Nerdarchy hey quick question what happens when you make an aasimar celestial warlock because the celestial pact gives you radiant resistance but as an aasimar you already have that is that feature wasted or what
When making a Warlock always haggle for the best deal, sell your soul at a premium. Try and get some stock options while you're at it. Never take the first offer.
As a Tiefling Hexblade, I have the darkness spell as a racial spell, I once used this to save the barbarian who failed his con save against a basilisk and needed that beastie to die. So I dropped the darkness on the basilisk, with devils sight and waded in to kill that son of a gun in a couple of turns.
My picks: Offense: Shatter. The blast area lets it outpace Eldritch Blast against groups, and the damage to inorganic materials provides lots of tactical uses. Buff/debuff: Hex. Defense: Darkness for blastlocks, and Armor of Agathys for bladelocks. Iconic: Eldritch Blast. Pairing this with hex, agonizing blast, and repelling blast makes you into a menace. Utility: Silent image and Disguise Self, which are devastating when paired with their infinite-use invocations. A high charisma character with disguises and props? Look out!
@@Nerdarchy Well that depends on what I get right? What are we talking about here? Easy roller dice? Or a custom players handbook signed by the Nerdarchy crew with Nate the Beholder artwork on the cover?
I used Armor of Agathys to kill to two opponents in an Adventure League game. I tagged the enemies with Agonizing Blast (Level 5, two beams, 1 each), but didn't kill them. So I then used my move to backup away from them. Everyone was said I was stupid for forgetting about Opportunity Attacks. So I added, "As I step back, I say, 'Come at me, bro" and held my arms wide" and just smiled.The GM rolled the attacks simultaneously for a total of 12 damage. So I informed everyone that since I had Armor of Agathys, (cast at 3rd level,) I had 15 temp HP, now 3 temp HP (and all 38 regular HP) and since I was hit by melee attacks, "...the two attacker take 15 point of cold damage...each...automatically." The GM said "That drops them." I told the group, "I didn't forget about OAs, I was counting on them."
My first warlock traded his memories for warlock power, the second was a revenant of the Raven Queen, and my most recent was a lvl ten bard noble whose kingdom was conquered and made a deal with the fey to found a new kingdom with access to the feywild and creating a rare human/fey alliance. Just your warlock origin is great rp fodder.
Not really spell but an ability that gives you access to a spell, but that is kind of splitting hairs. It's one of the best abilities. Nerdarchist Dave
Few warlock tricks... 1. When using darkness, remember that you can cover it. It's major issue is that it tends to nerf the rest of the party, so cast it inside a box, bag, or lantern and tactically cover/uncover it during the combat. For example, move away from the party and cast it. If it starts bothering the party... cover it. As soon as the monsters close on you, uncover it, disengage, and move to another location more than 15' away from the monster and rest of the party. 2. Multiclassing for slots. Taking a level of bard or sorcerer (or wizard or cleric) is really helpful for low-level spell slots. Use these to power hex so that you don't have to waste a higher level spell slot. Likewise, if you have spells like cure wound from your other class, you can up cast them using your warlock slots prior to resting, or you can cast long lasting spells (such as mage armor) using your warlock slot prior to resting. A single dip makes a world of difference. 3. Hex. One overlooked part of the spell is that you can grant disadvantage on ability checks from one ability score. These can be devastating if your party has abilities or spells which require checks. For example, disadvantage on strength checks means the target is probably never going to get out of a web or entangle spell and/or the fighter can shove or trip them almost at will. Likewise, if you have a hiding rogue... disadvantage on wisdom checks (i.e. perception) makes hiding nearly automatic.
I love you guys. Thanks for being ambassadors for this game. I like how make it less stressful and encourage logic for world building and character development.
I love the use of Hellfire Rebuke as a Defensive Spell/Iconic since its a reactionary damage spell. Thematically it just feels right that when you get hit you point at an enemy and they burst into flame for daring to touch a powerful being such as yourself.
It can also be used when an ally is hit. Instead of putting your squishy self in danger, send the meat shield out with a lovely reactionary 2d6 fire damage
Hellish Rebuke would be good for ANY other spellcasting class, but sucks for warlock, you simply cannot afford to waste one of your few precious spellslots on something so minor as a couple dice of damage to one target.
@@Klaital1 couldn’t agree more! Only use for hellish rebuke from a warlock is the Tiefling racial ability. 2 spell slots for the first half of your career ... and people want to spend half of that on something as powerful as a reactive eldritch blast cantrip. I don’t get it.
Wait, see through the familiar's eyes? Flock of Familiars + Eldritch Spear(blast at 300ft) Hit enemies that are behind cover or in a camp unaware of where you are?
I love armor of agathys myself. It just seems so cool. Especially at higher levels when you just walk through a field of goons. Taking attacks of opportunity as they kill themselves. Because it's not concentration, if you mix it with barbarian, the amount of HP you get from the spell is essentially doubled when you rage (or at the very least it lasts longer).
I have a level 9 Sphinx-lock and I absolutely adore Armor of Agathys. Saved my ass so many times. Another to have as a backup defense spell is Mirror Image. Not very powerful, but the ability to completely negate damage is one mother of an advantage. Other good spells to have (not all low tier): Suggestion, Counterspell, Banishment, Dimension Door If trying to figure out what spells to grab, I would suggest you take what your Party has a lot of trouble dealing with and starting there. Essentially, the spells should be one of three categories: Crowd Control/Area Denial, Save-or-Suck, or Party Improvement
@@jamescollette1296 mirror image is one of the best spells in the game. Awesome against beholders or any nasty that has to target you. So not just damaging effects. Nerdarchist Dave
I almost never consider Mind Spike for any character because it requires concentration. If it didn't and just lasted an hour, I could see it, but it's just crippling to have this break all of your concentration spells. Especially if you have like an 8-hour Hex running, just to know someone's location.
For a Divination Wizard it's a must. The only divination spell that deals damage. It almost breaks the class. With each cast of Mind Spike, a DW gets a spell slot of lower level up to 5th back. It's a huge force multiplier for them.
One of the few things I dislike about 5E is how MANY spells require concentration it is terrible. Bestow Curse has a great mechanic where when it is casted at 5th or higher you dont need concentration for it. Why couldn't they have put that on more spells!?
The downside to Shadow Blade is it doesn't work with your pact of the blade invocations so if you want to attack twice with it, you need to multiclass.
Please do a build for a single class chainlock. Feats, invocations and spells. Chainlocks get no love. Everyone is always concentrating on blade and tome.
Okay, before I watch this video, let me quickly state how I build my warlocks. Afterwards, I'll respond to the video itself. The best way to build a warlock is to use Eldritch Blast for damage, and your spell slots for non-damage effects such as Darkness, Fly, Dimension Door, Mirror Image, Invisibility, etc. If you focus on building them this way, you get the most out of your limited spell slots without doubling up too much on what to use with damage. Mind Spike is a great example of this idea, as its main use is to prevent foes from fleeing from you. It also does damage, but knowing where a foe is can be very powerful. Misty Step and Flock of Familiars also exemplify this idea, as they give movement and battlefield control.
I'm playing a Genie Human Spellsniper Warlock. Took the Tome, Agonizing Blast and Devil Sight. At lvl 3 I have Armor of Agathys (that I use to fish reactions from melee enemies and whip or EB them) Hex, Darkness and Invisibility. At level 2 I had Sanctuary but it was never used. Last session we were fighting a bunch of spiders in a cave and I was trying to get hit to trigger the 10 cold damage or otherwise burn reactions for my colleagues so they could move safely, but no spider was able to catch me (AC13). Then a giant snakespider appears after we dispatched all the little ones and our sorcerer wild magic triggers invisibility. Affecting me, 3 members and the enemy. I move out of the way, EB the big monster that was hit by a lucky shot from the rogue, next round Hex it, run towards it, trigger the damage, take 11 damage, EB crits, then poison takes effect on me for the 1hp I couldn't soak and I fall down paralized. Did overall the highest damage and the second best damage in a turn (24 vs paladin smite+thundering smite 30)
Devil's sight is great. The ability to cast detect magic at will is even better imo. I am playing a warlock with both, he is a human, we make the "what do you see with your elven eyes(or some variant of it)" joke every session. Also we have a drow, which makes the line even funnier because its said twards me not him.
Armor of Agathys is my Warlock's Signature Spell. Like most spells I alter the aethetics of it and rename it, but the mechanics are the same. At low level, having extra HP is the difference between making to the end of an encounter on your feet or not. Also, our campaign is in Primeval Thule, which has a new background mechanic called Narratives. Each one grants an ability. With Star-lore Adapt, once per rest, I can raise the level of a spell by 2 levels by using the ability "Potent Lore". So, it adds 10 extra Temporary HP and incenses damage dealt by 10. At 3rd lvl I gained 20 temporary HP a would deal 20 points of cold damage when hit. Very potent, indeed.
As someone who generally prefers pact of the blade warlocks, I prefer armor of agathys over darkness for defense since you are much more likely to be atacked while in melee and the temporary hp with extra damage helps a lot, and also darkness will generally screw over your team mates if you are close to the enemies and they can't see them, so yeah, I prefer that little buff for my bladelock that doesnt require concentration so, if you know there is gonna be a fight soon, 10 more hp, 10 cold damage to whoever dares to atack you, and you can still use hex and go to town with your greatsword/rapier depending if you're strength or dex build.
