Quote Originally Posted by Waterdeep Merch View Post
This seems so strange to me. I think bards are one of the best classes in the game, and my player base agrees- I get one in nearly every game.

Their spell list has a fantastic mix of support and utility with some control thrown in for good measure, Bardic Inspiration is sort of like having a walking Lucky feat for the whole party and prevents disasters, and their subclasses offer mostly strong features, too. They're practically unrivaled in the social pillar, useful enough in the exploration pillar that you can forgo an arcane caster, and amplify everyone else in the combat pillar.

What they don't do is tank and throw out gobs of damage. You can only get so competent at those two things, regardless of build. I think that's why a lot of other players might overlook the bard- you just don't get to see those chunky numbers thrown around.
One of my groups would get a bit competitive about damage... they did not like it when I started claiming damage that I enabled. That +1 to damage I gave you? That's MY damage, not yours. Did you hit only because I have you a +2 to hit? ALL that damage is mine.

It was always friendly, but a bard who keeps track of HOW they are helping usually winds up showing that they're doing a lot.