I'm coming back to D&D after 35 years and trying out a halfling Eldritch Knight/Arcane Trickster. He's currently three levels in each. I don't know what I'm doing, so he's kind of all over the place. Background is Archaeologist. His fighting style is two-weapon fighting (shortswords). He was granted Dual Wielder as an off-cycle feat, and the DM lets him use his sword as a spell focus. He's bound to two shortswords. I'm curious where experienced players would take him from here, regarding level progression, spells and ASI/feats (his first ASI will be to get his Dex from 18 to 20). I'd primarily like him to be good in combat, since he's one of only two fighter characters in the party (the other's an Aarakocra monk), but he's also the only rogue in the party. Eventually I'd like for him to be good in Charisma situations.
Str 12, Dex 18, Con 15, Int 14, Wis 14, Chr 14
Cantrips: Booming Blade, Firebolt, Mage Hand, Minor Illusion, Prestidigitation
Fighter to level 5 ASAP for Extra Attack; this is absolutely critical. I'm not great at Multiclassing, but I do know that E.A. is pretty much a very important milestone for most builds like this. After that, I'm not really sure.
Get your hands on the War Caster feat so you can pull off Opportunity Attacks using Booming Blade. Pick up Absorb Elements. Mage Armor is bad for your character when you can be wearing armors with better AC, so see about swapping it out. Also, ditch Firebolt in exchange for a utility cantrip or Green Flame Blade. If you want a ranged attack, get a bow, its superior in every way for you.
Keep in mind that Find Familiar can be cast multiple times and get you a different familiar each time. Well, different appearance each time at least. So feel free to get different animals as the need arises.
How are you landing sneak attacks? Monks are usually very mobile, running (flying?) everywhere, and your bonus action is being taken up by your off hand attacks instead of hiding. Where's the advantage (or nearby person) coming from?
I like the War Caster idea. It will also let me cast spells without worrying about what's in my hands. That might be my second buff. Mage armor lasts for eight hours, and provides more armor than any medium armor, since I get my full dex bonus, and I don't suffer disadvantage on stealth checks. I usually don't cast it until I think I'm about to be in trouble. Dual Wielder also provides a +1 to AC. And Shield stacks on top for one round, providing an additional +5. I've thought about taking Defensive Dualist (which would add my proficiency bonus to my AC when I take a melee hit), as an alternative if I run out of Shields. That might be too many resources committed to defense, though.
I'm kinda committed to Firebolt as a cantrip already since I can't swap it out, but I agree the bow is more reliable. My bow is non-magical, so if I have to shoot at creatures with resistance to non-magical weapons, I use Firebolt.
I use the owl by default, but I'll look into other options. The owl provides Help, which helps with Sneak Attack. It can fly in, Help, and use Fly By to get away without taking an OA. I like the Elf Owl (look it up on Google). It's really small and cute and works well as a familiar for a halfling. Thanks!
Dual Wielder and Defensive Duelist are considered some of the worst feats in the game. You should have lots of Reactions already, not just from Shield, but threatening with OA, which makes D.D. redundant. Dual Wielder itself is objectively worse than just boosting your Dexterity by two. Never consider it unless you've maxed out your Dex, and even then, getting Alert for an Initiative Boost, Lucky, Mage Slayer, Magic Initiate (cleric - Shield of Faith) and Sentinel are considered to be far superior.
Its very possible you'll never learn a single level 2 spell (character level 10, which is about the time most games end), so Absorb Elements and Shield are going to be seeing a lot of use.
Definitely take fighter to 5 ASAP. Can't agree with that more. Otherwise, the fighter dip will simply be a worse version of a straight arcane trickster. It's all about that extra attack. Unfortunately once you get extra attack your attack cantrips will be much less useful. Maybe your DM will let you swap them out once that happens? I would still go forward with fighter even if that isn't the case.
I would take EK to 6 and take the new Shadow Touched or Fey Touched feats with the ASI. At AT 3/ EK 6 your effective caster level will be 3. This gives you two second level spell slots that you don't have spells for, but the new spell feats from ToCE solve that. I like Invisibility more than Misty Step on a character with cunning action, but I love that Fey Touched gives access to the Hex spell as a premium damage booster. Invisibility also goes a long way to reinforce the rogue theme. Still, it's very hard to argue with what Misty Step + Hex brings to the build.
As for the ASI that will happen at next level (EK 4) I would look at Skill Expert. You can pick up that +1 con, any skill, and expertise to slap on your favorite social skill. Skill Expert hits on all of the smaller things you want to round out for the build. Hopefully you already have proficiency in your preferred charisma skill. If you do I highly recommend using the proficiency to pick up Insight. Nothing worse than a silver tongue that can't read people. Another one I'd be looking at is Eldritch Adept. I'm a huge fan of of picking up a warlock invocation on a character like this.
If you're looking for the choice that best boosts your combat efficacy, I would go +2 Dex. Simple and effective.
I like your ideas. I think I'll go EK6/AT4. My first ASI will be +2 to Dex. I like both Shadow Touched and Fey Touched. Not sure which to take yet. Skill Expert makes sense. I'm not proficient in Persuasion yet. Lots of interesting Invocations. Dark Vision makes some sense, as does Mage Armor.
