I am playing a 5th Level Bard of the College of Lore in the Curse of Strahd, and I have the sunsword. As such, I will probably be a bit more involved in the up close and personal combat. What would be the best spells to learn at 6th level from Magical Secrets to increase AC? I thought about taking Mage Armor and/or Shield. Or is there some other thing I could do to make my Bard better in combat, or at least less likely to get hit and die?
Mirror Image is great as its essentially Blur but without concentration, Mage Armor is a must-have (if your DM allows Tasha's stuff, take the Eldritch Adept feat at 8th level to grab the Armor of Shadows invocation without warlock investment, for constant Mage Armor), Shield of Faith can pair well with Mage Armor for a base AC of 15+Dex, Protection from Energy can give you a resistance you might especially need for a battle. PSA though, you might want to grab some Smite spells, or even Shadow Blade, as you only get a single attack per round, so you wanna make it count.
I like the Armor of Shadows idea, as well as the Smite spells. In theory, I could do up to 5d8 radiant damage to an undead creature in one hit if I learned Blinding Smite. But in the meantime while I get up to 8th level, should I still learn Mage Armor? Or should I learn one of the other spells like Mirror Image? Theoretically I could switch it out with another spell at 8th level, but to my understanding I would be limited to the Bard spell list.
Definitely get Mage Armor whilst you can. If you just want to live, grab Mirror Image. If you want to deal good melee damage whilst also being support grab Crusader's Mantle from Paladin. If you just want to deal lots of damage yourself, grab Blinding Smite definitely, and in terms of Lore Bard additional Magical Secrets, since the spells don't count against the number of spells you know, I think you can switch them out for spells from other classes.
The first is Curse of Strahd is meant to be challenging. A big part of that challenge is being starved for resources. There's no one you can explicitly buy armor or weapons from, so upgrades are few and far between. If you didn't adventure before coming to Barovia, then you're supposed to be stuck in leather armor. That said, a DM can always add a smithy. Older material included some. The armor and weapons used by the town guards have to come from somewhere. And, because it's not strictly-speaking adventuring gear, it doesn't suffer from the price hike. Neither does the cost of the wizard adding spells to their spellbook, for that matter. That's a function of their class feature.
My second thought it AC is a sucker's bet. Spending your Magical Secrets on two 1st-level spells that are just going to burn through your spell slots is a terrible idea. And, unlike a wizard, you don't have Arcane Recovery to get those slots back. Your bard is of the College of Lore. They're not a frontline combatant, not yet, so don't play them like one. You'll get access to greater invisibility at 7th-level. That'll give you advantage with sword attacks and enemies will have disadvantage to hit you. And it won't break when you do attack or cast a spell. But that's still at least one level away. Being a 6th-level bard means you can learn 3rd-level magic. That's a big jump in power. Look at those powerful spells and see which ones you can get more mileage out of.
Yeah, you could go with mage armor for, functionally, +2 AC across 8 hours. Or you could choose blink and have a 50% chance of vacationing in the Ethereal Plane when it's not your turn. It also doesn't use your concentration, so it works with something that does. And you don't get Extra Attack, so what's a good way to make the most of swinging that sword? How about some of the SCAG cantrips that were reprinted in Tasha's? You can't go wrong with either booming blade or green-flame blade.
Also, remember that no character is an island. You're a ritual caster, so look at what can help the party as a whole. If there's no one who can learn Leomund's tiny hut, then maybe you should. If you're the only one who can wield the Sunsword, if you're the only character it will attune to, then the rest of the party is vested in your survival. They should be helping you, as well.
So let's say that when I get to 6th level, I learn green-flame blade and blink so I could do extra damage and possibly not even have a chance of getting hit when it's not my turn. That's pretty decent combat capability, so then I can learn other support spells like Heroism to cast at 3rd level to power up the party, and I already have Healing Word, so I can heal when necessary too. And of course, I have Bardic Inspiration, so sometimes I can step in to do some good damage with the sword and the cantrip, but I can also support the rest of the party.
Yeah I was gonna say that Shield is a better choice than Mage Armor but then I realized that your Cutting Words is arguably a more flexible use of your reaction. Jounichi has a good point about AC being somewhat of a trap. There are so many good 3rd level spells that can entirely change the nature of your playstyle and can fill gaps in your party's capabilities.
