Rogue/Warlock Multiclass, am i being silly?

[PhantomRenegade]

Oh yee almighty knowledge holders of the digital kigsroad I beseech thee, shareth thyne wisdom with me.(sorry if this gets a bit rambly)

Right so my level 7 Thief Rogue is a noble, his family started out as adventurers so they have no problem with him going on adventures but he's really worried he might sully his family name.
To prevent that what he started doing is once a quest starts if he thinks something might happen that would make him look bad he just changes his clothes and puts on a mask. Now as a noble who spent most of his life behaving suddenly having plausible denyability is rather liberating and he's been doing some thing he wouldn't otherwise.

I thought it'd be really cool if his disparate behaviors caught the eye of a great old one and I gave him a few levels of warlock multiclass.

I'm thinking of waiting until level 9 so i can get crossbow expert at level 8, I don't really like waiting that long but the crossbow expert is going to completely change the character's weapons so I want to get that out of the way as soon as possible.

I'm thinking of getting 3 levels of warlock right away and then stopping, i doubt anything i could get from this would trump the damage from sneak attack so i mostly want to get the sort of stuff you'd use to mess with others.

So this is what I'm thinking of ending up with:

I was thinking of going with Pact of the chain, without the invocations pact of the blade doesn't seem like it's really worth it and I'm not sure if the 1st and 2nd level rituals are any good(any help on this front would be greatly apreciated).

On the other hand Pact of the chain is great as is, even if the DM won't let me use the familiar to set off sneak attack and help other players while its invisible if I really need a sneak attack one turn I can have it suicide, and it's out of combat utility is really nice to have.
Devil's sight and Misty visions, for utility and messing with folks respectively, pretty straightforward here since as far as i know the level restrictions apply to warlock levels.
Cantrips:
Friends: Normally I wouldn't get this but last session I got a item that makes it so that once per short rest the victim of Friends doesn't notice it was under a spell at the end of the duration, and this fits pretty well with what I'm going for.

Minor illusion: With Silent image from Misty visions i almost don't need this but i want the audio component for messing with folks, now if only there was a way to get the olfactory component other than prestidigitation I'd be golden.

1st level spells:
Hex: This is pretty good and it doesn't get in the way of rogue damage so i was thinking of taking it.

Comprehend languages: Not getting charm person because the person realizes what happened and that's not how my character rolls, Comprehend languages seems pretty useful.

2nd level spells:
Suggestion: Exactly the sort of thing i'm going for, this is an automatic pick unless it sucks for some reason i don't know of.

Other than suggestion I don't really know, Invisibility, Hold person, mirror image, and Darkness all seem really nice.

So that's it, what do you guys think? Any suggestions? Anything I missed? Am I digging myself into a hole I'll never get out of because of these three levels?

[SharkForce]

why would you get devil's sight and *not* choose darkness as a spell known on a class that gains massive benefits from advantage on attack rolls?

other than that, it all looks pretty reasonable. i like pact of the tome just because i like cantrips in general (guidance is pretty handy actually, especially as a skill-oriented class, but you may already have access to that).

[PhantomRenegade]

Well i was totally misremenbering how the tome of shadows worked, that's something i hadn't considered XD.

[Naanomi]

The 'disguise self' Invocation is pretty fun for an Assassin looking to actually use their infiltration class features... a Rogue 1/Warlock 2/Rogue +16 turns into a fairly effective ranged blaster/disguise master focusing on Charisma (and Agonizing Blast) for day-to-day damage rather than Dexterity and sneak-attack

[Submortimer]

It makes me sad that you can't sneak attack with Eldritch Blast. Oh well.

Devil's Sight+Darkness+Sentinel is a tailor-made combo for a rogue to become a shadowy nightmare murderball. Imagine this: Cast darkness around your belt . Move in, stand next to bad guy. They try to move away, triggering an OA, which you have advantage on (since they can't see), and then their movement becomes zero when you shank them. Then on your turn, you shank them, maybe twice for good measure. Then thye try to run again, and you shank them again, and then they can't move, and then they're dead. This doesn't really work if you're going ranged, but it's a great trick otherwise.

