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Whether it’sBaldur’s Gate 3or Dungeons & Dragons, bards are all about supporting the team with spells, swords, and songs. The College of Valor embodies this noble profession better than any of the bard subclasses. You’ve got weapons and armor to stand toe-to-toe with anyone in combat, you’ve got powerful spells to disrupt and dismay opponents, and you can play inspirational songs that add damage or defense to your teammates.
With the right spells and the right equipment, a College of Valor bard can take on any of the challenges Bladur’s Gate 3 can throw at you. If you’re ready to enroll in the College of Valor, read on.
5 plus Constitution modifier
Light Armour, Medium Armor, Shields
Skill Proficiencies (Choose Three)
History, Insight, Medicine, Persuasion, Religion, Deception, Intimidation, Performance, Acrobatics, Sleight of Hand, Stealth, Animal Handling, Arcana, Investigation, Athletics, Nature, Perception, Survival
Spellcasting Ability
Charisma
The College of Valor bard isall about supporting the team, whether that’splugging a hole in your battle line,healing your tankbefore they collapse from exhaustion, orinspiring your damage dealerto new heights of power. You’re also theconsummate jack-of-all-trades, able to do a little bit of everything without being spectacular at any particular task.
You begin enrolling in the College of Valor at level three, at which point you immediately gainproficiency with medium armor,shields, andmartial weapons. This gives the College of Valor access to all equipment barring heavy armor. You’re not necessarily the best at firing a bow or wielding a sword, but you can certainly hold your own in a fight.
You also gainCombat Inspirationupon enrolling in the College of Valor. Thisexpands your Bardic Inspiration to be more versatile, allowing allies to choose to add damage or armor class as a reaction alongside the original three options of attack rolls, ability checks, and saving throws.
You’ll generally want togive your Combat Inspiration liberally during combat. Starting at level five, Font of Valor recoups your Inspiration Charges every short rest, allowing incredible flexibility with how your allies use their Inspiration.
Although you’re a decent fighter,you’re still a spellcaster at heart. Yourfocus during combat should be on supporting your allies with spellsbefore wading into battle with sword and shield. Those are just kind of nice bonuses to have over something like a wizard or sorcerer.
8(-1)
16(+3)
14(+2)
10(0)
We’re starting off with equal scores in Dexterity and Charisma, althoughthe focus will be on Charisma as you level up. Charisma is your primary spellcasting stat, so improving it will make you a better spellcaster.
Dexterity at 16 is sufficientto make you a valid combat character in the early game, withplenty of armor classand theability to wield rapiers and bows with some skill.
This ability wanes somewhat as your Dexterity won’t increase much during the course of the game, but you’ll still be able tomake use of that extra attackwith the right late-game equipment.
Constitution at 14 provides sufficient hit pointsto take the occasional hit, and we’ll be boosting this saving throw later to ensure your ability to maintain concentration on your spells.
Intelligence and Wisdom are at 10just to provide a good baseline for your saving throws, andStrength is left at 8 as the bare minimumrequired to make certain jumps. You’ll be sticking with finesse weapons, so strength won’t matter in the long run.
At level one, we’re starting with a strong assortment of support spells.Vicious Mockerycan keep a character from being struck each turn, whileHealing Wordcan bring them back from the brink of death.Friendsis an incredibly useful social cantrip (although be careful using it on higher difficulty levels), andLongstrideris a ritual spell that should be cast every day to improve the movement of your entire party.
Tasha’s Hideous LaughterandDissonant Whispersare two concentration spells that can totally disable an enemy, either by causing them to fall to the ground laughing or becoming frightened of the party.
At level two,Faerie Fireis a great support spell that can reveal invisible enemies and make them easier to hit. At level three, you join the College of Valor and can equip medium armor and shields, greatly increasing your survivability.Cloud of Daggersis an incredible offensive tool for maps with choke points or limited area.
At level four,Mage Handis essential for some of the game’s side quests, whileLesser Restorationcements your role as the party’s healer (if Shadowheart is around, take Shatter instead for more offensive options). At level five,Hypnotic Patternoffers wildly efficient crowd control over an extremely wide area.
Glyph of Wardingat level six offers exceptional utility, able to deal damage, push, or send enemies to sleep in a large AOE.Greater InvisibilityandDimension Doorat levels seven and eight are utility spells that are just too good to be ignored, andGreater Restorationat level nine cures almost every status ailment in the game.
At level ten comes the all-important decision ofMagical Secrets. Our two choices areCounterspellfor a useful reaction andBanishing Smite. The latter choice brings a bit more swordplay to the College of Valor bard by adding immense potential damage to a single attack (and with the late-game equipment, you should still be landing hits regularly).
Minor Illusionis a useful cantrip for when trickery is called for, andMass Cure Woundsheals up the party after an AOE attack.
Level 11 bringsOtto’s Irresistible Dance. This is preferable to Eyebite as the enemy doesn’t get an initial saving throw, guaranteeing they’ll be disabled for at least one turn. Level 12 brings the final ability score improvement. Up until now, we’ve been pushing Charisma to ensure spell potency, but you’re able to now boost Dexterity a touch to improve your armor class and saving throws.
Best Races For A College Of Valour Bard
Several races provide beneficial bonuses to a College of Valour bard. Below we have thepotential races ranked best to worst.
Elf
Wood elf offerstwo skill proficiencies,advantage against being charmed,immunity to sleep,Darkvision, andincreased movement speed. That’s more than any other race will offer.
Drow
In second place is the drow. For one less skill proficiency and less movement speed, you getbetter Darkvisionand a few useful spells inDancing Lights,Faerie Fire, andDarkness.
