I was thinking something that takes every class. Everyone knows builds that take every class are bad, but I'd like to see what Colby, the master multi-classer, could do with it
@@40Found there's not enough room to actually turn that into a build i think, if the game had 4 or 5 classes you could do something in 20 levels, but with the amount we have, it's just 1 or 2 levels each, and maybe one main class with a couple more levels.
Been looking forward to this! (Edit: You can get longsword proficiency with half-elf! Though it's probably not worth it since you get it anyways eventually)
I think you should have mentioned that the half-elf does allow you half elf weapon training which does allow you to get along sword without moving away from half elf
@@GunnarWahl I checked a bit and think I was the first. But about 4 others said it after me. So there's a few of us that caught that possibility. At low levels a 7.0 to 13% bump in dpr is nothing to scoff at. Assuming best case scenario and burning all resources really hides that fact.
Shadar-Kai feels like a much stronger Choice... They're still Elves so Elven Accuracy should apply, they gain any two proficiencies (picked each rest), the Teleport (and Resist all) is amazing, and Resistance Necrotic... All of this feels like a Bargain for 1 Ability Point.
You're now getting double view hours from me: once to ASMR me to sleep, and a second for when I'm awake enough to hear your ideas. Thanks for both, mate.
thank god you exist. I cant stand intentively listening to a lectures worth (a real long one at that) on dnd optimization where I have to take my own notes.
I really like this build, not a combination I would've thought to do given how MAD it is. I think instead of an Open Hand monk I would personally go with a Kensei Monk though, making the Longsword a Kensei weapon. You can still use the Bladesinger's extra attack cantrip to use Booming Blade (or Green Flame Blade) and make your other attack an unarmed strike to use your Agile Parry to gain +2 to your AC to make you even harder to hit, as all it requires is you make an unarmed attack while holding a kensei weapon (with the build in this video the max AC would be 33). Probably wouldn't use their Deft Strike feature much unless I crit and had ki points to spare, but spending 3 Ki Points at level 11 to use Sharpen the Blade and make my Kensei weapon a +3 weapon if I don't already have a magic weapon with a numbers bonus sounds like a nice bonus to hit and damage. Thoughts?
This is one of the first concepts I ever made before I understood how important con was. It's the reason I started to appreciate wizard because it showed me the value of versatility (even if almost all their subclasses are practically identical)
39:40 the speed debuff is especially handy if you combined it with the open hand push. If the enemy has a base 30 ft move speed you can attack, flurry of blows, move them 15 ft away and they lose 10 ft of movement so they only have 5 ft after getting back to you which you can move a cool 10 ft away after you knock them back
It has begun - I'm now at the point where I've started experimenting with the same kind of character, before the next video is even announced, as if by prophecy. Looking forward to this, for a professional opinion!
My favorite way to use shadow blade, and my favorite use of the bladesinger's extra attack, is two weapon fighting. You cast Shadow blade, hold it in one hand, while holding a short sword, in the other hand. You attack once with the shadow blade, you cast booming blade with a short sword, and you can attack again with the shadow blade. Because 5E doesn't use main hand and off hand, any attack you make with either of the weapons you hold can be however you want.
I knew it was only a matter of time before the Bladesinger returned. The return of the king! So happy to see another build and great job as always Colby!
I had a friend in my campaign who was playing their wizard as more of a martial class, and we'd joked that "her character really just wanted to be a monk". Good to know she *technically can.*
You did it!!! For my take on monk/bladesinger, the Way of Shadow might be my favorite (which is also a fun flavor win with the Shadar-Kai). You can get some minor-to-good utility/control options before you actually get wizard spells, with Darkness and Silence being great tools in certain situations, Darkvision.. is an option, and Pass without trace being a very solid exploration spell. Of course, they require ki-points to use, but when you're still in those early levels, I think the extra utility might outweigh pure damage from a flurry of blows [at my table]. I also swapped the Elven Accuracy for Devil's Sight as a feat, which is honestly just leaning very hard into the Shadow Dancer theme. And, it would come after the bladesinging, but the 11th level Cloak of Shadows is just so cool. Free, nearly permanent, out of combat invisibility is not nothing, and wizard spells can help facilitate that feature even more, if you want to sacrifice a few of the damage or control spell slots to make it a little less free.
How convenient, I'm sitting here with a blank character sheet, a twinkle in my eye and spacing out on what to design when suddenly a wild Colby appears! Let's get cracking! Thinking about a straight up human for the MAD issue, because we all know that Michelle Yeoh is, in fact a bladesinger monk. You all saw Crouching Tiger, tell me I'm wrong! Now having watched the whole video, I think I'm partial to BS 14/Kensei 6
Finally catching up on the videos. Glad you were able to play a concept you've been wanting to play around with, in a one-shot, and it be fun for you. Hopefully you'll be able to some day replicate this build in PF2e and it be just as much fun.
Monk/Bladesinger is exactly how I built a Jedi for a Star Wars campaign using Mage Hand Press's "Dark Matter" expansion for 5E (the build uses literally no options from "Dark Matter"). Variant Human with the Telekinetic feat, four levels of Kensei, then switch to Bladesinger the rest of the way. Between my Monk abilities and Wizard spells I had the second-highest combat AC in the party: at level 9 I have a casual walking-around AC of 18, then Agile Parry, Blade Song, and Haste (or Fizban's Platinum Shield) boosts it to 25, and Shield bumps it up to 30 for the round. This isn't counting magic items. On top of that, I have Deflect Missiles, Patient Defense, Song of Defense, Blade Ward, and Mirror Image for additional defensive options. I'm almost more of a tank than the Artificer/Paladin, and I'm an extremely mobile melee monster. At this point, I _could_ switch back to Monk to improve my mobility and combat abilities, but I think I'll stay Wizard to strengthen my "Force Powers" (and combat spells like Steel Wind Strike and Tasha's Otherworldly Guise).
Been listening to these videos for the past few weeks. Colby has the most soothing voice I’ve ever heard, very calming to listen to. Oh and I love the unique builds also. Great work!!!
Fantastic as usual. Suggestion for a new build: Echo Knight Rogue. I can't shake the idea that there has to be a way to combine these to get good sustained damage, excellent mobility and lots of out of combat utility.
