are you going to get anywhere if your prefered weapon for bladesinging is one wich uses strength and only strength such as an longsword, war pickaxe or other weapon? or should you always stick to rapiers, shortswords, scimitars, whips, hand crossbows and Renaissance era pistols so that each increase to your primary weapon stat is also going to increase your armor class?
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i am soup, with too many ideas (all of them very spicy) who has made sufficient homebrew material and character to last an thousand human lifetimes
Strength-based bladesingers are absolutely viable.
If I were making a high elf bladesinger, perhaps using the high elf wizard from Lost Mines of Phandelver, I'd have a starting stat line that includes 15 Dex, 14 Con, and 16 Int. At 2nd-level, leather armor would let me have an AC of 16 while bladesong is active. That's better than most druids, and they can use a shield. If I can get studded leather, then my AC is 17 and on par with the first human fighter from the same module; with their chain mail and defensive fighting style. That said, yeah my strength is probably crap. But it doesn't have to be. After all, the same module also has some gauntlets of ogre power tucked away somewhere. I could build a badass bladesinger in that module just with the gauntlets and Talon.
Adding their Intelligence modifier to their AC means Dexterity becomes less of a priority. Sure, you still want it for Initiative rolls and saving throws, but it's not nearly as essential. Consider that most non-bladesinging wizards with access to elven chain probably wouldn't raise their Dexterity past 15 anyway. If I were making a githyanki bladesinger, my array might look like...15 12 14 16 10 8. Over a long career, I could elevate that to 18 14 14 20 10 8 and still pick up a feat for +1 Str or Dex along the way.
Ssooooooooooooorta. It makes you even more MAD. You need high INT for spell stuff and AC, STR for attack stat, DEX for AC, and of course CON because you're a melee wizard. It can be done but there really is no good tradeoff. Going DEX for the attack too doesn't really cost anything.
I think STR wizards are better going abjuration. You can go mountain dwarf for Medium armor which makes you less reliant on a good DEX score. You could even take the feat to grab heavy armor which means dex can be a total dump stat. Wouldn't be until level 4 though.
Viable, sure. There's simply not any /good/ reasons to do it. You make yourself even more MAD and gain nothing but a worse AC out of the deal.
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Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
Strength-based bladesingers are absolutely viable.
If I were making a high elf bladesinger, perhaps using the high elf wizard from Lost Mines of Phandelver, I'd have a starting stat line that includes 15 Dex, 14 Con, and 16 Int. At 2nd-level, leather armor would let me have an AC of 16 while bladesong is active. That's better than most druids, and they can use a shield. If I can get studded leather, then my AC is 17 and on par with the first human fighter from the same module; with their chain mail and defensive fighting style. That said, yeah my strength is probably crap. But it doesn't have to be. After all, the same module also has some gauntlets of ogre power tucked away somewhere. I could build a badass bladesinger in that module just with the gauntlets and Talon.
Adding their Intelligence modifier to their AC means Dexterity becomes less of a priority. Sure, you still want it for Initiative rolls and saving throws, but it's not nearly as essential. Consider that most non-bladesinging wizards with access to elven chain probably wouldn't raise their Dexterity past 15 anyway. If I were making a githyanki bladesinger, my array might look like...15 12 14 16 10 8. Over a long career, I could elevate that to 18 14 14 20 10 8 and still pick up a feat for +1 Str or Dex along the way.
you can't go into bladesong wearing elven chain. Elven Chain is still medium armor and:
Bladesong
2nd-level Bladesinging feature
You can invoke an elven magic called the Bladesong, provided that you aren’t wearing medium or heavy armor or using a shield. It graces you with supernatural speed, agility, and focus.
Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
Viable, sure. There's simply not any /good/ reasons to do it. You make yourself even more MAD and gain nothing but a worse AC out of the deal.
well you would gain the abillity to use your longsword with both hands outside of bladesong, something that is really handy early on since they nerfed the number of times you can bladesing per long rest, or while playing a tortle who gain a bonus to strength but not dex and who need not worry about armor class too much, but that would probably be about it
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i am soup, with too many ideas (all of them very spicy) who has made sufficient homebrew material and character to last an thousand human lifetimes
Strength-based bladesingers are absolutely viable.
