So I've done a lot of bladesinger builds ever since tasha's and I think I finally came up with combo that's both powerful and interesting.
When I make a bladesinger it's with the intention of the it being a magical dex fighter, which is to say that they will be entirely focused on being a squishy martial character and almost exclusively use buff and utility spells. A regular bladesinger gets a lot of cool spell choices at early levels, shadowblade, mirror image, blur, blink, misty step, shield, mage armor ect... However I've found that past 3rd or 4th spell spells, there are really quite few spells that lend themselve for a martial playstyle... So I figured combining it with another full caster wouldn't actually hinder this playstyle very much at all, and could add some interesting options and some cool flavor. Obviously you'll tdelaying later bladesinger features such as song of defense ect but I think it could very well be worth it.
Enter the twilight cleric! The most obvious benefit is that you get to combine Twilight Sanctuary with Shadowblade for advantage an entire fight, aswell as regaining temp hitpoints everyturn for survivability. Nor only is this effective, it is also very thematic. I do however also think that the twilight cleric adds alot of other cool benefits such as advantage on initiative and darkvision to you and your allies. If you stick with the multiclassing long enough you'll ever be able to fly around with your shadowblade during combat, add the mobile feat ontop and you're now some spooky flying shadow priest doing perfect hit and runs. On top of that you get a bunch of minor stuff like the guidance cantrip and weak heals to get your allies back into the fight.
An obvious concern would be this combination being quite MAD, but I think you'll only need enough wisdom to multiclass into cleric and otherwise focus on dex/int.
In terms of RP I would personally lean heavily into the cleric side of things, being more of a battle priest.. But you can flavor it the other way around with being a religious wizard.
Personally I think flying around in dim light wearing nothing but priestly robes and a blade made from shadow is pretty neat. Thoughts?
It is interesting to see a combat focused cleric build that isn't all about heavy armor and bludgeoning weapons. I think there's something really interesting flavor here.
Out of curiosity, do you have any backstory ideas?
Following a deity like Hecate (Similar to above now that I think about it) would be perfect for this character. You could really lean into a Hedgewitch type character that channels their magic through a special weapon or something like that.
I imagine this character worshipping a homebrewed deity as I only play in homebrew worlds, It wouldn't exactly fit with the "twilight" theme perfeclty, but rather lean into the idea of seeking refuge and comfort in the night.
I havent figured out the details but I have a general idea. I imagine a deity of night... of the lost and forgotten, of beggars and thieves, but also of the downtrodden and starving. An important distinction from other "dark" deities I've read about, is that this wouldnt be a god of brooding or murder... It would be a god of comfort and encouragement for those otherwise left to die alone in the cold of night but willing to fight back and make something of themselves. A thieves' god who encouraged fending for yourself and struggling for survival, to steal to get the upper hand, but never to kick someone whose down or take a person's last bit of coin... Mainly going for targets who could afford to lose a little(Or a lot) gold.
The followers of this god would allowed to do anything for their own benefit, but to avoid unnecessary bloodshed and never to act out of malice or hatred. Acting out of charity would also be encouraged, but mainly charity towards those already under the embrace of the god, as those poor souls not willing to worship this deity would likely be too weak and fragile to make any meaningful use of the charity.
The darker side of this god would be towards people who'd look down on those of ill fate. This would usually be people so caught up in their own lives that they'd think that simply ignoring those more unfortunate ment that they didn't exist.. that the starving people in the streets were already dead or that those condemned by soceity were hopeless cases. The god's disapproval would also be towards those given the chance to embrace the deity but refusing to do what was necessary.... Those offered a way out of poverty and a slow death but lacking the willpower to grab that chance.
I imagine this character, as a priest of this god, would mainly have the job of seeking out people alone in the dark, and showing them a way to make a living through whatever means necessary. This wouldn't have to be people of lower class, it could be the nobleman's son disowned for doing something scandalous.. or the guard run out of town for being corrupt and wandering the woods alone.
I realise these thoughts are sort of scatterbrained but those are my general ideas.
I think I'd go bladesinger up untill extra attack and then take it from there.. As a martial focused character, esecially a wizard, you don't wanna delay extra attack imo... Seeing how you're generally relying on shadowblade to be an effective fighter, you'll really want to take advantage as much as possible.
