My back story is basically that I was the unknown son of one of the wizards from our Arcane Tower (a group who hunt down people abusing magic) and my mom was unknown. I grew up in an orphanage. I started out as a solder in town and one day was sent out on a mission to help a priest in a cart. When we fund him he had been attacked by goblins and killed, but I found this gem which fused with me giving me the powers. This was in case any of the 3 dm's wanted to use that. I do not particularly do anything holy.
Shield of faith, light and thaumaturgy do not really need high wisdom to be effective so that works out nice as I did not have to pump up that ability.
I basically was a wizard who could stand in the front lines, like an Eldritch Knight, but without the restrictions in what school of magic my spells can come from.
I assume it is up to the DM to determine if they are cool with a cleric abjuration spell working. Mine were so I was able to not have to take alarm and could grab something else instead.
I have played a dwarf wizard /arcane cleric that only used spells to suppliment his mediocre melee capabilities. It was fun.
I would like to suggest trying to play a spell based melee character. Possibly war mage or bladesinger just for the features, but nnot for the weapon based melee functions. I tend to play outside the box.
If you are playing in an Eberron campaign, or the DM allows you to use the Wayfinder's Guide to Eberron material, then this is a character I have been playing in a city of Sharn based version of Waterdeep: Dragon Heist.. We just completed the module (to the best of my knowledge). Our next session will be a wrap up and transition to our DM's Eberron version of Dungeon of the Mad Mage . . .
Thinking of starting a Bladesinger tonight, question is can they duel-weld, during the Bladesong. Starting as a 1lvl High elf wizard carrying short swords and a longbow.
Yes they can but if you do so you probably want to do fighter 1/bladesinger 5/fighter 2/bladesinger x so you can pick up a fighting style (dual weild), second wind, and constitution saving throws...
Edit to add a bit more use a Rapier/shortsword combo and drop the short sword if you need to cast. Take warcaster asap so you don't have to drop it. Focus on defenses as you don't have the HP to actually take hits, get a ring of spell storage or an equivalent that can store a 2nd or 3rd level spell so you can have your familiar concentrate on a spell for you.
I'm a little late to the party, but there is a really cool Trickster-like Wizard subclass in the DM's Guild supplement, Xanathar's Lost Notes to Everything Else. It's called the Beguiler and channels Arcane Trickster-like gameplay with extra damage from ranged cantrips. Rather than doing sneak attack damage, you deal extra INT damage at levels 6, when using a spell attack cantrip, and you have advantage. It leads to some nice combinations using stealth, shadow blade, and green flame blade together. As well as using firebolt from the shadows or with greater invisibility. At level 11, the INT bonus damage is doubled, and then tripled at level 17. The final results are that you sacrifice major AOE damage for heavy single target cantrip strikes like a Rogue. You also get some really nice bonuses to Charisma based skills, Light Armor proficiency, and can force disadvantage vs your Enchantment spells when hidden.
In our current campaign, I'm playing a 4th level Gnome Beguiler, and focusing many of my spells on utility options like Tenser's Floating Disk, Levitation, Comprehend Languages, Jump, Expeditious Retreat, Blur, Mirror Image, Shadow Blade, and other spells that provide a means of escape or trickery. My primary damage comes from the Firebolt cantrip and Ice Knife for a little more Rogue-like flavor. https://www.dmsguild.com/product/228484/Xanathars-Lost-Notes-to-Everything-Else
I had fun running an orc "melee" wizard in AL. He's level 18
Since I could, I made int his dump stat and focused on STR, Con, and Dex. Now this gave a 6 int. Why you ask? Cause I could. Was fun to challenge myself and not be a burdened. He proved to be better than the min max int wizards in our groups and never held the group back (he was also on the front lines alot)
He was the self proclaimed "Wizard Supreme", wearing a beard made up of wizards he had defeated and "scalped" as that is where the powerful wizards got their powers from. Wizards without beards he scoffed at, and his ratty robes barley fit his bulging muscular orc body.
