I'm currently a low level Lore Bard (level 3) playing in the Princes of Apocalypse campaign with a Rogue, a Monk, a Hexblade Warlock, a Peace Cleric, and Wizard.
I am finding that the DM really throws a lot at the party in a single day, such that it is very hard not to run out of all spell slots and Bardic Inspirations within a day. In fact, in our last single encounter along the DM threw so much at us that I burned through every spell and BI, and was left firing crossbow bolts.
I have already been knocked out twice in my campaign -we last ended the night we me making death saving throws so maybe this is all a mute point anyways if I die :).
But it made me wonder if I need to think of more survivability on my bard. I've read mixed reactions about a single dip into hexblade due to the delay in spell progression, but I wondering if in a campaign so dependent on resource management as this one, is the Shield/Armor of Agathys, Medium Armor, plus cantrip damage spell worth the delay? I was tempted to take it now at level 4.
One other thing, if I take the dip, I was tempted to rock a medium armor and shield, and use my lute in my other hand, but does that now also require me to take Warcaster?
Any feedback would be appreciative. I'm getting tired of feeling completely underpowered and useless in the team in combat situations.
Even if you do multiclass, I would suggest waiting until after level 4. Those ASI's can be important. Increasing your Charisma will get you more Bardic Inspiration and make all your magic hit harder. I feel like this might be an issue of tactics? It looks you don't have any sort of heavily armored front liner, but a bunch of skirmishy martials and then three back line casters. Once you figure out some tactics to protect the back line I think your party will do better. Maybe have the two and a half melee characters (the Hexblade could probably do just as well using Eldritch Blast, at least for now) concentrate on taking out anyone trying to approach the casters?
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Canto alla vita alla sua bellezza ad ogni sua ferita ogni sua carezza!
I sing to life and to its tragic beauty To pain and to strife, but all that dances through me The rise and the fall, I've lived through it all!
The one understated thing in combat that was drawing me to hexblade (aside from the obvious med. armor/shield/AoA/EB benefits) was actually Mind Sliver.
I could envision a very potent scenario at lower levels where I cast Bane on some of the enemies, then continue to follow up on one of them with Mind Sliver during battle (assuming I don't need concentration for other things at the time). At the very least, that could be a low cost way to lock down a single target a bit as my spell slots run low. They would get 1d4 subtracted from their attack roles, and essentially 2d4 subtracted from their saving throws (making it very hard for it to break Bane), all while I am doing a scaled 1d6 damage to the enemy.
As far as the spell focus, I was going to ask to DM to switch my focus to a flute or horn vs. lute if I went shield. I think the DM is pretty by the book, so as I read the rules again myself, unless I am misreading, I could cast V, VM, VSM, SM, M spells with both a focus and shield, but not VS & S. That would suck because that rules out Shield and even EB, altering the whole plan significantly. Now I'm even more torn here.
Med. Armor isn't that great of an AC boost if all I can get is a Breastplate @ 14+ 2 Dex = 16AC. More realistically, for a majority of the campaign, that would be a Chain Shirt at 13 + 2 Dex Mod = 15AC. That's the same as Studded Leather with 12 base AC + 3 Dex Mod (my Dex is currently 16 (+3)).
All in all, the reason I am taking the 1 level dip would be for:
Some ranged damage cantrips (EB, which I can't use with a shield), and Mind Sliver (good but perhaps situational)
Medium Armor & Shield Proficiency (Can't realistically use a shield unless I lose spell utility or lose an ASI to Warcaster). Otherwise Med. Armor alone is not going to be better than Light @ a 16 Dex.
Shield/AoA spells (which are still good, but again, not with a shield)
Hex feels like a waste since I need concentration for other things.
Have I just talked myself out of it? Problem is, I still haven't solved for the original point of the post, my own survivability. It's one thing to have better tactics, which is certainly true, but if enemies are swarming from all sides as has been in the last two sessions, tactics go out the window with a melee NPC swinging a sword in your face. Vicious Mockery isn't going to cut it then. But I am very new to Multi-classing (have actually never done it before), so I would value perspective from those more experienced on how that spell progression/ASI delay actually FEELS in game.
