Steel Wind Strike is also melee spell attack instead of Saving Throw, so enemies with Magic Resistance or Evasion can't use this abilities to avoid damage. Also... force... Also... style points!

Haste is how you make a dual-wielding Bladesinger work. Wield two shortswords and cast Booming Blade, then take the Attack action with your Hasted action, qualifying you to attack with your other weapon as a bonus action. Also another small thing is that Mage Armor could be considerably better if your party has a pair of Bracers of Defense, as long as you aren't taking them away from a Monk or a Barbarian it makes your AC a base of 15 + Dex + Int.

"you're a wizard they should be jealous of YOU." Truer words were never spoken!

Song of defense is best used against a critical in my experience. Shield cant help, and crits are what get damage through the bladesinger's awesome AC and onto your poor HP. Flat damage reduction is more efficient when used with low HP characters because the flat reduction represents a larger percentage of your overall HP. It also makes your concentration saves a piece of cake when song of defense gets the DC down to 10.

Haste doesn't necessarily give you the damage buff you'd like to have, but does increase your AC, Movement, and that additional damage can be used to dodge, dash, disengage. In circumstances when you're against enemies that rely on attacks, a hasted bladesinger using their free dodges becomes nearly untouchable.

Build Summary 1:High Elf, Booming Blade. Wizard 1: Arcana, History, Minor Illusion, Green-Flame Blade, Toll the Dead, Shield*, Mage Armor*, Sleep*, Absorb Elements, Find Familiar, Detect Magic. 10/14/14/15/10/8. Noble, Stealth. Quarter staff, Component Pouch, buy Longbow. 2: Wizard 2, Bladesinger, Rapier, buy Studded Leather Rapier, Grease*, Comprehend Languages 3: Wizard 3, Mirror Image*, Flaming Sphere*, Sleep(*) 4: Wizrward 4, Warcaster Feat, Misty Step*, Web*, Mage Armor(*), Ray of Frost 5: Wizard 5, Hypnotic Pattern*, Leomund’s Tiny Hut 6: Wizard 6, Counterspell*, Slow*, Web(*) 7: Wizard 7, Fire Shield, Polymorph* 8: Wizard 8, INT x2, Watery Sphere*, Greater Invisibility, Fire Shield* 10: Wizard 10, Fire bolt, Wall of Force*, Rary’s Telepathic Bond, Steel Wind Strike*, Animate Objects*, Flaming Sphere(*) 12: Wizard 12, Tough, Dimension Door, Contingency, Mass Suggestion*, Soul Cage* 14: Wizard 14, Simulacrum, Forcecage*, Crown of Stars*, Teleport 16: Wizard 16, ASI INT x2, Maze*, Demi plane, Antimagic Field*, Mind Blank, Teleport* 18: Wizard 18, Spell Mastery: Misty Step Shield, Wish*, Foresight*, True Polymorph, Prismatic Wall 20: Wizard 20, Alert, Dispel Magic, Thunder step, Water Breathing, Clairvoyance, Signature Spells: Dispel Magic Thunder Step

The only spell/cantrip that you can't take with you on that character is "toll the dead" to make it an Adventurers League legal character, there's are many ways to obtain the XGtE spells in AL since a wizard's spellbook is one of the few if not only thing free of the PHB+1 restriction (you can copy spells from other wizard's but you can't choose spells from sources outside your PHB+1 as your level up spells). I understand that this video was made with the intent of not scribing any scrolls to make it as bone stock as possible but I figured it was worth mentioning that you can collect spells from other people (or scrolls) quite easily to put in your spellbook.

A subclass i never felt the need to play....this changes now..Ty Treantmonk.

Well, I do think one of the more fun aspects of the booming blade/flaming sphere thing, is you're giving the mob a choice to take that bonus damage from booming blade or that damage from flaming sphere for ending their turn next to it.

Surprised that he didn't recommend Shadow Blade, because it is a bonus action to cast (meaning you can cast it and in the same round), does 3d8+mod psychic damage when cast at level 3, combines with your multiattack at level 6 (meaning that if you hit both attacks with a lvl 3 SB you average 33 damage if you have a plus 3 dex), gives you advantage in dim and dark light, AND it is a light finesse weapon so you can use it with two-weapon fighting! That little level 2 spell can prove pretty potent even at higher levels. Bonus points if you combine it with booming blade on your reaction attack and nail the guy running away with it doing 6d8+3 for something like 34-35 damage, and may god have mercy on whoever you crit with that hit.