The most obvious benefit is that you get to combine Twilight Sanctuary with Shadowblade for advantage an entire fight, aswell as regaining temp hitpoints everyturn for survivability.
You understand that this won't grant you advantage in general, right? Shadow Blade already grants Advantage if you pop Twilight Sanctuary in darkness or dim light, and Twilight Sanctuary fills itself with dim light, it doesn't counteract bright light, so popping it in bright light won't help you.
If you want a vaguely similar trick, Warlocks and Shadow Sorcerers have a way to cast Darkness and then see through it, and the Warlock trick is available on a feat, if you don't want to multiclass, since you can cast Darkness yourself. Warlocks have at Spell Level 4 Shadow of Moil, which does exactly what you want, but good luck finding a way to cast that yourself. Darkness and Shadow of Moil are both Concentration, so you can't combine them with Shadow Blade directly, but you'll usually have Advantage in a Darkness spell you can see through, regardless - same for Shadow of Moil. You can also use a single level of Fighter or a feat to pick up the Blind Fighting fighting style for a similar trick that also works with Fog Cloud and the like but basically only works for melee.
I don't agree with your assessment of the twilight sanctuary feature. As I read it ,it fills the area dim light, as in, it sets the area to twilight.. I don't read it as a light source, but rather a magical aura that puts everything to dim light, which is thematically consistent with the subclass. The feature says it's a "sphere of twilight". I know there's been a general disagreement about that on this forum, and I'm fine with you reading it dfferently, but I'm not really interested in that discussion in this particular thread.. Has there been a ruling on it that I've missed? If so I'd be happy to see it.
I don't agree with your assessment of the twilight sanctuary feature. As I read it ,it fills the area dim light, as in, it sets the area to twilight.. I don't read it as a light source, but rather a magical aura that puts everything to dim light, which is thematically consistent with the subclass. I know there's been a general disagreement about that on this forum, and I'm fine with you reading it dfferently, but I'm not really interested in that discussion in this particular thread.. Has there been a ruling on it that I've missed? If so I'd be happy to see it.
Tasha's has no errata, if that's what you mean. Here's all the relevant text I know of:
The sphere is centered on you, has a 30-foot radius, and is filled with dim light. -- Definition of Twilight Sanctuary
Whichever form you choose, each light sheds dim light in a 10-foot radius. - Definition of Dancing Lights, the premier magical source of Dim Light
A torch burns for 1 hour, providing bright light in a 20 foot radius and dim light for an additional 20 feet. - Definition of a Torch, the premier non-magical source of light when you're not directly exposed to the sun.
Until the spell ends, dim light fills the cylinder. - Relevant partial text of the Moonbeam spell, identical to Twilight Sanctuary if you want to argue that "fill" is a distinct game term for light from "shed" or "provide".
Once triggered, the glyph glows, filling a 60-foot-radius sphere with dim light for 10 minutes, after which time the spell ends. - Relevant partial text of Symbol.
Bright light fills the area. - Relevant partial text of Hallow - if you are playing fill as a distinct lighting term, you'll need a way to resolve Hallow interacting with Moonbeam and Twilight Sanctuary and Symbol.
You can argue with your GM that Twilight Sanctuary can counteract other light sources, like a candle, but you'll note it just plain hasn't got any special wording on it that numerous other effects don't, several of which I provided above. If your GM goes along with it, I recommend Symbol especially, as it has identical wording to Twilight Sanctuary in terms of filling an area with dim light, and as a Bladesinger you must be an elf, so you can use Symbol of Sleep on your own equipment without worrying about failing the will save.
Unfortunately, while there is a Sage Advice ruling on Moonbeam, it doesn't address your question.
As I said I realise there's been a rather large discussion thread about the subject already, so I'm well aware of the feature's text :) Let's agree that this character is based on an understanding you disagree with.. I just dont wan't this thread to turn into that discussion.
Well I guess if you’re not worried about the whole light fiasco, it sounds cool as a character concept.
