What’s my build path?

[RogueJK]

Seems like best path is fighter 6 hex blade 3, but the order of levels taken is debatable. Doesn’t come online until level 9

Any build that relies on two feats will usually take until Level 8 to come online anyway. Nearly all characters get their first feat at Level 4, and their second feat at Level 8.

You can get two feats earlier with a Variant Human, but that's not an option since you want to take Elven Accuracy.

You could get two feats earlier at Level 6 as a straight Fighter, but that would rule out Hexblade and thus invalidate Elven Accuracy since you'dhave to be making STR-based Greatsword attacks.

So all things considered, Level 9 is about as good as it gets. It'd also be doable one level earlier at Fighter4/Warlock4, but that comes at the steep cost of unnecessarily delaying your Extra Attack, and is a terrible choice.


Hexblade5/Fighter4 will likely be your best option.

Start with Hexblade 5. That gets you CHA based attacks from the start with a Longsword wielded in two hands, then Blade Pact for a Greatsword at Level 3, then Elven Accuracy at Level 4, then the Extra Attack invocation Thirsting Blade at Level 5. That lays down the bones of the build as early as possible, and keeps you on track with your feat and Extra Attack through Level 5. You also get 19-20 crits against one target per short rest from Hexblade's Curse.

Then go Fighter 4 from there, choosing 2H or Defense Fighting Style at Fighter 1 (6), then Champion at Fighter 3 (8) for all day 19-20 crits, and then GWM feat at Fighter 4 (9).


From there, you can go one of two ways:

You could go straight Hexblade from then on for additional spells and higher level invocations, ending up with a Fighter 4/Hexblade X build.

Or else go Fighter 5, then Hexblade 6 to get your Spectre and swap out your redundant Extra Attack invocation for something else, and then go straight Fighter from there for a Hexblade 6/Fighter X build. (This would be less ideal, IMO. You would eventually get an additional attack over a primarily Hexblade build, but not until very late -Level 17. And Champion's 7th and 10th level abilities are rather lackluster compared to additional Warlock levels.)


Another thing to consider for feat-heavy builds like this is that you're missing out on all your ASIs for the first many levels. So it's really only feasible if you roll your stats, and roll well (17-18) at least once. It's not doable with the standard array or point buy. You won't want to be cruising around with just a 16 in your attack/casting CHA stat at levels much over Tier 1. And you'll want a decent DEX and CON of 14 ish for this build too.

If sticking an 18ish in CHA from the start isnt an option, then you should strongly consider ditching/delaying GWM, going +2 CHA at Level 4, and pushing EA back to Level 9. Even without GWM, you'll still eventually have a nice damage boost from your crit fishing with 19-20 and Triple Advantage. And you can still pick up GWM later around Level 12ish if desired.

 

[FrogReaver]

Others in party can give advantage. Seems like best path is fighter 6 hex blade 3, but the order of levels taken is debatable. Doesn’t come online until level 9

Yes I think at level 9+ that version will be stronger.

Let me ask a question - how many combats per day do you expect? How many short rests?

Because it may make more sense for you to drop GWM and just play a pure hexblade.

 

[Spartan_MD]

I love the ability with GWM of an extra strike on criticals using the bonus action. I’m not too concerned about the +10 for damage as I realize with the -5 to hit it’s not gonna happen that often

 

[RogueJK]

Another good option, if you're okay with not having 19-20 crits 100% of the time, would be a Hexblade/Paladin.

The build starts out similar to the Hexblade5/Fighter4 build I outlined above, with 5 levels of Hexblade. But then you take 4 levels of Oath of Heroism Paladin.

You still get the Fighting Style, like a Fighter. And you still get a feat at Paladin 4.

And this still gets you 19-20 crits against one enemy per short rest from Hexblade's Curse, plus 19-20 crits against anyone for 1 minute per short rest from Oath of Heroism's Legendary Strike Channel Divinity. Those two short rest options will cover you for most combats throughout a day, although they do require actions/bonus actions to activate.

