I had the idea for this multiclass this morning watching a thing about Albert Wesker from RE. All the build advice I’m seeing though seems to emphasize the Wizard aspect. I was thinking the opposite:
Eladrin 4 Bladesinger/ 16 Shadow monk
bladesong gives an AC bonus from your Int., gives you advantage on Dex checks, a bonus to Concentration and +10 to your movement speed. You also get access to 2nd lvl spells and 4 Cantrips. Combine this with shadow teleports, 3-4 Dex based attacks, Unarmored Movement and Unarmored Defense, and I don’t see the downside. Especially if you focus on Abjuration magic like Absorb Elements, etc. so you don’t need to focus on Int. as much, and maybe pick up the Tough feat.
Is there something I’m missing? Because this seems solid despite the obvious MAD.
The obvious MAD is the biggest deterrent, but you also miss quite a bit from the dip.
4 levels in Wizard means you miss out on the Martial Arts upgrade to 1d10, and your capstone Monastic Tradition feature. You're missing out on +5 speed (all types) from Unarmored Movement in favor of +10 to walking speed. You're also missing out on attaining Empty Body, which is so freaking good.
On the Wizard side of things, only 4 levels in Wizard means you're getting a whole lot of nothing worth the dip. Cantrips aren't worth it for a Monk as it requires the [Tooltip Not Found] action, and all your Monk goodies key off the Attack action. You have access to 2nd level spells, but you won't ever be able to upcast them as you'll also be capped at 2nd level slots. The best thing from a dip in Wizard (for a martial character) would be for the Haste spell, but you won't get that since it's a 3rd level spell.
Bottom line is you'd be watering down the features from both classes, and you'd have too many features competing for usage of your action economy. Too many things; not enough time.
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You don't know what fear is until you've witnessed a drunk bird divebombing you while carrying a screaming Kobold throwing fire anywhere and everywhere.
There's no real reason to go beyond Monk 16, it's a great place to stop. Shadow Monk already gets an arguably-better version of Empty Body at 11, so all you're really missing out on is about 2-4 damage per round from the increased damage die at 17, not a big deal. The Shadow Monk 17 feels a little extra as well, and losing that reaction to pick up the possibility of Shield as a reaction is a no-brainer. That dip into Bladesinger will pick you up 1-4 extra AC when you sing (assuming you find a headband of intellect or something at some point), which can be valuable, as well as unlocking the Shield spell, which is probably all you'll ever want to actually use those spell slots on (apart from Rituals and other utility spells, out of combat).
It's a fantastic dip (and used to be really crazy, with the old Warforged AC calculation!I think I misremembered that, Monk and Warforged didn't stack... maybe it was just forged bladesingers?), as long as you don't go into it expecting to actually be casting attack or save-based spells in combat (though again, a Headband makes you fine at that, it's just that you're probably better off being monk-y). Monk 16 fits really well with quite a few classes, and Bladesinger Wizard is definitely one of them.
I had the idea for this multiclass this morning watching a thing about Albert Wesker from RE. All the build advice I’m seeing though seems to emphasize the Wizard aspect. I was thinking the opposite:
Eladrin 4 Bladesinger/ 16 Shadow monk
bladesong gives an AC bonus from your Int., gives you advantage on Dex checks, a bonus to Concentration and +10 to your movement speed. You also get access to 2nd lvl spells and 4 Cantrips. Combine this with shadow teleports, 3-4 Dex based attacks, Unarmored Movement and Unarmored Defense, and I don’t see the downside. Especially if you focus on Abjuration magic like Absorb Elements, etc. so you don’t need to focus on Int. as much, and maybe pick up the Tough feat.
Is there something I’m missing? Because this seems solid despite the obvious MAD.
The obvious MAD is the biggest deterrent, but you also miss quite a bit from the dip.
4 levels in Wizard means you miss out on the Martial Arts upgrade to 1d10, and your capstone Monastic Tradition feature. You're missing out on +5 speed (all types) from Unarmored Movement in favor of +10 to walking speed. You're also missing out on attaining Empty Body, which is so freaking good.
On the Wizard side of things, only 4 levels in Wizard means you're getting a whole lot of nothing worth the dip. Cantrips aren't worth it for a Monk as it requires the [Tooltip Not Found] action, and all your Monk goodies key off the Attack action. You have access to 2nd level spells, but you won't ever be able to upcast them as you'll also be capped at 2nd level slots. The best thing from a dip in Wizard (for a martial character) would be for the Haste spell, but you won't get that since it's a 3rd level spell.
Bottom line is you'd be watering down the features from both classes, and you'd have too many features competing for usage of your action economy. Too many things; not enough time.
You don't know what fear is until you've witnessed a drunk bird divebombing you while carrying a screaming Kobold throwing fire anywhere and everywhere.
There's no real reason to go beyond Monk 16, it's a great place to stop. Shadow Monk already gets an arguably-better version of Empty Body at 11, so all you're really missing out on is about 2-4 damage per round from the increased damage die at 17, not a big deal. The Shadow Monk 17 feels a little extra as well, and losing that reaction to pick up the possibility of Shield as a reaction is a no-brainer. That dip into Bladesinger will pick you up 1-4 extra AC when you sing (assuming you find a headband of intellect or something at some point), which can be valuable, as well as unlocking the Shield spell, which is probably all you'll ever want to actually use those spell slots on (apart from Rituals and other utility spells, out of combat).
It's a fantastic dip (
and used to be really crazy, with the old Warforged AC calculation!I think I misremembered that, Monk and Warforged didn't stack... maybe it was just forged bladesingers?), as long as you don't go into it expecting to actually be casting attack or save-based spells in combat (though again, a Headband makes you fine at that, it's just that you're probably better off being monk-y). Monk 16 fits really well with quite a few classes, and Bladesinger Wizard is definitely one of them.dndbeyond.com forum tags
I'm going to make this way harder than it needs to be.