The Smiting Bladesinger: D&D Build

[@DnDDeepDive]

Hey friends - just FYI, I'm out of town this week so probably won't be as responsive to comments here as I usually like to be - sorry, I'm not ignoring! Hope you enjoyed the show :).

[@wandrilleturle36]

Have a nice trip and thanks for the work 😃

[@mikegeyer4138]

Have an amazing time and stay safe.

[@anastasiacaron6631]

Have fun thanks for the wizard smites

[@rcschmidt668]

Enjoy the break, Colby!

[@the.dirt.man.]

no breaks, funny internet man😡😡

[@0_Body]

Tortle: Stop *Enemies don't stop Tortle: Hammer Time Enemies: Oh oh oh

[@rcschmidt668]

To expand the MC Hammer reference and “Have You Seen Her?” This character can cast Blink, so during the battle, the bard can sing the song to taunt the enemies while the bladesinger is plane-shifted. 😂

[@UltanMcDonnell]

I came here to say almost exactly this.

[@KnicKnac]

OH YEAH! Kool-Aid man

[@majinsole8554]

Magnificent. ~_~

[@hericn]

I've been playing an Eladrin Bladesinger, mostly based on Bladesinger 2.0, for almost 2 years now. I was living the dream: - Teleporting myself, friends and foes with fey step, vortex warp and dimension door; - Asking for the blessing of the Queen of Air and Darkness when casting my shadow blade and dancing through the shadows to oblitarate my enemies; - Summoning the Feys from the courts of Barovia to help me in blattle; - Riding my illusory Stead on the battlefield; - Protecting myself and my friends turn after turn with silvery barbs, shield and counterspell - Scouting through the eyes of my raven familiar. I had everything.... UNTIL TODAY! When you (YES YOU, COLBY!) came with an even more awesome build! The sheer image o a tortle hiting his hammers on his own shell to start a bladesong, not as a soothing melody, but as a thundering warsong gives me goosebumps. What an amazing character! Thank you once more for sharing this with us. I hope you and your family have an great week! See you next tuesday!

[@trevorgreenough6141]

The tortle starting the war song sounds like the intro to Diggy Diggy Hole by Wind Rose. It starts with drums that I imagine have a similar rhythm to the tortle's war song.

[@OGPedXing]

I did this recently with the goblin race due to their disengage feature. It was awesome imagining this little green guy whirling around the battlefield, bringing the smackdown. Then i realized. Yoda. I made young Yoda 😂😂 Edit: ...and you made Master Oogway 😂

[@chance0066]

Twinzies! I do lament occasionally that I didn't stick with my first plan for Custom Lineage though. Could have just got Mobility and not needed my Bonus Action to disengage.

[@floofzykitty5072]

I now want to play a Tortle that was always told he was "too slow" to be a Bladesinger and now he's this Kung Fu Panda-esque being that is just unreasonably fast and tanky.

[@dallinlowe2627]

Played a fairy Bladesinger (styled after Peter Pan) and my GM gave me a Scimitar of Speed. Man did I have fun with this thing! Turn 1 was Bladesong and Haste on myself, followed by a weapon attack with the hasted action. Each turn after, I could use almost any combination of spells and attacks/movements I wanted. Had 80ft movement including flying, had an action, hasted action, and bonus action, and an AC off the wall. Bladesinger is one of the most busted subclasses ever created.

[@Naturjoghurt1996]

Hey Colby I've been a player for a couple of years and started as Dungeon Master last year. First found you in a Dungeon Dudes Video. Been Watching your videos for a couple of weeks now... Always listening to your soothing voice while driving to or from work. I thought I might leave a comment for the algorithm. Keep up the amazing work.

[@keithpowell8611]

I was surprised to not hear a story arch on this build. The flavor of a bladesinger paladin would be so interesting to explore! A very fun thought experiment, though! I work night shift and listen to your videos to stay awake on the drive home, great way to keep the gears spinning!