Using g Hu ger of Hadar to perma blind (rules as written the blind attribute doesn't wear of with this spell) and the invocation that let's you use the senses of your familiars is pretty sweet. Yes, you might be blinded yourself, but with the minions it can be quite the penalty to any enemies looking to take out any of the party. Plus the rp with being perma blind can be fun
And every so often the fact that non worn objects also take damage is relevant. A couple of months ago I got to play a session in a friends game and we got the jump on some cultist preparing an ambush for a caravan going through the area. They prepared a barrier to stop the caravan and got ready to ambush them. I readied a shatter from a hidden position centered on hte barricade, my trigger being that the caravan is close enough taht the cultists trap would spring soon. I destroyed the barrier and asked the DM if the loud noise would throw off the cultists given that they were focused on the caravan prepared to start their ambush every second now. And (thanks to the DM - you rock) he allowed the noise to give a chance for cultists to also becoming surprised, effectively negating their "free" surprise round they would have gotten on the caravan.
Shatter is so fun. I'd never take it on a Warlock, unless I'm going Great Old One. However, Shatter on a Storm Sorcerer/Tempest Cleric is powerful control.
@Daniel Tanner Simply because of the thematics that I paint in my head hehehe. No real reason. Great Old ones, being a reference to Lovecraftian monsters, are sometimes sea-based, or breaking through worlds. I imagine thunder for them, or force damage, in some situations. Psychic for others
Interesting thing about Hex, this is almost certainly not RAI, but as written the target just has to drop to 0, not die. Says nothing about the target *staying* at 0 or the new target causing the original to become uncursed, so if your DM runs death saves on enemies, either in general or just for big boss encounters and they get healed or if they do straight up die and get Revivify or similar cast on them you could technically as written then curse another target and both would be cursed for the duration. RAI is of course almost certainly is for it to end on the original target
With flock of familiars if your DM is lenient you can have 3 laughing gulls. That’s 3 DC 15 saving throws at a range of 50 ft to resist targeting the familiars.
A friendly reminder that hex causes disadvantage on ability CHECKS, not saving throws (Rip). However, if you still want a great use for hex outside of extra damage, target their dexterity, as they'll make initiative checks with disadvantage ^^
@@BigBoi237 WIS is good if you've got a Rogue Bonus Action Hiding, minus five to their Passive Perception makes it much easier for them to be a hidden attacker
I'm playing a sorlock (Pact of the Chain) that I'm planning to have Eldritch Blast, Hex, Misty Step(from Fey Touched feat), Flock of Familiars, Cure Wounds (celestial patron), and probably Invisibility when I get to warlock rank 3. I can't wait to get to my Voice of the Chain Master. It's just such a cool concept.
Well, my Warlock was in a roundabout way his own patron. He was a Celestial Warlock whose patron was a forgotten god. What he didn't realize until much later was that his own soul was a fragment of this god. I had a theme of balance, using spells of both darkness and light.
I'm playing a chaotic elder one halfling warlock who gave up her entire past for her powers and by past it's basically all her memories and memories others have of her. And I LOVE eldritch blast so much yeah it's a common go to for other warlocks but hey it works :3
I created a melee hexblade warlock without eldritch blast. Wanted to try out a warlock who didn’t have it. One of my favorite characters so far. I got knocked out a lot.
Legend, Willow, Dragon Slayer, Conan, Clash of the Titans, Sinbad, they were the reference movies in my early days, which were probably not too far from yours
For the Utility spell, I think you should have chosen Invisibility. Once you reach level 9, you can cast it on 4 people at once. For a lot of D&D groups, this is your entire party.
Love these videos. Only been playing dnd for a year and watching you guys has been a blast. Have learned a lot about the game watching your videos. Keep it coming. 😁 I was wondering what your guys thoughts are on a paladin/sorcerer? I have been wanting to try something different and havnt found many videos on something like that. Anything that can help will be greatly appreciated.
Thunder Step is my get out of jail free card. I can't tell you how many allies I've rushed in to save and left behind several corpses as I did so thanks to this spell.
One of the Warlock's biggest design flaws is that Eldritch Blast isn't a class feature. I have no idea why that wasn't built into the class and why it's a "mandatory choice".
White room theory crafters LOVE the darkness/devil sight combination but in all my time at the table I have never seen anyone actually use it because it TOTALLY will screw over the party 99% of the time. Does darkness have niche uses, sure but the only time you use the darkness/devil sight combination is if you want to be a dick to your party.
@@Nerdarchy problem is, I'm not just talking about warlocks here. Everytime I have seen anyone use darkness, it ended badly for the party. Essentially for the same reasons as when a warlock drops a darkness spell. The more party friendly and even more thematically creepy spell to use is shadows of moil.
Uh ... that and what the hell is a warlock going to do with it? You can use the familiars to do the aid action. In this regard it’s basically broken homebrew content (which is what the spell really is). You can give advantage to 3 allies during your turn. That’s neat, but faerie fire can do that, too. What will you do with the touch spell functionality. What spells do you get as a warlock that you would use this on? Shocking grasp as a pact of the tomb warlock? Fly with a third level spell slot? How often do you need to cast fly but can’t get to someone? Warlocks just don’t have many offensive touch range spells. It’s a lame spell to take with his few known spells you get as a warlock.
My go-to in combat is either Darkness + Devil's Sight or Mirror Image. Flock of Familiars is brilliant. I also get a lot of utility out of Spider Climb and Misty Step.
This sounds like a nightmare ..... Darkness basically screws over the rest of the party. Situationally, it can be great. But, not reliably. Mirror image is reasonable. But, it’s pretty expensive though, and it doesn’t scale up at all. The value of a second level spell slot isn’t the same as the value of a 4th or 5th level spell slot. Flock of familiars is garbage homebrew content. Warlocks get very few touch range spells (almost none). The air functionality is broken, and the ability to see what 3 owls can see is way more powerful than anything else at this level. It’s a bad homebrew spell that they printed because a nerd who was dying wanted them to. Spider climb can be good, but, you get so few spell slots and you can do this with slippers and also ... it doesn’t scale. Misty step can be wonderful. It doesn’t scale and at higher levels you would want more powerful alternatives. At lower level this can be great. Warlocks don’t have enough spell slots or known spells to take a bunch of “maybe it’ll be useful” support spells. It’s the wrong class for that play style. Nothing wrong with the class. Nothing wrong with that play style. They don’t mix well.
I'm fairly new to DnD. I'm playing an Eladrin Divination Wizard. I was wondering if you guys can do a video on creative uses for the different Fey Steps. Thanks Nerds. Stay awesome.
I have recently made a warlock that my DM has let me take an invocation that lets my familiars take the attack action on their turn. Should I get flock of familiars so I can have 6 familiars that can each separately attack?
Discuss this with your Dm to make sure they know and can prepare for it, other wise your gonna bog down combat horribly A good solution you could suggest is for then to share inative then just roll for 6 attacks on their turn, you could also group their hp and treat then as a swarm, making them a bit more tanky.
Personally I don't think it's ever worth to take any single target damage spells (like Mind Spike) to a warlock since you can just use Eldritch Blast for single target damage, it does fairly comparable damage to any other single target damage spell you have access to, and most importantly doesn't burn one of your precious few spell slots.
Hex and Eldritch blast + bonus spells Should just be a base feature. This would allow for more interesting chooses + flexibilities outside the blaster role
No, Eldritch Blast isn't even necessary for Warlocks unless they want it to be. Hex is pretty centralized, but you can live without that too. Just because it's the easiest spam, everyone assumes it's the best. There's Toll the Dead for alternative damage cantrip, Shatter for AoE damage, Charm for disrupting enemies in an ambush or gathering intel, nobody ever remembers Warlocks can Counterspell, etc. You can even build a descent Necromancer with all Warlock if you want. It's a High-mid-tier build, but it's doable, especially with Hexblade's Accursed Spectre. Throw in Danse Macabre and Negative Energy Flood, Finger of Death and Soul Cage for Arcanum, and we have a party. Literally.
@@CallenExile with 2 spell slots for the majority of Thier spellcasting levels and only two cantrips at the start. Eldritch blast is thier best choose while sure you could go with toll the dead it doesn't have the same damage potential. And with only two spell slots you need more to do in combat especially if your dm likes back to back fights you can burn through them leaving you as a blaster. More flexibility would hardly make the warlock too powerful considering thier restricted spell slots. Multiclassing will create imbalance but it's a optional rule for a reason and shouldn't be balanced around.
Toll the deead has more damage potential than eldritch blast. You can't compare a cantrip to a cantrip and an invocation and expect them to be equal. And a Warlock's spell slots aren't that restricted. The game is balanced around recieving 2-3 short rests a day. At 3 rests, you have 16 total max spell slots per day, plus your four Arcanum. That's only one slot less than a wizard, and they're all level 5+. And you get a d8 Hit Dice. And the invocations, which enhance your character further. Eldritch blast is a solid choice, but it is far from obligatory. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the way the Warlock plays right now. It's my favorite class, and allowing Eldritch Blast + Agonizing Blast for free from the start would require something else be taken from them to balance that choice.
