At level 3, the Eldritch Knight gets 3 cantrips, 3 spells known, and 2 spell slots at level 3. It gets one more spell slot at level 4, and nothing more until level 7. It progresses so slowly in terms of magic, and its options are largely limited to less useful evocation spells and more useful but predictable abjuration spells.
At level 3, the Rune Knight gets Giant's Might, which is a better, concentration free bonus action version of Enlarge to cast on itself a number of times equal to its proficiency modifier (a better version of a 2nd level spell!)
Then with Runes, the Rune Knight also gets select spell effects that come back on a short rest like a Warlock:
A version of a hold spell that only restrains rather than paralyze, but is cast as a reaction and lacks concentration (another arguably 2nd level + spell ability)
A version of flaming smite that doesn't require concentration, can activate on hit, and has a chance to restrain the target and do repeated damage
A unique spell that redirects an attack altogether
An effect that increases strenght/con ability checks and saving throws (not as exciting)
Additionally, the Rune Knight will end up getting more uses of the "faux spell slots" even faster than a warlock, and they get passive bonuses in and out of combat from their runes equivalent to Eldritch Invocations.
In a campaign with any short rests per session, the Rune Knight is practicing more magic like abilities than the Eldritch Knight, and of generally a stronger power than what an Eldritch Knight will have access to.
Even at later levels, the Eldritch Knight gets rune abilities equivalent to "half of the rage feature" and "a luck die you can use or give away each round." And eventually at 15, you get to use your runes twice, effectively giving you 10 spells per short rest alongside the 5 uses of Giant's Might (This essentially would put them in half-caster territory as far as magical effect uses go)
So it would seem that the Rune Knight is the real gish "fighter with magic" archetype.
One minute of non-concentration resistance to piercing, slashing, and bludgeoning.
One minute of non-concentration reaction based imposition of either advantage or disadvantage to an attack roll, saving throw, or ability check. Although your luck die description is less of a mouthful.
At levels 15-20 you get 10 uses of 5 spell-like abilities per short rest, if you have one short rest in a day that's 20 slots. An EK gets 9-11 slots, Ranger and Paladin get 12-15 each, a full caster gets 18-22, Warlock gets 6-8. At two short rests you get 30 slots, Warlock 9-12. Is that half caster or three quarter/full caster territory?
Of course, just looking at it like that grossly misrepresents the other options/abilities that these classes have, but it is food for thought. At prior levels the numbers are far more conservative. Also worth noting that you do not have any kind of upcasting on the abilities, but I feel they are all mostly relevant throughout your campaign/career as an adventurer.
Comparing just to the EK though it does certainly seem to be comparable, if not favourable, as the fighter with magic. The EK does have improved spell selection at least, even though it is limited primarily to evocation and abjuration, and it has more versatility in how it applies those spells (RK has prepared one of each, or two of each at higher levels), plus cantrips help.
These are all really good points. There are pluses and minuses with both the RK and the EK, but in total the Rune Knight edges it out in my opinion.
On the downside, until level 7 you only have 2 runes per short rest, and most of them are save or suck (if they save, nothing happens), and the spell save DC isn't that great. But you can be tactical with it. For example, I would only use the fire rune if I crit to double the fire damage (the first dice damage is no save), or if it's a creature like a wizard that I predict has low strength.
For the Eldritch Knight, martial enhancing spells like shield, booming and greenflame blades, absorb elements, blur, mirror image (and more), are reallypowerful on a Fighter and they are reliable AF. But those spell slots come reaaally slow and it's painful. The EK also gets subclass abilities that enhance spells, and create synergy between spell casting and weapons use.
All that said, the Rune Knight is using bigger (pun intended), flashier "spells" through all the commonly played levels, and assuming you don't have a stingy DM, you're getting more of them. At tier 3 plus I might prefer an Eldritch Knight for something like a one-shot. But if I'm trudging along from level 1, I'd rather play a Rune Knight.
One thing that drives me crazy about the eldritch Knight is how their abilities do not necessarily blend well. Like getting war magic just a few levels before a third attack, and improved war magic for really underpowered spell casting. They don't seem like abilities that really help the EK be better than base fighter.
