War Magic | Baldurs Gate 3 Wiki

So 7 EK, 2 Warlock, 3 Thief would get you:

Charisma Eldritch Blast
Bonus Main Attack
Action Surge
Charisma Eldritch Blast
Bonus Main Attack

Kinda neat.

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Be Better if the attack action activated a possible BA Cantrip cast instead. And/Or if it worked off of spells as well.

None the less... As it stands. It's better for a sword and board build (Lose out less on damage for a single 1 handed weapon. And the cantrip can actually hit pretty hard.)
or a two handed weapon build, Completely terrible build for a dual wielder.. It can help you get away from something strong and heal via shocking grasp to prevent reactions. And for poison spray/acid splash aoe.

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Would this allow you to use Eldritch Blast and basically get a free shot from a bow as a bonus action? Something like lvl 8 Eldritch Knight (3 feats) and 4 levels of warlock. High charisma and dexterity.

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Simply an amazing ability now that Honor mode nerfed haste into the ground when it comes to extra attacks. While many classes got super nerfed, this subclass maintains its strength thanks to this ability. The answer is to become hastened (preferably by spores) and cast mage hand into the spores. Put a few bottles of water or potions or explosives and your hastened mage hand can make two throws a turn. Now you can soak the battlefield or have a pocket healer backing you up. You throw Nyrulna 6 times on turn one and wear the Scion hat to gain spell DC per throw. On your next turn, presuming you're still hastened, you can use your extra action to cast things like hold person or blast them with a cantrip + your bonus throw. Basically this ability gives you some serious action economy in the post haste nerf world we live in for us honor mode addicts.

It may not be as strong as it was prior to the nerf, but EKs have adapted well and the changes really made me appreciate this ability more than I ever used to on tactician. Hope this helps some of you. I feel like my EK really contributes nicely with the party.

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not bad not good... :/ the reason; you can use shield and get its ac... also very item based build!!! need the rings and necklace to be succesful! also should build on pure dex and finesse weapon!
3d10 firebolt = 15+5int modifer (at 20int) by the ring so 20dmg
then attack with a scimitar or rapier or any finesse so get 1d6/1d8 = 3/4+5dex modifer+5int modifre+1d4fire from the ring and necklace and the cantrip so it is 17/18 (+enchantments and another damages of the weapon) so at al you deal 38 damage... -_- yes you can actually build to 22-25 ac and even get the shield spell so can raise to 28-29 ac...

war magic is good for a defensive high ac build!

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discount magus but you need 7 levels, also its just a cantrip. bruh

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Should have just given us the bladesinger so we wouldn't be stuck with this garbage. Gish characters got no love in BG3.

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I tried speccing 2 levels into wizard: illusion, for a bonus action of Minor Illusion but it didn't proc the attack. Therefore it's safe to assume all cantrips must be used by an action which makes any thought of playing something like 7ek/2wiz/3theif non-viable.

I would have liked the opportunity to try 2 mh attack->cantrip->bonus attack with some extra utility from other classes, but nevermind...

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Only on cantrip? I'll just stick to wielding two weapons and making an off hand attack as a bonus action and casting a spell as an action. Doesnt take 7 levels to get going and can still be a full caster for spell slots and damage instead of this crap.

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Githyanki war magic at home.

Literally want to play a Githyanki EK run where you can attack as bonus action after any spell , and also do the Githyanki Parry, like you see gith do in the Creche

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This feature just seems so jank. It makes so little sense in its current iteration. Like, the best I can think of is something like dropping Dancing Lights before an attack or using Shocking Grasp as a Disengage while making a bonus attack.

It'd make the most sense if it was reversed, giving you a bonus action Cantrip after an attack. So that you could use Fighter's extra attacks and have a Cantrip to weaponize your bonus action for a Gish themed alternative to Great Weapon Master/Polearm Mastery/Monk Bonus Unarmed Attack.

However, failing that, it could at the very least provide the bonus action attack after casting a SPELL, not just a cantrip. Giving you that extra attack on turns where you drop an actual spell.

