Tales of the Valiant Bard Guide

Introduction

The Bard in Tales of the Valiant is an Arcane support caster that wins by improving allies' rolls and making enemy rolls worse. At 1st level, you get three cantrips, rituals that do not consume spell slots, and one spell from any source list among your four spells known.

The core loop is simple: hand out Bardic Inspiration, maintain the right Bardic Performance, and cast when the situation calls for it. The Bard does not need to out-blast the Sorcerer or out-utility the Wizard. It makes the rest of the party better at the rolls that decide a fight.

For the full class roster and each class's dedicated resources, return to the Tales of the Valiant class guides.

Book of Blades does not hand the Bard a new college, but it does matter. Privileged gives the face Bard a sourcebook-grade social heritage. Martial Law gives lightly armored or tactical bards a better combat shell. Victory bards get real mileage from Book of Blades martial talents, especially Battle Tactician and War Dancer, while Wildlife bards can steal a little mounted-play support through Horse Lord, Fell Rider, and the animal allies guide if the campaign makes horses relevant.

The Labyrinth Worldbook does hand the Bard a new college: Secrecy. It is the spy, court asset, cult infiltrator, and shadow-stage performer version of the class. Secrecy bards do not beat Lore at raw skill dominance or Victory at armor-and-sword presence, but they give the Bard a strong covert support identity: mobile half-cover, stealth pressure, hit-and-run spell attacks, charm and fear save interference, Bardic Inspiration teleportation, and late emergency defense.

Player's Guide 2 adds the loudest Bard expansion so far. Allure is the illusionist performer, Mockery is the psychic heckler who turns vicious mockery into a game plan, and Sound is the scary one for optimized tables because Spell Syncopation pushes friendly spell math up while dragging hostile spell math down. That is not subtle. Neither is the Bard.

Rating Legend

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Class Features

Spellcasting (1st Level) ●

The Bard uses the Arcane spell list with CHA as spellcasting ability. Three cantrips and 1 ritual from any source list at 1st level. You start knowing 4 spells: 3 from the Arcane list plus 1 from any source list, which becomes Arcane for you permanently. This fourth spell is the most important early decision you make. Cure wounds (Divine), hex (Wyrd), or goodberry (Primordial) all turn you into a class no other Arcane caster can replicate. Do not waste it on an Arcane spell you could have taken anyway.

Rituals are separate from your spell count and do not consume spell slots. Start with 1 ritual from any list — detect magic, identify, and unseen servant are all excellent choices.

Bardic Inspiration (1st Level) ●

A d6 that scales to d8 at 5th, d10 at 9th, and d12 at 14th. Uses per long rest equal your CHA modifier — another reason to max CHA first. The die can be added to any ability check, attack roll, or save within 10 minutes. Only one die per creature at a time. Hand these out proactively before combat; a d8 held by the Fighter before the boss rolls initiative is worth more than a reactive die.

Expertise (2nd, 6th Level) ●

Double PB for two skills or tools at 2nd, then two more at 6th. Bards choose three skills from any list — combined with Expertise, you will have the best skill floor of any class in the party within 2 levels.

Bardic Performance (2nd Level) ●

Action to start, bonus action to maintain. PB uses per long rest. Crucially, maintaining performance and using Bardic Inspiration are combined into a single bonus action — you do both simultaneously on maintenance turns.

• Celebrate Life ● — Allies in range expend hit dice at start of their turn to recover HP (roll + CHA mod). Allies also have advantage on death saves. Strong in attrition fights.
• Cutting Words ● — Reaction to subtract a Bardic Inspiration die from an enemy's roll. Use it on the boss's most dangerous attack. The die is expended on use.
• Clarity of Thought (6th) ● — Allies in range can't be charmed, have advantage vs. frightened. Context-dependent but powerful in the right encounter.

Font of Inspiration (5th Level) ●

Regain all Bardic Inspiration uses on a short rest. Reactive use added: when an ally fails a roll, spend a reaction and Bardic Inspiration use to potentially turn the failure into a success. This changes your resource calculus fundamentally — spend freely, recover often.

Magical Secrets (9th, 13th, 18th Level) ●

Two spells from any spell list per unlock. At 9th level this is 5th-circle cross-list access; at 18th level, it reaches 9th circle. Use these choices to fill a job the party actually lacks, rather than duplicating an Arcane spell you could already learn normally. The chosen spells count as Arcane for you and are already included in the progression table's spells-known total.

Grand Performance (17th Level) ●

Performance range expands from 30 to 60 feet. A welcome upgrade in large encounter areas.

Improvement (4th, 8th, 12th, 16th, 19th Level) ●

Choose either +2 to one ability score, +1 to two different ability scores, or +1 to one ability score plus a Technical talent. Lore and Victory expand the talent-list choice only when you take that third option: Lore can choose Magic or Technical, while Victory can choose Martial or Technical.

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Heroic Boon

Persistent Inspiration ● When an ally fails a roll after using a Bardic Inspiration die, the die is not consumed — they keep it for another attempt. This makes Bardic Inspiration essentially risk-free. The die only disappears on a success or after 10 minutes. Pairs excellently with Font of Inspiration's reactive use.