One thing that drives me crazy about the eldritch Knight is how their abilities do not necessarily blend well. Like getting war magic just a few levels before a third attack, and improved war magic for really underpowered spell casting. They don't seem like abilities that really help the EK be better than base fighter.
War magic for sure does.
War Magic
Beginning at 7th level, when you use your action to cast a cantrip, you can make one weapon attack as a bonus action.
You can do a Green-Flame Blade greatsword attack as your main action, and then a regular greatsword attack with your bonus action.
One thing that drives me crazy about the eldritch Knight is how their abilities do not necessarily blend well. Like getting war magic just a few levels before a third attack, and improved war magic for really underpowered spell casting. They don't seem like abilities that really help the EK be better than base fighter.
War magic for sure does.
War Magic
Beginning at 7th level, when you use your action to cast a cantrip, you can make one weapon attack as a bonus action.
You can do a Green-Flame Blade greatsword attack as your main action, and then a regular greatsword attack with your bonus action.
But as soon as you get 3 attacks, it actively conflicts with base class features, and isn't that much better. It potentially becomes defunct within 4 levels.
One thing that drives me crazy about the eldritch Knight is how their abilities do not necessarily blend well. Like getting war magic just a few levels before a third attack, and improved war magic for really underpowered spell casting. They don't seem like abilities that really help the EK be better than base fighter.
War magic for sure does.
War Magic
Beginning at 7th level, when you use your action to cast a cantrip, you can make one weapon attack as a bonus action.
You can do a Green-Flame Blade greatsword attack as your main action, and then a regular greatsword attack with your bonus action.
But as soon as you get 3 attacks, it actively conflicts with base class features, and isn't that much better. It potentially becomes defunct within 4 levels.
That is possibly true. At level 7 through 10 it is awesome. Level 11 let me crunch some numbers here..
The Cantrip alone adds: 4d8 + 5 damage, that's not including weapon damage. That's 23 points of damage plus your normal weapon attack. Let's say it's a non-magical greatsword. Added together that's 35 points of damage from your greenflame blade attack. Compared to two normal greatsword attacks: 24 points of damage.
If two enemies are together, one greenflame blade is still better than two attacks unless you have a really insane magic weapon.
One thing that drives me crazy about the eldritch Knight is how their abilities do not necessarily blend well. Like getting war magic just a few levels before a third attack, and improved war magic for really underpowered spell casting. They don't seem like abilities that really help the EK be better than base fighter.
War magic for sure does.
War Magic
Beginning at 7th level, when you use your action to cast a cantrip, you can make one weapon attack as a bonus action.
You can do a Green-Flame Blade greatsword attack as your main action, and then a regular greatsword attack with your bonus action.
But as soon as you get 3 attacks, it actively conflicts with base class features, and isn't that much better. It potentially becomes defunct within 4 levels.
That is possibly true. At level 7 through 10 it is awesome. Level 11 let me crunch some numbers here..
The Cantrip alone adds: 4d8 + 5 damage, that's not including weapon damage. That's 23 points of damage plus your normal weapon attack. Let's say it's a non-magical greatsword. Added together that's 35 points of damage from your greenflame blade attack. Compared to two normal greatsword attacks: 24 points of damage.
If two enemies are together, one greenflame blade is still better than two attacks unless you have a really insane magic weapon.
Oh yeah, a cantrip and an attack beat 2 attacks. It just isn't clearly better than 3 attacks, especially once one considers spells like magic weapon and shadow blade that favor more attacks.
One thing that drives me crazy about the eldritch Knight is how their abilities do not necessarily blend well. Like getting war magic just a few levels before a third attack, and improved war magic for really underpowered spell casting. They don't seem like abilities that really help the EK be better than base fighter.
War magic for sure does.
War Magic
Beginning at 7th level, when you use your action to cast a cantrip, you can make one weapon attack as a bonus action.
You can do a Green-Flame Blade greatsword attack as your main action, and then a regular greatsword attack with your bonus action.
