I have a high elf bladesinger lvl 3 in a Curse of Strahd campaign (plz no spoilers for this 😁) and I am facing a little in advance the ever cruel dilemma of THE choice between a Feat (Mobile or War Caster) and pumping my INT to 18.
To help you my stats are as follows
STR - 6
DEX - 18
CON - 14
INT - 16
WIS - 8
CHA - 12
So my problem is as follows... I would feel more comfortable with an INT of 18 and all it means for a bladesinger (+1 to AC so 21 total with mage armor and bladesong).
But, I was thinking about dumping shadow blade for haste when I hit lvl 5 so i would get a +2AC and a third attack.
The problem ? The mobile Feat... that sweet 50 speed and no opportunity attacks against any target i attack (not necessarily hit) that round.
With a total speed of 50 without haste and 100 with it i would be able to jump in and out of combat without triggering any opporunity attacks and hit with a booming blade every now and then. And I would be able to attack 3 times in a row and move back to safety without having to waste my extra action (Haste) to disengage.
So i guess i need help figuring things out ? Pretty please ? Just tell me to be reasonable and to take the +2 to INT and that I'm dumb for wanting the mobile feat 😅
Before getting to the analysis what is superior, are you counting 3 attacks with Haste because of dual wielding or are you assuming Extra Attack (in which case you need to be level 6, not 5).
Frankly, its going to depend on your personal playstyle and your spells/items used. Do you want to be more of a tank? Warcaster lets you sit in the middle of enemies and punish anyone who tries to get past you. Mobile lets you sweep into combat, hit people, get out. INT... INT lets you cast spells better and sometimes have better AC, but its not going to help you hit things more.
Don't get Mobile because of the speed. Most of the time, you're not going to be in a featureless plain with infinite space. You're going to be fighting on mountains, or in caves, or rooms with limited space. While 100 speed sounds awesome on paper, the reality is far less; sometimes you'll be able to abuse it, but mostly there will be no functional difference between. Also, keep in mind you have the option of using Misty Step.
So, what is your goal? Do you want to focus on just pumping up AC? Do you want to hit things more? Be super agile? The answer is going to entirely depend on what kind of style you're aiming for.
IMO, the thing is on a mechanical level it does not take long for a wizard to reach the point where the best action almost every round is casting a spell. For that int boost is better. That being said if you want to continue to run in and stab people as your gameplay style it might not be your focus so maybe a feat.
Now for me the point of a high AC is to get an enemy to attack you and miss. If you are not getting attacked your AC could be 10 and it would be just as good. So while mobility is probably great to keep you alive, it keeps you alive because the enemies attack you less which again why are you focusing on a great AC.
So even if I were to be focusing on stabbing people as a wizard I'd probably still go int or even dex. +1 AC so I'm even less likely to be hit sometimes and better DCs for my spells, vs +1 Ac all the time and +1 to hit with my sword. Other feats to consider defensive duelist, you have a solid AC if you get hit it will probably only be once a round, so this can step in for the shield spell. if you are using Tashas, fighting initiate, metamagic adept, or eldritch adept. With all your stats being even a +1 attribute feat is less attractive unless you are planning ahead and take 2 of them. I do not recall what levels people reach in curse of strahd.
IMO, the thing is on a mechanical level it does not take long for a wizard to reach the point where the best action almost every round is casting a spell. For that int boost is better. That being said if you want to continue to run in and stab people as your gameplay style it might not be your focus so maybe a feat.
Now for me the point of a high AC is to get an enemy to attack you and miss. If you are not getting attacked your AC could be 10 and it would be just as good. So while mobility is probably great to keep you alive, it keeps you alive because the enemies attack you less which again why are you focusing on a great AC.
So even if I were to be focusing on stabbing people as a wizard I'd probably still go int or even dex. +1 AC so I'm even less likely to be hit sometimes and better DCs for my spells, vs +1 Ac all the time and +1 to hit with my sword. Other feats to consider defensive duelist, you have a solid AC if you get hit it will probably only be once a round, so this can step in for the shield spell. if you are using Tashas, fighting initiate, metamagic adept, or eldritch adept. With all your stats being even a +1 attribute feat is less attractive unless you are planning ahead and take 2 of them. I do not recall what levels people reach in curse of strahd.
