When leveling up your Bladesinger in D&D 5e, there are a number of options available to you. We’ll cover everything from how to maximize your ability scores to which races will offer you the finest stats (and everything in-between). As well as the Dungeon Master’s Guide and Players Handbook, Xanathar’s Guide to Everything and the Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide will also be discussed.
What Is This Guide?
The Bladesinger Wizard Subclass is the focus of this guide. DnD 5e Wizard provides a comprehensive description of the Wizard class.
This color coding scheme is used for all of our class manuals.
When it comes to your character’s build, red is a no-go. Orange is a good choice.
The green option is a good idea.
For your character, you should strongly consider Blue. Sky Blue is a fantastic alternative. In the absence of this choice, your character would not be optimized.
Blue and Sky Blue possibilities, as well as alternatives for races, backgrounds, and feats that are distinct from the parent class’ rating, are the main focus in our Subclass Guides. All other possibilities are covered by a 5e Wizard Guide or other Subclass Guides, allowing for a more concise presentation of the subclass’s features.
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What Is A Bladesinger?
“I dream of charging into combat with the Fighters and Barbarians, laughing in the face of peril,” have you ever thought like a Wizard? Now, we have the Bladesinger to contend with.
When it comes to combat, BladeSingers are well-versed in both spells and swords. The Bladesinger can be used for crowd control, damage, or to distract the enemy’s attention from your weaker party members. Their primary role is still that of wizards, but they can also provide some respectable melee damage if they choose to go that route as well.
Strengths
This class is able to keep up with the spellcasting abilities of any wizard while also having a high competence with a melee weapon and a high level of survival ability. Since Bladesingers can easily enhance their AC into the 20s, this opens up a slew of new possibilities for the class’ design and gameplay. The Bladesinger, with the help of some protective spells and superior agility, can whiz across the battlefield unnoticed.
For all their uniqueness and fun to play, Bladesingers make for an excellent Wizard class. Even though there are a lot of wizard classes, Bladesinger gives a novel twist to one of D&D’s most popular classes
Weaknesses
While Bladesingers are amusing, they are by no means the most powerful or well-rounded Wizard subclass. Most Wizards are primarily interested in improving their INT score so that their other stats can be raised to a comfortable level. A good DEX score is required for a Bladesinger, in addition to INT for AC and attack bonuses. In higher levels, adversaries are more likely to get through your AC, making Bladesinger’s paltry hit points a liability.
For this character, casting spells or cantrips still outperforms attacking with a weapon. A proficient weapon is more often than not a final resort when it comes to optimizing your gameplay.
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Before You Start
Races
Even non-elf races, including us humans, can become Bladesingers because of the publication of Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything.
Non-standard races can be found in our Guide to D&D Races. Most races and subraces are constrained by the setting and source material chosen by the DM. Keep this in mind. For Bladesingers, here are some of the better possibilities among the normal races that are available.
DEX is increased by two points for elves, which is appropriate for this subclass.
Int boost and free cantrip for the High Elf. For a Bladesinger, this is a wonderful race to compete in.
For wood elves, there’s no boost in INT score, but the added mobility of Bladesinger makes up for it.
Like any Wizard build, the +2 to INT will make you an excellent spellcaster.
Forest Gnome: In addition, you now gain a DEX increase and a Minor Illusion for free. If your DM lets it, you’ll be on par with a High Elf.
There is no surprise that the Variant Human is an excellent choice for Bladesingers. From level 1, the Variant Human lets you boost your INT/DEX stats and earn a feat as a bonus. For a change, unlike most other Wizard classes, Bladesinger feats work well together.
Backgrounds
For the Bladesinger, there is no “optimal” background; any background that works well for other Wizard builds will suffice. Choose a character that fits your narrative and has INT or DEX skills.
An acolyte is a person who has religious knowledge and insight. Languages other than English can be useful.
Knowledge of history and arcana as well as nature or religion. Languages other than English can be useful.
Knowledge of the arcana and the history of the world. Languages other than English can be useful.
Ability Scores
Increases in Ability Scores (ASI) occur at levels 4, 8, 12, 16, and 19.
