I'm still working on honing this build, but I believe I have enough to show as-is
The inclusion of the Hexblade class in Xanathar's has been a huge boon for gish-enthusiats everywhere. I have seen plenty of Palock, Sorlock and Bardlock builds pop up over the past few days, and some of them look legitimately game breaking. Since college of swords bard was also included in Xanathar's it makes sense that people would combine it with hexblade at any opportunity. One dip of hexblade is a fun, and possibly necessary, addition to what is by itself a somewhat weak subclass: but why stop there? The fun of Swords Bard comes from the fact that its flourishes aren't bonus actions and pave the way for unique strategic turns, though this doesn't sufficiently differentiate them from Battlemaster fighters. What IS worth noting however is that Battlemaster maneuvers and Swords Bard stack, bringing an entirely new realm of depth to ones turn. To name a couple of examples:
1. You can use disarming strike to make an opponent drop their weapon, use a bonus action to kick it away and then on a second attack use mobile flourish to push them father from it.
2. You can use Defensive flourish to increase the likelihood they miss, and when they do you can retaliate with Riposte
3. You can combine sweeping attack and slashing flourish to do substantial damage to both your target and any adjacent enemies in the event they mob you.
These are only a few opportunities, which neglect to consider additional feats, spells, etc you can pick up along the way. In particular dipping hexblade immediately nets you Shield, which on top of defensive flourish and other options makes you extremely hard to hit. This kind of build is absolutely not the most powerful available, but it deserves very high marks for versatility and endurance. Rather than a DPS I see the fencer as a unique support build, one who can tank, disrupt enemies, face for the party (he is a bard) and hand out buffs with abandon.
The fencer does take a lot to get on line, and for campaigns restricted to early levels it might be better to spring for martial adept off of a variant human feat if you really want to play it. With that in mind I'm only going to be discussing mid-to-late level builds, just because that's more fun.
The core of the fencer is:
5 Bard, Swords College (Flourishes, Fighting style, Font of Inspiration, Great ability scores)
1 Hexblade (Weapon + Shield Proficiencies, CHA for weapons, Shield, Hex is also pretty fun)
3 Battlemaster Fighter (Extra Fighting Style, Action Surge, Maneuvers)
I think the fencer makes most sense going sword and board, with both Dueling and Defense fighting styles, its direct damage won't be great but this + medium armor + wielding a shield puts it at 19 AC with no penalty to stealth. 19 AC isn't particularly striking, but with Shield and Defensive Flourish (and possibly parry) it goes a long way.
Notice that I stopped at 5 bard instead of 6, where swords bard gains an extra attack. In truth all three classes in this build offer an extra attack option at some point, so it may be possible that you would benefit from stopping there. Ultimately once you have the core, it comes down to what you want to focus on: Fighter, Warlock or Bard.
Note all builds imply Bard/Warlock/Fighter
Bard Focus: (16/1/3 OR 12/5/3) (5 warlock grants you cloak of flies and eldritch smite, which is a tempting package. 16 bard gives you max inspiration die, unlimited die for the purpose of flourishes and an additional magical secrets)
PROS:
-By far the best at spellcasting (magic secrets, this advantage diminishes if you dip heavier into warlock)
-The most versatile
-Great buffs and debuffs
-The most flavorful
CONS:
-The most unimpressive melee damage (this is not a huge deal if you go eldritch smite)
Warlock Focus: 5/12/3
PROS:
-Lifedrinker and smite means this class does the most melee damage
-3 warlock spell slots (as opposed to 1 or 2 low-level slots)
-Fantastic options due to hexblade expanded spell list
-Darkness + Devils Sight
Cons:
-You get the least out of your special combat options
-less of a team player
-Just kind of feels like a hexblade
Fighter Focus: 5/1/14
PROS:
-Maximize feats due to all the ASIs fighters can take
-A third attack
-More maneuvers = more combat options and tricks, some maneuvers which feel weak at first owing to your lower dex (trip attack) become impressive
-Very good endurance
CONS:
-Limited spellcasting
-Damage might secretly be the lowest of the three
This is just a start. Does anyone else have any recommendations?
