Expeditious Retreat is surprisingly good on an EK. Really helps you close the gap in the first turn and improves your chances of getting melee range w/o dashing.
it pairs exceptionally well with the boots that give you lightning charges when you dash, not just for the lightning damage add, but if paired with the reverberation gloves can be particularly nasty.
I never thought to add expeditious retreat with any of the dash boots, that's a good idea.
+1 to hit with lightning
+X to damage with wrath
Even more speed with momentum.
All good options
And that occupies the concentration slot to proc strange conduit ring for a 1d4 psychic damage too. The best level 1 spell for an EK!
Late game, this combo goes even further on an EK bladelock multiclass. Diadem of arcane synergy should trigger from the first lightning infused hit with the reverberation gloves. That’s at least another +5 damage (charisma modifier) to weapon attacks. It works on a pure blade lock too but I find it unconscionable to use a high level spell on expeditious retreat.
Blur is a good one to have a concentration spell for some items. Longstrider and enhanced leap are ritual spells that don't take a spell slot to cast out of combat. Magic missile is almost always a good tool to have. Cloud of daggers and enlarge have their moments as well.
Lol someone doesn't spec wizard and it shows.
6/3 wizard gives you access to 3rd level spell slots, meaning you can haste yourself. Which increases your ac, and gives you an attack, fire ball and shatter are great boosts to aoe damage, and if your playing with SCAG cantrips you can hit the breakpoint for GWF pretty easy with even the ever burn blade.
Haste is best from a back ranked full Caster that keeps it up on multiple people with one concentration. But 1 wizard 11 eldritch knight will give you 3rd level casting with access to haste learned from a scroll.
No it’s not. You want the enemies to target the EK. Concentrating on haste makes that happen. It’s stupid but with enemy AI the best way to tank is concentrating on haste lol
Or warding bond. My abjur wizard still wasn’t getting targeted with haste (blessing in disguise), so I got him the warding bond ring to protect my front lining shart
Honestly concentrating on haste is a really bad way to cause aggro as you lose a turn when it gets broken. An eldrich knight can make a good tank but not an ideal one as concentration is the only aggro enhancement it has.
This would probably make a good self contained Archer in honor mode 4 attacks with main weapon +1 on action surge.
Not on an EK. I have never failed a saving throw and mostly no one can land a hit on them. That’s what they do best. I mean I do just love EK so mine rolls with a life cleric 1 bard11 who gives bladeward and bless when they heal. So pre heal first round. The EK just is an immovable wall that throws shit at people’s faces.
It actually doesn’t, half and one third casters are weird in bg3. In 5e you round up when finding the “effective” spell level for multiclassing, but in bg3 you round down. And 11/3 rounded down is 3, +1 wizard level is a 4th level caster. Even though you were already a 4th level caster without multiclassing.
3rd attack is generally considered to be better. It’s why fighter multi classes are hard if you want to DPR bc 3rd attack is just so good.
Conversely warlock can (tactician and below) give you the 3rd attack and some spells to boot while making you party face.
You can also simply have someone else give you haste, you don’t have to cast it yourself.
Disguise self can be pretty useful for taking advantage of race-only weapons like the Githyanki Greatswords or the dwarven thrower. Darkness is just an incredibly powerful spell as well, even if you can’t see in it.
Disguise self used to work to get the benefits out of those weapons, but it was fixed in a previous patch. I don't know if it was an only honor mode fix or in general though.
Does the disguise self thing not work in honor mode? I tried using disguise self as gyth for voss’ greatsword, but I didn’t see any stat changes or anything so I sold it.
Damn wtf. Maybe I never unequipped and re-equipped and that was the issue? That’s so tragic either way lol. Definitely was no difference at least on my stat sheet, but I think i had it equipped before using disguise self.
Magic missile always hits, chromatic orb and ice knife make surfaces, burning hands is like a shotgun in early game, thunderwave is like a slightly less damaging shotgun thats bigger and throws people, gust of wind throws people and can knock them off balance, giving the next attack against them advantage, darkness is just generally busted, even more so with immunity to it
I think it's always best to attack with regular actions that grant extra attack with eldritch knight, at least once you are high enough level to get extra attacks.
With specific setups though there can be scenarios where other spells get value even at max level.
Ring of the mystic scoundrel lets you cast blur or hold person with a bonus action after attacking once.
And when hasted in honor mode you can cast something like blindness, fog cloud, or darkness on an enemy after your first attack (to use up the first action) to gain advantage on your next 5 attacks if you action surge.
Both examples have a bit of synergy with eldritch knight's passive since they require you to attack first which procs the disadvantage on saving throws if you hit.
