New Warlock Patrons- (Hexblade, The Raven Queen) and Eldritch Invocations Unearthed Arcana Review
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New Warlock Patrons- (Hexblade, The Raven Queen) and Eldritch Invocations Unearthed Arcana Review
We delve into the latest unearthed Arcana from wizards of the coast. This time we get two arcane spell casters for a huge 5th edition Dungeons and Dragons article covering warlock patrons, eldritch invocations, and an arcane tradition for wizard. This one article will add a ton of options to the 5e D&D warlock.
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why didnt you guys talk about mace of dispater.... being able to knock a huge beast or smaller prone .... with the extra damage
and you dont have to call it out till you know your gonna hit based on the wording... when you hit you can cause the 2d8 per slot lv dmg plus knock it prone... no save.
Mace of DispaterPrerequisite: The Fiend patron, Pact of the Blade featureWhen you create your pact weapon as a mace, it manifests as an iron mace forged in Dis, the second of the Nine Hells. When you hit a creature with it, you can expend a spell slot to deal an additional 2d8 force damage to the target per spell level, and you can knock the target prone if *it* *is *Huge* *or* *smaller*
Its prerequisite fiend meaning you don't get hex warrior, so you have to use Str or Dex, and you want Dex otherwise you have no AC.
Mace of Dispater is, well.. Its a mace, so you have to use Str, but you lose the only redeeming factor of Str ( as a Warlock ) which is higher damage because a mace hits for 1d6 ( half what a strength weapon could be hitting for. )
Claw of Acamar suffers from the same issue except at least it has 1d8 and reach, of course reach is painfully useless because the melee cantrips (which are the only things that can allow blade pact to pack a punch) *have a range of 5 feet* and therefore *cannot strike targets at 10 feet even with a reach weapon.* Also the only single target melee cantrip (Booming Blade) requires that the target moves willingly in its next turn to deal decent damage, *which it cant do if you reduce its speed to 0.*
The whole point of Mace of Dispater or Claw of Acamar are to be Smites, a la Paladin smite. It's extra damage, that's all. Nothing says you can't have a Greatsword or a Glaive or something and then pull out the Invocation. It's the same as having a 2nd weapon, as far as I see it.
Well, Mace of Dispater specifically says "when you create your pact weapon as a mace", that mace is a Mace of Dispater and therefore you can use the special attack with it. Claw of Acamar states that "You can create a black, lead flail using your Pact of the Blade feature" and that flail has the reach property and you can use the special attack with it.
So your right as long as the greatsword or glaive isn't your pact weapon, and you dropped it to draw your pre-created pact mace/flail from your person, but that's getting a bit silly really.
Not that silly. It's the same as slinging a shield on your back, to do a Longsword Versatile attack. Claw of Acamar actually seems better, in terms of pure damage. BUT being able to knock down a creature is pretty potent.
13:10 Raven Queen
Thanks!
Thank you
Love u
Ty
thank you sir
Take hexblade, and pact of the blade. Chosen weapon: trident. Armor: scale mail. Pickup the gift of the depths invocation, take the magic initiate feat druid to get animal friendship. You are Aquaman.
A typical Hexblade Warlock would probably start out like this. You talk to you DM and decide which of you starter weapons is the sentient one you've made a pact with. The weapon itself doesn't have any properties besides being sentient, but the idea is that it is the weapon itself that gives you access and advancement in your class to begin with. It grows in power and the way this manifests is that you get more Hexblade levels. The weapon is legendary, but its power only grows with you. It's like any other patron in that sense. You yourself must be powerful in order to wield the power of your patron.
oO PPH Oo I like that interpretation a lot!
oO PPH Oo under this interpretation we now have a justification for the sword of omens and the kings it made.
oO PPH Oo under this interpretation we now have a justification for the sword of omens and the kings it made.
I'm about to run a game with a hexblade. Leveling with the PC was one thought. My other thought was that the PC doesn't necessarily have to have the gear from the start. So...some powerful entity has been trapped in a weapon. It's still got its own agenda and goals. Since it's now a weapon it is limited in how it can manifest its power, but that doesn't mean it can't reach out and impart power to an "avatar". Still working out the storyline, but I think there might even be a personal connection to the PC (which is why she has this connection). Maybe she doesn't even fully understand that is where her powers are coming from until later on. And down the road she'll figure it out and even travel to the plane where the weapon is hidden/trapped/etc. and actually bond with it. From there, I think you could still have new abilities manifest in the weapon as the player levels so the PC isn't limited as more significant magical weapons appear. Just another take.
You can definitely treat the patron pretty much like any patron residing on a different plane but this time having their warlocks use weapons as "conduits" for pacts they've made. I did something vaguely similar in the end for my Heblade... well, maybe not really.
It used to be a legendary weapon, but was for unknown reasons (letting my DM have fun with that one), had its power contained and sealed within a mundane sword. It now yearns for a more powerful form and can in fact have its essence and sentience transferred to any new weapon I find (such as a +1 magical sword) provided the other weapon isn't also sentient or under legendary protection. That's one way of dealing with the issue of "So I have found a cooler weapon but if I ditch my current weapon I lose all my class abilities?!". If you're going Blade Pact it's easy to simply have the blade grow in power because you can literally summon it as a +1, +2 and +3 weapon at appropriate levels. Imagine the same blade but with small visual enhancements each time you summon it in a stronger version. My solution works well if you for some reason don't go blade pact, take different invocations or, like me, won't be taking enough levels in Warlock to even get the necessary invocations. I'm taking at most 2 levels, but my bladesinger cantrips and even the Hexblade's Curse will grow in power regardless.
Multiclass hexblade/paladin for King Arthur, using all charisma all the time.
