Swords bard gloomstalker bg3 Since the flourish option of the sword bard applies all of these modifiers on both attacks it's nutty damage We would like to show you a description here but the site won’t allow us. But swords bard would probably still be better with stealth expertise and flourishes once actually in combat. Start as 1 ranger, 3 bard, 2 ranger (get hunter subclass), rest bard. 37 votes, 34 comments. Gather your party and venture forth! A community all about Baldur's Gate III, the role-playing video game by Larian Studios. Valor Bards howev They also don't stack with sword Bard, blade Warlock, or other subclasses that give extra attack around lvl 5 or 6 as a class feature or invocation. the swords bard is the new gloomstalker. Otherwise 5/4/2/1 gloom is better Bard version only gets 1 feat but you don’t really need anything beyond sharpshooter to make the build work. Take 3 levels in bard, either college of swords or college of lore. so i just used whichever bow/xbow was best at the time. Great alpha strike, all of the versatility of swords bard, and all the skill proficiencies/expertise I want Swords Bard or Gloomstalker Ranger Astarion for me. Ability-wise, 17DEX/16CHA spread early on is probably optimal with swords bard even if you want to cast as well. Stats are 8,14,14,10,12,17, and take the hag gift for 20 cha at level 4. While Assassin combo nicely with Gloomstalker, the main feature of Assassin, auto crit, is hard to get most of the time, because many important fights trigger off dialogue. Sword Bard 6 / Gloomstalker 3 / Fighter 2 / last level can be War Cleric, Wizard or Gloomstalker. To me the best two versions are Sword Bard 10 / Fighter 2 for normal fighting or Sword Bard 6 / Assassin 3 / Gloomstalker 3 for surprise attacks. Two weapon fighting is the better fighting style. A 5/4/3 Ranger as level 12 starts the fight with 5 shots in the main-hand and 2 in the off-hand. Level bard up to 6. You get two attacks per turn like any martial class, have long swords or scimitars and can use fighting styles. Joltshooter comfortably gets you through act 1 and 2. And Wyll has been an absolute Gloomstalker ranger is another phenomenal multiclass base. BG3 is the third main game in the Baldur's Gate series. This is a College of Swords Bard 6/ Thief 3 + whatever (I need to see what Fighter Champion does - I know the visual for Action Surge on MY character is cool as fuck). Imo, mystic scoundrel enables a role play fantasy of a big sword attacker. It's super powerful. Action surge from fighter is nice, but you also only need 2 levels of fighter to do it. Hand crossbows with Sharpshooter are so good that any reasonable build works, however. Overall, enjoy the new subclasses! Dex gloomstalker best build is similar to the sword bard but worse because how op flourish is compared to dread ambusher. If he goes Bard, he can get lockpicking expertise. pdf), Text File (. I’d probably go with the fighter version and build my whole team around burst damage, Swords Bard is better for higher difficulties but it kind of takes away from the whole point of Gloomstalker being a burst damage class. The most popular/powerful (imo) sword bard build does ranged slashing flourish x 2 for the main action, then casts an enchantment or illusion spell as the bonus action. Sword Bards get "Extra Attack" at level 6. true. txt) or read online for free. I did 5 gloomstalker/5 sword bard/2 fighter using the titanstring all game on my last run and it absolutely annihilated shit. 5 gloomstalker (extra attack lvl 2 spells, misty step) 4/5 thief(2 extra dmg to your sneak attack) 2/3 battle master or champion do you want maneuvers, build up crit fishing or the half dmg from thief 5. The best splits are either fighter 2/ Swords Bard 10, or Eldritch Knight 4 (shield spell, magic missile, more spell slots etc)/ Swords Bard 8. Jul 7, 2024 · The most optimal one is going to be 6 Swords Bard / 4 Thief / 2 Fighter. Astarion as a bard is great. Would need STR or monk dip but if taking dual wielder feat already I would say shar's spear of evening in the main hand is kinda auto-include. They also get cutting words. You can also go Thief Rogue 4 / Spore Druid 2 / Swords Bard 6. Basically you're casting Shield a bunch of times. I'm going Swords bard 6/Gloomstalker 3/Assassin 3. Get the Sharpshooter feat, and improve your dex to 20. Best College of Swords Bard Build Guide for Baldur's Gate 3. You don't need to make him the party face if he's a bard. I'm not sure where you're getting that from, but I've never noticed that. I'll see you this and raise you swords bard 6 (slashing flourish + extra attack, dialogue expertise, CC