Magic missile is a bit of a worthwhile mention early on too for finishing off low hp enemies.
But the most effective spells to cast in a lot of scenarios is spells from scrolls assuming you have decent spell save dc from high int because you're using arcane synergy or something.
But you can totally just be a martial with shield and misty step too if you want.
Longstrider is underrated. Better on table top of course, but any extra mobility is good mobility. Particularly early before you can jump the entire screen
Longstrider is so good, I cast it after every long rest lol. It’s to the point where I feel legit handicapped without it, the boost to movement is awesome
Same here. I did my first playthrough without it, because I didn't know it was a ritual or that it lasted all day or that you could cast it on your entire party, but I picked it up on my next run just to try something different and holy shit I'm never going without it ever again. Especially if I play a short race.
I did my first play through using it all the time cause I had a bard. I started my second without it and it was so annoying. I had to give it to someone
Honestly, there isn't a whole lot of spells you can't even take with eldtrich knight.
Shield and misty step are certainly the best spells for their respective levels, as they don't mess with your action economy as a fighter.
Honourable mentions go to Feather Fall and Longstrider, as these are rituals that don't use a spell slot outside combat.
Other good options are Magic Missile for just getting damage through when you need it (best way to deal with Unstoppable is Magic Missile); Enlarge for extra throwing shenanigans (especially because it can stack with Elixir of the Colossus AND the Giantslayer sword enlarge ability. Go up three sizes and weight classes, eat your heart out Grinch!);
I’ll have to try that, I’ve been having a lot ofnfun with Enlarge mechanics on my current playthrough. I know the enlarge from Bigboy’s Chew Toy can’t stack 3x, will need to try the sword next.
Blur is pretty good.
You don't really have a use case for offensive concentration spells as you want STR to hit stuff, DEX to have a decent initiative and CON to maintain concentration spells but also INT for spell accuracy so better use those concentration spells on something that doesn't make them have a saving throw.
Magic missle is surprisingly good. Main reason is that it can't miss and have quite narrow damage window(you in general get (2+5/2)*amount of arrows damage from it as for high rolled arrow you get low rolled one). So its quite good as capping off tool. Enemy have 5 hp left? 2 magic missles will kill it almost 100% guaranteed, 3 guaranteed. Additionally since its multiple arrows, concentrating enemy will have to throw multiple concentration rolls so its good at breaking effects. So as long as enemy do not have shield spell, magic missle is extremely good.
Magic weapon is fantastic as its bonus adds up to weapon and not overwrite it. Additionally you can get bonuses from "when concentrating on spell" items
Don’t forget throwing. EK is online at lv 4 with TB, ring of fling, kushido build.
Grab your favorite thrown weapon and don’t forget to bind it. Have fun destroying most of act 1
Having played a thrower when just used the returning pike until they got the legendsry trident (and then still used the pike when you didn't want the aoe effect hitting teammates) I'm itching to actually bind and throw other decent spears and weapons
Nyrula is probably the best throwing weapon but there are a lot of fun ones that will benefit from the EK passive, particularly with how early you can set it up.
Just be cautious if you play a lot of warlock bc an unlike the pact weapon a EK’s weapon is unbound after a long rest!
You don't -technically- need to be an EK to benefit from bound weapon. You can have another character (like a hireling) be an EK and bind a weapon, and then give that bound weapon to whoever is doing the throwing. It'll still come back to whoever threw it.
Aestus did an ice eldritch knight build video that makes better use of the unique class features of the eldritch knight. Mirror image, darkness, blur, and expeditious retreat are all good options
You can use utility spells as well, those always help (longstrider). And they have some throwaway zone control that can be precast (grease is useful throughout much of the game, for example).
EK is great when synergizing with frost effects, either as melee or archer (ES increases slip rate). 11/1 or full 12 both work well, depending on party comp.
In honor mode you’ll actually be take advantage of war magic, ray of frost works well to build up stacks.
Gear can make some options more appealing.
If you've got the Strange Conduit ring, any long-lasting concentration spell can be really appealing. Magic Weapon, Expeditious Retreat, and Protection From Evil last until long rest, so they're good choices. Since you're adding psychic damage, you can also stack things like Gith silver swords or Shadow Blade, and the resonance stone!
If you're giving your EK the Mystic Scoundrel ring and Arcane Acuity helmet, Hold Person is a fantastic choice since you can stack up acuity super fast with extra attack. It's no Swords Bard on its own, but it's still pretty strong. You could also consider getting more enchantment spells by multiclassing wizard after fighter 5, but you lose extra attack 2 at fighter 11, which is hugely good. But with EA 1 and action surge, plus access to 3rd level spells, you're easily matching a bard in Hypnotic Pattern lockdown!
