I am pondering a bladesinger build and would appreciate others' thoughts. I have played a lot of wizards but never a bladesinger. It strikes me that the subclass is highly dependent on maxing Int, having a high or max Dex, and having Resilient (Con) or War caster. This makes it very difficult to plan for a character that will achieve these milestones in a timeframe that is meaningful. Parking the idea of getting a free feat at level 1, I can see two options.
The first is most straightforward: variant human taking War caster or Resilient (Con) at level 1 with starting stats 8 16 14 16 10 (or 12 with Resilient) 8. ASIs would be used to max Int by level 12 and Dex by level 16 with the level 19 feat being mobile or something else. Bladesinger weapon would be short sword to accommodate dual wielding.
The second option would involve taking a 1-level dip into artificer at level 1. Race would be high elf or eladrin (DMG) with starting stats 8 17 14 16 10 8. This approach would provide some key advantages:
Elven accuracy would be taken at level 4 with Int maxed by level 12 and Dex by level 16. Again the level 19 feat would be TBD. My calculations suggest that Elven Accuracy would increase the DPR of shadow blade at a target AC of 15 by 20% or more. Shadow blade would be utilized whenever dual wielding from level 3 onward, and advantage could reliably be had on each first attack (owl familiar) or when in dim light. Elven accuracy would also have a sizable impact if casting blade of disaster.
Dipping into artificer would provide Con save proficiency (much better than advantage on concentration saves with War caster at high levels), some useful spells (cure wounds, guidance, sanctuary, thorn whip, and to a lesser extent faerie fire due to competing opportunities for concentration), and the ability to use a shield when out of bladesong uses.
The elf racial abilities (weapons, darkvision, perception, advantage on saves against charm) would be useful, and unlike the variant human, this build could access both rapier and short sword.
However, there are many downsides, some more painful than others.
Taking the 1-level dip would not impact spell slots but would delay access to higher spells by 1 level. Spellcasting would be on par with the single-class build at even character levels but would feel bad at odd levels.
ASIs and wizard abilities, including access to bladesong and extra attack, would be delayed by 1 level.
By multiclassing, the character would lose the wizard capstone, signature spells, which provides multiple free castings of 2 level 3 spells per day. Could be interesting with something that builds on rests, like animate dead.
The character would lose 1 prepared wizard spell up to 9th level and 2 spells that would have been added to his spellbook at level 20.
Additionally, by not taking War caster, the character would lose the ability to cast a spell as an opportunity attack and to cast S or V,S spells while dual wielding (including shield, absorb elements, and counterspell). By RAW, the character could drop a weapon to cast a spell and then pick it up on his next turn, but this feels meta-gamey to me.
In the long run, I think multi-classing would be the more effective approach since many of the disadvantages noted above are temporary or could be addressed by finding/researching spells in game. In the end, the tradeoff would be between elven accuracy, rapier, elven racial abilities, Con save proficiency*, and access to some useful low-level spells vs. loss of the signature spells capstone, 1 prepared wizard spell, and the spell-on-OA component of War caster*. If the variant human build was to take Resiliant (Con) at level 1, then the items denoted with (*) would fall out of the equation.
To be clear, I hate multi-classing in 5E. In addition to the significant pain of delaying access to class and subclass abilities, it complicates providing a realistic backstory for a character as well as tracking spells and other abilities. However, short of getting a free feat at level 1, I see no way to access both elven accuracy and a means to boost concentration saves, and as noted, I believe elven accuracy would make a significant difference in terms of melee DPR.
Can anyone with bladesinger experience comment on the analysis I've presented above?
This may sound radical but have you considered Rogue instead, for the dip? I ask because your stats seem well aligned for it. And, it opens some interesting options for you. One, you'd get some massive skill bonus perks, like just more skill proficiencies, but also expertise in a couple. Depending on the type of campaign that could be huge, if out of combat skill checks are anything of a regular feature in your games. But, it also adds a sneak attack die, with even the first dip, that'll up your damage output. And it opens the door to actually take another level or two, of rogue, later too. Which, yes, is strongly competed against by wizard levels, so wouldn't be ideal immediately. But after you get Extra Attack at W6th, it might be a nice complement to pick up those bonus action options from cunning action. And, a further level gives you subclass features of your choice, Scout and Swashbuckler both add useful mobility options, so much so you might find you don't even need the mobility feat later. Arcane Trickster is an obvious option for more spells. The others could be interesting, too. IDK, something to chew on.
I'm not sure artificer is the right choice for bladesinger though, most of the time people do that dip primarily to snag the medium armor and shield proficiency, something that doesn't help the bladesinger in the least. You still do snag the constitution save proficiency and a couple nice spell options so it isn't bad choice or anything, you'll just not get out of it what most people look for when doing it.
Anyway, happy hunting!
