D&D 5E Eldritch Knight

[Grakarg]

Conventional wisdom is to wait until after lvl 5 before dipping into wizard so you have Extra Attack. Personally, I waited until after I got War Magic (lvl 7) to add them. I wanted to be able to booming blade+attack. Really you can wait until whenever you want and makes sense story wise. Some build add them much later, like after lvl 14-15. So i'd say its kind of campaign specific, as to when to wizard-dip (if you do at all).

There is a solid argument to dip at lvl 2, since the early levels tend to go much faster if you really want to cast spells right away. A lot kind of depends on if you're starting at lvl 1 or at a higher level, how long your campaign will run, if you're rolling stats or point buy and even the total composition of the group can influence your decision.

I personally dipped 2-wizard levels so I could get the Arcane specialization feature and arcane recovery. (I went abjuration- the arcane ward is like bonus HP than can refresh! But there are lots of options)

But Neogod22 is right, if you only splash 1 level of Wizard, it really opens up a lot of options and you don't especially need more than that.

The most I've seen added was 5 levels of wizard- anything more than that and someone probably has a different concept in mind entirely.

 

[Dax Doomslayer]

Conventional wisdom is to wait until after lvl 5 before dipping into wizard so you have Extra Attack. Personally, I waited until after I got War Magic (lvl 7) to add them. I wanted to be able to booming blade+attack. Really you can wait until whenever you want and makes sense story wise. Some build add them much later, like after lvl 14-15. So i'd say its kind of campaign specific, as to when to wizard-dip (if you do at all).

There is a solid argument to dip at lvl 2, since the early levels tend to go much faster if you really want to cast spells right away. A lot kind of depends on if you're starting at lvl 1 or at a higher level, how long your campaign will run, if you're rolling stats or point buy and even the total composition of the group can influence your decision.

I personally dipped 2-wizard levels so I could get the Arcane specialization feature and arcane recovery. (I went abjuration- the arcane ward is like bonus HP than can refresh! But there are lots of options)

But Neogod22 is right, if you only splash 1 level of Wizard, it really opens up a lot of options and you don't especially need more than that.

The most I've seen added was 5 levels of wizard- anything more than that and someone probably has a different concept in mind entirely.

Ahhh - good information. We are starting at 1st (actually started) and I'm just about to level to 2nd. Rolled stats so I'm better than the point buy / standard array so the ASIs are less of an issue though I do want Great Weapon Master (I'm using a Greatsword). I was trying to look where it would be best to do this and 5th with the extra attack; 6th a Great Weapon Master Feat and 7th War Magic are all pretty nice features. Second level is Action Surge so that's a tough one to give up too - lol - though the leveling being quicker at lower levels is a good point.

One question, I'm not clear as to how do the SCAG cantrips interact with the extra attacks and War Magic. If I'm reading it correctly, for both BB and GFB, you can only use the cantrip for one of the attacks. Does the casting of this cantrip preclude you from using your second attack? How does the multiple attacks interact with War Magic? It would seem that once you get War Magic, you''d be able to take an additional attack (but not use BB & GFB). Is that correct? Sorry for the dumb questions but I'm a bit confused as to how these all interact together. I appreciate everyone's answers / help!!

 

[Grakarg]

oops... duplicate post..

 

[Grakarg]

One question, I'm not clear as to how do the SCAG cantrips interact with the extra attacks and War Magic. If I'm reading it correctly, for both BB and GFB, you can only use the cantrip for one of the attacks. Does the casting of this cantrip preclude you from using your second attack? How does the multiple attacks interact with War Magic? It would seem that once you get War Magic, you''d be able to take an additional attack (but not use BB & GFB). Is that correct? Sorry for the dumb questions but I'm a bit confused as to how these all interact together. I appreciate everyone's answers / help!!

Yeah thats a good question!

Here's how they work and interact: BB & GFB use the Cast a Spell action and cause you to make a melee attack as part of the spell. If you hit, you get the standard melee attack damage plus the cantrip's effects of extra damage.
With War Magic, this triggers a second melee attack as a Bonus action, since you had cast a cantrip.
So thats 2 attacks + bonus cantrip damage total.

Note that while BB & GFB cause you to make a melee attack, you use the Cast a Spell action and NOT the Attack action. That means your Extra Attack feature does NOT trigger, since it needs the Attack action to trigger.

At some levels, you'll do more damage with War Magic and a cantrip, but once you get three attacks from Extra Attack, you'll need to use some strategy. Sometimes the 2 attacks + cantrip damage will be more effective. Sometimes the Extra Attack feature will be doing more damage.

Part of that strategy will be to decide if you need access to your Bonus action or not, since War Magic uses it up.
So, for example, I've had to use my bonus action to cast Misty Step to get deep into thick of the enemy and then I just use my extra attack feature. Other times fighting just one solo opponent, i've used BB instead.

At level 5 when you first get Extra attack, your Cantrip damage also increases so... some fights you may want to strike once with your cantrip, or you might want to strike twice with Extra attack. Sometimes the Extra Attack feature is better, but not always. As a good fighter you'll want to have as many options as possible for different situations.

Here is a final wrinkle to remember too- attacks aren't always for striking with your weapon. You can shove creatures away and knock them prone instead, but only if you use the Attack action. So with Extra attack, you can knock someone prone (using your beefy athletics score) use the rest of your attacks with advantage, then maybe trigger an action surge to chop them with booming blade again with advantage.

Hope that helps

 

[guachi]

I think I'd dip into wizard right away just to have the wizardy feel for as long as possible. Maybe take one level of fighter and then one level of wizard. You'll get that EK feeling at level 2 instead of level 3.

It might be less powerful dipping early but I think it'll be more fun to have that one wizard level early.

 

[Grakarg]

Just had a thought.
Since you're a dragonborn with a bump to +cha, you might consider builds dipping into Sorc instead of Wiz. Don't know if its a better stat for you than int or not but hey... with sorc you can get quickened spell or twinned spell, plus action surge and more spell slots from EK... could be scary!

 

[hejtmane]

I feel like if you want to use different schools of magic, then take 1 lvl of wizard. This will get rid of all the EK restrictions. You don't need more than 1 lvl unless you want to cast more spells or try and get higher levels of spells.

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Except might as while do 2 for portent your best friend in a group had a ek fo that as a DM i hated it made me born legendary actions pfft

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[hejtmane]

Probably around there, depending on if you want your extra attack or if you going to primarily use GFB or BB

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From 7 untill you hit 11 as an ek you do more damage with gfb and booming blade unless you are using your bonus action for something else. Because you still get two attacks plus extra damage

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[Dax Doomslayer]

Except might as while do 2 for portent your best friend in a group had a ek fo that as a DM i hated it made me born legendary actions pfft

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So you feel that a 2 level dip into Wizard is worth it hejtmane? The 2nd level Arcane Ward; Portent and Sculpt spell all look really good. That said, the capstone for 20th is x3 attacks which kind of hurts while lvl 19 is ASI which is less of an issue for me to some extent. The Extra Attack x3 though does hurt a bit (although I guess will the campaign last to that level). Hmmm....

 

[Kobold Stew]

You know your group and the way it plays. Myself, I would never build a class around what's going t me at level 20. I think I have never thought about anything after level 11 -- things that will be with me for half my adventuring career (okay, more since higher levels go slower, but you see my point).

If fun is the goal, I would advise multi classing based on what you're getting through levels 5-10 -- that's the sweet spot for me, and where I know the character to be able to make choices that build that within the narrative of the story.

Most games I play don't go to those higher levels, but even if they did, I'd be looking at the abilities you get before level 11.