If I were making a high elf bladesinger, perhaps using the high elf wizard from Lost Mines of Phandelver, I'd have a starting stat line that includes 15 Dex, 14 Con, and 16 Int. At 2nd-level, leather armor would let me have an AC of 16 while bladesong is active. That's better than most druids, and they can use a shield. If I can get studded leather, then my AC is 17 and on par with the first human fighter from the same module; with their chain mail and defensive fighting style. That said, yeah my strength is probably crap. But it doesn't have to be. After all, the same module also has some gauntlets of ogre power tucked away somewhere. I could build a badass bladesinger in that module just with the gauntlets and Talon.
Adding their Intelligence modifier to their AC means Dexterity becomes less of a priority. Sure, you still want it for Initiative rolls and saving throws, but it's not nearly as essential. Consider that most non-bladesinging wizards with access to elven chain probably wouldn't raise their Dexterity past 15 anyway. If I were making a githyanki bladesinger, my array might look like...15 12 14 16 10 8. Over a long career, I could elevate that to 18 14 14 20 10 8 and still pick up a feat for +1 Str or Dex along the way.
you can't go into bladesong wearing elven chain. Elven Chain is still medium armor and:
Bladesong
2nd-level Bladesinging feature
You can invoke an elven magic called the Bladesong, provided that you aren’t wearing medium or heavy armor or using a shield. It graces you with supernatural speed, agility, and focus.
I know. That's why I said, "non-bladesinging wizards," had access to it. Because Bladesingers don't; not really.
But my point is it's not difficult to actually make one. Dexterity isn't that important for their AC because they're already adding their Intelligence modifier. If someone wanted to make a Bladesinger that emphasized Strength over Dexterity, they can. Rather easily, in fact. Sure, they may want a rapier or scimitar, but they still have access to all their other weapon proficiencies. Most elves, the most traditional bladesingers, have access to longswords and shortswords. (There are a lot of magical longswords.) Every single dwarf can use battleaxes and warhammers.
The only statistic a wizard should really care about is Intelligence. It governs their number of preparable spells per day, their spell attack rolls, and their saving throws. Everything else is secondary. Whether you want Strength (for weapon attacks as a bladesinger), Dexterity (for AC and Initiative), Constitution (for hit points and concentration checks), Wisdom (for skills and their proficiency in a common saving throw), or Charisma (Performance and other social skills) is entirely up to the player.
The only MADdening thing is listening to people who tell you how to play.
Strength-based bladesingers are absolutely viable.
If I were making a high elf bladesinger, perhaps using the high elf wizard from Lost Mines of Phandelver, I'd have a starting stat line that includes 15 Dex, 14 Con, and 16 Int. At 2nd-level, leather armor would let me have an AC of 16 while bladesong is active. That's better than most druids, and they can use a shield. If I can get studded leather, then my AC is 17 and on par with the first human fighter from the same module; with their chain mail and defensive fighting style. That said, yeah my strength is probably crap. But it doesn't have to be. After all, the same module also has some gauntlets of ogre power tucked away somewhere. I could build a badass bladesinger in that module just with the gauntlets and Talon.
Adding their Intelligence modifier to their AC means Dexterity becomes less of a priority. Sure, you still want it for Initiative rolls and saving throws, but it's not nearly as essential. Consider that most non-bladesinging wizards with access to elven chain probably wouldn't raise their Dexterity past 15 anyway. If I were making a githyanki bladesinger, my array might look like...15 12 14 16 10 8. Over a long career, I could elevate that to 18 14 14 20 10 8 and still pick up a feat for +1 Str or Dex along the way.
you can't go into bladesong wearing elven chain. Elven Chain is still medium armor and:
Bladesong
2nd-level Bladesinging feature
You can invoke an elven magic called the Bladesong, provided that you aren’t wearing medium or heavy armor or using a shield. It graces you with supernatural speed, agility, and focus.
I know. That's why I said, "non-bladesinging wizards," had access to it. Because Bladesingers don't; not really.