His school was Divination. Feat progression never went into spell feats (tough, polearm master, mage slayer, then charger [This one didn't matter])
Spell wise, it didn't matter too much, having a mix of defensive and offensive spells with a random spell. His signature spell (what he casted most often, not class ability) was actually resilient sphere. He also had aoe spells and spells with save dcs. Polymorph also proved useful. But the real challenge I gave him was randomly preparing non ritual spells ("true wizards shouldn't have to think about what to prepare, they just do") mirror image, and blink helped. Banishment is good for niche moments (like being forcibly sent to another plane)
His main weapon was the Gulthias Staff. A melee weapon that can heal was a boon even if he sometimes went insane (he had a 50% chance, never got disabled by it)
He solo'd an arch mage with anti magic and drowning him while the party fought an ancient green dragon.
He blew up the Skt kracken by misty stepping into its mouth and breaking his staff of power.
Outwitted Sazz Tam.
And started the Barovian Space Program by sending a skeletal cow into the mists by trapping it in a sphere and hitting it.
The advantage of the following is you're fully actuated by level 6.
Dex is most important, then int, then con.
1 level fighter, with duelling fighting style and a finesse weapon. 4 levels of abjuration wizard, take warcaster, then a 2nd level of fighter, then wizard the rest of the way.
Keep your shield but trade armor for mage armor. With a Dex of 16, a shield, mage armor, and the blur and shield spells, attackers are at disadvantage to hit AC 23; any lucky strikes can be some what mitigated by your abjuration ward.
I'm trying out a gnome War Wizard/Ranger. It would be a bit more optimized if I had gone War Wizard/Eldritch Knight, but for backstory purposes and better spell slot progression, I'm keeping it as Ranger.
2 levels of War Wizard get you improved concentration and AC no matter what spell slots you have left. Also higher initiative due to the Strategist aspect of the War Wizard. I started as Fighter and took War Caster feat for great concentration. Booming Blade and Green Flame Blade cantrips compensate somewhat for delayed progression to 2nd weapon attack every round.
The weakness of Haste is that losing concentration for a melee character can be pretty dangerous. I chose the Slow spell instead for that reason. But I can see good reasons for either one. Mirror Image as a concentration-free get-out-of-getting-hit card is great, esp if you cast it as a Readied action before any suspicious activity. (Another reason why having a high iniative is important).
A melee Wizard with Booming Blade and Warcaster has the advantage over nearly every other character that its opportunity attacks are much much more damaging than most other people's opportunity attacks (not a Rogue with Sneak attack, but that's about it). If you've got Shadow Blade cast, the damage is even better. I think these two spells are essential for a melee wizard (and the Shield spell as well, so you've got options for your reaction).
I don't recommend Blade Singer. I recommend starting off with one level in Fighter, and going around with a Shield, and the Defense fighting style (Defense Fighting style + Studded leather is equal to Mage Armor but without using a spell slot). If you start off with one level in Fighter, and then take four levels in Wizard, you can get Warcaster at level 5, right when Booming Blade makes a huge jump in power. Using Booming Blade also means that you're not as interested in the extra attack that you get as a Blade Singer. Blade Singer can't use a shield, and while the AC bonus of your intelligence will be better than the AC bonus of using a shield, you only get to use the Bladesong twice between short rests, whereas you have unlimited uses of a shield. Fighter also gives you the useful proficiency in Constitution saves. Instead of choosing Blade Singer, I recommend choosing the Abjuration school, and you'll be getting the same effective health as a character with a D10 hit die because you'll be gaining 2 HP on your Arcane Ward with each level. Unless you rolled really well and you can get 16+ in Dex, Int, and Con, I think that the extra health from Abjuration is necessary.