Thanks for the reply
You are right with the high AC part. I guess I'm just a little scared of the campaing and i don't want to lose my character. But you're right. A high AC means nothing if you're never hit.
Defensive duelist is tempting but the fact that it only works for 1 attack doesn't seem worth against a +2 increase in INT. Which is good for my concentration saves, AC, spell DC, spell attack and spell prep.
I thank you all for your time and your replies. I think I'm gonna go for +2 INT for this time and I'll see what comes next at lvl 8 if I'm still alive to think about it 😁
I'm facing the same choice. I'm playing a high-elf bladesinger in Curse of Strahd and going from 3rd to 4th lvl. Any experience from the real play with Mobile and Booming Blade are appreciated, both the mechanics and fun. My stats are by point buy: Str 10, Dex 16, Con 14, Int 16, Wis 10, Cha 8.
The choices are: ASI Dex +2 or Int +2, Feat Mobile or War Caster. I think all these are reasonable. The campaign is likely to go until level 12, I believe. I'd like to play in a gish style at least the next four levels and go regularly into melee with Bladesong, not only use the high AC for protection and be a regular Wizard.
I am currently mainly considering Dex +2 vs. Mobile at level 4. Dex +2 is mechanically great for many purposes that come up frequently: +1 to Hit/Damage/AC/Init and Dex Skills/ST. For Mobile, the main feature I'm interested in is avoiding opportunity attacks after my melee attack from the target. The idea is both to trigger the Booming Blade secondary damage more easily and to possibly avoid being hit part of the time without expending spell slots (either Shield to boost AC or Misty Step to "disengage"). +10 ft to Speed is probably not that relevant, as my Speed is already high, although I like the concept of a super mobile and acrobatic character during Bladesong. The last feature to ignore difficult terrain if Dashing is pretty situational, but occasionally useful. Currently my AC isn't super high (14 with regular leather armor, 17 with Bladesong, unless I use Mage Armor), so even with Shield as reaction I will not avoid opportunity attacks all the time without Mobile. So, by forgoing the Dex ASI, do I suffer a lot from everything that it makes a bit better, or is Mobile fun and effective in actual play?
My spell selection is currently quite independent of Int (Web, Thunderwave and Toll the Dead have a DC, nothing that requires to hit based on Int - and both Web and Thunderwave are used only when there are several targets, so I can live with not so high DC and still not waste the spells on average). I can see that at later levels the DC will be more crucial, and of course +1 to AC & Concentration ST during Bladesong is nice. +1 to Int Skills/ST and one more prepared spell are not that important. Probably at level 8 I would take the Int ASI, but depends on my spell selection. I do want to have some battle control spells to keep up during combat and off-combat utility spells, not only to use spells to boost my combat abilities. Thus I don't like too much, e.g., Shadow Blade that would require my concentration (except maybe in dim light or darkness).
From War Caster the main feature is Advantage on Concentration ST. It's of course very useful for someone who will be concentrating on a spell if not most of the time but often. But during the Bladesong I already have +5 to Concentration ST which gives a reasonably good chance to keep my concentration. With War Caster, it'd be hard to fail the ST. However, if I can avoid taking damage in the first place due to high mobility, that mitigates the problem. Of the other features, the ability to use spells as opportunity attacks sounds nice, but in real play I have the experience that enemies don't often give opportunity attacks (plus if they do they would now possibly still trigger the previous Booming Blade secondary damage and I have the regular melee attack). The last feature of War Caster is more or less useless, as I will have my other hand free almost always.
I'm looking at those stats and seeing that you'll get grappled/tripped constantly (anything with STR saving throw, unless you can get away with DEX), or easily taken out by shadows; or at higher levels, you're going to constantly be charmed / crowd-controlled.
You made a glass cannon. Which is great when it works... right up to the point where that vampire or succubus charms you and gets you to lay waste to your teammates.
