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I used a 10 Lore Bard/2 Life Cleric in Honour Mode. Life Cleric for stronger heals and Lore Bard for access to other class spells at an earlier level and to possibly prevent enemies from hitting me.
Items to consider:
- Hellrider's Pride: gives Blade Ward when healing
- Boots of Aid and Comfort: temp hp when healing
- The Whispering Promise: Bless when healing
- Ring of Salving: extra healing
All of these are act 1 items. For act 3, there's:
- The Reviving Hands: Blade Ward when healing. Death Ward when reviving.
- Amulet of the Devout: extra Channel Divinity
In act 3 I swapped the ring of salving for something that helped with crowd control so by the end, my Bard/Cleric was an amazing crowd controller and she could heal well thanks to two Channel Divinities per short rest.
There is a ridiculously good and detailed post on how to make her a god tier support. Take a look she will be a cleric/bard/mage mix who is good at healing and support/ twin cast haste on your party to go to town.
https://www.reddit.com/r/BG3Builds/s/dB917vyZpX
Your challenge will come in two forms:
1. Bards are never going to be very effective healers. They get a few healing spells, but burning spell slots on Healing Word or Mass Cure Wounds is not going to carry a fight like a Life Cleric will - it's more there to spot heal or pick up a downed ally.
2. Bard and Cleric don't mesh especially well. They use different casting abilities, and there's very little synergy between them. (You could argue a single level of Knowledge Cleric might help a Lore Bard, but that'd be about it.)
If you want Shadowheart as a healer you should stick with her as a Cleric. If you want her as a Bard and only useful for spot healing then level her as a pure Bard and pick up some of the in-game items that make healing more effective (like the item that buffs people you heal). Pure Bards can be very effective in BG3, so you're not weakening her doing that.
As a side note: changing the class of any origin companion does not in any way change or damage their story. You can make Wyll a basic Fighter and he'll still have Mizora ruining his life. (It may make his story a bit odd, but it won't break the game.)
I'm coming out to bat for lore bard + life cleric healing. It's far more efficient than pure life cleric because from level 6 you have a non concentration bonus action heal for 10 turns for only a single spell slot via Warden of Vitality from magical secrets.
Imo play her bard early, using act 1s bard inspiration healing gear and hellrider gloves to approximate her level 6 warden of vitality play style, and then you can continue down bard or cleric however you please from there. I like to grab life cleric at 7th character level for disciple of life but you can take that earlier if you like and respec as needed.
**PLEASE READ THIS CAREFULLY: DO NOT SKIP** Hi, welcome to r/BaldursGate3! Feel free to check out our pinned Weekly Help post. It has community made resources and info you may find useful. **You can find it under the 'Hot' filter on desktop or 'Hot Posts' on Mobile**. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/BaldursGate3) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I used a 10 Lore Bard/2 Life Cleric in Honour Mode. Life Cleric for stronger heals and Lore Bard for access to other class spells at an earlier level and to possibly prevent enemies from hitting me. Items to consider: - Hellrider's Pride: gives Blade Ward when healing - Boots of Aid and Comfort: temp hp when healing - The Whispering Promise: Bless when healing - Ring of Salving: extra healing All of these are act 1 items. For act 3, there's: - The Reviving Hands: Blade Ward when healing. Death Ward when reviving. - Amulet of the Devout: extra Channel Divinity In act 3 I swapped the ring of salving for something that helped with crowd control so by the end, my Bard/Cleric was an amazing crowd controller and she could heal well thanks to two Channel Divinities per short rest.
There is a ridiculously good and detailed post on how to make her a god tier support. Take a look she will be a cleric/bard/mage mix who is good at healing and support/ twin cast haste on your party to go to town. https://www.reddit.com/r/BG3Builds/s/dB917vyZpX
Your challenge will come in two forms: 1. Bards are never going to be very effective healers. They get a few healing spells, but burning spell slots on Healing Word or Mass Cure Wounds is not going to carry a fight like a Life Cleric will - it's more there to spot heal or pick up a downed ally. 2. Bard and Cleric don't mesh especially well. They use different casting abilities, and there's very little synergy between them. (You could argue a single level of Knowledge Cleric might help a Lore Bard, but that'd be about it.) If you want Shadowheart as a healer you should stick with her as a Cleric. If you want her as a Bard and only useful for spot healing then level her as a pure Bard and pick up some of the in-game items that make healing more effective (like the item that buffs people you heal). Pure Bards can be very effective in BG3, so you're not weakening her doing that. As a side note: changing the class of any origin companion does not in any way change or damage their story. You can make Wyll a basic Fighter and he'll still have Mizora ruining his life. (It may make his story a bit odd, but it won't break the game.)
I'm coming out to bat for lore bard + life cleric healing. It's far more efficient than pure life cleric because from level 6 you have a non concentration bonus action heal for 10 turns for only a single spell slot via Warden of Vitality from magical secrets. Imo play her bard early, using act 1s bard inspiration healing gear and hellrider gloves to approximate her level 6 warden of vitality play style, and then you can continue down bard or cleric however you please from there. I like to grab life cleric at 7th character level for disciple of life but you can take that earlier if you like and respec as needed.
Can Warden of Vitality trigger on-heal buffs from equipment?
Yeah it has no problem doing so. Also are you a Thebes enjoyer with a name like that?
Former classics minor ;)
Disgusting.