I’d highly recommend taking fighter 1. It gives u way too much, Ik your behind one level but it’s too worth it. Gaining con prof and weapon mastery is too much to lose out on. Weapon master basically gives u an extra attack and it keeps your bonus action open. Then u take duel wielder at level 4 and boom 3 attacks at level 5 and then 4 and level 7. If u use shadow blade this gives u 3 shadow blade attacks once u get extra attack and that’s too much to give up. For race id highly recommend doing a flying race of the dm allows it. If not either drgaonbourne or assimar will be good. U don’t wanna waste concentration flying for whenever you fight flying enemies. If u don’t do the flying then u gotta do an elf for Elvin arc bc u will get so much adv with shadow blade at night/dim light and with your familiar granting u adv and one of your weapon master giving u adv on a hit too, u have so much adv to not use an elf. I see why u picked tortoe bc of that 17 AC plus blade song but it’s not worth it when those other races are an option.
I think the whole point here was to build a very different Bladesinger who does not need to rely on Dex at all. Two weapon fighting and the new Nick property will not work with Shillelagh and a quarterstaff or club. I think this is a different take, and may not be as powerful for straight damage, but gives some nice other benefits.
@@Brandonrod that sounds like a fun build, full on martial with light armor and weapons. At that point you don’t even need Shillelagh. What would you do for you origin feat?
@ alert bc u would have a 17 dex and 18 dex when u take duel wilder. Then I would stop at dex and do the next two ASI to get int to 20 assuming you want a good dc for spells since in the end of the day you’re a wizard.
as soon as you try to make a bonus action attack with a staff as a polearm, it should end bladesong. It is silly to think that you're striking with a staff in one hand then somehow striking with the opposite end (as is described in the feat) with the same hand. Whenever you make an attack with using 2 hands, bladesong ends. Instead you could use a club and another light weapon. cast shillelagh on your club and use it for your bonus attack and a main action attack. The other main action attack can be made with true strike to keep it intelligence based. This doesn't conflict with bladesong and saves you a feat while giving you the same number of attacks.
@@ericrbacher9371 I see where you are coming from! I had the same hang up when I was theory crafting a hoplite character that used a spear and shield plus polearm master. If the visual doesn’t look right, it’s hard to get invested in a character. But with quarterstaffs there is a wealth of one handed technique videos out there to give examples of how it might look. I personally like the visualize it as an attack action diagonal swing downward, from shoulder to hip. Then rotate the wrist and jab with the opposite end. And that position also sets you up for the extra attack being an upward and diagonal swing along the same path as the first attack. Also it pays to remember these weapon types in the PHB are extreme generalizations. What the rules call a quarterstaff can be anything from a 6 foot long Bo staff, to a 3 foot long Tanbo. At the end of the day, flavor is free. So as long as the rules allow it, we can visualize and flavor the characters actions in whatever way makes sense to us.
@@ericrbacher9371 That would be a good direction to go, dual wielding almost like a TMNT Rafael aesthetic. Unfortunately with that Nick attack, there’s no way to attack with Intelligence. So we’d need some Dexterity or Strength investment.
as a 1st level spell I would take "false life" to have more temporary hit points, since unfortunately "shield" is no longer possible because it necessarily requires a spell that uses a single action (no bonus action, no reaction) as 2lv I would take either "mirror image" because it doesn't require to upcast, or "warding wind" could be fun to give disadvantage to ranged attacks and deafen spellcasters (essentially the silence spell)
@@Bardaffo77 Good choices! I totally missed the new requirement that the spells must be an action, I guess my head is still a little stuck in 2014. Thanks for the comment!
My first 5e character was a Tortle Light Cleric 1/ Celestial Warlock for the rest of the build, so I could stack Shield of Faith with a shield, granting a 21 AC at lvl 1. Was such a fun character! He worshipped the sun until he needed more power, so made a deal with his god (hence Warlock), and I had a blast casting fire spells while tanking and healing for the party. If I were to rebuild him for 2024, would probably go Bladesinger with a 4 level Fighter dip, although the Circle of the Dragon Druid from the Griffin’s Saddlebag may be a better fit as a straight class build to capture the same feel as the origin character.
@@RulesAsWrittenCharacterBuilds I do have a small Aasimar Sun Soul 18/ Bladesinger 2 build that I built for a “Littles” one-shot (a “Littles” game is where everyone plays a small character). Being able to stack Wis, Int, and Dex on a character that shoots lasers with their hands is a great concept, but we do points buy, and it’s difficult to cap three stats with a non-Fighter build. If I were to rebuild her in 2024, I would go Monk 12/Wizard 4 to net two epic boons, or just go straight Monk to net a 24 Dex and Wis.
