I was gonna get the second honour build up today or tomorrow but my PC with all of the files randomly decided to start dying today so unfortunately it might be a bit before I can follow this up
I've been following along and thus watching every few days. The way the shots in the intro line up with the music is such good editing, lol, it gets me hyped. Good work!
What i like the most about this video is the leveling spreadsheet snippet. I hate how most other build videos have a 10min walkthrough of how to click during each levelup screen. A simple list like this goes a long way
@@gfarmstrong1 The older folks are trying to give the younger crowd hope, showing that you can and should enjoy having a bit of fun no matter how many years you've got behind you.
if you're playing Dark Urge, the stealth cloak you receive early on is really good for a lot of classes but is especially good on this character who attacks a lot. Free invisibility after a kill means you can use invisibility at the start of a fight from spells and then frequently dip into invisibility again throughout fights.
I used that cloak on a gloomstalker/assasin build and I was soloing fights without ever getting attacked. Though i think it only applies the invis once per combat round and if your doing multiple attacks and kill someone with the first attack then your subsequent attacks break you out of the invis for that round kind of defeating the purpose if you end up wanting to get off all your attacks. I didnt care since i was on an easier run with that character. But wish there was a way that you could choose weather to apply the invis or not after a kill. That way if you have enough attacks to kill 4 enemies in one round you can choose to apply the invis on the last kill.
One of my favorite things with this video is how you offer options for all the gear! Rather than locking the build into act three only items, showing off the different choices and letting us as the audience settle on something is just great
100%, im new to dnd style games and need to learn but i dont like following a "set in stone" build. This guide is perfect for me. Its more like a cooking recipe where you can choose and pick what you prefer :)
I would do a 10 bard 2 figther, you lose on a feat and the champion subclass, but at lv10 you get the magical secrets on bard, and geting haste and counterspell is worth it, specially in honour mode
Sword bard is crazy. I've been running a more control focused one with band of mystic scoundrel and the helm of arcane acuity to pump up the spell save DC, and it's been able to solo most of the fights in act 3.
Ooh very nice! Swords Bards keep winning like always! It's nice to see just how powerful archery builds can be since I had initially dismissed them until I found out just OP the ranged flourishes can be even on my melee focused bard.
currently running a 10/2 bow bard. wanted to add on to your last item discussing of band of the mystic scoundrel. it states that if you have made a hit in combat, any illusion or enchantment spells are cast as a bonus action. my bard wears the head piece that generates arcane synergy or arcane acuity with a combat hit. So on an opening round you can slashing flourish twice and you already have a +10 to your spell DC and can cast the most debilitating crowd control spells as a bonus action - slow, confusion, hold person/moster, I took command as one of my magical secrets believe it or not, but a guaranteed stick of command costs a single level slot and no concentration on a bonus action. High dex on the character ensures she usually goes first in combat and on the first turn you can either soften up a boss or eliminate some trash mobs while you accumulate arcane synergy and you finish it off with either a devastating single or group CC. She's also a great Tav because she has expertise in slight of hand and perception (was persuasion but repecced after she took the illithid expertise in charisma checks). I have to do very little switching between characters when my exploration, social, and slight of hand character are all my main.
very nice build, i did something similar, 10 bard and 2 fighter. Insanely strong with arcane acuity helmet from act 2 and the ring from start of act 3 that lets you cast spells with bonus action. Bust down the most scary enemy and then lock down the rest with magic, which will have +10 to DC. Had 100% to hold most act 3 bosses. Hypnotic pattern and hold moster being particular strong in act 3.
this reminds me a lot of your earlier Smite videos, and I'm really happy to see that you're getting a lot of success applying the same format to different games keep 'em comin', man
I was doing something similar to this for Astarion but I threw rogue in there and maybe that's why it was feeling underwhelming. I kept thinking the sneak attack would be worth it, but it really wasn't. Definitely will try this out and congrats on the honor mode run. Hoping to join you guys there soon. In act 2 so far and it's going smoothly so far
@@MastYT I'm doing a stealth archer build (gloom/assassin/champion), but I honestly think it would be better as a solo build, and since this is my first honor run, I'm not soloing. I'm thinking I'm about to switch it to a version of this that I've run before that is 8 bard, 2 fighter, 1 wiz, 1warlock. You lose a feat, but I have the hair. Wiz let's you scribe spells for versatility and to get hold monster. Warlock gets you command and finishes you with a CHA caster for scrolls. The build with scoundrel ring, helm of arcane acuity, and Rhapsody let's you reliably land CC spells on multiple targets (hold or command) or hold monster on a boss, all as a bonus action. Really good build. I've seen the assassin build done as bard also with 6 bard, 3 assassin, 3 champion, but this build only gets you 1 feat, and again relies heavily on surprise. But my god does that surprise round hit hard.
