Lore bard level 10 help

[KnotaGuru]

My lore bard just hit level 10 and i have a lot of options (cantrip, magical secrets, expertise) to choose. Here's a little history:

Playing Rise of tiamat. Party is:
Fighter/paladin -melee
Fighter/tome lock -melee
Ranger/mystic -melee
Revised hunter ranger -ranged
& me, the lore bard

I'm loving the lore bard. He's the party face, skill monkey, controller. At level 10 i get 2 magical secrets. Not sure what to pick here, but these have been my options:
Wall of force
Circle of power
Destructive wave
Bigbys hand
Spiritual weapon
Eldritch blast
???other???

I had planned on inspiring leadership feat at level 12, but could get spell sniper or magic initiate.

For expertise, i was thinking investigation & arcana. Currently have perception & persuasion.

For cantrip, i was thinking mage hand. Currently have prestidigitation, minor illusion, & viscous mockery.

Thoughts for spells & skills?

[Squeeq]

You'll want to be at range. Spiritual weapon is amazing because it doesn't cost concentration so you can have another spell going and then do even more stuff. Lots of fun. Haste could be nice, so could aura of vitality. What do you have so far?

[RSP]

With all the melee characters, Crusaders Mantle could be a nice buff for everyone

[Zman]

How about Raise Dead? Could come in handy without a Cleric.

[Yuroch Kern]

I'm a fan of the Spiritual Weapon and Call Lightning combo. Your party seems on the surface to lack the "Fireball", and these two spells will give a brutal minute of pure METAL.

[Slipperychicken]

Get Bless and cast it for your first turn of every fight. That d4 to hit doesn't sound like much, but I've done the math and it bumps your party's damage-per-attack by 12.5% of their average damage per hit. So if a fighter's attack does 20 damage on a hit, then bless makes it so that after you account for miss chance, it does 2.5 more damage. If we assume that all four of your party members are making 3 attacks per turn for that much damage, it would be like adding 30 damage a round.

It seems like a subtle difference, but it's a huge one that adds up quickly as it turns misses into hits. It's almost like increasing the enhancement bonus on their weapons by 2 or 3. And you can cover the entire rest of your party for just a second level slot. In a game with so few ways to increase tohit, bless is a no-brainer.

Oh right, and it also helps with saving throws. That's nice too.

[KnotaGuru]

The fighter/lock has a staff of fire so he can cast fireballs & fire wall. He's also undying light so he has burning hands & flamestrike. I make good use of hypnotic pattern (enemies have disadvantage thanks to my doss lute) to shut down big groups. I also make good use of faerie fire to give everyone advantage. Here's my spell list:

Cantrips - prestidigitation, minor illusion, viscous mockery
1st - faerie fire, healing word, dissonant whispers, thunderwave
2nd - heat metal, blindness/deafness, suggestion, invisibility
3rd - hypnotic pattern, dispell magic, counter spell & conjure animals (both via magical secrets)
4th - polymorph, greater invisibility
5th - hold monster

I don't deal much damage. After i get a control spell going, I'll use viscous mockery for 1-3 rounds while the damage dealers do all the work. I feel i make good use of BI with cutting words & vanilla inspiration.

A lot of good options for the level 10 magical secrets. Force wall seems fun & versatile though I plan on picking up force cage next level. So many great spells, but most require concentration. WotC went a little crazy with the concentration mechanic.

[Yuroch Kern]

Nice! Yeah, conc spells are an interesting mechanic. I took See Invisibility and Spiritual Weapon precisely for their non-con utility. But okay, you definitely got the artillery covered. Ain't Vicious Mockery the best?

[wilhelmdubdub]

I have a lore bard 8 and like to drop my spiritual weapon as a 4th for 2d8 + 5 on a bonus action. At 6 I went with guiding bolt because the damage scales really well and gives advantage plus its radiant. I plan on taking counterspell too but waited to 10 because I had a wizard and wanted to wait for the proficiency bonus to be high enough to make a difference. Guiding bolt will also make use of spell sniper which I think about taking also, but with the slew of new feats that came out that might change.