But as soon as you get 3 attacks, it actively conflicts with base class features, and isn't that much better. It potentially becomes defunct within 4 levels.
That is possibly true. At level 7 through 10 it is awesome. Level 11 let me crunch some numbers here..
The Cantrip alone adds: 4d8 + 5 damage, that's not including weapon damage. That's 23 points of damage plus your normal weapon attack. Let's say it's a non-magical greatsword. Added together that's 35 points of damage from your greenflame blade attack. Compared to two normal greatsword attacks: 24 points of damage.
If two enemies are together, one greenflame blade is still better than two attacks unless you have a really insane magic weapon.
Oh yeah, a cantrip and an attack beat 2 attacks. It just isn't clearly better than 3 attacks, especially once one considers spells like magic weapon and shadow blade that favor more attacks.
You didn't read that closely, or maybe I wasn't clear.
1 cantrip beat 2 attacks.
Which means, 1 cantrip + 1 attack = more damage than 3 attacks.
One thing that drives me crazy about the eldritch Knight is how their abilities do not necessarily blend well. Like getting war magic just a few levels before a third attack, and improved war magic for really underpowered spell casting. They don't seem like abilities that really help the EK be better than base fighter.
War magic for sure does.
War Magic
Beginning at 7th level, when you use your action to cast a cantrip, you can make one weapon attack as a bonus action.
You can do a Green-Flame Blade greatsword attack as your main action, and then a regular greatsword attack with your bonus action.
But as soon as you get 3 attacks, it actively conflicts with base class features, and isn't that much better. It potentially becomes defunct within 4 levels.
That is possibly true. At level 7 through 10 it is awesome. Level 11 let me crunch some numbers here..
The Cantrip alone adds: 4d8 + 5 damage, that's not including weapon damage. That's 23 points of damage plus your normal weapon attack. Let's say it's a non-magical greatsword. Added together that's 35 points of damage from your greenflame blade attack. Compared to two normal greatsword attacks: 24 points of damage.
If two enemies are together, one greenflame blade is still better than two attacks unless you have a really insane magic weapon.
Oh yeah, a cantrip and an attack beat 2 attacks. It just isn't clearly better than 3 attacks, especially once one considers spells like magic weapon and shadow blade that favor more attacks.
You didn't read that closely, or maybe I wasn't clear.
1 cantrip beat 2 attacks.
Which means, 1 cantrip + 1 attack = more damage than 3 attacks.
Yeah, I don't buy the math because you aren't always getting the full damage out of booming blade/green flame blade. Its situational. So Im looking at it as a potential 2d8 extra damage on 1 attack (assuming the target doesn't have resistances). The secondary damage is great, but not something to assume happens.
Even using your math though, if the EK picks up any feats like GWM or PAM, really generic fighter feats, then war magic never makes that much sense. Between that and the spells I mentioned earlier, its just too easy for the war magic feature to become overshadowed.
The SCAG cantrips help, because before it was a straight up underwhelming feature. But it still isn't an awfully good feature now.
One thing that drives me crazy about the eldritch Knight is how their abilities do not necessarily blend well. Like getting war magic just a few levels before a third attack, and improved war magic for really underpowered spell casting. They don't seem like abilities that really help the EK be better than base fighter.
War magic for sure does.
War Magic
Beginning at 7th level, when you use your action to cast a cantrip, you can make one weapon attack as a bonus action.
You can do a Green-Flame Blade greatsword attack as your main action, and then a regular greatsword attack with your bonus action.
But as soon as you get 3 attacks, it actively conflicts with base class features, and isn't that much better. It potentially becomes defunct within 4 levels.
That is possibly true. At level 7 through 10 it is awesome. Level 11 let me crunch some numbers here..
The Cantrip alone adds: 4d8 + 5 damage, that's not including weapon damage. That's 23 points of damage plus your normal weapon attack. Let's say it's a non-magical greatsword. Added together that's 35 points of damage from your greenflame blade attack. Compared to two normal greatsword attacks: 24 points of damage.
If two enemies are together, one greenflame blade is still better than two attacks unless you have a really insane magic weapon.
