Bard’s are a class of adventurer that use their abilities to buff their allies and manipulate their opponents. These spells are the best bard spells, and advice on how to use them.
- The Best Level 1 Bard Spells
- The Best Level 2 Bard Spells
- The Best Level 3 Bard Spells
- The Best Level 4, Level 5 and Level 6 Bard Spells
- The Best Level 7, Level 8 and Level 9 Bard Spells
Table of Contents
Best Bard first level spells
#1 Disguise Self
School: Illusion
Casting Time: 1 Action
Level: 1
Range: Self
Duration: 1 hour
Spell Source: Players Handbook, page 233
Description: Disguise Self is for sure the most useful level one Bard spell, and something about it just screams Bard. You transform your appearance, including everything you wear and carry, to look like an entirely different person. Your façade is so convincing that you can even pretend to be significantly shorter or taller than you actually are.
#2 Comprehend Languages (Ritual)
School: Divination
Casting Time: 1 Action
Level: 1
Range: Self
Duration: 1 hour
Spell Source: Players Handbook, page 224
Description: Comprehend Languages is a valuable spell to select in campaigns with many spoken languages, or many written languages. After casting Comprehend Languages you will be able to understand everything being said around you, regardless of the language it is being spoken in. You can also read any written text, so long as you have your hands on the surface that the writing is on.
#3 Bane
School: Enchantment
Casting Time: 1 Action
Level: 1
Range: 30 feet
Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute
Spell Source: Players Handbook, page 216
Description: Bane is a useful low-level Bard spell if you remember to use it. At low levels many of your party mates will have incredibly low hit points and could be knocked out at any moment. As a bard it is your job to do what you can to aid your allies and prevent this from happening. Use Bane to decrease the total amount of damage your enemies are dealing per round.
Best Bard second level spells
#1 Invisibility
School: Illusion
Casting Time: 1 Action
Level: 2
Range: Touch
Duration: Concentration, up to 1 hour
Spell Source: Players Handbook, page 254
Description: Invisibility is clearly an important spell for all Bards to select when choosing their level two spells. That is because it instantly turns you completely invisible for up to an hour. The number of things that this spell could be used for goes on and on.
#2 Detect Thoughts
School: Divination
Casting Time: 1 Action
Level: 2
Range: Self
Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute
Spell Source: Players Handbook, page 231
Description: Detect Thoughts is an awesome spell because it lets you delve into the thoughts of a target and take away information from their subconscious. You can even use this spell on your allies to learn more about them, what they are currently thinking about, how they view you, or anything else you might want to know.
#3 Zone of Truth
School: Enchantment
Casting Time: 1 Action
Level: 2
Range: 60 feet
Duration: 10 minutes
Spell Source: Players Handbook, page 289
Description: Zone of Truth is an all-time classic low-level Bard interrogation spell. So, you and your party have captured “the bad guy” and you need to get him to spill dirt on his friends before they unleash evil across the land. Of course, he refuses to tell you, but no worry. The Bard casts Zone of Truth and, suddenly, everyone with in a fifteen-foot radius sphere centered on a point of the Bard’s choice must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or else been unable to intentionally lie while within the Zone of Truth.
Best Bard third level spells
#1 Speak with Dead
School: Necromancy
Casting Time: 1 Action
Level: 3
Range: 10 feet
Duration: 10 minutes
Spell Source: Players Handbook, page 277
Description: Speak with Dead allows you to partially raise one newly deceased corpse from the dead to ask it up to five questions. The creature must have spoken a language you understand for you to communicate with them, and they may become hostile towards you, mislead you, or straight up lie to you.
#2 Sending
School: Evocation
Casting Time: 1 Action
Level: 3
Range: Unlimited
Duration: 1 round
Spell Source: Players Handbook, page 274
Description: Sending is a terrifically useful spell for communicating with friends, allies, or even enemies. It lets you send a short message of twenty-five words or less to a creature that you are familiar with. They will receive the message regardless of their distance from your location, or their plane of existence.
#3 Tongues
School: Divination
Casting Time: 1 Action
Level: 3
Range: Touch
Duration: 1 hour
Spell Source: Players Handbook, page 283
Description: Tongues is a target spell that grants the target the ability to understand any spoken language that it hears. Furthermore, other creatures will be able to fully understand what the target is saying, so long as they know at least one language and are withing hearing distance.
Best Bard fourth level, fifth level and sixth level spells
#1 Dimension Door
School: Conjuration
Casting Time: 1 Action
Level: 4
Range: 500 feet
Duration: Instantaneous
Spell Source: Players Handbook, page 233
Description: Dimension Door is a great spell to choose for when you need to quickly get away from your current location by any means necessary. It essentially allows you to teleport to any other spot you can see within five hundred feet of your location.
#2 Mass Suggestion
School: Enchantment
Casting Time: 1 Action
Level: 6
Range: 60 feet
Duration: 24 hours
Spell Source: Players Handbook, page 258
Description: Mass Suggestion is a really cool spell that allows you to try and influence the actions of up to twelve other creatures. You can only suggest these creatures do something that is within reason – they will not kill themselves or others upon your command. This spell could be used, for example, to suggest to a group of guards that they should leave the area.
#3 Modify Memory
School: Enchantment
Casting Time: 1 Action
Level: 5
Range: 30 feet
Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute
Spell Source: Players Handbook, page 261
Description: Modify Memory allows the caster the chance to reshape the very memories of another creature. The target of Modify Memory must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or be charmed by you. When charmed in this way the target cannot move or take actions. For the duration, you may change the make up of the target’s memory of events within the last twenty-four hours.
Best Bard seventh level, eigth level and ninth level spells
#1 Power Word Kill
School: Enchantment
Casting Time: 1 Action
Level: 9
Range: 60 feet
Duration: Instantaneous
Spell Source: Players Handbook, page 266
Description: Power Word Kill may just be the high-level spell you are looking for to reign unexpected terror down upon your enemies. This spell’s wording is truly hilarious, as it suggests that the caster “compels” one creature “to die instantly.” This spell is no joke and being targeted with it with less than one hundred hit points will lead to a creature’s demise.
#2 Teleport
School: Conjuration
Casting Time: 1 Action
Level: 7
Range: 10 feet
Duration: Instantaneous
Spell Source: Players Handbook, page 281
Description: Teleport is one high-level Bard spell that has saved the day for countless adventurers after they realize they are in danger. It allows the caster to transport themselves and as many as eight other creatures of the caster’s choice from their current locations to a destination known by the caster. Just how well the caster knows the location determines how close they arrive to their intended target – if the caster attempts to transport themselves and the party to a location they are not especially familiar with, or that has changed recently due to outside forces, then the party may encounter negative results.
#3 Glibness
School: Transmutation
Casting Time: 1 Action
Level: 8
Range: Self
Duration: 1 hour
Spell Source: Players Handbook, page 245
Description: Glibness may just be the ultimate high-level Bard spell. For the one-hour duration of this spell, the caster may replace any poor Charisma check rolls they make with a fifteen. In addition, magic that might seek to see through the caster’s lies will always fail when Glibness is active. This is a particularly useful spell because it effectively gives you one hour of guaranteed successes on Charisma checks – that means every performance you make, every person you persuade, and every lie you tell, will be an automatic success.