I humbly present the Hollow Knight. Echo Knight and Phantom Rogue. The fact that your echo can move on its own lets you take advantage of Steady Aim, which normally requires all your movement and a bonus action, while still allowing you to attack targets you can't reach. Consider taking a little Shadow Sorcerer or a feat to get Green Flameblade and/or Booming Blade (and a spell or two while we're at it). You'll obviously get some great theme synergy from these subclasses, and you'll do fantastic damage, especially with 2 targets, as well as having a huge amount of utility for in-and-out-of combat.
I also humbly present the Soul Warrior. Echo Knight + Soul Knife. Sneak into fortified strongholds, a Nobleman's High Party or even a King's Castle with no weapons. Because you are the weapon. Echo is a perfect way of giving you Sneak Attack Opportunities, while having the Double ways of teleportation. Your Echo scouts for you, can take hits for you, while you offer the utility of your Psychic talents. Be the Frontline AND the Backline. Soul knife Rogue (12) Echo Knight Fighter (8) is the best balance I found.
Hey Colby, I wanted to thank you for the idea outline inspiration and wanted to offer you what I came up with. I too really like Bladesinger but as much as I love monk (I am actually a Shaolin Kung fu teacher irl) I personally love the bloodhunter class. I know you've only done the one video on bloodhunter, but Mutant really does pair fantastically with bladesinger. You're a bit less MAD than with monk and the mutagens to bump Int & Dex are fantastic. Check it out sometime when you're able. Also thought you'd like this... I dm and am both a little homebrew happy and super anti-feels bad when it come to abilities that don't stack... so I've got an Aarakocra Monk/Bloodhunter Lycan with some pretty sweet unarmed strike abilities since I allow the damage die bumps to stack, and it's not broken, even a little, he actually goes down the most in combat
The thing I love about this build (and Monk in general) is how self-sufficient you are. You don't need any armor, you have built in gap-closing (even without spells like Misty Step), and between proficiency in all saves and the ability to just straight up end effects on yourself you're very hard to shut down. Yes, you'll never do the damage of a combat optimized Fighter/Barbarian, but there's more to it. And with less overhead in equipment, you can pick up small-but-fun magic items like Boots of Spider Climb, Luck Stones, and Cloak of Displacement, etc. Buddy up to a good Artificer as well and you're freaking Batman. Other classes can synergize fairly well, too. I played a Wood Elf that went Vengeance Pally / Kensai Monk, who I played as part of an order collecting cursed artifacts to destroy or hide. On demand advantage, buffs to your ranged damage and/or defense, and the glory that is Smite. It's a great feeling when you run along a wall over a hoard of zombies, Step-of-the-Wind Leap into the back ranks, and Crit-Smite the necromancer holding their magical leash.
This is funny timing - I was looking into building a Taoist Bladesinger. Probably straight classed and definitely not a bladesinger/monk in terms of mechanics, but sort of backstory and personality
Sanctuary is really good on your support characters. As a paladin, I cast it on our wizard/cleric, who then cast shield of faith on the conjunction wizard and kept healing us thereafter.
Found one of your shorts the other day and totally fell in love with the content. Once I get through all your other videos, I'll start offering some ideas of my own. Tulok has some serious competition now. Keep it up
My second long lasting character in 5th edition was a Bladesinger/Drunken Master, and playing her was an absolute blast. Few things are better than moving 75 feet up walls while ignoring opportunity attacks, tanking with dodge and forcing enemies to attack each other, or if you are finally hit firing off shield. Was the only member of the party to walk out of the tomb of horrors unscathed.
Two songs by The Beatles and a fantastic character build, this couldn't be any better. I'm So Tired is on my insomnia playlist I understand that struggle
I've always wanted to create a bladesinger monk. In my opinion they seem to be conceptually compatible. Same goes for monk paladins, and in both cases they're just too MAD to make it work without using rolled stats. I've also been binging your channel recently, as I've just discovered it a few weeks ago. I've loved D&D:O since the day I found it. It perfectly scratches my itch. While I have some friends into dnd with me, none of them are as interested in building characters as I am. Thank you so much for filling that hole for me. As for this episode, I can't thank you more for finding your way to build a bladesinger monk. I'm very excited to see what you may build in the future.
For a Shadow Blade character…what about a Bladesinger with a two level dip into Twilight Cleric? With a Half elf and Elven Accuracy. That would put you into dim light every combat
Also a warlock or the Eldritch feat for the Devils sight for the awesome Dark vision that works in magical darkness. Tho admittedly not as needed with the Twilight Cleric dip
Haven't gotten to watch the video yet, but I just wanted to say I've been super excited about this since the lvl20 one-shot. I saw the char sheet in the description of that video and my mind exploded leaving me with but a single thought: genius!
Enjoyed seeing the fun you had with a version of this character in the one shot. Appreciate your philosophy of building the character to do what you want it to do (even if different wizard approaches might be considered more optimal).
I’m so happy for lfg, I don’t know if you remember me and my struggle but I truly appreciate you marketing this app, I truly hope to find a group that isn’t full of judgemental jerks. I super appreciate you and everything you do for us Colby
I think the blade ward cantrip deserves an honorable mention for this character. It situationally shores up the low health pool weakness of the build once you get the bladesinger's extra attack w/ cantrip. Combine that with spirit shroud's 10ft slow and this build's propensity to knock enemies prone and you get some respectable tanking capability in addition to all the utility, control, and damage you mention. It's an extremely versatile build!
There is a cool thing you can do based on the rules that they added in Tashas for creatures falling on each other: any time you land on a creature from 10ft or higher they need to make a DC 15 dex sav or the fall damage is halved between you and thy are knocked prone. A monk with 15 strength can use step of the wind to jump 10 ft vertically, meaning that you can Mario your way around the battlefield knocking people prone. A level 4 monk can use the Slow Fall ability to negate all the damage that they themselves would take; the best part is, the creature landed on still takes the other half of the damage. A level 9 monk can run up vertical surfaces and then fall on enemies, potentially doing lots of damage and then using Slow fall to negate it all. This uses your reaction, but it should be a good idea to look out for enemies near vertical surfaces that you can run up and land on. The damage is middling, but being able to use your movement to inflict the prone condition is fantastic. As a non-monk related thing, the Jump spell is now good, for the simple reason that you only need 12 strength to jump over 10 feet in the air (jump is tripled), so pretty much any frontliner that you cast it on can now mario stomp (particularly good for Barbarians that can negate half the fall damage to themselves). (Note that you need a running start of at least 10 feet to jump the heights calculated above, though a Jump spell+18 strength can to a 10ft standing highjump).
