Hexblade: Strength or Charisma? Which to attack with?

[Giegue]

As the title asks. One has the benefits of letting you get the "smite" invocation that gives you a greatsword. The other gives you the benefit of SAD, better ranged options (You can still take EB and Agonizing Blast, after all) and better casting while still having decent melee. Do you think the smite from the greatsword invocation is *really mandatory* for the hexblade, or would a hexblade who forgoes that invocation and uses Cha to attack work out fine, since they cal still EB/Agonizing Blast it up and only ever have to worry about Charisma? Thoughts would be appreciated!

[Vanderhaust]

You could go strength and use Curse Bringer. At level 12 you'll be able to add Charisma to damage. It would also benefit from Great Weapon master.

Strength Mod + Charisma Mod + GWM feat is a lot of damage per swing, AND you can use the uber smite

[Giegue]

I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY, REALLY, REALLY, REALLY, REALLY, REALLY don't want to dip fighter though. I specificly want to Start out with my warlock pact, as magically making a pact mid game at level 2 just seems dumb flavor-wise and I'd rather start out with the warlock stuff if possible. So knowing this, what would you recommend? Straight charisma-based skipping curse bringer? Or still go Strength based but take Variant human as my race and make Heavy Armor Proficiency my starting feat instead of doing the dump-for-RP thing of starting fighter and magically becomming a warlock out of nowhere at level 2(which is REALLY, REALLY, REALLY ******* DUMB)?

[skaddix]

Reallly? Warrior haunted by Dreams of a Legendary Weapon seems perfectly fine thematically.

I think its easy enough to fluff starting out as a Fighter for a Singe Level.

Your going to need both if you ask me. Hopefully a high AC will make up from not boosting your CON.

[Captain Morgan]

I think what I'm going to do is go Charisma, but if I find an item that will shoot my strength through the roof, I can then pick up the Cursebringer invocation next level. Seems like the best of both worlds! And if I don't find that item, well, I can still EB, use save based spells, SCAG cantrips, and a respectable melee presence bolstered by paladin spells.

[skaddix]

Yeah in general you should probably pick CHA. Because your DM is far more likely to dump some quality strength boosting items.

[JakOfAllTirades]

I'm doing Strength AND Charisma, because I want my Hexblade to use Curse Bringer and cast spells that don't fizzle.

Standard Point Buy. Revenant Dragonborn +1 Str, +1 Con, +1 Cha. [16/12/14/8/8/16] No escaping dump stats with this class.

But this is how I play: I like versatile characters so I end up making compromises. If you want to go "sword and board" your Hexblade doesn't need much Strength; just don't bother with the Curse Bringer Invocation. Or you can go with the greatsword all the time and nerf your Charisma; just pick spells and cantrips without attack rolls and saves, like Booming Blade, Hex, Armor of Agathys, Mirror Image, etc.

[joaber]

the problem of sword and board hexblade = material and somatic, you'll need to drop your weapon to cast spells and cantrips.
other = eldritch blast still a better option for damage.
good part, you will use your spellslots for spells, instead of burning all with curse bringer. Isn't really MAD (well, with first level in stone sorcerer you could use only 2 stats)

[Iamcreative]

You could try a quarterstaff warlock. Take Polarm mastery (or whatever that feat is called) then max out charisma. Lets you snag an extra attack, and add cha x2 to every attack. Might not be the most amazing, but then you can dump str and put points in con and dex for survivability (since even if you go strength youll still want charisma and thats pretty MAD). Also, shields are boring!

[Sception]

If you're dipping hexblade in a build that is mostly paladin, sorcerer, or bard, then attack with cha.

If you're mostly hexblade, then too much of your character gimmick is tied up in the curse to pass on the only method available to shift it from one target to another, so you need that curse bringer, and need to attack with strength, even if it comes with MAD problems. There are several ways to get around those MAD issues. You can dip fighter or paladin for heavy armor, or be a vuman to pick up heavy armor proficiency as a bonus feat, in order to dump Cha. Or you can sacrifice Cha, since you don't need it as badly, and just stick to melee attacks, smites, and spells that don't care about your casting stat.

But I absolutely would not skip curse bringer if you intend to go very far in hexblade/bladelock.

Otherwise you're kind of wasting your time making melee attacks. Hexblade's Curse works just as well for eldritch blast as it does for melee attacks, after all, and without the curse bringer it really feels like you'd be better off doing that. Hexblade isn't required to go bladelock, after all.

[jaappleton]

>_>

<_<

Gauntlets of Ogre Power shouldn't be hard to find, so build your Character as Charisma & Con first, and use Charisma until you find them. I mean, you shouldn't stumble across them at lv1, but IMO you should come across them around level 4 or 5. If you're using a Hexblade to begin with, it means you're in a home game (non-AL) anyway so it should be easy to work with your DM a bit.

[Sception]

In my experience, magic items you don't get to make yourself might as well not exist. If you're going to base your entire build on having them, get it in writing from your DM that you will definitely get the them and by what level.

[jaappleton]

In my experience, magic items you don't get to make yourself might as well not exist. If you're going to base your entire build on having them, get it in writing from your DM that you will definitely get the them and by what level.

A fair point. Not every table is the same. Some DM are more stingy than others.

[Rhynear]

In LMoP there are GoOP so you should be able to get them by level 4 if your running an AL campaign in your home game.

[Spiritchaser]

I placed a pair on a bandit captain for the Warlock... But the Paladin strck an alliance with the bandits in order to rescue the villiagers from my infested-cave-o-flesh-eating-monsters....

Even if the DM is actively helping, players can be counted on to do the unexpected...

So don't count on it.

[Sception]

parties are also teams, and you can't guarantee that a given item will go to a particular member if you're just dropping it in an encounter or loot pile. Imagine a party with a warlock and a paladin. Sure the warlock might want the gauntlets, but they don't need them, they do just as well - probably even better - firing off eldritch blasts than they would with melee attacks anyway. On the other hand, if the paladin picks up those gauntlets, and no longer has to raise strength as a result, then they get to pump charisma much early than they otherwise might be able to, which not only makes the paladin better, but improves the saving throws of the entire party, and suddenly the warlock ends up looking or feeling selfish if they take the item, as they end up weakening the entire party just for some style points.

[jaappleton]

I placed a pair on a bandit captain for the Warlock... But the Paladin strck an alliance with the bandits in order to rescue the villiagers from my infested-cave-o-flesh-eating-monsters....

Even if the DM is actively helping, players can be counted on to do the unexpected...

So don't count on it.

Kill that Paladin. The Warlock's Patron demands it for interfering with the Warlock's effectiveness as the Patron's tool. :smallbiggrin:

[Tanarii]

I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY, REALLY, REALLY, REALLY, REALLY, REALLY don't want to dip fighter though.Then don't. Start with a Dex of 10 or 12. You're already at AC 14 the moment you slap on some Medium Armor with Dex 10, which is the equivalent of a non-Hexblade Warlock with Studded Leather and Dex 14. If you go Dex 12 that's like starting with a Dex 16 with Studded. Then Half Plate adds another +1 AC when you can afford, to either AC 15 or AC 16.

This idea that Hexblades must have a Dex 14 if they want to use Medium Armor or must somehow get Heavy Armor is both ridiculous and insidious. (Edit: Applies to any character in regards to Medium armor of course. But most commonly comes up in with Clerics that don't get HA, Valor Bards, and Str-based Rangers.)

[Sception]

A non-hexblade warlock generally isn't mixing things up in melee, or if they are then they're doing so with temp HP generation and either main-stat dex or, yes, a fighter dip for heavy armor.

[Spiritchaser]

Kill that Paladin. The Warlock's Patron demands it for interfering with the Warlock's effectiveness as the Patron's tool. :smallbiggrin:

The Paladin is a pledged servant of the winter court. (a bit more dresdenesque than the stock 5e one... But certainly She didn't sign up because they were nice) She made the pact with the bandits from a position of strength after one was bleading out and two more were on the ropes.

While she did have her idea of the greater good as a rather firm guide, some of the bandits died for her greater good and she was pretty much fine with that...

The Warlock and the Paladin have a lot in common

They just come at it from different directions



Edit: the bandits DID spend part of their time in the cave looking for an opening to backstab the party... But...

[Tanarii]

A non-hexblade warlock generally isn't mixing things up in melee, or if they are then they're doing so with temp HP generation and either main-stat dex or, yes, a fighter dip for heavy armor.
I don't know what games you been playing at, but unless they form a Line (which the best CaW players will do), in most games casters end up mixing it up in melee far more often than they'd like.

Regardless my point was that a Hexblade isn't a "squishy" if they go with Medium armor and Dex 10. They're already better off and less MAD than a pact of the blade Warlock. Yeah, they'll be better off playing Striker / skirmisher, because they're more offense than defense. But so what? It's already the same for Pact of the Blade Warlocks. (And no, Pact of the Blade Warlocks don't need to go main-stat Dex or Fighter Dip for Heavy Armor. Then can also play Striker/skirmisher if they want.)

[Sception]

Striker/Skirmisher archetype doesn't really justify low AC on a melee character in a game that for the most part lacks 4e's aggro-grabbing tanking abilities. You can build a bladelock for prickliness instead of actual defense, but fiendblade does that sort of thing better than hexblade does.

[Sir cryosin]

My hexblade that I rolled up in Tuesday. Is in order 16,14,17,10,10,18 I rolled. V-human feat heavy armored I'm lv 5 took the tough feat at 4th lv. Invocations are burning hex, Cruse bringer and thristing blade. HP I think afs is 64 I was rolling godly that night. AC 16, 18 with my shield and longsword. My cantrips are mage hand, minor illusion, Eldritch blast. I didn't take hex but I might later.

[Sception]

With those stats, I'd have skipped heavily armored for something more offensive. Great Weapon Mastery, or maybe magic initiate for a familiar to spam 'aid another'. Is your DM letting you run curse bringer as a longsword? If so, then cha immediately becomes a very strong alternative to strength for a hexblade's attack stat (though strength still can make an argument for itself with the whole great weapon thing).