Basically, I need to build a Bladesinger Kobold and a kobold sidekick for our campaign, so I need a little help with my pc and sidekick's choices on ASI's, Feats, Spells, etc.
In our group we have a kenku necromancer and a wood elf druid, só in theory I am the frontline, but I really like de frontline that tanks in the good old "you take no damage if there are no enemies left" guy.
That being said, I ask for your help on building my PC and my sidekick's sheet, both kobolds (My PC is the playable race of course, and the sidekick could be any 1/2 or lower CR), both at 12th level.
One more thing, I can also choose ONE rare quality magic item, And I was thinking on taking the Stirring Amethyst Dragon's Wrath Shortsword, because I really want do dual wield with Shadow blade. Later im thinking on buying another magic shortsword to keep fighting with Haste or Tenser's Transformation in a boss encounter.
Feel free to give me any advice about the item to choose, or anything above actually.
Hmmmm. So your real frontline is a druid and eventually a couple of skeletons.
Winged Kobold or Icewind Kobold Warrior Sidekick (make sure you get your hands a big umbrella or something to keep the dude out of sunlight).
Dexterity Saving Throws on the Winged, Strength on the Icewind.
Perception and Acrobatics on the Winged, Athletics and Acrobatics on the Icewind.
Attacker role either way - Defender is very bad.
Optimal armor is going to be Breastplate for the Icewind, Half Plate or Plate for the Winged (20 feet of flying is plenty of mobility, if you want to commit to keeping the dude alive). The Icewind wants a shortbow, a whip, and a dagger; the Winged wants the same, but also a rapier and a shield, for versatility.
The above is for using your sidekick as a ranged martial (which your party hasn't got) or a melee relatively fragile tank (but hey, a body is a body). You could also turn a kobold inventor into a Spellcaster Sidekick (Wizard) for what would amount to extra spell slots - e.g. you could make the little dude learn Mage Armor to save you the slots you need to put it up.
If you want to Two-Weapon Fight then you are pretty much required to take War-Caster or have a Ruby of the War Mage otherwise you can't cast any spells with Somatic Components.
Ability Score values become a big problem if you care about having them high. You need both a high INT, DEX, and CON. Int for spell saves, Dex for AC and weapon attacks, Con for concentration checks and hit points.
I would consider dipping 3 levels into Artificer: Battle Smith. It allows you to use your INT mod for attacks with magical weapons, and removes a lot of stat pressure. I went with the Barrier Tattoo since you can't use shields or medium armor. I did not pursue TWF because I think there are better uses for the bonus action.
Turn 1 Bonus Action: Bladesong, lets get this party started. Action: Booming Blade (which allows you a weapon attack) + Extra Attack. This uses your magic shortsword, which is guaranteed because Artificer.
Turn 2 Bonus Action: Shadow Blade upcast at 5th level. This gives you a magic weapon that does 4d8 damage and attacks with your INT mod. Action: Booming Blade (which allows you a weapon attack) + Extra Attack
Turn 3+ Action: Cast a spell if you need to or repeat Booming Blade + Extra Attack Bonus Action: Command your Steel Defender, Misty Step to reposition, Draconic Cry to beat things with a sack full of doorknobs, or Telekinetic Shove (enemies or allies).
If you get hit, your Concentration check is actually +6 (Con Mod + Int Mod from Bladesong) with Advantage so you should be able to keep Shadow Blade, but you have a fallback weapon shortsword so you aren't totally screwed.
As for the sidekick, I love the Kobold Inventor but since there are so many less decisions to make for this, I don't think there is an obvious right or wrong answer.
I have played a lot of bladesingers. My recommendation is focus on driving your AC high. Bladesingers can be nearly unhittable in tier 2. Like I literally went 3 levels without getting hit by an attack a single time in combat and I was in melee EVERY fight. Your goal is to get enemies to attack you, so take spells that bolster your defense and make it difficult to get to allies (like vortex warp)
1. With this mind I would max intelligence and Dexterity. I like to start with a 16 dex and 17 Intelligence so I can take a half feat (typically Fey Touched) and boost it to 18 while also picking up some spells. After the feat it is straight ASIs from there.
2. For a rare magic item I would take bracers of defense every time. Defense is better than offense on a bladesinger. If you choose to ignore this advice and go the route of many to boost DPR then get a girdle of hill giant strength. That will get you more melee damage than anything you are going to do with a rare weapon.