The inclusion of the Hexblade class in Xanathar's has been a huge boon for gish-enthusiats everywhere. I have seen plenty of Palock, Sorlock and Bardlock builds pop up over the past few days, and some of them look legitimately game breaking. Since college of swords bard was also included in Xanathar's it makes sense that people would combine it with hexblade at any opportunity. One dip of hexblade is a fun, and possibly necessary, addition to what is by itself a somewhat weak subclass: but why stop there? The fun of Swords Bard comes from the fact that its flourishes aren't bonus actions and pave the way for unique strategic turns, though this doesn't sufficiently differentiate them from Battlemaster fighters. What IS worth noting however is that Battlemaster maneuvers and Swords Bard stack, bringing an entirely new realm of depth to ones turn. To name a couple of examples:
1. You can use disarming strike to make an opponent drop their weapon, use a bonus action to kick it away and then on a second attack use mobile flourish to push them father from it.
2. You can use Defensive flourish to increase the likelihood they miss, and when they do you can retaliate with Riposte
3. You can combine sweeping attack and slashing flourish to do substantial damage to both your target and any adjacent enemies in the event they mob you.
These are only a few opportunities, which neglect to consider additional feats, spells, etc you can pick up along the way. In particular dipping hexblade immediately nets you Shield, which on top of defensive flourish and other options makes you extremely hard to hit. This kind of build is absolutely not the most powerful available, but it deserves very high marks for versatility and endurance. Rather than a DPS I see the fencer as a unique support build, one who can tank, disrupt enemies, face for the party (he is a bard) and hand out buffs with abandon.
The fencer does take a lot to get on line, and for campaigns restricted to early levels it might be better to spring for martial adept off of a variant human feat if you really want to play it. With that in mind I'm only going to be discussing mid-to-late level builds, just because that's more fun.
The core of the fencer is:
5 Bard, Swords College (Flourishes, Fighting style, Font of Inspiration, Great ability scores)
1 Hexblade (Weapon + Shield Proficiencies, CHA for weapons, Shield, Hex is also pretty fun)
3 Battlemaster Fighter (Extra Fighting Style, Action Surge, Maneuvers)
I think the fencer makes most sense going sword and board, with both Dueling and Defense fighting styles, its direct damage won't be great but this + medium armor + wielding a shield puts it at 19 AC with no penalty to stealth. 19 AC isn't particularly striking, but with Shield and Defensive Flourish (and possibly parry) it goes a long way.
Notice that I stopped at 5 bard instead of 6, where swords bard gains an extra attack. In truth all three classes in this build offer an extra attack option at some point, so it may be possible that you would benefit from stopping there. Ultimately once you have the core, it comes down to what you want to focus on: Fighter, Warlock or Bard.
Note all builds imply Bard/Warlock/Fighter
Bard Focus: (16/1/3 OR 12/5/3) (5 warlock grants you cloak of flies and eldritch smite, which is a tempting package. 16 bard gives you max inspiration die, unlimited die for the purpose of flourishes and an additional magical secrets)
PROS:
-By far the best at spellcasting (magic secrets, this advantage diminishes if you dip heavier into warlock)
-The most versatile
-Great buffs and debuffs
-The most flavorful
CONS:
-The most unimpressive melee damage (this is not a huge deal if you go eldritch smite)
Warlock Focus: 5/12/3
PROS:
-Lifedrinker and smite means this class does the most melee damage
-3 warlock spell slots (as opposed to 1 or 2 low-level slots)
-Fantastic options due to hexblade expanded spell list
-Darkness + Devils Sight
Cons:
-You get the least out of your special combat options
-less of a team player
-Just kind of feels like a hexblade
Fighter Focus: 5/1/14
PROS:
-Maximize feats due to all the ASIs fighters can take
-A third attack
-More maneuvers = more combat options and tricks, some maneuvers which feel weak at first owing to your lower dex (trip attack) become impressive
-Very good endurance
CONS:
-Limited spellcasting
-Damage might secretly be the lowest of the three
This is just a start. Does anyone else have any recommendations?
