Warlocks do not have to prepare spells like clerics or wizards, as they have a list of known spells and a number of spell slots they can use to cast those spells. They have more access to at will spells than any other class, but having extra spells available is not necessary for most of the game. Warlocks get Contact Patron, which allows them to communicate directly with their Patron through the Contact Other Plane spell.
Warlocks do not have to prepare spells like clerics or wizards, but they do add those spells to the list of spells from which you can choose when you learn a new spell. Your choice of subclass gets you additional spells, and they are automatically counted as prepared spells (Cleric, Paladin, Druid). Warlocks have a set of spells known and that is it. They can swap spells only at level up.
When you gain a Warlock level, you can replace one spell on your list with another Warlock spell of an eligible level. At 5th level, a wizard with an intelligence of 18 can prepare 9 spells, while a warlock has 6 known spells. Warlocks do not have to prepare which spells they have access to; you can load and fire any bullet, drawing on any of the spells you know at any time.
In summary, Warlocks do not have to prepare spells like clerics or wizards, but they have a list of known spells and a number of spell slots they can use to cast those spells. They can swap spells only at level up, just like other non-prepared casters.
📹 The Ultimate Guide to Warlocks in D&D 5e
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Do Warlocks know their patron?
Warlock patrons are powerful entities that grant mortals access to their power in exchange for a pact binding them to their will. Warlocks are more likely to interact with their patron regularly, making it essential to step into the eldritch shoes of a patron. To role-play a memorable patron, it is crucial to have a conversation with the warlock player, understanding their goals and the pact they struck. Questions to ask include how the warlock and patron struck the pact, why the patron offered their magic, and if the patron is in complete control of the pact.
How does the warlock spell system work?
The warlock is a magic-using class that uses charisma as its spellcasting ability. It is structured with limited spell slots and slots renew after a short rest, and all spells are cast at the highest slot level. Invocations provide additional abilities, and Xanathar’s Guide to Everything added 14 new invocation options, while Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything introduced 8 new Eldritch Invocations and a new Pact Boon.
Three options for the warlock’s type of pact are presented in the Player’s Handbook: Pact of the Chain, which allows the warlock to summon a familiar beyond the normal boundaries of the Find Familiar spell, Pact of the Tome, which grants a Book of Shadows containing additional spells, Pact of the Blade, which allows the warlock to conjure a magical weapon for combat, and Pact of the Talisman, which gives the warlock a talisman that boosts either the warlock themselves or those they give it to.
Warlocks are featured in the Neverwinter Nights 2 video game, Dungeons and Dragons Online, and the D and D MMO Neverwinter, based on the 4th edition version.
Do Eldritch Knights prepare spells?
The Eldritch Knight spellcasting table displays the number of spell slots available for casting level 1 and higher spells. Players can replace one of these cantrips with another from the Wizard spell list, and when reaching level 10, they learn another Wizard cantrip. The table also shows the number of prepared spells of level 1+, which players can prepare by choosing three level 1 spells from the Wizard spell list. As they gain more levels, they can replace one of their known spells with another from the Wizard spell list.
The spellcasting ability is Intelligence, and an Arcane Focus can be used as a Spellcasting Focus for the spells prepared for this subclass. At Level 3, players learn a ritual to create a magical bond between themselves and one weapon. This ritual can be performed over an hour during a Short Rest, and the weapon must be within reach. The bond cannot be disarmed unless the player has the Incapacitated condition. If the weapon is on the same plane of existence, they can summon it as a Bonus Action, teleporting instantly to the player’s hand.
There are up to two bonded weapons, but only one can be summoned at a time with a Bonus Action. If trying to bond with a third weapon, the bond must be broken with one of the other two.
Do Warlocks start with spells?
At 1st level, you have two 1st-level spells from the warlock spell list. You learn a new spell every time you gain a level from 2 through 9, and at level 19. The spell you choose must be no higher than the slot level column for your level. At 6th level, you learn a new spell of 1st, 2nd, or 3rd level. You can also choose a spell and replace it with another from the list, provided you have spell slots. Charisma is your spellcasting ability, and you use it when referring to a spell and when setting the saving throw DC for a spell.
What is the strongest warlock patron?
Dungeons and Dragons’ warlocks are mysterious individuals who sell themselves to a greater being to advance their power and knowledge of the arcane. These people reach beyond themselves towards powerful entities willing to grant them power in exchange for service. The powers they bestow range from impressive to astronomical, making them an envy to peers who don’t understand how they carry out such things in the field. The warlock Patrons are often referred to as “otherworldly patrons” and are rarely gods.
The Fiend is a dangerous otherworldly patron, while Undying Patrons teach warlocks to cheat death. The Fathomless Patron offers the air and sea, while The Great Old One is a terrifying and powerful patron. The warlock Patrons serve in their patron’s name, and their powers can range from impressive to astronomical.
Why are warlocks evil?
Warlocks are evil magical beings, often viewed as the evil counterparts to witches. They aim to kill witches and gain their powers to become more powerful. Warlocks are pure evil beings with no soul and are closely related to witches. Their origins can be traced back to the dawn of mankind when two young lovers found a nexus that granted them magic and turned them into the first witches. The woman, inherently good, was destined to protect the innocent, but the man had a dark side.
The couple returned to their village with their children, but faced hostility from the villagers. The woman accidentally killed her lover, and the Elders refused to save him due to his darkness. The woman learned that her sons inherited the same darkness and forged the first athame to take away their magic. However, the eldest son refused, causing nature to curse him and turn him into the first warlock.
What does a warlock start with?
Warlocks have a limited number of spell slots, making them rely on their Cantrips and Eldritch Invocations at later levels. At first level, Warlocks know 2 Cantrips and 2 Spells, but selected Cantrips cannot be swapped out at later times. The first Cantrip for Warlocks is Eldritch Blast, which has an incredible range and damage dice. It is recommended to use Friends as a backup when unable to reach the target.
Warlocks should also consider expanding their spell lists from their Patron, as they have limited spell slots. They should look for spells with prolonged effects or longer durations, as using one of their two slots for a quick, one-off effect is not beneficial. The first spell for Warlocks is Hex, which has a concentration time of an hour, deals additional damage every time you attack, only costs a bonus action to cast, and allows you to hex a specific ability that imposes disadvantage on the target every time they make an ability check.
Arms of Hadar is another spell recommended for Warlocks. While there are better multiple action spells like Witch Bolt, Arms of Hadar does not require concentration and won’t end your Hex spell early. It is an area of effect spell affecting all creatures within 10 feet of you (including allies) and still taking damage if they pass the save.
In summary, Warlocks need to focus on their Cantrips and Eldritch Invocations to maximize their spell slots and effectiveness.
Which spellcasters prepare spells?
The cleric, druid, paladin, ranger, and wizard classes require spell preparation, but can also use spontaneous casting. A character can only prepare spells they know for each class and uses a single slot for each instance. Resting allows certain classes to choose their spells in advance, making them available for casting. Some classes require spell preparation in advance, while others can use spontaneous casting.
Are Warlock patron spells always prepared?
