Fighter 1/Warlock 9....now what?

[KnotaGuru]

I have a vHuman fighter 1/warlock 9 (pact of the tome, undying light patron). He wields a staff of fire and uses shillelagh & GFB in melee. 15 str, 10 dex, 14 con, 10 int, 10 wis, 18 cha. AC 22, 75 hp

Invocations: agonizing blast, book of ancient secrets, devil's sight, minions of chaos, repelling blast

Cantrips: blade ward,eldritch blast, green-flame blade, guidance, light, sacred flame, shillelagh, thorn whip
Spells: armor of agathys, hex, burning hands, flaming sphere, darkness, invisibility, hold person, fly, fire shield, banishment
Rituals: detect magic, find familiar, identify, alarm, purify food & drink, leomund's tiny hut, water breathing

His main party role is tank, damage dealer, AoE, and ritual casting


So my question is, where to go from here? Do I go back to fighter 2 or 3 for action surge and an archetype (eldritch knight for shield spell & absorb elements)? Or do I keep going with warlock for more spell slots(get 3/short rest at warlock 11) and class features (patron feature at warlock 10, mystic arcanum, extra cantrip, and spell known at warlock 11)?

The campaign should finish around level 15.

[Foxhound438]

the higher level undying light features are really good, so I personally would keep going in warlock. If not all the way to 14 for the lay on hands, at least to 13 for forcecage and get fighter 2 at some point for action surge. Order of taking those things is super up to you, action surge is massively powerful but so are 6th and 7th level spells.

[NecroDancer]

Keep going warlock and maybe round out your build as Warlock 17/Fighter 2, you get 9th level spells, an action surge, and a "free" level to do whatever you want with it. The build is solid and effective. Remember you don't need to multiclass 3+ times to have a character that's interesting to play.

[Sirdar]

Give yourself some well deserved candy. You have patiently waited so long while taking all those Warlock levels. Get Action Surge now! :-)

[Citan]

I have a vHuman fighter 1/warlock 9 (pact of the tome, undying light patron). He wields a staff of fire and uses shillelagh & GFB in melee. 15 str, 10 dex, 14 con, 10 int, 10 wis, 18 cha. AC 22, 75 hp

Invocations: agonizing blast, book of ancient secrets, devil's sight, minions of chaos, repelling blast

Cantrips: blade ward,eldritch blast, green-flame blade, guidance, light, sacred flame, shillelagh, thorn whip
Spells: armor of agathys, hex, burning hands, flaming sphere, darkness, invisibility, hold person, fly, fire shield, banishment
Rituals: detect magic, find familiar, identify, alarm, purify food & drink, leomund's tiny hut, water breathing

His main party role is tank, damage dealer, AoE, and ritual casting


So my question is, where to go from here? Do I go back to fighter 2 or 3 for action surge and an archetype (eldritch knight for shield spell & absorb elements)? Or do I keep going with warlock for more spell slots(get 3/short rest at warlock 11) and class features (patron feature at warlock 10, mystic arcanum, extra cantrip, and spell known at warlock 11)?

The campaign should finish around level 15.
Hi!
Unless you really want the Action Surge feature for some reason, stick with Warlock. Reasons for that...
1. In "only" two more levels, you get a 3rd slot per short rest. This means either stacking AoA + Fire Shield and still having an option for Burning Hands / Flaming Sphere (I suppose you don't get Fireball because it's not in Patron spells? AFB), and more generally having more juice for a big fight or being able to keep at least one slot for emergencies without modifying your usual tactics.

2. Another Invocation which is always good (and yet another one should you reach character lvl 16): non-concentration Bestow Curse, Slow etc...

3. Spells! While I'm not personally fond of 4th level and 5th level options (apart from Patron), later levels give great options: 6th (Conjure Fey, Create Undead, Eyebite, Mass Suggestion), 7th level (Finger of Death, Forcecage) are great.

4. THP feature (next Warlock level): every short rest, gaining 15 THP is no small feat. Won't help you survive a face-off with the most dangerous foes, but that kind of buffer will still help you much in the long run (although it will conflict with Armor of Agathys if you cast it "at the same time", unless your DM houserules but it would be complex to manage imo)

5. Healing feature: to be honest that one is not that great "by itself" but since you don't have any healing per se, it's still nice to have.

So I'd personally stick with Warlock at least until I get 3rd slot (Warlock 11) together with lvl 6 spell.
Then either you'd like the 7th spell and possibility of maybe reaching 8th spell (character level 16), then stick Warlock till the end...

Or you don't care about it, then you have several great options.
- Fighter 2: Action Surge.
- Draconic Sorcerer 1/3/5/6: free Mage Armor, Shield, Chromatic Orb, Magic Missile, Blindness, Enlager/Reduce, Enhance Ability, Knock, Mirror Image, Phantasmal Force, Web, Slow, Haste, Fireball and another +CHA on fire spells, with Quickened Metamagic (similar to Action Surge) and Heightened or Careful.

On that note, another viable strategy would be to just start Sorcerer right now to end with Fireball and possibly +CHA if you reach character level 16. Possibly even a better choice than going Warlock 11 first if you don't care about higher level spells.