@@CallenExile you are comparing wizard level 20 and warlock level 20 it's extremely rare people play till then yes at those levels they are pretty well balanced but before that especially 1-10 they are overly restrictive for little to no balance reason. I'm sorry but I don't agree that adding more flexibility in early levels will make them overtly overpowered in that start or even later. Also I didn't say allow agonizing blast for free from start.
It’s great if you’re pact of the blade. It’s often fairly rarely useful for other warlock types. Love the spell. But, warlocks don’t get enough known spells to spend them on ... maybe this will be useful spells.
Got a companion down? Can't get to him/her in one round help and get out without taking damage? Misty Step in grab your companion and Thunder Step out. Save your friend and damage the bad guys nearby. I enjoy combining Misty Step with Thunderstep in this way.
Or.... and this is just an idea... cast polymorph on them, turn them into a Giant Ape, and watch as the idiots surrounding your ally promptly shit themselves as they are now facing King Kong.
@@gladiusgamer9324 Let's see if I'm reading the sequence of events you propose correctly, companion goes down, your turn rolls around, use a Bonus Action to cast Misty Step and teleport in, grab them and use an Action that same turn to cast Thunder Step and teleport away? If so, it fails RAW by a couple of metrics. Thunder Step requires a willing creature which an unconscious one isn't, but even being generous and taking it as "Still conscious, but in rough shape" or "They're 'willing' because we discussed it before and they okayed it then" it fails the rules for casting a spell as a Bonus Action as Thunder Step is not a cantrip. "You can also teleport one *willing* creature of your size or smaller who is carrying gear up to its carrying capacity. " "A spell cast with a bonus action is especially swift. You must use a bonus action on your turn to cast the spell, provided that you haven't already taken a bonus action this turn. *You can't cast another spell during the same turn, except for a cantrip with a casting time of 1 action* "
Fock of familiars: what touch range warlock spells do you envision using to deliver via the familiars? Illusory Script? Fly? Flock of familiars isn’t a good all purpose warlock spell at all. At best it’s niche for a very focused build.
I generally like your content. In this case I feel like you missed the mark in a few places. I do like your channel. I do suggest some of your content for newer players. This video isn’t one I would recommend. It’s cool. They can’t all be amazing.
Giving your opponent disadvantage on Wisdom checks includes Perception, so sneaking would be easier. Disadvantage on Constitution makes poison more effective. Disadvantage on strength makes it harder for them to avoid getting pushed. Disadvantage on dex means they have disadvantage on initiative rolls. Disadvantage on Charisma means they have a harder time convincing people (think of a court room scenario). Tons of practical uses.
I don’t think this general line of usage would work. In 5th edition any charm spells of virtually any kind the target knows they’re being impacted. Can you imagine standing in front of someone and hexing them. They know they’re under the influence of the hex ... and then trying to barter with them or lie to them without their knowing? Maybe this could be used on a captive like a terrible zone of truth. You could limit their ability to effectively lie to you. So, you would know they were lying ... but they may not tell you the truth at any point.
I’ll admit I haven’t been here in a while, but my goodness the little bit of nerd dopamine I got from listening to the intro music has sucked me right back in
But if i concentrate i usually cant rest. Just saying that when im thinking about stuff i generally cant rest or do much else because its all i can think about.
Either that or mirrored image make for good defensive options. Mirrored image is probably stronger if you have a good dex, otherwhise agathys. In a recent fight as a lvl 3 Warlock, I used both my spell slots for armor of agathys, since we were fighting melee opponents, and I was flanked. I did 40 damage with the spell, and was able to absorb 45 points of damage without falling. Barbarian levels of tanking, and great damage. Also great for intimidation. Watching your ally die from whacking a creepy person with a club is not great for morale. And some fights, it is more or less useless.
We only use the PHB as our source book. I wish you would not extend to secondary sources like Xanathar's -- or at least not do it out of the gate. For example, give us the best spells for Tier 1 from PHB, then add on, "And if you are using other sources, we also like....."
Let’s not pretend that extending the reach of a 120ft range spell will be handy often. Eldritch blast is great, but extending the range with feats or invocations is nearly useless. Yep, you may find a couple of occasions to use it. I’ve done MANY whole campaigns where you virtually never need more than 80ft of range. How many times do you use the long range on a longbow or heavy crossbow? Now imagine spending a feat or an invocation to ... do that. Devil’s sight would be more useful even on a character who already had dark vision and also had no intention of ever taking darkness (that eliminates a lot of the best functionality of it ... and it’s still going to come into play more often in most campaigns). Plenty of good invocations to pick. I just can’t imagine considering extending the range of eldritch blast unless your game master caters to you needlessly and puts you in situations where you can cast this at people 200ft away while the rest of the party can do nothing.
A lot of people do warlocks they don't give a crap about the patron role playing when I run I do like old-school clerics when you ticked off your God you lost all your magic I do like that with warlocks you take off your Patron you lose your powers until you do something to make it right
But ... a short rest isn’t sleeping. The book says you can do anything as mentally intensive as reading. Reading a complex book literally requires concentration.
No. No darkness would not. You’re asking if darkness automatically counters any spell that produces any amount of light. That’s anything with lightning and anything with fire. No, it does not. That’s way too much to attribute to a second level spell. An argument could be made that it may dispel, and counter the casting of, produce flame. A large feature of that spell is that it is a light source in addition to having offensive capability.
Lol, warlock is thematic. If not a bit overrated compared to other classes. Just don't tell the goth and emo lads and lasses. It'll break their hearts. Nerdarchist Dave
It's from Lost Laboratory of Kwalish (WOTC's extra life psf) but made by reddit/Galar to honor a player who has died from cancer. But no unfortunately the spells are not adventure league legal but the module is
Then, lvl12 Loc means Lifedrinker. Double your Cha mod to all damage, as well as magical weapons. You can take the dueling fighting style as well as rage damage, too. So dumb.
@@varietasVeritas One is a class feature that allows the hexblade warlock to add their proficiency to the damage they deal to the cursed target. Then, there's the spell that deals an extra d6 If you're referring to Rage, that I brought up, yes, it's concentration for Hex spell. So, rage and hex don't work together. Rage is better for if you're attacking multiple creatures that dont die in one hit
No way to answer that. Depends on what you’re going for. Armor of agathys, hex, and the pact spells for the three PHB pacts are what I would lean towards. Charm person is challenging to use because charm magic is basically garbage in 5e. Comprehend languages is too rarely useful to spend a known spell on it. If you get ritual spells then go for it as one of those. Expeditious retreat is too situational to spend a known spell on. If you need someone who is fast use a barbarian or monk or rogue or a support caster who has known spells to get a variety of “maybe this will be useful” stuff. Hellish rebuke is garbage unless you’re using your Tiefling racial ability. It’s a spell slot to basically do a cantrip’s worth of damage ... but as a reaction. That’s half of your spell casting until you can rest .... for most of your life as a warlock. Illusory script is garbage. Protection from good and evil is a good spell, but warlocks make bad support casters. Too few known spells and spell slots for “maybe this will be useful” spells. It’s a good play style. This is a good class. That play style works poorly with this class. Unseen servant is bad. Take it as a ritual with pact of the tomb if you want it. It can be useful, but too rarely. Witch bolt is a trap spell. You might as well just use your eldritch blast each round. For role play purposes even a “garbage” spell can be perfect.
@@zero11010 I ended up swapping aoa for hellish rebuke and was glad I did. Never once got aoa to do damage as I was in the back away from melee attacks. Hellish rebuke I now believe is really good. All the damage is "new" damage since it does not consume an action. It's like a whole extra turn. I would have to hit a hexed creature like 4 times before hex adds more damage then hellish rebuke. I also took expeditious retreat as an escape spell. Never needed it and swapped it for misty step at lv3.
@@I..cast..fireball what’s your pact and who’s your patron? I think you’re being short sighted with the hellish rebuke. Yeah, it’s almost a free action to do some damage. But, it’s REALLY expensive in terms of your daily casting ability.
Armor of agathys is mostly for pact of the blade. I’d go with faerie fire, or sleep, or burning hands or command or dissonant whispers or tasha’s laughter over hellish rebuke. Now that you’re level 3 you have second level spells to pick from! Calm emotions is crowd control Phantasmal force is amazing. Blindness is an incredible spell. Scorching Ray is incredible for offense and pairs great with hex. Hold person is outstanding for control. Invisibility is a great utility spells Suggestion can be amazing. Shatter is a mini-fireball. You picked a spell that is basically just ... a second cantrip you can cast on a turn, but it costs you half your spell casting until you reach level 9. You get no increased capability from it. It doesn’t make you better able to respond to different situations. You just ... do a little damage ... to one person ... once.
