It’s easy to misunderstand the Eldritch Knight. In your eagerness to juggle both melee and magic, you might rush in, hoovering up all of D&D’s best spells. But your resources are scarce, and your playstyle is surprisingly limited. When you do cast a spell, it’s important to do so with purpose.
This DnD classes guide offers an example Eldritch Knight build, complete with advice about choosing DnD races, spells, weapons, and more. It’ll help you get to know the core strengths of the subclass, and you’ll come out the other side with a playable character for any level!
Multiclassing
The Eldritch Knight has so many ability score increases that we have plenty of build flexibility without multiclassing. Plus, our high-level spells are so scarce that we don’t want to lose out on them by diversifying. Full Fighter all the way, baby.
Starting stats
Level: One
Using Points Buy, here are my preferred starting stats:
- Strength 15
- Constitution 14
- Intelligence 13
- Dexterity 10
- Wisdom 10
- Charisma 10
This gives us a strong start to melee attacks, a reasonably chunky Hit Point pool, and a +2 Intelligence modifier. While Intelligence is going to be very useful for spellcasting, it’s still not a higher priority than our frontliner stats.
Starting proficiencies
Level: One
The Fighter has access to many excellent skills here, but my personal picks are Athletics and Perception. One leans into your natural strengths, while the other is arguably the most useful skill in D&D.
Species and background
Level: One
I’m opting to play a High Elf, because the species drastically improves our spellcasting capabilities. We now have an extra Wizard cantrip, and it’s one we can regularly swap out to suit our needs. Plus, later on, we can cast Detect Magic and Misty Step as freebies – perfect added utility.
As for background, let’s go with Sage. This ups our Constitution to 16 and our Intelligence to 14. It gives us another two Wizard cantrips, but, more crucially, we get a level-one Wizard spell before we’ve even picked our subclass. That spell is going to be Shield.
Equipment
Level: One
When it comes to weapons, my go-to options are the Longsword and the Trident. This is mainly for their weapon masteries (which I’ll explain in more detail shortly).
However, both weapons are also Versatile, meaning they can be wielded one-handed or two-handed. That flexibility to have a hand free is crucial for casting spells – at least until we have access to the War Caster feat. This way, we have a fair bit of freedom to draw and stow our Arcane Focus.
The Trident has the added bonus of being throwable. This relies on our less-than-impressive Dexterity score, so we won’t be using it too often, but it’s a handy backup plan.
After this, purchase the best heavy armor you can afford – which is probably Chain Mail at level one. We want to be able to tank as many hits as possible.
Fighting Style
Level: One
Speaking of tanking, many Eldritch Knights opt for the Defense Fighting style to boost their armor class. I, however, am partial to Great Weapon Fighting. As long as I attack with both hands, my Versatile weapons now deal more consistent damage – and I can simply release one hand when I’m ready to use magic.
Weapon Mastery
Level: One
We start with three weapon mastery options, so our first two should be the Longsword and Trident. The first gives us Sap, a way of imposing disadvantage that makes for a crucial debuff at early levels. The second gives us Topple, which isn’t the most consistent weapon mastery, but is certainly one of the most powerful.
For number three, let’s opt for a Rapier. It doesn’t synergize with Great Weapon Fighting, but every Fighter should know how to use the Vex weapon mastery.
Spellcasting
Level: Three
Now we’re onto the real reason we chose this subclass. Thanks to our earlier choices, we already know three Wizard cantrips and a single level-one Wizard spell. From level three, we gain two extra Wizard cantrips, and then another at level 10. Our spell slots from here on out look like this:
| Fighter level | Spells prepared | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| 3 | 3 | 2 | – | – | – |
| 4 | 4 | 3 | – | – | – |
| 5 | 4 | 3 | – | – | – |
| 6 | 4 | 3 | – | – | – |
| 7 | 4 | 4 | 2 | – | – |
| 8 | 6 | 4 | 2 | – | – |
| 9 | 6 | 4 | 2 | – | – |
| 10 | 7 | 4 | 3 | – | – |
| 11 | 8 | 4 | 3 | – | – |
| 12 | 8 | 4 | 3 | – | – |
| 13 | 9 | 4 | 3 | 2 | – |
| 14 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 2 | – |
| 15 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 2 | – |
| 16 | 11 | 4 | 3 | 3 | – |
| 17 | 11 | 4 | 3 | 3 | – |
| 18 | 11 | 4 | 3 | 3 | – |
| 19 | 12 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 |
| 20 | 13 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 |
Spell selection is one of this subclass’ most important decisions. While it can be tempting to load up on damage-dealing spells, Eldritch Knights generally fare better by focusing on defensive spells and those that improve their already-impressive melee attacks.