At level 9, you can directly contact your patron through the Contact Other Plane spell, which saves a spell slot and automatically succeeds on the saving throw. This feature cannot be used again until you finish a Long Rest. At level 11, you can use an arcanum, a magical secret granted by your patron, which can only be used once. You can use this spell once without a spell slot, but must finish a Long Rest before using it again. You can reclaim all uses of your arcanum after a Long Rest.
At level 19, you can use an Epic Boon feat or another feat of your choice, with Boon of Fate being recommended. Each level allows you to replace one of your arcanum spells with another of the same level.
Is Vecna a warlock patron?
Vecna, a member of the “Dawn War Pantheon” and a deity of Greyhawk, is mentioned in various Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) games. In the Exandria setting, he is a Betrayer God, also known as the Whispered One. He was introduced in the Dungeons and Dragons web series Critical Role as the main villain in the last arc of the first campaign. However, the events of Critical Role were not added to the official Dungeons and Dragons canon until Joe Manganiello’s character Arkhan was added to the adventure module Baldur’s Gate: Descent Into Avernus.
Vox Machina’s fight with Vecna was further detailed in the official campaign sourcebook Explorer’s Guide to Wildemount. In June 2022, Wizards of the Coast released the Vecna Dossier as a digital exclusive on D and D Beyond, featuring background information and a 5th Edition statblock for Vecna in the updated style. In May 2024, Vecna is the main villain in the adventure module Vecna: Eve of Ruin, which launches a new storyline that will “play out over a five-year period, with other adventures bringing back more classic D and D villains”.
Are Warlocks full spellcasters?
Warlocks are now classified as half casters, a designation that replaces the previous categorization of them as pseudo full casters. This signifies that fifth edition warlocks are capable of casting a limited number of fifth-level spells, with a range of 12 to 16. Nevertheless, if they are able to fit in two or three short rests, this constitutes a notable enhancement in high-level spell casting. JavaScript is either disabled or blocked by extensions, and your browser does not support cookies.
📹 The Problem with Warlocks in D&D
Warlocks in D&D are one, if not the best class for roleplaying in all of DnD, so what’s the problem with the warlock class? Go check …
I had a celestial patron warlock that had a patron with a giant god complex and they just absolutely insisted that they were a cleric or a paladin, and it was hilarious. Over the course of the game they slowly built up a cult for their patron until they actually became a god and they became a real paladin.
I’ve been playing a half-orc barbarian for the last year and a half. I wanted to swap to a Goolock, but was hesitant because of the Eldritch Blast trap. My DM soothed my concerns. Me: “I just don’t want to do the same thing in every round of combat…” DM: “What do you do now?” Me: “Rage and hit stuff… oh.”
I have a Great Old One Warlock who sort of communicates with her patron through random inscrutable glyphs that appear in her book of shadows. Her patron is a nameless, formless entity of the Elemental Chaos that is just curious about the alien (to it) material plane and is using her as a sensor to look around. It works great for a Chaotic Neutral character with mental health issues.
Counterpoint on Pact of Chain being weak: Imps can turn themselves invisible whenever they want. Just, infinite invisibility. You need a spy, a saboteur, or a thief? Imp’s your boy. Imps also have a call-out in the Monster Manual that, when bonded as familiars, they share their Magic Resistance trait with their summoner. Advantage on all saves versus magic, hands down. Might require DM approval, but it’s there, Rules As Written.
I like this one. To make Warlock less Eldritch-blasty, I looked at adding and modifying invocations. Eldritch Spear and agonizing blast apply to a cantrip of your choice, not just Eldritch Blast. Chill Touch can restrain an opponent, requiring a wisdom save to escape. Magic Stone can knock a target prone when hit. I also use a Poison Ivy-based subclass that lets you get thorn whip, and that has some fun shenanigans.
In my campaign our Warlock and her patron are pretty much just friends. We reflavored Archfey to fit what she was going for. Basically, her character is really into using psychedelics/tripping. One day she tripped so hard that her consciousness transcended into the Feywild. This is where she met her patron, and they just kind of hit it off so the fey spirit decided to give her power. The fey spirit is now her “supplier”, and she uses a component pouch filled with “gifts” as an arcane focus. Also, her pact of the tome is actually a “pact of the pipe”, which she smokes to cast the cantrips it came with.
My first warlock character had a Great Old One patron. It was fun, because instead of just warlock learning from the patron how to cast spells through understanding secrets of Far Realm, the warlock was also teaching the patron secrets of Material Plane. Many of these Material Plane secrets would be worthless to most, but to the warlock… well it kinda taught him to appreciate the world a new, because the patron made him question things he took for granted.
I can’t believe you used footage of Rumpelstiltskin and forgot the Archfey patron. Rude. Loved all the Madoka Magica and Hazbin Hotel’s Alastor! My gf once made a great old one kenku warlock. Her patron? A reeeeeeally old tree. “Why does it always have to be cthulhu?” Her eb was flavored as a blast of wind filled with leaves and twigs. It was so cute!
Very valid criticisms and a super interesting subclass idea, although if I can offer a gentle defence of the base warlock – I find it interesting that it is, arguably, the only casting class that actually encourages players to play in the most strictly optimal way. By which I mean: usually, blasters are the worst casters. Crowd-control and shut down spells are so powerful in 5e that in most cases, the best use of any given spell slot is to spend it on a long concentration support or control spell (sleep and bless for 1st level, spike growth for 2nd, hypnotic pattern and sleet storm for 3rd, etc. etc. etc.). If you want to be able to take a large number of consecutive encounters (which 5e was clearly designed around, even if it’s not actually played that way by most players!), then the best possible use of your spellcasting feature is to spend a single slot at the start of each combat on a powerful shutdown or support spell and then chip away at enemies with cantrips for the rest of the fight, only spending another spell slot if your concentration is broken, for defence (e.g. shield, silvery barbs), or if the combat situation changes. Warlocks are exceptionally well designed to fit this playstyle. Having few spell slots encourages you to conserve them, which will naturally push you towards high-impact long-duration options like summons or control over lower-impact damage bursts. They even have one of the best control spells in the game – Hunger of Hadar – unique to their spell list.
I always had the idea that my patron was a Dragonborn with the ambition of controlling one of the nine Hells. And with this draconic patron it absolutely fits with our campaign that has two dragons fighting for the control of an entire region of the Sword Coast. Wish me luck on convincing my DM to accept this patron!
I actually like pact of the talisman, because 1) you don’t have to be the one to wear it and 2) there’s some invocation to give it special effects. Allows you to sort of protect one party member, which is great for rp. Invocations in general can be a reason for picking a pact, because each one gets a few exclusive ones you can choose
I’ve always interpreted Hexblade as making a pact with specifically a warrior entity. Like the Green Knight from Arthurian myth, an Einherjar from Norse mythology, the Archangel Michael from the Bible, Kai from Kung Fu Panda, Saint Celestine from Warhammer 40k etc. That’s the reason why your pact primarily manifests through your weapon. Your patron is a supernatural warrior, and as such, so are you.