@@jeffersonian000 Wow, a Bladesinger/Monk must be impossible to hit. Getting mage armor probably helps keep that wisdom low too. Yeah that Monk capstone is hard to pass up on, same as the Barbarian one.
I always wanted to play a Bladesinger. And I also wanted to play a Tortle. Now I have the perfect Build, thank you! While I think that Conjure Minor Elementals willl be nerfed, at least at our table (which I would understand a 100%), the build still looks like a lot of fun! 😊
@@jeffhovinga1758 @TegwenYT and @Bardaffo77 clarified in the comments here that Spell Mastery only works for spells with a casting time of 1 action. So turns out Shield and Misty Step don’t work. Bummer huh?
an other blade singer build that fail to understand the strength of bladesinger... cute... Bladesinger is still a FULL FLEDGE WIZARD. You still have only a d6 HP. you are not a fighter. Sure turtle give you 17 AC... great at low level, useless at high level where monster have +16 to hit. trusth me, once monster start having +16 to hit, you really want a free teleport to get out of combat and still cast your spell. No your wizard do NOT have good defense sorry, 17+5 from shield + 5 from bladesong might be 27, but it's still a 45% chance to hit at higher level when monster have +16 to hit) and 45% to loose half your HP, HURTS A LOT Now damage wise, sure you are abusing the typo from CME... cute... no one else ever did that build, so original... Without that typo you would deal low damage. Even as a blade singer you are still MUCH better casting a control spell (like hold monster) and stay far from combat to not lose concentration. activate your bladesong on easy fight you don't want to waste your high spell slot...
@@sohkaswifteagle2604 Thank you for the feedback! I did mention during my ending summary that a Bladesinger’s greatest strength is still the wizard spell list, as well as the drawbacks of the small hit point pool. I’m not sure I would call a 27 AC useless at high levels. Reducing a boss monster’s hit chance to 45% is pretty respectable. Not to mention magic items like Rings or Cloaks of Protectin, Bracers of Defense, Staffs of Power, etc; possibly bringing it above 30. Even without CME, three attacks with an upcast Spirit Shroud and +10 damage is competitive with most melee damage builds At the end of the day, a character is what you make it. If you want to play a blade singer who mainly casts spells do it. I like playing melee builds, so my blade singer will be buffing themself and swinging. Thanks for the comment!
If you are using Tortle (2014 5E material) and optimizing …why not go the next step and do a multi-species Half-elf Tortle, You keep in theme with Bladesinging and now have access to elvish accuracy
@@jasonlarsen5380 I’ve never heard of that before, which racial features do you get? Do you pick and choose from each species, or is it its own species option?
No offense, but I'm tired of bladesingers. It was one thing when it was limited to elves, and it had a cultural significance. Ever since they opened it up to anybody, it's the default gish build. Even the novelty of being a tortle doesn't make this interesting to me. With all the cool builds you could have made with the 2024 wizard subclasses, you went with bladesinger. Oh, well, it looks pretty good. Boring, but good. See ya on the next one.
@@ericpeterson8732 thanks for the feedback! I thought the possibility of dumping Dex made it worth a revisit. But it’s definitely a subclass that’s been done a lot!
Do you mean the same 2024 wizard that has no new subclasses? The 2024 PHB invalidates everything that came before, causing buying the previous books to retroactively be wastes. Not to mention, the gap widened significantly, J Craw is anti-race mixing, and Ranger got nerfed into the ground.
I hear you. Getting rid of half-elves and half-orcs in favor of orcs and goliaths was a terrible decision. And I get that you don't like the 2024 revisions. But the four wizard subclasses are good and not a hybrid subclass like bladesinger. He could have done a conjuration wizard or even a transmutation wizard and I would be more interested. Like PAM, XBE, hexblades, bladesingers are the optimizers' default picks, and I'm tired of them.
![Arthas Menethil: Warlock/Paladin [Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition Character Build]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/wCc1QGL1IA0/mqdefault.jpg)
Great video, good to see the tortle getting some love :)
@@willbforcexd8731 Yeah it’s a potent race! I gotta make a monk with one next time.
Love it Zack! Very cool idea :)
@czcrossman Thanks Zack! :)
Awesome vid
@@BTrillJ Thank you!