Great video! I just started playing a Bladesinger and will look at some of your suggestions. Thanks for all of the hard work you put in.

Thank you for being such a tremendeously nerdy nerd! Not planning to play a bladesinger in a long time, but this is still great fun to listen to. I disagree with a lot of choices, which is great, since it forces me to try to understand the advantages with your approach.

Really happy to see the added Adventurer's league stuff at the end of the video.

I just found this channel by searching blade singer, and man you are awesome dude! Such a detailed breakdown, I am in love.

Excellent build. Thank you for including the DnD beyond link!

God wizard would be an awesome next video, thanks for the guides. I love these

Thanks for throwing in the piece about AL!

31:08 Glad you brought this up cause I can't even be sure if this is an oversight of Bladesong or not. You can't use any armor higher than light, use a shield or two-hand a weapon. But there's nothing saying you can't wield _two_ weapons while using it. The whole point of Bladesong is to be a one handed weapon wielder while also being a wizard. But not restricting two-weapon fighting makes that 14th level feature kinda terrifying. If you can't add your ability mod to the off hand damage, you still add your Int mod to it. Talk about compensation.

As an aside, critical hits and fails are only for attack rolls, not ability checks or saving throws. So, if you manage to get a +9 to a Concentration save, you will always roll a 10 or higher. So dumping one of the two 10 stats down to an 8 so you can pump constitution to 15 allows you to round it out with Resilient (Con). So at level 5, you would have 16 con, 16 int and proficiency in constitution saves. When you bladesing, your concentration save bonus will be +9 (3 con, 3 int, 3 from proficiency). Unless you take 22 damage from one hit, you will never lose concentration. Also your HP is higher and you can resist poison and make other con saves more effectively. Plus, the dice can't screw with you nearly as much. I love Warcaster though, and I highly recommend it all the time.

We need an update for this! So cool but there is a lot of changes with Tashas. Now we need value on weapon used for most spells so no more shadow blade combos. Still worth? Cantrip as one of the attacks at level 6. Elven accuracy, warcaster, mobile are all great options. So much to analyze!

Bladesinger/Rune knight is incredible. Reminds me of the moon-elves in The Dragon Prince.

This is a great video for an awesome subclass and really deserves more views

The lore makes perfect sense. It could reasonably be restricted to good aligned drow and have a code like paladin. Dark Sister is best Sister.

I love your stuff! This is interesting but next week! Next week! Diviner God wizard?! YES!!!

Any reason why you don't pick up shadow blade? Booming blade/greenflame blade are probably better early game but when you get that extra attack shadow blade really picks up. At that point a 3rd level spell slot isn't a big deal and you get a 3d8+dex weapon with an advantage on attack condition that isn't too hard to meet.

Here to sing the praises of the Dexterity (Acrobatics) skill and it's use for a high Dex wizard (or really any one with a higher Dex then Str). The Dexterity (Acrobatics) can be used to defend in grapple challenges. That's it. It's how you don't loose all movement (you know your first line of defence) when the enemies get all grabby hands

Dissonant Whispers and other forced movement spells won’t provoke the damage for BB on the forced part of the movement but will provoke the damage when the forced movement is over and the enemy has to move back into range if the timing is right. Make sure your teammates know that and they leave the enemies where they have to move back into range.

I have to say I'd still do my 1st 3 lvls as Eldritch Knight, you still get a 9th level spell and spell slot, 2 extra cantrips, more hits and Con save proficiency, action surge, second wind, combat style etc, you use a shield for the 1st 3 levels, and you can take it up again when/if you run out of Spell songs.

There can be no doubt that you really understand the wizard at a fundamental level. My wish for this video would have been for you to maximize the idea of the blade singer. Two levels of fighter would not have hurt this character at all but would have made a huge difference in their abilities. Also shadow blade seems like a must. With all that said you sir are an internet treasure and I am great full for your wisdom... or should I say intelligence ;)

Ever since someone mentioned the X Abjurer/1 Hexblade here in the comments, I can't stop tinkering with various versions of both the build and background. Makes me want to start a new campaign just to play it. Really curious what your take on it will be. On a side note, I think you should include "step-by-step guide" or "in-depth guide" either in video's title or somewhere on the thumbnail. It won't make your videos any shorter, but people who run into it will at least know it's not some kind of uncut VOD.

