Enlightened Warrior 5e wizard PEACH

[Seekergeek]

This is my first attempt at any serious homebrew. Doing it up for a player who wants something gishy but is not interested in the bladesinger or eldritch knight. I won't be playing it, but DMing opposite it and just want a set of eyes on it that aren't my own. I'm not sensitive so have at it.

https://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/1b_sFfw2UnKC

[Garfunion]

When it comes to full caster gish, a lot of it comes down to roleplaying an illusionary sword when casting your spell, not game mechanics.

What about the paladin class? If you ignore the “divine” warrior lore/story of the class, I makes a good swordmage class. It’s smite spells are very gish like. Pick up magic initiate feat and booming blade and greenflame blade cantrips.

For your archetype,

Arcane Weapon
Seems ok, it is basically a melee version of Eldritch Blast cantrip.

Arcane Ward
Is to powerful to me. Just give the archetype the blade ward cantrip and allow the wizard to cast it as a bonus action. As for the elemental resistance, absorb elements is a better spell to use.

Arcane Strike
This needs to be limited to 5th level spells max, like the paladin smite feature.

Arcane Surge
Is to powerful, just copy the fights action surge feature instead.




Another alternative is to make Arcane Weapon feature into a cantrip and have the player pick the School of War Magic.

[Seekergeek]

I take all your points.

I wanted to keep away from just making a cantrip for the arcane blade to try and tie it to class level rather than character level, and agree that it is probably the least problematic part of the design.

For the arcane ward, a bonus action blade ward is a pretty elegant alternative though I wonder if it is not enough of a feature compared to blade song or...(just realized this shares a name with the abjuration school ability haha damnit) the abjuration arcane ward.

The level six ability was meant to cap at fifth level spells - total oversight in my haste to put it on paper. Thanks for that catch.

Arcane surge was meant to be a more mechanically limited action surge - I wanted to limit it to not include the ability to double up on the arcane weapon attack. Do you mean the frequency should be 1/short rest rather than int mid/long rest?

[Garfunion]

I take all your points.

Do you mean the frequency should be 1/short rest rather than int mid/long rest?

Yes 1/short rest.


What does the player not like about Bladesinger?

What kind of gish are they really looking for. Is there a book/movie/cartoon/tv show character they are trying to mimic?


I still think war magic can be re-fluffed(story) to be a melee gish.

Sword Burst cantrip summons and illusionary melee weapon that slashes at the creatures around the wizard.
Magic Missile creates flying swords or for melee the wizard summons a blade of force the goes “snicker snack“ before disappearing.

[Steampunkette]

Serious suggestions:

Giving them 4 attacks and full spellcasting is a bit on the OP side. Stick with the Arcane Sword dealing 1d10+int force mod as a melee spell attack, then at 6 give them a single Extra Attack. Or, better yet, allow them to make a bonus action attack after they use a cantrip (Eldritch Knight style)

Rather than making them gain resistance to all damage types for an hour up to 5 times per short rest, give them Blade Ward as a -bonus action- cast. So every turn they have to pick between resistance to S/P/B or using bonus-action spells.

At 10th level you're giving them 5 Action Surges (Essentially) per long rest. A fighter at 17th level gets 6. It's a bit much. How about, instead, giving them the ability to expand their "Blade Ward" cantrip to do energy types at this level? Or let them add 1d8 Energy Damage to an attack with their Arcane Blade 1/round.

Arcane Wave works fine, but without the Arcane Ward power, let's just make it an int/rest reaction to being hit (But not damaged) so you can -maybe- kill low-health enemies who hit you before the damage gets through.

[Seekergeek]

Thank you so much for the help so far, guys! Taking some of the above to heart, I've done up a second draft.

To answer the question of what the player wants vs what is already on offer is more of a gish with an absorbtion based defense rather than an AC boosted one. I'm ok with that largely because the wizard still has such low HP as a chassis and limited ways to boost that. If he wants to pour spell slots into false life or feats into tough, I'm good with that. Ultimately, though, I think he wants to play something he hasn't played before and since we've been at 5e since it was Next, that list of options is getting pretty thin.

As for the Enlightened Warrior itself, I prepared a version 2.0 (https://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/4SxYicYdhN9k)

I actually came to really like the suggestion as relates to blade ward, and decided to roll in a similar application of true strike. Two unique cantrip applications that you can’t double up on could serve to make the school feel more dynamic round to round, forcing the choice of offence or defence round to round both between these cantrips as well as other bonus action spells like misty step or flaming sphere.

