Bard Spell Decisions

[Mrfoxcoffee]

I have been looking into the College of Lore Bard and was wondering what spells others have taken at 6 and then later on as apart of their Magical Secrets ability.

I’m not trying to maximize a build or min/max. I am just curious if other Bards have chosen spells for more glamour or flavor.

[Grimmnist]

I think any spell can be fun flavorwise when you throw it on a Bard. They don't cast fireball, they walk away from an exploding fireball in slowmotion without looking back.

I'd highly recommend counterspell at lvl 6. It gets a bonus from Jack of all Trades making it even better on Bard, and flavor-wise the Bard breaking into a sick lute solo distracting the enemy from casting a spell is pretty fun.

[Vekon]

This is a hard question to answer because Magical Secrets is kind of dependant on the bard's role and party composition.

If you're lacking arcane artillery, fireball is an easy pick up. If you lack casters in general, you mind feel counterspell is important to take.There are also niche things like animate dead, haste, Hunger of Hadar. Consistently good spells like slow, too.

But those are just third level spells. You can replace them into whatever you want at higher levels, which is why there is no real answer to this question.
.. Actually, no. Find Greater Steed is the real answer to this question.

[Keravath]

I chose mine for role flexibility.

At sixth level I took fireball and counterspell. Counterspell is a common choice because jack of all trades applies to the ability check required to counter the spell which makes bards one of the most effective classes at casting it and they also typically have enough spell slots to make it worthwhile. Fireball because bards don't get much in the way of AoE damage.

For the other spells there are a lot of good choices .. I went mostly with support/debuff/creature control.
- Faerie fire
- Dissonant Whispers
- Healing Word
- Blindness/Deafness
- Suggestion
- Phantasmal Force
- Shatter or Heat Metal
- Counterspell
- Dispel Magic
- Hypnotic Pattern
- Fireball
- Polymorph
- Dimension Door

However, there are a lot of threads on exactly what magical secrets to pick ... these all pop up in seconds after typing "d&d 5e bard magical secrets" .. so you might want to do some reading before asking something that has been asked many times over the years :)

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?556074-Bard-Magical-Secrets-spell-selections
http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?536039-Trying-to-choose-for-Lore-Bard-Magical-Secrets-too-many-options
http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?501128-Please-help-me-pick-my-Lore-Bard-s-Magical-Secrets
https://www.reddit.com/r/dndnext/comments/8ap9n5/bard_magical_secrets_level_10_what_to_pick/
https://www.reddit.com/r/dndnext/comments/7ygw0q/what_are_good_magical_secrets_for_a_lore_bard/

[Grimmnist]

.. Actually, no. Find Greater Steed is the real answer to this question.

This is objectively true, just make sure you picked Ocarina as one of your instruments.

[Vekon]

I chose mine for role flexibility.

At sixth level I took fireball and counterspell. Counterspell is a common choice because jack of all trades applies to the ability check required to counter the spell which makes bards one of the most effective classes at casting it and they also typically have enough spell slots to make it worthwhile. Fireball because bards don't get much in the way of AoE damage.

For the other spells there are a lot of good choices .. I went mostly with support/debuff/creature control.
- Faerie fire
- Dissonant Whispers
- Healing Word
- Blindness/Deafness
- Suggestion
- Phantasmal Force
- Shatter or Heat Metal
- Counterspell
- Dispel Magic
- Hypnotic Pattern
- Fireball
- Polymorph
- Dimension Door

However, there are a lot of threads on exactly what magical secrets to pick ... these all pop up in seconds after typing "d&d 5e bard magical secrets" .. so you might want to do some reading before asking something that has been asked many times over the years :)

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?556074-Bard-Magical-Secrets-spell-selections
http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?536039-Trying-to-choose-for-Lore-Bard-Magical-Secrets-too-many-options
http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?501128-Please-help-me-pick-my-Lore-Bard-s-Magical-Secrets
https://www.reddit.com/r/dndnext/comments/8ap9n5/bard_magical_secrets_level_10_what_to_pick/
https://www.reddit.com/r/dndnext/comments/7ygw0q/what_are_good_magical_secrets_for_a_lore_bard/

Most of these are already on the bard spell list.

[Mrfoxcoffee]

This is a hard question to answer because Magical Secrets is kind of dependant on the bard's role and party composition.

If you're lacking arcane artillery, fireball is an easy pick up. If you lack casters in general, you mind feel counterspell is important to take.There are also niche things like animate dead, haste, Hunger of Hadar. Consistently good spells like slow, too.

But those are just third level spells. You can replace them into whatever you want at higher levels, which is why there is no real answer to this question.
.. Actually, no. Find Greater Steed is the real answer to this question.

Thank you! I was wondering what you have done or seen done! I love the greater steed tho.

[Mr. Crowbar]

I chose Alter Self (RP reasons) and Call Lightning. Call Lightning has proven good for stretching spell slots and not nuking our melee peeps who love to be in the middle of everything, even though the height limit means it can't always be used.

If I hadn't gone with Alter Self I probably would have grabbed Aura of Vitality since my bard is also the group's main healer.

[Guy Lombard-O]

I found that my Valor Bard was getting targeted and smacked around a LOT (I think my DM was a bit surprised/annoyed at how good bards are at BC). So I opted for Fly and Misty Step (at 10), and became very elusive.

Not sure if that's helpful, or too single game specific.

