new player/Character to 5e.

[Maxybond]

so, starting playing, and i currently am thinking about getting a Teifling Warlock.
DM has set us at L5. with a selection of Items.

Group at the moment appears to be,
Duel Wielding Fighter
Aesmir Monk
Half Elf Rogue.
and myself (very martial group)

Currently i have
Str: 12
Dex: 15
Con: 16
Intel: 13 (14)
Wis: 17
Cha: 18 (20)

Going Fiend.
Pact of Tome
Invocations im currently looking at are Agonizing Blast, Beguiling Influence, and Book of Ancient Secrets
the idea is that im going to to be the face of the group i guess.
Spells that im thinking about are:
(3+3) Cantrips: Eldritch Blast (of course) Chill touch and Poison Spray
(2r) L1: Hellish Rebuke, Hex, Witchbolt (maybe Arms of Hadar)
(6) L2: Mirror Image (maybe) Misty Step (just as an escape) Shatter (maybe)
L3: Counterspell, Dispel Magic, Hunger of Hadar

so i haven't decided on the extra cantrips id want, or the 2 L1 ritual spells to pick up. does anyone have some tips on which other ones to pick? also, which spells should i pick at the moment.

is it worth having Studded Leather armor, vs using one of the invocations on Armor of Shadows. i lose 1 AC? but i have an extra Invocation free for use on something else, probably the Beguiling Influence.

Also, items (which he said i could get) Amulet of Health, Rod of the Pact Keeper +2, Wand of Secrets (thinking about ditching this) Slippers of Climbing (seems fun), Driftglobe, as the DM loves the Underdark. Hat of Disguise (hiding seems good). and Headband of Intel, Bag of Holding.
only allowed 2x rare items

Also, for my L4. should i take +2 to 1 or +1 to 2, or skilled/Warcaster?

Thanks for all of the help you guys can offer!

[Maxybond]

Also,
kinda curious, does the Devil's Sight invocation , counter the effects of the Tiefling's Darkness Spell?
as reading it allows you to see through all darkness, magical as well as non magical.

[Blue Lantern]

I'm not an expert and not a big optimizer so take my advice with a grain of salt, but here comes my 2 cp

As an half elf you should have +2 to CHA and +1 to two different ability scores, so you can bump DEX a bit, also, depending how you got your scores if you can switch WIS and DEX it would be better as a warlock you already have proficiency with WIS saving throws.

I think the studded leather is better, if you are playing a tome warlock you should stay away from melee and other invocation can be more important.

As spell personally I would skip Wichbolt and Arms of Hadar, as you shouls avoid being close to the enemies, and take Armor of Agatis (not sure about the spelling there), that + the Fiend resilience will give you some decent Temp HP buffer and would make enemies less enthusiastic toward attaching you

As you already have CHA maxed you should go with a feat, War caster or Spell Sniper maybe, increase the range of eldrich blast and ignore half cover

lastly yes, that invocation let you see through magical darkness, in fact is one of the reason warlock is considered one of the best 2 lvl dip class around.

[R.Shackleford]

If you are allowed to work with your ability scores I would recommend you drop your cha. Having a 20 main stat IS nice but not needed at such an early level. I would invest some points into dex or con (dex since you will be getting temp hp).

You really don't need a 20 main stat till level 12 or higher and even then I've seen 18's do just fine at those levels.

Also, get rid of witch bolt, very very very very bad spell. It looks nice until you see how it can be broken. Unless a friend is going to effectively grapple a target and you can stay within LoE and LoS then witch bolt is terrible.

If you are going up against a lot of mounted enemies I would look at Crown of Madness. CoM is typically another sub par apell, but if you have mounted enemies you don't have to worry about needing them to move into position to attack their ally, they are already there ;).

[KorvinStarmast]

As an half elf you should have +2 to CHA and +1 to two different ability scores, so you can bump DEX a bit, also, depending how you got your scores if you can switch WIS and DEX it would be better as a warlock you already have proficiency with WIS saving throws.
But he said he's a Tiefling.

[Sir cryosin]

If you are allowed to work with your ability scores I would recommend you drop your cha. Having a 20 main stat IS nice but not needed at such an early level. I would invest some points into dex or con (dex since you will be getting temp hp).

You really don't need a 20 main stat till level 12 or higher and even then I've seen 18's do just fine at those levels.

