Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Help me with good RP/Optimization balance for Half-Elf (probably)Valor Bard (archer?)
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="TwoSix" data-source="post: 7601536" data-attributes="member: 205"><p>I wouldn't go that far. A bard isn't as good an archer as a fighter or ranger, for sure. But archer-bard is one of the few ways to do a full caster that doesn't sacrifice a tremendous amount to get a good at-will attack pattern, outside of a sorlock or bardlock.</p><p></p><p>My personal recommendation for an archer bard with point buy would be to go elf if possible, ideally eladrin (or drow if Mordenkainen's tome of foes isn't available). 15 Dex to start with a 17 after the +2, 13 Cha to bump to 14, 14 Con, and 12, 10, 8 (or 10, 10, 10) into the other stats to taste.</p><p></p><p>Grab Elven Accuracy as your level 4 feat (which bumps Dex to 18), and Sharpshooter at 8. (You can flip these if you'd like, but Sharpshooter really takes off once you can leverage Elven Accuracy.) Your standard tactics are to get advantage by any means necessary, and pump out 2 bow shots a round, and use your bonus actions to hand out Inspiration Dice. Greater Invisibility at level 7 will be a godsend of a 4th level spell, and obviously grabbing Swift Quiver as one of your Bard Secret spells is fantastic. (I personally am a fan of Find Greater Steed as the other spell, so you can do all this while flying on a griffon, but you gotta do you.)</p><p></p><p>If you're locked in on half-elf, this will still work, but you'll have to delay getting an 18 Dex until level 12 with point buy. There are other ways to make the concept workable, mostly involving Hexblade Warlock or Fighter multiclass dips, but then you're moving into bardlock territory, which is a bit different than archer bard.</p><p></p><p>If you have Xanathar's guide, you may also want to look at College of Blades, which works surprisingly well with ranged weapons.</p><p></p><p>As for your other questions, I'm not sure about the hands and casting issue, my tables always play and loose with those rules. A Ruby of the War Mage (a common magic item from Xanathar's) will let you get around it if needed.</p><p></p><p>Rapier and shield is probably ideal for backup melee, yes.</p><p></p><p>Your AC will be better with medium armor until you get a 20 Dex, so I would go for that.</p><p></p><p>Yes, you will be sacrificing to be good with a bow. You could easily have a 20 Cha by level 8 and be a much better spellcaster, at the cost of having a solid at-will attack option. You could dip 2 levels into warlock and do damage on par with the bow with eldritch blast, at the cost of delayed bard progression. Everything is a trade-off, sadly.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="TwoSix, post: 7601536, member: 205"] I wouldn't go that far. A bard isn't as good an archer as a fighter or ranger, for sure. But archer-bard is one of the few ways to do a full caster that doesn't sacrifice a tremendous amount to get a good at-will attack pattern, outside of a sorlock or bardlock. My personal recommendation for an archer bard with point buy would be to go elf if possible, ideally eladrin (or drow if Mordenkainen's tome of foes isn't available). 15 Dex to start with a 17 after the +2, 13 Cha to bump to 14, 14 Con, and 12, 10, 8 (or 10, 10, 10) into the other stats to taste. Grab Elven Accuracy as your level 4 feat (which bumps Dex to 18), and Sharpshooter at 8. (You can flip these if you'd like, but Sharpshooter really takes off once you can leverage Elven Accuracy.) Your standard tactics are to get advantage by any means necessary, and pump out 2 bow shots a round, and use your bonus actions to hand out Inspiration Dice. Greater Invisibility at level 7 will be a godsend of a 4th level spell, and obviously grabbing Swift Quiver as one of your Bard Secret spells is fantastic. (I personally am a fan of Find Greater Steed as the other spell, so you can do all this while flying on a griffon, but you gotta do you.) If you're locked in on half-elf, this will still work, but you'll have to delay getting an 18 Dex until level 12 with point buy. There are other ways to make the concept workable, mostly involving Hexblade Warlock or Fighter multiclass dips, but then you're moving into bardlock territory, which is a bit different than archer bard. If you have Xanathar's guide, you may also want to look at College of Blades, which works surprisingly well with ranged weapons. As for your other questions, I'm not sure about the hands and casting issue, my tables always play and loose with those rules. A Ruby of the War Mage (a common magic item from Xanathar's) will let you get around it if needed. Rapier and shield is probably ideal for backup melee, yes. Your AC will be better with medium armor until you get a 20 Dex, so I would go for that. Yes, you will be sacrificing to be good with a bow. You could easily have a 20 Cha by level 8 and be a much better spellcaster, at the cost of having a solid at-will attack option. You could dip 2 levels into warlock and do damage on par with the bow with eldritch blast, at the cost of delayed bard progression. Everything is a trade-off, sadly. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Help me with good RP/Optimization balance for Half-Elf (probably)Valor Bard (archer?)
Top