Consider Phantom Steed. It's a ritual spell that can give you basically the fastest mount in the game which, even if it dies, it won't disappear for a whole minute. Mounted combat is a little awkward, but you can Ready a melee attack or a blade cantrip and then have your mount Disengage and run toward the enemy, unleash your attack when you get in melee range, then have your mount return to it's original position. You can maintain a striking distance of 50ft this way, given the phantom steed's 100ft speed.
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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!
And yes, I do think taking either Booming Blade or Green-Flame Blade would be a good idea. Their damage levels up with you and somewhat makes up for not having Extra Attack. I usually prefer Booming Blade because thunder damage is less often resisted and if you make them chase you, they take more damage.
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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!
So it sounds like one of the sword cantrips is a must, and then I should learn some other spell that would help in combat. Not a damaging spell per say, but one that would help me not get hit as much or could change up my combat style. And I have a large variety to choose from since I can pick any 1st, 2nd, or 3rd level spell from any spell list.
My personal suggestion would be Phantom Steed or Find Steed because it gives you a super high speed and a free Dash or Disengage. Maybe see if your DM wants to brush up on their knowledge of how mounted combat works.
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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!
It sounds like you are a long way off from level 6.
I was faced with a similar question when I built my bard named Cadenza. Was I going to take College of Lore or College of Valor? Some insightful folks here pointed out that a bard just isn't a melee character and trying to make him a melee character is like pounding a round peg into a square hole. It is better to let your party do the melee stuff and for you to make your bard the best bard he can be, a Lore Bard!
But if you only want to consider how to "fix" your bard so he can stand in for combat, here are some observations.
Your best armor is Studded Leather until you get something magical available to you. You can improve your bard's proficiency with armor by taking feats, but that is an expensive way to improve AC using important upgrade slots just for AC. There is one Awesome possibility, and that is to find, borrow, steal, beg a suit of Elven Chain for your bard. Elven Chain is a medium armor that does not require you to be proficient in medium armors to be considered proficient with Elven Chain, So with Elven Chain your AC becomes 16, and with dexterity may be improved to 18. That is a spectacular AC for a guy limited to light armors. So get Elven Chain somehow and get your Dex score to 14 or better so you enjoy the +2 AC bonus.
Now Cadenza doesn't fight up front but he is built to endure a hit if he has to, because sometimes he has to. He carries his trusty rapier, a short sword as a backup weapon, a dagger or two and a crossbow. He carries a wooden flute as his spell casting focus. All characters may use two weapon fighting, often abbreviated TWF in these pages (p.195 PHB). TWF without feats requires that you have light weapons and all the melee weapons Cadenza carries are finesse weapons to take advantage of his dexterity. So Cadenza may use his short sword and a dagger to fight two handed, giving him an extra chance to get a hit a do damage.
With the Dual Wielder Feat (p.165, PHB), you may fight with one-handed weapons that do not have to be light weapons. This would allow you to use your Sunsword and a longsword in your other hand. In addition you also gain +1 to your AC when dual wielding.
Now, one of the more enjoyable tricks available to a College of Lore Bard is Cutting Words, which you gain at level 3 (p.54, PHB). Cutting Words allows you to convert bardic Inspiration into misses because you may expend a B-I to cause the opponent to roll a B-I die and deduct it from his to-hit roll. You only need to do this when it appears he might hit you and you may do it as a reaction. This is an incredible trick when you are alert to what is going on. You only get to do it while you have unused B-I dice and only once per turn as a reaction, but this is very powerful, whether it is to save yourself or another PC from a hit from the boss or something. Also, using Cutting Words isn't using a spell slot, just a B-I die.
So this gets me to my next point. I strongly recommend that you use your first Ability Score Improvement (ASI) at level 4 to improve your Charisma score. This will add one B-I die to your total per "rest" and improved your spell casting value, which should be a priority for any member of the "Full Caster" classes, and Bards are definitely Full Casters.
Now about that "Rest", usually bards get to recover their spell slots and bardic inspiration die on a long rest, or generally once per day. But bards get to use Font of Inspiration at level 5 to recharge their Bardic Inspiration dice. So you may use 3 bardic inspirations to power your Cutting Words in a fight, take a short rest and have them all back again. And while the party is indulging you on a short rest, you may use your feature Song of Rest to give them back extra HP during that short rest too.
