The short version
The 2024 Bard prepares spells. Start with four prepared level 1 spells, add more prepared spells as your Bard level rises, and replace one prepared Bard spell whenever you gain a Bard level. That flexibility lets the spell list change with the campaign.
Do not build around a copied list of "must take" spells. Prepare a useful action for the encounter you expect, a way to help an ally, and a concentration spell that does not compete with three other choices. Then update the list when those problems change.
How Bard spell preparation works
At level 1, a Bard knows two cantrips and prepares four level 1 spells from the Bard spell list. The Player's Handbook recommends Dancing Lights and Vicious Mockery as cantrips, plus Charm Person, Color Spray, Dissonant Whispers, and Healing Word as opening level 1 spells.
Your prepared-spell total increases as your Bard level increases. New selections must be Bard spells of levels for which you have spell slots. When you gain a Bard level, you may replace one prepared Bard spell with another Bard spell you can cast.
This creates three useful questions before you prepare a spell:
- What does the party need to handle today: a crowd, one dangerous foe, an exploration obstacle, or recovery?
- Which spell is likely to use your Concentration?
- Is another character already solving this job reliably?
Hot Take: Replace a prepared spell when the party no longer faces the problem it solves. At the next Bard level, give that slot a job the campaign still presents.
Cantrips
| Cantrip | Choose it when... |
|---|---|
| Vicious Mockery ● | You want the PHB-recommended Bard cantrip that combines a saving throw with an attack penalty. |
| Dancing Lights ● | The party needs flexible light, decoys, or a tool for visible exploration scenes. |
| Mage Hand ● | Reaching, carrying, or manipulating something at a distance changes how the party approaches hazards. |
| Minor Illusion ● | The table enjoys using sound and image tricks, and the GM gives those ideas room to work. |
| True Strike ● | A Valor Bard has a weapon plan that benefits from its current spell-assisted attack. |
Level 1 spells
At the start of a campaign, use level 1 choices to cover one emergency, one social or exploration tool, and one combat answer. The exact mix depends on the party.
| Spell | Choose it when... |
|---|---|
| Healing Word ● | The party needs a Bonus Action way to restore a downed ally from range. |
| Dissonant Whispers ● | Moving one enemy creates an opening for the party or breaks an enemy's position. |
| Faerie Fire ● | Revealing targets and helping allied attacks is more valuable than personal damage. |
| Detect Magic ● | The campaign features magical clues, wards, or unidentified objects. |
| Charm Person ● | The group is entering a social scene where the target restriction and later consequences are acceptable. |
| Sleep ● | Early encounters feature weakened targets and the party can make use of its current limits. Replace it when that stops happening. |
Levels 2 and 3
Level 2 and 3 spell slots give the Bard more ways to control a scene. Put a premium on spells the party will use more than once, not on narrow effects that sit on the sheet.
| Spell | Choose it when... |
|---|---|
| Hold Person ● | Important humanoid foes are common and allies can exploit the Paralyzed condition. |
| Invisibility ● | Scouting, infiltration, or repositioning repeatedly changes the party's options. |
| Suggestion ● | The campaign gives the party room to use a plausible, bounded instruction outside a fight. |
| Dispel Magic ● | No other party member consistently handles hostile ongoing magic. |
| Hypnotic Pattern ● | Encounters often put several susceptible enemies within one area and the party can protect your Concentration. |
| Mass Healing Word ● | Several allies are likely to need recovery at the same time, and a Bonus Action matters. |
Levels 4 through 6
At these levels, the most important choice is often which concentration spell owns the encounter. Prepare a spell because it matches the party's plan, not because it appears on a generic tier list.
| Spell | Choose it when... |
|---|---|
| Dimension Door ● | Moving yourself and one companion through an obstacle or out of danger changes the scene. |
| Polymorph ● | One creature needs a major change in form, whether that means disabling an enemy or protecting an ally. |
| Greater Invisibility ● | An ally's positioning and repeated attacks justify maintaining Concentration. |
| Hold Monster ● | A single important creature is the party's main problem and its save is a reasonable target. |
| Mass Suggestion ● | The group needs a large-scale social or tactical instruction that fits the spell's limits. |
| Otto's Irresistible Dance ● | A priority target and its saving throw profile make sustained single-target control worthwhile. |
High-level spells and Magical Secrets
The PHB Bard list reaches powerful late-game effects such as Forcecage, Power Word Stun, Foresight, Power Word Heal, and True Polymorph. The right one depends heavily on what the campaign is asking at that level. A group solving planar travel and a group fighting one legendary enemy need different tools.
At Bard level 10, Magical Secrets broadens the prepared list. When your prepared-spell total increases, you can choose those new spells from the Bard, Cleric, Druid, or Wizard lists, and you can use those lists when replacing a prepared Bard spell at a later Bard level. Treat this as a way to cover a persistent party gap, such as a missing answer to a particular kind of threat.
College of Lore gets a separate level 6 feature, Magical Discoveries. It provides two always-prepared cantrips or spells from the Cleric, Druid, or Wizard lists. That is a college feature, not a reason to describe every Bard as having early Magical Secrets.
Build Your D&D 2024 Character
The D&D 2024 character builder is live - build a Beastkin, a Kobold, or whatever your table is missing, free, right now.
Start BuildingAt level 20, Words of Creation always prepares Power Word Heal and Power Word Kill. Those are class-feature spells, not two more discretionary picks from the prepared-spell list.
Campaign-specific Bard spell access
The Player's Handbook list is the default. The other approved books change it only for a Bard who has taken the relevant setting option or subclass.
- In a Forgotten Realms game, the College of the Moon gives a Bard one Druid cantrip that counts as a Bard spell without using a cantrip slot. At level 6, it also always prepares Moonbeam.
- In a Ravenloft game, the College of Spirits grants Guidance. At level 6, its Spiritual Manifestation feature always prepares Spirit Guardians and supplies its stated special casting benefit.
- In Eberron, a qualifying Dragonmark adds its listed spells to the character's Spellcasting or Pact Magic feature. Use the D&D 2024 Dragonmark Feats guide to confirm the mark, prerequisites, and added spells before planning around one.
Arcana Unleashed does not add a Bard spell list or a Bard-specific spell-access feature. It is not a reason to assume every Bard has another default spell source.
Spells that need table context
Some spells are useful in the right campaign and awkward in the wrong one. Keep them in the prepared list only when their premise appears at the table.
| Spell | Table question to ask |
|---|---|
| Charm Person ● | Does the campaign have social scenes where the target's later knowledge of the magic is a manageable cost? |
| Fear ● | Will forcing movement or disarming enemies help more than your other concentration choices? |
| Seeming ● | Does disguising the whole party create access that a smaller illusion cannot? |
| Heroes' Feast ● | Does the party have time, material resources, and a known threat that rewards its preparation? |
Spells outside the approved routes
This guide's recommendations are checked against the approved seven-book corpus. A spell from another book is not automatically part of the Bard list. Confirm that the table permits the source and that a class feature, subclass, or other rule actually grants access before preparing it.
Silvery Barbs is not in the 2024 PHB Bard spell list. It should not be treated as a default Bard recommendation.
Related D&D 2024 guides
For class features, colleges, and feat choices, read the D&D 2024 Bard Guide and Best Feats for Bard.
Compare other class lists through the D&D 2024 Spell Guides hub, including Artificer, Cleric, Druid, Paladin, Ranger, Sorcerer, Warlock, and Wizard.