Ah yes. Finger Cymbals! Why didn't I think of that before, genius! That has to be worth at least +2 to my Charisma for style alone!
Or maybe I could just abandon an instrument altogether and use my fingers to snap and go for more of a spoken word Bard that by day adventures throughout the lands of the Sword Coast, and by night, frequents the many coffee houses and dispensaries in search of the ideal stage for my cutting poetic barbs.
After seeing this, I don't think my bard could be anything OTHER than West Side Story. Even if I didn't want it to be so, it is burned into my brain.
In the heat of battle, he most definitely will be pirouetting around the crowd of adversaries. I will, however, have to check with the DM if a plie counts as an action or bonus action.
I was having similar problems with my bard, to the point where we legitimately thought she died during a session only to find out that several miscalculations had occurred. I can't say if it's the same circumstances but I did notice one problem that seemed to be contributing. Did you actually equip your bard's armor or do you just have a proficiency in armor? I made the mistake of assuming armor was automatically equipped, which made the armor class on my sheet lower than it should have been (12 instead of 13). Turns out it isn't, you actually have to equip it.
To equip your armor using DND Beyond's character sheets, you'll need to first go to your inventory. On the right-hand side of your sheet, you'll see a module with several tabs- "actions," "spells," "inventory" etc. Select the "inventory" tab and then click on "manage inventory." Add the armor that is specified in your proficiencies. Once you do, you'll have it but you won't be wearing it. To equip it, you'll need to scroll down to it on your inventory list. There will be a little checkbox next to it. Click on that checkbox, and then you'll have your armor equipped- the sheet will automatically update your armor class accordingly.
I don't think survivability for yourself should be too big of a problem. Hopefully, it becomes easier as your hit die increases and you obtain more spells, spell slots, and feats.
Feats and GOOD spells are the best friend of a lore bard. I have found myself as an absolute powerhouse in my DM's campaign because of how good I am in almost any situation.
I'll link my character sheet for you to browse. I would definitely recommend taking a look at the feats and spells I have selected.
I began as a variant human so I could select warlock initiate at the beginning which is insanely powerful. Having access to eldritch blast, prestidigitation, and hellish rebuke (great spell to use your reaction on) is awesome. At level 4 I took the inspiring leader feat so I could begin dishing out free temporary hp to EVERYONE in the party. Insane spells to have on hand can include heat metal (completely countered the enemy leader in a group fight my DM threw at me), healing word (being able to use healing word to heal an ally or revive an ally from a distance while also getting to cast eldritch blast at an enemy in the same turn is insane), and even faerie fire so your allies can get advantage on attacking your foes. Plus don't forget vicious mockery to impose disadvantage upon failed wis save to your opponent's next attack and cutting words as a use of your reaction to decrease the enemy attack roll.
Those certainly are all great spells, but was it worth the ASI loss. A single Warlock dip will give those same things and only delay progression by one level. Maybe that is too great a cost. I have never MC'ed before so I don't have a good sense of how that single level delay would feel in practice. But I would think that losing out on an ASI would hurt more because that sticks with you for at least 4 more levels. Am I thinking of this wrong?
The only reason to dip warlock would be for eldritch blast + receiving invocations (2-3 levels max). I on the other hand wanted to go full bard specifically for flavor, didn’t want to be tied down by a patron, and wanted to ensure I was getting my spells and magical secrets as early as possible.
The only thing not taking ASI hurts are my dc saves for enemies to make (a bard does just fine with ability checks). However the inspiring leader was very important for me to prioritize level 4 over ASI because our party had no full healer (fighter going into eldritch knight, rogue, and monk who decided to dip and take some levels in cleric). Inspiring leader for a party of 4+ without a healer is soooooo good with its extra temporary hp (which if I remember correctly can be used as much as you want and last until you take a long rest). Adding 28+ hp to your party at no cost? Yes please!