@@zero11010 I'm dao genie patron, pact of tome. For my lv3 swap, I dumped expeditious retreat for misty step and picked up shatter. I have lots of stuff for out of combat that don't need spell slots. Mage Hand, minor illusion, guidence, message, mending, mask of many faces, detect magic, find familier. I see my spell slots now aas a way of accelerating my damage output in combat, since I don't really need them for my out of combat abilities. People love hex damage, but hex starts in a hole VS hellish rebuke. If I'm near the fight and expect to take damage, hex is no good cus I'll loose concentration before it gets better than hellish rebuke. Shatter I use when it's a group. Between the 3, I always have a good way to use slots to increase damage. Next levels I'll be talking invisibility and counter spell.
For Warlocks, yes, they gain them back on a short rest. They are the only casters that can. It's awesome. They really need it, desite EB being sp powerful
@@travisterry2200 Oh, I feel ya. I started playing DnD as a monk and it threw off my perception of basic combat lol. Glad you know this awesome feature now. Now, go make some pacts with Asmodeus or Mephistopheles!
@@ashenwuss1651 Unfortunately all spellcasting classes only change their prepared spells on a long rest. I had to check to make sure, since that sounds awesome and dramatically useful, but sadly is not the case.
I've always kinda found it weird that invocations like the thief of five fates take an invocation to learn, takes a spell cast to cast, and you can only cast it once per long rest. That's like three resources! Wouldn't it be cool if a warlock can mix their limited spell slots with extra free innate spell casting and invest into actually having SPELLS?
*NOT* needed It's a balanced class lol. Consider invocations, in combo with spells, weapons and armor. Short rest slot regain. The short rest slots are equal to a much higher level wizard's Arcane Restoration feature
There is absolutely nothing wrong with warlock. At the end of the day, without even counting invocation spells, the warlock can cast 16-20 spells on average, the lowest level of them being 5. That's only 1 fewer than a Wizard get's on their list, not counting the 10 levels worth of slots wizard can reprepare, which is a seperate feature. You also have a higher Hit Dice, Light Armor, and a choice of either any 3 cantrips you want from any class, a familiar that no other class can compare to, or proficiency with all melee weapons through your summoned pact blade. Warlock is perfect as-is.
@@CallenExile Four 5th level spell slots each short rest is very powerful. Just Bestow Curse alone can make things so brutal. At 5th lvl or higher, you dont need concentration for it. That's 4 Bestow Curses each short rest. That's how you deplete Legendary Resistances of Ancient Dragons and Liches
@@CallenExile Oh, crap, you're probably right. I guess I was thinking of going 5 into another class for the spell. Which, results in 3 uses each rest. Good call. Edit: Indeed, it is once per long rest, using a Warlock slot
I'm not seeing any rule that would prevent a Concentration spell's slot from being regained. Slots are binary on/off not a third "in use" state, the slot is expended at the time of the cast, Warlocks regain slots on a short rest. So even if the first thing they do in a day is cast Hex at fifth level on whatever weak thing then short rest to keep it up all day it should regain the slot
and that is why you should never play a full warlock. stick it into a multi class with bard, sorcerer, or paladin take like 3 levels of it and never touch it again.
It is a fantastic multiclass class. War Cleric Fiendloc is so powerful. So much temp hp, dealing damage when you're hit, and a minimum of three attacks with heavy weapons. Oh yeah, and heals. Those Warlock slots on a short rest make for consistent healing Going Warlock Sorcerer, 3 sorc/2loc is powerful, too. Eldritch blast 5 times in 3 turns. That's roughly 10d10 +50 in 3 turns. You can also push 10ft for each of the 10 beams that hit.
@@lord6617 It's not an issue, at all, to go full Warlock. They are just so powerful out of the gates, that they dont really get much stronger in regards to their starting power. One example is cantrips. Regardless of your level in a class, any cantrips you have from that class get stronger based on character level, not class level. So, if you're 1 into warlock, but a total of lvl11, you have shoot 3 beams with Eldritch Blast. So, if you go 2 into Warlock, to gain the invocations that boost your Eldritch Blast, you can start multiclassing into other classes. I prefer Sorcerer, because of quicken spell and subtle magic. Going Sorcerer means stronger Eldrtich Blast, more slots on a short rest for regaining sorcerery points. I personally like social Warlocks with social spells, or enchantments, that can use subtle magic with them, so that no one can hear you cast. Hexblade is very good for multiclassing with Fighter or Paladin, as you'll only need Charisma for your weapon attacks. The class is so strong starting out, that you dont lose out on much at all, like when you multiclass with other classes. It's always beneficial, or so it seems
@@lord6617 Flavor-wise, it's the most sensible multiclass, besided maybe fighter and rogue. Fighter and Rogue are so basic, that's why. But, anyone can strike a deal with a patron, gaining this class. Even the purest of Paladins can make pacts.
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Nerdarchy the News Letter- nerdarchynewsletter.gr8.com/
Nerdarchy hey quick question what happens when you make an aasimar celestial warlock
because the celestial pact gives you radiant resistance but as an aasimar you already have that is that feature wasted or what
@@Darth_malefic wasted 😢
Nerdarchist Dave
Damn
Mind Spike 1:40
Hex 2:49
Darkness 5:24
Eldritch Blast 7:19
Flock of Familiars 8:40
Misty Step 11:11
When making a Warlock always haggle for the best deal, sell your soul at a premium. Try and get some stock options while you're at it. Never take the first offer.
Charisma is a bitch and you need to see their manager
I must say that I'm Beguilingly Influenced by your suggestion...
Get it?
Great advice.
Nerdarchist Dave
My character tried that. Failed a saving throw and now he doesn't even remember what he signed...
@@josiaharaki7310 aah Amazon worker right?
As a Tiefling Hexblade, I have the darkness spell as a racial spell, I once used this to save the barbarian who failed his con save against a basilisk and needed that beastie to die. So I dropped the darkness on the basilisk, with devils sight and waded in to kill that son of a gun in a couple of turns.
I love that freaking invocation. Devil's Sight, or Witch's, is so good.
It's a sound tactic that works even better of you happen to be a tiefling or drow. It can also screw the party though.
Nerdarchist Dave
@@Nerdarchy That's why you use it as an ace up your sleeve, not your primary strategy.
My picks:
Offense: Shatter. The blast area lets it outpace Eldritch Blast against groups, and the damage to inorganic materials provides lots of tactical uses.
Buff/debuff: Hex.
Defense: Darkness for blastlocks, and Armor of Agathys for bladelocks.
Iconic: Eldritch Blast. Pairing this with hex, agonizing blast, and repelling blast makes you into a menace.
Utility: Silent image and Disguise Self, which are devastating when paired with their infinite-use invocations. A high charisma character with disguises and props? Look out!
Just be careful when using Shatter, since it's an area spell.
Sincerely, the dumb warlock who killed a team member and a NPC in one move.
I always knew that Dave was where Ted got his powers from!
I'm just middle management. For the low low price of your soul you can learn the true power behind Nerdarchy.
Nerdarchist Dave
@@Nerdarchy Well that depends on what I get right? What are we talking about here? Easy roller dice? Or a custom players handbook signed by the Nerdarchy crew with Nate the Beholder artwork on the cover?
I used Armor of Agathys to kill to two opponents in an Adventure League game. I tagged the enemies with Agonizing Blast (Level 5, two beams, 1 each), but didn't kill them. So I then used my move to backup away from them. Everyone was said I was stupid for forgetting about Opportunity Attacks. So I added, "As I step back, I say, 'Come at me, bro" and held my arms wide" and just smiled.The GM rolled the attacks simultaneously for a total of 12 damage. So I informed everyone that since I had Armor of Agathys, (cast at 3rd level,) I had 15 temp HP, now 3 temp HP (and all 38 regular HP) and since I was hit by melee attacks, "...the two attacker take 15 point of cold damage...each...automatically." The GM said "That drops them." I told the group, "I didn't forget about OAs, I was counting on them."
My first warlock traded his memories for warlock power, the second was a revenant of the Raven Queen, and my most recent was a lvl ten bard noble whose kingdom was conquered and made a deal with the fey to found a new kingdom with access to the feywild and creating a rare human/fey alliance. Just your warlock origin is great rp fodder.
~*in sinister voice*~
Eldritch Blast is pretty.. pretty.. pretty.. good
*Mask of Many Faces invocation is best spell*
Not really spell but an ability that gives you access to a spell, but that is kind of splitting hairs. It's one of the best abilities.
Nerdarchist Dave
@@Nerdarchy I was being silly. I just think it's such an effective invocation
@@Nerdarchy, didn't you choose your defensive spell based on an invocation that works with it?
@@carsonrush3352 It was more like, the spell was all-the-more considerable because of the invocation. Although, I can't speak for the Nerdarchist
@@ashenwuss1651, fair enough. Darkness IS pretty great against archers and mages, and the invocation makes it viable in melee range.
Few warlock tricks...
1. When using darkness, remember that you can cover it. It's major issue is that it tends to nerf the rest of the party, so cast it inside a box, bag, or lantern and tactically cover/uncover it during the combat. For example, move away from the party and cast it. If it starts bothering the party... cover it. As soon as the monsters close on you, uncover it, disengage, and move to another location more than 15' away from the monster and rest of the party.
