Baldur’s Gate 3 College of Lore Bard Build Guide
Dec. 21, 2022Baldur’s Gate 3 College of Lore Bard Build Guide
Baldur’s Gate 3 College of Lore Bard Build Guide– In thisBaldur’s Gate 3 College of Lore Bard Build Guide, I’m going to cover myBard Build, and show you what I’ve found to work best. I’ll be doing moreBuild Guidesat the launch ofBaldur’s Gate 3, but for now, let’s look at how you can use aCollege of Lore Bardeffectively.
Unlike theCollege of Valour, College of Lore Bards don’t become as adept in Martial Combat since they aren’t endowed with certainProficiencies. TheirACis generally lower and theirWeaponchoices are relatively limited. So instead of having several options to tackle enemies offensively inCombat, they need to be more careful to survive longer. However, despite this restriction, College of Lore Bards are more than capable of rising to the occasion by constantly buffing allies until they run out ofBardic Inspiration.
They also have numerous powerfulSpellsthat can deal massive damage and incapacitate multiple targets due to their highCharisma. ThisAbilitymakes them get out of difficult dialogue situations unscathed since they’re able to trickNPCsso you’ll definitely want the College of Lore Bard in your party.
In this section, we’ll take a look at how to set up your Bard duringCharacter Creationfor the best results.
ForBackground, I suggest taking the rest of the CharismaSkillssince Bards need a good amount of this Ability for their Spells to land on targets and to bolster the success rate of dazzling NPCs in dialogue withDeception,Persuasion,Intimidation, andPerformance. So you can pick theCriminal,Guild Artisan, orNoble.
ForRace, if you’re not going to pick an Origin Character, then I recommend taking theWood Half-ElforDrow. Wood Half-Elves have Darkvision to see and attack better in dark places. They even gainFleet of Footto be able to move more effectively in encounters as well asMask of the Wildto becomeProficientinStealth.
Alternatively, you can pick the Drow who not only hasSuperior Darkvision, allowing them to see twice as far in the dark as the Wood Half-Elf but alsoDancing Lights. This Cantrip will serve as a light source to benefit allies who need it. As a Bard, you immediately gainLongswordandRapier Proficiencyto attack enemies better at close range when necessary.
For Skills, again, it’s not super important, but you’ll have high Charisma andDexterity, so selecting those that fall under these Abilities is ideal. Dexterity hasAcrobaticsand Stealth. You’ll gain access toSleight of Handat Level 3, and I’ve already listed what Charisma Skills there are.
You can also choose from a variety ofMusical Instrumentssuch as theLyre,Violin, andLute. They provide enough entertainment value but don’t have any impact on your performance in combat.
Your primary Ability as a Bard is Charisma as it makes your Spells more effective. For this reason, you’ll want to invest at least 16 points into this Ability during Character Creation, and likely 18 later on. Next, Dexterity andConstitutionare the Abilities you should focus on. Both of these should improve your resilience and survivability in combat.
Additionally, a decent Constitution improves the success rate of Constitution Saving Throws, which are necessary for Spells that requireConcentration. As such, you should have 16 Dexterity and 14 Constitution at Level 1. You’ll notice that this setup is different from the College of Valour Bard, and it’s because, for this College of Lore Build, you’ll be wearingLight Armorall throughout. So the higher your Dexterity and Dexterity Modifier are, the better your AC will be. In this case, it’s going to be +3.
You can then add points intoStrength,Wisdom, orIntelligencebut remember that it won’t matter as much since they don’t influence your Spells. However, it’s worth considering that they impact the outcome of your carry weight capacity and Skill Checks. Your Ability Spread should look something like this:
As aBonus Action, you gain Bardic Inspiration where you enthrall an ally with your songs, thereby granting them a 1d6 bonus to theirAttack Roll,Ability Check, orSaving Throw. You can use thisClass Feature3 times and replenish it by taking aLong Restfor now. In Baldur’s Gate 3’s combat, the bonus die will automatically be added to the target’s succeeding Attack Roll to increase their chances of hitting the enemy.