Have you thought about a conductor’s wand as a focus? You should be able to use it in the hand holding the shield without too much problem. You didn’t say (or I didn’t notice) which race if human you might talk to your DM about changing it to variant human and taking warlock initiate as the level 1 feat that would give you 2 powerful cantrips ( I take chill touch and elder itch blast) and a single use of a L1 spell so pick carefully. That would avoid needing to MC. If you do MC draconic sorcerer gives you the 16 AC and magic (bracers, ring &cloak) will eventually bring it up to 20. - not too bad for what should be a back line support role not a front line battler. It also gives you more cantrips and a couple of decent L1 spells without slowing you spell slot progression. But yes do it after getting the ASI.
That's a great idea, Wi1dBi11. I was also looking more closely at Sorcerer and Divine Soul looked like it had a killer feature for Bards in Favored by the Gods. To add 2d4 to a failed saving throw (such as Concentration saving throws!) that resets on a short rest feels almost like a mini RES (Con) until I actually pick it up later. That alone may make it worthwhile to go that direction over Warlock (in addition to keeping the same spell slot progression and double the cantrip/1st level spell options that a Magic Initiate would receive). Granted would be 1 level behind but that doesn't feel too steep.
1 level behind generally isn’t if your MC into another full caster class. Remember you have to use the multiclass spell slot progression table so your slots go up as if you are a full caster single class but your spells known are a level behind n the major class but you have the next level spell slot to use to uprate a spell when you need/want to.
One thing to ask yourself is if you are taking advantage of cover in battle to improve your AC. If the fights are still hard when you are doing that there are a few half-feats that provide some extra surviability without dipping out of bard or dedicating a magic secret.
Moderately armored. If you have an odd dex, going from studded leather to a breastplate and a shield is a +5 AC boost. You'll also get +1 to initiative which will help you act quicker and hopefully land a control spell. Overall I think this is the best option for pure survivability increase w/o using up a magic secret.
Resilience Con- If you have an odd constituition it will give you an extra HP per level. You also get better con saves which will help you keep spells up, which means less chance of enemies escaping control spells and ganging up on you.
Fey Touched- Misty step can help you out of a rough situation. If critical role content is allowed in your game gift of alacrity is a nice way to boost up your initiative bonus. This is perhaps a less boring option and is pretty good if you've got an odd charisma.
-
Overall though I think once you crest level 5 you'll feel better about the class from font of inspiration and at level six you'll really shine. With low level casters you wanna play conservativly with your powers for when it really matters and honestly sometimes the dodge action is the best action to take.
Consider proactive defences over reactive ones. An ASI at level 4 is quite powerful. Shield and armor of agathys are fantastic spells, sure, but increasing your DC on Dissonant Whispers with a rogue in the party is nothing to scoff at, nor are your control spells like Tasha's Hideous Laughter. Don't underestimate Vicious Mockery either, sure it probably does less damage than a weapon at this level, but when enemies don't have multi-attack this is an incredible debuff.
Level 5 is a fantastic level for any class, but when bard gets 3rd level spells and when gems like Hypnotic Pattern, Mass Healing Word and such are on the list, you boost the survivability of the entire party. It also refreshes your BI on a short rest, which allows you to be more liberal with them. Your party's making a lot more saving throws now.
Lore Bard 6 is a stupidly powerful level. You can reduce enemy attack rolls on a reaction, can take your pick from any spell list and those spells are now known. Honestly, I would not dip out of bard before getting 6th level.
On the more reactive side of things, Bards do have mirror image on their list, which might eat an action but really helps buff your defences.
Last but not least: Discuss tactics with your party. Rogues can sneak ahead (or wizard familiars) to scout out the enemy and give you the advantage. Peace domain cleric has a ridiculous healing CD and boosts to saving throws and the cleric spell list. It can warding bond to distribute damage more efficiently, which is really good to keep the action economy in your favour. Wizard can lockdown with the best of them and between their spell list and yours, one or more enemies should always be locked down and out of the action.
One of the most effective anti mage spells (especially in enclosed spaces) is silence. You want to cast it on the floor or back wall so you and your casters are out of the area but the rest of the room (or as much of it as you can cover) are inside. If the party has a ranger as well you can double the area and force mages to come to you and your fighters. It also messes up most efforts at party control by the opposition. This is where party tactics discussions are so important. If your party is coordinated and prepped it almost like a few extra AC points and HP each.