I made out a beholder patron subclass; which turn the warlock in a control/summoner guy: Starting with giving the cantrip “mage hand” as bonus action shaped like a gazer, that can also shot a ray, darkvision to up 18m (or adding 9m if you already had DV), you’ll also allow yourself to get a gazer as familiar through the pact of the chain (which thanks to it’s ray will scramble lot the fights) You then learn to place invisible ocular tentacles on any surface close to you, your mage hand or familiar, you can always see through them and you can sacrifice their invisibility to cast spells throught them (aditionally you create one on your spot when you willingly sleep, so you are aware of the sourounding) and for the grand finale: at higher levels you can create MORE mage hands and MORE familiars, controlling all with the same action/bonus action
I love playing warlocks! I usually think of them as almost martial classes or half casters where the multi eldritch blast acts as the multi attacks martial classes get, but also have your spell slots for when shtf (counterspell/misty step/thunder step/fireball/dispell magic/remove curse/etc) Love your articles btw!
So there’s this home-brewed dragon that i found via an animator called dingo doodles that is called the liquid mercury dragon or something similar and from what i gathered there goes is people or the souls of people they come across and i think it would be an interesting idea if you sell your soul to this dragon in advance and are able to live separately for a few extra years before you actually join the dragon
Warlocks are just so unbelievably flavorful and I love them, and anytime some homebrew rules change short rests they’re just lovely to play. You get a TON of high level spells compared to other classes, and it makes you feel less spellslinger and more spellcannon, and I just like that feeling a ton more personally.
Missed point about the Pact of the Talisman: the 1d4 bonus it grants (and all the other powers it can gain through Invocations) are granted not exclusively to you, but to whoever is wearing it. If your Warlock has someone they want to protect, this is the natural choice narratively, and its mechanics reinforce that.
i’d love to see a “cursed” warlock subclass. cursed warlock is an individual who has had an unbreakable curse bestowed on them, perhaps because they displeased a powerful entity, betrayed their patron, or crossed a very powerful wizard. they have learned to delay the onset of their curse by siphoning power directly from it in order to cast spells. as they level up, the condition of their curse worsens, giving the warlock monstrous traits that they can weaponise into useful abilities (perhaps burning spell slots to do it).
My crackpot idea for a warlock subclass is the invisible hand, your pact spells are all spells that have components with required prices, and your main ability is to be able to cast those spells if you sacrifice the specified amount of gold the component would have cost instead of using the component itself.
I play as Pact of The Talisman is a Reaction steady of an Action (like guidance) and you can use it after you know if the attack or ability check has failed or not (what is a little bit different of guidance where you can cast after the dice roll but before the result). Guidance is much like you asking for help before something bad occurs, and pact of talisman is like you twisting the reality that already happened
I played a Deep Ones Warlock who went mad and got his powers by seeing the Eldritch being through a portal on a burglary gone wrong and his whole goal was to get his Patrons attention and become the valuable follower. Went a bit non-romantic yandere for his Patron at times thanks to his madness. Another fun Warlock I played was a Hexblade, but I wasn’t just the person holding the blade, I was the haunted blade. Possessing the wielder and using him as a meat puppet. Warlock is one of my favorite classes. My other favorite is artificer, which is another very customizable class.
Two of my favorite Warlock characters I have made are pretty neat in that they didn’t seek the pact they have. My first was a GOOlock who was just a conjuration professor who got to close to his patron, sapping most of his power (went from wizard to warlock). The second is a noble who inherented a pact from a great grandfather who was a Lich who cared about his legacy to the point of obsession, granting power to all of his decendants
I fully agree that warlock-Eldrich blast is basically a bad abusive relationship. However i feel like it can be fixed in a rather simple way. Make agonising blast a warlock class feature, and delete the Eldrich blast invocations. Instead add specific new abilities to warlock subclasses that boost eldrich blast in a way unique to each patron. So for example fiend would make the creature hit with Eldrich blast recieve additional fire damage, turning it into a blaster subclass its specific spells want it to be. Meanwhile fay can have a chance to charm them or something. Obviously the details would need to be figured out but it would at least solve the problem of the class seemingly being at war with itself
Jist dropping it here bit my all time favourite 3rd party Warlock Subclass is the Doom, which just flips the whole class on it’s head. It stops your cantrip scaling entirely, however it gives you an additional spells slot for each invocation you have. Catapulting your slots from 3 to 10 at 11th level. It’s absolutely delightful
I think you started talking about another game starting at 22:30 – I don’t think “there’s (an eldritch invocation) that heals you when you score a crit (with Eldritch Blast)” or “one that allows you to cast fireball as a bonus action with a hit.” As far as your proposal goes, I like the dragon patron but it doesn’t do much about Eldritch Blast. The dragon patron consumes spell slots; EB doesn’t compete with spell slots. EB is heavily used BECAUSE warlocks have pitifully few spell slots (as you point out earlier, short rests aren’t as common as designers planned for several reasons). I foresee dragon patron warlocks STILL loaded up with EB and invocations, so they can preserve their precious spell slots for the right moment.
I have another idea – I spied on one of the most iconic warlocks – Gul dan. The idea is that for their spell cells, the player must pay with health. And the more often he uses it, the higher the price. From now on, Warlock will have ONLY 2 cells for the entire progression, but he can restore one (or rather, get a new one) by paying the price in hp. At first, it will be a conditional 2 hp. A little bit, yes. The second time it will be 4. The third time it will be 8. The fourth time it will be 16 and I think you understand where this is going. You can take not a fixed number, but a roll of the dice, with the progression of the dice. At first, it’s 1d4 damage. On the second 1d6 and so on, up to 1d20. Like ordinary warlock spell cells, we retain their property of maximum strength, and the fact that they “recover” (or rather, burn out) after a short rest. Almost any damage spell will be stronger than the Eldritch Blast, which encourages you to actively sacrifice hp and receive persistent spells, rather than spam with this death ray. eldritch invocations will perfectly suit such mechanics, diversifying the warlock in a variety of ways. We can make an eldritch invocation to reduce the damage from getting cells, to add special powers to the Warlock himself, depending on the cells he received, for example, if the devil acts as a patron, then after receiving 4 cells at the cost of hp, the Warlock receives an aura of fire until the end of the battle. We don’t have to do anything with the Eldritch blast anymore.
I have strong feelings about why we don’t (and perhaps shouldn’t) have a dragon warlock subclass. Warlock make deals with an Otherworldly Patron. Dragons are not otherworldly. They have quite literally been described as “What devils are to the hells and what angels are to the heavens, dragons are to the material plane.” If you as a player wanted to meet your patron, for every official patron you’d have to perform some high-level magic to traverse the vast cosmos of the great wheel and the astral sea to even get in the same zip code as your patron. If your patron is a dragon you just need to step out of your house, take a particularly taxing hike and boom! You’re right at your patron’s doorstep. I really thought your solution to the eldritch blast problem was going to be to create a list of invocations that powered up cantrips other than eldritch blast. (before anyone says it, yes, I know about draconic echoes as referenced in Fizban’s. I suppose that would be suitably otherworldly enough to count as a warlock patron. Some people may not like acknowledging echoes because it’s either basically parallel timelines or potentially ruining the fun of killing an evil dragon because there’s an alternate copy of him on another world still alive, kicking, completely unbothered by the actions of the party, who literally has no way to kill all versions of the dragon without Wish (or Dream of the Blue Veil, literally the most situational spell ever made).)
