I knew there was a reason I never looked seriously at Defensive Duelist. I overlooked the one attack bit.Having access to the Shield spell seems crucial. My solution with the Swords Bard I'm playing now was the old one level of Hexblade. That gives Shield spell, physical shield proficiency, and the ability to focus solely on CHA. Delays all the bard stuff by a level, obvs, which hurts, and you really need war caster to use both Shield and a shield; but let's be honest, you wanted that anyway, and the benefit is tremendous.
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