Warlocks are BAD, Right? | A D&D 5e Warlock Class Guide

In which I tell you why warlocks in D&D 5e aren't as bad as we think. It's because Wizards of the Coast tried out a new spellcasting system for the Warlocks. And it doesn't work with one of the main ways we play D&D.

#warlockguide #dnd #dndguide

[schmelzwah]

Unfortunately wizard has arcane recovery from level 1, so they not only have more spell slots, but they ALSO recover SOME of their spell slots on a short rest. Half as many (of the max size) of the warlock sure, but still.

[matthewnewman]

Suggestions.
1. I think warlocks should get patron spells prepared like clerics. Solidify the flavor of the class. Stays on par with other spellcasters prepared spells.
2. Let invocation spells be swapped out within the same categories. mask of many faces with any utility spell. armor of shadows with any buff. Of the same spell lvl or less of coarse. This also makes each warlock more unique and specialized.
3. Remove the short rest part for spell slots but you can use a turn(?) to replenish them 2 times a day. This brings them back to the suggested balance. And can possibly join the nova without overpowering it with all the higher slots. Other options of timing end of encounter or action and bobus action.
Would like thoughts? All of the above may be a bit powerful?

Did you end up makin a fix video? I've just started running a world balanced, thematic game so been keen on rule of cool because the players can quite possibly find them selves out of their depth. I've beaten my head against the warlock wall in the past as a player, so am pre sympathizing with the new warlock pc.

I think people mentioning hex and eldritch blast should go watch treantmonk he compares builds with damage, and uses Hex EB as he baseline for damage comparison. It isn't as strong as people think.

[JohnW-yvyp]

Ok, let’s be honest, Eldritch Invocations are really cool. Only class that can see through magical darkness, can cast disguise self at will, detect magic at will, etc.

[AsbakNL]

they should just make the extended spell list a always know list from your patreon

[mirieus]

The warlock has the best "flavor" among spellcasters

[energyfitness]

Nice vid. Its hard to call it a problem with the Warlock class, when most players arent using the recommended Encounter/Rest dynamic set for the game's balance.

Im old and grew up with the dungeon dives, and it seems the players now get away from the resource management side of the game with 1-2 big encounters/day, like you said. This has effected the game, based on either a misunderstanding of the system, or just a difference in play style(likely a case by case basis)

So a lot of players/DMs want to reinvent the wheel to re-balance to their preferred style of play, which is fine, but they tend to err on the side of too much complexity and not enough understanding of WHY they system evolved to what it is supposed to typically be.

IMO, the "2 spell slots" gets too much focus as lacking, which Invocations get ignored. Invocations allow for At Will, x1 Per Long Rest, x1 Per Short Rest mechanics. The Patron Features also get ignored, even though they are basically spell effects. Chain Lock basically gets extra action economy and can spam Scouting and Help which if a Wizard were to do, he would USE UP ALL the spell slots to do something comparable while being limited by Concentration.

Fiendlock for example: FREE FALSE LIFE every time you blast a mook. At lvl1. Thats crazy at low levels. Lvl6 you get a x1/day Free Guidance/Save reroll, again this is about a lvl3 spell for FREE, lvl10 you get all day Absorb Elements even vs melee attacks if you choose those damage types. This is comparable to Flame Shield with no time duration. Lvl14 you get a x1/day Banishment+ ~50 damage, only 1 turn, but thats clutch at higher levels.

I could go on, but really, Warlocks and Sorcerers get a bad rap from (mainly) User Error rather than design. If you play Warlocks(and Sorcerers) like a Wizard, you get suboptimal performance.

Warlocks are pretty well-rounded and can do A LOT if you factor Face-Skills as being Spell-effects just with different mechanics. You get E. Blast for blasting at range(archer or striker) you get more HP than a Wizard, Spell like effects that largely DONT require Spell Slots, Book(Wizard Lite) - Chain(Scout+Spy+Help Action+Touch Spell+Mage Hand+etc)- Blade(meh...needs Hexblade but can gish), and Light Armor(saves a Mage Armor casting/day).

