There were a lot of responses, so please bear with me.
This means Eldritch Blast is not even usable with it and it means if you want to use it in combat you really need to have a good Intelligence, when most fighters dump intelligence.
To be fair, that is the part of your OP that makes it look like you are cheesing the warlock dip. There was no mention of Truestrike in the OP.
True Strike is the ideal Cantrip to use and what I would be using in this build, but with a low (probably 7-10) Intelligence this Cantrip is going to suck. I basically have to max Intelligence, which means accepting a mediocre Charisma and dumping Constitution or Dexterity to make this work.
The thematics of a high-intelligence fighter just don't interest me.
There is no difference in pumping INT instead of DEX as far as other ability scores are concerned and splashing wizard instead of bard, sorcerer, or warlock would would the same way except it complements the Eldritch Knight subclass better.
It is not even necessary to splash at all to use Truestrike, but doing so gives access to more cantrips and rituals as well as more spells prepped and more spell slots.
The only part of your argument that seems relevant is that you do not like INT for some reason even though Investigation uses it, and History (or Religion) can be relevant to the social pillar too in other ways.
My complaint is specific to Truestrike, not Eldritch Blast. Truestrike is the Cantrip I really want to use with this.
You can do that with or without a splash on an Eldritch Knight.
I don't want to play a high intelligence Fighter, nor a Fighter-Wizard. Neither of those interest me.
So that begs the question of why you are playing the EK in the first place. INT is the casting stat for that subclass. If a person does not like INT on a fighter that is not an issue with that subclass. I seems to be WAI better now.
I like playing Wizards, but a Wizard is no Sorcerer for this kind of multiclass. This is especially true because a low-intelligence EK gives you most of the utility spells you want (Shield, Absorb Elements, Find Familiar, Feather Fall etc)
That does not make sense. Those spells do not somehow get better with low INT. You can still take and use those with a higher INT. Or you can still dump INT and take those spells. The changes to spells now give EKs a much larger variety of wizard spells from which to choose, and the EK can also cast rituals from that list as rituals now.
Just take spells that do not rely on the casting stat and continue to dump INT if you want. That is still something you can do.
Seems to me the only issue is people pigeon-holed them into one very specific build. Personally I'm glad it's changed, I might actually consider playing one now.
I have been toying with the idea of making an arcane archer out of the EK, but I have sooo many ideas and sooo little game time. ;-)
What I did rely on was a number Charisma based spells and skills
That is not the impression I am getting here. It looks like you are just swapping EB+AG for TS+AG. But looking at skills I would say Persuasion uses CHA to get people to do something you want. Intimidation uses CHA to get people to do something you want. Deception tricks people into doing something you want. I would be surprised if you are taking Performance.
| History | Intelligence | Recall lore about historical events, people, nations, and cultures. |
| Religion | Intelligence | Recall lore about gods, religious rituals, and holy symbols. |
| Insight | Wisdom | Discern a person’s mood and intentions. |
The social pillar is not all about CHA. Understanding local cultures and customs or knowing notable people to talk to would fall under History. Religion is a major part of most civilizations and understanding the local religion helps. Recognizing the mood and intentions of an individual would also fall under the social pillar. We can talk about Investigation too.
The idea that the entire social pillar is summed up by CHA is a weird take. Those skills only influence people. There is more to the pillar than that. This sounds like an interaction with spells like Charm Person in trying to manipulate people. ;-)
I would be fine with that, but it would not change the basic problem with the new EK. You still would not be able to use War Magic with other class Cantrips, including primarily True Strike.
The EK does not need to use a cantrip for Truestrike because it is on the wizard spell list.
Drow High Magic feat mostly, and low level Sorcerer or Warlock or Bard spells.
The Wizard spells are ideal for using with a low Intelligence - Shield, Protection from Evil and Good, Find Familiar, Feather Fall ..... and they don't scale fast enough on an EK to use effectively in combat. Finally you are limited to 2 Fighter Cantrips (until 10th level). On a high Intelligence character that is going to be Truestrike and Bladeward giving you nothing for utility.
