The Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide had a few spells focused around melee, and a lot of them were on the Wizard’s list. But, the Wizard hates melee combat, and didn’t even get many options for weapons. Their solution? Give them melee! If… they’re elves. The Bladesinger 5E was born!
The Bladesinger are a group of elegant elf wizards, embracing close fights and grouped by combat style. There’s a myriad of animal-based names for styles, thanks to the Bladesinger being one of the few Wizards capable of earning a weapon proficiency. You might even get a tattoo of your family animal, to show your deadly prowess with magic and might.
But, is the Bladesinger truly magical and mighty? Or simply a gimmick? Let’s find out.
Table of Contents
Roar of Blades: Bladesinger 5E
Mechanically, the Bladesinger Wizard is good two times per short rest. During those 1 minute bursts, you actually have a thematically powerful melee warrior… Though you are heavily restricted by armor type and are still quite reliant on magic until much later. If the Bladesinger is not able to get short rests after their Bladesong class ability is out, then you are essentially a Wizard without a subclass.
The Bladesinger is naturally Elf-only, but your GM can choose to lift the restriction. Maybe your character once had a relationship with a bladesinger, or your parents were good friends with them. It’s not too hard to find a reason, but make sure your DM’s okay with it first.
Trained in War and Song
You’re a Wizard in melee, so of course you’re gonna need to get your hands on some things!
When you adopt this tradition at 2nd level, you gain proficiency with light armor, and you gain proficiency with one type of one-handed melee weapon of your choice.
You also gain proficiency in the Performance skill if you don’t already have it.
One of these things is not like the others…
Quickly going over Performance… It’s not great. By RAW, Performance is only good as a background or money-making ability. 5E is super light with its usefulness; that’s almost 100% on your GM. See if you can use it as a distraction, or maybe as a pseudo-diplomacy, but don’t expect too much.
What’s more mechanically important are your combat proficiencies. Default Light Armor doesn’t get better than Mage Armor (the best is 12 + Dexterity), but you do get to enchant it later on. It also saves you a spell slot, since a +1 to AC is probably not worth a level 1 spell slot this early on. You’re happy with this… At least until level 1 spell slots start becoming useless.
Oh boy, you get 1 melee weapon… Of any quality! We’ll assume you want a Martial Melee weapon. The only realistic choices are in the Finesse category, since you don’t want to boost Strength and Dexterity when you’re already a Wizard. Unfortunately, though Thrown Weapons wouldn’t be a bad idea, they use the same modifier that you use for melee, and you’ve already got Dagger proficiency. That leaves you with a few choices; Rapier, Scimitar, Shortsword. and Whip.
Scimitars and Shortswords are designed for Two-Weapon Fighting, which isn’t a horrible idea for you. If you want to multiclass into Fighter for the Two-Weapon Fighting style, then they get pretty good (especially with your level 14 feature!). Rapier is the highest damage single-handed Finesse weapon available. Whips get you Reach, which might not be a bad idea if you wish to evade direct melee combat. Unfortunately, Whips work poorly with Green-Flame Blade… Unless your GM allows you to channel the attack through it instead of the default range of 5 feet.
Bladesong
Gimmick time! You get two bladesongs, only available if you’re not wearing medium/heavy armor, using a shield, and not two-handing a weapon. They last a minute, cost a bonus action to use, and you can cancel them whenever. You gain the following benefits during that minute;
- You gain a bonus to your AC equal to your Intelligence modifier (minimum of +1).
- Your walking speed increases by 10 feet.
- You have advantage on Dexterity (Acrobatics) checks.
- You gain a bonus to any Constitution saving throw you make to maintain your concentration on a spell. The bonus equals your Intelligence modifier (minimum of +1).
Both charges refresh on any type of rest.
Most people would say this is a stellar buff, and they’d be right. Later on, that’s a +5 to your AC; an absolutely insane boost to defense. Considering it barrs you from wearing a shield, I think that’s a fair trade. This boost to AC is your only reason that you can be in melee combat and not become abstract art.
Walking speed of 10 feet is great, but won’t come into play too often. It’ll let you land Green-Flame Blade and Lightning Lure more often, and you’ll be good at chasing. You can also use it to reposition yourself out of range of most melee combatants, if you need a quick disengage.