Love the video. Bladesinger is my favourite specialisation of Wizard, which is also my favourite class in the game. There's just so many options. I have never had two Wizards be the same in 5th Edition and that is why I love them so much. One thing I do like to do is putting CON up to 15 as it makes taking Resilient (Con) more viable (You are more likely to be able to do this if you roll stats like my group does, instead of going Point Buy). I recent; found myself in a one shot where I was able to stack Resilient (Con) and War Caster. My Concentration save was so absurdly high I think the DM was reaching for the bottle. We were 8th Level and I was looking at +11 to my Concentration Checks, with advantage, allowing me to auto-pass checks from attacks that didn't hit me for 26 or more damage. Having both War Caster and Resilient (Con) is probably overkill but I rolled well enough to use it without hurting my INT and DEX too much. RE: Two Attacks. If you aren't restricted by AL rules and can take Shadow Blade from Xanathar's it's an interesting melee option if you want to be more of a Gish than Wizard. It scales pretty well and can just be handed off to the Fighter, or a Rogue if it's way too dangerous to get into melee. It uses Concentration but is a Bonus Action to cast so you are getting at least your two swings in with it before you might have to drop Concentration for something else. If you are sticking to being primarily a Wizard though, there are better things to spend your Concentration on for sure. In the same level range where you can use it with Extra Attack, there is Flaming Sphere that is still good around there (unless you run into resistances). Animate Objects and Steelwind Strike are also better at later levels too. I agree with you 100% on Shadow Blade in your 2nd Level Spells Video but in the case if a Bladesinger, it's definitely an option if you aren't restricted by AL Rules, especially if you have party members who can really use it (or you are running a Multiclass Gish build). That said you can pass it to a Familiar as well as it's a Simple Weapon, though technically a Familiar doesn't have Simple Weapon Proficiency so not all DMs will allow it.

can agree to the statement about Xanathar's spells. Many of them can rather easily be substituted by a PHB spell. Or, like you also explained in the 8th level spell guide, are just not really made for adventuring and more for the downtime in between. Like Mighty Fortress in this case.

What lost me in this build it's knowing so many concentration spells, with full casters i normally limit myself to one combat concentration spell per spell lvl and the rest go with non concentration and out of combat options. Spells like Animate Dead, Arcane Eye, Charm Monster, Dispel Magic, Thunder Step, good ol fireball are great at tier 2 while you concentrate in Hypnotic Pattern/Polymorph.

Thanks for the guide its really close to my character I am playing only I went with shadowblade for some fun :) But I also bought some more spells and so (only lvl 9 yet)

Notably, Acrobatics allows you to resist grapples, that's probably why they give you advantage in it. One of the ways to shut down a melee caster is grapple+shove prone.

Dissonant Whispers does indeed activate Booming Blade, it also triggers AOOs and anything else that requires the creature to move of it's own accord.

I always thought of the Bladesinger as a mage - defensive swordman. So ideas that you may think stupid. This is me just saying what I like. First, only one melee a cantrip. I use Booming blade because if you have two targets attacking you they are likely to flank and that bad news as it makes your AC bonus far less less effective. Also hurting two targets just does not seem as valuable as making one target take a good hit and then using that threat of damage to lock them down as you leave to the side of the second target. Never should you approach two targets and give them an easy opportunity to flank if you fail to kill them both. Second, I guess I am the only one that likes Chill touch. Making it so that the one archers I see that will try to hit me will have that disadvantage (thus making AC harder to hit. (I love the mage hand/Chill touch RP) I like Fey Teleportation early on. I see three benefits to getting very early. (Let the preaching to the Chair begin). You will use it almost as often as a shield. With your higher speed and a misty step it, give you a barracuda attack pattern there you go in, take a swipe and bounce out. You want to do that over anything else and having it on tap is critical. You want to help on an attack make another spellcaster make a save and bail. Also, a way out when you get over your head in battle and to stop most grappling attacks. You are still a squishy wizard and this gets you out of bad places. It does not take a preparation that you really will need even sub level 8. And because it is short rest that means every time you get both your Bladesong back and a spell you will almost always want to use. Because it gives you +1 it can help for those that do the rolled attributes.

Important point. If you use longbow, your blade song will end, as you made a two handed attack with a weapon. This makes a ranged cantrip a must have for me. The longbow does outpace Firebolt more then he says tho, since Longbow can be used with extra attack, its two longbows vs 1 firebolt.

