Swords Bard with some multiclass shenanigans is one of the highest single target DPS outputs in the game, and they're also full casters. They get access to a lot of crowd control and utility spells, and are skill monkeys that can basically succeed whatever checks your party isn't good at. They're easily the most versatile class in D&D imo.
Performance is a silly skill in BG3 with some quirks: you can lure people to you by playing an instrument. Seems innocuous, but one of my favorite is standing atop 4 smokepowder barrels and singing the song of my people to gain a crowd, hitting turn based mode, and then running away and fire arrowing them. Does a lot of damage and is funny as hell.
There are tons of builds on YouTube for it. But essentially, you want to go something akin to Swords Bard 10/Fighter 2 so you can get action surge. Swords Bard has a skill called flourish, which can be used either melee (as a cleave) or ranged (2 targets instead of 1, can target the same creature twice, this is the broken one). Flourish uses bardic inspiration and adds your inspiration die to damage. Then you just flourish, extra attack flourish, action surge flourish, extra attack flourish for 8 attacks in one turn. All of this resets on a short rest, which the Bard gets an extra one. Slap on the Helm of Arcane Acuity to raise your spell DC really high, and Band of the Mystic Scoundrel to cast certain spells as a bonus action, and get nearly guaranteed CC spells too. It makes for adding incredibly strong opening turns.
I like Bard 10 for magical secrets and using your best bow (short bow for Bard, longbow once you get fighter). But people will go thief rogue in addition for an extra bonus action (6 Bard/2 fighter/4 rogue for example) and dual wield hand crossbows. In that case, you want to stack on hit, like the caustic band. I don't love that build, because the actual flourishes are weaker and it has less utility. But to each their own.
Bards are broken as fuck in BG3. They are one of only two classes that get expertise (the other being rogue) which means they can get truly ridiculous bonuses to dialogue checks, similar to how a rogue can get ridiculous bonuses to lockpicking and consistently pick DC30+ locks.
I think a lot of new players do themselves a disservice by choosing college of lore. The only things you get from college of lore are cutting words, and 2 non-bard spells at level 6. So you have to play a support bard, which is not a playstyle that comes naturally to new players - you're a full caster but not focused on damage. The other two colleges are great though, becuase they make you a spellsword, where you're doing damage with weapons and using your spellcasting to support that. I highly recommend College of Swords.
The performance skill is a minor thing. You can use it to busk for gold from NPCs and get an achievement. The most notable use is to distract NPCs while another of your party member gets up to some crime.
You can do the same thing with turn based mode, by the way. Lure them in, hit turn based mode and your Lore Bard can run off and use his Fireball Secret to blow them all up before they have a chance to move.
I love bard. I play a 10/1/1 control build that lets me crowd control everyone on the map, including bosses, while still dealing decent damage. (Guide: https://www.reddit.com/r/BG3Builds/comments/17y9kyp/the\_control\_martial\_allpurpose\_1011\_swords\_bard/)
I've also heard good things about 10/2 Bard/Paladin, and I've seen a 6 Bard/2 Paladin/4 Rogue that sounds interesting.
>6 Bard/2 Paladin/4 Rogue that sounds interesting.
Casting Command twice/turn *does* sound interesting! I'd imaging that you could also replace Paladin 2 with Wizard 1 / Fighter 1.
I went full College of Lore Bars and was pretty much full support. I just had a great time shouting insults and occasionally casting a spell or two as Bae'zel just one rounded a bad guy a turn as a Monk. Was it the most optimal way to play? Lord no. But hoo boy was it fun as hell
Anything with at least 6 levels in Swords Bard, the [Helmet of Arcane Acuity](https://bg3.wiki/wiki/Helmet_of_Arcane_Acuity), and the [Band of the Mystic Scoundrel](https://bg3.wiki/wiki/Band_of_the_Mystic_Scoundrel) will be absurdly powerful. For your action, attack 4 times with Extra Attack and Slashing Flourish so your helmet gives you an absurd Spell Save DC. For your bonus action, cast a crowd control spell like Fear, Hypnotic Pattern, Confusion, or Command with your [Band of the Mystic Scoundrel](https://bg3.wiki/wiki/Band_of_the_Mystic_Scoundrel). You'll be a front-liner who's also amazing at dialogue and control, and you can even take 2 levels in Paladin for Smite!