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I'm probably laughing.
It is apparently so hard to program Aberrant Mind and Clockwork Soul spell-swapping into dndbeyond they had to remake the game without it rather than implement it.
My personal opinion is that a Wizard works best as a single class. That's not to say you can't multi-class, but progression is severely affected.
Said that. The Bladesinger already holds concentration very well on its own. It is not necessary, in my opinion, to improve the concentration with a feat or with multiclassing.
Elven accuracy is always a good option for a bladesinger. As wizards, you have very good options to hit with advantage, and you can take advantage of the feat very well.
It is true that War caster can come in handy if you go with two weapons and for reactions, but life is not going to go to you if you do not take it. Losing an ASIS in a MAD subclass is usually not a good idea in my opinion.
If you start as an artificer, you're going to lose the wizard's WIS save, which you're going to need more than the CON save (you're going to use the CON save a lot more, but the Bladesinger already has it high on his own).
I have played a lot of bladesingers. In my experience you do not need resilient constitution and a constitution of 10 is fine. You also do not need warcaster and usually I would go with an ASI or half feat instead. I particulary like Fey Touched and Hex or shadow touched and false life, although elven accuracy works too. For a bladesinger specifically, I would take the wisdom save of the wizard over the constitution save of the artificer. The constitution save is better for holding concentration against AOEs, but failing a wisdom save as a bladesinger can be a death sentance because they often put on a condition that gives the enemy advantage, takes away reaction or makes you drop bladesong or all of these. Concentration saves for AOEs are mitigated to a degree by absorb elements and your high dex, both of which can reduce the DC because they reduce the damage.
I also do not recommend Shadow Blade as a normal every fight cast. I would recommend blur or Protection from good and evil as your primary concentration spells in combat. A 10 constitution and blur will do a lot better than a 14 constitution with con proficncy and shadow blade. It is better both in keeping concentration and in just plain surviving.
The reason is the best way to make a concentration save is to not take the damage in the first place and blur combined with bladesong and shield does that far better than the bonus to the save will. We played with one bladesinger a few years ago that was the primary melee character and went like 4 entire levels (like around 4-8) without getting hit with a single weapon attack. She was the main melee tank in the party and got attacked a lot. She did have bracers of defense and a cloak of protection but after she cast blur or PGE to force disadvantage, most enemies needed a double 20 to hit her in combat.
Here are some comments on the multiclass questions you bring up:
1. Sanctuary: This would be pretty awesome on a bladesinger, especially at high levels when you have the slots to spam it. Attack, bonus action sanctuary, then make an AOO when the enemy tries to move away and do the same thing the next turn. Can be risky but would be a free attack. Or if you are in a hallway, attack then sanctuary and just block. Do this every turn. I have never done this myself but it is definitely something that now has me thinking. You could also do this with Artificer initiate. Guidance is pretty awesome too. The other spells are meh.
2. Elf Weapons: The only one that is great on a high elf or wood elf is the shortsword. Drow have nearly ideal weapons (but also sunlight sensitivity). Of course with Tasha's you can get what you want. What you want is hand crossbow, whip, short sword, scimitar and rapier, you get one of them with Wizard, get the rest with the race if you can. If you can pick up gauntlets of ogre power you can make staffs, longswords and warhammers work well too.
3. Odd levels: This is not a big deal because low level spells are more core to this build than high level spells, especially false life upcast. You are not going to miss fireball or even haste when you have a 3rd level slot for upcast false life.
4. Delaying extra attack: I would not do this, I would wait until level 7 to take the dip. Of course I don't want the con save either. The other stuff could be delayed IMO.
5. prepared spells: This is mitigated because the artificer is going to prepare absorb elements so it is awash. If you are a wizard that feels the need to keep Feather Fall you are actually ahead of the game.
6. Capstone: Compared to other wizards the bladesinger is losing speed at very high level anyway. It is one of the best wizards and probably the best tank in all classes until about 14th level, but after that other wizards are going to catch up and pull ahead.
7. Dual Wielding/warcaster: Until 14th level you are not giving up a whole lot here. Your offhand attack is only doing around 4 more points of damage, which is only 2 more than if you went with a Rapier instead and 0 more if you gave up an ASI for warcaster. The only way dual wielding is worth it is if you are going to run Hex. If you are going to do that use thrown daggers or darts to get around the hand problem, throw them with disadvantage if you need to, it is not a huge deal because it is not a lot of damage. The AOOs are not a big deal either because on a bladesinger you can't just spend your reaction, often times you have to let it go to keep shield or absorb elements in your back pocket. Smart DMs will actually try to get you to use your reaction so you can be hit by the next guy in initiative.
