In this study, directed energy deposition (DED) was used to print 304H stainless steel, which has excellent corrosion resistance and mechanical properties. The effects of different printing parameters, such as laser power and scanning speed, on the density, microstructure, and microhardness of 304H stainless steel were investigated. Different characterization techniques liked optical microscope (OM), scanning electron microscope (SEM), energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS) were used. Among the various parameters, it was found that the sample with parameters of 800 W laser power and 5 mm/s scanning speed is almost fully dense and exhibits the highest microhardness of 261.26 HV. Samples with other parameters, to varying degrees, exhibit defects such as lack of fusion, porosity, keyholes, and microcracks, resulting in relatively lower microhardness. Micro-cracks were found to be discontinuously distributed at the interface between two printed layers. Further characterization confirmed the possible causes of crack formation. This study provides guidelines on processing parameters for fabricating 304H stainless steel materials using DED.