D&D 5E Eldritch Knight: How often do you actually use War Magic?

[famousringo]

The idea is that the scaling should keep pace. At 11 you get three attacks, but your cantrip does three dice of damage.

But the reality is that your cantrip needs to do ability bonus damage for that to be true. (Or something like advantage on the attack, or a cantrip triggering a difficult save like an Int save, or something)

War Magic plus Eldritch Blast plus Agonizing Blast in a melee form would be something.

Why does it need to be melee? Agonizing Blast plus a heavy crossbow attack is a pretty nasty ranged combo without investing any feats or spell slots.

And for me, multiclass combos like that are what War Magic is really about. Once you have War Magic and a SCAG cantrip, you have DPR that's competitive with a straight fighter even if you never take another fighter level (though yes, the pure fighter can pull ahead with feats and magic weapons). This frees you to focus on a caster class for more spell utility, or on sweet combos like the one above, or sorcerer for Twin Booming Blade so you can be a very sticky tank, or abjurer if you want to be absurdly durable.

 

[jrowland]

I must say, I realize people like the classic approach of sword and board, but really, I don't see the use case in 5E.

A player in my PotA game went for a Shield mostly build, but ended up using sword n board, sentinel feat, get surrounded, lock em in, then Burning hands like a crazy person.

The point being, being surrounded can be just as bad as a high to hit creature. 5-6 attacks (or more if they have multiattack, or if there are archers) means a few hits will get through.

 

[Shiroiken]

The EK in my party was using it all the time. Now he has 3 attacks with Sharpshooter, so he often just does that now.

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

Why does it need to be melee? Agonizing Blast plus a heavy crossbow attack is a pretty nasty ranged combo without investing any feats or spell slots.

No feats or spell slots, true, but a lot of stat investment is required. You probably want at least Dex 16 and Cha 20 in order to make it somewhat worth your while; it takes a bunch of Rogue levels before it starts to be actually good compared to a regular old Sharpshooter fighter.

 

[CapnZapp]

Why does it need to be melee? Agonizing Blast plus a heavy crossbow attack is a pretty nasty ranged combo without investing any feats or spell slots.

Sure it is.

But most people doesn't play ranged combatants. Unless a combo can be had in the melee configuration I consider it niche.

(It's worth repeating that the true build power of using a hand, not heavy, crossbow lies in the fact that monsters can't shut you down by jumping into your face. That is: any ranged build that gains disadvantage when in melee needs a way to disengage without eating an OA, or is at exactly that: disadvantage).

 

[Barolo]

(...)

(It's worth repeating that the true build power of using a hand, not heavy, crossbow lies in the fact that monsters can't shut you down by jumping into your face. That is: any ranged build that gains disadvantage when in melee needs a way to disengage without eating an OA, or is at exactly that: disadvantage).

The crossbow expert feat actually avoids disadvantage no matter the ranged attack the user employs. Surely it is quite expensive if this is the only bullet in the feat one intends to benefit of, though.

 

[TwoSix]

Just wanted to point out (since I'm playing one) that there's a nice class on DM's guild (the Magus) where the main feature is getting new SCAG-style cantrips and using them with War Magic.

 

[Yunru]

Yep, it sure is a bladesingery ability. Especially if it got "improved war magic" at a less rodoncoulously high level, so it could cast + whack as its standard routine.

Honestly I'd start with IWM, they're full casters after all.