Looking for help and suggestions with a Hexing warlock

Ok, I gave up on 5thEd Adventure League. Won't go into the why for's and how comes, but I just wasn't satisfied with it. For my pickup games I will stick with Pathfinder.

However, we now have a group of 4+ people that I know well that want to play 5thEd on Roll20. Huzzah! We are going to rotate through DM's after each mini-arch section. I know we will have a ranger (he still hasn't decided if he will go archer or 2 weapon) and a druid. That will be brothers in nature or some such. I will not be the DM for the first part, so I need a PC. I really like the Warlock concept. Especially the non-vancian spell casting. So I really want to give that go and see how it works out.

My thought is a hex caster. Spells to make the key/powerful opposition just not function very well and just not be as much of a threat. Then since the warlock doesn't get very many spells per day, I would have the abilities to make best use of the eldritch blast cantrip.

I do not have oodles of experience with 5thEd, so I'm asking for suggestions and recommendations. Which of the 3 patrons should I use? What race tends to work best for hexing? Which spells work well and which just aren't worth the effort?

Thanks in advance for any assistance you can provide.

ElterAgo said:

Ok, I gave up on 5thEd Adventure League. Won't go into the why for's and how comes, but I just wasn't satisfied with it. For my pickup games I will stick with Pathfinder.

However, we now have a group of 4+ people that I know well that want to play 5thEd on Roll20. Huzzah! We are going to rotate through DM's after each mini-arch section. I know we will have a ranger (he still hasn't decided if he will go archer or 2 weapon) and a druid. That will be brothers in nature or some such. I will not be the DM for the first part, so I need a PC. I really like the Warlock concept. Especially the non-vancian spell casting. So I really want to give that go and see how it works out.

My thought is a hex caster. Spells to make the key/powerful opposition just not function very well and just not be as much of a threat. Then since the warlock doesn't get very many spells per day, I would have the abilities to make best use of the eldritch blast cantrip.

I do not have oodles of experience with 5thEd, so I'm asking for suggestions and recommendations. Which of the 3 patrons should I use? What race tends to work best for hexing? Which spells work well and which just aren't worth the effort?

Thanks in advance for any assistance you can provide.

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Hex is an actual warlock spell that requires concentration in 5th ed. You won't be able to maintain concentration on it and another control spell.

However, if you are using hexing as more a general term to describe a character that debuffs enemies then you should be able to do that. I recommend Great Old One pact as it's extra spell options contain a few good debuffs. You'll want a race that gives a bonus to charisma. Half-elf, tiefling, human are all fine choices. I can't remember right off if there's a halfling that can get a charisma bonus. If there is then he's also a good choice.

FrogReaver said:

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However, if you are using hexing as more a general term to describe a character that debuffs enemies ...

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Yes, that is what I meant. I actually forgot that it was the name of a specific spell.

Ok, learned a bit more about the group makeup and that we will be starting at level 2 and using 27 point buy for abilities.
Wizard with a focus on conjuration spells
Druid with mostly defensive spells to help fight in beastform
Ranger archer
Paladin

So I think my debuffing warlock will fit in nicely as long as I don't make him too evil.

So my thoughts on the build so far.
1) I'm thinking Tiefling. But I found out our group is going to allow any of the following: Dwarf, Elf, Halfling, Human, Dragonborn, Gnome, Half-Elf, Half-Orc, Tiefling, Aarakocra, Deep Gnome, Genasi, Goliath, Aasimar, Bugbear, Firbolg, Goblin, Hobgoblin, Kenku, Kobold, Lizardfolk, Orc, Tabaxi, Tortle, Triton, Yuan-Ti Pureblood. let me know if you think one of them will work out significantly better (or at least more interesting).
2) Single class warlock. Multiclassing doesn't seem like it will gain me all that much. (Please correct me if I'm wrong about that.)
3) I agree the Great Old One seems to have the best spell additions. Teifling seems like I should be with the Fiend, but it doesn't seem to offer much for a debuffer.
4) Not sure if I should go with the pack of the Chain or Tome though. I like the idea of an effective quasit or imp familiar for scouting. But I also like the idea of some extra spells and cantrips from any class. Suggestions?
5) Invocations: the first three (not sure of order) agonizing blast,repelling blast (since the warlock has so few spells between rests, I want to make the most out of my blasting cantrip), and probably the one associated with which ever pact I choose. Not sure after that.
6) Spells: still looking into those. So many to choose from with so few known. Suggestions?

