diff --git a/api/src/main/java/net/md_5/bungee/api/chat/BaseComponent.java b/api/src/main/java/net/md_5/bungee/api/chat/BaseComponent.java
index 16cae74df..6607d92a7 100644
--- a/api/src/main/java/net/md_5/bungee/api/chat/BaseComponent.java
+++ b/api/src/main/java/net/md_5/bungee/api/chat/BaseComponent.java
@@ -81,6 +81,8 @@ public abstract class BaseComponent
         setUnderlined( old.isUnderlined() );
         setStrikethrough( old.isStrikethroughRaw() );
         setObfuscated( old.isObfuscatedRaw() );
+        setClickEvent( old.getClickEvent() );
+        setHoverEvent( old.getHoverEvent() );
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/api/src/main/java/net/md_5/bungee/api/chat/ClickEvent.java b/api/src/main/java/net/md_5/bungee/api/chat/ClickEvent.java
index 23d83ee24..55c66f305 100644
--- a/api/src/main/java/net/md_5/bungee/api/chat/ClickEvent.java
+++ b/api/src/main/java/net/md_5/bungee/api/chat/ClickEvent.java
@@ -7,41 +7,39 @@ import lombok.NoArgsConstructor;
 import lombok.Setter;
 
 @Getter
-@Setter
 @AllArgsConstructor
-@NoArgsConstructor
-public class ClickEvent
+final public class ClickEvent
 {
     /**
      * The type of action to preform on click
      */
-    private Action action;
+    private final Action action;
     /**
      * Depends on action
      * @see net.md_5.bungee.api.chat.ClickEvent.Action
      */
-    private String value;
+    private final String value;
 
     public enum Action
     {
         /**
          * Open a url at the path given by
-         * {@link net.md_5.bungee.api.chat.ClickEvent#setValue(String)}
+         * {@link net.md_5.bungee.api.chat.ClickEvent#getValue()}
          */
         OPEN_URL,
         /**
          * Open a file at the path given by
-         * {@link net.md_5.bungee.api.chat.ClickEvent#setValue(String)}
+         * {@link net.md_5.bungee.api.chat.ClickEvent#getValue()}
          */
         OPEN_FILE,
         /**
          * Run the command given by
-         * {@link net.md_5.bungee.api.chat.ClickEvent#setValue(String)}
+         * {@link net.md_5.bungee.api.chat.ClickEvent#getValue()}
          */
         RUN_COMMAND,
         /**
          * Inserts the string given by
-         * {@link net.md_5.bungee.api.chat.ClickEvent#setValue(String)}
+         * {@link net.md_5.bungee.api.chat.ClickEvent#getValue()}
          * into the players text box
          */
         SUGGEST_COMMAND
diff --git a/api/src/main/java/net/md_5/bungee/api/chat/ComponentBuilder.java b/api/src/main/java/net/md_5/bungee/api/chat/ComponentBuilder.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..038ae5c7f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/api/src/main/java/net/md_5/bungee/api/chat/ComponentBuilder.java
@@ -0,0 +1,157 @@
+package net.md_5.bungee.api.chat;
+
+import lombok.NoArgsConstructor;
+import net.md_5.bungee.api.ChatColor;
+
+import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.List;
+
+/**
+ * ComponentBuilder simplifies creating basic messages by allowing
+ * the use of a chainable builder.
+ * <p/>
+ * <pre>
+ *     new ComponentBuilder("Hello ").color(ChatColor.RED).
+ *         append("World").color(ChatColor.BLUE).
+ *         append("!").bold(true).create();
+ * </pre>
+ * <p/>
+ * All methods (excluding {@link #append(String)} and {@link #create()}
+ * work on the last part appended to the builder, so in the example
+ * above "Hello " would be {@link net.md_5.bungee.api.ChatColor#RED}
+ * and "World" would be {@link net.md_5.bungee.api.ChatColor#BLUE} but
+ * "!" would be bold and {@link net.md_5.bungee.api.ChatColor#BLUE}
+ * because append copies the previous part's formatting
+ */
+public class ComponentBuilder
+{
+    private TextComponent current;
+    private List<BaseComponent> parts = new ArrayList<>();
+
+    /**
+     * Creates a componentBuilder with the given text as the
+     * first part.