I would not, in general, look for spells to grab with Magical Secrets that improve your AC. I understand the thinking behind that, but you have much more powerful methods at your disposal. I picked up Counterspell (p. 228, PHB) and Thunderstep (p.168, XGtE) with my Magical Secrets at level 6.
However, there are some regular Bard spells that will help. Bane, I use often. It puts a curse on creatures that do not pass their saving throw and these creatures have to deduct a 1d4 roll from their to-hit roll each turn, effectively improving your AC against these monsters. If you have a Cleric or Paladin they may do something similar in reverse with the Bless spell. Dissonant Whispers causes damage and causes monsters to run away giving your party members near them a chance to make a free strike with their reaction. When you are out of spell slots you may decide to use Vicious Mockery, which causes the monster to have to roll with disadvantage on their next attack if they fail their save.
I don't know where you are in your character development. I just wanted to offer you some things to think about as you look ahead with how you wish to build your character. Good Luck.
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Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscript catapultas habebunt
Their character is 5th-level. Hell, that's how the first sentence in the original post begins. And we've already covered the equipment options available to them in the module. Next time, finish reading and drop the condescension. You're not being helpful.
Yeah most of those things I already have/did. I already have a perfect Charisma score, and I do have Bane and Dissonant Whispers, and yes I am already 5th Level so I already have those features too. As for the Elven Chain, if we ever found any we would probably give it to one of the wizards. The thing with the Dual Wielding thing though is that it would probably be better to have a hand free for a spell casting focus. I haven't actually had any encounters since acquiring the Sunsword, so I might just have to see how it goes. In fact, our last session ended with me walking into a room by myself and a Giant Spider lunged at me. I'm thinking that I am definitely going to get one of the sword cantrips, and the other spell I want to be something that has a bit of a duration so I don't burn through spell slots, like Phantom Steed, Blink, Blur, etc. as mentioned already. I think that I have come to the conclusion that AC is not the answer though, because as a spellcaster, I have other methods to avoid attacks. Thank you for the input, everyone. If anybody else has anymore ideas, please post it, because I don't actually know when I will level up.
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I am playing a 5th Level Bard of the College of Lore in the Curse of Strahd, and I have the sunsword. As such, I will probably be a bit more involved in the up close and personal combat. What would be the best spells to learn at 6th level from Magical Secrets to increase AC? I thought about taking Mage Armor and/or Shield. Or is there some other thing I could do to make my Bard better in combat, or at least less likely to get hit and die?
Mirror Image is great as its essentially Blur but without concentration, Mage Armor is a must-have (if your DM allows Tasha's stuff, take the Eldritch Adept feat at 8th level to grab the Armor of Shadows invocation without warlock investment, for constant Mage Armor), Shield of Faith can pair well with Mage Armor for a base AC of 15+Dex, Protection from Energy can give you a resistance you might especially need for a battle. PSA though, you might want to grab some Smite spells, or even Shadow Blade, as you only get a single attack per round, so you wanna make it count.
I like the Armor of Shadows idea, as well as the Smite spells. In theory, I could do up to 5d8 radiant damage to an undead creature in one hit if I learned Blinding Smite. But in the meantime while I get up to 8th level, should I still learn Mage Armor? Or should I learn one of the other spells like Mirror Image? Theoretically I could switch it out with another spell at 8th level, but to my understanding I would be limited to the Bard spell list.
Definitely get Mage Armor whilst you can. If you just want to live, grab Mirror Image. If you want to deal good melee damage whilst also being support grab Crusader's Mantle from Paladin. If you just want to deal lots of damage yourself, grab Blinding Smite definitely, and in terms of Lore Bard additional Magical Secrets, since the spells don't count against the number of spells you know, I think you can switch them out for spells from other classes.
Okay, so I have a few thoughts.
The first is Curse of Strahd is meant to be challenging. A big part of that challenge is being starved for resources. There's no one you can explicitly buy armor or weapons from, so upgrades are few and far between. If you didn't adventure before coming to Barovia, then you're supposed to be stuck in leather armor. That said, a DM can always add a smithy. Older material included some. The armor and weapons used by the town guards have to come from somewhere. And, because it's not strictly-speaking adventuring gear, it doesn't suffer from the price hike. Neither does the cost of the wizard adding spells to their spellbook, for that matter. That's a function of their class feature.