Just play the Bladesinger as a high-defense wizard and you'll be OP. There's always the option of switching back to melee if you get something like a Belt of Storm Giant Strength or a Moonblade, but for the most part people salivating over crap like Tenser's Transformation makes me cry. Having Fear and Fly in your back pocket will crush way more encounters than Haste or Shadow Blade ever could.

My favourite way to play the bladesinger is to use a longbow with a batman-wizard build. The level 6 extra attack doesn't specify that the attack has to be melee so, no need to take offensive cantrips. Some of the other benefits of baldesong don't work with the bow but it's no biggie to drop it when needed and draw short-swords. The longbow does more damage than cantrips, has more range (at disadvantage) and gives you the option of taking sharpshooter once you've got 20 Int. It's a nice option to have because murdering the hell out of enemies stuck in webs across the map is a great way to avoid taking concentration saves. Still, I understand those who would prioritize other feats. I've had positive experiences with this build!

when i built my bladesinger i went with the Shadar-kai elf cause the Dex is really good for all those reasons you brought up but the Constitution is also really helpful for concentration and overall duribility which is decent for a melee wizard whom might take a couple hits dispite all attempts to protect themselves.

Thats pretty nice content! Would be glad to see a post tasha’s bladesinger

Bladesinger build? Nice. From what i played as a rogue 3, wizard 5 melee is fun especially as a swashbuckler. High AC, Good Skill Selection but still bad hp. Having the mobile feat, a whip, or the swashbuckler feature are all great for a hit and run mid range tatic without wasting bonus actions too. Suggestion, haste, shield, and blink are all great. Mirror Image is too slow and waste a turn. Booming blade and flaming sphere is ok. Lets see what you have lol.

Man, am I the only one who had to relisten a few times to figure out he was saying Eberron? I wasn't watching, just listening on my headset, so I didn't see him pointing to it. Feel silly that it took me so long😋

I'd honestly consider taking a 1 level dip into Hexblade Warlock (Non-AL legal obviously). You can take 2 flavour cantrips (or take something like Booming Blade, which is not based off your Char). For the 2 1st level spells, I like Hex for some extra damage (either spell or weapon) & armour of agathys (some nice defence, works well with fire shield). Hexblade's curse is just nice all around, since the bonus is just to damage rolls. Hex + Hexblades curse can make something like scorching ray a great single target spell (each beam does 2d6 + your proficiency bonus fire + 1d6 necrotic). Hexblades curse can make magic missile a lot more dangerous (say you're level 9, each missile deals 1d4+5 damage to your curses target, meaning you deal a guaranteed 15 damage using a 1st level slot, and a maximum of 27). The best part of hexblades curse though is that it can make booming blade even more nasty. You can hit someone for the weapons damage + your proficiency bonus damage + the thunder damage + any other bonuses. If they decide to move, they take the secondary damage + your proficiency bonus damage. Since we most likely have war caster, this makes an especially nasty attack of opportunity. Now obviously this slows your spell casting down, but since it's only a 1 level dip, I find it more tolerable. I wouldn't do it until I have probably 7 levels of wizard though (to get the most out of polymorph at level 7/8).

Polymorph is great.. but Giant Ape is about the only form you'd use on your party. Most beasts have between Int 2 and Int 4, which is not exactly conducive to tactical coordination.

31:13 oh, so THAT’S how you make Gandalf in DnD.

Booming blade works a lot better for arcane tricksters, or rogues with magic initiative. I personally kind of prefer lightning lure or the one that attacks everything within 5 ft of you, but neither of them uses your weapon.

I particularly like Greater invisibility as a means of evading spells that require sight

The deep gnome in.my opinion best race for this class

What are thoughts on taking mobility instead of the alert feat? You can basically move in attack and get back without the opportunity attacks. Especially now with the double attack/cantrip option.

Booming Blade is good at 5th level. So i would take it at level 4. And on level 3 is Dragon's Breath way much better than flaming sphere. Give it to your familiar (owl) as a bonus action.

I read about elf eladrin: +2 dex +1 int ( exist another version +2 dex +1 cha) what do you think about for a bladesinger ( he has misty step but 1 control less: so I take minor illusion, green flame blade, toll the dead at level 4 booming blade or do you hint anything different?)