spells, etc), gloomstalker 3, assassin 3. My first Tav was a gloomstalker/swords bard combo. Gather your party and venture forth! Multiclass with something that gets extra attack: 5 gloom stalker, 5 fighter or 6 swords bard. The post is even missing both forms of smite swords bard (SSB) and chose knowledge over any of the 3~ great cleric domains, which is questionable for a "top builds list. For Bard spells, BG3 players should make sure to grab control spells, but most I haven't had time to mess with Bards yet. If you wanted to go melee, warlock 5 (great old one, pact of the blade), swords bard 6, wizard 1, can also be really powerful. I went with a Swords Bard with 2 level dip into Ancients Paladin for Smite. It was better than assassin because sword bards ranged flourish would put out crazy damage. I think only swords bard or warlock can compete with that for nova DMG and it doesn't cost resources (except a speed potion). Anyway, that’s enough introduction. You'll get your 2nd attack quicker - level 5 Ranger vs 1 Sorc/6 Bard. gloomstalker sadly is meh when it comes to adding attacks in bg3. Those 2 levels of fighter or ranger levels also let you grab the archery fighting style which is college of sword bard with assassin and gloomstalker and Slashing flourish (ranged) is broken too, the ranged version works like casts from an elditch blast, the 2 arrows can hit one target twice. Thief is an obscene pairing with swords bard. Risky ring for permanent advantage, Fey semblance amulet to undo the disadvantage it gives you on My team already had a mage and a dual Xbow Gloomstalker so I want a frontliner instead. Insane first turn damage. May 15, 2025 · Below is the best Act 3 Armor, Weapons, and Equipment for College of Swords Bard in BG3: Birthright: Purchased at Sorcerous Sundries in Act 3 (Alternative Helldusk Helmet). The whole swag of the Swords Bard is just ranged slashing flourish for the 2 hits per attack, be the skills master and party face, and control the battle field with full spell caster levels. Check out our guide for how to unlock the College of Swords subclass, its features, best races to use, as well as the best builds. . And yes it has higher damage than gloomstalker because ranged flourish is broken strong in this game; gloomstalker is just more thematic for an assassin. If you want to stick to being roguish, thief 3 just for the double bonus actions, then youve got 9 levels to play with - gloomstalker is popular, fighters also good, could see college of swords bard working well too. honorable mention to the sorc for a more gish build. Dec 9, 2024 · A gloomstalker doesn’t need any of that, and a ranged swords bard doesn’t either. Bhaalist Armor, Acuity stacks, great ranged damage all game. swords bard is the new gloomstalker. builds. A less optimal, but equally fun and overall pretty good variant is 8 Battle Master / 4 Thief. It has very high sustained damage because of Slashing Flourish, and it's got a large number of spells it can fall back on if needed. This uses the Mystic Scoundrel ring for the bonus spell and the arcane acuity hat for increased spell DC. Ranger is not weak, but feels rather bland to play no matter the subclass, while Bard seems endlessly versatile. Here’s the reasoning behind the main variant: 6 Swords Bard If you want to stick to being roguish, thief 3 just for the double bonus actions, then youve got 9 levels to play with - gloomstalker is popular, fighters also good, could see college of swords bard working well too. 2. Gather your party and venture forth! And on Astarion, I made him a swords bard 6, gloomstalker 4, fighter 2. This is IMHO the best use of a swords bard. These Bards focus entirely on improving their own combat prowess by combining the Extra Attack passive, being able to use Bardic Inspiration charges for utility and multi-attacks, and being the only Bard Subclass able to have a Fighting Style. One guarantees critical hits, and another gives a bonus attack on the first round, with bonus invisibility. didnt go the dual handxbow route as i needed my bonus action free for haste potions, hiding, etc. Mentioning 10 Bard/2 Fighter deviates the topic a bit so I'll keep this variant in comment instead. Sharpshooter feat. Use Command: Approach on your enemies to get them close to your SSB and use Slashing Flourish combined with Divine Smite to obliterate enemies. I'd add fighters and swords bards to the ideal multiclass options. Are double hand crossbows good? Yes, but there are better Maybe a bit unorthodox with what being agreed here, but my build would be Sword Bard 6, Gloomstalker 4, Fighter 2. I could round the build off with 8 Bard 4 Ranger to