As we go into the new year, I have a build from an old standby source with the psychic class allowing me to explore a character concept I was unsure of how to assemble previously. This adds another character to my somewhat limited list of casters, which is always nice. Hope you're all excited for a new year that is gonna be filled with fun builds! As always, this build is conceptualized entirely in a vacuum, with choices made in an attempt to fit the character. These choices might not hold up in a campaign with different themes and should be adjusted accordingly.
Let's get into the build for Irelia, the Blade Dancer from League of Legends!
IRELIA, THE BLADE DANCER
CHARACTER Xan Irelia
SOURCE League of Legends
BUILD GOALS
o Irelia is an Ionian from League of Legends who is classified as a diver, a damage-focused character meant to fight in the thick of it and focus down targets
o She is a melee champion who telekinetically controls six blades to slice apart adversaries
o Her innate ability is Ionian Fervor, which is an ability stacked by landing her abilities and grants her enhanced attack speed as well as magic damage on her attacks
o Bladesurge has Irelia dash towards a target, dealing damage and reduces the cooldown when striking unsteady targets or slays a target
o Defiant Dance has Irelia channel, reducing incoming damage and can then be recast to deal damage in a line
o Flawless Duet is cast to place a blade at a location and is cast again to place a second blade. The blades then fly towards each other, damaging enemies in the line between them and stunning them
o Her ultimate is Vanguard’s Edge, which has her launch a vast array of blades towards an enemy and then form a spade-shaped perimeter. Enemies that pass through the perimeter are damaged and slowed
o In the computer card game, Legends of Runeterra, Irelia has Quick Attack and Attune, which fills spell mana, and creates a card that spawns a pair of attacking blades
o A leveled Irelia creates Bladesurge whenever allies attack, allowing her to swap places with another ally
o Lorewise, she was a skilled dancer from a region known as Navori who adapted her art for war against the invading Noxians and even managed to cut off the arm of Swain, the Grand General
o Her efforts saw her thrust into the role of resistance leader and figurehead and she tends to dislike those that hold pacifist attitudes, instead siding with extremists
LEVEL 1
Ancestry & Heritage: Versatile Human
o Ability Boosts & Flaws: +Dexterity, +Charisma
o Ancestry Feat: Natural Skill – Intimidation (trained), Stealth (trained)
o General Feat: Toughness
Background: Tall Tale
o Ability Boosts: +Charisma, +Dexterity
o Skill Increase: Performance (trained)
o Background Feat: Impressive Performance
Class & Subclass: Distant Grasp Psychic (Emotional Acceptance)
o Class Ability Boost: +Charisma
o Skill Increase: Acrobatics (trained), Diplomacy (trained), Society (trained)
o Spell Repertoire: Cantrips – daze, guidance, infectious enthusiasm, mage hand, telekinetic projectile; 1st – kinetic ram, true strike
Details
o Ability Boosts: +Dexterity, +Constitution, +Wisdom, +Charisma (Str 10, Dex 16, Con 12, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 18)
As a diver, Irelia needs some manner of survivability and uses her versatile heritage to pick up Toughness while also grabbing Natural Skill to expand her limited skill selection. Given her history as a dancer, entertainer seemed an appropriate background, but given the leadership position her actions have earned her and that she is part of a literal League of Legends, tall tale felt like a solid fit. Finally, with her ability to telekinetically control her blades and wield them in combat, Irelia easily establishes herself as a distant grasp psychic. Since her ability to control the blades comes from her dance, which is a Charisma related skill in 2e, Charisma makes the most sense as her primary ability score and between the two options that use it, Emotional Acceptance felt to be the best fit. Naturally, she uses the distant grasp conscious mind to wield her blades from afar with her telekinetic projectile. This build will mix in some actual weapon usage, and so she keeps a high Dexterity while adding true strike to her spell repertoire.