[@grantstratton2239]

Colby, I love the creativity of your builds. I confess when you asked for a raise of hands, my reaction was pure anxiety. The thought was, "that multiclass would make me really, really MAD! What's my dump stat, Colby? WHAT'S MY DUMP STAT?!" I was really relieved that you answered that question almost immediately, with Dex--'cause we're playing a Tortle.

[@KaroxNightshade]

Colby

[@grantstratton2239]

@@KaroxNightshade Thanks for the correction. out of respect for Colby, I'll edit my comment to get his name right, and leave this comment here so you don't look crazy or out-of-context.

[@Ramschat]

This might be the most Colby character ever

[@chiepah2]

My fiancée is going to love that book! I already have her birthday present for next year bought, thank you Colby.

[@chrisobrien3925]

Oath of the Singing Sword immediately came to mind. As always, loved the video. Not even just on particular builds, but watching your videos has really helped my creative side come out for character builds.

[@chance0066]

My DM was amazing and allowed me to get ahold of the Illusionist's Bracers on my Bladesinger. I'm a Goblin, and Bladesingers were always meant to be basically Jedi, so now I can go full tilt with Shadow Blade (Lightsaber) fun. Yeah, I'm Yoda. Illusionist's Bracers - When you cast a cantrip, you can use your bonus action to cast the cantrip a second time. Obviously, using this to double cast Booming Blade. DM also supports using Booming Shadow Blade, so right now at lvl 5 I can get two Shadow Blade attacks with Booming Blade damage added. In a couple of levels (cause multiclass) I'll have 3 attacks with Shadow Blade per turn. I've done this math, and it's still not quite as good as Animate Objects, so I don't feel bad... I'm just excited that I get to live the Jedi Bladesinger dream.

[@BLynn]

The Smiting Bladesinger: D&D Build #163 Level 01 (see above) [wizard 1 & race] Silvery Barbarian Mob (@12:06) Level 02 (see above) [wizard 2 & sub-class] Level 03 (@16:17) [wizard 3] Level 04 (@21:13) [wizard 4 & ASI] Level 05 (@21:50) [paladin 1] Level 06 (@23:18) [paladin 2 & fighting-style] Level 07 (see above) [wizard 5] Level 08 (@29:02) [wizard 6] Level 09 (@29:40) [fighter 1 & fighting-style] Level 10 (see above) [fighter 2] Level 11 (@34:56) [wizard 7] Level 12 (@35:22) [wizard 8 & ASI] Level 13 (@36:03) [fighter 3 & sub-class] Level 14 (see above) [fighter 4 & ASI] Level 15 (@42:15) [wizard 9] Level 16 (@44:34) [wizard 10] Level 17 (@44:56) [wizard 11]

[@phatcritz]

Sir, that indeed was a deep hammer cut. I had to look up from my desk job just to be present in the moment..

[@Treebohr]

Dual-wielding light hammers? I immediately imagined that one guy from Andor who works in the belltower. That dude was committed to his job, and while he wasn't singing, music was at least sort of involved!

[@Camo1177]

I really feel like the ‘use weapons as spellcasting focus’ part of War Caster should be a class/subclass feature. Artificers, Rangers, Paladins and maybe War Clerics, Bladesingers and Hexblades should get that automatically. Primarily the half-casters, to help give them a little bonus over full-casters. Those that study the use of martial combat and spellcasting should have extra abilities with combining them.

[@mitchhaelann9215]

Nice to see more love for the BladeTortle. Loved the build!

[@roogney]

Oh Colby, I truly adore your videos. You have created such a wonderful positive space. Thanks for putting your energy into this!

[@justinhenley1124]

I am also a bladesinger fan and I am currently in a game as a Blood Hunter/Bladesinger build. I notice that there is barely any blood hunter builds on KZbin. I’m a dual wielder reborn undying profane soul blood hunter with a fire (phoenix) affinity and 2 levels into bladesinger. Being able to use my swords to cast my spells and healing when I kill an enemy has been great. I hope to see more blood hunter builds on KZbin in the future since there are a lot of combinations. Love your videos!