I’d highly recommend taking fighter 1. It gives u way too much, Ik your behind one level but it’s too worth it. Gaining con prof and weapon mastery is too much to lose out on. Weapon master basically gives u an extra attack and it keeps your bonus action open. Then u take duel wielder at level 4 and boom 3 attacks at level 5 and then 4 and level 7. If u use shadow blade this gives u 3 shadow blade attacks once u get extra attack and that’s too much to give up. For race id highly recommend doing a flying race of the dm allows it. If not either drgaonbourne or assimar will be good. U don’t wanna waste concentration flying for whenever you fight flying enemies. If u don’t do the flying then u gotta do an elf for Elvin arc bc u will get so much adv with shadow blade at night/dim light and with your familiar granting u adv and one of your weapon master giving u adv on a hit too, u have so much adv to not use an elf. I see why u picked tortoe bc of that 17 AC plus blade song but it’s not worth it when those other races are an option.
I think the whole point here was to build a very different Bladesinger who does not need to rely on Dex at all. Two weapon fighting and the new Nick property will not work with Shillelagh and a quarterstaff or club. I think this is a different take, and may not be as powerful for straight damage, but gives some nice other benefits.
@@Brandonrod that sounds like a fun build, full on martial with light armor and weapons. At that point you don’t even need Shillelagh. What would you do for you origin feat?
@ alert bc u would have a 17 dex and 18 dex when u take duel wilder. Then I would stop at dex and do the next two ASI to get int to 20 assuming you want a good dc for spells since in the end of the day you’re a wizard.
@@elhombredequeso That was the goal! Thanks for the comment!
as soon as you try to make a bonus action attack with a staff as a polearm, it should end bladesong. It is silly to think that you're striking with a staff in one hand then somehow striking with the opposite end (as is described in the feat) with the same hand. Whenever you make an attack with using 2 hands, bladesong ends.
Instead you could use a club and another light weapon. cast shillelagh on your club and use it for your bonus attack and a main action attack. The other main action attack can be made with true strike to keep it intelligence based. This doesn't conflict with bladesong and saves you a feat while giving you the same number of attacks.
that extra feat could be weapon mastery for a light weapon with nick. that gives you back your bonus action and you still make 3 attacks.
@@ericrbacher9371 I see where you are coming from! I had the same hang up when I was theory crafting a hoplite character that used a spear and shield plus polearm master. If the visual doesn’t look right, it’s hard to get invested in a character.
But with quarterstaffs there is a wealth of one handed technique videos out there to give examples of how it might look. I personally like the visualize it as an attack action diagonal swing downward, from shoulder to hip. Then rotate the wrist and jab with the opposite end. And that position also sets you up for the extra attack being an upward and diagonal swing along the same path as the first attack.
Also it pays to remember these weapon types in the PHB are extreme generalizations. What the rules call a quarterstaff can be anything from a 6 foot long Bo staff, to a 3 foot long Tanbo.
At the end of the day, flavor is free. So as long as the rules allow it, we can visualize and flavor the characters actions in whatever way makes sense to us.
@@ericrbacher9371 That would be a good direction to go, dual wielding almost like a TMNT Rafael aesthetic. Unfortunately with that Nick attack, there’s no way to attack with Intelligence. So we’d need some Dexterity or Strength investment.
as a 1st level spell I would take "false life" to have more temporary hit points, since unfortunately "shield" is no longer possible because it necessarily requires a spell that uses a single action (no bonus action, no reaction)
as 2lv I would take either "mirror image" because it doesn't require to upcast, or "warding wind" could be fun to give disadvantage to ranged attacks and deafen spellcasters (essentially the silence spell)
@@Bardaffo77 Good choices! I totally missed the new requirement that the spells must be an action, I guess my head is still a little stuck in 2014.
Thanks for the comment!
My first 5e character was a Tortle Light Cleric 1/ Celestial Warlock for the rest of the build, so I could stack Shield of Faith with a shield, granting a 21 AC at lvl 1. Was such a fun character! He worshipped the sun until he needed more power, so made a deal with his god (hence Warlock), and I had a blast casting fire spells while tanking and healing for the party. If I were to rebuild him for 2024, would probably go Bladesinger with a 4 level Fighter dip, although the Circle of the Dragon Druid from the Griffin’s Saddlebag may be a better fit as a straight class build to capture the same feel as the origin character.
@@jeffersonian000 That’s an awesome character! I really want to try a light cleric/ Sun Soul monk multiclass sometime for the aesthetic.
@@RulesAsWrittenCharacterBuilds
I do have a small Aasimar Sun Soul 18/ Bladesinger 2 build that I built for a “Littles” one-shot (a “Littles” game is where everyone plays a small character). Being able to stack Wis, Int, and Dex on a character that shoots lasers with their hands is a great concept, but we do points buy, and it’s difficult to cap three stats with a non-Fighter build. If I were to rebuild her in 2024, I would go Monk 12/Wizard 4 to net two epic boons, or just go straight Monk to net a 24 Dex and Wis.
@@jeffersonian000 Wow, a Bladesinger/Monk must be impossible to hit. Getting mage armor probably helps keep that wisdom low too.