Important point: Don't take Invisibilty over darkness if you have Devil's sight. Invisibility drops after you attack, darkness doesn't, and darkness will move with you.

As far as pacts go, Blade (even without the invocations) wouldn't be bad, cause you'd always have a magic weapon at hand; Book get's you another couple spells and three cantrips from any list, which is GREAT; and Chain gets you a pretty fantastic familiar, three of which (quasit, imp, and Pseudodragon) that can get you magic resistance.

Here's my recommendations:

Invocations
- Devil's Sight
- Mask of many Faces (alter self at will; No more masks)

Spells
Everything you said, plus darkness

Pact
Blade (Magic Shortsword)

Feat
Sentinel

If you get the itch, you can take a couple more levels of warlock, get third level spells, get another feat, and get extra attack, Something Rogues usually never get.

[Chronos]

...and Chain gets you a pretty fantastic familiar, three of which (quasit, imp, and Pseudodragon) that can get you magic resistance.
Double-check with your DM about this one: Some rule that you only get that from a free-willed quasit, imp, or pseudodragon, not from a familiar.

[PhantomRenegade]

I was thinking of getting invisibility mostly for those times when you really can't afford to be spotted, my problem with darkness is that if i had had it in most of the fights up till now it would have messed with the rest of the party as well as the enemy.

Going to level 5 would be tempting but i'd be missing out on Thief's reflexes and that seems pretty bad.

[SharkForce]

you're going to be a ranged combat specialist. sit in your darkness away from the rest of your allies, the enemy can't see you, you get advantage. easy as can be.

edit: obviously still not suitable for every single fight... you may get in a fight where everyone is stuck in a narrow hallway right at a corner where you'd be hurting your team... but more often than not, you should be able to find an area where you can just rain death from.

[ImSAMazing]

It seems like a good combination, but if you really want to be strong, I would have gone for fighter 2/warlock 18, because fighter gives heavy armor and great proficiences(CONSTITUTION, and Strength). It also gives you small healing and action surge, useful when you want to do massive damage with eldritch blast.

[Person_Man]

Seems like strait Arcane Trickster Rogue might be a superior choice.

Mage Hand Legerdemain can duplicate the effects of Fast Hands, but can be used at a range. (Since the Mage Hand cantrip can use an object, and Legerdemain lets you use it as a Bonus Action, assuming that you cast it once per minute prior/outside of combat as an Action).

Arcane Trickster has a spell list that overlaps with most of the spells you've listed as wanting. Any damage lost from Hex is gained by additional Sneak Attack and Ability Score/Feat progression.

The only big loss is the Devil's Sight/Darkness combo. But DMs typically hate it when you spam a combo (and will find ways to work around it to challenge you), and there are ton of other ways to gain Advantage. Typically, its a better strategy to focus on the niches you're good at (damage, sneaky stuff) and coordinate with allies that are better suited to their niches (making enemies Prone/Stunned/Restrained/Paralyzed/etc), rather then trying to do everything yourself.

[Grek]

If you're playing a 7th level rogue and you want to multiclass in a way where you stop using sneak attack, you are doing it wrong. Don't focus on Eldritch Blast, that's a trap option for this multiclass plan.

[MeeposFire]

I really think that if you are going to go warlock with rogue you want to use blade. It at least has some sort of synergy since you can boost your weapon and eventually get extra attacks and cha to damage which are both helpful and support what you have as a rogue.

If you really want to combo rogue and warlock while using EB then you almost have to get 7 levels of eldritch knight fighter. With that you can cast EB, get cha to damage, make a weapon attack as a bonus action, and that weapon attack gets SA.

Final build would probably look like fighter 8/warlock2/rogue10


This is good combo though you unfortunately are doing it backwards to how I would do it since I typically would start fighter first (so your damage feels decent at all levels).

[Steampunkette]

I'd suggest talking to your DM to work out a way to use Sneak Attack and Eldritch Blast together. Maybe make it only fire on the first EB beam each turn and if you miss you lose the sneak attack?

