LEVEL 2: EXPERTISE
One of the prime appeals of playing a Bard is their extreme competence. The combination of Jack of All Trades and Expertise both being bestowed at level 2 now means that your 2024 Bard is leaning into their skill versatility earlier on in their career. You’ll also get Expertise for two additional skill proficiencies at level 9 instead of 10.

LEVEL 2: SONG OF REST
One 2014 Bard feature that did not make it into the 2024 version is Song of Rest, which bestowed a single extra Hit Die roll during Short Rests. While players may miss this boost, the 2024 Bard’s earlier access to Expertise, the utility improvements to Countercharm, and the major boosts to Magical Secrets and Font of Inspiration should help console you the loss of this retired feature.

From a flavor perspective, Song of Rest also really emphasized that the Bard was a musician class first and foremost, so the shifting away from a specifically "song"-based feature also highlights the 2024 Bard’s movement into other creative mediums.

LEVEL 5: FONT OF INSPIRATION
Font of Inspiration has always turned up the volume on Bardic Inspiration by restoring expended uses after completing a Short Rest in addition to a Long Rest. The 2024 Bard accompanies that with another additional way for Bards to recover expended Bardic Dice. Once you reach level 5, you can expend a spell slot to regain a use of Bardic Inspiration. This does not cost an action, so you can choose to use it when you want to expend the Bardic Dice.

This new detail is a single sentence in the 2024 Player’s Handbook, but it has a big impact. Bardic Inspiration has always been the backbone of a Bard build, but the limited number of uses meant that a Bard player would have to be sparse with their Bardic Dice in between rests.

Now players have a lot more freedom to decide how they want to go about their business. If you want to focus on casting spells, you can, but if you built a Bard based around the functions of Bardic Inspiration, such as a College of Dance Bard who uses your Bardic Inspiration to fuel your features, you can choose to sacrifice spell slots to give yourself more access to those abilities.

The combination of this new Font of Inspiration with Bardic Inspiration dice now being expended after the roll fails encourages Bard players to use rather than hoard their Bardic Dice.

LEVEL 7: COUNTERCHARM
Countercharm has moved from level 6 to level 7 for the 2024 Bard, but the upgrade in what the feature does is well worth the wait. The 2014 Bard’s Countercharm took an action and would last until their next turn, granting Advantage to allies on their saving throws against being Frightened or Charmed. So you had to really hope an enemy tried to frighten or charm your party to feel like it was worth activating this feature instead of attacking or casting a spell.

The 2024 Bard’s Countercharm is a Reaction, and you don’t have to use it until after you or your ally fails their saving throw against an effect that applies the Frightened or Charmed condition. Your ally then gets to reroll their save with Advantage. This means with your Countercharm, your allies now have up to three chances to succeed on their save against being Charmed or Frightened. Plus, this feature doesn’t have a limited number of uses, so it can be used each round when you or one of your party members are being talked into joining a Vampire’s cult!

LEVEL 10: MAGICAL SECRETS
Magical Secrets also sees a buff from its 2014 counterpart. Instead of getting three chances to access another class’s spell list at fixed-level intervals, Magical Secrets now lets you select spells from the Cleric, Druid, or Wizard spell list every time you can add to your Prepared Spell list, and have them count as Bard spells.

This means that from Bard levels 10 through 20, you can choose spells from four different classes. Plus, when you replace a Bard spell from your Prepared Spell list, you can replace it with a spell from the other classes’ spell list.