Strongest Round in Combat per Level - Lore Bard

[MarkVIIIMarc]

Ignoring the fact using soo many resources in one round may weaken you the rest of the day what do you think a Lore Bard's strongest rounds of combat are per level?

I'll start with a couple as time and my limited knowledge permits

Level 1

Bonus Action: Healing Word to stand up an opponent if one is down / Bardic Inspiration if not.
Action: Thunderwave / Dissonant Whispers / Vicious Mockery / Rapier / Long Bow attack as appropriate and allowed.
Reaction: Not much, maybe get an opportunity attack? I hate to suggest taking Feather Fall just because it can be a reaction.


Level 3

Bonus Action: Healing Word to stand up an opponent if one is down / Bardic Inspiration if not.
Action: Thunderwave / Dissonant Whispers / Vicious Mockery / Heat Metal / Long Bow attack as appropriate and allowed.
Reaction: Cutting Words or an opportunity attack as availability dictates.


Level 6

Bonus Action: Healing Word to stand up an opponent if one is down / Bardic Inspiration if not.
Action: Eldritch Blast 2D10 (from magical secrets) unless you have a magical weapon handy / Appropriate sell such as Thunderwave / Silence / Heat Metal / Dissonant Whispers if you did not need to cast a spell with your Bonus Action.
Reaction: Counterspell (from magical secrets) / Cutting Words as the situation / Bardic Inspiration & Spell Slots dictate.

-I strongly considered Hellish Rebuke for a reaction also since it also can affect non casters but chose Counterspell because I had no faith in our Wizard to do so and Bards do it well anyways.

-When does this next change significantly and what am I doing or not doing right?

[Klorox]

I plan on playing a lore bard soon. Thank you for this.

[MarkVIIIMarc]

No problem. I'm still pretty new at 5e and only 6 levels away from being a complete newb so hopefully my thinking outloud helped.

I feel it aould help me to watch a few groups play to pick up on tricks and mistakes but I have kids and two houses lol.

Also tv doesn't work for me really so I can't watch Critical Role and few others to pick up on combat tips no matter how good Mercer is or attractive the gals are!

[EKruze]

Level 1

Bonus Action: Healing Word to stand up an opponent if one is down / Bardic Inspiration if not.
Action: Thunderwave / Dissonant Whispers / Vicious Mockery / Rapier / Long Bow attack as appropriate and allowed.
Reaction: Not much, maybe get an opportunity attack? I hate to suggest taking Feather Fall just because it can be a reaction.


Do keep in mind that if you choose to cast a spell as a bonus action (Healing Word) that if you use your action to cast a spell you may only use Cantrips. You can Healing Word + Vicious Mockery, Rapier or Bow attack but you cannot cast Dissonant Whispers and Healing Word in the same turn.

As for your higher levels if you're ever facing a group of enemies there's an awful lot to be said for Hypnotic Pattern. Enemies who make their save are either stuck spending their action waking the ones who failed their save, essentially losing a turn, or carrying on with their numbers severely reduced. If you have access to the Command Spell you can further compound this by forcing the still-awake foes to waste their action without using your concentration. It doesn't do damage, but it wins battles.

[Aaron Underhand]

Shatter is a great spell for Bards at 3rd Level

At 6th level you may have picked up Fireball. or Spiritual Weapon, or Spirit Guardians.

Actually Spirit Guardians followed by Invisibility next turn is quite fun...

[JellyPooga]

Because Lore Bard is so heavily biased towards a support role, this very much depends on the makeup of your party. A melee focused party, for instance, would probably appreciate Hold Person more than Heat Metal. That's just one of many possibilities at level 3 alone.

As for level 6...well, frankly, Eldritch Blast is a waste of a Magical Secret choice. That aside, the possibilities are very open indeed. Too many to go into without a significant discourse on the subject.

[agnos]

Because Lore Bard is so heavily biased towards a support role, this very much depends on the makeup of your party. A melee focused party, for instance, would probably appreciate Hold Person more than Heat Metal. That's just one of many possibilities at level 3 alone.

As for level 6...well, frankly, Eldritch Blast is a waste of a Magical Secret choice. That aside, the possibilities are very open indeed. Too many to go into without a significant discourse on the subject.

Not really, Eldritch Blast often a great Action option. The damage is solid, it is a cantrip so can be cast in addition to Bonus Action spells, and it scales well. You won’t always be casting Spirit Guardians or Polymorph. You’ll have actions to spare while they’re running.

[HenryWLee1066]

Actually Spirit Guardians followed by Invisibility next turn is quite fun...

I was so excited about this idea until I realized both require concentration. I had such great plans. :(

Perhaps I will dig up a ring or cloak of invisibility.

[solidork]

Sleep or Dissonant Whispers provoking multiple opportunity attacks (including your own) is probably the best thing to be doing at level 1.

Hypnotic Pattern almost certainly has the biggest possible upside for level 3 spells, other than a Fireball that outright kills multiple targets.

[KorvinStarmast]

Level 1

Bonus Action: Healing Word to stand up an opponent if one is down / Bardic Inspiration if not.

Level 3

Bonus Action: Healing Word to stand up an opponent if one is down / Bardic Inspiration if not.

Level 6

Bonus Action: Healing Word to stand up an opponent if one is down / Bardic Inspiration if not.
Why are you healing an opponent rather than an ally?

[MaxWilson]

I was so excited about this idea until I realized both require concentration. I had such great plans. :(

Perhaps I will dig up a ring or cloak of invisibility.

Or have a buddy cast Invisibility III on you both.

[Finger6842]

When I function as a support character I steer clear of the bow which won't scale well as you level in Lore Bard. I instead make sure I have 1 ranged cantrip and focus on:
- reactions to cutting words, counterspell with additional magical secrets and banishing smite later with magical secrets is a good choice among many.
- bonus actions focus on bardic inspiration, overrun or tumble actions. In emergencies, I'll use it for healing word or potion of healing.
- regular actions focus on spellcasting some combination of the spells below or taking the help action.
+ Lvl 1 = Vicious Mockery(Continuous Fun), Tasha's Hideous Laughter, Faerie Fire(Critical for exposing hidden), Minor Illusion, Prestidigitation, Thunderwave or Thunderclap are some of my favorites.
+ Lvl 2 = Shatter, Heat Metal, Enhance Ability and Blindness/Deafness are some of my favorites. Invisibility is a strong choice in a lot of situations as well.
+ Lvl 3 = Hypnotic Pattern(AOE Control) and Plant Growth(Money Maker) (and Leomunds Tiny Hut if you have no party Wizard). Additional Magical secrets are almost always Haste and Counterspell for me, I cast Haste on the best melee and let him work. Obviously, Fireball is a great choice here as well.

If you pick up the magic initiate feat at 4th level then Find Familiar (permanent advantage), Shield (God save the Queen) and Eldrich Blast (Die Heretics) are all strong choices as well. Of course, if you have a 13 intelligence you can pick up wizard as a multi-class and get both Find Familiar and Shield. Alternately the Ritual Caster feat will give you a bunch of extra (out of combat) spells and potentially save you some spell slots for other spells, dramatically increasing your total versatility.

I really chose spells based on what other classes we had at the party. No matter what you do others will be better at combat but take heart, none will be better at the out of combat stuff.