Questions on making a Dark Elf Sword Bard/ Hexblade for Adventure League

[Cosmic Lad]

Hello everyone!

I've been reading posts here for at least a year, but this is my very first post!
(I think I'm posting in the right spot!)

I know there are some posts that go over Sword Bard & Hexblades, but none really mention using a Dark Elf, or some of the other bits I'm wondering, so I'm making this post asking for any guidance, and being as specific in my thoughts as I can!

So, here's the thing, I have a character idea that I love:
He's a young Dark Elf that was adopted by an above ground couple (Human and Elf) when he was very young. It's a whole big family of characters I have.
Anyway, he's a really great, nice, generous guy. Totally Neutral Good. And usually in a good mood and looks on the bright side.
I'm thinking he will be an investigator type (almost like a Private Investigator), or, and I like this idea a bit more, but maybe he'll be like a supernatural investigator, like ghosts in particular.
I really like that idea. I'm thinking his Wis would prolly be higher than his Int... ('m thinking taking Elven Accuracy to up his Wis 1 at some point and get the sweet Advantage rolls...)

So, he's going to be primarily a bard. And I really like the sub-classes from Xanathar's.
So I'm going to be playing this character in the upcoming Adventure League story Waterdeep; Dragon Heist (and the follow up if the adventures are connected, like we think).
So, he will have the basic starting stats of Str 8, Dex 14, Con 12, Int 10, Wis 13, Cha 15, with Dark Elf making Dex 16 and Cha 16

I'm thinking a Sword Bard mainly, and a Hexblade for a little extra flavor and abilities.
So, I'm having trouble deciding how much of each class to take.
I definitely want to take enough Bard to get the second attack, and at least the level 10 magickal secrets. (I'm thinking Spirit Guardians and Find Greater Steed[Pegasus?] would be awesome secrets that would fit his character and interests well.)
I think I'd like to start Bard, as I love the skill versatility, and that will be his main class. (I like the Dex saving throws too.)
But I really cannot decide what Fighting style to take?
Dueling and TWF are both great, and I'm just not sure which will work better mechanically. The Sunlight Sensitivity is something that obviously worries me about the melee as well.

For Hexblade, the Charisma attacking modifier and Hexblade's Curse and access to shield and more weapon proficiencies, as well as the Shield and Wrathful Smite spells.
I'd like to go to 2 for the Invocations, probably Agonizing Blast and Devil's Sight. (I'm thinking if sunlight is a problem, casting darkness on the enemy and closing on them?)
I'd also like to go to 3, and I think pact of the Chain, to get an Imp familiar. I'm toying with the idea of having it having to obey him, but the imp is trying to urge him to do not-good things. But it doesn't work well, and sometimes it turns into a Raven and he just thinks that the Imp or Raven are weird little friends, and he just doesn't get their humor...he's pretty guileless.
And I figure if I go to three I should go to 4 for the ASI...

And what the heck should I do for a Patron? Someone/thing that doesn't like a dark elf being so goody-goody and happy? I'm having trouble thinking of one and don't know if I can or should make one up or if I should stick to what I can maybe find online, which has not been an easy search mind you!

Right now, the only other party members I think I'm sure on will be a Dragonbloodline Sorcer, and a Samurai Fighter. Not sure what the other party members will be yet...


So, I guess with all this what I'm looking for help with is:

-TWF or Dueling from Sword Bard
-Invocations from Warlock
-How far to go in Warlock?
-Patron ideas???
-What spells/skills to take in general
-What ASIs/ Feats to take?
-And any other advice any of you care to give!

(Sorry for the super long post!)
Thank you for anybody who bothers to read and answer this, I really appreciate it!!

[Whit]

1. Bard u get better stuff
2. Warlock hex. Let’s u use charisma for weapons
3. >bard.
But up to you. Based on what u like more from what u get at higher lvls bard or lock. Only thing good after lvl hex is lvl 10. Which is huge. But is that one thing better than the other levels of bard? Up to u

Twf or dueling. Well problem with twf is casting and bard casts spells also. And u would have to get warcaster and duel wield feats. So I say duelist.

I think u need lvl 2 lock for invocs but is it worth another drop behind in bard. What’s more important to u.

