Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Masters of Sword and Spell: The Bladesinger's Handbook (By Adamclare)
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Veep" data-source="post: 6708026" data-attributes="member: 6793297"><p>You're going to want to mutliclass. Not only are multiclass feats some of the best feats in the game, but they open up a whole new world of options. A Bladesinger, especially is going to want to multiclass because there is a lot of support for melee basic attacks in Martial classes that you would benefit greatly from.</p><p></p><p><strong>Multiclass Options:</strong></p><p> </p><p>I will be looking and multiclass feats that can be taken with Strength, Constitution, Dexterity, and Inteligence of 13, as well as a few selected other multiclass feats that are worth building towards.</p><p></p><p><strong>Acolyte of the Veil (Assassin): </strong>Stealth and acrobatics are both good skills. Shadow step might come in handy, and ki focuses are currently better supported weapliments than blades. It's ok, but not terribly exciting. If you want to go Assassin, Practiced Killer and Shadow Initiate offer more.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #00ccff"><strong>Battle Awareness (Fighter): </strong></span> Quite simply one of the best multiclass feats available. It's a bit of a contortion to get your stats to line up while still pumping Dex, but a free attack and a decent skill training probably make it worth it. You can't trigger Bladespells, but if you trigger it during Bladesong, that's full of win and it's a Martial class, too. Very highly recommended. </p><p></p><p><strong>Berserker's Fury (Barbarian)</strong>: +2 to damage for an encounter a day is pretty great but it's not a martial class and it's class skills overlap almost entirely with yours. </p><p></p><p><span style="color: #0000ff"><strong>Blade Initiate (Swordmage)</strong>: </span>Skill training is wasted but it's still fairly strong. The +3 to AC for encounter a day can make you a very difficult target. For Eladrin, this goes up to <strong><span style="color: #00ccff">light blue</span></strong> because <span style="color: #ff9900"><strong>Eladrin Swordmage Advance</strong></span> is really that good. A move action melee basic attack during your turn will let you Bladespell an additional time and help squeeze an extra attack into your Bladesong. </p><p></p><p><strong>Bravura Leader (Warlord)</strong>: Potentially very strong, especially if you have a real Warlord granting additional bonuses on action points. It's martial, so that's a plus. +4/6/8 to damage is generally worth granting combat advantage. </p><p></p><p><strong>Brawling Warrior (Fighter)</strong>: A +1 to an attack you just made can sometimes turn a miss into a hit. It's easier to qualify for than Battle Awareness and unlocks all the same Fighter and martial goodness. </p><p></p><p><strong>Cyclone Warrior (Fighter)</strong>: Trivially easy to qualify for, but the benefit is minimal compared to the either fighter multiclass feats. You can get some millage out of it by drawing a dagger, activating its ability, droping the dagger as a free action, and enjoying +1/2/3 to damage for turn. </p><p></p><p><span style="color: #ff00ff"><strong>Defender of the Wild (Warden)</strong>:</span> It gives an 1/encounter mass mark. You don't really have the tools to enforce it, but while benefiting from Bladesong defenses, you might want to draw some fire.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #ff0000"><strong>Demanding Talent (Battlemind)</strong>: </span>Not very exciting. A 1 turn single target mark and no way to punish do not a defender make.</p><p></p><p><strong>Disciplined Talent (Psion)</strong>: The power is at least useful. Dishearten is a great controlling area attack. While the entry feat is fine, it doesn't open up anything good enough to take it over another feat. </p><p></p><p><span style="color: #ff0000"><strong>Heart of the Blade (Swordmage)</strong>:</span> How many times has your sword broken? Blade Initiate is almost always better unless you really want to train Endurance.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #ff0000"><strong>Insightful Leader (Warlord)</strong>:</span> Other warlord multiclass feats provide better benefits than +1 to defenses on an action point. </p><p></p><p><strong>Monastic Disciple (Monk)</strong>: Flurry of Blows once an encounter is decent, as are Ki Focuses. There's too many good options for decent to be good enough, though.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #0000ff"><strong>Practiced Killer (Executioner)</strong>:</span> The best of the assassin multiclass feats. 1d8 per tier is a nice way to add some spike damage. The executioner is also a martial class, so it qualifies you for feats that require that .</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #0000ff"><strong>Resourceful Leader (Warlord)</strong></span>: A damage bonus on a hit and temporary hit points on a miss means that your allies action points will be more devastating, especially multi-attackers. </p><p></p><p><span style="color: #ff00ff"><strong>Ruthless Efficiency (Rogue)</strong>:</span> It's ok. Sneak of Shadows is better.</p><p></p><p><strong>Shadow Initiate (Assassin): </strong>Shroud is, of course, much better are characters that are not actually assassins. Practiced Killer gets you martial support, which is better then the extra damage from two shrouds.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #ff0000"><strong>Skirmishing Leader (Warlord)</strong>:</span> Shifting 1 is not even close to +4/6/8 or +3/5/7 to damage. Outshone by the other options.