Min/Max College of Swords Build

[ajrockstarr]

Playing a campaign for level 12 soon, multiclass is fine, need an optimized build for the College of Swords Bard, I’m maxing CHA and DEX. Ready to see what you guys come up with.

[Blood of Gaea]

I'm going to assume you'll want to spend a lot of time attacking with weapons.

Race: Half-Elf.

Stats:
Str: 8 or 10
Dex: 15+1
Con: 13+1
Int: 8 or 10
Wis: 12
Cha: 14+2

Gear: Two Scimitars, Studded Leather.

Fighting Style: Two-Weapon Fighting.

ASI 1: +2 Cha
ASI 2: +2 Dex
ASI 3: +2 Dex or Dual Wielder (swap to dual rapiers)

I'd probably get something like Holy Weapon and Steel Wind Strike as the level 10 secrets, though Haste is another tempting option.

[CTurbo]

Sorry to be boring, but I would do this-

Half-Elf with 8 Str, 16 Dex, 14 Con, 10 Int, 12 Wis, 16 Cha at level 1
Level 4 +2 Dex
Level 8 +2 Cha
Level 12 +2 Dex

So 20 Dex and 18 Cha

No feats..... No multiclassing

[ajrockstarr]

I appreciate the ideas so far, looking for spell suggestions too, I don’t play Bards much.

[Blood of Gaea]

I appreciate the ideas so far, looking for spell suggestions too, I don’t play Bards much.
I'll list a few of the ones that stand out to me:

Cantrips:
Vicious Mockery
Minor Illusion

1st level:
Faerie Fire
Heroism
Tasha's Hideous Laughter
Cure Wounds
Healing Word

2nd level:
Silence
Suggestion
Lesser Restoration
Blindness/Deafness

3rd level:
Bestow Curse
Hypnotic Pattern
Dispel Magic
Fear

4th level:
Polymorph
Greater Invisibility
Dimension Door

5th level:
Animate Object
Raise Dead
Greater Restoration

6th level:
Mass Suggestion
Otto's Irresistible Dance

Level 10 Magical Secrets:
Holy Weapon
Steel Wind Strike
Haste
Shadow Blade
Spiritual Weapon, if you take this, use Dualist with a rapier instead of two scimitars

[Foxhound438]

Otto's dance is pretty much an auto pick

build advice above is solid. Here's some of the spells I like in theory:

synaptic static seems pretty good

typically you'd want mass cure wounds for good heals

animate objects can add a ton of damage depending on how you split the animations

catnap gets you quick recharge on your bardic inspiration (and by extension flourishes)

you might consider taking spirit guardians as a magical secret if you're wading into melee. And while we're on that subject, it might be worth it to take swift quiver as well, giving you very solid ranged damage that you can in fact get the benefits of your flourish while using. Barring that, wall of force always has a place

fear for good old AOE crowd control at a reasonable price

[Wex]

With Multiclassing:

Hexblade/Sword Bard

Two options: Variant Human & Half-Elf

As Variant Human
Point buy initial stats: 8/14/15/8/8/15 with 2 points left over (any 8 to a 10). For convenience sake, will put it into STR though you can put it anywhere.

+1 to CON, +1 to CHA for 10/14/16/8/8/16

Starting Feat: Resilient CON OR Warcaster. With Resilient CON you can add another 2 to another 8 or 10.

As Half-Elf

8/14/16/8/8/16 with 6 points left over. Distribute among the 8's as you wish.

Regardless, 2 ASI going towards +2 CHA, +2 CHA for 20 CHA.

Options:

1) Hexblade 2/Sword Bard 10. Pros: Magical Secrets (up to level 5). You can pick spells like Steel Wind Strike, Haste, Find Greater Steed (you might want to pick up Mounted Combatant as your starting feat if you do), Spiritual Guardians, or Destructive Wave. You also get 2 invocations.

2) Hexblade 6/Sword Bard 6. Pros: Eldritch Smite (if Pact of the Blade), more invocations, Pact Boon. You may also pick up Pact of the Tome for different Cantrips, or Pact of the Chain for a better familiar.

Benefits over pure bard: You get Shield proficiency, access to the Shield spell, and can use CHA for your attack. You can also pick up Eldritch Blast for better ranged options, and/or Booming Blade if you start with Warcaster to become immensely sticky as a tank, if that's your preferred role.

Cons: You lose 1 ASI.

Spells: It really depends on your role in the team. If you're playing a tank, Armour of Agathys might serve you well, same with Shield, Mirror Image, and whatnot. If you go 6/6, Thunder Step is available to get you out of sticky situations. You might also want to pick up Catnap to rapidly regain Inspiration and Spell Slots if you do so.

You can also go Bard 11/Hexblade 1, though I personally feel that invocations and an extra short rest spell slot are with the opportunity cost a level 6 spell.

[ajrockstarr]

I’m mainly playing for that backline Utility Damage role, I definitely need some good ranges stuff but my main focus I think is gonna be spells and decent melee attacks

[Mad Puppy]

I know I'm very, very late to this thread but I've been theory crafting a Swords bard multiclassed with Bladesinger....
At 12th level a 2 level dip in Wizard gets you Bladesinger with bladesong and extra 10 movement (should stack with the swords bard +10 movement). Bonus to AC from Int, but only light armor.

Swords bard 10/Bladesinger 2
High Elf (+2 Dex, +1 int)
Extra attack, d10 bardic inspiration, D10 song of rest, Countercharm, font of inspiration, Magical secrets, Fighting style, Blade flourish, +int AC, 50 move with Blade flourish and bladesong active.

Alert and Mobile feats would make for even more goodies Initiative bonus and move bonus.

Bladesong

Starting at 2nd level, you can invoke a secret elven magic called the Bladesong, provided that you aren’t wearing medium or heavy armor or using a shield. It graces you with supernatural speed, agility, and focus.

You can use a bonus action to start the Bladesong, which lasts for 1 minute. It ends early if you are incapacitated, if you don medium or heavy armor or a shield, or if you use two hands to make an attack with a weapon. You can also dismiss the Bladesong at any time you choose (no action required).

While your Bladesong is active, you gain the following benefits:

You gain a bonus to your AC equal to your Intelligence modifier (minimum of +1).
Your walking speed increases by 10 feet.
You have advantage on Dexterity (Acrobatics) checks.
You gain a bonus to any Constitution saving throw you make to maintain your concentration on a spell. The bonus equals your Intelligence modifier (minimum of +1).

You can use this feature twice. You regain all expended uses of it when you finish a short or long rest.

I think this makes for a great character, with some really nice abilities, lots of spells and slots......

[8wGremlin]

I'm fond of the Warlock (hexblade) 1/bard (sword) 11

You get CHA for your 1-h weapon,
I would also get:
Eldritch blast, Booming blade
plus you get Shield from Hexblade
one of my level 10 secret would be: Spiritual Guardians, it's very versatile and very good!

[Guy Lombard-O]

Good build advice above. Only thing I'd add is that I don't see anyone recommending one of my favorite spell on the bard playlist, Heat Metal. A bit situational, but fantastic against heavily armored melee combatants who might otherwise rip a swords bard apart. Still good even at 12th level play, because there's no saving throw.

[guachi]

I can't remember the name of the spell off the top of my head (Dissonant Whispers?) but I believe Bard's get access to it and it does direct damage and targets Wisdom.

Such spells are rare as most Wisdom save spells are status effect spells. It also causes the target to flee for extra fun with Opportunity Attacks. A wonderful thing about being a Swords Bard is that you can basically guarantee that at least one PC (you) will get an OA.