D&D 5E The Most Annoying Wizard Ever- A Bladesinger Build

[Blue]

You may have just described a Paladorc.

Those two are nice builds, but my infantile brain insists on running in circles chanting "So cool, so fair, so full of grace / to bad his brain is lost in outer space / PalaDORK, palaDORK he's a palaDORK!"

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

Those two are nice builds, but my infantile brain insists on running in circles chanting "So cool, so fair, so full of grace / to bad his brain is lost in outer space / PalaDORK, palaDORK he's a palaDORK!"

My Google-fu has failed me. I don't recognize the poem.

Apropos of nothing, I've always found intelligent, magical orcs cool for some reason, e.g. Spelljammer's elvish-speaking Scro.

 

[Blue]

My Google-fu has failed me. I don't recognize the poem.

Apropos of nothing, I've always found intelligent, magical orcs cool for some reason, e.g. Spelljammer's elvish-speaking Scro.

There was a song "Valley Girl" back in the ... 80s? My google-fu is only turning up a Frank Zappa one but the tune doesn't sound familiar. On the other hand, I've managed to forget the theme song for the Partridge Family so maybe thosee neurons are just re-purposed.

Anyway, California's Valley Girls had their own slang, like "gag me with a spoon" or "grody to the max", at least as it was parodied on popular TV.

But back to D&D, Greyhawk has the Valley of the Mage that was populated by the xenophobic Valley Elves. And Dragon Magazine #72 (thanks google!), an April Fools issue, did a parody of the Valley Girl song for Valley Elves. Guess those neurons still have some kick because they weren't too far off.

Quote from: http://annarchive.com/files/Drmg072.pdf
Magazine page 48 / PDF page 50.

Valley Elf,
He’s a Valley Elf,
Valley Elf,
He’s a Valley Elf...

So cool, so fair,
With chartreuse hair,
So young, secure --

(spoken bits)

Valley Elf,
He’s a Valley Elf,
Valley Elf,
He’s a Valley Elf...

North of Geoff, South of Ket
By the River Javan wet,
Living with the stubby gnomes,
The Valley Elves do make their homes,

(spoken bits)

Valley Elf,
He’s a Valley Elf,
Valley Elf,
He’s a Valley Elf...

He’s a super Valley Elf,
So chaotic, sure of self,
Tall and thin and fair of face,
His brain is lost in outer space.

There, now I feel old. Though looking at the credits page was a trip down memory lane. Kim Mohan, Roger Moore, Ed Greenwood, Clyde Caldwell, Keith Parkinson, Tom Wham, Phil Folio.

 

[Noble]

I'm currently playing a Bladesinger/Eldritch Knight. I wanted a Magus sort of half caster, half fighter. Overall, less optimized than straight Bladesinger, but there are a number of fun things I got from EK. Fighting Style for either +1 AC or +2 to damage, Second Wind is a nice a little heal for a bonus action, War magic lets me combine the power of Green Flame Blade with Extra Attack, but the real cherry on this sundae is Action Surge. Should I cast spell A, or spell B? Why not both? Used properly at the beginning of an encounter, you can quickly change a difficult battle into a walk in the park. As a side note, keep a shield handy for when you don't have any Bladesong left.

I don't think Mage Armor is necessary though thanks to light armor proficiency. It's the difference between 12+Dex for studded leather and 13+Dex for Mage Armor. +1 isn't all that great for a spell slot. I'd rather save the slot to fuel an additional use of Shield, which is my favorite spell for this character. I had no problem tanking an adult white dragon at around... I think it was lvl 6 or 7.

If you are going for tanky as hell, I'd like to drop the idea of a Goliath Bearbarian. AC=10+Dex+Con+2(shield). It maxes out at 22 AC, but then you gain resistance to all forms of damage except psychic from bear totem rage. But not done yet, as the totem is not the only bear I'm talking about. 2 levels in Circle of the Moon Druid nets you a killer Brown Bear form. This basically gives you a second health bar and you can spend spell slots as a bonus action to heal itself. Since you retain the benefits of your classes, you are now a large sized Raging Brown Bear with 20 AC and 19 Str. And Goliath allows you to shrug off damage as well. Plus, the synergy of Bear Totem and Goliath's Powerful Build means you could lift a house... maybe... either way, you can drop very large heavy things on enemies.