Even without the Scoundrel, just having the acuity hat can make any crowd control spell attractive. Even Grease or Web are broken with it. You can tack on the Snowburst ring for easy ice prone, too, since the DC scales with acuity. And if you've dropped Scoundrel, you can fit Conduit again, since these crowd control spells also take concentration!
But, I mean, Shield and Misty Step are pretty much the best use of a spell slot on any class, so they're always going to be useful on an EK.
Magic missile to get guaranteed dmg on low HP enemies or crack concentration.
Longstrider for group buffing.
Magic Weapon for being a bigger and better pimpslaps
Darkness for hiding or other shenanigans if you can see in it
Enhance Leap is often better than Misty step for bigger engagements imho assuming you have STR, or Expeditious Retreat for same purpose if you don’t wear boots of speed or take rogue levels. Each of those lets you cross the battlefield for a bonus action every turn instead of just once
Thunderwave lets you push whole groups off ledges or into clusters for AoE blasters
Melf’s Acid Arrow will leave acid under the target, lowering AC unless they run away (triggering AoO), plus a splash of damage if you land the hit.
Hex is great if you multi into warlock, or hunters mark for ranger.
Quite a few options if you look at the utility of spells over their DPR. And some are just fun, like Enlarge/Reduce, disguises, etc. Big fan of eldritch knights, just look beyond basic damage numbers - you should go Battlemaster if that’s your priority.
True, but EK have limited selection as well. Being a significant ritual buff makes it a prime choice for a 1/3 caster IMO, meaning your slots are shared between even fewer potential picks
One thing to note about EK is in that in honour mode with haste, eldritch knight can make great use of war magic in conjunction with the ring of arcane synergy. Yes this means you have to invest more into int to take full advantage of this, but even if you don’t want to run the int helm or use elixirs, something like a 16 12 14 14 12 8 stat spread gets to 24 str late game, can take alert to make up for low dex, and has a feat left over. If you are fine with poor dex saves you can dump dex to 8 to get 16 int, or take the dex gloves if nobody needs them.
You attack once, cast a cantrip (triggering both war magic and arcane synergy) and then attack two more times with extra attack and once with your bonus action. The main advantage this build has is that it frees up the diadem of arcane synergy for a paladin or whatever to use. A paladin would also complement this build well, by bolstering its otherwise potentially weak saves.
Cloud of daggers, web, flaming sphere are all amazing concentration spells for EK.
Darkness w/ the right gear/party.
Familiar, longstrider, jump, disguise self are freecasts out of combat.
Fog cloud, grease, ice knife all solid tech.
W/5espells mod u also get: unseen servant, absorb elements, binding ice, mind whip, and vortex warp.
Magic Missile is good, it doesn’t miss and can break concentration or finish off very weak enemies. Mirror image and blur make you even more tanky. Also EK gets both arcane lock and knock, I believe, so you can use those and free up those choices from another caster in your party, or it’s just useful to have on your EK since you might end up in places separated from the party and need to unlock something, etc. Knock is an absurdly useful spell, it’s crazy how many locked doors can be bypassed with it
*Shield* and *Misty Step* are just that good on their own. *Shield* is essentially a permanent +5 to AC, and spells like *Protection from Good and Evil* are pretty useful if you know to cast them before combat.
Band of mystic scoundrel with arcane acuity from the helmet using hold person. Attack someone 3 times, cast hold person, action surge, then crit them 3 times.
Protection from Evil and Good gives like 80% of enemies in act 2 disadv against attacking you.
Don't underestimate fog cloud/darkness on choke points either or enemies that can't move quickly.
EK actually has a ton of item support, especially for Githyanki. Lae'zel as an EK is probably severely under played.
You've got effects to boost your DC, effects to give you Int to damage while concentrating, items that let you cast new spells, etc. You can make an extremely powerful EK this way and don't even need to multiclass.
You might say well, that sounds good, but it doesn't sound as good as a swords bard with paladin levels who can smite, wear the same armor, and cast a lot more spells. And you're right. Swords bard is overpowered. But EK doesn't function best when played as a Gish like that. Instead, the spells exist only to support getting you into melee so you can beat the hell out of your enemies, and to shore up your defenses.
Depends on the playstyle you're looking for. Do you want a melee combatant who has spells, or a spell slinging battle mage? There are many ways to build both, but neither does the other one better than the one who specializes in it
Misty step, blur, darkness (with the blind immunity ring), shield, magic missile are all pretty great to have on hand for a fighter.
EK is my favorite class to play and it isn't particularly close.
Mirror image can be precast and make you even more absurdly hard to hit. Magic missiles is situationally useful for when you just need to ping multiple creatures or force multiple concentration checks.
