It's raw to drop you weapon, and also absurd. I will make some random chance for it to bounce 5-10 feet away, and certainly prioritize someone picking it up.
I'm not sure it is RAW. Free Object Interactions are taken as a part of Movement and Actions, not Reactions, so you can't drop an object as a part of a Reaction if doing so requires a Free Object Interaction. But I 100% agree that the whole drop/use a free hand/pick up thing is absurd.
I know it's a bit of a loophole, but technically you are not using your free object interaction to drop your weapon. You are simply starting the somatic aspect of the spell and as a result your weapon drops, because you need to open your hand. Or just get a gem of the war mage and problem solved.
I like bladesinger with 2 levels paladin for fighting style (dueling usually), smite, and healing (spells and lay hands). Still get wizard level 18 feature, still a 19th level spell caster, and no paladin oaths.
Rules as written, you can smite with GFB and BB.
There are a lot of multiclasses that work well. Arcane Trickster 4 is great.
What I really like though is Undead Warlock 1. Get form of dread to cause fear on one enemy every turn and get temp hps for yourself and pick up Armor of Agathys and either Hex or Protection from Good and Evil as spells.
Unless you take 1 level in Barbarian because Con and Dex are important to Bladesingers, then you might have a base AC equal to or higher than what Mage armour gives you anyway.
The strength and constitution requirement makes this a difficult build on point buy. Mage Armor is 16 with a 16 Dex. To match that on a Barbarian-Wizard multiclass you would need a 16 Dex and Constitution. Since you need 13 strength for the multiclass that means you start with a 13 intelligence (or a 14 with a mountain dwarf) and 8/9 in both Charisma and wisdom. S13/D16/C16/I13/W9/CH8. At this point, with a low intelligence you are probably better off with war magic as opposed to bladesinging.
Monk is a better combo for unarmored defense. You can start off with 16AC and an intelligence of 15, which you can boost to 16 with Fey Touched or Shadow Touched at Wizard 4. Also Monk makes a lot more weapons available to use with Dexterity, including staffs, which you are going to want as a wizard! S8/D16/C10/I15/W16/CH8
Finally if you go to level 2 Monk, the monk Ki disengage is awesome to combine with booming blade and the ki dodge is just awesome period on a bladesinger.
I don't see the point of multiclassing much for the bladesinger, in particular for something that has you sacrifice your Int, DEx, or Con. So I would avoid anything that requires Wis or Str at 13 such as paly or monk. Maybe a fighter Psi Warrior or Eldritch Knight, or even a Blood Hunter...all of which use intelligence. One of the blood hunter class lets you get Warlock spells and use intelligence.
To me the point is getting dex and intelligence up so that when actually bladesinging your AC is unmatched. Add shield and the character is rarely hit. And of course your spells...best not to delay them.
There's a lot to be said to going bladesinger the whole way. All the benefits are pretty good.
I don't see the point of multiclassing much for the bladesinger, in particular for something that has you sacrifice your Int, DEx, or Con. So I would avoid anything that requires Wis or Str at 13 such as paly or monk. Maybe a fighter Psi Warrior or Eldritch Knight, or even a Blood Hunter...all of which use intelligence. One of the blood hunter class lets you get Warlock spells and use intelligence.
Certainly a single class Bladesinger is the most powerful. You don't want fewer slots and you don't want to delay any of your subclass abilities.
IME though, high Constitution is overrated and unecessary on a bladesinger. Usually as a single class bladesinger I am running a Constitution of 10, maxing Dex and Intelligence. If I am playing for combat power I put what is left over in Wisdom. If I am building for all 3 tiers, I split it between wisdom and charisma.
As long as you concentrate on defensive spells, an optimized point buy bladesinger with a 10 constitution in tier 2 is more survivable than any other class in melee except a Barbarian, and a Barbarian is pretty close. IMO you want the extra points in wisdom because wisdom saves are your biggest weakness. They will kill you and you don't have a lot of spell options to counter them. Against attacks, AOE damage spells and con saves you usually have spells that either make it much less likely to take damage (Shield, Blur) or you have spells that reduce the damage you do take (Absorb Elements). As such you don't take high damage often enough to worry a lot about Constitution Saves IME.
The problem with constitution is the juice is not worth the squeeze. 4 points of constitution at 10th level will barely cover 1 attack from the kind of foes you will be facing at 10th level. Better to invest in abilities that reduce the likelyhood you will get hit with that attack.
Once you reach level 6 and can replace an attack with a cantrip DW comes back into relevancy. Another thing to consider is "will the target move" because below level 5 booming blade does nothing if the enemy won't willingly move and greenflame blade will only do your int modifier (so probably 3 or 4) to a second target which DWing can do 3.5 on average to the single target potentially killing it in the same turn.
