Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Build Discussion Would bard/hexblade be a good combination ?

Hi, in my current PT I have a halfling college-of-lore-bard (custom mercenary, so not one from Withers). We found the Falar Aluve, and I equipped her with it. (She has longsword proficiency, and as this blade is versatile, gets her DEX bonus , so all is well.) But I was wondering if it would be beneficial to multiclass now with hexblade warlock, or if I should just continue to build pure bard. I have no experience with hexblade, and can't judge very well how much I would gain. I like it that you get "shield" on lvl 1. I like that reaction spell, and my bard can use some additional protection from attacks. The hexblade curse sounds cool, but I never saw it in action, and I'm not sure if it is worth it. What do you think ? Will it make a difference ?

The party consists of Durge - a drunken master monk, Lae'zel, the halfling bard and a Duergar sorcerer hireling.

( The durge has trouble resisting urges, so Gale, Astarion, Shadowheart, Wyll ,Karlach and even Minthy are already all dead or left for good, is why I need the hirelings)

It can be good. Depends on what you're after.

2 levels as Hexblade can be great. Eldritch Blast (Plus Agonizing Blast invocation) can be a strong tool for more of a full caster Lore Bard. Meanwhile, free Medium Armor proficiency and free Hexxed weapon help for more martial style Bard (Though you'd need 5 levels for Deepened Pact along with Pact of the Blade to get the extra attack as Lore Bard doesn't get one like Swords/Valour)

If you're interested in such things, I'd suggest getting your Lore Bard to level 6 before you put a couple of levels into Hexblade. Since getting your Magical Secrets will be significant as there are several very good spells to pick (Such as Call Lightning, Counterspell, Spirit Guardians, Hunger of Hadar and Fireball)

As far as Hexblade Curse goes, after the fix to the bug with it... It's not that impactful. From my experience, the proc from attacks itself is irrelevant as most things die before it activates. Meaning you only have the single active use per long rest and even then it's pretty insignificant overall (And will be even less significant the more you do things other than regular attacks, which as a Lore Bard the subclass's schtick is that it is more caster focused than other Bard subclasses). Hexblade is more about the Medium Armour proficiency and the level 1+2 weapon bond when compared to other Warlock subclasses (Honestly GoOlock's AoE Frighten on Crit and Archfiend's temp health on kill are more noteworthy than the Curse)

Thanks. I'm almost lvl 6, so I 'll take that as a bard level still. Good advice. I'll probably take the multiclass after that for the armor. (I already played a full bard in a previous PT, and I liked that a lot, but trying new variants is also fun , and I do want to do something more with Falar Aluve than just let it sing in the background)

a one level dip gives you medium armour, all weapons and the option to have her main weapon use charisma instead of str or dex... at level 6 it also gives two shots with her blast which may sometimes be worth if charisma is high
the curse is extra damage against one target so best used against a boss with the typical scenario being to run upto the mob; use her action to activate Falar Aluve [shreak] and her bonus action to curse whatever target needs killing most

with both Falar Aluve and curse on the target your sorcerer now magic missiles its ass into the grave so if you don't want your bard up in their faces consider giving Falar Aluve to Lae'zel instead

p.s, yes lore Bard really wants that level 6 but that one level dip gives more normally... a single level is all i would consider because 11-1 bard is so much better than 10-2 without the second magical secrete

Bard with two levels of Warlock are a standard build, really.

You get a Cantrip which you can use as your main attack throughout the game.

This works for any Bard subclass and any Warlock subclass.

You don't need six levels in warlock for two beams, they scale with character level, not class level.

Indeed.

Like all Cantrips.

TWO levels of Warlock however allow to add the Charisma modifier to every beams damage, and to make the blast push people.

Yes read what I actually said... 6 levels not 6 levels of warlock
Imo 11/1 is the best bardlock build because that extra magic secret is stronger than any warlock option

Personally I take daylight and spirit guardian first then magic missile and something else at 11 but I play honour

Magical Secret is at 10 Bard.

Literally, you do miss any magical secret when going 10 Bard 2 Warlock.

Bard gets nothing on 11th level.

Going 11/1 Bardlock gives you nothing over 10/2 which gets 2 Invocations.

You could go 2/10 Hexblade/Sword Bard and get CHA based attacks, two invocations for Eldritch blast, 2 attacks and the sword bard abilities, two magical secrets and level five spells.

Another option is go 2/10 Great Old One Warlock/Lore Bard. This gets four magic secrets, two invocations for Eldritch blast, the Lore bard abilities and level five spells.

yes 11 is the level 6 spell slot and 10 is the 2nd magic secret

I see very little point in getting just one level of Warlock. You lose a feat this way. That feat could be Spell Sniper, or Magic Initiate: Warlock. Both can give you access to the Cantrip already.

Two levels however give the Charisma damage bonus, and as Bard you can get to stupid levels of Charisma.

And yes level 11 Bard gives you up to two level 6 spells, one regular and one if you trade in another spell. Thats really your choice.

10 Bard/ 2 another is gold for me. With 10 Bard/ 2 Warlock I would take above all Devils Sight. Wether you then take the Eldritch Blast damage boost or the push back alternative from Repelling Blast depends on your plans about the use of that cantrip.