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #00ccff"><strong>Sneak of Shadows (Rogue)</strong></span>: Very good. Borderline gold. It opens up martial support, Surprising Charge, Roundabout Charge, and Sneak Attack is the strongest striker feature to steal for a turn. </p><p></p><p><strong>Soldier of the Faith (Paladin)</strong>: Very average for most builds. At least is includes a punishment to go with its mark, albeit a weak one. All the Paladin multiclass feats are <span style="color: #00ccff">better</span> for Tieflings, though, who get <span style="color: #ff9900">Wrath of the Crimson Legion</span>, which gives you a Charisma Melee Basic attack and a mass marking encounter power.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #ff00ff"><strong>Student of Artifice (Artificer)</strong>: </span>Arcana is wasted and infusion is poorly supported. It's a minor action surgeless heal once per day, which is decent.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #0000ff"><strong>Student of Battle (Warlord)</strong>: </span>Martial support and a daily heal. If you need the healing more than the attack/damage bonuses it's a worthwhile pick.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #ff00ff"><strong>Student of Divine Runes (Runepriest)</strong></span>: A very poorly supported class. There's really no reason to take this over Student of Battle.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #ff00ff"><strong>Student of the Sword (Fighter)</strong>:</span> A weaker multiclass feat than most of the others. You should qualify for something better.</p><p></p><p><strong>Tactical Leader (Warlord)</strong>: +1 to hit for allies on action points is great. The benefit only applies once per encounter, so it's not as strong a nova enabler as Bravura Leader or Resourceful Leader</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #0000ff"><strong>Twilight Adept (Rogue)</strong>: </span>Cunning Sneak is very strong and rogue support is fantastic. Sneak of Shadows is probably better, but it conceivable to take this instead.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #ff00ff"><strong>Two-Bladed Warrior (Ranger)</strong>: </span>Mostly wasted on you as you should never be dual wielding. Rangers are better off going Warrior of the Wild</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #008000"><strong>Vamparism (Vampire)</strong>: </span>It would take a strange build indeed to make proper use of this feat. Potentially a Revenant (Half-Elf) with Vampire Slam and going Dex/Cha could use it effectively, but it's a very specialized build.</p><p></p><p><strong>Walker of the Dark Path (Blackguard)</strong>: It qualifies you as a paladin with no prerequisites, which is nice. Tieflings who favor striker over defender might consider this. </p><p></p><p><span style="color: #0000ff"><strong>Walker of the Light Path (Cavalier)</strong>: </span>It gives the full defender aura, although you can only punish once per encounter. Even without punishment, the aura will make you an attractive target if you want to attempt to off-tank. It also opens up paladin support for Tieflings. Combine with Gladiator Champion's level 16 feature and you're now a Knight.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #0000ff"><strong>Warrior of the Wild (Ranger)</strong>: </span>The ranger multiclass of choice. Hunter's Quarry isn't Sneak Attack, but it's pretty good. </p><p></p><p><span style="color: #0000ff"><strong>Wrathful Warrior (Fighter)</strong>: </span>If your Costitution is decent this can add an extra layer of durability. If it's not, take another multiclass fighter feat. </p><p></p><p>Special Mention:</p><p><span style="color: #ff9900"><strong>Adept Dilettante (Half-Elf)</strong>: </span>If you want to be a Con/Dex based Eldritch Strike abuser and want Warlock support without having to waste points in Charisma, this is the feat for you. It also lets you use Wisdom, Constitution, or Charisma for your Dilettante power, which gives you a lot of flexibility with your stats. </p><p> </p><p></p><p>Wizard feats mostly rely on class features you lack or powers you can only use 3 times per day. Most of your feats will come from the general category or from your multiclass. Several feats would improve if your melee basic attack was an arcane power (or better yet, a Wizard power) but lacking that, you should stick to other options.</p><p><strong>Wizard Feats</strong></p><p> </p><p></p><p><strong>Heroic</strong></p><p> </p><p><strong><span style="color: #ff0000">Careful Summoner: </span></strong>Completely useless. You won't ever summon and even if you could, you'd pass on this.</p><p><strong><span style="color: #ff00ff">Destructive Wizardry:</span></strong></p><p><strong></strong>Potenetially decent depending on your daily power selections, but you only get area attack powers as dailies, so its overall impact will be minor. </p><p><strong><span style="color: #ff00ff">Enlarge Spell: </span></strong>Same as above. It can make your dailies a little more "daily" feeling, but you don't have enough powers that could use it to make it worth spending the feat on. I like it better than Destructive Wizardry for upping your daily powers, but neither are worth taking. </p><p><strong><span style="color: #ff0000">Phantom Echoes:</span></strong> You don't have enough illusion powers to use this at all and as with Careful Summoner, the benefit is too small to take this even if you did. </p><p><strong><span style="color: #ff0000">Bitter Cold: </span></strong>You can't trigger this enough to be worth a feat and the benefit is pretty minimal. I'm sensing a common theme. "Hit" and "Wizard Power" tend to come up a lot and since you can only do that 3 times per day, it's best to skip feats that revolve around doing that. </p><p><strong><span style="color: #ff00ff">Far Spell: </span></strong>Increases the range of your Bladespells, so it's not completely useless. If your DM likes huge maps, this might be worth a look. Probably still a pass.</p><p><strong><span style="color: #ff00ff">Immolate the Masses: </span></strong>It works with Bladespells! 