get three feats and level 5 spell slots, but I wanted to know if there were other ways I could iterate on Sep 14, 2024 · Level 9 stood out because sword bard gets extra attack a level later than ranger. Sure this build might be slightly better in a long fight but everything dies before that point with a Gloomstalker anyway. If this is given to another character, you can either get the Unwanted Masterwork Scalemail [bg3. Only thing that messes You forgot gloomstalker assassin. I'd say the top 5 classes a gloomstalker should consider is fighter, rogue, war cleric, swords bard and spore druid. As a bonus, I hear bard dialogue options are great, the extra short rest can be really helpful in some party makeups 6 bard/3 gloom/3 assassin is probably the best version of gloomstalker in bg3. Smite swords bard is generally much better in terms of damage output starting around level 8, but the ranged swords bard is a bit better at CC, resource conservation, and utility. But I find Gloomstalker/assassin to be more fun personally. Astarion (Hunter 5 / Rogue 3) currently switching through the Rogue what fits best; Assassin is eh without Gloomstalker, Thief is eh, if you do not melee or use 2 hand crossbows, trying Arcane Trickster next; playing as a ranged damage dealer Minthara (Vengeance Paladin 2 / Swords Bard 6); playing as a burst dps + debuffer (faerie fire) Probably the strongest party I've ever had. 3 days ago · 2 Paladin/10 Swords Bard - also called Swords Smite Bard (SSB) with a strong nova round potential, multihit attacks, and strong control. College of lore can net you survivability and crowd control, college of swords boosts your melee prowess. 10/1/1 Swords Bard is the better build. Feb 17, 2024 · well sword bard got extra attack on ranged attack at release don't know if that was changed since then. When multi-classed with the Rogue and Thief combination after level 6, the Bard can utilize a second bonus action, attacking twice with one action via an extra attack. Wildly OP if you ascend him too, for that spicy 1d10 necrotic dmg per attack. The easiest way to get a good set of armour and weapons is from Lae’zel companion. Probably better. The most popular Swords Bard build seems to be Paladin 2/Swords Bard 10, either going in that order for the Wis save bonus, and early access to Smites and Shield Proficiency (and Heavy Armour, if you want a Str-based build) or Bard 6>Paladin 2>Bard 7-10, for earlier access to your Bard abilities, level 3 Spells and Extra Attack. Sep 6, 2023 · College of Swords Bard ( 8) + Thief Rogue (4) Image Source: Larian Studios via Twinfinite. Pure Sword bard works great for your character fantasy, even without min maxing. Bard, Fighter, Ranger, Rogue, and any sort of multiclass of those you can think of. Hi, I’m working on an archer build and I was hoping to grab 6 Swords Bard for access to Ranged Flourish and 3 Gloomstalker for access to Archery Fighting Style as well as Dread Ambusher. The swords bard slashing flourish ranged is pretty darn powerful. Swords Bard will feel "very ok" combat wise until level 6. Having Fireball and Counterspell on a Bard that can sneak attack AND take two bonus actions is frankly some of the most fun I’ve had (especially considering my team was mostly full of half-casters and a barbarian) Jan 4, 2024 · I enjoy the flexibility of range and melee with Ranger but the pet system in BG3 is more annoying than fun thus stuck between sniper and pseudo thief Bard. This bu Oct 21, 2023 · Title is the question. I use a 6 sword bard /3 ranger gloom/ 3 Rouge assassin's, the most important gear is the titan string bow, callous glow ring, that one ring that deals poison damage,heldusk gloves and any way of getting your strength high. BG3 High Damage Bard Build. This reddit post is specifically about 10 Bard/2 Paladin which is a very popular multiclass but there're few complete guides on optimizing the build. Dual wield crossbows Early Game: Hand crossbows +1 from Dammon. Fleshmelter Cloak: Act 2 House of Healing Morgue (Alternative Cloak of Protection, or Shade-Slayer Cloak). Nov 21, 2024 · Among the most powerful bard builds I have seen is 6 swords bard, 2 paladin (for smite and fighting style) then 4 thief rogue for 2d6 sneak attack, expertise and an extra bonus action. You get con save proficiency, archery fighting style and heavy armor proficiency and only give up 1 feat + Dex saves. Stats show most players want to play a paladin and don’t like ranged attack builds. You gain a +3 bonus to Initiative. Baldur's Gate III is based on a modified version of the Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition (D&D 5e) tabletop RPG ruleset. For