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Subclass Fighter Eldritch Knight
The Eldritch Knight is a Fighter subclass that combines martial combat with Intelligence-based spellcasting, focused primarily on Abjuration and Evocation spells. Spellcasting at Level 3 provides a limited but impactful spell list with a bonded weapon. War Bond lets you summon your bonded weapon to your hand as a Bonus Action. War Magic at Level 7 allows you to cast a cantrip as a Bonus Action when you take the Attack action. Eldritch Strike at Level 10 causes your weapon hits to impose Disadvantage on the target's next saving throw against one of your spells.
| LEVEL | FEATURE |
|---|---|
| 3 | Spellcasting, War Bond |
| 7 | War Magic |
| 10 | Eldritch Strike |
Spellcasting You augment your martial prowess with the ability to cast spells. Your spellcasting ability is Intelligence.
You know cantrips from the Wizard spell list. For spells, you primarily learn Abjuration and Evocation spells from the Wizard list, with some flexibility to choose spells from any school.
War Bond You learn a ritual that creates a magical bond between yourself and one weapon. You perform the ritual over the course of 1 hour, which can be done during a Short Rest. The weapon must be within your reach throughout the ritual, at the conclusion of which you touch the weapon and forge the bond.
Once you have bonded a weapon to yourself, you can't be disarmed of that weapon unless you are Incapacitated. If it is on the same plane of existence, you can summon that bonded weapon as a Bonus Action, causing it to teleport instantly to your hand.
War Magic When you take the Attack action on your turn, you can replace one of the attacks with a casting of one of your Wizard cantrips that has a casting time of an action.
Eldritch Strike You learn how to make your weapon strikes undercut a creature's resistance to your spells. When you hit a creature with an attack using a weapon, that creature has Disadvantage on the next saving throw it makes against a spell you cast before the end of your next turn.
The Eldritch Knight is the spellcasting melee Fighter. Its spell slots are limited — roughly equivalent to a third-level caster at Level 7 — but the spells that matter most are always prepared: Shield (Reaction +5 AC until next turn) and Absorb Elements (Reaction resistance to an elemental hit and bonus damage on next melee). Both of these use spell slots efficiently as Reactions without interrupting the attack sequence.
War Bond's teleporting weapon removes a common tactical liability. A disarmed Fighter is nearly helpless; War Bond ensures the weapon returns as a Bonus Action, and the disarm immunity means enemies that try it find it doesn't work.
War Magic at Level 7 is the first opportunity to blend melee and spellcasting in a single Attack action: replace one attack with a cantrip. Booming Blade (from some lists) adds thunder damage and movement penalties; Green-Flame Blade adds fire damage to a second target. At Level 5 with Extra Attack, you have two attacks — replace one with a cantrip and retain the other for the physical hit.
Eldritch Strike at Level 10 creates a setup sequence: hit with a weapon, then cast a spell targeting the same creature — they roll their save at Disadvantage. Pair with Hold Person (Paralyzed on save failure) or Slow (halved speed, reduced actions on save failure) for maximum impact on a single target.
Fighter, Arcane Archer, Banneret, Battle Master, Cavalier, Champion, Eldritch Knight, Psi Warrior, Rune Knight, Viking