Whether they’re on the lute or lyre, a Bard in BG3 can make a battle dance to their tune. However, with the help of their best feats, they can be more than just simple debuffers or wimpy casters. Let’s look at some feats that make your songwriter shine.
Bards, like most classes in BG3, get three feats over the course of their 12-level journey. They get feats at level four, eight, and 12.
The best feat options for Bard in BG3, ranked
The best feat for Bards in BG3 is Ability Score Improvement for Charisma. As a Bard, it’s critical to boost Charisma so you can more effectively and commonly lock down enemies on the battlefield. However, once you get enough Charisma, Bards can use feats to become damage dealers themselves or better lock in their role as the party’s face and debuffing caster.
5. Actor
Actor is unique among feats in BG3, as it is one of the few that provides a boost to your Charisma alongside another benefit. That other benefit is a doubled proficiency bonus for Deception and Performance, two skills a Bard really likes. This feat is a perfect pickup for a Bard build that starts at 17 Charisma.
Bards are one of the few classes in BG3 with access to Expertise, an ability that doubles proficiency bonuses in two skills. They get this ability twice, at levels three and 10, for a total of four skills being doubled. That being said, getting Actor means the Bard can have six skills doubled, two of which are consistently utilized by the character. Deception is especially handy since seemingly every second conversation has a way out through lying.
Actor loses a bit of luster if you decide to become a half or full Illithid during Act Three. Illithids have very easy access to Deception Expertise, so this feat isn’t as effective. However, if you want different Illithid Powers or just don’t want to use them on your Bard, this feat is worth picking up.
4. Tough
Tough is a simple feat that boosts health by two per level. This gives your Bard 24 health by endgame, which is far from useless. As Bards are one of the few classes with access to Healing Word, this gives a healer a higher chance to survive the mighty spells slung at them during late-game encounters. Your health might be higher than your Fighter‘s with this feat.
Tough is an excellent choice for a Bard who plans on frontlining, granting them a bit of a health barrier. Since it’s very easy to heal through potions, extra health can be the difference between a dead character and a full-health one. However, this feat does compete with a simple plus-two to Constitution, so choose wisely.
3. Resilient (Constitution)
Resilient (Constitution) grants a plus-one to Constitution and gives the Bard proficiency in Constitution saving throws. If your Bard has an odd amount of Constitution, this feat can improve your Constitution modifier while adding up to plus-four to your Constitution saving throw.
For a Bard, Constitution saves happen quite often. Your Concentration relies on your Constitution save, and the Bard has absurdly powerful options that take up your mindspace—Hypnotic Pattern, for example, can easily lock down an entire battlefield if placed correctly.
Aim to make your Bard have 13 or 15 Constitution before taking this feat, either through a respec at Withers or otherwise. This feat loses quite a bit of power if that plus-one to CON doesn’t improve your modifier.
2. Sharpshooter
Sharpshooter must look out-of-place on this list, huh? Well, if you want your Bard to hit like a truck, this feat is for you. Sharpshooter grants a minus-five to ranged attack rolls to give a +10 to damage. In addition, you ignore low ground penalties.
The star of the show is the damage. The College of Swords Bard is usually a bit of a weak choice, dealing an additional d10 of damage per attack by spending an important resource. However, with access to Two-Weapon Fighting, they can also dual-wield Hand Crossbows. Combine that with Sharpshooter and some multiclasses, like Ranger or Fighter, and you’ve got some numbers.
This is largely for Swords Bards, though. Valor Bards can tank well but don’t have the damage to use feats like Sentinel or Great Weapon Master very well. There is one feat we’d recommend for that type of build.
1. Lucky
Lucky is probably the best feat for Bards in BG3, being useful for all subclasses. Lucky gives a character a pool of three Luck Points, which can be spent to reroll your failed attack rolls, ability checks, or saving throws. They can also be spent to force enemies to reroll attack rolls.
Lucky is universally handy. Bards aren’t immune to rolling critical failures, both in and out of combat. When they do, having a reroll in your pocket is very nice. This is especially handy for endgame Wizards and Sorcerers, which spam devastating debuffs on you and your party, like Hold Person or Hypnotic Pattern. If you, as a Bard, can escape these effects, it’s child’s play to heal your party members or hinder the casters enough to force them to drop their magic. Lucky helps you by letting you reroll these saving throws.
Use this feat defensively, and you’ll see how impactful rerolls are at every difficulty of BG3—even Honor Mode.
