D&D 5e Bard Subclasses Ranked Worst to Best
by Prince Phantom
As a full spellcaster, the Bard doesn’t really need a ton of help from its subclass. This makes it all the more hilarious when you see how amazing these subclasses are. The rich truly get richer. There are two options that promote weapon use, and all the others play more like a traditional spellcaster, so you’ve got plenty of options for how you want to play a Bard. Keep in mind, all of these are good in their own right and have plenty of build applications, so even the one I ranked worst will still be a good character if built and played right. Spells are just that good.
8: College of Swords
Again, no Bard subclass is really that bad, but someone had to be last place. College of Swords takes that position mostly due to it forcing you into melee combat in order to make use of your features, while not giving you many tools to actually survive melee.
The lack of shield proficiency is really glaring here. Technically you can use ranged weapons with the blade flourishes, though you’ll have to multiclass to get proficiencies in good ranged weapons and a fitting fighting style. Extra Attack is necessary as a 6th level feature to keep up with other weapon users, though not getting a real subclass feature here still kinda stings.
The capstone just being more of your 3rd level feature really makes this subclass a one trick pony, and it’s not a very good trick.
7: College of Spirits
Don’t be fooled by the spellcasting focus feature that lets you add damage. It only works on spells that have a material component that can be replaced by the focus. The Bard list has single digit spells that work with this, and even fewer that are actually good.
In terms of features that actually do something, I like what is offered here, but I’m a sucker for randomness. That reliance on chance inherently brings College of Spirits down in terms of a ranking, but don’t let that dissuade you from playing this. I really love the level 6 feature that lets you learn new spells through seances, and there’s definitely some fun to be had with it, but at the end of the day it’s just a few extra spells known.
The capstone is the standard roll twice and pick your favorite, which is fine but unexciting. The biggest problem is that your main feature is both random and limited by your bardic inspiration uses, which competes with the standard uses for that feature and makes resource management kinda feel bad.
6: College of Whispers
College of Whispers focuses almost entirely on out of combat subterfuge and stealth, which will either be fantastic for your campaign or only occasionally useful. This is definitely the character that I would want to play in a solo, Hitman style game all about assassinations and deception.
Psychic Blades gained at level 3 are our only combat related feature, and it’s basically just Rogue Sneak Attack without all the restrictions. It scales slightly slower, but can be combined with things like Booming Blade for extra damage as well. It’s a fine option, and lets this Bard mix a bit of weapon using in with their spellcasting when you want to save your slots.
The rest of the abilities are great for out of combat scenarios, including an easy way to make people very afraid of you, a TF2 Spy Deadringer (no, I’m not kidding), and a really good charm that grants some genuine control over your target. It’s best used out of combat on people who will reliably fail the save, as it can only be used once per day. Just make sure your campaign won’t be combat 24/7 and this subclass will serve you very well.
5: College of Valor
College of Valor reads as a bit more boring version of the Swords Bard, but that doesn’t mean it’s less powerful. In fact, quite the opposite is true. This is mostly due to the ability to use all of our features while attacking with ranged weapons, and getting the proficiencies required to make use of them without needing to multiclass.
The main draw of this is to take Crossbow Expert and Sharpshooter, plus a slight dip in another class to get the Archery Fighting Style, and then mixing those great weapon attacks in with spellcasting when necessary. This leaves us with a very resource efficient build, allowing us to only rely on our spellcasting when necessary.
Ignore the 3rd level feature that lets you add your Bardic Inspiration to damage, that’s a waste of inspiration. Since 6th level is reserved for Extra Attack, that really just leaves the 14th level feature to be excited about, and for once, it’s actually pretty exciting. It allows us to much more easily mix attacks and spells, really cranking up our damage output. If you want to play a Bard that focuses on damage, especially single target damage, this is the best subclass for you.
4: College of Glamour
College of Glamour is one of the more slept on subclasses in the game. We get two great 3rd level features, one that is great in combat, and another fantastic out of combat. I promise that if you look for opportunities to use Enthralling Performance, you will find them.
6th level gives us a really cool way to use the Command spell, a personal favorite of mine, and level 14 gives concentration free Sanctuary for 1 minute per rest. This is a good mix of in and out of combat features that I think should have you pretty happy at most tables. Nothing here is bad, it’s just that what’s on offer from some other subclasses is better.
3: College of Lore
The literal only reason why anyone picks College of Lore is for extra Magical Secrets at level 6. Getting that feature early with this subclass allows you to pick from the trove of amazing options among 3rd level spells, including Fireball, Counterspell, Fly, Tiny Hut, or even pick up more spells from the Bard list like Hypnotic Pattern or Fear.
The other features here are decent, but just expanded uses for Bardic Inspiration, so nothing to get excited about. This subclass does have one other selling point, it is perfectly set up to allow you to play the insult master thanks to Cutting Words and the many Bard spells that fit that theme. Check out our build that goes for that very theme!
2: College of Eloquence
Many of you may have expected to see College of Eloquence as number one, so I should probably start explaining myself. First, this subclass is amazing and it being number two on a list of amazing subclasses is nothing to scoff at.
Now I’m going to debunk the things that everyone points to as broken about this subclass. Silver Tongue paired with expertise in Persuasion can make your minimum roll at level 3 be an 18 if you have a +4 Charisma. This is very nice to have, but Charisma skills are not mind control, and you as the DM still have the right to say no to things that would be impossible to do with a simple skill check.
Unsettling Words is fantastic if you can coordinate with your party to make sure that the next save that monster makes is an important one, and combined with Silvery Barbs, you can really ruin someone’s day. That’s actually probably the best feature of this subclass, but it’s tied to our Bardic Inspiration so we have limited uses.
Level 6 gives us a ribbon feature and makes sure that our Bardic Inspiration never goes to waste, so that’s really just a conservation of resources. Level 14 essentially just gives you 5 more Bardic Inspirations per day, which again, is nice, but not overpowered. All of these things are certainly powerful, especially Unsettling Words, but you don’t need to ban this subclass like so many people think you do. Just learn to adjudicate skill checks correctly.
1: College of Creation
Now THIS is overpowered. Every feature in College of Creation is an absolute banger. Note of Potential is just a straight upgrade to our Bardic Inspiration, which is in stark contrast to the other subclasses who give us alternate uses for it. I like this much more, as it makes our inspiration the clear best of all Bards.
Performance of Creation seems unassuming at first, and kinda is until 6th level when we are able to create large objects. Enemies rushing towards you through that hallway? Create a giant boulder in their way and seal them off! Need a loaded, full size cannon ready to fire? How about a diamond for the spell component for that Revivify spell? Maybe a chariot for your Paladin’s Steed to tow, or even a vial of Purple Worm Poison! We get one free use of this, then can do it again for just a 2nd level slot! That’s totally worth it.
At 6th level, we get a flying pet that’s big enough to ride, so take that Drakewarden Ranger. Magic Carpet anyone? 14th level finally just removes most of the chains from Performance of Creation, allowing us to go truly wild. Now we can make that cannon, plus a bunch of munitions and have our whole party take turns blasting that group of enemies! This subclass, when played to its logical extreme, is completely broken in the best of ways. Seriously, give this one a spin.
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