Ditch Mobile IMO. Most tables have no maps that can accomodate 100 foot movement anyways; 50 is more than sufficient. Pick up Resilient (Wisdom) or something.
You know what... DEX 18 and INT 16 are pretty well rounded stats for a Bladesinger. Despiste common lore, Wizards who are not focusing on save or suck spells, don’t need INT that much. I suppose Shadow Blade and Haste will be your thing. Upcasted Shadow Blade will always be better than Haste unless you find a good magical weapon. Having says that, I would offer two different perspectives:
- Increase DEX to 20. Not only AC, but to hit, damage and initiative will improve. - Tough feat would give you much more confidence to stay in the frontline a little bit.
You are right about the STR ST. I do have Proficiency in Athletics and Bladesong gives Advantage on Acrobatics, so I'm not that easy target for grapple etc. And the idea of Mobile would be to disengage safely and take some distance. In addition, I have Misty Step which is V component only, so I can escape a grapple with that as Bonus Action, if needed. And as an elf, I have also advantage on saving throws against being charmed.
I do agree that most maps have little use for the 50 ft Speed which I'd get with Bladesong and Mobile. But if the tactics is to move in and retreat back (with the free "disengage") after the attack, I think every ft is useful and 50 ft is not too much.
I tend to agree, DEX could be the primary stat here instead of INT. I don't have a single save or suck (single target) spell selected at the moment and I won't probably take any. I also agree that upcasted Shadow Blade is better than Haste. Haste is too risky, if you lose the concentration in the middle of the fight. If I lose Shadow Blade, I'll simply switch to Booming Blade. In fact, with the TCoE updated rules for Extra Attack, Booming Blade + normal rapier attack (at 6th lvl) is roughly as good as 2nd lvl Shadow Blade - you really need to upcast Shadow Blade (or be in dim light / darkness conditions) to do clearly better.
You are right, Tough would be a Feat worth considering here. But I sort of like the concept of a fragile and agile elf, and increasing hit points is less along those ideas than increasing Dexterity or taking Mobile.
I think Mobile would be the better choice. Mobile will be good if you plan to be weaving around enemies a lot, and 16 INT is pretty good. I really think you should pick Mobile. You don't really need a +2 to INT, since you are probably attacking with your scimitar,rapier, or shortsword. Besides, you won't be using a shield, so War Caster isn't really for you.
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Erean Cabenrith a Variant Human Cleric (Light Domain)
Yes, I did that. Tonight's the game night, so I'll see how it works. Currently I have very few spells/attacks that depend on Int: Toll the Dead (but I prefer usually Longbow for ranged attacks), Thunderwave and Web (which I would usually never cast on single targets, so I can afford a 1 lower DC). I think I can build my spell selection at least for the next few levels so that the DC is not overly important. I will be participating the melee most of the time (whenever I have Bladesong available).
I know this is an old post, but I was just curious on how Mobile worked out for you? Were you happy with your choice or did you regret it? Did it help out your survivability a lot?
I don't like mobile on this build. In bladesong you can pretty much ignore AOOs anyway and with haste you can use your haste action to disengage if you are really worried about it.
For these reasons I like the +2 intelligence a lot more. It gives you better saves and attacks, more damage on green flame blade and better AC and concentration in bladesong.
To be honest though, bladesinger works a lot better as a tank than as a striker and I would focus on things that make it easier for you to stay in melee take most of the attacks and keep the bad guys off your squishier allies ..... which includes just about everyone else.
I have played a lot of Bladesingers and on the single class builds most of the time I wanted to get in the enemies way, not get out of their way. I wanted to be within reach so I could land an AOO if the enemy tried to go after someone they were more likely to hit. A bladesinger in bladesong with a defensive spell up is harder to kill in melee than a fighter, Paladin or Ranger and about on par with a Barbarian. Our party wanted me there at the front line for this reason.
As a bladesinger I would actually cause enemy AOOs at times, moving just to get them to use their reaction so other characters could move around without worrying about it.