Oh yeah, a cantrip and an attack beat 2 attacks. It just isn't clearly better than 3 attacks, especially once one considers spells like magic weapon and shadow blade that favor more attacks.
You didn't read that closely, or maybe I wasn't clear.
1 cantrip beat 2 attacks.
Which means, 1 cantrip + 1 attack = more damage than 3 attacks.
Yeah, I don't buy the math because you aren't always getting the full damage out of booming blade/green flame blade. Its situational. So Im looking at it as a potential 2d8 extra damage on 1 attack (assuming the target doesn't have resistances). The secondary damage is great, but not something to assume happens.
If two enemies are close together, you absolutely are always getting all the damage. And that's not some rare situational thing. So you are getting ample use out of War Magic, just not every time you attack like on levels 7 through 10.
Now compare 1 Booming Blade (not triggered) to 2 attacks.
2 normal attack with greatsword: 24 damage
1 Booming Blade (not triggered) with greatsword: 21 damage
And witha longsword it's a difference of 0.5 damage.
War Magic makes Booming Blade a much more attractive option, because If a situation arises where you want to use it, you're sacrificing very little damage if it does not trigger. Add that to Green-Flame Blade, which you can predict with certainty if it will trigger, and War Magic is still very much a value added even after level 11. It's just no longer insanely good like it was at levels 7-10.
And personally I like the idea that mixing it up so combat isn't repetitive. 3 attacks against this guy, those two over there are right next to each other so GFB + attack, etc.
One thing that drives me crazy about the eldritch Knight is how their abilities do not necessarily blend well. Like getting war magic just a few levels before a third attack, and improved war magic for really underpowered spell casting. They don't seem like abilities that really help the EK be better than base fighter.
War magic for sure does.
War Magic
Beginning at 7th level, when you use your action to cast a cantrip, you can make one weapon attack as a bonus action.
You can do a Green-Flame Blade greatsword attack as your main action, and then a regular greatsword attack with your bonus action.
But as soon as you get 3 attacks, it actively conflicts with base class features, and isn't that much better. It potentially becomes defunct within 4 levels.
That is possibly true. At level 7 through 10 it is awesome. Level 11 let me crunch some numbers here..
The Cantrip alone adds: 4d8 + 5 damage, that's not including weapon damage. That's 23 points of damage plus your normal weapon attack. Let's say it's a non-magical greatsword. Added together that's 35 points of damage from your greenflame blade attack. Compared to two normal greatsword attacks: 24 points of damage.
If two enemies are together, one greenflame blade is still better than two attacks unless you have a really insane magic weapon.
Oh yeah, a cantrip and an attack beat 2 attacks. It just isn't clearly better than 3 attacks, especially once one considers spells like magic weapon and shadow blade that favor more attacks.
You didn't read that closely, or maybe I wasn't clear.
1 cantrip beat 2 attacks.
Which means, 1 cantrip + 1 attack = more damage than 3 attacks.
Yeah, I don't buy the math because you aren't always getting the full damage out of booming blade/green flame blade. Its situational. So Im looking at it as a potential 2d8 extra damage on 1 attack (assuming the target doesn't have resistances). The secondary damage is great, but not something to assume happens.
If two enemies are close together, you absolutely are always getting all the damage. And that's not some rare situational thing. So you are getting ample use out of War Magic, just not every time you attack like on levels 7 through 10.
Well no. First, the attack must land. More attacks have more opportunity to hit.
And it isn't going to be that often that enemies stand next to each other and let something like that happen more than once, if they let it happen at all since it'd be pretty common knowledge not to group up in a world with AOE spells. More so if your table is using flanking rules to incentivize not grouping even more. Maybe unintelligent enemies like low level undead and beasts will just stand beside each other and let you get that tactical advantage, but any opponent with humanoid intelligence ought to put the kibosh on that sort of thing by just moving 5ft apart from each other. So no, its not that consistent. Not unless the dm really dumbs down enemies in combat.