Also, get rid of witch bolt, very very very very bad spell. It looks nice until you see how it can be broken. Unless a friend is going to effectively grapple a target and you can stay within LoE and LoS then witch bolt is terrible.

If you are going up against a lot of mounted enemies I would look at Crown of Madness. CoM is typically another sub par apell, but if you have mounted enemies you don't have to worry about needing them to move into position to attack their ally, they are already there ;).

First of all eldritch blast is your damage cantrip and it's the king of all cantrips because there is next to nothing that has resistance to force damage. So you don't need anymore damage cantrips but one and that's shocking grasped just for when someone gets in your face. So the cantrips you want are prestidigitation and minor illusion, then for your tome cantrips I like Thorn whip, thaumaturgy, spare the dying, vicious mockery, your spells your just going have to learn which ones will be helpful for your party.witch bolt is a trap it's a concentration which means you won't be able to keep hex up or any other concentration spell and you have to be within 60 feet of a Target to keep it going which is within Striking Distance. I'm afb but darkness is a better spell. Expecially if you have the devil's sight invocation.if you take that pair then you would want to take the spell blink so your darkness dont hinder your party members and it gives you safe more.

[Blue Lantern]

But he said he's a Tiefling.

Well, am I stupid. Should go back to reading 101.

In I still say switching WIS and DEX to be better though, also in this case an ASI to bump DEX to 16 (or better 18) worth it at 4th level.

[SliceandDiceKid]

so, starting playing,

Also, items (which he said i could get) Amulet of Health, Rod of the Pact Keeper +2, Wand of Secrets (thinking about ditching this) Slippers of Climbing (seems fun), Driftglobe, as the DM loves the Underdark. Hat of Disguise (hiding seems good). and Headband of Intel, Bag of Holding.
only allowed 2x rare items

Also, for my L4. should i take +2 to 1 or +1 to 2, or skilled/Warcaster?

Thanks for all of the help you guys can offer!


First off, I think anyone new to 5E should start at level one. It just lays good groundwork and provides a learning curve. I think it's a bad idea to dive in too deep with too many features or spells and no experience. I've watched several people do it and they seemed clueless. Just my opinion. Some can pull it off fine, but most will probably be confused or overwhelmed. Also, I think players should have to earn those features. That said, if you were going to dive into any edition and have it work out, 5E is the one.

Rod of pact keeper is the obvious grab. Your stats won't matter as much as you think. Medium armor proficiency could help a lot instead of ASI. And starting with 20 in a stat is DUMB. You've got nowhere to go... BE WARNED, you are probably cheapening your d&d experience...

[R.Shackleford]

First of all eldritch blast is your damage cantrip and it's the king of all cantrips because there is next to nothing that has resistance to force damage. So you don't need anymore damage cantrips but one and that's shocking grasped just for when someone gets in your face. So the cantrips you want are prestidigitation and minor illusion, then for your tome cantrips I like Thorn whip, thaumaturgy, spare the dying, vicious mockery, your spells your just going have to learn which ones will be helpful for your party.witch bolt is a trap it's a concentration which means you won't be able to keep hex up or any other concentration spell and you have to be within 60 feet of a Target to keep it going which is within Striking Distance. I'm afb but darkness is a better spell. Expecially if you have the devil's sight invocation.if you take that pair then you would want to take the spell blink so your darkness dont hinder your party members and it gives you safe more.

Crown of Madness isn't just about the damage it does. CoM against mounted combatants is all about the sweet sweet utility.

Unintelligent mounts won't realize their rider is put under the spell. Flying mount will possibly drop their rider (or try). A land based mount may buck the rider off too.

At the very least they would run in a random direction. Even trained animals don't take abuse very lightly. Plus if the rider can kill the mount they may be strapped to the mount (air born) and have to deal with that too.

CoM is a fantastic spell against mounted combatants and it is quite fun. You don't really need damaging spells due to having EB you want to pick up utility/debuff spells and if you are going up against mounted enemies frequently... I can't think of a more fun way to do it. This spell takes up an enemy's action, makes the mount hate the rider, and can be used for all kinds of fun.

[Maxybond]

Thank you all for all the information!
As for the stats. that's a very good point. with nowhere to go. however that was how my DM told me to roll them, (4d6 -lowest, 7x removing the lowest)
but what I saw a bit was swapping dex/wis, what if I swapped out Con/Cha?
Str: 12
Dex: 17
Con: 18
Intel: 13 (14)
Wis: 15
Cha: 16 (18)
now I don't need the Amulet of Health at all? right?

