Depends on what you mean by Blade Dancer, given it doesn't exist officially.
If you meant Bladesinger, I opt for that. Start with better AC, full spell options, more flexible, more options in and out of combat, able to generate greater damage and generally superior in every way except for HP.
This isn't to say Bladesingers are better than fighters in general, just comparing specifically to EK. I've played both and my Bladesinger was much better. But, this is just my perspective and preferences and I admit to being biased towards spellcasters - since Bladesinger is a full spellcaster while EK is only 1/3 spellcaster.
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Bladesinger. They do the whole gish thing way, way better. And I Stan for EK a ton on these forums. Their version of extra attack is the golden standard for combining cantrips and regular attacks. It really feels like the perfect marriage of the two concepts. To add to that, bladesinger is just incredibly tanky. 19 AC at 2nd lvl, with mage armor and bladesong, is just absurd. If you activate blur, things will rarely hit you. AND YOURE STILL A WIZARD!
It’s hard to not gravitate towards a Bladesinger Wizard.
The fact that they can swap out an Extra Attack with a cantrip…and still keep swinging a weapon…and still have a bonus action…just makes them very versatile.
Taking into account that they are full spellcasters who can choose to cast a big spell when they need to, and the Bladesinger just has so much they can do, round to round.
Eldritch Knight Fighters are specifically better at fighting in close-quarters…they have the defenses, the HP, and they have a way to enhance their saving throws. Action Surge, as usual, will make their weapon attacks a flurry of strikes. They can toss out a spell, and still swing their weapon…but they won’t be casting as many BIG spells.
Bladesingers are wizards first and front line fighters second. They can kinda tank with a good A.C. but they still have squishy Wizard UP.
Eldritch Knight are fighters that can tank better due to their limited but useful low level spells like Shield and Absorb Elements, and eventually Blur.. but their spell casting is very limited. Their war magic ability with cantrip + bonus action weapon attack is pretty good between 7th and 10th level, but it soon becomes less useful after they get their 3rd attack. Still, need to face tank for the party? Concentrate on Blur and use war magic for blade ward and make a melee attack with your bonus action.
However, Eldritch Knight go through spells very quickly in a days worth of encounters and dont get anything back until a long rest. A wizard has tons of more spells and has arcane recovery AND has the option to fall back on just being a wizard.
Should a Bladesinger do the job of a face tank? NO!!! But if there are other front liners in the party can help to fill thay hole and still be a wizard at the same time. An Eldritch Knight will still be badass with his weapon even after all his spells have run out and still be ablr to tank, but they arent going to be blasting people consistently. Just depends on what you envision PC to be.
I find it hard to say really; Bladesinger and Eldritch Knight are both good, but they're good for different reasons and don't actually overlap that much.
Sure, an Eldritch Knight runs out of spells more easily, but they're still a Fighter once they do; Fighters are really solid martials on their own, Eldritch Knight gives them Spellcasting on top which only makes a good martial even better. At the end of the adventuring day when spell slots have been burned they'll still be pumping out attacks and soaking up damage because so much of what is good about Fighters resets on a short rest. Fighters also get 7 Ability Score improvements, which means the Eldritch Knight's three ability split isn't actually that bad, and/or you can just ignore INT (plenty of spells don't really need it) and take feats instead, so you can more easily take War Caster and go sword and board.
I think it's wrong to describe Bladesingers as tanking; they can get a solid AC (plus other defensive bonuses) which they can layer spells onto, but keep in mind you only get limited uses for one minute at a time, and layering spells on requires more resources (especially if you want to further guarantee concentration checks with War Caster). I like them because they're a full wizard who can suddenly switch to being pretty damn good at melee, which is a fantastic defensive ability, or an offensive one when you need it.
My conclusion is that I like them both; Bladesinger is great at being a martial caster in short bursts, Eldritch Knight can do it all day long and either better or worse depending upon level (e.g- once they get Shadow Blade you can attack four times a round with it, and while the damage scales up slowly, you're also scaling in attacks). They're both good, so it's a tough decision between the two.
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To be honest, I don’t think they are directly comparable. Bladesingers are full Wizards with unrestricted access to game-breaking spells like Web, Hypnotic Pattern, Polymorph, etc. Even if you play the gish style focusing in Shadow Blade or Haste or something else, you are versatile and you will always have opportunities to leverage those spells.
Eldritch Knights are totally different animals. Tankiest Fighter sub-class by far that receives some extra offense from things like Shadow Blade or War Magic with Booming Blade. But the truth is that EK differentiators are the defensive spells.
I think bladesinger is by far more powerful. I think eldritch knight fits the mold of gish better. Personally I wish bard was a 1/2 caster with the valor bard features baked into the class before taking subclasses and with more emphasis on bardic inspiration. Give them full access to wiz/druid spells levels 1-5.
Between Blade Singer vs Eldritch Knight which one would you consider better and why?
This is not for a build just in general.
Edit: Changed blade dancer to actual name of subclass
Depends on what you mean by Blade Dancer, given it doesn't exist officially.