Didn't do a full run with this on honor mode yet but my last tactician run I had a swordbard 6/fighter 2/thief rogue 4 build with hand crossbows absolutely mowing the entire game down, I think that's alot stronger than what's shown in this video although it's got a little worse accuracy it has 2 more attacks per turn and access to cunning action.
@@garyco766 I would lean towards 10 bard, 2 Fighter and wear the helmet of arcane acuity. This makes your bard likely the best caster in your party with up to +10 spell attack and save DC from flourish attacks or arrows of many targets. Each attack is +2, so only need 5 to max out the acuity.
I have played a Bardadin through my playthroughs and using it for my Honor mode run as well. 2 Vengeance Paladin, 10 Swords Bard. Band of the Mystic Scoundrel is UNBELIEVABLY powerful. It's located in the jungle when the Genie teleports you at the carnival. It's up on a ledge/campsite near a skeleton. In act 2 go to the Mason's Guild. Get the Helmet of Arcane Acuity. This coupled with the band of Mystic Scoundrel makes you a God on the battlefield. Deal some damage, then proceed to cause mayhem. Hold Monster and Hold person on anything you want. Raphael? Easy. A certain endgame Dragon? Easy. A ginger wizard? Easy. Your spell save DC is so incredibly high you rarely if ever miss. For bows I prefer Handcrossbows. However if you use the Crit Bow, and go the Dueling route I did, use the Duelist Perogative. Couple that with the Bhaalist Armor and Smites from Paladin AND the Swords Bard flourish... It's disgustingly broken powerful. With this build not only are you a walking death dealer of damage, you're the perfect party face. Capable of getting through the most difficult dialogue checks. Bards are absolutely phenomenal. And if you take a an Oath prior to your Musical Mayhem, you're unstoppable.
I would start as fighter level 1 so you can start the game with every weapon and armor proficiency and your fighting style. You then have a few choices, bard until level 6 will give you extra attack earliest but fighter 2 for action surge into bard is probably better for most people since its such an early power spike. If you want to go double hand crossbow so you can weaponize your bonus action thats probably worth doing as well and at level 8 you can decide between more bard or 3 levels in thief rogue for another bonus action crossbow attack
Personally I'd say just go pure fighter or bard until level 7 and respec into the build as fighter 1 bard 6 but yeah starting as a fighter is nice for the con saves.
Great stuff here man, not just a solid build but some really strong item pairing tips too. I watch a ton of these build vids for ideas and this is one of the strongest i've seen.
It’s worth noting some extra synergies you can combine with this build, with the Strange Conduit ring you can put Hunters Mark on a Mage Hand via Hunting Shortbow, killing it will give you extra psychic damage even if you swap to something like the Titanstring Bow. You can also combine this with the Drakethroat Glaive to gain lightning damage until long rest, simply throw your bow on the ground cast elemental weapon on it and you are good to go.
dude, you were my favorite smite content creator ever since I got into the game back in s5 (i think, maybe s4? it's all a blur at this point!) got in your clan and followed you for quite some time. i love that you pivoted to other games simply because of your own interests or lack of/falling out of love with smite. i've been taking a break from games myself recently but just got back into gaming again and seeing you make content for BG is just awesome. you always seemed like a pretty solid dude and just a nice guy (with an appropriate amount of toxicity haha), happy to have this video pop up on my feed, just wanted to send you some good vibes and say thanks
A note about graceful cloth, even when you replace it in the late game, keep it for dexterity checks. It’s amazing for disarming traps, picking locks, and stealing.
