Now, I get it... when it hits level 6 and I get magical secrets, that's going to open up a lot of battle versatility... I can always dip into Hexblade and spike my armor class by 5 at level 7... but just looking for some thoughts... I'm having a lot of fun with it outside of combat... (We came across a necromantic candle in a dungeon and I got 3 skeleton minions out of it, which formed my cover band.... Rancor and the Skellys... it's got some pretty nuts persuasion checks for milking gold out of vendors etc... it's a fun character... and I just got a mic setup to prerecord all of the ballads so i don't have to do them live at the table) but the DM said to go ahead and roll some backup characters and I made a Sorlock... and it looks absolutely nasty even at L4...
I played a lore bard and dipped into warlock (fiend) after I picked up lvl 6 magical secrets. Looking back I wish I had played a swords bard with hexblade warlock instead though.
instead of warlock, you could consider going the paladin route after lvl 6. Get some weapon and armor proficiencies and deal some crazy divine smite damage with all those bard spell slots.
Yea... I've also considered dipping a couple levels into Fighter for the action surge and armor bonus... would probably be more useful than the Hexblade dip since he's not built to spam Eldritch Blast... the pally dip would be pretty nice as well... how far would you go into pally if that were the case?
2 levels for sure to get the divine smite and the other stuff would just be a little bonus. Since you have such a high CHA score you would be able to prepare like 5 or 6 1st level paladin spells on top of all your other spells too so that is pretty sweet. shield of faith, bless, thunderous smite, wrathful smite, there's some good stuff just from the 1st level spells.
4 levels if you want to get another ASI or feat, and if you take it to 4 you might as well go 5 for the extra attack.
I really think 2 is the best though. If you start spreading the classes too thin you could end up doing more harm than good.
I also like paladins because they set up nicely for the story aspect of the character as well, swear yourself to a cause or ideal. Warlocks lend themselves nicely for story as well.
I think it depends on what your group needs and what you want to do. Its hard to say what you should do because we don't know anything about the game. If you want to be a melee bard, a lot of what you said is totally valid, Hexblade pact of the blade, with eldritch smite is powerful. Divine Smite through paladin is powerful, but there is a strength requirement for multiclassing into that. If you want to go offensive with spells, going sorcerer could also be something worth doing. Metamagic is great, Divine sorcerers increases your total spell list even further, Storm Sorcerer increases some of your damage output, and Shadow Sorcerer gets you a pet shadow dog.
Like I said, I don't know what you want to end up playing, but what I would do is lean into being a Lore bard whatever that means for you. I imagine that increasing your Dex would be a good idea regardless of what you plan on doing, and potentially speck into some feats that you find interesting. I see you have a very rare magic item, it would probably be worth looking into getting some of your equipment enchanted getting a potently +3 Studded Leather, plus a dex increase would help a lot.
ugh I always forget about multiclass stat requirements...yeah that puts a damper on the paladin idea. Divine soul sorcerer is a good idea for the expanded spell list.
I love divine sorcerer, you get free healing the more you level in it and also chance manipulation with their first level ability that lets you add 2d4 to an attack or save that you make.
Yea I went to go test it on the build and discovered I need a 13 str to multi into paladin.... being 3 points away from that, that kind of put a damper on that option...
So there's obviously the thought process of "...is dipping more than 2 levels into anything worth giving up Wish as a capstone?"
- a 2 level Hexblade dip gets a couple invocations and armor... 3 picks up book of ancient secrets or pact of the chain, both have a reasonable argument for giving up Wish...
- a 3 level sorcerer dip picks up metamagic/lots o spells... not worth the dip unless I go into metamagic.... metamagic has a convincing sacrifice Wish argument...
- a 2 level fighter dip gets armor, +1 AC, and an extra action... there's not a Martial Archetype that's worth giving up Wish for... or that even works with the build at all lol
- a 2 level rogue dip changes him from a skill monkey to the God of skill checks... there's some semi-interesting 3rd level dips, but not worth giving up Wish
I wish you the best of luck with it! To be honest, I don't think Wish is as good/interesting an option as getting specked into other classes for some class stuff.
i am doing a bard/draconic bloodline sorcerer. good if you have crummy HP/DEX [which I have!] Damage cantrips and spells are nice too. Pally and warlock are also good bard multiclass options. Valor bard if going full bard for armor upgrades and battle helpfulness
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Rogue Shadow, the DM (and occasional) PC with schemes of inventive thinking
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
https://ddb.ac/characters/32800904/Tb9taE
Verdan Bard... level 4 Lore Bard currently...
Now, I get it... when it hits level 6 and I get magical secrets, that's going to open up a lot of battle versatility... I can always dip into Hexblade and spike my armor class by 5 at level 7... but just looking for some thoughts... I'm having a lot of fun with it outside of combat... (We came across a necromantic candle in a dungeon and I got 3 skeleton minions out of it, which formed my cover band.... Rancor and the Skellys... it's got some pretty nuts persuasion checks for milking gold out of vendors etc... it's a fun character... and I just got a mic setup to prerecord all of the ballads so i don't have to do them live at the table) but the DM said to go ahead and roll some backup characters and I made a Sorlock... and it looks absolutely nasty even at L4...