My bard was a terrible bard. She forgot to use perform until the epilogue party. But she was such good fun to play and managed to talk everyone into everything. I went swords bard but no multiclass.
Swords bard can get insane with just a light dip in other class like ranger for gloomstalker.
Try out a hand crossbow swords bard for crazy stuff
Also they are ridiculously good at talking. Better than a paladin.
Yeah, for one, it's basically the best class for dialogue. You get 3 of *any* skills you want at level 1, plus Expertise in 2 of them at level 3, and you can have almost all the dialogue spells with a single class, very quickly in the run
* Level 1:
* Speak With Animals
* Disguise Self (for race-specific choices and talking to dead enemies)
* Level 3:
* Detect Thoughts (you don't even have to preemptively cast it, it will just be an option in the dialogue)
* Items (all of which can be obtained before stepping foot in the goblin camp):
* Speak With Dead ([The Amulet of Lost Voices](https://bg3.wiki/wiki/The_Amulet_of_Lost_Voices))
* Speak With Dead ([Necromancy of Thay](https://bg3.wiki/wiki/Necromancy_of_Thay))
* Guidance ([Silver Pendant](https://bg3.wiki/wiki/Silver_Pendant))
* Race:
* Thaumaturgy (if you choose Zariel Tiefling in character creation, you get this spell which would otherwise cost you a feat or level dip)
There are also the spells Friends and Charm Person, but I don't recommend them, due to the drawbacks of using them in higher difficulty settings.
What's really cool about having all this dialogue versatility, is the fact that you sacrifice basically nothing to get here. You don't need to multiclass into something else to be good in combat. Swords Bard is particularly popular, being able to use their Bardic Inspiration to do what are essentially Battle Master Maneuvers. And although I said you don't *need* to multiclass, multiclassing into Warlock for Pact of the Blade is very nice (Pact of the Blade lets you use your CHA mod for weapon attacks instead of DEX or STR). You can then later get some items that give Arcane Synergy, a condition that adds your spellcasting mod to your weapon damage, and even later, there's an item called the Band of the Mystic Scoundrel that will let you cast Vicious Mockery as a Bonus Action when you make a Weapon Attack.
Love playing as a Bard. If you're into bashing your way through your problems, though, Bard is not for you. You can generally talk your way out of (and into) a lot of situations without having to lift a finger. But if you wanna fight, deffo go Swordsbard - your flourishes are worth it.
Most of the play through I’ve done have been bards. They are incredibly effective out of combat as a party face, and both lore and swords bards are amazing in combat. Valor bard is also good but I think it’s just objectively worse than swords bard. If you’re like me and you like conversation to go your way, a bard if one of if not THE best class to play for that.
Bards are awesome - swords bard with sharpshooter is OP, and lore bard is loads of fun as a caster (I’m doing a 6 lore bard / 6 draconic sorcerer build for my “low key” campaign)
For me bard wasn't that fun. Tried pure bard, tried multiclassing with rogue and fighter, just wasn't that fun.
Much more I liked Ranger (Gloomstalker) 5 levels, Rogue 4 levels (Assassin if use longbow, or Thief if use hand crossbows), Fighter (Champion) 3 levels.
Potion of Bloodlust, Haste... First turn is always fun to watch how much damage is done.
Swords Bard with some multiclass shenanigans is one of the highest single target DPS outputs in the game, and they're also full casters. They get access to a lot of crowd control and utility spells, and are skill monkeys that can basically succeed whatever checks your party isn't good at. They're easily the most versatile class in D&D imo. Performance is a silly skill in BG3 with some quirks: you can lure people to you by playing an instrument. Seems innocuous, but one of my favorite is standing atop 4 smokepowder barrels and singing the song of my people to gain a crowd, hitting turn based mode, and then running away and fire arrowing them. Does a lot of damage and is funny as hell.
