What is the Best Bard Subclass in BG3?

Welcome to our Bard subclass tier list for Baldur’s Gate 3. On this page, we will review all four Bard subclasses in BG3 and try to determine which is the strongest.

The BG3 Bard is a jack-of-all-trades class that is Proficient with a wide range of weapons and can cast a decent amount of Cantrips and Spells, all the way up to Sixth Level Spells (the highest Spell Level in the game). Bards are also uniquely Proficient at Skills, allowing players to choose Skills freely instead of applying a class restriction. Bards can play musical instruments to entertain nearby NPCs and inspire their party to greater heights in combat.

An important thing to note for this list is that Bard subclasses don’t change too much. Each one only adds a few unique features, in contrast to some other classes like the Barbarian and the Druid where your chosen subclass significantly changes how your build will play. This makes it a little harder to rank each Bard subclass, but there is just about enough to go on.

Table of Contents:

College of Lore Bard

College of Lore Bards can choose to spend their Bardic Inspiration to debuff an enemy with Cutting Words, rather than buffing an ally. They can also choose three additional Skills to be Proficient in, making them more “skilful” than any other subclass in Baldur’s Gate 3.

At Level 6, Lore Bards can choose two spells from the Magic Secrets List to learn. This is in addition to the Level 10 pick that all Bards have access to.

The College of Lore Bard is focused on being more well-read and knowledgeable than the other Bard subclasses. The three additional Skill Proficiencies can be very handy if you choose them well, as can the two extra spells that you get to choose at Level 6.

Learn More: College of Lore Bard Build

College of Glamour Bard

College of Glamour Bards can use Mantle of Inspiration to give Temporary HP to their allies. When an enemy deals melee damage to this THP, the Glamour Bard automatically Charms the culprit for 1 turn, preventing them from attacking your party.

At Level 6 this feature is expanded – creatures Charmed by Mantle of Inspiration can be Commanded, and will automatically fail the Saving Throw. This allows you to order them to drop their weapon, flee, approach and carry out other basic commands.

This pairing of features offers decent support for your team and can frustrate melee enemies, but expanding upon Command, a Level 1 spell, feels a bit disappointing for a subclass’ defining feature, and it can’t do anything against ranged attackers or spellcasters.

Learn More: BG3 College of Glamour Bard Build

College of Swords Bard

The College of Swords subclass fully focuses on the melee weapon aspect of the Bard class. This subclass is unique among the Bards, in that it’s the only one that feels like it significantly expands upon the base class, which will already give it a significant headstart in terms of its ranking.

Swords Bards get Proficiency with Medium Armour and Scimitars, and can choose one of two Fighting Styles:

• Duelling – When you wield a melee weapon in one hand and no weapon in the other, you deal an additional 2 damage with that weapon. You can carry a shield in your free hand and still gain this bonus.
• Two-Weapon Fighting – When you make an offhand attack, you can add your Ability Score Modifier to the damage of the attack.

Two-Weapon Fighting is the strongest of these two options because the damage buff can easily scale up to +5, whereas Duelling stays at +2. But of course you need to be dual-wielding for it to work.

You also unlock three special weapon actions (technically six; each one has a melee and ranged version). These Actions consume a Bardic Inspiration Charge when used.

• Defensive Flourish – Attack defensively, increasing your Armour Class by 4 for 1 turn if you hit.
• Slashing Flourish – Attack up to 2 enemies at once.
• Mobile Flourish – Attack and knock your opponent back if you hit. Afterwards, you can teleport to the enemy.

All of the above is available as soon as you choose the subclass at Level 3. At Level 6, you gain the Extra Attack feature, allowing each Action to yield two weapon attacks instead of one.

This turns your Bard into a pretty handy melee fighter, and you retain all of the spellcasting that’s available to the basic Bard class. I’ve come to the opinion that there aren’t many reasons to choose any of the Bard subclasses other than this one – the College of Swords just gives you a lot more.

Learn More: BG3 College of Swords Bard Build

College of Valour Bard

Lastly, we have the College of Valour. This subclass is similar in some ways to the College of Swords, but places a little more emphasis on supporting allies with Bardic Inspiration rather than boosting its own attacks.

Valour Bards get Proficiency in all Martial Weapons, Medium Armour and Shields, which can open up more build options for your Bard and is great for experimenting with different weapon types.

They get access to the Combat Inspiration action, which replaces the standard Bardic Inspiration. Combat Inspiration does all of the same things, but can also be used to increase Armour Class or a Damage Roll.

At Level 6, Valour Bards gain access to the Extra Attack feature, just like the College of Swords.

The Valour Bard is decent, but I think it’s overshadowed somewhat by College of Swords which plays into the melee combat role more effectively. Sometimes, the Combat Inspiration can save the life of a party member thanks to the Armour Class boost, but this is quite an uncommon occurrence. I want to like this subclass, but sadly the only reason I can find to justify choosing it is if you really want to play a Bard with a Shield or a Martial Weapon that you lack Proficiency with otherwise.

Learn More: BG3 College of Valour Bard Build

The Bard Subclass Tier List

Now that we’ve run through and reviewed all of the Bard subclasses for BG3, we came up with this ranking. While the basic Bard class is quite good, none of the subclasses are enough of a gamechanger to be within a shout of S-Tier. However, the College of Swords adds a lot for Bards who focus on fighting with weapons, giving you several unique weapon actions and the chance to buff your weapon damage with Fighting Styles. This definitely warrants A-Tier.

The Colleges of Lore and Valour aren’t great, but they do offer useful extras that sit well in their own niches, so while they are both light on features, they can justify being placed in B-Tier.

The College of Glamour Bard is the worst Bard subclass in my book. While you can get some nice plays from Mantle of Inspiration, it just feels like the subclass is missing something. All you get with this subclass is some extra THP and an expanded version of the Command spell, and that’s just not good enough to lift it up the ranks.