Good build, great guide. I also enjoy the fact that you don't immediately jump to Sharp Shooter. Most power gaming builds use this as the very first feat they take and IMO it's not worth it at all. Even in Tactician you don't need that flat 10 extra damage. The loss of 5 to the roll is a massive impediment most of the time. In more occasions than not, you will be toggling it off. I would rather have 18 DEX as my first feat, and maybe consider taking it as my second, but most of the time I agree, it's the last feat I take for archers.
I somewhat agree with this, or at least I would if it were another ranged build like Fighter or Gloomstalker/Thief. Even then, Sharpshooter isn't just for the damage bonus. It's to remove the ranged penalty from shooting at a lower elevation as well. If you already have advantage and are using oil of accuracy, it helps to mitigate the penalty a bit, and you gain a lot more from Sharpshooter than you do an ASI at this point. In the case of this build however, I thought whenever you flourish, it's adding an attack roll bonus from Bardic Inspiration.
mostly agree. i think you could justify SS earlier if you had the archery fighting style from some some non-bard source. barring that, i hated having to micromanage when SS was viable and when I should take it off. Act 1 and most of Act 2 you're better off with a dex bump.
I for one am loving the Baldurs Gate stuff. I don’t comment on stuff often but seeing people complain is annoying and I wanted to show that there are people who are enjoying the new content.
Of course you come out with the simplest, easiest to digest video about this game I've ever come across. Its almost like you know what youre doing on RU-vid!
I ran a build very similar to this, except i had 1 level in war cleric with 3 levels in battle master. War cleric charge allows you to use another flourish as a bonus action. Battle master for more damage and utility of battle maneuvers.
War Cleric is beatufiul 1 lvl dip for martials! Extra smite, flourish, whatever big weapon attack. Not to mention, heavy armor, martial proficiency, sanctuary, radiant weapon dmg spell thats good at low lvls.. i could go on!
Finally, a well planed and thought out build guide that isn't some dude screaming "OP BROKEN BUILD" in his thumbnails for clicks lol. Thank you, this is very helpful!
Personally, I recommend this build only at the end of the game, and up to level 10 you can safely go as a fighter 10 and do respect, because in this case we will already have 3 feats at level 8, which will greatly facilitate the game.
My build for Honor Swords Bard 6 - DW Crossbow. Thief 4 - feat and 2x bonus Fighter 1 - archery fighting style Ranger 1 - heavy armor and hunter's Mark but mostly heavy armor This build gives you 4x full damaging attacks each round after all cooldowns are spent. Each on can be used independently which makes picking enemies off so worth it.
A popular variant to this build is Sword Bard 10 / Fighter 2 You lose: 1 feat (but you can still reach dex20 with hag boon) and Champion passive You gain: 5 level spells, magical secret (counterspell, command, shield, ...). Combined with Band of the Mystic Scoundrel ring and Helmet of Arcane Acuity you can shoot 4+ bow shoots AND enchantment spell (hold person, hold monster, confusion, command) with very high AC as bonus action
This is the build that I just discovered in my play through. For gear I also use bow of the banshee (chance to inflict fear) and the shield of the undevout (gives enemies disadvantage on fear saving throws). Now enemies are getting feared left and right. I think there might be a way to also cause prone resulting in a full stun (fear plus prone means enemies can't do anything). Maybe boots of stormy clamor (enemies get 2 reverberation when a status is inflicted), ring of absolute force (add 1 thunder damage to attacks), and gloves of belligerent skies (add 2 reverberation when dealing thunder damage). Or perhaps more gear that adds conditions if the boots of stormy clamor can add 4 or 6 reverberation if multiple statuses are inflicted at once. Will need to test.
I was doing a drow bane build, with titanbow, gloves of dex, and Dark Justiciar spear and armor; u can also use the cape that gives u crit while hiding. Just cast darkness and it’s easy to hit those who simply adopted the dark, and were not born in it, molded by it…
Very nice build. Like the Gear Options. In theory Rouge 4 lvls should be super strong! However, I agree with above comment that one needs to run dual crossbows for this. This is different from your build which great. Got a sub, hoping your Computer is fixed soon.
nice. I've been wanting to run a bard build that wasn't support focused. I will definitely try this on Astarian on this run before making it my main on the next.