I would make the character a philactory for a Draconic Lich. Someone who agreed to be his host in the event of his death. And as a by product of this contract, the host can summon a vestige of it to fight with him. This works very well with jobs the patron assigns as the patron literally manifests itself to take care of the problem. So cool! ❤
Druidic pact(or Locus pact if you want to be fancy): Your patron is a Genius Loci, exchange spell slot for wildshape of the same CR level or lower, charming animals once per short/long rest by trading one spell slot, the ability to poison for one minute whoever was attacked by your unarmed attack and the damage depends on charisma modifier, always by trading those sweet spell slots, and your eldritch blast has ability related to the terrain your patron inhabits if you find yourself on that kind of terrain(ex. forest entangle, desert exhaust, ecc…) and a saving throw is failed. Upon your death, your souls will be turned into a guardian for the locus.
Quick correction, the mod that makes blast reduce movement speed is only for one target once. Warlock was my first character and over a year I got veeery familiar with what I could and couldn’t do with it. Voice of the Chain Master + Dimension Door was a great combo for utility. Also I was rarely casting Blast late game because I had gone for AoE control spells and the DM had custom feats. One was an extra pact slot on a repeatable feat which helped solve the spell slots issue (spell gems and rod of the pact keeper are also useful).
I have an undead warlock who, during his regular mortal life, was a scourge aasimar and was fatally injured in an ambush. But when the reaper came for his soul, he instead convinced it to spare him so that he could exact vengeance, promising servitude for the remainder of his life in return. He became a fallen aasimar the moment the pact was signed and now he acts as the eyes and ears of his patron.
I would die for Bog, he is a good boy Also, a lot of the complaints about Warlocks are addressed in the system Level Up: A5E, it’s for 5e basically what Pathfinder 1e was for 3.5, their take on the Warlock class is really cool and I think it fixes a lot of the class. It uses spell points to allow for a more versatile casting mechanic than other casters without being super restrictive, Eldritch Blast is a class feature that gives you multiple ways to use it (including some melee options), and the class is super customizable in deeper and more complex ways than the 5e version
I Hexlockadin all the time. It’s such a flavorful combo. You can have a nobody who finds a magic sword, gets in touch with the Raven Queen (or setting specific deity/force of your choice), and with the power promised creates/takes the oath that they go as Paladin. Treat the paladin and warlock abilities as coming from the same source and you have potential for a really neat story.
I found the Warlock toolkit to be the perfect fit for my DM PC: limited spells to keep track of (I give her support spells to help my players), I rarely have to plan her turn (eldritch blast the bad guy) which gives me more brain-space to puppet the enemies around, and having a powerful Patron makes her mysterious and suspicious, both of which I can play into as I develop the story or plan plot-twists
Pact of the familiar is very powerful if you do it right. 1. Tinkerbell rocks! With the right invocations. the bow hits with your BA, a failed con save against YOUR spell DC will poison the enemy for 1 minute. 2. Give Tinkerbell the “Eyes of the eagle”. Now you have an invisible drone 3000 ft high making out out details of even extremely distant creatures and objects as small as 2 feet across.
The solution I usually try to run for Warlock is to play into whatever fantasy my player wants to run with. Doesn’t want to run Eldritch Blast? Well, let’s make some custom invocations that fit their flavor. One of my personal favorites was a Great Old One Warlock that gained Vicious Mockery as a cantrip, dealing an extra D4 of damage and stunning targets who failed it for the first time every day.
To skip the Fae flavor, oh the missed opportunities… But seriously, well said, and well done. If I may just whisper one little piece of feedback… The Draconic Heart gift. Read that alongside the Eldritch Invocation Fiendish Vigor, and the infamous spell Armor of Agathys. I believe you may notice that, since temp HP cannot coexist, that specific gift needs quite the tuning to be an actual choice. 😉
I got pact of the talisman for Rebuke of the Talisman, because its a guaranteed push back and damage if you get hit at melee, combo that with fathomless’s, slowing tentacle, lance of lethargy, and repelling blast and you have a powerful CC warlock who can push enemies back into your many different aoes over and over.
Great article, as alwys! I actually played a kinda similar character once – Dridri, Celestial Warlock. He was a weak kobold that got enslaved and caged, so he formed a pact with a celestial golden dragon (and became golden-scaled as a mark). Loved the little guy and would play him again in an instant 😅
I always thought it would be funny to play as a patron who’s a complete pushover and has given away all of their power as a result. The reason I find this funny, is you could spend the campaign giving away whatever additional power you get and maybe have some mechanic where you roll to gain levels on a long rest because of warlocks dying or breaking pacts, but whenever anyone seems like they’re in trouble or just pushes you a little you give in and make them a warlock by giving up a level. This way the entire party could spend the entire campaign screaming “oh my god, fucking stop!”
I personally never had a problem with short rests with my elven warlock since the DM had given me winged boots, so my elf basically just meditated for an hour while being dragged along by another party member like some kind of sleepy, eldritch-powered balloon whenever the group had to walk anywhere and I needed to recharge my uses of invisiblity or tongues. Was pretty great, really. Also I’m currently playing a druid who’s life goal is to wildshape into a dragon, so they may end up making a deal with a dragon at some point if my DM is feeling generous >:)
My most batshit insane character idea is a Great Old One Kenku who’s warlock patron is Tzeentch, the plot twist being that this pact is for the Kenku to become Tzeentch, the Warhammer deity of breaking absolutely everything creates himself through intentionally creating a causal violation, a contract with himself from before he was ever himself, and yet from after the countless eons for which he has always existed.
I absolutely love this subclass! The theming is great and you can really feel the draconic influence in the mechanics. Getting one legendary resistance per long rest is genius, and 10th level is the perfect time to do it. However.. I have some questions and some suggestions. 1. You state that ” All damage done by spells in the Dragon Expanded Spells table below will correspond to the damage of your patron’s dragon kind” This is self explanatory for Flaming Sphere, Cloud Kill, and Cone of Cold. But what about Fire Shield? Fire Shield can create either a warm shield dealing fire damage and resistance to cold damage or a cold shield dealing cold damage and resistance to fire damage. If my patron is a copper dragon do I get an acid shield? What does it give me resistance to? If I try to play this RAW I would guess that I still pick a warm shield or cold shield and that they both do acid damage? but that feels a little clunky. 2. The “Warden” Dragon Kind feels like overpowered home brew when compared to the rest of the list. Force damage is just too powerful and it becomes the only option unless you want to nerf yourself for flavor. I would recommend replacing it with the Black Dragon Kind for a chromatic acid option. 3. Draconic Claws is underpowered for a class that doesn’t get multi attack and only gets worse over time, It should at least scale at 5th and 11th level. 4. I’m a big fan of Draconic Essence at 14th level. Choosing between permanent flight or blindsight would be a fun and impactful choice for me and worthy of a 14th level feature.
This is great. I actually had a Warlock planned for a long time who’s patron is a dragon. I was going to just take the great old one and say it’s a draconic 4th dimensional being, but your subclass is exactly what I needed. Now my part of the pact. The character made the pact because they were almost being killed when finding the place this dragon patron was sealed away. The dragon offered them to give power so they could kill their pursuers in turn help the dragon to break the seal. They actually become friends later, since the dragon is bored being sealed away and can only talk to his warlock telepathically to kill time.