It also means that your Absorb Elements spell (which you also can use the second part of - the extra 1D6 of damage on your next melee attack next turn) and Shield spells also function as a Heal 2 on yourself, as long as your Arcane Ward isn't at full health. Even better, your Counterspell and Dispel Magic spells also function as a Heal 6 on yourself.
Another reason that I recommend the Abjuration School is that any damaging attack that is entirely absorbed by your Arcane Ward will not require you to make a concentration saving throw if you're concentrating on a spell. And damage absorbed by the Arcane Ward can decrease the difficulty of the concentration saving throw on those times that you're taking more than 20 damage, but some of it is absorbed by the Arcane Ward.
The level 10 and level 14 Abjuration Wizard abilities are pretty cool, too.
Also, Bladesinger forces you to be an elf, most likely a High Elf. A High Elf abjuration melee wizard is good, but you can also do Variant Human Abjuration Wizard with Scale Mail and the Medium Armor Master feat (if you start off with one level of fighter, and presumably with 16 Dex), or a Gnome abjuration wizard, or some other race that you're interested in trying.
I don't recommend Blade Singer. I recommend starting off with one level in Fighter, and going around with a Shield, and the Defense fighting style (Defense Fighting style + Studded leather is equal to Mage Armor but without using a spell slot). If you start off with one level in Fighter, and then take four levels in Wizard, you can get Warcaster at level 5, right when Booming Blade makes a huge jump in power.
If you are gonna min max I would say you are better off with 1st level wizard then at some point take your 1 level fighter. Multiclassing into fighter gives armour, weapons and shield proficiencies whereas multiclassing into wizard gives nothing. You should also consider the saving throw proficiency, you only get the ones from your first class, and although fighters con saves are attractive, they come with strength saves that may not be. Wizards int and wis saves are nice for illusion and enchantment spells, you can always take resilient (con) later on and get a +1 with it.
I don't recommend Blade Singer. I recommend starting off with one level in Fighter, and going around with a Shield, and the Defense fighting style (Defense Fighting style + Studded leather is equal to Mage Armor but without using a spell slot). If you start off with one level in Fighter, and then take four levels in Wizard, you can get Warcaster at level 5, right when Booming Blade makes a huge jump in power.
If you are gonna min max I would say you are better off with 1st level wizard then at some point take your 1 level fighter. Multiclassing into fighter gives armour, weapons and shield proficiencies whereas multiclassing into wizard gives nothing. You should also consider the saving throw proficiency, you only get the ones from your first class, and although fighters con saves are attractive, they come with strength saves that may not be. Wizards int and wis saves are nice for illusion and enchantment spells, you can always take resilient (con) later on and get a +1 with it.
Wisdom saves are very good, but Constitution saves for a spellcaster are better. Especially if you're going to be in melee range and are more likely to be taking damage. Intelligence saves aren't very important, Strength saves are better (but still far behind Constitution, Wisdom, and Dexterity saves). Especially since you'll already have a +3 or better in Intelligence saves, and if you're doing a Dexterity based melee wizard, you'll probably have no boost at all to your Strength saving throws.
Multi-classing into Wizard doesn't give you anything, but the only thing you miss out on by not starting as a Wizard at level one are the Saving Throw proficiences (which you don't mind because the Fighter's proficiencies are better), and the two skills to choose from (which is the same number as the Fighter, although the Wizard's choices fit your build better). Multi-classing into Wizard doesn't give you anything, but you're also not really missing out on anything. And that's more important. Multi-classing from Wizard into Fighter forces you into a Dex based melee character, because you miss out on Heavy Armor Proficiency if you start off as Wizard and then multi-class into Fighter. So you're actually missing out on more proficiencies by starting off as Wizard and multi-classing into Fighter than you would be if you did it in the reverse direction. Instead of looking what you get, you should be looking at what you don't get.