I began playing a blade singer monk in my game too. Gonna watch this video to see if you've managed to fix the problems I was having with this multiclass. Currently only made it to level 5 so just barely got monk 3/wizard 2 for both subclasses
Also, at high levels, the bladesinger cantrips that you can do as part of the attack action now with Bladesinger 6, are gonna be so useful once they get into the higher tiers of campaign.
Hyped! I've been making my way through how to optimize the Monk subclasses on my channel and I'm excited to see how you handle this. Thoughts to follow soon!
Great build! If you've got the time/inclination I think my sun soul monk build video might be worth a view. But I'll give you the short version: -Shadow Blade is really good if your table allows ki fuelled strike as an optional feature. Because shadow blade qualifies as a monk weapon it can be used as a bonus action. It outdoes baseline by a good margin after turn 1, especially if in dim light/darkness -Mirror image synergizes brilliantly with monk because you can Dodge on the same turn you use it. This probably puts attacks against your illusions at disadvantage also. Illusion AC is 10+Dex also which again, great for a Monk build. -Personally I'd have built this a bit differently, sacrificing Wisdom so I could focus on Dex and int, using mage armor for the AC calculation. I'd also go with a monk subclass which doesn't rely as much on Wisdom. Kensai probably the best option as they can gain a +2 AC without resource cost for a really tanky build. Might make a good build video at some point 🙂
At our table, we play [PHB+XGtE+TCoE+SCAG] rules. Faerunian Half-Elves of Sun, Moon, or Wood Elf culture, CAN take Elf Weapon Training (Proficiency with Long/Short Bow/Sword), among other options, by forgoing their PHB Hlaf-Ef Skill Versatility (two Skill Proficiencies) feature (pg. 116 -SCAG). In a Forgotten Realms, or setting-agnostic campaign, that'd solve one problem for you.
I had a marvelous chance to reach lvl 20 with my bladesinger(no subclass) in a campaign that took 4 years. I got the boon of quick casting, I don't have words to explain how fun it was. Today a 4 yrs campaign came to an end. What a great day
I had a TPk in a campaign and we created new characters, so it was a level 12 build, I went for the Bladesinger Monk, with headband of intellect and bracers of defence. It has been so fun to play and can't wait for the rest of the story arc. It is Dungeon of the Mad Mage so will be going to 20 with them!!
I really appreciate your take on the martial vs the spellcasting aspects of the bladesinger 36:37. This is because the "you have wizard spells, why do something else" never seemed right to me because it would be like telling somebody who brings a barbarian or rogue to the table: "Hey, why didn't you just make a wizard?".
Would a belt that store’s kitchen points be op? Martial artists famously advance from white to black belt in the Japanese or Korean arts. Storing a few points would be godsend for monks. Requiring attunment seems reasonable. Part of the reason that monks seem underpowered is that so many magic items don’t work for monks. The barrier tattoo comes immediately to mind.
@@shishkabobby it basically gives you a bonus to the save DC of ki point features and you can use an action to regain one roll of your martial arts dice as ki, once per long rest
Awesome build - I'd love to see more builds with a magic item or two as part of it, especially if it's easily accessible. In my experience, most players get the magic items they are looking for.
Just found your channel! I just started a campaign as a bladesinger monk and when I ran across this video I was so excited! Thanks for the great content c:
So, here's something else for Bladesingers... A hand-crossbow build. Which means that you can take Sharpshooter. It is the only way to, as a bladesinger, make attacks that have the "-5 to hit, +10 to damage", specifically because you don't need two hands to fire a hand-crossbow.
Enlightened Fist was a dope prestige class in 3.5. When 5.5 comes out I hope they revamp the Monk and make a 1/3 Caster subclass for them like an Enlightened Fist
I am playing this in a West Marches campaign, although I am starting wizard to get to the cantrip extra attack as early as possible. Still haven't decided 100% on a monk subclass, since I haven't picked up monk levels yet, but wavering between Mercy and Shadow. Mercy for the amazing healing, debuff and utility, Shadow for the thematic flavor of a secret agent and the utility of the spells you get. Furthermore, Shadow Step is a great way to get that advantage you want for Elven Accuracy. Remember that you can make the cantrip as the first attack of the Attack action if you want.
Love D&D, martial arts, magic, and fighting ghosts? Also like clubbing kids like the seals we all know they are? Here’s the build for you! 🤣🤣🤣 Just teasing, that moment was too hilarious! ❤️
Finally saw this one and finally bit the bullet to join. You make such great stuff! My first ever channel membership via TH-cam. I had a (4)Bladesinger/(2)Monk for a one shot a friend did and I love it!(Well really a two shot, we still have to finish the adventure sometime.)
Monk/Wizard is my go-to multiclass for a Jedi type character. I usually go Kensei/Bladesinger, because adding Int+Wis+Agile Parry+Shield spell to AC is nuts, especially if we throw in Mirror Image and Patient Defense for funsies
This would be pretty good at my friend's table, he gives martial characters a "default subclass" that they automatically get. The one he gives Monks is Open hand. This frees you up to also pick Mercy.
I realize it's not optimal in most combats in terms of damage but I think it's worth mentioning Ashardalon's Stride as a fun level 3 Wizard spell to pick up. It synergizes really nicely with the Monk's already bonkers move speed and extra movement options while dealing a nice bit of damage on top. Could be good for any fights with tons of minions. You don't have to hit with an attack and there's no save so with your massive move speed, you can deal 1d6 to probably every enemy in a fight every round and then also position yourself wherever you want because there are no opportunity attacks. I haven't run the numbers but I would probably cast this for any fight in which there are more enemies than I have attacks (counting potential flurry of blows).
Once again quite an amazing build. Very interested concept. I think im gonna try out something similar in a future campaign. I think its always funny to see stuff like "You get 3 uses per long rest which should get you through most if not all your encounters per day." I would like to see campaigns where that actually is the case. In all I have been we usually have 6-10 encounters per long rest.
