Bladesinger help and lack of healing, solutions?

[Clone]

Hey all!

A bit of context first:
I'm beginning a second campaign in PotA over the weekend and I've got two questions in regards to my Wizard Bladesinger.
My party consists of a Tiefling Fighter, going Battlemaster
A Variant Human Rogue, going Assassin starting with the Ritual Caster feat
A Monk who is unsure as what way to go, might be going Open Hand or Long Death
And myself, a High Elf Wizard, going Bladesinger.

The players are rather new, the Fighter being the DM for my other campaign but first time playing, the Monk only playing two session of Lost Mines in another campaign (rotating DMs) and the Rogue hasn't played before. I would be considered the most min-maxing of us all and probably the best grasp on the rules, so I want to help them out. My stats, after rolling and being a High-Elf (unable to play another race, must be Elf) are:
7/18/14/18/10/14

1. How would you suggest I build the Bladesinger, keeping in mind that I will not exclusively be in the backline (hence Bladesinger over other Wizard archetypes, also its cool) and that multiclassing is frowned upon unless significant RP reasons.

2. My second question is about healing. The group will work well with short rests with my arcane recovery, the fighter's maneuver die and the monk's ki, but without an actual healing spell known among the party it worries me. Would it be worth it to start off with a herbalist kit/ alchemist kit to make potions, is there a feat I can pick up to help healing in some way?

The DM, being his first time DMing, doesn't want to incorporate any random get-out-of-jail-free events, but doesn't want us to suffer too much from not having reliable healing. He showed a bit of flexibility in regards to me possibly learning cure wounds or something via downtime studying or something, but I would like a reliable source in the case he doesn't allow it.

Thanks in advance, I look forward to seeing what solutions you guys come up with!

[CaptAl]

The healer feat along with healing kits would certainly help. Not super useful in combat, but a once per short rest heal certainly shouldn't be scoffed at.

[Foxhound438]

convince someone who has 13 or more charisma to take inspiring leader, it actually adds a lot of HP across the party. Otherwise, it's just the healer feat, as far as things you can guarantee to get.

[Spectre9000]

Regarding Healing:

Whelp. You get shunned if you multi-class, so you guys are never going to have adequate healing. You could go Herbalist kit and make potions, but unless you have lots of downtime, that'll not amount to much at all.


You've basically said, "no one's going to be a class with healing, and multi-classing isn't allowed. How do we heal?" You heal by doing the things you're going to be shunned for doing. That's it. You know what gives you healing, and you know your party has none of it. Multi-classing is your only option, unless you want to give up on being a bladesinger.


Now, what I'm sure someone else is going to point out... healing generally sucks. Don't try to out-heal the incoming damage, because that's a lost cause. The only class that might can do it well enough are Life Clerics. Instead, you're a wizard. Excel at ensuring battlefield control and don't give enemies a chance to deal damage by creating an environment that hinders it via your spells.


Alternatively, If you're dead set on a melee wizard-ish with healing, then go Bard. It gets healing spells, spells from any spell-list, medium armor, and a d8 hit die. The worst part of playing a Bladesinger, is that people won't ever let you play a Bladesinger. They always want you to fill another role...



Regarding building a Bladesinger:
Booming Blade is a must have, as is Warcaster, but this is all very simple and well known. Outside of that, since you can't multi-class, your melee damage is going to be sub-par. I would say dual wield, but that would be rather pointless without the fighting style. Haste is going to be your spell, and you're going to need Resilient(Con) to keep it up, since again, you can't multi-class. Shield and Absorb Elements are the only things your first and second level spell slots are really going to be used for as they are your major defenses. I would say take Blink, but then that negates half your damage (OA with Booming Blade). Mirror Image is also no good for your build due to the huge AC difference (Presumably, you'll have 13+Dex+Int+Haste+Shield spell). Oh, and of course Mage Armor. Also, you're most definitely going to need Tough to have the slightest possibility of surviving in Melee on a d6 hit die. So, that's a three feat tax (Tough, Warcaster, and Resilient(Con)) to ensure you're at your optimum, and can survive and do everything you need in melee. From there, you get two ASI. Put them into Dex, and hope you get a Headband of Intellect.