I've been very happy with the Mobile feat. I've played almost a year with the character, from level 3 to 9. He's been engaging in melee combat all the time, but more as a striker and definitely not a tank (our party has a barbarian as a solid tank). Free disengage from two enemies during a round is valuable, and extra mobility has given other tactical advantages, too. This has been a campaign with not many magic items, but with Shield, Absorb Elements, Blade Song, Misty Step and Counterspell my character has been pretty durable. My character's Int is still only 16, but I've been mainly selecting spells that either don't depend on the intelligence or have several targets. I like to have some sort of on-going control spell cast in addition to being in melee, so it's not really a melee optimized build, either. The best way to keep concentration is to avoid being hit in the first place, and Mobile has definitely helped there. His AC is 19 with studded leather and Blade Song, 24 with Shield cast. Some things get through that, critical hits always, so I prefer not be around. There's the added advantage of potentially triggering the Booming Blade secondary damage.
I initially thought of a build like this, but as the rest of my party are going to be melee focused I thought maybe I'd take step back and do more ranged stuff instead. This particular campaign is short on hand crossbows unfortunately, else I would have built him around that, but I just have trouble seeing me as a controller or doing other wizard shenanigans.
My plan was to start vHuman 8-16-15-16-8-8. Take Mobile @1 and take Res (con) @4. Then probably dex @8, but I guess by then I've figured out my playstyle. I'm not allowed to do BB+Shadowblade, so my plan is to dual wield. It's not too much of a hassle to drop the sword if I need to cast something shield or something. So BB with shortsword as main attack and shadowblade with offhand. When I hit 6 I'll do BB with shortsword and 2xshadow blade (the bonus attack without the dex modifier of course).
But if there are better ways of creating him, then I'm all ears.
I started weighing pros and cons of using my Concentration on Shadow Blade around 5th level, when there start to be other really effective concentration spells. Depended on the fight, whether it was worth it. Later, when my character got Sun Blade (it being pretty effective in CoS) and even better concentration spell options coming up, he stopped preparing Shadow Blade at all. Its sweet spot is around 3rd to 6th level. Now, at 9th level, he has, e.g., Wall of Force and Animate Objects (neither depends on Int) and he can fight with Sun Blade + Booming or Green-Flame Blade at the same time.
Hello,
First, sorry for my english (i'm french so...)
I have a high elf bladesinger lvl 3 in a Curse of Strahd campaign (plz no spoilers for this 😁) and I am facing a little in advance the ever cruel dilemma of THE choice between a Feat (Mobile or War Caster) and pumping my INT to 18.
To help you my stats are as follows
STR - 6
DEX - 18
CON - 14
INT - 16
WIS - 8
CHA - 12
So my problem is as follows... I would feel more comfortable with an INT of 18 and all it means for a bladesinger (+1 to AC so 21 total with mage armor and bladesong).
But, I was thinking about dumping shadow blade for haste when I hit lvl 5 so i would get a +2AC and a third attack.
The problem ? The mobile Feat... that sweet 50 speed and no opportunity attacks against any target i attack (not necessarily hit) that round.
With a total speed of 50 without haste and 100 with it i would be able to jump in and out of combat without triggering any opporunity attacks and hit with a booming blade every now and then. And I would be able to attack 3 times in a row and move back to safety without having to waste my extra action (Haste) to disengage.
So i guess i need help figuring things out ? Pretty please ? Just tell me to be reasonable and to take the +2 to INT and that I'm dumb for wanting the mobile feat 😅
Before getting to the analysis what is superior, are you counting 3 attacks with Haste because of dual wielding or are you assuming Extra Attack (in which case you need to be level 6, not 5).
Frankly, its going to depend on your personal playstyle and your spells/items used. Do you want to be more of a tank? Warcaster lets you sit in the middle of enemies and punish anyone who tries to get past you. Mobile lets you sweep into combat, hit people, get out. INT... INT lets you cast spells better and sometimes have better AC, but its not going to help you hit things more.
Don't get Mobile because of the speed. Most of the time, you're not going to be in a featureless plain with infinite space. You're going to be fighting on mountains, or in caves, or rooms with limited space. While 100 speed sounds awesome on paper, the reality is far less; sometimes you'll be able to abuse it, but mostly there will be no functional difference between. Also, keep in mind you have the option of using Misty Step.