2 Spell Slots seems like a good balance for even 1-2 encounters, unless its all Boss Fights...but even then.

[thewolverine]

i love using mask of many faces and the actor feat which i use as a deception tool and it came in handy when the party got kidnapped and i used it to get into the prison and get their gear cause the artificer left me his bag of holding, i earned the parties trust that night, i can still remember it i found my way to the evidence room (where all my party members weapons were) i packed all of it in the bag of holding and then i found their solitary cell where there was no guards (i disguised as one so i took over the watching duty) said "it's a shame we couldn't catch your elven friend i would have loved to catch a godless heathen" (my character had the actor feat and this was a religious cult, so i figured at like how my character saw religious men who have the wrong ideals as i was a warlock paladin multiclass), they knew they never saw me and the artificer noticed the bag and put two and two together then i handed them their stuff and the rogue got them out and a good time was had by all

[williamturner]

Of you have a hard time with it you can also try to get spell scrolls made. You don't need to coffeelock if you make 6 spell scrolls on any day in town.
(I think you can upcast when making a normal 1st level spell scroll but I assume I am wrong about that)

[heathenwizard]

Many invocations use a spell slot, so that is a moot point. Thief of Five Fates or some other invocation essentially give you an extra spell known. Many warlocks would gladly take an invocation that gave them an extra spell slot over an extra spell, because they are strapped for slots.

Eldritch blast is the best cantrip, but it’s only truly competitive with Agonizing Blast and hex, which costs you an invocation and a precious spell slot. Again, not optimal, though EB warlocks are fun builds to play with.

An 8th level wizard can cast anywhere between 13 to 16 spells with arcane recovery throughout the day. A similarly leveled warlock can only cast 6 if we go with recommendations in the DMG for resting. Sure those are 6 4th level spell slots, but because many great spells don’t really improve with higher castings (detect magic, Misty step, blur, faerie fire) or improve only marginally by design (witch bolt, scorching ray) so as not to compete with higher level spells, that doesn’t mean much. This discrepancy only worsens with higher levels as the wizard gains more spell slots at a faster rate than the warlock.

Warlocks could probably be fixed by giving them an extra spell slot and turning some of the slot-using invocations into powered down, at-will versions of the spells they grant. For example you can at will polymorph into a beast of 1/2 your CR with Sculptor of Flesh, or you can slow just one target, etc.

The cool thing about warlocks from 3.5E was their invocations were basically at-will spells. You had very few but you were guaranteed to use them as often as you liked. It was definitely better than what we got. Warlock is a mechanically subpar class that was over-tuned.

Lastly, if the game is being played one way, and the warlock is underperforming, that isn’t necessarily a problem with the players or DM. The designers MADE the game such that one class would underperform. Whether they intended to or not, they did design the class that way, and that is what has happened. They do bear some responsibility for that, so laying it all on the players is not a fair assessment.

[Fulldre]

For what ever reason people just look at 2 spell slots and label the class as a wash. The way I would describe a warlock mechanically is more akin to a battlemaster fighter. Eldritch Blast is your "Basic attack" and you get the upside of a bigger hit die compared to sorc/wizard, spells as utility OR damage, similar to a maneuver, though gaining a more powerful effect for losing out on some uses, and Invocations that are essentially pick your own class feature.

[LiracyonLeague]

Dnd is a story. Most stories can't afford to have the heroes idle for an hour. Thats all there is to it. Rarely does an adventure just lend itself to yall doing nothing for a full hour.

[Sabbathtage]

Don't forgot this extra bonus: Warlocks have Charisma based magic so their base Charisma is likely pretty high and Intimidate is a class skill. Warlocks are spellcasters that can terrify the hell out of people. Perfect when your party could use an "Bad Cop" when dealing with an uncooperative NPC. Mwa-ha-ha-ha- ....* nap time *

[maegn]

Hey! I14W2! <3 Great video!
You are speaking about my favorite class. I love the design of this class. I think the "problems" you are speaking about can be fixed by creating a "Hex" type effect that is a class ability rather than a spell that consumes a spell slot. If a Warlock could cast Hex once per CHA bonus per day, (essentially 4 or 5 times a day....), that would free up the spells slots I generally use up in combat. It would prevent me from HAVING to resort to Eldritch Blast. I'm sure I would probably spam the ole' EB anyway, but having the option to use something more creative would certainly make the class feel more flexible. I don't think that this would unbalance the class in any way. If you have any thoughts on this let me know! <3

[crushcommando]

Interesting video, I honestly had no idea about the classic "adventuring day". I just played a warlock from levels 1-8 and it was the worst DnD experience I've ever had, it was so unfun i nearly quit playing altogether until I asked my DM to switch to something else. I have learned over time that this particular campaign was just not warlock friendly, we are either in empty countryside #28 or deep dungeon where resting carries legitimate risk (and nobody else benefits from short rests besides our druid really). No big cities, no major social situations, I felt like eldritch blast simulator; hex costing a spell slot made me feel even more paranoid with my spells too.
While casting at higher levels is cool, it makes some spells objectively bad, like misty step that will get you out of trouble but gives no benefits for higher level casting. Apparently i chose bottom of the barrel worst warlock combo according to my friends, Great Old One and pact of the tome which I've found are the worst overall pact and/or patron. Having a sorcerer now just feels 100x better with me being able to manipulate my spellcasting on the fly, OR just giving myself spell slots using sorcery points.
While I think you make a fair argument I still believe Warlock (next to ranger) is one of the worst classes in 5th edition if not the worst, the only true saving grace being hexblade.