During Character Creation you’ll be givenCantripsand Spells to choose from. But unlikeWizards, you won’t have to “Prepare” Spells from a Known Spell List to use them. Instead, you learn a limited number of Spells, which are readily available like theSorcerer Class. As such, you have to be very selective about the ones you intend to learn since Bards don’t have access to ALL of their Spells.
At Level 1, you can select 4 of them. I highly recommend choosingThunderwaveandDissonant Whispersas your offensive Spells. Thunderwave is a great AoE Spell that lets you knock back enemies, allowing you to potentially kill them. Due to its short range, you ought to use this against those who are overwhelming you to push them away. However, be careful when casting Thunderwave if you have allies nearby because they will get caught in the crossfire.
Meanwhile, Dissonant Whispers is a powerful ranged Spell in which you deal 3-18 Psychic Damage and inflictFrightenedagainst the target. In doing so, they’ll incur aDisadvantageon their Attack Rolls and won’t be able to move.
The next Spells to consider areHealing WordandTasha’s Hideous Laughter. Healing Word lets you heal any party member you can see from a distance. Comparatively, Tasha’s Hideous Laughter leaves the target laughing like mad on the floor for up to 10 turns provided that you maintain Concentration. It makes them invaluable to their allies since they can’t do anything significant whileProne.
Concentration is broken if you cast another Cantrip or Spell that also requires Concentration. You can tell which these are because it will say so on the Spell itself. For example, if you cast Tasha’s Hideous Laughter, but then you castDancing Lightsnext, you would stop “Concentrating” on Tasha’s Hideous Laughter and begin Concentrating on Dancing Lights.
If you take damage while Concentrating on a Spell, you must make aConstitution Saving Throw, and if you fail, then the effect of that Spell ends. Should you succeed in your Saving Throw, however, you maintain your Concentration and the Spell continues. This is why it’s vital for Bards to have a decent Constitution, otherwise, they’re wasted if it’s constantly broken.
At Level 1, you’ll be able to choose 2 Cantrips. I highly recommendVicious Mockeryand Dancing Lights. Vicious Mockery allows you to deal 1-4 Psychic Damage by hurling a series of insults against the target to impose a Disadvantage on their next Attack Roll. Meanwhile, with Dancing Lights, you can summon a wisp of light for allies who are not adept at seeing and attacking well in the dark. To avoid casting two Spells that require Concentration, you can substitute this forLightto infuse one mobile and resilient ally’sEquipmentwith an aura of light.
At Level 2, you gainJack of All Trades, which lets you add half of your Proficiency Bonus, rounded down, to specific Skills that you do not have proficiency in. You get a +1 bonus to sayPerception, as long as you’re not proficient with it. Jack of All Trades is a decent feature of the Bard because this turns you into an all-around character, making non-combat encounters relatively easier to deal with.
Furthermore, you also gainSong of Restthat provides the party with HP as if you’ve triggered aShort Rest. If you haveWyllwith you, then he’ll greatly benefit from this since hisSpell Slotswill be instantly replenished. With Song of Rest, you essentially save Short Rests for more critical and perilous situations.
From Level 2 onward, you’ll be able to unlearn and learn old and new Spells, respectively, via the Replacement Spell, similar to the Sorcerer. Unlearning a Spell lets you select what you wish to remove from your list. As a replacement, you’ll get to pick one Spell when you level up. Alternatively, if you want to keep your current list, you can simply ignore this feature and continue to learn new Spells. In this College of Lore Bard Build, we won’t be unlearning Spells since the ones we’ve chosen are already essential in combat.
Here, you can pickSleep,Faerie Fire, orBanebecause they’re all good utility Spells. With Sleep, you’re able to affect several enemies or a single target as long as their collective HP doesn’t exceed 24. Doing so will let you focus on others. Faerie Fire prevents a target from turning Invisible while granting an Advantage on all Attack Rolls against them. And lastly, Bane imposes a 1d4 penalty on at most 3 foes’ Attack Rolls and Saving Throws, making their hits more likely to lead to failure. Just remember that Faerie Fire and Bane require Concentration.
