Baldur's Gate 3: THE Eldritch Knight Build!

[@themagescorner]

Don't try to make your EK a bad wizard, and bad fighter. Try this build instead! 🧙‍♂

[@island_dancer]

Yeah, it feels so bad to give up Improved Extra Attack for mid spell casting when you are a Fighter and the best use for your actions is bonking people over the head.

[@sc-micro-nerd]

This would be correct if you EK had access to Haste. The question is: Do you prefer a dealing with Haste and having things like Potent Dices and lv 3 spells or you prefer having the extra attack by default and having access to a per hit debuff? With Arcane Acuity gear a 6 EK/6 Divination Wizard is strictly a better build.

[@Ninjaverde8000]

excellent build video! thank you so much, it always bothered me the wizard multiclassing in other builds

[@themagescorner]

@@Ninjaverde8000 thanks! Having personally played this build the whole game it's probably my favorite build so far!

[@kurtcobane1762]

straight 12 ek with scrolls is definitly the way to go

[@themagescorner]

@@kurtcobane1762 agreed...easily disabling bosses with bonus action ottos was hilarious asf lol

[@kurtcobane1762]

@@themagescorner literally a better wizard than wizard lol

[@gipsymelody1268]

i think (before booming blade) better to use 2h weapon and 3+1 attacks and just focus on shield spell or use sword+shield with the war magic feature so you actually get bigger ac and better damage with 1cantrip+1attack rather than 3attacks with 1 handed weapon... :S

[@themagescorner]

oh yeah I was always using 2H weapon...now the cantrip attack with booming blade seems a lot more interesting!

[@markstruckmeyer9193]

Thanks for this! I was looking for a EK build that didn't sacrifice 3 attacks.

[@gusandre11]

I'm currently doing an EK archer build in HM and it's incredibly busted with Titanstring Bow (Probably one of the strongests builds in act 3, though it's heavy in consumables). I honestly find it overkill to use the Gloves of Battlemage's Power and/or Helmet of Arcane Acuity since arrow of many targets gives eldritch strike to all it's targets, allowing me to have Gloves of Hill Giant Strength (if you want to dump STR) or something like reverberation gloves, physical resistance ignoring gloves, diadem of arcane synergy etc. Thanks to titanstring bow your elemental arrows do extra elemental dmg equal to your STR modifier and late game you can double your damage output thanks to Bhaalist Armour. Everything I've said to this point + Bloodlust Elixir + Haste + Action Surge and now no one wants to play co-op with you LOL. The build really becomes broken after level 11, but until then it's probably better to go gloomstalk assassin or swords bard (unless you really want to use EK I guess).

[@themagescorner]

@@gusandre11 yeah EK archer is the more popular build but I just loved a 2H fighter that can also tank (after all u can wear any armor plus shield spell) and hold enemies to crit with 6+ attacks using action surge. Add tavern brawler to this build and it has everything you want in terms of flexibility. But I can't deny archer EK is powerful too. I just wanted a strong frontliner that can easy crit enemies in melee and throw/cc when needed.

[@gusandre11]

@themagescorner your take on this EK build is great, also I relate so much to the beginning of the video about the EK builds that don't go for level 11, it's such a waste it's frustrating to watch lol. Good video my friend 👊🏻

[@tjbrody]

The build is solid, and I will probably do this, it just pains me to completely dump charisma on my main character. I may take a bit out of con or int. I know that’s suboptimal

[@themagescorner]

@@tjbrody no right way to play, only how you want to build your char. I think I took illithid expertise to improve my convo skills.

[@sergiocamargo6749]

If you want, It will invalidate your head slot but you can use the INT circlet for 17 int, leaving those points free to use.

[@5argan]

Afaik the battlemage gloves are bugged and don't do anything.

[@themagescorner]

@@5argan hopefully they fix it, but yh build works fine without it

[@cherrycola4476]

Hey, I think throwing weapons will build arcane aquity right?

[@yonmata7955]

ty :)

[@jamesgarcia1867]

fighting style?

[@themagescorner]

@jamesgarcia1867 hmm I think I went defense for +1 AC

[@McTrevor79]

Have the gloves been fixed? All the info I found about them says, they actually don't work.

[@themagescorner]

@@McTrevor79 you can see in the gameplay section of this video...i had 1 arcane acuity from glove and 1 from helm. So it seems to work fine.

[@McTrevor79]

​@@themagescorner Ok, I rewatched the video. You do the sweep attack against 3 targets and gain 6 acuity. The helmet gives 2 acuity per attack. So this is the helmet alone. But you also inflict the vulnerability to spells on the target which should be the trigger for the gloves and give additional acuity. But since you "only" have 6 acuity after the sweeping attack this obviously still doesn't work. The gloves are still bugged and do exactly nothing.

[@themagescorner]

@@McTrevor79 Hmm interesting...I didn't notice the helmet was 2 acuity. Thought it was 1 each, maybe theyll fix it soon hopefully!

[@McTrevor79]

@@themagescorner Don´t get your hopes up. This bug is well known as far as I can tell and Larian didn´t bother to fix it yet. Not even with the big Patch 7 drop.

[@hanvangoro2724]

The glove did not work

[@omgopet]

Wait, does GWM work on throwing? That doesn't sound right...

[@themagescorner]

@@omgopet it works in melee with versatile weapons like Nyrulna that can also be thrown

[@omgopet]

@@themagescorner Gotcha, that makes sense. Throwing is coded weirdly. This is why I prefer bows on my EK.