I actually made a Lvl 5 Hexblade Warlock for some open one-shot sessions I hold at my house with 7 other people. Let be just say the amount of damage you can do is unreal. I was constantly regaining hp, teleporting around, rolling crits like a mad man. There was one point where I crit on an attack, burned a spell slot and had my elemental weapon up and I smacked a monster for 104 points of damage. This is all at level 5.
Ezekiel Chavez I haven't used that, but in a campaign I'm in, I'm a level 8 Warlock/Bard. It's insane.
Ezekiel Chavez i alrdy am lvl 3 swashbuckler rogue... better sneaks n disengage/hide... i was thinking of going warlock n hex or raven, then go Chain with an imp... either hex for dmg n using charisma, or raven to have 2 of Odins ravens... but im really debating vs taking bard (partially bc our cleric hates healing)... the warlock stuff gets a bit less n less attractive the more i read n think about it... thoughts??
The merging ability is not getting enough credit.
- You can scout ahead without being noticed.
- You can move through some passages you couldn't before, including windows, pits, climb atop towers, steeples all without being noticed. Also escape from prison free.
- You can spy on people as a raven.... that's all very nice without MCssing into Druid
Not to mention the Darkvision for classes who don't have it
Ravens don’t have dark vision, also you use your own stats except for speed and size.
Alphadog 2064 I realise how late this reply is but when the raven is perched on your shoulder you get darkvision and when you merge you retain this darkvision
What? Never hear of the 'Storm Bringer' series of fiction books? Do swords still have intelligence and alignment like they could in AD&D? I think these books were by Michel Morcock
Eldritch Spear, Spell Sniper, Kiss of Mephistopholes... you are a human catapult
I don't think this would work.
*Text:*
You can channel the fires of Mephistopheles through your eldritch blast. When you hit a creature with that cantrip,
*you can cast fireball as a bonus action using a warlock spell slot.*
However, the spell must be centered on a creature you hit with eldritch blast.
(emphasis mine)
You actually have to cast the fireball spell as a bonus action, it doesn't just happen, it's a fireball cast which you get to do as a bonus action ( pretty strong ), with the simple restriction that it *must be centered on a creature you hit with Eldritch Blast.*
Basically,
The range of the Fireball spell hasn't been altered, so you could only pop it on someone you hit with Eldritch Blast this turn who is within 150 feet ( the range of the Fireball spell ) of you. It also costs you one of your precious Pact Magic spell slots.
It's still a nicer Invocation than the equivalent blade Invocations though, because why do anything else when you can Eldritch Blast?
It seems Wizards just straight up forgot about the Undying Patron from the SCAG. They didn't get any invocations. The Seeker got some for God's sake.
It is pretty interesting.
I was disappointed to see that as well. And with the inclusion of the Seeker patron, it does feel like they're adding insult to injury.
I was scratching my head at that because the Undying Light really could have used some invocations, like pact of the blade ones, because they really seem like a warlock that needs to be in the thick of it to use their patron abilities.
I wouldn't of expected WotC to add invocations for all of the UA patrons introduced thus far. But if they were to add any from the UA's beyond the two new ones in this, I would of expected them to also do something for the Undying patron in the SCAG. Because otherwise, they are more or less encouraging players to choose a UA patron over an official SCAG patron. And that doesn't feel right to me.
TyranusRex721 They are likely going for PHB +1 Adventurer League and the Seeker will be included in that source.
You guys forgot something about the Raven Queen, something that everyone is forgetting. - Read it well. You can become merged with the raven and get all of the benefits, ignoring the incapacitate effect, becoming immune to all damage/targeted spells... (cast a spell that needs to stay? Cast spell, raven form. (Polymorph anyone?) -- Not in a good spot? Raven form, fly away/reposition. Need to escape and ultimately leave your party members to die... I mean, go get help for your party members? Raven form, fly away.) Didn't really like any of the other flair for it but more powerful than others think. - Also, 'dpr' wise, Spiritual Weapon + Hex / Eldritch Blast + Hex, is competitive -- though you are burning or close to burning spells to do so.
YES IVE BEEN TRYING TO SAY THIS THANK YOU
For some reason I like the no sleep needed one.
I have DMed for multiple Warlock characters (Fiend, Great Old One, Undying, and Undying Light.) I don't find the Warlock class to be under-powered. I think it is mechanically boring... as in very dependent on Eldritch Blast + Hex. However, all my players have throughly enjoyed roll playing the Warlocks. The patron connection is not only role play rich, it also gives the DM a great plot hook vehicle. Also anything the Warlock lacks in combat they more than make up for in social encounters with their high Charisma and Cantrips and Evocations... Friends, Beguiling Influence and Mask of Many Faces... not to mention Awakened Mind.
Despite finding myself agreeing with a lot of Warlock complaint threads her I most closely resonate with you.
I love my Warlock, very thematic but yes at the core virtually the most mechanically boring class. It's definitely a case of combat scene your spamming EB and Hex :-(
I'm entering 6th lvl and looking for some way of getting more involved and keeping my PC powerful - not easy
Tiefling - Warlock Pact of Tome / 'Undying; Patron (To be honest my driving force choosing things was thematics over core mechanics)
So ironically my last character was a warlock. great old one, pact of the blade. and honestly found it quite fun to be at the frontline unless it was a hoard of enemies. because i was lucky enough to have had my gm roll on the magic items table gauntlets of ogre strength. while i was spec'd into charisma and con already. (12str/10dex/16con/18cha/8int/10wis) I was actually had the highest HP in the party because my party mates kept taking dice over average .
Not only was i able to enjoy the combat but character roleplay i had a ton of oprotunities. mainly because i sacrificed a bit of power to gain utility.