2. Multiclassing for slots. Taking a level of bard or sorcerer (or wizard or cleric) is really helpful for low-level spell slots. Use these to power hex so that you don't have to waste a higher level spell slot. Likewise, if you have spells like cure wound from your other class, you can up cast them using your warlock slots prior to resting, or you can cast long lasting spells (such as mage armor) using your warlock slot prior to resting. A single dip makes a world of difference.
3. Hex. One overlooked part of the spell is that you can grant disadvantage on ability checks from one ability score. These can be devastating if your party has abilities or spells which require checks. For example, disadvantage on strength checks means the target is probably never going to get out of a web or entangle spell and/or the fighter can shove or trip them almost at will. Likewise, if you have a hiding rogue... disadvantage on wisdom checks (i.e. perception) makes hiding nearly automatic.
I love you guys. Thanks for being ambassadors for this game. I like how make it less stressful and encourage logic for world building and character development.
Thank you. It's our pleasure.
Nerdarchist Dave
I love the use of Hellfire Rebuke as a Defensive Spell/Iconic since its a reactionary damage spell. Thematically it just feels right that when you get hit you point at an enemy and they burst into flame for daring to touch a powerful being such as yourself.
It can also be used when an ally is hit. Instead of putting your squishy self in danger, send the meat shield out with a lovely reactionary 2d6 fire damage
I thought it only triggered when you take damage, not an ally?
@@BigBoi237 It only affects when you are damaged
Hellish Rebuke would be good for ANY other spellcasting class, but sucks for warlock, you simply cannot afford to waste one of your few precious spellslots on something so minor as a couple dice of damage to one target.
@@Klaital1 couldn’t agree more! Only use for hellish rebuke from a warlock is the Tiefling racial ability. 2 spell slots for the first half of your career ... and people want to spend half of that on something as powerful as a reactive eldritch blast cantrip. I don’t get it.
Wait, see through the familiar's eyes?
Flock of Familiars + Eldritch Spear(blast at 300ft)
Hit enemies that are behind cover or in a camp unaware of where you are?
Nope unfortunately it doesn't work like that
I love armor of agathys myself. It just seems so cool. Especially at higher levels when you just walk through a field of goons. Taking attacks of opportunity as they kill themselves.
Because it's not concentration, if you mix it with barbarian, the amount of HP you get from the spell is essentially doubled when you rage (or at the very least it lasts longer).
Yes yes yes
I have a level 9 Sphinx-lock and I absolutely adore Armor of Agathys. Saved my ass so many times.
Another to have as a backup defense spell is Mirror Image. Not very powerful, but the ability to completely negate damage is one mother of an advantage.
Other good spells to have (not all low tier): Suggestion, Counterspell, Banishment, Dimension Door
If trying to figure out what spells to grab, I would suggest you take what your Party has a lot of trouble dealing with and starting there. Essentially, the spells should be one of three categories: Crowd Control/Area Denial, Save-or-Suck, or Party Improvement
You can also use Blade Ward in a pinch.
It's great, but not as good if you go fiend.
Nerdarchist Dave
@@jamescollette1296 mirror image is one of the best spells in the game. Awesome against beholders or any nasty that has to target you. So not just damaging effects.
Nerdarchist Dave
I almost never consider Mind Spike for any character because it requires concentration. If it didn't and just lasted an hour, I could see it, but it's just crippling to have this break all of your concentration spells. Especially if you have like an 8-hour Hex running, just to know someone's location.
Really depends on how bad you need to know where they are.
Nerdarchist Dave
For a Divination Wizard it's a must. The only divination spell that deals damage. It almost breaks the class. With each cast of Mind Spike, a DW gets a spell slot of lower level up to 5th back. It's a huge force multiplier for them.
One of the few things I dislike about 5E is how MANY spells require concentration it is terrible. Bestow Curse has a great mechanic where when it is casted at 5th or higher you dont need concentration for it. Why couldn't they have put that on more spells!?
spiderclimb and shadowblade both of them are incredible
especially shadow blade
Shadow blade is good especially for a warlock because it automatically levels.
Nerdarchist Dave
Second the shadow blade! It has the perk of being light as well, so you can duel wield with it!
The downside to Shadow Blade is it doesn't work with your pact of the blade invocations so if you want to attack twice with it, you need to multiclass.
Please do a build for a single class chainlock. Feats, invocations and spells. Chainlocks get no love. Everyone is always concentrating on blade and tome.
Micah Graham I’m playing a celestial lock of chain at level 7
The max healing and infinite range scout with invisible imp is so op
@@TheGreedyKing I have an archfey level 4 chainlock and I'm trying to decide on a feat
Micah Graham I took a stat bump at 4 idk about feet’s yet I have not looked
It's possible, but we don't do a lot of single class builds.
Nerdarchist Dave
@@Nerdarchy or maybe just a video about feats for warlock that includes chainlock and not focusing on the others
Okay, before I watch this video, let me quickly state how I build my warlocks. Afterwards, I'll respond to the video itself.
The best way to build a warlock is to use Eldritch Blast for damage, and your spell slots for non-damage effects such as Darkness, Fly, Dimension Door, Mirror Image, Invisibility, etc. If you focus on building them this way, you get the most out of your limited spell slots without doubling up too much on what to use with damage.
Mind Spike is a great example of this idea, as its main use is to prevent foes from fleeing from you. It also does damage, but knowing where a foe is can be very powerful. Misty Step and Flock of Familiars also exemplify this idea, as they give movement and battlefield control.
Love the miracle max T-shirt.
I'm playing a Genie Human Spellsniper Warlock. Took the Tome, Agonizing Blast and Devil Sight.
At lvl 3 I have Armor of Agathys (that I use to fish reactions from melee enemies and whip or EB them) Hex, Darkness and Invisibility.
At level 2 I had Sanctuary but it was never used.
Last session we were fighting a bunch of spiders in a cave and I was trying to get hit to trigger the 10 cold damage or otherwise burn reactions for my colleagues so they could move safely, but no spider was able to catch me (AC13).
Then a giant snakespider appears after we dispatched all the little ones and our sorcerer wild magic triggers invisibility. Affecting me, 3 members and the enemy. I move out of the way, EB the big monster that was hit by a lucky shot from the rogue, next round Hex it, run towards it, trigger the damage, take 11 damage, EB crits, then poison takes effect on me for the 1hp I couldn't soak and I fall down paralized. Did overall the highest damage and the second best damage in a turn (24 vs paladin smite+thundering smite 30)
Devil's sight is great. The ability to cast detect magic at will is even better imo. I am playing a warlock with both, he is a human, we make the "what do you see with your elven eyes(or some variant of it)" joke every session. Also we have a drow, which makes the line even funnier because its said twards me not him.
Any time you can throw shade at the drow it's a win.
Nerdarchist Dave
If you have the levels for it, look into 6 levels of totem Barbarian for the ability to see a full mile without issue. Then you really have "elf eyes"
Ghostly Gaze so that you can see through walls too. Lots of sight improvement invocations eh?
Armor of Agathys is my Warlock's Signature Spell. Like most spells I alter the aethetics of it and rename it, but the mechanics are the same. At low level, having extra HP is the difference between making to the end of an encounter on your feet or not.
Also, our campaign is in Primeval Thule, which has a new background mechanic called Narratives. Each one grants an ability. With Star-lore Adapt, once per rest, I can raise the level of a spell by 2 levels by using the ability "Potent Lore". So, it adds 10 extra Temporary HP and incenses damage dealt by 10. At 3rd lvl I gained 20 temporary HP a would deal 20 points of cold damage when hit. Very potent, indeed.
As someone who generally prefers pact of the blade warlocks, I prefer armor of agathys over darkness for defense since you are much more likely to be atacked while in melee and the temporary hp with extra damage helps a lot, and also darkness will generally screw over your team mates if you are close to the enemies and they can't see them, so yeah, I prefer that little buff for my bladelock that doesnt require concentration so, if you know there is gonna be a fight soon, 10 more hp, 10 cold damage to whoever dares to atack you, and you can still use hex and go to town with your greatsword/rapier depending if you're strength or dex build.
Using g Hu ger of Hadar to perma blind (rules as written the blind attribute doesn't wear of with this spell) and the invocation that let's you use the senses of your familiars is pretty sweet. Yes, you might be blinded yourself, but with the minions it can be quite the penalty to any enemies looking to take out any of the party. Plus the rp with being perma blind can be fun
No Shatter? IT'S A MINI FIREBALL!
I usualy take it.
And every so often the fact that non worn objects also take damage is relevant. A couple of months ago I got to play a session in a friends game and we got the jump on some cultist preparing an ambush for a caravan going through the area.
They prepared a barrier to stop the caravan and got ready to ambush them. I readied a shatter from a hidden position centered on hte barricade, my trigger being that the caravan is close enough taht the cultists trap would spring soon.
I destroyed the barrier and asked the DM if the loud noise would throw off the cultists given that they were focused on the caravan prepared to start their ambush every second now. And (thanks to the DM - you rock) he allowed the noise to give a chance for cultists to also becoming surprised, effectively negating their "free" surprise round they would have gotten on the caravan.
Shatter is so fun. I'd never take it on a Warlock, unless I'm going Great Old One. However, Shatter on a Storm Sorcerer/Tempest Cleric is powerful control.
