Although I know that a Lore Bard is probably the best Bard subclass, I'm thinking of playing a College of Swords Bard for my first run through of the release version, as fancy a more "Gish" character (but with "face" skills), but don't want to play a Pact of the Blade Warlock. Was thinking of taking 2 levels of Paladin (but Dex-based as there is no Str 13 requirement in BG3 for multiclassing), to boost my melee attacks with Smites and to get Shield proficiency and Defence fighting style, but to still not nerf my spell casting or other Bard perks too much.
I'm unsure of how best to level such a multi-class, though. I will be playing as a full Drow (mostly for RP, but the free spells and Superior Darkvision are nice, though Wood Elf would probably be the meta choice for the bonus to movement speed, Stealth proficiency and longbow proficiency).
Starting as Paladin first gives you the bonus to Wis saves (nice for helping you to not fail when targeted by "save or suck' spells) and Heavy Armour Proficiency (I won't be wearing Heavy Armour, but some Helmets and Gloves may require this proficiency). It also gives you Shield and Martial Weapons Proficiency from the off (e.g. for Heavy Crossbow).
On the downside, it slows down your overall Bard progression, in particular delaying your Extra Attack to level 7 or 8, which is very late, and also delays your access to level 3 spells and all your other Bard abilities. On top of that, it's more limiting in which skills proficiencies you can pick at level 1 and delays you getting your first ASI.
As I see it the main options would be to go:
1) Paladin 1>Bard 1-6>Paladin 2>Bard 7-10
Or
2) Paladin 1-2>Bard 1-10 (or Paladin 1>Bard 1>Paladin 2>Bard 2-10 or even Paladin 1>Bard 1-4>Paladin 2>Bard 5-10)
Or
3) Bard 1-6>Paladin 1-2>Bard 7-10
Or even
4) Bard 1-8>Paladin 1-2>Bard 9-10
At the moment I'm probably favouring option 3), with option 1) a close second, as don't want to delay either my extra attack nor access to Smites for too long, but was wondering what everyone else thinks? Which option would you recommend to be good throughout the game, not just at the end?
BTW I don't want to respec, as would kill the immersion for me, except maybe to take Two Weapon Fighting as my fighting style at level 3 Swords Bard (to compensate a little for the late Extra Attack), then respec to Duelling when I get my extra attack at level 6 Swords Bard - I can sort of justify that in my head as "re-training".
Another option would be to Draconic Sorcerer (White Dragon Bloodline) 1>Bard 1-11 - would give me the bonus to Con saves (nice for helping to maintain concentration), early access to the spells Armour of Agathys, Shield and Magic Missile or Chromatic Orb (and maybe Absorb Elements, if in the game, which would be great with AoA), plus 4 extra offensive cantrips on top of my Bard ones (e.g. Shocking Grasp, Chill Touch, Ray of Frost, Firebolt). That build nerfs my Bard progression less, and gives some great defensive and decent offensive damage spell options (something Bards lack), but limits the damage that I can do in melee combat considerably, compared to MCing Paladin levels. You also miss out on Simple Weapons Proficiency, but would still get Rapier, Shortsword and hand crossbow proficiency from Drow and Scimitar when you get College of Swords at level 3 Bard. Besides this I am actually a student and because of the homework I can't manage to play as I would have liked, in fact I really want to spend more time in the game, that's why I turned to
more info, here I found Essays on Of Mice And Men, I found it very interesting and I even made tangent with the game; for me it was a discovery, that's why I want to recommend it to you.
I'm not aiming for a "tank" frontliner, more a skirmisher who can come in and do a few turns of high damage with Flourishes and Smites and then disengage, either before or after casting some spells. Mostly because that's fun, rather than necessarily being "optimal".
