D&D 5E (2014) Is Warlock broken?

[Zardnaar]

I think its rather telling that virtually all the responces here are, "Oh, no! There's no problem with Eldritch Blast!"

Its just damage. Very efficient damage but still. To really abuse it mix it with metamagic via MC as a Sorcerer.

 

[Celtavian]

The one problem I've found with the warlock is he very susceptible to dispel magic or counterspell. One of those two spells eliminates far more casting power than it does for other classes. Fortunately, they do have the strongest cantrip. You're pretty much forced to take and use eldritch blast constantly. It is the foundation of the class.

 

[Mephista]

Its just damage. Very efficient damage but still. To really abuse it mix it with metamagic via MC as a Sorcerer.

You misunderstood. Its telling in a bad way.

 

[Sacrosanct]

Based on many of the comments I've seen over the year or two, the warlock only seems broken to optimizers. And well, to be frank, 5e is not designed for optimizers. That's just one of those things you have to accept if you choose to play it. It's designed to give options, but for the optmizers who make up a fairly small % of gamers*, it's not a focus of the game design.



*Every time we have a poll re: playstyle, only 10% or so say they are optimizers.

**Edit* For the record, it's also the same re: GWM or sharpshooter feat, or any other similar conversations. These are things that seem a real issue to optimizers, but for groups that don't worry about optimizing, they have responded with it not being that huge of a game breaking deal.

 

[ChrisCarlson]

I think its rather telling that virtually all the responces here are, "Oh, no! There's no problem with Eldritch Blast!"

I think it would be hard to sell any kind of consensus here as anything substantive. Even if every member of ENWorld were to chime in on the subject it would have little real meaning.

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

Lots of people are unsatisfied with the warlock. Eldritch Blast works perfectly. The problem? Eldritch Blast is the only saving grace of the class. That's why its constantly spammed. And its supposed to be optional. And everything else (from lack of fiend summon spells for the Fiend'lock, to crappy Invocations, to spell slot/short rest issues, to crappy chain and blade pact options, to AC issues without feats, to Hex's Concentration issues, to difficulty with viable new subclasses, etc.) is highly controversial. The warlock also theoretically had a similar vibe to the Pathfinder Witch class and its curses, but falls flat in that as well due to various issues. And, laughably, you can't even use Eldritch Blast on the Tarrasque or Tiamat, if your game includes either.

While I won't say that the class is broken, it does have a lot of problems that really should be fixed.

If you roll good stats, GWM Barbarian 3/Bladelock X (take Barbarian 1 right off, others later on) completely outclasses the regular Barbarian. And the bog-standard point-buy Fighter 1/Warlock X is pretty decent too, ditto Cleric 1/Warlock X.

No, Warlock isn't bad. It's not a wizard, but it's good at being what it is, i.e. a relentlessly offensive tough guy who goes nova at every opportunity while still getting to play with fun stuff like infinite illusions, an invisible scout, free levitate, and True Polymorph.

OP needs to learn not to spam Hex though. It's an okay spell but not great in a 3rd or 5th level slot. You often have better uses for your concentration.

 

[ccs]

Has anyone else tried playing a straight Warlock 20?

Well, that's my intent. 18 lvs to go....
It'll take awhile.

How does it stand against your Bladesingers or Mystics or Shadow Sorcerers now that the newer options and UA playtests are starting to appear? Has power creep completely outdated this class, and what should be done to make this a viable option? Is anything needed here, similar to saving the Beastmaster Ranger, or should it be left to stand as-is?

I'm not concerned with what I get playing as a 1/2ling chainlock with a fey patron VS whatever some other type of character gets. I don't suffer from stat envy & I don't look at another class and mope about why my character doesn't have those other powers. If I'd wanted those other powers? Then I wouldn't have made the character I did....
I'm even less concerned about the UA stuff. It's unfinished work.
I AM concerned with making my character interesting & memorable. That'll happen based upon a lot more than the mechanical class features, my spell selection, or how often I use EB & hex (wich to date has been 0/0).

So no, I don't think the base class needs to be changed.

 

[MechaTarrasque]

One can play like a poor mans Paladin and do it well. Just take your 1st level as fighter and MC into the warlock.

When you need to bring multiclassing into it, that should tell you that you are in "round hole, square peg" territory. But hey, you can buy a Lamborghini, wield a hitch on the back, and use it to haul firewood. I don't think you deserve much sympathy for complaining it doesn't do as good a job of hauling as a F-150, though.

 

[Sacrosanct]

Lots of people are unsatisfied with the warlock.

I'm sure there are. But what is the context? Is 200 people "lots"? How about when compared to 10,000? If only a small group of people are unsatisfied with the warlock compared to total number of people who play it, then I'm not sure that's an accurate way to represent it.

Eldritch Blast works perfectly. The problem? Eldritch Blast is the only saving grace of the class. That's why its constantly spammed. And its supposed to be optional. And everything else (from lack of fiend summon spells for the Fiend'lock, to crappy Invocations, to spell slot/short rest issues, to crappy chain and blade pact options, to AC issues without feats, to Hex's Concentration issues, to difficulty with viable new subclasses, etc.) is highly controversial. .

The Dallas Cowboys are highly controversial. Not sure a relatively small group of people getting worked up over the warlock class features classifies as that.

 

[Amrûnril]

I played a fey pact bladelock in a one shot and was quite satisfied with it. I split about 50/50 between using eldrich blast and my pact weapon and could consistently output a fair amount of damage with either one of them, while also being slippery and respectably tanky with misty escape and a couple defensive invocations. Two spells per short rest was a very significant limitation, but using one for Hex and one for something situational (Banishment for elementals, Armor of Agathys for melee mobs), I felt like those two spells had a very significant impact.