Consult them to see if the Sword Coast Adventure's Guide's Tiefling variants' allowed.
The racial spells should help offset the feel of not being able to cast big spells very often.

ElterAgo said:

Ok, learned a bit more about the group makeup and that we will be starting at level 2 and using 27 point buy for abilities.
Wizard with a focus on conjuration spells
Druid with mostly defensive spells to help fight in beastform
Ranger archer
Paladin

So I think my debuffing warlock will fit in nicely as long as I don't make him too evil.

So my thoughts on the build so far.
1) I'm thinking Tiefling. But I found out our group is going to allow any of the following: Dwarf, Elf, Halfling, Human, Dragonborn, Gnome, Half-Elf, Half-Orc, Tiefling, Aarakocra, Deep Gnome, Genasi, Goliath, Aasimar, Bugbear, Firbolg, Goblin, Hobgoblin, Kenku, Kobold, Lizardfolk, Orc, Tabaxi, Tortle, Triton, Yuan-Ti Pureblood. let me know if you think one of them will work out significantly better (or at least more interesting).

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I like tiefling +charisma and a few extra spells per day feels good on warlocks.

2) Single class warlock. Multiclassing doesn't seem like it will gain me all that much. (Please correct me if I'm wrong about that.)

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Doing Sorcerer / Warlock or Bard / Warlock would make your debuffing better and you wouldn't lose anything from eldritch blast as it scales by character level. That said, there's nothing wrong with staying single class. You'll be just fine.

3) I agree the Great Old One seems to have the best spell additions. Teifling seems like I should be with the Fiend, but it doesn't seem to offer much for a debuffer.

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Archfey is okay for a debuffer too. But Great Old One edges him out IMO. Fiend is good but it doesn't help with debuffing.

4) Not sure if I should go with the pack of the Chain or Tome though. I like the idea of an effective quasit or imp familiar for scouting. But I also like the idea of some extra spells and cantrips from any class. Suggestions?

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Chain is good. Personally I feel rituals add a lot to the caster experience in 5e and so I'd go with the warlocks pact of the tome. I find myself using rituals much more (which also allows you a familiar, just not a super familiar like chain). IMO tome will offer the best play experience. (You should also be able to copy any rituals the wizard knows into your rituals).

5) Invocations: the first three (not sure of order) agonizing blast,repelling blast (since the warlock has so few spells between rests, I want to make the most out of my blasting cantrip), and probably the one associated with which ever pact I choose. Not sure after that.

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I don't have a problem with that setup. Consider taking one of the invocations for the one cast per day debuff spells that you get at level 5. Those will help your debuffing a lot.

6) Spells: still looking into those. So many to choose from with so few known. Suggestions?

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Spells are best covered last after everything else is nailed down

FrogReaver said:

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Doing Sorcerer / Warlock or Bard / Warlock would make your debuffing better
...

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Can you explain how?

ElterAgo said:

Can you explain how?

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To be a good debuffer you want 2 things.

1) A good selection of debuff spells so you can pick the appropriate one for your scenario
2) A lot of spell slots so that if your debuff fails on turn one that you will be able to recast it

Most debuff spells don't really get any added benefit for casting them with a higher level spell slot. So having pact magic and few high level slots isn't really the best option for debuffing.

Consider this. A level 2 warlock level 5 bard or sorcerer. You get ALOT more spells known for better debuff selection. You get Eldritch blast cantrip ​. You get 2 invocations you can boost it with. You get a bunch of total spell slots per day. That's just the casting angle. Then you get the bard or sorcerer class features which are pretty good. Bardic inspiration and expertise are both great. Metamagic is really good for debuffing and eldritch blasting. Twin Spell and quicken spell can do a lot there.

Hmm... Ok, I see what you mean. However, that is really more of a bard with agonizing, repelling, eldritch blast tacked on. Rather than a warlock.

So since a lot of the reason behind this character is to see how the non-vancian spell casting works out, I think I will stick with single class warlock.

Though I do appreciate the info.

ElterAgo said:

Hmm... Ok, I see what you mean. However, that is really more of a bard with agonizing, repelling, eldritch blast tacked on. Rather than a warlock.

So since a lot of the reason behind this character is to see how the non-vancian spell casting works out, I think I will stick with single class warlock.

Though I do appreciate the info.

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I find it with warlock involved it feels like a warlock no matter how many levels of warlock you invest. You're still the guy that made the pact with whatever.

Anyways Sounds good and it will work out. One suggestion if you can spare the known spell is to learn hex. You may find he works better as a blaster than a controller and use hex more instead of your control spells.