Battlemage Wizards are an idea that I’ve tried to make work ever since I first played the game, without success. Apart from Wizard, only Fighter and Rogue scale with INT. Rogue doesn’t get Extra Attack, which leaves us with Fighter. And Fighter martial builds are usually better off going either full Fighter, or taking a level 1 dip in War Cleric. In general, Wizard only seems worthy if you either take a level 1 dip for scroll learning (which kinda defeats the battlemage idea) or, on the contrary, invest 10+ levels to get your chosen subclass’ biggest features (which prevents access to Extra Attack).

With Bladesinger, things got interesting. Not only Wizard now has a direct access to Extra Attack, it also gets really nice features from the Bladesong, light armour and weapon proficiencies. Add Smites, and we have room for a nice and refreshing, flexible spellsword build. And that’s not even the end of it, because Larian went crazy with the Bladesong Climax, which allows you to set up a big AoE damage (to enemies) and healing (to allies) bonus action.

The concept of this build ends up being really similar to Swords Smites Bard builds (here is my main inspiration): a control martial powered by smites with a level 2 Paladin dip. Our best stat is obviously going to be INT.

This build does everything for you. Irresistible Hold X & other control spells? You got them. Damage spells? Yes. Ground ice? If you want. Weapon damage? Yes. Healing? Yup.

We’re going to go for 10 Bladesinger Wizard / 2 Oath of the Crown Crown Paladin. Here’s why:

10 Bladesinger Wizard

• Access to Bladesong, the core of the build.
  
• Early access to light armour and weapon proficiencies.
  
• Access to Extra attack.
  
• The wizard spell list.
  
• Scroll learning.
  
• Access to 2 feats.
  
• Song of Defense. You may doubt this has any good purpose. More on that later.

2 Oath of the Crown Paladin

• Access to Smites.
  
• Access to Command, which is the control spell we’re missing from Wizard.
  
• Access to a Fighting style.
  
• Completes our caster level progression (10 full caster levels + 2 half caster levels = 11 full caster levels), ensuring we get all our spell slots.
  
• Oath of the Crown is the best 2 Paladin dip because of Righteous Clarity, which is a bonus action and will improve your attack rolls.

• Excellent defense with AC in the high 20s, damage reduction and the Shield spell.
  
• Really good concentration saving throws.
  
• Really good initiative.
  
• Almost unmatched spell versatility due to Wizard’s spell list and scroll learning. You can learn any offensive spell you like as your best stat will be INT.
  
• Great utility due to the previous point + high DEX.
  
• Nearly irresistible control spells with Arcane Acuity.
  
• Great single target damage with Smites, Great Weapon Master and Savage Attacker.
  
• Good AoE damage with wizard spells and Bladesong Climax.
  
• Really good AoE healing mid combat with Bladesong Climax
  
• Better than average movement.
  
• Spells slots restoration. Not a big deal, but still a nice perk, especially with level 1 spell slots being very valuable for smites.
  
• Ends up being a pretty good party face.

• Can’t cast Command with INT. Ultimately, this build can be played without investing in STR or DEX, which allows you to increase both INT and CHA. So it’s not that much of a problem, as long as you get fixed DEX with Gloves.
  
• Shields are out of the equation.
  
• You have to dump WIS to 10 or lower, which puts a relatively big hole in your defence. You still get WIS saving throw proficiency, and should be able to control enemies before they do anything to you.

Open Wizard. Take 16 INT, 16 DEX, 14 CON. 12 CON is possible early, but risky. Make sure to dump STR.

If you intend to feed Hag’s Hair to this build, take 17 INT instead of 16.

You can dump CHA (if you don’t intend to ever use Command), but I don’t recommend it.

You already get all the weapon/armour proficiencies that you need, so this doesn’t really matter.

Apart from the usual Half-Orc (always amazing for melee builds, especially with Smites involved), two other species are worth mentioning here: Gnome and Halfling.

Thanks to Bladesong, their lower movement speed (that is also true for dwarves, by the way) will not matter, and their other perks are great. Halfling’s luck is awesome, and Gnome’s advantage on INT, WIS and CHA saving throw is great, especially to mitigate your low WIS.

We’re going to be leveling up as pure Wizard until level 6.

Unsurprisingly, take the Bladesinger subclass at level 2. The game will ask you to pick a weapon - it’s a free weapon that gets added to your inventory, not the weapon you’re proficient in. You’ll actually get proficiency with all listed weapons.