Advantage on Acrobatics is… Good. Some combats are on ice or a tightrope, and you’ll be the best at staying alive there. If your GM is a cool guy, you might be able to do a running dive over a table and stab someone in the throat. Or, if you’re super worried about jumping over a pit to get to the other side, you can proc Bladesong to get across in more cases. Not the best use of a 1 minute ability, but hey, you gotta do what you gotta do.
Maintaining concentration is really important for you, since you’ll be in melee quite a bit. You’ll get hit a few times, after all! Adding Intelligence to your Constitution is kinda like becoming proficient in Con saving throws… Almost. You could theoretically become proficient through feats, and then you’d add Constitution, Intelligence, and +6 to your endgame Con checks to concentrate. That auto-saves against the default DC, and gives you a dang good chance against the Half-Damage clause. Not bad!
This buff is insanely strong, but it’s the only reason your class works… So make sure to use it in combats that seem moderately difficult, and ask for short rests often!
Extra Attack
Whew! After that huge line of text, it’s so nice to see “Extra Attack” next on the list!
Starting at 6th level, you can attack twice, instead of once, whenever you take the Attack action on your turn.
And… It’s useless. Well, if you’re using 1d4 or 1d6 weapons.
At this level, Green-Flame Blade deals melee damage + 1d8, and then 1d8 + Int to someone else. That probably beats out your Rapier swinging twice. But, in combat situations where you aren’t fighting multiple, bunched-up creatures, then maybe swinging twice will work better for you than a cantrip. Cantrips are likely to be more accurate, and have better range. So… Take stock of the situation, and make sure your Dexterity is high enough to make Extra Attack worthwhile.
At level 14, this ability claws its way back on top. Right now, just try and make Green-Flame Blade work whenever you can.
Song of Defense
Now, for a reaction that you were sorely missing, but only gain access to now.
Beginning at 10th level, you can direct your magic to absorb damage while your Bladesong is active. When you take damage, you can use your reaction to expend one spell slot and reduce that damage to you by an amount equal to five times the spell slot’s level.
Wizard reactions are normally for counterspell, so you actually have something you can just spam whenever you’re fighting martial characters! Well… Maybe not spam…
Wizards occasionally have situations where they prepare utility spells “just in case.” And then, at the end of the day, when your low-level spell slots are wasted, you’re usually pretty sad. Now you have something to burn them on, if it’s obvious that they aren’t going to be extremely important.
The problem is, this is gonna eat through your spell slots. The highest level that you can block right now is a level 5 slot for 25 damage. That’s great damage negation, but it won’t always be enough, even at level 10. You’re going to want to use the Shield spell whenever you can, since a 25% chance to completely negate damage is better… And only uses a level 1 spell slot, which by now is useful only for utility.
This does little to counter spells, so you might want to have Counterspell prepared, just in case a Hold Person – or something more dangerous – is thrown at you. You might be able to block 25 damage from a Fireball, but your party will probably be happier if nobody takes any damage instead.
Song of Victory
At level 14, you become proficient enough at singing to go to an Opera. Oh, you also gain a damage buff.
Starting at 14th level, you add your Intelligence modifier (minimum of +1) to the damage of your melee weapon attacks while your Bladesong is active.
So, your weapons hit harder during bladesong. That’s important! That buffs the damage of the initial hit of Green-Flame Blade by 5!
In all seriousness, this finally makes Extra Attack a competitor for your Action slot, especially in single target scenarios. Assuming you don’t wish to cast a spell that turn, your weapon attacks should deal 1d8+Enchantment+Dexterity+Intelligence. If we assume you somehow have +5 Dexterity, +5 Intelligence, and a +3 weapon, that’s 17.5 damage on average. And you get to swing twice, potentially with a higher modifier than your Cantrips have due to Enchantment bonuses.
Green Flame blade reduces that doubled damage to a single hit of 4d8+Enchantment+Dexterity+Intelligence at level 17; 31 average damage. So, if you hit with both of your Weapon Attacks, you’re hitting harder with your Extra Attack than your cantrip… If only barely.
Of course, if your Enchantment deals extra damage from other sources, the damage difference gets wider… And if you don’t have a high Enchantment bonus, it gets thinner. This damage was also calculated assuming you were using a Rapier, though all weapons would deal slightly more damage to a single target on landing two hits.
