D&D 5E [GUIDE] Pacts, Patrons, and Power, a Warlock guide

Raven Queen: A large array of utility, and spiritual weapon.
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Spells

1st:
False Life: Outclassed by armor of agathys, or you can get it at-will with an invocation.
©Sanctuary: A good protection spell, but doesn't scale.

2nd
silence: A good way to shut down casters, but that includes youself. Eldrich blast takes V.
Spiritual Weapon: A strong spell that scales well.

3rd
feign death: A niche utility spell that beggs for creativity.
speak with dead: A niche utility spell that can undermine a campaign.

4th
ice storm: An smaller damage spell that adds a touch of control.
locate creature: A niche utility spell.

5th
commune: A flexible utility spell.
cone of cold: A nice large AoE. Does a good bit more damage than ice storm.


1: Sentinal Raven: A nice array of utility features.

6: Soul of the Raven: Utility flying.

10: Ravens Shield: Immunity and necrotic resit are decent. Advantage on death saves doesn't help a huge amount, but more features is more features.

14: Queen’s Right Hand: Good single target damage, plus a zombie. Why is the raven queen gives zombies?
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Actual Soul of the Raven combos very nicely with Spiritual Weapon and other Bonus Action... actions.

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UA invocations


Aspect of the Moon: Niche, but useful.

Burning hex: Given that it takes a bonus action to use your hex, this won't add much. Even post 14. Though, if you can convince your DM that you can curse someone while remaining hidden...
Caiphon's Blessing: 2 good skills.
Chilling hex: Same problem as burning hex. Just not enough bonus actions to add a lot of damage.
Chronicle of the Raven Queen: Not all that better than speak with dead, which you already have access to.
Cloak of Baalzebul: Adds a good bit of auto-damage at low levels, though it doesn't scale. I do like this being both utility and combat related.
Kiss of Mephistopheles: Quicken fireballs. Note that you don't need to actually learn the fireball spell.
Frost Lance: Combines wonderfully with repelling blast, which you should take first.
Gaze of Khirad: Some nice utility.
Grasp of Hadar: Not quite as useful as repelling blast, but it's still extra (and optional) tactical flexibility. Could be combo'd with repelling blast to knocking enemies out of and back into damage zones, drag a enemy wizard closer to your fighter, drag down a flying creature, or pull an enemy off your your friendly wizard.
Green Lord’s Gift: This has the potential to add quite a bit of HP with the right combo's (tanky warlock + allied cleric) but most warlocks lack many healing dice options beyond hit dice, and will often stand in the back.
Tomb of Levistus: Better to lose a turn than die, and it works on any damage, so you can use it for say... jump off a cliff.
Path of the Seeker: Nice set of benefits.
Raven Queen’s Blessing: Randomly letting people use their own hit dice isn't much.
Relentless Hex: If your within 30, you can usually just walk. Or Eldrich Blast.
Sea Twins’ Gift: Good utility that you can share with allies. Better in certain campaigns.
Seeker’s Speech: And improvement on comprehend language, but still not something that's needed often.
Shroud of Ulban: At-will improved invisibility. Though it's pretty high level. Note you can do a good number of things, including cast non-damage spells.



Blade invocations: These are a nice boost to blade, but you'll still need to dip for armor.
Claw of Acamar: Good damage, and immobilizing with a reach weapon actually works for smaller foes.
Curse Bringer: This just fails to mesh with the hexblade features. You can not attack with Cha, or use a shield. You also immobilize with a 5' reach weapon, meaning the enemy will stand next to you. Moving the curse would be a great benefit, but you need to be careful about your allies killing your target. It's also means less post 14.
Mace of Dispater: High damage and no-save prone, but a mace is just a bad weapon for an armor-less warlock. Better if you dip for armor and shield.
Moon Bow: Bows work for armor-less warlocks, and the usual high damage smites.

Improved / Superior / Ultimate Pact Weapon: Assuming you don't find a magical weapon, this can be a nice addition.

Yunru said:

Actual Soul of the Raven combos very nicely with Spiritual Weapon and other Bonus Action... actions.

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Being able to smack someone around a corner is always fun. But your raven is an easy target to take out when it's off your shoulder.

Yunru said:

Actual Soul of the Raven combos very nicely with Spiritual Weapon and other Bonus Action... actions.

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Click to expand...

Oh.

Gaze of Khirad + spiritual weapon.

Edit: Wrong pacts, but still could work with multi-classing.

Yo duh man Red...don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

mellored said:

Tomb of Levistus: 10 THP isn't worth losing your next turn except perhaps the first few levels. Cool idea though.

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Tomb of Levistus is 10 tHP per warlock level, not a flat 10 tHP. While you are still using your reaction and losing your next turn, there are times when having a major damage soak is much preferable to dropping unconscious. I'd rate it Black, or maybe Blue comparing to some of the other choices. It seems a decent get-out-of-jail-free once you have your first-choice Invocations.

Blue said:

Tomb of Levistus is 10 tHP per warlock level, not a flat 10 tHP. While you are still using your reaction and losing your next turn, there are times when having a major damage soak is much preferable to dropping unconscious. I'd rate it Black, or maybe Blue comparing to some of the other choices. It seems a decent get-out-of-jail-free once you have your first-choice Invocations.

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My mistake. Yea, 10 per level would be enough to make it worth while.

mellored said:

Green Lord’s Gift: This can add up to quite a bit of HP and has some great combo potential. Though warlocks lack many healing dice options, hit dice. Something to keep in mind for multi-classing though.

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Green Lord's Gift says "whenever you regain hit points, you treat any dice rolled" as if they'd rolled their maximum value. Would that not also apply to dice rolled by your party's healer when casting Cure Wounds/Healing Word? You are the one regaining hit points after all, even if you aren't the source of the effect causing you to regain them.

pdegan2814 said:

Green Lord's Gift says "whenever you regain hit points, you treat any dice rolled" as if they'd rolled their maximum value. Would that not also apply to dice rolled by your party's healer when casting Cure Wounds/Healing Word? You are the one regaining hit points after all, even if you aren't the source of the effect causing you to regain them.

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It would apply to clerics healing you.

But that requires a cleric. And it's only good if your being healed and not standing safely in the back.

Now if you made some kind of warlock tank (warcaster + booming blade + rogue's sneak attack), and where supported by a cleric (probably also casting command flee), then it can be great. But that's several ifs to go though.

Most warlocks just won't see too benifit beyond hit dice.