This makes juggling ability score increases less of a struggle. It also focuses on what the subclass is actually good at – regular melee fighting, only modified by magic. With that in mind, here are the spells I’d recommend:
Cantrips
We’ll have five cantrips to start with, picking up a sixth at level 10. Your best bets are:
- Booming Blade – Easy extra damage to a target you’ve struck with your weapon.
- Fire Bolt – Offensive spells aren’t our main schtick, but this is an excellent ranged damage alternative that costs nothing to use.
- Message – Excellent in any social or stealth situations.
- Minor Illusion – Another safe bet for utility reasons.
- Shocking Grasp – You’re comfortable on the front lines, but it doesn’t hurt to have a way of avoiding opportunity attacks.
- Sword Burst – Dive head-first into an enemy hoard and nab them with a cheap AoE.
Note that Sword Burst and Booming Blade are both from 2014 rulebooks. If you’re using 5.5e material only, swap them for Thunderclap and Mage Hand.
Level one
Until level seven, all your spell slots will be spent at level one. With four prepared spells available, these are the must-haves I’d recommend:
- Shield – Make sure your defenses are near-impenetrable.
- Absorb Elements – Added defense against magic-using monsters.
- Find Familiar – Everyone loves an animal buddy, and your familiar offers a lot of tactical advantages on the battlefield. Help action, anybody?
- Protection from Evil and Good – Another top-tier defensive option to keep you on your feet.
Level two
Moving onto level two:
- Blur – Makes you even harder to hit.
- Enlarge/Reduce – A neat boost to your weapon attacks, and it allows you to control more of the field.
- Invisibility – For when you want to sneak up on the enemy.
- See Invisibility – For when you don’t want the enemy sneaking up on you.
Level three
Then come your real hard-hitters:
- Fly – Ultimate maneuverability.
- Haste – If a fellow spellcaster hasn’t already cast this on you, you should do it yourself. It’s an essential.
- Spirit Shroud – This will be competing with Haste and Fly for your concentration, but if you’ve got brain power to spare, it’s a solid bit of extra damage, debuff, and area control.
- Fireball – It doesn’t gel with our build concept, but the damage is so consistent that no spellcaster should miss the chance to cast Fireball.
Level four
Your options at this end will be pretty limited, but in my mind, there are a few clear winners:
- Backlash – An expensive reaction, but one that can also dole out some damage while keeping you defended.
- Conjure Minor Elementals – Another ridiculously strong weapon damage boost with added area control.
- Wall of Fire – Speaking of area control, this is a great way to box in foes.
Ability Score Improvement
Level: Four
For my first feat, I’m opting for Heavy Armor Master. It pips our Strength up to 16, and we get some added protection.
Ability Score Improvement
Level: Six
Next comes a flat +2 to Strength. The whole point of our magic is to enhance our melee attacks, so we want to race to 20 Strength.
War Magic
Level: Seven
You can swap in cantrips like Sword Burst, Fire Bolt, and Shocking Grasp when you make an attack action. Now we’re past level five, you’re rolling twice the dice for your cantrip damage, but our Great Weapon Fighting is still slightly more consistent.
Therefore, you should mainly rely on this option when there’s a clear tactical benefit. Sword Burst (or Thunderclap) is useful against hordes, Fire Bolt lets you hit a second target at range, and Shocking Grasp creates an easy, attack-free getaway.
Ability Score Improvement
Level: Eight
It sounds boring, but another +2 Strength is the way to go. We’ve now maxed out our main attack stat, which makes a huge difference to our chances of success.
Ability Score Improvement
Level: 12
With Strength now handled, let’s take War Caster. It’ll help us concentrate on beefier spells, and it means we can think about adding a sturdy shield to our repertoire, if we like.
Ability Score Improvement
Level: 14
With Strength sorted, I’d focus on beefing up your Constitution next. Speedy is a nice way to do so, giving you a +1 along with increased speed and more chance of avoiding opportunity attacks.
Ability Score Improvement
Level: 16
Finally, grab Slasher to bring your Constitution back to an even number. This also adds some useful debuffs to your successful longsword attacks.
Improved War Magic
Level: 18
Fire Bolt, for example, now deals 4d10 damage, so swapping it in is even more appealing than before.
Epic Boon
Level: 19
There are many interesting epic boon options for the Eldritch Knight, but Boon of Combat Prowess is probably the most consistent. A failed hit gets turned into a success once per turn? It doesn’t get much better than that.
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Source: Wargamer