My second thought it AC is a sucker's bet. Spending your Magical Secrets on two 1st-level spells that are just going to burn through your spell slots is a terrible idea. And, unlike a wizard, you don't have Arcane Recovery to get those slots back. Your bard is of the College of Lore. They're not a frontline combatant, not yet, so don't play them like one. You'll get access to greater invisibility at 7th-level. That'll give you advantage with sword attacks and enemies will have disadvantage to hit you. And it won't break when you do attack or cast a spell. But that's still at least one level away. Being a 6th-level bard means you can learn 3rd-level magic. That's a big jump in power. Look at those powerful spells and see which ones you can get more mileage out of.
Yeah, you could go with mage armor for, functionally, +2 AC across 8 hours. Or you could choose blink and have a 50% chance of vacationing in the Ethereal Plane when it's not your turn. It also doesn't use your concentration, so it works with something that does. And you don't get Extra Attack, so what's a good way to make the most of swinging that sword? How about some of the SCAG cantrips that were reprinted in Tasha's? You can't go wrong with either booming blade or green-flame blade.
Also, remember that no character is an island. You're a ritual caster, so look at what can help the party as a whole. If there's no one who can learn Leomund's tiny hut, then maybe you should. If you're the only one who can wield the Sunsword, if you're the only character it will attune to, then the rest of the party is vested in your survival. They should be helping you, as well.
So let's say that when I get to 6th level, I learn green-flame blade and blink so I could do extra damage and possibly not even have a chance of getting hit when it's not my turn. That's pretty decent combat capability, so then I can learn other support spells like Heroism to cast at 3rd level to power up the party, and I already have Healing Word, so I can heal when necessary too. And of course, I have Bardic Inspiration, so sometimes I can step in to do some good damage with the sword and the cantrip, but I can also support the rest of the party.
Yeah I was gonna say that Shield is a better choice than Mage Armor but then I realized that your Cutting Words is arguably a more flexible use of your reaction. Jounichi has a good point about AC being somewhat of a trap. There are so many good 3rd level spells that can entirely change the nature of your playstyle and can fill gaps in your party's capabilities.
Consider Phantom Steed. It's a ritual spell that can give you basically the fastest mount in the game which, even if it dies, it won't disappear for a whole minute. Mounted combat is a little awkward, but you can Ready a melee attack or a blade cantrip and then have your mount Disengage and run toward the enemy, unleash your attack when you get in melee range, then have your mount return to it's original position. You can maintain a striking distance of 50ft this way, given the phantom steed's 100ft speed.
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!
And yes, I do think taking either Booming Blade or Green-Flame Blade would be a good idea. Their damage levels up with you and somewhat makes up for not having Extra Attack. I usually prefer Booming Blade because thunder damage is less often resisted and if you make them chase you, they take more damage.
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!
So it sounds like one of the sword cantrips is a must, and then I should learn some other spell that would help in combat. Not a damaging spell per say, but one that would help me not get hit as much or could change up my combat style. And I have a large variety to choose from since I can pick any 1st, 2nd, or 3rd level spell from any spell list.
My personal suggestion would be Phantom Steed or Find Steed because it gives you a super high speed and a free Dash or Disengage. Maybe see if your DM wants to brush up on their knowledge of how mounted combat works.
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!
It sounds like you are a long way off from level 6.
I was faced with a similar question when I built my bard named Cadenza. Was I going to take College of Lore or College of Valor? Some insightful folks here pointed out that a bard just isn't a melee character and trying to make him a melee character is like pounding a round peg into a square hole. It is better to let your party do the melee stuff and for you to make your bard the best bard he can be, a Lore Bard!
But if you only want to consider how to "fix" your bard so he can stand in for combat, here are some observations.
Your best armor is Studded Leather until you get something magical available to you. You can improve your bard's proficiency with armor by taking feats, but that is an expensive way to improve AC using important upgrade slots just for AC. There is one Awesome possibility, and that is to find, borrow, steal, beg a suit of Elven Chain for your bard. Elven Chain is a medium armor that does not require you to be proficient in medium armors to be considered proficient with Elven Chain, So with Elven Chain your AC becomes 16, and with dexterity may be improved to 18. That is a spectacular AC for a guy limited to light armors. So get Elven Chain somehow and get your Dex score to 14 or better so you enjoy the +2 AC bonus.