Quintan Quigley, Did you see my other post about my Undying Light Warlock with Blade Pact? I described how well the Undying Light Patron complements the core Warlock class. Maybe your DM will let you alter your Patron's bonus spells to help you be more effective and fun.
Hmm, let's track down that video
It's a comment on this video's thread. I use the Undying Light Patron as an example of a Patron done really well.
My interpretation of the hexblade was that the specific sentient weapon you make the pact with is actually just acting as a sort of a broker between the pact maker and the actual patron behind the hexblade sentient weapon. In the flavor text it specifically says "The shadowy force behind these weapons can offer power to warlocks who form pacts with it." The sentient weapon is not the one giving the powers, it is the force behind the sentient weapon. It says so right in the description.
The 'Armour of Hexes' might use a d6 because a hex = hexagon = 6 sides
it's a 50/50, just use whatever die you prefer. I would use a d20 as it is always at hand.
When you merge with the raven you still have your HP, AC, & Senses. You just become tiny and get the raven's speed and appearance. I can think of plenty of uses for this in my game.
Jim Oerther I agree. I like the raven ability minus the lame range 100 ft.
Nerdarchist Dave
The shadow hound let you ignore cover for any attack roll not just melee.
So it work with spell and weapon at melee or range.
While having Raven Queen Patron (For that merge with raven to be able to fly) add in evocations: Eyes of the Rune Keeper + Mask of many faces/Master of Myriad forms (Replace at lvl 15) + Silent Image One + One With Shadows Makes you the best spy in existence. Able to read anything, so all documents are for you. Then you can disguise yourself, use silent image to distract people or minor illusion to create sound distraction as well. One with Shadows to hide if in trouble.
Tome of Knowledge for more cantrips, such as mending for fixing locks or any small breaking you had to do, mage hand for magehandstuff, or druidcraft/thaumaturgy/prestidigitaion, for thematic effects and able to control lights in the room to then hide with One with Shadows .
At lvl 6, simply pick Agonizing blast(simply for the damage), One with Shadows, Mask of many faces. Have deception & stealth + whatever else you might want to have for your character.
Another fun thing you could do is simply to fly high up in the sky as a raven, then undo, cast levitation with your next action (Since you have to use 1 action to undo) and together with Eldritch spear + Spell Sniper, you can be 600ft in the sky and bombard people with your spell.
Sword: Heyyyyyyy kid, wanna sell your soul to me?
Kid: By Bahamut's beard the old antique sword is talking ! MOM HALP IM SCARED
I once had a Warlock with all the eye invocations. Devil's Sight was my favourite. Eyes of the Runekeeper came in handy. And finally Eldritch Sight. Which lets you cast detect magic at will.
I saw mentioned in another discussion on the "create magic weapon" invocations that you can replace invocations thus eventually a Hexblade would have the +3 bonus and have the previous two replaced with other invocations!
The real question is why they gave spells like Magic Weapon and Elemental Weapon (which cannot be used on a magic weapon) to the Hexblade, the standard pact weapon could be buffed by them, but as soon as you bound a magic weapon *or added one of these invocations* the pact weapon would be a magic weapon, making the spells unusable. Strange choices all around.
Remember that any weapon summoned via your Pact Weapon ability gains the Hex Warrior abilities, so you can summon a greatsword and use it with your charisma.
My favorite invocation is the Improved Pact Weapon. At level 3 as a Hexblade you can be summoning +1 magical weapons that use your charisma modifier for your rolls. Summon a greatsword that's +6 to hit, and does 2D6+4 damage.
Poor ted trying to get all deep on the hex blade patron flavor and just gets shut down. Personally I don't like the majority of the invocations have a Patron requirement. None of the PHB invocations have a patron requirement and only a few have Pact requirements. I can understand the weapon invocations granting the smiting pact weapons having a Patron requirement but even then I still agree with Ryan that all the warlock invocations can easily be re-flavored to whatever patron you selected. If I was going to use any of this in a game I was playing in I would want to see the patron specifications lifted from them and if this warlock UEA makes it into a book I would like to see the same with that as well.
Can anyone explain the logic behind having the only unique Pact of the Blade Hexblade incantations give you weapons thay can't be wielder in one hand and thus don't take advantage of the first ability? It's already contradictory enough that it's impossible to make your sentient Hexblade into a pact weapon, and now this? I love the concept behind this class, but when it comes to the details, what on Earth were they thinking?
Hi Nerdarchy I am always happy for new content. love your Work guys and that you ansered my questions on the livestream. :D
I like the one that gives you bestow curse at will because even if you don't use the last effect it does some nice effects
13:37
Vax (Liam O'Brian) is the Paladin of the Raven Queen (oath of vengeance)
Vex (Laura Bailey) is a Ranger Beast Master
Personal peeve? I personally don't know how it gets mixed up unless you were trying to get their attention- I feel the 'A' is masculine and the 'E' is feminine.
Its as easy as (A)dam and (E)ve
James Wilson Vax has an A because he stAbs people. that's just how I remember it.
FlapNasty3 hey it works.
And vex becouse she exterminates?
The Undying Light Patron is the Best. It gives the most options and significantly address the Warlock's needs. More Patrons need to follow this example.
I play the Undying Light Patron with Blade Pact. I picked this solely based on my Daughter's campaign theme. However, I learned that this build solves a lot of the Warlock criticism.
1. The Warlock needs something to prevent Eldritch Blast from being such a handcuff. I'm not saying it's bad... on the contrary it's so good that it's difficult to get away from it.
Undying Light allows you to add Charisma bonus to Radiant and Fire Damage. It also gives you Sacred Flame cantrip. With Blade Pact you can also make use of Green Flame Blade. By adding Charisma bonus to these Cantrips you have solid options other than Eldritch Blast.