Half-Elf
Either wood or drow half-elf will offer most of the benefits of being an elf, butyou might as well just be an elf. None of the weapon or armor proficiencies of this race are relevant.
Tiefling
Auseful damage resistance,Darkvision, andseveral spellsfor flavoring. Asmodeus tiefling is probably the most useful, but you can make either Mephistopheles or Zariel tieflings work too.
Half-Orc
You’re still mostly a spellcaster, but you’re still stabbing with a melee weapon often enough forSavage Attacksto not be completely useless.Intimidation proficiency,Darkvision, andRelentless Endurancemake half-orc a surprisingly decent bard.
Gnome
You’ll probably want togo with forest or deep gnomeas history expertise isn’t all that useful. Being able toSpeak with Animalsor having anadvantage in stealthis way better.
Halfling
Halfling Luckis always great to have, but the advantage against being frightened is largely mitigated by Countercharm.Strongheart halfling’s resistance to poisonis probably the better call over Lightfoot’s advantage on stealth checks.
Dwarf
Stay away from shield dwarf as it gives you next to nothing. Your choices are gold dwarf for more hit points orduergarfor SuperiorDarkvision,advantage against being charmed or paralyzed, and theEnlargeandInvisibilityspells. Both getresistance to poisontoo.
Human
All human provides is25 percent better carrying capacityandone skill proficiency. You can do better.
Githyanki
You’ve already got proficiency in everything githyanki offers and you’ve also got Jack of All Trades,reducing the efficacy of Astral Knowledge. This leaves you withGithyanki Psionics, which are a few nice spells, but they’reby no means essential.
+1 AC, gain one additional Bardic Inspiration charge.
Strange Conduit Ring
Weapon attacks deal an additional 1d4 psychic damage while concentrating on a spell
Boots Of Aid And Comfort
Gain three temporary hit points whenever you heal a target
Off-Hand Melee Weapon
Phalar Aluve
1d8 + 1 slashing damage, +1 Performance, the sword can Sing or Shriek to provide either a buff for the party or a de-buff to your enemies.
Off-Hand Ranged Weapon
Harold
1d10 + 1 piercing, struck targets must succeed a Charisma saving throw or be Baned for two turns.
None
N/A
The goal of the early game is maximum resilience and support.Cap of Curing,Boots of Aid and Comfort, andWondrous Glovesall make inspiring your allies more fruitful.Breastplate +1andSafeguard Shieldprovide excellent armor class and a slight boost to your saving throws.
Be sure tograb the Safeguard Shield from Dammonin the Druid Grove, andBoots of Aid and Comfort from Grat the Traderin the Goblin Camp. Both are missable depending on your actions.
Phalar Aluvecan be found in the Underdark and is the perfect College of Valour bard weapon. It’s a longsword, but it’s also a finesse weapon, meaning you can use your Dexterity instead of strength. It also adds to your Performance skill and provides an incredibly useful ability in combat.
Haroldis likely your best ranged attack option. Being able to potentially bane targets makes it exceptionally useful when you’re saving spell slots.
Strange Conduit Ringis great to use alongside Tasha’s Hideous Laughter or Dissonant Whispers.Crusher’s Ringadds some movement, andSilver Pendantis great to add to your saving throws and ability checks.
Cloak
Helm of Balduran
+1 to AC and saving throws, +2 hit points per turn, immunity to stun effects, attackers can’t land critical hits.
Amulet
Armor of Agility
17 AC Medium Armor, adds full Dexterity modifier to AC, +2 to all saving throws.
Ring #1
Helldusk Gloves
+1 to spell attack rolls and spell save DC, weapon attacks deal an additional 1d6 fire damage, unarmed attacks deal an additional 1d6 necrotic damage and can cause bleeding. Strength saving throws +1. Cast Rays of Fire as a cantrip once per short rest.
Ring of Protection
Ring #2
Helldusk Boots
Ignore difficult terrain, spells and effects cannot forcibly move you. You can use your reaction to automatically succeed on any failed saving throw. Teleport to an area and deal 2d8 fire damage in a 10ft blast radius once per short rest.
Infernal Rapier
1d8 + 2 piercing damage, adds spellcasting modifier instead of Dexterity to damage and attack rolls. +1 to spell save DC, cast Planar Ally: Cambion at sixth level once per long rest.
Ketheric’s Shield
+1 to spell save DC and spell attack rolls, advantage on Dexterity saving throws, Shield Bash.
The Dead Shot
1d8 + 2 piercing damage, add double your proficiency bonus to attack rolls so long as you do not have disadvantage. The number required for a critical hit is reduced by one.
In the late game, you might not hit very hard, but you’re incredibly tough to take down.Amulet of Greater Healthprovides you with 23 Constitution and advantage on Constitution saving throws, making it very hard for you to lose concentration on spells. Your spells also land more easily thanks toKetheric’s ShieldandHelldusk Gloves.
You should have 25 armor class thanks toHelm of Balduran,Armor of Agility,Ketheric’s Shield, andRing of Protection, withCloak of Displacementmaking you even harder to hit.Orphic Ringis providing Confusion, which is another great crowd-control spell.
Infernal Rapiermakes it so we can deal melee damage based on our Charisma rather than Dexterity, making you almost as good at swordplay as you are at spellcasting. Planar Ally: Cambion is also a great perk.
The Dead Shotisn’t quite as strong as Harold in terms of damage, but it offers improved reliability thanks to doubling your proficiency bonus.
If you’d prefer to forgo ranged attacks entirely (outside of spellcasting), thenDarkfire Shortbow offers two damage resistances and Haste.