[@belord444]

Ayy im a dhampir bladesinger 6/lycan BloodHunter 3 in my campaign for around a year,had a lot of fun,i reflavored the lycan into a half vampire state

[@apollosungod6673]

Blood Hunter is technically homebrew content and not officially a class by wotc

[@TabletopWorms]

I love using the Tortle as a way to get good AC without sacrificing too many stats. Very clever! I like this build quite a lot

[@destroyerinazuma96]

I agree with Colby and I also think Tortle is great material for reskinning. As a "Warforged" of sorts for instance.

[@ColinKillick]

Given the musical flavor of the Bladesinger (and the fact that they get performance proficiency), I think it would be a fun detail to have them play a big Hammer Dulcimer using the same light hammers they fight with. Bards aren't the only ones who can play instruments after all!

[@veldin25]

Love this, imagine a travel dulcimer strapped to the back of the shell

[@SuperFizzah]

Bladesinging doesn't necessarily have music associated to it. It's more like a dance, and their "song" is the noise the sword makes as they swing it through the air. At least according to the flavor text, I'm not telling you that you can't have a singing/dancing/music wizard. Here is the flavor text - "In combat, a bladesinger uses a series of intricate, elegant maneuvers that fend off harm and allow the bladesinger to channel magic into devastating attacks and a cunning defense. Many who have observed a bladesinger at work remember the display as one of the more beautiful experiences in their life, a glorious dance accompanied by a singing blade."

[@Tusitala1967]

It would have to be bigger than a xylophone and really sturdy. Maybe a magical one made out of admantine and mithral.

[@Travisb71]

I started this type of build in BG3 just the other day thinking this should be interesting. Now I’ve just found this video and thank you for the advice on this build!

[@Gaijilla]

New to the game, and to your channel. I’ve absolutely fallen in love with character creation, and enjoy that just as much if not more than the game itself. Thanks for the great content, it really has helped! By the way, I would love to see your take on a Hexbuckler! I know there are a few routes you can go, so I’d be interesting to see which way you lean.

[@tovekauppi1616]

My level 3 character for a campaign that just started is a warlock with cloud of daggers and misty step (fey touched). During my single player session, I was fighting a construct with super low int in a tight tunnel. I cast cloud of daggers between it and me, it walked through and I used eldritch blast to push it back through. When it got too close to me, I used misty step to escape to the other side of cloud of daggers. It worked phenomenally.

[@KevinVideo]

Big Matthew Sweet fan. Owned every album of his in high school. Girlfriend was the first song/music video I ever saw of his and was immediately enamoured by the fact that he was an old school anime fan too.

[@KevinVideo]

When I saw your Short yesterday, I definitely wasn't expecting you say tortle as the race, but rather base human for the +1 to all stats. That would turn a lot of 12's into the 13 minimums, and bump a couple of 13's or 15's by 1 for decent Dex and Con. Tortle is definitely the better option.

[@palatonian9618]

I don't know if we talk about this enough, or if we can talk about it enough, but *just* the conversation of what is going to be allowed on each table and what isnt is a *fascinating* question. Colby I value your consistency much more than I care about any particular assumption you make. Thank you for your contribution to optimization nerds at every table 🫡

[@mountainperry]

Colby: I really shouldn’t show off my triceps during a- Dark Colby: Do it. Colby: But I can’t… I really shouldn’t do it right at the beginn- Dark Colby: DO IT.