1 temporary hit point is a small benefit for redirecting your Bladespell to a minion instead of focus firing on your melee basic attack target. It can grant more temp on daily powers, but that's not enough to make it a serious consideration.</p><p><strong><span style="color: #ff00ff">Burn Everything: </span></strong>If you want to use a Flaming Weapon (for example, because you're a Tiefling) but encounter a lot of fire resistant creatures, this is the feat for you. Situational at best.</p><p><strong><span style="color: #ff00ff">Stoking the Fire:</span></strong> +2 to damage after hitting with a fire power. It's a power bonus, so it doesn't stack with Bladesong, which means even if you use a Flaming Weapon, you should skip it.</p><p><strong><span style="color: #ff0000">Sympathy of Flame: </span></strong>Wow is this bad. You don't have enough ways to give ongoing fire damage, you have to make damage rolls with arcane powers to benefit at all, and the benefit is only slightly better than Weapon Focus.</p><p><strong><span style="color: #ff0000">Expanded Spellbook:</span></strong></p><p><strong></strong>This is probably completely non-functional by RAW. If you can talk your DM into letting you use it to take proper Wizard dailies, it's pretty much <strong><span style="color: #ff9900">mandatory</span></strong>. </p><p> </p><p><strong>Paragon</strong></p><p> </p><p><span style="color: #ff0000"><strong>Acid Spash:</strong></span> In an unsual turn of events, now we must miss with a wizard power to use this feat, yet alas we have but 3 wizard powers.</p><p><span style="color: #ff0000"><strong>Energy Recovery: </strong></span>You don't get many Save Ends effects on your daily powers and your Wisdom modifier is not likely to be high enough to use this even if you did.</p><p><strong>Lightning Transport: </strong>This can be really great if your DM uses minions and it improves the value of Lightning Ring a lot. Popping a minion to teleport your CON mod is not a bad use of your Bladespell by any means. Eldritch Strike users like it because their CON mod is going to be huge. </p><p><span style="color: #ff0000"><strong>Phantasmal Destruction: </strong></span>Requires wizard illusion powers which means it's worthless to you.</p><p><span style="color: #ff00ff"><strong>Sympathetic Transference: </strong></span>You can end Slow on your allies at-will. That's worth something. Not very much, but something. </p><p><span style="color: #ff0000"><strong>Consuming the Weak: </strong></span>Requires arcane attacks to hit. Your old nemesis. </p><p><span style="color: #ff00ff"><strong>Spell Focus:</strong></span></p><p><span style="color: #ff00ff"></span>You suffer from a lack of Save Ends powers, but this is a decent upgrade to the few you might pick up.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Epic</strong></p><p> </p><p><span style="color: #ff0000"><strong>Focuses Wizardry: </strong></span>Non-humans can't burst or blast at-will. Your daily area powers are only good if you can hit lots of monsters, so don't let this trap you into leaving out targets. </p><p><span style="color: #ff00ff"><strong>Nightmare Wizard: </strong></span>Daze is a strong condition, even if it requires critting on a specific type of daily power to get it. It might come up once or twice over the course of a campaign, but you can do better.</p><p><span style="color: #ff0000"><strong>Vengeful Summoner: </strong></span>You probably don't qualify becuase of the high CON requirements, but if you do, it means even the fairly weak summons you can access would be useless to you because you lack the INT to use them.</p><p><strong><span style="color: #ff00ff">Wizard Implement Expertise:</span></strong> Wonky stat requirements and applicability to only your daily powers limit its desirability, but increased crit range is always a good thing.</p><p><strong><span style="color: #0000ff">Arcane Mastery: </span></strong>Fantastic for normal wizards, and potentially great for Bladesingers as well. If your paragon path gave you a wizard daily power, this will let you recover it which is about the best use of an action point you can get. Rules issues aside, recovering your encounter-as-daily powers can be pretty nice, too. </p><p><strong><span style="color: #ff00ff">Spell Accuracy:</span></strong> Getting to ignore a few allies gives your daily powers much greater flexibility in targeting. Obviously better with a large WIS modifier, even at +1 or +2, it's still an ok choice if you picked party-unfriendly blasts. </p><p> </p><p> </p><p></p><p><strong>Racial Feats</strong></p><p> </p><p> </p><p></p><p>Most of your feats will come from this category. Boosts to your defenses, attacks, damage, accuracy, survivability are all to be found here.</p><p><strong>General Feats</strong></p><p> </p><p><strong>Heroic</strong></p><p> </p><p><span style="color: #ff9900"><strong>Light Blade Expertise:</strong></span></p><p><span style="color: #ff9900"></span>Rapiers are going to be the weapon of choice for most Bladesingers. This is worth the -1 to hit on your daily powers in Heroic and by paragon you should have a spare feat to pick up wand expertise. </p><p><strong><span style="color: #00ccff">Wand Expertise:</span></strong></p><p><strong></strong>Not at important as the weapon versions, but key if you want to use your daily powers with any regularity.</p><p><span style="color: #ff9900"><strong>Heavy Blade Expertise:</strong></span> Mostly for Githzerai, as light blades are generally better, but if you're using a heavy blade, you should have this.</p><p><strong><span style="color: #00ccff">Versatile Expertise: </span></strong>Until the new weapliment feats come out, this is the only all-in-one option. No added benefits and it scales later in paragon and epic. If you can find the feat, take Light Blade and Wand, but if you're feat starved, this is your expertise of choice.