7. Dual Wielding/warcaster: Until 14th level you are not giving up a whole lot here. Your offhand attack is only doing around 4 more points of damage, which is only 2 more than if you went with a Rapier instead and 0 more if you gave up an ASI for warcaster. The only way dual wielding is worth it is if you are going to run Hex. If you are going to do that use thrown daggers or darts to get around the hand problem, throw them with disadvantage if you need to, it is not a huge deal because it is not a lot of damage. The AOOs are not a big deal either because on a bladesinger you can't just spend your reaction, often times you have to let it go to keep shield or absorb elements in your back pocket. Smart DMs will actually try to get you to use your reaction so you can be hit by the next guy in initiative.
You might be discounting the effect of shadow blade, since you've recommended not to use it, it is very useful for dual wielding and I'll explain why:
By 6th level you'll have Extra Attack. This will allow you to attack and cast a cantrip by using the Attack Action. If we have out our trusty upcast shadow blade we will be attacking with it at 3d8+dex damage. Unfortunately, it isn't a melee weapon worth 1 sp to many DMs, and, thus, we cannot use itfor our trusty melee cantrips like booming blade. But, that's ok. because we're dual wielding! So, we cast out booming blade and make our attack with the 'offhand' scimitar we're holding, dealing a solid 1d6+1d8+dex mod, and now they're stuck there or take 2d8. Here is the kicker! Since we used the scimitar for one of the attacks we made with our Attack Action, then, the shadow blade is now eligible for our bonus action two-weapon fighting attack. So we BA for another 3d8 psychic damage.
All told, we'll be outputting 1d6+7d8+(2*dex) and 2d8 more if they move. Average 50+. And, two of the three attacks may very well have been at advantage.
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I'm probably laughing.
It is apparently so hard to program Aberrant Mind and Clockwork Soul spell-swapping into dndbeyond they had to remake the game without it rather than implement it.
You might be discounting the effect of shadow blade, since you've recommended not to use it, it is very useful for dual wielding and I'll explain why:
By 6th level you'll have Extra Attack. This will allow you to attack and cast a cantrip by using the Attack Action. If we have out our trusty upcast shadow blade we will be attacking with it at 3d8+dex damage. Unfortunately, it isn't a melee weapon worth 1 sp to many DMs, and, thus, we cannot use itfor our trusty melee cantrips like booming blade.
Instead of spending a 2nd level slot on shadowblade, if I wanted to do more damage, I would pick up hex through Fey Touched and use a first level slot with it for more damage as long as you use a cantrip that requires an attack.
For example shadowblade attack + booming blade is 5d8 (2d8 SB, 3d8 cantrip) +2xdex
If you actually do TWF and light weapons it is 6d6+2d8+2dex. That is with a first level slot. You would need to go to a 3rd level slot to do more than that with shadowblade, and then you are only doing 5 points DPR more for a slot 2 levels higher and only for one battle, where a 3rd level Hex lasts 8 hours.
The other thing is mirror image. If I used any of these, I would also use mirror image first and by the time you have enough 3rd level spells to do this regularly, that spell is going to last less than 2 rounds in melee before it is gone.
Plus if you need to go ranged you can pull out your hand crossbow and follow it up with a firebolt and still get the extra 1d6 on both. While you can throw the shadowblade, the range is very limited and yoju need to burn a bonus action to recall it.
Spending a feat to do less damage seems like a bad plan. YMMV tho.
Better options for Fey Touched is Gift of Alacrity, or even Bless. Hex only increase your damage output against a single target unless you start burning BAs to move it around and those BAs could have instead been 3d8 psychic damage attacks. Going hex is objectively worst damage than shadowblade and TWF, so spending a feat to actively perform worse? Not the move.
Let's assume a dex of 18, for numbers sake. Compare:
Shadowblade TWF w/ scimitar, BB. As we covered earlier that is Attack, Cantrip, then BA 'offhand' Attack. Totals: 1d6+7d8+8 (possible 2d8). Avg: 43(+9)
Rapier, Hex, BB. Attack, Cantrip, bonus action to cast or move hex around. Totals: 2d6+3d8+8 (possible 2d8). Avg: 28.5(+9)
So, the difference is not just massive already but the reliability of that damage is huge too, since a large chunk of the time you could be attacking with advantage easier w/ the shadowblades.
Now, you mention TWF with light weapons and also using hex but I think you're discounting you only have a single bonus action on your turn. You can either hex an enemy or you can TWF them, but not both at the same time. So if you try this you'll run into this issue all the time where you can't get your setup running smoothly. But, occasionally you'll have hexed a guy the previous round and can lay into hm fully the following one, so lets calculate this best case event:
We are, even in this rare alignment of the stars, doing significantly less damage w/hex than with shadowblade.
Don't fall into the trap of spending a feat to enable you to deal less damage.
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I'm probably laughing.
It is apparently so hard to program Aberrant Mind and Clockwork Soul spell-swapping into dndbeyond they had to remake the game without it rather than implement it.
