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Looking to make my first 5e character, feeling pretty overwhelmed and looking for help
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<blockquote data-quote="Volund" data-source="post: 7099347" data-attributes="member: 6872597"><p>I play a Fiend fighter/bladelock in AL games and a Hexblade eldritch knight/tomelock in a homebrew game where UA material is allowed. If you are set on a bladelock, I think Fiend might be a better choice overall. First, I find I get a lot more hp from the temp hp given by Dark One's Blessing than I do from regaining hp from Hexblade Curse. With the former, I get hp from killing any monster, whether or not I've lost any hp yet, but with Hexblade Curse I sometimes don't get any at all if I haven't been hit, and once the Curse ends I won't get any more hp until I take a short rest and then use the curse again. You're going to want as many extra hp as possible since you are a squishy melee character compared to fighters, paladins and esp barbarians. Second, the Hexblade Curse extra crits look good on paper but in actual play don't happen very often. Adding your proficiency bonus as part of the Hexblade Curse is more valuable than the extra crit chance. Finally, the Hexblade's best tool for melee damage - the Curse Bringer invocation - requires a two-handed weapon so you won't be able to take advantage of the Hexblade Warrior's ability to attack using charisma. You'll have to use strength instead. If you want the better armor that Hexblade gives you, just start with a level of fighter for heavy armor, a fighting style, Second Wind for even more hp, and con saves, which you'll want anyway to keep your hex up. I recommend starting as a variant human with the polearm master feat for two attacks out of the gate and two chances to add Hex damage every turn, and a third attack of opportunity with Hex on incoming enemies.</p><p></p><p>I also like the Fiend's spell list better. Shield is great as a first level spell, but not so great when at later levels you have to use one of your 2 fourth level slots to cast it. I'm not a big fan of the smite spells either. You only know 2 spells to start and for a long time only have two spell slots, and compared with what else you could know and cast, smite spells seem underwhelming. Hex and Armor of Agathys last for an hour, so one shot spells need to be extra effective. Cast Hex for one hour and do an extra d6 on every hit plus gimp an ability (eg wisdom while you attempt stealth or deception), or smite a d6 of extra damage one time and possibly frighten a creature until it makes a save? Hex every time. Command is a nice first level spell. "Lay down so we can all attack you with advantage!" - "Why yes, that sounds great - I shall obey your command." </p><p></p><p>The 6th level ability, Dark One's Own Luck is a versatile ability that is useful all the time whereas Shadow Hound could be useful for ranged attacks and keeping track of rogues who are trying to hide I guess. Also, the Fiend's Kiss of Mephistopheles invocation is a great way to add fireball to your repertoire without having to pick the fireball spell as one of your known spells.</p><p></p><p>Warlock is a great choice for a 5e character. You'll have fun with it no matter what you do. Just adding my 2 cents of experience with warlocks in low to mid-level play.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Volund, post: 7099347, member: 6872597"] I play a Fiend fighter/bladelock in AL games and a Hexblade eldritch knight/tomelock in a homebrew game where UA material is allowed. If you are set on a bladelock, I think Fiend might be a better choice overall. First, I find I get a lot more hp from the temp hp given by Dark One's Blessing than I do from regaining hp from Hexblade Curse. With the former, I get hp from killing any monster, whether or not I've lost any hp yet, but with Hexblade Curse I sometimes don't get any at all if I haven't been hit, and once the Curse ends I won't get any more hp until I take a short rest and then use the curse again. You're going to want as many extra hp as possible since you are a squishy melee character compared to fighters, paladins and esp barbarians. Second, the Hexblade Curse extra crits look good on paper but in actual play don't happen very often. Adding your proficiency bonus as part of the Hexblade Curse is more valuable than the extra crit chance. Finally, the Hexblade's best tool for melee damage - the Curse Bringer invocation - requires a two-handed weapon so you won't be able to take advantage of the Hexblade Warrior's ability to attack using charisma. You'll have to use strength instead. If you want the better armor that Hexblade gives you, just start with a level of fighter for heavy armor, a fighting style, Second Wind for even more hp, and con saves, which you'll want anyway to keep your hex up. I recommend starting as a variant human with the polearm master feat for two attacks out of the gate and two chances to add Hex damage every turn, and a third attack of opportunity with Hex on incoming enemies. I also like the Fiend's spell list better. Shield is great as a first level spell, but not so great when at later levels you have to use one of your 2 fourth level slots to cast it. I'm not a big fan of the smite spells either. You only know 2 spells to start and for a long time only have two spell slots, and compared with what else you could know and cast, smite spells seem underwhelming. Hex and Armor of Agathys last for an hour, so one shot spells need to be extra effective. Cast Hex for one hour and do an extra d6 on every hit plus gimp an ability (eg wisdom while you attempt stealth or deception), or smite a d6 of extra damage one time and possibly frighten a creature until it makes a save? Hex every time. Command is a nice first level spell. "Lay down so we can all attack you with advantage!" - "Why yes, that sounds great - I shall obey your command." The 6th level ability, Dark One's Own Luck is a versatile ability that is useful all the time whereas Shadow Hound could be useful for ranged attacks and keeping track of rogues who are trying to hide I guess. Also, the Fiend's Kiss of Mephistopheles invocation is a great way to add fireball to your repertoire without having to pick the fireball spell as one of your known spells. Warlock is a great choice for a 5e character. You'll have fun with it no matter what you do. Just adding my 2 cents of experience with warlocks in low to mid-level play. [/QUOTE]
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Looking to make my first 5e character, feeling pretty overwhelmed and looking for help
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