11 level fighter/warlock build

[Corran]

So my character splitted up with the rest of the party to infiltrate an enemy expedition force that more or less plan to do the same quest as the one our party has. The good news is that this will be of great help for us. The bad news is that I wont be able to play my character for the few following sessions (well, I still get to play the important bits or the part where I feed the group with critical information via sending, plus I play a bit with the DM seperately). So I am taking over an NPC who will join the group at least until my character rejoins the group. The NPC has a bit of a backstory that the party knew already (to which I added a few details where I felt it was needed). Long story short, this NPC is kind of the minion of a dragon, or rather more accurately, he has an active deal (reflavour, pact) with said dragon. He is mainly a warrior, but he has some magic up his sleeve. Anyway, instead of going with a paladin approach, I decided of giving a try to the so famous fighter/warlock multiclass, as I felt it suited better the general vibe of this NPC. Take the fiend pact (due to all the fiery spells and well, because it suits the melee approach) and roll with it for some sessions to test how it plays out.

The character (fighter/warlock) is going to start at level 11. Race is human. I would like to avoid the darkness and devil's sight thingy for this character, however powerful it may be. I was also thinking of fiend pact (as said in the spoiler). I am not looking for the best possible build, but I wouldnt mind playing something powerful for a change. So, given the current level (11), what level distribution do you think I should go with? Would two or three levels in fighter do the trick? What about invocations and spells? And if I dont go with darkness (again, which I really want to avoid), how should I use my concentration and what strategy should I employ?

Rest of the group consists of a dwarf battlemaster fighter (polearm master, sentinel), a halforc knowledge cleric, a water genasi druid of the land (swamp - hmmm, maybe she can cast darkness:smalltongue:) and a sharpshooter archer (multiclass ranger rogue, although he did make some kind of rebuild very recently but due to lack of combat in our recent sessions I am not exactly sure what he changed).

Any and all suggestions are greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!

[gfishfunk]

Personally, I would go 3 fighter and 8 Warlock unless there are feats that you really want to grab, then 6/5 would work just fine. Level 7 fighter gives you an additional specialty feature, but they aren't amazing at level 7 (Except perhaps Eldrich Knight War Caster feature). Level 6 gives you an extra feat, and that can be tasty depending on how technical you want your character. At Fighter 6/Warlock 5, you are getting 3 ASI and reaching a spell level 3 with Warlock spells.

Two ideas:

Mr Grab: Champion Fighter 3/Fiend Blade-Pact Warlock 8 (or thereabout) with Grappler feat:

The idea is that you will grab things and they can only attack you while grappled. Progression goes Fighter + Dueling fighting style for good one-handed damage with one hand free. Warlock to grab armor of agathys, and then levels in Warlock. Now, you Hex your target to put disadvantage on either athletics or acrobatics, grapple them, get extra damage on hits against them, and force them to target you (provided no one else is within 5', but your teammates all appear to be ranged or reaching) thereby forcing Armor of Agathys damage in retaliation.

I tend to shy away from builds that are technically interesting but functionally boring. Champion builds tend to be functionally boring if you go above lvl 3 or 4 as it just doesn't give you enough levers to pull or buttons to push; same thing for Armor of Agathys. Both are interesting in concept, but boring if that is all that is there. This is why I figure you can add Grappler: now you have something to do with it.

The build allows you to play around with Invocations, too, because it is totally non-reliant on any.

Ms. Slash: Battlemaster Fighter 6 / Pact of Tome Warlock 5 with Great Weapon Master feat: use the Book of Ancient Secrets feature to pick up some rituals, such as gain familiar. The familiar will help you gain advantage on attacks (this is a somewhat contested ruling, but your familiar can assist where reasonable, and it is reasonable that it will be fluttering around and interfering as you attack). Now, grab a big weapon and start smacking things using battlemaster die, advantage, and Great Weapon Master +10 damage. I know its a bit unorthodox with Pact of Tome rather than Pact of Blade, but if you are able to use your familiar to gain advantage it is worth it.