Valiant Inspiration ● Allies can expend a Bardic Inspiration die after dealing damage to deal extra damage, or as a reaction to reduce incoming damage. The damage reduction is useful as an emergency button. But Persistent Inspiration protects your investment better in most cases. Take Persistent Inspiration.

Infectious Inspiration (Player's Guide 2) ● When a creature adds one of your Bardic Inspiration dice to an ability check, attack roll, or save and succeeds, it can choose an ally within 30 feet. That ally gains a Bardic Inspiration die without spending one of your uses. This is excellent in parties that already make their boosted rolls, because success turns into more success. Gross, but in the good way.

Restorative Inspiration (Player's Guide 2) ● This turns Bardic Inspiration into healing throughput. A creature with one of your dice can expend and roll it when casting a healing spell to increase the healing, or can react when it recovers HP from a spell, magic item, or class feature to heal extra. It is narrower than Persistent or Infectious, but healer Bards and support-heavy tables will get real value from it.

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Epic Boon

Curtain Call ● If you start a turn with no Bardic Inspiration uses left, use a bonus action to recover uses equal to your CHA modifier (min 1). Once per long rest. With maxed CHA at level 20, you recover 5 uses mid-fight. Transforms a dry resource pool into a second wind of support output.

Dual Performance (Player's Guide 2) ● When you begin Bardic Performance, choose two performances and maintain both as one. This is a huge upgrade if your table actually reaches 20th-level play: Cutting Words plus Celebrate Life, or subclass performance plus a core performance, makes you a walking statistical problem.

Master Performer (Player's Guide 2) ● Unlimited Bardic Performance uses, and you can automatically begin one when initiative starts without spending an action. You still spend bonus actions to maintain, but the turn-1 tax disappears. This is the cleanest epic boon for Bards who are tired of saying, "I would like to spend my whole first turn starting the thing that makes me a Bard."

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Ability Scores

Priority: CHA > CON > DEX

CHA drives spell DCs, attack rolls, and Bardic Inspiration count. Max it first. CON protects concentration and keeps you alive. DEX handles AC in light armor and initiative.

32-Point Buy Table

Recommended Array: CHA 16, CON 14, DEX 14, WIS 10, INT 10, STR 8 (29 pts — 3 pts to spread freely)

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Lineage & Heritage

Human ● — Flexible ability score bonuses, no antisynergy. Standard pick. Elf ● — WIS alignment, charm resistance, darkvision. Fey heritage fits the bard archetype. Syderean ● — Fey-influenced, CHA synergy, glamour-adjacent traits. Beastkin ● — Strong skill bonuses complement the Bard's broad skill coverage. Alseid (The Old Margreve) ● — Speed, stealth, darkvision, and advantage against exhaustion and frightened are all useful, but Quadruped makes climbing awkward. Piney (The Old Margreve) ● — Living Wood is a strong defensive reaction for a light-armor caster, and the sunlight hit-die recovery is a real adventuring-day perk. Star Elf (Labyrinth Worldbook) ● — PB uses of misty step in bright or dim light is excellent on a caster who wins through positioning. Divine ancestry and Trance also fit Lore, Secrecy, and courtly face concepts. Satyr (Labyrinth Worldbook) ● — Fey type, magical resilience, charm resistance, and reaction repositioning after melee hits all support skirmishing or Secrecy play. Stronger for Victory or covert bards than backline Lore. Syderean Spellborn (Labyrinth Worldbook) ● — Energy Form is defensive and thematic, while Syderean CHA flavor still works for face and spellcasting builds. The restrained immunity mode is the practical draw. Derro (Labyrinth Worldbook) ● — Superior darkvision, charm/fear defenses, psychic resistance, and Void protection are excellent in horror or underworld campaigns. Small size and sunlight issues keep it campaign-shaped. Bearfolk (The Old Margreve) ● — Better for Victory than Lore. The presence and fear tools are useful, but STR is not where most bards want to invest. Erina (The Old Margreve) ● — Darkvision, burrowing, and poison resilience are good exploration tools, but the package is more survivalist than face-focused. Dwarf ● — CON/WIS bonuses don't align with CHA primary. Not wrong, just not ideal.