Really surprised that Tenser's transformation is not picked at lvl 11, you get 2d6+4d12+dex and another 1d6+2d12 with your bonus attack when dual wielding. Also 50 temp hp which is insane along with permanent advantage on attacks during the 10 minute concentration

It has begun... Thanks for what you do, TreantMonk. You rock. I get that people want to play a wizard that is in the fight on the front line, but why? Just to make the first few levels a little more survivable? Most of my games get through tier 1 really quickly as DMs (that I play with) don't relish in TPKs and they rush through 1-3 really quickly. It seems to me that what one gets from bladesinger doesn't make up for what you lose from one of the better school of magic sub-classes. Of course, it might just be that I hate eleves (yeah, I am one of those annoying players that has an irrational dislike of all things elven). Thanks again, Optimagus Chris.

Made a blade singer today, am hyped

Guys....he made this video before Tasha's came out. He made a video about the changes and how it effects this build. Personally I think a level 3 dip(at least) into Artificer Battle Smith is leet.

One of my favourite characters is a High Elf Arcane Trickster with 2 levels of Bladesinger. He is less a wizard with a sword than he is a wizard who... makes things disappear unnoticed. But sometimes he uses a sword for that rather than a spell.

Please double check on the sage advice ruling of Booming Blade and Dissonant whispers being a legitimate combo.

Why did you not pick the Shadow Blade spell? I use it as my main when i play a bladesinger.

At least the way AL is run where I play, wizards can sort of "cheat" and get spells outside the phb+1 range by somehow getting a spellbook or scroll - and scribing it into their spellbook. So absorb elements and other xanathar spells are easily gotten by a bladesinger. In AL you can just buy spell scrolls with gold (maybe not all levels but iirc it goes up to at least lvl 5) - and spellbooks drop in many modules. Cantrips can't be gotten this way, but players use cantrip scrolls, which are cheap, to use cantrips they otherwise have no access to.

Wizards getting their subclass at level 2 is a mixed bag to me. Spend years unlocking the secrets of the arcane, get a few magic tricks and the ability to be a minor reality warper. Which is about the same as those born with the gift(sorcerers) or those who took the quick path(warlocks). And both of those get more innate abilities than the wizard as well. I honestly think that WOTC could have moved the signature spell abilities that wizards get back a few levels to like about level 10, if not five. As for Bladesingers themselves, I admit I love them. They have the potential to have the most AC in the game, so melee isn't a bad thing for them. Wish they got Zephyr Strike or that there were more weapon attack spell options. Parts of Tensers Transformation might work as a last ditch effort depending, I'll admit I haven't looked at that spell for awhile. Also, why can't you use a shield, or buckler, with bladesong WOTC? Is it just because you don't get proficiency with shields or bucklers? Is there a deeper lore reason I'm unaware of? I get that it'd be a bit unbalancy but that's honestly kind of a poor explanation.

I am surprised at the lack of non-combat cantrips. No light cantrips of any kind? No prestidigitation or mending? FOUR attack cantrips?

Hi man. I have a question for you: Why dont your take Shadowblade at level 2? When you hit two times on level 6, you deal 4D8 damage + your dex (+6 for an instance..). Whith your build, flaming sphere (it´s a great spell), deals 3D6 (with saving)+1D8+DEX+1d8... and when you reach level 5, you can cast shadowblade in order to deal 3d8 dmg... Why is better flaming sphere and one hit with booming blade, than sadowblade? Congratulation for your space, I love it.

Can we get a hexblade/vengeance paladin multiclass video? Would love to see a build from you

It was my understanding from phb (p.203) that the same hand using the material components (or arcane focus) could perform the somatic components. Removing the need for one of the perks of Warcaster. Now it still seems like a solid choice for a feat. I am wondering if you disagreed with that reading of the casting rules and why? If allowing for one hand to wield a wand, another a rapier and still cast out of the gate, would you still grab warcaster at lvl 4? (without recoursing to any drop/swap shenanigans )

Thank you.

When you say that using two hands to make an attack with a weapon is something we will never do, are you intending that we will only use the longbow in those situations when we don't use bladesong?

This video needs a redo, I vote Goblin!

@Treant. Great. Always wanted to play one., but why toughness and not resilience? Question. How would you make a character emphasizing the use and up casting of shadowblade as primary melee weapon. Upcasting based on threat level. 1. A bladesinger with many spell slots to upcast based on threat lvl and gets the 2 attacks with it, or a sorcerer who can extend the duration and damage dice roll but 1 attack or a warlock who can use devil sight darkness and Moil but 1 attack. I was thinking bladesinger 18 fighter 2. Action surge for 2 spells or 2 more attacks and fighting style duelist. Prestidigitation to snuff out a torch get dim light if not already dim. For shadow blade advantage. 3 spells lvl 2-5 1 spell 6-9. higher tier creature spell saves and resists can reduce spell casting damage to 1/2 or 1/3 or less for wizards so either you battle field control spells or shadow blade psychic damage up to 5d8 per attack plus to hit and damage including bb or gfb and duelist.