[brannenpfister]

Funnily enough, Warlocks actually perform the best as a martial class atm. The best way to run this is by playing an elf so you can get the Elven Accuracy feat. Variant Human is viable too because of devil's sight and getting feats earlier. I would choose the Eladrin High Elf for the free misty step every short rest. Buckle up!

- Using point buy, make sure Charisma is 17 after Racial Bonuses.
- Start Fighter 1 (Important for the Con save and Archery Fighting Style)
- Warlock 1-3 (Hexblade subclass with Pact of the Blade. Take Devil's Sight and Improved Pact Weapon for your invocations. Choose Longbow)
- Warlock 4 (Elven Accuracy, which increases CHA to 18). (Use Darkness and Devil's sight to grant advantage on most things. Since you are an archer, it shouldn't conflict much with the party.)
- Warlock 5 (Thirsting Blade Invocation)
- Warlock 7 (Eldritch Smite Invocation [save for when you Crit, which is a lot easier with Elven Accuracy] and take the spell Shadow of Moil to replace your Darkness/Devil's Sight Combination. Replace Devil's Sight with Eldritch Mind to help keep concentration up.)
- Warlock 8 (Sharpshooter feat)
- Warlock 12 (Crossbow Expert OR ASI +2 CHA) (Pick up Life Drinker Invocation).

Level 13 (Fighter 1/Warlock 12) is when the build is pretty much finished. The only way a Hexblade can USE a Hand Cross bow as their Pact Weapon is to buy/find a magical hand crossbow and perform the ritual to make it your pact weapon. Usually by level 13 (when you would pick up crossbow expert to use it), you should be able to find one or buy one in a major city. But if your DM doesn’t let you, then just get Charisma up as fast as possible after your two feats “elven accuracy” and “Sharpshooter”.

Afterward, just finish the character however you want. Fighter 3 will be Battlemaster for precision attack, and then pick up spells you think complement your party while you are unloading 3d6+57 points of damage a turn with triple advantage on all three attacks (and if you Crit [very likely since you are rolling 9d20 a turn to hit], use Eldritch Smite to add 12d8 force damage to the attack). 3d6+12d8+57 is an average of 122 damage. [This isn't even including extra damage from Hexblade's curse, which can knock up the damage to 3d6+72 a turn, increasing the average to 137 points of damage with a Crit!]
Oh yeah, and did I mention at this point you are a Full Caster with the ability to cast up to 6th level spells as well? Pretty good!

If your DM is stingy about finding or buying a Hand Cross bow to use as your pact weapon (RAW btw), you can continue using a long bow and just max Charisma at Level 13 instead. You would still be outputting 2d8+42 points of damage [2d8+52 with Hexblade's curse] a turn. Not as good, but respectable.

Oh yeah, and did I mention you still get all the way up to 9th level spells with this as well? Yup! Congrats, you are now an arrow firing machine that can mow down any single target, while also having the versatility of a full caster. I personally think it’s one of the best consistent DPR builds out there. If I ever wanted to pick a character to play to do damage, I would play this!

If you have any additional questions for how I'm getting all of these numbers, feel free to ask. If you read through everything though, it should explain itself. Cheers!

[raymondharnack]

You can use all your warlock slots to cast fireball lol

[raymondharnack]

Yeah but wizards can’t cast spells if they’re getting nuked from darkness and can’t see you lol

[mitchellslate]

Ahem...Just for clarification...I know they made Sorcerer cool with sorcery points, but the truth is that the Sorcerer and WArlock originally were not classes. They were titles for the Magic User, and the lower tiers beneath Wizard in Chainmail, the Wargame that inspired D&D essentially. The Sorcerer is therefore weaker...And the warlock is the weakEST. That is it. That is why the class in 5e is messed up. The fact you argued it is a matter of endurance over shorter term resources describes it beautifully. The class is weaker...IT just stays at its weak level if over a long time the other classes become bogged down and tired. So we have confirmed it is weaker...And I know the At-Will and Invocations and stuff sounds nice...But I don't know if that makes it still not the weakest spellcaster, even if played differently. Might be running into some problems there as far as being unique and strong like the other classes still same as the Ranger has had.

[thedungeon]

Just multi-class and get regular spell slots plus pact magic, and then you have the best of both. If your campaign allows multi-classing, warlocks are really good combined with many other classes.

[arrowodd]

Who told you that warlocks are bad? Best single target damage in the game