D&D 5E Magical Secrets for the Bard that has everything...already covered by other party members :(

[niklinna]

You've already got some good advice, so I'll just recommend Find Greater Steed to pull your paladin's chain.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

Armor of agathys.
I think it is a quite underrated spell:
No concentration
Lots of temp hp if upcast
A lot of damage against low level creatures
Long duration
Everyone wants to hit the bard, so you are good.
Now find something to give you resist vs damage and you are good to go.

 

[Aldarc]

Pick what fits your character and you think you will will enjoy casting.

 

[Baron Opal II]

I always picture the bard as the preeminent communicator. So I try to have either charm or summoning spells for them. They can make deals (charm) and have made pacts with beings not of this world. I remember we had to repair a house or something with a Helltide* approaching. So I summoned a squad of hobgoblins to help with the construction effort. It had the side-effect of being a rather defensible house.

* A swarm of giant army or fire ants. Most people fled, we couldn't for some reason.

 

[Undrave]

You could always pick spells with the ritual tag so you can just do stuff while conserving spell slots?

Druid spells like conjure animals and plant growth are pretty good. Plant growth is good for control.

Plant Growth is great, especially since it's non-concentration. Great way to funnel enemies and the 8 hours version is a good negotiation tool.

 

[WASDHammer]

I always struggled with Plant Growth in its practical utility, but maybe I'm not thinking about it the right way. How have you used it successfully in combat? Out of combat? It always felt so niche for me.

I have been thinking about maybe making my Bard's theme "manipulation". To me, that leads to options that create misdirects or confusion vs. a straight summoner.

So for Bard spells, things like
Phantasmal Force
Suggestion - (although my DM has been harsh on this spell to date. Whenever I cast out of combat, he immediately initiates combat first because he essential gives them a reaction to my verbal spell. To me, that renders this useless because half the fun is the subterfuge).
Hypnotic Pattern
Major Image
Mass Suggestion
Hold Person
Hold Monster

With that in mind, outside of Telekinesis I don't see a ton of other options to use Magical Secrets that fit this same mold.

 

[Quartz]

Revivify is the standout for me.

 

[WASDHammer]

Yeah I think I am leaning that way myself, Quartz. Part of my indecisiveness is actually the feeling that by taking Counterspell & Revivify, I am selecting spells that, while HUGE when they are needed, are needed on very rare occasions. So for 10 levels (until my next MS), I am taking spells that largely offer little to no value to my every day campaign.

 

[MarkB]

There's nothing particularly wrong with having some overlap, even of damage-dealing spells. E.g. if you and the cleric both have spirit guardians running covering the same area, that's basically a big cloud of death around the entire party.

 

[Henadic Theologian]

I suggest Animate Dead.