Help with moon bow warlock

[Haydensan]

So the new warlock invocations got released and this one immediately caught my eye. And luck would have it I'm about to jump into a campaign from level one. Right now my short term plan is to take agonizing blast at 2 and swap it for moon bow at 3 when I get pact of the blade.

Other than that I'm a bit lost when it comes to optimising this option and I'm a bit worried I'll fall behind my group. Anyone got any idea how to get the most bang for your buck with this?

[Ashuan21]

You could go up to Warlock5/Assassin3, if you manage to surprise someone it is going to be a bloody first roun with something like 28d8 and 4d6 damage...
After that warlock again (every 2 levels you get 8d8 more damage...) or some levels of fighter or revised ranger to get the Archery Fighting Style

[joaber]

another option, get 1 lvl or fighter to pick archery and Con saves, +2 to hit is just amazing to let that pass. Than go up to lvl 5 as warlock, after that you see what is better.

[Grimm]

To me, the moon bow is more of a flavor option than anything else, simply because agonizing blast/eldritch blast spam is pretty powerful on its own.

That said, both ideas here seem to be the best thing you could do. I'd likely go 3 warlock, Devils Sight/Agonizing, then switch Agonizing at 3. From there, Either Fighter 1, Assassin 3, or deepstalker 3 seem to be the best ideas.

personally, I'd probably start as Rogue/Ranger/Fighter for 1, go Warlock 2-4, then swap back, simply using the moonbow as a flavor tool more than anything else. My personal build is Rogue 1, Warlock 2-4, then back rogue, as you can sneak attack with the longbow (can't with E.Blast) and have some added spells for fun.

[tomato]

I think first off that in terms of pure optimization, you'll want to pick up the Archery fighting style and the Sharpshooter feat as soon as possible. That's going to mean one or two levels Ranger or Fighter, minimum. I've been tinkering with an Arcane Archer build that starts fighter at level 1 (for save and weapon proficiencies), then goes Warlock for 5 levels, and then back to fighter for 2 more to get a specialization. Arcane Archer works really well with the Moonbow invocation because it gives you something cool to do with your bonus action, and the different arcane arrows you can pick give you a ton of options depending on how you envision your character. I think Piercing Arrow and Beguiling Arrow are probably the best arrow choices currently, but all of them have some degree of usefulness, plus you also get Action Surge en route, which a Warlock can definitely do a lot with. Furthermore, you can take this concept and build it into Assassin Rogue 5/Arcane Archer 3/Warlock 12 and be able to do something like 44d8 + 10d6 + mods(x2) to the target on your first two attacks, or more if you Action Surge. I mean, it's not something you can do round over round, but it's a nice burst of damage, and you'll have fairly significant damage per round after that.

[Sir cryosin]

OK so there are a few builds I'm playing with just for the bow because I like it as well.
So first build is
1. Fay warlock pack of the blade lv5, lore bard 15.
So you take warlock to lv 5 for the extra attack Invocation. The other invocation is +1 to bow. So now the 15lvs in lore bard it so you can pick up haste, swift quiver, and any other spells you like to help.
Build two is
2. Warlock lv3, bladesinger 17
So this one is kind of easy get the moon bow and play a bow bladesinger. You get good AC, a lot of spell slots to smite with. You also have arcane recovery. And other stuff.
3. Warlock lv5, sorcerer 15 you get meta magic to spell slots and few other thinks I just haven't looked to into this one.
4. Warlock lv3, valor bard 17
5. Warlock lv3, Eldritch Knight 17.
You can also do a cool warlock lv3, Rogue Arcane Trickster lv 17

[Grimm]

Was just thinking about it. A full warlock could work as well.

Invocations would give you An Extra Attack Attack, +Cha to Damage, +3 to your bow, as well as other "flavor" invocations aside from straight damage. Add in the fact that you'd max out at a 5th level spell at level 9, allowing you +10d8 damage using the bows smite... Nothing to scoff at. Plus, as far as I can tell, this doesn't require any concentration to use the smite, which should allow you to keep concentration on things like Hex.

I've got a Human Varaint Warlock. Sharpshooter at level 1, Agonizing/Devils Sight. Swap Agonizing at 3 for moonbow. By level 9 you should be looking at Devils Sight, Moon Bow, Thirsting Blade, Superior Pact Weapon, and a flavor invocation of your choice. Combine this with Sharpshooter, and you should be around 20 Dex at this point, and you're no slouch.