It also gets your some additional Paladin spellcasting, and more importantly, access to Divine Smites. Smite dice are doubled on a critical, and you don't decide to use a Smite until after you know the attack hits (or crits). So it could really pump up your Crit damage with multiple additional d8s being doubled and added.

This build will almost certainly out-damage a Hexblade/Fighter build thanks to Smites, and therefore could likely a better option for a crit-fisher, even without having 19-20 crits 100% of the time. You'd also have better spellcasting than a Hexblade/Fighter. The only real downside is that it requires a 13 STR to multiclass into Paladin, so you'd need a 13 STR, 14 DEX, 14 CON, and 18+ CHA, which is potentially doable but a bit MAD.


From Hexblade 5/Paladin 4, you can go straight Hexblade from there as a Paladin 4/Hexblade X. Or you can go Paladin 5 and 6 for Extra Attack and +CHA save aura, then Hexblade 6 for Specter and to swap out the redundant Extra Attack invocation, and then continue as a Paladin to keep getting the higher level Paladin abilities and continued Paladin spellcasting progression. (The latter is probably what I'd do. And a Hexblade 6/Paladin X is a much better option than a Hexblade 6/Fighter X.)

 

[Esker]

Another good option, if you're okay with not having 19-20 crits 100% of the time, would be a Hexblade/Paladin.

The build starts out similar to the Hexblade5/Fighter4 build I outlined above, with 5 levels of Hexblade. But then you take 4 levels of Oath of Heroism Paladin.

You still get the Fighting Style, like a Fighter. And you still get a feat at Paladin 4.

And this still gets you 19-20 crits against one enemy per short rest from Hexblade's Curse, plus 19-20 crits against anyone for 1 minute per short rest from Oath of Heroism's Legendary Strike Channel Divinity. Those two short rest options will cover you for most combats throughout a day, although they do require actions/bonus actions to activate.

It also gets your some additional Paladin spellcasting, and more importantly, access to Divine Smites. Smite dice are doubled on a critical, and you don't decide to use a Smite until after you know the attack hits (or crits). So it could really pump up your Crit damage with multiple additional d8s being doubled and added.

This build will almost certainly out-damage a Hexblade/Fighter build thanks to Smites, and therefore could likely a better option for a crit-fisher, even without having 19-20 crits 100% of the time. You'd also have better spellcasting than a Hexblade/Fighter. The only real downside is that it requires a 13 STR to multiclass into Paladin, so you'd need a 13 STR, 14 DEX, 14 CON, and 18+ CHA, which is potentially doable but a bit MAD.


From Hexblade 5/Paladin 4, you can go straight Hexblade from there as a Paladin 4/Hexblade X. Or you can go Paladin 5 and 6 for Extra Attack and +CHA save aura, then Hexblade 6 for Specter and to swap out the redundant Extra Attack invocation, and then continue as a Paladin to keep getting the higher level Paladin abilities and continued Paladin spellcasting progression. (The latter is probably what I'd do. And a Hexblade 6/Paladin X is a much better option than a Hexblade 6/Fighter X.)

The stat requirement isn't too bad for a half-elf. You can buy 15 CHA and 13s in DEX, CON and STR for 24 points, getting you to 18 CHA after Elven Accuracy. You can have 10 WIS, and you're proficient in WIS saves.

You could start with Paladin for heavy armor, removing your dependency on DEX (though you'll want 15 STR now), which would let you start with 17 CHA, 15 STR, 14 CON for 21 points, giving you room to pump CON even more if you want, at the cost of an 8 in either DEX or WIS. This also delays your extra attack to 6th, but gives you 1 AC and more HP.

 

[Eltab]

Advantage from your friends: become buds with a Barbarian.
Bear Totem (IIRC) gives the party Advantage against every enemy adjacent to him when he is raging.

 

[RogueJK]

Advantage from your friends: become buds with a Barbarian.
Bear Totem (IIRC) gives the party Advantage against every enemy adjacent to him when he is raging.

That's Wolf Totem. Bear Totem gives you resistance to all damage (except psychic).