This is also where Two-Weapon Fighting can become strong, allowing you to swing three times with Intelligence to damage. And with a multiclass, you can add your Dexterity to three swings, too! That’s actually solid damage.
If Green-Flame Blade can hit two targets, though? That’s so much better than Extra Attack. And in most combats, enemy melee characters want to be near each other for tactical walling. You’ll rarely be in situations where Green-Flame Blade doesn’t land and hit two people for loads of d8s. At least you’ll still be dealing +5 more damage!
Best Race for Bladesinger Wizards
Elves and Half-Elves are the only races by the ruleset that can use Bladesinger, so let’s discuss the merits of both.
High Elf
Elves gain +2 to Dexterity – good for AC and Green-Flame Blade – and High Elf gain a +1 to Intelligence. You gain some decent utility abilities with Darkvision, Trance, and Fey Ancestry, and free Perception proficiency is always useful. The bonus cantrip is… Fine? Since you’re only using Green-Flame Blade, it’s not exactly perfect. And the weapon training offers you precious little, since you’re probably more interested in Rapiers or Whips, and Bladesinging does nothing for ranged attacks. Still, pretty great.
Half-Elf
Half-Elves are fantastic, but actually don’t Bladesing very well. Charisma is worthless to you, so you’re getting +1 Int, +1 Dex/Con… Not good. Darkvision and Fey Ancestry are once again good utility, and Skill Versatility is actually astounding. Still, Half-Elf is definitely weaker than High Elf here.
A Consideration: Tortle
You may be looking at my guide and seeing how much I put into Dexterity. If your GM is the coolest of cats, and let’s you go outside of the Elven monopoly, then perhaps a Tortle is right for you. Tortles don’t need Dexterity to have high AC; they have a base of 17. That frees your hands up for a Strength-Based Bladesinger build, though you’re still restricted to a single-handed weapon. You also gain no inherent bonus to Intelligence; you’ll be focusing on Intelligence raising for 3 ability score boosts. Still, it unlocks a build path that the Elf and Half-Elf doesn’t offer. It’s a good idea if you want to try something new!
Best Feats for Bladesinging Wizard
The Bladesinging Tradition is a strange one, since you can play it as a normal Wizard with a frankly very strong defensive buff and actually get a lot of value from it. In that case, you can simply take strong Wizard feats – like Fey Touched or Metamagic Adept – and play it largely like a normal one.
You could also play it as intended and wade into melee with your weapon. In that case, you might want to take alternative martial feats like Slasher or Tough to make surviving on the frontline easier.
The feats we recommend are useful in both versions of the build. However, they won’t save you from having low HP on the frontlines, and should definitely only be considered once Intelligence is at 20. Or to help Intelligence get to 20, of course.
Artificer Initiate
The Artificer shares a lot of qualities with the Wizard. However, what they don’t share with one another are a few particularly neat support spells that Wizards actually like.
Artificer Initiate is a slightly better version of other Initiate spells, but acts largely the same. To start, you learn an Artificer cantrip and 1st-level spell. These use your Intelligence, which works fine for us.
Artificers and Wizards share most of their cantrips, but there are a few exceptions. The one we recommend is Guidance. Guidance provides a small out-of-combat buff in a d4 to ability score checks. While nothing major, this lets the Wizard influence conversations, help push objects around, or provide backup during stealth missions.
The 1st-level spell is more restrictive. However, the Artificer has two we’re quite interested in: Cure Wounds and Sanctuary. Cure Wounds is fine for emergency healing situations that the Wizard otherwise has trouble accessing. But, Sanctuary is great in all situations, including for defending yourself after a turn of dealing damage. We’d certainly recommend the latter over a touch-spell heal that takes up your action, but both are actually quite strong.
That’s good, because you get to cast it for free once per day. A free Sanctuary is nothing to shake a stick at, so you should take that with a smile on your face.
The last part of the feat, and by far the least impactful portion, is the proficiency in Artisan’s Tools. Well, we say least impactful, but this is still pretty good. You can take something like Alchemist’s Supplies and become a junior potion maker, Leatherworker’s Tools if you have leather armor you want to patch up, or even Smith’s Tools to help repair the gear of your martially-minded friends.