I also reduced the damage output on arcane weapon to a d8, though I did toy with a d6 even. Ultimately, I feel like by level 6 and onward you're still a wizard and still have a lot on your spell list that is going to really overshadow arcane weapon. Even more than the bladesinger, I feel like without a smite-like application of spell slots this would play as a feature-light wizard beyond T2.

I reduced the arcane surge to 1/short rest.

I retooled and renamed the Arcane Wave to key off of damage while concentrating on a spell.

[Steampunkette]

I'm still not 100% on the 4 attacks, myself. While it is basically a cantrip, damage-wise, melee weapon attacks have more applications than a firebolt. Grappling and Shoving, for example.

But other than a typo in Arcane Strike (You call it Enlightened Strike under the Arcane Strike Heading) I think this bad boy is good to go!

Slap some Mage Armor on him, toss Blade Ward out every single round, and he's a surprisingly resilient d6 character. Just roll up a Tiefling for that level 1 Fire Resistance to offset some magical low-tier attacks bypassing Blade Ward's reduction...

Huh... This wizard is a good fighter character, but is shockingly open to murder by other wizards 'cause of Energy Damage. Then again, I suppose with Resist Elements and Counterspell as spell options, you could shore that up pretty easily as a wizard.

One more small suggestion? Give 'em Shillelagh as part of Enlightened Warfare. That way they could choose to off-hand a 1d8 Club, Blade Ward, or True Strike! 'Cause Bonus Action for dual-wielding.

[Seekergeek]

Huh... This wizard is a good fighter character, but is shockingly open to murder by other wizards 'cause of Energy Damage. Then again, I suppose with Resist Elements and Counterspell as spell options, you could shore that up pretty easily as a wizard.

One more small suggestion? Give 'em Shillelagh as part of Enlightened Warfare. That way they could choose to off-hand a 1d8 Club, Blade Ward, or True Strike! 'Cause Bonus Action for dual-wielding.

Can't be good at murdering everyone all the time! I like that the school has something of a blind spot, actually. Should be fun to DM opposite.

Shillelagh did cross my mind on the second pass of "design" (though it feels generous to myself to call it that), but seeing as the arcane weapon isn't a weapon but a melee spell attack, there's no off-handing allowed. At the outset of the idea I did briefly think about just allowing int to attack and damage at 1 and extra attack at 6 but that seemed pretty bland compared to a unique ability.

[Yakk]

4 attacks is a top-tier damage dealing feature.

Smite is a top-tier damage dealing feature.

You bolted them together.

---

A different approach.

Enlightened Blade

Starting at level 2, an Enlightened Warrior can imbue a melee weapon with power. At the end of a long or short rest, you can enlighten a weapon you touch. The weapon gains a bonus to damage rolls equal to 1/2 of your intelligence modifier (round up). If the weapon was non-magical, it is now magical and gains a bonus to attack rolls equal to 1/2 of your intelligence modifier (round up). If it was magical, it gains an additional +1 bonus to attack rolls instead.

These benefits only work for the Enlightened Warrior, and can apply to up to your proficiency bonus weapons at one time. You can treat the Enlightened Weapon as a spellcasting focus, and perform S components with it.

Whenever you make a ranged spell attack while wielding an enlightened weapon, you can instead make a melee spell attack. If you do so, each hit deals additional damage equal to 1/2 of the sum of your strength and dexterity modifiers.

Design Notes
1/2, round up, attack and damage makes a mediocre strength/dex usable with a weapon. You aren't swinging it with your mind, but your mind is helping. This makes your competent with a blade at this level.

Most spells are ranged attacks. The second part of this feature lets you convert them to being usable in melee. Adding 1/2 of (str+dex) is a bonus for using them in melee, and encourages you to be physically fit.

Enlightened Strike

At 2nd level, you learn the blade ward and true strike cantrips. After you cast either of these cantrips and are wielding an Enlightened Weapon, you can make a melee spell attack using the reach of your weapon. The damage is 1d10 force plus 1/2 of the sum of your dexterity and strength bonuses.

You can cast True Strike without concentration. If you do, its effect lasts only until the end of the action, and applies to your Enlightened Strike.

The damage of the Enlightened Strike increases to 2d10 force damage at level 5 and 3d10 force damage at level 11.