[gfishfunk]

But to be specific: Hex should be the concentration, generally.

Also, I was assuming that you would be mostly melee judging by party composition.

[Arkhios]

This might be one of the occasions where you could make a warlock that doesn't use Eldritch Blast, at all, ditching all those invocations related to it :P

I haven't played a warlock yet, but if I did, I might try that myself. As written it should be completely viable. Regardless of how powerful (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiMHTK15Pik) he would be or not.

[Corran]

Yes, melee is what I had in mind, and more specifically a build that could deal some serious damage, something along the lines of Mr Slash, though with fewer fighter levels perhaps. I like the idea of Mr Grab, though with me and the fighter as the main frontliners, I dont think there will be much need of locking down targets, as long as the other party members can keep relatively safe via their own tricks (plus the fighter is a PM sentinel, so that adds a bit control). And while hex is very nice for the grapple checks, I dont know how confident I would be without expertise or advantage on them (though skill checks is not most of the monsters' forte). Moreover, with a longsword I wouldnt be able to utilize the -5/+10 aspect of the GWM feat, to which I am looking at if I want to bring more damage to the table. I do like the idea of the familiar, though it is something I have to work out with the DM, as the NPC had no familiar as the party was concerned. Perhaps I can introdue it though without much fass.

One thing I was wondering, was how well does armor of agathys play with the temp hp gained from the fiend pact. Any insight on that, anyone?

I also wanted to go with several levels of warlock (partly because of the backstory of this NPC, who was not powerful -2 or 3 levels in fighter - until he struck a bargain that gave him power - hence the majority of his levels lie in warlock - and also because of all the fiery spells I want him to have -hellish rebuke, fireball, fire shield, etc - to match the nature of his patron - some fire dragon, of whom the nature -metallic or chromatic - is still unknown to the party, and partly because I wanted to try out the so well known around here bladelock build that is fighter3/warlock17 in its fial form).

I have to say that hex does not appeal all that much to me, for taking up the use of concentration, but given the limited spell slots and how hex lasts longer when upcast, I just might have to roll with it for the most part.

And since I am not going with darkness, I ould still rely on our fighter to trip opponents with the butt end attack of his polearm, so that I can gain advantage for using GWM.

My biggest dilemma however, is if I should go fighter2/warlock9 for 5th level slots, or fighter3/warlock8 for battlemaster maneuvres.




This might be one of the occasions where you could make a warlock that doesn't use Eldritch Blast, at all, ditching all those invocations related to it :P

I haven't played a warlock yet, but if I did, I might try that myself. As written it should be completely viable. Regardless of how powerful (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiMHTK15Pik) he would be or not.
Yeah, I was considering not even taking EB at all, certainly not any of the invocaations associated with it. I was considering of firebolt, either taking it as if it was a warlock cantrip, or via magic initiate or some other feat, or through tome. But then again, mostly as a backup option, that would also fit the oh-so-unoriginal fiery ''theme'' of this character. He will mostly spamming melee attacks for the most part.

[Arkhios]

One thing I was wondering, was how well does armor of agathys play with the temp hp gained from the fiend pact. Any insight on that, anyone?

RAW temporary hit points from separate sources don't stack, but neither will they overlap. IIRC, no matter how many Temporary Hit Points you gained from one source, the most recent gain replaces the previous one.
I can't say for RAI, but for a Fiend Pact warlock having Armor of Agathys would be somewhat thematic, since Agathys is a layer of hell (the one where all impossible laws of Murphy are originated. RE: "It'll happen when the hell freezes over" :smallbiggrin:). Although, Fiend Pact is all about fiery stuff while Agathys is all about freezing stuff, so in that contrary, they might not fit well, after all. (Armor of Agathys coats you with a protective layer of ice, which isn't very warm, I'd reckon :P)

All in all, though, Dark One's Blessing doesn't really specify anything related to either hot or cold layers of hell, so I guess it could overlap a little. I wouldn't let it refresh Armor of Agathys, but I might let you have overlapping Temporary Hit Points; Armor of Agathys would still continue decreasing from where it was, even if you had more THP from Dark One's Blessing.