I immediately thought of the darkmoon covenant from the dark souls series. Shadowblade is your darkmoon blade and buff. The sunlight could be the darkened effect that happens when Anor Londo is plunged into darkness when Gwynevere’s illusion is taken out.
mechanically it seems pretty action/bonus action heavy.
bonus action to blade sing, bonus action to cast your shadow blade, action to use the dim light. Seems too clunky for me, first round is too important in my opinion to spend turns charging up power like some sort of anime.
From there just keep attacking. Twilight Sanctuary is a perfectly valid use of an action in combat. It's buffing most or all of the team in a significant way. Mechanically, I love that about this synergy. Twilight Sanctuary is just a good ability. So spending a turn to activate it is much less of a concern when it comes to opportunity cost. You're still contributing in a very meaningful way. A build like this would not be a dedicated front-line damage dealer. They would be a versatile gish with the ability to deal out decent damage and support.
@MamasToast: I have to say I have been thinking about this combination a good bit ever since you first posted this. Awesome idea. While the action economy doesn't concern me, I'm not a huge fan of how MAD the build is since I'm not willing to drop intelligence on a bladesinger. The fact shadowblade no longer works with bb/gfb also annoys me when it comes to getting the most out of the bladesinger part of the build.
I've been thinking about Eldritch Knight 8 and Ranger 5/Shadowblade Caster 3 as two alternate builds to get shadowblade and extra attack. They come online slower than the 6 levels of bladesinger, but I also think they present some nice advantages over the wizard base.
with regards to action economy.. I think it's fair to say that it's a thing you need to account for with any concept that takes some setting up, however I don't think it's that much of a problem either.. It really depeonds on how your combat encounters typically go I guess. In my experience It's rather easy to fall back a bit and stall for time while casting your starting buffs, and a lot of enemies will simply have to follow you or stay back... I guess my point is that you don't have to engage in actual combat the first round, you can use it as a setup round a lot of the time.
Oh yea the MAD thing is a real concern.. Granted, you won't need a great wisdom, just enough to multiclass, since you won't be actually be using your wisdom score for anything... But still, it's an investment. As for the blade cantrips... another topic of much discussion, so without sparking a whole debate, I think it's a realistic option that you can convince your DM to allow it, specially since Jeremy Crawford's tweet about allowing it and such.. But I understand it's a legit concern. If your DM doesn't allow it, it's just go for full bladesinger+ spirit shroud and two weapon fighting.
I guess my issue with the types of builds you mention, is that they don't level up their spell slots nearly as much as a full caster base, which means that the shadowblade+multi-attack upcast thing far less appealing in my book, but on the other hand you'll probably be far less squishy. You'll certainly be much less of a glass cannon, and that's not a bad, it just depends on the type of fantasy you're imaging.. Persoanlly I don't really like the idea of wearing heavy armor all the time, so whenever I can pull off an unarmored character, I'll do that ^^.
Well if you want to use booming blade or green flame blade then you can, you just can’t use it with the shadowblade. You can wield a rapier on the other hand and attack with a shadow blade for one of your acres attacks and then cast the weapon cantrip using the rapier. Slight drop in damage than the original set up, but extra attack allows for attacks with w/e weapons you have available, even unarmed attacks or natural weapons.
Since your concentrating your could make use of two weapon fighting by using a scimitar or short sword. The shadowblade being light qualifies the set up fir two weapon fighting even if you do cast a cantrip.
and eventually your intelligence would be added to all those melee attacks, even the offhand attack.
takes attack action: makes one attack with shadowblade for Xd8+ mods. Second attack is blade cantrip making use of the other melee weapon for 1d(6 or 8)+Xd8+mods. If melee weapon used for blade cantrip is light, then an additional bonus action attack for 1d6 may be made, with intelligence mod added at high level.
An interesting thing is that the bladesinger can make use of the cantrip augmented extra attack even if not bladesinging. So you can use a longbow/heavy crossbow to make one attack, and then cast fire bolt along with that. Bladesinging doesn’t support using a weapon with two hands though, so that needs to be remembered.
dipping Soulknife seems like it would work really well though now that I’m thinking multiclassing. Could choose the gunner feat instead of crossbow expert. Already have a bonus action attack set up that has a range option too. Gets rid of disadvantage for close range ranged attacks while providing a stat boost. Wouldn’t have to worry about juggling weapons or ending bladesong.