I figured you’d gripe about few spell slots and limiting capabilities. XD May I present exhibit A: 🌟Eldritch Invocations can give you at will spells and once per long rest spells like wizard🌟 I know warlock has its issues but I just love all the ways you can customize it. So many combinations and so many boons 🤩
I have a warlock I want to play who is a very young archfey’s childhood pet. Not in a kinky way, she’s a pet pet. Her owner obtained her in a deal, not actually knowing what a “Firstborn child” was and assuming it was something tasty, and then decided to keep her because she was cute. Now she’s 22 and is a beloved pet going to the human world in search of the recipe for a custard pie her owner/patron ate 20 years ago. Her spellcasting focus is a wristband with her name and the ritual for contacting the archfey in case she gets lost.
I’ve been working on a homebrew subclass called Eldritch Master, where you get eldritch blast for free and a bunch of battle master manoeuvre/metamagic style features to choose from, modifying your blast. My aim isn’t to just write off Eldritch Blast spam, but to give its spammers more choices via resource management and momentarily buffing the blast so it serves different purposes
Idea: An Eldritch Gambler. Warlock that reflects the wild magic sorcerer by taking big risks in battle to obtain semi-random buffs/alterations to their combat style. Depending on their luck, they may have to fight like a hex-blade, they may shape shift into an alligator, they may gain a bunch of first level spell slots. Role-play is built around rewarding strategic risk taking and the obligations under the pact are part of a larger “game” with their patron.
I had a celestial warlock and divine soul sorcerer aasimar that I used while my character was off on a side campaign and I gotta say if you like cleric, but want to be even better at being a healer, that was the most busted combo in existence. The character was a pacifist and would only use telekinesis to move enemies away, but the healing output was so wild it made my DM very relieved when we were finally able to kill him off. Made for a fantastic story beat where his patron (dad cause he’s an aasimar divine soul sorcerer) came down and barely saved the other two party members who were inflicted by this wild poison from the villain. (The villain was another character of mine that I gave control of to the dm after our side campaign where I played him. Changeling shadow monk/rogue. Absolutely filthy combo and made us violently paranoid once he became our groups villain.) This is all to say that busted multiclasses are very common in our currently 5 year long campaign, only our wizard is a solo class (my main character is a barbarian/sorcerer tho so he’s not crazy busted) and it is fine to make absurdly strong meta multiclasses provided you work with your dm and preferably make them one off characters that you are willing to let die for story beats. Characters like my golden healer boy make for amazing story potential and our group still remembers his loss as one of our greatest failures (which was the DM and my plan that we didn’t share with the others) and made for some of the best dnd we’ve had in the 5 years we’ve been doing this campaign (take semi frequent breaks to do side campaigns in the world you are doing the main campaign in.
In one of my campaigns I am playing a Bladesinger Wizard with 2 backup characters, a hexblade warlock and a divine soul sorcerer. I relate with the sentiment that any subclass which changes the fundamental aspect of your chosen class is fucking sick. Btw my bladesinger wizard has around 24 AC at level 3 thanks to a combo of mage armour, +3 dex mod, +3 int mod and shield. They also took mirror image so an enemy with anything less than +5 to hit can only connect with a crit and they still have to hit me rather than a fake. He also took shocking grasp to take away enemy reactions and metamagic adept just to fuck with the DM
A hot-patch fix (very dependent on the table) could also be to give a Warlock who doesn’t take Eldritch blast the ability to regain their spell slots (some number of times) per long rest. Effectively giving the warlock the ability to take (some number) of short rests without it bogging down the rest of the party. (Admittedly, this makes the assumption that people take eldritch blast because their spell slots are so limited which is imperfect but could be enough. The (number of times) variable is just determined by “how many short rests does my table take in reality” vs “how many short rests does the rulebook think my table should be taking”).
Related to the last bit, I always thought that Wyll should get something specific to him from the Ansur fight. You get cool gear but that can be given to literally anyone. Instead, replace as his patron with a motherfucking dragon after he recognizes Wyll as the inheritor of the city’s will, now that the dirt with the Emperor is out in the open.
Having played several warlocks, if you’re in a large or balanced party it doesn’t make that much difference to not focus on Eldritch blast, especially if you can fill another niche that is needed in the group or campaign. For example in a heavily stealth focused campaign I got a ton of use out of the Awakened Mind ability, to communicate without talking while sneaking around enemies.
how i help warlock personally is implementing the following changes; – remove agonizing blast – only one invocation mentioning eldritch blast can be used by a warlock at a time, unless an invocation is accessed through the eldritch adept feat, in which the invocation accessed through the feat may also mention eldritch blast (making the opportunity cost larger for eb spam builds) – make shortrests like 20 minutes!!! hit die already limit how much benefit you can get from them, this doesn’t make them or monks overpowered in my experience
I love the Warlock class in my homebrew world I had some actual Warlock Orders The Sky Lords: A group of dragon warlocks made by a Platinum Dragon named Felwinter however he was always disguised as a tall, brolic, human knight as his dragon form could inspire a cult. The Lucent Blades: While primarily the first Aasimar made by a pact with the Celestial Lucifer and the city of Concordia. Lucifer and his partner Paimon would often appoint mortals as their servants to do other tasks while the Aasimar did their thing. Lords Of Ashes: A group of mages made by a Red Dragon although some members were his genetic descendants and therefore sorcerers and others warlock servants who gave their services for safety in the dragon’s cult.
My fix to warlocks is to add Medium armor to Pact of the Blade so you can roll melee without being forced to go Hex-blade. Then I allow warlocks to regain spell slots with a 1 minute ritual once per short rest, that way you need half as many short rests. I also like to just give them 1 more spell slot so whatever the spell slot table says you add 1 to it. You still want to take 1 or 2 invocations to improve eldritch blast to make sure you have a decent ranged option, but this way you aren’t afraid to use your spell slots to cast combat buffs and run in. These changes benefit both the current warlock and the 2024 Warlock, though I’d home-brew a new capstone for your warlocks based on their subclass since we’re giving a better version of it at like level 2. Maybe invoke aspect of patron giving a 1 minute buff similar to the Paladin Capstone that changes based on which patron you have. I also allow them to cast any Ritual Spells they may have as rituals which is just a thing I let all casters do (Half, Quarter, Warlock, Whatever). I feel it adds flavor and fun to the out of combat parts of the game.
Okay so, the problem with Eldritch blast is one i noticed, which is why i make it a challenge to not pick Eldritch blast. At least in the earlier levels. And then in later levels, using it sparingly and trying other strategies instead. My second ever warlock was a hexblade with pact of the blade. And since i was building it for a level 3 one shot i was able to pick improved pact weapon. After noticing that pact of the blade let you choose what weapon to summon. I then chose to be a warforged so that i could flavour it as my arm becoming the weapon Transformers style. And during fights i often changed the weapon i was using to suit specific needs. Need long range? Crossbow. Need something to smash a skull? Mace. Need to cut a rope? Sword. It allowed me to become incredibly versatile both in and out of battle. My newest warlock is a custom subclass based on the web from tma. So for flavour i pick pact of the chain and use a spider. I once again don’t have Eldritch blast, instead picking shocking grasp and magic stone as they can be cast through my familiar. Who can also attack with either an action or bonus action..
