The world’s most famous tabletop role-playing game is, at its heart, a heroic fantasy game: Knights in golden plates wielding glowing swords, evil sorcerers drawing the forces of evil towards the world, a dragon hoarding treasure, waiting for a band of ravenous murderers to come in, steal their hoard and move on.

From tome-bound wizards to steel-clad warriors, adventurers come in all shapes and sizes, filling the roles of explorers, treasure hunters, and more. However, what happens when magic or steel isn’t enough?

That’s right, you wield both, and few do this as well as the Eldritch Knight.

Fearsome warriors and spell casters, eldritch knights are the perfect blends of sword and sorcery. This archetype is available to fighters when they reach the third level, using magical techniques similar to those used by wizards to complement their fighting styles.

Starting from the Basics.

For all their magical might, eldritch knights are mainly fighters, warriors who waddle into the field of battle, relying on spells to increase their physical prowess.

This, paired with their War magic feature unlocked at 7th level, makes most of your spellcasting rely on your cantrips.

These are spells that can be cast at will, without using a spell slot, and without being prepared in advance.

Since the Eldritch Knight chooses their spells from the wizard’s spell list, it can be daunting to choose only a handful out of that treasure trove of options, but worry not, for we have made a list with the best cantrips that complement the Eldritch Knight’s kit!

5. Ray of Frost

You fire off a frigid beam that harms your foes with cold, numbing them to the point of slowing them down.

Not only is Ray of Frost a nice ranged alternative that dishes out cold damage, but you also reduce your target’s speed by 10 feet. This can be particularly useful when stopping running away foes or closing the gap.

What Ray of Frost is Useful for:

• Many low to middle CR foes are resistant to physical damage, a fighter’s main way of dishing out the hurt. Ray of Frost lets you bypass the most common resistance types reliably.
• Sometimes foes run away, whether to fight another day or call in reinforcements. Reducing their speed is a good way to make sure they get nowhere before you end their existence.

Ray of Frost details: https://roll20.net/compendium/dnd5e/Ray%20of%20Frost#content

4. Lightning Lure

Lassoing your foes with a whip fashioned out of lightning can be extremely attractive for melee-oriented fighters.

Lighting lure lets you harm them with lightning damage as well as pull them 10 feet towards you if they fail a strength saving throw.

Sometimes foes are behind cover, there’s a chasm between you and them or you just need to make sure they don’t get away. Lightning lure lets you control where a given enemy is, and that’s priceless.

What Lightning lure is Useful for:

• Battlefield Control is hard to come by for martial classes. Lightning lure lets you reposition both allies and enemies in a way that benefits you the most.

Lightning Lure details: http://dnd5e.wikidot.com/spell:lightning-lure

3. Sword Burst

Surrounded, by foes on every side, you invoke a circle of spectral blades that cut through the opposition, ending up with several dead goblins at your feet.

Sword burst creates a circle of spectral blades that sweep around you, harming foes within 5 feet who fail a Dexterity saving throw.

As a fighter, you’re likely to find yourself waddling in melee, outnumbered by foes. This is when this spell shines the brightest, letting you strike several enemies simultaneously.

What Sword Burst is Useful for:

• It isn’t weird for adventurers to be swarmed by hordes of enemies. With Sword Burst, you’ll be cutting down several of them at once.

Sword Burst details: http://dnd5e.wikidot.com/spell:sword-burst

2. Green-flame Blade

One of the two spells that empower your melee attacks. By striking a foe with your weapon, green fire leaps from it to strike a nearby foe.

As you grow in level, so does this cantrip’s damage, making your melee attack more dangerous.

What Green-Flame Blade is Useful for:

• Melee attacks are something fighters excel at, however, they are usually limited to hitting only one target. With a Green-flame blade, you can punish two foes at the price of one.
• Since it deals fire damage, it’s another way to bypass the physical resistances many foes have.

Green-flame blade details: http://dnd5e.wikidot.com/spell:green-flame-blade

1. Booming Blade

Another spell to empower your melee attack with, Booming Blade envelops your weapon with sonic energy. If you hit, this energy leaps towards your foe, dealing thunder damage if they move.

As you grow in power, your initial damage, and that triggered when they move increases, making this the perfect spell to punish highly mobile foes.

What Booming Blade is Useful for:

• Thunder damage is seldom resisted in 5th edition, making it perfect to bypass most resistances in-game.
• Since most of the spell’s damage triggers when your target moves, you can lock down highly mobile foes by making them decide between taking damage before you or taking damage by moving away.

Booming Blade details: http://dnd5e.wikidot.com/spell:booming-blade

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