[dragoeniex]

If you don't go counterspell, blink is a solid option that has mechanical benefits and much flare factor. You take your action, throw inspiration or a healing word on an ally, then flip a coin to find out whether you're still there or you bamf out of reach of any spells/attacks/overly friendly hug monsters until your next go. Ghost in and out with a wink.

You could still take it even if you went counterspell, but it's impossible to use that while you're munching popcorn on the ethereal plane. So some competition for economy there.

Find steed (since you're not high enough for greater yet) would make you out to be rather gallant. Galloping into town, battle, or social gatherings while you give a performance from your mount's back. Plus, extra speed is always nice.

Alter self if you want to be all slinky and sneaky and maybe layer it with disguise self.

Animate dead if you want to add some necromantic pizzazz to your presence. And convince others that, yes, in fact there have been people who have died laughing at your jokes! Or you're playing a more utilitarian bard who hates to waste anything. Why leave a body when you can have a roadie?

[MaxWilson]

This is a hard question to answer because Magical Secrets is kind of dependant on the bard's role and party composition.

But those are just third level spells. You can replace them into whatever you want at higher levels, which is why there is no real answer to this question.

Note that Magical Secrets cannot be changed as you level up. You can swap them out for regular bard spells, but that's it. You can't trade Fireball for Wall of Force or anything like that.

[Trustypeaches]

I chose Alter Self (RP reasons) and Call Lightning. Call Lightning has proven good for stretching spell slots and not nuking our melee peeps who love to be in the middle of everything, even though the height limit means it can't always be used.

If I hadn't gone with Alter Self I probably would have grabbed Aura of Vitality since my bard is also the group's main healer.The annoying thing about Call Lightning is that (A) it doesn't work indoors most of the time and DMs can be very finicky as to what constituted vertical cover and (B) unless you get 3 turns to hit something it is out-damaged by Lightning Bolt. Maybe your combats and your concentration last that long, maybe they don't. And this is just with a single target, as hitting multiple targets with Lightning Bolt is much easier than consistently hitting 2 targets with Call Lightning for 3 turns.

All in all, I wouldn't recommend it

[Kenny Snoggins]

The annoying thing about Call Lightning is that (A) it doesn't work indoors most of the time and DMs can be very finicky as to what constituted vertical cover and (B) unless you get 3 turns to hit something it is out-damaged by Lightning Bolt. Maybe your combats and your concentration last that long, maybe they don't. And this is just with a single target, as hitting multiple targets with Lightning Bolt is much easier than consistently hitting 2 targets with Call Lightning for 3 turns.

All in all, I wouldn't recommend it

Agree. I think even lightning bolt is not ideal as a magic secret since it's a pretty accessible spell through magic items. In AL it's pretty simple to get a wand of lightning bolts or even a staff of the magi. I do like it better than fireball since its much easier to avoid your own guys.

I took spiritual weapon because it's effectively the clerics extra attack-- it's a class feature in a spell and no concentration. And I took spirit guardians because it annihilates undead and chaff and throughout a single encounter stacks on gross amounts of damage: its not capped by anything and has a huge duration. It usually does hundreds of points of damage for me in every combat.

[MarkVIIIMarc]

I took counterspell and fly. Fly, because no one else ever prepared it. The ability to just get places is great. Its not a DM favorite and I almost wish I would have asked him.

We had a Cleric at the time or else I would have taken Revivify. At 10 or whatever if we don't turn up a Cleric I might take Reincarnate. Them things don't come in handy all the time, but when they do...

[Mr. Crowbar]

The annoying thing about Call Lightning is that (A) it doesn't work indoors most of the time and DMs can be very finicky as to what constituted vertical cover and (B) unless you get 3 turns to hit something it is out-damaged by Lightning Bolt. Maybe your combats and your concentration last that long, maybe they don't. And this is just with a single target, as hitting multiple targets with Lightning Bolt is much easier than consistently hitting 2 targets with Call Lightning for 3 turns.

All in all, I wouldn't recommend it

All our encounters are deadly, often last over a minute, and the DM has been generous about allowing Call Lightning to be used in any "big" interior area. Its range also helped me win a 1-on-1 duel, and I've used a familiar as a spotter to zap creatures from behind cover. I can see that it's not ideal for games run by the standard adventuring day, but I don't regret picking it. I do think repeating attack spells have merit for the sake of conserving spell slots.

Speaking of familiars, it's provided a lot of utility and a fun companion! I got it through the Magic Initiate feat but it could stand to be a decent magical secrets pick.

[Vekon]

Note that Magical Secrets cannot be changed as you level up. You can swap them out for regular bard spells, but that's it. You can't trade Fireball for Wall of Force or anything like that.

Huh, it does seem that way. The only bard I've seen had a DM that allowed such switching(Critical Role's Scanlan having Wish).

[Guy Lombard-O]

All our encounters are deadly, often last over a minute, and the DM has been generous about allowing Call Lightning to be used in any "big" interior area. Its range also helped me win a 1-on-1 duel, and I've used a familiar as a spotter to zap creatures from behind cover. I can see that it's not ideal for games run by the standard adventuring day, but I don't regret picking it. I do think repeating attack spells have merit for the sake of conserving spell slots.

I'd opt for Moonbeam over Call Lightning. Lower level spell, but can upcast to 3rd for very similar effects (with Con instead of Dex save). Plus, it stays put as a no-action area denial if you want.