Ideas for a Tankish or Combat Warlock?

[neovenator250]

My group will be finishing Phandelver at our session tomorrow (using the pregens) and moving on to Hoard of the Dragon Queen with characters we're creating now that the PHB is out there. Coming in, I'm excited about playing a Warlock, but I'm wondering if there's a way to make it a little more ideal for the party. Not including myself, the party will consist of a Rogue, a Monk, a Bard, and a Wizard. In coming up with my Warlock, I had decided on the Pact of the Tome over the Blade, but now I find myself reconsidering based on the composition of our party.

How can I build a Warlock that has some sturdiness in combat and should I go with the Pact of the Blade? (I should include that I have no problem with taking the Blade over the Tome, since I always thought Hexblades were cool)

[Ramshack]

My group will be finishing Phandelver at our session tomorrow (using the pregens) and moving on to Hoard of the Dragon Queen with characters we're creating now that the PHB is out there. Coming in, I'm excited about playing a Warlock, but I'm wondering if there's a way to make it a little more ideal for the party. Not including myself, the party will consist of a Rogue, a Monk, a Bard, and a Wizard. In coming up with my Warlock, I had decided on the Pact of the Tome over the Blade, but now I find myself reconsidering based on the composition of our party.

How can I build a Warlock that has some sturdiness in combat and should I go with the Pact of the Blade? (I should include that I have no problem with taking the Blade over the Tome, since I always thought Hexblades were cool)

Maybe I'm missing something but I don't see how pact of the blade let's you be more tanky. Your Eldritch Blast quickly out paces the 2 attacks you'd get with your pact weapon.

I would choose the Fiend as my patron. Temp HP every time you kill a creature is nice, for my first invocations take Agonizing blast for more damage on your Eldricht Blast and then maybe something like Mage Armor or Fiendish Vigor for Temp HP at the start of fights. If you play a Dwarf Warlock you can even get armor proficiencies, or maybe a 1 level dip fighter so you can wear any armor and a shield and take the +ac fighting style for a 19-20 ac, even a 21 ac with full plate a shield and your fighting style lol.

Though if you did want to go pact of the blade you could go str and cha or dex and cha, take a level 1 fighter dip for armor and shield, take the duelist fighting style for +2 damage on handed weapons. Then at level 6 you get 2 attacks with your pact weapon and at 13 (assuming 1 level fighter dip) you can add your cha modifier to your pact weapon attack your 1d8 + 2 + str/dex + cha x2 with a respectable 20 AC in Full Plate and a Shield, though you would need to take battlecaster feat at some point.

The problem with that build is it peaks in damage at level 12 and eventually your eldricht blast will still out damage your pact weapon.

[stitchlipped]

I think casters are built to be more durable in this edition, but they're not built to be tanks. Buffs are generally concentration spells which means two things.


You can only have one active a time (at least, only one cast by you).
Going into melee is the worst possible thing you can do, because that means you'll be even more likely to get hit which will break your concentration and end the spell.


It might be possible, but you'd have a difficult time of it as a pure caster. You'd probably be better off multiclassing with a warrior type to make sure you have the requisite abilities to handle combat, or for that matter playing an Eldritch Knight path fighter.

[Aramis Rhett]

Maybe I'm missing something but I don't see how pact of the blade let's you be more tanky. Your Eldritch Blast quickly out paces the 2 attacks you'd get with your pact weapon.

I would choose the Fiend as my patron. Temp HP every time you kill a creature is nice, for my first invocations take Agonizing blast for more damage on your Eldricht Blast and then maybe something like Mage Armor or Fiendish Vigor for Temp HP at the start of fights. If you play a Dwarf Warlock you can even get armor proficiencies, or maybe a 1 level dip fighter so you can wear any armor and a shield and take the +ac fighting style for a 19-20 ac, even a 21 ac with full plate a shield and your fighting style lol.

Though if you did want to go pact of the blade you could go str and cha or dex and cha, take a level 1 fighter dip for armor and shield, take the duelist fighting style for +2 damage on handed weapons. Then at level 6 you get 2 attacks with your pact weapon and at 13 (assuming 1 level fighter dip) you can add your cha modifier to your pact weapon attack your 1d8 + 2 + str/dex + cha x2 with a respectable 20 AC in Full Plate and a Shield, though you would need to take battlecaster feat at some point.

The problem with that build is it peaks in damage at level 12 and eventually your eldricht blast will still out damage your pact weapon.

The problem with trying to build a tanky lock, is just that they aren't intended to be tanky. Starting as a mountain dwarf for medium armor is well and good, but unless you plan on multiclassing into fighter, the bonus strength is only good for weapons or carrying capacity. Since EB blows your melee AND ranged weapon damage out of the water, makes it very unattractive.
As for multiclassing into fighter, staying warlock is better all around. Burning an opportunity to boost your attributes to take warcaster appears to be a big negative. I personally would rather wear no armor/or studded leather and a shield, have one hand free to cast, and forego war caster all together. If any class would be worth multiclassing into, sorcerer or bard would be my bets. Though I would lean more toward sorcerer myself, since they are the only class with access to metamagic.

[Yorrin]

A lot of people are saying that EB does more damage than your weapons. This is true at the highest levels, but a Mountain Dwarf Blade-lock with a Maul as his pact weapon is going to be keeping pace for most levels. Infernal is definitely the melee pact of choice. Pick up Fiendish Vigor and eventually Thirsting Blade and Lifedrinker and you're good to go. Alternatively do this with a Lightfoot Halfling and go Rapier + Armor of Shadows + Fighter 1 for Dueling Style and Shield proficiency.

[BW022]

How can I build a Warlock that has some sturdiness in combat and should I go with the Pact of the Blade? (I should include that I have no problem with taking the Blade over the Tome, since I always thought Hexblades were cool)

It isn't easy.

