So my current campaign character is a variant human college of swords Bard, using the variant human racial to get the Dual Wielding feat by default and dual wield rapiers as my weapons. The party just hit level 4, so it is time for our Ability Score/Feat increase. I currently have 16 Dex and Charisma, so I am most likely going to increase dexterity. However I was looking at the feats I might want to take in the future, and I only saw Defensive Duelist as an option that stood out to me. It fits nicely since I have nothing to do with my reaction, only problem I need higher proficiency bonus to make it really good. Are there any other feats which I may have overlooked that may work with this character?
Ok I severely underestimated Magic Initiate possibilities. Booming blade seems like a good fit, since I can mobile flourish to push them away and make them move to me. 2nd cantrip I am not sure about, could be green-flame blade or prestidigitation. Then I could take Hex as my spell, which in combination with my 3 attacks per turn is a potential 3d6 extra damage, on top of giving disadvantage and being hable to hop it from enemy to enemy, even with the feat's 1 time use per long rest restriction. Also even stuck as a Lv 1 spell, it's spell slot scaling doesn't increase it's damage, just the duration from 1 hour to 8 and 24.
So now I am stuck, do I go for the safe ability score increase from 16 to 18 Dex or take magic Initiate, pick warlock, take Booming Blade and (not sure about second cantrip) with Hex as my Lv 1 spell?
Well, considering how long your campaign will go to (level 10? level 20?) I'd go with whichever would give the most return within that time, not just mechanically, but in terms of fun.
Have you been frustrated by just barely getting hit by enemies, or just barely missing them? Then a +1 DEX bonus might be the better option.
If you're always running out of Inspiration die, and/or just want spells to hit harder, and more often, then a +1 CHA bonus might be preferable.
But if neither of those are really issues for you, then I say save the abilities for later and pick up the feat: extra damage, nifty new cantrips, and possibly even a new element to your backstory explaining how you got ahold of the spells. Who wouldn't have fun with all that?
Well I forgot a small detail, which in D&D is crucial. Booming Blade and Green Fire Blade require an attack to be casted, but do not count as an attack action, so extra attack does not trigger. So rip my plans. But now I am interested in somehow getting Hex or Hunter's mark in the future to combo with Extra attack.
Just remember that Hunter's Mark and Hex can only be cast once per long rest with magic initiate - you cannot use bard spell slots to cast them. Hence the earlier suggestion for find familiar as you will not (hopefully) have to cast it that often.
My varient human sword bard took the UA feat Blade Mastery as my starting feat, on one side I really like the imagery of the bardic swordmaster on the other it's actually been really useful. Since you've got the duel wielder feat it can apply to your rapier attacks, giving plus 1 to hit to all 3 of your attacks per turn.
But as others have mentioned your best bet is putting points into Dex. +1 to hit and damage, +1 AC, +1 to Inti and better saves all matter more than a feat. It's been less relevant to me because I took a single level of Hexblade so I could focus on CHA instead of Dex, but you're stats are better than mine anyway.
Consider going for Mobility. Being a collage of swords bard, you're a rather squishy melee character. One underused feature of collage of swords bards is "Whenever you take the Attack action on your turn, your walking speed increases by 10 ft. until the end of the turn." You won't often be able to use that extra speed without risking opportunity attacks. Unless you have mobile, which lets you disengage from a target simply by attacking it. You don't even have to land the hit. And with multi attack at level 6, you can attack and disengage against two enemies and fall back. Even better, you can run past the enemy and keep escaping battle whenever you're at risk. If your normal speed was 30, the feat rases it to 40, and the sword bard ability rases it again to 50 every time you attack. Keep running circles around the enemy, control the battlefield, support your friends with melee, buffs or debuffs depending on the situation, and escape with ease.
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So my current campaign character is a variant human college of swords Bard, using the variant human racial to get the Dual Wielding feat by default and dual wield rapiers as my weapons. The party just hit level 4, so it is time for our Ability Score/Feat increase. I currently have 16 Dex and Charisma, so I am most likely going to increase dexterity. However I was looking at the feats I might want to take in the future, and I only saw Defensive Duelist as an option that stood out to me. It fits nicely since I have nothing to do with my reaction, only problem I need higher proficiency bonus to make it really good. Are there any other feats which I may have overlooked that may work with this character?