Design notes
One big hit, not a bunch of small hits. You get to stack it with true strike or blade ward, which is awesome. Level 17 is missing on purpose; the level 14 feature gives a significant boost.

The attack is a melee spell attack, so uses your intelligence. The bonus damage is again the average of your strength and dexterity bonus, to encourage some level of physical fitness.

Instead of many taps, it is one tap, again to make it feel different than melee characters.

Arcane Strike

Starting at 6th level, when you hit a creature with your Enlightened Weapon or your Enlightened Strike, you can expend a spell slot to deal an additional 1d6 damage, plus 1d6 per level of the slot used, to a maximum of 5d6 damage, and temporary HP equal to the damage you did with the attack. Immediately after the attack, you can sacrifice any number of those temporary HP to teleport 1 foot for every HP sacrificed this way.

Design notes
As a full caster, the damage per slot is a touch lower than the Paladin's. You gain temporary HP, part of the "soak" feature, and that scales really well with blade ward. You can burn those HP for a teleport.

Enlightened Scholar

Starting at level 10, an Enlightened Warrior can stretch her mind to become one with all. Whenever you make an intelligence check and you do not add your proficiency modifier, you may now add 1/2 of your proficiency modifier to the check. If you already add your proficiency modifier, instead add twice your proficiency modifier.

Design notes
Every subclass needs non-combat features. Here is one for the Enlightened Warrior. Brains!

It also helps with counterspells etc.

Enlightened Spellcasting

Starting at 14th level, you can now use your Enlightened Strike after casting any spell as an action.

Design notes
You can Firebolt (melee spell attack) and then Enlightened Strike at-will. Or use a leveled spell.

[Garfunion]

There is a problem with true strike cantrip that can make it unrewarding to use. Even if you can cast it as a bonus action, according to the wording of the spell. You must still wait until your next turn to use its effects. (I’m still on the fence with this)

I’m staring to think that Arcane Weapon should only provide 2 attack with the option of a bonus attack with the use of a bonus action. This way the wizard can use their bonus action for defense or offense.




Level 17 is missing; see class feature at level 17.
I might be missing something but wizards do not get a level 17 archetype feature.

[Yakk]

There is a problem with true strike cantrip that can make it unrewarding to use. Even if you can cast it as a bonus action, according to the wording of the spell. You must still wait until your next turn to use its effects. (I’m still on the fence with this)
It also requires concentration.

It really is a bad cantrip.

I’m staring to think that Arcane Weapon should only provide 2 attack with the option of a bonus attack with the use of a bonus action. This way the wizard can use their bonus action for defense or offense.
I did it where Arcane Weapon gets 1 attack only.

I might be missing something but wizards do not get a level 17 archetype feature.
Bugger. I was copying the template of the OP.

A level 14 feature shouldn't nearly be as strong as that (I think it might be too strong for a level 17 feature actually).

The easy fix is "when you cast a spell as an action". That makes it strong -- you can Firebolt (melee) Enlightned Strike (melee) as a baseline attack (6d10+(str+dex)), upgrdaing to 7d10+(str+dex) at level 17. And it means you can cast a leveled spell and still get your Enlightened Strike in.

I'll revise it.

[Steampunkette]

Can't be good at murdering everyone all the time! I like that the school has something of a blind spot, actually. Should be fun to DM opposite.

Shillelagh did cross my mind on the second pass of "design" (though it feels generous to myself to call it that), but seeing as the arcane weapon isn't a weapon but a melee spell attack, there's no off-handing allowed. At the outset of the idea I did briefly think about just allowing int to attack and damage at 1 and extra attack at 6 but that seemed pretty bland compared to a unique ability.

Oh, I see where you're setting up that distinction...

Maybe consider an editor's note style sidebar in the homebrewery document which expresses that because it's a spell-attack it cannot be used interchangeably with other attacks.

Though... The smite thing is pretty big, as noted.

Maybe look at granting them the Smite Spells, instead? It would honestly be more thematic for a Wizard to blind someone with a strike than a Paladin, after all.

[Seekergeek]

I tried working in some smite spells to the wizard spell list, but couldn't find the design space to do it where I didn't feel like bloat was becoming a factor.

Given the feedback so far, I've done up a version 3.0 (https://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/Z2OIoD5NWxkp)

I gave the arcane weapon standard cantrip progression, ditched the smite at level 6 in favour of a bonus action second strike (with lower damage that does not increase in scale), I removed the surge and added a more defensive feature in Enlightened Sight, and tuned Wave of Enlightnement down quite a bit.

