefenleung i'm not sure what you mean by bardic attack, even if you are talking about flourishes they state in the tooltip that they are based on your dex (I just went in to double check because I thought maybe I was mistaken). The spell attacks are based on charisma but anything based on a standard finesse weapon will be based on your dex. Yes there are some weapons that will be based on your spell casting stat but they specifically state that, like Jaheras scimitar. Anyway, I was really pushing back on your statement that bards do shitty damage which is just wrong, get your dex 18 to 20 with a decent finesse weapon and your regular attacks will be doing really good damage. Anyway, yes your point about the warlock and pact of the blade is right on, that will use cha for your attack rolls.

[@markhurley3714]

Random comment for KZbin algorithm

[@Isvoor]

Purposeful reply to random comment