That's to me the ultimate ninja, in that case I see blade song and the spells as the ninjutsus, I imagine you doing the hand signs and all just beautiful
YAS! I have been waiting for this since you mentioned you'd put out a build guide in your level 20 one-shot! Edit: I got goosebumps when you were talking of your monk looking to the arcane, following the steps of mythic warriors. I like this build! I've never made a bladesinger, but I love the flavor that this subclass gives, as well as the flavor monks give. I am inspired :)
It's no Bladesinger 3.0 but this will do. I have always wanted to try a build like this but I never tried since it was so MAD. The AC potential is nuts if you can manage to get the stats for it.
So hearing you talk about the bladesinger/munk character, and putting so much love into your dream character, this is mine: Some kind of drow, champion fighter/ranger/monk, with the drow magic feat of levetating and feary fire (which i think we should get for free btw) I actuall think most of the racial feats should be free, elven accuracy, dwarven something etc
Shout out to using Spirit Shroud. I had traded out some other spell for that when I went from lvl 8 to 9 with my Hexblade but hadn't actually had an opportunity to use it yet so my DM wasn't accustomed to dealing with it. We were in a boss fight where the boss Shapechanged into some sort of souped up troll monster with the intent of using the Troll's regeneration to drag the fight out into a battle of attrition. The Wizard trapped him in a Wall of Force bubble with me and I proceeded to ruin the entire encounter for the DM by preventing regeneration Every. Single. Round. until his Shapechange got dropped. I had also precast Armor of Agathys, and had popped Mirror Image on round one....and the Bard was healing me and/or put Heroism on me once Agathys was gone. I was taking a lot of hits but was really making the boss pay the price for it. It was a great fight for us, not so much for the boss. Teamwork +1. I'm also pretty sure my DM is not going to forget about Spirit Shroud from now on. Edit: Wall of Force bubble not Forcecage
I love your monk builds! So much fun to follow a build like the one you played at 20th level. Maybe next time you could make your character first and then we can see your build in action. So much fun!
also keep in mind that in fizban's treasury of dragons there is the dragonhide belt for monks that increases the DC of your ki features +1,+2 or +3 and give you back Ki as action equal to your martial die once pr dawn, so with a maxed out wisdom at lvl 20 your DC will be at 22.
I know you did a grappler monk a while back, but I would love to see your thoughts on a grappling character who can also put down an AOE concentration spell that they can hold their enemy in.
It was recently sage'd that as long as you do the requirement during your turn, you can do the bonus action any time, even before, say, the attack action. Edit: Apparently I remembered incorrectly, and I have no clue where I got that from.
I played a Kensei Bladesimger two years ago. At first my goal was making a bunch of attacks have a couple of spells and some great mobility, but I reached 27 AC without the shield spell. I had been playing dnd and rol playing games In general for about 5 months only, and whenever I talked about me being inexperienced my DM said "eat a d... your character has 27 AC" I had so much fun with that character.
I love the idea of playing the character you love rather than the character who just has the highest dpr. I would have a hard time putting off blade singer so long. I think I would have to grab a level of wizard at level two for cantrips and shield.
Usually I'm not a huge fan of bladesingers, but the idea of combining it with a monk was too good to pass up. Plus, after seeing yours in action I am definitely coming around to it!
I played a Living Weapon Monk 6/ Bladesinger 14 build in a campaign and he was easily my favorite and most powerful character I’ve ever made. It combined my favorite classes and was so much fun.
I invite you to contemplate the majesty that is the Horizion Walker Ranger & Bladesinger multiclass. I just finished running this build from 1-20 and it is a blast. Being able to attack 4 times a turn and swapping an attack for an appropriately placed GFB or BB is (Chef's Kiss). This build was beyond fun and would be well worth covering on the channel.
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I know it's not the best, but for the 100th episode it would be cool to have a build for the wild sorcerer or something else that uses the d100.
I was thinking something that takes every class. Everyone knows builds that take every class are bad, but I'd like to see what Colby, the master multi-classer, could do with it
@@40Found there's not enough room to actually turn that into a build i think, if the game had 4 or 5 classes you could do something in 20 levels, but with the amount we have, it's just 1 or 2 levels each, and maybe one main class with a couple more levels.
@@caster- like I said, notoriously bad, I'm just curious what the best version of it looks like.
That's simply the ABSOLUTE best! It's not about the power, it's about coming home.
Wild Magic and a little Cleric for Divine Intervention?
Been looking forward to this! (Edit: You can get longsword proficiency with half-elf! Though it's probably not worth it since you get it anyways eventually)
I think you should have mentioned that the half-elf does allow you half elf weapon training which does allow you to get along sword without moving away from half elf
I was thinking the same thing, and checked to make sure someone said this, lol
@@GunnarWahl I checked a bit and think I was the first. But about 4 others said it after me. So there's a few of us that caught that possibility. At low levels a 7.0 to 13% bump in dpr is nothing to scoff at. Assuming best case scenario and burning all resources really hides that fact.
@@lancejensen1063 true, and if you do go for that stunning strike at 5 and on, a d10 bonus action isn’t bad either
Shadar-Kai feels like a much stronger Choice...
They're still Elves so Elven Accuracy should apply, they gain any two proficiencies (picked each rest), the Teleport (and Resist all) is amazing, and Resistance Necrotic...
All of this feels like a Bargain for 1 Ability Point.
You're now getting double view hours from me: once to ASMR me to sleep, and a second for when I'm awake enough to hear your ideas. Thanks for both, mate.
Ha ha, cheers!
Level 1:(see above) [monk 1 & race]
Level 2:(see above) [monk 2]
Level 3:(@17:19) [monk 3 & sub-class]
Level 4:(@21:04) [monk 4 & ASI]
Level 5:(@22:02) [monk 5]
Level 6:(@23:36) [wizard 1]
Level 7:(see above) [wizard 2 & sub-class]
Level 8:(@32:08) [wizard 3]
Level 9:(@34:23) [wizard 4 & ASI]
Level 10:(see above) [wizard 5]
Level 11:(@40:42) [wizard 6]
Level 12:(@41:39) [monk 6]
Level 13:(@43:39) [monk 7]
Level 14:(see above) [monk 8 & ASI]
Level 15:(@46:15) [monk 9]
Level 16:(@46:41) [monk 10]
Level 17:(@46:56) [monk 11]
Level 18:(@48:58) [monk 12 & ASI]
Level 19:(@49:09) [monk 13]
Level 20:(@49:31) [monk 14]
thank god you exist. I cant stand intentively listening to a lectures worth (a real long one at that) on dnd optimization where I have to take my own notes.