[@harley3211]

nothing like some cosy bladesingin' d4 in the morning ❤

[@AT-sx2jp]

I would love to see you build a barbarian/celestial warlock! That’s what I’m playing now and it’s so fun. I’m level 10 eladrin currently but plan is for barb 6/ celestial warlock 14. While raging I can heal with a bonus action, smite, teleport myself or a party member, and armor of Agathys isn’t concentration and works great on a barb. We have a cleric so I’m mostly for clutch heals to get people up but being able to revivify is huge since only our cleric had it so if they went down we were screwed. Being able to leave rage in a pinch to heal with cure wounds on myself too basically puts me right back to full HP. I picked blade so I could use my pact slots to smite but honestly I think an ancestral guardian barb / talisman celestial warlock would be a really cool build. You could also do pact if the chain and get good berry through MI to be able to get people up while raging.

[@DnDDeepDive]

I think I did that for the shaman video? Support barbarian?

[@WearingGoldluck]

Heyo, small thing here, but the die from Superior Technique is probably supposed to actually become a D8 upon becoming a Battle Master since it is just added to your pool of other dice. Crawford said something similar a couple years ago (before Tasha’s released) about Martial Adept and then Superior Technique got slightly better wording to tell you that it becomes a D8 as well.

[@justinsmart581]

Thanks for this! I always wondered about the interaction, because taking Metamagic Adept as a Sorcerer made sense at times, but taking the Battlemaster feat as a Battlemaster never made sense, because of the non-scaling die. Glad to see it was addressed.

[@TheRealZiktus]

One of my favorite subclass combinations. Can't wait to see what you cooked up!

[@asilva4956]

I did Paladin Bladesinger before. It was [16 STR - 16 CON - 13 INT - 13 CHA] Very low Dex and Wis. It was a warforged so he got chainmail, shield, +2 AC from race and fighting style. So his base AC without bladesinging was 20! Completely ditched out Bladesong feature and only used Extra Attack. Later on i got fullplate so his AC increased to 22. The bane of this character was doing saving throws, but i got bless with me to help a little :D

[@eldoriath1]

Colby is totally the Steve Irwin of D&D dragons ❤

[@MrTaskmaster1]

Love this idea. You could get a headband of intellect and get your int set to 19. That would add AC to you and more. You could also look into getting bracers of defense since they work with no armor.

[@jpperron1835]

The art this week is *chef’s kiss*

[@Dayhawk101]

Fun Fact. Feats Extra has all the feats nearly from the game in it now. Crusher feat is available.

[@lostsoulman]

I was about to make the same comment. I've just added all the giant feats too.

[@Cruzz999]

As someone who usually doesn't do point buy method, I think I'll keep this concept in my back pocket for when I roll some godly starting stats.

[@carsonlake3842]

This is now at the top of my list of characters I want to play

[@jeffersonian000]

I built a Custom Lineage Barb 2/Pal 2/Wizard 16 (Delilah d’Lysander) for a 1v1 challenge in our Lvl20 Fight Club. 30 AC (w/ Shield Spell), Booming Blade, Silvery Barbs, Smites for days, would have loved to have played her in a campaign. Barb 1/Wiz 2 is what I like to call the “Skinny Dip” as it lets you effectively fight “naked” with a ridiculously high AC.

[@gravweldon7700]

I am working on a Tortle Bladesinger using a quarter staff wielded one handed using polearm mastery. Very effective.

[@collinw9792]

Im looking at making a backup character for a campaign I'm in and this will be an excellent start (with some minor adjustments for the campaign) thanks Colby! You rock!

[@ArceusShaymin]

Hey, Colby! I was going through the D&D: Optimized playlist in the background and noticed that some videos were missing! On a quick look, it seems that entries 118, 121, 126, 128, 146, 152, 153, 154, and 161 are currently not included in the playlist.

