D&D 5E Opinions on Bladesinger

[Edwin Suijkerbuijk]

Will a bladesinger sctualy ever use it's 2nd attack ?

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

Will a bladesinger sctualy ever use it's 2nd attack ?

Sure. It's a role-playing game after all, not a board game. One excellent reason to eschew spells during a duel could be that you're trying not to advertise that you're a wizard instead of a fop with a rapier. Or spells are illegal. Or you don't want to risk killing your opponent, and cantrip damage unlike melee attacks cannot be nonlethal. (Especially if you don't know how many HP your opponent has--dare you risk an 8d8+10 crit against someone who might only have 7 HP? He wouldn't even get death saves.)

 

[GMforPowergamers]

Will a bladesinger sctualy ever use it's 2nd attack ?

sure they will, any round in melee over 5th level you should be using it...

 

[Edwin Suijkerbuijk]

sure they will, any round in melee over 5th level you should be using it...

so take the 2 attacks 2X 1d8+4 (17) over the 2d8+4 + 1d8+3 (20.5) from cantrip

 

[GMforPowergamers]

so take the 2 attacks 2X 1d8+4 (17) over the 2d8+4 + 1d8+3 (20.5) from cantrip

When fighting a red dragon that is 1d8+4 instead...

when fighting a rageing orc, 2 attacks is better then 1 attack and another creature within 5 doesn't exsit...

 

[garnuk]

Will a bladesinger sctualy ever use it's 2nd attack ?

When using the snake style and a whip with reach. But no spell sniper feat.

 

[CapnZapp]

Edit: I'm aware that PWK only affects targets at 100 hp and under, but enemies with 9th level magic start being appropriate in the early teens and a lot of (non-fighter, non-barbarian) characters don't clear 100 hp until they're getting up into the last few levels.

Yep. It sure is a spellcasting hero killing spell first and foremost. Few bags of less than a hundred hit points are more dangerous than spellcasting heroes, so it's an excellent target for the spell.

Contrast how player characters have much less use out of the spell.

Any foe worth spending a level nine slot (!) on WILL have more (so much more) hit points than a hundred, especially since Player Characters doesn't get it "in the early teens", but typically at level 17.

And at that level, when you do have brought the BBEG to under a hundred hit points, why waste a level nine slot just to kill him off, when the party can just deal a hundred points of damage.

Just about the only foe in the entire MM worth casting Power Word Kill on, would be the glass cannon that is the Archmage. (Possibly a Lich you've caught unawares)

That doesn't even discuss the tremendous opportunity cost, since each Power Word Kill is one less Meteor Storm (ouch) or Wish (double ouch).

The truth is that for a hero, PWK is worth about a seventh level slot. About the only reason to keep it a level nine spell (except tradition) is to keep it out of the hands of 13th-level spellcaster monsters! There are more spells like PWK - spells that get low ratings in charop guides, but probably should keep their level anyway.

 

[CapnZapp]

Edit: I'm aware that PWK only affects targets at 100 hp and under, but enemies with 9th level magic start being appropriate in the early teens and a lot of (non-fighter, non-barbarian) characters don't clear 100 hp until they're getting up into the last few levels.

Yep. It sure is a spellcasting hero killing spell first and foremost. Few bags of less than a hundred hit points are more dangerous than spellcasting heroes, so it's an excellent target for the spell.

Contrast how player characters have much less use out of the spell.

Any foe worth spending a level nine slot (!) on WILL have more (so much more) hit points than a hundred, especially since Player Characters doesn't get it "in the early teens", but typically at level 17.

And at that level, when you do have brought the BBEG to under a hundred hit points, why waste a level nine slot just to kill him off, when the party can just deal a hundred points of damage.

Just about the only foe in the entire MM worth casting Power Word Kill on, would be the glass cannon that is the Archmage. (Possibly a Lich you've caught unawares)

That doesn't even discuss the tremendous opportunity cost, since each Power Word Kill is one less Meteor Storm (ouch) or Wish (double ouch).

The truth is that for a hero, PWK is worth about a seventh level slot. About the only reason to keep it a level nine spell (except tradition) is to keep it out of the hands of 13th-level spellcaster monsters! There are more spells like PWK - spells that get low ratings in charop guides, but probably should keep their level anyway.

 

[David House]

Noticed a lot of people discussing dual wielding with bladesingers - are you all interpreting that having a weapon in your off hand doesn't count as "using two hands to make an attack with a weapon?" Guess I don't see it that way - traditionally, bladesingers had a sword in one hand and cast with their other. No?

 

[cbwjm]

I read the description and it says two hands to make a weapon attack. To me that sounds like using two hands to make an attack with a single weapon not dual wielding.