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<blockquote data-quote="Fanaelialae" data-source="post: 6840235" data-attributes="member: 53980">There's certainly some truth to what you're saying, but I think you're overstating the issue. A warlock doesn't need Eldritch Blast to be a functional character, even if Eldritch Blast + Agonizing Blast + Hex is the magic formula for maximized DPR. Hunter's Mark isn't a great spell for a melee based Ranger, given that it is concentration based, so its certainly not a necessity for all rangers.The choice of Poison Spray is simply unfortunate, as that spell is generally considered to be a poor one. A warlock casting Fire Bolt certainly won't have the highest DPR in the party, but he's competent in DPR and does have an extra Invocation that the Agonizing Blast 'lock doesn't. Perhaps he takes Mask of Many Faces instead and acts as the con man of the party, infiltrating and undermining the enemy. He won't be at the top of any DPR meters, but his damage should be adequate and he has other uses as well (which can potentially save the party many more hit points than the &quot;magic formula&quot;).You only &quot;need&quot; it to make your PC effective at dishing out DPR if the other players are optimizing for DPR and you want to keep up with them. If they're optimizing, then it's likely (some would say inevitable) that they will help the new player optimize his character. There's nothing (AFAIK) preventing you from advising your warlock to trade Poison Spray for Eldritch Blast when next he levels. On the other hand, in a more casual game it can be a lot of fun to have non-optimized characters. Characters who might not push the boundaries of DPR, but instead have interesting options for non-combat problem resolution that damage-focused builds won't have. IME, new players are the best for this, since they typically approach the game without any preconceived notions.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Fanaelialae, post: 6840235, member: 53980"] There's certainly some truth to what you're saying, but I think you're overstating the issue. A warlock doesn't need Eldritch Blast to be a functional character, even if Eldritch Blast + Agonizing Blast + Hex is the magic formula for maximized DPR. Hunter's Mark isn't a great spell for a melee based Ranger, given that it is concentration based, so its certainly not a necessity for all rangers. The choice of Poison Spray is simply unfortunate, as that spell is generally considered to be a poor one. A warlock casting Fire Bolt certainly won't have the highest DPR in the party, but he's competent in DPR and does have an extra Invocation that the Agonizing Blast 'lock doesn't. Perhaps he takes Mask of Many Faces instead and acts as the con man of the party, infiltrating and undermining the enemy. He won't be at the top of any DPR meters, but his damage should be adequate and he has other uses as well (which can potentially save the party many more hit points than the "magic formula"). You only "need" it to make your PC effective at dishing out DPR if the other players are optimizing for DPR and you want to keep up with them. If they're optimizing, then it's likely (some would say inevitable) that they will help the new player optimize his character. There's nothing (AFAIK) preventing you from advising your warlock to trade Poison Spray for Eldritch Blast when next he levels. On the other hand, in a more casual game it can be a lot of fun to have non-optimized characters. Characters who might not push the boundaries of DPR, but instead have interesting options for non-combat problem resolution that damage-focused builds won't have. IME, new players are the best for this, since they typically approach the game without any preconceived notions. [/QUOTE]

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