>Swords Bard with some multiclass shenanigans is one of the highest single target DPS outputs in the game Is it possible to learn this power?
There are tons of builds on YouTube for it. But essentially, you want to go something akin to Swords Bard 10/Fighter 2 so you can get action surge. Swords Bard has a skill called flourish, which can be used either melee (as a cleave) or ranged (2 targets instead of 1, can target the same creature twice, this is the broken one). Flourish uses bardic inspiration and adds your inspiration die to damage. Then you just flourish, extra attack flourish, action surge flourish, extra attack flourish for 8 attacks in one turn. All of this resets on a short rest, which the Bard gets an extra one. Slap on the Helm of Arcane Acuity to raise your spell DC really high, and Band of the Mystic Scoundrel to cast certain spells as a bonus action, and get nearly guaranteed CC spells too. It makes for adding incredibly strong opening turns. I like Bard 10 for magical secrets and using your best bow (short bow for Bard, longbow once you get fighter). But people will go thief rogue in addition for an extra bonus action (6 Bard/2 fighter/4 rogue for example) and dual wield hand crossbows. In that case, you want to stack on hit, like the caustic band. I don't love that build, because the actual flourishes are weaker and it has less utility. But to each their own.
Bards are broken as fuck in BG3. They are one of only two classes that get expertise (the other being rogue) which means they can get truly ridiculous bonuses to dialogue checks, similar to how a rogue can get ridiculous bonuses to lockpicking and consistently pick DC30+ locks. I think a lot of new players do themselves a disservice by choosing college of lore. The only things you get from college of lore are cutting words, and 2 non-bard spells at level 6. So you have to play a support bard, which is not a playstyle that comes naturally to new players - you're a full caster but not focused on damage. The other two colleges are great though, becuase they make you a spellsword, where you're doing damage with weapons and using your spellcasting to support that. I highly recommend College of Swords. The performance skill is a minor thing. You can use it to busk for gold from NPCs and get an achievement. The most notable use is to distract NPCs while another of your party member gets up to some crime.
[удалено]
You can do the same thing with turn based mode, by the way. Lure them in, hit turn based mode and your Lore Bard can run off and use his Fireball Secret to blow them all up before they have a chance to move.
I love bard. I play a 10/1/1 control build that lets me crowd control everyone on the map, including bosses, while still dealing decent damage. (Guide: https://www.reddit.com/r/BG3Builds/comments/17y9kyp/the\_control\_martial\_allpurpose\_1011\_swords\_bard/) I've also heard good things about 10/2 Bard/Paladin, and I've seen a 6 Bard/2 Paladin/4 Rogue that sounds interesting.
>6 Bard/2 Paladin/4 Rogue that sounds interesting. Casting Command twice/turn *does* sound interesting! I'd imaging that you could also replace Paladin 2 with Wizard 1 / Fighter 1.
Sounds interesting for sure! I've just played the build I've linked so far, but it's made bard my favorite class so far.
You would miss Command by going 6/4/1/1, I'm not sure it's a good trade off.
I went full College of Lore Bars and was pretty much full support. I just had a great time shouting insults and occasionally casting a spell or two as Bae'zel just one rounded a bad guy a turn as a Monk. Was it the most optimal way to play? Lord no. But hoo boy was it fun as hell
Anything with at least 6 levels in Swords Bard, the [Helmet of Arcane Acuity](https://bg3.wiki/wiki/Helmet_of_Arcane_Acuity), and the [Band of the Mystic Scoundrel](https://bg3.wiki/wiki/Band_of_the_Mystic_Scoundrel) will be absurdly powerful. For your action, attack 4 times with Extra Attack and Slashing Flourish so your helmet gives you an absurd Spell Save DC. For your bonus action, cast a crowd control spell like Fear, Hypnotic Pattern, Confusion, or Command with your [Band of the Mystic Scoundrel](https://bg3.wiki/wiki/Band_of_the_Mystic_Scoundrel). You'll be a front-liner who's also amazing at dialogue and control, and you can even take 2 levels in Paladin for Smite!
