D&D 5E (2024) Eldritch Knight

[Tessarael]

Honestly the ability to use your weapon as a material component isn't that necessary. The fact that you can't do your somatic components of your spells without warcaster is the bigger problem.

You can, if the spell has both S,M components, as you can sign the somatic components with material component or spell casting focus in hand. Hence, if you can use a weapon as a spell casting focus (e.g., Bladesinger, Warlock Pact of the Blade, with a Ruby of the War Mage, or using a Quarterstaff as a Druid/Wizard/etc.), or if you can use your shield as a spell casting focus (e.g., Cleric or Druid with holy symbol emblazoned on the shield), then it serves both as the material focus and you can use that same wielding hand to do the somatic component too.

War Caster is only needed for spells with only somatic S components, and War Caster doesn't get around needing a hand free for material M component spells, if you cannot use a weapon or shield as your spell casting focus.

 

[Distracted DM]

War Caster does not permit someone using a weapon-and-shield or two-weapon fighting to use a material focus without sheathing or dropping a weapon. War Caster only allows you to cast spells with somatic components that do not have material components, while your hands are full.

This is a major problem with the 5E and D&D 2024 spell focus, material and somatic component rules. They are very complicated, with various exceptions. It is pretty clear that Eldritch Knight and Arcane Trickster need to be able to use a weapon as an arcane focus, if we want them to be able use spell casting while using weapon-and-shield or two-weapon fighting. If not, there's a tax of requiring a hand free, silliness with weapon sheathing-and-drawing between spell casting (good luck keeping track of that mid-combat as a DM!), or the requirement for something like Ruby of the War Mage with the cost of burning an attunement slot to be able to use your weapon as a spell casting focus.

Below is a summary of my understanding of the 5E rules on spell casting focii. It is long, because of how damn complicated the 5E and D&D 2024 rules are for this. Note that this was written for 5E, but I think it is valid for the D&D 2024 rules as well, as I haven't see any changes in the D&D 2024 rules for this.

What classes have what spell focus?​

• 5E Arcane Trickster and Eldritch Knight do not have a spell focus, so that would need material components for spells that require them. In D&D 2024, they can use an arcane spell casting focus.
• Artificer uses thieve’s or artisan’s tools as a spell focus, but can also use any item bearing an infusion as spellcasting focus.
  • This implies that an Artificer can select an infused item that they don’t need a free hand to hold as a focus.
  • Armorer specialist can use their arcane armor as a spellcasting focus.
  • Artillerist specialist can use their “arcane firearm”, a wand/staff/rod, as a spellcasting focus - see Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything (TCoE) page 18.
• Ranger also did not have a spell focus in the PHB, but TCoE page 57 has an optional rule that Ranger can use a druidic focus, and D&D 2024 Rangers use a druidic focus too.
• Bards use a musical instrument as a spellcasting focus, which they need a hand free to use.
  • Bard’s College of Swords allows a simple or martial melee weapon to be used as a focus.
• Bloodhunter Order of the Profane Soul allows using a weapon with a crimson rite on it as a spellcasting focus.
• Cleric and Paladin use a divine focus, which can be a shield. (This encourages use of weapon-and-shield by these classes.)
  • For deities that have a weapon as their holy symbol, we would allow the Cleric/Paladin to wield such a weapon and also use it as a divine focus.
    • It should be recognizable as the holy symbol. For example, Tempus’ symbol is a flaming sword and Torm’s is a white gauntlet.
• Sorcerer, Warlock, and Wizard use an arcane focus. This can be a quarterstaff (5gp cost and 4 lb weight) for those who are melee inclined, otherwise they’ll need a free hand to hold that focus when spellcasting. (This encourages use of a quarterstaff by these classes, but noting that quarterstaff is not a finesse weapon and Strength would typically be a dump stat.)
• 5E Warlock’s Pact of the Blade with the Improved Pact Weapon allows any weapon you summon with your Pact of the Blade feature be used as a focus. This includes a ranged magic weapon, which has been transformed into a pact weapon. D&D 2024 allows your pact weapon to be used as your spellcasting focus.
• Ruby of the War Mage, a common magic item requiring attunement, see XGtE page 138 the D&D 2024 DMG, also permits a weapon to be used as a spellcasting focus. There’s also the Dark Shard Amulet and Hat of Wizardry in XGtE, which can both be used as a spellcasting focus for Warlocks and Wizards respectively, and they do also require attunement.