I have a few things to add. Princes can be one hell of combat slog depending on the GM. So in that regard it could be worth looking into survivability.
Are you currently playing a more support type or aggressive type of Lore bard? If it is the former, you are a support, that is kind of your thing. You may want to look into other ways to mitigate damage long term. I remember when I played in Princes, I think I went levels 1-6 without getting hit. So you can do this, but it sounds like you have a combat intense GM so maybe not in your case. If you want to be more aggressive, I would suggest a reclass at level 4 into a swords bard and look into hexblade after that. You can add more to the DPR and keep yourself alive.
If your lute is also your hex weapon, it can function then as your weapon and spellcasting focus soooooooooo...you may not need War Caster. X-P That all depends on if your GM allows that. And your lute would have the same damage as a cudgel which is kind of like a maul or mace. That way you could get the medium armor and the shield as well. Upside to Warcaster though, reaction with some of those other spells that may get like a Smite Spell or something could be fun and helpful.
I ended up just taking a single level in Divine Soul Sorcerer, So Bard 3/DS Sorcerer 1.
Our GM has been extremely combat intense (for example, our last session had our band of 6 adventurers face off against upwards of a 70+ strong orc warband in a sort of Helms Deep scenario).
I took DS Sorcerer for improved action economy with Firebolt when spell slots inevitably become exhausted, improved setup for my control spells with Mind Sliver, and improved ability check support with Guidance. It also allowed some last-ditch defense with the Shield spell, and a pseudo Res (Con) on a short rest with Favored by the Gods.
My plan is to go straight Bard from here to minimize spell progression delay, but while it didn't solve all my issues (like base AC level), I felt that the benefits were worth the investment. I ended up surviving the 70+ orc warband as the only one not to take damage so I must have done something right!
I mean if you can get out of an encounter like that unscathed that means you did quite a bit right. A lot of those support type of builds or classes rely heavily on movement and mobility. So if you can stay just out of range or be able to deflect things via Shield and whatnot while keeping yourself within range of your allies you are good to go. I did a similar things with my lore bard and I am currently doing it with the battlefield manipulation wizard I rolled up for another game. Also Portent makes it easier to make things miss. LOL
That is actually a really good idea. If you go further into sorcerer, which you should a little bit for the metamagic and metamagic initiate feats, you will also have access to 3 different spell lists to pull all sorts of level 1 and level 2 spells from. LOL
A Peace Cleric, a Hexblade, and a (depending on the player) a Rogue makes for a pretty powerful party, so I can understand your DM throwing a lot at you guys. Unfortunately most Bards don't get a lot in terms of defense (Swords and Valor are exceptions). Consider some possibilities:
o Take the Mirror Image spell, which is an optional Bard spell in Tasha's.
o Take the Moderately Armored feat. This will give you medium armor *and* shield proficiency, a huge jump in your AC. Hopefully you have at least 14 Dex. Downside: You're spending your precious ASI on it.
o A single dip into Hexblade warlock. All the benefits of Moderately Armored, plus you can use a longsword and apply your Charisma to attacks and damage, and you can take Booming Blade and Green-Flame Blade. And you get Warlock cantrips and 1st level spells, and you get 1 first level spell slot that comes back on a short rest. ***AND***! you can take the Shield spell! With this, NOW you have really, really good damage cantrip option (which Bards lack) with BB and GFB, but you're also doing melee, which Hexblade makes perfectly reasonable. Downside: Your Bard spell progression and spell slots falls behind 1 level.
o A single dip into Cleric, perhaps the Forge Domain. Medium armor and shield (I'm assuming you don't have high strength, so I won't talk about heavy armor), plus some really nice Cleric cantrips and 1st level spells. With Forge Domain you can imbue your armor or shield with +1 magic. You won't lose spell slot progression, but you will fall behind one level in Bard spell level progression.
Edit: In the meantime, consider being less generous with your inspiration dice and save them for yourself - Cutting Words. That can shave off a fair amount of damage that you're taking.