They can be used as a spellcasting focus, which doesn’t matter.
Telekinetic
If you’re stuck on 17 or 19 Intelligence, then you have a wonderful opportunity ahead of you. The Telekinetic feat is one of the most impactful feats a spellcaster can take. While Fey Touched or Shadow Touched are solid for any caster, this feat offers a bit more than something as simple as spell slots – a resource Wizards usually don’t need.
Telekinetic instead offers three benefits. First, a +1 to Intelligence. This small bonus bumps the Wizard up to an even number – usually from 17 at character creation. For the Bladesinging Tradition, Intelligence is everything, from AC to concentration saves, to spell DCs and beyond. Ensuring that your Intelligence is up to snuff is 90% of the journey.
Then, you get Mage Hand as a cantrip, but a version of Mage Hand that is exceptional beyond the normal spell. This version of Mage Hand is invisible and requires no casting components, meaning you can cast it from a deadpan expression or with your hands tied. Then, if you learn Mage Hand or had already known it, you get 60 feet range on your Mage Hand. A pretty fun buff to an already impressive spell.
Finally, the unique benefit of Telekinetic is the ability to, as a bonus action, push or pull a nearby target. This can let you move an ally right next to a squishy enemy, get an ally out of danger, or potentially put an enemy in the line of fire for a spell like Fireball. If you target an enemy with this, the enemy gets a saving throw, which means that it usually is a better idea to use this to slide allies around.
Overall, this feat offers unique in-and-out-of combat utility that can make for a ton of moments in a campaign. Very few caster-focused feats do something as impactful as Telekinetic so consistently.
War Caster
War Caster is usually not important for a Wizard, but a Bladesinging Wizard focuses a lot more on concentration checks and has the opportunity to be on the frontlines. So, this feat is a bit of a concession to the two different sides of Bladesinging.
That’s because it has quite a few benefits that interest a melee-centric Wizard. The first is the ability to cast with your hands full. Weapons can fulfill the somatic components of magic, meaning you can wield a sword or crossbow while casting. For the Bladesinging Wizard’s sake, this isn’t necessarily incredibly important, since you’re expected not to have a shield on the other hand anyway. But, keeping both hands full means you can have a Rod or a Wand in your free hand, no issue. Great for alternative casting or just boosting your DCs.
The second benefit, and most applicable to the standard Wizard gameplan, is the advantage on concentration checks. Being able to roll twice on this check is critical, reducing the chance that you lose something like Haste or Fly at an inopportune time.
The last benefit is the ability to opportunity attack with spells. And that’s just fun. The ability to watch someone leave your squares, thinking you’re no threat, and you getting a free cast of Hold Monster or Banishment is a joy. Your DM has to be a good sport about this feature, unfortunately, but many would love the opportunity to make you look cool like that.
FAQ for the Bladesinging Wizard
What Weapon is Best for the Bladesinging Tradition?
If you plan on using Bladesinging for melee purposes, a Rapier will be your best friend. That supports high Dexterity while also ensuring that you deal high individual damage. You can also consider a Hand Crossbow, as that fulfills the one-handedness requirement of Bladesong while letting you fight from a safe distance with cantrips like Toll the Dead.
How Can You Be a Good Bladesinging Wizard?
Realistically, the most important part of Bladesinging is realizing that you are still a very strong spellcaster. While your melee damage is okay, it should not be the focus of your build. Instead, use Bladesong to give yourself exceptional AC and concentration saves while focusing on standard Wizard fare, and you’ll find that the Bladesinging Tradition is actually quite strong.
Does Silence Stop Bladesong?
Bladesong is not actual music, but instead a secret magic that wells up inside of the users of the Bladesinging Tradition. Silence does not stop Bladesong as written, but many Bladesingers might be annoyed by the inability to harness magic and performance into their styles of Bladesong.
Example Bladesinging Wizard Build
Before we can start putting together a Bladesinging Wizard, we do need to lay down some ground rules that our DM has.
- No multiclassing. A pure Bladesinging Wizard is interesting, but not out-of-nowhere. Bladesingers benefit quite a bit from just maxing out your Wizard spell slots and not doing much else.
