Eldritch Knight + Warlock

[Gloomseeker]

Does anyone know whether War Magic (Eldritch Knight level 7 ability) works with the Warlock's Eldritch Blast?

[Szorrin]

Eldritch Blast is a cantrip, so it should qualify for War Magic, letting you make one weapon attack as a bonus action. If it doesn't, it's likely bugged.

[Gloomseeker]

Originally posted by Szorrin:

Eldritch Blast is a cantrip, so it should qualify for War Magic, letting you make one weapon attack as a bonus action. If it doesn't, it's likely bugged.

That's the idea. I just want to know if anyone can confirm that it does work in game.

[Tactical Drongo]

I wanted to go that route but i stumbled upon 2 problems

1. eldritch knight is int based while warlock is cha
2. the eldritch knight abilities that matter for the eldritch knight go up to lvl 10 and 2 levels of warlock...dont do so much

[Gloomseeker]

Originally posted by Tactical Drongo:

I wanted to go that route but i stumbled upon 2 problems

1. eldritch knight is int based while warlock is cha
2. the eldritch knight abilities that matter for the eldritch knight go up to lvl 10 and 2 levels of warlock...dont do so much

Fair point but I was thinking of Eldritch Knight 7/Warlock 5 instead in order to get two beams with a melee attack by level 12.

The Eldritch Knight's spellcasting peaks at level 2 (starting at EK level 7) so not investing too much in intelligence could still work (especially for buffs like Longstrider for instance).

Theoretically Pact of the Blade could be chosen (in order to use charisma for attacks instead of strength or dexterity at level 3) so a little more would be available for intelligence.

[[TG] zac]

Originally posted by Gloomseeker:

Originally posted by Tactical Drongo:

I wanted to go that route but i stumbled upon 2 problems

1. eldritch knight is int based while warlock is cha
2. the eldritch knight abilities that matter for the eldritch knight go up to lvl 10 and 2 levels of warlock...dont do so much

Fair point but I was thinking of Eldritch Knight 7/Warlock 5 instead in order to get two beams with a melee attack by level 12.

The Eldritch Knight's spellcasting peaks at level 2 (starting at EK level 7) so not investing too much in intelligence could still work (especially for buffs like Longstrider for instance).

Theoretically Pact of the Blade could be chosen (in order to use charisma for attacks instead of strength or dexterity at level 3) so a little more would be available for intelligence.

If what your after is damage for some reason last I checked extra attack will work in tandem with the extra attack from pact of the blade in game.

At level 7 warlock you also can get the invocation to add necrotic damage to all your attacks.

So a real good combo would be 5 paladin or 5 eldritch knight to start with then 7 warlock, then for bonus actions grab either a spear/staff/halbird (first two will let you use shield) and savage attacker & polearm master.

You won't get the +10 to damage great weapon master gives but you wont get the -5 attack roll either (savage attacker makes you roll all damage rolls twice and use higher and polearm master lets you get an attack as a bonus action)

Basically after that your first round of combat should be hex, then attack 3x.
Each round after it would be attack 3 times then bonus attack or move hex as needed.

As is its the best gish option till/unless bladesinger wizard & or flameblade/booming blade get added.

[Szorrin]

It's not bad. Eldritch Knight being INT is a non-issue, you can use the spell slots for Warlock spells and/or pick utility spells that don't require saves or attack rolls, like Shield. Personally I would go 8 levels into Eldritch Knight. That would give you a Fighting Style, Second Wind, Action Surge and 3 ASI's/Feats. You don't need Deepened Pact because Fighter already gives you Extra Attack, and none of the level 5 Eldritch Invocations are particularly enticing. Plus, cantrips scale with character level, not class level. (At least they do in tabletop 5e, I'm assuming, and hoping, that it's the same in the game.)

