D&D General Pact of the Blade Warlocks - How often do you change your weapon?

[BigMac75]

My son just started playing his Warlock and I was hoping to get some perspectives from more experienced players.

How often you all switch out and use different weapons - like conjuring a thrown weapon if you need range, using a halberd for combat against multiple creatures in an open area, switching to Greatsword or Greataxe if you are fighting a big bad, etc...?

I am trying to learn about feats so I can give him some advice when he gets to level 4. Thinking about Polearm Master but also thought about him getting a Weapon Mastery. However, you can only change the weapon once per day (so not quite as dynamic as the Pact capability).

 

[jmartkdr2]

This might be a 2024 rules specific question - under the 2014 rules with no masteries I almost never did but masteries might change that.

 

[tetrasodium]

Ime they only ever change it if they don't already have a rapier or whatever (ie super edge case) and when they find a more magical version than they already have.

 

[Tessarael]

In my opinion, you switch it out when you get a better magic item. If you take Polearm Master, you're assuming that magical polearms will be available in your game world, which may or may not be the case depending on your DM. If you're in a story where most of the magic weapons found are swords, it could be a problem. So, it is worth discussing with your DM, if you have any concerns about this. A good/kind DM may periodically allocate treasure that matches well some of the characters, or allow you to have a magic item made, or to buy one, that matches your needs.

Is there much need to swap weapons after a long rest? Usually not. If you know that you're going up against monsters that are say resistant to slashing damage, or immune to it, then yes, that would make sense. Most of my characters changed weapons quite rarely, just when newer/better ones became available. You can change a selected weapon mastery on a long rest, so it shouldn't be an issue.

 

[BigMac75]

This might be a 2024 rules specific question - under the 2014 rules with no masteries I almost never did but masteries might change that.

Yes, that is likely true (although I was not sure if there might be other reasons to switch).

 

[BigMac75]

Ime they only ever change it if they don't already have a rapier or whatever (ie super edge case) and when they find a more magical version than they already have.

Yes, I assumed that getting a magical weapon would be a big driver for what you make into your Pact weapon - makes it a little difficult to select feats...

 

[jmartkdr2]

Yes, that is likely true (although I was not sure if there might be other reasons to switch).

I did occasionally switch to a bow for ranged-only encounters, which requires the Improved Pact Weapon invocation, but other than that it just didn’t come up much. At least in 2014 rules weapon damage types rarely mattered.

 

[BigMac75]

In my opinion, you switch it out when you get a better magic item. If you take Polearm Master, you're assuming that magical polearms will be available in your game world, which may or may not be the case depending on your DM. If you're in a story where most of the magic weapons found are swords, it could be a problem. So, it is worth discussing with your DM, if you have any concerns about this. A good/kind DM may periodically allocate treasure that matches well some of the characters, or allow you to have a magic item made, or to buy one, that matches your needs.

Is there much need to swap weapons after a long rest? Usually not. If you know that you're going up against monsters that are say resistant to slashing damage, or immune to it, then yes, that would make sense. Most of my characters changed weapons quite rarely, just when newer/better ones became available. You can change a selected weapon mastery on a long rest, so it shouldn't be an issue.

Might need to have an Artificer Battle Smith in the party to get custom magical weapons ;

I am hoping that my son experiments a bit and gets a feeling for the benefits of push, vex, cleave, slow, etc...

It does make it difficult to pick feats...

 

[EzekielRaiden]

Rarely if ever. Especially if I do the Fighter 1/Warlock N route, since that gives weapon mastery access. Greatsword's Graze mastery is simply too good to pass up.

 

[Tessarael]

It does make it difficult to pick feats...

I'd argue that for most classes, the simplest and best choice for feats is +2 in your primary ability score until you get it from 16 to 20. The first time a feat becomes competitive in many cases is at character level 12. Yes, you can have a specialized build that uses say Polearm Master, but I would suggest to start new players out with simpler builds.