I did toss in a small temp-hp rider to the arcane blade to help with survivability and ditched true strike as a free bonus action cantrip.

Re: Yakk's feedback, I really appreciate the time you put in to it. I didn't want to have quite so many moving pieces or introduce a new mechanic for calculating damage which is the main reason I stuck with the cantrip progression of the spell attack, though I do really quite like the flavour of what you put together.

[Seekergeek]

As a follow up question, am I reading blade ward correctly in that if cast as a bonus action he could manage to keep it up by casting it at the start of ever second round?

[JNAProductions]

I tried working in some smite spells to the wizard spell list, but couldn't find the design space to do it where I didn't feel like bloat was becoming a factor.

Given the feedback so far, I've done up a version 3.0 (https://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/Z2OIoD5NWxkp)

I gave the arcane weapon standard cantrip progression, ditched the smite at level 6 in favour of a bonus action second strike (with lower damage that does not increase in scale), I removed the surge and added a more defensive feature in Enlightened Sight, and tuned Wave of Enlightnement down quite a bit.

I did toss in a small temp-hp rider to the arcane blade to help with survivability and ditched true strike as a free bonus action cantrip.

Re: Yakk's feedback, I really appreciate the time you put in to it. I didn't want to have quite so many moving pieces or introduce a new mechanic for calculating damage which is the main reason I stuck with the cantrip progression of the spell attack, though I do really quite like the flavour of what you put together.

Arcane Weapon looks fine.

Enlightened Warfare does not-at this level, many foes deal exclusively weapon damage, meaning you're like a Raging Barbarian, only you can still cast spells and don't have a limit on uses per day. Admittedly, low HP and AC, but still.

Arcane Strike looks fine. An extra 1d6+Int mod damage ain't a big deal, and the teleport costs slots.

Enlightened Sight has a weird name, but mechanically looks fine.

Wave of Enlightment looks fine.

[Seekergeek]

Enlightened Warfare does not-at this level, many foes deal exclusively weapon damage, meaning you're like a Raging Barbarian, only you can still cast spells and don't have a limit on uses per day. Admittedly, low HP and AC, but still.


Is there something else I can slot in there that would manage some level of defence without aping the bladesinger or abjuration wizard that you'd suggest? Casting the blade ward cantrip as a reaction action int mod/day, maybe?

[JNAProductions]

Is there something else I can slot in there that would manage some level of defence without aping the bladesinger or abjuration wizard that you'd suggest? Casting the blade ward cantrip as a reaction action int mod/day, maybe?

That'd be good. I mean, you could probably have a toned-down Uncanny Dodge (which halves damage against any single attack).

Call it "Immediate Ward" and let it grant resistance as a reaction to a single instance of bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing damage. Usable at-will.

Stays useful as you level up, though less so since more elemental damage gets used on higher levels, and is helpful without being overwhelming at low levels.

[Seekergeek]

"Enlightened Defence
Members of the school of the Enlightened Warrior attain a unique mastry of arcane defence. At 2nd level, whenever you take bludgeoning, piercing or slashing damage, you can use your reaction to halve the damage against you. If you hit a target with your Arcane Weapon before the end of your next turn, your strike deals extra force damage equal to your intelligence modifier plus your wizard level as you expel the energy absorbed from the triggering attack."

Too much?

[JNAProductions]

"Enlightened Defence
Members of the school of the Enlightened Warrior attain a unique mastry of arcane defence. At 2nd level, whenever you take bludgeoning, peircing or slashing damage, you can use your reaction to halve the damage against you. If you hit a target with your Arcane Weapon before the end of your next turn, your strike deals extra force damage equal to your intelligence modifier plus your wizard level as you expel the energy absorbed from the triggering attack."

Too much?

Yes-that's Uncanny Dodge, but better, three levels earlier.

Edit: I did miss that it's physical only, but I'd still make two changes.

One, no extra damage.
Two, resistance, not halve damage.

[Seekergeek]

I'm just looking for something that wont feel static as the levels increase. Also, forgive my ignorance, but are there circumstances when half damage is different from (or preferrable to) resistance?

If the extra damage were only a token amount like prof mod, would that be terrible? I guess not everything needs to scale...