I think the mistake is thinking that the bladesinger is properly played in melee through all levels. They work great in melee at lower levels, but to melee at higher levels is imo, putting to waste their greatest asset...spell casting. So, I would neglect my dex and focus on my casting stat. As I gain levels, I'm going to need my melee less and less, while bladesong simply becomes a defensive tool in my kit.
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Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
Spending a feat to do less damage seems like a bad plan. YMMV tho.
Better options for Fey Touched is Gift of Alacrity, or even Bless.
It is not less damage, it is more than you are going to do with a 2nd level shadowblade.
Why would you get GOA when you can get that as a Wizard spell? Bless is a great spell, but it takes an action to cast. If I am spending a turn not attacking, I am putting up protection from good and evil, blur or invisbility or if I am concentrating on something else mirror image. Finally bless is concentration, meaning you can't combine it with Shadowblade anyway.
Hex only increase your damage output against a single target unless you start burning BAs to move it around and those BAs could have instead been 3d8 psychic damage attacks. Going hex is objectively worst damage than shadowblade and TWF, so spending a feat to actively perform worse? Not the move.
Let's assume a dex of 18, for numbers sake. Compare:
Shadowblade TWF w/ scimitar, BB. As we covered earlier that is Attack, Cantrip, then BA 'offhand' Attack. Totals: 1d6+7d8+8 (possible 2d8). Avg: 43(+9)
Rapier, Hex, BB. Attack, Cantrip, bonus action to cast or move hex around. Totals: 2d6+3d8+8 (possible 2d8). Avg: 28.5(+9)
To be clear, that is an upcast 3rd-level shadowblade.
And you have to use a bonus action to cast shadowblade as well - You are either casting hex, moving hex or you are casting shadowblade before you can benefit from either. Bladesong itself is also a bonus action, meaning you are getting no bonus attack on your first or second turn if you use that. You do have to move Hex after the 1st enemy dies and that waters it down, but on the other hand the spell lasts 8 hours at 3rd level. Meaning you can use it half the adventuring day for the same price as one 3rd-level shadowblade that will last one battle.
You need to consider number of turns and number of battles to really put numbers to this. If we assume tier 2, the average enemy lasts 2 turns, the average fight lasts 4 turns and we three fights occurring in 8 hours and we assume the first turn he is going into bladesong and the second he is using a bonus action spell:
Base damage without spells for either is 3d6+1d8+8 (light weapon attack, booming blade, bonus action) = 23 on turns he does not activate bladesong, and 19.5 on turns he does.
TWF Shadowblade 3rd level slot
Damage on turn 1 is increased by 0 because he goes into bladesong.
In turn 2 his damage is increased by 6.5 because he lost his bonus action attack to cast shadowblade
In turn 3 and 4 his damage is increased by 20 each turn
So for a 3rd level slot he gets 46.5 more damage than he would without casting it.
TWF Hex 3rd level slot
Damage in turn 1 is increased by 0 because he goes into bladesong
Damage in turn 2 is increased by 3.5 because he lost a bonus attack to cast Hex or move Hex
Damage in turn 3 is increased 10.5
Damage in turn 4 is increased by 3.5 because he moves Hex
This is 17.5 but it lasts for 3 combats so the total is 52.5 extra damage from a 3rd level slot
Now there are a lot of assumptions that go into that, a big one being that he does not lose concentration. That is fairly safe assumption for a bladesinger if you are fighting with 1 weapon in bladesong, it is not really a safe assumption if you are fighting with 2 weapons and without warcaster. I will note though that if you lost concentration, Hex can be recast at 1st level, or with a free cast and likely still do the same amount of damage going forward.
, the difference is not just massive already but the reliability of that damage is huge too, since a large chunk of the time you could be attacking with advantage easier w/ the shadowblades.
Only if you fight a large chunk of the time in darkness or dim light. If you do that is a big difference, I think that is often but not most of the time and you can get better mileage out of a familiar (at least until it dies).
If we are talking chance to hit, we are also assuming non-magic weapons, which is not generally the case by the time you can use 3rd level spell slots in battle regularly.
Now, you mention TWF with light weapons and also using hex but I think you're discounting you only have a single bonus action on your turn. You can either hex an enemy or you can TWF them, but not both at the same time. So if you try this you'll run into this issue all the time where you can't get your setup running smoothly. But, occasionally you'll have hexed a guy the previous round and can lay into hm fully the following one, so lets calculate this best case event:
I think you are discounting it too. It takes a bonus action to cast shadowblade as well. Further if you are TWF you can't cast shield without a feat and you need a bonus action to go into bladesong. Finally because Hex will typically last multiple combats you do not always have to cast it in combat to use it. As long as the last guy you hexed is dead and you have at least 1 turn before combat starts you can move hex before combat even begins. You can technically cast shadowblade before combat starts too, but that will normally start combat unless you use subtle spell, where moving hex is not casting a spell and can be done without starting combat. Even with subtle spell, once you cast shadowblade you only have a minute to use it, while I could move hex to a guy and engage in conversation for 10 minutes (benefitting in skill checks that entire time) and then still have a whole battle worth and more time available. As such I would say neither is very usable on a bladesinger with TWF and I would call this awash.