I'm currently a low level Lore Bard (level 3) playing in the Princes of Apocalypse campaign with a Rogue, a Monk, a Hexblade Warlock, a Peace Cleric, and Wizard.
I am finding that the DM really throws a lot at the party in a single day, such that it is very hard not to run out of all spell slots and Bardic Inspirations within a day. In fact, in our last single encounter along the DM threw so much at us that I burned through every spell and BI, and was left firing crossbow bolts.
I have already been knocked out twice in my campaign -we last ended the night we me making death saving throws so maybe this is all a mute point anyways if I die :).
But it made me wonder if I need to think of more survivability on my bard. I've read mixed reactions about a single dip into hexblade due to the delay in spell progression, but I wondering if in a campaign so dependent on resource management as this one, is the Shield/Armor of Agathys, Medium Armor, plus cantrip damage spell worth the delay? I was tempted to take it now at level 4.
One other thing, if I take the dip, I was tempted to rock a medium armor and shield, and use my lute in my other hand, but does that now also require me to take Warcaster?
Any feedback would be appreciative. I'm getting tired of feeling completely underpowered and useless in the team in combat situations.
Even if you do multiclass, I would suggest waiting until after level 4. Those ASI's can be important. Increasing your Charisma will get you more Bardic Inspiration and make all your magic hit harder. I feel like this might be an issue of tactics? It looks you don't have any sort of heavily armored front liner, but a bunch of skirmishy martials and then three back line casters. Once you figure out some tactics to protect the back line I think your party will do better. Maybe have the two and a half melee characters (the Hexblade could probably do just as well using Eldritch Blast, at least for now) concentrate on taking out anyone trying to approach the casters?
Canto alla vita
alla sua bellezza
ad ogni sua ferita
ogni sua carezza!
I sing to life and to its tragic beauty
To pain and to strife, but all that dances through me
The rise and the fall, I've lived through it all!
The one understated thing in combat that was drawing me to hexblade (aside from the obvious med. armor/shield/AoA/EB benefits) was actually Mind Sliver.
I could envision a very potent scenario at lower levels where I cast Bane on some of the enemies, then continue to follow up on one of them with Mind Sliver during battle (assuming I don't need concentration for other things at the time). At the very least, that could be a low cost way to lock down a single target a bit as my spell slots run low. They would get 1d4 subtracted from their attack roles, and essentially 2d4 subtracted from their saving throws (making it very hard for it to break Bane), all while I am doing a scaled 1d6 damage to the enemy.
As far as the spell focus, I was going to ask to DM to switch my focus to a flute or horn vs. lute if I went shield. I think the DM is pretty by the book, so as I read the rules again myself, unless I am misreading, I could cast V, VM, VSM, SM, M spells with both a focus and shield, but not VS & S. That would suck because that rules out Shield and even EB, altering the whole plan significantly. Now I'm even more torn here.
Med. Armor isn't that great of an AC boost if all I can get is a Breastplate @ 14+ 2 Dex = 16AC. More realistically, for a majority of the campaign, that would be a Chain Shirt at 13 + 2 Dex Mod = 15AC. That's the same as Studded Leather with 12 base AC + 3 Dex Mod (my Dex is currently 16 (+3)).
All in all, the reason I am taking the 1 level dip would be for:
Have I just talked myself out of it? Problem is, I still haven't solved for the original point of the post, my own survivability. It's one thing to have better tactics, which is certainly true, but if enemies are swarming from all sides as has been in the last two sessions, tactics go out the window with a melee NPC swinging a sword in your face. Vicious Mockery isn't going to cut it then. But I am very new to Multi-classing (have actually never done it before), so I would value perspective from those more experienced on how that spell progression/ASI delay actually FEELS in game.
Ah yes. Finger Cymbals! Why didn't I think of that before, genius! That has to be worth at least +2 to my Charisma for style alone!
Or maybe I could just abandon an instrument altogether and use my fingers to snap and go for more of a spoken word Bard that by day adventures throughout the lands of the Sword Coast, and by night, frequents the many coffee houses and dispensaries in search of the ideal stage for my cutting poetic barbs.