Another thing to consider is "will the target move" because below level 5 booming blade does nothing if the enemy won't willingly move and greenflame blade will only do your int modifier (so probably 3 or 4) to a second target which DWing can do 3.5 on average to the single target potentially killing it in the same turn.
This is easy to fix though, if it is a target without a ranged attack you just move away from him after you hit him with booming blade. If you are playing a melee-oriented bladesinger you typically don't worry about AOOs.
I know it's a bit of a loophole, but technically you are not using your free object interaction to drop your weapon. You are simply starting the somatic aspect of the spell and as a result your weapon drops, because you need to open your hand. Or just get a gem of the war mage and problem solved.
Definitely a Dex ASI. Upcast False Life will give you more durability than tough will and cost a lot less than a feat.
tough is 2hps per level at the start of the day (strictly RAW they do not add to hit dice).
False Life upcast is 2 temp hps per level, plus an extra 1d4 castable multiple times a day.
If you can get Armor of Agathys through a feat or multiclass in a way that allows you to upcast it, that is even better yet.
There are a lot of multiclasses that work well. Arcane Trickster 4 is great.
What I really like though is Undead Warlock 1. Get form of dread to cause fear on one enemy every turn and get temp hps for yourself and pick up Armor of Agathys and either Hex or Protection from Good and Evil as spells.
The strength and constitution requirement makes this a difficult build on point buy. Mage Armor is 16 with a 16 Dex. To match that on a Barbarian-Wizard multiclass you would need a 16 Dex and Constitution. Since you need 13 strength for the multiclass that means you start with a 13 intelligence (or a 14 with a mountain dwarf) and 8/9 in both Charisma and wisdom. S13/D16/C16/I13/W9/CH8. At this point, with a low intelligence you are probably better off with war magic as opposed to bladesinging.
Monk is a better combo for unarmored defense. You can start off with 16AC and an intelligence of 15, which you can boost to 16 with Fey Touched or Shadow Touched at Wizard 4. Also Monk makes a lot more weapons available to use with Dexterity, including staffs, which you are going to want as a wizard! S8/D16/C10/I15/W16/CH8
Finally if you go to level 2 Monk, the monk Ki disengage is awesome to combine with booming blade and the ki dodge is just awesome period on a bladesinger.
I don't see the point of multiclassing much for the bladesinger, in particular for something that has you sacrifice your Int, DEx, or Con. So I would avoid anything that requires Wis or Str at 13 such as paly or monk. Maybe a fighter Psi Warrior or Eldritch Knight, or even a Blood Hunter...all of which use intelligence. One of the blood hunter class lets you get Warlock spells and use intelligence.
To me the point is getting dex and intelligence up so that when actually bladesinging your AC is unmatched. Add shield and the character is rarely hit. And of course your spells...best not to delay them.
There's a lot to be said to going bladesinger the whole way. All the benefits are pretty good.
Certainly a single class Bladesinger is the most powerful. You don't want fewer slots and you don't want to delay any of your subclass abilities.
IME though, high Constitution is overrated and unecessary on a bladesinger. Usually as a single class bladesinger I am running a Constitution of 10, maxing Dex and Intelligence. If I am playing for combat power I put what is left over in Wisdom. If I am building for all 3 tiers, I split it between wisdom and charisma.
As long as you concentrate on defensive spells, an optimized point buy bladesinger with a 10 constitution in tier 2 is more survivable than any other class in melee except a Barbarian, and a Barbarian is pretty close. IMO you want the extra points in wisdom because wisdom saves are your biggest weakness. They will kill you and you don't have a lot of spell options to counter them. Against attacks, AOE damage spells and con saves you usually have spells that either make it much less likely to take damage (Shield, Blur) or you have spells that reduce the damage you do take (Absorb Elements). As such you don't take high damage often enough to worry a lot about Constitution Saves IME.
The problem with constitution is the juice is not worth the squeeze. 4 points of constitution at 10th level will barely cover 1 attack from the kind of foes you will be facing at 10th level. Better to invest in abilities that reduce the likelyhood you will get hit with that attack.
You can use two weapon fighting with bladesong.
https://mobile.twitter.com/jeremyecrawford/status/662098953580621824?lang=en
Can’t we just solve this entire issue by tying a leather loop at the end of the pommel and putting that around our wrist? 😂
Once you reach level 6 and can replace an attack with a cantrip DW comes back into relevancy. Another thing to consider is "will the target move" because below level 5 booming blade does nothing if the enemy won't willingly move and greenflame blade will only do your int modifier (so probably 3 or 4) to a second target which DWing can do 3.5 on average to the single target potentially killing it in the same turn.
This is easy to fix though, if it is a target without a ranged attack you just move away from him after you hit him with booming blade. If you are playing a melee-oriented bladesinger you typically don't worry about AOOs.