Best Bard College of Sword Build in BG3: Feats, Race & More: Of Feats And

Create a powerful Bard build in baldurs gate 3 using College of Swords and Warlock's Pact of the Blade for Charisma-based melee.

This build for baldurs gate 3 is a hybrid focusing on Bard, Warlock, and Fighter classes. The recommended level distribution is Bard 7, Warlock 3, and Fighter 2. It is highly recommended to take three levels into Warlock early to gain Pact of the Blade, which allows your melee attacks to scale with Charisma, significantly boosting your damage potential.

Level Progression:

1. Bard 1
2. Warlock 3
3. Bard 6
4. Fighter 2

Class Breakdown:

• Bard: You will reach level 7 in Bard. Note that Bards get extra attacks at level 6, not 5. At Bard level 7, you gain access to powerful fourth-level spells like Polymorph, Greater Invisibility, and Dimensional Door, enhancing your support and utility. Key power spikes occur at levels 1, 4, and 6. By level 10, you will be a very strong Bard, with the build complete at level 12.
• Warlock: You only need 3 levels in Warlock to select Pact of the Blade. The Warlock subclass does not matter for this build; choose based on flavor. For Invocations, 'One With Shadows' is recommended for its invisibility utility to escape dangerous situations.
• Fighter: The final two levels are in Fighter to gain Action Surge, providing an extra action per short rest. This allows for three attacks or a combination of attacks and spells/Bardic Inspirations per turn.

Best Bard Feats in BG3:

While there are no single standout feats, these options offer niche benefits:

• Mobile: Increases speed, ignores difficult terrain movement penalties, and prevents opportunity attacks after attacking.
• Actor: Increases Charisma by 1 (max 20) and doubles proficiency bonus for Deception and Performance checks.
• Lucky: Grants 3 Lucky Points to gain advantage on attack rolls, ability checks, or saving throws, or force enemies to reroll attacks.
• Alert: Grants a +5 bonus to initiative and immunity to surprise. Useful for surviving surprise encounters, especially in Act 1.

Best Bard Race in Baldur’s Gate 3:

Gnomes and Halflings are excellent choices for Bards due to their general buffs. It is advised to slightly alter ability scores, shifting the Dexterity bonus to Constitution. This means dropping Dexterity from 15 to 14 and increasing Constitution to 14, which is beneficial for a melee-focused build.

• Halfling: Comes with the Brave and Lucky feats.
• Drow: Starts with proficiency in the Rapier, a fitting weapon for Sword Bards.
• Elves: Elven Weapons Training grants bonuses with Longswords and Shortswords, useful for Pact of the Blade Warlocks and Sword Bards.
• Gnome: Gnome Cunning grants advantage on Wisdom, Charisma, and Intelligence saving throws, enhancing your role as a party 'face'.