[[TG] zac]

Originally posted by Szorrin:

It's not bad. Eldritch Knight being INT is a non-issue, you can use the spell slots for Warlock spells and/or pick utility spells that don't require saves or attack rolls, like Shield. Personally I would go 8 levels into Eldritch Knight. That would give you a Fighting Style, Second Wind, Action Surge and 3 ASI's/Feats. You don't need Deepened Pact because Fighter already gives you Extra Attack, and none of the level 5 Eldritch Invocations are particularly enticing. Plus, cantrips scale with character level, not class level. (At least they do in tabletop 5e, I'm assuming, and hoping, that it's the same in the game.)

extra attack from pact of the blade is actually stacking with extra attack from fighter/paladin atm.

At level 7 you can also get an invocation to add necrotic to all attacks.

This means 7 warlock levels with rest in paladin or eldritch knight using spear/staff and polearm master (for bonus action attack) does the highest damage possible.

First round would give you hex + 3 attacks with each attack getting extra damage from invocation and hex.
After that you should be getting 4 attacks per turn all with same bonuses.

[Gloomseeker]

The extra attack from Pact of Blade shouldn't stack though. Isn't that a bug?

Originally posted by Szorrin:

It's not bad. Eldritch Knight being INT is a non-issue, you can use the spell slots for Warlock spells and/or pick utility spells that don't require saves or attack rolls, like Shield. Personally I would go 8 levels into Eldritch Knight. That would give you a Fighting Style, Second Wind, Action Surge and 3 ASI's/Feats. You don't need Deepened Pact because Fighter already gives you Extra Attack, and none of the level 5 Eldritch Invocations are particularly enticing. Plus, cantrips scale with character level, not class level. (At least they do in tabletop 5e, I'm assuming, and hoping, that it's the same in the game.)

The reason I'd go for Warlock 5 is to get two blasts instead of one.

I'm more concerned about action economy because with two attacks and one bonus action I reckon that unless I'm mistaken it should be possible to use one regular attack and a blast with two rays followed by another melee attack as a bonus action.

[Szorrin]

Originally posted by TG zac:

Originally posted by Szorrin:

It's not bad. Eldritch Knight being INT is a non-issue, you can use the spell slots for Warlock spells and/or pick utility spells that don't require saves or attack rolls, like Shield. Personally I would go 8 levels into Eldritch Knight. That would give you a Fighting Style, Second Wind, Action Surge and 3 ASI's/Feats. You don't need Deepened Pact because Fighter already gives you Extra Attack, and none of the level 5 Eldritch Invocations are particularly enticing. Plus, cantrips scale with character level, not class level. (At least they do in tabletop 5e, I'm assuming, and hoping, that it's the same in the game.)

extra attack from pact of the blade is actually stacking with extra attack from fighter/paladin atm.

At level 7 you can also get an invocation to add necrotic to all attacks.

This means 7 warlock levels with rest in paladin or eldritch knight using spear/staff and polearm master (for bonus action attack) does the highest damage possible.

First round would give you hex + 3 attacks with each attack getting extra damage from invocation and hex.
After that you should be getting 4 attacks per turn all with same bonuses.

That seems unintentional and is most likely a bug. The Thirsting Blade Invocation in tabletop certainly doesn't stack with any other class' Extra Attack.

But until that's fixed (if it ever is), that does sound like a very powerful build indeed.

Originally posted by Gloomseeker:

The extra attack from Pact of Blade shouldn't stack though. Isn't that a bug?

Originally posted by Szorrin:

It's not bad. Eldritch Knight being INT is a non-issue, you can use the spell slots for Warlock spells and/or pick utility spells that don't require saves or attack rolls, like Shield. Personally I would go 8 levels into Eldritch Knight. That would give you a Fighting Style, Second Wind, Action Surge and 3 ASI's/Feats. You don't need Deepened Pact because Fighter already gives you Extra Attack, and none of the level 5 Eldritch Invocations are particularly enticing. Plus, cantrips scale with character level, not class level. (At least they do in tabletop 5e, I'm assuming, and hoping, that it's the same in the game.)

The reason I'd go for Warlock 5 is to get two blasts instead of one.

I'm more concerned about action economy because with two attacks and one bonus action I reckon that unless I'm mistaken it should be possible to use one regular attack and a blast with two rays followed by another melee attack as a bonus action.

