The archetypal Eldritch Knight combines the martial mastery common to all fighters with a careful study of magic. Eldritch Knights use magical techniques similar to those practiced by wizards. They focus their study on two of the eight schools of magic: abjuration and transmutation. Abjuration spells grant an Eldritch Knight additional protection in battle, and transmutation spells augment an Eldritch Knight’s martial prowess, allowing them to fight as none other can. These knights learn a comparatively small number of spells, committing them to memory instead of keeping them in a spellbook.
FIFY Eldritch Knight Features
Fighter Level
Feature
3rd
Spellcasting, Weapon Bond
7th
War Magic
10th
Eldritch Empowerment
15th
Arcane Charge Heavy Concentration
18th
Improved War Magic
Spellcasting
3rd level FIFY Eldritch Knight feature
You augment your martial prowess with the ability to cast spells. See Spells Rules for the general rules of spellcasting and the Spells Listing for the wizard spell list.
Cantrips
You learn two cantrips of your choice from the wizard spell list. You learn an additional wizard cantrip of your choice at 10th level.
Spell Slots
The Eldritch Knight Spellcasting table shows how many spell slots you have to cast your wizard spells of 1st level and higher. To cast one of these spells, you must expend a slot of the spell’s level or higher. You regain all expended spell slots when you finish a long rest.
For example, if you know the 1st-level spell shield and have a 1st-level and a 2nd-level spell slot available, you can cast shield using either slot.
Spells Known of 1st-Level and Higher
You know three 1st-level wizard spells of your choice, two of which you must choose from the abjuration and transmutation spells on the wizard spell list.
The Spells Known column of the Eldritch Knight Spellcasting table shows when you learn more wizard spells of 1st level or higher. Each of these spells must be an abjuration or transmutation spell of your choice, and must be of a level for which you have spell slots. For instance, when you reach 7th level in this class, you can learn one new spell of 1st or 2nd level.
The spells you learn at 8th, 14th, and 20th level can come from any school of magic.
Whenever you gain a level in this class, you can replace one of the wizard spells you know with another spell of your choice from the wizard spell list. The new spell must be of a level for which you have spell slots, and it must be an abjuration or transmutation spell, unless you’re replacing the spell you gained at 3rd, 8th, 14th, or 20th level from any school of magic.
Spellcasting Ability
Intelligence is your spellcasting ability for your wizard spells, since you learn your spells through study and memorization. You use your Intelligence whenever a spell refers to your spellcasting ability. In addition, you use your Intelligence modifier when setting the saving throw DC for a wizard spell you cast and when making an attack roll with one.
Spell save DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Intelligence modifier
Spell attack modifier = your proficiency bonus + your Intelligence modifier
Eldritch Knight Spellcasting
Fighter Level
Cantrips
Known
Spells
Known
— Spell Slots per Spell Level —
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
3rd
2
3
2
—
—
—
4th
2
4
3
—
—
—
5th
2
4
3
—
—
—
6th
2
4
3
—
—
—
7th
2
5
4
2
—
—
8th
2
6
4
2
—
—
9th
2
6
4
2
—
—
10th
3
7
4
3
—
—
11th
3
8
4
3
—
—
12th
3
8
4
3
—
—
13th
3
9
4
3
2
—
14th
3
10
4
3
2
—
15th
3
10
4
3
2
—
16th
3
11
4
3
3
—
17th
3
11
4
3
3
—
18th
3
11
4
3
3
—
19th
3
12
4
3
3
1
20th
3
13
4
3
3
1
Weapon Bond
3rd level FIFY Eldritch Knight feature
You learn a ritual that creates a magical bond between yourself and one weapon. You perform the ritual over the course of 1 hour, which can be done during a short rest. The weapon must be within your reach throughout the ritual, at the conclusion of which you touch the weapon and forge the bond.
Once you have bonded a weapon to yourself, you can’t be disarmed of that weapon unless you are incapacitated. If it is on the same plane of existence, you can summon that weapon as a bonus action on your turn, causing it to teleport instantly to your hand. You can use any weapon bonded to you as a spellcasting focus.
You can have up to two bonded weapons, but can summon only one at a time with your bonus action. If you attempt to bond with a third weapon, you must break the bond with one of the other two.
War Magic
7th level FIFY Eldritch Knight feature
When you use your action to cast a cantrip, you can make one weapon attack as part of the same action. You can make two weapon attacks with this feature starting at 15th level.
