D&D 5E [GUIDE] NADRIGOL's Melee Bladesinger Guide

[Esker]

And I'll continue to deny the purpose of those other threads really has anything to do with BA

BA is about ensuring that there continues to be a meaningful chance of failure even as bonuses rise. So all the things I quoted from you were statements about BA.

Most of the creature I am likely to face by level 5 will have closer to +6 or +7 on their attack rolls. An ogre, for instance, is +6.

Even vs a +6, you've taken what would have been a 6/20 chance to hit you (with 21 AC) and reduced it to 4/20 (with 23 AC). So you've gone from taking 3.33 attacks per hit to taking 5 attacks per hit. That's like a 50% increase in HP.

 

[delph]

You can bump it by Vhuman with defensive dueling feat...

 

[DND_Reborn]

You can bump it by Vhuman with defensive dueling feat...

Sure, if your DM allows non-elf-types to do it. Of course, you could take it later on but I would rather go with War Caster and Dual Wielder.

Also, when you reach level 3 for Kensei, don't forget you can make two unarmed attacks via your bonus action. The first is necessary as your attack action (or part of it) for an unarmed strike, triggering Agile Parry. Then as part of martial arts, you can make an unarmed strike as a bonus action.

If you want to spend a ki point and use flurry of blows, you could get in 3 unarmed strikes and use Agile Parry!

Later on with Haste, you can use the the Attack granted to initiate the Attack action, make an unarmed strike, spend a ki point, make two more unarmed strikes, and still use your normal attack action for your kensei weapon! SWEET!

 

[Deloi]

Hello, i really want to play a melee focused bladesinger and im torn between Fighter 1/Blade X, Fighter 2/Blade X, Battle Master Fighter 3/Blade X. I dont want to stand in the back line and cast spells, i rather want be able to do good dpr with melee and rely on magic mainly to enhance my melee fighting skills, with some magic used for non melee. Which Dip would be the best for that kind of playstyle?
Also my DM is thinking of letting Warlock Hexblade Scale with INT so i can multiclass into it with my bladesinger. Would a INT hexblade dip be better than a fighter dip for my melee prowess? And how much should i dip into hexblade?

 

[Esker]

Hello, i really want to play a melee focused bladesinger and im torn between Fighter 1/Blade X, Fighter 2/Blade X, Battle Master Fighter 3/Blade X. I dont want to stand in the back line and cast spells, i rather want be able to do good dpr with melee and rely on magic mainly to enhance my melee fighting skills, with some magic used for non melee. Which Dip would be the best for that kind of playstyle?
Also my DM is thinking of letting Warlock Hexblade Scale with INT so i can multiclass into it with my bladesinger. Would a INT hexblade dip be better than a fighter dip for my melee prowess? And how much should i dip into hexblade?

Fighter 1 gives you some nice features: CON saves, weapon proficiencies, a fighting style (dueling or defense, presumably). I would start fighter 1 / bladesinger 6, for 3rd level spells and extra attack, and then see how it feels from there. Action surge is really powerful, especially if you are self buffing and then attacking, so you might want fighter 2 at that point. Shadow blade with a 3rd level slot is probably your best use of concentration for buffing your own offense, but haste gives you a good mix of offense and defense (and with proficiency and +INT to concentration saves you should be pretty much immune to losing concentration for a good while). Although in terms of pure party-wide contribution you're probably better off using your concentration on a control spell like Hypnotic Pattern or Fear (if you take War Caster, you can chase afeared enemies around and hit them with booming blade on AoOs, which is really cruel but powerful).

The Hexblade INT to attack doesn't offer you that much until you raise your INT above your DEX -- you still want DEX for AC (and initiative). But might be a decent option at later levels (after INT hits 20, say). Hexblade's curse is good, particularly if using Haste. Armor of Agathys is nice, but probably not worth delaying wizard levels.

 

[Deloi]

Fighter 1 gives you some nice features: CON saves, weapon proficiencies, a fighting style (dueling or defense, presumably). I would start fighter 1 / bladesinger 6, for 3rd level spells and extra attack, and then see how it feels from there. Action surge is really powerful, especially if you are self buffing and then attacking, so you might want fighter 2 at that point. Shadow blade with a 3rd level slot is probably your best use of concentration for buffing your own offense, but haste gives you a good mix of offense and defense (and with proficiency and +INT to concentration saves you should be pretty much immune to losing concentration for a good while). Although in terms of pure party-wide contribution you're probably better off using your concentration on a control spell like Hypnotic Pattern or Fear (if you take War Caster, you can chase afeared enemies around and hit them with booming blade on AoOs, which is really cruel but powerful).