</p><p><strong><span style="color: #00ccff">Weapon Focus: </span></strong>+1/2/3 to damage with the weapon of your choice. It won't apply to your Bladespells or Daily powers but it's a very strong addition to your melee basic attacks. It's light blue because while you'll almost certainly take it, it's not a priority.</p><p><strong><span style="color: #0000ff">Toughness: </span></strong>5 HP per tier may not sound like a lot, but it matters more than you might think. It won't get you to defender HP but it will help you take a few more hits before going down.</p><p><strong><span style="color: #00ccff">Iron Will/</span><span style="color: #0000ff">Great Fortitude:</span></strong></p><p><strong></strong>One (maybe both) of these defense will be low. Take one (or both) or get used to your DM hitting you on a 3. If you go Dex/Int, these are both probably mandatory.</p><p><strong><span style="color: #00ccff">Superor Will</span>/<span style="color: #0000ff">Fortitude</span>/Refelxes</strong>: Superior Will is good enough to take even if you don't need the defensive bonus. They're all great, but most builds probably don't qualify for Superior Will which makes Improved Defenses the better choice.</p><p><strong><span style="color: #00ccff">Improved Defenses: </span></strong>For the feat starved, this can replace dedicated Fortitude and Will boosters. I recommend boosting your weakest defense in heroic and then retraining into Improved Defenses at paragon.</p><p><span style="color: #0000ff"><strong>Resiliant Focus:</strong></span> +2 to all saves is great. If you can squeeze it in, take it. </p><p><strong><span style="color: #00ccff">Nimble Blade:</span></strong> +1 to hit when you have combat advantage. You need to hit to activate your Bladespells, so accuracy is king.</p><p><strong><span style="color: #00ccff">Armor Proficiency (Hide): </span></strong>Extremely good. +1 to AC gives you defender level armor. The big draw here is Feral Armor. You can use it as a weapon if you want to, but its encounter power is enough to make taking the feat for Hide worth it. </p><p><strong><span style="color: #0000ff">Improved Initiative: </span></strong>Your dexterity will be high, so you should have a good modifier already. Going first will help your Bladespells have maximum effect.</p><p><strong><span style="color: #ff0000">Winter</span><span style="color: #00ccff">touched</span>: </strong>Terrible in heroic, amazing in paragon. Use a Frost weapon and Lasting Frost to apply frost Vulnerability which the Bladespell Frost Bite gets to exploit immediately.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Paragon</strong></p><p> </p><p><strong><span style="color: #00ccff">Lasting Frost:</span></strong> Combat advantage and +10 to damage is hard to turn down. </p><p><strong><span style="color: #00ccff">Armor Specialization (Hide): </span></strong>Keeps your AC competitive. </p><p><strong><span style="color: #00ccff">Repel Charge: </span></strong>A free melee basic attack when you are charged? Sign me up! You can prone, slow, or slide at-will so you can force enemies to charge pretty easily. You don't get to trigger Bladespell, but if it nets you a single attack per encounter, it was a feat well spent.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Epic</strong></p><p> </p><p><strong><span style="color: #00ccff">Epic Fortitude/</span><span style="color: #ff9900">Will:</span></strong> You'll need one. Probably both. Will is so important in Epic that even if you have invested in Wisdom or Charisma, you should probably take it anyway.</p><p><strong><span style="color: #00ccff">Superior Initiative:</span></strong> If you took Improved Initiative earlier, retraining is a no-brainer. If you didn't, now is a great time to invest in your initiative. </p><p> </p><p> </p><p></p><p>One of the primary reasons to multiclass is because of the feats it opens up. Your reliance on melee basic attacks means that you can make effective use of the many MBA boosters found in other (mostly martial) classes.</p><p><strong>Feats that require multiclassing</strong></p><p> </p><p>Feats are rated based on their utility for the builds that would use them. Feats tied to weapon groups also include in their rating the value of using that weapon group compared to a light or heavy blade. If you are using that weapon already, feats that boost that weapon group improve significantly.</p><p></p><p><strong>Heroic</strong></p><p> </p><p><strong>Martial Alacrity:</strong> An alternative to Improved Initiative. Trades a lower initiative bonus for the ability to shift as a minor action during your first turn.</p><p><strong>Martial Freedom: </strong>If you find yourself slowed or immobilized a lot, this is a hefty bonus to saves against those conditions. </p><p><strong>Crushing Mace: </strong>+2 untyped bonus to damage on melee basic attacks is huge. The requirement of using a mace is a killer, though. If you have another reason to use maces, it's a great pickup, but most Bladesingers will stick with a Light Blade.</p><p><strong>Draw First Blood: </strong>If your Wisdom is at all respectable, this is a decent choice. It's extra damage, so that's always worth a look.</p><p><strong><span style="color: #008000">Practiced Study: </span></strong>Role-play only, but has some interesting uses.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Paragon</strong></p><p> </p><p><span style="color: #ff9900"><strong>Deft Blade (Any Martial Class):</strong></span></p><p><span style="color: #ff9900"></span>One of the reasons you're using a rapier and multiclassed into a martial class. Targeting Reflex is generally worth +2 to attack rolls and often more. </p><p><strong>Hammer Shock (Any Martial Class): </strong>If you're using a hammer, this is a good reason to train Intimidate. Rattling is a solid debuff on your melee basic attacks.