Best Bard Feats in Baldur’s Gate 3 (BG3)

Bard is a fun, charismatic, and team-focused class in Baldur’s Gate 3. They’re versatile in and out of combat, with or without spells. To maximize their abilities, check out the best Bard feats in BG3.

8 Best Bard Feats in Baldur’s Gate 3 (BG3)

Here are the eight best feats for Bard in BG3, crafted to ensure your Bard is not only the life of the party but also a formidable force in any encounter:

• 8 – Defensive Duelist
• 7 – Lucky
• 6 – Mobile
• 5 – Actor
• 4 – Ritual Caster
• 3 – Resilient
• 2 – Skilled
• 1 – War Caster

Let’s take a closer look at each feat and how it can elevate your Bard’s performance in the game.

8 – Defensive Duelist

Defensive Duelist is the feat that all Swashbuckling bards must have in BG3. It significantly increases your survivability in combat. Characters who have chosen this feat can spend a Reaction to add their Proficiency Bonus to their Armor Class when targeted by a melee attack. This is a great way to save some spell slots since this feat works just as well as the Shield spell.

7 – Lucky

Sometimes the roll of the dice needs a little nudge in the right direction. The Lucky feat grants you three luck points per long rest, which you can spend to roll an additional d20 on attack rolls, ability checks, or saving throws, and choose the best result.

6 – Mobile

With the Mobile feat, your speed increases by 10 feet, and you can dart in and out of combat without provoking opportunity attacks from the foes you’ve attacked. It’s perfect for melee Bards who love to dance around danger.

5 – Actor

Charisma can be a big part of the Bard’s playstyle. If you want to charm the pants off everyone, then this is a great feat to choose to enhance. Actor provides an additional point of Charisma, but the best part is the double Proficiency bonus when rolling for Performance or Deception checks. This Proficiency bonus plus high Charisma means the odds will be in your favor on any Performance or Deception check that gets thrown your way. This can unlock some really entertaining routes through dialogue and can be quite impactful on your adventure.

4 – Ritual Caster

Ritual spells give the Bard class some nice extra flexibility when it comes to the magic they can use. The Bard has quite a limited amount of spells they can have learned at any one time, which means you often have to forgo useful lower-level utility spells as they level up. Ritual Caster can help fill in those gaps by providing access to those spells. This means the Bard can focus on building out stronger spells, while still not losing out on that extra utility.

3 – Resilient

Many of the Bard’s best skills that buff allies have a concentration rule on them. Being able to resist losing concentration when hit can be a huge boon in maintaining your skill uptime. Using the Resilient feat is an excellent way to improve this by going for the Constitution option. Concentration relies on Constitution saving throws, and this feat will directly improve rolls for that.

2 – Skilled

Skilled is a very versatile feat and one that suits the Bard quite well. Being able to have additional proficiencies lets the Bard cover more bases and really become a reliable skill champion for the party. The more checks you can pass easily with your Bard, the better position you’ll be in throughout your adventure.

1 – War Caster

War Caster is the best feat for Bards in BG3, and it’s one of my favorites.  As I mentioned with the Resilient feat, concentration is very important for the Bard, and this feat grants you advantage. This means when you’re hit, you get to roll two dice and choose the higher of the rolls as your save for concentration — a big benefit for helping you keep your spells going.

You’ll also gain the ability to cast Shocking Grasp as a reaction on a target moving out of melee range. Unlike many other spellcasters, Bards tend to be closer to the action, which means they can get some extra damage output just from being near your other melee fighters.

Those are our top five picks for the best feats to use on a Bard in Baldur’s Gate 3. Bards are an awesome class in the game and pretty darn fun to play, especially when you’ve got some good feats going.

For more Baldur’s Gate 3 tips, check out our picks for the Best Barbarian Feats. And if you’re just starting out, watch Destructoid’s excellent beginner’s guide to Baldur’s Gate 3.

The above article was updated on May 18, 2024, by Escapist Editorial to include additional feats.