Eldritch Empowerment
10th level FIFY Eldritch Knight feature
You can cast a spell that targets only you and normally requires an action to cast as a bonus action. You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Intelligence modifier and regain all uses whenever you finish a long rest.
Arcane Charge
15th level FIFY Eldritch Knight feature
You gain the ability to teleport up to 30 feet to an unoccupied space you can see when you use your Action Surge. You can teleport before or after the additional action.
Heavy Concentration
15th level FIFY Eldritch Knight feature
Whenever you are forced to make a Concentration check because of damage you have taken you can can choose to automatically succeed at the check. You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Constitution modifier, and regain all uses whenever you finish a long rest.
While you are concentrating on a spell that is targeting only you, your concentration can’t be broken as a result of taking damage.
Improved War Magic
18th level FIFY Eldritch Knight feature
When you use your action to cast a spell, you can make two weapon attacks as a bonus action.
I actually really like this! I love the Eldritch Empowerment feature, it does exactly what (I believe) you mentioned on the other thread about having EKs focused more on buffing themselves. War Magic and Improved War Magic are v nice too. However, I'll mention that the EK's spell schools are still restricted to Abjuration and Evocation, idk if this is on purpose or not.
One thing I will say is, don't remove Eldritch Strikes. Every martial gish subclass - Arcane Trickster, EK, and the Profane Soul blood hunter - has access to a feature that lets them impose disadvantage on saving throws against their spells, which is huge for those martial gishes because they're already very MAD (EK and PS in particular), so their spell save DC is likely to be low.
The archetypal Eldritch Knight combines the martial mastery common to all fighters with a careful study of magic. Eldritch Knights use magical techniques similar to those practiced by wizards. They focus their study on two of the eight schools of magic: abjuration and alteration. Abjuration spells grant an Eldritch Knight additional protection in battle, and alteration spells augment an Eldritch Knight’s martial prowess, allowing them to fight as none other can. These knights learn a comparatively small number of spells, committing them to memory instead of keeping them in a spellbook.
Eldritch Knight Features
Fighter Level
Feature
3rd
Spellcasting, Weapon Bond
7th
War Magic
10th
Eldritch Strike
15th
Arcane Parry
18th
Improved War Magic
Spellcasting
3rd level Eldritch Knight feature
You augment your martial prowess with the ability to cast spells. See Spells Rules for the general rules of spellcasting and the Spells Listing for the wizard spell list.
Cantrips
You learn two cantrips of your choice from the wizard spell list. You learn an additional wizard cantrip of your choice at 10th level.
Spell Slots
The Eldritch Knight Spellcasting table shows how many spell slots you have to cast your wizard spells of 1st level and higher. To cast one of these spells, you must expend a slot of the spell’s level or higher. You regain all expended spell slots when you finish a long rest.
For example, if you know the 1st-level spell shield and have a 1st-level and a 2nd-level spell slot available, you can cast shield using either slot.
Spells Known of 1st-Level and Higher
Choose two schools of magic. You know three 1st-level wizard spells of your choice, two of which must be from those schools of magic.
The Spells Known column of the Eldritch Knight Spellcasting table shows when you learn more spells of 1st level or higher. Each of these spells must be a spell of a level for which you have spell slots, and they must be from one of the schools of magic you chose. The spells you learn at 8th, 14th and 20th level can come from any school of magic.
Whenever you gain a level in this class, you can replace one of the wizard spells you know with another spell of your choice from the wizard spell list. This spell must be of a level for which you have spell slots, and it must be from one of the schools of magic you chose, unless you're replacing the spell you gained at 3rd, 8th, 14th or 20th level from any school of magic.
Spellcasting Ability
Intelligence is your spellcasting ability for your wizard spells, since you learn your spells through study and memorization. You use your Intelligence whenever a spell refers to your spellcasting ability. In addition, you use your Intelligence modifier when setting the saving throw DC for a wizard spell you cast and when making an attack roll with one.