I put up the TWF numbers because that is when you indicated this was effective and this is why you should get shadowblade, but I don't agree with that strategy, even with shadowblade. TWF with a bladesinger without warcaster is really tough, even in bladesong, and it is suicide out of bladesong. If you are using shadowblade, I think you are honestly better off forgetting booming blade and going with a cantrip that does not require holding a weapon like shocking grasp, toll the dead or lightning Lure.
Don't fall into the trap of spending a feat to enable you to deal less damage.
It is only less damage if you are comparing apples and orange; comparing it to an upcast 3rd level Shadowblade while not accounting for the multiple battles you can get out of Hex if you cast it with a 3rd level slot. It is also a half-feat so you can boost intelligence when you get it and you get a free misty step which is an awesome spell on a bladesinger, with a free casting to boot.
Even for a single battle, a 1st level Hex is very close to a 2nd level shadowblade in TWF damage and it beats a 2nd level shadowblade if you are not using TWF. It also works outside of melee. Finally, it is far more useful out of combat and lasts long enough, even with a 1st level slot, that you are typically going to get mileage out of it after the combat you cast it in is over.
I have played a bunch of bladesingers, and I find blur to be by far the most effective concentration spell. I've used shadowblade for when I want a damage bump but I think Hex is generally superior most of the time and my experience backs that up.
So how would you guys build a good allround custom lineage bladesinger?
I want to kick butt AND survive in melee.
As I've said in another thread I'm considering mobile as my lvl 1 feat. But I am considering fey touched or res con at 4th.
I thought of using shortsword + shadowblade dual wielding in combat with mobile, got a lot of other melee's in the party, I'm thinking they'll tank the enemies while I run around and strike at them. Or is blur better and mobile wasteful? Another feat or somesuch I can take to increase damage if I mainly use blur?
Other options? :)
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I am pondering a bladesinger build and would appreciate others' thoughts. I have played a lot of wizards but never a bladesinger. It strikes me that the subclass is highly dependent on maxing Int, having a high or max Dex, and having Resilient (Con) or War caster. This makes it very difficult to plan for a character that will achieve these milestones in a timeframe that is meaningful. Parking the idea of getting a free feat at level 1, I can see two options.
The first is most straightforward: variant human taking War caster or Resilient (Con) at level 1 with starting stats 8 16 14 16 10 (or 12 with Resilient) 8. ASIs would be used to max Int by level 12 and Dex by level 16 with the level 19 feat being mobile or something else. Bladesinger weapon would be short sword to accommodate dual wielding.
The second option would involve taking a 1-level dip into artificer at level 1. Race would be high elf or eladrin (DMG) with starting stats 8 17 14 16 10 8. This approach would provide some key advantages:
However, there are many downsides, some more painful than others.
In the long run, I think multi-classing would be the more effective approach since many of the disadvantages noted above are temporary or could be addressed by finding/researching spells in game. In the end, the tradeoff would be between elven accuracy, rapier, elven racial abilities, Con save proficiency*, and access to some useful low-level spells vs. loss of the signature spells capstone, 1 prepared wizard spell, and the spell-on-OA component of War caster*. If the variant human build was to take Resiliant (Con) at level 1, then the items denoted with (*) would fall out of the equation.
To be clear, I hate multi-classing in 5E. In addition to the significant pain of delaying access to class and subclass abilities, it complicates providing a realistic backstory for a character as well as tracking spells and other abilities. However, short of getting a free feat at level 1, I see no way to access both elven accuracy and a means to boost concentration saves, and as noted, I believe elven accuracy would make a significant difference in terms of melee DPR.
Can anyone with bladesinger experience comment on the analysis I've presented above?
This may sound radical but have you considered Rogue instead, for the dip? I ask because your stats seem well aligned for it. And, it opens some interesting options for you. One, you'd get some massive skill bonus perks, like just more skill proficiencies, but also expertise in a couple. Depending on the type of campaign that could be huge, if out of combat skill checks are anything of a regular feature in your games. But, it also adds a sneak attack die, with even the first dip, that'll up your damage output. And it opens the door to actually take another level or two, of rogue, later too. Which, yes, is strongly competed against by wizard levels, so wouldn't be ideal immediately. But after you get Extra Attack at W6th, it might be a nice complement to pick up those bonus action options from cunning action. And, a further level gives you subclass features of your choice, Scout and Swashbuckler both add useful mobility options, so much so you might find you don't even need the mobility feat later. Arcane Trickster is an obvious option for more spells. The others could be interesting, too. IDK, something to chew on.