So what would you do with it?
I played a lore bard and dipped into warlock (fiend) after I picked up lvl 6 magical secrets. Looking back I wish I had played a swords bard with hexblade warlock instead though.
instead of warlock, you could consider going the paladin route after lvl 6. Get some weapon and armor proficiencies and deal some crazy divine smite damage with all those bard spell slots.
Yea... I've also considered dipping a couple levels into Fighter for the action surge and armor bonus... would probably be more useful than the Hexblade dip since he's not built to spam Eldritch Blast... the pally dip would be pretty nice as well... how far would you go into pally if that were the case?
2 levels for sure to get the divine smite and the other stuff would just be a little bonus. Since you have such a high CHA score you would be able to prepare like 5 or 6 1st level paladin spells on top of all your other spells too so that is pretty sweet. shield of faith, bless, thunderous smite, wrathful smite, there's some good stuff just from the 1st level spells.
4 levels if you want to get another ASI or feat, and if you take it to 4 you might as well go 5 for the extra attack.
I really think 2 is the best though. If you start spreading the classes too thin you could end up doing more harm than good.
I also like paladins because they set up nicely for the story aspect of the character as well, swear yourself to a cause or ideal. Warlocks lend themselves nicely for story as well.
I think it depends on what your group needs and what you want to do. Its hard to say what you should do because we don't know anything about the game. If you want to be a melee bard, a lot of what you said is totally valid, Hexblade pact of the blade, with eldritch smite is powerful. Divine Smite through paladin is powerful, but there is a strength requirement for multiclassing into that. If you want to go offensive with spells, going sorcerer could also be something worth doing. Metamagic is great, Divine sorcerers increases your total spell list even further, Storm Sorcerer increases some of your damage output, and Shadow Sorcerer gets you a pet shadow dog.
Like I said, I don't know what you want to end up playing, but what I would do is lean into being a Lore bard whatever that means for you. I imagine that increasing your Dex would be a good idea regardless of what you plan on doing, and potentially speck into some feats that you find interesting. I see you have a very rare magic item, it would probably be worth looking into getting some of your equipment enchanted getting a potently +3 Studded Leather, plus a dex increase would help a lot.
Buyers Guide for D&D Beyond - Hardcover Books, D&D Beyond and You - How/What is Toggled Content?
Everything you need to know about Homebrew - Homebrew FAQ - Digital Book on D&D Beyond Vs Physical Books
Can't find the content you are supposed to have access to? Read this FAQ.
"Play the game however you want to play the game. After all, your fun doesn't threaten my fun."
ugh I always forget about multiclass stat requirements...yeah that puts a damper on the paladin idea. Divine soul sorcerer is a good idea for the expanded spell list.
I love divine sorcerer, you get free healing the more you level in it and also chance manipulation with their first level ability that lets you add 2d4 to an attack or save that you make.
Buyers Guide for D&D Beyond - Hardcover Books, D&D Beyond and You - How/What is Toggled Content?
Everything you need to know about Homebrew - Homebrew FAQ - Digital Book on D&D Beyond Vs Physical Books
Can't find the content you are supposed to have access to? Read this FAQ.
"Play the game however you want to play the game. After all, your fun doesn't threaten my fun."
Yea I went to go test it on the build and discovered I need a 13 str to multi into paladin.... being 3 points away from that, that kind of put a damper on that option...
So there's obviously the thought process of "...is dipping more than 2 levels into anything worth giving up Wish as a capstone?"
- a 2 level Hexblade dip gets a couple invocations and armor... 3 picks up book of ancient secrets or pact of the chain, both have a reasonable argument for giving up Wish...
- a 3 level sorcerer dip picks up metamagic/lots o spells... not worth the dip unless I go into metamagic.... metamagic has a convincing sacrifice Wish argument...
- a 2 level fighter dip gets armor, +1 AC, and an extra action... there's not a Martial Archetype that's worth giving up Wish for... or that even works with the build at all lol
- a 2 level rogue dip changes him from a skill monkey to the God of skill checks... there's some semi-interesting 3rd level dips, but not worth giving up Wish
I wish you the best of luck with it! To be honest, I don't think Wish is as good/interesting an option as getting specked into other classes for some class stuff.
Buyers Guide for D&D Beyond - Hardcover Books, D&D Beyond and You - How/What is Toggled Content?
Everything you need to know about Homebrew - Homebrew FAQ - Digital Book on D&D Beyond Vs Physical Books
Can't find the content you are supposed to have access to? Read this FAQ.
"Play the game however you want to play the game. After all, your fun doesn't threaten my fun."
i am doing a bard/draconic bloodline sorcerer. good if you have crummy HP/DEX [which I have!] Damage cantrips and spells are nice too. Pally and warlock are also good bard multiclass options. Valor bard if going full bard for armor upgrades and battle helpfulness
Rogue Shadow, the DM (and occasional) PC with schemes of inventive thinking