[DivisibleByZero]

Convince the rogue to drop Assassin and be a Thief instead. I know it's less flashy, but it's actually a much better archetype than Assassin is at the table, white room theorycrafting be damned. I'm not kidding. At the table, Thief is almost as good as (or just as good as) Arcane Trickster. Better in some circumstances. It's amazingly undervalued.
Also convince him to drop Ritual Caster, as you already have it, and take Healer instead.
So basically convince the Assassin/RitualCaster that he should be a Thief/Healer.
Now you have a battlefield healer for emergencies with a bonus action via Fast Hands, and rituals are still covered by yourself, and he will actually be a better Rogue than he would have otherwise been, because Assassin is nowhere near as good as some people seem to think.

[Clone]

Thanks for the feedback!

I've suggested the Inspiring Leader feat to out Tiefling Fighter who has 16 CHA, and he feels it plays well into his story too to get at some stage along the way. He wouldn't be picking it up until level 6 at the very least though, he is dead set on grabbing the Dual Wielding feat.

I had considered the healer feat but I also heard it scales extremely poorly, and PotA is supposed to go up until 15th or so level. Wouldn't that just be a waste past 6th level or so compared to grabbing higher INT or DEX?

Is there any other way to reliably heal outside of combat for my party or is quick potion making/ taking feats the only way?

We all created our characters away from one another, and so party balance wasn't something taken into consideration. With two people playing as PCs for the first time, it is very much so "play what you want and what you think would be fun". Because of this, the idea of asking the Assassin to change her character to fit the party better would feel like it'd be spoiling the idea of her character. The book thing is something she is hooked on also.

In regards to my own Bladesinger, that is great feedback Spectre, thank you! I wouldn't be charging head first into battle, but that is a great combo I'll use when I am.
My stats after rolling and racials are:
STR:(7) DEX:(18) CON:(14) INT:(18) WIS:(10) CHA:(14)

So thankfully I have room when it comes to feats. Would Resilient (CON) and (DEX) be good investments after maxing INT? Or would Tough take priority? Not sure how to build it.

Thank you all again for the advice, the highest level I have actually played is to level 4/5 in Mines of Phandelver currently, so I have no experience with higher level play whatsoever.

[Vogonjeltz]

Hey all!

A bit of context first:
I'm beginning a second campaign in PotA over the weekend and I've got two questions in regards to my Wizard Bladesinger.
My party consists of a Tiefling Fighter, going Battlemaster
A Variant Human Rogue, going Assassin starting with the Ritual Caster feat
A Monk who is unsure as what way to go, might be going Open Hand or Long Death
And myself, a High Elf Wizard, going Bladesinger.

The players are rather new, the Fighter being the DM for my other campaign but first time playing, the Monk only playing two session of Lost Mines in another campaign (rotating DMs) and the Rogue hasn't played before. I would be considered the most min-maxing of us all and probably the best grasp on the rules, so I want to help them out. My stats, after rolling and being a High-Elf (unable to play another race, must be Elf) are:
7/18/14/18/10/14

1. How would you suggest I build the Bladesinger, keeping in mind that I will not exclusively be in the backline (hence Bladesinger over other Wizard archetypes, also its cool) and that multiclassing is frowned upon unless significant RP reasons.

2. My second question is about healing. The group will work well with short rests with my arcane recovery, the fighter's maneuver die and the monk's ki, but without an actual healing spell known among the party it worries me. Would it be worth it to start off with a herbalist kit/ alchemist kit to make potions, is there a feat I can pick up to help healing in some way?

The DM, being his first time DMing, doesn't want to incorporate any random get-out-of-jail-free events, but doesn't want us to suffer too much from not having reliable healing. He showed a bit of flexibility in regards to me possibly learning cure wounds or something via downtime studying or something, but I would like a reliable source in the case he doesn't allow it.

Thanks in advance, I look forward to seeing what solutions you guys come up with!

Don't worry about it, healers aren't a requirement to complete adventures.

If that isn't enough to set your mind at ease, buy healing potions, or hire a healer to travel with the party for a full share of treasure.