Spellcasting focus 5E rules​

Spellcasting focuses must be held to be used​

If your spellcasting focus is not a weapon or shield that you are holding:

• You can use a weapon in one hand, or a two-handed weapon - temporarily holding it one-handed while spell casting.
• You cannot hold two weapons while spellcasting, you would need to sheathe or drop one.
• You cannot use weapon-and-shield, as donning/doffing a shield takes an action, you would need to sheathe or drop the weapon.
  • Cleric or Paladin can use weapon-and-shield, but they cannot hold two weapons and use their holy symbol as a divine focus.
• Dual Wielder feat would also permit use of quarterstaff as both an arcane focus and a weapon in one hand, and another single-handed weapon in the other hand.
• War Caster feat allows you to perform somatic components when you have weapons or a a shield in one or both hands.
  • This does not allow you to cast spells with material components or to use a focus instead of them.
• Handling a spell component or focus is part of casting the spell, so you do not need to use your free object interaction to do so, per Sage Advice.

Summary​

• Two-handed and single one-handed weapon wielders have no issues spellcasting, as a two-handed weapon only needs to be used two-handed when attacking (PHB errata page 2).
• Two-weapon and weapon-and-shield users:
  • No issues with somatic components if they have the War Caster feat.
  • If the spell has somatic components and they don’t have the War Caster feat, or the spell has material components and a weapon/shield wielded is not their spellcasting focus, then they need a free hand to cast the spell.
    • From the action economy perspective, they need to spend their one free object interaction/turn to stow their weapon before spellcasting, or draw their weapon afterwards.
      • The Dual Wielder feat permits this twice on your turn, avoiding the case where you are left wielding a single weapon between turns.
    • They will lose the benefits of the weapon when it is not wielded, e.g. no +1 AC from Dual Wielder for wielding a weapon in both hands.
  • If the weapon or shield wielded is the spellcasting focus, no need to have a free hand providing the spell has both somatic and material components.
  • If a spell has somatic components but no material components, then a free hand is required unless you have the War Caster feat.

Nice breakdown. Yeah, it's complicated. I can understand why people just want to say "cast whatever with whatever in your hands so we can get on with the game," but I don't want to let that slide without some sort of investment (a feat via war caster, or that attunement item ruby).

I do wonder if general spellcasting foci were a mistake. I imagine they were a shortcut made for simplicity, otherwise maybe they were put in there for harry potter fans?

 

[Tessarael]

I think spell casting focii are in the game as they are iconic in fantasy, such as the Wizard waving his wand, or the Cleric brandishing her holy symbol. A spell caster can still use a shield while having a hand free or holding their focus, so the main thing they're losing by having to have a hand free or focus in hand is the chance to make opportunity attacks with a melee weapon or the AC benefit of a shield. Mechanically, the impact is somewhat minor.

Where it causes some issues is the weapon+shield user or two-weapon fighting needing to sheathe a weapon, cast a spell, then draw the weapon next round. At most mechanically, they're losing the chance to make an opportunity attack with a melee weapon every other round, and they're using their free object interaction to sheathe and draw a weapon when they do so. But again, the mechanical impact is somewhat minor.

Ideally, there should be some benefit for spell casters using a focus to encourage that iconic use, if so desired in a particular fantasy setting. For example if they're using a magical focus, it could add between +1 to +3 to spell damage, or allow them to use their spell casting ability modifier on cantrips if they don't already get that benefit. It is a little strange that we have all these magic weapons for the non-spell casters, but limited similar stuff for spell casters (e.g., Rod of the Pact Keeper, and Wand of the War Mage).

The other approach is to disallow sheathing and unsheathing of weapon when spell casting. You could make use of material components the free object interaction for the turn, if they're not already in hand. And I would get rid of the distinction between somatic and material components to simplify the rules, but then the War Caster feat needs an update too of course. The point of this path is to force one of the following options:

• One-handed shield use, no weapon - permitted with spell casting, if you are proficient in shields.
• One-handed weapon use, no shield - permitted with spell casting.
• Two-handed weapon use - permitted with spell casting or not?
• Two-weapon fighting would then be disallowed with spell casting.
• Weapon + shield would also then be disallowed with spell casting.

I don't really see the need to limit spell casting in this manner, particularly as the mechanical benefits of allowing all of them to do spell casting is relatively minor vs. what is already workable by the rules as written now. We should have a system that permits a variety of builds.

If you want to restrict it, perhaps the other option is to restrict it by proficiency. You cannot use a shield well without shield proficiency. Make two-weapon fighting the same: martial characters (Barbarian, Fighter, Monk, Paladin, Ranger, Rogue) get sufficient training to two-weapon fight with light weapons, or weapon+shield if they have shield proficiency; whereas the spell casting focused characters (Cleric, Druid, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard) would need to pick up either the Dual Wielder or War Caster feat to do so. But I don't really see any need for such a limitation.