Sure you'd be using a large die, but it's no different from a heavy crossbow aside from needing 2 levels to get an ability score mod applied to damage (and 1/3rd of the Crossbow Expert Feat which you'll probably take anyhow to avoid AoO when EBing in melee). And the extra attacks can either help offset the lower sneak attack dice (if you go more warlock than rogue) or the sneak attack dice can offset the lower quantity/power of spells (if you go more rogue than warlock).

Anywho, it's still only 1 sneak attack per turn when you have advantage or an ally next to the target, no matter how many attack rolls you make.

[Atariono]

Howdy OP, everyone. 1st post on the forums, but I've got good insight here as this is the exact class I'm playing now


Primary Rogue/Theif w/ a dip into Lock > Great Old One / Pact of the Blade.

I dipped here for the obvious Darkness/Devil's Sight combo for ranged destruction, but I've found that it's less useful than I would've liked it to be. Once I started using it in combat, it was more difficult than I wanted to stay out of the party's way. For all the good I was doing, my group was losing turns here and there by having to avoid my bubble. Almost zero dungeons account for that 20' radius, and that was a problem.
Once I started rocking the combo, the DM just tossed in more tremor sense and true sight mobs to fight. Now at higher levels, I find I use the combo rarely, which is too bad.

Out of that 2nd level spell slot, I've found Mirror Image and Misty Step to be far more efficient with Hex being an almost mandatory cast each opportunity as the dmg boon is nice, but the spellcasters feed off the debuff I lay on the target.

My current spell list as a Rogue 11 / Lock 4 is as follows:
Cantrips
-Chill Touch
-Minor Illusion
-Mage Hand
1st Level
-Hex
-Hellish Rebuke
2nd Level
-Darkness
-Mirror Image
-Misty Step

A ton of the standard Lock business doesn't apply to my Rogue first approach, so I'm missing some of the staples of the class. For what I've taken, Hellish Rebuke has come in handy on two occasions as walk off counter shots when the party didn't have another round in them. My cantrips get used rarely, if ever.
__

That's as far as I plan to take Warlock, as what keeps my dps high procs from sneak attack. I'll take Rogue up to 16 or maybe dip into Fighter or Bard for a level to get 2nd wind or Bardic Inspiration. I dig those perks a ton and they'd fit nicely with my character.

I welcome the forum's insight as well! GLHF

[Ketiara]

Howdy OP, everyone. 1st post on the forums, but I've got good insight here as this is the exact class I'm playing now


Primary Rogue/Theif w/ a dip into Lock > Great Old One / Pact of the Blade.

I dipped here for the obvious Darkness/Devil's Sight combo for ranged destruction, but I've found that it's less useful than I would've liked it to be. Once I started using it in combat, it was more difficult than I wanted to stay out of the party's way. For all the good I was doing, my group was losing turns here and there by having to avoid my bubble. Almost zero dungeons account for that 20' radius, and that was a problem.
Once I started rocking the combo, the DM just tossed in more tremor sense and true sight mobs to fight. Now at higher levels, I find I use the combo rarely, which is too bad.

Out of that 2nd level spell slot, I've found Mirror Image and Misty Step to be far more efficient with Hex being an almost mandatory cast each opportunity as the dmg boon is nice, but the spellcasters feed off the debuff I lay on the target.

My current spell list as a Rogue 11 / Lock 4 is as follows:
Cantrips
-Chill Touch
-Minor Illusion
-Mage Hand
1st Level
-Hex
-Hellish Rebuke
2nd Level
-Darkness
-Mirror Image
-Misty Step

A ton of the standard Lock business doesn't apply to my Rogue first approach, so I'm missing some of the staples of the class. For what I've taken, Hellish Rebuke has come in handy on two occasions as walk off counter shots when the party didn't have another round in them. My cantrips get used rarely, if ever.
__

That's as far as I plan to take Warlock, as what keeps my dps high procs from sneak attack. I'll take Rogue up to 16 or maybe dip into Fighter or Bard for a level to get 2nd wind or Bardic Inspiration. I dig those perks a ton and they'd fit nicely with my character.

I welcome the forum's insight as well! GLHF

Sorry to butt in... So what would you do if you had a redo lets say level 15?