D&D 5E Why play a pact blade warlock?

[Paraxis]

Why would someone play a pact blade warlock?

At 11th level they can either make 2 melee attacks with their pact blade, or make 3 attacks with eldritch blast. At 17th level it is still only 2 melee attacks vs now 4 eldritch blast attacks.

It seems pointless to go melee as a warlock, which is a shame.

 

[doctorhook]

Why would someone play a pact blade warlock?

At 11th level they can either make 2 melee attacks with their pact blade, or make 3 attacks with eldritch blast. At 17th level it is still only 2 melee attacks vs now 4 eldritch blast attacks.

It seems pointless to go melee as a warlock, which is a shame.

You haven't even seen the book and you're already writing off this subclass as useless because of a report on one of their mechanics? Seriously?

 

[TwoSix]

Why would someone play a pact blade warlock?

At 11th level they can either make 2 melee attacks with their pact blade, or make 3 attacks with eldritch blast. At 17th level it is still only 2 melee attacks vs now 4 eldritch blast attacks.

It seems pointless to go melee as a warlock, which is a shame.

Honestly, I'm wondering if it isn't that Eldritch Blast is a little too good. Makes the Warlock pretty comparable to an Archer Fighter, except with several spells per short rest.

 

[Paraxis]

You haven't even seen the book and you're already writing off this subclass as useless because of a report on one of their mechanics? Seriously?

Yes, seriously.

If the point of the subclass is to be a melee caster, but they are much better at ranged attacks it is a pretty pointless subclass.

 

[doctorhook]

Yes, seriously.

If the point of the subclass is to be a melee caster, but they are much better at ranged attacks it is a pretty pointless subclass.

I still think judgement should be reserved for once the book has been disseminated and fully assessed.

 

[Evenglare]

Why play a pact blade warlock? Easy, because someone has a vision of their character being a pact blade warlock. If I wanted to play something else I would play something else. See my thread "I don't want to be a druid or cleric, I want to be a Fighter".

 

[The Crimson Binome]

Because two normal melee attacks are better than three attacks at disadvantage?

 

[Sacrosanct]

Believe it or not, a lot of people play a character based on an archetype in their head, and really don't care who has the most DPS, or what will happen when the PC reaches 17th level. I've been playing for over 30 years and 95% of the people I played with never had a PC even get to the high teens. We all played from level 1 to 10 or so before doing another game or campaign.

Yes, we do exist.

 

[Ichneumon]

If they think it's a cool idea, and would enjoy playing one, why not?

 

[Paraxis]

Believe it or not, a lot of people play a character based on an archetype in their head, and really don't care who has the most DPS, or what will happen when the PC reaches 17th level. I've been playing for over 30 years and 95% of the people I played with never had a PC even get to the high teens. We all played from level 1 to 10 or so before doing another game or campaign.

Yes, we do exist.

Great for you.

Now lets talk about the real issue of how badly this subclass is designed. It goes to the overall quality of the game if they can't get something simple like this right.

Also if you play by the book, in 5e you are supposed to get a level about every 2 game sessions, so only going to level 10 is pretty short campaign.