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One of two things would fix this. And if it happened, it would be my favorite class:

1. Reverse it, so your weapon attack allows you to cast a cantrip as a bonus action. (That way you can still use fighters extra attacks). OR;
2. Allow the bonus action attack to prompt your subsequent extra attacks.

As it stands, it feels really, really yucky to cast a cantrip, bonus action attack, and then ... that's it lol. Objectively, you'll do more damage by just doing your melee attack and extra attacks. And of course the game isn't just about damage, sure. But the people who play Eldritch Knight are wanting to play a caster/melee. It would feel so flavorful to attack and cast firebolts interchangeably, and this as it is feels like it punishes you for doing so.

Especially with the gear that incentivizes that playstyle, like the ring that adds cantrip elemental damage, and the ring that makes all your cantrips melee.

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Ring of Arcane Synergy - Cantrip damage adds Spellcasting Ability modifier to weapon damage for two turns.
Necklace of Elemental Augmentation - Cantrips dealing acid/lightning/cold/fire/thunder damage add Spellcasting Ability modifier to damage.

EK Level 7 - Use Shocking Grasp as your cantrip for 2d8+INT lightning damage; triggering Ring to cause your bonus weapon attack to do Damage + Str/Dex + Int. Follow up on following turn with either two weapon attacks; or repeat Grasp, then bonus.

11th-level that becomes 3d8+Int and then weapon + str/dex + int; then follow up on following turn with three enhanced weapon attacks.

Replace Shocking Grasp with a ranged cantrip like Firebolt, Ray of Frost, or Acid Splash - and repeat the same combos using a ranged weapon such as a bow for a "arcane archer" type of feel.

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My Karlach with 24 Charisma is Eldritch Knight 7 / Warlock 5. That's 3 regular attacks per round and with War Magic it's 2 attacks then an Agonizing Blast and another attack after that. 4 attacks with a modifier of +7 plus Arcane Synergy and a few possible other buffs is fun.

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Does Thief Rogue’s Fast Hands allow for two attacks after casting a cantrip?

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1 in storm sorceror or war mage would be way better the only argument agaisnt this is they ain't free costed needing a spell of 1 or higher or your three charges

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Dude you can cast bone chill to prevent healing and cause disadvantage for attack rolls on undead, still bonk, then repeat next turn to keep permanent anti-heal/disadvantage on the enemy.
You can cast ray of frost to reduce movement speed and then throw your bound weapon at them as they struggle to reach you.
Can't hit an enemy? Cast true strike and then attack the same turn.
Need some of that sweet, sweet attack roll disadvantage for the non-undead? Vicious mockery followed by a smack down.

This isn't some min/max ability that's going to make you into some combo damage god, but holy hell some people really lack imagination if they think this is useless. This is the same vibe as someone not understanding that mage hand can be useful, or arcane lock, or anything that isn't directly feeding into "big number make happy".

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The only use I have found for this is using it to cast Blade Ward while wearing the Vivacious Cloak which gives 7hp every time you cast a cantrip/spell while in melee. With heavy armor, a shield and some other buffs like using a feat to get Shield of Faith and Mage Breaker you can have 22-24AC and a lot of spell resistance, you'll be very tanky.

But its a slow and boring build though without having the usual EK cantrips to make this ability fun.

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Cantrip and ranged weapon attack?

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This would be worth it if the weapon attack was free.
That way you trade 1 attack for 1 cantrip.
But you just lose bonus action as well.
The only benefit you have for this is to wear a shield
Cause off hand attack is a thing. You can do the same thing as war magic. But cheaper. And can use spells as well.

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If you also have war caster feat, does this allow you to melee attack as a bonus action on your turn after using shocking grasp as a reaction?

I'd guess not, but it would start to make the feature interesting..

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Should work with spells as well, not just cantrips, like the War Magic feature githyanki npcs have, otherwise it's mostly useless right now

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No no you have it backwards my friends at larian, I think it should be attack then free cantrip?

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How about 2 Warlock, 3 Thief, and 7 EK? Get Eldritch Blast + 2x Bonus Attacks.

