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<blockquote data-quote="Sword of Spirit" data-source="post: 8007754" data-attributes="member: 6677017">I think further experience will likely alter your perceptions. The general consensus is that bards are very strong in 5e. They get full spellcasting, and Magical Secrets allows them cherry pick any spells they want from any class lists, from cantrips all the way up to 9th-level spells. Their Jack of All trades ability gives them a rare bonus to initiative. Plus, they are great at skills due to said Jack of All Trades, Expertise, and an extra class skill. They can do a lot of stuff themselves, and they have their party support capabilities through Bardic Inspiration and spells. For subclasses, a Lore Bard's Cutting Words feature is also considered really strong, and they get early access to Magical Secrets plus extra skills.That said, what they do not come with out of the box is good damage output, whether at-will or limited resource. You can, however, opt-in to that via Magical Secrets. Valor Bard gets Extra Attack, but honestly (and sadly for the Valor Bard), just picking up green-flame blade or booming blade with Additional Magical Secrets allows Lore Bard to be at least as effective in melee without needing to split their stats three ways like a Valor Bard needs to (need both Dex and Str in addition to Charisma). And if you prefer ranged, just take eldritch blast for your attack. Either way, you could also take hex or hunter's mark if you wanted more melee damage.Lore Bard might be the strongest overall bard subclass because the ability to grab any two spells of up to 3rd level when they are 6th level is huge for flexibility of the character during mid-levels.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Sword of Spirit, post: 8007754, member: 6677017"] I think further experience will likely alter your perceptions. The general consensus is that bards are very strong in 5e. They get full spellcasting, and Magical Secrets allows them cherry pick any spells they want from any class lists, from cantrips all the way up to 9th-level spells. Their Jack of All trades ability gives them a rare bonus to initiative. Plus, they are great at skills due to said Jack of All Trades, Expertise, and an extra class skill. They can do a lot of stuff themselves, and they have their party support capabilities through Bardic Inspiration and spells. For subclasses, a Lore Bard's Cutting Words feature is also considered really strong, and they get early access to Magical Secrets plus extra skills. That said, what they do not come with out of the box is good damage output, whether at-will or limited resource. You can, however, opt-in to that via Magical Secrets. Valor Bard gets Extra Attack, but honestly (and sadly for the Valor Bard), just picking up [I]green-flame blade[/I] or [I]booming blade[/I] with Additional Magical Secrets allows Lore Bard to be at least as effective in melee without needing to split their stats three ways like a Valor Bard needs to (need both Dex and Str in addition to Charisma). And if you prefer ranged, just take [I]eldritch blast[/I] for your attack. Either way, you could also take [I]hex[/I] or [I]hunter's mark[/I] if you wanted more melee damage. Lore Bard might be the strongest overall bard subclass because the ability to grab any two spells of up to 3rd level when they are 6th level is huge for flexibility of the character during mid-levels. [/QUOTE]

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