+     *
+     * @param text the first text element
+     */
+    public ComponentBuilder(String text)
+    {
+        current = new TextComponent( text );
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Appends the text to the builder and makes it the current
+     * target for formatting. The text will have all the
+     * formatting from the previous part.
+     *
+     * @param text the text to append
+     * @return this ComponentBuilder for chaining
+     */
+    public ComponentBuilder append(String text)
+    {
+        parts.add( current );
+        current = new TextComponent( current );
+        current.setText( text );
+        return this;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Sets the color of the current part.
+     *
+     * @param color the new color
+     * @return this ComponentBuilder for chaining
+     */
+    public ComponentBuilder color(ChatColor color)
+    {
+        current.setColor( color );
+        return this;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Sets whether the current part is bold.
+     *
+     * @param bold whether this part is bold
+     * @return this ComponentBuilder for chaining
+     */
+    public ComponentBuilder bold(boolean bold)
+    {
+        current.setBold( bold );
+        return this;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Sets whether the current part is italic
+     *
+     * @param italic whether this part is italic
+     * @return this ComponentBuilder for chaining
+     */
+    public ComponentBuilder italic(boolean italic)
+    {
+        current.setItalic( italic );
+        return this;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Sets whether the current part is underlined
+     *
+     * @param underlined whether this part is underlined
+     * @return this ComponentBuilder for chaining
+     */
+    public ComponentBuilder underlined(boolean underlined)
+    {
+        current.setUnderlined( underlined );
+        return this;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Sets whether the current part is strikethrough
+     *
+     * @param strikethrough whether this part is strikethrough
+     * @return this ComponentBuilder for chaining
+     */
+    public ComponentBuilder strikethrough(boolean strikethrough)
+    {
+        current.setStrikethrough( strikethrough );
+        return this;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Sets whether the current pat is obfuscated
+     *
+     * @param obfuscated whether this part is obfuscated
+     * @return this ComponentBuilder for chaining
+     */
+    public ComponentBuilder obfuscated(boolean obfuscated)
+    {
+        current.setObfuscated( obfuscated );
+        return this;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Sets the click event for the current part.
+     * @param clickEvent
+     * @return
+     */
+    public ComponentBuilder event(ClickEvent clickEvent)
+    {
+        current.setClickEvent( clickEvent );
+        return this;
+    }
+
+    public ComponentBuilder event(HoverEvent hoverEvent)
+    {
+        current.setHoverEvent( hoverEvent );
+        return this;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Returns the components needed to display the message
+     * created by this builder
+     * @return the created components
+     */
+    public BaseComponent[] create()
+    {
+        parts.add( current );
+        return parts.toArray( new BaseComponent[parts.size()] );
+    }
+}
diff --git a/api/src/main/java/net/md_5/bungee/api/chat/HoverEvent.java b/api/src/main/java/net/md_5/bungee/api/chat/HoverEvent.java
index a15161731..c2df8f9cd 100644
--- a/api/src/main/java/net/md_5/bungee/api/chat/HoverEvent.java
+++ b/api/src/main/java/net/md_5/bungee/api/chat/HoverEvent.java
@@ -5,14 +5,12 @@ import lombok.Getter;
 import lombok.NoArgsConstructor;
 import lombok.Setter;
 
