Bladesinger build - help and advice wanted!

[Tar-Edhel]

Hi everyone!

I'm looking for advice and comments on my Bladesinger build.

Here's what I have so far:

1st W1 Combat casting, Scribe Scroll
2nd F1 Exotic Weapon Proficiency (Elven Thinblade)
3rd F2 Weapon Focus (Elven Thinblade), Dodge
4th SW1 Weapon Finesse +1 Str
5th SW2 Grace +1
6th SW3 Insightful Strike, Combat Expertise
7th BS1 Bladesong Style
8th BS2 Lesser Spellsong, +1 Dex
9th BS3 Improved Critical (Elven Thinblade)
10th BS4 Song of Celerity (2nd)
11th BS5
12th SpS1 Ignore Spell failure 10%; Arcane Strike, +1 Int
13th BS6 Greater Spellsong
14th BS7
15th BS8 Song of Celerity (4th), Feat
16th BS9 +1 Int
17th BS10 Song of Fury

SW: Swashbuckler
BS Bladesinger
SpS: Spellsword

Scores are pretty good (racial elven bonus already applied):

Str 15 Dex 19 Con 13 Int 14 Wis 10 Cha 11

I am obviously expecting to be able to convince my DM to allow The Elven Thinblade as BS weapon.

I took the spellsword level mainly to ge the caster level for Arcane Strike.

Comments on scores, feat choices and class progression are welcomed. The goal was to get into BS as quickly as possible and get 4h level spells in time for Song of celerity (4th).

Second question: any interesting choices for my last three levels? I thought about 3 levels of EK but I don't care that much about those caste levels. I think I'd prefer to improve on melee without getting too much "out of character". Although the 3 levels of EK would give me 2 CL to fuel my Arcane strike...

What about 3 levels of duelist? Int bonus to AC from Bladesong style (dodge bonus) with the Int bonus from Canny defense. Decisions, decisions...

Thanks!

 

[13luAcid]

i've been thinking about the same thing...for my character...you might want to only go up to 7th level in bds because song of fury really isn;t that great...unless you really want it...and i might get more levels spellsword...also you only need one level of duelest to get that int to armor but it only works when you don't wear any armor making spellsword pretty useless...EK is always a good choice you really can't go wrong with that. i don't have access to the new spellblade some i'm still in a quardry for myself sence i don't have all the information to build the best character i can.

 

[Fingers Boggis]

i think id continue with spell sword but mainly because i think the channel spell ability is rather cool. unfortunately i dont have my book with me and i cant remember how many SS levels you need to gain channel spell

Fingers

 

[James McMurray]

3.0 or 3.5?

If it is 3.5 you'll need as many duelist levels as you have int mod in order to get the full boost from the canny defense.

 

[Tar-Edhel]

3.0 or 3.5?

If it is 3.5 you'll need as many duelist levels as you have int mod in order to get the full boost from the canny defense.

I'ts 3.5. 3 levels of Duelist is all I need since my Int will be 17 at level 20.

13luAcid: You,ll want to get to 8th level at least, to get Song of Celerity 4th. But 9th and 10th are pretty useless, I agree.

Fingers: The problem with SpellSword and BS is that BS abilities will only work in light armor, for which you don't incur spellcasting penaties at BS level 6. Channel spell is at SpS4.

I just realized the Duelist only gets his bonus when wearing no armor.. Thought it allowed light armor. That won't work as I do want to wear armor.

I guess EK is the only option left...

 

[SteelDraco]

Heh, never mind, I'm an idiot.

 

[Fingers Boggis]

yeah i know about the armour thing, i just think channel spell is a really nice ability lol. If your not going to get it with the levels you have left then no id take something else also. If you're happy with your spell casting you could go for another couple of fighter levels and take weapon specialisation? or maybe a few more swashbuckler levels although i cant remember what they would get you

Fingers
(interested in this topic because i was planning on running a simiilar character soon, along with all the characters im planning on running soon)

 

[Tar-Edhel]

Fingers
(interested in this topic because i was planning on running a simiilar character soon, along with all the characters im planning on running soon)

Héhé I know the feeling. I have a few characters half-built myself

Minor change, I swapped the Wiz level to level 6. It gets me the combat feats sooner and will make this characte more interesting at low level (YMMV).

What do you guys think of Song of Fury? Worth it? It's basically an additionnal attack on full-attack actions, all attacks at -2... Not that exciting I agree but nothing to sneeze at either since it's basically 2 weapon fighting. At the level I would get it (17th), that would mean (+20/+20/+15/+10/+5)+x for 1d8+6(15-20/x2)+xd4 where x s the spell level sacrificed for Arcane Strike, up to 4th level. Add Haste, Bull Strength and Fox' Cunning and that lady (my Bladesinger will be female) will be a force to reckon in melee.

What about 3 levels of Dervish to end my progression? I would get Dervish dance twice a day (full attack allows a move/twice a day) which would stack nicely with Song of Fury (wouldn't it?), movement mastery (take 10 on Tumble and Jump), fast movement (+5 feet), full bab progression and d10 hps. On a role-plaing standpoint, this PrC does give a similar "feel" than BS.

I still don't know if I should increase my CL though. I guess I'll have a better idea if I ever get to 12th level with her and use Arcane strike a bit. Anyone has experienced this feat?

Thanks for the comments and feedbacks so far!

 

[Tar-Edhel]

Add Haste, Bull Strength and Fox' Cunning and that lady (my Bladesinger will be female) will be a force to reckon in melee.

Will Haste stack wth Song of Fury?

From Haste description in the SRD:

When making a full attack action, a hasted creature may make one extra attack with any weapon he is holding. The attack is made using the creature’s full base attack bonus, plus any modifiers appropriate to the situation. (This effect is not cumulative with similar effects, such as that provided by a weapon of speed, nor does it actually grant an extra action, so you can’t use it to cast a second spell or otherwise take an extra action in the round.)

In other words, will Song of Fury be considered "similar effect"?

 

[Fingers Boggis]

i think we ruled that they didnt stack but this may have been so that the mage could cast haste on another melee character. dont under rate that extra attack it becomes suprisingly useful. ive used the dragon 310 version but not the CW version of Arcane Strike IIRC theres a small difference. whether its useful or not depends on the situation, sometimes that extra spell would serve you better, at othertimes the extra damage die can be useful for settinig up a cleave

dervish would give some quite nice bonii but as a DM i wouldnt allow another PrC in the Progression.

Fingers