[@themagescorner]

@@omgopet yeah archer EK is a good build too, I just prefer the flexibility on this one and getting free crits after basically a 100% hold person or easy hits after proning with tashas (u can get tashas as free ability in act 3 and its also enchantment)

[@omgopet]

@@themagescorner Ugh, I always skip that quest, it's such a marginal reward for how annoying it is. Besides, isn't it only 1/day? Just use a hold person scroll, you can find one under every cupboard in act3. The way I see it, EK is just a fighter that gets +5 AC and arcane synergy ring activation for free, so it's better than any other kit. Bows are best weapons for fighters, so bow EK is the best fighter imo. If this was p&p, this build would be great. In the game, it could be stronger by abusing certain BG3-specific mechanics that are completely game-breaking. On the other hand, there is no point in over-optimizing something that is already easily capable of solo HM, I am in no way suggesting this build is bad.

[@christiankougher3285]

So a few things. The only reason to skip the quest is the danger or if you're not gonna take advantage of throwing and or multi-hit attackers in completing it because the rewards are best throwing weapon in the game alongside arguably best ring in game.​ The ring is not a once per day, it is as many times as you trigger it I do believe you're right about now being better because you can still critical paralyzed enemies, and have arrows of many targets but I think swords bard is better at that because they have more attacks and get access to hold monster for non humanoids@@omgopet

[@minotaur818]

For rp purposes I would like to use a sword and shield, but would a shield be too much as we're already using defensive spells? Also, you are only binding your unequipped throwing weapon but using it as secondary?

[@themagescorner]

@@minotaur818 shield is fine but for GWM +10 dmg u need two handed or versatile weapon. So u prob swap GWM for some other feat. Since I was using returnable throwing weapon i just throw it and it replaces my main weapon automatically, dont know how that would work with shield, let me know. But yeah u can bind ur unequipped throwing weapon.

[@minotaur818]

@@themagescorner i've never tried tavern brawler/throwing weapons, but I'm curious what the hype is. Compared to straight up ranged attack an ek can do with a bow/crossbow, how much more damage or benefits does throwing give?

[@IRedpunk]

@@minotaur818 min-maxers are crazy about it, because from what I can tell, there is at endgame an ugly ass trident that deals a small aoe damage when you throw it. That's why almost every barbarian / EK guide has tavern brawler in it. It's just overused just like the strength elixirs.

[@Narutokun11]

I was about to question if I wanted to use a throwing weapon, but then I remembered during my previous play I had most of my squad carry bows or crossbows as a back up, which I ended up needing in many cases. So I guess having a bound throwing weapon with feats to empower that would be really handy to have lol. Is there another variation you could recommend besides the Tavern Brawler stuff or is TB just flat out the best to pair with EK?

[@Unknowngnostic]

If you throw, there's no better feat than TB. +1 str, and double str modifier added to attack and damage. It's insane If you aren't going to throw except rare occasions, it's still better because of the +1 str or con. So when you build, you probably will have a 17 in str and use this to get to 18. Or if you use elixir for str, put 15 in con, add this. Put the rest in int. This lets you have a more well rounded character, if you use elixirs i mean.

[@sirith9157]

It physically make me sick every single time when I see something which have a purpose and make into something completely different because it's "META". Eldritch Knight entire thing is versatility to the point of vomiting while being extremely tanky in comparison to other classes. Solid fighter? Check. Spells? Check. Hard to avoid? Check. Being a menace? HELL YEAH! It's a warrior WITH spells. Not mage in heavy armor. If I want wizard in heavy armor, then I pick wizard. Not eldritch knight for action surge ffs...

[@themagescorner]

Exactly, that's why I like doing melee + throwing build + spells. EK archer is meta, but you don't make use of its tankiness. And EK with more wizard levels is just bad fighter and bad wizard lol.

[@cherrycola4476]

You dont need a dip in wizard for scroll? Or do you simply use them and not learn them?

[@themagescorner]

@cherrycola4476 just use them...i used ottos irresistible dance on boss for example...otherwise use ur enchantment spells that u get from class or mind flayer etc

[@cherrycola4476]

@themagescorner Oh that's pretty smart

[@EmperorDxD]

Can this work if i do lvl1 fighter 1 Lvl2 war domain claric Lvl 3 to 12 fighter

[@athmil8302]

You’d want to take cleric as your first level so that your scrolls scale off of int instead of wisdom. It wouldn’t be terrible to go although you’ll lose out on a feat which isn’t great. That said the extra attacks as bonus actions isn’t that important since this build has a lot of uses for the bonus action already with mystic scoundrel and possibly illithid powers. You can also attack with the bonus action after using a cantrip already.

[@keithwin3449]

I’m sorry but this build is just not good lol sacrificing a third attack that a spell caster and most other martial classes wouldn’t get to get spells like haste and hold person is an insanely better option also berserker/rogue thief is just a superior throwing build all around

[@themagescorner]

@@keithwin3449 sorry pal but you're mistaken here. You don't sacrifice anything in this build plus u still use hold person and higher level spells with scrolls/abilities/items as bonus action so u still have ALL your attacks If anything any good EK player will tell u not to sacrifice third attack and eldritch strike which gives enemies disadvantage on saves lol Also u should be using haste from potions

[@paydoncarmon5480]

I facerolled honor mode with something along these lines. Not sure what your definition of good is but that's about all I can ask for.

[@keithwin3449]

@ just saying there’s better options eldritch knight just isn’t the best in BG3 other classes/builds do it better