After seeing this, I don't think my bard could be anything OTHER than West Side Story. Even if I didn't want it to be so, it is burned into my brain.
In the heat of battle, he most definitely will be pirouetting around the crowd of adversaries. I will, however, have to check with the DM if a plie counts as an action or bonus action.
I was having similar problems with my bard, to the point where we legitimately thought she died during a session only to find out that several miscalculations had occurred. I can't say if it's the same circumstances but I did notice one problem that seemed to be contributing. Did you actually equip your bard's armor or do you just have a proficiency in armor? I made the mistake of assuming armor was automatically equipped, which made the armor class on my sheet lower than it should have been (12 instead of 13). Turns out it isn't, you actually have to equip it.
To equip your armor using DND Beyond's character sheets, you'll need to first go to your inventory. On the right-hand side of your sheet, you'll see a module with several tabs- "actions," "spells," "inventory" etc. Select the "inventory" tab and then click on "manage inventory." Add the armor that is specified in your proficiencies. Once you do, you'll have it but you won't be wearing it. To equip it, you'll need to scroll down to it on your inventory list. There will be a little checkbox next to it. Click on that checkbox, and then you'll have your armor equipped- the sheet will automatically update your armor class accordingly.
I don't think survivability for yourself should be too big of a problem. Hopefully, it becomes easier as your hit die increases and you obtain more spells, spell slots, and feats.
Feats and GOOD spells are the best friend of a lore bard. I have found myself as an absolute powerhouse in my DM's campaign because of how good I am in almost any situation.
I'll link my character sheet for you to browse. I would definitely recommend taking a look at the feats and spells I have selected.
I began as a variant human so I could select warlock initiate at the beginning which is insanely powerful. Having access to eldritch blast, prestidigitation, and hellish rebuke (great spell to use your reaction on) is awesome. At level 4 I took the inspiring leader feat so I could begin dishing out free temporary hp to EVERYONE in the party. Insane spells to have on hand can include heat metal (completely countered the enemy leader in a group fight my DM threw at me), healing word (being able to use healing word to heal an ally or revive an ally from a distance while also getting to cast eldritch blast at an enemy in the same turn is insane), and even faerie fire so your allies can get advantage on attacking your foes. Plus don't forget vicious mockery to impose disadvantage upon failed wis save to your opponent's next attack and cutting words as a use of your reaction to decrease the enemy attack roll.
Tomlin Sugarbee - D&D Beyond (dndbeyond.com)
Those certainly are all great spells, but was it worth the ASI loss. A single Warlock dip will give those same things and only delay progression by one level. Maybe that is too great a cost. I have never MC'ed before so I don't have a good sense of how that single level delay would feel in practice. But I would think that losing out on an ASI would hurt more because that sticks with you for at least 4 more levels. Am I thinking of this wrong?
The only reason to dip warlock would be for eldritch blast + receiving invocations (2-3 levels max). I on the other hand wanted to go full bard specifically for flavor, didn’t want to be tied down by a patron, and wanted to ensure I was getting my spells and magical secrets as early as possible.
The only thing not taking ASI hurts are my dc saves for enemies to make (a bard does just fine with ability checks). However the inspiring leader was very important for me to prioritize level 4 over ASI because our party had no full healer (fighter going into eldritch knight, rogue, and monk who decided to dip and take some levels in cleric). Inspiring leader for a party of 4+ without a healer is soooooo good with its extra temporary hp (which if I remember correctly can be used as much as you want and last until you take a long rest). Adding 28+ hp to your party at no cost? Yes please!
Have you thought about a conductor’s wand as a focus? You should be able to use it in the hand holding the shield without too much problem. You didn’t say (or I didn’t notice) which race if human you might talk to your DM about changing it to variant human and taking warlock initiate as the level 1 feat that would give you 2 powerful cantrips ( I take chill touch and elder itch blast) and a single use of a L1 spell so pick carefully. That would avoid needing to MC. If you do MC draconic sorcerer gives you the 16 AC and magic (bracers, ring &cloak) will eventually bring it up to 20. - not too bad for what should be a back line support role not a front line battler. It also gives you more cantrips and a couple of decent L1 spells without slowing you spell slot progression. But yes do it after getting the ASI.