Heritage: Cosmopolitan (extra languages), Anointed (divine magic access), or any that provide skill proficiencies. For a face character, social-skill-granting heritages are always valuable. Privileged (Book of Blades) ● — The Bard-friendly Book of Blades heritage. A skill of your choice, one musical instrument or gaming set, and advantage on contested Deception, Insight, and Persuasion checks in social situations all support the exact job most bards want. Martial Law (Book of Blades) ● — Light armor, a few weapon proficiencies, Athletics, Intimidation, and bonus-action Help near an ally. Lore bards like the emergency armor/weapons; Victory bards like the tactical Help button even after their own armor arrives. Maze-Born (Labyrinth Worldbook) ● — Friendly Face, portal and secret-door search support, Survival, languages, and Labyrinth navigation all fit Bard exploration and social play. One of the cleanest Labyrinth picks for Lore or Secrecy. Messenger (Labyrinth Worldbook) ● — Climbing, fall control, rumor rerolls, and three languages make this a strong courier, spy, herald, or information-broker heritage. Exalted (Labyrinth Worldbook) ● — Persuasion, celestial language, fiend attack disadvantage, and divine story weight. Excellent in fiend-heavy or Concord-facing campaigns; less universal elsewhere. Stygian (Labyrinth Worldbook) ● — Reduced Luck reroll cost and a frightened-save floor are both attractive on a class that cares about crucial rolls and hates losing concentration to fear. Void-Touched (Labyrinth Worldbook) ● — Strong if the campaign is actually about the Void: Arcana or Religion, Void lore, dread protection, and Void Speech. Too narrow for a generic court Bard. Horse Lord (Book of Blades) ● — Mainly for a mounted Wildlife or travel-heavy Bard. Animal Handling, Perform or Survival, vehicle/tool support, and a trained-horse durability boost are useful only if horses stay on-screen. Forest Bastion (The Old Margreve) ● — Animal Handling or Nature, trapper or herbalist tools, and an urban CHA reroll make this unusually bard-friendly for a forest heritage. Old Ways (The Old Margreve) ● — Nature, Survival, druidcraft, and limited communication with Beasts and Plants support a Wildlife bard perfectly. Moonlit (The Old Margreve) ● — Light, fear resistance, and pathfinding in dark woods are broadly useful. Delver (The Old Margreve) ● — Burrow speed plus Acrobatics or Persuasion is odd but playable, especially if your table uses terrain vertically. Hiveheim (The Old Margreve) ● — Good wilderness proficiencies, but the best bonuses depend on forests, grasslands, swamps, mountains, or deserts.

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Skills

Bards choose three skills from any list.

Persuasion (CHA) ● — Primary social skill. Expertise here is among the best uses of the 2nd-level feature. Perception (WIS) ● — Most-rolled skill. Always useful despite not being CHA-based. Deception (CHA) ● — Pairs with Persuasion to cover social encounters completely. Arcana (INT) ● — High content relevance in any magic-rich campaign. History (INT) ● — Excellent in lore-heavy campaigns, especially Lore subclass. Insight (WIS) ● — Read NPCs. Useful for any face character. Intimidation (CHA) ● — CHA-based, so not wasted, but lower priority than Persuasion. Stealth (DEX) ● — Situationally useful. Not a Bard priority. Athletics (STR) ● — You dump STR. Do not.

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Backgrounds

Artist ● — Recommended for Bard. Typically grants Performance, a social skill, and musical instrument proficiency. Scholar ● — History + Arcana for knowledge-focused Lore builds. Courtier ● — Social skills and language. Excellent face-character package. Prodigal (Book of Blades) ● — Deception, Insight, Perception, or Sleight of Hand; artist tools, musical instruments, gaming sets, vehicles, and a language; plus access to Athletic, Covert, or Mental Fortitude. This is a strong runaway-noble, street performer, or charm-and-theft Bard shell. Battle Academician (Book of Blades) ● — History, Insight, Investigation, or Survival with vehicle/tool support and access to Aware, Comrade, or Vanguard. Best for Lore or Victory bards who want the "I read every war memoir" commander angle. Judicial Champion (Book of Blades) ● — History, Intimidation, Perception, or Sense Motive plus flexible tool/language picks. The talent list includes Combat Casting, Scrutinous, and Weapon Option Specialist, which makes it unusually flexible for Lore, face, or Victory builds. Visionary (Labyrinth Worldbook) ● — Arcana, Insight, Medicine, or Performance with alchemist or herbalist tools and access to Mental Fortitude, Mystic Visions, or Psycanist. This is the Bard-facing Labyrinth background if you want omen-reading, prophetic art, or save insurance. Cult Escapee (Labyrinth Worldbook) ● — Arcana, Deception, History, or Religion with Covert, Mental Fortitude, or Ritualist. Excellent for Secrecy bards, anti-cult infiltrators, and characters who learned performance as survival. Portal Wright (Labyrinth Worldbook) ● — Arcana, History, Investigation, or Perception with Arcanist, Far Traveler, or Locksmith. Strong for Lore or Secrecy bards in portal, dungeon, and Labyrinth-navigation campaigns. Concordan Guard (Labyrinth Worldbook) ● — Athletics, Medicine, Persuasion, or Religion with Aware, Comrade, or Vanguard. Better for Victory bards or a public-agent Secrecy concept than for a pure backline Lore build. Grave Keeper (Book of Blades) ● — Medicine, Religion, death-facing roleplay, and access to Field Medic or Focus (Death). Good for somber support bards, less natural for a classic social performer. Avatar (Book of Blades) ● — History, Intimidation, Religion, martial destiny flavor, and access to Psycanist, Touch of Luck, or Vanguard. Playable for a divine emissary Bard, but the package is more martial-paladin coded. Conscript (Book of Blades) ● — Useful if you want a war-band Bard who learned music in the marching column. The access to Armor Training, Focus (War), or Ranged Weapon Mastery is more Victory than Lore. Forest Dweller (The Old Margreve) ● — Survival plus Animal Handling, Nature, or Stealth, Sylvan, a useful tool, and access to Athletic, Forest Denizen, or Relentless Hunter. Best for Wildlife or wilderness Lore. Adherent ● — If you took a Divine spell from your any-source pick, leaning into religious background has narrative coherence.

