D&D (2024) 2024 Player's Handbook reveal: "New Warlock"

"The character builder's paradise".

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We last saw the Warlock in Playtest 7, with a lot of features from 2014 restored from the previous version. Still, a lot of questions (for me) remain: here's my list from before the video ran:

Spoiler

• Will the three pacts still be invocations, and will it be possible to get all of them by level 2? (I hope not). Yes.
• If they are invocations, will people still believe they are getting more invocations than thry had in 2014? Yes.
• What will the Pact of the Chain special creature options be? (We've seen the Sphinx of Wonder previewed already.) Is there still going to be a (M-sized) skeleton option? YES!
• Will Pact of the Tome still have the lame rewritten Ritual Caster rules, of only two 1st level rituals, and never any more? (I hope not). No answer, but I doubt it's been changed.
• Is it conceivable that anyone would not take Pact of the Blade as one of their Invocations? (Doubt it.) No answer. They did not talk about whether later invocations will give Extra attack, or other concerns here.
• Will anyone be able to take Eldritch Blast? "Warlock Specific"

(Happily, many of these questions were indeed answered in the video!).
I think warlock really benefits from having the subclasses come at level 3: you can "dabble" in the occult without selling your soul until level 3 (though admittedly, the wording of the fluff text does not require you to sell your soul).

OVERVIEW

• Invocations at 1, Magical Cunning at 2 (as in PT7)
• Crawford claims we will get more eldritch invocations. Assuming the table's as in PT7, this is a bit of a fudge: there's one for a pact at level 5 (no gain) and one extra, at level 5, and for most it will go, I feel, to another pact). Yes there's more flexibility.
• Main choices are Pact Boons. "This is a big deal" -- "it is a juicy choice" they say, and Crawford makes it clear you can get them all "over time". "Over time", though, is by level 2. To me this is too much too early.
• NEW: all pact boons at level 1 now.
• NEW: "More Spooky critter options" for Pact of the Chain, speaking to Patron types. Complete list: Slaad tadpole. Skeleton, Imp, Pseudodragon, Quasit, Sprite (Fey), Sphinx of Wonder (Celestial), Venomous Snake. All will be in the PHB.
• Spellcasting has been enhanced: more invocations work with warlock spells. Now they don't just affect Eldritch Blast (which is warlock-specific -- not clear how that's mechanized, though). You can have Ray of Frost with Repelling Blast.
• NEW: Lessons of the First Ones only lets you take an Origin Feat.
• Contact Patron at 9, Mystic Arcanum at 11+, expanded spell list (though not as big as sorcerer).
• All subclasses get an expanded spell list.

SUBCLASSES

ARCHFEY - "a teleportation fantasia"

• Gameplay was not living up to the flavour. Going "all-in" on Teleportation.
• Additional effects occur whenever you cast the spell, not just the free casting from Steps of the Fey. (Refreshing step and Taunting Step confirmed, as in PT7 apparently).
• Beguiling Defenses, causing psychic damage
• Bewitching magic at 14 as in PT7 -- "ridiculous in all the best ways".

CELESTIAL

• NEW: from expanded class spell list. Summon Celestial on spell list.
• NEW: Guiding Bolt, Cure wounds and Aid (Aid was not on PT7 list) on subclass list
• You can be "a hired hitman from the gods"
• NEW: Searing Radiance at 14 now can apply to an ally.

FIEND

• Magical weapons no longer pass your damage resitance (in reference to Fiendish Resilience at 10?)
• "tankiness" seen in BG3 is also here: Dark One's Blessing seems completely rewritten, as it was described in the Design Note of the PT7.

GREAT OLD ONE

• NEW: Summon Aberration might be a version of the Mind Flayer (an option in the Summon Abberation spell)
• when you do damage, you can do psychic.
• Psychic Spells for enchantment/illusion without Verbal/Somatic (but you still need Material); damage may be Psychic. Clairvoyant Combatant can be a battle of wills (focusing damage to one target -- a nod to AD&D psionic battles). Eldritch Hex also as in PT7.

