D&D 5E Optimizing a BladeSinger

aarduini · Nov 3, 2015

I would even argue that taking three levels of Ranger or Fighter for Maneuvers or Hunter's mark and Colossal Slayer may be worth the spell progression slow down; however, I'm not contemplating doing that right now.

ShogunAssassin · Nov 3, 2015

I think I will go 1 fighter, possibly 2 fighter for action surge but Spell Mastery is to good to pass up at 18 for bladesinger (shield on reaction)

zarzak · Nov 4, 2015

aarduini said:
I think that one level of fighter is extremely beneficial with very little drawback. You get CON Save, A fighting Style and Second Wind. The drawback is your spells come one level later; however, you only lose one spell slot. You will benefit throughout the whole carrier of the character from the fighter level and only during one level for the spell slot, and its iffy if you will even reach that level.

Also, another question is whether maxing out at 18 rather than 20 is really that important. That's two points of damage and 2 points of AC which will already be very high. If you Max out at 18 you can have the following feat tree

4th - Two weapon fighting
8th - War Caster
12th - Toughness or Int if you feel Toughness is not needed. You can use spells like False Life to substitute for HP
16th - Int
19th - Dex

INT isn't just damage and AC though - its also to hit with your spells and your save DCs. You're a wizard first, so I don't think that you can really afford to not max that. And DEX is definitely more important than toughness: AC, initiative, dex save, to-hit with your weapon, and weapon damage.

aarduini · Nov 4, 2015

Well, my fighter mage has 98 HP. He got hit with a breath weapon for 91 HP. If he was just a strait wizard he would've went down. A bladesinger is meant to be in the mix. That means taking punishment not hiding in the back. You will be in the midst of the battle where the area spells are going off.

aarduini · Nov 4, 2015

I haven't explored the option of false life, and if you have a Cleric or Paladin in your party Aid is very useful as well. Those spells can take the place of Toughness. They add more flavor to the concept too. Contingency can be the spell that saves you from area affects like breath and meteor swarm.

aarduini · Nov 4, 2015

How necessary is the Fighter level?

I think the highest Concentration save you could expect would be about a 22. That would be half of 45 which is half of 91 assuming you have Absorb elements. I always give my mages at least a +2 for Con. Assuming a +5 Int that is a +7 with Adv opposed by a +13 with Adv.

ShogunAssassin · Nov 4, 2015

I'm also wondering about dual wielding since to use ur off hand it stats "when you take the Attack action and attack with light weapon you can use bonus action to attack with different weapon"

Is GFB and booming blade an attack action and not a spell action?

aarduini · Nov 4, 2015

I don't think two weapon fighting works with GFB and Booming Blade. I looked this up. Casting a spell is not an Attack action. It is listed as a different type of action in the Combat section of the PHB, and the weapon attack is part of the casting of the spell for GFB and Booming Blade.

Valmarius · Nov 4, 2015

aarduini said:
I don't think two weapon fighting works with GFB and Booming Blade. I looked this up. Casting a spell is not an Attack action. It is listed as a different type of action in the Combat section of the PHB, and the weapon attack is part of the casting of the spell for GFB and Booming Blade.

That's correct. The cantrips require you to hit with a melee attack (and grant the usual effects of that attack), but you're still using your action to Cast a Spell.
This may be where people are getting the idea that you can't TWF as a Bladesinger. If you're spamming these cantrips, as one would expect, you'll never benefit from TWF.

zarzak · Nov 4, 2015

aarduini said:
I don't think two weapon fighting works with GFB and Booming Blade. I looked this up. Casting a spell is not an Attack action. It is listed as a different type of action in the Combat section of the PHB, and the weapon attack is part of the casting of the spell for GFB and Booming Blade.

Correct. TWF really shines when you get +INT to damage. But thats a bit higher level.