act 1 it's probably a simple dual crossbow or titanstring bow wielding swords bard, making heavy use of minor illusion and cloud of daggers, using Start with the Bard class and choose Guild Artisan for the persuasion proficiency and Fey Ancestry for spell protection. now i presumed you wanted martial attacks here. They also basically require a dip into at least 3 thief, which makes both swords bard and gloomstalker worse. I feel the char has acceptable dps in act 2 and serves as a great face. Legacy of the Masters [bg3. Avoid single target save-or-suck spells and use buff spells or AOE spells. For some, like Lockadin, there will be changes in the positions. nice build. I'm really enjoying this game. silence is awesome with a melee weapon set and sentinel. of walking speed when using the attack action on your turn, and Mobile adds another 10 ft. Ideally you don't multi-class until after level 6, but you can make a pretty diverse bard only party after that point. Evocation wizard's sculpt spells is better than just about anything that wizards can bring to the table in combat except a camp wizard with transmutation. If you also want to be a caster, due to itemization We would like to show you a description here but the site won’t allow us. Lae'zel fits as a Fighter or Monk, since those are the most common Gith builds we see. At level 7 add rogue as a multi-class. If you want a Swashbuckler, it might make more sense to go Fighter + Thief and dual wield, or go full fighter. Have fun. Only real downside is 1 feat, but it honestly doesn’t matter for this build Best Astarion build in Baldur’s Gate 3 (BG3) May 14, 2025 · Overall, many of the builds will not have any changes, like Throwers, Swords Bard, Monk, etc. wiki]. Swords bard 10, fighter 2, would get you magical secrets. This gives 5 uses of bardic inspiration which can he used to make 2 slashing flourish attacks per attack. May 15, 2025 · The College of Swords Bard build utilizes dual Crossbows for range damage while combining spellcasting and utility. Could a Swords Bard 6 / Assassin Rogue 4 / Fighter 2 excel at this? I was thinking of going Duergar, initiating combat while invisible to surprise enemies, then getting off a ton of auto-crit attacks with Slashing Flourish and Action Surge. But you won't get flourish like swords bard. They are perfect party faces, that are able to be proficient in multiple skills at the same time. I read that bard/fighter with dual crossbows is pretty strong and gloom/assassin is good too but I don't like hiding all the time. warlock is primarily for sustained number of attacks. One thing I'm using on my Swords Bard in tabletop D&D that seems like it'll be equally powerful in BG3 is the Mobile feat. I went Swords bard to 9, then respecced to bard 6/gloomstalker 3, and planning on ending up with bard 6/gloomstalker 3/thief 3 Weapons currently are undermountain epic short sword with lifestealing short sword Fighting styles are duel wield from bard and defense from ranger for +1 ac There’s an amulet or something at some point that makes If you want to optimize for DPS overall, multiclassing into swords bard is probably better. 1-6 Bard Took college of Swords at 3, two-weapon fighting style Feat: Mobile (stab, then run away!) 7-10 Rogue Thief at 3 for extra bonus action Think I took Ability improvement to bump my Charisma here 11-12 Bard Sharpshooter as final feat Items. And Wyll has been an absolute BG3 party building templates - Free download as PDF File (. S-Tier Multiclass Party Face Controller Spellsword Melee Last Updated: 6 January 2025 232 93 Astarion feels right as a Bard or Gloomstalker Assassin. This is very, very similar to my archer build, with Ranger going out in favour of Thief. very good face. Not ideal but I play a Sword Bard Gloomstalker ranger (end build: 6 Bard/3 ranger /3 thief). Admittedly, I've never started as a Sword Bard, only ever multi-classed into it at higher levels. Hi guys. I'm sure the list goes on. If you're sure you want sword bard no matter what. Apr 9, 2025 · While the Swords Bard alone is already on this list, there's another path that Swords Bards can lean towards. Hi! So, a swords bard multiclass seems to be one of the best ranged builds in the game thanks to slashing flourish. Sounds strong though arguably rhapsody is a bit better for not needing the feat and +3/+3 plus +3 spell save dc. This build deals massive amounts of ranged single target damage throughout the entirety of the game but still allows you to be the face of the party. with haste that is 10 autocrit arrows during the ambush round. I think my starting stas were 16 Dex 16 CHA 14 WIS 12 CON 8 INT 8 STR. Bard