In laser-based directed energy deposition (L-DED) of Inconel 718 the microstructure of the fabricated components strongly depends on the applied process parameters and the resulting solidification conditions. Numerous studies have shown that the process parameters deposition speed and laser power have a major influences on microstructural properties, such as dendrite morphology and segregation behavior. This study investigates how changes in these process parameters affect the microstructure and hardness when the line mass, and thus the resulting layer height, are kept constant. This enables the microstructural comparison of geometrically similar specimens that were manufactured with the same number of layers but severely different process parameters. This approach yields the benefit of almost identical geometrical boundary conditions, such as the layer-specific build-height and heat conducting cross section, for all specimens. For microstructural analysis scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy were applied and the results evaluated in a quantitative manner. The microstructural features primary dendritic arm spacing, fraction and morphology of precipitated Laves phase as well as the spatially resolved chemical composition were measured along the build-up direction. The occurring cooling rates were calculated based on the primary dendritic arm spacing using semi-empirical models. Three different models used by others researchers were applied and evaluated with respect to their applicability for L-DED. Finally, microhardness measurements were performed for a baseline evaluation of the influence on the materials’ mechanical properties.