@@subaruforester910pengisTRUE
6 builds in a row that don’t use Custom Lineage? This is a streak, and frankly I love it
I had never explicitly realized that this theoretixal concept is exactly what I've always wanted to play. Im excited to see how you make it work!!
I really like this build, not a combination I would've thought to do given how MAD it is. I think instead of an Open Hand monk I would personally go with a Kensei Monk though, making the Longsword a Kensei weapon. You can still use the Bladesinger's extra attack cantrip to use Booming Blade (or Green Flame Blade) and make your other attack an unarmed strike to use your Agile Parry to gain +2 to your AC to make you even harder to hit, as all it requires is you make an unarmed attack while holding a kensei weapon (with the build in this video the max AC would be 33). Probably wouldn't use their Deft Strike feature much unless I crit and had ki points to spare, but spending 3 Ki Points at level 11 to use Sharpen the Blade and make my Kensei weapon a +3 weapon if I don't already have a magic weapon with a numbers bonus sounds like a nice bonus to hit and damage. Thoughts?
ok but what if you make shadowblade your kensei weapon
@@szeto400 can you do that?
This is one of the first concepts I ever made before I understood how important con was.
It's the reason I started to appreciate wizard because it showed me the value of versatility (even if almost all their subclasses are practically identical)
39:40 the speed debuff is especially handy if you combined it with the open hand push. If the enemy has a base 30 ft move speed you can attack, flurry of blows, move them 15 ft away and they lose 10 ft of movement so they only have 5 ft after getting back to you which you can move a cool 10 ft away after you knock them back
It has begun - I'm now at the point where I've started experimenting with the same kind of character, before the next video is even announced, as if by prophecy. Looking forward to this, for a professional opinion!
Same 😭
Welcome to my conundrum. I literally wrote up a character like this for my friend to use last night lol.
I get the same, this is the weirdest coincidence
I was thinking for a similar build for 3-4 days now. It's such a surprise!
My favorite way to use shadow blade, and my favorite use of the bladesinger's extra attack, is two weapon fighting. You cast Shadow blade, hold it in one hand, while holding a short sword, in the other hand. You attack once with the shadow blade, you cast booming blade with a short sword, and you can attack again with the shadow blade. Because 5E doesn't use main hand and off hand, any attack you make with either of the weapons you hold can be however you want.
I knew it was only a matter of time before the Bladesinger returned. The return of the king! So happy to see another build and great job as always Colby!
As the D4 channel I would love to see a celebratory build using as many d4 mechanics as possible
I had a friend in my campaign who was playing their wizard as more of a martial class, and we'd joked that "her character really just wanted to be a monk". Good to know she *technically can.*
I have been trying to make a bladesinger monk for weeks! Thank you, dude!!
To be honest I thought you’re gonna go kensei because you can use the whatever weapon you pick as a wizard as your Kensei weapon as well
I'm loving how you're doing MAD builds! A lot of the characters I've wanted to build were terribly MAD. Nice to see an optimizer just rocking it!
Mixing these two classes always makes me want to lean in to a Jedi style character.
It is very Jedi
Pick Goblin as a race and you can be Yoda!
Psi warrior is very jedi
Excited for this one! Colby's playing with his favourite toys.
You did it!!!
For my take on monk/bladesinger, the Way of Shadow might be my favorite (which is also a fun flavor win with the Shadar-Kai). You can get some minor-to-good utility/control options before you actually get wizard spells, with Darkness and Silence being great tools in certain situations, Darkvision.. is an option, and Pass without trace being a very solid exploration spell. Of course, they require ki-points to use, but when you're still in those early levels, I think the extra utility might outweigh pure damage from a flurry of blows [at my table]. I also swapped the Elven Accuracy for Devil's Sight as a feat, which is honestly just leaning very hard into the Shadow Dancer theme. And, it would come after the bladesinging, but the 11th level Cloak of Shadows is just so cool. Free, nearly permanent, out of combat invisibility is not nothing, and wizard spells can help facilitate that feature even more, if you want to sacrifice a few of the damage or control spell slots to make it a little less free.
How convenient, I'm sitting here with a blank character sheet, a twinkle in my eye and spacing out on what to design when suddenly a wild Colby appears! Let's get cracking! Thinking about a straight up human for the MAD issue, because we all know that Michelle Yeoh is, in fact a bladesinger monk. You all saw Crouching Tiger, tell me I'm wrong!
Now having watched the whole video, I think I'm partial to BS 14/Kensei 6
That duel is probably one of the best sword fighting scenes in cinema.
@@PiiskaJesusFreak and Ms. Yeoh is a trained dancer...and she is a certified MILF (Malaysian Indomitable Lady Fighter)
Finally catching up on the videos. Glad you were able to play a concept you've been wanting to play around with, in a one-shot, and it be fun for you.
Hopefully you'll be able to some day replicate this build in PF2e and it be just as much fun.
Monk/Bladesinger is exactly how I built a Jedi for a Star Wars campaign using Mage Hand Press's "Dark Matter" expansion for 5E (the build uses literally no options from "Dark Matter"). Variant Human with the Telekinetic feat, four levels of Kensei, then switch to Bladesinger the rest of the way. Between my Monk abilities and Wizard spells I had the second-highest combat AC in the party: at level 9 I have a casual walking-around AC of 18, then Agile Parry, Blade Song, and Haste (or Fizban's Platinum Shield) boosts it to 25, and Shield bumps it up to 30 for the round. This isn't counting magic items. On top of that, I have Deflect Missiles, Patient Defense, Song of Defense, Blade Ward, and Mirror Image for additional defensive options. I'm almost more of a tank than the Artificer/Paladin, and I'm an extremely mobile melee monster. At this point, I _could_ switch back to Monk to improve my mobility and combat abilities, but I think I'll stay Wizard to strengthen my "Force Powers" (and combat spells like Steel Wind Strike and Tasha's Otherworldly Guise).
I'm grateful for any monk build as I have also gone down your path of loving them and realizing their power struggles. Great stuff as always :)
Also stick with the raspberry for pbtpd I think its hilarious
Been listening to these videos for the past few weeks. Colby has the most soothing voice I’ve ever heard, very calming to listen to. Oh and I love the unique builds also. Great work!!!
Cheers!