I experienced this with a campaign that ran from 5-14 over the course of the past year. I was playing an arcane trickster and then pact of the blade warlock, both times depending on the blade cantrips. I got to use green flame blade a handful of times, even with really simplified enemies. I started preferring booming blade at that point, but its not hard for the target to just not move that combat, even just accidentally or avoiding attacks of opportunity.
Maybe you've experienced something different, but in my mind, the cantrips are just not that consistent in landing the secondary damage.
One thing that drives me crazy about the eldritch Knight is how their abilities do not necessarily blend well. Like getting war magic just a few levels before a third attack, and improved war magic for really underpowered spell casting. They don't seem like abilities that really help the EK be better than base fighter.
War magic for sure does.
War Magic
Beginning at 7th level, when you use your action to cast a cantrip, you can make one weapon attack as a bonus action.
You can do a Green-Flame Blade greatsword attack as your main action, and then a regular greatsword attack with your bonus action.
But as soon as you get 3 attacks, it actively conflicts with base class features, and isn't that much better. It potentially becomes defunct within 4 levels.
That is possibly true. At level 7 through 10 it is awesome. Level 11 let me crunch some numbers here..
The Cantrip alone adds: 4d8 + 5 damage, that's not including weapon damage. That's 23 points of damage plus your normal weapon attack. Let's say it's a non-magical greatsword. Added together that's 35 points of damage from your greenflame blade attack. Compared to two normal greatsword attacks: 24 points of damage.
If two enemies are together, one greenflame blade is still better than two attacks unless you have a really insane magic weapon.
Oh yeah, a cantrip and an attack beat 2 attacks. It just isn't clearly better than 3 attacks, especially once one considers spells like magic weapon and shadow blade that favor more attacks.
You didn't read that closely, or maybe I wasn't clear.
1 cantrip beat 2 attacks.
Which means, 1 cantrip + 1 attack = more damage than 3 attacks.
Yeah, I don't buy the math because you aren't always getting the full damage out of booming blade/green flame blade. Its situational. So Im looking at it as a potential 2d8 extra damage on 1 attack (assuming the target doesn't have resistances). The secondary damage is great, but not something to assume happens.
If two enemies are close together, you absolutely are always getting all the damage. And that's not some rare situational thing. So you are getting ample use out of War Magic, just not every time you attack like on levels 7 through 10.
Well no. First, the attack must land. More attacks have more opportunity to hit.
And it isn't going to be that often that enemies stand next to each other and let something like that happen more than once, if they let it happen at all since it'd be pretty common knowledge not to group up in a world with AOE spells. More so if your table is using flanking rules to incentivize not grouping even more. Maybe unintelligent enemies like low level undead and beasts will just stand beside each other and let you get that tactical advantage, but any opponent with humanoid intelligence ought to put the kibosh on that sort of thing by just moving 5ft apart from each other. So no, its not that consistent. Not unless the dm really dumbs down enemies in combat.
I experienced this with a campaign that ran from 5-14 over the course of the past year. I was playing an arcane trickster and then pact of the blade warlock, both times depending on the blade cantrips. I got to use green flame blade a handful of times, even with really simplified enemies. I started preferring booming blade at that point, but its not hard for the target to just not move that combat, even just accidentally or avoiding attacks of opportunity.
Maybe you've experienced something different, but in my mind, the cantrips are just not that consistent in landing the secondary damage.
"Well no. First, the attack must land. More attacks have more opportunity to hit."
DPR is exactly the same if you make two attacks for 10 damage each or one attack for 20 damage.
"And it isn't going to be that often that enemies stand next to each other and let something like that happen more than once"
It's not like you're going to be using it every other attack, but enemies (and players) end up right next to each other in combat (for various reasons) on a regular basis. Most of the time you'll be making regular attacks, but opportunities to use a BB or GFB should come up often enough that they are value added. Unless you have a DM who is metagaming and actively trying to screw your ability.
Just so we're clear, I do agree that level 11+ reduces the value of War Magic to a large degree. But it's still value added at that point, it's amazing at levels 7-10, and most games are wrapping up by the time that happens.