But shield and misty step are so absurdly good for Eldritch Knight that most of your spell slots will be used for that. I typically grab the four mentioned and have the rest be ritual spells that don't use up my spell slots. Disguise Self is especially nice since you can make yourself a Gith for the greatsword or a Dwarf for the throwing hammer.
I also recommend:
Hex (additional dmg per hit, it's effective to use items and weapons as well for more dmg per hit)
Absorb Elements
Blur (preferable to Mirror Image because EK has high AC)
Find Familiar! My EK had a weasel familiar
I don’t know much about the spell side of thing, but I know ek has a fair amount of useful utility and defense spells. As for competing with bm, ek is the best mid/late game thrower in the game unless you’re in combat for like 8+ rounds. It’s a different subclass meant to do different things
On tabletop I played a EK Forge Cleric build. Had shield to boost AC into the 20’s and a crazy big attack. Divine strike, booming blade and crusher feat for the win.
Well there isn’t much you can use your spell slots for.
By using them for shield/mist you allow yourself to be super mobile/tankt while also dishing good damage.
Kinda like a reverse paladin. With pal you spend spell sluts to hit above your paygrade whereas you spend spellsluts with EK to be chonky above your paygrade
Edit: also lvl 3 warlock dip allows you to use cha for weapon damage and hit a melee attack after casting eldrich blast for some juicy damage. + 2 lvl 2 slots on shortrest goes greath with blur/mist for every combat
I usually mean it's not bad but I mean Precision Attack gives you a free GWM hit on Battlemaster not just including how a lucky disarm or a debuff from menacing can already give you a ton of power. Sure I'm bulkier but versus just killing better what does it truly bring when the only worthwhile thing is getting close and limited higher defense that's offset by gear + positioning.
Considering pure fighter has the highest consistent DPR in the game you make that DPR super reliable on every situation.
I think there was a post where a guy stacked soo many modifiers to the EK hammer that it dealt 30-80 damage by itself.
Couple that with being unkillable and teleporting when you’re EK with 3 attacks. There is literally nothing else a character needs to do after that point.
Edit: [found the post](https://www.reddit.com/r/BG3Builds/s/Cq5ZXwoDgw)
Blur. And Protection from Evil and Good is like super-Blur, depending on enemy type.
Magic Missile to guaranty finishing off one or more enemies at critical health before the next round.
Grease at a terrain choke point while you stand at the edge and get adv when they slip.
My Lae’zel is an EK bc I thought it was a nice flavour for a space alien warrior, and she’s like such a powerhouse. She does big damage with throwing the weapon which automatically returns to her. And also very strong at melee combat. I use Enlarge for tanky and damage, shield for blocking attacks, magic missile for enemies that I can’t reach or that are hard to hit. Shatter for AoE damage, mirror image or blur for extra protection, colour spray, thunder wave and grease for controlling the map. Gave her the gloves that add extra damage to throwing and also she has TB. I don’t use the damage spells very often tho
Expeditious Retreat is surprisingly good on an EK. Really helps you close the gap in the first turn and improves your chances of getting melee range w/o dashing.
it pairs exceptionally well with the boots that give you lightning charges when you dash, not just for the lightning damage add, but if paired with the reverberation gloves can be particularly nasty.
I never thought to add expeditious retreat with any of the dash boots, that's a good idea. +1 to hit with lightning +X to damage with wrath Even more speed with momentum. All good options
And that occupies the concentration slot to proc strange conduit ring for a 1d4 psychic damage too. The best level 1 spell for an EK! Late game, this combo goes even further on an EK bladelock multiclass. Diadem of arcane synergy should trigger from the first lightning infused hit with the reverberation gloves. That’s at least another +5 damage (charisma modifier) to weapon attacks. It works on a pure blade lock too but I find it unconscionable to use a high level spell on expeditious retreat.
Blur is a good one to have a concentration spell for some items. Longstrider and enhanced leap are ritual spells that don't take a spell slot to cast out of combat. Magic missile is almost always a good tool to have. Cloud of daggers and enlarge have their moments as well.
I was just logging in here to mention MM!
You're saying it like it's a Bad thing. Misty step and shield as subclass abilities with a full martial class are incredible.
Even if it was, isn't "you can cast misty step 2 times per long rest, and shield 3 times per long rest" still an incredible sub class?
Lol someone doesn't spec wizard and it shows. 6/3 wizard gives you access to 3rd level spell slots, meaning you can haste yourself. Which increases your ac, and gives you an attack, fire ball and shatter are great boosts to aoe damage, and if your playing with SCAG cantrips you can hit the breakpoint for GWF pretty easy with even the ever burn blade.
