D&D General Frustating Misunderstandings About Warlocks

[doctorbadwolf]

Not defending the video (because I hate it more than most people), but the Warlock high level spell thing is only pedantically incorrect.

Yes, Warlocks have access to spells of 6th level and above via Mystic Arcanum. But Mystic Arcanum is absolutely not what a normal person would think of when talking about high level spellcasting.

No, it's flat out incorrect. No pedantry required. He claims that the Warlock doesn't get high level spells. That is false. It's false in spirit, in specifics, however you slice it.

This.

Most youtubers aren't very good at evaluating 5.5. They miss obvious combos or basically inexperienced at running the game.

It's weird to me, but yeah, it seems like folks just...don't actually read the new rules completely, and just assume that anything they didn't just read before sharing their opinion is the same as before?

idk how else you get a take that the 2024 Warlock has effectively just one cantrip because it's all about EB forever always, with no recognition that the Blast invocations can be used with any warlock cantrip...

Get it a lot elsewhere. Often newbies who have watched Treantmonk videos or whatever. He is one of the better ones at least.

Dungeon Dudes are probably the best, admit they're wrong and reference older takes. D&D shorts has some hot takes and I'm not a fan of his presentation style but he is a bit more clued up than most mechanically.

So yeah most are mediocre to bad. They get laughed at by people who actually know stuff.

1. Dungeon Dudes.
2. Treantmonk/D&D shorts

Everyone else meh to bad in terms of mechanics. Google search plus reddit will do you better.

Treantmonk is, IMO, absolutely unhelpfully and sometimes counterproductively bad at balance and optimization analysis. He values some stuff as if analysing a different edition of DND entirely, and other stuff is just wacky or completely based on equations that don't reflect reality at the table.

I genuinely cannot stand his takes, but still I'd rather play his videos on a loop all day than watch a single youtube short from dndshorts.

Dungeon Dudes are good, though.

Most of the time Pointy Hat is really on the ball, though, which makes this video really frustrating. Not the first time I have disagreed with him, but definitely the first time I've been actively annoyed by him, because it's the first time he has made these kinds of factual errors.

 

[Charlaquin]

Not defending the video (because I hate it more than most people), but the Warlock high level spell thing is only pedantically incorrect.

Yes, Warlocks have access to spells of 6th level and above via Mystic Arcanum. But Mystic Arcanum is absolutely not what a normal person would think of when talking about high level spellcasting.

Why not? Warlocks and Wizards can cast the same number of level 6, 7, 8, and 9 spells per day, at the same levels, up until 19, when the Wizard gets a whopping one more 6th level spell per day than the Warlock, and level 20 they get one more 7th level spell per day.

 

[Charlaquin]

Treantmonk is, IMO, absolutely unhelpfully and sometimes counterproductively bad at balance and optimization analysis. He values some stuff as if analysing a different edition of DND entirely, and other stuff is just wacky or completely based on equations that don't reflect reality at the table.

The thing I appreciate about Treantmonk is, he shows his work. He correctly points out that, to analyze things like damage per round, you have to make some foundational assumptions. And Treantmonk discloses the assumptions he’s making and shows the math he does to reach his conclusions from those assumptions. I tend to disagree with most of the assumptions he makes, but since he discloses them, I can see where exactly his analysis is differing from my own, and I can take that into account.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

I'd say reddit is the worst you can do if you can't differentiate between good and bad takes.

Often things are upvoted, because they are basically rants, while correct statements get downvotes.

Many people at reddit are terrible at math, especially statistics.

I was gonna say: If Reddit is your only source of good information, the world is doomed.

 

[Parmandur]

The thing I appreciate about Treantmonk is, he shows his work. He correctly points out that, to analyze things like damage per round, you have to make some foundational assumptions. And Treantmonk discloses the assumptions he’s making and shows the math he does to reach his conclusions from those assumptions. I tend to disagree with most of the assumptions he makes, but since he discloses them, I can see where exactly his analysis is differing from my own, and I can take that into account.

He also tends to eschew historonics, drama or clickbaiting by and large. Stays fairly chill, even if I am not into his particular brand of analysis, I respect the lack of toxic behavior.

 

[TheAlkaizer]

The quality level of the YouTube scene for RPGs is really, really low.

There's a ton of interesting small channels that are not very popular. But the big ones are quite bad.

 

[Zardnaar]

I'd say reddit is the worst you can do if you can't differentiate between good and bad takes.

Often things are upvoted, because they are basically rants, while correct statements get downvotes.

Many people at reddit are terrible at math, especially statistics.

You have to dig through. More eyeballs though theres small subreddits more active than ENworld.

 

[Zardnaar]

The thing I appreciate about Treantmonk is, he shows his work. He correctly points out that, to analyze things like damage per round, you have to make some foundational assumptions. And Treantmonk discloses the assumptions he’s making and shows the math he does to reach his conclusions from those assumptions. I tend to disagree with most of the assumptions he makes, but since he discloses them, I can see where exactly his analysis is differing from my own, and I can take that into account.

Yup he gives you a ballpark at least.

He messes the occasional build up.

 

[Zardnaar]

No, it's flat out incorrect. No pedantry required. He claims that the Warlock doesn't get high level spells. That is false. It's false in spirit, in specifics, however you slice it.

It's weird to me, but yeah, it seems like folks just...don't actually read the new rules completely, and just assume that anything they didn't just read before sharing their opinion is the same as before?

idk how else you get a take that the 2024 Warlock has effectively just one cantrip because it's all about EB forever always, with no recognition that the Blast invocations can be used with any warlock cantrip...

Treantmonk is, IMO, absolutely unhelpfully and sometimes counterproductively bad at balance and optimization analysis. He values some stuff as if analysing a different edition of DND entirely, and other stuff is just wacky or completely based on equations that don't reflect reality at the table.

I genuinely cannot stand his takes, but still I'd rather play his videos on a loop all day than watch a single youtube short from dndshorts.

Dungeon Dudes are good, though.

Most of the time Pointy Hat is really on the ball, though, which makes this video really frustrating. Not the first time I have disagreed with him, but definitely the first time I've been actively annoyed by him, because it's the first time he has made these kinds of factual errors.

Yeah D&D sorts has that effect.
. Hes fairly good at tier lists and spotting exploits. At least his circle is anyway.

 

[Kurotowa]

I was gonna say: If Reddit is your only source of good information, the world is doomed.

Sometimes reddit is useful. Sometimes they downvote anyone who dares question the legitimacy of bizarre weapon juggling routines. You gotta go into it with open eyes and double check everything yourself, if you want to get anything good. But that's the whole Internet, especially these days.