Wisea$$ DM and Player since 1979.
That's a great idea, Wi1dBi11. I was also looking more closely at Sorcerer and Divine Soul looked like it had a killer feature for Bards in Favored by the Gods. To add 2d4 to a failed saving throw (such as Concentration saving throws!) that resets on a short rest feels almost like a mini RES (Con) until I actually pick it up later. That alone may make it worthwhile to go that direction over Warlock (in addition to keeping the same spell slot progression and double the cantrip/1st level spell options that a Magic Initiate would receive). Granted would be 1 level behind but that doesn't feel too steep.
1 level behind generally isn’t if your MC into another full caster class. Remember you have to use the multiclass spell slot progression table so your slots go up as if you are a full caster single class but your spells known are a level behind n the major class but you have the next level spell slot to use to uprate a spell when you need/want to.
Wisea$$ DM and Player since 1979.
One thing to ask yourself is if you are taking advantage of cover in battle to improve your AC. If the fights are still hard when you are doing that there are a few half-feats that provide some extra surviability without dipping out of bard or dedicating a magic secret.
Moderately armored. If you have an odd dex, going from studded leather to a breastplate and a shield is a +5 AC boost. You'll also get +1 to initiative which will help you act quicker and hopefully land a control spell. Overall I think this is the best option for pure survivability increase w/o using up a magic secret.
Resilience Con- If you have an odd constituition it will give you an extra HP per level. You also get better con saves which will help you keep spells up, which means less chance of enemies escaping control spells and ganging up on you.
Fey Touched- Misty step can help you out of a rough situation. If critical role content is allowed in your game gift of alacrity is a nice way to boost up your initiative bonus. This is perhaps a less boring option and is pretty good if you've got an odd charisma.
-
Overall though I think once you crest level 5 you'll feel better about the class from font of inspiration and at level six you'll really shine. With low level casters you wanna play conservativly with your powers for when it really matters and honestly sometimes the dodge action is the best action to take.
Consider proactive defences over reactive ones. An ASI at level 4 is quite powerful. Shield and armor of agathys are fantastic spells, sure, but increasing your DC on Dissonant Whispers with a rogue in the party is nothing to scoff at, nor are your control spells like Tasha's Hideous Laughter. Don't underestimate Vicious Mockery either, sure it probably does less damage than a weapon at this level, but when enemies don't have multi-attack this is an incredible debuff.
Level 5 is a fantastic level for any class, but when bard gets 3rd level spells and when gems like Hypnotic Pattern, Mass Healing Word and such are on the list, you boost the survivability of the entire party. It also refreshes your BI on a short rest, which allows you to be more liberal with them. Your party's making a lot more saving throws now.
Lore Bard 6 is a stupidly powerful level. You can reduce enemy attack rolls on a reaction, can take your pick from any spell list and those spells are now known. Honestly, I would not dip out of bard before getting 6th level.
On the more reactive side of things, Bards do have mirror image on their list, which might eat an action but really helps buff your defences.
Last but not least: Discuss tactics with your party. Rogues can sneak ahead (or wizard familiars) to scout out the enemy and give you the advantage. Peace domain cleric has a ridiculous healing CD and boosts to saving throws and the cleric spell list. It can warding bond to distribute damage more efficiently, which is really good to keep the action economy in your favour. Wizard can lockdown with the best of them and between their spell list and yours, one or more enemies should always be locked down and out of the action.
Homebrew creations:
Path of the Feral Trance Barbarian Class | Thread
Wyrmforge Artificer Class | Thread
One of the most effective anti mage spells (especially in enclosed spaces) is silence. You want to cast it on the floor or back wall so you and your casters are out of the area but the rest of the room (or as much of it as you can cover) are inside. If the party has a ranger as well you can double the area and force mages to come to you and your fighters. It also messes up most efforts at party control by the opposition. This is where party tactics discussions are so important. If your party is coordinated and prepped it almost like a few extra AC points and HP each.