Lastly, because the melee wizard would want to boost both Intelligence, as well as either Dex or Strength, and it needs to get the Warcaster feat, I wouldn't recommend planning on using a feat for Resilient Constitution. It's important to get Warcaster and get both Int and Dex/Str up to 20, which leaves no room for Resilient Constitution (unless you rolled really well). It still might be worth it to do Resilient Constitution instead of boosting one of your primary attack stats, but if you can avoid needing to take that feat just by doing your first level in fighter, and use that ASI for a +2 Intelligence instead, why not do that?
Fair points, it really doesn't seem to matter when you go fighter, and heavy armour could make a huge difference. but allow me to make the case against the value of the fighter's con save proficiency. I personally feel that the melee wizard does not necessarily need to focus on concentration checks. Essentially:
- you don't need concentration checks if you don't cast concentration spells. Sleep, Earth Tremor, Color Spray. maybe not optimized but still good.
- you don't need concentration checks if you do not get get hit, high AC, shield. I realize a melee wizard is in the fray but concentration checks will be reduced or avoided
- warcaster still gives advantage on concentration checks regardless of proficiency. what are the chances you rolled bad twice and needed only a +2?
The build you mentioned is focused on Booming Blade after all. the wizard may not even wish to try to concentrate with all that thunderous racket
Concentration checks are important b/c a majority of powerful control spells and combat utility spells (like Levitate, Slow and Greater Invisibility) are concentration spells.
If you are in melee, your PC will definitely get hit. A wizard can only devote so many spell slots to defensive spells before their toolkit gets whittled down to Only defensive spells. Shield, Mirror Image, Blur, etc. are useful, but if you stay near the frontline, it's only a matter of time before some weapon or spell strikes your mage. I've played a melee Sorcerer/Forge Cleric. Even with chain mail, Forge boosted armor and a Shield spell, my character still took weapon damage.
If the +2 from having prof. in CON checks didn't matter, then it would have been senseless for that to be a major feature of the War Wizard subclass. The fact is, every little bit of Concentration boost helps when you're keeping a very important concentration spell going.
I agree, con save proficiency is valuable. I just don't think it's the only way to run a melee wizard. The point I was making was that the minor deficiency in con save bonus can be mitigated.
I agree, con save proficiency is valuable. I just don't think it's the only way to run a melee wizard. The point I was making was that the minor deficiency in con save bonus can be mitigated.
It can be mitigated by the feat, and if you're going to end up with an odd number in Constitution, it is worth considering planning it out that way. But waiting until your 12th level of Wizard to start boosting your Int/Dex/Str is the price you pay.
Fair points, it really doesn't seem to matter when you go fighter, and heavy armour could make a huge difference. but allow me to make the case against the value of the fighter's con save proficiency. I personally feel that the melee wizard does not necessarily need to focus on concentration checks. Essentially:
- you don't need concentration checks if you don't cast concentration spells. Sleep, Earth Tremor, Color Spray. maybe not optimized but still good.
- you don't need concentration checks if you do not get get hit, high AC, shield. I realize a melee wizard is in the fray but concentration checks will be reduced or avoided
- warcaster still gives advantage on concentration checks regardless of proficiency. what are the chances you rolled bad twice and needed only a +2?
The build you mentioned is focused on Booming Blade after all. the wizard may not even wish to try to concentrate with all that thunderous racket
I think Shadow Blade is a powerful enough spell (increased damage is good, psychic damage is good, and advantage in dim light and darkness is very good) that you want to use that spell quite often in dim light or darkness. There are other good concentration spells that you can use instead (Song of Blues mentioned some good ones), and I do think that using a concentration spell is necessary, and that avoiding using a concentration spell limits your effectiveness too much. Also, it kind of takes away much of the fun of playing a Wizard if you're not going to be using a concentration spell. People are playing a Wizard for the spells, after all.