Isn't shadowblade the best damage option? Requires concentration but when in melee with 2 attacks it does good damage and scales well.

First of all: thank you for all your guides. I play wizard from.. ever and when i read your guide for 5e i totally agree with you. I love to play the wizard as GOD. Help me here. I'm a DM and (incredible) i found a substitute for an adventure. It's my big occasion (cheersss) and i want to play my wizard ofc. The problem is that i dont know what to choose cause i love all the traditions (except necromancy cause it's too much focused on the undead army type and it's not mine). The party is all ranged (rogue, ranger SS, cleric grave, wild sorcerer and celestial warlock) and the other master doesnt undestrand the game and how encounters work (this is the reason all my group ask me to dm all the time ahahaha). His encounters are always deadly till someone die and the mob start playing less aggressive or some miss happens. Yesterday i tryed a cleric in full tank mode (plate-shield-hill dwarf for hp) and in the last encounter i died twice with SG up, haste and dodge!. So i decided to go back to my love, the wizard. Against such threats, Bladesinger or Battlemage i think, i both of the cases i will problably focus entirely on control while ranged kill mobs. I?m here for a sort of brainstorming ahahahah ! sorry i dont know if this is the good place to ask, but i was watching (again) your bladesinger video and i tought to ask here! In this campaign we have a bonus talent, so with a BS i was thinking about 16 dex 16 int 14 wis (13+ Resilience Con), a +1 in wisdom and rest str and cha (27 PB)

Will you do arcane trickster and eldritch knight after all the wizard subclasess?

I have a question because I cant seem to find a ruling on this. Can you cast glyph of warding on an object inside of a bag of holding? Kind of like a batman utility belt I guess.

Thank the D&D gods for Tasha's book

shadow blade for me. or haste for added ac and options depending on tactics and enemies

The dimension door + Contingency is good but I'd think thunder step would be better if your boxed in.

I think at L8 you should include Mobility. Since you focus so much on Booming Blade, Mobility would really help it to trigger.

Mirror Image doesn't guarantee an attack misses. If the attack beats your AC, you roll to see if it instead hits the copy and if it rolls under the number based on how many copies you have left, it still hits you and they roll damage. Even if they miss your AC but still beat 10+your Dex, you still roll to see if it destroys a copy. So yes, it makes it very hard to land a hit on you, but it by no means guarentees they miss.

Another idea for Song of Defence; if you're getting hit with a physical attack and you know it's going to hit even if you cast Shield, this would be better. Obviously this depends on guessing (or knowing) how high the attack role was to begin with though.

Wood elf. Tho with bugbear and a few others counting as fey now.. and bladesinger being open to all races anyways... i keep wanting a monk hybrid with wallwalking but hard to work the ability score. Or warlock for armor of agathys. Workin on a character that does damage as walking by provoking reduced damage op attacks which also uses up reactions if planned well.

What would be some recommended items for a pure Bladesinger character ?

I'm new to this, but my PHB doesnt show Stealth as an option for the Noble background, only History and Persuassion. What am I missing? I really want to have that skill!

lv 7 43:48 lv 8 46:53 lv 9-10 50:20 song of defense cantrip 54:33 spell 55:29 lv 11-12 58:36

+8 reckless attack half-orc barbrute with 6 attacks.

Hey Treantmonk, any thoughts on Tashas cauldron of everything mentioning a new bladesinger variant or rework? I am so excited. So hoping the take this in the right direction.

I mean, potential ac 25-28 with shield is nothing to sneeze at.

Hi, and thank you again for your immense work on these videos! I have a high elf bladesinger that is level 3 at the moment. I'm a bit conflicted as to how to use my ASIs, because I rolled very high during the creation of my character. His stats are the following : STR : 7 DEX : 16 CON : 15 INT : 19 WIS : 14 CHA : 10 Are there some better strategies I should consider due to such high stats? I was thinking of maximizing INT and increasing CON to 16 at 4th level, but I'm afraid of locking myself out of some feat that gives +1 INT (because the +1 would be useless after I max it). Maybe I should only be taking feats for ASIs? I really don't know! Any opinions?

