Summary
Bastions are a unique feature granted to players at level five inDungeons & Dragons, first introduced in the 2024 Dungeon Master’s Guide. If you’re a longtime D&D player, you might be unfamiliar with this mechanic. But, it’s important to know that bastions can actually break your character build in Dungeons & Dragons.
But, how can you best use bastions to your benefit as a player? If you’re a high-level, expert tabletop player, there are certain facilities and builds you should add to your bastion to maximize your abilities. Here are the best high-level bastion builds for expert players in Dungeons & Dragons.
Special Facilities
Training Area, Armory, War Room, Scriptorium, Arcane Study
This bastion build isideal for multiclassesthat want to specialize in both spellcasting and martial fighting. A fighter/wizard combination could prove perfect for this build, which grants you facilities that can help bolster your martial resolve and spellcasting ability.
Because the Arcane Study and Scriptorium provide boons to spellcasting (and even some free spells) and special facilities like the Armory and Training Area can help grant your party armor and bolstered defenses, this build is great for combat-heavy campaigns and players. The only downside is you’ll have to wait until your level 17 to gain the War Room facility.
Arcane Study, Library, Laboratory, Archive, Observatory
Perfect for high-intelligence characters, this build prioritizes spellcasting and knowledge. Artificers will enjoy the Alchemical supply features granted by the Laboratory, while other full-casting classes are likely to benefit from the Arcane Study, Library, and more.
If you’re playing a campaign that prioritizes lore and worldbuilding, and your Dungeon Master often asks you to make Intelligence or Wisdom checks to recall lore, having facilities like the Library and Archive will help in this regard.
Armory, Barrack, Smithy, Stable, Training Area, War Room
This next build is perfect for non-spellcasting classes and players who enjoy combat more than anything else. At level 17, you can take the above facilities, which will help you, in essence, create a miniature army to have at your disposal throughout the campaign.
One facility you definitely don’t want to sleep on is the Training Area, which can help empower your physical skills like Acrobatics or Athletics but also help you gain weapon proficiencies. Plus,monks can enjoy a boost to their Unarmed Strikesthanks to this facility.
Garden, Greenhouse, Sacristy, Menagerie, Stable
For lovers of craftingin tabletop games, this next build is for you. Though this is ideal for nature-based classes like the druid or certain subclasses of cleric, many players can enjoy the facilities listed above; the most powerful of which is the Sacristy.
Make use of this crafting facility often when you can, as the Sacristy allows you to craft relic magic items of the common or uncommon variety. You can also use other facilities in this build to craft herbal remedies, potions, and more, allowing you to buff your party immensely.
Workshop, Library, Theater, Trophy Room
This bastion build is more about fun and flavor than anything else, but for expert roleplayers who love playing high-charisma bards, it can prove ideal. Plus, you can access most of the above facilities relatively early on in your campaign at level nine.
The Workshop and Library provide access to crafting and research bastion orders, which are always helpful. But the real benefit of this build is having the Theater facility, which can empower players with extra uses of bardic inspiration, which don’t have a time limit on them.
Sanctuary, Smithy, Sacristy, Meditation Chamber, Reliquary, Sanctum
For divine casters or lovers of nature, this high-level bastion build allows for players to empower themselves, craft armaments, and more. Plus, these facilities provide fantastic flavor for a bastion that’s meant to be designed like a temple or holy sanctuary of some kind.
The best facility in the above build is, of course, the Sanctum, which can allow you to cast Heal once without expending a spell slot, gain temporary hitpoints, and potentially cast Word of Recall. This can prove incredibly useful for escaping high-level encounters unscathed.
Smithy, Garden, Scriptorium, Training Area
If you want a bastion build that’s a little more well-rounded as opposed to highly specialized, this next option is well-suited to being a jack of all trades. The Smithy and Garden are excellent fifth-level special facilities to take, and the Scriptorium can prove useful for non-spellcasters to gain access to spellcasting via crafted spell scrolls.
At a certain point, you might want to choose higher-level bastion facilities later on that focus primarily on martial prowess or spellcasting. This, of course, depends on what class you’re playing. You can also multiclass, allowing you to continue the jack of all trades build tradition past level nine.
Arcane Study, Library, Scriptorium, Archive, Observatory, Demiplane
For high-level spellcasters who’ve almost reached their capstone abilities, the Spellcasting Savant build gives spellcasters every facility they could possibly want. Obviously, many of the above facilities allow spellcasters to research lore, cast spells for free, and learn magical secrets from the Astral Sea.
But, the best part of this build is the Demiplane special facility, which can grant spellcasters temporary hit points. For squishier wizards in particular, this can prove extremely useful, and might just save your character’s life in combat.
Arcane Study, Sanctuary, Scriptorium, Teleportation Circle, Meditation Chamber, Demiplane
This next build provides fun flavor for a campaign that’s all about far-flung travel. First, you’ll want to pick spellcasting-focused facilities like the Arcane Study, Scriptorium, and Sanctuary. Then, later on, take the Teleportation Circle and Demiplane facilities.
This will make your character a master of travel across the Material Plane, and able to access the power of the multiverse via their Demiplane. Plus, between the Demiplane facility and the Meditation Chamber, low HP spellcasters can really strengthen their resolve when it comes to taking damage.
Armory, Storehouse, Gaming Hall, Trophy Room, Pub, Guildhall
Last but not least, this bastion build is tailor-made for players who love to loot and collect treasure, and also want to have a bit of fun with their build. Facilities like the Armory, Storehouse, and Gaming Hall are perfect for crafting and trading goods, ensuring that your bastion willmake you a lot of moneythroughout your campaign.
But, the real benefit of this build is the Guildhall, which you can make work specifically for your character by selecting different types of guilds. The Thieves' Guild is particularly helpful for rogues, as this facility can allow your hirelings to infiltrate keeps and steal items and objects.