My biggest dilemma however, is if I should go fighter2/warlock9 for 5th level slots, or fighter3/warlock8 for battlemaster maneuvres.

I would go fighter3/Warlock 8 because you said the NPC is originally more of a warrior with Aces up his sleeves, not a mage with knack for weapon combat.

It's not a big difference level-wise, but 3rd level is the big defining point for a fighter, and you get a lot of options from Battle Master (plus it combines well with warlock's per short rest abilities).

[djreynolds]

Hmm, level 12 is where you get to add your charisma finally to your attacks if you took a bladelock. I could see one level of fighter for armor and con saves.

But here is your chance to finally play a staff wielder. Warlock and monk would be sweet, grab a staff and use it as a monk weapon with dexterity and grab polearm master. Its 1d8 for 2 attacks and then 1d4, but you will get to add your dex and charisma when you hit 12th level warlock. Monk's unarmored defense will be really cool. Just grab monk at some point. 1 monk/10 warlock... then get to 12 warlock and add some more monk to the equation. The staff is good enough and your AC will be adequate.

You could grab that death monk from the SCAG at some point.

[Malifice]

[SPOILER=Rambling, as usual...]

Any and all suggestions are greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!

For mine its a Vuman Fighter 3, Warlock [fiend] 8 - Feats GWM, HAM, Warcaster.

Str 16
Dex 8
Con 13
Int 10
Wis 12
Cha 16

Manouvers: Precise Strike, tripping strike and riposte.
Invocations: Thirsting blade, Agoniszing blast, others
Spells: Booming blade [AoO's], Fireball, Hex, Mirror Image, Hellish rebuke, Eldritch blast, others
F/S: GWM or Defence

Although you might be treading on the toes of the BM Fighter already in the party.

Have you considered a Paladin/ 'lock? There is a [B]lot to be said for a Paladin 6/ Lock 5.

[Corran]

RAW temporary hit points from separate sources don't stack, but neither will they overlap. IIRC, no matter how many Temporary Hit Points you gained from one source, the most recent gain replaces the previous one.
I can't say for RAI, but for a Fiend Pact warlock having Armor of Agathys would be somewhat thematic, since Agathys is a layer of hell (the one where all impossible laws of Murphy are originated. RE: "It'll happen when the hell freezes over" :smallbiggrin:). Although, Fiend Pact is all about fiery stuff while Agathys is all about freezing stuff, so in that contrary, they might not fit well, after all. (Armor of Agathys coats you with a protective layer of ice, which isn't very warm, I'd reckon :P)

All in all, though, Dark One's Blessing doesn't really specify anything related to either hot or cold layers of hell, so I guess it could overlap a little. I wouldn't let it refresh Armor of Agathys, but I might let you have overlapping Temporary Hit Points; Armor of Agathys would still continue decreasing from where it was, even if you had more THP from Dark One's Blessing.
That actually helps me a lot deciding, as I was thinking of using that 5th level slot with AoA, so now with this overlap, fighter3/warlock8 seems more desirable since AoA loses some of its steam with fiend pact in play.




I would go fighter3/Warlock 8 because you said the NPC is originally more of a warrior with Aces up his sleeves, not a mage with knack for weapon combat.

It's not a big difference level-wise, but 3rd level is the big defining point for a fighter, and you get a lot of options from Battle Master (plus it combines well with warlock's per short rest abilities).
This makes a lot of sense to me, I think I have made my mind regarding the level distribution among the two classes.


Hmm, level 12 is where you get to add your charisma finally to your attacks if you took a bladelock. I could see one level of fighter for armor and con saves.