Yeah that Monk capstone is hard to pass up on, same as the Barbarian one.
Add Armor of Agathys and you get even more damage whenever enemies hit you.
@@The482075 That would fit perfectly here! Sea turtles are cold blooded after all.
I love gish builds.
@@The482075 Same! I always end up making mostly gish builds for the channel haha.
Don't think you can select Shield for the level 18 feature since it is a reaction not an action? Same with bonus action spells like Misty Step?
Oh shoot you're right! Can't believe I missed that. Thank you for the correction!
I always wanted to play a Bladesinger.
And I also wanted to play a Tortle.
Now I have the perfect Build, thank you!
While I think that Conjure Minor Elementals willl be nerfed, at least at our table (which I would understand a 100%), the build still looks like a lot of fun! 😊
@@ovoss89 Thank you for the comment! Let me know if you get the chance to play it!
I would take misty step as my 2nd level spell.
@@jeffhovinga1758 @TegwenYT and @Bardaffo77 clarified in the comments here that Spell Mastery only works for spells with a casting time of 1 action. So turns out Shield and Misty Step don’t work. Bummer huh?
an other blade singer build that fail to understand the strength of bladesinger... cute...
Bladesinger is still a FULL FLEDGE WIZARD. You still have only a d6 HP. you are not a fighter.
Sure turtle give you 17 AC... great at low level, useless at high level where monster have +16 to hit. trusth me, once monster start having +16 to hit, you really want a free teleport to get out of combat and still cast your spell.
No your wizard do NOT have good defense sorry, 17+5 from shield + 5 from bladesong might be 27, but it's still a 45% chance to hit at higher level when monster have +16 to hit) and 45% to loose half your HP, HURTS A LOT
Now damage wise, sure you are abusing the typo from CME... cute... no one else ever did that build, so original...
Without that typo you would deal low damage.
Even as a blade singer you are still MUCH better casting a control spell (like hold monster) and stay far from combat to not lose concentration. activate your bladesong on easy fight you don't want to waste your high spell slot...
@@sohkaswifteagle2604 Thank you for the feedback!
I did mention during my ending summary that a Bladesinger’s greatest strength is still the wizard spell list, as well as the drawbacks of the small hit point pool.
I’m not sure I would call a 27 AC useless at high levels. Reducing a boss monster’s hit chance to 45% is pretty respectable. Not to mention magic items like Rings or Cloaks of Protectin, Bracers of Defense, Staffs of Power, etc; possibly bringing it above 30. Even without CME, three attacks with an upcast Spirit Shroud and +10 damage is competitive with most melee damage builds
At the end of the day, a character is what you make it. If you want to play a blade singer who mainly casts spells do it. I like playing melee builds, so my blade singer will be buffing themself and swinging.
Thanks for the comment!
If you are using Tortle (2014 5E material) and optimizing …why not go the next step and do a multi-species Half-elf Tortle, You keep in theme with Bladesinging and now have access to elvish accuracy
@@jasonlarsen5380 I’ve never heard of that before, which racial features do you get? Do you pick and choose from each species, or is it its own species option?
Or just remove the Elven lineage requirement altogether and call it Accuracy. "Half-Elf Tortle" is nonsense cringe
No offense, but I'm tired of bladesingers. It was one thing when it was limited to elves, and it had a cultural significance. Ever since they opened it up to anybody, it's the default gish build. Even the novelty of being a tortle doesn't make this interesting to me. With all the cool builds you could have made with the 2024 wizard subclasses, you went with bladesinger. Oh, well, it looks pretty good. Boring, but good. See ya on the next one.
@@ericpeterson8732 thanks for the feedback! I thought the possibility of dumping Dex made it worth a revisit. But it’s definitely a subclass that’s been done a lot!
Do you mean the same 2024 wizard that has no new subclasses? The 2024 PHB invalidates everything that came before, causing buying the previous books to retroactively be wastes. Not to mention, the gap widened significantly, J Craw is anti-race mixing, and Ranger got nerfed into the ground.
I hear you. Getting rid of half-elves and half-orcs in favor of orcs and goliaths was a terrible decision. And I get that you don't like the 2024 revisions. But the four wizard subclasses are good and not a hybrid subclass like bladesinger. He could have done a conjuration wizard or even a transmutation wizard and I would be more interested. Like PAM, XBE, hexblades, bladesingers are the optimizers' default picks, and I'm tired of them.
you had me interested in both watching and potentially subscribing till you mentioned the "2024 edition" ... nah man miss me with that AI slop.
@@soubigo No worries, the 2014 rules were good fun, I don’t blame you at all. Good luck out there!