Wisea$$ DM and Player since 1979.
I have a few things to add. Princes can be one hell of combat slog depending on the GM. So in that regard it could be worth looking into survivability.
Are you currently playing a more support type or aggressive type of Lore bard? If it is the former, you are a support, that is kind of your thing. You may want to look into other ways to mitigate damage long term. I remember when I played in Princes, I think I went levels 1-6 without getting hit. So you can do this, but it sounds like you have a combat intense GM so maybe not in your case. If you want to be more aggressive, I would suggest a reclass at level 4 into a swords bard and look into hexblade after that. You can add more to the DPR and keep yourself alive.
If your lute is also your hex weapon, it can function then as your weapon and spellcasting focus soooooooooo...you may not need War Caster. X-P That all depends on if your GM allows that. And your lute would have the same damage as a cudgel which is kind of like a maul or mace. That way you could get the medium armor and the shield as well. Upside to Warcaster though, reaction with some of those other spells that may get like a Smite Spell or something could be fun and helpful.
I ended up just taking a single level in Divine Soul Sorcerer, So Bard 3/DS Sorcerer 1.
Our GM has been extremely combat intense (for example, our last session had our band of 6 adventurers face off against upwards of a 70+ strong orc warband in a sort of Helms Deep scenario).
I took DS Sorcerer for improved action economy with Firebolt when spell slots inevitably become exhausted, improved setup for my control spells with Mind Sliver, and improved ability check support with Guidance. It also allowed some last-ditch defense with the Shield spell, and a pseudo Res (Con) on a short rest with Favored by the Gods.
My plan is to go straight Bard from here to minimize spell progression delay, but while it didn't solve all my issues (like base AC level), I felt that the benefits were worth the investment. I ended up surviving the 70+ orc warband as the only one not to take damage so I must have done something right!
I mean if you can get out of an encounter like that unscathed that means you did quite a bit right. A lot of those support type of builds or classes rely heavily on movement and mobility. So if you can stay just out of range or be able to deflect things via Shield and whatnot while keeping yourself within range of your allies you are good to go. I did a similar things with my lore bard and I am currently doing it with the battlefield manipulation wizard I rolled up for another game. Also Portent makes it easier to make things miss. LOL
That is actually a really good idea. If you go further into sorcerer, which you should a little bit for the metamagic and metamagic initiate feats, you will also have access to 3 different spell lists to pull all sorts of level 1 and level 2 spells from. LOL
A Peace Cleric, a Hexblade, and a (depending on the player) a Rogue makes for a pretty powerful party, so I can understand your DM throwing a lot at you guys. Unfortunately most Bards don't get a lot in terms of defense (Swords and Valor are exceptions). Consider some possibilities:
o Take the Mirror Image spell, which is an optional Bard spell in Tasha's.
o Take the Moderately Armored feat. This will give you medium armor *and* shield proficiency, a huge jump in your AC. Hopefully you have at least 14 Dex. Downside: You're spending your precious ASI on it.
o A single dip into Hexblade warlock. All the benefits of Moderately Armored, plus you can use a longsword and apply your Charisma to attacks and damage, and you can take Booming Blade and Green-Flame Blade. And you get Warlock cantrips and 1st level spells, and you get 1 first level spell slot that comes back on a short rest. ***AND***! you can take the Shield spell! With this, NOW you have really, really good damage cantrip option (which Bards lack) with BB and GFB, but you're also doing melee, which Hexblade makes perfectly reasonable. Downside: Your Bard spell progression and spell slots falls behind 1 level.
o A single dip into Cleric, perhaps the Forge Domain. Medium armor and shield (I'm assuming you don't have high strength, so I won't talk about heavy armor), plus some really nice Cleric cantrips and 1st level spells. With Forge Domain you can imbue your armor or shield with +1 magic. You won't lose spell slot progression, but you will fall behind one level in Bard spell level progression.
Edit: In the meantime, consider being less generous with your inspiration dice and save them for yourself - Cutting Words. That can shave off a fair amount of damage that you're taking.