As I mentioned, cantrips should scale with character level, not class level. So just having 5 levels of any class combined should upgrade your Eldritch Blast to two beams, and even 3 beams when your total class levels reach 11.

Mind you, this is how it works in the tabletop version of 5e, I have yet to find out if it works the same in the game.

[[TG] zac]

Originally posted by Szorrin:

Originally posted by TG zac:

extra attack from pact of the blade is actually stacking with extra attack from fighter/paladin atm.

At level 7 you can also get an invocation to add necrotic to all attacks.

This means 7 warlock levels with rest in paladin or eldritch knight using spear/staff and polearm master (for bonus action attack) does the highest damage possible.

First round would give you hex + 3 attacks with each attack getting extra damage from invocation and hex.
After that you should be getting 4 attacks per turn all with same bonuses.

That seems unintentional and is most likely a bug. The Thirsting Blade Invocation in tabletop certainly doesn't stack with any other class' Extra Attack.

But until that's fixed (if it ever is), that does sound like a very powerful build indeed.

I mean there are potentially more broken builds in table top.
I had a campaign go to level 15 once and a few of the builds mixing bladesinger/battlesmith/paladin did absolutely busted burst damage.
(3 battlesmith /10 bladesinger/2 paladin, attack with boom blade, attack again, smite then bonus action use magic stone for your pets to toss magic rocks for an additional 5+D6 each across 3 of them)

[Szorrin]

Originally posted by TG zac:

Originally posted by Szorrin:

That seems unintentional and is most likely a bug. The Thirsting Blade Invocation in tabletop certainly doesn't stack with any other class' Extra Attack.

But until that's fixed (if it ever is), that does sound like a very powerful build indeed.

I mean there are potentially more broken builds in table top.
I had a campaign go to level 15 once and a few of the builds mixing bladesinger/battlesmith/paladin did absolutely busted burst damage.
(3 battlesmith /10 bladesinger/2 paladin, attack with boom blade, attack again, smite then bonus action use magic stone for your pets to toss magic rocks for an additional 5+D6 each across 3 of them)

True, you can make very busted builds in tabletop D&D, but your DM can respond to that by making encounters more challenging in various ways, so you don't just faceroll every encounter.

Not really an option in a game like this. x)

[Gloomseeker]

Ok this is very interesting.

So if things are not patched then it would mean that by level 12 the character would get two regular melee attacks, an eldritch blast with three rays followed by another melee attack (as a bonus action).

I'm discarding Polearm Master for now because I really dig the two handed flaming sword.

@Szorrin: a good DM will let you make a busted build but will respond in kind, that much is true.

[Szorrin]

Originally posted by Gloomseeker:

Ok this is very interesting.

So if things are not patched then it would mean that by level 12 the character would get two regular melee attacks, an eldritch blast with three rays followed by another melee attack (as a bonus action).

I'm discarding Polearm Master for now because I really dig the two handed flaming sword.

@Szorrin: a good DM will let you make a busted build but will respond in kind, that much is true.

Not exactly, cantrips and spells take your entire action, not just one attack. So you'd either do 3 attacks with a melee weapon OR an Eldritch Blast with 3 beams as your action. Whichever one is more useful in the situation.

[Gloomseeker]

Originally posted by Szorrin:

Originally posted by Gloomseeker:

Ok this is very interesting.

So if things are not patched then it would mean that by level 12 the character would get two regular melee attacks, an eldritch blast with three rays followed by another melee attack (as a bonus action).

I'm discarding Polearm Master for now because I really dig the two handed flaming sword.

@Szorrin: a good DM will let you make a busted build but will respond in kind, that much is true.

Not exactly, cantrips and spells take your entire action, not just one attack. So you'd either do 3 attacks with a melee weapon OR an Eldritch Blast with 3 beams as your action. Whichever one is more useful in the situation.

Thanks for the correction, I got a bit carried away.

So I guess the Polearm Master build may be a contender with 4 melee attacks instead of a blast with 3 rays followed by a melee attack.

I'm not taking into account the possibility of an attack of opportunity and that the extra attack could end up being patched out.