Spell save DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Intelligence modifier
Spell attack modifier = your proficiency bonus + your Intelligence modifier
Eldritch Knight Spellcasting
Fighter Level
Cantrips
Known
Spells
Known
— Spell Slots per Spell Level —
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
3rd
2
3
2
—
—
—
4th
2
4
3
—
—
—
5th
2
4
3
—
—
—
6th
2
4
3
—
—
—
7th
2
5
4
2
—
—
8th
2
6
4
2
—
—
9th
2
6
4
2
—
—
10th
3
7
4
3
—
—
11th
3
8
4
3
—
—
12th
3
8
4
3
—
—
13th
3
9
4
3
2
—
14th
3
10
4
3
2
—
15th
3
10
4
3
2
—
16th
3
11
4
3
3
—
17th
3
11
4
3
3
—
18th
3
11
4
3
3
—
19th
3
12
4
3
3
1
20th
3
13
4
3
3
1
Weapon Bond
3rd level Eldritch Knight feature
You learn a ritual that creates a magical bond between yourself and one weapon. You perform the ritual over the course of 1 hour, which can be done during a short rest. The weapon must be within your reach throughout the ritual, at the conclusion of which you touch the weapon and forge the bond.
Your bonded weapon is considered magical for the purpose of overcoming resistance to nonmagical weapon damage while you are wielding it, and you may use a bonded weapon you are holding as an arcane focus for your wizard spells. In addition, you can’t be disarmed of a bonded weapon unless you are incapacitated. If it is on the same plane of existence, you can summon that weapon as a bonus action on your turn, causing it to teleport instantly to your hand.
You can have up to two bonded weapons, and can summon both to your hands with the same bonus action. If you attempt to bond with a third weapon, you must break the bond with one of the other two.
War Magic
7th level Eldritch Knight feature
When you take the Attack action, you can cast a cantrip in place of one of the attacks you make.
Eldritch Strike
10th level Eldritch Knight feature
You learn how to make your weapon strikes undercut a creature’s resistance to your spells. When you hit a creature with a weapon attack, that creature has disadvantage on the next saving throw it makes against a spell you cast before the end of your next turn.
Arcane Parry
15th level Eldritch Knight feature
You can parry spells with your bonded weapon. As a reaction when a spell that requires an attack roll enters your reach, you can make a weapon attack with a bonded weapon, contested against the spell’s attack roll. On a success, the spell is parried, and has no effect. Alternatively, as a reaction when a line spell enters your reach, you can make a weapon attack with a bonded weapon, contested against the spell’s saving throw DC. On a success, the spell’s area stops in the space where it would enter your reach.
If a spell has multiple attack rolls or multiple lines, parrying one of those attacks or lines only ends the effects of that attack or line. Your DM may allow you to parry spells that create rays or beams but do not otherwise fit this feature’s criteria, such as Disintegrate.
Improved War Magic
18th level Eldritch Knight feature
When you use a spell slot to cast a spell with a casting time of an action, you can change the spell’s casting time to a bonus action for this casting. You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Intelligence modifier, and you regain expended uses when you finish a long rest.
I actually really like this! I love the Eldritch Empowerment feature, it does exactly what (I believe) you mentioned on the other thread about having EKs focused more on buffing themselves. War Magic and Improved War Magic are v nice too. However, I'll mention that the EK's spell schools are still restricted to Abjuration and Evocation, idk if this is on purpose or not.
One thing I will say is, don't remove Eldritch Strikes. Every martial gish subclass - Arcane Trickster, EK, and the Profane Soul blood hunter - has access to a feature that lets them impose disadvantage on saving throws against their spells, which is huge for those martial gishes because they're already very MAD (EK and PS in particular), so their spell save DC is likely to be low.
Yeah, apparently in my exuberance I missed a few spots.
Do ya think? I’m not really worried about the Blood Hunter reference since it’s just as unofficial as this is, and the Arcane Trickster still needs a feature that debuffs an enemy’s save, but with the change in school focus this shouldn’t need that feature anymore really.
Hmmm now that you mention it, that's fair, if you're making EK the self-buffer specifically then yeah Eldritch Strike isn't huge. Maybe its just nostalgia: my most core memory of playing my EK was attacking three people as my action and then using Action Surge to cast Fireball, imposing disadvantage on all of their saves (they all failed, it was awesome). But, without the rose-tinted lenses, maybe Eldritch Strike doesn't fit too well into it. You've convinced me!
Also yeah, I mostly used Profane Soul as reference.
I love this version of the subclass. And I agree, there are very few spells in this build now that depend on a saving throw, so I'm not sure how much they need a feature like Edritch Strike anymore. Looking through all the spells available in these schools, I counted only a small handful and they weren't the main focus anyway. Either way, if it was added back or not, it wouldn't have much effect on the overall balance.