LEVEL 2
o Class Feat: Swashbuckler Dedication (Battledancer)
o Skill Feat: Fascinating Performance
o Skill Increase: Athletics (trained)
o Spell Repertoire: 1st – magic missile
o Gear: everburning torch
LEVEL 3
o General Feat: Incredible Initiative
o Skill Increase: Performance (expert)
o Spell Repertoire: 1st – magic missile*; 2nd – animated assault*, telekinetic maneuver
o Gear: +1 dagger, ring of discretion, everburning torch
LEVEL 4
o Class Feat: Psi Strikes
o Skill Feat: Connections
o Spell Repertoire: 2nd – loose time’s arrow
o Gear: doubling rings, +1 dagger, necklace of knives, everburning torch
LEVEL 5
o Ability Boosts: +Dexterity, +Constitution, +Wisdom, +Charisma (Str 10, Dex 18, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 14, Cha 19)
o Ancestry Feat: Sense Allies
o Skill Increase: Acrobatics (expert)
o Spell Repertoire: 3rd – heroism*, levitate
o Gear: +1 striking dagger, doubling rings, dancing scarf, necklace of knives, ring of discretion, everburning torch
While the Swashbuckler Dedication is mostly for flavor given the character’s history, it also enhances her combat ability somewhat, especially if she invest further in it. To represent Irelia’s Ionian Fervor passive, which enhances her attacks with magic damage after she lands abilities, she takes Psi Strikes, which empowers her attacks after she casts a spell. Irelia focuses on using Performance, including picking up Fascinating Performance, but also takes Connections to represent her role as a leader in Ionia. The idea is to have most of her spells at least in some way represent her blades, so envision magic missile as firing her blades. She takes heroism to either bolster her allies or so that she can possibly contend with the martials in melee combat, allowing her to mix it up. During this block, Irelia unlocks the vector screen psi cantrip, which blocks ranged attacks and when amped, launches a telekinetic projectile at a target. The defensive aspects of this ability combined with the attack it makes upon ending seems similar to her Defiant Dance.
LEVEL 6
o Class Feat: Inertial Barrier
o Skill Feat: Distracting Performance
o Spell Repertoire: 3rd – haste
o Gear: +1 explorer’s clothing, +1 striking dagger, bag of holding (type I), doubling rings, Jack’s tattered cape, necklace of knives
LEVEL 7
o General Feat: Fleet
o Skill Increase: Performance (Master)
o Spell Repertoire: 4th – fly, resounding barrier*
o Gear: spiritsight ring, +1 explorer’s clothing, wand of manifold missiles (1st-level), +1 striking dagger, doubling rings, dancing scarf
LEVEL 8
o Class Feat: Parallel Breakthrough
o Skill Feat: Triumphant Boast
o Spell Repertoire: Cantrips – imaginary weapon; 4th – winning streak
o Gear: boots of bounding, ring of the ram, spiritsight ring, +1 explorer’s clothing, +1 striking dagger, bag of holding (type I)
LEVEL 9
o Ancestry Feat: Group Aid
o Skill Increase: Acrobatics (master)
o Spell Repertoire: 5th – etheric shards*, telekinetic haul
o Gear: +1 resilient explorer’s clothing, boots of bounding, bag of holding (type II), spiritsight ring, wand of manifold missiles (1st-level), +1 striking dagger
LEVEL 10
o Ability Boosts: +Dexterity, +Constitution, +Intelligence, +Charisma (Str 10, Dex 19, Con 16, Int 12, Wis 14, Cha 20)
o Class Feat: Emotional Surge
o Skill Feat: Kip Up
o Skill Increase: Deception (trained)
o Spell Repertoire: 5th – blink charge
o Gear: wand of manifold missiles (3rd-level), +1 resilient explorer’s clothing, shock weapon rune, boots of bounding, spiritsight ring, +1 striking dagger
While vector screen slightly works for Defiant Dance, Irelia picks up Inertial Barrier, which lets her amp a psi cantrip to give her resistance to physical damage and also takes rebounding barrier for a similar effect. By using the Parallel Breakthrough feat, Irelia picks up imaginary weapon to create her blades and fight with them in melee. When Irelia’s psyche is unleashed, she can use Emotional Surge to enhance her martial combat ability, so that she can save heroism for her allies. This block also sees Irelia gain two spells that help mimic her abilities. Blink charge mimics the effects of her standard Bladesurge, featuring a dash towards a target with an attack, whereas etheric shards represents Vanguard’s Edge, creating an area of damage that enemies pass through. Irelia further explores her Acrobatics and Performance skills, being a highly nimble dancer and warrior, but starts looking towards Intimidation with Triumphant Boast solely to debuff enemies so that she has a better chance of landing blows. The LoR version of Irelia focuses on working alongside her allies, which is part of the reason why she picks up Group Aid.
