Laser direct metal deposition (LDMD) has developed from a prototyping to a single metal manufacturing tool. Its potential for creating multi-material and functionally graded structures is now beginning to be explored. In this work, three dimensional functionally graded structures of Ti-6Al-4V and Inconel 718 are fabricated by laser direct metal deposition (LDMD) on Inconel 718 substrate. The multi-track parts are built at a range of powder mass flow rates using a side nozzle and 1.5 kW Diode laser operating in both continuous and pulsed beam modes. Microstructure characterization and phase identification are performed by optical microscopy and X-ray diffraction. Only two samples are free of macro-scale cracks, one prepared with a continuous laser beam and one prepared with the beam in pulsed mode. XRD results show the presence of the brittle Ti2Ni phase in all samples.