The Hexblade INT to attack doesn't offer you that much until you raise your INT above your DEX -- you still want DEX for AC (and initiative). But might be a decent option at later levels (after INT hits 20, say). Hexblade's curse is good, particularly if using Haste. Armor of Agathys is nice, but probably not worth delaying wizard levels.

I`ll be taking your advice and do Fighter 1/Wizard 6 and decide later if i wanna take more levels in fighter. Thank you for the insight, im not so experienced and dont want to naughty word up my character, so i really appreciate your help!

 

[Blue]

Hello, i really want to play a melee focused bladesinger and im torn between Fighter 1/Blade X, Fighter 2/Blade X, Battle Master Fighter 3/Blade X. I dont want to stand in the back line and cast spells, i rather want be able to do good dpr with melee and rely on magic mainly to enhance my melee fighting skills, with some magic used for non melee. Which Dip would be the best for that kind of playstyle?
Also my DM is thinking of letting Warlock Hexblade Scale with INT so i can multiclass into it with my bladesinger. Would a INT hexblade dip be better than a fighter dip for my melee prowess? And how much should i dip into hexblade?

Taking levels of anything before you get to Bladesinger 6 for extra attack will weaken you by dealying an already delayed "5th" level power bump. As well as 3rd level spells like Haste. I could see starting with one level of fighter for CON saves, but anything more wait until later. Grater Invis at 7th is very nice, gt a few slots of that level then pick up more.

Hexblade with INT doesn't help much with bladesinger because of th bladsinger armor restrictions. Because you can't use anything heavier than light-armor-no-shield, DEX is really important. So if you need DEX, and are prioritizing it for AC ovr INT (since you arn't casting offensive spells), then DEX as your attack ability works fine. You also can't use two-handed weapons, so going Hxblade and then Pact of the Blade to get CHR to 2-handers doesn't help either. (Note the same is tru of Artificer (Bladesmith for INT to attack & damage.).) Where Hexblade would help is if you wanted to attack both with melee and spells. But with melee primary and spells for buffs and the like just focus on DEX instead of diluting you primary class.

 

[delph]

Taking levels of anything before you get to Bladesinger 6 for extra attack will weaken you by dealying an already delayed "5th" level power bump. As well as 3rd level spells like Haste. I could see starting with one level of fighter for CON saves, but anything more wait until later. Grater Invis at 7th is very nice, gt a few slots of that level then pick up more.

Hexblade with INT doesn't help much with bladesinger because of th bladsinger armor restrictions. Because you can't use anything heavier than light-armor-no-shield, DEX is really important. So if you need DEX, and are prioritizing it for AC ovr INT (since you arn't casting offensive spells), then DEX as your attack ability works fine. You also can't use two-handed weapons, so going Hxblade and then Pact of the Blade to get CHR to 2-handers doesn't help either. (Note the same is tru of Artificer (Bladesmith for INT to attack & damage.).) Where Hexblade would help is if you wanted to attack both with melee and spells. But with melee primary and spells for buffs and the like just focus on DEX instead of diluting you primary class.

Funny - I was thinking about bladesinger with artificer dip for few days. Attack&damage&AC from inteligence sounds good. Helped with some infusions...

 

[Blue]

Funny - I was thinking about bladesinger with artificer dip for few days. Attack&damage&AC from inteligence sounds good. Helped with some infusions...

How do you address the point I brought up?

That even with Bladesinging for INT to AC, you are limited to light armor so you need DEX as well if you plan on being in melee. And if you are limited to one handed weapons due to blade song and have DEX for attack, does INT bring enough to the table to be three classes levels of spells known behind?

Assuming point buy, tier 1 & 2 you haven't maxed both INT and DEX. Either way you have buffs and other non-offensive spells. If you are prioritizing INT, then your offensive spells (spell attack or save) at your best and you do not have the AC to spend a lot of time in melee. If you are prioritizing DEX, then melee works well but your offensive spells aren't as good.

Battlesmith still doesn't give you the AC to go into melee without DEX because of bladesong's limitations on armor. So you can't regularly make use of INT to weapons until you raise your DEX. Which works just as well as INT for attacks. If you can't regularly make attacks, is the three level diversion from being a primary caster worth it for the occasional attack?

Now, if you are looking to be an archer, or you're doing it for the other things artificer give you - go for it. And start Artificier for the CON saves.

 

[delph]

A was thinking more about be artificer with dip in bladesinger for more cantrips and spells