But my point is it's not difficult to actually make one. Dexterity isn't that important for their AC because they're already adding their Intelligence modifier. If someone wanted to make a Bladesinger that emphasized Strength over Dexterity, they can. Rather easily, in fact. Sure, they may want a rapier or scimitar, but they still have access to all their other weapon proficiencies. Most elves, the most traditional bladesingers, have access to longswords and shortswords. (There are a lot of magical longswords.) Every single dwarf can use battleaxes and warhammers.
The only statistic a wizard should really care about is Intelligence. It governs their number of preparable spells per day, their spell attack rolls, and their saving throws. Everything else is secondary. Whether you want Strength (for weapon attacks as a bladesinger), Dexterity (for AC and Initiative), Constitution (for hit points and concentration checks), Wisdom (for skills and their proficiency in a common saving throw), or Charisma (Performance and other social skills) is entirely up to the player.
The only MADdening thing is listening to people who tell you how to play.
No one is telling you or anyone how to play.
The OP asked about viability. This communicates they care about efficacy. You posted it can be done, which is true. Others countered that it is mechanically worse to do so than to stick to dex. Whether you believe this is true or not does not mean they are telling you how to play. They have provided their opinion on what they believe the better option is. That is all.
When one talks about "better" options they are not forcing decisions upon anyone.
ArtificeMeal I think a strength bladesinger would really struggle because of how MAD it is. Your AC and HP will suffer which is far from ideal for a melee wizard. I don't think being able to two hand a longsword outside of bladesong is worth the losses. I would argue dexterity is already the stronger attacking stat because it also effects AC. Strength builds generally have something that makes up for the shortcomings of the stat (like access to Polearm Master + Great Weapon Master) and/or heavy armor to make dexterity unnecessary for AC. The bladesinger has none of that.
But maybe you rolled stats and have golden fingers. I've played with such luck sacks ;)
The tiny amount of damage boost you gain from 2 handing that longsword really only matters over lengthy encounters anyway. It takes time to become valuable and even when it is valuable it is not by some gigantic amount. So don't feel like your being held back by things like Rapiers. Particularly since your still a wizard and spells are still going to be some of your best abilities. Blade Singing is more about having options and something like the Rapier is still a strong option when used along with the rest of the subclasses kit provided.
It can be a good build, but from my playing of a str bs, you need to ignore bladesinging entirely. If you start 1 level of fighter, you can wear heavy armor. Then you have the ac to ignore dex. This opens up heavy weapons for the build, but makes levels 2-5 painful to play. I dont recommend it. You can also go tortle and do largely the same thing without ignoring bladesinging. Course this isn't AL legal so not my first choice, but possible with DM permission.
It can be a good build, but from my playing of a str bs, you need to ignore bladesinging entirely. If you start 1 level of fighter, you can wear heavy armor. Then you have the ac to ignore dex. This opens up heavy weapons for the build, but makes levels 2-5 painful to play. I dont recommend it. You can also go tortle and do largely the same thing without ignoring bladesinging. Course this isn't AL legal so not my first choice, but possible with DM permission.
playing a bladesinger who cannot use the bladesinging feature is pointless, i might as well go play an abjuration wizard with that same fighter dip then
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i am soup, with too many ideas (all of them very spicy) who has made sufficient homebrew material and character to last an thousand human lifetimes
Strength-based bladesingers are absolutely viable.
If I were making a high elf bladesinger, perhaps using the high elf wizard from Lost Mines of Phandelver, I'd have a starting stat line that includes 15 Dex, 14 Con, and 16 Int. At 2nd-level, leather armor would let me have an AC of 16 while bladesong is active. That's better than most druids, and they can use a shield. If I can get studded leather, then my AC is 17 and on par with the first human fighter from the same module; with their chain mail and defensive fighting style. That said, yeah my strength is probably crap. But it doesn't have to be. After all, the same module also has some gauntlets of ogre power tucked away somewhere. I could build a badass bladesinger in that module just with the gauntlets and Talon.
