OP DUAL HAND-CROSSBOW BARD Build - Baldur's Gate 3

[@jameshealan2881]

Minsc just sitting on the ground working that drum in the middle of chaos had me rolling

[@JasonDunna]

Hahahahahah I know right. It’s hilarious he’s always doing that

[@seanobrien1323]

From many videos of builds I’ve seen yours is one of the few that is very similar to mine. Equipment wise I go for the most non-type damage increase that TURNS into piercing damage. For example :Diadem of Arcane Synergy ( having Hage hair and Mirror of Loss points is a plus) , Linebreaker Boots, Legacy of the Masters, Rhapsody, Crimson Mischief. All doubled by Bhaalist Armour For survival I go for The Deathstalker Mantle and Band of the Mystic Scoundrel, to go invisible after a kill or for bosses stab, disappear, run, stab, repeat. Also I use Risky ring for Crimson Mischief (making its main hand perk always online) and using Crossbows in short range ( since I use Alert not crossbow expertise) Amulets are tricky, can’t find the best one for this build but the Misty step one is a solid choice. I name this build “Bhaals Deadliest Predator” Thank you for your build and hope this helps too 👍

[@JasonDunna]

Crimson mischief with the risky ring is such a good combo because that 7 piercing becomes 14 and it’s really nice damage on a sneak attack! Someone requested a dual crossbow build so I went crossbow expert so they can be used up close with arrow of many targets

[@IvanGovedarov-l8g]

I love these videos, that start with mentioning end game armour, that is going to be used in 1% of the run.

[@bhaveshramdaursingh4325]

It is unfortunate that most of the cool stuff needed for these builds is only accessible at the very end of the game. What I usually do at the start of my runs now is I cheat out the gear I want from the very start of the game then crank up the difficulty to compensate😅

[@bossatron2947]

If you wanna play less stealth archer dump a bard and thief level go two levels of fighter for archer +action surge

[@JasonDunna]

Bard 10 fighter 2 is such a solid build

[@albelthewicked6481]

What about a level in war cleric?

[@jordanpease3329]

Good build! I will say though that giving up to up and fighting for a dual crossbow build makes it to where you are missing your dexterity every time you attack with your second crossbow. You can still use a shield while having the two up and fighting fighting style but you get a lot more bonus damage with the crossbow's which seems to be the focus in this build.

[@ieDestiny]

sharpshooter can be very good for this build as well if you can find ways to nullify the attack roll drop

[@JasonDunna]

True that! I talked about it for the final feat but I the -5 to attack rolls can be tough without the archer fighting style

[@viniciusyugulis7278]

​@@JasonDunnahow do you get archer fighting style? Dip into some class like ranger? Or a feat?

[@bossatron2947]

⁠@@viniciusyugulis7278I think you actually might be able to make a stronger build putting two levels into fighter and taking sharpshooter as your second feat as you get archer and action surge dump one of the bard levels and one thief level not a stealth archer anymore but will hit for stupid damage

[@dathunderman4]

@@viniciusyugulis7278just need one level of fighter.

[@davidsanchez7331]

​@@JasonDunna

[@bred223]

You gotta find some different punching bags man, i cant keep watching my friends get bullied by your op builds 😭

[@JasonDunna]

Bahahaha it’s just the easiest way to showcase the build without starting actual combat which is really slow in comparison

[@debuyarou7463]

Love all your videos. Keep it up!

[@JasonDunna]

Thank you so much!! I appreciate that

[@Anubis_MonRa]

Just wanted to share a twist on this build-I took 2 levels in Fighter instead of going all-in with 8 levels of Bard. By using the Black Hole Illithid ability to cluster enemies together (especially handy in Act 3), and then equipping the Risky Ring, Arrow of Many Targets, and Dolor Amarus to boost your damage, you can pull off some absolutely insane feats. For example, when facing a whole group of Bhaal cultists in Act 3 who have Sanctuary or are Unstoppable, this combo makes them all drop like flies!

[@themainman2827]

Yay, Mariachi build.