 

[Jefe Bergenstein]

It would be a shame to lose Hexblade. One of the players in our current game is a Hexblade with a pact with her sword, a shard of Blackrazor. The medium armor/shield proficiency also helps you not have to max Dex. In point buy not needing more than a 14 Dex lets you grab more Con.

 

[tglassy]

I liked my Hexblade concept. Only got to play him for three sessions and he died.

Basically, he’s a Highlander. Made a pact with a bloodthirsty patron who grants him fighting ability. Every creature he kills, its life force syphoned off to the patron, and the Hexblade gets to keep some (XP). So the patron wants him to kill more and more powerful enemies, becoming more and more powerful.

But eventually, the Hexblade himself will become so powerful the Patron will want HIS power, and other Hexblades will seek him out to kill him.

Was a very cool concept, just didn’t get to play him much.

 

[I'm A Banana]

Which makes sense, because Hexblade was always more of a fix for the blade pact than an actual patron choice. The concept was super nebulous and vague.

I think it'd be kind of cool to see the hexblade as a Fighter archetype that tapped into some Warlock vibes. Less about the pact, more about the curse - the OG hexblade was more of a gishy anti-paladin, a half-caster or eldirtch knight with a gloomy spell list whose most iconic abilities were a curse, an aura that caused misses.

Hexblades to me are mostly martial characters with a little dash of dark magic, rather than mostly caster characters with a bit of weapon power.

Bladesingers fill a similar role for me, though at least those are closer to a half-and-half.

 

[fluffybunbunkittens]

It would be a shame to lose Hexblade. One of the players in our current game is a Hexblade with a pact with her sword, a shard of Blackrazor. The medium armor/shield proficiency also helps you not have to max Dex. In point buy not needing more than a 14 Dex lets you grab more Con.

And they can still be that. Lightly Armored for starting feat, take Blade Pact, done.

Maybe not Shield spell, though.

 

[AdmundfortGeographer]

I’ve been playing the UA7 celestial warlock and mostly very pleased. (The jump invocation has been so fun). We had already house ruled Summon Celestial to the patron list so that was sweet to see!

I kinda hope attention could be added to allowing the Healer origin feat to work with the Healing Light class feature.

I like the idea of Sacred Flame working with invocations, but I hate targeting saves.

 

[RangerWickett]

So they’re bringing back that aspect of the swordmage. Nice.

I played a fight in 4e where a dragon attacked a village built on a lake, with homes connected by narrow wooden bridges. I marked the dragon with my aegis of assault, and so of course he ripped me to shreds.

With only a few HP left, I shifted out of reach and dove into the water so he couldn't reach me. Every time he attacked someone thereafter, I teleported into the air beside him, sliced, and fell into the water again, always out of his reach.

It was silly, but that was some of my best defender-ing.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Of those three two are I think dead, with the big things about swashbuckler and Hexblade rolled into the base class.

In what way is the swashbuckler part of the core rogue?

 

[Kobold Avenger]

It'll be interesting to see if Pact of the Talisman would need updating later on, as the 4th pact type that was introduced in Tasha's.

There's a lot of fine details missing because of course we don't know the specific details about certain invocations. I think they've at least stuck to removing those underpowered "you cast this spell once per long rest" invocations from the Warlock.

 

[Frozen_Heart]

So they’re bringing back that aspect of the swordmage. Nice.

Hopefully eldritch smite returns to go with the teleports, but with not a single mention of it + a big effort to make smites paladin exclusive, I suspect that's gone for good from warlock.

 

[Jefe Bergenstein]

And they can still be that. Lightly Armored for starting feat, take Blade Pact, done.

Maybe not Shield spell, though.

Shield the piece of equipment, not the shield spell. Not sure if that's in moderately armored or whatever the cruddy medium armor proficiency is. Plus that's using your feat though, for something that at least in 5.0 was Eldritch blast but worse with extra steps.