Adding their Intelligence modifier to their AC means Dexterity becomes less of a priority. Sure, you still want it for Initiative rolls and saving throws, but it's not nearly as essential. Consider that most non-bladesinging wizards with access to elven chain probably wouldn't raise their Dexterity past 15 anyway. If I were making a githyanki bladesinger, my array might look like...15 12 14 16 10 8. Over a long career, I could elevate that to 18 14 14 20 10 8 and still pick up a feat for +1 Str or Dex along the way.
you can't go into bladesong wearing elven chain. Elven Chain is still medium armor and:
Bladesong
2nd-level Bladesinging feature
You can invoke an elven magic called the Bladesong, provided that you aren’t wearing medium or heavy armor or using a shield. It graces you with supernatural speed, agility, and focus.
I know. That's why I said, "non-bladesinging wizards," had access to it. Because Bladesingers don't; not really.
But my point is it's not difficult to actually make one. Dexterity isn't that important for their AC because they're already adding their Intelligence modifier. If someone wanted to make a Bladesinger that emphasized Strength over Dexterity, they can. Rather easily, in fact. Sure, they may want a rapier or scimitar, but they still have access to all their other weapon proficiencies. Most elves, the most traditional bladesingers, have access to longswords and shortswords. (There are a lot of magical longswords.) Every single dwarf can use battleaxes and warhammers.
The only statistic a wizard should really care about is Intelligence. It governs their number of preparable spells per day, their spell attack rolls, and their saving throws. Everything else is secondary. Whether you want Strength (for weapon attacks as a bladesinger), Dexterity (for AC and Initiative), Constitution (for hit points and concentration checks), Wisdom (for skills and their proficiency in a common saving throw), or Charisma (Performance and other social skills) is entirely up to the player.
The only MADdening thing is listening to people who tell you how to play.
It's not difficult. What /is/ difficult is not being terrible for doing so. No wizard wants to drop dex, and no wizard can afford to put points into str without dumping dex. Those points have to come from somewhere.
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Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
It can be a good build, but from my playing of a str bs, you need to ignore bladesinging entirely. If you start 1 level of fighter, you can wear heavy armor. Then you have the ac to ignore dex. This opens up heavy weapons for the build, but makes levels 2-5 painful to play. I dont recommend it. You can also go tortle and do largely the same thing without ignoring bladesinging. Course this isn't AL legal so not my first choice, but possible with DM permission.
playing a bladesinger who cannot use the bladesinging feature is pointless, i might as well go play an abjuration wizard with that same fighter dip then
I'm going to have to second this. Because if your playing a blade singer without using the blade singing ability your actually shutting off most of the subclasses features that you would gain because the only one that doesn't require you to be explicitly using blade singing is the extra attack feature at level 6 which is still going to be more effective if you are blade singing than if you aren't.
It can be a good build, but from my playing of a str bs, you need to ignore bladesinging entirely. If you start 1 level of fighter, you can wear heavy armor. Then you have the ac to ignore dex. This opens up heavy weapons for the build, but makes levels 2-5 painful to play. I dont recommend it. You can also go tortle and do largely the same thing without ignoring bladesinging. Course this isn't AL legal so not my first choice, but possible with DM permission.
playing a bladesinger who cannot use the bladesinging feature is pointless, i might as well go play an abjuration wizard with that same fighter dip then
Yep. 100%
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Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
I haven't found anything online about that build, but I feel like Tortle Strength Bladesinger could be viable. You don't need Dex as much for AC since you start with 17 natural armor, and add your INT while bladesinging. It also lets you use stuff like Battleaxes and Longswords if you take the Dual Wielder feat.
I haven't found anything online about that build, but I feel like Tortle Strength Bladesinger could be viable. You don't need Dex as much for AC since you start with 17 natural armor, and add your INT while bladesinging. It also lets you use stuff like Battleaxes and Longswords if you take the Dual Wielder feat.
Don't even need dual wielder, since you don't need to two-weapon-fight as a bladesinger (in fact, they're not even particularly good at twf, seeing as they need a bonus action to start the bladesong). Tortle strength bladesingers can get a lot of traction from a 1d8 one-hander and Shove.
This entire thread is full of people assuming point buy is standard, when it is absolutely an alternate rule.