I have a Half-Elf character idea with a similar concept, granted using Eldritch Knight in place of Bladesinger. Specifically, by 20th Level, you would end up as a 12th Level Eldritch Knight/2nd Level Paladin/6th Level Twilight Cleric. That gives you:
From Eldritch Knight: 3 attacks per Attack action, 1 Fighting Style, 1 Action Surge per short rest, proficiency in CON saving throws, and access to the Shadow Blade spell.
From Paladin: Divine Smites and another Fighting Style.
From Twilight Cleric: Eyes of Night, Steps of the Brave, and 2 uses of Channel Divinity/Twilight Sanctuary per short rest.
From all classes: Spells of up to 3rd Level, spell slots of up to 6th Level, and 5 ASI's/Feats.
From Half-elf: +2 to CHA (to more easily multiclass into Paladin) and access to the Elven Accuracy feat, which allows you to roll 3 d20's whenever making DEX-based weapon attacks with Shadow Blade while in the dim light of your Twilight Sanctuary.
Alternatively, if you want to keep/incorporate Bladesinger, I would recommend a build of 2nd Level Fighter/2nd Level Paladin/8th Level Bladesinger Wizard/8th Level Twilight Cleric. Although it leaves you with 1 less ASI/Feat, this build maintains your access to Action Surge, Extra Attack, and Shadow Blade, grants you Divine Strike (1d8 radiant), gives you spells of up to 4th Level, and spell slots of up to 9th Level! However, when it comes to using Shadow Blade as a Bladesinger VS as an Eldritch Knight, having more Extra Attacks beats having a stronger Shadow Blade in terms of which one results in higher dpr, with or without smites.
Speaking of smites, bringing Paladin into the mix makes either build MAD as all hell, which is their biggest flaw. Trying to build this with either standard array or point buy makes it BARELY functional... On the other hand, being able to stack Divine Smite on top of a Twilight Sanctuary + Shadow Blade + Elven Accuracy + Action Surge combo is well worth it, in my opinion. But if you really want to forgo Paladin altogether, putting 2 more levels into either Cleric or Wizard doesn't hurt. However, another suggestion would be to replace the Paladin levels with Hexblade Warlock levels. You'll lose smites, but you don't have to have a STR score of at least 13. You'd also gain access to Devil's Sight, which pairs too well with Eyes of Night. And the synergy Hexblade's Curse has with the aforementioned combo is INSANE:
Hexblade's Curse doesn't require a high CHA to work.
It grants crits on 19-20, making Elven Accuracy-boosted advantage on Shadow Blade attacks even more ridiculous than it already is.
Being able to add Proficiency bonus to damage rolls is essentially like having Song of Victory without having to be a 14th Level Bladesinger.
Hell, instead of forgoing Paladin, you could sacrifice 1-2 levels in either Cleric or Wizard, allowing you to add Hexblade Warlock to the build for a MONSTEROUS Hexblade's Curse + Twilight Sanctuary + Shadow Blade + Elven Accuracy + Action Surge + Divine Smite combo! Oh God, what have I wrought?
So I've done a lot of bladesinger builds ever since tasha's and I think I finally came up with combo that's both powerful and interesting.
When I make a bladesinger it's with the intention of the it being a magical dex fighter, which is to say that they will be entirely focused on being a squishy martial character and almost exclusively use buff and utility spells. A regular bladesinger gets a lot of cool spell choices at early levels, shadowblade, mirror image, blur, blink, misty step, shield, mage armor ect... However I've found that past 3rd or 4th spell spells, there are really quite few spells that lend themselve for a martial playstyle... So I figured combining it with another full caster wouldn't actually hinder this playstyle very much at all, and could add some interesting options and some cool flavor. Obviously you'll tdelaying later bladesinger features such as song of defense ect but I think it could very well be worth it.
Enter the twilight cleric! The most obvious benefit is that you get to combine Twilight Sanctuary with Shadowblade for advantage an entire fight, aswell as regaining temp hitpoints everyturn for survivability. Nor only is this effective, it is also very thematic. I do however also think that the twilight cleric adds alot of other cool benefits such as advantage on initiative and darkvision to you and your allies. If you stick with the multiclassing long enough you'll ever be able to fly around with your shadowblade during combat, add the mobile feat ontop and you're now some spooky flying shadow priest doing perfect hit and runs. On top of that you get a bunch of minor stuff like the guidance cantrip and weak heals to get your allies back into the fight.