I kind of figured recently (once i understood the concept of spell casting abilities per class) that the reason you need Charisma as yourspellcasting ability is because you need to have a good relationship with your patron. Whereas other Charisma spellcasters use their charisma in slightly different ways. Like Sorcerors use charisma to charm the pants off the weave / mystra, and Bards more so charm the pants off other people. The warlock charms the pants off of their Agave Father and use another patrons power 2nd hand. Even if that power is given by a Hexblade, you gotta have your magical kitchen knife love you enough to want to bond with you too!
I think you severely undervalue pact of the chain. Even without invocations its pretty amazing and with them it can get insane. First, the best options can turn invisible, which makes them far better scouts than any ordinary familiar. However another big thing overlooked here is their intelligence. A sprite has an intelligence of 14, which is probably higher than your warlock. A big problem with the normal find familiar spell is that beyond 100ft your familiars ability to scout is very limited. With a sprite or an imp you can send them out on a detailed scouting mission, and they can report complex and exact details back to you. You can send them into an enemy camp and they can tell you how many enemies, what type of weapons they have, who are likely to be spellcasters, guard rotations, ect. Next, their are two invocations that make this pact really good. The first is voice of the chain master. With this the range of you telepathic communication becomes unlimited. This allows for incredibly detailed plans and scouting. Its like having a permanent non concentration arcane eye, but that can also interact with objects. Steel the keys from the prison warden, plant false documents in the nobles chambers, pour grease on the stairs just before the king walks down them. The creative possibilities are endless, and that’s not even mentioning using the ability to speak through your familiar. Secondly, for combat, even higher level combat, investiture of the chain master is very strong, in particular with the sprite.
Little late to the party, but I enjoyed the article! The only other thing I would mention is that, with hexblades / pact of the blade specifically, eldritch blast with agonizing blast is still 9/10 times the BEST option. Unless you build your hexblade with great weapon master or polearm master, eldritch blast still edges out, ESPECIALLY at later levels. It is ridiculous just how powerful eldritch blast is. And I really have to agree with the whole “well, I could choose to not grab Agonizing Blast but why would I?” Sure, I could just not grab the BEST INVOCATION IN THE ENTIRE GAME, but, if I do, I’m making myself weaker, and, for what? Beyond this, I actually did something very similar with warlock and a draconic subclass. I always thought, “Why wouldn’t a dragon, so innately magical, not have minions?” I mean, there’s entire cults dedicated to these majestic creatures. Ironically, it actually turned out pretty similar too, with me granting a first level transformation that grows more powerful as you level up, and a sort of pseudo-draconic presence too!
Pact of the Chain is basically strictly worse than Pact of the Tome. PotT lets you learn ritual spells, including Find Familiar, sure you don’t get the slightly-less-sucky summons, but you mostly just want them for triggering sneak attack and taking the Help action. Oh, and the +5 passive perception from the owl, always take the owl.
Dude! All these series you have are AMAZING, I listen to them at work (your familiar is outstanding) so thank you for all your hard work. If I were a warlock I would form a pact for the ability to watch the world turn till it ends. I love a good story and try to complete each one I pick up so I would want to witness how things end when the last grain of sand falls. Oh and btw I’m wondering what info you can give on playing a Yuan-ti/Yuan-li? I love reptiles but like you I stay away from dragon’s.
I have had a passing interest in Warlocks. I like the theming of the pacts and such, but I felt most of them made warlocks be more dark than I usually like to play. I also happen to be a huge fan of dragons, despite also agreeing with you that dragons in D&D are basically big magical monsters for players to battle and feel a great accomplishment in defeating. I’ve loved your recent dragon articles because of how interesting you’ve made dragons and I also now see an interesting way I feel I can play a warlock as well.
I usually love your backstories a little more than your subclasses but this one seems really cool enought to avoid going Hexblade/pact of the blade combo (and for many, this is basically THE only choice if you want to play a Warlock) I almost suggest you to make an invocation to add the damage type of your patron to your eldritch blast but the whole thing about this is to make the other traits of the class more appealing than just eldritch blasting your way through life.
NGL, the whole rant here about Eldrich Blast actually had me debating homebrewing it as a class feature, rolling in all of it’s invocations over progression. Current workshop idea is the following: LvL 2 – They gain Eldrich Blast, and can cast it the amount of times matching their Proficiency, gaining the casts back with a Short Rest like all of their spells. LvL 5 – Agonizing Blast kicks in, allowing them to get CHA bonus to damage. Probably redundant and I should fold in Agonizing with the default as it’s now a class feature, but figured maybe keeping some of the effectiveness down for those early levels. LvL 11 – Grasp of Hadar kicks in, comboing all the movement invocations into one feature, and allowing the warlock to pull or push a target, alongside the debuff that comes from Grasp. LvL 17 – Eldrich Spear kicks in, increasing the sniping range for those long-ranged end-game combats against dragons and devils and such.
Best vid yet! I know what I’d make a pact for. When I was young,I didn’t wanna become my father. He worked very hard to raise a family,married young and took the retail pact. I wanted to be an actor,live the cool life. If I could go back,I’d be a family lez. I’d make my father’s pact and be good to my wife and kids. I’d work retail and take the kids to the movies. A stable life for my party. A lesbian father,instead of a lez daddy.
Hex Blade is not confusing if you have ever read Michael Moorcock’s books — this whole idea in D&D 5e is obviously inspired by the sword “Stormbringer” from that classic series. The general idea was that an ancient “chaos” entity had taken the form of a sword. In old AD&D days, there was a sword called the Black Razor in the White Plume Mountain module that was inspired by Stormbringer.
For Warlock, here’s a story design for Hexblade (honestly, D&D is still a bit new for me so if there’s anything that doesn’t really make sense in D&D rules please feel free to point it out): You were originally a sorcerer researching debris or remnants of pre-historical primordials (by “researching”, I mean scavenging since I don’t think “research” matches the vibe of a typical sorcerer), and one day you found a powerful relic (like Karsus Crown) that contains god-like power of a dead unknown primordial (it’s basically just a carcass). While trying to absorb and wield it, you found out that your mortal flesh could not withstand such power or your body and soul would either disintegrate or mutate into abomination. To avoid such tragedy, you somehow managed to transfer this power into a sword as a mediator. However, while the power was successfully transferred, so did your subconscious (part of your own soul) due to some unexpected issues. Because of this, this sword, which contains the power you transferred and your subconscious, started to have will. Not only it really wanted to find out how did it ended up being trapped in a sword, but also the way to reunite with the original soul which is yours. Therefore, you formed a pact with this sword in exchange for the power your subconscious could excavate from the power you sealed in this sword (which, of course, includes Hex and Eldritch Blast), and you need to harmonize with your subconscious by either solving puzzles or overcoming your own flaws (basically self re-discovery).
love warlocks for the roleplay, but yeah, I struggle in combat. Maybe because my last spellcaster was a cleric, so I feel useless always resorting to cantrips when my 2 big spells are gone. It doesn’t feel fun just spamming one cantrip over and over. But gods, RP-wise it’s a lot of fun! My fiend warlock has to hide her devil-worship because ‘devils bad’, but her archdevil-patron is so chill. Like, when she’s mourning the people she lost, he’ll send her happy memories of them in her dreams or make her smell the once familiar scent of them. She’s been his warlock for years and only recently did he ask her to do anything – which was just “Go kill a guy you were already going to kill”. Did she sell her soul to him? Sure, but that’s just a silly little detail that’s totally fine! I swear! Nothing bad will come of that! There’s so many ways to approach the relationship between patron and warlock. It’s great!
