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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Benjamin Olson" data-source="post: 8377229" data-attributes="member: 6988941">For me it's Shadowblade every time on any character that intends to do melee. I don't even know how it is a competition when you already have a Mirror Image and they both cost an action. Unless your table tends to have prebuffing rounds right before combat the action economy really doesn't work for "oh just you wait until round 3 when I finally start fighting".Shadowblade is a bonus action to cast and gives you a weapon that is basically made for sneak attacking anytime dim light or darkness can be found, which have never been in short supply in any of my campaigns (unless someone else had an item or spell that created bright light as part of their standard operating procedure). Even if your table is not allowing Shadowblade with Booming Blade, an easy source of advantage is a must have for any Rogue's toolkit, and if your table also rules that Booming Blade is loud their may be situations where you can't use that anyway. Shadowblade is also a throwable weapon resummoned by a bonus action, making it a way to sneak attack when you can't quite get to the enemy or don't want to. It turns your sneak attacks into the rarely resisted psychic damage and ensures you still have a weapon, and a magic weapon at that, that one time when the whole group has to bust out of prison without their gear. It also upcasts nicely to third level, and should you choose to take the Rogue Arcane Trickster you will likely spend a level or two with 3rd level slots but no 3rd level spells. Shadowblade is generally is more conducive to interesting and dynamic action than a passive "enemies get disadvantage against you" of Blur.Also, so far as Blur goes, you have to keep in mind the group dynamics. If the group lacks a tank or generally strong front line they might love having your Mr. Unhittable up front wasting enemy attacks. If the group has a reasonably solid front line with solid ACs without your belt and suspenders and second set of suspenders approach to defense then they might quickly tire of you spending two full rounds doing no damage so that you can be the guy with Mirror Image, Bladesong, AND Blur all going when you already have Shield and bonus action disengaging to fall back upon. That goes double if the DM tends to play enemies as giving up on Mr. Unhittable and moving on to easier targets rather than all trying in vain to hit you round after round. It doesn't mean you shouldn't learn Blur, at some point (you are, after all, a Wizard so you can hypothetically learn every spell), but it doesn't seem like something to prioritize when you already have the most defensive options of anyone in the party and this one explicitly conflicts with some of your offensive options.As for this talk of Haste, it's great for a character like this if someone else casts it on you, especially if your table is down with the whole held action sneak attack thing. For this character casting it on themself, however, it means spending another round where you, a high DPR character, are self buffing instead of doing damage, risking losing a whole additional round if you lose concentration, and forgoing the other alternative uses of your concentration. I'm not going to say it never makes sense or shouldn't be in your toolkit (the whole point of being a Wizard is to have a big toolkit), but it is a situational choice.</blockquote>

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