So, what is your goal? Do you want to focus on just pumping up AC? Do you want to hit things more? Be super agile? The answer is going to entirely depend on what kind of style you're aiming for.
You are absolutely right i forgot that the extra attack feature is a lvl 6 thing. Thanks for pointing that out.
IMO, the thing is on a mechanical level it does not take long for a wizard to reach the point where the best action almost every round is casting a spell. For that int boost is better. That being said if you want to continue to run in and stab people as your gameplay style it might not be your focus so maybe a feat.
Now for me the point of a high AC is to get an enemy to attack you and miss. If you are not getting attacked your AC could be 10 and it would be just as good. So while mobility is probably great to keep you alive, it keeps you alive because the enemies attack you less which again why are you focusing on a great AC.
So even if I were to be focusing on stabbing people as a wizard I'd probably still go int or even dex. +1 AC so I'm even less likely to be hit sometimes and better DCs for my spells, vs +1 Ac all the time and +1 to hit with my sword. Other feats to consider defensive duelist, you have a solid AC if you get hit it will probably only be once a round, so this can step in for the shield spell. if you are using Tashas, fighting initiate, metamagic adept, or eldritch adept. With all your stats being even a +1 attribute feat is less attractive unless you are planning ahead and take 2 of them. I do not recall what levels people reach in curse of strahd.
You're probably right that I won't be able to get the most out of my speed most of the time. It was indeed the AOO thing that i found interesting.
Frankly I find it interesting to be able to jump in and out of combat without having to burn 2nd lvl spell slots.
But the increased DC for my spells and the +1 to prepared spells is calling to me. Add the bonus to AC and CON save
I still don't know much where I want to take that character I guess. I only played him like 3 times.
So i guess i just thought that mobile would help me stay alive and avoid a cheap critical.
I don't want to go tank but i want to go into melee when i can.
Thanks for the reply
You are right with the high AC part. I guess I'm just a little scared of the campaing and i don't want to lose my character. But you're right. A high AC means nothing if you're never hit.
Defensive duelist is tempting but the fact that it only works for 1 attack doesn't seem worth against a +2 increase in INT. Which is good for my concentration saves, AC, spell DC, spell attack and spell prep.
I thank you all for your time and your replies. I think I'm gonna go for +2 INT for this time and I'll see what comes next at lvl 8 if I'm still alive to think about it 😁
I'm facing the same choice. I'm playing a high-elf bladesinger in Curse of Strahd and going from 3rd to 4th lvl. Any experience from the real play with Mobile and Booming Blade are appreciated, both the mechanics and fun. My stats are by point buy: Str 10, Dex 16, Con 14, Int 16, Wis 10, Cha 8.
The choices are: ASI Dex +2 or Int +2, Feat Mobile or War Caster. I think all these are reasonable. The campaign is likely to go until level 12, I believe. I'd like to play in a gish style at least the next four levels and go regularly into melee with Bladesong, not only use the high AC for protection and be a regular Wizard.
I am currently mainly considering Dex +2 vs. Mobile at level 4. Dex +2 is mechanically great for many purposes that come up frequently: +1 to Hit/Damage/AC/Init and Dex Skills/ST. For Mobile, the main feature I'm interested in is avoiding opportunity attacks after my melee attack from the target. The idea is both to trigger the Booming Blade secondary damage more easily and to possibly avoid being hit part of the time without expending spell slots (either Shield to boost AC or Misty Step to "disengage"). +10 ft to Speed is probably not that relevant, as my Speed is already high, although I like the concept of a super mobile and acrobatic character during Bladesong. The last feature to ignore difficult terrain if Dashing is pretty situational, but occasionally useful. Currently my AC isn't super high (14 with regular leather armor, 17 with Bladesong, unless I use Mage Armor), so even with Shield as reaction I will not avoid opportunity attacks all the time without Mobile. So, by forgoing the Dex ASI, do I suffer a lot from everything that it makes a bit better, or is Mobile fun and effective in actual play?
