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Bardlock vs Sorlock
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<blockquote data-quote="Solarazhade" data-source="post: 8767649" data-attributes="member: 7037767"><p>Sorry to be a month late to the discussion but I was doing my own research into ways to build a bard so I thought I would let you know what I've learned. Note that most of the importance of my findings revolves around level 10 bard which is level 12 character for you so you probably still have time to apply it if you want.</p><p></p><p>I think a lot of people don't know how to build a Bard gish because the most important feature that determines if you will be competitive or not is Magical Secrets earned at level 10. The trick to this is when you realize that classes that only go up to level 5 spell casting have comparatively stronger level 5 spells than other classes. Specifically <strong>Holy Weapon</strong> from the Paladin spell list. What's really crazy is that Bards can get this spell earlier and with more casts per day than Paladins. So it's basically a huge jump in power starting at Bard level 10.</p><p></p><p>My DPR assumptions are only using sustainable numbers at level 20 so like for College of Swords it assumes a D6 flourish every round rather than a D12, assumes no advantage to hit, no buffs or feats other than what is listed, and is just using mundane weapons. These are baselines and you should expect to almost always be doing more damage than this barring terrible RNG.</p><p></p><p><strong>2 Hexlock / 1 Fighter / 17 Valor Bard</strong></p><p>Hex / Archery / Hand Crossbow / Crossbow Expert / Sharpshooter / Battle Magic / Eldritch Blast / Agonizing Blast</p><p>44 DPR Ranged</p><p>Char Lvl to achieve DPR: 17</p><p></p><p><strong>2 Hexlock / 18 Sword Bard</strong></p><p>Holy Weapon / Dueling / Spear or Quarterstaff (1h) / Shield / Polearm Master / Defensive Flourish</p><p>40 DPR +3-8 AC</p><p>Char Lvl to achieve 93% DPR: 12</p><p></p><p><strong>1 Fighter / 19 Sword Bard</strong></p><p>Holy Weapon / Great Weapon Fighting / Glaive/Halberd / Polearm Mastery / Mobile Flourish</p><p>43 DPR Reach and Crowd Control</p><p>Char Lvl to achieve 93% DPR: 11</p><p>*Just including this for reference since I had the data anyway, no real way to combine this with warlock though.</p><p></p><p>As a point of reference, using my same assumptions above a CBE/SS Fighter would be 47 DPR at Char lvl 20 (since I exclude things like Action Surge) and a sorlock would be 72 dpr at Char lvl 17 though note that a sorlock doesn't scale as much with magic equipment.</p><p></p><p>While these DPR numbers don't compare to a SorLock or even a straight fighter keep in mind that this is in addition to full spellcasting and gets 93% of it's benefit at level 11 or 12 rather than 17 or 20 (with the exception of the eldritch blast build). Compared to the fighter you'll have insane AOE, mobility, and utility. Compared to the sorlock you'll have more spell slots and skills and can cut the difference down when you get magic weapons. In practice these builds would use 1-3 5th level spell slots per day (depending on how often your other party members want to short rest) to maintain 100% uptime on the benefits.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Solarazhade, post: 8767649, member: 7037767"] Sorry to be a month late to the discussion but I was doing my own research into ways to build a bard so I thought I would let you know what I've learned. Note that most of the importance of my findings revolves around level 10 bard which is level 12 character for you so you probably still have time to apply it if you want. I think a lot of people don't know how to build a Bard gish because the most important feature that determines if you will be competitive or not is Magical Secrets earned at level 10. The trick to this is when you realize that classes that only go up to level 5 spell casting have comparatively stronger level 5 spells than other classes. Specifically [B]Holy Weapon[/B] from the Paladin spell list. What's really crazy is that Bards can get this spell earlier and with more casts per day than Paladins. So it's basically a huge jump in power starting at Bard level 10. My DPR assumptions are only using sustainable numbers at level 20 so like for College of Swords it assumes a D6 flourish every round rather than a D12, assumes no advantage to hit, no buffs or feats other than what is listed, and is just using mundane weapons. These are baselines and you should expect to almost always be doing more damage than this barring terrible RNG. [B]2 Hexlock / 1 Fighter / 17 Valor Bard[/B] Hex / Archery / Hand Crossbow / Crossbow Expert / Sharpshooter / Battle Magic / Eldritch Blast / Agonizing Blast 44 DPR Ranged Char Lvl to achieve DPR: 17 [B]2 Hexlock / 18 Sword Bard[/B] Holy Weapon / Dueling / Spear or Quarterstaff (1h) / Shield / Polearm Master / Defensive Flourish 40 DPR +3-8 AC Char Lvl to achieve 93% DPR: 12 [B]1 Fighter / 19 Sword Bard[/B] Holy Weapon / Great Weapon Fighting / Glaive/Halberd / Polearm Mastery / Mobile Flourish 43 DPR Reach and Crowd Control Char Lvl to achieve 93% DPR: 11 *Just including this for reference since I had the data anyway, no real way to combine this with warlock though. As a point of reference, using my same assumptions above a CBE/SS Fighter would be 47 DPR at Char lvl 20 (since I exclude things like Action Surge) and a sorlock would be 72 dpr at Char lvl 17 though note that a sorlock doesn't scale as much with magic equipment. While these DPR numbers don't compare to a SorLock or even a straight fighter keep in mind that this is in addition to full spellcasting and gets 93% of it's benefit at level 11 or 12 rather than 17 or 20 (with the exception of the eldritch blast build). Compared to the fighter you'll have insane AOE, mobility, and utility. Compared to the sorlock you'll have more spell slots and skills and can cut the difference down when you get magic weapons. In practice these builds would use 1-3 5th level spell slots per day (depending on how often your other party members want to short rest) to maintain 100% uptime on the benefits. [/QUOTE]
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