Tanks have three main goals... to block enemies from reaching your caster/archers/skirmishers, to absorb damage while blocking, and to be a sufficient threat to folks such you draw attacks onto yourself.

A warlock is not a great choice for this in that: a) they can only use light armour and not shield, b) their hit points aren't that great, and c) they have limited defensive spells.

It is hard to address lack of armor. You can take the medium armour feat which helps by allowing medium armor and a shield, but medium armour typically means a reason. A better choice might be to start your character with a level of cleric (with a domain such as war or tempest for the heavy armor) or fighter. Clerics may be better since the extra spell slots and clerical spells may help in buffing -- but you need a 13 wisdom to multi-class. Fighter is likely better since you likely need a high strength anyway. Heavy armour has the advantage over medium armor, in that you can focus on strength, rather than strength and dexterity.

Hit points is somewhat harder to deal with. A high constitution or the toughness feat is about the only way of directly solving this. Fiendish vigor might help. Dark one's blessing may help in specific cases.

Limited spells is also an issue. You typically only have two spell slots, and defensive spells are limited. Devil's sight and darkness is an obvious pairing, but causes a lot of issues with messing up other party members. Armor of agathys is your likely main defensive spell. If you multi-class cleric... you might find the extra spell slots and shield of faith useful. Use your warlock abilities, such as fey presence for some crowd control.

IMO, you generally forget about a high charisma or eldritch blast of you are going to be the primary blocker. Assume you'll cast a single defensive spell, summon your pact weapon, enter melee, and then stay there. Eldritch blast becomes a backup. As such, you don't need a high charisma (14 should do). I'd aim high Strength (weapon hit/damage, ability to use heavy armour, and weight issues with armor), high Constitution, 14 (or even a 13) Charisma, low Intelligence and Dexterity. If you can spare a 13 wisdom, multi-class into cleric (likely tempest or war). If not, take fighter with the defensive style. If you really don't want to multi-class, you need to take at least medium armour as feat and have a 14 dexterity. I'd get heavy armor if you can.

You then have a choice for either using weapon and shield and reach weapon. The shield is the obvious AC choice, but a reach allows controlling of a larger area and inflicts more damage. Reach ends to require polearm master feat so you can provoke an attack as creatures approach. Reach can also be affective in that spells such as spider climb or fly can allow you to attack without them being able to attack you.

Obvious feat you should look at are: moderately armored (if you didn't multi-class), heavy armor master (if you have heavy armor), toughness, or possibly polearm master. Soldier might be a good background. I wouldn't really recommend war caster, you only have a limited number of spell slots and eldritch blast in melee (even with damage and pushing effects) isn't that useful if your goal is to block. Such things tend to be more useful for skirmishers who plan on moving back. Most blockers don't have that choice.

[Rilak]

I would always go for EB as a warlock (4xCHA and push 40 feet is better than 2xCHA from the blade).

A tanky warlock wants low-ish AC and maximum resistances abusing Armor of Agathys. At level 9 you gain 25 hp and deal 25 back.
Use Blade Ward to just... tank; few levels of Sorcerer helps to quicken the second spell you cast (EB, or another spell).
Sadly, Stoneskin is not on your spell list so Banishment or Hold Monster is probably your go-to concentration spell (or Hex for extra EB damage).

Note that the fiend interacts in a bad way with armor of agathys (if you accept the temp. hp, you lose agathys). Fiendish Resilience is rather good for a tank though.

[Chaosvii7]

Tanky Warlock?

War Cleric 1/Warlock 17/Fighter 2

Dump Dexterity, max STR and CHA, make a greatsword for a pact weapon. With Hex, the War Cleric extra attacks, Lifedrinker, Thirsting Blade, and Action surge, you have a hefty nova that you can drop while still getting full Pact Magic and 14/15 invocations. You can toss heavy armor on to make up for the DEX dump, and the build is Darkness + Devil Sight friendly. You can let your STR suffer a bit to pick up Great Weapon Fighting; War Caster shouldn't be necessary as long as you make sure to cast before you go in and only cast to drop a buff or darkness.

I call it the "False Priest", if anybody was curious.

[emeraldstreak]

warlock/abjurer with agathys and shadow armor

[Person_Man]

I've seen a "tanky" Warlock in real gameplay, and its pretty cool.

First, talk to your DM about how often he intends to let your group take Short Rests each game day. If its not 2ish+ times per day, then don't bother with the Warlock (or Monk). Otherwise you're just going to be spamming Eldritch Blast and hanging back most of the time.

If you can take Rests semi-regularly, then my suggestion is to max out Cha > Dex > Con, dump everything else, power up your Eldritch Blast with the appropriate Invocations, have an ally take Polearm Master and stand next to that ally all the time (delaying your action if necessary so that you always go immediately after them, or Readying an Action to use Eldritch Blast immediately after they are done their Action) so that you can push enemies away from him, and use Armor of Agathys and Hex as your primary spells.

You might also want to dip 2 levels into Fighter for medium or heavy armor (which makes Dex slightly less important), a shield, Second Wind, Action Surge, and Protection Fighting Style.

[Rummy]

I've played a tank warlock, and it is awesome. One caveat, gotta start fighter or paladin or cleric. I recommend one level of fighter then warlock all the way. Fighter gives you con save prof, which is critical for warlocks. Early on, use the at-will false life to start every fight with 8 THP. Go variant human, pick up heavy armor master. Three DR doesn't seem much, but it is HUGE from levels 1-5. Also, it synergizes great with Armor of Agathys, your tank armor. Your other spell is either hex or darkness (which is awesome with Devils Sight) depending on the situation. You are one of the best tanks in the game.

[neovenator250]

Thanks for all the suggestions, etc. guys. This was really helpful