For most Wizards, INT is plenty, but as a Bladesinger, you’ll require a high DEX bonus as well. As always, INT is still the most essential stat for Bladesingers because they have an ability that allows them to add Intelligence to their AC and concentration checks done in order to keep a concentration spell on their target. Later levels allow them to modify melee weapon attacks with the INT modifier.
These adjustments have made Bladesingers dependent on multiple abilities (MAD). The right allocation of stats is critical for the build’s usability, hence some stats must be purged. The following is our recommendation for pumping ability scores: INT is superior to DEX and CON is inferior to DEX.
STR: Get rid of it and concentrate on your other stats.
When it comes to Bladesingers, DEX is on par with Intelligence when it comes to AC and finesses weapons.
Due to the Wizard’s weak hit dice, Bladesingers will never have a significant pool of health points, but you don’t want to die in one hit if your AC is breached by an opponent.
INT: Wizards rely on INT for everything, and Bladesinger’s features give you an extra boost thanks to INT benefits.
WIS: WIS saves and Perception can be improved with this.
CHA: Get rid of it and focus on other stats instead.
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Bladesinger Class Progression
1st Level
Wizards have the weakest hit dice in the game, a d6. If Bladesingers try to take hits without the use of defensive magic, they’re going to have a major difficulty.
These two skills aren’t likely to give much protection in melee situations.
As a rule, wizards aren’t given any armor or weapon proficiencies. The Bladesinger’s War and Song Training adds light armor and proficiency with one sort of one-handed melee weapon of your choice, which is a nice addition.
Talents: You gain competence in Performance on top of the Wizard’s middling skills, which isn’t very useful in general, but it’s particularly relevant now because you’re likely to abandon CHA.
Eldritch Knights will have a harder time choosing spells because of their low INT score. As a melee spellcaster, Eldritch Knights are the opposite of Bladesingers in terms of the subclass. Because they are so focused on STR & CON, EKs are also MAD and have a hard time pumping up their INT stats. For EKs this means focusing on defensive spells that don’t impose a save or spend their spell attack modifier.
Bladesingers, on the other hand, have a high INT score but will struggle to raise their CON to a respectable level in order to compensate for their lack of hit dice. Under the Example Bladesinger Build section, we’ve provided some of the greatest spells to choose as a Bladesinger that will help you stay alive while still dealing maximum damage and battlefield management.
2nd Level
Everything in Tasha’s Cauldron
Practice in War and Song: The Bladesinger’s competence with light armor and a one-handed melee weapon distinguishes it unique from the other Wizard subtypes. However, Mage Armor will be more effective, as Studded Leather saves both a spell slot and a prepared spell for when you need them. With more spell slots and a +5 to DEX, Mage Armor will outperform Light Armor at higher levels, making it worth utilizing Bladesong: Complements well with War and Song Training. When you use Bladesong, you get a ton of bonuses that endure for a minute. Weak at low levels and significantly stronger at high levels because the amount of uses (with the introduction of Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything) now scales with your proficiency bonus, only resets with a lengthy rest. When you cast Haste on yourself, you get a +2 to AC and CON saves to maintain concentration.
6th Level
Extra Attack is the most significant change to the Bladesinger subclass. One of your attacks can now be substituted with a Cantrip, which can be used in a variety of creative combinations for maximum effect. Using Booming Blade or Green-Flame Blade as a replacement for one of your attacks means you’ll still have two total attacks for the round. It’s also possible to use the Fire Bolt to take out an enemy that’s a little further away if you’ve already killed your opponent with your first sword assault.
10th Level
There are several ways to keep your Bladesinger alive, including Song of Defense. If an oncoming attack would be able to cut through your Shield spell, this will at least lower the amount of damage that would be dealt.
14th Level
Song of Victory: If you have 20 INT and both of your weapon attacks connect, you will deal an additional 10 damage when using this ability. Nothing special, but anything that increases the potency of your melee attacks is a plus.
18th Level
Spell Mastery: Consult the 5e Wizard Guide for more information.
20th Level
Consult the 5e Wizard’s Guide for information on signature spells.
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