That's a good point about Booming Blade. Green Flame Blade would be a good alternative, I suppose. I don't like the other options which would be to take 5 levels in Fighter or to go with a low max HP Bladesinger to get the extra attack. And I think a melee wizard without Extra Attack and without one of those two cantrips would just be too underwhelming. Although maybe you could do a build based on using Vampiric Touch and Life Transference if you're not going to get extra attack or one of those two cantrips? It could be fun to role play that character, even though it's not that powerful of a play style. I suppose you would want to do the School of Necromancy if you're doing that play style.
absolutely! a necromancer melee wizard is an exciting topic. perhaps with the sentinal feat to be used in conjunction with zombies that are tempting targets. hit a zombie and the necro uses that shadow blade on you! these kinds of ideas and builds are fun to explore, I found the "take a level in fighter" solution to be a little lacking in pizazz. imo
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Jesus Saves!... Everyone else takes damage.
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My back story is basically that I was the unknown son of one of the wizards from our Arcane Tower (a group who hunt down people abusing magic) and my mom was unknown. I grew up in an orphanage. I started out as a solder in town and one day was sent out on a mission to help a priest in a cart. When we fund him he had been attacked by goblins and killed, but I found this gem which fused with me giving me the powers. This was in case any of the 3 dm's wanted to use that. I do not particularly do anything holy.
Shield of faith, light and thaumaturgy do not really need high wisdom to be effective so that works out nice as I did not have to pump up that ability.
I basically was a wizard who could stand in the front lines, like an Eldritch Knight, but without the restrictions in what school of magic my spells can come from.
I assume it is up to the DM to determine if they are cool with a cleric abjuration spell working. Mine were so I was able to not have to take alarm and could grab something else instead.
I have played a dwarf wizard /arcane cleric that only used spells to suppliment his mediocre melee capabilities. It was fun.
I would like to suggest trying to play a spell based melee character. Possibly war mage or bladesinger just for the features, but nnot for the weapon based melee functions. I tend to play outside the box.
If you are playing in an Eberron campaign, or the DM allows you to use the Wayfinder's Guide to Eberron material, then this is a character I have been playing in a city of Sharn based version of Waterdeep: Dragon Heist.. We just completed the module (to the best of my knowledge). Our next session will be a wrap up and transition to our DM's Eberron version of Dungeon of the Mad Mage . . .
https://ddb.ac/characters/7719644/phRZhX
I just got the Revenant Blade feat upon leveling so I;ve only just started using my inherited Silver Double-bladed Scimitar (only just recovered). :)
My plan is another level of wizard followed by 2 levels of fighter, then straight wizard thereafter.
Watch your back, conserve your ammo,
and NEVER cut a deal with a dragon!
Thinking of starting a Bladesinger tonight, question is can they duel-weld, during the Bladesong. Starting as a 1lvl High elf wizard carrying short swords and a longbow.
Yes they can but if you do so you probably want to do fighter 1/bladesinger 5/fighter 2/bladesinger x so you can pick up a fighting style (dual weild), second wind, and constitution saving throws...
Edit to add a bit more use a Rapier/shortsword combo and drop the short sword if you need to cast. Take warcaster asap so you don't have to drop it. Focus on defenses as you don't have the HP to actually take hits, get a ring of spell storage or an equivalent that can store a 2nd or 3rd level spell so you can have your familiar concentrate on a spell for you.
Take false life and a few melee spells.
I'm a little late to the party, but there is a really cool Trickster-like Wizard subclass in the DM's Guild supplement, Xanathar's Lost Notes to Everything Else. It's called the Beguiler and channels Arcane Trickster-like gameplay with extra damage from ranged cantrips. Rather than doing sneak attack damage, you deal extra INT damage at levels 6, when using a spell attack cantrip, and you have advantage. It leads to some nice combinations using stealth, shadow blade, and green flame blade together. As well as using firebolt from the shadows or with greater invisibility. At level 11, the INT bonus damage is doubled, and then tripled at level 17. The final results are that you sacrifice major AOE damage for heavy single target cantrip strikes like a Rogue. You also get some really nice bonuses to Charisma based skills, Light Armor proficiency, and can force disadvantage vs your Enchantment spells when hidden.