That said, rolling stats and getting fairly good ones it probably the only way you're gonna make your STR bladesinger really good.
My bladesinger is STR based because I was using bladesinger to get across my battleaxe wielding viking skald idea. Variant human so he could take War Caster at level 1, and he used gauntlets of ogre power to get through the mid-tiers until his ASIs could get his STR up high enough to discard them. He's also basically ****ed if he ever loses his Amulet of Health, because his CON will drop from 19 to 11.
There are absolutely ways to build it, but unless you're really attached to the idea for RP reasons, or you're in a group where you would enhance your own fun by putting yourself at a disadvantage, it's probably not the best way to go. The lore of the class across several editions comes from the idea of DEX-y elves using magic to enhance their sword play, and the 5e mechanics are built in a way that reflects that.
This entire thread is full of people assuming point buy is standard, when it is absolutely an alternate rule.
That said, rolling stats and getting fairly good ones it probably the only way you're gonna make your STR bladesinger really good.
My bladesinger is STR based because I was using bladesinger to get across my battleaxe wielding viking skald idea. Variant human so he could take War Caster at level 1, and he used gauntlets of ogre power to get through the mid-tiers until his ASIs could get his STR up high enough to discard them. He's also basically ****ed if he ever loses his Amulet of Health, because his CON will drop from 19 to 11.
There are absolutely ways to build it, but unless you're really attached to the idea for RP reasons, or you're in a group where you would enhance your own fun by putting yourself at a disadvantage, it's probably not the best way to go. The lore of the class across several editions comes from the idea of DEX-y elves using magic to enhance their sword play, and the 5e mechanics are built in a way that reflects that.
Incorrect on one point. Point Buy is not the Alternate Rule in 5th Edition. it is the Standard Rule and thus the best rule to make assumption about. It is also the system most used by places like Adventure League which is another reason to talk in Point buy Terms. All dice roll character creation options (of which there are a few so you need to differentiate) are now entirely the optional Rule when it comes to character creation in 5e.
If you're going STR based it's because you want to use the only STR based weapons that matter: heavy, two-handed weapons for GWM.
Otherwise, to go STR just to use shitty weapons like a longsword for a d8 in damage is just a more convoluted way of going with a rapier.
But if you go with GWM, you can't bladesong. At that point, you're wasting your primary class ability. Your sacrificing mobility, tankiness, and concentration for... Nothing, basically.
You cannot count on getting magic items, and even then, I'm having a hard time of thinking of a table with a STR based martial in the party being totally fine with the wizard getting gauntlets/belt over them.
If you insist on being STR wizard, go abjurer dwarf with capped con and int, GWM, a storm giant belt, and hammer of thunderbolt. Slap on tenser's transformation, and have at it. It's just as likely as any other item-dependent suggestion. Don't like it? Too bad! You got no other worthwhile option unless you just like being sub optimal, in which case you do you, buddy. You do you.
I'll tell people how to play.
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are you going to get anywhere if your prefered weapon for bladesinging is one wich uses strength and only strength such as an longsword, war pickaxe or other weapon? or should you always stick to rapiers, shortswords, scimitars, whips, hand crossbows and Renaissance era pistols so that each increase to your primary weapon stat is also going to increase your armor class?
i am soup, with too many ideas (all of them very spicy) who has made sufficient homebrew material and character to last an thousand human lifetimes
Strength-based bladesingers are absolutely viable.
If I were making a high elf bladesinger, perhaps using the high elf wizard from Lost Mines of Phandelver, I'd have a starting stat line that includes 15 Dex, 14 Con, and 16 Int. At 2nd-level, leather armor would let me have an AC of 16 while bladesong is active. That's better than most druids, and they can use a shield. If I can get studded leather, then my AC is 17 and on par with the first human fighter from the same module; with their chain mail and defensive fighting style. That said, yeah my strength is probably crap. But it doesn't have to be. After all, the same module also has some gauntlets of ogre power tucked away somewhere. I could build a badass bladesinger in that module just with the gauntlets and Talon.