It occurred to me that I forgot to add in a buff to Concentration, but with the base class giving proficiency in Con saves, it might not be necessary. What does anyone think?
It occurred to me that I forgot to add in a buff to Concentration, but with the base class giving proficiency in Con saves, it might not be necessary. What does anyone think?
Well I don't think it'd be too much to give advantage on concentration saves somewhere, since you'll likely take damage multiple times practically every round, and your concentration will probably be occupied by self-buffing spells most of the time anyway. But it wouldn't be as crucial as it would for full casters.
It occurred to me that I forgot to add in a buff to Concentration, but with the base class giving proficiency in Con saves, it might not be necessary. What does anyone think?
Well I don't think it'd be too much to give advantage on concentration saves somewhere, since you'll likely take damage multiple times practically every round, and your concentration will probably be occupied by self-buffing spells most of the time anyway. But it wouldn't be as crucial as it would for full casters.
Advantage would step on War Caster’s toes a li’l too much. I was thinkin’ something a bit different. Something more like this:
Heavy Concentration
7th-level FIFY Eldritch Knight feature
If you fail a Constitution saving throw that you make to maintain your concentration on a spell, you can roll 2d4 and add it to the total, possibly changing the outcome. You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Constitution modifier, and regain all uses whenever you finish a long rest.
My version, which I think is what spawned this thread, was
Swap Evocation for Transmutation.
When you cast a spell that has a casting time of 1 action on yourself and no other targets, you may do so as a bonus action.
While you are concentrating on spell targeting yourself and no other targets, your concentration can’t be broken as a result of taking damage.
Just adding that to EK without any other changes would be somewhat overpowered, but I'd probably do it as something like
Level 3: swap Evocation for Transmutation (no other changes)
Level 7: when you cast an Eldritch Knight spell with a casting time of 1 action, targeting yourself and no other creatures, you may do so as a bonus action (no real need to have a cap on uses per day, you don't get that many spell slots and limiting it to EK spells means no multiclassing for tenser's transformation or something). This replaces war magic.
Level 10: While you are concentrating on a spell that affects you and no other targets, your concentration can’t be broken as a result of taking damage (replaces eldritch empowerment)
Level 15: When you take the attack action on your turn, you may replace one attack with a cantrip (same as the bladesinger feature)
Level 18: When you take the attack action on your turn, you may replace one attack with a leveled spell.
I can see your point about not seeing to restrict the number of uses as long as the use is restricted to EK spells, but I think technically there are no such thing as “Eldritch Knight spells” since they cast “Wizard spells.” That makes it trickier to phrase.
Also, I don’t know how I feel about pushing the Cantrip+Attack feature back to 15th level when the Bladesinger gets it @ 6th. That’s why I had mine @ 7th and put the attack bump for it @ 15th.
You would omit Arcane Charge entirely? I always thought that was one of the better EK features and would be sorry to see it go. Especially since this version is all about buffing instead of blasting, an ability to close distances quickly seemed worth keeping. Hmmm….
I can see your point about not seeing to restrict the number of uses as long as the use is restricted to EK spells, but I think technically there are no such thing as “Eldritch Knight spells” since they cast “Wizard spells.” That makes it trickier to phrase.
Also, I don’t know how I feel about pushing the Cantrip+Attack feature back to 15th level when the Bladesinger gets it @ 6th. That’s why I had mine @ 7th and put the attack bump for it @ 15th.
You would omit Arcane Charge entirely? I always thought that was one of the better EK features and would be sorry to see it go. Especially since this version is all about buffing instead of blasting, an ability to close distances quickly seemed worth keeping. Hmmm….
Call it 'class spells' if you prefer.
As far as pushing back cantrip+attack, it comes down to priority -- you wouldn't want to give multiple features at level 7 so something had to give, and I thought the ability to effectively self-buff was more important.
Arcane charge, again, lost out because need space for other features, and there's always selecting misty step as one of your bonus spells.
Oh, I would probably add to weapon bond: "You may use your bonded weapon as an arcane focus, and may perform somatic components while wielding it".
See, if I was gonna drop a feature to make room, I would pro’ly drop Weapon Bond first.
And instead of a flat auto-pass on Concentration checks, what if instead it was a bonus = Int mod? That’s almost equivalent to advantage, but still leaves room for a player to choose the War Caster feat.
