WaggleDagger
2017-02-15, 11:00 AM
So the "spellsword" or "gish" has always been a popular character in games with both magic and martial prowess. Weaving spell casting and sword slashing are always fun. However, in 5e, it seems the developers intended three options for spellswords:
The College of Valor Bard
The Eldritch Knight
and
The "Bladelock"
Not going to touch the Bladelock as of right now, as it's melee power is lacking without some weird workarounds and one of the new invocations in Unearthed Arcana. The Eldritch Knight is a fantastic 1/3 magic user with some fun limitations and the ability to make one attack as a bonus action after a spell, while retaining the four attacks of the fighter. The Valor Bard gets the extra attack feature, as well as the ability to make an attack as a bonus action after casting.
However, both of these classes allow a single melee attack as a bonus after a spell. Wouldn't it be more "spellsword" to make the spell faster and still get a full melee attack?
It seems silly but the Sorcerer seems to make the best Spellsword to me. Using Quickened Spell (which isn't that many sorcery points) allows any spell to be cast as a bonus action, leaving a full action for the attack. The devs seemed to want to limit bonus action casting because you can only cast a cantrip as a full action afterwards, but it says nothing about attacks. Using a lvl 14 valor bard and 6 sorcerer would grant you a full spellcasting slot array, the extra attack feature, and plenty of spell slots to melt down into more quickened spell castings. This allows for a full 9th level spell to be cast as a bonus action then still take TWO melee attacks as a regular action. Or you could try 11 fighter, 9 sorcerer giving less slots, but a full THREE attacks after a bonus casting. This is make even crazier by the "Stone" based sorcerer in Unearthed Arcana which focuses even more on melee attacks.
Am I missing something here? A rule about attacks and bonus spells perhaps? It just seems the developer intended spellsword classes fall flat before the power of Quickened Spell.
The College of Valor Bard
The Eldritch Knight
and
The "Bladelock"
Not going to touch the Bladelock as of right now, as it's melee power is lacking without some weird workarounds and one of the new invocations in Unearthed Arcana. The Eldritch Knight is a fantastic 1/3 magic user with some fun limitations and the ability to make one attack as a bonus action after a spell, while retaining the four attacks of the fighter. The Valor Bard gets the extra attack feature, as well as the ability to make an attack as a bonus action after casting.
However, both of these classes allow a single melee attack as a bonus after a spell. Wouldn't it be more "spellsword" to make the spell faster and still get a full melee attack?
It seems silly but the Sorcerer seems to make the best Spellsword to me. Using Quickened Spell (which isn't that many sorcery points) allows any spell to be cast as a bonus action, leaving a full action for the attack. The devs seemed to want to limit bonus action casting because you can only cast a cantrip as a full action afterwards, but it says nothing about attacks. Using a lvl 14 valor bard and 6 sorcerer would grant you a full spellcasting slot array, the extra attack feature, and plenty of spell slots to melt down into more quickened spell castings. This allows for a full 9th level spell to be cast as a bonus action then still take TWO melee attacks as a regular action. Or you could try 11 fighter, 9 sorcerer giving less slots, but a full THREE attacks after a bonus casting. This is make even crazier by the "Stone" based sorcerer in Unearthed Arcana which focuses even more on melee attacks.
Am I missing something here? A rule about attacks and bonus spells perhaps? It just seems the developer intended spellsword classes fall flat before the power of Quickened Spell.