[@mattlokigaming598]

before going into the video, will say it does remind me of another combination I've wanted to see before. Paladin of some kind, and war magic. Now, to see this setup, because this sounds fun :D

[@YeeCawMf]

After rolling godlike stats on a backup character, I'm bringing my own version of this build to the table. I rolled 3 14s, a 15, a 17 and an 18. I'm throwing the 18 into Intelligence, a 17 in Dexterity, a 15 in Constitution and 14s in everything else. We're starting at level 5 so I took the 2 levels of Paladin 1st and then I'm going full bladesinger until level 20. I went with Half Elf for the +2 and 2 +1s and for the flavor. +2 went into Dex and the 2 +1s went into Con. My background is a custom background with Strixhaven Initiate Lorehold for Int based Healing word, Thaumaturgy for advantage on some charisma based skills and I haven't decided between Light and Sacred Flame yet. I'm leaning Sacred Flame as I'm going to be playing alongside a Twilight Cleric and Sacred Flame is just another source of potential radiant damage. At wizard level 4, I'm taking Elven Accuracy to max my Dex out and for super advantage for when I cast shadow blade and divine smite with it. Next ASI would be a half feat in Intelligence to have my melee and spellcasting mods be maxed out, next would be resilient Con and lastly I would take dual wielder (my DM is letting me take 2 weapon fighting for the Pally Fighting style) OR Tough, haven't decided yet.

[@Evoker23-lx8mb]

Paladin crossed with any full caster is always going to be good. If you have more spells slots that means more smites. I’d even add a level of hexblade warlock in there. In one action you’ve got the normal attack damage, bonus action smite spell then you can freely add on divine and eldritch smite (they’re both special actions so as long as you’ve got the spell slots to spare you can do this).

[@PotofGlue]

I see a lot of people be like "well if shadow blade is supposed to work with booming blade why else would it say that" it's spell foci. A spell focus can replace any components without a listed value, it has to cost at least 1 sp to keep you from casting the spell with no weapon

[@shadowcrane2634]

I was just about to try this... great timing.

[@Fayeelstob5807]

So excited for this one, I already have a bladesinger paladin so I want to see how it holds up against yours :)

[@LordNerfherder]

I'm just saying... if you roll stats and roll well you play something like this. Daaaamn good. I have played similar builds 2-3 times and loooooved it

[@mattdahm4289]

Thanks Colbs! 🐉

[@Seraphim_MTG]

This build is awesome, and I think that's how I'll build my next bladesinger. But I must say, I don't know what Tortle and Bladesong actually give us. You can just as easily be any other ancestry, grab plate mail and a shield, and completely ignore Bladesong. Then you can take dueling with your Pali fighting style, and you barely lose any damage early and probably increase it later. Strengthsingers are awesome and I built many. Just ignore Bladesong.

[@randomize.4]

hooray new video! I will catch the video after work today, just wanted to drop this now :)

[@roninhare9615]

Thank you for a wonderful video once again! Keep up the great work! 5 months cant come soon enough, I’m curious what you’ll do once you get your hands on the new PHB.

[@lukelloyd8976]

Was *not* expecting the MC Hammer segue Enjoy spring break!

[@nathanaelthomas9243]

Thanks for the build Colby, I enjoyed it 👍🏻

[@michaelmuirhead910]

Still kills me that a dart thrower blows away so many of these builds years later. Long live the Needler!

[@chance0066]

Was randomly reading Sage Advice today after watching this and found the following: Is natural armor considered light armor? No. Natural armor doesn’t fit into the categories of light, medium, and heavy armor, and when you have it, it isn’t considered to be an armor you’re wearing. So RAW, we shouldn't be able to pick up the Defense Fighting Style, though your DM's ruling may vary.

[@akmi1931]

That is true

[@mattcurnell2545]

replace the defense fighting style with hopefully adding bracers of defence and or protection magic items

[@drakenon75]

If you add Lorehold Student as a background you get Spirit Guardians at level 5 Bladesinger. I've dubbed this build my mobile microwave build. Upcast Spirit Guardians with your highest level spell level, initiate bladesong, sprint into the nearest enemy cluster and watch them melt like they chose the wrong grail in Indiana Jones, Raiders of the Lost Ark.