For this Build, we’re going to pick College of Lore, which grants Additional Proficiencies andCutting Wordsrather than Martial Expertise provided by the College of Valour. Additional Proficiencies let you gainArcana, Intimidation, and Sleight of Hand Proficiencies.
Meanwhile, Cutting Words imposes a 1d6 penalty on the target’s Attack Roll, damage, and Ability Check so there’s a high chance that their attack will miss or the damage they’ll deal won’t be as potent. At random moments, this lets you interfere with enemy attacks you can see, even against an ally, as long as you have a Bardic Inspiration charge.
At Level 3, you get to choose 2 more Skills that you’re already proficient in to further double their corresponding bonuses, allowing your success rate in Ability Checks to skyrocket. This makes roleplaying fun since you have much more control over the outcome.
Next, you’ll gain access to 1 Level 2 Spell. Here, you can selectCloud of DaggersorShatterif you want to deal sustain or burst damage, respectively. Although Cloud of Daggers requires Concentration, it’s still incredible to have because the Spell can stay on the field for up to 10 turns. Here, you conjure daggers that continue to circle around and attack multiple adjacent enemies per round. As such, Cloud of Daggers is all the more useful in chokepoints like doorways. But note that it can also attack allies who are nearby so you need to be careful when positioning them.
Meanwhile, Shatter deals 3-24 Thunder Damage from afar.
Alternatively, you can go withLesser Restorationif you prefer supporting the party because it allows you to remove any condition affecting them.
At Level 4, you’ll gain another Level 2 Spell Slot as well as a Cantrip. Furthermore, you can pick aFeat, and here, I highly recommend selectingAbility Improvementto raise Charisma to 18. As a Bard, you should prioritize boosting this as much as possible to improve the effectiveness of your Spells.
For the Cantrip,Blade Wardis good in cases when enemies get too close to you. What happens is the target gains resistance to Bludgeoning, Piercing, and Slashing Damage, thereby reducing the damage they take by half.
For the Spell, you can pick Cloud of Daggers, Shatter, or Lesser Restoration, whichever you didn’t choose in the previous level.
At Level 5, Bardic Inspiration has been further enhanced thanks to Font of Inspiration and Improved Bardic Inspiration. With Font of Inspiration, you can regain all Bardic Inspiration even after a Short Rest! I imagine this is going to be a game-changer in Baldur’s Gate 3’s launch since Long Rest won’t probably be as accessible as it currently is in Early Access. With Improved Bardic Inspiration, the bonus gained increases to 1d8 from 1d6. The same boost applies to Cutting Words.
As with the other spellcasters, the Bard gains access to 1 Level 3 Spell, and here I suggest takingGlyph of Warding. Glyph of Warding is an extremely potent offensive Spell that allows you to conjure circular glyphs on the floor whose effects will be triggered once the enemy moves so it’s more often than not, instant. You can choose from a series of effects including dealing huge 5-40 Fire Damage, Lightning Damage, or even pushing back everyone provided that they fail their Dexterity Saving Throws. But for the damage effects, remember that they’ll still take half the damage if they succeed with this roll. With Glyph of Warding, you’ll need to make sure that none of your allies are standing on the AoE, otherwise, they’ll also get hit.
At Level 10, the Bard gains access to Countercharm, which lets you perform with the help of your instrument in combat as a form of Action. Doing so grants you and your nearby allies a Saving Throw Advantage against being Frightened orCharmed. It’s worth noting that the effect of Countercharm ends the moment you become subject to crowd control or you choose to end the Action, which is done without any cost.
Since you’re a College of Lore Bard, the cool Feat you also get is Additional Magical Secrets. This allows you to learn 2 Spells from any Class, giving you the choice to learn the best Level 3 offensive and defensive Spells out there. As someone who’s not as durable as the College of Valour Bard, I recommend going forFireballto cast it from afar and deal 8-48 Fire Damage. Additionally,Counterspellis worth checking out because it’s a Reaction that makes an enemy’s Spell effect fail so they won’t be able to use it against you or your allies.