An obvious concern would be this combination being quite MAD, but I think you'll only need enough wisdom to multiclass into cleric and otherwise focus on dex/int.
In terms of RP I would personally lean heavily into the cleric side of things, being more of a battle priest.. But you can flavor it the other way around with being a religious wizard.
Personally I think flying around in dim light wearing nothing but priestly robes and a blade made from shadow is pretty neat. Thoughts?
It is interesting to see a combat focused cleric build that isn't all about heavy armor and bludgeoning weapons. I think there's something really interesting flavor here.
Out of curiosity, do you have any backstory ideas?
Could be a follower of sehanine moonbow, elven goddess of magic and moonlight.
Following a deity like Hecate (Similar to above now that I think about it) would be perfect for this character. You could really lean into a Hedgewitch type character that channels their magic through a special weapon or something like that.
I imagine this character worshipping a homebrewed deity as I only play in homebrew worlds, It wouldn't exactly fit with the "twilight" theme perfeclty, but rather lean into the idea of seeking refuge and comfort in the night.
I havent figured out the details but I have a general idea. I imagine a deity of night... of the lost and forgotten, of beggars and thieves, but also of the downtrodden and starving. An important distinction from other "dark" deities I've read about, is that this wouldnt be a god of brooding or murder... It would be a god of comfort and encouragement for those otherwise left to die alone in the cold of night but willing to fight back and make something of themselves. A thieves' god who encouraged fending for yourself and struggling for survival, to steal to get the upper hand, but never to kick someone whose down or take a person's last bit of coin... Mainly going for targets who could afford to lose a little(Or a lot) gold.
The followers of this god would allowed to do anything for their own benefit, but to avoid unnecessary bloodshed and never to act out of malice or hatred. Acting out of charity would also be encouraged, but mainly charity towards those already under the embrace of the god, as those poor souls not willing to worship this deity would likely be too weak and fragile to make any meaningful use of the charity.
The darker side of this god would be towards people who'd look down on those of ill fate. This would usually be people so caught up in their own lives that they'd think that simply ignoring those more unfortunate ment that they didn't exist.. that the starving people in the streets were already dead or that those condemned by soceity were hopeless cases. The god's disapproval would also be towards those given the chance to embrace the deity but refusing to do what was necessary.... Those offered a way out of poverty and a slow death but lacking the willpower to grab that chance.
I imagine this character, as a priest of this god, would mainly have the job of seeking out people alone in the dark, and showing them a way to make a living through whatever means necessary. This wouldn't have to be people of lower class, it could be the nobleman's son disowned for doing something scandalous.. or the guard run out of town for being corrupt and wandering the woods alone.
I realise these thoughts are sort of scatterbrained but those are my general ideas.
This looks like so much fun!
How would you build it? I'm assuming you would stick to light armor still to benefit from Blade song.
Actually I think I'd rely on mage armor unless some particularly cool light armor presented itself :)
Would you start out as Wizard or Cleric? Either way it will take some time to get the build online so to speak
I think I'd go bladesinger up untill extra attack and then take it from there.. As a martial focused character, esecially a wizard, you don't wanna delay extra attack imo... Seeing how you're generally relying on shadowblade to be an effective fighter, you'll really want to take advantage as much as possible.
You understand that this won't grant you advantage in general, right? Shadow Blade already grants Advantage if you pop Twilight Sanctuary in darkness or dim light, and Twilight Sanctuary fills itself with dim light, it doesn't counteract bright light, so popping it in bright light won't help you.
If you want a vaguely similar trick, Warlocks and Shadow Sorcerers have a way to cast Darkness and then see through it, and the Warlock trick is available on a feat, if you don't want to multiclass, since you can cast Darkness yourself. Warlocks have at Spell Level 4 Shadow of Moil, which does exactly what you want, but good luck finding a way to cast that yourself. Darkness and Shadow of Moil are both Concentration, so you can't combine them with Shadow Blade directly, but you'll usually have Advantage in a Darkness spell you can see through, regardless - same for Shadow of Moil. You can also use a single level of Fighter or a feat to pick up the Blind Fighting fighting style for a similar trick that also works with Fog Cloud and the like but basically only works for melee.