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Only way I van see this being useful for pure offense is with a multiclass Eldritch Knight 10/ warlock 2 for a 3 hit Eldritch blast + 1 extra attack

But you give up a feat and may split your attack ability- unless you go fighter 7 warlock 5

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They really should have reversed it I.e. attack action and can use a bonus action to cast a cantrip

At least then you'd be able to use the multiple attacks of the fighter and have synergy with the level 10 Eldritch Knight ability

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Am I miss reading it? It seems to be a dumb this skill. If you gotta use your cantrip as your action in order to attack with your "bonus action", that means you'd miss out of double attack with your weapon, resulting in a dps loss.

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You could blade ward or true strike and still hit something I guess...

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FOR those that want to use this properly and build an EK gish char ...

first level as fighter with gwf fighting style(this is for later, we go 1h+shield at the beginning) , ->2 levels of illusion wizard (grab non dc stuff like the ritual spells enhanced leap/familiar/feather fall/sleep/false life but most important shield)

this puts us at level 3 total , gives us the minor illusion casted AS BONUS action, and right around this level we also get a speciul power called 'concentrated blast' , this is a 3d6 unmissable/non saves with a conditional heal attached to boot and not suffering from beeing in melee...

minor illusion is a concentration spell which we use as a bonus action, then spam concentrated blast every turn while we tank, which will be your bread and butter

from here we take 3 levels in rogue for thief subclass(will put us at lvl 6) for 2nd bonus action,right in time when our concentrated blast becomes a bonus action which will allow us to hit,minor illusion, then blast which means we can stay our ground and even contribute on some other fella 9m away

OR if ur still wearing a finesse weapon (there's even 2 handed finesse weapons in the game) and feeling tricksy you could minor ilussion behind enemies, which turns them around, then use 2nd bonus action to cunning sneak and slap em with advantage and sneak dmg

from here on we just continue fighter levels into EK which will eventually unlock us third level spell slots but we will have to learn those manually through our wizard (haste, fireball etc) and grab the great weapon master as feat as well as more stats or whatever

as far as stats go i'd honestly dump my intelect & dex and just go str&con heavy armor with points to spare into wis for saves/cha for skills

the other way one could grab even more juice from the build is grab the archery style at the character creation and grab sharpshooter and transition into crossbows late game, with a familiar close by an enemy we also hit our sneak dice without other shenanigans
TLDR
build (7 ek/2illu wiz/3 thief) minor illusion cantrip shenanigans and concentrated blast spam
( and no this wont compete with sorlocks,flourish ranged bards,dualwield barbthiefsmonks,hamarhraftmonkfrogs or other broken super op builds like lockadin/ sorctempestwizardunlimitedpowaar)

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FOR those that want to use this properly and build an EK gish char ...

first level as fighter with gwf fighting style(this is for later, we go 1h+shield at the beginning) , ->2 levels of illusion wizard (grab non dc stuff like the ritual spells enhanced leap/familiar/feather fall/sleep/false life but most important shield)

this puts us at level 3 total , gives us the minor illusion casted AS BONUS action, and right around this level we also get a speciul power called 'concentrated blast' , this is a 3d6 unmissable/non saves with a conditional heal attached to boot and not suffering from beeing in melee...

minor illusion is a concentration spell which we use as a bonus action, then spam concentrated blast every turn while we tank, which will be your bread and butter

from here we take 3 levels in rogue for thief subclass(will put us at lvl 6) for 2nd bonus action,right in time when our concentrated blast becomes a bonus action which will allow us to hit,minor illusion, then blast which means we can stay our ground and even contribute on some other fella 9m away

OR if ur still wearing a finesse weapon (there's even 2 handed finesse weapons in the game) and feeling tricksy you could minor ilussion behind enemies, which turns them around, then use 2nd bonus action to cunning sneak and slap em with advantage and sneak dmg

from here on we just continue fighter levels into EK which will eventually unlock us third level spell slots but we will have to learn those manually through our wizard (haste, fireball etc) and grab the great weapon master as feat as well as more stats or whatever

as far as stats go i'd honestly dump my intelect & dex and just go str&con heavy armor with points to spare into wis for saves/cha for skills

the other way one could grab even more juice from the build is grab the archery style at the character creation and grab sharpshooter and transition into crossbows late game, with a familiar close by an enemy we also hit our sneak dice without other shenanigans
TLDR
build (7 ek/2illu wiz/3 thief) minor illusion cantrip shenanigans and concentrated blast spam
( and no this wont compete with sorlocks,flourish ranged bards,dualwield barbthiefsmonks,hamarhraftmonkfrogs or other broken super op builds like lockadin/ sorctempestwizardunlimitedpowaar)

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Without Booming Blade and Green-Flame, this just doesn't do it. Not to mention that fighter tends to already have a lot of stuff to use on their bonus action and just getting left completely behind when you get improved extra attack.