-@NoArgsConstructor
 @Getter
-@Setter
 @AllArgsConstructor
-public class HoverEvent
+final public class HoverEvent
 {
-    private Action action;
-    private BaseComponent value;
+    private final Action action;
+    private final BaseComponent[] value;
 
     public enum Action
     {
diff --git a/api/src/main/java/net/md_5/bungee/api/chat/TextComponent.java b/api/src/main/java/net/md_5/bungee/api/chat/TextComponent.java
index 839e355df..e1c68c07f 100644
--- a/api/src/main/java/net/md_5/bungee/api/chat/TextComponent.java
+++ b/api/src/main/java/net/md_5/bungee/api/chat/TextComponent.java
@@ -94,19 +94,10 @@ public class TextComponent extends BaseComponent
 
                 TextComponent old = component;
                 component = new TextComponent( old );
-                ClickEvent clickEvent = new ClickEvent();
-                clickEvent.setAction( ClickEvent.Action.OPEN_URL );
                 String urlString = message.substring( i, pos );
-                if ( urlString.startsWith( "http" ) )
-                {
-                    component.setText( urlString );
-                    clickEvent.setValue( urlString );
-                } else
-                {
-                    component.setText( urlString );
-                    clickEvent.setValue( "http://" + urlString );
-                }
-                component.setClickEvent( clickEvent );
+                component.setText( urlString );
+                component.setClickEvent( new ClickEvent( ClickEvent.Action.OPEN_URL,
+                        urlString.startsWith( "http" ) ? urlString : "http://" + urlString ) );
                 components.add( component );
                 i += pos - i - 1;
                 component = old;
diff --git a/proxy/src/main/java/net/md_5/bungee/chat/BaseComponentSerializer.java b/proxy/src/main/java/net/md_5/bungee/chat/BaseComponentSerializer.java
index 626895706..7128dab9d 100644
--- a/proxy/src/main/java/net/md_5/bungee/chat/BaseComponentSerializer.java
+++ b/proxy/src/main/java/net/md_5/bungee/chat/BaseComponentSerializer.java
@@ -55,11 +55,13 @@ public class BaseComponentSerializer
         if ( object.has( "hoverEvent" ) )
         {
             JsonObject event = object.getAsJsonObject( "hoverEvent" );
-            HoverEvent hoverEvent = new HoverEvent();
-            hoverEvent.setAction( HoverEvent.Action.valueOf( event.get( "action" ).getAsString().toUpperCase() ) );
-            BaseComponent res = context.deserialize( event.get( "value" ), BaseComponent.class );
-            hoverEvent.setValue( res );
-            component.setHoverEvent( hoverEvent );
+            BaseComponent[] res;
+            if (event.get("value").isJsonArray()) {
+                res = context.deserialize( event.get( "value" ), BaseComponent[].class );
+            } else {
+                res = new BaseComponent[]{context.<BaseComponent>deserialize( event.get( "value" ), BaseComponent.class )};
+            }
+            component.setHoverEvent( new HoverEvent( HoverEvent.Action.valueOf( event.get( "action" ).getAsString().toUpperCase() ), res ) );
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/proxy/src/main/java/net/md_5/bungee/command/CommandAlertRaw.java b/proxy/src/main/java/net/md_5/bungee/command/CommandAlertRaw.java
index 6e5ab23f3..39f12ba17 100644
--- a/proxy/src/main/java/net/md_5/bungee/command/CommandAlertRaw.java
+++ b/proxy/src/main/java/net/md_5/bungee/command/CommandAlertRaw.java
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import com.google.common.base.Joiner;
 import net.md_5.bungee.api.ChatColor;
 import net.md_5.bungee.api.CommandSender;
 import net.md_5.bungee.api.ProxyServer;
+import net.md_5.bungee.api.chat.ComponentBuilder;
 import net.md_5.bungee.api.chat.HoverEvent;
 import net.md_5.bungee.api.chat.TextComponent;
 import net.md_5.bungee.api.plugin.Command;
@@ -34,15 +35,12 @@ public class CommandAlertRaw extends Command
                 ProxyServer.getInstance().broadcast( ComponentSerializer.parse( message ) );
             } catch ( Exception e )
             {
-                TextComponent error = new TextComponent( "An error occurred while parsing your message. (Hover for details)" );
-                error.setColor( ChatColor.RED );
-                error.setUnderlined( true );
-
-                TextComponent errorMessage = new TextComponent( e.getMessage() );
-                errorMessage.setColor( ChatColor.RED );
-
-                error.setHoverEvent( new HoverEvent( HoverEvent.Action.SHOW_TEXT, errorMessage ) );
-                sender.sendMessage( error );
+                sender.sendMessage(
+                        new ComponentBuilder( "An error occured while parsing your message. (Hover for details)" ).
+                                color( ChatColor.RED ).underlined( true ).
+                                event( new HoverEvent( HoverEvent.Action.SHOW_TEXT,
+                                        new ComponentBuilder( e.getMessage() ).color( ChatColor.RED ).create() ) ).
+                                create() );
             }
         }
     }
diff --git a/proxy/src/test/java/net/md_5/bungee/chat/ComponentsTest.java b/proxy/src/test/java/net/md_5/bungee/chat/ComponentsTest.java
index 584310d18..898c2b5f8 100644
--- a/proxy/src/test/java/net/md_5/bungee/chat/ComponentsTest.java
+++ b/proxy/src/test/java/net/md_5/bungee/chat/ComponentsTest.java
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package net.md_5.bungee.chat;
 import net.md_5.bungee.api.ChatColor;
 import net.md_5.bungee.api.chat.BaseComponent;
 import net.md_5.bungee.api.chat.ClickEvent;
+import net.md_5.bungee.api.chat.ComponentBuilder;
 import net.md_5.bungee.api.chat.TextComponent;
 import net.md_5.bungee.api.chat.TranslatableComponent;
 import org.junit.Assert;
@@ -66,4 +67,16 @@ public class ComponentsTest
         Assert.assertEquals( ChatColor.WHITE + "Page " + ChatColor.WHITE + "5" + ChatColor.WHITE + " of " + ChatColor.WHITE + "50", positional.toLegacyText() );
     }
 
+    @Test
+    public void testBuilder()
+    {
+        BaseComponent[] components = new ComponentBuilder( "Hello " ).color( ChatColor.RED ).
+                append( "World" ).bold( true ).color( ChatColor.BLUE ).
+                append( "!" ).color( ChatColor.YELLOW ).create();
+
+        Assert.assertEquals( "Hello World!", BaseComponent.toPlainText( components ) );
+        Assert.assertEquals( ChatColor.RED + "Hello " + ChatColor.BLUE + ChatColor.BOLD +
+                "World" + ChatColor.YELLOW + ChatColor.BOLD + "!", BaseComponent.toLegacyText( components ) );
+    }
+
 }