The usage of additive manufacturing as a process for component production is becoming increasingly important, as it offers enormous potential for material savings and therefore cost reduction. In particular,Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM) processes are arousing a great deal of interest in several industries by its high deposition rates at low equipment acquisition costs and the low buy-to-fly ratio. This process is being specifically investigated for aerospace and space applications, as it allows the production of large structural complex near-net-shape components in small batches. However, a major drawback of this technology is the high anisotropic behaviour of the manufactured structures in the as-welded state. Since the Ni–Fe alloy Inconel 718 is an anisotropic material, in which introduced textures strongly influence the mechanical properties, the impact of the WAAM processing route on the mechanical properties as well as the underlying microstructure is specifically focused on in this study. Using a plasma arc as heat source and Inconel 718 wire as feedstock material, test walls are produced in order to characterize the created material. In addition to the identification of factors influencing the process, temperature cycles are measured at different positions during the build-up. The resulting microstructure is subsequently evaluated macroscopically as well as microscopically and examined regarding pores and precipitates. SEM/EDS analysis is carried out to investigate the underlying microstructure of the additively manufactured parts. Furthermore, mechanical properties are evaluated in the build-up direction as well as transversal to this direction in order to characterize the anisotropy of the material.