[@JasonDunna]

Hahaha

[@debuyarou7463]

Here is one more build but it is niche: Ranger Gloom Stalker level 5/Bard Collage of Swards level 4/ Fighter level 2. Playing with The Dead Shot and give Bhaalist Armor to someone else melee. Also if you have rest of crit items and Elixir of Viciousness you will crit on 15 and above (it is possible to go 14 and above if you replace one level of Bard with Fighter but I love Alert Feat more) plus Risky Ring you will crit constantly. With melee guy come to target to make him vulnerable to Piercing damage and with this range guy delete him. Blade Flourish use only VS Boss because will not reset on Short Rest with this build.

[@InmanScott]

What would be interesting to try is dual hand crossbows, with both enchanted by the Drakethroat Glaive (by a sorc), then hold the Morning Frost stave to inflict chilled. Once the target is chilled, hit them with water to freeze them which doubles the damage of force (ne'er misser...) thunder & bludgeoning. For good measure, have the Sorc dual-cast Elemental Weapon: cold. I don't know if it would work, but could be fun to try. Downside is chilled prevents burning, so it won't work with Firestoker.

[@JasonDunna]

I love the cold / chilled / frozen interactions they are so much fun to mess around with

[@JasonDunna]

I’ll see what I can do!

[@jimmystrudel]

This is pretty much how I ran my first run. It's so strong I always end up going back to it and always have one in my party. It's just too good.

[@JasonDunna]

It seriously is too good. With the bard’s slashing flourish attacking 4x with 2 bonus actions to either use enchantment/illusion spells, or an offhand crossbow attack, it’s pissening

[@dahyodasouljah]

Hey man great video and love the build. Going to try it out on my next play through. What are your hair color presets?

[@JasonDunna]

Thank you! For this I played around with the blond colors until I got this, I forget what the preset was but it doesn’t have any mods

[@dahyodasouljah]

@@JasonDunna appreciate the reply. Thought I would reach out and see. Tried to achieve something similar but just ended up going red and white instead

[@skyjordanking]

This guy always eats a huge meal and drinks a soda immediately before filming lol

[@JasonDunna]

Hahahah

[@skyjordanking]

@JasonDunna I hope that didn't come off as a jerk thing to say, love your vids and the hiccups are funny

[@JasonDunna]

@ oh no worries it’s pretty funny. I try to limit it, sometimes it’s my body forcing me to yawn so I get more air hahaha

[@scubayogi]

Hi, thanks so much for the guide! Question: how do you get the bard to cast Slashing Flourish on self to attack twice as stated at the 2:40 mark?

[@BorysXES]

My first character was: 5 Ranger, 4 Thief and 3 Bard... just because I wanted it all 😂 I regret noting ;)

[@petergohan]

I started an Honour mode run today, Seldarine Drow Bard has A LOT on unique dialogue. hahaahahahha I thought of going 6 Swords Bard / 4 Thief Rogue / 2 Fighter OR 2 Paladin for smites. With Fighter you get Action Surge to spam more flourishes and nuke some enemies, and with Pally you can smite two targets at once, also getting to max lvl smite, because you reach at least 1 4th level spell slot.

[@JasonDunna]

Both fighter and paladin are solid, I prefer getting smites but fighter’s action surge is better burst damage. Tough decision!

[@hdawglion718]

I honestly would rather take sharpshooter over crossbow expert because with aura of murder, there exists a “sweet spot” within the 2 meters where you don’t get disadvantage and they still get the vulnerability.

[@JasonDunna]

That’s fair! It’s hard to find that sweet spot and sharpshooter damage is really nice so totally valid

[@HaroldTheHerald]

Cant bring myself to make a bard character, its so lame to be that class while fighting monsters. 5 levels of ranger gives you 3 attacks with gloomstalker class, 3 levels in rogue to get a 4th attack thief. Fighter 2 can get action surge or 2 spore druid can give you really good necro damage on attacks

[@realZyphyr]

I'd rather have the bhalist armor on a melee toon. I'd rather not have my archers or casters in melee distance to get that vulnerability. It's good on a shadow monk that can sneak in, give vulnerability, attack, go invisible.

