Sell me on the Warlock

[Darkwing Duck]

Sticking with rules as intended, I'd like to see your awesomeness. Create the best 9th Warlock you can with the one exception being that he does NOT have Eldritch Blast. By "best," you'll have to balance offense, defense, and out of combat effectiveness.I suspect that this will demand a high level of 5e gung fu.

 

[Kreinas]

If you're looking for uber-optimized, eldritch blast IS the best. If you're talking about most fun to play, making gishes is my specialty. Being charisma casters and having access to invocations, warlocks are already at a competitive tier OoC. Warlocks can also compete fairly competently as a DPS without needing eldritch blast. Clarify what you mean by "best", whether multiclassing is allowed, and other little tidbits. I'll update this post with my response. You're gimping yourself with no eldritch blast, so I'm going to assume no variant rulings either (Human-Variant will be the best choice in most cases simply because I love feats)

Edit 1
Pure Bladelock; Dex build
27 point point-buy
Starting Stats:
STR: 10 (+0)
DEX: 15 (+2)
CON: 13 (+1)
INT: 8 (-1)
WIS: 10 (+0)
CHA: 15 (+2)
Reasoning; Point buy caps at 15. Dex and CHA will be our main stats. You don't really want a negative modifier to anything, but something's gotta give in order for us to maximize our combat efficiency. You would be tempted to use STR as your dump stat, but you're in melee. Bad idea. You needed a pact to get magic, so let's pretend you weren't intelligent enough to become a wizard. INT is a decently dumpable stat for a warlock.

If available, I almost ALWAYS roll my stats.

Level 9Race: Dark Elf (Drow) if allowed in setting (+2 DEX +1 CHA) OR Lightfoot Halfling (+2 DEX +1 CHA)
HP: 66
STR: 10 (+0)
DEX: 17 (+3)
CON: 14 (+2)
INT: 8 (-1)
WIS: 10 (+0)
CHA: 18 (+4)
AC: 10 Base, 16 w/ Mage Armor

ASI/Feat: Resilient (+1 CON, proficient in CON save), ASI (+2 CHA); If Variant Human, (+2 DEX)

Patron:
I prefer fiend, but any of them will work. Choose your flavor.

Spells:
Cantrips; 3
Booming Blade
Green-Flame Blade
Shocking Grasp/Chill Touch (utility)

Spells; 10.
Spellslots; 2 @ 5th
Mirror Image
Hex
Armor of Agathys
Invisibility
Fireball
Shield
Absorb Elements
3 of choice

Invocations; 5 Holy hell. Not having eldritch blast AND being a pure warlock gives you some crazy at-will power
Mandatory:
Thirsting Blade
Fiendish Vigor
Mask of Many Faces (can be optional if you're only worried about combat capabilities)
Armor of Shadows

Optional:
Devil's Sight (If not DROW)
Beguiling Influence
Eyes of the Rune Keeper

Weapon: Rapier. 1d8+3, 2 attacks (thirsting Blade). 1d6 more with hex. +7 at level 11 (life drinker)


Playstyle: Be in melee, but you're not a tank. You can take some hits if you use fiendish vigor prefight (guaranteed 8 hp if you just keep casting it.) Armor of Agathys for a chunk of temp HP + Damage to attackers. Shield/absorb elements only if you think the hit is one you NEED to avoid. Use your shocking grasp to get out of melee without disengaging, and use your blade cantrips for damage. Booming blade is great if someone else in the party (bard?) can force the opponent to move willingly. Green-flame blade gives you decent multi-target damage, and the splash damage doesn't check defenses; use this to hit things you normally wouldn't waste the attack on/couldn't otherwise hit. Spells are basically up to you. You can go full utility, grab some situational AoE spells, etc.

You can make a STR variant of this build that I actually prefer, but it's aided strongly by multiclassing. I'm not a fan of full caster warlocks, but if you would like I can try to optimize a level 9 for you that is PURE caster and PURE warlock.

 

[TwoSix]

Tomelock grabbing shillelagh, and using Greenflame Blade/Booming Blade for Cha-based offense seems like a solid start. Use of multiclassing is fairly critical for well-rounded warlock builds.

 

[Jefe Bergenstein]

Why without Eldritch Blast? I dont get the need to be a special snowflake by denying what is in essence a core class feature and where the bulk of their offense is located. It's like deciding to be an unarmored fighter. With few spells per rest, you're quickly stuck casting cantrips. Why shoot yourself in the foot?

 

[discosoc]

You get to spam one spell over and over again. And over again.

 

[DMCF]

*Puts his arm around your shoulder and leads you down an aisle*

Looking for a new class? Let me guess, you're older than 5 but less than 100, have an income of some sort...now now don't worry if it's from your parents. Income is income!

So! What are you in the market for? A spell caster? We've got red ones, green ones, yellow ones. Why, next week I hear we're even getting one with bright purple leopard print! Retractable windows...heated seats... These babies have it all.

You want a warlock you say? Very good choice! Something only a respectable male or female would be looking for. You whisk your way into town and everyone will be eyeing that pact of yours. Nothing screams "sexy" more than Cthulhu or Lloth grasping your crystal balls! You'll be soaking in the blood and adoration of teenagers in no time!

Price? Credit? don't worry about either! We've got all sorts of creative ways to finance your choice in class. Hell, you're already giving up your soul, what else have you got to loose?

 

[feartheminotaur]

Some of those spells aren't available to Warlocks (shield, for example).

 

[feartheminotaur]

This is the PC my son's friend made. He's actually 12th level with 3 levels of Rogue, and a bracers of defense.

The idea is to use darkness or greater invisibility for advantage and close in melee. He uses booming blade or wall of fire to keep them close and ightning lure if they get away. He uses hex or fire shield for extra damage.

And, yes, his PC is named Batman.

Batman
Half-elf Warlock9
[Standard Array]
Str: 10
Dex: 18 [15 +1 (race) +2 ASI]
Con: 14 [13 +1 (race)]
Int: 8
Wis: 12
Cha: 18 [ 14 +2 (race) +2 ASI]

HP: 66 (+8 THP with Fiendish Vigor)
AC: 17 (with Mage Armor)

Fiend Patron
Dark One's Blessing: 13 THP when you reduce a hostile creature to 0 HP
Dark One's Own Luck: Add 1d10 per rest to one ability check or saving throw

Pact of the Blade
Melee Weapon: Rapier - +8, 1d8+4 damage

Invocations (5)
Armor of Shadows - Mage Armor at-will
Devil's Sight - See 120' in any kind of darkness
Fiendish Vigor - False Life, 1st Level, at-will
Sculptor of Flesh - Polymorph, using spell slot, once per rest
Thirsting Blade - Two attacks w/ Attack Action

Cantrips (3)
Booming Blade
Lightning Lure
Sword Burst

Pact Magic - 2 @5th Level

Spells Known (10)
Hex
Darkness
Scorching Ray
Counterspell
Fly
Fireball
Banishment
Greater Invisibility
Wall of Fire
Fire Shield

 

[Darkwing Duck]

Building an optimized Warlock with Eldritch Blast is easy and boring. I want to see what can be created without the crutch of cookie-cutter Eldritch Blast.
And, no multi-classing. I want to see how well this class handles diverse concepts on its own.
I want to compare this class' flexibility (that is, ability to handle diverse concepts) and effectiveness (compared to other classes) to the class I feel is most similar to it - the Ranger.

 

[Jester David]

You get to spam one spell over and over again. And over again.

Sounds like a warlock.