You would omit Arcane Charge entirely? I always thought that was one of the better EK features and would be sorry to see it go. Especially since this version is all about buffing instead of blasting, an ability to close distances quickly seemed worth keeping. Hmmm….
I'll be honest, I played an Eldritch Knight from 11th to 17th level, and even once I got Arcane Charge I really couldn't find much of a use for it. It kinda helped out in combat, but by 15th level there are so many other things that let you teleport or disengage, and also your HP is big enough that the damage from a single opportunity attack (especially since almost all high-DPR monsters use multiattack) so its not great for in-combat movement. It basically works as an extra dash, I guess. I've used it to teleport up and attack a creature in the air once, but again, at 15th level there are so many better ways of closing that gap, like flight (I only teleported up cos I was gonna be using that Action Surge anyway). Weapon Bond at least had a couple cool moments where I could summon it from anywhere, but it really does need some help.
And instead of a flat auto-pass on Concentration checks, what if instead it was a bonus = Int mod? That’s almost equivalent to advantage, but still leaves room for a player to choose the War Caster feat.
Losing concentration on haste is a death sentence at high levels because you lose your next action, and flat small bonuses don't do any good when an ancient dragon breathes on you for 80 points of damage forcing a DC 40 check.
Okay, you two have convinced me. But I still think a permanent no-sell on pretty much all Concentration checks is a bit over. How about making it a resource dependent thing, like Con mod times per long rest or something?
Hey all, just wanted to get people’s opinions on this idea I had to fix the Eldritch Knight:
FIFY Eldritch Knight
v.0.1.0v.0.1.1v.0.2.0v.0.2.1The archetypal Eldritch Knight combines the martial mastery common to all fighters with a careful study of magic. Eldritch Knights use magical techniques similar to those practiced by wizards. They focus their study on two of the eight schools of magic: abjuration and transmutation. Abjuration spells grant an Eldritch Knight additional protection in battle, and transmutation spells augment an Eldritch Knight’s martial prowess, allowing them to fight as none other can. These knights learn a comparatively small number of spells, committing them to memory instead of keeping them in a spellbook.
FIFY Eldritch Knight Features
Arcane ChargeHeavy ConcentrationSpellcasting
3rd level FIFY Eldritch Knight feature
You augment your martial prowess with the ability to cast spells. See Spells Rules for the general rules of spellcasting and the Spells Listing for the wizard spell list.
Cantrips
You learn two cantrips of your choice from the wizard spell list. You learn an additional wizard cantrip of your choice at 10th level.
Spell Slots
The Eldritch Knight Spellcasting table shows how many spell slots you have to cast your wizard spells of 1st level and higher. To cast one of these spells, you must expend a slot of the spell’s level or higher. You regain all expended spell slots when you finish a long rest.
For example, if you know the 1st-level spell shield and have a 1st-level and a 2nd-level spell slot available, you can cast shield using either slot.
Spells Known of 1st-Level and Higher
You know three 1st-level wizard spells of your choice, two of which you must choose from the abjuration and transmutation spells on the wizard spell list.
The Spells Known column of the Eldritch Knight Spellcasting table shows when you learn more wizard spells of 1st level or higher. Each of these spells must be an abjuration or transmutation spell of your choice, and must be of a level for which you have spell slots. For instance, when you reach 7th level in this class, you can learn one new spell of 1st or 2nd level.
The spells you learn at 8th, 14th, and 20th level can come from any school of magic.
Whenever you gain a level in this class, you can replace one of the wizard spells you know with another spell of your choice from the wizard spell list. The new spell must be of a level for which you have spell slots, and it must be an abjuration or transmutation spell, unless you’re replacing the spell you gained at 3rd, 8th, 14th, or 20th level from any school of magic.
Spellcasting Ability
Intelligence is your spellcasting ability for your wizard spells, since you learn your spells through study and memorization. You use your Intelligence whenever a spell refers to your spellcasting ability. In addition, you use your Intelligence modifier when setting the saving throw DC for a wizard spell you cast and when making an attack roll with one.