</p><p><strong>Impaling Spear (Any Martial Class):</strong> There's very few reasons to use a spear over a light blade, but if you've found that reason, this is your Deft Blade equivalent. </p><p><strong><span style="color: #0000ff">Lashing Flail(Any Martial Class):</span></strong> A fantastic reason to use a flail, although it's really the only one. A Staggering Weapon will let you turn your melee basic attack into battlefield controlling machine. </p><p><strong>Piercing Pick(Any Martial Class):</strong> Targeting fortitude is not nearly as good as targeting reflex. Picks are also terribly supported, especially when compared to light blades.</p><p><strong><span style="color: #ff9900">Striking Resurgance (Fighter): </span></strong>One of the best parts about multiclassing fighter. Effectively turns your second wind into a free action so you don't have to give up attacking while healing. </p><p><strong><span style="color: #0000ff">Wicked Blade(Any Martial Class):</span></strong> High Crit is pretty good. Light blades are still better, but this is a welcome boon to heavy blade users.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Epic</strong></p><p> </p><p><strong><span style="color: #0000ff">Epic Recovery:</span></strong> Lets you use your second wind a second time. With Striking Resurgence, this is a major survivability upgrade.</p><p><strong><span style="color: #0000ff">Martial Mastery (Any Martial Class):</span></strong> It probably required way too many feats to get it, but if you've ended up with a good martial encounter attack power, this will enable you to use it twice. If you took a multi-attack or minor action attack power, this can really power up your Bladesong turns. </p><p><strong><span style="color: #00ccff">Martial Resolve (Any Martial Class):</span></strong> It requires endurance training and 15 Wisdom, but the benefit is very strong. With 15 Wisdom you can take Superior Will, which is better, but they stack and Martial Resolve covers some extra conditions including the dreaded Weakened, so it's a solid choice even with Superior Will.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Veep, post: 6708026, member: 6793297"] You're going to want to mutliclass. Not only are multiclass feats some of the best feats in the game, but they open up a whole new world of options. A Bladesinger, especially is going to want to multiclass because there is a lot of support for melee basic attacks in Martial classes that you would benefit greatly from. [b]Multiclass Options:[/b] I will be looking and multiclass feats that can be taken with Strength, Constitution, Dexterity, and Inteligence of 13, as well as a few selected other multiclass feats that are worth building towards. [b]Acolyte of the Veil (Assassin): [/b]Stealth and acrobatics are both good skills. Shadow step might come in handy, and ki focuses are currently better supported weapliments than blades. It's ok, but not terribly exciting. If you want to go Assassin, Practiced Killer and Shadow Initiate offer more. [COLOR=#00ccff][b]Battle Awareness (Fighter): [/b][/COLOR] Quite simply one of the best multiclass feats available. It's a bit of a contortion to get your stats to line up while still pumping Dex, but a free attack and a decent skill training probably make it worth it. You can't trigger Bladespells, but if you trigger it during Bladesong, that's full of win and it's a Martial class, too. Very highly recommended. [b]Berserker's Fury (Barbarian)[/b]: +2 to damage for an encounter a day is pretty great but it's not a martial class and it's class skills overlap almost entirely with yours. [COLOR=#0000ff][b]Blade Initiate (Swordmage)[/b]: [/COLOR]Skill training is wasted but it's still fairly strong. The +3 to AC for encounter a day can make you a very difficult target. For Eladrin, this goes up to [b][COLOR=#00ccff]light blue[/COLOR][/b] because [COLOR=#ff9900][b]Eladrin Swordmage Advance[/b][/COLOR] is really that good. A move action melee basic attack during your turn will let you Bladespell an additional time and help squeeze an extra attack into your Bladesong. [b]Bravura Leader (Warlord)[/b]: Potentially very strong, especially if you have a real Warlord granting additional bonuses on action points. It's martial, so that's a plus. +4/6/8 to damage is generally worth granting combat advantage. [b]Brawling Warrior (Fighter)[/b]: A +1 to an attack you just made can sometimes turn a miss into a hit. It's easier to qualify for than Battle Awareness and unlocks all the same Fighter and martial goodness. [b]Cyclone Warrior (Fighter)[/b]: Trivially easy to qualify for, but the benefit is minimal compared to the either fighter multiclass feats. You can get some millage out of it by drawing a dagger, activating its ability, droping the dagger as a free action, and enjoying +1/2/3 to damage for turn. [COLOR=#ff00ff][b]Defender of the Wild (Warden)[/b]:[/COLOR] It gives an 1/encounter mass mark. You don't really have the tools to enforce it, but while benefiting from Bladesong defenses, you might want to draw some fire. [COLOR=#ff0000][b]Demanding Talent (Battlemind)[/b]: [/COLOR]Not very exciting. A 1 turn single target mark and no way to punish do not a defender make. [b]Disciplined Talent (Psion)[/b]: The power is at least useful. Dishearten is a great controlling area attack. While the entry feat is fine, it doesn't open up anything good enough to take it over another feat. [COLOR=#ff0000][b]Heart of the Blade (Swordmage)[/b]:[/COLOR] How many times has your sword broken? Blade Initiate is almost always better unless you really want to train Endurance. [COLOR=#ff0000][b]Insightful Leader (Warlord)[/b]:[/COLOR] Other warlord multiclass feats provide better benefits than +1 to defenses on an action point. [b]Monastic Disciple (Monk)[/b]: Flurry of Blows once an encounter is decent, as are Ki Focuses. There's too many good options for decent to be good enough, though. [COLOR=#0000ff][b]Practiced Killer (Executioner)[/b]:[/COLOR] The best of the assassin multiclass feats. 