The Bard has experienced a major glow-up in Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition. It’s gone from a jack-of-all-trades with a focus on support to a major powerhouse that can match the Wizard, Cleric, and Druid spell-for-spell.

Unlike some of D&D 5e‘s other most powerful classes, the Bard also gets impactful subclasses. Despite how impressive the base class chassis is, the best Bard subclasses in D&D 5e boost its toolkit even further.

Disappointingly for some, most of the best D&D 5e Bard subclasses are those that buff the Bard’s core abilities of Bardic Inspiration and spellcasting. Dazzling new abilities are entertaining and melee combat is fun, but they can’t compete with taking the class’s impressive abilities and doubling down on them.

College of Eloquence Packs More, Better, and More Dangerous Inspiration

The D&D 5e College of Eloquence Bard subclass is well-named. Its abilities directly buff social skills and Bardic Inspiration. With these, it indirectly buffs the Bard’s spellcasting. Everything possible that a Bard can use words for gets significantly better.

Silver Tongue is a very straightforward, very powerful Bard ability in D&D 5e. With it, a well-built Bard can’t roll below a 17 on a Persuasion or Deception check at third level, and it only gets better from there. Given that these are two of D&D 5e‘s best skills full stop, this is excellent.

Unsettling Words would make the College of Eloquence a hugely powerful Bard subclass in D&D 5e on its own, let alone with another powerful ability. Any saving throw penalty is a huge boon to a spellcaster, particularly when it goes up to a d12. You can help your own spells land or set up teammates for Hideous Laughter, Hold Person, Banishment, or worse.

Unfailing Inspiration makes Bardic Inspiration even more powerful and reliable. Teammates no longer use up Bardic Inspiration dice if they don’t succeed on the roll. There is no reason to not hand them out like candy at this point.

Universal Speech, the ability to be understood by any creature without casting a spell, manages to be the worst D&D 5e Eloquence Bard ability. Even then, it’s invaluable utility in the right situation (although you do need spells to understand creatures in return).

Infectious Inspiration makes the College of Eloquence Bard in D&D 5e even more resource-efficient. It’s effectively five free Bardic Inspirations per day that you can chain between your allies with a reaction, no bonus action required.

The College of Eloquence is one of the best D&D 5e Bard subclasses because it forces you to choose between leaving enemies hideously vulnerable or bolstering your entire party to almost never fail. The fact that you dominate all social encounters throughout a campaign is almost an afterthought.

College of Creation Blends Buffs with Utility and Combat Muscle

A D&D 5e Bard build can do almost anything it sets its mind to. However, they excel at utility magic and support abilities. The D&D 5e College of Creation Bard subclass adds to these areas with unique and interesting abilities, while throwing combat summoning on top for good measure.

The Mote of Potential D&D 5e Bard ability gives Bardic Inspiration some reasonable variable buffs, depending on whether it’s used for an ability check, attack roll, and saving throw. Neither better odds of success, minor area thunder damage, or temporary hit points are game-changing in their own right. Instead, they make an ability you want to use all the time even better, potentially triggering a dozen times per day.

Performance of Creation has the potential to make the College of Creation the best Bard subclass in D&D 5e. However, some of its best uses are DM-dependent. Weaving nonmagical items out of thin air is potent, particularly as the gold piece value increases with level.

Creating weapons and low-level armour with this ability is well and good. Some more exploitative uses, such as recreating keys, remain entirely up to DM discretion. It does look like it can create spell components, even things like diamonds, but I’d still recommend checking with your DM. At the highest levels, it can make things like carriages for your party, which is just cool.

Creative Crescendo makes the College of Creation an even better D&D 5e Bard subclass at higher levels. Making two items at once, one of which can be huge, with no gold limit component is as powerful as the player is creative.

Animating Performance gives the D&D 5e Bard – not a major combat class – some surprising teeth. For just one action, you get a combat pet that lasts for an hour. While it doesn’t hit too hard, it’s surprisingly tanky and can slow enemies down. It’s even built so it works alongside Bardic Inspiration.

The most reliable abilities of the D&D 5e College of Creation Bard subclass are dependable but not game-changing. Players who want to make the most of it should use Performance of Creation often and in ways that make their DM swear.

College of Lore Is a Spellcasting Powerhouse

In many ways, the College of Lore is the D&D 5e Bard’s most straightforward, simple, and ‘default’ subclass. It’s been the baseline option since the Player’s Handbook, only gives one exciting new ability, and mostly reinforces the Bard’s strengths.

None of this stops it from being one of D&D 5e‘s best spellcaster subclasses or one of the best options a Bard has.

Bonus Proficiencies isn’t thrilling. However, it gives more skill proficiencies for a low-level subclass feature than some entire classes get in D&D 5e. There’s no skill too situational or esoteric for a College of Lore Bard to excel at.

Peerless Skill at 14th level helps make the Lore Bard the best D&D 5e subclass for skills. Few other Bards get to directly benefit from their own Bardic Inspiration, and never directly to their own ability checks. When you need to succeed, you will.

Cutting Words is the only new thing the D&D 5e Lore Bard gets, and the only new thing it needs. Turning an enemy’s hit into a miss or forcing them to fail an ability check can mean the difference between victory and defeat in combat. Even reducing damage can save lives. It can’t affect saving throws, but that’s its only downside.

Additional Magical Secrets is the main reason College of Lore Bard is so powerful in D&D 5e. Two extra spells, of third-level or lower, from any spell list in the game is bursting with potential. Counterspell and Fireball are well-worn choices, but a canny Bard player can do anything.

The College of Lore Bard subclass in D&D 5e takes a versatile spellcaster with a support and utility focus and instead makes them the single most flexible spellcaster in the entire game.

Its features also make it perhaps the best Counterspell build in D&D 5e. Jack of All Trades, Counterspell at sixth level, Peerless Skill (and the spell Glibness) all result in something that can shut any magic down immediately.

These have been the three best Bard subclasses in D&D 5e. They each build powerfully on the effective class chassis, but with a different focus. Whether you want to devastate enemies, buff allies, or cast the most varied spells in the game, there’s something for you.

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For players hoping to build the best D&D 5e Bard possible, check out ‘The Best Bard Races in D&D 5e‘.

For players looking to improve their characters in other ways, ‘Niche and Underrated Magic Items in D&D 5e‘ might have some useful tips.