LEVEL 11
o General Feat: Feather Step
o Skill Increase: Intimidation (expert)
o Spell Repertoire: 6th – collective transposition, poltergeist’s fury*
o Gear: +2 striking dagger, greater dancing scarf, wand of manifold missiles (3rd-level), +1 resilient explorer’s clothing, boots of bounding, bag of holding (type II)
LEVEL 12
o Class Feat: Basic Flair – Tumble Behind
o Skill Feat: Intimidating Glare
o Spell Repertoire: 6th – spirit blast
o Gear: +2 resilient explorer’s clothing, +2 striking dagger, shadow signet, wand of manifold missiles (3rd-level), lover’s gloves, shock weapon rune
LEVEL 13
o Ancestry Feat: Bounce Back
o Skill Increase: Athletics (expert)
o Spell Repertoire: 7th – telekinetic bombardment*, true target
o Gear: +2 greater striking dagger, +2 resilient explorer’s clothing, greater doubling rings, daredevil boots, greater dancing scarf, wand of manifold missiles (3rd-level)
LEVEL 14
o Class Feat: Finishing Precision
o Skill Feat: Quick Jump
o Spell Repertoire: 7th – ethereal jaunt
o Gear: wand of manifold missiles (5th-level), +2 greater striking dagger, greater quick runner’s shirt, +2 resilient explorer’s clothing, daredevil boots, shadow signet
LEVEL 15
o Ability Boosts: +Dexterity, +Constitution, +Wisdom, +Charisma (Str 10, Dex 20, Con 18, Int 12, Wis 16, Cha 21)
o General Feat: Fast Recovery
o Skill Increase: Performance (legendary)
o Spell Repertoire: 8th – falling sky, uncontrollable dance*
o Gear: +2 greater resilient explorer’s clothing, dancing weapon rune, wand of manifold missiles (5th-level), +2 greater striking dagger, greater doubling rings, greater boots of elvenkind
This block actually explores a little bit of Irelia’s swash dip, using Basic Flair to gain Tumble Behind, which causes enemies she Tumbles Through to be flat-footed to her next attack – including those made as part of a spell. Finishing Precision gives her a small damage boost when she has panache to compensate for her low Strength. In League, Irelia has considerable mobility thanks to her Bladesurge, and the idea behind feat choices such as Feather Step and even Quick Jump is to capture a bit of that feel. With the Triumphant Boast that Irelia took recently, she needs to make sure that she can use her Intimidation against her target, which leads to her picking up Intimidating Glare. Playing into her Legends of Runeterra card, Irelia picks up collective transposition, allowing her to potentially swap places with her allies or otherwise maneuver companions into new positions. In an attempt to mimic the line effect of Flawless Duet as well as its stunning property, she grabs telekinetic bombardment as a signature spell. It has a line effect that can knock creatures prone and even stun on a critical failure from enemies and can potentially be flavored appropriately. Some of Irelia’s spells have a spirit theme, such as ethereal jaunt and spirit blast, as her Blade Silk Dance connect her to the Spirit Realm, whose power she harnesses to levitate her Crest Blades.