40:15 does Song of Victory make Haste viable? how would you build a melee bladesinger around Song of Victory?

at start go dagger and go high dex then you give more damage then staff.

As 8lv mele Bladesinger (+2 paladin, 10lv total) in AL, there are few things from me: 1lv. - Longbow - never thought about that. It is a great idea for sure! Most of the time you are going to use one of the 3 basic range cantrips that deal fire/cold/necrotic damage (cause Toll is from another book), and longbow is just nice upgrade for early levels and I can say that it is going to be better than cantrips even at 10lv if enemies have no resistance to nonmagical weapons. - never take Green Flame-Blade. Seriously - NEVER. It is just a waste o cantrip slot. Booming is... "even", but only paired with WarCaster feat. After 6lv you are going to never use those. 3lv. - I am probably one of few ppl, who dislike Mirror Image spell for mele Bladesinger (or for every mele caster). Waste of action. It is going to end almost always a the next turn after you cast this. Just use Blur or Flaming Sphere. OR Shadow Blade if you are able to get this from scrolls or another spellbook. 4lv. - WarCaster is... Fine? As long as you are playing with bards or another classes that can force "willingly" movement from opponent it becomes "Good" with BoomingBlade. Or as long as you are going to play with 2 weapons. Otherwise it is just only advantage on concetration savings. Take +2 dex or Moblie feat instead. 5lv. - 3lv spells: Blink and any other spell (fireball, slow, hypnotic pattern, Dispel Magic, counterspell or Tiny Hut). Now Blink is going to be your only one defense and it is enough for sure - you are untouchable for 50% of time and you get +10 movement speed. Shadow Blade on concentration = 3d8+dex. - About haste spell - it is "meh" until you are going to face really big amount of enemies, so just dodge action and dual wielding (21-22ac+dis on attack rolls). 6lv. - cd. About haste spell - OR it is going to be impressive after you get ring of spell storing. Cast haste on the ring and put it on your familiar. Now you get 21ac + 9d8+12 damage every turn (3attacks x 3d8+dexMod) wich is ~50-55dmg. 7lv. - Fire shiled - it is fine, but not necessary. Just use absorb elements. Now we are done with my own version of Bladesinger. Above 6lv - cast Shadow Blade as 5 and 7lv spell. At 14lv character with paladin dip we are able to deal around 130 dmg per round x3 rounds. That is... good amout for mele character I guess? Or ~75-80 with only "pure" bladesinger character with 7lv shadow blade or 5lv shadow blade +7lv crown of stars, so that is 90-100 per round. But from me - do not multiclass. Bladesinger is just strong enough.

If you had to make this AL legal, would you consider using war magic subclass instead from xgte to get acsess to xgte spells and loose the sceg cantrips? Or would sticking with this build and loosing xgte spells be better?

EH-Berr-on, not a-BEAR-in

I wonder how you would make a multiclass between a psi warrior fighter and a bladesinger wizard. I saw this combination in a multiclass top (where "the guardian" was also, your multiclass of fighter, barbarian and wizard, really incredible, that's why I watch your videos) and it seemed like an interesting idea, but I don't know if it would really optimize to the class of the bladesinger more than if it were a pure wizard as you propose in this video...

High elves already have competence in longbow, as well as shortbows, shortswords and longswords

Any chance we could have the cliff notes of how Tashas changes this with the bladesinger update? Great video dude.

A minor point, but still kinda important: running around in studded leather armor and carrying a bow and sword means you don't *look* like a wizard until the spells start flying. Remember, "geek the mage first" is just as true in D&D as in Shadowrun. If you're careful and subtle about where and how you deploy your magic, the enemy might not know which one of the party is the mage, but if you're rocking up looking like Dumbledore, there's a good chance they're gonna make special effort to kill you specifically.

Hey Chris, i have Question. You mentioned casting spells out of combat and without prepairing them, how can you do that with it being a Ritual spell?

Myself I would trade out Tough feat for Elven accuracy. If you can get flanking you have 3 rolls to hit your target (initial, advantage, feat) so you should hit unless your very bad at rolling dice.

how much of a bad idea it is to start with a rogue before doing this build, due to story reason? possible getting 2nd level as well for cunning action. was about to ask this at the ultimate arcane trickster vid, but decided its better to do it here