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Talents

Aware ● — Initiative d20 of 9 or lower treated as 10, immune to surprise while conscious. A Bard who goes first starts Bardic Performance before the first enemy acts. Scrutinous ● — Advantage on Insight, manipulation-resistance on Deception. Anti-cheese for the face character. Touch of Luck ● — Better Luck generation and reset control. Insurance for a low-HP class that needs the important save, check, or concentration roll to stop being dramatic. Charming ● — CHA skill bonuses and social interaction improvements. Stacks naturally. Combat Casting (Lore, Magic talent) ● — Low concentration checks treat poor d20 rolls as an 8. Important for any Bard maintaining concentration spells. Valedictorian (Player's Guide 2) ● — The Bard version gives one extra Bardic Inspiration die and one extra Bardic Performance use after a long rest. The extra uses only come back on a long rest, but that is still two extra reasons your party survives the "one more room" decision. Friend of the Fey (The Old Margreve) ● — Sylvan, a once-per-long-rest social advantage against Fey or Sylvan speakers, and PB uses of advantage against charm or frighten. Very on-theme and mechanically useful. Friend of the Forest (The Old Margreve) ● — Doubled Animal Handling, druidcraft, and a defensive check against weaker Beast or Animal-tag attacks. Best on Wildlife. Forest Denizen (The Old Margreve) ● — Climbing, swimming, poison, vegetation, and Beast or Monstrosity restraint protection. Strong in forest campaigns, narrow elsewhere. Relentless Hunter (The Old Margreve) ● — Tracking, pursuit, and a small opening damage rider. Good if the campaign actually cares about hunts and trails. Mystic Visions (Labyrinth Worldbook) ● — Requires WIS 13 unless you use the Visionary background. Bank PB d20 rolls after each long rest and replace future d20 results. Bards already live on important saves, concentration checks, and social rolls; this is one of the strongest Labyrinth support talents if you can qualify. Perfect Memory (Labyrinth Worldbook) ● — Advantage on fitting INT recall, perfect path recall, and limited studied-room keensense. Lore bards love the memory angle; Secrecy bards love not losing the map during infiltrations. Rallying Call (Labyrinth Worldbook, Victory Martial talent) ● — Bonus-action party weapon-attack advantage and frightened-save advantage once per rest. Victory bards can use it as a martial opener, though it competes with Bardic Performance setup. Void Strike (Labyrinth Worldbook, Victory Martial talent) ● — Hit-die necrotic burst for weapon attackers. Victory bards can use it, but spending hit dice for damage is harder to justify on a d8 support class than on a Barbarian or Fighter. Teleporting Harrier (The Old Margreve, Lore Magic talent) ● — Strong after teleports, but it asks a bard to build around misty step or a similar effect. Better for offensive Lore builds than support bards. Battle Tactician (Book of Blades, Victory Martial talent) ● — The standout Book of Blades Bard pick. Its tactic save DC uses CHA, which means Victory bards can run commander tactics without splitting ability scores. If you want the Warlord Bard, start here. War Dancer (Book of Blades, Victory Martial talent) ● — DEX 13, +1 AC after moving, safer melee repositioning after you hit, and a small reaction AC bump. Excellent for rapier-and-shield Victory bards who refuse to stand still. Tactical Planning (Book of Blades, Victory Martial talent) ● — Requires History and 4th level. Battle Academician, Scholar, and Lore-flavored Victory bards can use this to turn known fights into ambush, formation, or rush plans. Weak in surprise dungeon crawls; strong when your party scouts. Weapon Option Specialist (Book of Blades, Victory Martial talent) ● — Better if your table actively uses weapon options. A Victory Bard can make it work with a rapier, longsword, or chosen martial weapon, but it is not as broadly valuable as Battle Tactician or War Dancer. Poisoner (Book of Blades, Victory Martial talent) ● — Bonus-action poison application is tempting for a deceptive court Bard, but only take it if poisons are available, legal enough to use, or harvestable in your campaign. Stunning Sniper (The Old Margreve, Victory Martial talent) ● — Playable for a ranged Victory bard with a shortbow or crossbow, but most bards get more from support and defense talents.

Bard Talent Shortlist with Expansion Books

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Spells

For Bard spell rankings, Old Margreve Arcane picks, Labyrinth Worldbook Arcane picks, Magical Secrets notes, and spell hot takes, use the Best Bard Spells guide.

The Labyrinth Worldbook Bard standouts are not just damage spells. Word of Misfortune sets up save-based control, Swift Stash and Doorbind support infiltration and chases, Pocket Portal changes positioning, Empty Rain attacks enemy casters, and the late-game Arcane control options give Bards more ways to remove choices from enemies. Treat those as Bard tools, not Wizard toys.

Player's Guide 2 gives the subclass spell hooks sharper identities. Allure wants illusion spells because its features reward convincing, doubling, and extending them. Mockery wants vicious mockery and hideous laughter because it turns the joke into actual pressure. Sound wants silence, thunder, and any spell where a small save DC swing changes the fight from "maybe" to "the enemy caster is having a rough afternoon."

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Subclasses

College of Lore ●

Knowledge and versatility. Lore is the stronger all-around subclass for most party compositions.

Ode to Heroes (3rd) ● — Choose an ability score; allies have advantage on checks using it, enemies have disadvantage. Devastatingly good in skill challenges and exploration content.

