Bardlock build for ToA (no spoilers please)

[Kogliounas]

Hey guys, long time lurker first time poster here!
After many years of playing 3.5 I convinced my local group to try out 5e. I DM’d some of the adventures from Tales from the Yawning Portal and we really enjoyed ourselves so we’re starting Tomb of Annihilation next month, and this time I’ll be a player.
My last characters have all been fighter/gish types so I wanted to build a more “traditional” caster and since everyone on the forums seems to love bard I decided to give it a try.
I heard ToA will bring PCs up to level 9/10 so I was planning on 8 levels of Lore Bard with a 2-level Warlock dip for a bit of extra blastiness.
Party composition is still uncertain but we’ll probably have a tanky fighter or barbarian, a sneaky roguish-type and probably another full caster.

This is my prototype build:

- Variant human: +1 CHA and CON, resilient (con)

- Starting stats (point buy): STR 8 DEX 14 CON 16 INT 10 WIS 10 CHA 16

- Proficiencies: Perception, Acrobatics, Persuasion, Stealth, Investigation, Deception?

- Bard cantrips: Minor Illusion, Mage Hand, Vicious Mockery?

- My 2 ASIs will be spent to raise CHA to 20

- Level 6 magical secrets: Aura of vitality/Haste and Fireball, depending on party composition

- Warlock cantrips: Eldritch Blast, Friends

- Eldritch Invocations: Agonizing Blast, Mask of Many Faces

My questions for the playground:

1) Does the stats distribution look fine?
2) Is resilient (con) a good pick or should I go with something else like warcaster?
3) Should I start bard and dip warlock later (when?) or start with warlock and then go full bard?
4) Which patron would be better suited for this build? I know Hexblade is all the rage lately but is it worth it if I don’t plan to engage in melee very often?
5) Any spell that absolutely shouldn’t be missed?
6) Any other suggestion/critique is well accepted!

Thank you for your help!

PS: I apologize for the eventual typos/errors/weird phrasings, english is not my first language.

[carrdrivesyou]

Hey guys, long time lurker first time poster here!
After many years of playing 3.5 I convinced my local group to try out 5e. I DM’d some of the adventures from Tales from the Yawning Portal and we really enjoyed ourselves so we’re starting Tomb of Annihilation next month, and this time I’ll be a player.
My last characters have all been fighter/gish types so I wanted to build a more “traditional” caster and since everyone on the forums seems to love bard I decided to give it a try.
I heard ToA will bring PCs up to level 9/10 so I was planning on 8 levels of Lore Bard with a 2-level Warlock dip for a bit of extra blastiness.
Party composition is still uncertain but we’ll probably have a tanky fighter or barbarian, a sneaky roguish-type and probably another full caster.

This is my prototype build:

- Variant human: +1 CHA and CON, resilient (con)

- Starting stats (point buy): STR 8 DEX 14 CON 16 INT 10 WIS 10 CHA 16

- Proficiencies: Perception, Acrobatics, Persuasion, Stealth, Investigation, Deception?

- Bard cantrips: Minor Illusion, Mage Hand, Vicious Mockery?

- My 2 ASIs will be spent to raise CHA to 20

- Level 6 magical secrets: Aura of vitality/Haste and Fireball, depending on party composition

- Warlock cantrips: Eldritch Blast, Friends

- Eldritch Invocations: Agonizing Blast, Mask of Many Faces

My questions for the playground:

1) Does the stats distribution look fine?
2) Is resilient (con) a good pick or should I go with something else like warcaster?
3) Should I start bard and dip warlock later (when?) or start with warlock and then go full bard?
4) Which patron would be better suited for this build? I know Hexblade is all the rage lately but is it worth it if I don’t plan to engage in melee very often?
5) Any spell that absolutely shouldn’t be missed?
6) Any other suggestion/critique is well accepted!

Thank you for your help!

PS: I apologize for the eventual typos/errors/weird phrasings, english is not my first language.

Your English seems very good to me! and it's my first language. So good on ya!

As for your prototype, it seems pretty solid. Variant humans are one of the best races for just about anything.

Personally, I would reallocate your ability scores as such: STR 8, DEX, 14, CON 16, INT 8, WIS 10, CHA 16 and put your feat in either Skilled or Lucky.
Those would increase your utility as well as make you more successful in just about any situation you can think of. Really makes you have some flair, which is what being a bard is all about.

Lore Bard is definitely the best caster in game for now in my opinion. It has unrivaled access to other casters' spell lists.
At low levels Vicious Mockery is a solid option, but it doesn't scale well, although the disadvantage it imposes makes it useful well into mid level games. The other cantrips look good to me.

ASIs need to be put in CHA as you are doing, as most of your abilities are tied to it.

Magical secrets looks good, especially given that you may be the only healer in the group. The only person that beats you out in the healing department is going to be someone with a level or two in Life Cleric. Fireball is the best offensive spell in the game, bar none.

As for your Warlock abilities, the cantrips are the two best ones, especially seeing that you are pairing Mask of MAny Faces with Friends. Very useful when used together. Agonizing blast is definitely a good choice for your ranged attacks.

Personally, I think you have done an excellent job here.

Hexblade is great for melee, but not so great otherwise. I'd steer clear for your build.

If I had to do things differently, I might suggest Warlock 3/Bard 7. Just for the pact boon. Go Tomelock and start gathering scrolls.

[Snowbluff]

Resilient-Con is a good pick. I would start with Lock for WIS saves. Hexblade is a good pick even if you never do melee.

I concur. For ToA, max con, cross your fingers, die first level anyway.