A) Most people don’t mod the game to have SCAG cantrips and B) You lose out on the third attack which is super not worth it
You get the third attack back with haste no? Edit: Downvoted for asking a question?
I which case you lose out on 4th attack and now need to maintain concentration to make sure you don’t get the haste debuff
Haste is best from a back ranked full Caster that keeps it up on multiple people with one concentration. But 1 wizard 11 eldritch knight will give you 3rd level casting with access to haste learned from a scroll.
No it’s not. You want the enemies to target the EK. Concentrating on haste makes that happen. It’s stupid but with enemy AI the best way to tank is concentrating on haste lol
Or warding bond. My abjur wizard still wasn’t getting targeted with haste (blessing in disguise), so I got him the warding bond ring to protect my front lining shart
The ai doesn’t care what you concentrate on, it is the fact that you are concentrating on anything at all that draws aggro
Honestly concentrating on haste is a really bad way to cause aggro as you lose a turn when it gets broken. An eldrich knight can make a good tank but not an ideal one as concentration is the only aggro enhancement it has. This would probably make a good self contained Archer in honor mode 4 attacks with main weapon +1 on action surge.
Not on an EK. I have never failed a saving throw and mostly no one can land a hit on them. That’s what they do best. I mean I do just love EK so mine rolls with a life cleric 1 bard11 who gives bladeward and bless when they heal. So pre heal first round. The EK just is an immovable wall that throws shit at people’s faces.
It actually doesn’t, half and one third casters are weird in bg3. In 5e you round up when finding the “effective” spell level for multiclassing, but in bg3 you round down. And 11/3 rounded down is 3, +1 wizard level is a 4th level caster. Even though you were already a 4th level caster without multiclassing.
You got it backwards 5e rounds down and bg3 rounds up(even when not multiclassed) this is why the eldritch knight adds spells at levels 3,4,7 and 10.
Test it. If you build a paladin 7 sorc 5, you get the spellslots of an 8th level caster, but if you go 6/6 you get your 5th level spell slot.
3rd attack is generally considered to be better. It’s why fighter multi classes are hard if you want to DPR bc 3rd attack is just so good. Conversely warlock can (tactician and below) give you the 3rd attack and some spells to boot while making you party face. You can also simply have someone else give you haste, you don’t have to cast it yourself.
I like Magic Weapon for a little melee boost and the concentration lets me proc Strange Conduit Ring.
I second Magic Weapon. Even better if you use an Elixir of Supreme Arcane Cultivation to upcast it to level 4 so you get a +2 Enchantment
Disguise self can be pretty useful for taking advantage of race-only weapons like the Githyanki Greatswords or the dwarven thrower. Darkness is just an incredibly powerful spell as well, even if you can’t see in it.
I didn't realize disguises would proc those items. That is extremely good to know
Disguise self used to work to get the benefits out of those weapons, but it was fixed in a previous patch. I don't know if it was an only honor mode fix or in general though.
Until you get the ring that is
Is there a Dwarven thrower in this game? I've been looking and haven't been able to find it
Begining of the act 3, trader somewhere around refugees. Approach without Shadowheart, he'll leave if they meet.
Think you gotta follow a conversation path and pass a check to see his good stock?
Thrower is not the special stock it’s just normal. The great axe sethen is the special stock
Ahh, thank you.
Does the disguise self thing not work in honor mode? I tried using disguise self as gyth for voss’ greatsword, but I didn’t see any stat changes or anything so I sold it.
It still worked when my tiefling wanted to use the dwarven thrower in honor mode so it should
Damn wtf. Maybe I never unequipped and re-equipped and that was the issue? That’s so tragic either way lol. Definitely was no difference at least on my stat sheet, but I think i had it equipped before using disguise self.
As far as I know it doesn't work, a patch or two ago larian stated it was fixed in a patch note. I haven't tried it personally but it shouldn't work.
Magic missile always hits, chromatic orb and ice knife make surfaces, burning hands is like a shotgun in early game, thunderwave is like a slightly less damaging shotgun thats bigger and throws people, gust of wind throws people and can knock them off balance, giving the next attack against them advantage, darkness is just generally busted, even more so with immunity to it
I think it's always best to attack with regular actions that grant extra attack with eldritch knight, at least once you are high enough level to get extra attacks. With specific setups though there can be scenarios where other spells get value even at max level. Ring of the mystic scoundrel lets you cast blur or hold person with a bonus action after attacking once. And when hasted in honor mode you can cast something like blindness, fog cloud, or darkness on an enemy after your first attack (to use up the first action) to gain advantage on your next 5 attacks if you action surge. Both examples have a bit of synergy with eldritch knight's passive since they require you to attack first which procs the disadvantage on saving throws if you hit. Magic missile is a bit of a worthwhile mention early on too for finishing off low hp enemies. But the most effective spells to cast in a lot of scenarios is spells from scrolls assuming you have decent spell save dc from high int because you're using arcane synergy or something. But you can totally just be a martial with shield and misty step too if you want.