Prodigy is will get you another skill/tool proficiency, expertise, and language. Good for a skill monkey or face of the party.
Magic initiate (wizard) to get find familiar, booming blade, and/or green-flame blade.
War caster is usually a good option for any caster. Combos well with booming blade.
Lucky is useful regardless of the character, but is thematically appropriate on bards and rogues.
Just remember to have one hand free for spells with somatic components and you’re good to go.
"Not all those who wander are lost"
Ok I severely underestimated Magic Initiate possibilities. Booming blade seems like a good fit, since I can mobile flourish to push them away and make them move to me. 2nd cantrip I am not sure about, could be green-flame blade or prestidigitation. Then I could take Hex as my spell, which in combination with my 3 attacks per turn is a potential 3d6 extra damage, on top of giving disadvantage and being hable to hop it from enemy to enemy, even with the feat's 1 time use per long rest restriction. Also even stuck as a Lv 1 spell, it's spell slot scaling doesn't increase it's damage, just the duration from 1 hour to 8 and 24.
So now I am stuck, do I go for the safe ability score increase from 16 to 18 Dex or take magic Initiate, pick warlock, take Booming Blade and (not sure about second cantrip) with Hex as my Lv 1 spell?
Well, considering how long your campaign will go to (level 10? level 20?) I'd go with whichever would give the most return within that time, not just mechanically, but in terms of fun.
Have you been frustrated by just barely getting hit by enemies, or just barely missing them? Then a +1 DEX bonus might be the better option.
If you're always running out of Inspiration die, and/or just want spells to hit harder, and more often, then a +1 CHA bonus might be preferable.
But if neither of those are really issues for you, then I say save the abilities for later and pick up the feat: extra damage, nifty new cantrips, and possibly even a new element to your backstory explaining how you got ahold of the spells. Who wouldn't have fun with all that?
Sterling - V. Human Bard 3 (College of Art) - [Pic] - [Traits] - in Bards: Dragon Heist (w/ Mansion) - Jasper's [Pic] - Sterling's [Sigil]
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Well I forgot a small detail, which in D&D is crucial. Booming Blade and Green Fire Blade require an attack to be casted, but do not count as an attack action, so extra attack does not trigger. So rip my plans. But now I am interested in somehow getting Hex or Hunter's mark in the future to combo with Extra attack.
Just remember that Hunter's Mark and Hex can only be cast once per long rest with magic initiate - you cannot use bard spell slots to cast them. Hence the earlier suggestion for find familiar as you will not (hopefully) have to cast it that often.
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My varient human sword bard took the UA feat Blade Mastery as my starting feat, on one side I really like the imagery of the bardic swordmaster on the other it's actually been really useful. Since you've got the duel wielder feat it can apply to your rapier attacks, giving plus 1 to hit to all 3 of your attacks per turn.
But as others have mentioned your best bet is putting points into Dex. +1 to hit and damage, +1 AC, +1 to Inti and better saves all matter more than a feat. It's been less relevant to me because I took a single level of Hexblade so I could focus on CHA instead of Dex, but you're stats are better than mine anyway.
Consider going for Mobility. Being a collage of swords bard, you're a rather squishy melee character. One underused feature of collage of swords bards is "Whenever you take the Attack action on your turn, your walking speed increases by 10 ft. until the end of the turn." You won't often be able to use that extra speed without risking opportunity attacks. Unless you have mobile, which lets you disengage from a target simply by attacking it. You don't even have to land the hit. And with multi attack at level 6, you can attack and disengage against two enemies and fall back. Even better, you can run past the enemy and keep escaping battle whenever you're at risk. If your normal speed was 30, the feat rases it to 40, and the sword bard ability rases it again to 50 every time you attack. Keep running circles around the enemy, control the battlefield, support your friends with melee, buffs or debuffs depending on the situation, and escape with ease.