At level 3, the Eldritch Knight gets 3 cantrips, 3 spells known, and 2 spell slots at level 3. It gets one more spell slot at level 4, and nothing more until level 7. It progresses so slowly in terms of magic, and its options are largely limited to less useful evocation spells and more useful but predictable abjuration spells.
At level 3, the Rune Knight gets Giant's Might, which is a better, concentration free bonus action version of Enlarge to cast on itself a number of times equal to its proficiency modifier (a better version of a 2nd level spell!)
Then with Runes, the Rune Knight also gets select spell effects that come back on a short rest like a Warlock:
Additionally, the Rune Knight will end up getting more uses of the "faux spell slots" even faster than a warlock, and they get passive bonuses in and out of combat from their runes equivalent to Eldritch Invocations.
In a campaign with any short rests per session, the Rune Knight is practicing more magic like abilities than the Eldritch Knight, and of generally a stronger power than what an Eldritch Knight will have access to.
Even at later levels, the Eldritch Knight gets rune abilities equivalent to "half of the rage feature" and "a luck die you can use or give away each round." And eventually at 15, you get to use your runes twice, effectively giving you 10 spells per short rest alongside the 5 uses of Giant's Might (This essentially would put them in half-caster territory as far as magical effect uses go)
So it would seem that the Rune Knight is the real gish "fighter with magic" archetype.
Nice write-up, I enjoyed it.
Adding a description of the level 7
runesspells:At levels 15-20 you get 10 uses of 5 spell-like abilities per short rest, if you have one short rest in a day that's 20 slots. An EK gets 9-11 slots, Ranger and Paladin get 12-15 each, a full caster gets 18-22, Warlock gets 6-8. At two short rests you get 30 slots, Warlock 9-12. Is that half caster or three quarter/full caster territory?
Of course, just looking at it like that grossly misrepresents the other options/abilities that these classes have, but it is food for thought. At prior levels the numbers are far more conservative. Also worth noting that you do not have any kind of upcasting on the abilities, but I feel they are all mostly relevant throughout your campaign/career as an adventurer.
Comparing just to the EK though it does certainly seem to be comparable, if not favourable, as the fighter with magic. The EK does have improved spell selection at least, even though it is limited primarily to evocation and abjuration, and it has more versatility in how it applies those spells (RK has prepared one of each, or two of each at higher levels), plus cantrips help.
These are all really good points. There are pluses and minuses with both the RK and the EK, but in total the Rune Knight edges it out in my opinion.
On the downside, until level 7 you only have 2 runes per short rest, and most of them are save or suck (if they save, nothing happens), and the spell save DC isn't that great. But you can be tactical with it. For example, I would only use the fire rune if I crit to double the fire damage (the first dice damage is no save), or if it's a creature like a wizard that I predict has low strength.
For the Eldritch Knight, martial enhancing spells like shield, booming and greenflame blades, absorb elements, blur, mirror image (and more), are really powerful on a Fighter and they are reliable AF. But those spell slots come reaaally slow and it's painful. The EK also gets subclass abilities that enhance spells, and create synergy between spell casting and weapons use.
All that said, the Rune Knight is using bigger (pun intended), flashier "spells" through all the commonly played levels, and assuming you don't have a stingy DM, you're getting more of them. At tier 3 plus I might prefer an Eldritch Knight for something like a one-shot. But if I'm trudging along from level 1, I'd rather play a Rune Knight.
One thing that drives me crazy about the eldritch Knight is how their abilities do not necessarily blend well. Like getting war magic just a few levels before a third attack, and improved war magic for really underpowered spell casting. They don't seem like abilities that really help the EK be better than base fighter.
War magic for sure does.
War Magic
Beginning at 7th level, when you use your action to cast a cantrip, you can make one weapon attack as a bonus action.
You can do a Green-Flame Blade greatsword attack as your main action, and then a regular greatsword attack with your bonus action.
But as soon as you get 3 attacks, it actively conflicts with base class features, and isn't that much better. It potentially becomes defunct within 4 levels.
That is possibly true. At level 7 through 10 it is awesome. Level 11 let me crunch some numbers here..