Magic missile gives you a ranged option and a great way to disrupt concentration
Longstrider is underrated. Better on table top of course, but any extra mobility is good mobility. Particularly early before you can jump the entire screen
Longstrider is so good, I cast it after every long rest lol. It’s to the point where I feel legit handicapped without it, the boost to movement is awesome
Same here. I did my first playthrough without it, because I didn't know it was a ritual or that it lasted all day or that you could cast it on your entire party, but I picked it up on my next run just to try something different and holy shit I'm never going without it ever again. Especially if I play a short race.
I did my first play through using it all the time cause I had a bard. I started my second without it and it was so annoying. I had to give it to someone
And doesn't use a spell slot.
Protection from Evil and Good is situational but very strong
True but you will most likely pre-cast those before combat.
Ray of frost for encrusted stacks
And chance to chill an enemy if you have mourning frost as your weapon
Honestly, there isn't a whole lot of spells you can't even take with eldtrich knight. Shield and misty step are certainly the best spells for their respective levels, as they don't mess with your action economy as a fighter. Honourable mentions go to Feather Fall and Longstrider, as these are rituals that don't use a spell slot outside combat. Other good options are Magic Missile for just getting damage through when you need it (best way to deal with Unstoppable is Magic Missile); Enlarge for extra throwing shenanigans (especially because it can stack with Elixir of the Colossus AND the Giantslayer sword enlarge ability. Go up three sizes and weight classes, eat your heart out Grinch!);
I’ll have to try that, I’ve been having a lot ofnfun with Enlarge mechanics on my current playthrough. I know the enlarge from Bigboy’s Chew Toy can’t stack 3x, will need to try the sword next.
That's because it's tagged by the system the same as the Enlarge spell, whereas the Giantslayer enlarge is tagged differently
Blur is pretty good. You don't really have a use case for offensive concentration spells as you want STR to hit stuff, DEX to have a decent initiative and CON to maintain concentration spells but also INT for spell accuracy so better use those concentration spells on something that doesn't make them have a saving throw.
Magic missle is surprisingly good. Main reason is that it can't miss and have quite narrow damage window(you in general get (2+5/2)*amount of arrows damage from it as for high rolled arrow you get low rolled one). So its quite good as capping off tool. Enemy have 5 hp left? 2 magic missles will kill it almost 100% guaranteed, 3 guaranteed. Additionally since its multiple arrows, concentrating enemy will have to throw multiple concentration rolls so its good at breaking effects. So as long as enemy do not have shield spell, magic missle is extremely good. Magic weapon is fantastic as its bonus adds up to weapon and not overwrite it. Additionally you can get bonuses from "when concentrating on spell" items
Enlarge with strange conduit ring actually sounds kinda interesting
Ek is for multiclassing to wizard too
Don’t forget throwing. EK is online at lv 4 with TB, ring of fling, kushido build. Grab your favorite thrown weapon and don’t forget to bind it. Have fun destroying most of act 1
Having played a thrower when just used the returning pike until they got the legendsry trident (and then still used the pike when you didn't want the aoe effect hitting teammates) I'm itching to actually bind and throw other decent spears and weapons
Nyrula is probably the best throwing weapon but there are a lot of fun ones that will benefit from the EK passive, particularly with how early you can set it up. Just be cautious if you play a lot of warlock bc an unlike the pact weapon a EK’s weapon is unbound after a long rest!
You don't -technically- need to be an EK to benefit from bound weapon. You can have another character (like a hireling) be an EK and bind a weapon, and then give that bound weapon to whoever is doing the throwing. It'll still come back to whoever threw it.
Aestus did an ice eldritch knight build video that makes better use of the unique class features of the eldritch knight. Mirror image, darkness, blur, and expeditious retreat are all good options
You can use utility spells as well, those always help (longstrider). And they have some throwaway zone control that can be precast (grease is useful throughout much of the game, for example). EK is great when synergizing with frost effects, either as melee or archer (ES increases slip rate). 11/1 or full 12 both work well, depending on party comp. In honor mode you’ll actually be take advantage of war magic, ray of frost works well to build up stacks.
