Should i bother with magic initiate feat?

[dnd2016]

At 4th level i was thinking of taking green flame blade, eldritch blast and i guess hex with M.initiate feat. My question is should i bother with damage cantrips?. At low levels i am sure will be useful, but as i increase in levels will they become pretty useless, as i will be using high level spells most of the time, And wasting the feat in the process. I am a lore bard

[Spacehamster]

At 4th level i was thinking of taking green flame blade, eldritch blast and i guess hex with M.initiate feat. My question is should i bother with damage cantrips?. At low levels i am sure will be useful, but as i increase in levels will they become pretty useless, as i will be using high level spells most of the time, And wasting the feat in the process. I am a lore bard

As a lore bard I would say its not worth it since you generally want to stay in the back and Hex at least in my opinion is only worth it if you reliably make 2-3 attacks per round. :)

[NewDM]

At 4th level i was thinking of taking green flame blade, eldritch blast and i guess hex with M.initiate feat. My question is should i bother with damage cantrips?. At low levels i am sure will be useful, but as i increase in levels will they become pretty useless, as i will be using high level spells most of the time, And wasting the feat in the process. I am a lore bard

Those cantrips' damage scale pretty well with character level. That's the real draw of getting the Magic Initiate feat. If you don't think they'll scale enough to replace using regular spells, then you probably shouldn't get the feat at all unless there is just one 1st level spell not on your list that you must absolutely have. You might find that War Caster is better or even just upping your casting stat to get to 20 at the earliest is best.

[EvanescentHero]

I'd say Magic Initiate is good for damage cantrips, since they scale, or utility cantrips, since they cost nothing. The extra first-level spell should be a utility or damage-boosting one though, not one that just deals damage, because that'll be a first-level spell forever.

[JumboWheat01]

You didn't snag Eldritch Blast as a Lore Bard with your free Extra Magical Secrets thing?

But yeah, damaging cantrips (though really, all you need is Eldritch Blast) is a great thing to snag with Magic Initiate. Damage cantrips scale quite nicely, and Eldritch Blast (in the end,) is like having a Heavy Crossbow, Crossbow Master, and four attacks like a level 20 fighter.

As for the first level spell, only grab things that don't scale (like the Shield spell, for an example,) since it'll forever be a first level spell, and as far as I know, you can't use your own spell slots on it.

[Sigreid]

No. I don't think you'd find it worthwhile.

[Zman]

The player of a 5th level Lore Bard in my home game is thrilled he picked up Greenflame Blade and Firebolt, during long days he has found himself running out of inspiration and spell slots but always has a ranged attack when needed and a solid melee attack for when the enemy closes on him or he can help flank(we use +1/flanker Houserule as well as ranged attacks into melee are half cover).

We actually had a combat tonight where he was the lead damage dealer, it was unexpected and he contributed vastly more than he could have with just a Light Crossbow and Rapier.

[Grod_The_Giant]

Damage cantrips actually scale with level, meaning they're decent investments-- especially on something like a bard, that traditionally lacks good direct damage.