 

[Ib]

Don't forget the Barbearian Capstone - Str & Con go to 24!, its gonna be 24AC without a single spell or timer, pick Eagle as the final totem option and that's a base 40' flight speed (well, big jumping).

Make it a Lizardman brings 27AC, throw in Tough and that "Owlbear" is in-bound with 325-650HP. Time to crank out the save-or-suck.

 

[eichelkt]

On the full spellcaster side of things, I really enjoy the Rogue 2/Bladesinger X as a party scout and near-full-wizard.

What would you recommend as the first class to take levels in? I assume the formatting means 2 Rogue? I'm a newbie so I apologize.

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

Make it a Lizardman brings 27AC, throw in Tough and that "Owlbear" is in-bound with 325-650HP. Time to crank out the save-or-suck.

Lizardmen don't get an AC bonus. They get a different way of computing AC, which the Barbarian doesn't need or benefit from.

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

What would you recommend as the first class to take levels in? I assume the formatting means 2 Rogue? I'm a newbie so I apologize.

I don't have a strong recommendation there. It's just a matter of taste. The formatting there does sort of imply Rogue first, but in this case that's not necessarily what I meant to imply--it's just that one of them has to go first.

I think either is fine.

 

[Mark Crowe]

View attachment 76616


Back in 4e I created The Most Annoying Rogue Ever - Optimized Halfling Rogue. Well I soon realized that this build would be hard to pull off in 5e and that the Rogue class is far different than the things you could do in 4e. Well the Bladesinger as presented in The Swordcoast Adventures Guide hit me as a class that you could make the most annoying build ever.

The key to the 4e build was to get a really high AC and then have rerolls in case you are hit. The value of rerolls on very high AC increases exponentially the higher your AC, for example. If the enemy has to roll a 20 to hit you, this will happen 1 in 20 times, while the probability of having to roll a 20 twice is 1/400. That is 20 times as hard to hit.

The Blade singer can achieve the highest AC in the game barring magic items and also has access to several other AC increasing or damage decreasing reactions. The most obvious are Shield spell and Absorb Elements. Both of these are great because they are reactive so you can save them for when you are actually hit.

This character is annoying because it can laugh in the face of danger and wade right into the enemy with little fear of being hurt. If the enemy decides to focus on you, simply use shield the first time you are hit, you might say that this is a waste of a spell, but not really, those enemies would have attacked someone else and you are in essence reducing incoming damage significantly with just a lvl 1 reactive spell. If you aren't attacked, then you are still a full fledged Wizard that people are afraid to attack.

Mage armor will be taken and will last 8 hours, at lvl 2 putting your AC at 19 (16 Int and Dex) and increasing as your increase your Int and Dex increase up to 23. Shield puts them up to 24-28. Magic items can increase this further, but in this edition they can not be expected.

Blur does seal the deal, but I am not a fan of it not being a reactive spell, if you use this you are actively taking away a spell slot for defense. My preference would be to be a variant human (I know that the book only allows Elves, so this is a variant that the DM would have to approve) and take the Lucky feat. Otherwise a character would have to wait till lvl 16, or maybe as sooner if you want to postpone max AC.

The bonus is that your melee attack isn't bad and an option, but for the most part the strength of this build is that you are a full Wizard and can use the other spells that you want to take.

This thread will be added to and turned into a real build, but I thought I would at least start it up. Please give your options and ideas to make this build better.

My bladesinger is standing 20 blade song to 25 and shields to 30 why blurred at level 10 by 17 he will be standing 23 and shielding to 34 with foresight

 

[DaveDash]

Can confirm - we have a Bladesinger/Arcane Trickster in the group and it's quite OP.

Weaknesses are certain saving throws and ranged combat ability.

My Dwarven War Cleric still is a better tank though. Having too high AC is pointless as mobs just ignore you after they realise you're too hard to hit. Being a huge bag of hitpoints is better.