In our current campaign, I'm playing a 4th level Gnome Beguiler, and focusing many of my spells on utility options like Tenser's Floating Disk, Levitation, Comprehend Languages, Jump, Expeditious Retreat, Blur, Mirror Image, Shadow Blade, and other spells that provide a means of escape or trickery. My primary damage comes from the Firebolt cantrip and Ice Knife for a little more Rogue-like flavor. https://www.dmsguild.com/product/228484/Xanathars-Lost-Notes-to-Everything-Else
MONK WIZARD. enough said.
I had fun running an orc "melee" wizard in AL. He's level 18
Since I could, I made int his dump stat and focused on STR, Con, and Dex. Now this gave a 6 int. Why you ask? Cause I could. Was fun to challenge myself and not be a burdened. He proved to be better than the min max int wizards in our groups and never held the group back (he was also on the front lines alot)
He was the self proclaimed "Wizard Supreme", wearing a beard made up of wizards he had defeated and "scalped" as that is where the powerful wizards got their powers from. Wizards without beards he scoffed at, and his ratty robes barley fit his bulging muscular orc body.
His school was Divination. Feat progression never went into spell feats (tough, polearm master, mage slayer, then charger [This one didn't matter])
Spell wise, it didn't matter too much, having a mix of defensive and offensive spells with a random spell. His signature spell (what he casted most often, not class ability) was actually resilient sphere. He also had aoe spells and spells with save dcs. Polymorph also proved useful. But the real challenge I gave him was randomly preparing non ritual spells ("true wizards shouldn't have to think about what to prepare, they just do") mirror image, and blink helped. Banishment is good for niche moments (like being forcibly sent to another plane)
His main weapon was the Gulthias Staff. A melee weapon that can heal was a boon even if he sometimes went insane (he had a 50% chance, never got disabled by it)
He solo'd an arch mage with anti magic and drowning him while the party fought an ancient green dragon.
He blew up the Skt kracken by misty stepping into its mouth and breaking his staff of power.
Outwitted Sazz Tam.
And started the Barovian Space Program by sending a skeletal cow into the mists by trapping it in a sphere and hitting it.
The advantage of the following is you're fully actuated by level 6.
Dex is most important, then int, then con.
1 level fighter, with duelling fighting style and a finesse weapon. 4 levels of abjuration wizard, take warcaster, then a 2nd level of fighter, then wizard the rest of the way.
Keep your shield but trade armor for mage armor. With a Dex of 16, a shield, mage armor, and the blur and shield spells, attackers are at disadvantage to hit AC 23; any lucky strikes can be some what mitigated by your abjuration ward.
Trade haste for blur, if you like, but its risky.
Easy peasy.
Haste is objectively better than blur defensively, offensively and for utility.
The biggest advantage is that is massively more versatile and that the only hard counter to it is dispel magic.
I'm trying out a gnome War Wizard/Ranger. It would be a bit more optimized if I had gone War Wizard/Eldritch Knight, but for backstory purposes and better spell slot progression, I'm keeping it as Ranger.
2 levels of War Wizard get you improved concentration and AC no matter what spell slots you have left. Also higher initiative due to the Strategist aspect of the War Wizard. I started as Fighter and took War Caster feat for great concentration. Booming Blade and Green Flame Blade cantrips compensate somewhat for delayed progression to 2nd weapon attack every round.
The weakness of Haste is that losing concentration for a melee character can be pretty dangerous. I chose the Slow spell instead for that reason. But I can see good reasons for either one. Mirror Image as a concentration-free get-out-of-getting-hit card is great, esp if you cast it as a Readied action before any suspicious activity. (Another reason why having a high iniative is important).
A melee Wizard with Booming Blade and Warcaster has the advantage over nearly every other character that its opportunity attacks are much much more damaging than most other people's opportunity attacks (not a Rogue with Sneak attack, but that's about it). If you've got Shadow Blade cast, the damage is even better. I think these two spells are essential for a melee wizard (and the Shield spell as well, so you've got options for your reaction).