I don't agree with your assessment of the twilight sanctuary feature. As I read it ,it fills the area dim light, as in, it sets the area to twilight.. I don't read it as a light source, but rather a magical aura that puts everything to dim light, which is thematically consistent with the subclass. The feature says it's a "sphere of twilight". I know there's been a general disagreement about that on this forum, and I'm fine with you reading it dfferently, but I'm not really interested in that discussion in this particular thread.. Has there been a ruling on it that I've missed? If so I'd be happy to see it.
Tasha's has no errata, if that's what you mean. Here's all the relevant text I know of:
You can argue with your GM that Twilight Sanctuary can counteract other light sources, like a candle, but you'll note it just plain hasn't got any special wording on it that numerous other effects don't, several of which I provided above. If your GM goes along with it, I recommend Symbol especially, as it has identical wording to Twilight Sanctuary in terms of filling an area with dim light, and as a Bladesinger you must be an elf, so you can use Symbol of Sleep on your own equipment without worrying about failing the will save.
Unfortunately, while there is a Sage Advice ruling on Moonbeam, it doesn't address your question.
As I said I realise there's been a rather large discussion thread about the subject already, so I'm well aware of the feature's text :) Let's agree that this character is based on an understanding you disagree with.. I just dont wan't this thread to turn into that discussion.
Well I guess if you’re not worried about the whole light fiasco, it sounds cool as a character concept.
I immediately thought of the darkmoon covenant from the dark souls series. Shadowblade is your darkmoon blade and buff. The sunlight could be the darkened effect that happens when Anor Londo is plunged into darkness when Gwynevere’s illusion is taken out.
mechanically it seems pretty action/bonus action heavy.
bonus action to blade sing, bonus action to cast your shadow blade, action to use the dim light. Seems too clunky for me, first round is too important in my opinion to spend turns charging up power like some sort of anime.
I don't think the action economy is that bad.
Turn 1: Twilight Sanctuary + Bladesong
Turn 2: Shadowblade + Extra Attack
From there just keep attacking. Twilight Sanctuary is a perfectly valid use of an action in combat. It's buffing most or all of the team in a significant way. Mechanically, I love that about this synergy. Twilight Sanctuary is just a good ability. So spending a turn to activate it is much less of a concern when it comes to opportunity cost. You're still contributing in a very meaningful way. A build like this would not be a dedicated front-line damage dealer. They would be a versatile gish with the ability to deal out decent damage and support.
@MamasToast: I have to say I have been thinking about this combination a good bit ever since you first posted this. Awesome idea. While the action economy doesn't concern me, I'm not a huge fan of how MAD the build is since I'm not willing to drop intelligence on a bladesinger. The fact shadowblade no longer works with bb/gfb also annoys me when it comes to getting the most out of the bladesinger part of the build.
I've been thinking about Eldritch Knight 8 and Ranger 5/Shadowblade Caster 3 as two alternate builds to get shadowblade and extra attack. They come online slower than the 6 levels of bladesinger, but I also think they present some nice advantages over the wizard base.
with regards to action economy.. I think it's fair to say that it's a thing you need to account for with any concept that takes some setting up, however I don't think it's that much of a problem either.. It really depeonds on how your combat encounters typically go I guess. In my experience It's rather easy to fall back a bit and stall for time while casting your starting buffs, and a lot of enemies will simply have to follow you or stay back... I guess my point is that you don't have to engage in actual combat the first round, you can use it as a setup round a lot of the time.
Oh yea the MAD thing is a real concern.. Granted, you won't need a great wisdom, just enough to multiclass, since you won't be actually be using your wisdom score for anything... But still, it's an investment. As for the blade cantrips... another topic of much discussion, so without sparking a whole debate, I think it's a realistic option that you can convince your DM to allow it, specially since Jeremy Crawford's tweet about allowing it and such.. But I understand it's a legit concern. If your DM doesn't allow it, it's just go for full bladesinger+ spirit shroud and two weapon fighting.