[Alexwellace]

I'm going to be using a Human Varient Sword Bard/Hex Warrior next semester as well and I agree it looks really cool due to SAD-ness and still acting like a full caster. We’re starting at level 5, so I was going to start 4 Bard/1 Hexblade, then taking Bard up to level 6 for Inspiration on short rest and extra attack then going back to Hexblade 2 for invocations.

1) Dueling > TWF. Rapier + Dueling is very reliable damage anyway, it leaves a hand free for a Shield/Spells without getting into the whole drop, cast, pick up action economy strangeness.

2) Invocations are really easy no brainer picks in Agonising Blast and an at will utility invocation (Devil sight, Eldrigh sight, Eyes of the Runekeeper).

3) I wouldn’t invest too far into it, you’ll delay important Bard things too much (like magical secrets). I’d even say you don’t *need* to even get that second level unless you think the invocations are especially useful. Getting that 2nd attack and inspiration on short rest is far more important.

4) Patron wise I hate the Hexblade fluff, it’s specific and stoopid in my opinion, so I always re-fluff it into something else. What I’m currently doing is having my Patron be a powerful Ancient Vampire who I’ve made a blood-pact with to get the sword, which siphons off Blood when I use it and feeds it directly to him. If you don’t like the Hexblade fluff but like the mechanics just re-fluff it, doubt anyone will care.

5) I can’t really help you with spells because I’m personally not taking the most optimal spells. I don’t want any flashy blasty magic, I wanted all my magic to be about buffs and defence, so I’m taking the likes of Longstrider, Expeditious retreat, Heroism, Shield spell and Healing Word. Although I did take Heat Metal and when I eventually get my 2nd level in Warlock I’ll probably pick up Hex to make use of my Bonus action or perhaps Booming/Green flame/ Blade.

6) ASI/Feats, I’ve taken the Unearthed Arcana feat Blade Master because I liked the vibe, but to make suggestions about good feats I’d suggest Mobile, Warcaster and the ubiquitous Lucky. If you’re planning on using a Shield Warcaster is essential unless you’re looking to cheese yourself off of any self-respecting DM’s table. But in general ASI<Feats, Priorities CHA, then Con, then Dex is what I’m looking at.

Skill-wise I’ve taken stealth, acrobatics and insight, getting investigation and survival from my background (haunted one). Throwing Expertise into Stealth and Acrobatics since I feel they’ll be the most used for my Swashbuckling Sword Bard.

Other advise? Know your choices for good synergy. If you start a fight with Expeditious retreat, alongside mobile, alongside mobile flourish, perhaps alongside longstrider, then you are the fastest Dark Elf to ever exist (40 + 10 + ~10 + 40 ft of movement). Defensive flourish + Shield spell + an actual shield will give you ridiculously high AC for a few rounds as long as you have lvl 1 spells left, but you need warcaster.

- Good luck,
Alex.

[Vogie]

For Hexblade, the Charisma attacking modifier and Hexblade's Curse and access to shield and more weapon proficiencies, as well as the Shield and Wrathful Smite spells.
I'd like to go to 2 for the Invocations, probably Agonizing Blast and Devil's Sight. (I'm thinking if sunlight is a problem, casting darkness on the enemy and closing on them?)
I'd also like to go to 3, and I think pact of the Chain, to get an Imp familiar. I'm toying with the idea of having it having to obey him, but the imp is trying to urge him to do not-good things. But it doesn't work well, and sometimes it turns into a Raven and he just thinks that the Imp or Raven are weird little friends, and he just doesn't get their humor...he's pretty guileless.
And I figure if I go to three I should go to 4 for the ASI...

And what the heck should I do for a Patron? Someone/thing that doesn't like a dark elf being so goody-goody and happy? I'm having trouble thinking of one and don't know if I can or should make one up or if I should stick to what I can maybe find online, which has not been an easy search mind you!


I'm confused - Are you looking for a patron to build, or are you already sold on Hexblade for the charisma attacking modifier?

I mean, Hex warrior with a Longsword/Rapier and dueling fighting style that keys off charisma is pretty cool.

If you're not sold on an Imp, note you can get a shapeshifting quasit or Sprite as your familiar. The Quasit has a Scare action and the Sprite has both an aura sense and a ranged attack that can give a target the poisoned condition.

