Eldritch Knight varriant

[rarurak]

I'm playing a dragonborn fighter thats evil, I want to play an eldritch knight but it doesn't seem to be evil enough. Has anyone made one using warlock spells that isn't completely overpowered? Or know of a site that would be good to look for this, google searches didn't really help all that much. Thanks!

[GiantOctopodes]

Honestly, the general consensus is that Warlock spells are generally speaking inferior to Wizard or Sorcerer spells for levels 1-4, it's only their cantrips which are more powerful. As the cantrip (singular) in question, Eldritch Blast, is strictly inferior to using a your full attack action for a fighter (except for levels 17-20, it makes no sense to me that the 4th attack for fighters is 20th level instead of 17th), and has limited range, the only benefit would be to overcome resistances by dealing force damage instead of your normal damage. If I were your DM, I would not mind at all just directly subbing out the use of the Warlock spell list and making absolutely no changes otherwise. I find it exceedingly unlikely to break anything, unless I'm missing something.

The only thing I would *not* allow is for such a character to then MC as a Warlock, as I would have to more carefully examine the implications of them applying any invocations learned to the warlock spells used in the Eldritch Knight spell slots, and such an action would stink of cheese anyway.

[NeoSeraphi]

I can't speak to balance but I can say that between picking an evil dragon type and the criminal background you'll be plenty evil enough. Evil isn't about the spells you cast. It's about the way you talk and deal with other people. If someone bumps into you and you apologize, you're Good. If they bump into you and you keep walking, you're Neutral. If they bump into you and you stab/rob/threaten their children, you're Evil.

[SharkForce]

why not just make a bladelock?

[Easy_Lee]

As said, evil is in the actions, not the class. I imagine eldritch knights to be the fighters most tempted towards evil because of the power they wield.

If you want warlock spells and combat, a blade pact warlock may be what you want. No casting cantrip and making an attack in the same round, but more spells and better casting over eldritch knight.

You could also go with the popular paladin 6/sorcerer 14 build. That grants you quickened spells for full attack + bonus cast. You could go with a dexterity paladin for maximum compatibility (dragon scale armor + Dex + shield). The lack of ASIs might hurt.

Or, you can just go eldritch knight and be a jerk. Or an oathbreaker paladin. There are lots of options for a jerkass gish.

[rarurak]

why not just make a bladelock?

would that just be duel classing warlock and fighter?

[MadBear]

would that just be duel classing warlock and fighter?

nope, just going warlock who takes pact of the blade.

[rarurak]

my only concern is would blade pact waste my 18 str? and I love having the two hander lol i just thought the warlock as dragonborn would in role playing sense more evil and choaotic

[odigity]

I imagine eldritch knights to be the fighters most tempted towards evil because of the power they wield.

If you want warlock spells and combat, a blade pact warlock may be what you want. No casting cantrip and making a full attack in the same round, but more spells and better casting over eldritch knight.

How does an Eldritch Knight get to full attack + cantrip in one round? I thought they just get to add a *single* weapon attack as a bonus action when using your action to cast a cantrip, and later on, a normal spell.

[fishyfishyfishy]

How does an Eldritch Knight get to full attack + cantrip in one round? I thought they just get to add a *single* weapon attack as a bonus action when using your action to cast a cantrip, and later on, a normal spell.

There is no such action as full attack. There is only attack. That nitpick aside, I believe you are correct but I'm afb and cannot confirm with the relevant text.

[Easy_Lee]

How does an Eldritch Knight get to full attack + cantrip in one round? I thought they just get to add a *single* weapon attack as a bonus action when using your action to cast a cantrip, and later on, a normal spell.

Meant to say single attack, will update.

[SharkForce]

my only concern is would blade pact waste my 18 str? and I love having the two hander lol i just thought the warlock as dragonborn would in role playing sense more evil and choaotic

nope. eventually you'll get an invocation that lets you add your charisma to damage as well as your strength or dex when using your pact weapon, but you still get full use out of your strength or dexterity. it adds, not replaces.

the only exception is if you somehow manage to get your hands on something like the shillelagh cantrip as a warlock, sorcerer, or bard spell (if you take it with magic initiate it uses wisdom, which is still no good to you). but, the only way to get it as a warlock cantrip is to go tome pact, the only way to get it as a bard spell is to splash at least 6 levels of bard (and you'd still need strength or dex for all the levels leading up to it), and there is no way (yet) to add it as a sorcerer spell.

but yeah, if you just go fiend patron blade pact warlock, you can fairly easily get an offensively strong melee character like you seem to be aiming for. as a fiend pact warlock, you'll also be able to mix in quite a bit of fire damage along the way, if you so desire.

mechanically, you could also get quite a bit of mileage out of something like 6 levels of paladin (crusader) and 3 levels of tome warlock (for shillelagh) and completely ignore strength... but your character wouldn't be of much use until level 9 as a melee fighter (you could get by just fine spamming agonizing eldritch blast, but that won't work if your goal is to be a melee). you would also never get the invocation to give you +charisma to damage.

also, crusader paladin is basically the exact opposite of the character concept you want.

but yeah, just go pact of the blade, make sure you pick up the blade pact invocations as you go along, and maybe consider spending a feat on medium armour proficiency (and shield if you use a one-handed weapon) at some point. you could even splash a level of fighter somewhere along the way if you like.

[Ziegander]

What about an Evil Dragonborn Oathbreaker Paladin? Pretty mustache twirlingly evil, I'd say. Pick the Charlatan or Criminal backgrounds, and you're well on your way.