I guess my issue with the types of builds you mention, is that they don't level up their spell slots nearly as much as a full caster base, which means that the shadowblade+multi-attack upcast thing far less appealing in my book, but on the other hand you'll probably be far less squishy. You'll certainly be much less of a glass cannon, and that's not a bad, it just depends on the type of fantasy you're imaging.. Persoanlly I don't really like the idea of wearing heavy armor all the time, so whenever I can pull off an unarmored character, I'll do that ^^.
Well if you want to use booming blade or green flame blade then you can, you just can’t use it with the shadowblade. You can wield a rapier on the other hand and attack with a shadow blade for one of your acres attacks and then cast the weapon cantrip using the rapier. Slight drop in damage than the original set up, but extra attack allows for attacks with w/e weapons you have available, even unarmed attacks or natural weapons.
Since your concentrating your could make use of two weapon fighting by using a scimitar or short sword. The shadowblade being light qualifies the set up fir two weapon fighting even if you do cast a cantrip.
and eventually your intelligence would be added to all those melee attacks, even the offhand attack.
takes attack action: makes one attack with shadowblade for Xd8+ mods. Second attack is blade cantrip making use of the other melee weapon for 1d(6 or 8)+Xd8+mods. If melee weapon used for blade cantrip is light, then an additional bonus action attack for 1d6 may be made, with intelligence mod added at high level.
An interesting thing is that the bladesinger can make use of the cantrip augmented extra attack even if not bladesinging. So you can use a longbow/heavy crossbow to make one attack, and then cast fire bolt along with that. Bladesinging doesn’t support using a weapon with two hands though, so that needs to be remembered.
dipping Soulknife seems like it would work really well though now that I’m thinking multiclassing. Could choose the gunner feat instead of crossbow expert. Already have a bonus action attack set up that has a range option too. Gets rid of disadvantage for close range ranged attacks while providing a stat boost. Wouldn’t have to worry about juggling weapons or ending bladesong.
I have a Half-Elf character idea with a similar concept, granted using Eldritch Knight in place of Bladesinger. Specifically, by 20th Level, you would end up as a 12th Level Eldritch Knight/2nd Level Paladin/6th Level Twilight Cleric. That gives you:
Alternatively, if you want to keep/incorporate Bladesinger, I would recommend a build of 2nd Level Fighter/2nd Level Paladin/8th Level Bladesinger Wizard/8th Level Twilight Cleric. Although it leaves you with 1 less ASI/Feat, this build maintains your access to Action Surge, Extra Attack, and Shadow Blade, grants you Divine Strike (1d8 radiant), gives you spells of up to 4th Level, and spell slots of up to 9th Level! However, when it comes to using Shadow Blade as a Bladesinger VS as an Eldritch Knight, having more Extra Attacks beats having a stronger Shadow Blade in terms of which one results in higher dpr, with or without smites.
Speaking of smites, bringing Paladin into the mix makes either build MAD as all hell, which is their biggest flaw. Trying to build this with either standard array or point buy makes it BARELY functional... On the other hand, being able to stack Divine Smite on top of a Twilight Sanctuary + Shadow Blade + Elven Accuracy + Action Surge combo is well worth it, in my opinion. But if you really want to forgo Paladin altogether, putting 2 more levels into either Cleric or Wizard doesn't hurt. However, another suggestion would be to replace the Paladin levels with Hexblade Warlock levels. You'll lose smites, but you don't have to have a STR score of at least 13. You'd also gain access to Devil's Sight, which pairs too well with Eyes of Night. And the synergy Hexblade's Curse has with the aforementioned combo is INSANE:
Hell, instead of forgoing Paladin, you could sacrifice 1-2 levels in either Cleric or Wizard, allowing you to add Hexblade Warlock to the build for a MONSTEROUS Hexblade's Curse + Twilight Sanctuary + Shadow Blade + Elven Accuracy + Action Surge + Divine Smite combo! Oh God, what have I wrought?
Not sure if this has been mentioned and it might be a bit cliché, but this build idea gives me very strong Eilistraee vibes.
"Meddle not in the affairs of dragons, for thou art crunchy and taste good with ketchup."
Characters for Tenebris Sine Fine
RoughCoronet's Greater Wills
Yes! I'm about 3 months late to this party, but if this doesn't scream Sword Dancer (specialized clerics of Eilistraee), I don't know what would.