As for spells, you can only use 1 Concentration spell. Reading the description for CoM is looks like it would be good. However, the damage boost from Hex just seems way too good to pass up, but I guess, taking 1 enemy out of the frey and have it attacking its friends might be worth more than the extra 1d6.

Cantrips: Eldritch Blast, Prestidigitation, Minor Illusion (Shocking Grasp, Thorn Whip/Gust, Spare the Dying) + Thaumaturgy from Teifling
L1: Hellish Rebuke (Comp Languages, Detect Magic: +2 L1 rituals)
L2: Misty Step, Crown of Madness, Scorching Ray
L3: Counterspell, Fireball
Also I get a once per long rest, Darkness to use.

Does that look a little better? and yeah I think id take Warcaster/Spellsniper, althought someone did say about getting Moderately Armored for medium armor as well as the extra point in Dex although if I swap to medium armor all the dex would get me is +1 to Iniative. Others I'm looking at are Resilient and Alert.

Editted: Spell list

[bid]

L1: Hellish Rebuke, Hex (Comp Languages, Detect Magic: +2 L1 rituals) + [burning hands, command - Fiend]
L2: Misty Step, Crown of Madness + [blindness/deafness, scorching ray - Fiend]
L3: Counterspell, Hunger of Hadar
Did you decide to learn all 4 expanded spells? You are still limited to 6 known.

Because of level & swap, you can know 2xL3, 3xL2, 1xL1.

[Maxybond]

Did you decide to learn all 4 expanded spells? You are still limited to 6 known.

Because of level & swap, you can know 2xL3, 3xL2, 1xL1.

ooops. I misread that I thought I got them naturally. lol >.<

[bid]

ooops. I misread that I thought I got them naturally. lol >.<
I did the same thing.:smallwink:

[Maxybond]

edited it. how helpful are a lot of these spells outside of combat? I should try and find a happy medium between combat, and none combat spells?

[Sir cryosin]

Hex will be doing 1d6 every eldritch blast and at 5th lv your doing 2 eldritch blast percasting so if they hit it 2d6+2d10+ charisma this at lv5

[Blue Lantern]

I think scorching ray is superfluous, you already have fireball for fire damage and eldrich blast for targeted.
I would take Hold Person or Invisibility.

[R.Shackleford]

I think scorching ray is superfluous, you already have fireball for fire damage and eldrich blast for targeted.
I would take Hold Person or Invisibility.

I would go with Hold Person, the synergy with your allies is amazing.

*you get a crit, you get a crit, we all get a crit! Ahhhh*

[Maxybond]

I would go with Hold Person, the synergy with your allies is amazing.

*you get a crit, you get a crit, we all get a crit! Ahhhh*

And this is why I was asking questions. so I assume 5ft = all melee attacks, but not mine unless I walked up and hit shocking grasp?

so many spells to take... so few spell slots!! :(

[Maxybond]

Hex will be doing 1d6 every eldritch blast and at 5th lv your doing 2 eldritch blast percasting so if they hit it 2d6+2d10+ charisma this at lv5

ahh ok. so I was just misreading eldritch blast then. so that's the synergy with it!! :)

[Maxybond]

Cantrips: Eldritch Blast, Prestidigitation, Minor Illusion (Shocking Grasp, Thorn Whip/Gust, Spare the Dying) + Thaumaturgy from Teifling
L1: Hellish Rebuke, Hex (Comp Languages, Detect Magic: +2 L1 rituals)
L2: Crown of Madness, Hold Person
L3: Counterspell, Fireball

Also I get a once per long rest, Darkness and a Level 2 Hellish Rebuke to use.

Also, I'm assuming it works like this. War Caster lets me use my rounds Reaction to make a spell cast instead of attack. I assume that includes Cantrips.

Can you use the Racial abilities (Hellish Rebuke) on Ring/Wand of Spell Storing?

[R.Shackleford]

And this is why I was asking questions. so I assume 5ft = all melee attacks, but not mine unless I walked up and hit shocking grasp?

so many spells to take... so few spell slots!! :(

I believe you just need to attack within 5' of the paralyzed target. They don't threaten you so you don't take disadvantage on any ranged attack within 5' of them.

Edited Below

Hold Person + allies crit + if still alive walk up to 5' away + Eldritch blast (crit).