1d8 per tier is a nice way to add some spike damage. The executioner is also a martial class, so it qualifies you for feats that require that . [COLOR=#0000ff][b]Resourceful Leader (Warlord)[/b][/COLOR]: A damage bonus on a hit and temporary hit points on a miss means that your allies action points will be more devastating, especially multi-attackers. [COLOR=#ff00ff][b]Ruthless Efficiency (Rogue)[/b]:[/COLOR] It's ok. Sneak of Shadows is better. [b]Shadow Initiate (Assassin): [/b]Shroud is, of course, much better are characters that are not actually assassins. Practiced Killer gets you martial support, which is better then the extra damage from two shrouds. [COLOR=#ff0000][b]Skirmishing Leader (Warlord)[/b]:[/COLOR] Shifting 1 is not even close to +4/6/8 or +3/5/7 to damage. Outshone by the other options.[b][/b] [COLOR=#00ccff][b]Sneak of Shadows (Rogue)[/b][/COLOR]: Very good. Borderline gold. It opens up martial support, Surprising Charge, Roundabout Charge, and Sneak Attack is the strongest striker feature to steal for a turn. [b]Soldier of the Faith (Paladin)[/b]: Very average for most builds. At least is includes a punishment to go with its mark, albeit a weak one. All the Paladin multiclass feats are [COLOR=#00ccff]better[/COLOR] for Tieflings, though, who get [COLOR=#ff9900]Wrath of the Crimson Legion[/COLOR], which gives you a Charisma Melee Basic attack and a mass marking encounter power. [COLOR=#ff00ff][b]Student of Artifice (Artificer)[/b]: [/COLOR]Arcana is wasted and infusion is poorly supported. It's a minor action surgeless heal once per day, which is decent. [COLOR=#0000ff][b]Student of Battle (Warlord)[/b]: [/COLOR]Martial support and a daily heal. If you need the healing more than the attack/damage bonuses it's a worthwhile pick. [COLOR=#ff00ff][b]Student of Divine Runes (Runepriest)[/b][/COLOR]: A very poorly supported class. There's really no reason to take this over Student of Battle. [COLOR=#ff00ff][b]Student of the Sword (Fighter)[/b]:[/COLOR] A weaker multiclass feat than most of the others. You should qualify for something better. [b]Tactical Leader (Warlord)[/b]: +1 to hit for allies on action points is great. The benefit only applies once per encounter, so it's not as strong a nova enabler as Bravura Leader or Resourceful Leader [COLOR=#0000ff][b]Twilight Adept (Rogue)[/b]: [/COLOR]Cunning Sneak is very strong and rogue support is fantastic. Sneak of Shadows is probably better, but it conceivable to take this instead. [COLOR=#ff00ff][b]Two-Bladed Warrior (Ranger)[/b]: [/COLOR]Mostly wasted on you as you should never be dual wielding. Rangers are better off going Warrior of the Wild [COLOR=#008000][b]Vamparism (Vampire)[/b]: [/COLOR]It would take a strange build indeed to make proper use of this feat. Potentially a Revenant (Half-Elf) with Vampire Slam and going Dex/Cha could use it effectively, but it's a very specialized build. [b]Walker of the Dark Path (Blackguard)[/b]: It qualifies you as a paladin with no prerequisites, which is nice. Tieflings who favor striker over defender might consider this. [COLOR=#0000ff][b]Walker of the Light Path (Cavalier)[/b]: [/COLOR]It gives the full defender aura, although you can only punish once per encounter. Even without punishment, the aura will make you an attractive target if you want to attempt to off-tank. It also opens up paladin support for Tieflings. Combine with Gladiator Champion's level 16 feature and you're now a Knight. [COLOR=#0000ff][b]Warrior of the Wild (Ranger)[/b]: [/COLOR]The ranger multiclass of choice. Hunter's Quarry isn't Sneak Attack, but it's pretty good. [COLOR=#0000ff][b]Wrathful Warrior (Fighter)[/b]: [/COLOR]If your Costitution is decent this can add an extra layer of durability. If it's not, take another multiclass fighter feat. Special Mention: [COLOR=#ff9900][b]Adept Dilettante (Half-Elf)[/b]: [/COLOR]If you want to be a Con/Dex based Eldritch Strike abuser and want Warlock support without having to waste points in Charisma, this is the feat for you. It also lets you use Wisdom, Constitution, or Charisma for your Dilettante power, which gives you a lot of flexibility with your stats. Wizard feats mostly rely on class features you lack or powers you can only use 3 times per day. Most of your feats will come from the general category or from your multiclass. Several feats would improve if your melee basic attack was an arcane power (or better yet, a Wizard power) but lacking that, you should stick to other options. [b]Wizard Feats[/b] [b]Heroic[/b] [b][COLOR=#ff0000]Careful Summoner: [/COLOR][/b]Completely useless. You won't ever summon and even if you could, you'd pass on this. [b][COLOR=#ff00ff]Destructive Wizardry:[/COLOR] [/b]Potenetially decent depending on your daily power selections, but you only get area attack powers as dailies, so its overall impact will be minor. [b][COLOR=#ff00ff]Enlarge Spell: [/COLOR][/b]Same as above. It can make your dailies a little more "daily" feeling, but you don't have enough powers that could use it to make it worth spending the feat on. I like it better than Destructive Wizardry for upping your daily powers, but neither are worth taking. [b][COLOR=#ff0000]Phantom Echoes:[/COLOR][/b] You don't have enough illusion powers to use this at all and as with Careful Summoner, the benefit is too small to take this even if you did. [b][COLOR=#ff0000]Bitter Cold: [/COLOR][/b]You can't trigger this enough to be worth a feat and the benefit is pretty minimal. I'm sensing a common theme. "Hit" and "Wizard Power" tend to come up a lot and since you can only do that 3 times per day, it's best to skip feats that revolve around doing that. [b][COLOR=#ff00ff]Far Spell: [/COLOR][/b]Increases the range of your Bladespells, so it's not completely useless. If your DM likes huge maps, this might be worth a look. Probably still a pass. [b][COLOR=#ff00ff]Immolate the Masses: [/COLOR][/b]It works with Bladespells! 