Ok, we all know how powerful Bladesong Shadow Blade is. Any build using this base will EASILY dominate honor mode.
Between the 36 AC, 4 attacks, and seemingly unlimited utility, it’s a crazy amount of everything.
In case you DIDN’T know, here’s a quick rundown of how this build works
This build is so strong your race doesn’t matter, BUT it does make for an excellent Origin Gale build, as he gets a bonus level 3 spell slot in act 2. I picked wood elf for the bonus movement speed, as you’re going to be going across the map A LOT. I do not recommend being the face of the party with this build, but if you do, pick a background that gives you persuasion prof and make wis and cha 10. until you get to act 3 at least then you can respec to dump con and equip the Amulet of Greater Health.
Starting off in Act 1, you wanna get to wizard 4 asap. your main weapon unlocks at level 3, the shadow blade, and the feat that makes this build so powerful is Mobile. It increases your movement speed, and when you attack a creature, you get to run away without risking an attack of opportunity. note that this only works against one creature, so you wanna be careful who you attack or what routing you take, as you can still trigger an attack of opportunity from other creatures. As for gear, this build WOULD work well with lightning charges, but unfortunately, the gear that would synergize the most with this build is medium armor, and makes us unable to use blade dance, even IF we were proficient with it. so instead, you wanna grab the Linebreaker Boots, the Bloodguzzler Garb, the Deathstalker Mantle (if doing a DUrge run), the Ring of Protection, the Bracers of Protection, and the Speedy Reply (offhand). If you started as an Elf, you can pick up the Spellthief longbow as a crit will restore a spell slot, but in most cases, the Bow of Awareness is just better.
Then, after finishing with the Underdark section, you wanna equip the Disintegrating Night Walkers, then buy or steal the Graceful Cloth from Lady Esther (funny enough you can always buy the Graceful Cloth from her, equip it, then steal your money back with your newfound advantage to dex checks), then head over to Creche Y’llek for the Necklace of Elemental Augmentation, the ring of Arcane Synergy, the Diadem of Arcane Synergy, and the Ring of Elemental Infusion. Do note that this will require stealing or killing the Githyanki wearing them. so before you do that, buy the Knife of the Undermountain King from the Githyanki merchant, as well as anything else you wanna grab. That’s gonna be your new offhand weapon.
Once you get to Act 2, there’s only gonna be a couple equipment you’ll want to grab. first is the Darkfire Shortbow from Dammon, which gives you a free casting of Haste per long rest (if you’re following the leveling guide, you won’t have access to Haste until level 9 so this is a nice and early headstart). The Cloak of Protection is the second thing you wanna grab, unless you already have the Deathstalker Mantle. And finally, you want to grab the Gloves of Battlemage’s Power, which is in an opulent chest on the second floor of Reithwin Tollhouse.
This should get you through Ketheric Thorm and onto Act 3. At which point, you’ll only have 5 items left to grab.
Now to on how the build itself works. Booming Blade is the main cantrip we’ll be casting each turn. Up until we unlock Hunter’s Mark at level 7, we always want to be concentrating on Expeditious Retreat. this works PERFECTLY with Linebreaker Boots, as each time you dash, you gain Wrath for 3 turns. For each turn of wrath you have left, your weapon attacks deal an extra point of damage, up to +7. And it’s not once per turn either. Expeditious Retreat lets you dash as a bonus action, so you can also dash as a standard action for an already 6 turns of wrath. That being said, while Expeditious Retreat gives you the dash action, it doesn’t actually proc the Linebreaker Boots. Anyway, once you unlock Mobile, you’ll essentially be blitzkrieging the enemy, going in for an attack, then dashing away so they can’t reach you. if they decide to chase you, they’ll take damage from Booming Blade.
Once you get to level 5, Booming Blade is upgraded so it does an extra 1d8 thunder damage on hit, dealing an additional 2d8 if the target moves. At level 6, we unlock two weapon fighting, which let’s us add our dex bonus to our offhand weapon damage. The big jump is at level 7, when we get the subclass Swarmkeeper. You want to choose Flurry of Moths because they deal an extra 1d6 psychic damage if you choose to attack, which will combo nicely with the psychic damage from shadowblade and the resonance stone we’ll get at the end of act 2. But that’s not all. You have 3 options to choose from when one of your attacks land: attack, which adds the 1d6 psychic, plus it trigger’s hunter’s mark as well; teleport, you can teleport 5m away; or Blinding Swarm, you can blind your target on a failed con save. Teleport solves the issue we had with groups of enemies. You always want to be attacking enemies that are on their own of course, but sometimes you get surrounded, there would be nowhere to run to, or you have no other targets. In that instance, teleporting away is the best option, as it doesn’t take any actions. not even your reaction. it’s a free misty step, if you need it. however, it only applies to anything that uses an attack roll, hence why we have spells like chromatic orb and scorching ray rather than fireball or lightning bolt prepared (although lightning bolt is useful against the steel watchers)
After getting the Darkfire Shortbow from Dammon, we still want to primarily cast Hunter’s Mark as our concentration because we only have the one Haste per day until level 9. After reaching level 9, we can start using haste more often as we now have the ability to cast haste 5 times/day (3 level 3 spell slots, 3 arcane recovery, then the one from Darkfire Shortbow) That being said, you don’t have to use it sparingly, just use it appropriately.
Speaking of spells, Shadowblade grows in power when upcasted, dealing 3d8 at level 3 and 4, and 4d8 at level 5 and 6. considering rangers are half casters, we get just shy of level 6 spells, but we’re able to max out shadowblade at level 5 anyway.
Anyway, at this point you might be wondering, how much more powerful can this build get? Well, enter the Resonance Stone, which gives everything in its aura vulnerability to psychic damage (that includes you and your teammates too watch out!) But watch out! Just as we get to our peak is when we’re just as likely to fall. Enter Act 3 and the terrifying Steel Watchers. These terrifying constructs are immune to our attacks. However, given the right rolls and checks, we won’t have to fight ANY of them. That is, until we try to disable the steelwatch foundry. But that’s why we have spells like shocking grasp, chromatic orb, and lightning bolt: because while they’re immune to psychic damage, they’re naturally vulnerable to lightning damage, UNLESS you’re playing on Tactician or Honor mode, in which case, it just does regular damage. In the end, you are still a wizard, so you can still function perfectly fine without the shadow blade.
Aside from that dreadful mission, which you do want to do as it gives you access to your final bow, the Gontr Mael, which gives you Celestial Haste, an upgraded version of Haste that only last 5 turns but doesn’t cause a lethargic effect. making it perfect to start off long fights. on a hit, it can also inflict the Guiding Bolt status.
Anyway, enjoy the moths!