Fantastic as usual. Suggestion for a new build: Echo Knight Rogue. I can't shake the idea that there has to be a way to combine these to get good sustained damage, excellent mobility and lots of out of combat utility.
I humbly present the Hollow Knight.
Echo Knight and Phantom Rogue. The fact that your echo can move on its own lets you take advantage of Steady Aim, which normally requires all your movement and a bonus action, while still allowing you to attack targets you can't reach. Consider taking a little Shadow Sorcerer or a feat to get Green Flameblade and/or Booming Blade (and a spell or two while we're at it). You'll obviously get some great theme synergy from these subclasses, and you'll do fantastic damage, especially with 2 targets, as well as having a huge amount of utility for in-and-out-of combat.
I also humbly present the Soul Warrior.
Echo Knight + Soul Knife.
Sneak into fortified strongholds, a Nobleman's High Party or even a King's Castle with no weapons. Because you are the weapon.
Echo is a perfect way of giving you Sneak Attack Opportunities, while having the Double ways of teleportation. Your Echo scouts for you, can take hits for you, while you offer the utility of your Psychic talents. Be the Frontline AND the Backline.
Soul knife Rogue (12) Echo Knight Fighter (8) is the best balance I found.
Hey Colby, I wanted to thank you for the idea outline inspiration and wanted to offer you what I came up with. I too really like Bladesinger but as much as I love monk (I am actually a Shaolin Kung fu teacher irl) I personally love the bloodhunter class. I know you've only done the one video on bloodhunter, but Mutant really does pair fantastically with bladesinger. You're a bit less MAD than with monk and the mutagens to bump Int & Dex are fantastic. Check it out sometime when you're able. Also thought you'd like this... I dm and am both a little homebrew happy and super anti-feels bad when it come to abilities that don't stack... so I've got an Aarakocra Monk/Bloodhunter Lycan with some pretty sweet unarmed strike abilities since I allow the damage die bumps to stack, and it's not broken, even a little, he actually goes down the most in combat
The thing I love about this build (and Monk in general) is how self-sufficient you are. You don't need any armor, you have built in gap-closing (even without spells like Misty Step), and between proficiency in all saves and the ability to just straight up end effects on yourself you're very hard to shut down. Yes, you'll never do the damage of a combat optimized Fighter/Barbarian, but there's more to it. And with less overhead in equipment, you can pick up small-but-fun magic items like Boots of Spider Climb, Luck Stones, and Cloak of Displacement, etc. Buddy up to a good Artificer as well and you're freaking Batman.
Other classes can synergize fairly well, too. I played a Wood Elf that went Vengeance Pally / Kensai Monk, who I played as part of an order collecting cursed artifacts to destroy or hide. On demand advantage, buffs to your ranged damage and/or defense, and the glory that is Smite. It's a great feeling when you run along a wall over a hoard of zombies, Step-of-the-Wind Leap into the back ranks, and Crit-Smite the necromancer holding their magical leash.
This is funny timing - I was looking into building a Taoist Bladesinger. Probably straight classed and definitely not a bladesinger/monk in terms of mechanics, but sort of backstory and personality
Sanctuary is really good on your support characters. As a paladin, I cast it on our wizard/cleric, who then cast shield of faith on the conjunction wizard and kept healing us thereafter.
Found one of your shorts the other day and totally fell in love with the content. Once I get through all your other videos, I'll start offering some ideas of my own. Tulok has some serious competition now. Keep it up
My second long lasting character in 5th edition was a Bladesinger/Drunken Master, and playing her was an absolute blast. Few things are better than moving 75 feet up walls while ignoring opportunity attacks, tanking with dodge and forcing enemies to attack each other, or if you are finally hit firing off shield. Was the only member of the party to walk out of the tomb of horrors unscathed.
Two songs by The Beatles and a fantastic character build, this couldn't be any better. I'm So Tired is on my insomnia playlist I understand that struggle
I've always wanted to create a bladesinger monk. In my opinion they seem to be conceptually compatible. Same goes for monk paladins, and in both cases they're just too MAD to make it work without using rolled stats.
I've also been binging your channel recently, as I've just discovered it a few weeks ago. I've loved D&D:O since the day I found it. It perfectly scratches my itch. While I have some friends into dnd with me, none of them are as interested in building characters as I am. Thank you so much for filling that hole for me.
As for this episode, I can't thank you more for finding your way to build a bladesinger monk. I'm very excited to see what you may build in the future.
Super stoked for the LFG app! Been struggling with this for two years!
With that beautifully deep speaking voice, who would’ve thought Colby had such a lovely upper register?!
For a Shadow Blade character…what about a Bladesinger with a two level dip into Twilight Cleric? With a Half elf and Elven Accuracy. That would put you into dim light every combat
I was thinking about gloomstalker with a cleric dip...
Also a warlock or the Eldritch feat for the Devils sight for the awesome Dark vision that works in magical darkness. Tho admittedly not as needed with the Twilight Cleric dip
Haven't gotten to watch the video yet, but I just wanted to say I've been super excited about this since the lvl20 one-shot. I saw the char sheet in the description of that video and my mind exploded leaving me with but a single thought: genius!
Enjoyed seeing the fun you had with a version of this character in the one shot. Appreciate your philosophy of building the character to do what you want it to do (even if different wizard approaches might be considered more optimal).
As soon as I heard you say this the other day I NEEDED it!
How'd he know I was thinking about this multiclass? See this is the clairvoyance that makes me glad im a member
I love this idea. Treating combat as an art form, each step practiced and honed, every step a stroke in a grand design.
Hi Colby! I've watched you for a few months. Thank you so much for being so kind and silly. Thanks for the introduction!
I’m so happy for lfg, I don’t know if you remember me and my struggle but I truly appreciate you marketing this app, I truly hope to find a group that isn’t full of judgemental jerks. I super appreciate you and everything you do for us Colby
To think.. if I’d never started playing monks I’d never have heard of LFG. Thank you monk gods!
You have a very calm and soothing voice. Makes listening to your videos pleasant. Thanks for the interesting build!
I think the blade ward cantrip deserves an honorable mention for this character. It situationally shores up the low health pool weakness of the build once you get the bladesinger's extra attack w/ cantrip. Combine that with spirit shroud's 10ft slow and this build's propensity to knock enemies prone and you get some respectable tanking capability in addition to all the utility, control, and damage you mention. It's an extremely versatile build!
