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Bard is one of the most versatile classes in Baldur’s Gate 3. It is sorely underplayed because newer players of Dungeons and Dragons tend to see Bards as the “joke” character. Veteran players know, however, that Bard meshes very well with other classes and can be multiclassed to become extreme powerhouses.
This guide will show you how to turn your Bard into anabsolute powerhouseof damage and carnage. It is my personal favourite Bard build. We will go through the process of building your character step-by-step in each level, and will also talk about bonuses you can get in-game and gear you should get as you progress.
Each level will include the things you get for that level, as well as when you should begin multiclassing. I will also include things you’re able to get in the game and where (while trying to avoid too many spoilers) so that you can get the maximum value out of this build that you can.
The Sword Bard Build
Out of all the three schools of Bard you can pick in Baldur’s Gate 3, Sword Bard has a special place in my heart. It is the default one I run if I am the only Bard in the team. It is a Solo-tactician-ready build that can devastate.
This Bard will run dual-hand crossbows. This is non-negotiable. The idea behind this build is to turn your Tav into aturret, getting10 to 15 attacksin each turn. In most battles, you will not have to even use all of your resources to win.
Character Creation
Half-Elf, and the not-as-recommend-but-still-goodWood Elf,are the races I recommend most for this build.Half-Elfis nice because it gets bonuses from both theElfandHumanside – includingDark Vision, Fey Ancestry, andan increase to yourbase racial speedif you chooseWood Elfas your subrace.
Another decent race for this build isHalfling.Halflingsare an often overlooked race, but their ability to not fail a roll because of theirLuckyracial trait is a lifesaver in some cases. I prefer to have thebase racial speedincrease overLucky, but it is entirely up to you what you want to play.
From here, design your character and get yourself nice and ready to min-max.
You will pick all of yourCantripsandSpellsforLevel 1duringCharacter Creation. Let’s start withCantrips:
These twoCantripsare useful fordefenceandstealth situationsrespectively.
We will not be takingVicious Mockeryeven though it does damage, because we want to focus on being a turret and getting a ton of hits out with ourdual crossbows.
Secondly,we have your 1st-level Spells. You get4at this level. You should pick the followingSpells:
Firstly, dump yourIntelligenceas low as it will go. We want to be as stupid as we can be so we can do stupid amounts of damage. DumpStrength, too, because we will beDexterity-based. Your stats should look like this:
We recommended in ourcharacter creation guide for Bardnot to put any number at anodd numberto begin with. This is true for min-maxing, and in truth, you should do that to get the maximum benefit from your stats right away. However, if you are lazy and do not want to re-work your character withWitherslater on, just go ahead and do this sub-optimally. You will get gear to cap your important stats fairly quickly – as early asAct 1, even.
Background
Baldur’s Gate 3: Guide to Backgrounds
To know which background you should pick, there are a couple of things you should understand about backgrounds in general first.
You will want to pick a Background that complements your build. A safe bet is any background that incorporates aCharisma-baseddialogue skill likeDeception, Intimidation, Performance, and Persuasion. These are just nice bonuses to have and add a roleplaying flair to your Bard.
Criminalis the best choice becauseDeceptionandStealthare useful in dialogue and combat respectively (and I always prefer a combat edge).Charlatanis another decent option. It usedSleight of Handinstead ofStealth, so you may prefer to take that if you would prefer to not haveAstarionaround in your party.
At the second level, Bard gets the very usefulSong of Rest. This is a freeshort restthat affects the whole party. RunningWyllin your party will see that hisWarlock spell slotsget renewed when you use this action.
You will also getJack of All Trades, which lets you addhalf of your proficiency bonustoability checksin which you are notproficient.
You also get another spell. PickHealing Word, because the extra health regen is always useful. This one will give you the most value in the end game.Heroismis a good second option, too, for the5 temporary hit points.
At Level 3, you may pick yourSubclass. PickCollege of Swords. This subclass gives you apassive fighting styleas well as a slew of actions – therangedvariant ofSlashing Flourishis our best friend here. It can attack 2 enemies at once and uses aBardic Inspiration. This gives you a huge number of attacks you can doper long rest.Defensive Flourishis also useful for the+4increase to yourArmour Class.Mobile Flourishlets you teleport away after hitting, which is great for a hit-and-run style.
For yourfighting style, pickTwo-Weapon Fighting. Unfortunately, Swords Bards do not get the ability to choose anArcheryfighting style, so we pickTwo-Weapon Fightingfor the bonus damage to ouroff-handweapon.
You also get another spell, and have access tosecond-level spells.PickCloud of Daggers– the AoE is infinitely useful.Hold Personis also good, especially later on.
You gain access to anotherCantripat level four and you can pick any one that you want, really.Friendscan be useful here for the advantage ofCharismachecks with non-hostile creatures.
You get another second-level spell slot also. Pick the spell you did not pick at level 3 – eitherHold PersonorCloud of Daggers.
At level 4, you get your first feat. We will, of course, go withSharpshooterfor the potential additional+10 damageto our attacks as well as removing our penalty fromHigh Ground Rules.
At this level, you should also go andbeat up the Hag. This is a boss you have access to during theSave Mayrinaquestline. When you fight the Hag, whittle her down until you get adialoguewith her. She will bargain with you to let her go in exchange for something – and you should do this. Let her go, and she will give you an item that will give you apermanent +1 bonusto any stat of your choice. ChooseDexterity. This will round you to18 Dexterity, and bump up your bonus.
At level 5 you will getFont of Inspiration, which restores yourBardic Inspirationafter ashortorlongrest. This gives you16 Bardic Inspiration dice, letting you max out yourFlourish.
You will also get access to third-level spells. Pick one of these:Fear,Glyph of Warding,orHypnotic Pattern. The others are simply not as useful.
Level 6 is the last Bard level we want to take. We get another spell slot here, as well as theSubclass feature, Extra Attack. This does exactly what it sounds like – it gives you an extra attack. Keep in mind thatExtra Attackbonuses from all classes do not stack with one another.
For the spell, pick any of the otherlevel 3spells you did not pick before. Or just any for flavor, because the three spells mentioned before do a lot of the same type of thing.
At level 7 we will be taking our first level in Rogue. Our goal is to build towards theThief subclassfor the next three levels.
Roguealso gives you access tosneak attacks. You will also be able to enhance anotherskill. I recommend thedialogueones, butstealthandsleight of handare also good (pick the one that yourbackgrounddoes not already increase).
Level 8 will give you yourCunning Actions. These will allow you toHide, Dash,andDisengagefrom enemies as aBonus Action. These can be nice, but there is not much of anything special to them. We would probably rather just attack anyway.
At this level, we finally get ourThiefsubclass.We want to go withThieffor itsFast Handsability, which gives us additional bonus actions that we can use for moreoff-hand attacks.
For this level, we want tostay a Rogue, so that we can get anotherFeat. From the Feats list, you should pickAbility Improvement, to put2 extra points into Dexterity, giving us20 Dexterity.
At this level, we switch from Rogue and go toFighter.Fighterwill be our last two levels, for itsAction Surgeability.
At level 1 Fighter, you get to pick aFighting Style. You will, of course, be pickingArchery.
At level 12, andFighter 2, we end our build withAction Surge, which gives us an extra action – and therefore, an extra attack – in a turn. It recharges ona short rest, of which we have3because ofSong of Rest.
Final Gear
All Armour In Baldur’s Gate 3
Here is a list of all the Armour that you can find in Baldur’s Gate 3
The gear you will want to use is a mix of end-game gear that you may only get in late game as well as some stuff you can get early on. The gear is as follows:
