How to do a Wizard/Warlock?

[Nerdynick]

So I'm playing with a character concept for a wizard who was put on the path by contact with a Great Old One. I want to play him as a Diviner, but I also want to dip a few levels into Warlock to pick up the Awakened Mind feature and some invocations. How far should I dip into Warlock and what invocations should I choose?

[RickAllison]

So I'm playing with a character concept for a wizard who was put on the path by contact with a Great Old One. I want to play him as a Diviner, but I also want to dip a few levels into Warlock to pick up the Awakened Mind feature and some invocations. How far should I dip into Warlock and what invocations should I choose?

I feel like 3 levels is required for Tomelock, the super-Nerd!

[Klorox]

You get a ton from a 2 or 3 level warlock dip.

[Nerdynick]

Follow up question. I've never really done any multiclassing in this edition, and never between spellcasters and pact magicians. I'm looking at eldritch blast. It's a warlock spell, so I'd be using charisma to hit, yes? Would my levels stack for determining the number of rays?

[Naanomi]

Cantrips are all run by overall level, not class level

[Gastronomie]

Follow up question. I've never really done any multiclassing in this edition, and never between spellcasters and pact magicians. I'm looking at eldritch blast. It's a warlock spell, so I'd be using charisma to hit, yes? Would my levels stack for determining the number of rays?Yes, you will be using charisma to hit, and yes, (against what a lot of people in these forums argue is "more logical and balanced",) your levels will stack for the number of rays.

If you're interested in optimization:

2 level dip gives you invocations. 3 level dip gives you the pact boon, and level 2 slots that regenerate with a short rest. For wizards, the pact boon is not much of a boost as it is for other classes (if you were to go warlock 3, best would prolly be Chain for the magical resistance that comes with the Imps and Quasits), but quickly recovering level 2 slots is admittedly tempting as well.

As for the invocations, I'd suggest these:
-Agonizing and Repelling Blasts (Makes Eldritch Blast better, nuff said. Agonizing is an absolute staple if you wish to optimize. Repelling Blast is also wonderful, of course, but a bit overrated IMO - not necessarily a "must for all builds", especially when the number of invocations you can get is very low)
-Devil's Sight (Wide darkvision range - meaning you can target more enemies with your spells during night, and also, spam Darkness to troll your opponents)
-Fiendish Vigor (Since it can be cast at will, you basically get 8 temporary hit points at the start of every single battle, which is absolutely wonderful. This also allows you to lower CON to invest in more CHA or some other stat)
-Mask of Many Faces (For all your hilarious RP moment needs. Your imagination is the only limit)
-Misty Visions (Again, hilarious RP utility. Combine with Minor Illusion's "Sound version" for maximum effect.)

[Klorox]

Warlock 2/abjuror X really abuses that Armor of Agathys feature.

[RickAllison]

Warlock 2/abjuror X really abuses that Armor of Agathys feature.

Does it? I think the RAI was clarified in a Sage Advice that it didn't work because Arcane Ward doesn't let it reach the AoA. Now, they do get synergy out of the Mage Armor invocation. Endless recharging of the Ward is a great deal.

[Klorox]

Does it? I think the RAI was clarified in a Sage Advice that it didn't work because Arcane Ward doesn't let it reach the AoA. Now, they do get synergy out of the Mage Armor invocation. Endless recharging of the Ward is a great deal.

I had no idea the recharging of the ward didn't work.

I haven't seen any sage advice about it. Oh well...

[RickAllison]

I had no idea the recharging of the ward didn't work.

I haven't seen any sage advice about it. Oh well...

I thought you were talking about using Armor of Agathys to deal damage while protected with Arcane Ward. If AoA is an abjuration spell, it absolutely charges the ward, you just can't deal damage when only the ward is damaged.

[Naanomi]

Infinite silent image plus illusionist might be fun; maybe tack on some sorcerer later for subtle spell?

[MrFahrenheit]

My two cents:

Make the wizard side of this build as lazy as possible, even if you put two cents into it. With that in mind...

Light foot halfling wizard 18/warlock 2
8/14/14/14/8/16 at CL 1, 8/14/14/14/8/20 with lucky feat and war caster at CL 20.

You deal most damage with EB, but use wizard spells (focus on those which don't require saves or are defensive) to control the battlefield. Most importantly, you have ultimate dice control between halfling luck, the lucky feat, and portent as early as CL 6. And if things start looking dire, just hide between your tank. Greater portent at CL 16 is just icing on the cake.

[Joe the Rat]

How warlock do you plan to get? Do you want to balance the power, or just squeak in?
If the entirety of the warlock is just for the flavor, go CHA 13-14, pick all non-attack, non-save spells and cantrips, and skip eldritch blast entirely. This gives you two invocations to fill without the nasty agonizing blast tax.

At will detect magic? Who needs 10 minutes? Devil's sight? who needs light? Eyes of the Runekeeper? Read Everything, and annoy the crap out of your DM with the fact that all the crap "decorated with ancient runes" now actually has to say something. "Who is this Vutton person? His name is all over the bag of holding"
Or something more practical like Mask of Many Faces. Or pick up proficiency in persuasion and deception.

Take Hex. You can have a lot of fun with Hex. If it has an attack roll, Hex can hurt it. It's not like you have a ton of bonus action options...

[Grod_The_Giant]

Yeah. If you're planning to go mostly Wizard, I'd skip anything that requires you to invest heavily in Charisma. It's not worth the stat. Two levels is probably enough; you don't want to delay your main spell progression too much.

[Nerdynick]

For reference, I'd like to take no more than 3 levels of Warlock. I'm concerned about falling behind so much in spell progression.

I'm loving the recommendations for Invocations though.

Some of you are discouraging Eldritch Blast, but it seems like Repelling Blast provides a lot of synergy with battlefield control spells. Thoughts?

[RickAllison]

For reference, I'd like to take no more than 3 levels of Warlock. I'm concerned about falling behind so much in spell progression.

I'm loving the recommendations for Invocations though.

Some of you are discouraging Eldritch Blast, but it seems like Repelling Blast provides a lot of synergy with battlefield control spells. Thoughts?

The main issue of EB, even with Repelling Blast, is that it's accuracy is dependent on Charisma which you likely have lower. It is certainly possible to take it, but you must consider whether the synergy is worth saving a slot on Mage Armor (and the synergy for abjurers is impossible to forget), at-will Disguise Self, or other Invocations.

[Nerdynick]

Is at-will mage armor really worth it though? Multiclassing into Warlock grants light armor proficiency, and mage armor is only marginally better (and that's before magical armor).

[RickAllison]

Is at-will mage armor really worth it though? Multiclassing into Warlock grants light armor proficiency, and mage armor is only marginally better (and that's before magical armor).

Like I said, that is one option. Abjurers love it for the free and fast recharging of Arcane Ward. Illusionists would love at-will Silent Image. Detect Magic is great when you can spend 10 minutes to ritual-cast it, but the warlock dip gives it whenever you need it. Disguise Self is perfect for enchanters or other wizards who want to conduct social manipulation without giving away their identity.

How about 8 temporary HP for every encounter? A great way to boost the survivability of squishy wizards. Devil's Sight is fantastic just to prevent Counterspelling (they can't see the wizard, they can't Counterspell him). You can choose two of these effects, and I see several that would be more useful than having a chance to push them into a Wall of Fire or similar effect.

[Millstone85]

Is at-will mage armor really worth it though? Multiclassing into Warlock grants light armor proficiency, and mage armor is only marginally better (and that's before magical armor).As someone playing a warlock, no multiclass, I do feel hesitant about that invocation.

Pros:
* It beats studded leather by 1.
* You can never be caught without armor.
* If it is an invisible force field, the enemy might underestimate you.
* If it is a summoned armor, you can pretend to be a power ranger.

Cons:
* It beats studded leather only by 1.
* You are really vulnerable to antimagic.
* If it is an invisible force field, you might become a favored target.
* If it is a summoned armor, it really should be stronger than that.


Repelling Blast is also wonderful, of course, but a bit overrated IMO - not necessarily a "must for all builds", especially when the number of invocations you can get is very low
You can choose two of these effects, and I see several that would be more useful than having a chance to push them into a Wall of Fire or similar effect.Repelling Blast should also be able to free an ally from grappling or to unhorse an enemy. I agree it is not a must but I love it.