D&D 5E Must-have bard spells?

[Mistwell]

Not sure I understand why Faerie Fire is such a hit:
- The area of effect isn't movable, so all you have to do is move out of the cube to 'go dim' again

No. It's not a zone.

 

[Aimian_Silverflash]

My personal favorites from my low-level game thus far:

Cantrips:
Prestidigitation + Dancing Lights = One heck of a magic show, in the hands of a charismatic bard.
Message: My bard is super-stealthy, but he's a lot better spy/scout than he is assassin. Message helps me coordinate an attack.
Mage Hand: Boring, but handy in dungeons.
Minor Illusion: Read the sound version of the spell; this is basically Ventriloquism in previous editions! Great for distractions. Plus you can make 5'x5' object illusions for doing things like hiding, or any number of things.

1st Level:
Healing Word: I prefer this over Cure Wounds. Bards are emergency healers, not main healers, a role I absolutely refuse to fall into. If I wanted to play a cleric, I would have played a cleric! Plus Healing Word lets me do it from range, while still attacking. A perfect fit.
Thunderwave: Just a nuts amount of damage if you're mobbed by kobolds.
Disguise Self: In the hands of a charismatic bard with Performance/Persuasion/Deception skills, you can basically be anyone you want. Awesome.
Dissonant Whispers: Great damage, and causes attacks of opportunity when they flee.
Faerie Fire: Awesome support spell for a support class. Fits perfectly.

 

[Riley37]

Level 2, Invisibility. You don't get to stay invisible during combat, but you get a lot more choice about where you are and what you've done to prepare when YOU decide to start combat with a surprise attack. (You took Expertise on Stealth, right?)

I haven't had occasion to use Phantasmal Force. I figure it would be a very effective "Slay Beast", as long as you can stay out of the beast's melee range while you're chipping away at its HP, since it does constant damage over time with an INT save, and most beasts have lousy INT saves.

One possible illusion: a thundercloud which stays over the target's head, raining lightning down on them no matter where they go. Simpler: a swarm of stinging flying insects, which also follows them where ever they go.

 

[Zardnaar]

That makes sense. OK, so Hex is more of a non-combat thing, rather than a combat thing. The witch hexes you with a curse, so now a lot of stuff you normally do fine, you do poorly. Makes sense.

Hex has combat uses with the shield master feat (doesn't have to be on the same PC). Hex them and give them disadvantage on strength checks and then use shield bash on them. Even funnier if you have enhance ability on the shield bash PC. SHield bash is good by itself due to a accuracy buff.

The level 1 must have bard spells are faerie fire and dissonant whispers. Whispers is so funny with the warcaster feat as a valor bard as well. If they flunk the save you can nail them with another spell on the way out and any allied PC gets a free AoO as well.

 

[Aimian_Silverflash]

So I've had a couple games at 3rd level with my bard, and I picked Invisibility, and then swapped out one of my 1st level spells for Crown of Madness.

Invisibility has been really solid, especially since the guidelines for Stealth are fairly strict such that you cannot successfully be stealthy while in bright rooms or without any sort of cover. So my bard has officially bypassed the rogue as the party scout when checking out stealth-unfriendly places.

Crown of Madness sure sounded good when I first read it. It sounds like you basically get to puppet-string someone around until they make their wisdom save, right? Wrong... According to RAW, the only thing you choose is who they attack on their attack action, and you don't even get to do that if no enemies you want to be attacked are in range. Considering you're giving up your action every round to do this, (this is a huge hindrance!) that's kinda a waste of a spell. Hold Person is much better for the slot.

More feedback as I level up.

Aimian

 

[TarionzCousin]

More feedback as I level up.

Arise my unthread minions, and give my your thoughts on Bard spells 6+ months later.
[MENTION=2525]Mistwell[/MENTION] I know you've been playing 5E steadily. Everybody else's opinions are welcome, too.




P.S. Did I mention that I am starting a level one bard tomorrow? No? Oh, well... I am.

 

[Runny]

The 6th level steal spells depend on your style and the party. I think the best spells are support spells. Lots of folks that play bards love the support role. Here are my favorites...

Bless when you have archers with sharpshooter or buff dudes with great weapon mastery.

Rope use when you have a party of monks, warlocks, and fighters.

Haste when you have any heavy hitters... Tho bless is better in the above situation.

 

[mgrinshpon]

Arise my unthread minions, and give my your thoughts on Bard spells 6+ months later.
P.S. Did I mention that I am starting a level one bard tomorrow? No? Oh, well... I am.

I've been playing a bard for about a year now and finally reached level 12 a few days back. I chose a Bard of Valor since we have 8 people in the party, I didn't need to be effective, and watched Zorro the day before having to make the decision. If I could go back and be a Bard of Lore, I would. That's a separate discussion, though, but what it means is that I've got nothing in terms of level 6 spell suggestions.

For the level 10 spells, I chose Contagion since my DM likes to throw singular dragons at us with beefed up saves that prevent magic users from doing anything. My second spell was Find Steed since it seemed cool. Contagion has been incredible as a force multiplier, turning dragons into barbarian meat.

In terms of bard spells, the following have been most useful:

• Cantrips: Prestidigitation, Minor Illusion, Vicious Mockery
• Level 1: Dissonant Whispers, Faerie Fire, Cure Wounds, Comprehend Languages
• Level 2: Suggestion (Charm Person without the crappy knowledge rider!)
• Level 3: Hypnotic Pattern, Sending, Tongues
• Level 4: Polymorph
• Level 5: Contagion (non-class spell)

I also have Silence but there haven't been many opportunities to use it.

A real all-star for me have been the bardic instruments in the DMG. I recently acquired the Canaith Mandolin giving all enemies disadvantage on charm saving when throws using it as an arcane focus (notice that this is not unique to the mandolin but is a feature shared by all bardic instruments). This means Suggestion, Tasha's Hideous Laughter, and Hypnotic Pattern, primarily, which are extremely powerful spells in their own right. Adding spells to the bard's spell list (Fly, Invisibility, Protection from Evil and Good, etc are all great spells).

In terms of disappointing spells:

• Awaken: unless you're playing in the land of the dinosaurs, this spell is hugely disappointing. An intelligent level 2 bear that costs a 1000gp is just not going to pass muster against massive dragons. It will usually need to be paired with Speak With Animals eating two spell slots.
• Haste: It turns out that this is a concentration spell in a class with better options (Hypnotic Pattern and Polymorph come to mind).
• Hold Person: If you fight a lot of people, by all means, keep it. Most of my enemies have been dragons or other non-humanoids. Tasha's Hideous Laughter hits arguably more targets than Hold Person and uses a lower-level spell slot.
• Swift Quiver: Besides using Concentration, this isn't great without archery-specific feats and fighting styles. An archery-focused fighter will deal much more damage.

 

[Adam La Spata]

Which is better: Cure Wounds or Healing Word... and why?

 

[Searinox Nagharha]

I don't think any bard will use instruments during combat, use a spell component pouch and just put your sword away while you cast.

I sincerely disagree, my Bard fights with a Violin in one hand and a rapier in the other. Playing the song of your Death as he lobs your head off

Which is better: Cure Wounds or Healing Word... and why?

I'd go for Healing Word. Can be used from range & is a Bonus Action.