Best "battle-mage" build?

[Solomon]

I'd like to play something that can go toe-to-toe as well as cast spells. Cleric, Druid and Bard come to mind as I'd prefer a full caster to a half-caster. Is there one that is more suited to martial combat?

[OnlyOffensive]

Eldritch knight is amazing. Imo one of the best classes in the game. Insane tank, alot of fun with both melee and spells and eldritch strike easily one of the best abilities in the game if not best.

You can say fighter/wizard multiclass is better, but honestly all fighter needs is mirror image and blur, which EK has easy access to. Grab shield and maybe spear with defense spec and you almost invincible. Once you get Eldritch strike its gg, almost impossible to save throw, you will have to use scrolls mostly, but it can single handedly win you toughest fights. Pair it with lore bard and nothing can save against your spells.

And the best thing - you dont lose progression with fighter. Can grab couple wizard levels to get level 3 spells endgame anyway, dont really need lvl12 feat

[Aria Athena]

Swords Bard will do nicely. You can also give him a couple of levels fighter or paladin.

[OnlyOffensive]

honestly i find swords bard lacking, as a jack of all trades class, he doesnt really do anything good, his best gimmick is +4AC imo swords bard is a waste, lore and valor WAY better for a party. Can be decent in multiclass though

[Masoterian]

Yeah, Warlock is the way, man, for this type of gameplay.

[Dragon Master]

I'd go swords or valor bard since they are full casters but also can do really well at close range. Valor focusing on helping allies while having decent melee but more focused on spells, swords focusing on their melee.

A druid is a very versatile class as well. Moon druids will be transforming into animals a lot because that is their focus and their attacks are magical for the purpose of overcoming damage resistance so they can really excel at melee. Their equipment won't amount to much though. They can still be great casters as well. Spores druids also can do a decent job in melee (not the best) but they can stack extra damage into their melee attacks via symbiotic entity and are good at every range.

Then there is War Domain Cleric. They are another pure caster class and War Domain gives them proficiency with heavy armor and all weapons, and they have a unique channel divinity that adds +10 to their attack roll if they want it so they are probably one of the most accurate classes in the game in short bursts. They are not dedicated fighters though and won't hold up to something like a paladin when it comes to number of attacks.

Those are the three classes I'd look at if you want a true focus on both spells and up-close and personal fighting.

Eldritch Knights can also be really good but they are still fighters first and foremost and won't have many spell slots. As a fighter they will ultimately get the most attacks.

Paladins are like fighter/cleric combinations. Most of their spells will be used for smites but the amount of damage a paladin can dish out is near unmatched.

Warlocks who go Pact of the Blade in this game also can be pretty solid since it doesn't matter if they have proficiency with a weapon or not, make it a pact weapon and suddenly they are proficient, can't be disarmed and it uses their charisma for attack and damage, which makes them a GREAT multiclass for paladin.

[アンジェル]

Originally posted by Solomon:

Best "battle-mage" build?
I'd like to play something that can go toe-to-toe as well as cast spells. Cleric, Druid and Bard come to mind as I'd prefer a full caster to a half-caster. Is there one that is more suited to martial combat?

Multiclassing. Based on what you wrote I recommend a Paladin 7 / Warlock 5 mix.

If you feel really funny go with Fighter 2, Paladin 5, Warlock 5.

[Zsrai]

What kind of spells do you want to cast? The good offensive ones (and most spells in general) take up your Action, meaning you won't normally be able to attack that turn.

[Solomon]

Thanks for all the replies! I'm a little concerned about the multiclassing options as that would lower my overall spell casting ability. I guess "all the spells"? Want to have access to ad high level spells as possible.

[seeker1]

If you want to go mod-land, I recommend trying out the Vanguard class. It's (IMHO) a very much improved Eldritch Knight, that can get up to level 5 spells (although that's only above level 12, but I use ULC). It has a really good "synergy" system between weapon and magical attacks. Best used with the 5E Spells addon mod.

[アンジェル]

Originally posted by Solomon:

Thanks for all the replies! I'm a little concerned about the multiclassing options as that would lower my overall spell casting ability. I guess "all the spells"? Want to have access to ad high level spells as possible.

In that case I recommend Sorcerer. You could multiclass in Fighter one to make it easy early on, but otherwise it might be what you are looking for.

[daveyfunk]

If you check out d4: D&D Deep Dive videos he's recently posted a Bard/Abjuration Wizard build that makes use of arcane ward (supported by warding bond) and swords Bard extra attack. The real power comes online quite late, but it's pretty cool

The more straightforward choice would be a Warlock 5 levels for pact of the blade and extra attack mixed with anything else. For synergy best choices would be Bard or Sorc and can possibly throw in 2 levels of Pally for smites. That said, you can go full Warlock and just use EB for your ranged attack

You can go for a more melee focused build and use equipment such as gloves that enhance your strength or dexterity or potions to enhance strength and go mostly full caster for spells

Swords Bard will offer full spell levels and give extra attack and flourishes. If you use the helmet of arcane acuity this will boost your spell DC with weapon hits and you could go 1st level Sorcerer for con save prof and this wont limit your spell progression

[Zsrai]

Originally posted by Solomon:

Thanks for all the replies! I'm a little concerned about the multiclassing options as that would lower my overall spell casting ability. I guess "all the spells"? Want to have access to ad high level spells as possible.

Well even max level Wizards and Clerics only get one 6th level spell per long rest, so you're not going to be throwing around high level spells non-stop. Also, asking "what kind of spells" is important because different classes have different lists of spells. You should really poke around the wiki and read/watch some (good) guides. And also realize that this isn't a TES game where you can do everything at 100% capacity at once.

[Pat Fenis]

Ackshully

You get a few ways to restore lvl 6 spells by the time you have lvl 6 spells. There is an amulet, 2 staves, and illithid power freecast.

[OnlyOffensive]

imo if you want to expirience magic to full roll with sorcerer, metamagic is extremely fun and powerful throw maybe 1 level of fighter for proficiencies and pretend you do smth in melee

[fulf]

pact of the blade warlock, you can use the same ability score for your weapon attacks and spells. go shield dwarf or gith for medium armor proficiency, or human or half-elf for shield proficiency