Another fantastic build and so very obviously something you are excited and passionate about! Sorry to hear about the insomnia 😞
This is a kind of multiclass you don't think about, but makes so much sense
There is a cool thing you can do based on the rules that they added in Tashas for creatures falling on each other: any time you land on a creature from 10ft or higher they need to make a DC 15 dex sav or the fall damage is halved between you and thy are knocked prone.
A monk with 15 strength can use step of the wind to jump 10 ft vertically, meaning that you can Mario your way around the battlefield knocking people prone.
A level 4 monk can use the Slow Fall ability to negate all the damage that they themselves would take; the best part is, the creature landed on still takes the other half of the damage.
A level 9 monk can run up vertical surfaces and then fall on enemies, potentially doing lots of damage and then using Slow fall to negate it all. This uses your reaction, but it should be a good idea to look out for enemies near vertical surfaces that you can run up and land on.
The damage is middling, but being able to use your movement to inflict the prone condition is fantastic. As a non-monk related thing, the Jump spell is now good, for the simple reason that you only need 12 strength to jump over 10 feet in the air (jump is tripled), so pretty much any frontliner that you cast it on can now mario stomp (particularly good for Barbarians that can negate half the fall damage to themselves).
(Note that you need a running start of at least 10 feet to jump the heights calculated above, though a Jump spell+18 strength can to a 10ft standing highjump).
I began playing a blade singer monk in my game too. Gonna watch this video to see if you've managed to fix the problems I was having with this multiclass. Currently only made it to level 5 so just barely got monk 3/wizard 2 for both subclasses
Also, at high levels, the bladesinger cantrips that you can do as part of the attack action now with Bladesinger 6, are gonna be so useful once they get into the higher tiers of campaign.
Hyped! I've been making my way through how to optimize the Monk subclasses on my channel and I'm excited to see how you handle this. Thoughts to follow soon!
Great build! If you've got the time/inclination I think my sun soul monk build video might be worth a view. But I'll give you the short version:
-Shadow Blade is really good if your table allows ki fuelled strike as an optional feature. Because shadow blade qualifies as a monk weapon it can be used as a bonus action. It outdoes baseline by a good margin after turn 1, especially if in dim light/darkness
-Mirror image synergizes brilliantly with monk because you can Dodge on the same turn you use it. This probably puts attacks against your illusions at disadvantage also. Illusion AC is 10+Dex also which again, great for a Monk build.
-Personally I'd have built this a bit differently, sacrificing Wisdom so I could focus on Dex and int, using mage armor for the AC calculation. I'd also go with a monk subclass which doesn't rely as much on Wisdom. Kensai probably the best option as they can gain a +2 AC without resource cost for a really tanky build. Might make a good build video at some point 🙂
"I love you guys MADly"
I see what you did there
At our table, we play [PHB+XGtE+TCoE+SCAG] rules. Faerunian Half-Elves of Sun, Moon, or Wood Elf culture, CAN take Elf Weapon Training (Proficiency with Long/Short Bow/Sword), among other options, by forgoing their PHB Hlaf-Ef Skill Versatility (two Skill Proficiencies) feature (pg. 116 -SCAG). In a Forgotten Realms, or setting-agnostic campaign, that'd solve one problem for you.
My immediate reaction on title: OH THIS GONNA BE GOOD!
I had a marvelous chance to reach lvl 20 with my bladesinger(no subclass) in a campaign that took 4 years.
I got the boon of quick casting, I don't have words to explain how fun it was.
Today a 4 yrs campaign came to an end.
What a great day
I had a TPk in a campaign and we created new characters, so it was a level 12 build, I went for the Bladesinger Monk, with headband of intellect and bracers of defence. It has been so fun to play and can't wait for the rest of the story arc. It is Dungeon of the Mad Mage so will be going to 20 with them!!
I really appreciate your take on the martial vs the spellcasting aspects of the bladesinger 36:37. This is because the "you have wizard spells, why do something else" never seemed right to me because it would be like telling somebody who brings a barbarian or rogue to the table: "Hey, why didn't you just make a wizard?".
Not saying that isn't a legitimate question :)
Would a belt that store’s kitchen points be op? Martial artists famously advance from white to black belt in the Japanese or Korean arts. Storing a few points would be godsend for monks. Requiring attunment seems reasonable. Part of the reason that monks seem underpowered is that so many magic items don’t work for monks. The barrier tattoo comes immediately to mind.
That sounds like the +1/+2/+3 Dragonhide Belts from Fizban's
@@KhanBeSerious Perhaps, I have not purchased all the books.
@@shishkabobby it basically gives you a bonus to the save DC of ki point features and you can use an action to regain one roll of your martial arts dice as ki, once per long rest
Awesome build - I'd love to see more builds with a magic item or two as part of it, especially if it's easily accessible. In my experience, most players get the magic items they are looking for.
Just found your channel! I just started a campaign as a bladesinger monk and when I ran across this video I was so excited! Thanks for the great content c:
Was playing a kensei bladesinger in a previous game. Some amazing synergies. Thanks for the build!
So, here's something else for Bladesingers...
A hand-crossbow build. Which means that you can take Sharpshooter. It is the only way to, as a bladesinger, make attacks that have the "-5 to hit, +10 to damage", specifically because you don't need two hands to fire a hand-crossbow.
I'm here reading the title and I already think you're cracked in the head!
Not wrong :)
Enlightened Fist was a dope prestige class in 3.5. When 5.5 comes out I hope they revamp the Monk and make a 1/3 Caster subclass for them like an Enlightened Fist
been waiting for this one for a while! thank you!
I am playing this in a West Marches campaign, although I am starting wizard to get to the cantrip extra attack as early as possible. Still haven't decided 100% on a monk subclass, since I haven't picked up monk levels yet, but wavering between Mercy and Shadow.
Mercy for the amazing healing, debuff and utility, Shadow for the thematic flavor of a secret agent and the utility of the spells you get. Furthermore, Shadow Step is a great way to get that advantage you want for Elven Accuracy. Remember that you can make the cantrip as the first attack of the Attack action if you want.
Love it man, thank you for doing this one. Plant is looking awesome, and as always keep up the good work!