- No lineage rules. A bit of a shame, since some great races for Bladesinging are locked behind Lineage rulesets. It also keeps us from doing things like Tortle or other high AC races. However, many of the spell selection, option taking, and general decision making works the same between races. Feel free to generally follow the same path no matter who you choose.
- Any book. Thankfully, any book will be available to us, as long as they don’t have lineage ability scores. This gives us a few backgrounds and races that can synergize a bit better with our plans for the class. However, they did ban the Strixhaven backgrounds. Soilsport.
- Standard Array. Standard Array ability scores aren’t exactly superb, going: 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8. There’s a bit of overlap that we don’t want as a Bladesinger, but we can make it work.
- Standard Equipment. Not a big deal, since we can’t even consider Bladesinging until level 2 anyways. We’ll be able to buy or find a Rapier or something by then.
- Our party includes a Druid, Cleric, and Archery Fighter. How interesting! Our frontline is full of healers, and we’re going to be expected to be the arcane problem solver. That’s perfect, since the Bladesinging Wizard tends to drop into that role anyways. With this many frontline buffers, we might actually be able to walk into the frontlines.
Race, Background, and Ability Scores for the Bladesinging Wizard
Rather than digging for full optimization, our Bladesinging Wizard will be going with a bit of old school tradition. We’ll be going with an Eladrin Elf, a Dungeon Master’s Guide subrace with the ability to Misty Step once per short rest. Bladesinging was originally Elf-only, before Tasha’s Cauldron canonically allowed other races to play it. Great for us, but we’ll stick with the Perception-proficient elf that can escape from melee situations when needed.
For the background, we want access to Acrobatics or Athletics for the worst case scenarios in melee. That leaves us with Athlete, a strange option from the Mythic Odysseys of Theros book. Every single other background that gives Acrobatics also gives Performance, a skill we get at level 2 by default. Athlete offers very few additional proficiencies we care about, but does give a fun feature that might give us contacts or even a home. The bonus language will be Draconic, something that our DM said would be quite handy.
We care very little about the variations in starting equipment, but we do care slightly about our ability scores. Our +2 Dexterity, +1 Intelligence basically means we get to decide between 16/16 for Dexterity and Intelligence or 14/14/16 for DEX, CON, and INT. We’re going to decide on the former, sacrificing just a little bit of health for higher Dexterity, a higher damage start, and slightly more AC. We’ll have to compensate for health later, or just beg our party for any Amulets of Health that show up.
| 5E Bladesinging Wizard Build |
| Race: Eladrin Elf Ability Scores: STR 10, DEX 16 (14 + 2), CON 13, INT 16 (15 + 1), WIS 12, CHA 8 Proficiencies: Arcana, Investigation, Perception, Acrobatics, Athletics, Land Vehicles Starting Equipment: Dagger, Component Pouch, Scholar’s Pack, Spellbook, Bronze Discus, Bladesinging Trophy, Traveler’s Clothes, 10 gp Languages: Common, Elvish, Draconic |
| Level | Class Benefits | Choices |
| 1 | -Arcane Recovery -1st Level spells | Unfortunately, we have just a few more things to check off before we can really be ready to sing. Cantrips. We are in a fantastic position to not worry about damaging cantrips. So, we’re going to get all of our utility out of the way now with Mage Hand, Message, and Prestidigitation. This trio solves a ton of problems for us in the early, mid, and even late game. However, it’ll be important for us to find a bow or melee weapon relatively soon. A shortsword is an okay tool of battle, but a longbow is better for our very low pool of hitpoints. Spells. For the purpose of our spellbook, we’re only going to talk about the spells we get from our class, not the ones we get from scrolls or enemy spellbooks. So, let’s get our rituals out of the way: Alarm, Find Familiar, and Identify. These are great for exploration and safety, and don’t even take a spell slot. We’ll also be grabbing some combat spells with Shield, Magic Missile, and Sleep. Sleep is very effective early on, Magic Missile is the most consistent damage option for now, and Shield is really important for our chances to survive if we actually intend on stabbing our way through fights.The Bladesinger doesn’t get any discounts on magic, so you can realistically learn anything from a scroll or spellbook and it’ll be reasonable. Just make sure you have the spells that your party needs to survive. You can learn many different important spells, but you should guarantee you learn spells like Counterspell or Haste, since they help you survive or work effectively. |