[@makbeth4245]

It's been 24h since the release of this video and i haven't found anything funny to say about it (although the idea of reflavoring hammers into Sais for tmnt reference is cool) so i guess i'll plug a weird build idea, that only Colby could complete: Triple build based of Trevor Belmont, Sypha Belnades and Alucard for the Castlevania show. Challenge is (except for the fact, that it'd be first triplet on the channel) is to make it work as the synergetic team, not just three characters being in a same party. Or maybe i just want for Colby and everyone in the chat to watch that amazing show. Fight me 🙃

[@rekcroom]

I don’t know what you’re talking about The Smitesinger is such a cool name! 😂

[@ryanscanlon2151]

I did a sustain version of this build, oath breaker paladin+ 1 hexblade +6 blade singer. I've never gotten to play it though but adding charisma mod twice on every attack feels really good lol

[@targetdreamer257]

I don't know if you see this d4 but anyway. What about build that focuses on the Tiny Servant spell? They have better AC then zomberts and skells from Animate Dead. They also do comparable damage, you could even use silver coins which gets around a small amount of Immunities. But then they have Blindsight! If you throw in Darkness then your Tinies would all attack at advantage and all attacks against them would be at disadvantage (mostly). If you some how can cast Crusader's Mantle then you would effectively double the damage your Tinies can do.

[@Uch1ha96]

I done a Bladesinging, Bard, and paladin multiclass buuld in bg3 and it was really fun

[@caosisaac]

I swear to bahamut colby and i are the same person. We both: Love monks as favorite class Have bladesinger as favorite subclass And Multiclass EVERYTHING Not to mention trying to theme our multiclasses instead of only going for pure numbers. Big differences are colby does point buy and sticks to vanilla, obviously so his videos appeal to the widest audience possible on top of possible preferential taste, while i always roll for stats and have an obscene amount of homebrew that changes how builds like these would work at my tables haha. *cough* also colby is much prettier than me *cough*

[@MalloonTarka]

Considering building around _Steel Wind Strike,_ it might work if you built around teleporting. I had two builds focused on that: 1) focused on self-teleportation, a Shadar-Kai Echo Knight Fighter 7/Bladesinger Wizard 13 and 2) focused on team-teleportation and with three "pets", an Eladrin Echo Knight Fighter 3/Scribes Wizard 14/Wildfire Druid 2/Order Cleric 1. I have no idea how to judge them beyond how much they can teleport, though. Teleportation is useful, but teally hard to quantify unless you have an explicit tactic. I suppose _Vortex Warp_ and later _Scatter_ work as instantaneous forced movement, but...

[@michalberanek2783]

If I get it right, Haste specifically lets you make another Attack action and restricts it to one weapon attack I can see an interpretation where you could still cast Booming Blade with that action

[@justinsmart581]

Colby probably had BG3 on his mind. ...take a drink.

[@brannenpfister2579]

No. Booming blade is casting a spell

[@forrestlarson2293]

​@brannenpfister2579 bladesinger allows you to trade one of your attacks with a centrip (like booming blade) whenever you take the attack action.

[@brannenpfister2579]

@@forrestlarson2293 It all comes down to the wording "One weapon attack only". This prevents anything OTHER then a weapon attack, due to specific beats general. If it was "Only one weapon attack" then the Bladesinger could have replaced the attack with a cantrip. It’s all down to semantics and English grammar honestly.

[@forrestlarson2293]

@@brannenpfister2579 considering the haste spell came out long before bladesinger, it is clear that the wording is intended, and written, to mean that your number of attacks is limited during your hasted action. The location of the "only" during the sentence makes no difference. In either instance, you could take it to mean either thing, but as stated, we know the truth.

[@karatekoala4270]

Just realized i haven't watched a build in almost 2 months.😢 But it's good to be back home

[@theyellowstripe1]

"Hi, you must be new here!" literally made me laugh out loud.

[@jonp8015]

"Prioritize getting a headband of intellect over all other items." Or get a *Mizzium Apparatus* like an absolute madman.

[@justinsmart581]

A true Kobold move.

[@jonp8015]

@@justinsmart581 Flex on other Paladins by casting Find Greater Steed at level 8.