Another noteworthy helm is diadem of arcane synergy, and it works especially well with band of the mystic scoundrel. Attack once, cast hold person/hypnotic pattern/whatever as a bonus action, and then get the damage bonus from the diadem.
The biggest boon the bard is being able to skip entire legs of act 2, while not really sacrificing any EXP points in the process. It makes ir the smartest choice for anyone attempting to clear it for the first time, it is very powerful.
Interesting that you go for champion subclass, ofc increased crit range is nice, but I personally would opt for battlemaster just for precission shot to make sure that sharpshooter hits, and this should be stackable with flourishes. On top of that you can have two other manouvers to use for dmg and extra effects if running out of bardic inspiration and since they are restored in short rest it even synergize with song of rest
I don't understand crit fishing on builds that don't involve a lot of damage dice. Paladins and rogues, i get it, they want to double all those dice. but critting and getting an extra d8 five percent more often, vs all the crowd control and effectiveness of battle master maneuvers most of which GURANTEE extra damage every time you use them? Someone make this make sense.
After some respec i ended with mostly the same build and i loved it in honor ! Only difference was gnome and the +2 dext gloves for a +24 dext and keep the +2 atta/dmg gloves for another character.
remember to respec at lvl 7 to fighter 1 > bard 6 so you can use heavy armor if you want to. consider going fighter 2 bard 6 rouge 4 if you are going to use double hand crossbow instead of a bow
Keeping your main character attacking from far is always the best idea on honour mode, I got a dead end when my melee bard was stuck inside the Inquisitor boss room and no way to get there to save it.
Nice video, you should probably add the drake glaive found in act2 gives a weapon(in this case bow) +1 attack and damage roll and 1d4 elemental damage of choice. After you get the buff just unequip the glaibe but keep it in inventory.
Great build! I've been using it and it's great. Only tweak I made was I went 10 bard 2 fighter for magical secrets at lvl 10 bard u lose a feat and champion sub class for doing so but u can get haste, counterspell, banishing smite etc
This is pretty much exactly the same build i played. I started out wanting to go melee, but realized just HOW bonkers a bard archer can be. I only used one asi and ethels hair to get dex to 20 (tho i dislike you can´t really get dex any higher) Strongest build i played so far.
I'd start with Fighter 1 then go Bard 1 for the con saving throw proficiency, if you're not going to rush to bard 6, plus, with low strength adding your proficiency bonus to str saving throws to avoid being pushed is also quite nice. Just a thought.
Late game honestly anything in proximity of the bhaalist armor is not surviving that turn esp when all weapon users use piercing damage, while not necessary to beat honor mode, that armor does trivialize the damage optimization of the game, pretty much any build greatly benefits from the item. I was able to poke the brain with a lore bare in one turn with the 3/4 party mates. Bards a 10/10 choice for honor more
Man I'd love to see you to a run when you multiclass into a different class at every level. Ex. Start bard, level 2 multiclass into warlock, level 3 multiclass into monk so on so forth. By the end just be 12 different level 1 classes
I like Sword Bard 5, Champion Fighter 6, Old One Warlock 1 with crit items a lot. From the Crèche on you already crit with 18. In act 2 it and act 3 it becomes respectivly better (while obscured, hiding or generally) Personally I like to play Battle Master for a while to have 4 Superiority Dice and 4 Bardig Inspiration per Short Rest and respec to Champion in Act 3. While playing Battle Master I sometimes dip one level in Rogue for the Proficency and Expertise or War Cleric for the Extra Attack.
Not sure if it is better math-wise, but battle master is definitely more fun. I feel eldritch knight could also be nice because bards don't have access to the shield spell, but again, I think battle master is just more fun
Swords / Gloom 9/3, 8/4, or 7/5 is stronger, in my experience, mainly for Gloomstalker, which is like an Action Surge *every combat start*. Between Surprise and Dread Ambusher, most fights will be over before the enemy even has a chance to act.
Nice vid! If you want to play more with the spells, toss in the Helmet of Arcane Acuity and few enemies will be able to save against your spells once you started shooting. Don't forget that you get access to Arrows of Many targets to be able to hit 4 ennemies with only one attack :O Definitely one of my fav build, pairs well with BAttle Master subclass, too.