2. You need a way to deal with the lower hit points and lower AC if you're going Blade Pact.
Undyimg Light's Searing Vengeance allows you to bonce back to half hit points after getting dropped to zero. This is very useful, and that's fun to role play!
3. You need spells that give great bang for your buck, because you have so few of them. Area effect concentration spells work great, because you can use one spell for a whole combat.
Flaming Sphere, Fire Shield, and Flame Strike fill that bill for the Undying Light Warlock.
When building new Patron paths Wizards of the Coast needs to copy this 3 part formula.
Quintan Quigley Here it is here.
Maybe someone already pointed this out but Shadow hound doesn't seem to only affect melee attacks. It says " While the shadow hound is merged in this manner, the target can’t gain the benefits of half cover or three-quarters cover against your attack rolls" So it just says attack rolls in general from what I am reading. So eldritch blast away without worry about cover ever.
The Hex blade is basically GOING to be a Bladelock, it should be the default, so the curse should either be linked to the Hex spell (which they should get for free) or used once per short rest per Chr bonus, replace Shadow Hound with Shadow Blade.
Shadow Blade: Link a thread of shadow to your pact weapon, it takes on aspects of your patron weapon, gaining a +1 Enhancement bonus and inflicting an additional 1d4 Necrotic damage on a successful hit, these increase every six levels (+2 2D4 at 12th, +3 3D4 at 18th).
I feel like the Hexblade works pretty well with Pally's (especially Blackguard).
Hexblade reminds me a little of Michael Moorcock's Elric.
that fiendpact mace and the old one flail are both terrifying if you manage to hit anything with it
What's funny with the invocations, you can do the 1200ft. Eldritch blast build but also push them 10ft away, then pull them back 10ft just for fun, then reduce their speed by 10ft to add extra insult to injury.
Then you cast a Fireball directly on them.
Aspect of the Moon, easily one of my favourites. It's one of those things that just alters a basic aspect of the game in a subtle but fundamental way.
The real question here is, if light reading and keeping watch is acceptably restful for a long rest... can I short rest while awake, doing simple things like chatting and walking?
It doesn't sound like a major deal, but it is when you consider that the average party spends a fair few stretches of time chatting and walking throughout a day, and you get those tasty spell slots back after each short rest.
Just sayin'.
Guys, I normally try to come up with a logical response to these. But Warlocks are a sensitive issue for me. I've been ranting about them for two years. So, grab a snack, a comfy place to sit, and strap in. This is a long one.
WoTC seem to just either add, fix, or power creep other classes (like the "poor lonely" Ranger...ugh) and leave this red-headed step-child out in the cold. If Warlocks were more fully flushed out with a similar power level to other classes (and they aren't - you can't squeeze that sausage-sized argument into a hot dog wrapper), I'd play this class all the time. I gravitate to "darker" characters. I would love to play a Warlock that can keep up with everyone else...
...but outside of a few Blade Pact builds I have come up with (Who all have the Tough feat)...I just can't see it.
And I see it over and over at other tables. I watch players sit there, throw off A SPELL or button mash Eldritch Blast...then look bored while Wizards and Sorcerers lay down some offensive heat. Clerics and Bards (for crying out loud) out-cast Warlocks. That's offensive. Paladins, Rangers, Eldritch Knights and Arcane Tricksters are all hybrid casters, and THEY out-cast Warlocks.
This still goes back to the fact that Mike Mearls or Jeremy Crawford refuse to really fix the Warlock because they want this class to have "a certain feel". In other words, they want a class that gets less spells than every other spell-casting class, is tied to getting the DM's permission (and also the other players - not everyone wants to rest. Some push on aggressively) to renew abilities, and is designed around a single one-trick button mash (Hex + EB). What's the matter, Mike, did a Warlock steal your girlfriend in High School?
I'm about to commit heresy:
Dear Mike Mearls and Jeremy Crawford: Look up "Witch" in Pathfinder. Paizo seems to have their act together. I realized this from a brief scan of the material and not actually fully reading the material. It's kinda like walking into two restaurants and seeing that one's clean and well maintained and the other looks like someone shit on the floor. Who has the best food without reading the menu or tasting the fare?
Do better. Warlock needs a complete re-write. It's a joke compared to all the power creep going on elsewhere. Other classes shine in 5E. It's the Warlock's turn before you start adding "new" classes to distract from the fact you can't or won't do the work.
Now, back to the task in hand...
With that said, both the Hexblade and the Raven Queen Warlocks made me raise an eyebrow. Not in a good way.
Hexblade - The Hexblade curse is a re-skin of Hex. Different effects, sure, but still a 1 per shot rest mechanic. Likely, this is just to free the Warlock up from just casting Hex and uses it's ONE spell slot to...what...Shield? One Reaction? Seriously?
The "weapon" you have as a Patron is ambiguous at best, couldn't possibly be in the hands of a 1st level character, and has no references to clarify this role. This is a UA attempt that essentially places all the work on the individual DM to make, fix, flavor and interpret. Thank Mearls and Crawford. Not only did you not actually FIX the class, you make the DMs do your work. Great....
Like Dave said, this is Pact of the Blade with more trinkets.
Matthew Mercer wrote the Blood Hunter (Profane Soul), which is a more effective "Warlock" THAN the Warlock. It includes curses, rites and such that increase damage. WoTC, call the man. He seems to have his act together.
Patron Queen - I agree. It's Pact of the Chain without Pact of the Chain. It kind of flip flops on whether or not it hates Undead, though. If it's intelligent undead...then she hates them - unless she can make them herself through the Warlock - then she conveniently doesn't mind Zombies. Lame. Pick a side, honey. You can't have it both ways.
Now, as the 4E Gods go, I love the Raven Queen. She's very cool and thematic to story lines where loved ones have been lost. For those who have read the Sandman line of comics, Lady Death in there strikes me as very Raven Queen.
