Main Character Honor Mode Build
College of Swords Bard
Main Character
Damage and Crowd Control
Origin & Identity
- Race / Subrace: Wood Half-Elf
- Background: Entertainer
Wood Half-Elf grants extra mobility
Class Path
- Main Class: College of Swords Bard
- Primary Focus: Crowd Control & Damage
You'll be an amazing archer, party face, and crowd control that makes many fights easier
Ability Scores
Point-buy prioritises Dexterity for AC/initiative and Charisma for spell DCs, with enough Constitution to hold concentration and stay alive.
| Ability | Base | Racial | Final | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strength | 8 | +0 | 8 | Dump stat—mostly stay out of range |
| Dexterity | 15 | +1 | 16 | Initiative and AC backbone; Makes it easier to hit with bows. |
| Constitution | 14 | +0 | 14 | Keeps Concentration checks and keeps you alive. |
| Intelligence | 8 | +0 | 8 | dump stat-until we respec later and get a level of Wizard |
| Wisdom | 10 | +0 | 10 | Baseline to avoid common crowd-control saving throws. |
| Charisma | 15 | +2 | 17 | Primary casting stat for DCs, spell attack rolls, and social checks. |
Spellbook & Cantrips
Some bard staples and emergency heals
Cantrips
- Vicious Mockery — good cantrip throughout the game.
- Friends — use to make persuasion checks easier, be careful when it runs out.
Level 1 Spells
- Cure Wounds — emergency heal to help keep alive, use if possible over healing word since it heals more.
- Healing Word — use in a pinch if you can't reach the character, it's less hp.
- Faerie Fire — useful a few times to pull invis enemies out.
- Thunderwave — good short wave aoe to kill several weak enemies, push off ledges, or just out of your face.
Proficiencies & Kits
Skills
- Athletics — helps to make up for lack of strength.
- Sleight of Hand — your main lockpicker and pick pocketer.
- Persuasion — party face.
Instruments & Tools
- Flute — your choice, I like the flute sound and look.
General Combat Tactics
- Shoot enemies with your bow. Early game, this will use both action and bonus action.
- Bosses, numerous, or dangerous enemies use Slashing Flourish (ranged) so you can hit twice per shot
- After switching to bow + mystic scoundrel, use bonus action for confusion, hold X, hypnotic pattern, command, vicious mockery
- Throw a heal in an emergency if someone needs it and Shadowheart can't deal with it
- Use special arrows as you see fit, I don't use them a ton.
Final Gear Setup
| Slot | Item |
|---|---|
| Head | Helmet of Arcane Acuity |
| Back | Cloak of the Weave |
| Chest | Armour of Agility |
| Feet | Boots of Persistence |
| Hands | Gloves of Dexterity |
| Ring | Risky Ring |
| Ring | Band of the Mystic Scoundrel |
| Necklace | Amulet of Greater Health |
| Main hand | Woe |
| Off hand | Rhapsody |
| Ranged | The Dead Shot |
Main Character — Level 2
- Spell: Tasha's Hideous Laughter — early game crowd control.
- Features: Jack of All Trades and Song of Rest, better skills and more short rests.
Main Character — Level 3
- Spell: Knock - It's good for passing up some checks later, and none of the other spells I really use enough to care
- Subclass: College of Swords - Ranged flourishes and bow damage will make you a monster
- Fighting Style: Two-Weapon Fighting, doesn't really matter, but we can use dual wield for most the game and then switch to 1 of the strong bows towards the end
- Skill Expertise: Sleight of Hand/Persuasion
Main Character - Level 4
- Cantrip: Mage hand - doesn't really matter, I don't use any of the remaining ones so just get what you feel like
- Spells: Hold person
- Feat: ASI dex +2. I would go with ASI since your chance to hit jumps down to like 30-50% for most things right now with sharpshooter.
Main Character - Level 5
- Spells: Glyph of Warding
Main Character - Level 6
- Spells: Whatever you want
Main Character - Level 7
- Spells: Greater Invisibility (this will let us skip some annoying fights later)
Main Character - Level 8
- Spells: Confusion
- Feat: Sharpshooter - now that we have risky ring, this is much better
Main Character - Level 9
- Spells: Hold Monster
Main Character - Level 10 - Fighter 1 / Wizard 1 / Bard 8
At this point, I respec'd to go full control bard: Reddit post control bard buildFighter 1, Wizard 1, Bard 8. This lets us take advantage of the mystic scoundrel ring. Check the post above for all the details. The only thing is, now MC needs gloves of dexterity. I went and stole the spellmight gloves from Lucretia in the circus. If you leave Shadowheart and Astarion in camp, then have Lae'zel cast darkness on Lucretia, you should be able to steal it, even if Lae'zel gets in a fight just let her die and rez her in camp. We won't be back to that area.- Spells: Hold Monster
Main Character - Level 11 - Fighter 1 / Wizard 1 / Bard 9
- Spells: Mass Cure Wounds (you can get most spells by scribing scrolls with the wizard level now. I already had dominate person and hold monster from that
Main Character - Level 12 - Fighter 1 / Wizard 1 / Bard 10
- Cantrip: Any
- Spells: Any
- Magical Secrets: I took command and dominate beast
- Skill Expertise: Acrobatics and Insight
Final Ability Scores
Point-buy prioritises Dexterity for AC/initiative and Charisma for spell DCs, with enough Constitution to hold concentration and stay alive.
| Ability | Base | Racial | Final | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strength | 8 | +0 | 8 | Dump stat—mostly stay out of range |
| Dexterity | 8 | +0 | 18 | We get 18 from Gloves of Dexterity. |
| Constitution | 8 | +0 | 23 | 23 from Amulet of Greater Health. |
| Intelligence | 16 | +1 | 16 | This is to give us more Wizard spell slots |
| Wisdom | 15 | +0 | 15 | Good for wisdom saves. |
| Charisma | 15 | +2 | 17 | Primary casting stat for DCs, spell attack rolls, and social checks. |