Again, this does not make sense. There is no benefit to having low INT with these spells. What you seem to be doing is selecting spells that do not require high INT. But you could just take high INT instead of high CHA.
Those spells also scale the same regardless of spell caster or INT. Shield is Shield.
The builds are not limited to fighter cantrips. They have wizard cantrips and whatever other class you are splashing that could also be a wizard. That is plenty of cantrips.
There is are plenty of utility spells available to both the EK and wizard through the wizard spell list. This is the case splash or not. Or you can add with feats because you demonstrated that you use feats in the builds for spells.
Moreover Charisma is just a better ability, tieing to the entire social pillar. People on this board complain all the time above fighters being one-dimensional and not being able to contribute in the other pillars. The changes to this subclass encourage this one-dimensional play.
CHA is not the entire social pillar. Most of the social pillar is handled through roleplay and CHA is used to influence people. WIS is used to understand people and INT is used to recall lora about people. Use the other skills more. ;-)
We have been able to expand on fighters via feats in all of 5e, some subclasses added more, and now Tactical Mind allow for spending Second Wind on ability checks. Any ability check, not just skill proficiencies in which the fighter is not proficient.
Also an EK only gets 2 Cantrips until 10th level.
One of which could be Truestrike or Green-Flame Blade, but if you are splashing a caster then splashing a wizard expands this.
Already exists. Bards, warlocks, paladins and some silly Sorcerer builds.
Bards and warlocks are squishier than fighters, paladins are tanking and can do damage but their utility spells are limited and I just pointed out that CHA is not the entire social pillar. ;-)
I would take rogue for Reliable Talent because it is not the bonus that matters as much as the ability to consistently not roll below the target DC. The only thing CHA does is make it easier to manipulate people.
It can work that way with a variety of single-class Wizard, Sorcerer, Warlock and Bard single class builds and the 2024 Valor Bard subclass and Truestrike Cantrip make it work BETTER for those classes.
I am not sure Truestrike is better for those classes. They all have to invest in their casting stat too. The idea that the EK should not have to do the same seems like a weird take. A fighter who does invest in their casting stat uses Truestrike just as effectively as those other classes, but has more attacks an more hit point and weapon mastery etc.
If I try to make a wizard who avoids spells than need INT and dumpstat it like you are doing with your EK the wizard is also going to have issues with Truestrike too.
Well they do, through feats, even without taking a 1-level Figther dip.
I disagree but from everything you said all you need to do is play a Valor bard and take a fighter dip to meet the criteria you say you value here. That would let you use CHA, swap cantrips in for attacks, and give plenty of CHA skill bonuses.
Issue resolved.
Right now she is Rogue-1/Paladin-1, her next 2 levels are going to be Warlock for Pact of Chain, Truestrike-Agonizing Blast (trading out Magic Initiate) and Green Flame Blade-Agonizing Blast, then Rogue 4 (Arcane Trickster), then Warlock 5 (GOO) and then the rest of her levels in Rogue. Similar to the discussion here she will be an Arcane Trickster with a dumped Intelligence.
Now we are back to saying it is about the ability score and skills and spells and demonstrating it is about trying to leverage Agonizing Blast. ;-)
I know. That was in response to someone who said dumping Intelligence on a Fighter is like dumping Dexterity on a Rogue.
Except INT is the casting stat on a spell casting fighter subclass. The idea you should not need that casting stat is a weird take.
TBH the wording "Wizard spell" is ambiguous since the class has spells from the Wizard list that it gets as a Fighter and Wizard spell could be taken to mean any spell on the Wizard list, whether you got it from EK, a Wizard multiclass, a species, a feat, or another class.
Yup, which is why you can do most of what you say you want to do just by pumping INT instead of CHA and splashing wizard. Because it is not about leveraging Agonizing Blast cheese. ;-)