Do better WoTC. You've already screwed up the class. Don't muck with a cool god too.
Now, the Invocations.
Okay, first, I see some hope here. There should almost be a supplement of just new spells and Invocations. These show some expansion of what Warlocks can do and how having a certain Patron could make a difference. That I liked a lot.
Except one thing: What about The Undying? Seriously WoTC - it's in YOUR own book!
Still, there's a lot of imaginative material in the Invocations - despite a few wonky suggestions - that shows some hope. Specific fiend references and Archfey references were great. More of that, please.
Unlike Ryan, I really liked the "Added Pluses" Invocations for Blade Pacts. If you're in a low-magic game, being able to call up a +1 - +3 weapon out of nowhere can be great. Additionally, it give the Blade Pact something other martial classes envy. Even an Eldritch Knight has to find his magical weapon to call upon. Essentially, it gives the Bladepact the "magic weapon" spell.
Now, WoTC: Do the real work.
- Fix spell slots for all Warlocks, especially for Tome Pacts. They are obviously focused on the actual spellcasting aspect. Reward them. Right now a Hobgoblin Wizard has a better chance to survive than any Tome Pact of the same level.
- Give Blade Pacts a d10 hit die. Perhaps access to Medium armor. You know, a proper Bladepact without re-writing a stupid Hexblade. Geez.
- Make the Chain familiars more independent, and give them some unique abilities other familiars can never have. Every single "special" familiar for Warlock has (right in the Monster Manual) references to them becoming a familiar by their own choice to a player character or NPC. Make the Warlock version THAT much better.
You know...REAL work on the class.
I've seen houses built in less time than it takes WoTC to fix this class.
Mike Gould Doesn't seem to be much will to change anything here and the "I'm so goth" crowd doesn't see a problem. Alas the warlock shall remain a one trick pony.
Nerdarchist Dave
Its a nice read your comment and i agree on the points about the current stance of warlock , but for future use its either "Shat on the floor" or "Took a shit on the floor"
Yeah but, if you get spell sniper with the Eldritch lance cantrip, you can shoot really far! How neat is that :)
I can't defend the class design in core, but my table plays 8 hour short rests, 72 hour long rests (mind you a homebrew variant of optional DMG rules). With those longer rests and a more marathon pacing like we do, it moves the short rest abilities of warlock up the power curver certainly. My table enjoys it anyways, we find that it actually has closed many power gaps there might be between classes and abilities. Really any friendly agreement over how often you want to rest between PC's or PC's and the DM fixes a lot of issues. Making DnD fun and balanced (mechanically even) has a lot more to do with improving out of game relationships and understandings than in-text rules. Anyways, the pact of chain warlock we have now is doing some serious work - utility and combat - for our party. Things like at-will disguise self, short rest 5th lvl bestow curse (very versitile on its own), at-will detect magic. I see what you're saying about the cookie cutter of EB/Agonizing, but I also sort of like that it's so easy to have a copetetive combat option so quickly with no rest resources, it makes you be able to make tons of heavy RP/utility choices from then on out. You have a lot of choices left over after the "optimal damage" cookie cutter choice (particularly with this new UA). Hex is almost never the #1 choice for spell use in combat from my experience, but almost always top 3. Just my 2 cents, I'm not against some changes either though, especially even more invokation options, just saying the class has been very healthy and fun at my table.
More invocation support for other cantrips would be nice for example. Like... why would that fireball bonus action invocation be for EB instead of fireblast?
Regarding Hex Blade. I don't see it as a magic weapon that acts as a patron for multiple different Warlocks. Therefore, it makes sense that this is different than other patrons. It makes sense if each Hex Warlock is powered by its own individual sentient weapon. The player could be questing for that weapon while it empowers the character to free it from a hidden location. Otherwise, the character with blade pact can already have that weapon and it materializes as their pact weapon. I think it's a fun flavored class.
turning into a Raven kinda gives you a way to sneak into places. Ravens are tiny not to mention can fly. It means going through a dungon or something you can merge and go through small area. If your in danger you can also fly up and merge. Kinda like a limited wild shape.
I almost feel like Warlock should be a class you multiclass into. Feels better when you get it in the story, and mechanically it feels more like an augment to a class anyway. Like, the guy who wasn't jack until he makes a pact with one of these great beings is a thing I guess, but it makes more sense to me that it would be an extraordinary person in that circumstance in the first place. Also, I don't think WOTC built a class around a cantrip
I really like the idea of making a warlock with pact of raven and just create minions to do my dirty work for me. Especially since I can use at least the pact of chain creature as an extension of myself to cast touch spells. And then with finger of death I can start making an army for me to order
I love the Curse Bringer invocation. But it seems like the best way to optimize it would be to go Fighter/Battlemaster 8 for max STR and Great Weapon Master, before taking 3 levels of Warlock for Curse Bringer and the Devils Sight + Darkness combo to really take advantage of the crit on 19&20 ability.
If you want to further improve the spell slot economy for more warlock smites, take the rest of your levels in sorcerer. Or for even more nova potential, take 2-4 Paladin levels so on a Curse Bringer crit you can drop an Eldritch Smite, a Divine Smite, AND a Superiority Die for some truly sick doubling action.
I recently made a bugbear pact of the blade/hexblade warlock with strength as the focus stat. It was a lot of fun. I went with curse bringer so I got the greatsword and the ability to instantly move my curse upon death of the creatures and I took great weapon master feat as well as the evocation that essentially grants you Extra Attack with your pact blade so I was attacking an upwards of three times per round. My first turn would start with me moving in, using my curse as a bonus action, and casting blink. It was a lot of fun playing a melee warlock who just phases in an out of the ethereal plane while viciously hacking away at people. I could also attack from 10ft away (Bugbear) if needed and blow a spell slot on the Curse Bringer's extra damage, which then reduced their speed to 0 so they could not move to me an attack back.