The Cantrip alone adds: 4d8 + 5 damage, that's not including weapon damage. That's 23 points of damage plus your normal weapon attack. Let's say it's a non-magical greatsword. Added together that's 35 points of damage from your greenflame blade attack. Compared to two normal greatsword attacks: 24 points of damage.
If two enemies are together, one greenflame blade is still better than two attacks unless you have a really insane magic weapon.
Oh yeah, a cantrip and an attack beat 2 attacks. It just isn't clearly better than 3 attacks, especially once one considers spells like magic weapon and shadow blade that favor more attacks.
You didn't read that closely, or maybe I wasn't clear.
1 cantrip beat 2 attacks.
Which means, 1 cantrip + 1 attack = more damage than 3 attacks.
1 Cantrip (GFB) = 35 points of damage
2 Attacks (20 STR wiith Greatsword) = 24 points of damage
Yeah, I don't buy the math because you aren't always getting the full damage out of booming blade/green flame blade. Its situational. So Im looking at it as a potential 2d8 extra damage on 1 attack (assuming the target doesn't have resistances). The secondary damage is great, but not something to assume happens.
Even using your math though, if the EK picks up any feats like GWM or PAM, really generic fighter feats, then war magic never makes that much sense. Between that and the spells I mentioned earlier, its just too easy for the war magic feature to become overshadowed.
The SCAG cantrips help, because before it was a straight up underwhelming feature. But it still isn't an awfully good feature now.
If two enemies are close together, you absolutely are always getting all the damage. And that's not some rare situational thing. So you are getting ample use out of War Magic, just not every time you attack like on levels 7 through 10.
Now compare 1 Booming Blade (not triggered) to 2 attacks.
2 normal attack with greatsword: 24 damage
1 Booming Blade (not triggered) with greatsword: 21 damage
And witha longsword it's a difference of 0.5 damage.
War Magic makes Booming Blade a much more attractive option, because If a situation arises where you want to use it, you're sacrificing very little damage if it does not trigger. Add that to Green-Flame Blade, which you can predict with certainty if it will trigger, and War Magic is still very much a value added even after level 11. It's just no longer insanely good like it was at levels 7-10.
And personally I like the idea that mixing it up so combat isn't repetitive. 3 attacks against this guy, those two over there are right next to each other so GFB + attack, etc.
Well no. First, the attack must land. More attacks have more opportunity to hit.
And it isn't going to be that often that enemies stand next to each other and let something like that happen more than once, if they let it happen at all since it'd be pretty common knowledge not to group up in a world with AOE spells. More so if your table is using flanking rules to incentivize not grouping even more. Maybe unintelligent enemies like low level undead and beasts will just stand beside each other and let you get that tactical advantage, but any opponent with humanoid intelligence ought to put the kibosh on that sort of thing by just moving 5ft apart from each other. So no, its not that consistent. Not unless the dm really dumbs down enemies in combat.
I experienced this with a campaign that ran from 5-14 over the course of the past year. I was playing an arcane trickster and then pact of the blade warlock, both times depending on the blade cantrips. I got to use green flame blade a handful of times, even with really simplified enemies. I started preferring booming blade at that point, but its not hard for the target to just not move that combat, even just accidentally or avoiding attacks of opportunity.
Maybe you've experienced something different, but in my mind, the cantrips are just not that consistent in landing the secondary damage.
"Well no. First, the attack must land. More attacks have more opportunity to hit."
DPR is exactly the same if you make two attacks for 10 damage each or one attack for 20 damage.
"And it isn't going to be that often that enemies stand next to each other and let something like that happen more than once"
It's not like you're going to be using it every other attack, but enemies (and players) end up right next to each other in combat (for various reasons) on a regular basis. Most of the time you'll be making regular attacks, but opportunities to use a BB or GFB should come up often enough that they are value added. Unless you have a DM who is metagaming and actively trying to screw your ability.
Just so we're clear, I do agree that level 11+ reduces the value of War Magic to a large degree. But it's still value added at that point, it's amazing at levels 7-10, and most games are wrapping up by the time that happens.
Fair points. Its true that campaigns do not go that far into the teens.