At Level 8, you’ll be able to choose another Feat. You can either select Ability Improvement to raise Charisma to 20 or go forSpell Sniper.
Spell Sniper is an incredible Feat because it works quite similarly to the Sorcerer’s Metamagic. First, for any Spell that requires you to make an Attack Roll likeScorching Rayif you decide to get it, that same Spell’s range is doubled, letting you attack enemies from a very far distance. What’s more, is that this Ranged Spell ignores half and 3/4 cover of your target, thereby improving the chances of hitting them.
And second, you’ll be able to expand your Cantrip list to include one that makes you perform an Attack Roll.
At Level 9, the Bard’s Song of Rest increases the amount of HP that can be restored from 1d6 to 1d8.
Meanwhile, at Level 10, Bardic Inspiration, Expertise, and Magical Secrets are improved. Bardic Inspiration’s die increases from 1d8 to 1d10; Expertise lets you choose 2 more Skills you’re proficient in to double their bonuses; Magical Secrets allows you to pick 2 additional Level 5 Spells from any Class! For this last part, I highly recommend checking out ourSpellspage on theBG3 Wikito be able to get the best one for your Bard.
When you reach the maximum level in BG3 at Level 12, you’ll be able to choose a final Feat. You can select Ability Improvement or Spell Sniper, whichever you didn’t pick at Level 8.
When it comes to the College of Lore Bard’s Equipment, your Weapon Proficiency will remain the same. For safe measure and since you won’t be spending as much time in the melee range, you can equip theLongsword +1orRapier +1together with aLight Crossbow. You’ll be casting offensive Spells and staying away from enemies as much as possible anyway.
In terms ofArmor, you should wear theSpidersilk Armour, which you get after defeatingMintharain theShattered Sanctum. This, together with your +3 Dexterity Modifier, should give you a total of 15 AC.
ForAccessories, you ought to prioritize theCap of Curing, which can be obtained from the Gilded Chest near theDruid Grove. This is perfect for the Bard because it also lets you heal allies for a small amount of HP when you use Combat or Bardic Inspiration on them. Alternatively, you can go for theHelmet of Gritfrom the Shattered Sanctum because this is another Light Armor. In case your HP dips to 50% or less, you receive an extra Bonus Action during your turn.
Lastly, there’s theAbsolute’s Talismanthat restores a portion of your HP when you deal damage as long as your HP is low.
From Levels 1 to 4, you’ll need to carefully manage Bardic Inspiration because it can easily be used up in challenging fights. It’s only when you hit Level 5 does this number increase to 4 and you’re able to replenish all of them upon taking a Short Rest. What’s more, is that Bardic Inspiration is a Bonus Action that doesn’t require Concentration so you’re able to cast a Concentration Spell in the same turn.
It’s worth remembering that Bardic Inspiration only lasts for 1 action. This means that the same character can reap the Attack Roll bonuses over and over again as long as you keep casting it on them, unlike Combat Inspiration, which is limited to 1 use before taking a Long Rest.
Lastly, none of the Bard’s Spells require Attack Rolls, meaning you won’t need to position yourself at least 2.5m above the target to gain the +2 bonus on High Ground. All Spells, even the alternatives, rely on either the enemy’s rolls to surpass the College of Lore Bard’s Spell Difficulty Class (or succeed in their Saving Throws) or maintain Concentration. In short, the higher your Charisma Modifier, the harder it will be to resist the effects of your Spells.
Stay tuned for more Baldur’s Gate 3 content as we update the otherBuilds, and be sure to drop by ourTwitch Channelif you have questions about the game. If you need something specific, check out ourBaldur’s Gate 3 Wikiwhich is being worked on night and day, as well as ourBaldur’s Gate 3 Guides.
Reiku
Writer at Fextralife. I enjoy playing RPGs, narrative-driven games, and platformers. Outside of gaming, I like watching meaningful movies and reading sci-fi and dystopian books.