If you meant Bladesinger, I opt for that. Start with better AC, full spell options, more flexible, more options in and out of combat, able to generate greater damage and generally superior in every way except for HP.
This isn't to say Bladesingers are better than fighters in general, just comparing specifically to EK. I've played both and my Bladesinger was much better. But, this is just my perspective and preferences and I admit to being biased towards spellcasters - since Bladesinger is a full spellcaster while EK is only 1/3 spellcaster.
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Bladesinger. They do the whole gish thing way, way better. And I Stan for EK a ton on these forums. Their version of extra attack is the golden standard for combining cantrips and regular attacks. It really feels like the perfect marriage of the two concepts. To add to that, bladesinger is just incredibly tanky. 19 AC at 2nd lvl, with mage armor and bladesong, is just absurd. If you activate blur, things will rarely hit you. AND YOURE STILL A WIZARD!
Nambre, sir. Bladesinger all the way.
If you meant bladesinger vs eldritch knight, i would say bladesinger
Sorry I meant blade singer don't know why I must have been tired when I posted
It’s hard to not gravitate towards a Bladesinger Wizard.
The fact that they can swap out an Extra Attack with a cantrip…and still keep swinging a weapon…and still have a bonus action…just makes them very versatile.
Taking into account that they are full spellcasters who can choose to cast a big spell when they need to, and the Bladesinger just has so much they can do, round to round.
Eldritch Knight Fighters are specifically better at fighting in close-quarters…they have the defenses, the HP, and they have a way to enhance their saving throws. Action Surge, as usual, will make their weapon attacks a flurry of strikes. They can toss out a spell, and still swing their weapon…but they won’t be casting as many BIG spells.
Bladesingers are wizards first and front line fighters second. They can kinda tank with a good A.C. but they still have squishy Wizard UP.
Eldritch Knight are fighters that can tank better due to their limited but useful low level spells like Shield and Absorb Elements, and eventually Blur.. but their spell casting is very limited. Their war magic ability with cantrip + bonus action weapon attack is pretty good between 7th and 10th level, but it soon becomes less useful after they get their 3rd attack. Still, need to face tank for the party? Concentrate on Blur and use war magic for blade ward and make a melee attack with your bonus action.
However, Eldritch Knight go through spells very quickly in a days worth of encounters and dont get anything back until a long rest. A wizard has tons of more spells and has arcane recovery AND has the option to fall back on just being a wizard.
Should a Bladesinger do the job of a face tank? NO!!! But if there are other front liners in the party can help to fill thay hole and still be a wizard at the same time. An Eldritch Knight will still be badass with his weapon even after all his spells have run out and still be ablr to tank, but they arent going to be blasting people consistently. Just depends on what you envision PC to be.
A would go for bladesinger although you could just multiclass both together
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I find it hard to say really; Bladesinger and Eldritch Knight are both good, but they're good for different reasons and don't actually overlap that much.
Sure, an Eldritch Knight runs out of spells more easily, but they're still a Fighter once they do; Fighters are really solid martials on their own, Eldritch Knight gives them Spellcasting on top which only makes a good martial even better. At the end of the adventuring day when spell slots have been burned they'll still be pumping out attacks and soaking up damage because so much of what is good about Fighters resets on a short rest. Fighters also get 7 Ability Score improvements, which means the Eldritch Knight's three ability split isn't actually that bad, and/or you can just ignore INT (plenty of spells don't really need it) and take feats instead, so you can more easily take War Caster and go sword and board.
I think it's wrong to describe Bladesingers as tanking; they can get a solid AC (plus other defensive bonuses) which they can layer spells onto, but keep in mind you only get limited uses for one minute at a time, and layering spells on requires more resources (especially if you want to further guarantee concentration checks with War Caster). I like them because they're a full wizard who can suddenly switch to being pretty damn good at melee, which is a fantastic defensive ability, or an offensive one when you need it.
My conclusion is that I like them both; Bladesinger is great at being a martial caster in short bursts, Eldritch Knight can do it all day long and either better or worse depending upon level (e.g- once they get Shadow Blade you can attack four times a round with it, and while the damage scales up slowly, you're also scaling in attacks). They're both good, so it's a tough decision between the two.
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To be honest, I don’t think they are directly comparable. Bladesingers are full Wizards with unrestricted access to game-breaking spells like Web, Hypnotic Pattern, Polymorph, etc. Even if you play the gish style focusing in Shadow Blade or Haste or something else, you are versatile and you will always have opportunities to leverage those spells.
Eldritch Knights are totally different animals. Tankiest Fighter sub-class by far that receives some extra offense from things like Shadow Blade or War Magic with Booming Blade. But the truth is that EK differentiators are the defensive spells.
Curious if the 2024 update improves the Eldritch knight enough to catch up? I assume not, but still better than it was.
I think bladesinger is by far more powerful. I think eldritch knight fits the mold of gish better. Personally I wish bard was a 1/2 caster with the valor bard features baked into the class before taking subclasses and with more emphasis on bardic inspiration. Give them full access to wiz/druid spells levels 1-5.
Bladesinger because it is a full spellcaster. Wizard is my favorite class (I run evoker) followed by druid (Stars).
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