Eldritch claws vs Sword

[seelcudoom]

so this is my first dnd game and i have decided on being a warlock and i don't want to be completely useless in melee and have decided to either use a longsword or eldritch claws
from what i have seen eldritch claws seem to be better in almost every way but being new to dnd i want to make sure im not missing something
so does a longsword have any advantage over eldritch claws for a warlock

[(Un)Inspired]

It doesn't use one of your precious invocations known.

The claws still are way better though.

[Urpriest]

Here's the thing: an attack is an attack is an attack. Ranged attacks provoke attacks of opportunity when someone is in melee with you, but if you're a character specialized in ranged attacks then you're always going to be better-off staying out of melee range of your enemies and using a ranged attack than letting your enemies get close to you and switching to melee attacks. By contrast, if you're specialized in melee attacks you will always be better off closing the distance and attacking your enemy than using ranged attacks until they get close. D&D characters are specialized. So are you planning to specialized on melee attacks or ranged attacks?

[Vanitas]

Unless you are an elf, you are going to have to burn a feat so you can use a longsword halfway decently. Considering that's the same cost of Eldritch Claws, I'd go with the claws.

Eldritch Claws are really amazing. If you can take that feat, just take it.

[Dr. Azkur]

Here: http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=159708

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