At level 4, you get your first feat. Take Ability Score Improvement for +2 INT. You may be tempted to take Savage Attacker early - don’t. +2 INT will increase our spell attack rolls consistency, and that’s what we want. Savage Attacker doesn’t mean much when we don’t have much damage die to roll yet.

Level 6 will give you your Extra Attack.

Around this time, you should consider getting Hag’s Hair for +1 INT if you started with 17 INT.

You should get Gloves of Dexterity by now. Consider respeccing to dump DEX in favour of CHA. This will allow you to become a great party face and be able to cast great Command spells late game.

At level 7, open Paladin. Take Oath of the Crown. Oathbreaker is pretty good too for a level 2 dip because of Spiteful Suffering, but it means you will need to pay 1000 gold pieces to restore your Oath before respeccing, so keep that it mind. You will need to respec at least once.

Oath of the Crown gives us a bonus (+4 late game) to our weapon attacks, which is great to negate the -5 penalty from Great Weapon Master.

Oath of the Ancients is pretty good if you intend to use The Whispering Promise.

At level 8, respec.

Open Paladin with the same stats and choices as before (if you are wearing Gloves of Dexterity, remember to dump DEX). At Level 4, take Great Weapon Master instead of +2 INT (unless you want to keep playing with a rapier). You should end your respec at Wizard 6 / Paladin 2. Opening Wizard last ensures our Ring of Arcane Synergy scales off INT and not CHA.

Level 2 Paladin with give you a Fighting style. Take Defense.

After your respec at level 8, you should be at Wizard Bladesinger 6 / Paladin 2. Keep leveling Wizard for the rest of the game.

At Wizard level 8, you get your second feat. Take Savage Attacker.

At Wizard level 10, you get Song of Defense, which will allow you to sacrifice a spell slot when hit, and reduce incoming damage by five times that spell slot’s level. While expensive, this is an unmatched way to mitigate incoming damage. With that in hand and your control spells, you will single-handedly absorb or downright negate enemy attacks.

Make sure to get +2 INT from Mirror of Loss (or +2 DEX, if you’re not using Gloves of Dexterity). Patriar’s Memory can help as well, but don’t overthink it.

Cantrips: Get Booming Blade. This bad boy can be used once per turn as a weapon attack (meaning you can do one booming blade and then an extra attack) and will add thunder damage. It also has a really funny synergy with Fear, as enemies will run and trigger the extra thunder damage. Even without that, it is great in the early game against enemy archers, which you will find quite a lot of (goblins).

Make sure to get Shocking Grasp as well. Rest is up to you.

As for spells, you should always have the following: Mage Armour (until you start wearing light armour), Shield, Hold X, Fear, Confusion, Counterspell, Shadow Blade. Shadow Blade will create a great shortsword for you, which you can use until you get a finesse longsword.

Do not bother with Haste. You are not a good Haste provider, as you will 1) be in front of the fight and 2) want to concentrate on Control spells such as Hold X, Fear, Confusion or Telekinesis.

Haste is better provided by builds that can stay far from the bulk of the fight, all the more if they are Sorcerer and can twin cast it. Something like my Cold Support Sorcerer.

As for scroll learning, take whatever you like. Make sure you get Globe of Invulnerability.

Make sure you grab Command and that’s it. Take whatever special smites you want. Divine Favour is okay.

Your first mission is to get a +1 finesse weapon, preferably a Rapier. Dammon usually sells those.

Bracers of Defence[bg3.wiki] are available early and should stay for a long time. With this, Mage Armour, high DEX and Bladesong, you’ll be pushing 20+ AC super early.

Shadow Blade can be obtained with the eponymous spell and is a good weapon for you to use.

In the Underdark, you can grab the Sword of Screams[bg3.wiki], and also the Pearl of Power Amulet[bg3.wiki] for extra spells restoration. Phalar Aluve[bg3.wiki] is also a good weapon for you as it is the first accessible (of the two) Finesse Longsword. It also fits the build thematic marvelously. But it is usually better wielded by a support. Regardless, you can use it if you like.

Disintegrating Night Walkers[bg3.wiki] can be grabbed at the same time as Sword of Screams and are your best boots.

At the Crèche, make sure to grab Gloves of Dexterity[bg3.wiki]. These are never coming off. You can also start wearing any good Light Armour at that point.

Like usual, the Crèche is a formidable provider of great items. Your best weapon, Larethian’s Wrath[bg3.wiki], can be bought there. It is the other finesse longsword of the game, and its special skill can be used to trigger several smites.