Spell save DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Intelligence modifier
Spell attack modifier = your proficiency bonus + your Intelligence modifier
Eldritch Knight Spellcasting
Fighter Level
Cantrips
Known
Spells
Known
— Spell Slots per Spell Level —
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
3rd
2
3
2
—
—
—
4th
2
4
3
—
—
—
5th
2
4
3
—
—
—
6th
2
4
3
—
—
—
7th
2
5
4
2
—
—
8th
2
6
4
2
—
—
9th
2
6
4
2
—
—
10th
3
7
4
3
—
—
11th
3
8
4
3
—
—
12th
3
8
4
3
—
—
13th
3
9
4
3
2
—
14th
3
10
4
3
2
—
15th
3
10
4
3
2
—
16th
3
11
4
3
3
—
17th
3
11
4
3
3
—
18th
3
11
4
3
3
—
19th
3
12
4
3
3
1
20th
3
13
4
3
3
1
Weapon Bond
3rd level FIFY Eldritch Knight feature
You learn a ritual that creates a magical bond between yourself and one weapon. You perform the ritual over the course of 1 hour, which can be done during a short rest. The weapon must be within your reach throughout the ritual, at the conclusion of which you touch the weapon and forge the bond.
Once you have bonded a weapon to yourself, you can’t be disarmed of that weapon unless you are incapacitated. If it is on the same plane of existence, you can summon that weapon as a bonus action on your turn, causing it to teleport instantly to your hand. You can use any weapon bonded to you as a spellcasting focus.
You can have up to two bonded weapons, but can summon only one at a time with your bonus action. If you attempt to bond with a third weapon, you must break the bond with one of the other two.
War Magic
7th level FIFY Eldritch Knight feature
When you use your action to cast a cantrip, you can make one weapon attack as part of the same action. You can make two weapon attacks with this feature starting at 15th level.
Eldritch Empowerment
10th level FIFY Eldritch Knight feature
You can cast a spell that targets only you and normally requires an action to cast as a bonus action.
You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Intelligence modifier and regain all uses whenever you finish a long rest.Arcane Charge15th level FIFY Eldritch Knight featureYou gain the ability to teleport up to 30 feet to an unoccupied space you can see when you use your Action Surge. You can teleport before or after the additional action.Heavy Concentration
15th level FIFY Eldritch Knight feature
Whenever you are forced to make a Concentration check because of damage you have taken you can can choose to automatically succeed at the check. You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Constitution modifier, and regain all uses whenever you finish a long rest.While you are concentrating on a spell that is targeting only you, your concentration can’t be broken as a result of taking damage.
Improved War Magic
18th level FIFY Eldritch Knight feature
When you use your action to cast a spell, you can make two weapon attacks as a bonus action.
Thanks in advance.
For a list of all the current fixes, please check out the series thread: (https://www.dndbeyond.com/forums/dungeons-dragons-discussion/homebrew-house-rules/157618-fify-wotc-a-series).
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The Spellcasting description still mentions evocation spells in some places, and alteration should really be transmutation in 5e speak.
But looking at it without any testing or anything, it looks solid to me.
I actually really like this! I love the Eldritch Empowerment feature, it does exactly what (I believe) you mentioned on the other thread about having EKs focused more on buffing themselves. War Magic and Improved War Magic are v nice too. However, I'll mention that the EK's spell schools are still restricted to Abjuration and Evocation, idk if this is on purpose or not.
One thing I will say is, don't remove Eldritch Strikes. Every martial gish subclass - Arcane Trickster, EK, and the Profane Soul blood hunter - has access to a feature that lets them impose disadvantage on saving throws against their spells, which is huge for those martial gishes because they're already very MAD (EK and PS in particular), so their spell save DC is likely to be low.
Eldritch Knight
The archetypal Eldritch Knight combines the martial mastery common to all fighters with a careful study of magic. Eldritch Knights use magical techniques similar to those practiced by wizards. They focus their study on two of the eight schools of magic: abjuration and alteration. Abjuration spells grant an Eldritch Knight additional protection in battle, and alteration spells augment an Eldritch Knight’s martial prowess, allowing them to fight as none other can. These knights learn a comparatively small number of spells, committing them to memory instead of keeping them in a spellbook.
Eldritch Knight Features
Spellcasting
3rd level Eldritch Knight feature
You augment your martial prowess with the ability to cast spells. See Spells Rules for the general rules of spellcasting and the Spells Listing for the wizard spell list.
Cantrips
You learn two cantrips of your choice from the wizard spell list. You learn an additional wizard cantrip of your choice at 10th level.