because they felt guilty for killing a bard. I'm a bit uncertain about the best way to build one though. If you want to optimize for DPS overall, multiclassing into swords bard is probably better. They’re both ridiculously strong. The strongest build is start with fighter, take archery, then invest into bard levels. It hurts the spell slot progression of swords bard, and thief is mutually exclusive with assassin, which is how Gloomstalker gets a lot of its value in order to be a top build. Nov 25, 2024 · I know most people go by the 5 Gloom 4 Assassin 3 Champion Gloomstalker build, which 5/4 is good but at 12 6 Sword bard, 3 Gloom, 3 Assassin can open with ranged slashing flourish and attack 1 target twice with each attack, that's 8 attacks hasted first round, 9 with dread ambusher 11 if you got elixir of bloodlust up that will burn all College of Swords is one of the Subclasses of Bard. I will be able to have better info after thorough testing. At level 3 of rogue, take the Thief subclass. Early in act 2 and very late in act 3 it's going to be the melee smite swords bard, or the 1/1/10 support bard that are the best builds, maybe also a strength elixir and titanstring build. Go Sword Bard 6, Paladin 2, and then continue to Bard 10 for magical secrets. You'd probably want 3 levels of bard at least for expertise so you can persuade a lot. Dual hand xbows, sharpshooter We're thinking of a multiclass character that has 6 College of Swords bard, Assassin rogue, and 2 fighter lolol. Otherwise, 5 levels in bard for 3rd level spells, and the rest into assassin would work just fine. With bloodlust and haste you'll have 4 attacks+1 gloomstalker attack plus 1 from starting combat. At level 3 take College of Swords subclass. Killed orin in 3 shots. Then you have Deadshot and the legendary. Here’s the reasoning behind the main variant: 6 Swords Bard Swords bard 8, fighter 2, war cleric 1, wizard 1. You can't use inspiration on yourself. Swords bard is probably the strongest archer in the game, and bards get expertise at level 3 so he can still be a very OP lock picker, trap disabler etc. Wyll works as a Warlock / Paladin or Warlock / Sword Bard. On the first turn of combat, your Movement Speed increases by 3 m / 10 ft, and you can also make an extra weapon attack that deals an additional 1d8 damage Jul 7, 2024 · The most optimal one is going to be 6 Swords Bard / 4 Thief / 2 Fighter. Gloomstalker seems more popular and rly good, but i think hunter will fit my playstyle better. Playing sword bard in my first playthrough, I find they're the dual Xbow masters. I'm interested in hearing what y'all have been enjoying. 10 Swords Bard; 1 Fighter; 1 Wizard; A very popular Swords Bard setup, that allows scribing level 6 spells from Wizard. They also have access to a lot of dialogue choices, unlocking more ways to play. A very versatile class that can be a caster, weapon combatant or a troubadour telling stories. Thief is more consistent damage, Assassin gives good first round alpha strike damage. For example Fighter 11 gets a triple attack, and gloomstalker ranger gets a stacking extra attack on the first round of May 15, 2025 · Lae’zel Companion Build Changes in Patch 8 for BG3. Pretty typical build you move fast and hit a lot. Everybody will debate what are the best version of that build. Astarion Companion Rogue Thief Build Guide for Baldur's Gate 3 - Best equipment, skills, abilities, and more. Patch 8 brings a major shake-up to Baldur’s Gate 3, introducing 12 new subclasses that dramatically expand the possibilities for character customization. Mainly because i dont enjoy stealth that much and i will dual wield. I went Swords bard to 9, then respecced to bard 6/gloomstalker 3, and planning on ending up with bard 6/gloomstalker 3/thief 3 Weapons currently are undermountain epic short sword with lifestealing short sword Fighting styles are duel wield from bard and defense from ranger for +1 ac There’s an amulet or something at some point that makes It haven't run a Ranger/Bard. Would it be controversial to say that Gloomstalker is just a more balanced Swords Bard? Gets an extra attack with bonus damage earlier than most classes, but can only be used once per battle Is a good utility caster and skill monkey, but has a more limited selection and doesn't get Expertise A straight 12 lvl swords bard would work great for Astarion. Since swords bard gets magical secrets at 10 and Otto’s at 11 anyway, you aren’t giving up much (1 spell). The only real reason to even dip into Bard at all is the additional short rest at Level 2 as well as it's extremely helpful Level 1 ritual spells like Longstrider, Featherfall, and