3. If you want to be the ultimate tank you need tank spells: Shield, Mage Armor, Protection from Good and Evil and Blur are your primary spells all levvels. You also need absorb elements (although you don't cast it a whole lot). At high level add upcast False Life and contingency to this, at low levels you can add mirror image. Other notables but not as primary are Haste, Silvery barbs, contingency, vortex warp, thunderstep and Fireshield.
4. Typical turn 1 is bladesong and either blur or Protection from Evil and good. If you are rocking those bracers of defense I mentioned earlier that means most foes in tier 2 will need to roll double 20s (roll a 20 with disadvantage) to overcome your AC and shield spell and on the rare occasion they do that you use silvery barbs.
5. Never disengage: If you are in bladesong fighting someone and want to move somewhere else do not disengage, try to get the enemy to waste an AOO. In some cases I moved all over the battlefield purposely to draw AOOs and use reactions so my allys had freedom of movement.
6. If your sidekick is going to have spells give her Protection from good and evil so she can cast it on you and save you the spell slot and prepared spell. Also magic weapon and bless are good for the sidekick to have. Finally Hex which may seem unintuitive, but experienced DMs are going to try and grapple and shove a bladesinger to get her prone and immobile eliminating the disadvantage. Having your sidekick hex their strength (while you are rolling acrobatics with advantage) makes this difficult to land.
7. I do not like using shadowblade. That takes concentration that is better used on protection from evil and good, blur or Haste. Shadowblade makes you a lot more hitable. Exception - if your sidekick can cast PEG or Haste then you don't need to.
There are a lot of ways to play a bladesinger but if you do these things you will have what is arguably the best tank in the game. The only subclass that is comparable IME is a bear-totem Barbarian, but even there the Barbarian is using a lot of hit dice between short rests while you are not. When I do this build my job is tanking,but I usually have a few control spells on the list too - sleep at low levels, fear at level 5+, psychich lance and synaptic static. But I dpon't have a lot of them, just a few because most of my spells (and spell slots) are spent on defense.
Ability Score values become a big problem if you care about having them high. You need both a high INT, DEX, and CON. Int for spell saves, Dex for AC and weapon attacks, Con for concentration checks and hit points.
As I got more and more experience playing a bladesinger I realized you do not need constitution at all. You get your hit points from upcast false life (cast ahead of time). Concentration saves are handled mostly by the fact you very rarely get hit and on the rare occasions you do take damage, you usually have an intelligence bonus to the save because of bladesong.
They do lose concentration occasionally, but overall my Bladesingers lose concentration less than any other caster at the table, including those proficient in constitution.
Nowadays if I am playing a Bladesinger on point buy, my constitution is usually a 10. I put extra points in wisdom to bump wisdom saves. Wisdom saves are generally where you get screwed because they cause effects which take down bladesong and/or give enemies advantage.
I think Ideal stats at level 1 on point buy are: S8 D16 C10 I17 W14 Ch8
Hello guys!
Basically, I need to build a Bladesinger Kobold and a kobold sidekick for our campaign, so I need a little help with my pc and sidekick's choices on ASI's, Feats, Spells, etc.
In our group we have a kenku necromancer and a wood elf druid, só in theory I am the frontline, but I really like de frontline that tanks in the good old "you take no damage if there are no enemies left" guy.
That being said, I ask for your help on building my PC and my sidekick's sheet, both kobolds (My PC is the playable race of course, and the sidekick could be any 1/2 or lower CR), both at 12th level.
One more thing, I can also choose ONE rare quality magic item, And I was thinking on taking the Stirring Amethyst Dragon's Wrath Shortsword, because I really want do dual wield with Shadow blade. Later im thinking on buying another magic shortsword to keep fighting with Haste or Tenser's Transformation in a boss encounter.
Feel free to give me any advice about the item to choose, or anything above actually.
Hmmmm. So your real frontline is a druid and eventually a couple of skeletons.
If you want to Two-Weapon Fight then you are pretty much required to take War-Caster or have a Ruby of the War Mage otherwise you can't cast any spells with Somatic Components.
Ability Score values become a big problem if you care about having them high. You need both a high INT, DEX, and CON. Int for spell saves, Dex for AC and weapon attacks, Con for concentration checks and hit points.
I would consider dipping 3 levels into Artificer: Battle Smith. It allows you to use your INT mod for attacks with magical weapons, and removes a lot of stat pressure. I went with the Barrier Tattoo since you can't use shields or medium armor. I did not pursue TWF because I think there are better uses for the bonus action.
Here is what I would do: https://ddb.ac/characters/77291060/v7ZaVm
Turn 1
Bonus Action: Bladesong, lets get this party started.