You will eventually want to use either Larethian’s or Phalar, as these weapons can be two handed and used to trigger Great Weapon Master. Which one of the two you actually use doesn’t matter too much.

Finally, get the Ring of Arcane Synergy[bg3.wiki]. You will easily trigger it once per turn with Booming Blade.

You will want to skyrocket your Spell Save DC with Arcane Acuity. This can be done in one of two ways: with weapon attacks and Helmet of Arcane Acuity[bg3.wiki], or with spell weapon attacks and Gloves of Battlemage Power[bg3.wiki]. Spell weapon attacks include, most notably, Booming Blade and Smites. It also works, hilariously, with Shadow Blade (if in main hand).

Unfortunately, your Gloves slot is already taken by Gloves of Dexterity. So, your best bet is the helmet.

You can get the Spellcrux Amulet[bg3.wiki] for even more spells restoration.

Band of the Mystic Scoundrel[bg3.wiki] is a core item of your build and can be acquired within 30 minutes.

Hellrider Longbow[bg3.wiki] is great for your initiative. You will already have +4 to +6 without it, though, so leave it if it is contested.

Armour of Landfall[bg3.wiki] is your best armour if you want to safeguard your concentration saving throws. Otherwise, I recommend Elegant Studded Leather[bg3.wiki].

Obviously, evil characters will be able to use Bhaalist Armour[bg3.wiki] with piercing weapons (remember to drop Great Weapon Master).

Amulet of Greater Health[bg3.wiki] is good for you. It is another way to get CON saving throw advantage, and will allow to dump CON and get to 16 DEX (18 with ASI) naturally. Technically, you can even maintain high INT (start at 17, get Hag’s Hair and Mirror of Loss), DEX (start at 16) and CHA (start at 15, get Patriar’s Memory) by dumping all other stats. But that’s a bit of a stretch, to be fair. This amulet tends to be highly contested anyway, and you’re probably better off with Spell Savant Amulet[bg3.wiki].

If you want to play with a rapier, your best weapon is obviously Duelist’s Prerogative[bg3.wiki]. You will get two reactions per turn. They should primarily feed Counterspell and secondly Song of Defense. Do not use them on the weapon’s extra damage, it’s a measly 4 necrotic damage.

If you don’t want to use any control spells, then you can forget both Arcane Acuity and CHA. This allows you to use other gloves and helmets (Helldusk comes to mind).

First things first: let’s talk about how to use the Bladesong.

Oddly enough, it is a free action. Pop it and bang. Once active, you get the expected bonuses to your AC, CON saving throws, etc. You also gain a somewhat weird action called Bladesong Climax.

Simply put:

• all weapon attacks realized during the Bladesong will net Bladesong Healing Charges.
  
• all non-weapon attack spells (no cantrips, no smites, no Ensnaring Strike and the likes) will net Bladesong Damage Charges.

These charges are noted as conditions with turns remaining, much like Arcane Acuity. However, the tooltip is misleading: your charges do not decrease with each passing turn, or for any other reason. You can stack Bladesong charges for as long as you’re bladesinging.

This allows you to build up a powerful climax (no innuendo intended), both in terms of damage and healing. Interestingly enough, it is triggered through a bonus action that much ressembles a jump, but without fall damage.

Because of this, you will pretty much want to be bladesinging on any fight that isn’t just 2-4 random dudes. The longer the fight is, the more powerful your Bladesong Climax will grow. Even without the climax, the added bonuses to concentration and defence are worth it.

As cool as it would be, Bladesong Climax isn’t really a good fight finisher. To turn it into a good finisher, you’d have to cast a lot of spells to start piling on damage charges. By the point you reach a high number of damage charges (think 5-6), the enemies would likely be dead already. And if they are not, you wasted your time.

Bladesong Climax is amazing not as a finisher, but as a mid-fight utility. You can get healing charges much quicker (thanks to Extra Attack) and it is AoE healing. Healing isn’t a noticeable problem in the game ; still, being able to heal up possibly your whole party for 30+ HP in just a bonus action is nice. It is also a jump without fall damage and good range, which can help you reposition during a fight.

In the early game, you can alternate freely between spells and weapon attacks. Just remember to use Booming Blade whenever you make a weapon attack.

Until you can get your hands on a 13 AC light armour, wear a robe and make sure you cast Mage Armour on yourself each day.