Speak to Animals. If you are running melee swords bards I would try to stick to full caster classes in your multiclassing simply for level 6 smites if that doesn’t matter to you then just 10 swords bard 2 paladin would be good especially when paired with the band of the mystic scoundrel since you could attack cast hold person as a bonus action and attack again Feb 20, 2024 · I'm sure there's some equally-scary Gloomstalker hybrid builds that have it beat for raw DPS, but not by much—a College of Swords bard can go toe-to-toe with the toughest of Fighters. The following do better with longbows: fighter 12(3 attacks), sword bard 10/fighter 2, hunter 12(2x Volley per turn), 5 gloomstalker/ 7 assassin. Ranger will end up being similar but slightly weaker in the same aspects as a swords bard. So you can learn something like Globe of Invulnerability or other cool stuff to get access to wide utility stuff. A community all about Baldur's Gate III, the role-playing video game by Larian Studios. Also, it is more optimal as you get 2 feats, and can choose benefits from either Ranger or Assassin. The druid levels net you some decent utility spells, but more significantly, you can use the Spore Druid's ability to add an extra 1d6 necrotic damage rider essentially, and dual wield builds are pretty much all about having as many damage riders as possible to further close the Unfortunately, Arcane Trickster is one of the worst BG3 subclasses. rolled with swords 6, assassin 4 and fighter 2 for 9-11 sharpshooter crits I don't know why people keep citing the Ranger build as being the superior option to running a Swords Bard. May 15, 2025 · Below is the best Act 3 Armor, Weapons, and Equipment for College of Swords Bard in BG3: Birthright : Purchased at Sorcerous Sundries in Act 3 (Alternative Helldusk Helmet ). Nov 7, 2024 · The College of Swords is a Bard subclass in Baldur's Gate 3 (BG3). " Only 3/6 listed builds are actually all that great (throwzerker, monk, fire sorc), but the game is really easy, so S+ tier builds are overkill anyway. As for ways to get additional attacks beyond extra attack there are a few. If you’re looking to be a Stealthy menace, then a Bard + Rogue Multiclas may be a build that offers you Old thread I’m aware, but I ran Thief 3 (for the extra bonus action) and Lore 9 (caps off neatly with a level 5 spell slot). 5 of those will be critical hits. You are almost always better off going Thief and dipping into Wizard/Sorcerer/Bard. May 13, 2025 · 6 Swords Bard; 4 Ranger or Rogue; 2 Fighter; Swords Bard setup which gives Slashing Flourish (Melee) . Tav: 6 Oath of Vengeance Paladin/3 Swords Bard Shart: 2 Life Cleric/7 Lore Bard Bae’Zel: 2 Fighter/7 Swords Bard Minthara: 2 Oathbreaker Paladin/7 Swords Bard Astarion: 9 Swords Bard Gale: 2 Knowledge Cleric/2 Divinatin Wizard/5 Lore Bard Karlach: 6 Open Hand Monk/3 Swords Bard Wyll: 5 Pact of the Blade Fiend Lock/4 Valor Bard Also, you'd have to waste 3 levels on Thief and that takes away from your spellcasting levels and prevents you from getting Magical Secrets at Bard level 10. Inspiration on short rest + extra attack. Maybe 1 ranger, 6 bard (extra attack), 2 ranger. Gloomstalker 3 to finish gloomstalker sharpshooter build. Warlock 5 for agonising blast, beguiling influence and devils sight, sword bard 7. That gear combo can be used with any variant of swords bard(or bard in general) but it's easiest to use on a swords bard chassis. I want to use a build that can do a ton of damage in the first round and get resources back from short rests. Thief rogue and assassin both work well with multiclasses. Swords Bard already gets a really nice 10 ft. Best BG3 Astarion Build. It is hardly any weaker either in any of the Bard schools. You don't even have to wait until act 3. Jul 11, 2024 · Gloomstalker will give you more uses of special arrows per turn. Also, attacking from long range can be very nice. May 15, 2025 · During the early phase of BG3, the Ranger should look to equip a Longbow and Medium Armour. wiki] or stick to Yuan-Ti [bg3. I love the hand crossbow swords bard build, but realized that it's criminally under-discussed around here. Sword Bard Titanstring Bow with Elixir of Giants. no elixir, no haste potion, no refresh of actions/bonus actions, a fighter2, swords 6, assassin 4, cranks out 9 crit attacks on the surprise round. The unique ability, Edge of darkness, is a 3m radius attack that hits everything inside for full damage (even lets you smite everything as Yes sword bard does great in melee. my own build for solo tactician is ranged though unlike yours. At Least two Swords Bard is honestly pretty great if only for having another