I don't recommend Blade Singer. I recommend starting off with one level in Fighter, and going around with a Shield, and the Defense fighting style (Defense Fighting style + Studded leather is equal to Mage Armor but without using a spell slot). If you start off with one level in Fighter, and then take four levels in Wizard, you can get Warcaster at level 5, right when Booming Blade makes a huge jump in power. Using Booming Blade also means that you're not as interested in the extra attack that you get as a Blade Singer. Blade Singer can't use a shield, and while the AC bonus of your intelligence will be better than the AC bonus of using a shield, you only get to use the Bladesong twice between short rests, whereas you have unlimited uses of a shield. Fighter also gives you the useful proficiency in Constitution saves. Instead of choosing Blade Singer, I recommend choosing the Abjuration school, and you'll be getting the same effective health as a character with a D10 hit die because you'll be gaining 2 HP on your Arcane Ward with each level. Unless you rolled really well and you can get 16+ in Dex, Int, and Con, I think that the extra health from Abjuration is necessary.
It also means that your Absorb Elements spell (which you also can use the second part of - the extra 1D6 of damage on your next melee attack next turn) and Shield spells also function as a Heal 2 on yourself, as long as your Arcane Ward isn't at full health. Even better, your Counterspell and Dispel Magic spells also function as a Heal 6 on yourself.
Another reason that I recommend the Abjuration School is that any damaging attack that is entirely absorbed by your Arcane Ward will not require you to make a concentration saving throw if you're concentrating on a spell. And damage absorbed by the Arcane Ward can decrease the difficulty of the concentration saving throw on those times that you're taking more than 20 damage, but some of it is absorbed by the Arcane Ward.
The level 10 and level 14 Abjuration Wizard abilities are pretty cool, too.
Also, Bladesinger forces you to be an elf, most likely a High Elf. A High Elf abjuration melee wizard is good, but you can also do Variant Human Abjuration Wizard with Scale Mail and the Medium Armor Master feat (if you start off with one level of fighter, and presumably with 16 Dex), or a Gnome abjuration wizard, or some other race that you're interested in trying.
If you are gonna min max I would say you are better off with 1st level wizard then at some point take your 1 level fighter. Multiclassing into fighter gives armour, weapons and shield proficiencies whereas multiclassing into wizard gives nothing. You should also consider the saving throw proficiency, you only get the ones from your first class, and although fighters con saves are attractive, they come with strength saves that may not be. Wizards int and wis saves are nice for illusion and enchantment spells, you can always take resilient (con) later on and get a +1 with it.
Jesus Saves!... Everyone else takes damage.
Wisdom saves are very good, but Constitution saves for a spellcaster are better. Especially if you're going to be in melee range and are more likely to be taking damage. Intelligence saves aren't very important, Strength saves are better (but still far behind Constitution, Wisdom, and Dexterity saves). Especially since you'll already have a +3 or better in Intelligence saves, and if you're doing a Dexterity based melee wizard, you'll probably have no boost at all to your Strength saving throws.
Multi-classing into Wizard doesn't give you anything, but the only thing you miss out on by not starting as a Wizard at level one are the Saving Throw proficiences (which you don't mind because the Fighter's proficiencies are better), and the two skills to choose from (which is the same number as the Fighter, although the Wizard's choices fit your build better). Multi-classing into Wizard doesn't give you anything, but you're also not really missing out on anything. And that's more important. Multi-classing from Wizard into Fighter forces you into a Dex based melee character, because you miss out on Heavy Armor Proficiency if you start off as Wizard and then multi-class into Fighter. So you're actually missing out on more proficiencies by starting off as Wizard and multi-classing into Fighter than you would be if you did it in the reverse direction. Instead of looking what you get, you should be looking at what you don't get.
