jaelis
Oh this is where the title goes?
This is a good point. I always forget that RAW you can't swap out cantrips, so you have to look far ahead.From a powergaming standpoint, Shillelagh is a dead end anyway. Useful only at low levels.
This is a good point. I always forget that RAW you can't swap out cantrips, so you have to look far ahead.From a powergaming standpoint, Shillelagh is a dead end anyway. Useful only at low levels.
For those of you concerned with Shillelagh damage scaling: Why not put in scaling damage? Add a cumulative +2 damage at level 5, 11, and 17?
That's kind of true, but not as much as people tend to think, because cantrips other than Booming/Greenflame Blade and Agonizing Eldritch Blast don't get ability score modifiers, and even Booming/Greenflame Blade only get them once. A Str 16 Valor Bard who takes e.g. the Mounted Combatant feat and uses a lance will be doing 2 * (d12 + 3) = 19 points of damage by 6th level, and even if he learns Booming Blade at 10th level, he'd still only do (d12 + d8 + 3) = 14 points of damage with it at 10th level, (d12 + 2d8 + 3) = 18.5 points of damage with it at 11th-16th level, and (d12 + 3d8 + 3) = 23 points of damage with it at 17th-20th level. (Mounted Combatant isn't even strictly necessary, but it's convenient for keeping your mount alive and has other benefits and I quite like it, so I cite it in this example as a viable path that a Valor Bard could take. But you could also rely on Phantom Steed, or Find Steed, or just use kiting tactics and have a string of backup horses waiting nearby just in case.)
So in practice, all Valor Bards will do cantrip-competitive weapon damage even without maxing their attack stat, for as long as the game is likely to last.
Edit: or you could use a greatsword instead of a lance. Blind spot on my part--I like sword-and-shield for Valor Bards and sometimes forget that greatswords are an option for them.
Because anyone with extra attack would wreck this.
If it was an action for one attack, sure.
Ok, thanks all, settled my mind that I should just pick whatever suits the character...going to roll with the wildshape a.k.a Obsessed With Turning Things Into Other Things so Shape Water it is
*snip good analysis*
Another issue I have with some of it is just that I don't like the idea of maxed attack stats for certain characters. I just think in terms of a bard or cleric in 2e with a Strength of 13 being perfectly viable in melee. 5e isn't really designed that way. If you want something as your attack stat, you need to make it high. And (again, a style thing), since longswords are Strength-based that means way more muscles on certain characters than I really want.