1 temporary hit point is a small benefit for redirecting your Bladespell to a minion instead of focus firing on your melee basic attack target. It can grant more temp on daily powers, but that's not enough to make it a serious consideration. [b][COLOR=#ff00ff]Burn Everything: [/COLOR][/b]If you want to use a Flaming Weapon (for example, because you're a Tiefling) but encounter a lot of fire resistant creatures, this is the feat for you. Situational at best. [b][COLOR=#ff00ff]Stoking the Fire:[/COLOR][/b] +2 to damage after hitting with a fire power. It's a power bonus, so it doesn't stack with Bladesong, which means even if you use a Flaming Weapon, you should skip it. [b][COLOR=#ff0000]Sympathy of Flame: [/COLOR][/b]Wow is this bad. You don't have enough ways to give ongoing fire damage, you have to make damage rolls with arcane powers to benefit at all, and the benefit is only slightly better than Weapon Focus. [b][COLOR=#ff0000]Expanded Spellbook:[/COLOR] [/b]This is probably completely non-functional by RAW. If you can talk your DM into letting you use it to take proper Wizard dailies, it's pretty much [b][COLOR=#ff9900]mandatory[/COLOR][/b]. [b]Paragon[/b] [COLOR=#ff0000][b]Acid Spash:[/b][/COLOR] In an unsual turn of events, now we must miss with a wizard power to use this feat, yet alas we have but 3 wizard powers. [COLOR=#ff0000][b]Energy Recovery: [/b][/COLOR]You don't get many Save Ends effects on your daily powers and your Wisdom modifier is not likely to be high enough to use this even if you did. [b]Lightning Transport: [/b]This can be really great if your DM uses minions and it improves the value of Lightning Ring a lot. Popping a minion to teleport your CON mod is not a bad use of your Bladespell by any means. Eldritch Strike users like it because their CON mod is going to be huge. [COLOR=#ff0000][b]Phantasmal Destruction: [/b][/COLOR]Requires wizard illusion powers which means it's worthless to you. [COLOR=#ff00ff][b]Sympathetic Transference: [/b][/COLOR]You can end Slow on your allies at-will. That's worth something. Not very much, but something. [COLOR=#ff0000][b]Consuming the Weak: [/b][/COLOR]Requires arcane attacks to hit. Your old nemesis. [COLOR=#ff00ff][b]Spell Focus:[/b] [/COLOR]You suffer from a lack of Save Ends powers, but this is a decent upgrade to the few you might pick up. [b]Epic[/b] [COLOR=#ff0000][b]Focuses Wizardry: [/b][/COLOR]Non-humans can't burst or blast at-will. Your daily area powers are only good if you can hit lots of monsters, so don't let this trap you into leaving out targets. [COLOR=#ff00ff][b]Nightmare Wizard: [/b][/COLOR]Daze is a strong condition, even if it requires critting on a specific type of daily power to get it. It might come up once or twice over the course of a campaign, but you can do better. [COLOR=#ff0000][b]Vengeful Summoner: [/b][/COLOR]You probably don't qualify becuase of the high CON requirements, but if you do, it means even the fairly weak summons you can access would be useless to you because you lack the INT to use them. [b][COLOR=#ff00ff]Wizard Implement Expertise:[/COLOR][/b] Wonky stat requirements and applicability to only your daily powers limit its desirability, but increased crit range is always a good thing. [b][COLOR=#0000ff]Arcane Mastery: [/COLOR][/b]Fantastic for normal wizards, and potentially great for Bladesingers as well. If your paragon path gave you a wizard daily power, this will let you recover it which is about the best use of an action point you can get. Rules issues aside, recovering your encounter-as-daily powers can be pretty nice, too. [b][COLOR=#ff00ff]Spell Accuracy:[/COLOR][/b] Getting to ignore a few allies gives your daily powers much greater flexibility in targeting. Obviously better with a large WIS modifier, even at +1 or +2, it's still an ok choice if you picked party-unfriendly blasts. [b]Racial Feats[/b] Most of your feats will come from this category. Boosts to your defenses, attacks, damage, accuracy, survivability are all to be found here. [b]General Feats[/b] [b]Heroic[/b] [COLOR=#ff9900][b]Light Blade Expertise:[/b] [/COLOR]Rapiers are going to be the weapon of choice for most Bladesingers. This is worth the -1 to hit on your daily powers in Heroic and by paragon you should have a spare feat to pick up wand expertise. [b][COLOR=#00ccff]Wand Expertise:[/COLOR] [/b]Not at important as the weapon versions, but key if you want to use your daily powers with any regularity. [COLOR=#ff9900][b]Heavy Blade Expertise:[/b][/COLOR] Mostly for Githzerai, as light blades are generally better, but if you're using a heavy blade, you should have this. [b][COLOR=#00ccff]Versatile Expertise: [/COLOR][/b]Until the new weapliment feats come out, this is the only all-in-one option. No added benefits and it scales later in paragon and epic. If you can find the feat, take Light Blade and Wand, but if you're feat starved, this is your expertise of choice. [b][COLOR=#00ccff]Weapon Focus: [/COLOR][/b]+1/2/3 to damage with the weapon of your choice. It won't apply to your Bladespells or Daily powers but it's a very strong addition to your melee basic attacks. It's light blue because while you'll almost certainly take it, it's not a priority. [b][COLOR=#0000ff]Toughness: [/COLOR][/b]5 HP per tier may not sound like a lot, but it matters more than you might think. It won't get you to defender HP but it will help you take a few more hits before going down. [b][COLOR=#00ccff]Iron Will/[/COLOR][COLOR=#0000ff]Great Fortitude:[/COLOR] [/b]One (maybe both) of these defense will be low. Take one (or both) or get used to your DM hitting you on a 3. If you go Dex/Int, these are both probably mandatory. [b][COLOR=#00ccff]Superor Will[/COLOR]/[COLOR=#0000ff]Fortitude[/COLOR]/Refelxes[/b]: Superior Will is good enough to take even if you don't need the defensive bonus. They're all