My spell selection is currently quite independent of Int (Web, Thunderwave and Toll the Dead have a DC, nothing that requires to hit based on Int - and both Web and Thunderwave are used only when there are several targets, so I can live with not so high DC and still not waste the spells on average). I can see that at later levels the DC will be more crucial, and of course +1 to AC & Concentration ST during Bladesong is nice. +1 to Int Skills/ST and one more prepared spell are not that important. Probably at level 8 I would take the Int ASI, but depends on my spell selection. I do want to have some battle control spells to keep up during combat and off-combat utility spells, not only to use spells to boost my combat abilities. Thus I don't like too much, e.g., Shadow Blade that would require my concentration (except maybe in dim light or darkness).
From War Caster the main feature is Advantage on Concentration ST. It's of course very useful for someone who will be concentrating on a spell if not most of the time but often. But during the Bladesong I already have +5 to Concentration ST which gives a reasonably good chance to keep my concentration. With War Caster, it'd be hard to fail the ST. However, if I can avoid taking damage in the first place due to high mobility, that mitigates the problem. Of the other features, the ability to use spells as opportunity attacks sounds nice, but in real play I have the experience that enemies don't often give opportunity attacks (plus if they do they would now possibly still trigger the previous Booming Blade secondary damage and I have the regular melee attack). The last feature of War Caster is more or less useless, as I will have my other hand free almost always.
I'm looking at those stats and seeing that you'll get grappled/tripped constantly (anything with STR saving throw, unless you can get away with DEX), or easily taken out by shadows; or at higher levels, you're going to constantly be charmed / crowd-controlled.
You made a glass cannon. Which is great when it works... right up to the point where that vampire or succubus charms you and gets you to lay waste to your teammates.
Ditch Mobile IMO. Most tables have no maps that can accomodate 100 foot movement anyways; 50 is more than sufficient. Pick up Resilient (Wisdom) or something.
You know what... DEX 18 and INT 16 are pretty well rounded stats for a Bladesinger. Despiste common lore, Wizards who are not focusing on save or suck spells, don’t need INT that much. I suppose Shadow Blade and Haste will be your thing. Upcasted Shadow Blade will always be better than Haste unless you find a good magical weapon. Having says that, I would offer two different perspectives:
- Increase DEX to 20. Not only AC, but to hit, damage and initiative will improve.
- Tough feat would give you much more confidence to stay in the frontline a little bit.
You are right about the STR ST. I do have Proficiency in Athletics and Bladesong gives Advantage on Acrobatics, so I'm not that easy target for grapple etc. And the idea of Mobile would be to disengage safely and take some distance. In addition, I have Misty Step which is V component only, so I can escape a grapple with that as Bonus Action, if needed. And as an elf, I have also advantage on saving throws against being charmed.
I do agree that most maps have little use for the 50 ft Speed which I'd get with Bladesong and Mobile. But if the tactics is to move in and retreat back (with the free "disengage") after the attack, I think every ft is useful and 50 ft is not too much.
I tend to agree, DEX could be the primary stat here instead of INT. I don't have a single save or suck (single target) spell selected at the moment and I won't probably take any. I also agree that upcasted Shadow Blade is better than Haste. Haste is too risky, if you lose the concentration in the middle of the fight. If I lose Shadow Blade, I'll simply switch to Booming Blade. In fact, with the TCoE updated rules for Extra Attack, Booming Blade + normal rapier attack (at 6th lvl) is roughly as good as 2nd lvl Shadow Blade - you really need to upcast Shadow Blade (or be in dim light / darkness conditions) to do clearly better.
You are right, Tough would be a Feat worth considering here. But I sort of like the concept of a fragile and agile elf, and increasing hit points is less along those ideas than increasing Dexterity or taking Mobile.
I think Mobile would be the better choice. Mobile will be good if you plan to be weaving around enemies a lot, and 16 INT is pretty good. I really think you should pick Mobile. You don't really need a +2 to INT, since you are probably attacking with your scimitar,rapier, or shortsword. Besides, you won't be using a shield, so War Caster isn't really for you.
