Additive manufacturing, and the laser-based Directed Energy Deposition process in particular, is considered the ultimate processing tool for functionally graded (multi-)materials thanks to its capability to locally process the material, but the significant dissimilarities in the physical, chemical and thermo-mechanical properties of two liquid fractions in a melt still present major processing challenges. The current work explores the effect of the laser-based directed energy deposition process parameters on the bond quality of an AISI SS316L stainless steel and CuCr1Zr junction without the use of a tailored interlayer. Build-plate preheating was used to prevent cracking by tempering the formation of residual stresses, ultrasonic assistance were explored to optimize mixing while the process parameters were further optimized to reduce porosity levels and lack-of-fusion regions. The manuscript presents a processing window of thin walls with a graded composition without cracking and minimized porosity levels. Alongside, hyperspectral melt-pool images are captured during the deposition process and related to the post-mortem analysis, defining monitoring and control strategies for optimal quality assurance. The gradient is fully characterized in terms of composition, vickers hardness, mechanical properties and thermal conductivity. As such, the manuscript will present a processing and characterization effort of a crack-free steel-to-copper multi-material, a valuable material combination in thermally-mechanically loaded applications.