I'm not sure artificer is the right choice for bladesinger though, most of the time people do that dip primarily to snag the medium armor and shield proficiency, something that doesn't help the bladesinger in the least. You still do snag the constitution save proficiency and a couple nice spell options so it isn't bad choice or anything, you'll just not get out of it what most people look for when doing it.
Anyway, happy hunting!
I'm probably laughing.
It is apparently so hard to program Aberrant Mind and Clockwork Soul spell-swapping into dndbeyond they had to remake the game without it rather than implement it.
My personal opinion is that a Wizard works best as a single class. That's not to say you can't multi-class, but progression is severely affected.
Said that. The Bladesinger already holds concentration very well on its own. It is not necessary, in my opinion, to improve the concentration with a feat or with multiclassing.
Elven accuracy is always a good option for a bladesinger. As wizards, you have very good options to hit with advantage, and you can take advantage of the feat very well.
It is true that War caster can come in handy if you go with two weapons and for reactions, but life is not going to go to you if you do not take it. Losing an ASIS in a MAD subclass is usually not a good idea in my opinion.
If you start as an artificer, you're going to lose the wizard's WIS save, which you're going to need more than the CON save (you're going to use the CON save a lot more, but the Bladesinger already has it high on his own).
I have played a lot of bladesingers. In my experience you do not need resilient constitution and a constitution of 10 is fine. You also do not need warcaster and usually I would go with an ASI or half feat instead. I particulary like Fey Touched and Hex or shadow touched and false life, although elven accuracy works too. For a bladesinger specifically, I would take the wisdom save of the wizard over the constitution save of the artificer. The constitution save is better for holding concentration against AOEs, but failing a wisdom save as a bladesinger can be a death sentance because they often put on a condition that gives the enemy advantage, takes away reaction or makes you drop bladesong or all of these. Concentration saves for AOEs are mitigated to a degree by absorb elements and your high dex, both of which can reduce the DC because they reduce the damage.
I also do not recommend Shadow Blade as a normal every fight cast. I would recommend blur or Protection from good and evil as your primary concentration spells in combat. A 10 constitution and blur will do a lot better than a 14 constitution with con proficncy and shadow blade. It is better both in keeping concentration and in just plain surviving.
The reason is the best way to make a concentration save is to not take the damage in the first place and blur combined with bladesong and shield does that far better than the bonus to the save will. We played with one bladesinger a few years ago that was the primary melee character and went like 4 entire levels (like around 4-8) without getting hit with a single weapon attack. She was the main melee tank in the party and got attacked a lot. She did have bracers of defense and a cloak of protection but after she cast blur or PGE to force disadvantage, most enemies needed a double 20 to hit her in combat.
Here are some comments on the multiclass questions you bring up:
1. Sanctuary: This would be pretty awesome on a bladesinger, especially at high levels when you have the slots to spam it. Attack, bonus action sanctuary, then make an AOO when the enemy tries to move away and do the same thing the next turn. Can be risky but would be a free attack. Or if you are in a hallway, attack then sanctuary and just block. Do this every turn. I have never done this myself but it is definitely something that now has me thinking. You could also do this with Artificer initiate. Guidance is pretty awesome too. The other spells are meh.
2. Elf Weapons: The only one that is great on a high elf or wood elf is the shortsword. Drow have nearly ideal weapons (but also sunlight sensitivity). Of course with Tasha's you can get what you want. What you want is hand crossbow, whip, short sword, scimitar and rapier, you get one of them with Wizard, get the rest with the race if you can. If you can pick up gauntlets of ogre power you can make staffs, longswords and warhammers work well too.
3. Odd levels: This is not a big deal because low level spells are more core to this build than high level spells, especially false life upcast. You are not going to miss fireball or even haste when you have a 3rd level slot for upcast false life.
4. Delaying extra attack: I would not do this, I would wait until level 7 to take the dip. Of course I don't want the con save either. The other stuff could be delayed IMO.
5. prepared spells: This is mitigated because the artificer is going to prepare absorb elements so it is awash. If you are a wizard that feels the need to keep Feather Fall you are actually ahead of the game.
6. Capstone: Compared to other wizards the bladesinger is losing speed at very high level anyway. It is one of the best wizards and probably the best tank in all classes until about 14th level, but after that other wizards are going to catch up and pull ahead.
