My half-orc Fighter character has just reached third level, but Eldritch Knight won't appear as an option even though I have purchased the player's handbook.

Thank you

Can you provide a link to the character?

I have the same issue with my Fighter on D&D Beyond.

At level 3, the "Eldritch Knight" is not appearing as an option for Martial Archetype. Though it says,

"At 3rd level, you choose an archetype that you strive to emulate in your combat styles and techniques. Choose Champion, Battle Master, or Eldritch Knight, all detailed at the end of the class description. The archetype you choose grants you features at 3rd level and again at 7th, 10th, 15th, and 18th level.

And, now I'm level 4, and only a few Feat as appearing on the drop down.

Is there something I need to download?

Have you purchased the Player's Handbook or the subclass?

Nope. Literally just starting using D&D Beyond.

I just learned that's what I need to do, buy/download the content.

Simple enough.

Thanks.

Buying access to the Eldritch Knight is a scam; it's one of the basic choices for fighters. I'll probably do it, but I don't like it.

Quote from linneasr >>

Buying access to the Eldritch Knight is a scam; it's one of the basic choices for fighters. I'll probably do it, but I don't like it.

 Only the Champion subclass is available in the basic rules put out for free by WotC. Any other subclasses need to be purchased for use, including the Eldritch Knight and Battlemaster found in the Player's Handbook which you would need purchase here to gain access to just like you'd need to anywhere else.

EDIT: Also I forgot to mention, if you're only looking for the character options for a specific character you have in mind you can purchase the race/subclass you intend to pick from the marketplace by themselves for only $1.99 a piece instead of needing to purchase the entire book in which they're found. Also your purchase deducts from the product so if you later want the entire book you'd never pay more than the original cost of the entire book.

Yes, except I have the Player Handbook in hardcover. Buying access so I can continue building my character here is a scam; they could make you pay for the other classes, since they're special ones.

If you paid for the hardcover and don't want to pay for digital integration into the digital character sheet, you can use your physical hardcover to replicate subclasses, spells, items, etc as homebrew material.

Quote from linneasr >>

Yes, except I have the Player Handbook in hardcover. Buying access so I can continue building my character here is a scam; they could make you pay for the other classes, since they're special ones.

 First, D&D Beyond is not WotC. Second, if they were it wouldn't be a scam to charge for digital content. If you don't want to buy it then don't and continue using pen and paper. It's really that simple.

As others have said Eldritch Knight is not part of the Basic Rules so it's not free. And just in case you're still confused, the Player's Handbook is NOT the Basic Rules.

If you believe it is a scam, then don’t do it!

the reason this kind of thing will continue to occur is because we actually do pay for things that should not be extra. As long as we continue to support the things we don’t agree with, they will never change

Scam and at this point just google it and try to figure it out

Better than spending more money

Quote from linneasr >>

Buying access to the Eldritch Knight is a scam; it's one of the basic choices for fighters. I'll probably do it, but I don't like it.

 Yea, pretty shitty to make people pay for basic options.

It's not a basic options. The Basic Rules, which WotC provides for free, include ONE subclass per class. Eldritch Knight is from the PHB, a published book that costs money to acquire. Hence the need to pay for it on this site.

Eldritch Knight is also an available Martial Archetype in the Essentials Kit Rulebook (p18). We purchased this kit with the rulebook and campaign, which includes a dndbeyond.com redemption code for the digital version and are trying to add the fighter characters for that campaign - missing the Eldritch knight option.

Quote from TheEnth >>

Eldritch Knight is also an available Martial Archetype in the Essentials Kit Rulebook (p18). We purchased this kit with the rulebook and campaign, which includes a dndbeyond.com redemption code for the digital version and are trying to add the fighter characters for that campaign - missing the Eldritch knight option.

 Did you redeem the code? Is the person who redeemed the code able to create an Eldritch Knight? If so, good.

Now, for other players to have access to the content, someone needs to have a Master Tier subscription and enable Content Sharing for the campaign.

Quote from TheEnth >>

Eldritch Knight is also an available Martial Archetype in the Essentials Kit Rulebook (p18). We purchased this kit with the rulebook and campaign, which includes a dndbeyond.com redemption code for the digital version and are trying to add the fighter characters for that campaign - missing the Eldritch knight option.

 There are two redemption codes in the Essentials Kit boxed set. One to get access to the adventure in the kit (plus 3 more follow up adventures) and one for 50% off the Players Handbook. For that reason, and, no doubt, due to the specifics of the agreement between WOTC and DDB for the Essentials kit, the non SRD options in the Essentials rule nook are automatically granted when redeeming the code for the adventure. This is different than every other product here, and has caused confusion and frustration. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.