| 2 | -Training in War and Song-Bladesong | We now have more effective armor, have better weapon proficiencies, and access to Bladesong twice per rest. While not necessarily game-winning by itself, these are fantastic defensive buffs for the Wizard that you should keep in mind. We’ll be playing our Bladesinger from a distance, but these are both effective reasons to start swinging on the frontlines. We’ll also grab Rapier proficiency, for if we ever want to go on the frontlines. Spells. The spells we want to grab here are Silvery Barbs and Tasha’s Hideous Laughter. These two spells remain effective into later levels – Silvery Barbs through in-and-out-of combat rerolls, Tasha’s Hideous Laughter through crowd control. They’ll be good support tools to keep in the pocket. |
| 3 | -2nd Level Spells | Level two is rarely the level of magic where we have things we need to get for permanent effectiveness. However, there are a few winners here. Spells. Invisibility is an effective spell for escaping dangerous situations, starting fights effectively, and scouting ahead of situations. We’ll also learn Knock at this level. This spell just opens doors and locked items for us. That’s important in this party comp. We’re otherwise reliant on our Fighter, who is a great character, but can absolutely flub the Thieves’ Tool roll during important times. We can be there with a foolproof insurance policy. |
| 4 | -Ability Score Improvement | This is a busier level than usual, but our starting ability scores make things relatively easy for us. Feat. Our feat will be a basic Ability Score Improvement for +2 Intelligence. 18 INT is great for setting our spell list up for success. It also buffs basically everything we want during Bladesong, so why not improve it? Spells. Level 2 still has a few options that we’re interested in. Mainly, Web to deal with crowds as best we possibly can and Misty Step gives us the chance to escape from dangerous situations. As we consider going into melee more and more, the opportunity to escape from overextending becomes better and better. |
| 5 | -3rd Level Spells | Not only do we learn more magic this level, we also get a new cantrip. How wonderful! Cantrip. Our cantrip will determine if we want to be a ranged or melee Bladesinger. We’re going to go with ranged, since our frontline is already excellent, and go with Toll the Dead. We can shoot an arrow and then cast Toll the Dead, activating the extra damage. Melee Bladesingers offer a lot of extra damage but put us in more grave danger, which is just not really an option with our low Constitution. Dang it, Standard Array. Spells. Level three is a gigantic level for Wizard, and one we’ll be returning to often with our limited spellbook. To start, we’ll basically always be preparing Counterspell and Fireball. Counterspell is one of the best reactions that a Wizard can ask for, potentially fully negating deadly magic like Hold Person or Fireball. Speaking of the devil, Fireball is too efficient. Its damage is extremely high and covers a massive area, meaning it’s perfect for swarm encounters. |
| 6 | -Extra Attack (Bladesinging) | Our turns will now often be firing our Longbow and then casting Toll the Dead. During Bladesong, we’ll have to consider another option, such as throwing a dagger or firing a sling, to prevent the Bladesong from dropping. A Dagger and Toll the Dead is still decent damage. Try to find a good middle ground and you’ll be a surprisingly effective turn-by-turn Wizard. Spells. There are plenty of additional 3rd level spells to consider. If only we could take them all. For now, we’ll want to keep Dispel Magic and Fly on our list. Dispel Magic is a critical curative option for spells like Flesh to Stone or puzzles that would otherwise take too long to solve. Fly is effective in many fights, keeping you safe from melee combats. If you decide to rush the frontlines with a Rapier, then using Fly or options like Zephyr Strike and Ashardalon’s Stride can make avoiding opportunity attacks much easier. Fly is just extremely effective for the entire party and for problem solving out of fights. |
| 7 | -4th Level Spells | Another extremely important level for spellcasting that we’re going to want to fill out with a handful of options. Spells. Two big concentration options fill this level, and we’re going to grab both of them. Banishment gets an opponent out of a fight in a way that targets Charisma and prevents easy solutions. Wall of Fire cuts fights in half while dealing massive damage, potentially forcing foes to take 10d8 with limited saving throw potential. |
