War Magic + Eldritch Blast

[Akiflyer]

How does War Magic work exactly? Is it one bonus action per turn, or is it one bonus action after every cantrip?

If it's per turn, Why bother with one extra attack when I could go paladin and smite for a lot more damage than 1 attack?

[CorwynCorey]

Because one is a Cleric, and the other a Paladin, and they are different.?

Seriously, it is like comparing golden delicious apples and Chevrolet head gaskets. Sure... could put either in your pocket, but they are for and do different things.

Both have similar skills and proficiencies, although Paladin has racial, simple and martial weapons, and Cleric does not have martial.

Paladins end up using most of their spells for smites... which is good, since they get so few.

Clerics are full casters, with all the flexibility that entails. They get charges to expend for their War priest extra attack, limited per long rest. Less about "swing the sword" than about "cast the spell".

Neither is objectively better than the other... they are simply not that close in playstyle.

[wei270]

well smite does more damage you only have so much cast slot, the cantrip + war magic is a cantrip................. with 3x(1D10+5) and + 1 weapon attack is actually not bad at all. of course because BG3 end the game at lvl 12 where lvl 11 fighters get 3 attack, the 3x Eldritch black is not as strong as 2 regular attacks, but there are alot of good war mage items that lets give you buff after you cast a spell. so you can still build a very power full warlock/Eldritch knight. yes your character wouldn't do as much damage as a full melee, but the magics you can will make you more vesitle. at 7/5 you can have 4th level spell can cuts people up with charisma instead of strength.

[сын мясника]

Originally posted by Akiflyer:

Why bother with one extra attack when I could go paladin and smite for a lot more damage than 1 attack?

Because EK cantrips in other rulebook but not in the BG3. Google Booming blade and other two.

[Akiflyer]

Originally posted by CorwynCorey:

Because one is a Cleric, and the other a Paladin, and they are different.?

Seriously, it is like comparing golden delicious apples and Chevrolet head gaskets. Sure... could put either in your pocket, but they are for and do different things.

Both have similar skills and proficiencies, although Paladin has racial, simple and martial weapons, and Cleric does not have martial.

Paladins end up using most of their spells for smites... which is good, since they get so few.

Clerics are full casters, with all the flexibility that entails. They get charges to expend for their War priest extra attack, limited per long rest. Less about "swing the sword" than about "cast the spell".

Neither is objectively better than the other... they are simply not that close in playstyle.

War Magic is a Eldritch Knight passive. It let's you do "an attack as a bonus action after using a cantrip". My question is only one bonus action per turn, or per cantrip?

Otherwise it might be better to go Paladin since you can use smite on top of your attacks at the cost of a spell slot. So, consider:
1 melee attack extra as a bonus action, per turn
vs
A divine smite after each melee attack, up to 7 per combat.