Jack of All Trades (3rd) ● — Add half PB to any ability check you're not already proficient in. This is always on. It applies to initiative and skills where you have no proficiency, but not saving throws such as death saves. The best persistent passive in the class.

Expanded Talent List (3rd) ● — Access to Magic talents. Opens Combat Casting and other concentration-protection talents that the base class cannot access.

Swift Ritual (7th) ● — Cast a known ritual as an action once per long rest. For when you need identify or detect thoughts now and cannot spend 10 minutes.

Magical Rites (11th) ● — Two free rituals from any source list that don't count against your Rituals Known total. Primordial and Wyrd rituals add utility the Arcane list lacks.

Peerless Skill (15th) ● — Before rolling an ability check with a Bardic Inspiration die available, roll the die and add it. Keep the die on a success; lose it on failure. Risk-managed excellence combined with Jack of All Trades makes Lore Bards the most reliable skill users in ToV.

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College of Victory ●

Battlefield command. Victory transforms the Bard into a frontline force multiplier.

Book of Blades pushes Victory in the right direction. Battle Tactician gives you CHA-based battle tactics, War Dancer rewards mobile rapier play, and Tactical Planning fits the military-scholar Bard who wins before initiative.

Battle March (3rd) ● — Command up to three allies to use their reaction to move up to half their speed without provoking opportunity attacks, as part of your bonus action maintaining performance. It is powerful tactical repositioning, but each commanded ally spends its reaction.

Bonus Proficiencies (3rd) ● — Medium armor, shields, and one martial weapon. Your AC jumps immediately. This is the feature that makes Victory viable in melee.

Expanded Talent List (3rd) ● — Martial talents. Combat Conditioning, weapon-specific talents, and melee upgrades are all accessible now.

Multiattack (7th) ● — Two attacks with the Attack action. You are a real melee threat now. The party's frontline just got another body.

Unified Front (11th) ● — When you succeed on a save against an area-effect spell or ability, all friendly creatures in the area automatically succeed too. In fights against enemy spellcasters or dragons, this is an encounter-winning defensive feature.

Inspired Strike (15th) ● — Roll a Bardic Inspiration die and add it to your attack roll before rolling. Keep the die on a hit, lose it on a miss. Conditional but strong with Persistent Inspiration protecting the die.

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College of Allure (Player's Guide 2) ●

Illusion, misdirection, and "are you absolutely sure that is the real one?" Allure is strong when your GM lets illusion rules matter and merely fine when every NPC has the emotional range of a locked door.

Bardic Performance: Mirror Mirror (3rd, Player's Guide 2) ● — Create an illusory duplicate on a willing creature. When an attack targets that creature, your reaction can force the attack to risk hitting the duplicate instead, and the duplicate has AC equal to your spell save DC. It is defensive stagecraft with just enough rules teeth to matter.

Expanded Talent List (3rd, Player's Guide 2) ● — Magic or Technical talents. This is exactly what illusion-heavy Bards want: concentration protection, ritual tools, and more skill pressure.

Illusory Reality (3rd, Player's Guide 2) ● — You learn minor illusion, and you can make a creature more susceptible to your illusions. The failed-save rider that lets a target physically interact with illusions is the headline, especially when dangerous illusions can deal psychic damage and then end for that target.

Twinned Illusion (7th, Player's Guide 2) ● — Major image, minor illusion, and silent image can create two illusions, and creatures have disadvantage on checks to disbelieve them. This is the feature that makes the subclass sing. One illusion is a trick. Two illusions is logistics.

Illusion Confusion (11th, Player's Guide 2) ● — Force a creature to confuse friend and foe for up to 1 minute. It is not raw damage, but it can wreck enemy targeting if used on the right bruiser or commander.

Lasting Illusions (15th, Player's Guide 2) ● — Longer illusion durations and Bardic Inspiration support for concentration saves on illusions. It is late, but it protects the exact game plan the subclass has been building toward.

Allure Summary: Best for players who enjoy positioning, table talk, and illusion adjudication. If your GM enjoys clever images, Allure is a strong control Bard. If your GM treats every illusion like a cardboard cutout in a rainstorm, bring snacks and pick Sound.

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College of Mockery (Player's Guide 2) ●

Psychic insult comedy as a class chassis. Mockery is not subtle, but neither is yelling the exact worst thing at a monster until it fails a saving throw.

Bardic Performance: Playful Banter (3rd, Player's Guide 2) ● — Allies in your performance range reduce psychic damage, and inspired allies can convert Bardic Inspiration into psychic damage on attacks or successful saves against creature effects. It is support first, damage second, which is where Bard features usually belong.

Razor Wit (3rd, Player's Guide 2) ● — You learn vicious mockery and hideous laughter, add CHA to vicious mockery damage, and still deal half cantrip damage on a successful save. This turns the Bard's funniest cantrip into something enemies actually have to respect.

Infectious Laughter (7th, Player's Guide 2) ● — Vicious mockery can hit more targets, and hideous laughter can grab a second target. The subclass stops being single-target annoyance and starts becoming a small group-control engine.

Crushing Jest (11th, Player's Guide 2) ● — Psychic resistance no longer protects against your spells and Playful Banter. Immunity still matters, but resistance no longer turns your main damage lane into soggy bread.