| 8 | -Ability Score Improvement | Another boring feat level. We know, we know, but the stats don’t lie. Feats. +2 Intelligence, bringing us up to 20. This is the max we can get without magic item support, so our spells and Bladesong are both about as effective as possible. From here, our levels can be significantly more interesting. Spells. Got a few more 4th level options that we want to get in our book before we continue. Mainly, Greater Invisibility will keep us very safe if we ever decide to go on the frontlines, and will constantly offer a great defensive option if we ever need to go into hiding. Divination is a strong ritual that offers information for yourself and the party, though casting it multiple times can prove risky. |
| 9 | -5th Level Spells | The 5th level is both a very powerful level for Wizard and a level where you actually don’t need as many options. Spells. Hold Monster is a great way to let our melee fighters get free crits and force a saving throw that loses a turn on your target. Creation doesn’t take our concentration, but gives a handful of ways to solve problems in exceptionally enjoyable ways. A 5 foot cube is an excellent amount of space for, say, a ton of rope for a rope ladder. Or a key. |
| 10 | -Song of Defense | We’re starting to run out of must-haves at 5th level, so we’ll take the time to eek out a few lower level spells. Song of Defense is rarely worth the time of day, but if it’s the difference between life or death, it’s always worth considering. This also might lower the DC for a concentration check, which is a consideration. Cantrip. We’ll learn Green-flame Blade this level. With Greater Invisibility, we actually have a fairly good way to engage with melee. And Green-flame Blade plus a weapon swing can deal shocking damage, especially with any magical weapons. Spells. The last 5th level spell we’ll scoop up for now is Synaptic Static. It doesn’t take concentration, does good damage, applies a debuff, and targets Intelligence – A really good combination that we’re looking for right now. We’ll circle back to level three for a bit with Tongues, a spell that lets us bypass the language barrier without needing magical items. Better safe than sorry. |
| 11 | -6th Level Spells | The 6th level has a few options that we like, but with our very limited spells known, we have to be picky. Spells. Eyebite is an excellent use of our spell slots. Putting someone to sleep every round is great, especially with our relatively high-damage frontline. We’ll also take the time to grab Mass Suggestion, a good out-of-combat spell that can quite literally tell an entire fight to go take a walk. It’s a lot easier to not get caught enchanting someone if every other witness is enchanted, too. |
| 12 | -Ability Score Improvement | We have quite a few options at this level. Feat. For now, Resilient is the choice. This gives us a more even 14 Constitution and proficiency with a saving throw we were really wanting. This lets us go from a +6 while under Bladesong to a +11, making us much more likely to succeed when we make a Constitution saving throw. Spells. True Seeing is an occasionally necessary counter to heavy illusion builds and an expensive option to counter invisibility, though it lasts a while and stops a lot of stuff from affecting you. We’ll also head back now and take Summon Aberration, an effective summoning spell if we want to go on the frontlines. The options for distracting foes are quite numerous, which lines up perfectly for us. If we want to be safe in melee with a higher level spell slot than 4th, this will do. |
| 13 | -7th Level Spells | Keeping up the formula, 7th level has a few options that we want to be sure we can pivot between, but not as many as before. While we’d love a handful of additional ones, we really want some earlier solutions to problems. Spells. Forcecage is a gigantic problem-solving tool that can lock a single or multiple creatures without a saving throw, forcing the foe to use a spell to escape it (with a Charisma save to automatically counter it). We’ll also take Simulacrum, because making a copy of our Fighter or ourselves is worth the hefty cost. |
| 14 | -Song of Victory | Song of Victory technically incentivizes us to join the frontlines, but should only be really considered in very specific situations. If we have a buff to support ourselves, it’s much easier to swallow than just walking up with our average of 86 health. Spells. Teleport has consistent uses out of combat to move someone somewhere else, and is also one of the more potent escape plans in the game. Back to level three, Contingency gives us a few powerful spells to cast when something horrible happens. A few examples are “When I land a melee attack, cast Haste” or “When I am effected by a long-lasting magic, cast Dispel Magic”. This is a life-saving spell for the mid and late game, where these sudden life-or-death situations can come up staggeringly often. Just remember the cost. You probably can only afford to cast this on days where you’re sure to make a profit. |