[Steampunkette]

As a follow up question, am I reading blade ward correctly in that if cast as a bonus action he could manage to keep it up by casting it at the start of ever second round?

Yup. Though you could also re-write their version to be "Start of their next turn" rather than end.

[JNAProductions]

I'm just looking for something that wont feel static as the levels increase. Also, forgive my ignorance, but are there circumstances when half damage is different from (or preferrable to) resistance?

If the extra damage were only a token amount like prof mod, would that be terrible? I guess not everything needs to scale...

Resistance isn't static-1d8+2 halved isn't as impactful as getting resistance to 4d6+8.

And half damage can stack with resistance.

[Seekergeek]

Resistance isn't static-1d8+2 halved isn't as impactful as getting resistance to 4d6+8.

And half damage can stack with resistance.

Ah ha! I knew I was missing something. Math!

[Steampunkette]

I'm just looking for something that wont feel static as the levels increase. Also, forgive my ignorance, but are there circumstances when half damage is different from (or preferrable to) resistance?

If the extra damage were only a token amount like prof mod, would that be terrible? I guess not everything needs to scale...

There's no difference between Half Damage and Resistance. They're the same thing unless they're applied to the matter on top of each other.

That said, the reasons I suggest allowing it are threefold.

1) They can already take Blade Ward at level 1 as a Cantrip.
2) It would take their Bonus Action (Which is a -useful- action) to maintain the defensive power.
3) They have a d6 HD and are heading into melee. A Rogue can bounce in and out of melee with their bonus action then reaction to take half-damage and have a d8 and get evasion.

It's Apples to Pineapples to compare a Rogue's Uncanny Dodge to an improvement to the Blade Ward spell.

As far as the Proficiency Bonus to damage ignore: There is a reason that Barbarians just get flat Resistance in 5e rather than 3e's Damage Reduction. It's fiddly, and while it seems powerful in the low levels, at high end it either completely negates a hit or it has next to no effect on the incoming damage. It's especially annoying when -combined- with Resistance from any other source, as then you have to ask whether the Flat Reduction is removed -before- or -after- Resistance is applied.

If it's before Resistance is applied, your Reduction is only worth half it's normal value (10 damage incoming with 6 points of Reduction and Resistance. Is it 2 damage or 0 damage? Depends on your order of operations!)

[JNAProductions]

There's no difference between Half Damage and Resistance. They're the same thing.

But they can stack.

If you go snag two levels of Enlightened Warrior on a Barbarian, you get all the out of combat tricks two levels of Wizard brings, plus the ability to turn your half damage (from resistance) into quarter damage on one attack with your reaction.

[Seekergeek]

But they can stack.

If you go snag two levels of Enlightened Warrior on a Barbarian, you get all the out of combat tricks two levels of Wizard brings, plus the ability to turn your half damage (from resistance) into quarter damage on one attack with your reaction.

Not if it was the blade ward cantrip, though. I guess that's back to reistance and resitance.

I also don't know if it's becoming too many competing actions for one subclass - this poor fella is going to have bonus action and reaction decisions coming out his ears. I think his reactions will be better served with shield and absorb elements and some other mechanic to give him the resistance I'd like him to have.

[Steampunkette]

But they can stack.

If you go snag two levels of Enlightened Warrior on a Barbarian, you get all the out of combat tricks two levels of Wizard brings, plus the ability to turn your half damage (from resistance) into quarter damage on one attack with your reaction.


Not if it was the blade ward cantrip, though. I guess that's back to reistance and resitance.

I also don't know if it's becoming too many competing actions for one subclass - this poor fella is going to have bonus action and reaction decisions coming out his ears. I think his reactions will be better served with shield and absorb elements and some other mechanic to give him the resistance I'd like him to have.

^That.

Blade Ward is Resistance to B/S/P, not Half Damage. Barbarians also get Resistance. To get half-damage you'd have to multiclass into a Rogue with Uncanny Dodge, or use some magic item.

[Seekergeek]

So I gave this a little more thought over the evening and I do think I've got too many features relying on bonus action/reactions on a round-to-round basis. What about this for a second level alternative to the bonus action casting of blade ward or the at-will uncanny dodge-lite

Enlightened Defence
Members of the school of the Enlightened Warrior attain a unique mastry of arcane defence. Starting at 2nd level, you can bolster your physical form with magical energy. As a bonus action, you can create a magical barrier around yourself which lasts for one minute. This arcane barrier grants you resistance to bludgeoning, piercing and slashing damage from non-magical weapons. When you manifest this barrier, you can expend a wizard spell slot to gain additional resistances. Choose one damage type per spell level of the slot expended; you gain additional resistance to any selected damage type, including magical weapon damage, for the duration of this ability.