But here is your chance to finally play a staff wielder. Warlock and monk would be sweet, grab a staff and use it as a monk weapon with dexterity and grab polearm master. Its 1d8 for 2 attacks and then 1d4, but you will get to add your dex and charisma when you hit 12th level warlock. Monk's unarmored defense will be really cool. Just grab monk at some point. 1 monk/10 warlock... then get to 12 warlock and add some more monk to the equation. The staff is good enough and your AC will be adequate.

You could grab that death monk from the SCAG at some point.
I like this idea, though I dont think I will be playing this temporary replacement character for long, most likely only for a couple of sessions. And though this idea seems interesting, I was more kean to try out a more traditional bladelock, and see how he can perform. Thanks though for your suggestion!

Edit: Now you got me wondering how well would monk combine with warlock. I'll try to go a bit deeper on that on my own, and perhaps come back here asking for opinions, just as a fun exercise.


For mine its a Vuman Fighter 3, Warlock [fiend] 8 - Feats GWM, HAM, Warcaster.

Str 16
Dex 8
Con 13
Int 10
Wis 12
Cha 16

Manouvers: Precise Strike, tripping strike and riposte.
Invocations: Thirsting blade, Agoniszing blast, others
Spells: Booming blade [AoO's], Fireball, Hex, Mirror Image, Hellish rebuke, Eldritch blast, others
F/S: GWM or Defence

Although you might be treading on the toes of the BM Fighter already in the party.

Have you considered a Paladin/ 'lock? There is a [B]lot to be said for a Paladin 6/ Lock 5.
I dont think our fighter will mind me treading a bit on his toes. More likely he will be happy to have a dedicated front liner, at least for a couple of sessions, taking some of the heat and allowing him to use his sentinel AoO a bit more often possibly. Besides, it will only last for a few sessions.

About the paly/lock, well, I've seen it done a couple of times (in 1-shots and short campaigns mostly), and I was more curious about the fighter/lock, for which I've read much in here (several posts from you yourself, if I recall correctly), and just wanted to give it a try. Moreover, our group will be going into a dungeon crawling, which is really not typical for our campaign, so I figured that all these short rest abilities from fighter and warlock would serve me well. And seeing as the group needed a bit more to the dpr and tanking department, I though it wouldnt be a bad idea of a build too (perhaps a barbarian would top it, but oh well).

Thank you for your suggestion, I must say I had completelly forgotten about HAM, I think it will help me tremendously to stay up a bit longer in those difficult fights. Definitely going for it, and to be honest, with everything else you suggested. The only thing I might look to change a bit, is raising con to 14, at the cost of int or wis (most likely int), as I dont think I will play this char past level 11, so I might as well optimise for this specific level.


Thanks everyone for your suggestions! I think I have a pretty good idea now of how this build will go.

[Malifice]

Thank you for your suggestion, I must say I had completelly forgotten about HAM, I think it will help me tremendously to stay up a bit longer in those difficult fights. Definitely going for it, and to be honest, with everything else you suggested. The only thing I might look to change a bit, is raising con to 14, at the cost of int or wis (most likely int), as I dont think I will play this char past level 11, so I might as well optimise for this specific level.

HAM synergises well with Fiend lock. You get 11 temp HP on a kill, and reduce incoming damage by 3 points per hit, and 1/ short rest you can second wind. With full plate and defence style, this should keep you tanking nicely. Once you hit Warlock 10, you also get resistance on top of that (to one damage type) and your Temp HP goes up every level.

Your short rest resources are fantastic too:

1) 2 spell slots (4th level) Fireball, mirror image, hex, counterspell, fly, armor of agathys, invisibility, misty step, and hellish rebuke are what I would pick.
2) 4 Sup dice (for riposte, precise and tripping)
3) 1 action surge
4) 1 second wind
5) 1 dark ones own luck (+1d10 to an ability score or save)

Plus you have 3 cantrips [Eldritch blast for a ranged option, booming blade to go with warcaster, and mage hand or light for utility] and 4 invocations [Personally I would select Devils sight for utility becuase your human, Agonising blast for ranged oomph, thirsting blade for obvious reasons, and a utility invocation such as beguiling influence, mask of many faces, misty visions or sculptor of flesh - all of which are all golden].