Spell Slots
The Eldritch Knight Spellcasting table shows how many spell slots you have to cast your wizard spells of 1st level and higher. To cast one of these spells, you must expend a slot of the spell’s level or higher. You regain all expended spell slots when you finish a long rest.
For example, if you know the 1st-level spell shield and have a 1st-level and a 2nd-level spell slot available, you can cast shield using either slot.
Spells Known of 1st-Level and Higher
Choose two schools of magic. You know three 1st-level wizard spells of your choice, two of which must be from those schools of magic.
The Spells Known column of the Eldritch Knight Spellcasting table shows when you learn more spells of 1st level or higher. Each of these spells must be a spell of a level for which you have spell slots, and they must be from one of the schools of magic you chose. The spells you learn at 8th, 14th and 20th level can come from any school of magic.
Whenever you gain a level in this class, you can replace one of the wizard spells you know with another spell of your choice from the wizard spell list. This spell must be of a level for which you have spell slots, and it must be from one of the schools of magic you chose, unless you're replacing the spell you gained at 3rd, 8th, 14th or 20th level from any school of magic.
Spellcasting Ability
Intelligence is your spellcasting ability for your wizard spells, since you learn your spells through study and memorization. You use your Intelligence whenever a spell refers to your spellcasting ability. In addition, you use your Intelligence modifier when setting the saving throw DC for a wizard spell you cast and when making an attack roll with one.
Spell save DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Intelligence modifier
Spell attack modifier = your proficiency bonus + your Intelligence modifier
Eldritch Knight Spellcasting
Fighter Level
Cantrips
Known
Spells
Known
— Spell Slots per Spell Level —
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
3rd
2
3
2
—
—
—
4th
2
4
3
—
—
—
5th
2
4
3
—
—
—
6th
2
4
3
—
—
—
7th
2
5
4
2
—
—
8th
2
6
4
2
—
—
9th
2
6
4
2
—
—
10th
3
7
4
3
—
—
11th
3
8
4
3
—
—
12th
3
8
4
3
—
—
13th
3
9
4
3
2
—
14th
3
10
4
3
2
—
15th
3
10
4
3
2
—
16th
3
11
4
3
3
—
17th
3
11
4
3
3
—
18th
3
11
4
3
3
—
19th
3
12
4
3
3
1
20th
3
13
4
3
3
1
Weapon Bond
3rd level Eldritch Knight feature
You learn a ritual that creates a magical bond between yourself and one weapon. You perform the ritual over the course of 1 hour, which can be done during a short rest. The weapon must be within your reach throughout the ritual, at the conclusion of which you touch the weapon and forge the bond.
Your bonded weapon is considered magical for the purpose of overcoming resistance to nonmagical weapon damage while you are wielding it, and you may use a bonded weapon you are holding as an arcane focus for your wizard spells. In addition, you can’t be disarmed of a bonded weapon unless you are incapacitated. If it is on the same plane of existence, you can summon that weapon as a bonus action on your turn, causing it to teleport instantly to your hand.
You can have up to two bonded weapons, and can summon both to your hands with the same bonus action. If you attempt to bond with a third weapon, you must break the bond with one of the other two.
War Magic
7th level Eldritch Knight feature
When you take the Attack action, you can cast a cantrip in place of one of the attacks you make.
Eldritch Strike
10th level Eldritch Knight feature
You learn how to make your weapon strikes undercut a creature’s resistance to your spells. When you hit a creature with a weapon attack, that creature has disadvantage on the next saving throw it makes against a spell you cast before the end of your next turn.
Arcane Parry
15th level Eldritch Knight feature
You can parry spells with your bonded weapon. As a reaction when a spell that requires an attack roll enters your reach, you can make a weapon attack with a bonded weapon, contested against the spell’s attack roll. On a success, the spell is parried, and has no effect. Alternatively, as a reaction when a line spell enters your reach, you can make a weapon attack with a bonded weapon, contested against the spell’s saving throw DC. On a success, the spell’s area stops in the space where it would enter your reach.
If a spell has multiple attack rolls or multiple lines, parrying one of those attacks or lines only ends the effects of that attack or line. Your DM may allow you to parry spells that create rays or beams but do not otherwise fit this feature’s criteria, such as Disintegrate.
Improved War Magic
18th level Eldritch Knight feature
When you use a spell slot to cast a spell with a casting time of an action, you can change the spell’s casting time to a bonus action for this casting. You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Intelligence modifier, and you regain expended uses when you finish a long rest.