I just finished my honor mode playthrough with this build and just want to say thank you for sharing this. The video is awesome and really helpful. I like how simple this build is. My honor mode playthrough was full of bugs and it got to the point where I decided I needed to skip a good amount of act 3 so that's my own personal regret, in that I didn't get to see how it would do on some of the toughest bosses. That being said, I'm sure it would shred and highly recommend this build to anyone looking to do an honor mode run. It's stupid fun.
I do a similar build but I use the dex gloves and I start fighter for heavy armour and longbows/heavy crossbows it may be a bit suboptimal damage wise at first but once I have the adamantine splint and the dex gloves and titan string bow I respec from 16 dex 17 cha to 16 str 17 charisma yes I am susceptible to pushes but I do crazy damage and I use the arcane actuity helm to hard crowd control when necessary
Admittedly I have not had a mast video pop up in my sub tab for a while now but this is pretty far off how I would have expected to have one cross my path. A welcome surprise though.
A little change i made (i just completed act1, only missing Grym and Ethel) is to use double +1 crossbow all the way after the gnolls fight, since titanstribg can be acquired only after that. I’m still using them, since the damage output and action management is slightly more efficient with them. Can’t wait to use the bow tho probably will have to wait for the multiclass for it to shine
IMHO, dual crossbows on this build would be wasteful. from just a raw damage perspective you are going to lose dual wielding because the hand crossbows are so crappy compared to the bows in the game. As a swords bard, you can easily get 6 or 8 bow attacks per round. compare that with one off hand attack (or two if you make an at least three level investment into thief). Granted, the three levels in thief give a lot of other perks, but definitely not worth it. If yo want to max damage, you can go Titan String, if you want CC there is the bow of the banshee etc. I ran all sorts of combos with my sword bard, including the dual crossbows with thief, and I kept gravitating back toward using a more powerful bow one handed. I think with a normal character, and definitely a rogue (who only gets one attack) the dual crossbows is viable, but with a swords bard whose main hand attack is twice as rapid as their offhand attack it's too much of a sacrifice to cripple the main hand with a pitiful d6 + 2 hand crossbow.
I just played with my sword bard till level 6 and didn't realize you could target the same enemy twice with a flourish, because that seemed way to broken to me ...
If you are assuming spending a hag's hair on dex, there are 3 actually stronger combos: 1) For solo run: (so you have to use bhalist armour by urslef): 6 swords bard /4 tief /2 fighter - you playe with 2 hand crossbows, risky ring, cloak of displacement (to mitigate risky ring), feats are sharpshooter and xbow expert (because you won't have penalty from shooting in short range, which you want since having bhaalist armour) - it is the best, because you have the biggest amount of attacks possible + sneak attack also stacks with BA 2) Alternative for solo run: this has less dmg than 1st one, but is more wellrounded and stronger before Bhaalist Armour - 6 swords bard / 4 champion / 1 war cleric / 1 wizard - bows as like in video, feats are sharpshooter and alert, 1 lvl wiz dip can give you bunch of usefull spells, like for example haste, 1 lvl war cleric gives you an aditional attack (rly good when using bow) + sanctuary, which is just broken spell 3) For runs which aren't solo: 6 swords bard / 3 tief / 3 champion - assuming that you are not using BA on this character, or not using it at all you want 3 level in champion for better crit range, over additional feat (you only need sharpshooter because with mirror and hair u have 20 dex anyways + advantage from ring). You still play with 2 hand crossbows, beacuse the dmg is better.
I have only 1 nit-pick and 1 very very very minor nit-pick, but otherwise a very very solid video. Minor: while I know items are in the game and you can make builds around them, az a dnd optimizer I very much dislike making builds around specific items in specific games of specific settings. But the build is otherwise solid, you go into great detail. Refular: optimization: you can watch Pack Tactic's video for details, but having sharpshooter early is better, and use it above a 43% to hit. The damage calculation is better, you'll deal more damage early with sharpshooter than with +2 dex. For this, while dellaying your extra attack and inspiration reset, archery fighting style is much better for early game as it gives a flat 10% hit chance.
