It may sound silly but my bard seems to do a lot of hand to hand combat. Her combat spells are limited at level six, but the damage she does with her rapier isn't great. I'm looking to purchase a new weapon for her, but not sure what I should be on the lookout for; obviously looking something that does more than 1d6 damage though. Any suggestions?
Um For starters the Rapier does 1d8 not 1d6 unless it got changed in the last few months and I don't know it.
That being said knowing your stats and college are kind of needed to know of a better possible one. Because the Rapier is about as good as it gets for nonmagical finesse weapons. So we need to know if perhaps you have something else available to you.
Um For starters the Rapier does 1d8 not 1d6 unless it got changed in the last few months and I don't know it.
That being said knowing your stats and college are kind of needed to know of a better possible one. Because the Rapier is about as good as it gets for nonmagical finesse weapons. So we need to know if perhaps you have something else available to you.
My bad, meant 1d8. Still not great when facing high level enemies. She's a level six College of Whispers. Her rapier uses her Dex score since her Str is low. I'm thinking of asking my dm if a magical weapon would be an option to look for in game.
Well with college of whispers. Your damage from Psychic blades is aided by the weapon you use but it's not driven by that weapon and when you use it that ability is going to dictate far more how much damage your capable of doing than the weapon is. A lot of your power is still going to be in how you use your spells and the like as well.
I feel like a Whispers Bard is meant to be an ambusher and infiltrator. Ambush a low level servant, kill them, take their place, and infiltrate a stronghold or organization. Then when you're on the inside wreak havoc either through sabotage, or opening the way for your party to waltz in. They're definitely not built to be front line warriors. So it helps that Psychic Blades can be used with ranged attacks. As Fateless said, your most rewarding strategy will probably be to support your party with spells, either to buff them or to control and demoralize the enemy. That said, trying to find a magical rapier wouldn't hurt for those times when you get the opportunity to slip in and deliver a psychically enhanced strike. While you're considering magical items why not see if your DM would be amenable to letting you find a Fochlucan Bandore. It's a very powerful item for being uncommon.
Come to think of it, while you're on the inside disguised as a servant or something a carefully targeted Words of Terror can make it that much easier for your party to enter and accomplish their goal. Imagine a lone gate guard being inexplicably terrified of a person they've never met before, all because of a casual conversation with the maid.
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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!
Yikes those stats are rough. Only 16 Charisma at level 6? That’s a big part of the problem. Your dex should be at least 14 if finesse combat is going to be a major part of your kit.
Omg yall helped me realize I was missing three whole ability score points from when I transferred my character over to dndbeyond. Her correct Dex is 16 (and has been since level two!). Maybe that's why she feels underpowered; her damage bonus hasn't changed in 4 levels. Luckily I just recently transferred the character so I hadn't played with the weaker scores.
Thank you for all of the suggestions, my character definitely does sneaking/ambushing/words of terror whenever possible but our campaign seems to involve a lot of close combat encounters as well. I will make sure to ask my dm about a magical rapier; thanks again!
Your damage bonus on your physical attacks doesn't change a whole lot. It's why people focus so much on various martial things at low levels. It's so front loaded in the way that 5e is created in a lot of ways compared to magic. You'll probably find your magic actually where you see the most changes as you increase in levels. Not only in power but in the variety of things that you can do as well. Though you will see increases from time to time on your damage from a couple of your abilities you can combine with the weapon.
It may sound silly but my bard seems to do a lot of hand to hand combat. Her combat spells are limited at level six, but the damage she does with her rapier isn't great. I'm looking to purchase a new weapon for her, but not sure what I should be on the lookout for; obviously looking something that does more than 1d6 damage though. Any suggestions?
What College is she and what are her stats like?
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!
Um For starters the Rapier does 1d8 not 1d6 unless it got changed in the last few months and I don't know it.
That being said knowing your stats and college are kind of needed to know of a better possible one. Because the Rapier is about as good as it gets for nonmagical finesse weapons. So we need to know if perhaps you have something else available to you.
My bad, meant 1d8. Still not great when facing high level enemies. She's a level six College of Whispers. Her rapier uses her Dex score since her Str is low. I'm thinking of asking my dm if a magical weapon would be an option to look for in game.
Str: 9
Dex: 13
Con: 12
Int: 10
Wis: 13
Cha: 16
Well with college of whispers. Your damage from Psychic blades is aided by the weapon you use but it's not driven by that weapon and when you use it that ability is going to dictate far more how much damage your capable of doing than the weapon is. A lot of your power is still going to be in how you use your spells and the like as well.
I feel like a Whispers Bard is meant to be an ambusher and infiltrator. Ambush a low level servant, kill them, take their place, and infiltrate a stronghold or organization. Then when you're on the inside wreak havoc either through sabotage, or opening the way for your party to waltz in. They're definitely not built to be front line warriors. So it helps that Psychic Blades can be used with ranged attacks. As Fateless said, your most rewarding strategy will probably be to support your party with spells, either to buff them or to control and demoralize the enemy. That said, trying to find a magical rapier wouldn't hurt for those times when you get the opportunity to slip in and deliver a psychically enhanced strike. While you're considering magical items why not see if your DM would be amenable to letting you find a Fochlucan Bandore. It's a very powerful item for being uncommon.
Come to think of it, while you're on the inside disguised as a servant or something a carefully targeted Words of Terror can make it that much easier for your party to enter and accomplish their goal. Imagine a lone gate guard being inexplicably terrified of a person they've never met before, all because of a casual conversation with the maid.
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!
Thank you Ophidancer. I got pulled away so was only able to give a partial answer and you were able to fill in gaps quite a bit.
Yikes those stats are rough. Only 16 Charisma at level 6? That’s a big part of the problem. Your dex should be at least 14 if finesse combat is going to be a major part of your kit.
Omg yall helped me realize I was missing three whole ability score points from when I transferred my character over to dndbeyond. Her correct Dex is 16 (and has been since level two!). Maybe that's why she feels underpowered; her damage bonus hasn't changed in 4 levels. Luckily I just recently transferred the character so I hadn't played with the weaker scores.
Thank you for all of the suggestions, my character definitely does sneaking/ambushing/words of terror whenever possible but our campaign seems to involve a lot of close combat encounters as well. I will make sure to ask my dm about a magical rapier; thanks again!
Your damage bonus on your physical attacks doesn't change a whole lot. It's why people focus so much on various martial things at low levels. It's so front loaded in the way that 5e is created in a lot of ways compared to magic. You'll probably find your magic actually where you see the most changes as you increase in levels. Not only in power but in the variety of things that you can do as well. Though you will see increases from time to time on your damage from a couple of your abilities you can combine with the weapon.