bard to use inspiration on you during skill checks. It all came about because I was having trouble with dialogue checks so I just started adding levels of swords bard. For Bard spells, BG3 players should make sure to grab control spells, but most Would it be controversial to say that Gloomstalker is just a more balanced Swords Bard? Gets an extra attack with bonus damage earlier than most classes, but can only be used once per battle Is a good utility caster and skill monkey, but has a more limited selection and doesn't get Expertise A straight 12 lvl swords bard would work great for Astarion. In terms of reference, AT9 gives you only 4/2 spell slots. Any subclass in BG3 that isn't from the PHB listed above is from one of these two sources, and in many of the cases they picked the most popular option among the 5e community; Swords Bard, Gloomstalker Ranger, and Spores Druid are the ones that come to mind. I respec Astarion to 7 Assassin Rogue / 5 Gloomstalker Ranger with Archery fighting style. [Edit] Another build worth thinking about if you preferred Bard, is dropping Thief. It's a simple build, but it's my favourite because my monkey brain loves critical hits 😂 Action surge lets you take the 'attack action' again, meaning you get to do your multiattack again, 2 attacks + the gloomstalker round 1 attack + action surge which means another 2 more attacks + gloomstalker extra attack = 6 attacks (this should work but i havent reached high enough lvl to test if you can gloomstalker extra attack twice with We would like to show you a description here but the site won’t allow us. Fighter gives action surge and probably con saves, war cleric for a bonus action attack, wizard to learn more spells. If you're not swords bard and you can't use things like Legacy of Masters gloves and/or Risky Ring, etc (stuff that raises your hit chance and is highly contested by other builds) you May 13, 2025 · 6 Swords Bard; 4 Ranger or Rogue; 2 Fighter; Swords Bard setup which gives Slashing Flourish (Melee) . Make sure to look up the crit reducing gear, there's a cape, helmet, the bow (of course) and the elixir. Fleshmelter Cloak : Act 2 House of Healing Morgue ( Alternativ e Cloak of Protection , or Shade-Slayer Cloak ). So! I wrote up a quick guide covering a sample build and some choices you might face for your swords bard. I personally went 12 bard for the 3 feats, but 1 fighter/11 bard is arguably better. Dex>cha>con. It ended up having great control, amazing single target melee burst and good ranged thanks to extra bonus action and duel hand crossbows. of movement any time you Apr 9, 2025 · While the Swords Bard alone is already on this list, there's another path that Swords Bards can lean towards. It's an unconventional way to pilot a Bard, but stealth is an inherently broken mechanic so a stealthy Bard will have lower dmg output/spellcasting power than a traditional Swords Bard, but stealth makes any build more defensive and is "fun," so I think that's a perfectly fine way to pilot the build. A Swords Bard (6/4/2, 8/4, whatever you like) starts with 8 shots in the main-hand and 2 off-hand. Go bard if you want to abuse arcane acuity, hold person, hold monster and command. Im trying to build an optimal archer build. Even better - 3 rogue/thief (for two bonus actions) 9 swords bard. Apr 4, 2024 · Armour of Agility [bg3. The swords bard is a monster of damage, with full spellcasting as well as amazing out of combat stats and utility. No idea about Honor Mode, I would try it on tactician first. wiki] are basically a better, universal version of Gloves of Archery. The most powerful build in the game, this one truly does everything! Better casting than the casters! Better damage than the damage dealers! Better skills th Sep 5, 2023 · Just to establish my own personal cred, I have 5 playthroughs and 250 hours in BG3 at the time of writing this, I’ve tried out quite a few builds in both leveling and endgame. You can multiswords bard with other charisma classes like Paladin or Warlock for a melee vibe, Paladin is best as a 2 level dip for Armor/Weapon Profs and smite but even a Thief 3 for additional bonus attack. Also half wood elf. Lore Bard is the go-to for caster bards because of Magical Secrets. She has the Githyanki Half Plate with 15 Armour Class (AC) and medium armour. Use dual hand crossbows and take sharpshooter. Take archery FS. I prefer Swords Bard 10 / Fighter 2. Generally acknowledged cookie cutter level split is GS 5 Thief/Assassin 3 BM 4. But it hurts my brain that Sword Bard gets ranged Flurry and Slash attacks, but Warlock can't even bind a ranged weapon as their pact weapon. Bard will also still