Back in days of yore, I completed Baldur's Gate 2 with a half-drow Blade. (IIRC half-drow were mechanically the same as plain old half-elves in AD&D 2e, though they might know the drow language and have a few cosmetic differences - hair, skin, or eye color.) For the new game, I'd like to recreate this character. Obviously with a different ruleset, it'll be impossible to precisely duplicate his old abilities. But I would like to re-capture the feel of my old character.
The old Blade was a very flexible character, able to fill just about any role in the party. Thematically, they worked much like a swashbuckler, with flashy combat abilities and high mobility. Offensive Spin was effectively haste on demand, and also gave a huge boost to attack bonus. Defensive Spin gave the player the ability to tank against the hardest hitting enemies, at least temporarily. To complement the combat abilities, the Blade got the usual Bard spell casting abilities. Though only able to cast up to 6th level spells, they were still cast at the player's full level. So, for example, a Blade's dispel magic could still take down the most powerful enemy buffs and spells, and a Blade's fireball hit as hard as any mage's. Self-buffing was also crucial in making the character viable as a frontline warrior (thank you stoneskin.)
The usual bard abilities weren't used much, as some were nerfed and the Blade was often on the front line tanking or hasting. Lore was the only classic Bard ability that my old PC used with any frequency. Even though the ability was nerfed compared to a straight Bard, he still had the highest Lore in the party and usually ended up identifying magic items.
Apparently the closest thing to a 2e Blade is the College of Swords in D&D 5e, which is not in BG3. However, the College of Valor is in the game, but I'm not sure how close it will come to capturing the same flavor as a 2e Blade. Is the College of Valor my best bet, or would a non-bardic option work better? An Eldritch Knight or Arcane Trickster, perhaps? Or some kind of awkward multiclass combination, like the old fighter/mage/thief?
