Eldritch Shadow v2.0

Custom Lineage (Tasha)

One big flaw of this character that always bothered me was the lack of darkvision to combine with Shadow Blade’s intrinsic synergy with dimly lit and dark environments. On the other hand, Variant Human’s level 1 feat is hard to pass, this character is very feat-loaded even for a Fighter.

Tasha’s Custom Lineage brings the best of both worlds. Now you can both have darkvision and take a feat at level 1. This does change the…

…Point Buy…

a little:

STR: 9
DEX: 16
CON: 15
INT: 13
WIS: 13
CHA: 8

Which knocks down your maximum HP down a bit. As you can see, lots of odd numbers, which means only one thing…

…Feats!

Despite recommending Medium Armor Master before, I can’t do it again with a straight face. It has to go, +1 AC and no disadvantage on Stealth checks isn’t worth an ASI with a better option available. Fey Touched (Intelligence)is a better tech choice. It gives you 1 extra/free cast of Misty Step to get in and out of sticky situations, 1 more spell to learn and evens your INT to 14, which opens up a slot for bumping up that 15 CON to 16 at a later point while keeping 16 INT at level 19. I’d narrow this choice down to 2 spells: Gift of Alacrity from Explorer’s Guide to Wildemount or Silvery Barbsfrom Strixhaven: a Curriculum of Chaos. If you already have a Bard, Sorcerer or Wizard who have the latter spell in their repertoire, then you don’t need it. Higher Initiative is always good for a character who can dump out a chunk of single-target damage in 1 round. Also, as an 8 hour duration spell, Gift of Alacrity doesn’t tax your spellslots nearly as much as Silvery Barbs, so that’s a plus too. Choose depending on what your party and you yourself need more.

CON +1 feat offers 2 choices, Aberrant Dragonmark if the DM allows Eberron-flavored mechanics (can choose Silvery Barbs or Feather Fall from this too, or Skill Expert if not. You could go for Durable if you get a lot of short rests, but I like one extra skill and an expertise better. Which skill to learn? What skill to become an expert in? I’ll leave that choice to you, as it should be something most useful for the party and in the campaign/one-shot you’re playing in.

Spells

A couple of changes and easier choices happen on lower levels. Feats allow you to know 2 or 3 extra spells, and those are the spells this character was having to choose from.  I’d probably grab Feather Fall for “free” from Aberrant Dragonmark feat, if allowed, so you don’t have to unlearn it later.

For level 2 spells, you have Misty Step for “free” (Fey Touched feat), so you can add Mirror Image on top now, just to make it a tad harder to deal with. An alternative to Mirror Image that I’d consider is Kinetic Jaunt from Strixhaven book as it helps deal with any movement issues you might experience as a melee character. This re-arrangement also makes it easy to swap Warding Wind with Rime’s Binding Ice from Icewind Dale book. Warding Wind competes with Shadow Blade for Concentration and is less needed with Mirror Image already in the mix. Rime’s Binding Ice on the other hand, gives you one more minor AoE damage option with a solid control effect, so you’re overall more versatile.

Level 3 spells throw a bit of a wrench in the mix with Intellect Fortress standing above the rest. It does compete with Shadow Blade for Concentration, but damn is it good to roll INT saves with advantage against Mind Flayers!

You could tech into Summon Shadowspan for extra theme (Concentration issues again though!), but I still think Blink or Fly or just good ol’ Fireball/Lightning Bolt hold ground.

For level 4spells, I could see myself swapping Banishment for Raulothim’s Psychic Lance, because both control the enemy well enough, just in a different way. It’s rather a side-grade than upgrade, you definitely can’t go wrong with either.

Items

Other than Goggles of Night, which this character doesn’t need any more, all the old ideas still apply. However, I’d add a few more to the list:

- Tasha tattoos: Starting from the obvious beset Blood Fury Tatoo, which makes you both deadlier and tankier, Lifewell Tatoo, all Absorbing Tattoos,  Medium or Large Barrier Tattoo… all of these would work well. Preferably, get them all, tattoos are cool.

- Ascendant Dragon’s Wrath Rapier is solid because it provides a 15% better accuracy and 33.33% more damage output. Not to mention the 60-foot cone AoE. Of course, it’s a legendary item, but maybe you can convince the DM to give you a slightly weaker Wakened Dragon’s Wrath Rapier, which still has better accuracy and slightly better damage than Shadow Blade spell

- Teeth of Dahlver-Nar is just a silly item. We’ve had a ton of fun with it in our level 20 campaign, you will probably too if the DM is chill enough.

- Jewel of Three Prayers (any state) is such a good thing to have not just on this character, but pretty much most of them.

This isn’t exhaustive, I’m sure there are many more that would be worth it, but this stuck out to me, so that’s that.

Progression

Here’s how I’d do progression. You can swap around the feats however you see fit, but I think this is a good sequence of mechanics that just build on top of each other as you gain higher and higher levels.

1) STR & CONsaves, Sentinel feat, Dueling/Defense Fighting Style, Second Wind
2) Action Surge (1/short rest)
3) SPELLS – Booming Blade, Light/Control Flames, Shield, Absorb Elements, Feather Fall; Weapon Bond
4) Fey Touched (INT, Silvery Barbs/Gift of Alacrity) feat, Protection from Evil and Good
5) Extra Attack (2 attacks)
6) Aberrant Dragonmark/Skill Expert (CON) feat
7) War Magic, SPELLS - Shatter, Feather Fall -> Shadow Blade spell
8) War Caster feat, Mirror Image/Kinetic Jaunt
9) Indomitable (1/day)
10) Eldritch Strike, SPELLS - Minor Illusion/Mage Hand/Message/Prestidigitation, Rime’s Binding Ice
11) Extra Attack (3 attacks), Scorching Ray
12) Resilient (WIS) feat
13) Indomitable (2/day), Counterspell
14) DEX +2, Blink/Haste/Fly/Intellect Fortress spell
15) Arcane Charge
16) DEX +2, Magic Circle/Fireball/Lightning Bolt spell
17) Action Surge (2/short rest), Indomitable (3/day)
18) Improved War Magic
19) INT +2, Fire Shield/Banishment spell/Raulothim’s Psychic Lance
20) Extra Attack (4 attacks), Fire Shield/Banishment spell/Raulothim’s Psychic Lance