| 15 | -8th Level Spells | The continuation of our later spell learning philosophy continues. Spells. Clone is only worth it for exceptionally long-term campaigns, which we’ll assume we’re not doing right now. Maze trades an 8th level spell for a guaranteed turn and a strange and very difficult type of “saving throw.” Even you, with your +5 to Intelligence, have a mere 30% chance to escape this maze every turn. Your poor Fighter might need to roll a 20 to get out. This is a crowd control option that is incredibly hard to match. Illusory Dragon is the choice for big area-of-effect encounters, since it starts with a fear and then becomes massive cones of damage. This illusion is impossible to break, so it’s very durable. Realistically, the only problem is if you get hit. |
| 16 | -Ability Score Improvement | There are actually a ton of feat options that can make your life easier here, like Tough or War Caster. For now, though, we’re going to take a very simple path. Feat. Our feat is +2 Dexterity. This buffs up AC, initiative, and our attack and damage for whenever we fight with our weapon. While this is likely coming up less often, our cantrip rounds will benefit from a higher attack and damage roll. Spells. While there are awesome level 8 spells to select, our limited spell list is missing a few winners. Mainly, we want to learn Rary’s Telepathic Bond as we approach the late game and Globe of Invulnerability to make mage battles a bit safer. We can’t counter everything, but having basic invulnerability to things like low-level Counterspells or Fireballs is going to come in handy a lot as time goes on. |
| 17 | -9th Level Spells | What a fun level for Wizard. And by fun, we of course mean the point where you basically get to do anything. Spells. Wish is a must-have for any Wizard who gets to 9th level magic. The ability to cast 90% of magic in the game, no matter what list it is, will obviously take up many of your 9th level spell slots. Knowing what to cast is so situational, but usually 8th level options offer a wide variety of good choices. Don’t be afraid to cast a lower level option if, for example, you desperately need to Remove Curse someone. We’ll also learn True Polymorph, since it offers utility apart from Wish that it can’t quite access without risking losing the spell permanently. |
| 18 | -Spell Mastery | This is the first time where you get to choose something other than spells or cantrips (besides your subclass, of course). Admittedly, you’re still technically choosing spells, but it’s at least unique. Spells. We don’t need any spells for Spell Mastery. So, we’ll learn some utility magic. Wall of Stone is an excellent delaying maneuver, even at this level. Antimagic Zone is really only good if you’re fighting a lot – and I mean a lot – of tucked-together mages. But, you have Extra Attack and they don’t, so you have a bit of an edge in a non-magical one vs. one. Spell Mastery. Spell Mastery is quite funny for a number of reasons. We actually have some great options for both of these levels. Our 1st level spell will be Silvery Barbs, since forcing rerolls on attack rolls and saving throws has been highly effective. Our 2nd level spell will be Misty Step, since escaping from danger is so important for us. |
| 19 | -Ability Score Improvement | Bit of a weird level for us with a handful of choices. Feat. +2 Dexterity is enticing but not overly important. We’ll instead go for War Caster. With Greater Invisibility online, this lets us be a relatively annoying caster on the frontlines. It also gives us advantage on concentration checks, which is probably the more important part. Spells. Hallucinatory Terrain can divert armies if designed correctly and carefully, while Wall of Force is a valid defensive option, especially as fights begin to become more and more dangerous. |
| 20 | -Signature Spells | You’ve reached level 20 Bladesinger. What a feat! This is certainly cause for celebration, but leaves us with just a few spells and Signature Spells to go through. Signature Spells. These are just some 3rd level spells that we get to cast once for free and always prepare. 3rd level spells that we get to cast once per short rest… We’re going to take Counterspell and Haste. Counterspell, even at level 3, is a very effective solution for low-level spells or Hail Mary attempts against high-level options. Haste is so crucial for our survival on the frontlines if we ever want to be taken seriously as a Bladesinger. It also helps our Druid a lot, so it’s worth considering. |
Conclusion – Our Take on the Bladesinger 5E
The Bladesinger school isn’t all that bad, but it’s heavily reliant on Bladesinging to be even somewhat useful. It also doesn’t do anything much better than other Wizards, nor does it do much more than an Eldritch Knight, other than having more potent spell slots. If you want to try your hand at a frontliner that’s likely to explode their enemies – perhaps with an Oath of Redemption Paladin nearby – then Bladesinger won’t do you too wrong.