Now Cadenza doesn't fight up front but he is built to endure a hit if he has to, because sometimes he has to. He carries his trusty rapier, a short sword as a backup weapon, a dagger or two and a crossbow. He carries a wooden flute as his spell casting focus. All characters may use two weapon fighting, often abbreviated TWF in these pages (p.195 PHB). TWF without feats requires that you have light weapons and all the melee weapons Cadenza carries are finesse weapons to take advantage of his dexterity. So Cadenza may use his short sword and a dagger to fight two handed, giving him an extra chance to get a hit a do damage.
With the Dual Wielder Feat (p.165, PHB), you may fight with one-handed weapons that do not have to be light weapons. This would allow you to use your Sunsword and a longsword in your other hand. In addition you also gain +1 to your AC when dual wielding.
Now, one of the more enjoyable tricks available to a College of Lore Bard is Cutting Words, which you gain at level 3 (p.54, PHB). Cutting Words allows you to convert bardic Inspiration into misses because you may expend a B-I to cause the opponent to roll a B-I die and deduct it from his to-hit roll. You only need to do this when it appears he might hit you and you may do it as a reaction. This is an incredible trick when you are alert to what is going on. You only get to do it while you have unused B-I dice and only once per turn as a reaction, but this is very powerful, whether it is to save yourself or another PC from a hit from the boss or something. Also, using Cutting Words isn't using a spell slot, just a B-I die.
So this gets me to my next point. I strongly recommend that you use your first Ability Score Improvement (ASI) at level 4 to improve your Charisma score. This will add one B-I die to your total per "rest" and improved your spell casting value, which should be a priority for any member of the "Full Caster" classes, and Bards are definitely Full Casters.
Now about that "Rest", usually bards get to recover their spell slots and bardic inspiration die on a long rest, or generally once per day. But bards get to use Font of Inspiration at level 5 to recharge their Bardic Inspiration dice. So you may use 3 bardic inspirations to power your Cutting Words in a fight, take a short rest and have them all back again. And while the party is indulging you on a short rest, you may use your feature Song of Rest to give them back extra HP during that short rest too.
I would not, in general, look for spells to grab with Magical Secrets that improve your AC. I understand the thinking behind that, but you have much more powerful methods at your disposal. I picked up Counterspell (p. 228, PHB) and Thunderstep (p.168, XGtE) with my Magical Secrets at level 6.
However, there are some regular Bard spells that will help. Bane, I use often. It puts a curse on creatures that do not pass their saving throw and these creatures have to deduct a 1d4 roll from their to-hit roll each turn, effectively improving your AC against these monsters. If you have a Cleric or Paladin they may do something similar in reverse with the Bless spell. Dissonant Whispers causes damage and causes monsters to run away giving your party members near them a chance to make a free strike with their reaction. When you are out of spell slots you may decide to use Vicious Mockery, which causes the monster to have to roll with disadvantage on their next attack if they fail their save.
I don't know where you are in your character development. I just wanted to offer you some things to think about as you look ahead with how you wish to build your character. Good Luck.
Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscript catapultas habebunt
Their character is 5th-level. Hell, that's how the first sentence in the original post begins. And we've already covered the equipment options available to them in the module. Next time, finish reading and drop the condescension. You're not being helpful.
Yeah most of those things I already have/did. I already have a perfect Charisma score, and I do have Bane and Dissonant Whispers, and yes I am already 5th Level so I already have those features too. As for the Elven Chain, if we ever found any we would probably give it to one of the wizards. The thing with the Dual Wielding thing though is that it would probably be better to have a hand free for a spell casting focus. I haven't actually had any encounters since acquiring the Sunsword, so I might just have to see how it goes. In fact, our last session ended with me walking into a room by myself and a Giant Spider lunged at me. I'm thinking that I am definitely going to get one of the sword cantrips, and the other spell I want to be something that has a bit of a duration so I don't burn through spell slots, like Phantom Steed, Blink, Blur, etc. as mentioned already. I think that I have come to the conclusion that AC is not the answer though, because as a spellcaster, I have other methods to avoid attacks. Thank you for the input, everyone. If anybody else has anymore ideas, please post it, because I don't actually know when I will level up.