I echo a lot of the pains pointed out in this article. The only two cents I could add is that the Great Old One patron (my fave) doesn’t have to be completely unresponsive to the warlock. The OG GOO warlocks (the Star Warlock from 4th ed) had a list of cosmic patrons with actual agendas which were the focus of the Abolethic Sovereignty trilogy (yes, this is canonical D&D lore). Of the various Far Realm star entities the clearest choice for a patron was Caiphon, the Dream Whisperer, who would often task his warlocks to actively involve themselves with mortal politics and generally push the agenda of the Far Realm. Caiphon would also pose as a benevolent teacher, invading his servant’s minds while they slept. Another good choice was Ulban, who is essentially a comet-shaped blob of consciousness that is also a time traveler from a future where the Far Realm won. He is now essentially another GOO/star entity and literally blinks in and out of reality/the time-space continuum. His influence is incredibly disruptive to people’s cognitive abilities but those who survive become his warlocks and he charges them with thwarting the plans of the other elder evil stars. And finally Allabar who is a literal sentient planet and the key to merging the Far Realm and reality (The Opener of the Gate). If you want a traditionally evil Cthulhu patron then you have him. So I have to respectfully disagree that the Great Old One patron is not conductive to interesting interactions. They may be unknowable, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have agendas and can’t communicate with their followers and cultists.
Eldritch blast ‘overfocus’ is a consequence of combat being the dominating pillar of 5e (lol what exploration?), and within that pillar, combat being an overly optimized damage race. Putting more non-combat challenges in front of players, and designing combat that isn’t better tackled primarily with ‘bigger numbers’. If your player builds a blast-lock, it’s because the campaign made that the best move with the hurdles they encounter.
Warlocks are boring because they only do the same thing every turn. Meanwhile, the fighter: I swing my sword. I swing my sword again. The Paladin: I smite. I smite again. I’m out of smite, so I swing my sword.” The ranger: “I shoot my bow. I shoot my bow again.” The wizard: “I actually do interesting things! Oh, I’m only level 2? Firebolt.”
My beef with warlock is ironically what you like about it: it comes with its own story strapped on. As a DM, your patron is forcing me to do its plot. As a player, it’s even worse – the warlock has a boss telling them what to do and as the warlock’s party member now they’re my boss too.What if I don’t want my setting to revolve around selling souls? If I don’t want to do the Faust story, what am I supposed to do with a warlock? they come with the patron thing baked in. A fighter or a rogue can be anything, but a warlock is always tied to some supernatural shot-caller.
I’m not really familiar to the warlocks (and 5e) as i mostly played pathfinder (and 3.5e articlegames), but i played it in BG3 (and my current adventure with friends, which was 1 session… half a year ago… and it’s in the “it’s not abandoned” state). And pathfinder’s warlock is… witch (roleplay-wise) and kineticist (gameplay-wise). And i’m pretty sure we’re talking gameplay-wise here. So the thing is, i don’t see eldritch blast as a spell. For me eldritch blast is what arcane archer supposed to be. And i do love that option to exist. My idea for solving warlock’s “blandness” is to move the whole eldritch blast thing into it’s own pact, and make the pact/invocations the main source of power of warlock that doesn’t assume that you buff eldritch blast to hell and back. Pact of the chain? Now it’s an eidolon, and through the pact line you can buff it into becoming a towering world-eating demigod. Pact of the tome? Now you have more spellslots and access to spells of other classes, and can even restore them in combat by hurting yourself(something like con drain, with ways to self-remedy it). Pact of the blade? …Just move the entire hexblade into it, there is 0 reason for them to be separate mechanically wise. Pact of the Talisman? Now you can make several, each with their own effect, and even imprint a spell into it to activate on certain conditions.
Duuuude draconic patrons sounds AWESOME!!! i nearly cried when you started bringing up gaining draconic traits bc i thought this would be going the way of draconic sorceror which is nearly useless if youre a dragonborn, you gain almost nothing that being that race didnt already give you but no, BECOMING A DRAGON IS SO MUCH BETTER!!!
You can stack Pact of the Talisman with Bless (Protection of the Talisman) or Guidance, and Emboldening Bond from Peace Domain. You’re using it if you fail. With Paladin’s Aura that means an average saving throw of 23 without your modifiers (Maybe we shouldn’t go this route since the cockroaches may break the game). Or stack with Dark One’s Blessing (The Fiend) and Favored by the Gods (Divine Soul) for meme shenanigans. Or you can give the talisman to your Tasha’s summon. Warlock can be a great starting point if you follow the rails or when you know when and how took out of the rails and go off-road, the warlock can be your edgy fighter or archer. Options are vast. I would like to play my Crowd Control cosmic character I was thinking of (The Genie Warlock / Divine Soul Sorcerer / Oath of the Watchers Paladin). There is simply no enough time to explore all possibilities in a lifetime.
I’ve thought for a while that sorcerer and warlock features are the wrong way round, lore wise. Blasting out raw magic, recovering spell slots quickly, having just a few slots that are automatically cast at highest level, and having different invocations that can work as magical mutations, all sound like things someone with an undisciplined natural ability to tap into powerful magic with little study. Whereas accessing metamagic to “cheat” at regular spellcasting sounds like something a ruthless mage might make a deal for to access unnatural magic after studying unconventional occult arts. Of course it isn’t a one for one conversion.
