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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ovinomancer" data-source="post: 7252116" data-attributes="member: 16814">I've clearly stated it a number of times:  the bladesinger can either be a mediocre tank or a wizard, but not both at the same time.  If she wants to burn her resources to be the tank, she can do that, but that puts her slightly below par with the figher, who can fill that role well due to both toughness, AC, and damage output -- the bladesinger can manage AC.  If they choose to be a wizard, then the tradition is roughly on par with other traditions because it's benefits are conditional on being attacked whereas the other traditions abilities are conditional on the wizard using them as they want to.  I place a higher value on abilities that are useful when I want to use them rather than abilities that are only useful if the enemy obliges to make them so.So, yeah, with a lot of resources expended, the bladesinger can stand the front line.  To do so, she has to spend resources to negate hits (shield), reduce the 1-shot effect of crits (blur), and, as in [MENTION=71699]vonklaude[/MENTION]'s toy problem, use other party member resources to further reduce risk (warding bond).  Even then, the bladesinger in klaude's example took more than half of their hitpoints in the single-run encounter fully optimized for the bladesinger.Bladesingers CAN tank -- if they choose to not do wizardy things.  The need to keep slots for blur and shield to be able to survive on the front line is so high that they cannot afford to expend them on other uses if the party is relying on the 'singer to tank.At higher levels, this is less of the total resource drain, but then AC is far less useful in melee as well, and AC is all that the bladesinger can get.  It takes more and more resources to increase it (you can haste as well, which is another round of combat gone, your cleric can shield of faith you, so long as they don't have a better use for concentration, etc.) but the enemies' to hit bonuses increase rapidly as well.  And then there's the issue of spellcasting enemies.  Sure, the fighter doesn't have any better chance of avoiding fireballs (worse, actually), but they have the hp to soak it where the bladesinger doesn't.  A CON save can end the bladesinger (and the CR 6 Mage has cone of cold, which at 8d8 is a bad day for the 'singer).  It's a glass shield -- great at defense until it's hit.</blockquote>

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