D&D 5E (2024) Breaking The Eldritch Knight (Eberron)

[UngeheuerLich]

You get it a lot earlier tgan CME and it CME gets interrupted....

Not if you take fey touched at level 8 and you get CME with greater dragonmark. Or do I confuse something?

 

[Ancoulainn]

You could also be Khoravar and use Fey Gift to get shillelagh, if other cantrips won't matter that much.

Also, could you carry a shield with this build?

No, you can't. Shillelagh is a Druid spell and has a material component and you cannot use your Quarterstaff as a spellcasting focus to cast Druid spells because your feature says "You can use an Arcane Focus as a Spellcasting Focus for your Wizard spells" and Chapter 7 makes it clear that you can only use a spellcasting focus when you have a respective feature as it says "the spellcaster can substitute a Spellcasting Focus if the caster has a feature that allows that substitution." Eldritch Knights don't have a feature that allows them to use a spellcasting focus for Druid spells and neither spells from Magic Initiate nor racial spells are added to your spell list. That you have them always prepared doesn't change that. Notice how the Spells of the Mark features of the Dragonmark origin feats say "If you have the Spellcasting or Pact Magic class feature, the spells on the Mark of XYZ Spells table are added to that feature’s spell list" and that such a wording is missing when it comes to the Magic Initiate Origin feats.

So, you need a free hand to touch your component pouch which prevents you from using a shield. War Caster doesn't help with that because War Caster only helps with the somatic components, not with the material components. If you want to use a shield, you need to take a level in Druid or two levels in Ranger and get Shillelagh via Druidic Warrior.

 

[Ancoulainn]

If you take warcaster yes

War Caster only helps with the somatic component, not the material component. Shillelagh is a Druid spell and has a material component and you cannot use your Quarterstaff as a spellcasting focus to cast Druid spells because the Eldritch Knight's feature says "You can use an Arcane Focus as a Spellcasting Focus for your Wizard spells" and Chapter 7 makes it clear that you can only use a spellcasting focus when you have a respective feature as it says "the spellcaster can substitute a Spellcasting Focus if the caster has a feature that allows that substitution." Eldritch Knights don't have a feature that allows them to use a spellcasting focus for Druid spells and neither spells from Magic Initiate nor racial spells are added to your spell list. That you have them always prepared doesn't change that. Notice how the Spells of the Mark features of the Dragonmark origin feats say "If you have the Spellcasting or Pact Magic class feature, the spells on the Mark of XYZ Spells table are added to that feature’s spell list" and that such a wording is missing when it comes to the Magic Initiate Origin feats.

So, you need a free hand to touch your component pouch to cast Shillelagh which prevents you from using a shield. If you want to use a shield, you need to take a level in Druid or two levels in Ranger and get Shillelagh via Druidic Warrior.

 

[Zardnaar]

War Caster only helps with the somatic component, not the material component. Shillelagh is a Druid spell and has a material component and you cannot use your Quarterstaff as a spellcasting focus to cast Druid spells because the Eldritch Knight's feature says "You can use an Arcane Focus as a Spellcasting Focus for your Wizard spells" and Chapter 7 makes it clear that you can only use a spellcasting focus when you have a respective feature as it says "the spellcaster can substitute a Spellcasting Focus if the caster has a feature that allows that substitution." Eldritch Knights don't have a feature that allows them to use a spellcasting focus for Druid spells and neither spells from Magic Initiate nor racial spells are added to your spell list. That you have them always prepared doesn't change that. Notice how the Spells of the Mark features of the Dragonmark origin feats say "If you have the Spellcasting or Pact Magic class feature, the spells on the Mark of XYZ Spells table are added to that feature’s spell list" and that such a wording is missing when it comes to the Magic Initiate Origin feats.

So, you need a free hand to touch your component pouch to cast Shillelagh which prevents you from using a shield. If you want to use a shield, you need to take a level in Druid or two levels in Ranger and get Shillelagh via Druidic Warrior.

Its ambiguous and RAI who knows. Rarely enforced anyway as without warcaster you cant even cast shield.

We have errata that basically let's gosh types do their thing. EKs, Valor Bards, bladesingers being gish.

If you have a hardass DM you go skip the shillelagh part.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

You could have a staff that is a druid focus at one end and an arcane focus at the other (the end with the knob).

 

[Silam]

You could have a staff that is a druid focus at one end and an arcane focus at the other (the end with the knob).

Or maybe tie up a little bit of mistletoe to your quarterstaff and call it a day?