Erean Cabenrith a Variant Human Cleric (Light Domain)
Eliem Lightblossom a High Elf Blood Hunter
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Yes, I did that. Tonight's the game night, so I'll see how it works. Currently I have very few spells/attacks that depend on Int: Toll the Dead (but I prefer usually Longbow for ranged attacks), Thunderwave and Web (which I would usually never cast on single targets, so I can afford a 1 lower DC). I think I can build my spell selection at least for the next few levels so that the DC is not overly important. I will be participating the melee most of the time (whenever I have Bladesong available).
I know this is an old post, but I was just curious on how Mobile worked out for you? Were you happy with your choice or did you regret it? Did it help out your survivability a lot?
I don't like mobile on this build. In bladesong you can pretty much ignore AOOs anyway and with haste you can use your haste action to disengage if you are really worried about it.
For these reasons I like the +2 intelligence a lot more. It gives you better saves and attacks, more damage on green flame blade and better AC and concentration in bladesong.
To be honest though, bladesinger works a lot better as a tank than as a striker and I would focus on things that make it easier for you to stay in melee take most of the attacks and keep the bad guys off your squishier allies ..... which includes just about everyone else.
I have played a lot of Bladesingers and on the single class builds most of the time I wanted to get in the enemies way, not get out of their way. I wanted to be within reach so I could land an AOO if the enemy tried to go after someone they were more likely to hit. A bladesinger in bladesong with a defensive spell up is harder to kill in melee than a fighter, Paladin or Ranger and about on par with a Barbarian. Our party wanted me there at the front line for this reason.
As a bladesinger I would actually cause enemy AOOs at times, moving just to get them to use their reaction so other characters could move around without worrying about it.
This is very interesting.
What is your favorite build for an all-rounded bladesinger?
I am currently thinking custom lineage for feat and darkvision.
Fey touched at 1st (misty step and silvery barbs) and ResCon at 4th, then Int at 8th.
I've been very happy with the Mobile feat. I've played almost a year with the character, from level 3 to 9. He's been engaging in melee combat all the time, but more as a striker and definitely not a tank (our party has a barbarian as a solid tank). Free disengage from two enemies during a round is valuable, and extra mobility has given other tactical advantages, too. This has been a campaign with not many magic items, but with Shield, Absorb Elements, Blade Song, Misty Step and Counterspell my character has been pretty durable. My character's Int is still only 16, but I've been mainly selecting spells that either don't depend on the intelligence or have several targets. I like to have some sort of on-going control spell cast in addition to being in melee, so it's not really a melee optimized build, either. The best way to keep concentration is to avoid being hit in the first place, and Mobile has definitely helped there. His AC is 19 with studded leather and Blade Song, 24 with Shield cast. Some things get through that, critical hits always, so I prefer not be around. There's the added advantage of potentially triggering the Booming Blade secondary damage.
I initially thought of a build like this, but as the rest of my party are going to be melee focused I thought maybe I'd take step back and do more ranged stuff instead. This particular campaign is short on hand crossbows unfortunately, else I would have built him around that, but I just have trouble seeing me as a controller or doing other wizard shenanigans.
My plan was to start vHuman 8-16-15-16-8-8. Take Mobile @1 and take Res (con) @4. Then probably dex @8, but I guess by then I've figured out my playstyle. I'm not allowed to do BB+Shadowblade, so my plan is to dual wield. It's not too much of a hassle to drop the sword if I need to cast something shield or something. So BB with shortsword as main attack and shadowblade with offhand. When I hit 6 I'll do BB with shortsword and 2xshadow blade (the bonus attack without the dex modifier of course).
But if there are better ways of creating him, then I'm all ears.
I started weighing pros and cons of using my Concentration on Shadow Blade around 5th level, when there start to be other really effective concentration spells. Depended on the fight, whether it was worth it. Later, when my character got Sun Blade (it being pretty effective in CoS) and even better concentration spell options coming up, he stopped preparing Shadow Blade at all. Its sweet spot is around 3rd to 6th level. Now, at 9th level, he has, e.g., Wall of Force and Animate Objects (neither depends on Int) and he can fight with Sun Blade + Booming or Green-Flame Blade at the same time.