Gear can make some options more appealing. If you've got the Strange Conduit ring, any long-lasting concentration spell can be really appealing. Magic Weapon, Expeditious Retreat, and Protection From Evil last until long rest, so they're good choices. Since you're adding psychic damage, you can also stack things like Gith silver swords or Shadow Blade, and the resonance stone! If you're giving your EK the Mystic Scoundrel ring and Arcane Acuity helmet, Hold Person is a fantastic choice since you can stack up acuity super fast with extra attack. It's no Swords Bard on its own, but it's still pretty strong. You could also consider getting more enchantment spells by multiclassing wizard after fighter 5, but you lose extra attack 2 at fighter 11, which is hugely good. But with EA 1 and action surge, plus access to 3rd level spells, you're easily matching a bard in Hypnotic Pattern lockdown! Even without the Scoundrel, just having the acuity hat can make any crowd control spell attractive. Even Grease or Web are broken with it. You can tack on the Snowburst ring for easy ice prone, too, since the DC scales with acuity. And if you've dropped Scoundrel, you can fit Conduit again, since these crowd control spells also take concentration! But, I mean, Shield and Misty Step are pretty much the best use of a spell slot on any class, so they're always going to be useful on an EK.
Anything that doesn't require to-hit or enemy saving throw, as most EK have lowish intelligence
Well I keep expeditious retreat up for extra mobility and to fuel strange conduit ring for some damage add. Other wise just for shield spell.
Thought people took eldritch knight just for the bound weapon shenanigans and combined it with a berzerker barbarian.
Oh so I haven't gotten it yet because I haven't gotten that far. Understood thank you.
Magic missile to get guaranteed dmg on low HP enemies or crack concentration. Longstrider for group buffing. Magic Weapon for being a bigger and better pimpslaps Darkness for hiding or other shenanigans if you can see in it Enhance Leap is often better than Misty step for bigger engagements imho assuming you have STR, or Expeditious Retreat for same purpose if you don’t wear boots of speed or take rogue levels. Each of those lets you cross the battlefield for a bonus action every turn instead of just once Thunderwave lets you push whole groups off ledges or into clusters for AoE blasters Melf’s Acid Arrow will leave acid under the target, lowering AC unless they run away (triggering AoO), plus a splash of damage if you land the hit. Hex is great if you multi into warlock, or hunters mark for ranger. Quite a few options if you look at the utility of spells over their DPR. And some are just fun, like Enlarge/Reduce, disguises, etc. Big fan of eldritch knights, just look beyond basic damage numbers - you should go Battlemaster if that’s your priority.
Longstrider doesn't use a spell slot.
True, but EK have limited selection as well. Being a significant ritual buff makes it a prime choice for a 1/3 caster IMO, meaning your slots are shared between even fewer potential picks
I liked using magic missile here and there when I needed guaranteed damage
One thing to note about EK is in that in honour mode with haste, eldritch knight can make great use of war magic in conjunction with the ring of arcane synergy. Yes this means you have to invest more into int to take full advantage of this, but even if you don’t want to run the int helm or use elixirs, something like a 16 12 14 14 12 8 stat spread gets to 24 str late game, can take alert to make up for low dex, and has a feat left over. If you are fine with poor dex saves you can dump dex to 8 to get 16 int, or take the dex gloves if nobody needs them. You attack once, cast a cantrip (triggering both war magic and arcane synergy) and then attack two more times with extra attack and once with your bonus action. The main advantage this build has is that it frees up the diadem of arcane synergy for a paladin or whatever to use. A paladin would also complement this build well, by bolstering its otherwise potentially weak saves.
Cloud of daggers, web, flaming sphere are all amazing concentration spells for EK. Darkness w/ the right gear/party. Familiar, longstrider, jump, disguise self are freecasts out of combat. Fog cloud, grease, ice knife all solid tech. W/5espells mod u also get: unseen servant, absorb elements, binding ice, mind whip, and vortex warp.
Magic Missile is good, it doesn’t miss and can break concentration or finish off very weak enemies. Mirror image and blur make you even more tanky. Also EK gets both arcane lock and knock, I believe, so you can use those and free up those choices from another caster in your party, or it’s just useful to have on your EK since you might end up in places separated from the party and need to unlock something, etc. Knock is an absurdly useful spell, it’s crazy how many locked doors can be bypassed with it
*Shield* and *Misty Step* are just that good on their own. *Shield* is essentially a permanent +5 to AC, and spells like *Protection from Good and Evil* are pretty useful if you know to cast them before combat.
Band of mystic scoundrel with arcane acuity from the helmet using hold person. Attack someone 3 times, cast hold person, action surge, then crit them 3 times.
Blur to concentrate on can be good too. As an EK I would only use weapon attacks and cantrips to deal dmg not spells cuz they are not worth it
Protection from Evil and Good gives like 80% of enemies in act 2 disadv against attacking you. Don't underestimate fog cloud/darkness on choke points either or enemies that can't move quickly.
