D&D 5E Warlock UA predictions?

[Parmandur]

Yeah... no.

You don't get a free pass for creating a new edition of D&D and then quickly at the end slap a disclaimer "might not work" onto it as if that would absolve the designers from having to take responsibility for their work.

You will still get all the flak for broken rules combos, and deservedly so.

*shrug* the multiclassing system doesn't seem egregiously broken, but don't ever expect a "fix" this side of 6E...

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[ChameleonX]

I prefer in-game solutions over rules changes, in general. In the case of Devil's Sight and Darkness, that's as easy to fix as having one monster cast Dispel Magic. If this party is known for abusing this tactic, then it stands to reason that any intelligent enemy faction will begin planning for it. If all else fails, the evil faction can bring along a bunch of artillery and just carpet bomb the area they think the warlock is in. All it would take is one failed CON save and no more darkness.

As for the OP's topic, I'd say Genie Pact, Vestige Pact, and Dragon Pact would be the most obvious. A shaman-lite Spirit Pact and Invoker Pact might be cool too, but honestly, the new Favored Soul Sorcerer seems to have the Invoker covered.

 

[Ahrimon]

b) Devil's Sight plus darkness being a combination that can really warp a lot of encounters.

I've already decided that I'm going to alter blindness to end the advantage and disadvantage canceling out in total darkness shenanigans by saying that you only get advantage if you can see the target. So then two people attacking each other in total darkness attack at disadvantage.

The Eldritch Blast problem could be solved by removing it from the warlock's class list and giving it to them as a level one ability. Then alter the +cha damage invocation to only apply to one bold and adding additional bolts at warlock levels where a single class warlock would get the extra bolt anyway.

 

[auburn2]

I don't see a big issue with warlock multi-class. The multi attacks with EB merely put the warlock on the same footing as other classes. Agonizing blast increases the damage compared to spell casters but again no different than a fighting class using a weapon and less when you consider magic bonuses from magic weapons at higher levels (and it sucks up an invocation). The warlock will do better than most other spell casters will with cantrips, but at high level spell casters probably aren't using cantrips over and over, especially in battles that matter. At high levels fighter types are bringing abilities to the table with weapon damage that are far outpacing EB+AB too.

Hex is comparable to hunter's mark but not really any better.

Darkness + devils sight is a pretty good combination but you are giving up another invocation to get it. If you have a human, its probably worth it since DS is useful a lot. For a non-human character with darkvision though it is a lot to lose simply to get this corner capability in battle, add agonizing blast and that is it for your invocations on a 3-level dip ... nothing else. Also lets look at some other costs with this combo:

Darkness is a concentration spell meaning no hex if you are using it. It also requires a full action not a BA like hex meaning you essentially give up a turn of damage (with hex bonus) to get it. In general you will need to be in battle 4 turns or more (and maintain concentration) before this will pan out as a distinct advantage. Darkness on you gives enemies disadvantage and you could potentially get advantage as well (if your enemies choose to stay in darkness) but your allies get disadvantage too if they are in the dark area. With blur you could impose the same disadvantage on enemies without interfering with allies and without requiring an invocation and special build to make it useful. So overall can this be a good combo? Yes but it is not overpowering IMO considering the steep cost in terms of class build, action and concentration slot to make it useful.