my character is a paladin oath of ancient hexblade warlock sorcerer divine soul… the flavour I added is the character patron is sealed inside him and is a angel who rebels… his race is aasimar because of this and all his powers come from the angel sealed inside… the assimar powers and wings are the angel wings and healing…the sorcerer divine soul … what is more divine soul that having a literal angel sealed… the only part who is all the protagonist is the paladin who make a oath on his father sword… and about the warlock the angel is kinda piss and website his powers trough the sword and the eldritch blast is the darkness the Angel developed
I made a warlock who was more a spy then anything else. my starter feat cause our dm is nice. was telepathy. so I can do professor X style stuff and be a working wifi for the party to communicate without speaking. and good at deception(best skill+6) persuasion performance intimidation(all+4) and slight of hand(+3). also I picked pact of the chain cause the familiar can be used like a spy to see through its eyes or a mobile casting point by casting through it. I did take warcaster as my feat but thats because I picked armor of shadows and agonizing blast cause i wanna take repelling as next one I get and turn my Eblast into a eldritch shotgun. also trained using downtime to learn to use a sword alchemy and poisoning. So.. I think im pretty good for someone who is basically trying to be an arcanaloth
I went through a campaign recently where I character-swapped half way through the campaign (there were story reasons that my original character became essentially unplayable (don’t worry, driven by me, not the DM)). I swapped to a Warlock. Dispater Tiefling with an Archfey Patron, and Pact of the Tome. Their pact requirement? that they MUST use disguise self every single day without fail to change their appearance, and that appearance must be something different than the day before. I did not take a single eldritch blast invocation on them; in fact, the only major combat spell that I selected on them other than eldritch blast was mental prison. Other than EB, every spell taken was useful in some way outside of combat. I ended up being the one to finish off the BBEG. How? Plane shift. Only time I used the spell the entire campaign; I’d only selected it as a flavor option, really. I Plane Shifted the BBEG back to where we had originally met them: Barovia (the campaign was an abandoned CoS run that we gave up on because…..shenanigans, and the DM couldn’t take the tone anymore). BBEG died staring up at the sunless sky, severed from a soul-forge sustaining them, and I did it as a last ditch effort after we’d burned almost all our resources. I killed the BBEG by playing them as a straight utility lock, and its the most satisfying thing I thing I’d ever done in a TTRPG. Also, trust me: that BBEG deserved to die in Barovia. 😛
The Problem with Warlocks is the DMs, tbh, and people who only see it as “Sell your soul to be betrayed.” in the same way that if you had a Paladin the future for them is “Paladin Falls.” DMs never allow short rests, you try and you get ambushed or some other BS. I’ve even had a DM give the Monk and Fighter an Item to let them get the effect of a short rest for their abilities while telling me “Warlock is too good, you don’t need it.” When all I’m regulated to is an EB Cannon, oh and I cannot take any of the EB boosts, because they are too good.
Some of the invocations you complain about are…very old playtest material that got cut years ago and never made it into a book. The eldritch blast healing (Raven Queen’s Blessing) was from a 2017 Unearthed Arcana and never made it to print. The eldritch blast fireball (Kiss of Mephistopheles) was from a different 2017 Unearthed Arcana which also never made it to print. Typically DMs don’t allow stuff that was playtested and cut–cuts happened for a reason. Most DMs if they allow playtest material will only allow the new stuff–stuff that might show up in an upcoming book and is fun to try out early. — At any rate…yes “must pick” invocations are a design problem. I agree. Although I think you overstate the problem? You don’t usually need more than two invocations dedicated to eldritch blast, and you have three invocations by level 5, 4 invocations by level 7, 5 invocations by level 9. So yeah, you do need to pay the eldritch blast “tax”, but you still have 2-3 invocations to play with at middle levels that campaigns often reach.
Warlock: Pact of the Scale You have made a pact with a great dragon, a creature of immeasurable power and potential. While the motivations and mechanizations of all dragons, particularly between colors vary, what they all have in common is that they are beings that command great respect and failing to show that respect will quickly be your undoing even from the most benign dragon. Expanded Spell list: 1st level: Speak with Animals, Identify 2nd level: Alter Self, Dragon’s Breath 3rd level: Protection from Energy, Fireball 4th level: Dominate Beast, Stoneskin 5th level: Legend Lore, Summon Draconic Spirit Draconic Will: At first level your draconic allegiance grants you the unbreakable will of dragons, Any effect that would charm or fear you can only last one turn. Draconic Fury: Also starting at first level you may change the damage type of a cantrip or spell you cast that deals either Fire, Cold, Lightning, Acid, Poison, or Force damage into the damage type of your Patron. Draconic Scales: Starting at 6th level you gain resistance to whatever damage type matches the color of your patron (acid, poison, fire, ice or lightning) as well as to slashing damage. When you deal damage with a spell that deals the same damage type of your Patron’s Scales you deal additional damage equal to your Charisma modifier (min 1) Unfurling Wings: Starting at 10th level you can sprout draconic wings and fly equal to your movement speed. You cannot fly if you are wearing medium or heavier armor, or if your clothing does not accommodate your wings.
I think the issue many people have with Warlock isn’t with the class itself but with the players not taking advantage of the roleplay and customization of Warlocks. I play a warlock bard who essentially is in an unhinged relationship with his patron(fiend) and the pact being I have to successfully seduce a creature once every full moon to keep my magic and use as a temp host for patron. Plus my catchphrase after a fight is ” punish them mommy for they know exactly what they do” much to the clerics horror
another goofy thing about eldritch blast (At least in bg3): so many builds go around it because of crits being funny in the game, a level 10 evocation wizard using fire bolt gets a crit, that’s 4d10+INT fire damage, pretty good for a cantrip, but if the same wizard casts eldritch blast using the feat spell sniper, then boom, suddenly they do 3d10+INT*3 to up to 6d10+INT*3 which can easily out damage level 6 spells like sunbeam against single targets, and that’s without other modifiers such as the equipment in the game that can add additional INT scaling or even to cast it as a bonus action as well. Either way, the reputation it has completely changes how players use warlock, but I accidentally found out in a great campaign playing as a Wizard/Warlock who made a deal with an elder god to bestow knowledge on him, I picked up agonizing blast and the damage spiked so bad we didn’t know what to do to balance things out.
I have played a warlock without eldritch spells… and i made it work. How? Warlocks are charisma classes. I talked my way out of situations…. including becoming a prophet for a new goblin religion by using cantrips like thaumaturgy and presdigitation to show my “miracles”. My patron was very happy.
Warlock needs a rebalancing. The key issue is not that EB is the better choice 99% of the time. It’s in fact NOT the better choice. Sure, it’s CONSISTENT and that is good. The key issue is that Warlocks have so little spell slots, that they end up using only EB because they are saving their slots for the dicey parts of the session, and they end up improving it because they are basically spamming it, so it makes sense to make it better. The other issue, is that by making the EB invocations so good, they are basically the only choice at any giving level, which you pointed out. The way I fixed it was by: 1- Making EB and their invocations as core parts of the class features, not selectable. Give EB at level 1 as a class feature, and every few levels you give a choice of the invocations as part of the core progressions. Make customizing your EB a core part of the Class Experience, just like choosing your invocations. 2- Giving the player more spell slots. By plainly giving more spell slots, for example, one at every other level until level 10, when they get their mystic spell slots. Or more thematically, by sacrificing something to recover spell slots. Could be health, max health until next long rest, or even hit die. Or maybe something specific for each patron, fiends could accept blood from a pure vessel(like children or virgins), old one could be a part of one’s memory or sanity, etc. If you do this, warlocks become the perfect class. Not in the sense that they are better at the game, but they become so much more flavorful that playing a warlock would be the most amazing experience.
I still think Pact of the Chain is cool, but that’s mostly because I have an idea for a warlock based around that that I haven’t got to play yet. Your patron is some big demon guy, but you have a side-deal with your imp familiar homie to the effect of “look. All the free magical abilities and stuff are dope. But I really don’t want to work for this guy. I don’t want to work for anybody. So, make you a deal. I help you power up and work your way through the bureaucracy of hell, we overthrow my boss, and you’re my patron. And I will owe you nothing. I get free magic forever and you get to be king of hell. Deal?” I think that would be a fun storyline.