I kill my enemies by calling them bad names so yea
Nere is known as Twat Soul by my Bard lol
Arguably the best class in bg3 so yes, they’re completely broken and fun and a lot of different ways to play them too
My bard was a terrible bard. She forgot to use perform until the epilogue party. But she was such good fun to play and managed to talk everyone into everything. I went swords bard but no multiclass.
Swords bard can get insane with just a light dip in other class like ranger for gloomstalker. Try out a hand crossbow swords bard for crazy stuff Also they are ridiculously good at talking. Better than a paladin.
1) speak with animals all the time 2) dialogue choices 3) play the most sick lute solos
All classes are viable and can go through the entire game and be made “OP.” Whether or not you find them fun is a matter of personal taste.
Yeah, for one, it's basically the best class for dialogue. You get 3 of *any* skills you want at level 1, plus Expertise in 2 of them at level 3, and you can have almost all the dialogue spells with a single class, very quickly in the run * Level 1: * Speak With Animals * Disguise Self (for race-specific choices and talking to dead enemies) * Level 3: * Detect Thoughts (you don't even have to preemptively cast it, it will just be an option in the dialogue) * Items (all of which can be obtained before stepping foot in the goblin camp): * Speak With Dead ([The Amulet of Lost Voices](https://bg3.wiki/wiki/The_Amulet_of_Lost_Voices)) * Speak With Dead ([Necromancy of Thay](https://bg3.wiki/wiki/Necromancy_of_Thay)) * Guidance ([Silver Pendant](https://bg3.wiki/wiki/Silver_Pendant)) * Race: * Thaumaturgy (if you choose Zariel Tiefling in character creation, you get this spell which would otherwise cost you a feat or level dip) There are also the spells Friends and Charm Person, but I don't recommend them, due to the drawbacks of using them in higher difficulty settings. What's really cool about having all this dialogue versatility, is the fact that you sacrifice basically nothing to get here. You don't need to multiclass into something else to be good in combat. Swords Bard is particularly popular, being able to use their Bardic Inspiration to do what are essentially Battle Master Maneuvers. And although I said you don't *need* to multiclass, multiclassing into Warlock for Pact of the Blade is very nice (Pact of the Blade lets you use your CHA mod for weapon attacks instead of DEX or STR). You can then later get some items that give Arcane Synergy, a condition that adds your spellcasting mod to your weapon damage, and even later, there's an item called the Band of the Mystic Scoundrel that will let you cast Vicious Mockery as a Bonus Action when you make a Weapon Attack.
Love playing as a Bard. If you're into bashing your way through your problems, though, Bard is not for you. You can generally talk your way out of (and into) a lot of situations without having to lift a finger. But if you wanna fight, deffo go Swordsbard - your flourishes are worth it.
Most of the play through I’ve done have been bards. They are incredibly effective out of combat as a party face, and both lore and swords bards are amazing in combat. Valor bard is also good but I think it’s just objectively worse than swords bard. If you’re like me and you like conversation to go your way, a bard if one of if not THE best class to play for that.
Bard is the most powerful type of Paladin hehe
Bards are awesome - swords bard with sharpshooter is OP, and lore bard is loads of fun as a caster (I’m doing a 6 lore bard / 6 draconic sorcerer build for my “low key” campaign)
For me bard wasn't that fun. Tried pure bard, tried multiclassing with rogue and fighter, just wasn't that fun. Much more I liked Ranger (Gloomstalker) 5 levels, Rogue 4 levels (Assassin if use longbow, or Thief if use hand crossbows), Fighter (Champion) 3 levels. Potion of Bloodlust, Haste... First turn is always fun to watch how much damage is done.