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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Aimian_Silverflash" data-source="post: 6514819" data-attributes="member: 6787918">Great Guide, thanks Zardnaar! I've played my bard up to 5th level now, and most of your comments are spot-on. I do have a couple comments, but please don't think I am being overly critical, your guide is excellent.I think you were a little harsh on the Elves, a Longbow with +2 Dexterity has proven to be really powerful for me. My bard has an 18 dex, dealing 1d8+4 damage from 150 feet... I do as much damage as the Fighters, and I do it Legolas style, without casting a single spell. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" /> Other races can do this with a light crossbow, but not with such a good dex, and not from as great a range. Dexterity is the new super-skill in this edition.I personally count Deception & Persuasion as Gold skills. The bard is one of only a couple "face" classes in the game, and no class does it better. And these skills are mandatory for a "face" character, IMHO.I don't agree that Vicious Mockery is gold, and this is mostly because of the 1d4 damage. It's pretty pitiful. Any good ranged weapon with a decent dex bonus is far superior, as detailed above. My bard has it, and it's been situationally decent when facing off against a half-dragon that hits like a freight train (not that we see those in Horde of the Dragon Queen or anything, haha) but otherwise it's pretty mediocre.I think not taking any healing spells is a mistake, personally. Anyone that has access to them should take at least one of Healing Word or Cure Wounds. I personally like Healing Word, because it says to your party "Hey, I'm not your healbot, I'm your bard! But I can keep you up in an emergency from 60' away, if necessary, and I don't have to give up my action to do it." -And sometimes being able to do just that means the difference between winning an encounter, and having a TPK. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" />  I consider Disguise Self blue, if not light blue, personally. In the hands of a bard with deception and persuasion? The possibilities are endless, and it makes most any social encounter ez-mode. It can even turn a combat encounter into social encounter! The only way it becomes redundant is if you have someone with the Charlatan background, and is good with a disguise kit.Crown of Madness is definitely not light blue, not if you go specifically by the rules as written. You can't control their movement, and therefore the spell is useless after the first round. It is far outclassed by Hold Person, and Hold Person doesn't stop you from getting any actions like CoM does. -Heck, it's even outclassed by Tasha's Hideous Laughter...Just my two coppers. Good stuff man. Keep it up.</blockquote>

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