@Daniel Tanner Simply because of the thematics that I paint in my head hehehe. No real reason.
Great Old ones, being a reference to Lovecraftian monsters, are sometimes sea-based, or breaking through worlds. I imagine thunder for them, or force damage, in some situations. Psychic for others
Interesting thing about Hex, this is almost certainly not RAI, but as written the target just has to drop to 0, not die. Says nothing about the target *staying* at 0 or the new target causing the original to become uncursed, so if your DM runs death saves on enemies, either in general or just for big boss encounters and they get healed or if they do straight up die and get Revivify or similar cast on them you could technically as written then curse another target and both would be cursed for the duration. RAI is of course almost certainly is for it to end on the original target
Really fun out of combat use for hex, disadvantage on all charisma checks for 24 hours can be brutal
With flock of familiars if your DM is lenient you can have 3 laughing gulls. That’s 3 DC 15 saving throws at a range of 50 ft to resist targeting the familiars.
Hold person is nice too. You always get an upgraded cast and if you Hex the main target you have a good chance to get them.
A friendly reminder that hex causes disadvantage on ability CHECKS, not saving throws (Rip). However, if you still want a great use for hex outside of extra damage, target their dexterity, as they'll make initiative checks with disadvantage ^^
@@BigBoi237 WIS is good if you've got a Rogue Bonus Action Hiding, minus five to their Passive Perception makes it much easier for them to be a hidden attacker
I'm playing a sorlock (Pact of the Chain) that I'm planning to have Eldritch Blast, Hex, Misty Step(from Fey Touched feat), Flock of Familiars, Cure Wounds (celestial patron), and probably Invisibility when I get to warlock rank 3.
I can't wait to get to my Voice of the Chain Master. It's just such a cool concept.
One thing about flock is that you need to have lost lab of kwalish
It's on D&D Beyond if you've got all the content unlocked.
Nerdarchist Dave
You can buy the spell on its own from D&D Beyond 😀
Well, my Warlock was in a roundabout way his own patron. He was a Celestial Warlock whose patron was a forgotten god. What he didn't realize until much later was that his own soul was a fragment of this god. I had a theme of balance, using spells of both darkness and light.
I'm playing a chaotic elder one halfling warlock who gave up her entire past for her powers and by past it's basically all her memories and memories others have of her. And I LOVE eldritch blast so much yeah it's a common go to for other warlocks but hey it works :3
I created a melee hexblade warlock without eldritch blast. Wanted to try out a warlock who didn’t have it. One of my favorite characters so far. I got knocked out a lot.
For a more hands on look at a warlock & power giver relationship, consider Blix from Legend.
Going old school.
Nerdarchist Dave
Legend, Willow, Dragon Slayer, Conan, Clash of the Titans, Sinbad, they were the reference movies in my early days, which were probably not too far from yours
For the Utility spell, I think you should have chosen Invisibility. Once you reach level 9, you can cast it on 4 people at once. For a lot of D&D groups, this is your entire party.
Love these videos. Only been playing dnd for a year and watching you guys has been a blast. Have learned a lot about the game watching your videos. Keep it coming. 😁 I was wondering what your guys thoughts are on a paladin/sorcerer? I have been wanting to try something different and havnt found many videos on something like that. Anything that can help will be greatly appreciated.
The sorcadin is a fun concept. Try Googling that for now perhaps we'll drop a build on it in the near future.
Nerdarchist Dave
@@Nerdarchy will do. I hope you guys do. Would be awesome to see what you guys come up with.
Thunder step at 5th lvl. Misty step w/thunder dmg to those you were near. I know not tier 1, but my go to at 5th and beyond.
Various effects from the Eladrin's Fey Step are nice too
Thunder Step is my get out of jail free card. I can't tell you how many allies I've rushed in to save and left behind several corpses as I did so thanks to this spell.
@@BigBoi237 as have I
One of the Warlock's biggest design flaws is that Eldritch Blast isn't a class feature. I have no idea why that wasn't built into the class and why it's a "mandatory choice".
White room theory crafters LOVE the darkness/devil sight combination but in all my time at the table I have never seen anyone actually use it because it TOTALLY will screw over the party 99% of the time. Does darkness have niche uses, sure but the only time you use the darkness/devil sight combination is if you want to be a dick to your party.
My brother definitely used it with his pallock. I think your initial assessment stands.
Nerdarchist Dave
@@Nerdarchy problem is, I'm not just talking about warlocks here. Everytime I have seen anyone use darkness, it ended badly for the party. Essentially for the same reasons as when a warlock drops a darkness spell.
The more party friendly and even more thematically creepy spell to use is shadows of moil.
The problem with flock of familiars is not everyone will have access to lost lab of kwalish...
You can buy the spell on its own from D&D Beyond for a few bucks 😀
Uh ... that and what the hell is a warlock going to do with it?
You can use the familiars to do the aid action. In this regard it’s basically broken homebrew content (which is what the spell really is). You can give advantage to 3 allies during your turn. That’s neat, but faerie fire can do that, too.
What will you do with the touch spell functionality. What spells do you get as a warlock that you would use this on? Shocking grasp as a pact of the tomb warlock? Fly with a third level spell slot? How often do you need to cast fly but can’t get to someone?
Warlocks just don’t have many offensive touch range spells.
It’s a lame spell to take with his few known spells you get as a warlock.
My go-to in combat is either Darkness + Devil's Sight or Mirror Image. Flock of Familiars is brilliant. I also get a lot of utility out of Spider Climb and Misty Step.
This sounds like a nightmare .....
Darkness basically screws over the rest of the party. Situationally, it can be great. But, not reliably.
Mirror image is reasonable. But, it’s pretty expensive though, and it doesn’t scale up at all. The value of a second level spell slot isn’t the same as the value of a 4th or 5th level spell slot.
Flock of familiars is garbage homebrew content. Warlocks get very few touch range spells (almost none). The air functionality is broken, and the ability to see what 3 owls can see is way more powerful than anything else at this level. It’s a bad homebrew spell that they printed because a nerd who was dying wanted them to.
Spider climb can be good, but, you get so few spell slots and you can do this with slippers and also ... it doesn’t scale.
Misty step can be wonderful. It doesn’t scale and at higher levels you would want more powerful alternatives. At lower level this can be great.
Warlocks don’t have enough spell slots or known spells to take a bunch of “maybe it’ll be useful” support spells. It’s the wrong class for that play style. Nothing wrong with the class. Nothing wrong with that play style. They don’t mix well.
I'm dying lmao the skits man the skits
I'm fairly new to DnD. I'm playing an Eladrin Divination Wizard. I was wondering if you guys can do a video on creative uses for the different Fey Steps. Thanks Nerds. Stay awesome.
Andrew Staheli
Those Fey step abilities are my favorite
I second this request! 🙏🏻
I thought of creating an Eladrin Swashbuckler.
Mind spike is extremelly nice when you have to fight a stron enemy, but couldn't finish it off right away.
I have recently made a warlock that my DM has let me take an invocation that lets my familiars take the attack action on their turn. Should I get flock of familiars so I can have 6 familiars that can each separately attack?
Discuss this with your Dm to make sure they know and can prepare for it, other wise your gonna bog down combat horribly
A good solution you could suggest is for then to share inative then just roll for 6 attacks on their turn, you could also group their hp and treat then as a swarm, making them a bit more tanky.
Flock of Familiars only has a 1-hr duration, my dudes. No short-resting and regaining spell slots without losing familiars.
Mirror Image should have been here. Long lasting, no concentration, and three attacks are going to miss you.
Personally I don't think it's ever worth to take any single target damage spells (like Mind Spike) to a warlock since you can just use Eldritch Blast for single target damage, it does fairly comparable damage to any other single target damage spell you have access to, and most importantly doesn't burn one of your precious few spell slots.
I really like Armor of Agathys and Hellish Rebuke.
Hex and Eldritch blast + bonus spells Should just be a base feature. This would allow for more interesting chooses + flexibilities outside the blaster role
No, Eldritch Blast isn't even necessary for Warlocks unless they want it to be. Hex is pretty centralized, but you can live without that too. Just because it's the easiest spam, everyone assumes it's the best. There's Toll the Dead for alternative damage cantrip, Shatter for AoE damage, Charm for disrupting enemies in an ambush or gathering intel, nobody ever remembers Warlocks can Counterspell, etc. You can even build a descent Necromancer with all Warlock if you want. It's a High-mid-tier build, but it's doable, especially with Hexblade's Accursed Spectre. Throw in Danse Macabre and Negative Energy Flood, Finger of Death and Soul Cage for Arcanum, and we have a party. Literally.
If it were a base feature my 17 divine soul sorc 3 hexblade warlock would be so much stronger than it already is
@@CallenExile with 2 spell slots for the majority of Thier spellcasting levels and only two cantrips at the start. Eldritch blast is thier best choose while sure you could go with toll the dead it doesn't have the same damage potential. And with only two spell slots you need more to do in combat especially if your dm likes back to back fights you can burn through them leaving you as a blaster. More flexibility would hardly make the warlock too powerful considering thier restricted spell slots. Multiclassing will create imbalance but it's a optional rule for a reason and shouldn't be balanced around.