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I'm coming back to D&D after 35 years and trying out a halfling Eldritch Knight/Arcane Trickster. He's currently three levels in each. I don't know what I'm doing, so he's kind of all over the place. Background is Archaeologist. His fighting style is two-weapon fighting (shortswords). He was granted Dual Wielder as an off-cycle feat, and the DM lets him use his sword as a spell focus. He's bound to two shortswords. I'm curious where experienced players would take him from here, regarding level progression, spells and ASI/feats (his first ASI will be to get his Dex from 18 to 20). I'd primarily like him to be good in combat, since he's one of only two fighter characters in the party (the other's an Aarakocra monk), but he's also the only rogue in the party. Eventually I'd like for him to be good in Charisma situations.
Str 12, Dex 18, Con 15, Int 14, Wis 14, Chr 14
Cantrips: Booming Blade, Firebolt, Mage Hand, Minor Illusion, Prestidigitation
1st level Spells: Detect Magic, Find Familiar (elf owl), Mage Armor, Shield, Silent Image, Sleep.
Where would you go with him? Thanks!
Fighter to level 5 ASAP for Extra Attack; this is absolutely critical. I'm not great at Multiclassing, but I do know that E.A. is pretty much a very important milestone for most builds like this. After that, I'm not really sure.
Get your hands on the War Caster feat so you can pull off Opportunity Attacks using Booming Blade. Pick up Absorb Elements. Mage Armor is bad for your character when you can be wearing armors with better AC, so see about swapping it out. Also, ditch Firebolt in exchange for a utility cantrip or Green Flame Blade. If you want a ranged attack, get a bow, its superior in every way for you.
Keep in mind that Find Familiar can be cast multiple times and get you a different familiar each time. Well, different appearance each time at least. So feel free to get different animals as the need arises.
How are you landing sneak attacks? Monks are usually very mobile, running (flying?) everywhere, and your bonus action is being taken up by your off hand attacks instead of hiding. Where's the advantage (or nearby person) coming from?
I like the War Caster idea. It will also let me cast spells without worrying about what's in my hands. That might be my second buff. Mage armor lasts for eight hours, and provides more armor than any medium armor, since I get my full dex bonus, and I don't suffer disadvantage on stealth checks. I usually don't cast it until I think I'm about to be in trouble. Dual Wielder also provides a +1 to AC. And Shield stacks on top for one round, providing an additional +5. I've thought about taking Defensive Dualist (which would add my proficiency bonus to my AC when I take a melee hit), as an alternative if I run out of Shields. That might be too many resources committed to defense, though.
I'm kinda committed to Firebolt as a cantrip already since I can't swap it out, but I agree the bow is more reliable. My bow is non-magical, so if I have to shoot at creatures with resistance to non-magical weapons, I use Firebolt.
I use the owl by default, but I'll look into other options. The owl provides Help, which helps with Sneak Attack. It can fly in, Help, and use Fly By to get away without taking an OA. I like the Elf Owl (look it up on Google). It's really small and cute and works well as a familiar for a halfling. Thanks!
Dual Wielder and Defensive Duelist are considered some of the worst feats in the game. You should have lots of Reactions already, not just from Shield, but threatening with OA, which makes D.D. redundant. Dual Wielder itself is objectively worse than just boosting your Dexterity by two. Never consider it unless you've maxed out your Dex, and even then, getting Alert for an Initiative Boost, Lucky, Mage Slayer, Magic Initiate (cleric - Shield of Faith) and Sentinel are considered to be far superior.
Its very possible you'll never learn a single level 2 spell (character level 10, which is about the time most games end), so Absorb Elements and Shield are going to be seeing a lot of use.
I have an odd number Constitution, so I'm considering a Con boosting feat as well. Any suggestions?
Definitely take fighter to 5 ASAP. Can't agree with that more. Otherwise, the fighter dip will simply be a worse version of a straight arcane trickster. It's all about that extra attack. Unfortunately once you get extra attack your attack cantrips will be much less useful. Maybe your DM will let you swap them out once that happens? I would still go forward with fighter even if that isn't the case.
I would take EK to 6 and take the new Shadow Touched or Fey Touched feats with the ASI. At AT 3/ EK 6 your effective caster level will be 3. This gives you two second level spell slots that you don't have spells for, but the new spell feats from ToCE solve that. I like Invisibility more than Misty Step on a character with cunning action, but I love that Fey Touched gives access to the Hex spell as a premium damage booster. Invisibility also goes a long way to reinforce the rogue theme. Still, it's very hard to argue with what Misty Step + Hex brings to the build.
As for the ASI that will happen at next level (EK 4) I would look at Skill Expert. You can pick up that +1 con, any skill, and expertise to slap on your favorite social skill. Skill Expert hits on all of the smaller things you want to round out for the build. Hopefully you already have proficiency in your preferred charisma skill. If you do I highly recommend using the proficiency to pick up Insight. Nothing worse than a silver tongue that can't read people. Another one I'd be looking at is Eldritch Adept. I'm a huge fan of of picking up a warlock invocation on a character like this.
If you're looking for the choice that best boosts your combat efficacy, I would go +2 Dex. Simple and effective.
I like your ideas. I think I'll go EK6/AT4. My first ASI will be +2 to Dex. I like both Shadow Touched and Fey Touched. Not sure which to take yet. Skill Expert makes sense. I'm not proficient in Persuasion yet. Lots of interesting Invocations. Dark Vision makes some sense, as does Mage Armor.