Cover in melee often helps both sides, so it might make sense for the hexblade to find cover to gain a.c. and deny that same benefit.
One thing I definitely like about the Shadow Hound is that you place it on someone and you know exactly where they are at all times.
It is niche, you don't always need to track someone, but it is a no-save, stealthy ability that lets you follow someone to the ends of the earth. That alone could be very worth it.
Ally surrenders so they can be taken to enemy camp, you know exactly where they are the entire time. Need to follow an informant, you know exactly where he is. Even sneaking into somewhere, just get close enough to mark a patrolling guard and they can't surprise you by suddenly coming around the corner.
And it has unlimited uses, that only requires a bonus action.
Hex Blades and the other Pact of the Blade features are awesome! I can see possessed weapons as a patron being the spirit trapped inside a weapon is an interesting idea for a patron. Yes, you'll need to multi-class to gain more spell slots ( found Bard (College of Whispers, to be the best). Yes, that's a bit of a power build, but it's cool. This was a much needed UA to beef up the Pact of the Blade Warlocks. Good Stuff Guys!
The fact that you never use cover, doesn't make the ability useless. It just means that you play a more simplified game for ease of play.
Anyone else look at the Cloak of Baalzebul and see yet another reason to dip into warlock with a paladin?
Also, Claw of Acamar and Mace of Dispater give some great control, and the Moon Bow just looks fun.
Does Frost Lance apply to multiple targets if you spread the eldritch blasts around? I know it doesn't stack on one target, but would you be able to slow more than one creature? It says "When you hit a creature with your eldritch blast cantrip one or more times on your turn, you can reduce that creature’s speed by 10 feet until the end of your next turn." From what I can tell, there is no limit on the creatures affected, except for the amount of blasts you hit with in a turn.
The secret to Improved Pact weapon that they missed is that there are greater version. And the Warlock is able to replace an Invocation when they level with another they can use. So as they level up they can improve into those other pact weapon invocations turning it into a +2 and then a +3 power. Basically guaranteeing Bladelocks a Magical Weapon of increasing base power out of any non-magical weapon they choose to make a pact weapon.
About 100ft for familiars... I was running kobold underground and believe me, owl familiar scouting ahead for traps with ridiculous stealth and passive perception which could just fly through tunnels without being noticed and without triggering traps was a very powerful choice. And 100ft were more than enough. Setting it to mile would turn these kinds of abilities to being ridiculous in quite many situations.
Maybe a d6 is used for Armor of Hexes because it's a Hex-Blade ability?
...Apologies. Good episode, though!
Okay I'm confused. So I want to run a HexBlade Warlock. Do I still get to pick an Otherworldy Patron, or is subclassing to the Hexblade warlock picking a "Mysterious Entity" as my patron allowing me to gain the hex blade warlock abilities?
Not a fan of the hex blade pact, but there are two easy ways to do this, offer this to a player who already exists, and they multiclass into warlock after acquiring the weapon. The other way to do this is the the family heirloom, and the weapon is granting the class features.
Irony is - the Hexblade is actually far better off being built around Eldritch Blast. Hexblade's Curse works amazingly for that up to 4 attack/damage rolls per use cantrip. Throw Inferno pact on for the fireball thing too :) Enjoy your high AC for when enemies shoot arrows at you too.
Curse Bringer: "If you reduce a target cursed by your Hexblade’s Curse to 0 hit points with this sword, you can immediately change the target of the curse to a different creature. This change doesn’t extend the curse’s duration."
So if an ally makes the kill, then you are SOL.
Yup, you definitely have to look out for those lousy kill stealers! -Nerdarchist Ryan
The bonus against cover doesn't say it only works in melee and it can slip in at a distance of 60 feet
THANK YOU FOR REMEMBERING VAX.
With the Hexblade, I'm with Ted in that I would probably run it as a leveling weapon. Or, it would also be interesting if the warlock just carried their patron around and couldn't wield it until a set of quests had been completed. Or, maybe, you could make a King Arthur and Lady of the Lake situation work where the weapon is a gift from some power that communicates through it.
I found my metal origins sorcerer and hex blade warlock build to fix the squishy problem. also, being able to build just charisma and constitution was nice.
There's an inherent misunderstanding of the rest mechanic on display here.
A long rest takes 8 hours of your day leaving 16 hours of adventuring time. The notion of 3 hours of direct rest downtime interspersed throughout still leaves a 13 hour "workday" for searching, butchering monsters to make skeletons, fighting, figuring out puzzles, and moving from encounter to encounter.
I heard allot about melee weapons,but there's an invocation that allows your pact weapon to be a ranged weapon,and that is why the shadow hound could be of assistance when it comes to negating cover. That's how I've gathered hexblade. I don't think that It's meant for close quarters combat, in my opinion at least.
I think being able to send your raven straight up 100 feet above a tree line or over a large wall or through a passage your character cannot fit seems quite good and definitely not useless.
I feel like the Pact of the Blade warlock needs something to counteract their squishy nature so that they feel like it's worth it to get into melee with enemies, even at higher levels. Maybe an invocation that's like "if you deal damage with your pact weapon roll a %d. If it rolls 10 or below, the target must make a fortitude save or die." That sort of power would certainly make up for their lack of staying power in melee, and it would scale up as most gish start to realize that their dip into martial classes was pretty much worthless
The way I worked it out is I chose one of the already in the game sentient weapons ( I chose Armands ) and it is essentially choosing these warlocks to become worthy to wield it. They don't start with the weapon but it essentially reaches out to them somehow to grant this pact. The way 5e describes these legendary weapons is that they have an Ego. They are weapons sure, but they are also NPC's. while if you are simply wielding the weapon it will sort of challenge and have words with you for not going along with it's desires, with it being your patron it can just completly remove your power. And not all of them are evil, the one I mentioned Armands is is all about battle and combat and not running away from fights, it has no problem with ruthlessness. It is LN, but it won't tolerate evil actions.