LEVEL 16
o Class Feat: Wandering Thoughts
o Skill Feat: Powerful Leap
o Spell Repertoire: 8th – dream council
o Gear: greater shock weapon rune, +2 greater resilient explorer’s clothing, greater boots of bounding, wand of manifold missiles (5th-level), +2 greater striking dagger, greater quick runner’s shirt
LEVEL 17
o Ancestry Feat: Heroic Presence
o Skill Increase: Athletics (master)
o Spell Repertoire: 9th – foresight, implosion*
o Gear: +3 greater striking dagger, dragonscale amulet, greater shock weapon rune, +2 greater resilient explorer’s clothing, dancing weapon rune, wand of manifold missiles (5th-level)
LEVEL 18
o Class Feat: Deepest Wellspring
o Skill Feat: Wall Jump
o Spell Repertoire: 9th – overwhelming presence
o Gear: circlet of persuasion, +3 greater striking dagger, speed weapon rune, greater shock weapon rune, +2 greater resilient explorer’s clothing, greater boots of bounding
LEVEL 19
o General Feat: Terrified Retreat
o Skill Increase: Intimidation (master)
o Spell Repertoire: 10th – alter reality, shadow army
o Gear: +3 greater resilient explorer’s clothing, circlet of persuasion, wand of manifold missiles (7th-level), +3 greater striking dagger, dragonscale amulet, greater shock weapon rune
LEVEL 20
o Ability Boosts: +Strength, +Intelligence, +Wisdom, +Charisma (Str 12, Dex 20, Con 18, Int 14, Wis 18, Cha 22)
o Class Feat: Twin Psyche
o Skill Feat: Battle Cry
o Skill Increase: Religion (trained)
o Gear: +3 major striking dagger, +3 greater resilient explorer’s clothing, mask of allure, wand of manifold missiles (7th-level), headbands of translocation, speed weapon rune
Wandering Thoughts further helps build up her Bladesurge ability, allowing her to teleport after the casting of a spell while her Psyche is Unleashed. Deepest Wellspring is a little plain, allowing her to Refocus 3 points, but encourages her to amp her spells more regularly in a combat and is therefore always handy. Finally, Twin Psyche just increases the duration of her Unleash Psyche, allowing her to maintain her power for a longer period of time, keeping up Ionian Fervor. Heroic Presence is purely thematic, intended to reflect her status among her fellow Ionians. She invests in some Athletics feats to enhance her traversal capabilities as well as Intimidation so that she can make use of that Triumphant Boast and debuff foes. At this point, Irelia has most of the spells that she needs to mimic the effects of her abilities and the ones chosen during this block aren’t particularly notable though dream council was picked because she’s part of the current Ionian Council.
FREE ARCHETYPE SUGGESTIONS: Immediately, the Swashbuckler Dedication is the place to start for Irelia, allowing her to take up some feats from it earlier while also grabbing options such as Swashbuckler’s Speed and Advanced Flair for the likes of Leading Dance or Focused Fascination. Alternatively, Irelia could make use of an early Acrobat Dedication, allowing her to invest in skills other than Acrobatics, such as her Intimidation and Athletics. The tumbling capabilities it provides mesh nicely with some of the options from the swashbuckler archetype.
BUILD CONCLUSION
Mimicking Irelia’s telekinetic control over her blades through her dance, she is a distant grasp psychic with a Charisma key ability score and a focus on Performance. The basics of her telekinetic usage of her blades is covered by telekinetic projectile, but also from many of her damaging spells and even imaginary weapon. Spells such as haste, loose time’s arrow, and other effects that grant her quickened combined with Psi Strikes captures the feel of the attack speed and damage buff of Ionian Fervor. The dash alone of Bladesurge can thought to be covered by effects such as Wandering Thoughts whereas the dash plus damage comes from her blink charge. The primary options to create something akin to her Defiant Dance is an amped vector screen, rebounding barrier, and a little bit of Inertial Barrier. To inflict damage and a potential stun in a line, Irelia makes uses of telekinetic bombardment, which can strike in a 30-foot line and inflicts stunned on a critical failure – and at least knocks targets prone on regular failures. The last of her League abilities, Irelia tries to recreate the effects of Vanguard’s Edge with etheric shards. This creates an area of difficult terrain that also damages enemies that pass through it, even if they are flaying or incorporeal. From LoR, Deepest Wellspring is a fit for her Attune ability where as the Bladesurge in that game, which allows her to swap places with allies, can be covered by collective transposition. With her place in the war and how she has become considered following it, Tall Tale as well as options such as Connections mesh well with Irelia.
Lemme know what you think and if there's any other particular builds you'd like to see.
If you want to join in on the discussion of these builds and the ones I do for monsters or just hang out with a bunch of fellow TTRPG nerds, check out the Discord server. We also have a Twitter where we try to post teasers for the blog and are trying to get some milestones made up for. For next week, I'll be presenting a build for a character of high calibur.
Welcome to the new year and have a fantastic Friday!
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