[Citan]

My lore bard just hit level 10 and i have a lot of options (cantrip, magical secrets, expertise) to choose. Here's a little history:

Playing Rise of tiamat. Party is:
Fighter/paladin -melee
Fighter/tome lock -melee
Ranger/mystic -melee
Revised hunter ranger -ranged
& me, the lore bard

I'm loving the lore bard. He's the party face, skill monkey, controller. At level 10 i get 2 magical secrets. Not sure what to pick here, but these have been my options:
Wall of force
Circle of power
Destructive wave
Bigbys hand
Spiritual weapon
Eldritch blast
???other???

I had planned on inspiring leadership feat at level 12, but could get spell sniper or magic initiate.

For expertise, i was thinking investigation & arcana. Currently have perception & persuasion.

For cantrip, i was thinking mage hand. Currently have prestidigitation, minor illusion, & viscous mockery.

Thoughts for spells & skills?
All of these are great choices, so I suggest you choose based on your past experience.
Do your party face save-or-suck spells on a regular basis? Then Circle of Power should become THE concentration spell you cast when you know you are facing the big fight of the day.

Do you often find you (as a party) close to being overwhelmed or simply have difficulties controlling the flow in general? Then Wall of Force (or another) is just for you.

Are you often in the thick of it? Then Destructive Wave could be nice. As well as Crusader's Mantle that someone suggested above.

Is one of your party group dedicating himself to aggro as many attacks as he can, often flirting with death as a result? Then Warding Bond could be a great choice.

If you don't think any of the above particularly applies to you and your group, then pick whichever you want depending on whether you already have an "usual pick" for your concentration slot. If no, then Bigby's Hand would be a nice choice, 'cause it's versatile. Another contender would be Elemental Bane if you are inclined to do damage, very good once you pick an elemental cantrip.
Otherwise, Spiritual Weapon is always a safe pick since it provides a good use of bonus action for a minute.

Forget about taking Bless or other 1st level Cleric spell with Magic Secrets as some suggested, unless your party is really really unlucky with rolls. Because in that occasion, it would be far far better to dip a full level in (Life/Nature/Tempest) Cleric class.

Same thing with Eldricht Blast or other cantrips: better get it with Magic Initiate or Spell Sniper really.

[KnotaGuru]

Maelstrom (5th level from EE) any good? Has a unique strength save (something my other spells lack) with some damage & control.

[RSP]

The fighter/lock has a staff of fire so he can cast fireballs & fire wall. He's also undying light so he has burning hands & flamestrike. I make good use of hypnotic pattern (enemies have disadvantage thanks to my doss lute) to shut down big groups. I also make good use of faerie fire to give everyone advantage. Here's my spell list:

Cantrips - prestidigitation, minor illusion, viscous mockery
1st - faerie fire, healing word, dissonant whispers, thunderwave
2nd - heat metal, blindness/deafness, suggestion, invisibility
3rd - hypnotic pattern, dispell magic, counter spell & conjure animals (both via magical secrets)
4th - polymorph, greater invisibility
5th - hold monster


A lot of Concentration spells on that list already. Death Ward is non-Concentration. Also, personal favorite of mine: Ottilukes Resilient Sphere. Either cast on yourself and dish out Inspiration/Cutting Words to help your teammates (DM approval whether the sphere blocks words), or cast on BBEG to isolate them while cleaning up minions.

[kulosle]

I have to admit deciding what extra spells to grab is really confusing. Too many options. Not enough actions. Too many things have concentration. And everything seems kinda middling.

[djreynolds]

My lore bard just hit level 10 and i have a lot of options (cantrip, magical secrets, expertise) to choose. Here's a little history:

Playing Rise of tiamat. Party is:
Fighter/paladin -melee
Fighter/tome lock -melee
Ranger/mystic -melee
Revised hunter ranger -ranged
& me, the lore bard

I'm loving the lore bard. He's the party face, skill monkey, controller. At level 10 i get 2 magical secrets. Not sure what to pick here, but these have been my options:
Wall of force
Circle of power
Destructive wave
Bigbys hand
Spiritual weapon
Eldritch blast
???other???

I had planned on inspiring leadership feat at level 12, but could get spell sniper or magic initiate.

For expertise, i was thinking investigation & arcana. Currently have perception & persuasion.

For cantrip, i was thinking mage hand. Currently have prestidigitation, minor illusion, & viscous mockery.

Thoughts for spells & skills?

Wall of force, telekinesis, EB