For hexblade in my campaign, there are 6 sentient weapons, 5 Chaoctic Neutrul weapons desiring wielders for persons power alone. The one my PC has is actually lawful neutral and will not switch masters even if in contact with a stronger wielder. The Hexbreaker(pcs weapon) deems the others unworthy and wants to destroy them. Short version :}
I’m building a HexBlade Human I plan on doing Polearm master, Sentinel, war caster by Lvl8. The reaction Blast that reduces the speed to 0 if it doesn’t outright kill them..
Holy shit Ted, these guys keep talking over you. You have the patience of a saint!
My favorite way to do a warlock is a bit of homebrew based on the lore simple put the hexblades are weapons made of the shadowfell and the raven queen is the leader of the shadow fell so the way i play it that the hexblades are the proxie of the ravenqueen and the hexblade is the physical representation of the raven sprit kinda like one of the forms of the raven so you have the scout raven were it sprit is out if the blade and the weapon is treated a regular weapon and when the raven is in the blade it treated as charisma based attack with all the benfits of the hexblade but not the raven and if the sprit dies you just have a regular weapon sorry for the long explanation but i think it worth a try
Hey I was going to play a lycanthrope hexblade is there a way to instead of using charisma with strength
I like the Illusion Warlock, based more around trickery and deception. Mask of Many Faces and Misty Visions invocations give you plenty of tools... but there's not much support for it. Most of the times I've tried to play one, people ask me, "But why not just a wizard then? You pick warlock for EB."
Hexblade pact: "I draw power from the platonic ideal of swords."
When ever I read and hear about the idea of the hexblade I think of the blade-core/driver concept from xenoblade two. The idea that you bond with this being that takes on a form, and it grants you powers/abilities/buffs based on that form it takes on, though i will admit the concept is abit more fitting for a mage-type class..
i feel like hexblade would make a good narrative multiclass option down the road. a higher level PC picks up Blackrazor and makes a deal with it, decides to take a couple levels in warlock, for example
Wouldn't it be wild if Vax only thought he was a Paladin and he was a Warlock the whole time? That really does seem like something Mercer would do, just to really play with the whole religious theme of it. What really does make the distinction between an entity with warlocks and one with clerics? I dunno
I rather liked the Raven Queen patron, and I actually re-skinned the abilities to create a "Warlock of the Silver Flame" for a 5E Eberron game I was running where instead of a Raven, the sentinel took the form of a Flying Serpent like a mini Quetzalcoatl with the movement of a flying serpent but otherwise the stats of a raven.... Now read carefully the "Perched on shoulder" effects... now notice that you have the same effect while "Merged" with your sentinel at 6th level.... Now at 6th level you have effectively gained unlimited flight and air transportation.... You come upon a great gorge 200 feet wide, with a shear cliff rising into the clouds on the far side. You see an opening on the side of the cliff approximately 120 feet higher than the elevation you are standing at currently. It appears that you will need to circumvent the gorge and find a way to reach the cave.... well not you, simply merge with your sentinel, fly to the entrance and separate.... crossing large expansions of lava, unhindered travel could make you the ultimate messenger.... Ravens ability "Mimicry"..... you can actually speak while merged with your own voice or any voice you choose honestly. I would say this gives you the "Actor" feat while merged... at least in part. The only thing I added for my take on this for the "Silver Flame" Warlock was that at 3rd level they would get a bonus depending on their pact and I increased the 100ft thing to 1 mile... I know that Pact of the Blade gave them the ability to use Cha instead of Str or Dex on their attack and damage rolls with their pact weapon, I think Pact of the Tome allowed them to learn spells from one other class spell list like those spells were on the warlock list, but I can't remember what the bonus for Pact of the Chain was off the top of my head. I also changed the Patron spells list to fit with the Silver Flame from the Eberron setting. This patron option may not be mechanically powerful, but I think its got enough to be worthy. The flavor is sometimes worth just as much if not more... "Role"play not "Roll"play
wait, was it said in a sage advice that you can't make a ranged weapon with pact of the blade?
King Reshiram II I believe it calls out melee weapon in the class feature.
Nerdarchist Dave
that it does.
I get the feeling the reason the hound removes partial cover is because they are trying to make it look like this isn't a giant attempt at fixing pact of the blade. "You can still eldritch blast guys dw"
Kenku pact of the raven queen warlock
Raeven The Classy Kenku Hah! This tickled me! That's one way for the kenku to get it's wings back! -Nerdarchist Ryan
In terms of short rest, I see Ryan's point. A real life person probably spends three hours, or a ton more, resting/lounging. Heck, just eating you probably take 5 to 10 minutes a meal. If you were super hurt or drained, you'd probably rest too unless you were rushed (which I totally admit happens a lot in adventuring life, just not always).
i really wanted invocations for the undying pact its in one of there core book
sorry, but the SCAG is not a core book, though I agree it really should of had some love
ok it may not be core but its in a book and its not a UA
Level 2 human variant warlock, feat defensive duelist, invocation Armour of Shadows, pact weapon rapier or other finesse weapon and a high dex. Early game pact weapon user very viable :)
Hex blade point defense feat appear's as a garment or a fake looking creature two square inch in side. Subtract 1 D 6 damage from any attack that hits you that turn.Its a patron gift cannot be stolen sold or given away
Just wanted to say thanks to y'all at Nerdarchy! When I read it I thought the same as Nerdarchist Ted, do we get the Hexblade? Well I aspire to eventually control it but thanks for the clarification!