[@veldin25]

Idea for getting around dual wielding with somatic components. Use a lanyard for your offhand hammer. Maybe you can't throw it now, but it seems like it should simplify the lore of dropping your weapon and retrieving it later

[@MentalNewb]

I've been experiencing this in BG3 and holy crap it's so freaking strong.

[@ericgonzales419]

I love the idea of a Tortle having runes carved into their shell if you went Rune Knight

[@kendallmcqueary9737]

New team up builds, the dog and the duck!

[@DnDDeepDive]

😂

[@Shamalaya311]

You can go with heavy armor, it is less powerful than tortle but it makes you also less reliant on bladesong to stay in melee. Also you can get better racial that the tortle one, when you get at later levels if your DM gives you access to a medium or large barrier tattoo you can use bladesong and be armored. If you go V Human with Polearm master and Great weapon fighting style you will have a greater burst damage potential since you can reroll the smite damage too. It has less survivability with a 2h weapon but the damage should be insane. Eventually even without the barrier tattoo you can use bladesong when you get access to shapechange but a bladesinging smiting Planetar who rerolls any 1s and 2s on the damage dices seems a pretty strong burst damage option

[@f.a.santiago1053]

Love this build! You know what I really want to do now? Make the character a very angry Hammer Bro koopa! lol

[@WitchAlice]

Omfg I just realized I can find your stuff on Spotify! Huzzah!

[@tayloralysis]

I was just thinking about this over the weekend. GET OUT OF MY HEAD!

[@KrisSchouw]

I love these builds as I've definitely been inspired mechanically to construct new character concepts from them. I do somewhat wish that there were more techniques and combinations to be had as I feel like we see a lot of the same strategies when it comes to things like either grappling into an AoE or shoving into an AoE. I understand they're mechanically powerful, but I've always felt like some approaches to this feel very "video gamey" rather than really that sensible during a narrative. To be fair, there have been 163 builds at this point, so I'm aware it's hard to avoid the "same 'ol, same 'ol" schtick. Hopefully with a build like this I can roll for stats and get lucky enough to not need to rely on the Tortle's feature for AC.

[@Bacon_and_Busch]

I did not want a Paladin Bladesinget because I had not even considered it. Now, that's all I want and immediately started her backstory.

[@soldier660]

Awesome, loving these new videos ^^ !!!

[@ZeroAperture1]

Colby, just FYI I posted a spike growth grappler optimised build in response to Chris's video yesterday on this topic. Would love it if you compare this build sometime to your other builds. Build details copied below: I came up with an optimised Spike Growth grappler build around a year ago after watching Colby’s Cheesegrater and Bard Grappler videos (I dubbed it Fluffy the Ferocious Feline in some 1-shots I played). I tried to get in touch with you at the time to suggest the build. Anyway, I think it’s possible to run this build for huge damage without a party of companions: - Druid 8 (Moon Druid), Rogue 3 (Bonus Action dash and Skirmisher), Fighter 7 (for Action Surge and Psi Leap) - Race = Tabaxi (Feline Agility) - Feats = Mobile - Move speed = Wild Shape into Quetzalcoathus (Huge for Grappling) for 80ft flying speed + 10ft Longstrider + 10ft Mobile = 100ft - Psi Leap (may need to use Moorbounder depending on DM) to double speed to 200ft - X2 Feline Agility = 400ft - On turn, move 400ft, Action dash 400ft, Action Surge Dash 400ft, Reaction 0.5x movement (Skirmisher) at 200ft = 1,400ft - Damage against a Large or larger enemy = 700dpr - Damage against a medium or smaller enemy = 1,400dpr Then you can add magical items to this, for example in a level 20 one shot: - Hasted speed doubles = 800ft - Boots of Speed x2 = 1,600ft - Potion of Haste - adds another dash action (+400ft) - On turn, move 1,600ft, Action dash 1,600ft, Action Surge Dash 1,600ft, hasted action dash 1,600ft, Reaction 0.5x movement (Skirmisher) at 800ft = 7,200ft - Damage against a Large or larger enemy = 3,600dpr!! - Damage against a medium or smaller enemy = 7,200dpr!! Please check my workings as I did rather rush this post!