Thank you man, using your guide I was able to beat Honour mode on my first try! Some details about that: 1). I used a main bard character, fighter Laezel, cleric Shadowheart (who I had to kill at the end of act 2 and replace with cleric Gale:)) and barbaric Karlach. 2). Hardest part was to getting to lvl 5, after that all bosses in act 1 were quite easy. I actually didn't get a bow which scales from Strength because I didn't know that you should deliver вeliver the parcel in packaging. 3). The only abuse mechanic I used was dropping owlbear to robot in Adamantine forge. After that I got good armor and game became easier. 4). Act 2 was quite easy after I got blood of lathander. Most of minibosses you can kill as a bard even without fighting. I think hardest fight in all game was Ketheric, who I fought at lvl 10 after cleaning all map. 5). This was the first run when I actively used special arrows and potions, even used all Karlach coins. Elixir of Giant Strength is OP, and pretty easy to stack from auntie Ethel in act 1 when she is in druids grove. I had Laezel and Karlach using this elixir almost whole game. 6). In act 1 it was pretty important to get flaming sword from commander Zhalk (just use drop command from Shadowheart), with this sword Laezel is a beast. Carried me until second part of act 2. 7). Skipped whole brain fight by blowing Gale, he is a hero! 8). I was also able to get achievements for saving all tieflings and for romancing Karlach at the same run. Now I have completed all achievements, which is cool because this is one of the hardest games I ever did it. Hope this will help someone.
I just wanted to say that this build is actually literally overpowered. By level 6 you are a god on the battlefield but not only thay you're the ultimate face that can roll 30s on charisma and slight of hand checks easily. This build is the equivalent of going Super Sayain 2 - the Gohan version when he fought Cell. At level 6! Why? Cuz at level 5 your Slashing Flourishes recover on SHORT REST, and you get 3 Short Rests as a bard. Your slashing Flourishes are basically unlimited now. Then at Level 6 your bard gets to attack twice. That's double the amount of flourishes per round. The power scaling is worse than in the most mediocre battle manga. You go from "Ok this is fun and challenging" at level to "Am I Him?" at level 5 to "You play music with your Inspirations, I send my enemies to the angels to hear the music of heaven with mine. We are not the same" at level 6. Seriously, by the time I got to the Cursed lands.. I had to quit. I got bored. My job as a player when fighting an enemy is to win, so it was my duty to use my most efficient methods, which meant the Flourishes, but I found myself going out of my way trying not to because otherwise it was too easy. Once the drider lost his Sanctuary he was erased in a turn. And I didn't have to go out of my way to get op equipment too: Titanstrinf bow: Bought from the Zhent trader at Wuakeen's Rest. Not expensive
Gloves of Archery: Goblin Camp. Dirt cheap. Club of Hill Giant Strength: Arcane Tower in the Underdark. FREE. Gloves of Dex: Gith Creche. A bit pricey but just a bit. Boom, 19 str, 18 dex, 20 cha at level 6. You are a god. Thanks, Mast for this build, but for me it's too powerful in Tactician. I can try it on Honour mode where a bad roll will end my run or try a less powerful build.. like a Sorlock.
Why not exchange those 4 levels of warrior with 4 levels of explorer(gloomstalker)? Exchange -1 to crit and action surge for always been first in combat, 1 extra attack at first turn (every combat not just the one u choose to use action surge) u get also combat style/proficiencies and can choose to become resistant to fire, frost or venom (also a familiar, but with rasca i dont see the point to pick this one) And well, ranger is a half-caster so you get more spells slots, and hunter's mark with 2 bardic inspiration attacks means 4d6 extra damage. Not flaming, i loved ur video, just asking if there is a reason i didn't catch, if not, i hope this is somewhat usefull to anyone. (Sorry for my english if there something misspelled)
Hard to decide between this or 5 gloom/ 7 assassin for Astarion. I'm leaning bard largely for bardic inspiration to help ability checks in addition to enhance ability and guidance
I am definitely gonna use this (I struggle on bg3 anyway past balanced mode) Are you also gonna do a video on your companions builds ? out of curiousity
I definitely recommend taking CHA on this build though and using the ring of the mystic scoundrel. Being able to cast CC spell like hold person and hypnotic pattern as a bonus action can be huge. Combine decent CHA with Rhapsody, and helm of arcane acuity and you can reliably CC mobs for a bonus action. It's really nice.