Toll the deead has more damage potential than eldritch blast. You can't compare a cantrip to a cantrip and an invocation and expect them to be equal. And a Warlock's spell slots aren't that restricted. The game is balanced around recieving 2-3 short rests a day. At 3 rests, you have 16 total max spell slots per day, plus your four Arcanum. That's only one slot less than a wizard, and they're all level 5+. And you get a d8 Hit Dice. And the invocations, which enhance your character further. Eldritch blast is a solid choice, but it is far from obligatory. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the way the Warlock plays right now. It's my favorite class, and allowing Eldritch Blast + Agonizing Blast for free from the start would require something else be taken from them to balance that choice.
@@CallenExile you are comparing wizard level 20 and warlock level 20 it's extremely rare people play till then yes at those levels they are pretty well balanced but before that especially 1-10 they are overly restrictive for little to no balance reason. I'm sorry but I don't agree that adding more flexibility in early levels will make them overtly overpowered in that start or even later.
Also I didn't say allow agonizing blast for free from start.
Plz do more warlock
Good job guys!
Armor of agathys 5 to 25 temp up each melee attack that hits you deals 5 to 25 cold damage to the attacker until the temp hp goes away.
It’s great if you’re pact of the blade. It’s often fairly rarely useful for other warlock types. Love the spell. But, warlocks don’t get enough known spells to spend them on ... maybe this will be useful spells.
The darkness/devil's sight combo is pretty good, but I wouldn't call it a go-to spell because it usually screws the rest of the party.
Exactly! You have to be super tactical with its usage.
would love to see you all do a class look at for the grim reaper class on d&d wiki page seems like a ton of fun.
Got a companion down? Can't get to him/her in one round help and get out without taking damage?
Misty Step in grab your companion and Thunder Step out. Save your friend and damage the bad guys nearby.
I enjoy combining Misty Step with Thunderstep in this way.
Or.... and this is just an idea... cast polymorph on them, turn them into a Giant Ape, and watch as the idiots surrounding your ally promptly shit themselves as they are now facing King Kong.
May want to check out the Bonus Action spell casting rules, this doesn't work one round RAW as Thunder Step is not a cantrip that costs one action
Joe Miller that's the point of Thunderstep, you use your action to grab your downed companion to safety and damage the surrounding bad guys doing so.
@@gladiusgamer9324 Let's see if I'm reading the sequence of events you propose correctly, companion goes down, your turn rolls around, use a Bonus Action to cast Misty Step and teleport in, grab them and use an Action that same turn to cast Thunder Step and teleport away? If so, it fails RAW by a couple of metrics. Thunder Step requires a willing creature which an unconscious one isn't, but even being generous and taking it as "Still conscious, but in rough shape" or "They're 'willing' because we discussed it before and they okayed it then" it fails the rules for casting a spell as a Bonus Action as Thunder Step is not a cantrip.
"You can also teleport one *willing* creature of your size or smaller who is carrying gear up to its carrying capacity. "
"A spell cast with a bonus action is especially swift. You must use a bonus action on your turn to cast the spell, provided that you haven't already taken a bonus action this turn. *You can't cast another spell during the same turn, except for a cantrip with a casting time of 1 action* "
That’s fantastic!
I want that Princess Bride t-shirt
Fock of familiars: what touch range warlock spells do you envision using to deliver via the familiars? Illusory Script? Fly?
Flock of familiars isn’t a good all purpose warlock spell at all. At best it’s niche for a very focused build.
I generally like your content. In this case I feel like you missed the mark in a few places. I do like your channel. I do suggest some of your content for newer players. This video isn’t one I would recommend. It’s cool. They can’t all be amazing.
What non-combat uses for Hex are you thinking? Are you talking social rolls so your opponent won't notice you or tell that you are lying?
the disadvantage on ability checks outside of combat is what I'm assuming... so yeah, socially give you a big advantage on landing those spells
Giving your opponent disadvantage on Wisdom checks includes Perception, so sneaking would be easier. Disadvantage on Constitution makes poison more effective. Disadvantage on strength makes it harder for them to avoid getting pushed. Disadvantage on dex means they have disadvantage on initiative rolls. Disadvantage on Charisma means they have a harder time convincing people (think of a court room scenario). Tons of practical uses.
I don’t think this general line of usage would work. In 5th edition any charm spells of virtually any kind the target knows they’re being impacted.
Can you imagine standing in front of someone and hexing them. They know they’re under the influence of the hex ... and then trying to barter with them or lie to them without their knowing?
Maybe this could be used on a captive like a terrible zone of truth. You could limit their ability to effectively lie to you. So, you would know they were lying ... but they may not tell you the truth at any point.
I’ll admit I haven’t been here in a while, but my goodness the little bit of nerd dopamine I got from listening to the intro music has sucked me right back in
I'm playing a drow elf Warlock with Demon site with Hex blade.
I don't think you can rest and concintrate on a spell at the same time. Is that a home brew rule?
Depends on how you rest, taking a nap, definitely not as that makes you go incapacitated, staying up is fair game
If you’re pact of the fiend Command is great
I like misty step paired with thunder step..
But if i concentrate i usually cant rest. Just saying that when im thinking about stuff i generally cant rest or do much else because its all i can think about.
I feel like a short rest is more sitting long enough to lick your wounds, a breather more than relaxing
No Armor of Agathys? 😳 shame shame 🤦🏾♂️
Either that or mirrored image make for good defensive options. Mirrored image is probably stronger if you have a good dex, otherwhise agathys.
In a recent fight as a lvl 3 Warlock, I used both my spell slots for armor of agathys, since we were fighting melee opponents, and I was flanked. I did 40 damage with the spell, and was able to absorb 45 points of damage without falling.
Barbarian levels of tanking, and great damage. Also great for intimidation. Watching your ally die from whacking a creepy person with a club is not great for morale.
And some fights, it is more or less useless.
Armor of Agatha’s
We only use the PHB as our source book. I wish you would not extend to secondary sources like Xanathar's -- or at least not do it out of the gate. For example, give us the best spells for Tier 1 from PHB, then add on, "And if you are using other sources, we also like....."
Let’s not pretend that extending the reach of a 120ft range spell will be handy often. Eldritch blast is great, but extending the range with feats or invocations is nearly useless.
Yep, you may find a couple of occasions to use it. I’ve done MANY whole campaigns where you virtually never need more than 80ft of range. How many times do you use the long range on a longbow or heavy crossbow? Now imagine spending a feat or an invocation to ... do that.
Devil’s sight would be more useful even on a character who already had dark vision and also had no intention of ever taking darkness (that eliminates a lot of the best functionality of it ... and it’s still going to come into play more often in most campaigns).
Plenty of good invocations to pick. I just can’t imagine considering extending the range of eldritch blast unless your game master caters to you needlessly and puts you in situations where you can cast this at people 200ft away while the rest of the party can do nothing.
A lot of people do warlocks they don't give a crap about the patron role playing when I run I do like old-school clerics when you ticked off your God you lost all your magic I do like that with warlocks you take off your Patron you lose your powers until you do something to make it right
Lol @ Dave as eldritch overlord
My DM views concentration During a short rest to driving a car. Would you fall asleep while driving a car and expect a good outcome.
But ... a short rest isn’t sleeping. The book says you can do anything as mentally intensive as reading. Reading a complex book literally requires concentration.
Mirror image is also good, it can save your ass.
The "underrated" spell is not in a main book so that may be why it is not used it's just one step above home brew
Nice.
Uhm. Would darkness dispelled fire bolt? It magically creates light.
no read darkness it says dayliht
No. No darkness would not. You’re asking if darkness automatically counters any spell that produces any amount of light. That’s anything with lightning and anything with fire. No, it does not. That’s way too much to attribute to a second level spell.
An argument could be made that it may dispel, and counter the casting of, produce flame.
A large feature of that spell is that it is a light source in addition to having offensive capability.
Oh s#!t is this an Unearthed Arcana subclass because I thought Eldritch Blast the class just blew stuff up.
Lol, warlock is thematic. If not a bit overrated compared to other classes. Just don't tell the goth and emo lads and lasses. It'll break their hearts.
Nerdarchist Dave
I haven't seen flock of familiars in any of the published books is in one of those or is it a Unearthed Arcana
It's 3ed party stuff
So not AL legal. That is why I haven't seen it.
It's from Lost Laboratory of Kwalish (WOTC's extra life psf) but made by reddit/Galar to honor a player who has died from cancer. But no unfortunately the spells are not adventure league legal but the module is
Flock of firmilar? Where is that from?
Yeah, in what book can i find it?
@Kapten Krok nope
It's 3ed party stuff most DMs will not use it
@@certanmike it's not third party , it was publish by WOTC for extra life charity
I like combining the hex from hex blade and the spell hex for MAXIMUM HEX DAMAGE!!!
I one rounded a Pirate Captain in my last session a few days ago with that combo
Then, lvl12 Loc means Lifedrinker. Double your Cha mod to all damage, as well as magical weapons. You can take the dueling fighting style as well as rage damage, too. So dumb.
Aren't they both concentration spells?