Mocking Rage (15th, Player's Guide 2) ● — Force multiple creatures to lose reliable friend/foe targeting for up to 1 minute. It is chaotic, potent, and very funny until the nearest creature is you. Aim carefully.

Mockery Summary: The best Bard college for players who want their table jokes to have mechanical backing. It is stronger than it looks because it improves baseline Bard cantrips and scales into multi-target harassment.

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College of Sound (Player's Guide 2) ●

The optimizer pick from Player's Guide 2. Sound manipulates spell math, concentration, silence, thunder, and verbal components. It is less flashy than Allure and less rude than Mockery, but it changes numbers the table actually rolls.

Bardic Performance: Spell Syncopation (3rd, Player's Guide 2) ● — Hostile creatures in your performance range take a penalty to spell attack bonuses and save DCs, while friendly creatures get the same kind of boost. Even small DC swings matter. This is why Sound is the scary PG2 Bard.

Echolocation (3rd, Player's Guide 2) ● — Keensense starts small and scales up. It is not the subclass reason, but it helps you function when sight lines get weird.

Amplify / Dampen (3rd, Player's Guide 2) ● — You learn message, thaumaturgy, and silence; sound-related spells from any source list count as Arcane for you; and you can shape silence around chosen creatures. This is caster-control utility wearing a musician's hat.

Cacophonous Burst (7th, Player's Guide 2) ● — Inspired allies can punish nearby enemies with thunder damage, and you can spend Bardic Inspiration to add thunder to your own attack. Not the main course, but free-ish damage attached to your support economy is never embarrassing.

Somatic Semantics (11th, Player's Guide 2) ● — Resistance to deafened and thunder, plus the ability to replace many verbal components with somatic components. This makes you much harder to shut down with silence-style play.

Inspired Syncopation (15th, Player's Guide 2) ● — Use a reaction to add or subtract Bardic Inspiration from a concentration save within 60 feet. Help allies keep the spell up. Make enemies drop theirs. This is mean in the clean, rules-text way.

Sound Summary: Sound is the strongest Player's Guide 2 Bard college for optimized tables because Spell Syncopation and Inspired Syncopation attack the spellcasting economy directly. It is less "bard with lute" and more "sound engineer with a grudge."

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College of Secrecy (Labyrinth Worldbook) ●

Covert support and shadow-stage control. Secrecy is the Labyrinth Worldbook Bard subclass for spies, court agents, thieves' guild performers, anti-cult infiltrators, and anyone who wants Bardic Inspiration to move the party through hostile spaces instead of only boosting rolls.

Bardic Performance: Velvet Lullaby (3rd, Labyrinth Worldbook) ● — Your performance creates a 20-foot-radius mobile shadow sphere centered on you. Chosen creatures inside, including you, have half-cover, and outside creatures have disadvantage on WIS (Perception) checks to perceive anything inside. It also dispels light from spells of 2nd circle or lower when overlapping.

This is excellent. Half-cover is +2 AC and DEX saves for your chosen creatures, and the perception penalty makes the whole party harder to read, target, or track. The sphere moving with you matters: you are not placing a static fog bank and hoping the fight stays there. You are carrying the stage. The main weakness is that creatures that do not rely on eyesight ignore the perception piece.

Slippery Strike (3rd, Labyrinth Worldbook) ● — If you make a weapon or spell attack against a creature on your turn, that creature cannot make opportunity attacks against you for the rest of your turn.

This is clean skirmisher tech. It works with rapier attacks, ranged spell attacks, and any Bard plan that wants to tag one enemy and leave. It is strongest on Secrecy bards who sometimes fight near the front or need to escape a guard after casting. Pure backline control bards will use it less often, but when it matters, it saves HP and concentration.

Mind Games (7th, Labyrinth Worldbook) ● — When you fail a save against being charmed or frightened, you can spend Bardic Inspiration as a reaction to reroll and add the die. Alternatively, when a creature succeeds on a save against one of your charm or frighten effects, you can spend Bardic Inspiration to force a reroll and subtract the die.

This is the subclass's best offensive feature because it attacks save math after you see the result. Bards already want charm and fear effects; Mind Games lets those spells and performances punch above normal reliability. The defensive side is also relevant because charm and fear are exactly the conditions that make social casters lose control of a scene.

Shadow Shift (11th, Labyrinth Worldbook) ● — Immediately after a creature adds one of your Bardic Inspiration dice to an ability check, attack roll, or save, it can teleport 10 feet times your PB to an unoccupied space it can see. The movement does not provoke opportunity attacks.

At 11th level this is a 40-foot teleport stapled to your normal Bardic Inspiration economy. That is not a small rider. It saves allies from grapples, bad melee, collapsing terrain, spell zones, and objective pressure. The limitation is timing: the ally must actually add the die to a roll. When you plan around that, Shadow Shift turns inspiration into repositioning infrastructure.

Inspired Defense (15th, Labyrinth Worldbook) ● — Once per turn, when an attack would hit you and you have Bardic Inspiration available, roll a Bardic Inspiration die and add it to your AC. If the new AC beats the attack, the attack misses and you keep the die. If not, you take the hit and expend the die.