great, but most builds probably don't qualify for Superior Will which makes Improved Defenses the better choice. [b][COLOR=#00ccff]Improved Defenses: [/COLOR][/b]For the feat starved, this can replace dedicated Fortitude and Will boosters. I recommend boosting your weakest defense in heroic and then retraining into Improved Defenses at paragon. [COLOR=#0000ff][b]Resiliant Focus:[/b][/COLOR] +2 to all saves is great. If you can squeeze it in, take it. [b][COLOR=#00ccff]Nimble Blade:[/COLOR][/b] +1 to hit when you have combat advantage. You need to hit to activate your Bladespells, so accuracy is king. [b][COLOR=#00ccff]Armor Proficiency (Hide): [/COLOR][/b]Extremely good. +1 to AC gives you defender level armor. The big draw here is Feral Armor. You can use it as a weapon if you want to, but its encounter power is enough to make taking the feat for Hide worth it. [b][COLOR=#0000ff]Improved Initiative: [/COLOR][/b]Your dexterity will be high, so you should have a good modifier already. Going first will help your Bladespells have maximum effect. [b][COLOR=#ff0000]Winter[/COLOR][COLOR=#00ccff]touched[/COLOR]: [/b]Terrible in heroic, amazing in paragon. Use a Frost weapon and Lasting Frost to apply frost Vulnerability which the Bladespell Frost Bite gets to exploit immediately. [b]Paragon[/b] [b][COLOR=#00ccff]Lasting Frost:[/COLOR][/b] Combat advantage and +10 to damage is hard to turn down. [b][COLOR=#00ccff]Armor Specialization (Hide): [/COLOR][/b]Keeps your AC competitive. [b][COLOR=#00ccff]Repel Charge: [/COLOR][/b]A free melee basic attack when you are charged? Sign me up! You can prone, slow, or slide at-will so you can force enemies to charge pretty easily. You don't get to trigger Bladespell, but if it nets you a single attack per encounter, it was a feat well spent. [b]Epic[/b] [b][COLOR=#00ccff]Epic Fortitude/[/COLOR][COLOR=#ff9900]Will:[/COLOR][/b] You'll need one. Probably both. Will is so important in Epic that even if you have invested in Wisdom or Charisma, you should probably take it anyway. [b][COLOR=#00ccff]Superior Initiative:[/COLOR][/b] If you took Improved Initiative earlier, retraining is a no-brainer. If you didn't, now is a great time to invest in your initiative. One of the primary reasons to multiclass is because of the feats it opens up. Your reliance on melee basic attacks means that you can make effective use of the many MBA boosters found in other (mostly martial) classes. [b]Feats that require multiclassing[/b] Feats are rated based on their utility for the builds that would use them. Feats tied to weapon groups also include in their rating the value of using that weapon group compared to a light or heavy blade. If you are using that weapon already, feats that boost that weapon group improve significantly. [b]Heroic[/b] [b]Martial Alacrity:[/b] An alternative to Improved Initiative. Trades a lower initiative bonus for the ability to shift as a minor action during your first turn. [b]Martial Freedom: [/b]If you find yourself slowed or immobilized a lot, this is a hefty bonus to saves against those conditions. [b]Crushing Mace: [/b]+2 untyped bonus to damage on melee basic attacks is huge. The requirement of using a mace is a killer, though. If you have another reason to use maces, it's a great pickup, but most Bladesingers will stick with a Light Blade. [b]Draw First Blood: [/b]If your Wisdom is at all respectable, this is a decent choice. It's extra damage, so that's always worth a look.[b][/b] [b][COLOR=#008000]Practiced Study: [/COLOR][/b]Role-play only, but has some interesting uses. [b]Paragon[/b] [COLOR=#ff9900][b]Deft Blade (Any Martial Class):[/b] [/COLOR]One of the reasons you're using a rapier and multiclassed into a martial class. Targeting Reflex is generally worth +2 to attack rolls and often more. [b]Hammer Shock (Any Martial Class): [/b]If you're using a hammer, this is a good reason to train Intimidate. Rattling is a solid debuff on your melee basic attacks. [b]Impaling Spear (Any Martial Class):[/b] There's very few reasons to use a spear over a light blade, but if you've found that reason, this is your Deft Blade equivalent. [b][COLOR=#0000ff]Lashing Flail(Any Martial Class):[/COLOR][/b] A fantastic reason to use a flail, although it's really the only one. A Staggering Weapon will let you turn your melee basic attack into battlefield controlling machine. [b]Piercing Pick(Any Martial Class):[/b] Targeting fortitude is not nearly as good as targeting reflex. Picks are also terribly supported, especially when compared to light blades. [b][COLOR=#ff9900]Striking Resurgance (Fighter): [/COLOR][/b]One of the best parts about multiclassing fighter. Effectively turns your second wind into a free action so you don't have to give up attacking while healing. [b][COLOR=#0000ff]Wicked Blade(Any Martial Class):[/COLOR][/b] High Crit is pretty good. Light blades are still better, but this is a welcome boon to heavy blade users. [b]Epic[/b] [b][COLOR=#0000ff]Epic Recovery:[/COLOR][/b] Lets you use your second wind a second time. With Striking Resurgence, this is a major survivability upgrade. [b][COLOR=#0000ff]Martial Mastery (Any Martial Class):[/COLOR][/b] It probably required way too many feats to get it, but if you've ended up with a good martial encounter attack power, this will enable you to use it twice. If you took a multi-attack or minor action attack power, this can really power up your Bladesong turns. [b][COLOR=#00ccff]Martial Resolve (Any Martial Class):[/COLOR][/b] It requires endurance training and 15 Wisdom, but the benefit is very strong. With 15 Wisdom you can take Superior Will, which is better, but they stack and Martial Resolve covers some extra conditions including the dreaded Weakened, so it's a solid choice even with Superior Will. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Masters of Sword and Spell: The Bladesinger's Handbook (By Adamclare)
Top