Love D&D, martial arts, magic, and fighting ghosts? Also like clubbing kids like the seals we all know they are? Here’s the build for you! 🤣🤣🤣
Just teasing, that moment was too hilarious! ❤️
ha ha - those kids were evil and everyone knows it!
Finally saw this one and finally bit the bullet to join. You make such great stuff! My first ever channel membership via TH-cam. I had a (4)Bladesinger/(2)Monk for a one shot a friend did and I love it!(Well really a two shot, we still have to finish the adventure sometime.)
Hey thanks! And welcome! ❤️
Monk/Wizard is my go-to multiclass for a Jedi type character. I usually go Kensei/Bladesinger, because adding Int+Wis+Agile Parry+Shield spell to AC is nuts, especially if we throw in Mirror Image and Patient Defense for funsies
Funnily enough, I am running a monk/bladesinger build rn!
Yay, another monk build! I love it! Thank you!
This would be pretty good at my friend's table, he gives martial characters a "default subclass" that they automatically get. The one he gives Monks is Open hand. This frees you up to also pick Mercy.
Asherladon's stride+blade song+unarmored movement + step of the wind will get tout far!
I realize it's not optimal in most combats in terms of damage but I think it's worth mentioning Ashardalon's Stride as a fun level 3 Wizard spell to pick up. It synergizes really nicely with the Monk's already bonkers move speed and extra movement options while dealing a nice bit of damage on top. Could be good for any fights with tons of minions. You don't have to hit with an attack and there's no save so with your massive move speed, you can deal 1d6 to probably every enemy in a fight every round and then also position yourself wherever you want because there are no opportunity attacks. I haven't run the numbers but I would probably cast this for any fight in which there are more enemies than I have attacks (counting potential flurry of blows).
Once again quite an amazing build. Very interested concept. I think im gonna try out something similar in a future campaign. I think its always funny to see stuff like "You get 3 uses per long rest which should get you through most if not all your encounters per day." I would like to see campaigns where that actually is the case. In all I have been we usually have 6-10 encounters per long rest.
That's to me the ultimate ninja, in that case I see blade song and the spells as the ninjutsus, I imagine you doing the hand signs and all just beautiful
YAS! I have been waiting for this since you mentioned you'd put out a build guide in your level 20 one-shot!
Edit: I got goosebumps when you were talking of your monk looking to the arcane, following the steps of mythic warriors. I like this build! I've never made a bladesinger, but I love the flavor that this subclass gives, as well as the flavor monks give. I am inspired :)
It's no Bladesinger 3.0 but this will do. I have always wanted to try a build like this but I never tried since it was so MAD. The AC potential is nuts if you can manage to get the stats for it.
These vids always keep me so intrigued all the way through, thank you for making such good content.
I am just a simple man ...i see bladesinger build, i press like !
So hearing you talk about the bladesinger/munk character, and putting so much love into your dream character, this is mine: Some kind of drow, champion fighter/ranger/monk, with the drow magic feat of levetating and feary fire (which i think we should get for free btw)
I actuall think most of the racial feats should be free, elven accuracy, dwarven something etc
Shout out to using Spirit Shroud. I had traded out some other spell for that when I went from lvl 8 to 9 with my Hexblade but hadn't actually had an opportunity to use it yet so my DM wasn't accustomed to dealing with it. We were in a boss fight where the boss Shapechanged into some sort of souped up troll monster with the intent of using the Troll's regeneration to drag the fight out into a battle of attrition. The Wizard trapped him in a Wall of Force bubble with me and I proceeded to ruin the entire encounter for the DM by preventing regeneration Every. Single. Round. until his Shapechange got dropped.
I had also precast Armor of Agathys, and had popped Mirror Image on round one....and the Bard was healing me and/or put Heroism on me once Agathys was gone. I was taking a lot of hits but was really making the boss pay the price for it. It was a great fight for us, not so much for the boss. Teamwork +1. I'm also pretty sure my DM is not going to forget about Spirit Shroud from now on.
Edit: Wall of Force bubble not Forcecage
I love your monk builds! So much fun to follow a build like the one you played at 20th level. Maybe next time you could make your character first and then we can see your build in action. So much fun!
I always get excited every week to watch your videos!
Let's see what wackiness you have in store for us today...
also keep in mind that in fizban's treasury of dragons there is the dragonhide belt for monks that increases the DC of your ki features +1,+2 or +3 and give you back Ki as action equal to your martial die once pr dawn, so with a maxed out wisdom at lvl 20 your DC will be at 22.
I know you did a grappler monk a while back, but I would love to see your thoughts on a grappling character who can also put down an AOE concentration spell that they can hold their enemy in.
Last time I came this early, my girlfriend never looked more disappointed.
Same here. Your girlfriend's really judgemental man ;))
@@thetruegavinator
👀💦
💋
@@thetruegavinator daaaaamm this hurts!
It was recently sage'd that as long as you do the requirement during your turn, you can do the bonus action any time, even before, say, the attack action.
Edit: Apparently I remembered incorrectly, and I have no clue where I got that from.
No I have definitely heard that
I played a Kensei Bladesimger two years ago. At first my goal was making a bunch of attacks have a couple of spells and some great mobility, but I reached 27 AC without the shield spell.
I had been playing dnd and rol playing games In general for about 5 months only, and whenever I talked about me being inexperienced my DM said "eat a d... your character has 27 AC"
I had so much fun with that character.
I love the idea of playing the character you love rather than the character who just has the highest dpr. I would have a hard time putting off blade singer so long. I think I would have to grab a level of wizard at level two for cantrips and shield.
Usually I'm not a huge fan of bladesingers, but the idea of combining it with a monk was too good to pass up. Plus, after seeing yours in action I am definitely coming around to it!
More monk builds wooooo! Would love to see your take on a strength monk / beast barb build. The new Giant Barb UA looks great as well.
I played a Living Weapon Monk 6/ Bladesinger 14 build in a campaign and he was easily my favorite and most powerful character I’ve ever made. It combined my favorite classes and was so much fun.
I invite you to contemplate the majesty that is the Horizion Walker Ranger & Bladesinger multiclass. I just finished running this build from 1-20 and it is a blast. Being able to attack 4 times a turn and swapping an attack for an appropriately placed GFB or BB is (Chef's Kiss). This build was beyond fun and would be well worth covering on the channel.
Love your builds, especially this one! Keep it up!
Combining his two favorite things, lol. Fun!