Build-a-bard: Curse of Strahd

[Saiga]

Hi everyone!

So, my previous PC (Blood Hunter) was killed during our second last Curse of Strahd session, and I rolled up a Vistani Bard for my next character. Straight Lore Bard for the moment, taken Magic Initiate: Warlock to make my backstory work.

The session was a blast, and we hit level 4 - but I'm having a difficult time evaluating the spell choices Bards make. My MI:W spells are Toll the Dead, Mage Hand and Protection From Evil and Good. My Bard cantrips are Minor Illusion and Prestidigitation, and my spells are Dissonant Whispers, Sleep, Healing Word, Thunderwave, Heat Metal and Invisbility.

Without any spoilers, are there any recommendations for my next cantrip and spell (since I get one of each at level 4) and anything I should retrain here? I'm worried Heat Metal won't come up often enough to be useful, and the same for some of the other spells (like Sleep).

I originally took Thunderwave instead of Shatter because it scales just as well, has the option of using a level 1 slot and also has knockback. But now I'm wondering if I seriously underestimated how much better it is to be able to choose the spot to put the AOE on.

I'm also eyeing off Tasha's hideous laughter for the strong control element, but I felt I already had a lot of CC options.

Any suggestions here?

[Specter]

You are right about Heat Metal and Sleep. I would trade them for Silence and Heroism, respectively.

For your Magical Secrets, Counterspell is almost a must, as it shuts down so many enemies. I'd also try to get something that deals radiant damage, like a Paladin smite spell.

[Saiga]

Oh, I'll definitely take Counterspell. We got destroyed in our first Hag fight due to them shutting us down with Counterspell.

I was a bit iffy on Silence - my two AOE options are thunder damage, and I don't have any non-V spells. Though I understand I can cast V spells from outside the area into the silenced field, as long as they aren't my thunder ones.

[SharkForce]

well, depending a bit on the rest of the team...

i notice you have no healing, so i'm guessing you have someone else who can at least get people back up from 0 HP, probably either a cleric or druid. if not, however, i might recommend healing word; it leaves your action for a cantrip or something else (even if that means dodge or disengage), and can give someone their action back. i might also recommend lesser restoration, as a decent method to remove negative effects.

for cantrip, i recommend vicious mockery. you get to insult your enemies to death, and it can be very valuable against enemies with a powerful single attack. you could also just go with light. it isn't incredible, but it is non-concentration and provides some utility.

for other spells, sleep is indeed going to gradually become less valuable. i also feel like you're going to want the range on your damage spell, though you may or may not keep an AoE nuke in the long run regardless. in any event, shatter sounds better than thunderwave to me.

in terms of other bard spells, faerie fire is great, or alternately bane is one of the few ways to reduce enemy saves and targets cha which is not as good as targeting int, but is probably the second-best save to target :P feather fall is situational, but in that situation it can save your entire team, and fall damage isn't that rare in my experience :)

for level 2 options, i also like suggestion and enhance ability. alternately, detect thoughts can be a powerful interrogation tool.

which one should you take? well, you know better than me. you know what others in your party can bring to the table, you know the enemies your DM has been using, you know what you enjoy. i know none of those things. i can give you general advice on what i think can be handy to have, but you'll need to be the one to decide what you want in the end.

edit: to be clear, these are in addition to the suggestions above. heroism is fine, though not my favourite, and silence is more like a pre-emptive counterspell if you can lock down your target into the area :)

[Saiga]

I do have Healing Word - but we have a Light Cleric in the party, so that is there for bringing unconscious allies back into the fight.

The rest of the party, currently: Light Cleric, Frenzy Barb, Thief Rogue, Shadow Sorceror.

The Light Cleric is also why I didn't pick Faerie Fire - they have the spell always prepared.

Bane looks interesting, I might go for that. It seems like a more reliable way to score CC that will stick.

edit: I should mention, my character is a vistani, so I get one of charm person, hold person and animal friendship per short rest. That's why I haven't picked these spells either.

[SharkForce]

just one thing to keep in mind for bane: the CC you land will either need to not cost concentration (like blindness/deafness), or come from someone else. but it does also have value as a debuff in and of itself.