D&D (2024) Eldritch Blast as a class feature of the Warlock

[mellored]

I used to love taking Hideous Blow to channel EB through my weapon. We used to have a small group so we played gestalt characters. I broke it playing a Rogue/Warlock using Hideous Blow and Sneak Attack with my rapier.

Well... don't copy the 3.5 balance and allow double scaling. Booming blade + sneak attack also needs rebalanced. (And is missing from the playtest list).

But yea. Eldritch blast as a melee attack would be good.

 

[Bill Zebub]

That's weirdly specific. Your 20th-level cleric's deity isn't going to teach you Wild Shape or Stunning Strike or Rage or Bardic Inspiration either. What's so special about Eldritch Blast?

It's a spell. It uses spell mechanics. Those others things are class abilities.

 

[MarkB]

It's a spell. It uses spell mechanics. Those others things are class abilities.

And there are plenty of spells that your 20th-level cleric can't access. Again, what's different about Eldritch Blast?

 

[Leatherhead]

Having seen what they did to warlocks in MPMotM, I hope they ditch Eldritch Blast in favor of pact specific attack options.

 

[Bill Zebub]

And there are plenty of spells that your 20th-level cleric can't access. Again, what's different about Eldritch Blast?

It's a fair question, and I had to think about it.

I think what it is is that even though it's an Arcane spell, it's "granted" by the Patron. And that Patron can be almost any sort of being...Fey, Celestial, Abyssal, Undead, Draconic, etc. So being able to grant this ability is a pretty universal thing. And yet actual Deities cannot.

And it's true that the Warlock's other spells are also granted by their Patron, and many of those are on the Wizard lists but not the Cleric list, so the same question could be asked of those.

But not only is Eldritch Blast exclusively a Warlock thing, but it's also:
a) Just a cantrip
b) Just an attack cantrip, of which everybody has at least one

So basically there's nothing in the fiction that, to me, makes sense as to why every single Warlock, regardless of Patron, gets this spell, and nobody else does (except for the Bard edge case). It just reeks of the designers saying, "Let's give this class a really cool attack cantrip that makes them special" with zero fictional support.

 

[Bill Zebub]

Having seen what they did to warlocks in MPMotM, I hope they ditch Eldritch Blast in favor of pact specific attack options.

That would make a lot more sense to me. Might be hard to keep up the variety, and there's a danger that some of the options are clearly superior to others, biasing player choice toward those subclasses for no reason other than the rocking attack cantrip. But worth exploring.

 

[MarkB]

It's a fair question, and I had to think about it.

I think what it is is that even though it's an Arcane spell, it's "granted" by the Patron. And that Patron can be almost any sort of being...Fey, Celestial, Abyssal, Undead, Draconic, etc.

And it's true that the Warlock's other spells are also granted by their Patron, and many of those are on the Wizard lists but not the Cleric list, so the same question could be asked of those.

But not only is Eldritch Blast exclusively a Warlock thing, but it's also:
a) Just a cantrip
b) Just an attack cantrip, of which everybody has at least one

So basically there's nothing in the fiction that, to me, makes sense as to why every single Warlock, regardless of Patron, gets this spell, and nobody else does (except for the Bard edge case). It just reeks of the designers saying, "Let's give this class a really cool attack cantrip that makes them special" with zero fictional support.

It dates back to before there were cantrips - it just happens to be mechanically similar enough to cantrips that it works well as one (in fact, it could easily be considered to be the prototypical cantrip).

I can't say that it bothers me any more than any other spell that's on the Warlock list regardless of patron. The way I imagine it is that becoming a warlock makes you a conduit for otherworldly (i.e. eldtritch) energy, and Eldritch Blast is the simplest, most universal way of channelling that energy.

 

[Bill Zebub]

I can't say that it bothers me any more than any other spell that's on the Warlock list regardless of patron.

Yeah, well, that feels like weak design to me as well, just not as acutely as with EB.

I know it would be hell on the page count, but really each patron should have their own spell list. Or maybe there is a short list of relatively generic spells that all Warlocks can access, plus unique spell lists.

 

[bedir than]

I hope that they lower its range.
I would also like it to be viable as a melee option

 

[MarkB]

Yeah, well, that feels like weak design to me as well, just not as acutely as with EB.

I know it would be hell on the page count, but really each patron should have their own spell list. Or maybe there is a short list of relatively generic spells that all Warlocks can access, plus unique spell lists.

Why for warlocks and not clerics? Surely a priest's connection with their deity should be at least as unique and personal as a warlock's with their patron.