Arcane Knights can summon a suit of magical armor, making it possible to deploy them on the front lines.

Arcane Armor

At 2nd level, you gain the ability to conjure a set of arcane chain mail. To do so, you must spend an hour performing a ritual with your spellbook. A finely crafted set of chain mail then appears on your body, which it fits perfectly. The chain mail looks mundane, but it radiates a strong aura of conjuration magic. As long as your are on the same plane of existence as your Arcane Armor, you can dismiss it as an action, causing it to vanish.

While you are wearing your arcane armor, you cannot cast spells of 1st level or higher that directly cause damage, such as magic missile or fireball. You can still cast spells that indirectly cause damage, usually by summoning something dangerous, as with shadow blade or conjure elemental. You can still cast cantrips that deal direct damage as well.

In exchange for the casting limitations, your Arcane Armor grants you the following benefits:

Bonus Proficiencies. You are proficient with heavy armor, longswords, and shields.

Arcane Mettle. Your hit point maximum increases by 2 times the number of Wizard levels you have.

Martial Focus. You can use a longsword as an arcane focus. Furthermore, you can perform somatic components for your wizard spells with a hand that's wielding a longsword.

You must have a Strength of 13 or higher to use this feature.

 

Improved Arcane Armor

At 6th level, your Arcane Armor can become splint mail when you summon it. You must have a Strength of 15 or higher to use this feature.

Arcane Weapon

Also at 6th level, you can use the longsword you’re wielding to cast a cantrip. The cantrip must target a single creature. Cantrips that already require a weapon attack during the casting, such as booming blade and green-flame blade, cannot be cast with Arcane Weapon.

When casting a cantrip in this way, you make a melee attack with the weapon, but you use your Intelligence modifier instead of your Strength or Dexterity modifier for the attack roll. The weapon attack is considered magical. If the attack hits, the target suffers the normal effects of the weapon, as well as the effects of the cantrip. However, the cantrip is changed in the following ways:

• The cantrip’s range becomes the reach of the weapon. More specifically, the cantrip can only affect the target of the weapon attack.

• Any somatic or material components normally required by the cantrip are ignored. Instead, the cantrip is cast when you successfully hit the target with the weapon.

• The target automatically fails any saving throw required by the cantrip if the weapon attack hits. 

• If the attack misses, the cantrip is not cast, and the target isn’t affected in any way.

Compatible wizard cantrips include: acid splash (one target only), chill touch, firebolt, frostbite, gust (for its first effect only), infestation, lightning lure, poison spray, ray of frost, shocking grasp, and toll the dead. Compatible non-wizard cantrips include: eldritch blast, produce flame, primal savagery, sacred flame, thorn whip, and vicious mockery.

You must be wearing your Arcane Armor to use this feature.

Master Arcane Armor

At 10th level, your Arcane Armor can become plate armor when you summon it. You must have a Strength of 15 or higher to use this feature.

Arcane Shield

Also at 10th level, you can cast a bonus cantrip with your shield after using your Arcane Weapon.

Whenever you hit a target with an Arcane Weapon attack, you can cast a cantrip as a bonus action. The bonus cantrip must not cause damage, and you can only use this feature if you are wielding a shield. You can ignore any somatic or material components for the cantrip; instead, you strike a defensive posture with the shield to cast the cantrip.

You must be wearing your Arcane Armor to use this feature.

Adamantine Arcane Armor

At 14th level, you can summon plate armor made of adamantine.

While wearing adamantine armor, any critical hit that lands against your becomes a normal hit instead.

Additionally, while wearing your Adamantine Arcane Armor, you cannot lose concentration due to a spell or weapon attack that targets only you. (You can still lose concentration from area-of-effect spells or attacks.)

You must have a Strength of 15 or higher to use this feature.