[Cosmic Lad]

Thank you for your input Whit, Alex, and Vogie!
I really appreciate you taking the time to look and answer me.

I think I'll be going Dueling instead of TWF. It just seems easier. I'll get a better defense.
It seems either way I should consider Warcaster, but if I went TWF then I'd prolly have to get the Dual Wielding feat too, and that's starting to get expensive, especially if I end up with only 4 ASIs/ Feats...
And I agree, the Invocations seem really worth it, so I need to do a 2nd level of Warlock.
I'd really like to go 3rd, and go Chain. I think Imp would be pretty awesome, my only concern with Imp was the differing alignments. (NG char with LE Imp) But I'd love to have a special familiar pet like that!

But yeah, I wasn't sure if I should go to 4 of a Warlock, just to get the ASI....? I have no other reason to. But I don't want to delay my ASIs too much.

Like I was thinking with the investigator type idea, I think I'll take Investigation, Acrobatics and Insight. I get Perception from Elf. And for Cha skills, Performance and Persuasion. Skipping Deception and Intimidation as he's a super nice guy who doesn't like to lie.

And Vogie, I do want to do Hexblade. I was just wondering if anyone had any specific idea for who the Hexblade patron would be? Like it mentions Blackrazor and the Raven Queen. I think I was just wondering if anyone had any other ideas than those for items or their creators. Especially any non-evil ones?

Again, thank you all so much for your input!
It has been very useful so far.

If anyone has any other ideas for anything, I'd love to hear them!
Thank you!

[Nidgit]

Perhaps your Patron is an old family relic that attempts to push you towards regular drow behavior/society? You may have stumbled across it, or depending on the circumstances of your adoption it may have been found by/entrusted to your foster parents and kept a secret until you were of age.

You could also go in an opposite direction and encounter some spirit or force that is hostile to drow and only agrees to make a Pact with you because you are untainted by the culture. It might even push you towards genocide of your own kind.

[Alexwellace]

Just keep in mind every point you put in Warlock is another point not in bard. Kind of obvious I know, but consider the things the build needs to perform well. It needs at least 1 level in Hexblade for Cha on attack. It needs to get an extra attack somehow, and it’s work best if you can get Bardic Inspirarion on short rest (so lvl 5 bard) to syngergise with short rest spell slot. And at that point you may as well get lvl 6 for extra attack there.

I don’t rate lvl 3 warlock. Pact of the Chain isn’t spectacular, tome doesn’t really gel with the swashbuckling theme and blade doesn’t massively help. I’d say go 1 or 2 warlock, then get 6 bard, then maybe go back to warlock if you want better regenning spell slots.

[Cosmic Lad]

Thank you Nidgit and Alex!

Nidgit, that's some good ideas there! I'm thinking maybe his birth parents got mixed up in something, so they had to flee the Underdark. They ended up not surviving, so that's how he got to be with his above ground adoptive parents. But maybe something the birth parents did had attracted some sort of foul attention, and maybe that attention now turns to him, and is attempting to sway him to it's cause. He could easily come across something while trying to investigate what happened to his parents... and that something could bond with him, giving him his Hexblade levels...and eventually maybe an Imp...? (I quite like the idea of tossing that in there).

And Alex, those are some good points! He will be mostly a Bard, with just a little Hexblade. I may go Bard 1/ Hexblade 1(EB, Cha attacks)/ Bard 2-6(?)/ Hexblade 2-3(?)/ Bard +
Geez, I really want to get to Bard 6 for extra attack, and Hexblade 2 for Invocations and 3 for Imp, but that does push back Magickal Secrets...but geez, I guess you can't do it without pushing something back
I guess I'm just not sure what I need more.

We're going to play Waterdeep; Dragon Heist, so it will be RP heavy is my understanding, so maybe getting my extra attack may not be as essential to hurry to, whereas the warlock invocations and imp may be more useful there...

But I'm still not sure how far into Hexblade I should eventually go. I want to do 3 for sure. But 4 gets me to an ASI, but I'd miss getting access to level 9 spells. Although I'm not sure we'll even get to level 20. I know the undermountain one is for 6-20, but from the last few years experience, we do not get that far...

Again, thank you all for the ideas!!
Please let me know if you come up with any more!
:)