[@JasonDunna]

@@realZyphyr This build was requested by someone. crossbow expert makes your crossbow attacks like melee ones so you don’t get disadvantage

[@zanqexus]

Love your guides but it would be nicer if you could mention item selection act by act. Most of these weapons and armor are from the end of act 2 or act 3. Till these acts should I use whatever I get my hands on?

[@JasonDunna]

There’s only 6 hand crossbows in the game, I mentioned in the video which ones to use. Basic ones from Dammon in act 1, the ones from yurgir in act 2 and then you can throw in ne’er misser or use the ones from act 2 when you’re in act 3 Armor wise there’s nothing specific required until Bhaalist armor so whatever you can find that’s best!

[@banished341]

Ranged Swords Bard with Arcane Acuity and Band of the Mystic Scoundrel is probably the single strongest character in the game. Personally, I prefer the 1 Fighter /1 Wizard/ 10 Bard variant, as you get con saves, archery fighting style, armor proficiency, Wizard scribing, and Magical Secrets, but an extra bonus action from thief is certainly great!

[@JasonDunna]

Yeah I went this way for something a bit different, my favorite is the bard 10 / Paladin 2 because smites are awesome at close range! And command is a great crowd control spell that doesn’t use concentration

[@austinsurprise1395]

If you’re dual wielding crossbows you should go two weapon fighting… why dueling? It carries over to ranged attacks too

[@JasonDunna]

You’re right, it used to not work that way

[@LandonMee]

Why wouldnt you pick duel wield fighting style if this is a dual crossbow build?

[@JasonDunna]

Dual weilding fighting style doesn't benefit hand crossbows

[@LandonMee]

@JasonDunna oh good to know I had no idea!

[@JasonDunna]

@@LandonMee Might be good to still take it as some people are saying it affects them on latest patch! I just went dueling to increase shar's spear piercing damage but dual weilder makes more sense

[@Neon-zq5of]

​@@JasonDunnadon't you need the duel welding to apply dexterity to the off hand bow damage?

[@lXShaskXl]

@@JasonDunnais this confirmed anywhere because I’ve seen conflicting information that it does apply the dmg

[@gracer619]

Is this better overall than going Rogue/Ranger which also can use dual hand crossbows?

[@AirLancer]

Let's be honest, you can slap the Bhaalist armor on any idiot with a bow and they'll be OP.

[@JasonDunna]

Sword bard can attack 4x with their slashing ranged flourish, and then 2 times as a bonus action. I think it’s better than the ranger for pure bow attacks

[@JasonDunna]

Oddly fighter and bard end up doing more bow damage than a ranger can Hunter Ranger gets volley at level 11 which is nice but then you can’t get extra bonus action. The bard. An also use greater Invisibility / hold person as a bonus action

[@dianabialaskahansen2972]

Haven't been following the latest patches, but they did remove the dex bonus to the second crossbow, unless you had two weapon fighting style. Did they change that again?

[@JasonDunna]

Yeah take two weapon fighting my game is messed up and doesn’t give the bonus haha

[@byatora]

Why wouldn't you go for two weapons fighting if you're dual wielding crossbows?

[@JasonDunna]

Two weapon fighting doesn’t work on crossbows only melee unfortunately

[@InnocentLock-er6et]

@@JasonDunnathat was fixed in a patch a while back. Try it

[@byatora]

@@JasonDunna it does actually. When I play dual cossbows I multiclass to try and get both two weapons fighting and archery for fighting styles.

[@JasonDunna]

@@InnocentLock-er6et weird it seems a bit inconsistent, but the dual wielder perk works here too !

[@reneschafer7113]

Dueling for Dual Crossbows?

[@JasonDunna]

Yeah you can take that

[@Brother-Franz]

Can I play this build with the big crossbow s ? I need both hands ?

[@JasonDunna]

You can if you want to

[@Brother-Franz]

@@JasonDunna any downside by using it ?

[@Yo-yoPinapple]

I think I would be tempted to add in a level of fighter to get the archery fighting style 🤔

[@JasonDunna]

Definitely tempting but you make sacrifices somewhere, but ultimately up to you!

[@bhaveshramdaursingh4325]

As soon as the dual pistol mod makes its way to console, this is gonna be my next build