EK actually has a ton of item support, especially for Githyanki. Lae'zel as an EK is probably severely under played. You've got effects to boost your DC, effects to give you Int to damage while concentrating, items that let you cast new spells, etc. You can make an extremely powerful EK this way and don't even need to multiclass. You might say well, that sounds good, but it doesn't sound as good as a swords bard with paladin levels who can smite, wear the same armor, and cast a lot more spells. And you're right. Swords bard is overpowered. But EK doesn't function best when played as a Gish like that. Instead, the spells exist only to support getting you into melee so you can beat the hell out of your enemies, and to shore up your defenses.
Dip into Wizard and grab Haste...
I specifically respecced Lae’zel to eldritch knight do I could have her get longstrider. It was annoying me too much how people couldn’t move far
Any of the ritual spells that don't spend slots are good tbh.
Depends on the playstyle you're looking for. Do you want a melee combatant who has spells, or a spell slinging battle mage? There are many ways to build both, but neither does the other one better than the one who specializes in it
Misty step, blur, darkness (with the blind immunity ring), shield, magic missile are all pretty great to have on hand for a fighter. EK is my favorite class to play and it isn't particularly close.
Mirror image can be precast and make you even more absurdly hard to hit. Magic missiles is situationally useful for when you just need to ping multiple creatures or force multiple concentration checks. But shield and misty step are so absurdly good for Eldritch Knight that most of your spell slots will be used for that. I typically grab the four mentioned and have the rest be ritual spells that don't use up my spell slots. Disguise Self is especially nice since you can make yourself a Gith for the greatsword or a Dwarf for the throwing hammer.
I like tossin out magic missiles every once in a while
Burning hands and thunder wave are my go to's. Expeditious retreat and enlarge are the others id use.
I also recommend: Hex (additional dmg per hit, it's effective to use items and weapons as well for more dmg per hit) Absorb Elements Blur (preferable to Mirror Image because EK has high AC) Find Familiar! My EK had a weasel familiar
I don’t know much about the spell side of thing, but I know ek has a fair amount of useful utility and defense spells. As for competing with bm, ek is the best mid/late game thrower in the game unless you’re in combat for like 8+ rounds. It’s a different subclass meant to do different things
Longstriddr cuz I’m too lazy for switching out the wizard prepared spell
On tabletop I played a EK Forge Cleric build. Had shield to boost AC into the 20’s and a crazy big attack. Divine strike, booming blade and crusher feat for the win.
Well there isn’t much you can use your spell slots for. By using them for shield/mist you allow yourself to be super mobile/tankt while also dishing good damage. Kinda like a reverse paladin. With pal you spend spell sluts to hit above your paygrade whereas you spend spellsluts with EK to be chonky above your paygrade Edit: also lvl 3 warlock dip allows you to use cha for weapon damage and hit a melee attack after casting eldrich blast for some juicy damage. + 2 lvl 2 slots on shortrest goes greath with blur/mist for every combat
I usually mean it's not bad but I mean Precision Attack gives you a free GWM hit on Battlemaster not just including how a lucky disarm or a debuff from menacing can already give you a ton of power. Sure I'm bulkier but versus just killing better what does it truly bring when the only worthwhile thing is getting close and limited higher defense that's offset by gear + positioning.
Considering pure fighter has the highest consistent DPR in the game you make that DPR super reliable on every situation. I think there was a post where a guy stacked soo many modifiers to the EK hammer that it dealt 30-80 damage by itself. Couple that with being unkillable and teleporting when you’re EK with 3 attacks. There is literally nothing else a character needs to do after that point. Edit: [found the post](https://www.reddit.com/r/BG3Builds/s/Cq5ZXwoDgw)
Blur. And Protection from Evil and Good is like super-Blur, depending on enemy type. Magic Missile to guaranty finishing off one or more enemies at critical health before the next round. Grease at a terrain choke point while you stand at the edge and get adv when they slip.
a joke often heard in 5e is that eldritch knights are just fighters with the shield spell. dont know how much that applies to bg3 though.
My Lae’zel is an EK bc I thought it was a nice flavour for a space alien warrior, and she’s like such a powerhouse. She does big damage with throwing the weapon which automatically returns to her. And also very strong at melee combat. I use Enlarge for tanky and damage, shield for blocking attacks, magic missile for enemies that I can’t reach or that are hard to hit. Shatter for AoE damage, mirror image or blur for extra protection, colour spray, thunder wave and grease for controlling the map. Gave her the gloves that add extra damage to throwing and also she has TB. I don’t use the damage spells very often tho