7. Dual Wielding/warcaster: Until 14th level you are not giving up a whole lot here. Your offhand attack is only doing around 4 more points of damage, which is only 2 more than if you went with a Rapier instead and 0 more if you gave up an ASI for warcaster. The only way dual wielding is worth it is if you are going to run Hex. If you are going to do that use thrown daggers or darts to get around the hand problem, throw them with disadvantage if you need to, it is not a huge deal because it is not a lot of damage. The AOOs are not a big deal either because on a bladesinger you can't just spend your reaction, often times you have to let it go to keep shield or absorb elements in your back pocket. Smart DMs will actually try to get you to use your reaction so you can be hit by the next guy in initiative.
You might be discounting the effect of shadow blade, since you've recommended not to use it, it is very useful for dual wielding and I'll explain why:
By 6th level you'll have Extra Attack. This will allow you to attack and cast a cantrip by using the Attack Action. If we have out our trusty upcast shadow blade we will be attacking with it at 3d8+dex damage. Unfortunately, it isn't a melee weapon worth 1 sp to many DMs, and, thus, we cannot use itfor our trusty melee cantrips like booming blade. But, that's ok. because we're dual wielding! So, we cast out booming blade and make our attack with the 'offhand' scimitar we're holding, dealing a solid 1d6+1d8+dex mod, and now they're stuck there or take 2d8. Here is the kicker! Since we used the scimitar for one of the attacks we made with our Attack Action, then, the shadow blade is now eligible for our bonus action two-weapon fighting attack. So we BA for another 3d8 psychic damage.
All told, we'll be outputting 1d6+7d8+(2*dex) and 2d8 more if they move. Average 50+. And, two of the three attacks may very well have been at advantage.
I'm probably laughing.
It is apparently so hard to program Aberrant Mind and Clockwork Soul spell-swapping into dndbeyond they had to remake the game without it rather than implement it.
Instead of spending a 2nd level slot on shadowblade, if I wanted to do more damage, I would pick up hex through Fey Touched and use a first level slot with it for more damage as long as you use a cantrip that requires an attack.
For example shadowblade attack + booming blade is 5d8 (2d8 SB, 3d8 cantrip) +2xdex
Hex, rapier attack, booming blade is 2d6+4d8+2xdex (1d8 rapier, 3d8 cantrip, 2d6 Hex).
If you actually do TWF and light weapons it is 6d6+2d8+2dex. That is with a first level slot. You would need to go to a 3rd level slot to do more than that with shadowblade, and then you are only doing 5 points DPR more for a slot 2 levels higher and only for one battle, where a 3rd level Hex lasts 8 hours.
The other thing is mirror image. If I used any of these, I would also use mirror image first and by the time you have enough 3rd level spells to do this regularly, that spell is going to last less than 2 rounds in melee before it is gone.
Plus if you need to go ranged you can pull out your hand crossbow and follow it up with a firebolt and still get the extra 1d6 on both. While you can throw the shadowblade, the range is very limited and yoju need to burn a bonus action to recall it.
Spending a feat to do less damage seems like a bad plan. YMMV tho.
Better options for Fey Touched is Gift of Alacrity, or even Bless. Hex only increase your damage output against a single target unless you start burning BAs to move it around and those BAs could have instead been 3d8 psychic damage attacks. Going hex is objectively worst damage than shadowblade and TWF, so spending a feat to actively perform worse? Not the move.
Let's assume a dex of 18, for numbers sake. Compare:
So, the difference is not just massive already but the reliability of that damage is huge too, since a large chunk of the time you could be attacking with advantage easier w/ the shadowblades.
Now, you mention TWF with light weapons and also using hex but I think you're discounting you only have a single bonus action on your turn. You can either hex an enemy or you can TWF them, but not both at the same time. So if you try this you'll run into this issue all the time where you can't get your setup running smoothly. But, occasionally you'll have hexed a guy the previous round and can lay into hm fully the following one, so lets calculate this best case event:
We are, even in this rare alignment of the stars, doing significantly less damage w/hex than with shadowblade.
Don't fall into the trap of spending a feat to enable you to deal less damage.
I'm probably laughing.
It is apparently so hard to program Aberrant Mind and Clockwork Soul spell-swapping into dndbeyond they had to remake the game without it rather than implement it.
I think the mistake is thinking that the bladesinger is properly played in melee through all levels. They work great in melee at lower levels, but to melee at higher levels is imo, putting to waste their greatest asset...spell casting. So, I would neglect my dex and focus on my casting stat. As I gain levels, I'm going to need my melee less and less, while bladesong simply becomes a defensive tool in my kit.
Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
Tasha
It is not less damage, it is more than you are going to do with a 2nd level shadowblade.
Why would you get GOA when you can get that as a Wizard spell? Bless is a great spell, but it takes an action to cast. If I am spending a turn not attacking, I am putting up protection from good and evil, blur or invisbility or if I am concentrating on something else mirror image. Finally bless is concentration, meaning you can't combine it with Shadowblade anyway.
To be clear, that is an upcast 3rd-level shadowblade.