I finally figured out "gish", but could someone please explain "ribbon ability". It keeps coming up, but I don't know what that means.
with the raven merge, you retain all benefits of it being on your shoulder. does this mean you cannot be targeted while in this form?
No, you can still be targeted, it states "you gain the benefits of your raven being perched on your shoulder." which includes the *Raven* being unable to be targeted (in this instance because you and the raven are physically merged).
*Only the changes that are stated explicitly are made.* Everything about you stays the same (including your hit points etc...). Excepting what is stated in the ability. Your body is merged into the Raven body, and "While merged, you become Tiny, you replace your speed with the raven's, and you can use your action only to Dash, Disengage, Dodge, Help, Hide, or Search."
I admit, I thought it should say "retain" on my first reading and I still think it would have been a clearer way of communicating it.
The logic seems to be that, as you have merged into the form of the raven, it can no longer be perched on your shoulder. As such you must "gain" the benefits of it being perched there.
Another hint is the way the perching benefits have been worded:
"While the raven is perched on your shoulder,
you gain darkvision with a range of 30 feet and a
bonus to your passive Wisdom (Perception)
score and to Wisdom (Perception) checks. The
bonus equals your Charisma modifier."
Followed by:
"While perched on your shoulder, the raven can’t be
targeted by any attack or other harmful effect;
only you can cast spells on it; it can’t take
damage; and it is incapacitated."
The first paragraph clearly details benefits you gain *while the raven is perched on your shoulder.*
The second details the condition of the raven *while perched on your shoulder.*
The third hint is the fact that the raven, *while perched on your shoulder,* is incapacitated and therefore cannot take any actions. The wording in Soul of the Raven states that "you can use your action *only* to Dash, Disengage, Dodge, Help, Hide, or Search." Not only showing you can use an action, but suggesting that this passage is *limiting* the actions you can take.
If it was expected that you would gain the ravens perched condition, it would be worded as granting you back your action, and probably placed after where it details gaining the benefits.
Guys:Hexblade pact of the blade warlock multiclassed into high level barbarian. Fucking tanklock with insane damage when raging
Sea twins gift is my favorite invocation long story short I fucked up and was drowning but we cut off the session there and I leveled up and was allowed to get an invocation(this was yesterday btw) and it saved my ass
Now that's timing! -Nerdarchist Ryan
Merging with the bird gives you flying for mobility that can be very useful
Lex Taylor I agree. The raven is cool. My only beef is the 100 feet virtually pointless.
Nerdarchist Dave
I'm actually curious, would a warlock making a pact with a ki-rin make for a good sort of custom pact?
This might have been a change that's been made recently but hexblades don't have to give up their ability to use Charisma for attack and damage rolls with two-handed pact weapons.
If the Raven is incapacitated when it is on your shoulder how does it fly off your shoulder?
Chad-Solomon Dixon it's only incapacitated while merged with you.
Nerdarchist Dave
Nerdarchy No sir, "While perched on your shoulder, the raven cannot be targeted by any attack" etc... "it can't take damage; and it is incapacitated."
Warlocks are badass at melee even before these updates. Use spell darkness, cast it on your weapon and have devils sight. Suddenly everything without special sight can't see you and you have advantage on everything you hit.
I'll be playing the Hexblade in our next campaign, I just wanna ask if I use a longsword but hold it with two hands (d10) can I still use my CHA for attack and damage?
If you summon a blade with the Pact Weapon ability it counts for the hex warrior ability no matter its configuration.
However if you are using a regular weapon it has to be one handed IIRC.
That said, you can have a regular weapon that you've made into a pact weapon, then summon a pact weapon in your other hand so you have two pact weapons at the same time.
So basically, Hexblade is, "You guys, I really wanna play an Elric ripoff but Pact of the Blade isn't rip-offy enough."
I don't think many people remember who Elric is these days.
Thank you,
The whole time I was thinking, "Hellooo, Eternal Champion?!"
Michael Moorcock is spinning in his grave.
Who the fuck is Elric?
Despite finding myself agreeing with a lot of Warlock complaint threads her I most closely resonate with you.
I love my Warlock, very thematic but yes at the core virtually the most mechanically boring class. It's definitely a case of combat scene your spamming EB and Hex:-(
I'm entering 6th LVL and looking for some way of getting more involved and keeping my PC powerful - not easy
Tiefling - Warlock Pact of Tome / 'Undying; Patron (To be honest my driving force choosing things was thematics over core mechanics)
here was another patron the patron of undying light what happened to that one? why no invocations for that patron
Is Nate taking a hiatus? Need to get him in there for the new wizard!!
Logan H no just a conflict with scheduling on our last few recording sessions.
Nerdarchist Dave
This could create an interesting quest where if the player wants the weapon to reach full power, they'll have to murder the other Warlocks syphoning power from it.
I have a problem with Hexblade. Divine Smite was a Paladin thing, now Warlocks can do it better. With spell slots that come back on short rests. If it were me, I would change it to be the same as Divine Smite but with d6s, and keep the higher spell slot cap. Also, if you multiclass with Paladin, can you combine the two abilities in the same attack? That would be ridiculous.
You guys might of been rushed but you seem to have over-looked some of the features from Raven Queen's 6th level ability. You get to be the raven and fly around, but you also get all it's benefits of when it was on your shoulder (benefits, so not the incapacitated part but all the good stuff). This includes not being able to be targeted by spells or attacked, seriously read it again only a little slower. Sounds like a load of fun ability. Just saying. :)
in my opinion the reason they didn't have frost Lance change the damage type they didn't people to dip in 5 lv. of sorcerer and deal double charisma per blast