get a 6th level spell at 11 levels of bard. Also, the point of a Swords Bard is to be a master of many things - support Magic and Bard tricks, great ranged damage, and Acuity spam. Well it's a good idea but many people have thought of it. Dread Ambusher You specialise in taking out foes swiftly and ruthlessly. Put the rest into assassin rogue. if you wanted to factor in spell attacks (basically making a gish or a caster) we can definitely get higher numbers. Jan 25, 2024 · I've been experimenting with different builds trying to find what I have the most fun with and their play-styles. TB Monk 9 / Thief 3 with Elixir of Giant. Have him use two short sword and two hand cross bows and take the Two-Weapon Fighting style with swords bard. Also, all the arrows which you'll get constantly make ranged incredibly powerful in bg3. Thief w/ handcrossbows is really strong in BG3 because of the additional Bonus Action. Bard keeps his rougish elements but with better party support, spells and most importantly vicious mockery while Ranger is badass. I'm currently using a really fun Bard build with 11 levels into Bard and 1 into Life Domain Cleric. to your base, which typically means you'll have about 50 ft. After discovering just how good Swords Bard is its my go to for Astarion or Wyll depending on the run. if you're interested in taking this up further, swords bard does it better than the gloomstalker. :) So what would your build look like? Pretty much gotta have Thief 3 for the two Bonus Actions on dual crossbows, but what would the Bard part look like? GS is great, swords bard is also great as ranged slashing flourish is an extra attack and can hit the same target. Another good option you lose a bardic inspiration and some spell slot, but you get the dread ambusher attack, +3 Initiative and 1 AC from defense fighting style. wiki] is your best armor and can be bought once you get access to Lower City. One of the more powerful ones would probably be the good old 2/10 Smites Swords Bard. Also, a tip about Sharpshooter - first, make sure you have the passive easily available to turn on and off (if you're on PC, you can drag it to your main hotbar for eas of access). Best Race, Skills, Abilities, Spells, Cantrips. Its quite fun. I don’t think it’s optimal at all but I was playing on Balanced and it was plenty strong there. Together with some items I found, I can act as a face, tank decently ( 22 AC at the beginning of Act 2), heal and the combination of Flourishes and Smite leads to a frankly crazy damage potential. I figure he has a "public" hero class and the "private" warlock class. Swords bard 6 for 2 weapon fighting style and extra attack. a fighter 4, gloomstalker 5, assassin 3 no elixir, no haste potion, no refresh of action/bonus action cranks out 6 crit My dark urge is a pact of the blade, fiend warlock turned sword bard. 10 Swords Bard; 1 Fighter; 1 War Cleric; Gives access to weapon attacks with bonus action via War Priest Charge. 6 swords bard, 3 gloom, 3 assassin is a possibility. You've shot down Gloomstalker Assassin whcih is one of 3 strong contendors for ranged build not using Swords Bard so you're pretty much left with 12 Champ fighter (or some 11/1 variant) and 11/1 Hunter/War Cleric. But both Swords Bard's Slashing Flourish and Fighter Action Surge are for Main Actions. Swords Bard can pump out much more damage because of flourishes, making them powerful melee fighters and even stronger archers using dual hand xbows. I mean you get bonus action hide from the assassin levels so its really just initiative + resourceless attack + extra attack one level sooner + archery fighting style. can be subbed for 6/4/2 Swords Bard 5 Gloomstalker My party has 3 members using alert (sword bard (was gloomstalker til lvl 6-7) tav, lightning/reverb sorc, life cleric/lore bard, and martial that I change a lot) and I can usually swing fights so hard that I pretty much can’t mess it up. But also. Hope you enjoy! You get extra attack a level earlier in Ranger vs Sword Bard, plus Fast Hands means both your attacks include offhand on dual-wielded hand xbows. May 6, 2025 · Best Bard Builds for Baldur's Gate 3. Meanwhile sword bard is getting full spell progression along the way. At level 4 take the take the sharpshooter Feats. Aug 2, 2023 · Thinking 3 hunter for the extra melee-dmg. It fits his personality well. The build works like a charm. Gloomstalker has dread shot for one extra attack on turn 1, but sword bard can surpass that with ranged slashing flourish (and use it beyond round 1). Im trying thief/fighter but I think I might switch to bard/fighter. hwximm qqax umftb ffsl iiii vza lljfz gmlpd gbsad bzqfn