Tactics:

Cast Hex as your first bonus action during encounter one of the adventuring day. As a 4th level spell, it lasts 8 hours, and as a Fighter with a Con of 14 you're spitting out a +6 con save with advantage from warcaster (and reducing the damage by 3 from HAM). Unless you take 25 or more points of damage, you need a 4+ on a d20 [with advantage] to keep it up and running all day long.

Once Hex is up, get a short rest as soon as you can to get that slot back - the spell stays active during the short rest and after you get the slot back.

In combat kill snipe when possible for the temp HP.

You're a mooks worst nightmare, able to cleave them with GWM, reduce their usually low incoming damage by 3, and gaining 11 temp HP each time you kill one. Or just troll them with fireball.

For hard targets [action surge + precise strike + thirsting blade + hex + GWM -5/+10 + tripping stike] is your friend. The damage can be disgustingly good. 3d6+13+1d8 per hit up to 5 times a turn. Trip them as soon as possible for advantage on your remaining attacks.

Attack action [GWM + precise strike/ tripping attack + hex + thirsting blade] followed by action surge [fireball] is another great way to troll the DM.

On your off turns, dont forget to use riposte (plays well with mirror image) or hellish rebuke (5d10 fire damage is nothing to sneeze at) to make enemies (and your DM) regret targetting you. They instead try and walk away and you get to slap them with a booming blade as a reaction to stop them.

If you're about to short rest and you have a spare spell slot left, consider coating yourself with rimefrost via Armor of Agathys before you do. You'll have a nice little 20 HP buffer while you rest i the event of random monsters, and enemies that do hit you will cop 20 points of cold damage for their troubles. Also plays nicely with HAM.

Range isnt your forte.. well aside from action surge, followed by 3 x eldritch blasts per action, each dealing 1d10+1d6+3 damage each, plus fireball and fly up your sleeve.

Short rest, short rest, short rest. If your DM is a fool and doesnt understand 5E's rest meta, or time his adventures, or lets you short rest at will by doing something stupid like populating his dungeon with nothing but reactive undead who stay put, take advantage of it.

You'll be constantly wishing you had more bonus actions per round. Between cleaving, getting extra hits on a crit from GWM, using second wind and laying on hex, you will be torn more often than not what to do with your bonus action.

Finally, be creative with action surge. You can use it to disengage, dash or cast a spell. Dont just think of it as 'extra attack action'.

Bonus points if you call your PC 'Erlic' and your rune weapon is a black rune encrusted greatsword.

[djreynolds]

I'm unsure how hex or hunter's mark works with flurry of blows but it could be devastating. I'm unsure how bladelock will work with monk weapons or even unarmed strikes but it could be cool.

If that fighter is next to you, he could draw lots of reaction attacks with sentinel.

Ranger/monk melee is actually pretty cool too.

I want to see the build, I'm sure it will be unique

[famousringo]

As long as you can use the SCAG cantrips, I would go Eldritch Knight 7 / Warlock 4. War Magic, plus even modest Booming Blade that doesn't "boom" will actually keep pace with fighter DPR (ex feats). You're basically trading one attack for 2d8 damage on the cantrip plus a handy effect (2d8+CHA cleave for GFB or 2d8/control for Booming). If you make it to level 12 warlock, you can even pick up Lifedrinker for a damage boost comparable to a pure fighter's 4th attack.

War Magic also allows you to pair a ranged attack with your Eldritch Blasts, though of course the bonus action competes with Hex.

You can ditch INT so you can focus on STR and CHA and still enjoy some nice abjurations and other buffs from EK. Between those, heavy amor proficiency, and warlock temp HP, you'll be extremely hard to kill.