Eldritch Knight multiclassing

[Mitchellnotes]

Hi all,

Im hoping to get a little feedback on ideas for an eldritch knight, specifically around when, if, and how to multiclass.

The idea is that he is a deep gnome eldritch knight, sage background, who is interested in old lore. Knowledge is power which can be collected, sold, or traded. Stats are 10, 16, 12, 16, 13, 8

I have two major routes i can go with him, either melee heavily utilizing shadow blade or ranged using darts. Either way, the plan is light armor and shield. Even if i go with a darts focus, id pick up shadow blade for backup. I know darts may need some dm fiat with exactly how they work... but even the strictest interpretation means i should be good for at least 2 attacks a turn

My thought is to go war wizard at some point for spell slot recovery, bonus to initiative, and reactions that further boost ac or saves.

If i go shadow blade focus, id prob go fighter 5, picking up the deep gnome magic feat at 4, wizard 3, and fighter the rest of the way. This picks up shadow blade at 8 and 3rd level slots at 9, but puts off 3 attacks until 14. Fighter 6 and 8 would be +2 dex asis, and other feats could provide a lot of flexibility (res wis, alert, or others). Im less worried about this, bc 2 attacks with a 3rd level shadowblade is essentially the same as 3 attacks with a 2nd level shadowblade.

If i go dart focus, id pick up sharpshooter at 4, but i dont know when or if i should pick up war wizard at all. I could go fighter 5, wizard 2, fighter rest, or fighter 11, war wizard after that. I could also forgo war wizard and lick up ritual casting at 6. Im just curious what people think! I just love the image of throwing darts, magically summoning them back to throw again.

In terms of raw damage, both are fairly similar. Its a bit easier to get the deep gnome magic feat and war wizard in the first build, but the 2nd build is less reliant on concentration and spell slots. My guess is that a lot of this depends on if we have another ritual caster in the party.

[CTurbo]

Hi all,

Im hoping to get a little feedback on ideas for an eldritch knight, specifically around when, if, and how to multiclass.

The idea is that he is a deep gnome eldritch knight, sage background, who is interested in old lore. Knowledge is power which can be collected, sold, or traded. Stats are 10, 16, 12, 16, 13, 8

I have two major routes i can go with him, either melee heavily utilizing shadow blade or ranged using darts. Either way, the plan is light armor and shield. Even if i go with a darts focus, id pick up shadow blade for backup. I know darts may need some dm fiat with exactly how they work... but even the strictest interpretation means i should be good for at least 2 attacks a turn

My thought is to go war wizard at some point for spell slot recovery, bonus to initiative, and reactions that further boost ac or saves.

If i go shadow blade focus, id prob go fighter 5, picking up the deep gnome magic feat at 4, wizard 3, and fighter the rest of the way. This picks up shadow blade at 8 and 3rd level slots at 9, but puts off 3 attacks until 14. Fighter 6 and 8 would be +2 dex asis, and other feats could provide a lot of flexibility (res wis, alert, or others). Im less worried about this, bc 2 attacks with a 3rd level shadowblade is essentially the same as 3 attacks with a 2nd level shadowblade.

If i go dart focus, id pick up sharpshooter at 4, but i dont know when or if i should pick up war wizard at all. I could go fighter 5, wizard 2, fighter rest, or fighter 11, war wizard after that. I could also forgo war wizard and lick up ritual casting at 6. Im just curious what people think! I just love the image of throwing darts, magically summoning them back to throw again.

In terms of raw damage, both are fairly similar. Its a bit easier to get the deep gnome magic feat and war wizard in the first build, but the 2nd build is less reliant on concentration and spell slots. My guess is that a lot of this depends on if we have another ritual caster in the party.


I don't see why you would HAVE to multiclass at all, but if you do, Wizard is the obvious choice. War Wizard would be fine. Like I just said in another thread, EK/Abjurer combos are awesome, and is always my number suggestion. Divination would work too for Portent.


I would probably go EK 7 or 8 to at least get War Magic quickly. I'd probably want at least 11 Fighter levels too. Booming Blade works really well with Shadow Blade IMO.


Sounds like a fun build idea.




Oh yeah, Arcane Trickster would be an interesting option for you. Booming Blade + Shadow Blade + Sneak attack damage is awesome. You'd also get all the fun Rogue stuff like Expertise, Cunning Action, Uncanny Dodge, Evasion, etc...

[Grod_The_Giant]

If you go the melee-focused route, I'd go up to Fighter 7, to take advantage of War Magic.

[RSP]

I’d suggest Warcaster to build off SB, as you don’t want to drop Concentration. You are already dealing with limited slots, and won’t have enough to get you through a crawl, you don’t want your SB dropping from damage (which I’m assuming you’ll be taking as a melee fighter).

[Mitchellnotes]

If you go the melee-focused route, I'd go up to Fighter 7, to take advantage of War Magic.

The reason i'd probably jump over to war wizard at 5 or 6 is to get the 3rd level slots asap, and there isnt a difference in spell slot progression between ek7 + wiz 1 and ek 6 and wiz 1. I know id lose the booming blade / bonus action attack, but id get shadowblade on board that much more quickly

[Derpldorf]

This isn't directly tied to your question, but based on your backstory I would suggest looking in to taking Ritual Caster: Bard.

It nets you Comprehend Language and Identify as well as quite a few Detect, Locate, Speak With and Scrying spells that are invaluable for information gathering. It also grants other situationally useful spells like Animal Messenger, Illusory Script and Unseen Servant. Provided you can find them and copy them into your ritual book, of course.

At the cost of one feat slot you can almost fully take care of any information gathering needs and save your precious non Evocation/Abjuration spells for things that increase survivability or utility.

[Nerdicus]

So I'm currently running an EK build that's tearing through monsters, but its not about combining with a wizard. I call it a "Smite Knight"

Right now its lvl 12 split 6 fighter/2 paly/ 4 sorcerer. Stats are 16str, 10dex, 16con, 8int, 10wis, 14cha (I have a belt of hill giant strength to push str to 21)

This build went as follows
Lvls 1-6 fighter(6): 2nd attack, 2 feats (PAM,GWM), Extra spell (find familiar), fighting style (defense), 2nd wind, Save con, str (con is super important for holding spells)
Lvls 7-8 Paladin(2): Access to smites, 2nd fighting style (GWF), lay on hands, pally spells (Bless)
Lvls 9-13 Sorcerer(5): Attack spells work of Cha, sorcerery points, meta magic, (lvl 13 haste), 3rd feat (warcaster, improves concentration, and allows for cantrip reaction attacks)
lvls 14-19 Fighter(12): 3rd attack, indomitable will, 2 ASI's
lvls 20 sorcerer (6): 6 lvl spell slot

Key features: Level 20: smites for days: 4 (1st), 3(2nd), 3(3rd), 4(4th), 22 sorcerey points (2 5th, 1 6th) to redistribute
5 attacks per round (3 attacks, 1 haste, 1 bonus)
Booming blade/green flame blade opportunity attacks
Max round dmg 36d8 smite dmg (haste +action surge + bonus attack = 9 attacks in 1 round)

[Spiritchaser]

If melee heavy? I’d actually go sorcerer.

Ek 11/sorc remainder is hellishly destructive, quickened green flame-shadowblade is of particular note,

mostly subtle spell is just awesome, especially on a Dex character.

[ZenBear]

I stand by my build of EK10/ABJ10.

EK 10 gets you War Magic and Eldritch Strike, which makes you feel like a true gish.

ABJ 10 gets you 5th level spells and Improved Abjuration, making you exceptionally good at Counterspell/Dispel as your capstone feature.