Adding their Intelligence modifier to their AC means Dexterity becomes less of a priority. Sure, you still want it for Initiative rolls and saving throws, but it's not nearly as essential. Consider that most non-bladesinging wizards with access to elven chain probably wouldn't raise their Dexterity past 15 anyway. If I were making a githyanki bladesinger, my array might look like...15 12 14 16 10 8. Over a long career, I could elevate that to 18 14 14 20 10 8 and still pick up a feat for +1 Str or Dex along the way.
Ssooooooooooooorta. It makes you even more MAD. You need high INT for spell stuff and AC, STR for attack stat, DEX for AC, and of course CON because you're a melee wizard. It can be done but there really is no good tradeoff. Going DEX for the attack too doesn't really cost anything.
I think STR wizards are better going abjuration. You can go mountain dwarf for Medium armor which makes you less reliant on a good DEX score. You could even take the feat to grab heavy armor which means dex can be a total dump stat. Wouldn't be until level 4 though.
Viable, sure. There's simply not any /good/ reasons to do it. You make yourself even more MAD and gain nothing but a worse AC out of the deal.
Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
Tasha
you can't go into bladesong wearing elven chain. Elven Chain is still medium armor and:
Bladesong
2nd-level Bladesinging feature
You can invoke an elven magic called the Bladesong, provided that you aren’t wearing medium or heavy armor or using a shield. It graces you with supernatural speed, agility, and focus.
Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
Tasha
well you would gain the abillity to use your longsword with both hands outside of bladesong, something that is really handy early on since they nerfed the number of times you can bladesing per long rest, or while playing a tortle who gain a bonus to strength but not dex and who need not worry about armor class too much, but that would probably be about it
i am soup, with too many ideas (all of them very spicy) who has made sufficient homebrew material and character to last an thousand human lifetimes
I know. That's why I said, "non-bladesinging wizards," had access to it. Because Bladesingers don't; not really.
But my point is it's not difficult to actually make one. Dexterity isn't that important for their AC because they're already adding their Intelligence modifier. If someone wanted to make a Bladesinger that emphasized Strength over Dexterity, they can. Rather easily, in fact. Sure, they may want a rapier or scimitar, but they still have access to all their other weapon proficiencies. Most elves, the most traditional bladesingers, have access to longswords and shortswords. (There are a lot of magical longswords.) Every single dwarf can use battleaxes and warhammers.
As for AC, every Bladesinger can wear glamoured studded leather. Or maybe they'd rather stick to mage armor; augmented by a pair of bracers of defense.
The only statistic a wizard should really care about is Intelligence. It governs their number of preparable spells per day, their spell attack rolls, and their saving throws. Everything else is secondary. Whether you want Strength (for weapon attacks as a bladesinger), Dexterity (for AC and Initiative), Constitution (for hit points and concentration checks), Wisdom (for skills and their proficiency in a common saving throw), or Charisma (Performance and other social skills) is entirely up to the player.
The only MADdening thing is listening to people who tell you how to play.
No one is telling you or anyone how to play.
The OP asked about viability. This communicates they care about efficacy. You posted it can be done, which is true. Others countered that it is mechanically worse to do so than to stick to dex. Whether you believe this is true or not does not mean they are telling you how to play. They have provided their opinion on what they believe the better option is. That is all.
When one talks about "better" options they are not forcing decisions upon anyone.
ArtificeMeal I think a strength bladesinger would really struggle because of how MAD it is. Your AC and HP will suffer which is far from ideal for a melee wizard. I don't think being able to two hand a longsword outside of bladesong is worth the losses. I would argue dexterity is already the stronger attacking stat because it also effects AC. Strength builds generally have something that makes up for the shortcomings of the stat (like access to Polearm Master + Great Weapon Master) and/or heavy armor to make dexterity unnecessary for AC. The bladesinger has none of that.
But maybe you rolled stats and have golden fingers. I've played with such luck sacks ;)
The tiny amount of damage boost you gain from 2 handing that longsword really only matters over lengthy encounters anyway. It takes time to become valuable and even when it is valuable it is not by some gigantic amount. So don't feel like your being held back by things like Rapiers. Particularly since your still a wizard and spells are still going to be some of your best abilities. Blade Singing is more about having options and something like the Rapier is still a strong option when used along with the rest of the subclasses kit provided.
