Warlock: Eldritch Blasts per turn?

[sinmissing]

Question, does the eldritch blast require a standard action, or can the Warlock use the blast for each attack in their attack progression? ie. If the warlock has a base attack of +6/+1, does he get to make 2 eldritch blasts per round, or just one?

 

[FireLance]

Using an eldritch blast is a standard action, so a warlock only gets to make one per round even if his BAB is +6 or higher. That said, the warlock can pick up blast shape invocations that allow him to attack multiple targets or an area. In addition, the damage from a warlock's eldritch blast already increases with level, so an eldritch blast remains a decent attack even at the rate of one blast per round.

 

[Arrond Hess]

Another option for you, would be to grab the Quicken Spell-Like Ability feat. Than can give you an extra blast per round, 3 times/day. The downside is, you're gonna have to wait till 10th level to get it.

 

[sinmissing]

whew. That's what I thought, thanks for the clarification, both of you. I'm approaching this character gingerly, but I think I'm going to allow it in my games.

 

[lukelightning]

The single attack is fine for warlocks, since their best tactics tend to be shoot-and-move. They are probably the most mobile of any character class with the right invocation selection (spider climb, flight, etc.)

 

[just__al]

whew. That's what I thought, thanks for the clarification, both of you. I'm approaching this character gingerly, but I think I'm going to allow it in my games.

We have a warlock in the group we are playing right now. Until very recently, he was our only arcanist. Very, very limiting.

The class is balanced and kind of funky but it's a definate "fifth player" kind of class.

 

[Taloras]

Yea. Try this one. Spiderwalk, Darkness, and Devil's Sight. Add in Eldritch Spear. You dont see him(although if you have an area of effect spell hes screwed).

 

[IcyCool]

Yea. Try this one. Spiderwalk, Darkness, and Devil's Sight. Add in Eldritch Spear. You dont see him(although if you have an area of effect spell hes screwed).

*shrug* You can see him, you just suffer a 20% miss chance because of all the shadow. You can still target him with Magic Missile even.

 

[Quickbeam]

I'm approaching this character gingerly

A good idea to be sure. A player in one of my two groups has a warlock PC, and there are times that the eldritch blast seems a bit overpowered. But overall, the important distinction regarding how often this attack can be used per round helps control the balance.

P.S. Are you getting any sleep? (asked in reference to your custom title)

 

[Krafen]

The majority of the balance issues people have with Warlocks come from not reading the class description and associated rules carefully enough. Taloras's idea above is an example of this.