D&D 5E What level should I make this invocation: At-will Shatter

[Paul Farquhar]

The thing about warlock "at will" spells is they are mostly utility or defensive. An at will damage spell has a much bigger impact on DPS, and hence class balance.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

One thing to consider - shatter is effective against rock. If you could cast it at will you could tunnel around like a purple worm and open up a lucrative mining operation.

 

[CreamCloud0]

oh, minor thought about the phrasing.
"you can cast shatter as an action at-will"

 

[Paul Farquhar]

You could have the invocation modify Eldritch Blast instead of exactly duplicate the spell.

 

[Tales and Chronicles]

You could have the invocation modify Eldritch Blast instead of exactly duplicate the spell.

In my games, I recreated the Essence that allowed the 3.5 warlock to shape their Eldritch blast.

Eldritch Strike: melee spell attack using a weapon.

Eldritch Spear: 30 ft line

Eldritch Doom: 15 ft sphere, deals necrotic damage.

In the case of the OP, Id make it a 20 ft cone dealing Thunder damage with the same scaling as a normal e-blast.

 

[Gorck]

In my games, I recreated the Essence that allowed the 3.5 warlock to shape their Eldritch blast.

Eldritch Strike: melee spell attack using a weapon.

Hideous Blow! I miss that so much. That would have been great on a Hexblade Warlock in 5.0

 

[Stalker0]

So the concept for the character was less about damage, and the idea of just being able to shatter things. rope, rock, glass, etc. The idea of just being able to tear through mundane things was really the idea for the invocation, less than "I want to just be a DPS god"

So perhaps I could give them shatter at-will but lower the damage to 2d8 or 1d8 and provide it at a much lower level. thoughts on that?

 

[Gorck]

So the concept for the character was less about damage, and the idea of just being able to shatter things. rope, rock, glass, etc. The idea of just being able to tear through mundane things was really the idea for the invocation, less than "I want to just be a DPS god"

So perhaps I could give them shatter at-will but lower the damage to 2d8 or 1d8 and provide it at a much lower level. thoughts on that?

Voice of Shagaroth
Your Eldritch Blast deals double damage to objects.

Maybe make it so it only works against objects that aren’t being carried or worn if it’s too OP.

 

[Quickleaf]

So the concept for the character was less about damage, and the idea of just being able to shatter things. rope, rock, glass, etc. The idea of just being able to tear through mundane things was really the idea for the invocation, less than "I want to just be a DPS god"

So perhaps I could give them shatter at-will but lower the damage to 2d8 or 1d8 and provide it at a much lower level. thoughts on that?

Why don't you augment Shatter. "You can cast the shatter spell at will, but only on objects." That's kinda the design principle behind Chains of Carceri "cast hold person at will but against these 3 creature types instead of humanoids."

By removing the whole at-will area damage thing (which I agree would be 11th at least, more likely 15th), you make it much more utility like you intend, and can probably be presented at 6th-9th level.