A neat use of Eldritch Knight?

[mabriss lethe]

This idea popped into my head, but I'm AFB so I can't run it through its paces.

How effective would it be to pick up the feat that grants spells (Magical Aptitude?) to grab the Thorn Whip cantrip from the Druid list and couple it with EK's native ability to smack things and spell sling at the same time? I'm still a little fuzzy on opportunity attacks for this edition, so I'm not sure if being able to reel someone in would trigger an OA in addition to the EK's normal attack. Even if not, I still think it adds some neat BFC options for the class.

[Grynning]

Forced movement never causes AoO's, so that's out. Thorn Whip only pulls 10ft, so unless the target is within 10 feet of you already, you won't get to melee it, and since they can move further away on their next action, it basically becomes Ray of Frost with less damage.

[Human Paragon 3]

Forced movement never causes AoO's, so that's out. Thorn Whip only pulls 10ft, so unless the target is within 10 feet of you already, you won't get to melee it, and since they can move further away on their next action, it basically becomes Ray of Frost with less damage.

If you coupled it with the feat that lets you make an OA whenever a creature enters your threatened zone it might work? And the feat that lets you lock down opponents... Could be interesting.

You move around, make all your normal attacks then use thorn whip as a bonus cantrip to move enemies into your threat zone. After a while you could end up completely surrounding yourself with all the bad guys, which could be good if you use your spells for defense, and get that cleave-like feat for even more extra attack goodness. Oh, and haste yourself.

[linklele]

If you coupled it with the feat that lets you make an OA whenever a creature enters your threatened zone it might work? And the feat that lets you lock down opponents... Could be interesting.

You move around, make all your normal attacks then use thorn whip as a bonus cantrip to move enemies into your threat zone. After a while you could end up completely surrounding yourself with all the bad guys, which could be good if you use your spells for defense, and get that cleave-like feat for even more extra attack goodness. Oh, and haste yourself.

That's actually a pretty good idea! It's like: "Hey bad guy stay with me and dont go around until the mage/clesic/wathever ended casting the spell that will utterly destroy you!"
Ah right, it is called Tanking. Anyway i think it is a quite effectiive way to do so.

[mabriss lethe]

I think a reach weapon thrown into the mix could make the reel-in range more viable.

[SaintRidley]

I like it. I like it a lot.

[Grynning]

It's a neat idea, but it still doesn't quite work by the rules. Again, forcing movement never provokes, so even if you have Polearm Master (the feat that makes things provoke when they enter reach), it still won't happen because they were pushed or pulled and thus don't provoke.

Sentinel (the "lockdown" feat you mentioned) doesn't work with reach weapons. It only works on creatures within 5 feet of you. I don't agree with the way they worded it, but that's how it is.

[Human Paragon 3]

It's a neat idea, but it still doesn't quite work by the rules. Again, forcing movement never provokes, so even if you have Polearm Master (the feat that makes things provoke when they enter reach), it still won't happen because they were pushed or pulled and thus don't provoke.

Sentinel (the "lockdown" feat you mentioned) doesn't work with reach weapons. It only works on creatures within 5 feet of you. I don't agree with the way they worded it, but that's how it is.

OK, so skip the OAs (which I admit was the initial intent) and just use it to cluster bad guys around you and lock them down with sentinel. You can keep corralling them in and whacking them every turn, and they'll have a lot of trouble hitting you while you use blade ward and shield to defend yourself.

[Grynning]

If you just like Thorn Whip, hey, nothing wrong with that. It's not a bad spell, and yeah it can add a little control to a melee character. I use it on my druid. I was just pointing out that you can't use it to force AoO's, which is what the OP was saying.

[linklele]

Sentinel (the "lockdown" feat you mentioned) doesn't work with reach weapons. It only works on creatures within 5 feet of you. I don't agree with the way they worded it, but that's how it is.

Nothing prohibite you to have a normal weapon in the other hand.
I'm not even sure if the thorn wip counts againist your hand slot, as it is an instant spell.

[EvilAnagram]

Nothing prohibite you to have a normal weapon in the other hand.
I'm not even sure if the thorn wip counts againist your hand slot, as it is an instant spell.

It's not the "Instant" vs. "Concentration" property that necessitates a free hand, but whether or not Thorn Whip has a "Somatic" component to it. If it does, you need a free hand or one hand that has a focus in it.

[Grynning]

It's not the "Instant" vs. "Concentration" property that necessitates a free hand, but whether or not Thorn Whip has a "Somatic" component to it. If it does, you need a free hand or one hand that has a focus in it.

You would have to take the War Caster feat for this to work for a tanky character (who generally wants a reach weapon or a shield).

@linklele - I was responding to Human Paragon 3's idea of using the Sentinel feat with this and a reach weapon, which doesn't work because of the way Sentinel is worded. You could certainly get mileage out of Sentinel on a gish-tank character with a non reach weapon as long as you can keep the enemies right next to you. Entangle and Entangling Strike that Paladins and Druids can get, for instance.