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multiclassing into thief 3 gives you 2 bonus actions that you can spend with off-hand weapon, that is just more damage than a 2H EK with 1 attack as bonus action. Not to mention, less investment, better stats due to 2 weapons.
The only way I could see this option being somehow viable would be with a shield, but that would be a shield bearer caster and having 7lvl in warrior wouldn't be that good.

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Also want to mention. You can allready make a bonus action attack with a weapon after casting a spell/cantrip by simply dual wielding since two weapon fighting doesnt require you to make a melee attack to get the bonus attack.

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Is this possible in one round?

7 Eldritch Knight / 3 Thief (for second bonus attack)
-> Shocking Grasp (3d8 or 6d8 on wet targets)
-> Weapon Attack
-> Shocking Grasp (3d8 or 6d8 on wet targets)
-> Weapon Attack

I could also imagine combinations with other cantrips (Blade Ward, True Strike, Ray of Frost etc.)

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One of the most poorly designed features from the start of 5e, unchanged in BG3 without the support EK received in later ssourcebooks

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I don't like anti-synergy, but I especially don't like it when it's not a thing introduced because you multi classed instead it being core to a straight class. I am talking about how War Magic lets you make a weapon attack AFTER a cantrip, whereas Eldritch strike wants you to use your weapon BEFORE you cast a spell.

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As it is, this ability is rather lackluster. You have to give up your extra attack(s) to cast a cantrip and attack once.

If Devs really wanted to make this work, it should have been like this instead:

War Magic

You have honed your body and magic for war. After you make a weapon attack, you can cast a Cantrip using a bonus action.

This way you can successfully combine your innate Fighter advantages and your limited spell casting given by this subclass.

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kinghtlock be good?

u cast Eldritch Blast then melee attack
maybe go knight 7 - warlock 5? or 7 knight 2 war and 3 sorc ?

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It would've been better if War Magic turned Cantrips into an Extra Attack. Ergo, two cantrip casts, a cantrip and attack, an attack into cantrip etc. Or you "Whenever you cast a Cantrip you can make one weapon attack as part of your Action." This is the only reason I'll always take Warlock with PoTB or Paladin over Eldritch Knight. Eldritch Knight is a cool concept but one, it's not Eldritch themed and two, every other way to build a spellblade is better. Even Fighter Battlemaster or Champion with Wizard dip is better.

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Yes you can throw your weapon with weapon bond, and use it with Extra Attack to throw it multiple times per turn. However, only "Thrown" weapons deal more than 1 damage (like throwing hammers, javellin), and I had my weapon get stuck once, so use at your own risk. Still, nice for certain fights where being in melee would be foolish.

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Can Thief subclass (two bonus actions) give you two attacks if you cantrip?

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Quick question does anyone know if you can throw your bond weapon ad the weapon attack? Haven't tested it yet, but people say that extra attack works with bond throws.
And considering the wording. Of extra attack. Does extra attack when using a weapon attack.

And war magic says that you can use your bonus attack as a weapon attack.

So you could stay at range with both spell and attacks.

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Compared to all the other fighter subclasses. EKs are the only ones whose subclass feature misaligns with extra attack

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Combine with blade part warlock at 5 to gain another attk. Cast blast off hand attack two attacks

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I consider this as a free Blade Ward cantrip on every fight. People dissing this as useless doesn't know what they are talking about.

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This is objectively worse than Extra Attack, especially without Booming Blade

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can you use this twice when you multicalss with a lvl 3 thief?

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It's kinda weak tbh

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