This is late, but it is exactly what a fragile control caster wants. The keep-the-die-on-success clause is the important part: you are not automatically burning resources every time you defend yourself. It is less flashy than Shadow Shift, but it protects concentration and stops the Bard from folding when the enemy finally reaches the backline.

Secrecy Summary (Labyrinth Worldbook): College of Secrecy is not the strongest all-purpose Bard subclass because Lore still owns broad skill reliability and Magical Talent access. It is, however, the best Bard for infiltration, anti-cult games, social danger, charm/fear manipulation, and mobile defense. In Labyrinth campaigns, it feels native rather than bolted on.

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College of Wildlife (The Old Margreve) ●

Nature support and animal coordination. Wildlife is narrower than Lore and less self-sufficient than Victory, but it gives the bard a distinct beast-handler identity.

If you are taking Wildlife for Lasting Familiar, the Best Familiars Guide covers form rankings, positioning, and Help-action tactics.

For source-labeled familiar, called animal, mount, and Beast summon options, use the Monster Vault Animal Allies and Summons Guide.

Book of Blades support for Wildlife is mostly mounted rather than summon-based. Horse Lord, Fell Rider, and the Book of Blades mounted support section matter if your Wildlife Bard travels with a recurring horse, but they do not replace your familiar, Nature's Call, or summon plan.

Bardic Performance: Hymn of the Hunt (3rd, The Old Margreve) ● — Non-Beast allies gain advantage on the first attack roll they make each turn against a target that has one of your Beast allies next to it. This is strong when the party can focus fire around your familiar, Nature's Call creature, or summoned animals.

Lasting Familiar (3rd, The Old Margreve) ● — You learn create familiar as a free ritual, can cast it as an action, and your familiar regrows much faster. This is a major quality-of-life upgrade for a subclass that leans on beast positioning.

Nature's Call (3rd, The Old Margreve) ● — Call a friendly CR 1/4 or lower Beast for 1 hour, with short-rest recovery. It is not a damage nova, but it gives you a reliable creature for scouting, body-blocking, Help-style play, and enabling Hymn of the Hunt.

Nature's Song (7th, The Old Margreve) ● — Your familiar gets bard-level-based HP, PB to AC and saves, and your called or conjured animals get temporary HP and magical attacks while those temporary HP last. This is the feature that turns the subclass from cute to functional.

Shared Inspiration (11th, The Old Margreve) ● — When a non-Beast ally gets Bardic Inspiration, a friendly Beast or Animal-tag creature within 60 feet gets one too. Efficient, flavorful, and very strong in the exact party state Wildlife wants to create.

Inspiring Familiar (15th, The Old Margreve) ● — Your familiar can grant Bardic Inspiration independently a limited number of times. The action economy is excellent because the familiar uses its own bonus action and does not spend your Bardic Inspiration uses.

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Weapons

Rapier ● — 1d8 finesse. Best weapon for a Bard. Period. Shortsword ● — 1d6 finesse. Fine early on, replaced by rapier. Dagger ● — Throwable backup. Already in your starting kit. Victory Bard martial weapon ● — Pick longsword or battleaxe if you want a two-handed melee option with d8+ damage.

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Armor

Leather Armor ● — Standard. AC 11 + DEX. With DEX 14, AC 13. Fine. Studded Leather ● — AC 12 + DEX. Worth upgrading when gold is available. Half Plate (Victory) ● — AC 15 + DEX (maximum +2). With DEX 14 and a shield, AC 19. Your melee chassis. Scale Mail (Victory) ● — AC 14 + DEX (maximum +2). With DEX 14 and a shield, AC 18. Good interim armor. Shield (Victory) ● — +2 AC. Take it as Victory. The extra AC is especially meaningful once medium armor applies up to +2 DEX.

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Magic Items

Labyrinth Worldbook Bard Items

Amulet of the Far Traveler (Labyrinth Worldbook) ● — Common, cheap, and useful: Labyrinthian language plus airless-space breathing support. Bards turn languages into social access, and this is exactly the kind of item that keeps a face relevant in planar travel. Wanderer's Skein (Labyrinth Worldbook) ● — Location-finding and one-word planar-question utility. Lore and Secrecy bards can turn this into investigation leverage, pursuit support, and faction intrigue fuel. Voidskin Cloak (Labyrinth Worldbook) ● — Necrotic resistance plus a fear gaze under the hood. The action cost is clunky, but Secrecy bards like the intimidation angle and anti-Void defense. Thurible of Dream Traveling (Labyrinth Worldbook) ● — Short-rest aid or greater restoration support depending on fuel, plus Dreamer's Islands travel with bubbler's sweat. Very story-shaped, but a Bard party can build entire information arcs around it. Breath of the Void (Labyrinth Worldbook) ● — Airless-space survival, Void terrain immunity, and a necrotic line attack. Valuable in Void exploration, not a normal Bard combat item. Voidwalker (Labyrinth Worldbook) ● — Legendary, malevolent, and absurdly powerful: free action, cold resistance, at-will misty step, necrotic absorption, and doubled lore skills. On a Bard this is incredible and also absolutely a plot problem.