Once you get access to Extra Attack, you will be able to attack twice per action, with Smites starting at level 8.

BG3’s Bladesinger doesn’t get the special Extra Attack variant where you can use one cantrip and one weapon attack… but Booming Blade is considered a weapon spell attack (such as Smites). So, you can use Booming Blade and then a regular weapon attack, for one action. And of course, you can trigger a reaction Smite off that.

Once you get your Helmet, your weapon attacks will serve to raise your spell save DC and make your control spells irresistible. The prime spells are usually Command and Hold X, but this build has a really funny synergy with Fear. Hit someone with Booming Blade, then cast Fear on them. That means the enemies will flee away from you - including the one you hit with Booming Blade. Enjoy the free thunder damage and opportunity attack. This is not necessarily optimal - you might as well cast Hold X and kill them with critical hits - but it is fun, and one of the most efficient ways to use Fear.

You always want to use Booming Blade. Not only will it add Thunder damage to your attack, it will also trigger Arcane Synergy, adding your INT to your subsequent weapon attacks.

Once you have your core items (Helmet of Arcane Acuity and Band of the Mystic Scoundrel), your routine will look like this:

• Activate the Bladesong.
  
• Get Hastened (preferably by a caster).
  
• Start hitting an enemy with your weapon/booming blade to build up Arcane Acuity. If possible, do not kill them, just keep building Acuity off them.
  
• Cast a control spell as a bonus action.

You can use Command: Grovel for easy advantages, Command: Approach to combo with your sword’s special attack, Hold X for easy crits, Fear to disarm enemies and trigger Booming Blade’s extra damage, or Confusion to pretty much just win the game.

Your second (Haste) action can also be used to cast a damage spell. In Honour Mode, Hastened actions do not benefit from Extra Attack anyway. However, if you’re looking to charge your Bladesong’s damage, any non-cantrip, non weapon-attack **spell will charge it. This includes Shield, Command, Hold X, etc.

Use Smites as much as you like, but:

• only with level 4 or lower spell slots (damage is capped);
  
• not on the first enemy you hit (you want to build Arcane Acuity upon them, and thus not kill them outright).

Because you have “only” +4 in DEX and no Risky Ring, hitting with Great Weapon Master’s -5 penalty can be tricky. However, remember that your Oath action, Righteous Clarity will add your proficiency bonus to your attack rolls. At level 10+, this is +4, essentially negating the penalty. It is also a bonus action, so it is not a heavy investment in terms of action economy.

You can always disable GWM if your chances to hit get too low (< 70%).

You can disable it when you’re looking to build up Arcane Acuity - in that context, what matters is to hit the enemy, not to kill them. Once you get to cast control spells, especially Command: Grovel or Hold X, the enemies will be much easier (if not guaranteed) to hit, so you can reenable it.

Song of Defense may look underwhelming. After all, why would you want to sacrifice spell slots to negate damage with a build that will usually kill or control enemies right from the start?

The answer is twofold. First, even with your high AC, there will be instances of unavoidable damage. Especially in the late game, as you will not always want to use your reaction for Shield, because Counterspell can be needed later in the turn. Mitigating these damage instances is good, and can help maintain Concentration, especially if you don’t have advantage.

Second, let’s say you don’t want Wizard level 10 - what then?
Wizard has to remain at 8, because you want the two feats. And you also want your full spellcaster progression, so I advise against a 2 Fighter dip.
Technically, you can also get a 2 Bard dip to get the Song of Rest, which is great and a nice fit for the build ; or you can get a 2 Sorcerer dip, which would give you CON saving throw proficiency, and a tiny bit of metamagic. But that’s just awkward to fit into the build and would require another respec. It’s just not worth the hassle, in my opinion.

You could always go with fixed STR through elixirs, and use non-finesse longswords. However, this poses several problems:

• You still need high DEX because you’ll be wearing Light Armour. That means you have to wear Gloves of Dexterity to be able to keep high CHA and use Command. That means you sacrificed your elixir slot, and this build really benefits from Bloodlust Elixir. Or you have to dump CHA and sacrifice Command, which also makes the build weaker.
  
• There aren’t really good non-finesse longswords to justify such a choice.
  
• A STR based version just doesn’t fit the Bladesong thematic, let’s be real.

Bottom line: you can, but also, please don’t.

If something isn't clear to you, or if you feel like I missed something, let me know in the comments below. I read every single comment I get, and will do my best to answer yours.

Thanks for reading the guide and I hope you have fun with the build!