Thanks, I must have missed a few spots. And GDI Sposta, get her head outta 2e!! Lol
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Yeah, apparently in my exuberance I missed a few spots.
Do ya think? I’m not really worried about the Blood Hunter reference since it’s just as unofficial as this is, and the Arcane Trickster still needs a feature that debuffs an enemy’s save, but with the change in school focus this shouldn’t need that feature anymore really.
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I think I finally swapped all instances of Evocation (and “alteration”) for Transmutation now. Please lemme know if you see I missed any.
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Hmmm now that you mention it, that's fair, if you're making EK the self-buffer specifically then yeah Eldritch Strike isn't huge. Maybe its just nostalgia: my most core memory of playing my EK was attacking three people as my action and then using Action Surge to cast Fireball, imposing disadvantage on all of their saves (they all failed, it was awesome). But, without the rose-tinted lenses, maybe Eldritch Strike doesn't fit too well into it. You've convinced me!
Also yeah, I mostly used Profane Soul as reference.
I love this version of the subclass. And I agree, there are very few spells in this build now that depend on a saving throw, so I'm not sure how much they need a feature like Edritch Strike anymore. Looking through all the spells available in these schools, I counted only a small handful and they weren't the main focus anyway. Either way, if it was added back or not, it wouldn't have much effect on the overall balance.
Thanks! I’m glad you approve.
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It occurred to me that I forgot to add in a buff to Concentration, but with the base class giving proficiency in Con saves, it might not be necessary. What does anyone think?
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Well I don't think it'd be too much to give advantage on concentration saves somewhere, since you'll likely take damage multiple times practically every round, and your concentration will probably be occupied by self-buffing spells most of the time anyway. But it wouldn't be as crucial as it would for full casters.
Advantage would step on War Caster’s toes a li’l too much. I was thinkin’ something a bit different. Something more like this:
Wadaya think?
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My version, which I think is what spawned this thread, was
Just adding that to EK without any other changes would be somewhat overpowered, but I'd probably do it as something like
I can see your point about not seeing to restrict the number of uses as long as the use is restricted to EK spells, but I think technically there are no such thing as “Eldritch Knight spells” since they cast “Wizard spells.” That makes it trickier to phrase.
Also, I don’t know how I feel about pushing the Cantrip+Attack feature back to 15th level when the Bladesinger gets it @ 6th. That’s why I had mine @ 7th and put the attack bump for it @ 15th.
You would omit Arcane Charge entirely? I always thought that was one of the better EK features and would be sorry to see it go. Especially since this version is all about buffing instead of blasting, an ability to close distances quickly seemed worth keeping. Hmmm….
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Call it 'class spells' if you prefer.
As far as pushing back cantrip+attack, it comes down to priority -- you wouldn't want to give multiple features at level 7 so something had to give, and I thought the ability to effectively self-buff was more important.
Arcane charge, again, lost out because need space for other features, and there's always selecting misty step as one of your bonus spells.
Oh, I would probably add to weapon bond: "You may use your bonded weapon as an arcane focus, and may perform somatic components while wielding it".
See, if I was gonna drop a feature to make room, I would pro’ly drop Weapon Bond first.
And instead of a flat auto-pass on Concentration checks, what if instead it was a bonus = Int mod? That’s almost equivalent to advantage, but still leaves room for a player to choose the War Caster feat.
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I'll be honest, I played an Eldritch Knight from 11th to 17th level, and even once I got Arcane Charge I really couldn't find much of a use for it. It kinda helped out in combat, but by 15th level there are so many other things that let you teleport or disengage, and also your HP is big enough that the damage from a single opportunity attack (especially since almost all high-DPR monsters use multiattack) so its not great for in-combat movement. It basically works as an extra dash, I guess. I've used it to teleport up and attack a creature in the air once, but again, at 15th level there are so many better ways of closing that gap, like flight (I only teleported up cos I was gonna be using that Action Surge anyway). Weapon Bond at least had a couple cool moments where I could summon it from anywhere, but it really does need some help.
Losing concentration on haste is a death sentence at high levels because you lose your next action, and flat small bonuses don't do any good when an ancient dragon breathes on you for 80 points of damage forcing a DC 40 check.
Okay, you two have convinced me. But I still think a permanent no-sell on pretty much all Concentration checks is a bit over. How about making it a resource dependent thing, like Con mod times per long rest or something?
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