Old Margreve and Book of Blades Bard Items

Circlet of Holly (The Old Margreve) ● — Sylvan, advantage on social checks with Fey, and poison detection on food or drink. This is exactly the kind of social and investigation item a bard turns into leverage. Margreve Fur (The Old Margreve) ● — Advantage on initiative and smell-based Perception, plus 1-minute invisibility in plant-rich terrain. Going first matters because bards want Bardic Performance online early. Moon Through the Trees (The Old Margreve) ● — Bonus-action invisibility near living trees, with an optional blind burst when you become visible. Very strong in forest fights, less useful away from trees. Scorn Pouch (The Old Margreve) ● — Prevents surprise from nearby hostile creatures. Good on any bard, especially the party face walking into negotiations. Ivy Crown of Prophecy (The Old Margreve) ● — Daily divination ritual without spending a known ritual. Lore bards and investigation-heavy parties get the most out of it. Scrimshaw Comb (The Old Margreve) ● — Charges of invisibility against Undead. Campaign-dependent, but excellent when the undead theme is present. Honey Lamp (The Old Margreve) ● — Cheap light source that can grant temporary darkvision if consumed before it crystallizes. Simple, practical adventuring gear. Firebird Feather (The Old Margreve) ● — Light and extreme-cold protection. Useful gear, but bards do not get the best focus interactions from it. Charm of Restoration (The Old Margreve) ● — Adds a small amount of healing when you receive magical healing. Fine at low levels, rarely exciting. Half-Sword of the Margreve Knights (The Old Margreve, Victory) ● — A +1 finesse longsword with expanded crit range. Victory bards are the main bard build that can justify chasing this. Sickle of Thorns (The Old Margreve, Victory) ● — A +1 sickle with vegetation-clearing utility and bonus damage against Plant creatures. Useful in the right campaign, not a general bard priority.

Book of Blades Mounted and Tactical Items

Armor of the Paired Heart (Book of Blades) ● — Best if your Bard actually rides in combat. Splitting damage with your mount matters most for Wildlife side plans, mounted Victory builds, or campaigns with serious overland play. Saddle of Flying (Book of Blades) ● — Turns a mount into a short-duration aerial mobility tool. Bards love positioning, but this only pays off if mounts are expected to enter encounters. Bridle of Handling / Bridle of Calling (Book of Blades) ● — Handling helps a Bard who skipped Animal Handling; Calling helps with mount logistics. Both are campaign tools, not core Bard power. Banner of the Horse Lord (Book of Blades) ● — A real warband item. Stronger for a mounted party than for one charismatic Bard with a horse.

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Multiclassing

Requirement: CHA 13

Warlock (2-3) ● — Pact Magic gives short-rest slot recovery. Eldritch Blast + Agonizing Blast adds a reliable ranged cantrip. Pact of the Tome adds 3 cantrips from any list. CHA synergy throughout. Sorcerer (1-2) ● — Additional cantrips and Metamagic flexibility. 1-level dip is usually sufficient. Paladin (2-3) ● — Lay on Hands, Divine Smite burst damage, saving throw bonuses. CHA synergy but delays Bardic Inspiration scaling significantly. Cleric (1) ● — Domain spells and Channel Divinity. Usually outclassed by simply taking a Divine spell from your 1st-level any-source pick.

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Example Build

The Ambassador (Lore Bard)

Tactics: Turn 1: start Bardic Performance (Cutting Words for boss fights, Ode to Heroes for skill-heavy encounters). Every subsequent turn: maintain performance with bonus action (also hands out Bardic Inspiration if needed). Action goes to spellcasting — control, spirit guardians, or reactive Counterspell as needed. Outside combat, Jack of All Trades makes every non-proficient check feel like a competency floor rather than a coin flip. The goal is to ensure the party's important rolls succeed. Yours are already locked.

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Hot Take

Hot Take: College of Sound is the strongest Player's Guide 2 Bard college for tables that care about spell math. Spell Syncopation changes spell attack bonuses and save DCs on both sides of the fight, so its value shows up on the rolls that decide whether control and enemy magic land.

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Final Notes

The Bard rewards forward thinking more than any other class. Handing out Bardic Inspiration before combat, choosing the right performance for the encounter type, timing Font of Inspiration reactions, selecting Magical Secrets spells that fill actual party gaps — these decisions accumulate into a party that operates at a consistently higher level than it otherwise would. Lore remains the strongest generalist, Victory is the combat pivot, Sound (Player's Guide 2) is the best anti-caster and spell-math college, Allure (Player's Guide 2) is the illusion specialist, Mockery (Player's Guide 2) is the psychic heckler, Secrecy (Labyrinth Worldbook) is the covert support route, and Wildlife (The Old Margreve) is the animal-support route for forest and summoning campaigns. Book of Blades does not change the core hierarchy, but it gives bards better social origins, better commander tech, and a few mounted-play hooks when the campaign supports them. Play it as a team multiplier, not as a solo act.

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Related Guides

Spell Guides

• Best Bard Spells in Tales of the Valiant

Talent Guides

• Best Magic Talents in Tales of the Valiant
• Best Martial Talents in Tales of the Valiant
• Best Technical Talents in Tales of the Valiant

Monster and Ally Guides

• Monster Vault Animal Allies and Summons Guide

Lineage Guides

• Tales of the Valiant Human Lineage Guide
• Tales of the Valiant Elf Lineage Guide
• Tales of the Valiant Syderean Lineage Guide

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