It can be a good build, but from my playing of a str bs, you need to ignore bladesinging entirely. If you start 1 level of fighter, you can wear heavy armor. Then you have the ac to ignore dex. This opens up heavy weapons for the build, but makes levels 2-5 painful to play. I dont recommend it. You can also go tortle and do largely the same thing without ignoring bladesinging. Course this isn't AL legal so not my first choice, but possible with DM permission.
playing a bladesinger who cannot use the bladesinging feature is pointless, i might as well go play an abjuration wizard with that same fighter dip then
i am soup, with too many ideas (all of them very spicy) who has made sufficient homebrew material and character to last an thousand human lifetimes
It's not difficult. What /is/ difficult is not being terrible for doing so. No wizard wants to drop dex, and no wizard can afford to put points into str without dumping dex. Those points have to come from somewhere.
Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
Tasha
I'm going to have to second this. Because if your playing a blade singer without using the blade singing ability your actually shutting off most of the subclasses features that you would gain because the only one that doesn't require you to be explicitly using blade singing is the extra attack feature at level 6 which is still going to be more effective if you are blade singing than if you aren't.
Yep. 100%
Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
Tasha
I haven't found anything online about that build, but I feel like Tortle Strength Bladesinger could be viable. You don't need Dex as much for AC since you start with 17 natural armor, and add your INT while bladesinging. It also lets you use stuff like Battleaxes and Longswords if you take the Dual Wielder feat.
Don't even need dual wielder, since you don't need to two-weapon-fight as a bladesinger (in fact, they're not even particularly good at twf, seeing as they need a bonus action to start the bladesong). Tortle strength bladesingers can get a lot of traction from a 1d8 one-hander and Shove.
You are right about that, missed that angle. I'm sure people can find lots of ways to spice the strength tortle bladesinger with other feats too.
This entire thread is full of people assuming point buy is standard, when it is absolutely an alternate rule.
That said, rolling stats and getting fairly good ones it probably the only way you're gonna make your STR bladesinger really good.
My bladesinger is STR based because I was using bladesinger to get across my battleaxe wielding viking skald idea. Variant human so he could take War Caster at level 1, and he used gauntlets of ogre power to get through the mid-tiers until his ASIs could get his STR up high enough to discard them. He's also basically ****ed if he ever loses his Amulet of Health, because his CON will drop from 19 to 11.
There are absolutely ways to build it, but unless you're really attached to the idea for RP reasons, or you're in a group where you would enhance your own fun by putting yourself at a disadvantage, it's probably not the best way to go. The lore of the class across several editions comes from the idea of DEX-y elves using magic to enhance their sword play, and the 5e mechanics are built in a way that reflects that.
Incorrect on one point. Point Buy is not the Alternate Rule in 5th Edition. it is the Standard Rule and thus the best rule to make assumption about. It is also the system most used by places like Adventure League which is another reason to talk in Point buy Terms. All dice roll character creation options (of which there are a few so you need to differentiate) are now entirely the optional Rule when it comes to character creation in 5e.
Just... Why?
If you're going STR based it's because you want to use the only STR based weapons that matter: heavy, two-handed weapons for GWM.
Otherwise, to go STR just to use shitty weapons like a longsword for a d8 in damage is just a more convoluted way of going with a rapier.
But if you go with GWM, you can't bladesong. At that point, you're wasting your primary class ability. Your sacrificing mobility, tankiness, and concentration for... Nothing, basically.
You cannot count on getting magic items, and even then, I'm having a hard time of thinking of a table with a STR based martial in the party being totally fine with the wizard getting gauntlets/belt over them.
If you insist on being STR wizard, go abjurer dwarf with capped con and int, GWM, a storm giant belt, and hammer of thunderbolt. Slap on tenser's transformation, and have at it. It's just as likely as any other item-dependent suggestion. Don't like it? Too bad! You got no other worthwhile option unless you just like being sub optimal, in which case you do you, buddy. You do you.
I'll tell people how to play.