You cannot gain the benefits of your enlightened defence if you are wearing any armour or using a shield. You can use this feature twice and regain any uses when you finish a short or long rest.

[Steampunkette]

I guess the question becomes: How often do you intend to give your players short rests?

This is a d6 HD character who doesn't get to wear heavy armor and wades into combat like a Fighter with a d10 HD. On-demand resistance 'essentially' turns their HD into a d12, with comparatively low armor options that seems pretty fair to me (Since a Barbarian essentially has a d24 while HD raging and similarly limited armor options)

You'd essentially be letting them fulfill their narrative fantasy in 2 fights per short rest. If you only do 2-3, that's fine. But if you're more often running 3-5 combats between short rests... they're going to be a Wizard who gets to play around in melee once in a while.

[JNAProductions]

I guess the question becomes: How often do you intend to give your players short rests?

This is a d6 HD character who doesn't get to wear heavy armor and wades into combat like a Fighter with a d10 HD. On-demand resistance 'essentially' turns their HD into a d12, with comparatively low armor options that seems pretty fair to me (Since a Barbarian essentially has a d24 while HD raging and similarly limited armor options)

You'd essentially be letting them fulfill their narrative fantasy in 2 fights per short rest. If you only do 2-3, that's fine. But if you're more often running 3-5 combats between short rests... they're going to be a Wizard who gets to play around in melee once in a while.

2d6 is better than d12, to nitpick your post. :P

But, on a more important note, even a Bladesinger Wizard is a bladesinger WIZARD. Not the other way around. If you make the subclass as good at scruffing it up as a Fighter, Barbarian, or other martial class... Why ever play a martial class? You can fight as well as them with a Wizard, and still get full casting on the side.

Now, to be fair, I don't think this subclass (as written now-apparently the first version had four attacks?) does that. But, to be clear, the goal should NOT be making a Wizard who uses nothing but their subclass and perhaps a few low level slots (a Mage Armor and occasional Shield, for instance) as good as a Fighter in melee.

[Seekergeek]

I guess the question becomes: How often do you intend to give your players short rests?

[snip]

You'd essentially be letting them fulfill their narrative fantasy in 2 fights per short rest. If you only do 2-3, that's fine. But if you're more often running 3-5 combats between short rests... they're going to be a Wizard who gets to play around in melee once in a while.

Which is pretty close to the idea, I’d say. After more conversation with the player the idea sort of crystallized into wanting a bladesinger type wizard that absorbed damage rather than avoided it. We tend to run 3-4 encounters per short rest on average and I don’t think he should be hanging with the war cleric or the fighter on the front line every time. The level six teleport and the level 10 ability will give a level of defence when he gets stuck in a jam, regardless of the 2/short rest damage resistance. I put the armour and shield limitation for what I considered balance considerations and to make multiclass abuse harder.

Here’s the most recent PDF iteration but I think I’m getting closer?

https://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/Uw2axNFcWpoH

[Steampunkette]

2d6 is better than d12, to nitpick your post. :P

But, on a more important note, even a Bladesinger Wizard is a bladesinger WIZARD. Not the other way around. If you make the subclass as good at scruffing it up as a Fighter, Barbarian, or other martial class... Why ever play a martial class? You can fight as well as them with a Wizard, and still get full casting on the side.

Now, to be fair, I don't think this subclass (as written now-apparently the first version had four attacks?) does that. But, to be clear, the goal should NOT be making a Wizard who uses nothing but their subclass and perhaps a few low level slots (a Mage Armor and occasional Shield, for instance) as good as a Fighter in melee.

Eh... It's all about the opportunity costs.

EITHER you're swinging your sword OR you're casting a spell on a given turn. But you're not doing both. And the swordslinging abilities of this subclass don't particularly synergize with the spellcasting in crazy ways. You're either similarly strong as a lightly armored fighter (Without all the Battlemaster or other subclass abilities they get that they can add to their attacks or their self-healing and extra attributes and.... all the stuff they can use on any turn to make themselves 'stronger' than 'I swing a Longsword twice per turn!) or you're acting as a wizard on a given turn without the subclass benefits most other wizards get to improve their school-spells.