Bladesinging

Review by Sam West, Twitter:@CrierKobold

Bladesinging Wizards have earned a bit of infamy, as they kind of just get to do everything the full-casters do with Extra Attack. On top of that, they’re in a book printed alongside some of the worst archetypes ever published including Banneret and Battlerager. If you want to build a hybrid sword and sorcery character, you can’t really go wrong with Bladesinger.

Bladesingers used to need to be elves, but as of Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything, that prerequisite has been scrapped, opening the option to any species. Go nuts!

2nd Level: Training in War and Song, Bladesong

Training in War and Song provides you two relevant proficiencies with the Performance skill, all of which add up to way more value than the typical “School Savant” feature that discounts adding spells to your spellbook. Light armor proficiency functionally removes your need to use Mage Armor if you want to play in melee range, instead asking you to get a high Dex, which then works beautifully alongside your one-handed melee weapon proficiency. The best typically is the rapier, as it attacks with finesse and uses a d8 die, but shortswords and scimitars both offer off-hand attacks and have finesse, making them appealing options. Either build direction works great though, and Performance is just a free bonus skill. What’s not to love?
Bladesong acts similar to a Barbarian’s Rage; you enter a state as a bonus action that lasts a minute and provides benefits. Its total uses scale with your proficiency bonus, usually meaning you’ll have access to Bladesong for any fights that are remotely threatening.
By far the most relevant element to Bladesong is the AC bump, normally adding +3 to +5 to your armor class on top of Shield and your light armor. It isn’t unusual to see Bladesingers with an AC well above 20 by 9th level with two Ability Score Improvements in either Dexterity or Intelligence before using Shield.
Let's just briefly look at a 10th-level Bladesinger, having started with a 16 and 14 in Intelligence and Dexterity respectively, using Studded Leather and having taken two Ability Score Increases to get an 18 and 16 in their defensive stats. Their AC with Bladesong on is 19. Add on Haste and its 21; add on Shield, which they can use up to seven times for their 1st and 2nd-level spells, and you’re dealing with a 26 AC wizard that makes three attacks a round. Gross!

6th Level: Extra Attack

Extra Attack usually is the tradeoff feature that “balances” the martial characters against their full-caster allies. Bladesingers just get it as a subclass feature one level later than the fighter and ranger while also getting more 3rd level spell slots and spells known.
It turns out that giving a core feature that puts out consistent damage round after round on a class that also has full casting is insanely strong. It isn’t even tied to Bladesong, which it so easily could be to at least make it slightly more restricted.
But it's actually better than Extra Attack on the martial classes because you can also use a cantrip in place of one of your attacks which scale with your total level. That cantrip can be something like Green-Flame Blade, which gives you an extra attack with upside, or just fire out a Fire Bolt for 2-3d10 bonus damage that will only keep going up as the game progresses.
Where you might think it's worse is in weapon choice in size, but thanks to Shadow Blade presented in Xanathar’s Guide to Everything, you have access to a 2d8 + Dex super weapon that scales with spell level so you can use it all throughout the game. It costs a bonus action, so it usually is something you want a setup round for to allow for it and Bladesong to get rolling. When you do, it’s nasty how strong it is at 6th level compared.

10th Level: Song of Defense

Song of Defense basically says even if you do take a hit through a saving throw (because there’s little to no chance you’re getting hit by an attack roll), you can reduce the damage taken should you need to. The rate isn’t great, though, meaning most of the time I think you’ll prefer to lean on Absorb Elements or Counterspell to mitigate incoming damage from non-attack sources.

14th Level: Song of Victory

Song of Victory gives you a bonus to damage equal to your Int mod on hit, highly encouraging using the off-hand weapons to bump your damage up higher. At this stage, you have five Bladesongs per long rest, meaning basically every encounter between rests. Now, not only do you attack as many times as your ranger and barbarian allies, you also deal more damage on hit with your Dex mod + your Int mod added to every hit, all while not needing to forgo getting 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th level spells to let you play a completely different game.

All Together

Beyond Song of Defense, everything Bladesinger gets is ludicrous for a full-caster to receive. With next to no effort you can create a character that, during Bladesong, can’t be hit, and should they somehow run out of Bladesongs, has a full spell list like any other wizard that is already usually the strongest feature at the table. On top of the AC and concentration boon, you’re also able to just conserve spell slots and attack as effectively (or more so, with Song of Victory) as the martial classes.

Bladesinging takes some of Wizard’s most busted 1st level spells and pushes them to their fullest while getting every feature the martial classes are supposed to get to keep up with their caster counterparts. It does everything. It’s insane.

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Wizard 5e