And you have to use a bonus action to cast shadowblade as well - You are either casting hex, moving hex or you are casting shadowblade before you can benefit from either. Bladesong itself is also a bonus action, meaning you are getting no bonus attack on your first or second turn if you use that. You do have to move Hex after the 1st enemy dies and that waters it down, but on the other hand the spell lasts 8 hours at 3rd level. Meaning you can use it half the adventuring day for the same price as one 3rd-level shadowblade that will last one battle.
You need to consider number of turns and number of battles to really put numbers to this. If we assume tier 2, the average enemy lasts 2 turns, the average fight lasts 4 turns and we three fights occurring in 8 hours and we assume the first turn he is going into bladesong and the second he is using a bonus action spell:
Base damage without spells for either is 3d6+1d8+8 (light weapon attack, booming blade, bonus action) = 23 on turns he does not activate bladesong, and 19.5 on turns he does.
TWF Shadowblade 3rd level slot
Damage on turn 1 is increased by 0 because he goes into bladesong.
In turn 2 his damage is increased by 6.5 because he lost his bonus action attack to cast shadowblade
In turn 3 and 4 his damage is increased by 20 each turn
So for a 3rd level slot he gets 46.5 more damage than he would without casting it.
TWF Hex 3rd level slot
Damage in turn 1 is increased by 0 because he goes into bladesong
Damage in turn 2 is increased by 3.5 because he lost a bonus attack to cast Hex or move Hex
Damage in turn 3 is increased 10.5
Damage in turn 4 is increased by 3.5 because he moves Hex
This is 17.5 but it lasts for 3 combats so the total is 52.5 extra damage from a 3rd level slot
Now there are a lot of assumptions that go into that, a big one being that he does not lose concentration. That is fairly safe assumption for a bladesinger if you are fighting with 1 weapon in bladesong, it is not really a safe assumption if you are fighting with 2 weapons and without warcaster. I will note though that if you lost concentration, Hex can be recast at 1st level, or with a free cast and likely still do the same amount of damage going forward.
Only if you fight a large chunk of the time in darkness or dim light. If you do that is a big difference, I think that is often but not most of the time and you can get better mileage out of a familiar (at least until it dies).
If we are talking chance to hit, we are also assuming non-magic weapons, which is not generally the case by the time you can use 3rd level spell slots in battle regularly.
I think you are discounting it too. It takes a bonus action to cast shadowblade as well. Further if you are TWF you can't cast shield without a feat and you need a bonus action to go into bladesong. Finally because Hex will typically last multiple combats you do not always have to cast it in combat to use it. As long as the last guy you hexed is dead and you have at least 1 turn before combat starts you can move hex before combat even begins. You can technically cast shadowblade before combat starts too, but that will normally start combat unless you use subtle spell, where moving hex is not casting a spell and can be done without starting combat. Even with subtle spell, once you cast shadowblade you only have a minute to use it, while I could move hex to a guy and engage in conversation for 10 minutes (benefitting in skill checks that entire time) and then still have a whole battle worth and more time available. As such I would say neither is very usable on a bladesinger with TWF and I would call this awash.
I put up the TWF numbers because that is when you indicated this was effective and this is why you should get shadowblade, but I don't agree with that strategy, even with shadowblade. TWF with a bladesinger without warcaster is really tough, even in bladesong, and it is suicide out of bladesong. If you are using shadowblade, I think you are honestly better off forgetting booming blade and going with a cantrip that does not require holding a weapon like shocking grasp, toll the dead or lightning Lure.
It is only less damage if you are comparing apples and orange; comparing it to an upcast 3rd level Shadowblade while not accounting for the multiple battles you can get out of Hex if you cast it with a 3rd level slot. It is also a half-feat so you can boost intelligence when you get it and you get a free misty step which is an awesome spell on a bladesinger, with a free casting to boot.
Even for a single battle, a 1st level Hex is very close to a 2nd level shadowblade in TWF damage and it beats a 2nd level shadowblade if you are not using TWF. It also works outside of melee. Finally, it is far more useful out of combat and lasts long enough, even with a 1st level slot, that you are typically going to get mileage out of it after the combat you cast it in is over.
I have played a bunch of bladesingers, and I find blur to be by far the most effective concentration spell. I've used shadowblade for when I want a damage bump but I think Hex is generally superior most of the time and my experience backs that up.
So how would you guys build a good allround custom lineage bladesinger?
I want to kick butt AND survive in melee.
As I've said in another thread I'm considering mobile as my lvl 1 feat. But I am considering fey touched or res con at 4th.
I thought of using shortsword + shadowblade dual wielding in combat with mobile, got a lot of other melee's in the party, I'm thinking they'll tank the enemies while I run around and strike at them. Or is blur better and mobile wasteful? Another feat or somesuch I can take to increase damage if I mainly use blur?
Other options? :)