[@Sirfinchyyy]

Does Colby love the bladesinger because he sings in every video he makes???😮

[@LordNerfherder]

Best class combo

[@kbowman772]

I think Tenser's transformation is a good spell for this build, so we can have advantage on all our weapon attacks and some force damage to add to the damage.

[@ccoopplay1]

Anther fantastic video! Love it

[@theonlymatthew.l]

One question I have is why would you focus more on strength than dexterity? I understand that in this build, dexterity doesn't affect your armor class. But doesn't it still affect your dexterity savings throw?

[@jamesjordan7608]

Nice MC Hammer reference.

[@TheLordDracula]

Floral dragons are you kidding my Colby?! It's like kryptonite covered in kryptonite petals!

[@BenMeadows013]

Different route: Use Half-Elf for +2,+1,+1. Start Str 14+1, Dex 8, Con 13+1, Int 13, Wis 9, Cha 15+2. Start Paladin, rock heavy armour right from the start and never bother with Bladesong at all. 2nd level Hexblade to use cha for attacks, then 6 in bladesinger, then Paladin 2. Doesn’t come online before level 9 (given that you’ll need 2 in Paladin for divine smites) and you should probably only cast defensive spells and buffs with the wizard spells because of low intelligence. I wouldn’t think this is fun to play at lower levels, but for a higher level one shot or something, why not.

[@sannylad9204]

Great video! It doesn't have ALL of the Colby clichés, it could still use a dip in Hexblade 😂 Has anyone ever suggested a build for a character that could use both melee and ranged weapons with equal effectiveness?

[@jameslewis9292]

Please see Gloomstalker Ranger combined with any/all spell casting classes. You can use a longbow, shortbow, or any crossbows for the ranged and works really well combined with Assassin Rogue subclass. Because of being a ranger, can still melee with the best of them too. Dual shortswords are my go-to.

[@Malacar99]

Also curious about folks thoughts on using Lightning Lure instead of Crusher to targets into your Cloud of Daggers? Also is only a Verbal Component so can be used while Duel Wielding without any bending over backwards to drop weapons etc.

[@mikeschwarz1044]

Would love to see a build around Steel Wind Strike. Maybe trying to maximize advantage on spell attacks and other tricks like Elven Accuracy to try for occasional spell attack crits. Make Shocking Grasp relevant again before the nerf. (Shocking Grasp didn't need to get nerfed). Throw in other spell attacks like Crown of Stars at higher levels. Who knows?

[@Wytchblades]

Starting this now, seeing if you did someting close to what I want to try or if this is better way. Half Elf is what I went with. let us see

[@garyboyles5762]

Day 1 request: 2 characters. Character One is primarily life cleric, who uses Holy weapon for Character Two. Character 2 is a musket carrying Blade Sorlock, smite, Hexes and darkness. I have builds in mind, if requested for more theorycrunching.

[@kathrynck]

Don't have time to watch right now, will try to catch later. But for early post algorithm, just wanna say this sounds OP AF. edit: got to it now :) I think you missed the perfect name: "Blade-Smiter"

[@williambo6682]

What do you think of the spirit aura with light smites. 6 vengeance paladin 6 lore bard to light orb and reverb everything and to get smitey.

[@CrisSantos-cc8cc]

Could you use your familiar, if they are a flying type, to always hover above you, giving you the shade you need to get all, or some, of the shadow blade bonuses?

[@johndavis6280]

Would you consider going artificer first? You don't lose any spellslot progression just spell level progression and you still get the constitution save. I am building a Blade singer/psy knight and didn't like not starting with spells, so this was my compromise.

[@kristiandahl1310]

Just like a one level dip or come back to it later?