Action: Booming Blade (which allows you a weapon attack) + Extra Attack. This uses your magic shortsword, which is guaranteed because Artificer.
Turn 2
Bonus Action: Shadow Blade upcast at 5th level. This gives you a magic weapon that does 4d8 damage and attacks with your INT mod.
Action: Booming Blade (which allows you a weapon attack) + Extra Attack
Turn 3+
Action: Cast a spell if you need to or repeat Booming Blade + Extra Attack
Bonus Action: Command your Steel Defender, Misty Step to reposition, Draconic Cry to beat things with a sack full of doorknobs, or Telekinetic Shove (enemies or allies).
If you get hit, your Concentration check is actually +6 (Con Mod + Int Mod from Bladesong) with Advantage so you should be able to keep Shadow Blade, but you have a fallback weapon shortsword so you aren't totally screwed.
As for the sidekick, I love the Kobold Inventor but since there are so many less decisions to make for this, I don't think there is an obvious right or wrong answer.
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I have played a lot of bladesingers. My recommendation is focus on driving your AC high. Bladesingers can be nearly unhittable in tier 2. Like I literally went 3 levels without getting hit by an attack a single time in combat and I was in melee EVERY fight. Your goal is to get enemies to attack you, so take spells that bolster your defense and make it difficult to get to allies (like vortex warp)
1. With this mind I would max intelligence and Dexterity. I like to start with a 16 dex and 17 Intelligence so I can take a half feat (typically Fey Touched) and boost it to 18 while also picking up some spells. After the feat it is straight ASIs from there.
2. For a rare magic item I would take bracers of defense every time. Defense is better than offense on a bladesinger. If you choose to ignore this advice and go the route of many to boost DPR then get a girdle of hill giant strength. That will get you more melee damage than anything you are going to do with a rare weapon.
3. If you want to be the ultimate tank you need tank spells: Shield, Mage Armor, Protection from Good and Evil and Blur are your primary spells all levvels. You also need absorb elements (although you don't cast it a whole lot). At high level add upcast False Life and contingency to this, at low levels you can add mirror image. Other notables but not as primary are Haste, Silvery barbs, contingency, vortex warp, thunderstep and Fireshield.
4. Typical turn 1 is bladesong and either blur or Protection from Evil and good. If you are rocking those bracers of defense I mentioned earlier that means most foes in tier 2 will need to roll double 20s (roll a 20 with disadvantage) to overcome your AC and shield spell and on the rare occasion they do that you use silvery barbs.
5. Never disengage: If you are in bladesong fighting someone and want to move somewhere else do not disengage, try to get the enemy to waste an AOO. In some cases I moved all over the battlefield purposely to draw AOOs and use reactions so my allys had freedom of movement.
6. If your sidekick is going to have spells give her Protection from good and evil so she can cast it on you and save you the spell slot and prepared spell. Also magic weapon and bless are good for the sidekick to have. Finally Hex which may seem unintuitive, but experienced DMs are going to try and grapple and shove a bladesinger to get her prone and immobile eliminating the disadvantage. Having your sidekick hex their strength (while you are rolling acrobatics with advantage) makes this difficult to land.
7. I do not like using shadowblade. That takes concentration that is better used on protection from evil and good, blur or Haste. Shadowblade makes you a lot more hitable. Exception - if your sidekick can cast PEG or Haste then you don't need to.
There are a lot of ways to play a bladesinger but if you do these things you will have what is arguably the best tank in the game. The only subclass that is comparable IME is a bear-totem Barbarian, but even there the Barbarian is using a lot of hit dice between short rests while you are not. When I do this build my job is tanking,but I usually have a few control spells on the list too - sleep at low levels, fear at level 5+, psychich lance and synaptic static. But I dpon't have a lot of them, just a few because most of my spells (and spell slots) are spent on defense.
As I got more and more experience playing a bladesinger I realized you do not need constitution at all. You get your hit points from upcast false life (cast ahead of time). Concentration saves are handled mostly by the fact you very rarely get hit and on the rare occasions you do take damage, you usually have an intelligence bonus to the save because of bladesong.
They do lose concentration occasionally, but overall my Bladesingers lose concentration less than any other caster at the table, including those proficient in constitution.
Nowadays if I am playing a Bladesinger on point buy, my constitution is usually a 10. I put extra points in wisdom to bump wisdom saves. Wisdom saves are generally where you get screwed because they cause effects which take down bladesong and/or give enemies advantage.
I think Ideal stats at level 1 on point buy are: S8 D16 C10 I17 W14 Ch8