@@varietasVeritas One is a class feature that allows the hexblade warlock to add their proficiency to the damage they deal to the cursed target. Then, there's the spell that deals an extra d6
If you're referring to Rage, that I brought up, yes, it's concentration for Hex spell. So, rage and hex don't work together. Rage is better for if you're attacking multiple creatures that dont die in one hit
Bard spells next?
I like to combo cloud spells with repelling blast.
Repelling blast in a tactical adventure is much better than extending the reach of eldritch blast ... for sure.
What three level 1 spells as best? I don't know what to pick after hex and AoA
No way to answer that. Depends on what you’re going for.
Armor of agathys, hex, and the pact spells for the three PHB pacts are what I would lean towards.
Charm person is challenging to use because charm magic is basically garbage in 5e.
Comprehend languages is too rarely useful to spend a known spell on it. If you get ritual spells then go for it as one of those.
Expeditious retreat is too situational to spend a known spell on. If you need someone who is fast use a barbarian or monk or rogue or a support caster who has known spells to get a variety of “maybe this will be useful” stuff.
Hellish rebuke is garbage unless you’re using your Tiefling racial ability. It’s a spell slot to basically do a cantrip’s worth of damage ... but as a reaction. That’s half of your spell casting until you can rest .... for most of your life as a warlock.
Illusory script is garbage.
Protection from good and evil is a good spell, but warlocks make bad support casters. Too few known spells and spell slots for “maybe this will be useful” spells. It’s a good play style. This is a good class. That play style works poorly with this class.
Unseen servant is bad. Take it as a ritual with pact of the tomb if you want it. It can be useful, but too rarely.
Witch bolt is a trap spell. You might as well just use your eldritch blast each round.
For role play purposes even a “garbage” spell can be perfect.
@@zero11010 I ended up swapping aoa for hellish rebuke and was glad I did. Never once got aoa to do damage as I was in the back away from melee attacks. Hellish rebuke I now believe is really good. All the damage is "new" damage since it does not consume an action. It's like a whole extra turn. I would have to hit a hexed creature like 4 times before hex adds more damage then hellish rebuke.
I also took expeditious retreat as an escape spell. Never needed it and swapped it for misty step at lv3.
@@I..cast..fireball what’s your pact and who’s your patron?
I think you’re being short sighted with the hellish rebuke. Yeah, it’s almost a free action to do some damage. But, it’s REALLY expensive in terms of your daily casting ability.
Armor of agathys is mostly for pact of the blade.
I’d go with faerie fire, or sleep, or burning hands or command or dissonant whispers or tasha’s laughter over hellish rebuke.
Now that you’re level 3 you have second level spells to pick from!
Calm emotions is crowd control
Phantasmal force is amazing.
Blindness is an incredible spell.
Scorching Ray is incredible for offense and pairs great with hex.
Hold person is outstanding for control.
Invisibility is a great utility spells
Suggestion can be amazing.
Shatter is a mini-fireball.
You picked a spell that is basically just ... a second cantrip you can cast on a turn, but it costs you half your spell casting until you reach level 9. You get no increased capability from it. It doesn’t make you better able to respond to different situations. You just ... do a little damage ... to one person ... once.
@@zero11010 I'm dao genie patron, pact of tome. For my lv3 swap, I dumped expeditious retreat for misty step and picked up shatter. I have lots of stuff for out of combat that don't need spell slots. Mage Hand, minor illusion, guidence, message, mending, mask of many faces, detect magic, find familier. I see my spell slots now aas a way of accelerating my damage output in combat, since I don't really need them for my out of combat abilities. People love hex damage, but hex starts in a hole VS hellish rebuke. If I'm near the fight and expect to take damage, hex is no good cus I'll loose concentration before it gets better than hellish rebuke. Shatter I use when it's a group. Between the 3, I always have a good way to use slots to increase damage. Next levels I'll be talking invisibility and counter spell.
Spell slot comes back at short rest?
For Warlocks, yes, they gain them back on a short rest. They are the only casters that can. It's awesome. They really need it, desite EB being sp powerful
@@ashenwuss1651 man I need to read and retain more. Good to know.
@@travisterry2200 Oh, I feel ya. I started playing DnD as a monk and it threw off my perception of basic combat lol.
Glad you know this awesome feature now. Now, go make some pacts with Asmodeus or Mephistopheles!
@@ashenwuss1651 Unfortunately all spellcasting classes only change their prepared spells on a long rest. I had to check to make sure, since that sounds awesome and dramatically useful, but sadly is not the case.
@@BigBoi237 I better delete that, huh? Lol. I'm sorry. Second time I mistaked on DnD rules in the last 48 hours
Which book has the spell flock of familiar
Lost Laboratory of Kwalish, it is one of the tribute spells made in honor of a player who died from cancer
what about arms of Hadar
Thunder step
Well I already grabbed all my things it’s too late for me to see this
I've always kinda found it weird that invocations like the thief of five fates take an invocation to learn, takes a spell cast to cast, and you can only cast it once per long rest.
That's like three resources!
Wouldn't it be cool if a warlock can mix their limited spell slots with extra free innate spell casting and invest into actually having SPELLS?
I really pissed off my dm by using hex
Shadow sword
I'm sorry wtf did I walk into???
What is this? Aren’t the two of you in the wrong seats?
They should work on upping the warlock more really weak playtesting
*NOT* needed
It's a balanced class lol. Consider invocations, in combo with spells, weapons and armor. Short rest slot regain. The short rest slots are equal to a much higher level wizard's Arcane Restoration feature
There is absolutely nothing wrong with warlock. At the end of the day, without even counting invocation spells, the warlock can cast 16-20 spells on average, the lowest level of them being 5. That's only 1 fewer than a Wizard get's on their list, not counting the 10 levels worth of slots wizard can reprepare, which is a seperate feature. You also have a higher Hit Dice, Light Armor, and a choice of either any 3 cantrips you want from any class, a familiar that no other class can compare to, or proficiency with all melee weapons through your summoned pact blade. Warlock is perfect as-is.
@@CallenExile Four 5th level spell slots each short rest is very powerful. Just Bestow Curse alone can make things so brutal. At 5th lvl or higher, you dont need concentration for it. That's 4 Bestow Curses each short rest. That's how you deplete Legendary Resistances of Ancient Dragons and Liches
@@ashenwuss1651 Isn't Bestow Curse one of the 1/day invovation spells though?
@@CallenExile Oh, crap, you're probably right. I guess I was thinking of going 5 into another class for the spell. Which, results in 3 uses each rest. Good call.
Edit: Indeed, it is once per long rest, using a Warlock slot
Nooooooo! No da bwast!!! O.o
Warlock can’t regain the spell slot on a spell they are concentrating on.
Short rest an hour. Spell expires in a hour. Not concentrating on it especially if you wait 10 minutes before the short rest.
Nerdarchist Dave
I'm not seeing any rule that would prevent a Concentration spell's slot from being regained. Slots are binary on/off not a third "in use" state, the slot is expended at the time of the cast, Warlocks regain slots on a short rest. So even if the first thing they do in a day is cast Hex at fifth level on whatever weak thing then short rest to keep it up all day it should regain the slot
and that is why you should never play a full warlock. stick it into a multi class with bard, sorcerer, or paladin take like 3 levels of it and never touch it again.
??
It is a fantastic multiclass class. War Cleric Fiendloc is so powerful. So much temp hp, dealing damage when you're hit, and a minimum of three attacks with heavy weapons.
Oh yeah, and heals. Those Warlock slots on a short rest make for consistent healing
Going Warlock Sorcerer, 3 sorc/2loc is powerful, too. Eldritch blast 5 times in 3 turns. That's roughly 10d10 +50 in 3 turns. You can also push 10ft for each of the 10 beams that hit.
@@ashenwuss1651 I guess my question was to why you shouldn't play full warlock, or mostly warlock?
@@lord6617 It's not an issue, at all, to go full Warlock. They are just so powerful out of the gates, that they dont really get much stronger in regards to their starting power. One example is cantrips. Regardless of your level in a class, any cantrips you have from that class get stronger based on character level, not class level. So, if you're 1 into warlock, but a total of lvl11, you have shoot 3 beams with Eldritch Blast. So, if you go 2 into Warlock, to gain the invocations that boost your Eldritch Blast, you can start multiclassing into other classes. I prefer Sorcerer, because of quicken spell and subtle magic. Going Sorcerer means stronger Eldrtich Blast, more slots on a short rest for regaining sorcerery points. I personally like social Warlocks with social spells, or enchantments, that can use subtle magic with them, so that no one can hear you cast.
Hexblade is very good for multiclassing with Fighter or Paladin, as you'll only need Charisma for your weapon attacks. The class is so strong starting out, that you dont lose out on much at all, like when you multiclass with other classes. It's always beneficial, or so it seems
@@lord6617 Flavor-wise, it's the most sensible multiclass, besided maybe fighter and rogue. Fighter and Rogue are so basic, that's why. But, anyone can strike a deal with a patron, gaining this class. Even the purest of Paladins can make pacts.
C'mon guys, you could have done better than this. Eldritch blast literally take 0% brain power to point out.