Lastly, because the melee wizard would want to boost both Intelligence, as well as either Dex or Strength, and it needs to get the Warcaster feat, I wouldn't recommend planning on using a feat for Resilient Constitution. It's important to get Warcaster and get both Int and Dex/Str up to 20, which leaves no room for Resilient Constitution (unless you rolled really well). It still might be worth it to do Resilient Constitution instead of boosting one of your primary attack stats, but if you can avoid needing to take that feat just by doing your first level in fighter, and use that ASI for a +2 Intelligence instead, why not do that?
Fair points, it really doesn't seem to matter when you go fighter, and heavy armour could make a huge difference. but allow me to make the case against the value of the fighter's con save proficiency. I personally feel that the melee wizard does not necessarily need to focus on concentration checks. Essentially:
- you don't need concentration checks if you don't cast concentration spells. Sleep, Earth Tremor, Color Spray. maybe not optimized but still good.
- you don't need concentration checks if you do not get get hit, high AC, shield. I realize a melee wizard is in the fray but concentration checks will be reduced or avoided
- warcaster still gives advantage on concentration checks regardless of proficiency. what are the chances you rolled bad twice and needed only a +2?
The build you mentioned is focused on Booming Blade after all. the wizard may not even wish to try to concentrate with all that thunderous racket
Jesus Saves!... Everyone else takes damage.
Concentration checks are important b/c a majority of powerful control spells and combat utility spells (like Levitate, Slow and Greater Invisibility) are concentration spells.
If you are in melee, your PC will definitely get hit. A wizard can only devote so many spell slots to defensive spells before their toolkit gets whittled down to Only defensive spells. Shield, Mirror Image, Blur, etc. are useful, but if you stay near the frontline, it's only a matter of time before some weapon or spell strikes your mage. I've played a melee Sorcerer/Forge Cleric. Even with chain mail, Forge boosted armor and a Shield spell, my character still took weapon damage.
If the +2 from having prof. in CON checks didn't matter, then it would have been senseless for that to be a major feature of the War Wizard subclass. The fact is, every little bit of Concentration boost helps when you're keeping a very important concentration spell going.
I agree, con save proficiency is valuable. I just don't think it's the only way to run a melee wizard. The point I was making was that the minor deficiency in con save bonus can be mitigated.
Jesus Saves!... Everyone else takes damage.
It can be mitigated by the feat, and if you're going to end up with an odd number in Constitution, it is worth considering planning it out that way. But waiting until your 12th level of Wizard to start boosting your Int/Dex/Str is the price you pay.
I think Shadow Blade is a powerful enough spell (increased damage is good, psychic damage is good, and advantage in dim light and darkness is very good) that you want to use that spell quite often in dim light or darkness. There are other good concentration spells that you can use instead (Song of Blues mentioned some good ones), and I do think that using a concentration spell is necessary, and that avoiding using a concentration spell limits your effectiveness too much. Also, it kind of takes away much of the fun of playing a Wizard if you're not going to be using a concentration spell. People are playing a Wizard for the spells, after all.
That's a good point about Booming Blade. Green Flame Blade would be a good alternative, I suppose. I don't like the other options which would be to take 5 levels in Fighter or to go with a low max HP Bladesinger to get the extra attack. And I think a melee wizard without Extra Attack and without one of those two cantrips would just be too underwhelming. Although maybe you could do a build based on using Vampiric Touch and Life Transference if you're not going to get extra attack or one of those two cantrips? It could be fun to role play that character, even though it's not that powerful of a play style. I suppose you would want to do the School of Necromancy if you're doing that play style.
absolutely! a necromancer melee wizard is an exciting topic. perhaps with the sentinal feat to be used in conjunction with zombies that are tempting targets. hit a zombie and the necro uses that shadow blade on you! these kinds of ideas and builds are fun to explore, I found the "take a level in fighter" solution to be a little lacking in pizazz. imo
Jesus Saves!... Everyone else takes damage.