MidgetMarine
2017-08-01, 04:10 PM
Hello, GitP!
It's been years since I came to the forums, but after DMing 5 back-to-back campaigns, I'm finally hanging up my DM hat for a while and playing a campaign as a player. I haven't played as a character in 5th edition, though I've DMed 3 full campaigns, but most of my character optimization was from 3.5
I set out to try and pull off an Arcane Gish (Which I know is rather difficult in 5) and ended up having my eye caught by the Hexblade Warlock pact and Hex Warrior's ability to enable a similar style of build to the Warlock/Paladin Shillelagh build.
Understanding that the system makes it difficult to play a fully functional dual-role Gish, I've settled on a slightly caster-heavy Gish frame involving Stone Sorcerer (Allowing me to focus exclusively on CHA and CON to gain the much needed extra boost of tankiness that prevents me from getting instantly nuked when I enter close combat) with the ability to enter melee to nuke important targets. The basic concept is to play a slightly supportive midrange spellslinger that can duck into a melee, via Stone Sorcerer's Aegis or otherwise, and use a series of Metamagic'd Greenflame Blade & Booming Blade
We're starting at 6, so I'm beginning with Stone Sorcerer 3/Hexblade Warlock 3.
The two options I've considered for the final build are:
Warlock 5/Sorcerer 15 - this enables Thirsting Blade or Eldritch Smite, but costs me the eventual capability of 9th level casting.
so it's a pricey choice but it's an option
Warlock 3/Sorcerer 17 - this is the ratio I'm leaning towards just because the ability to cast a 9th level spell is so powerful that it's hard to say no
In this vein, the basic chassis of the build at launch is as such:
Warlock 3:
Taking Warlock gives me access to Hex Warrior, which is exceptionally nice in allowing the Warlock to be SAD in both casting and melee attacks. This is really the crux of the build, being able to focus on the Sorcerer's casting stat while improving my melee capabilities is exactly what I want.
The third level of Warlock importantly gives me my Pact Boon (Pact of the Blade, of course) and the Invocations of Curse Bringer and Improved Pact Weapon. Cursebringer is pretty vital, giving me a smite ability similar to the Paladin's with even better scaling, which is really a boon to the ability to be relevant in a melee when the going gets tough. I will admit, I'm torn on whether I should be taking Agonizing Blast instead of Improved Pact Weapon, as the +1 scales less well than CHA to EB, especially when the build hit later levels. I suspect it might be correct to take Agonizing Blast instead, giving me more effectiveness at spellslinging, but slightly more limited in melee. I welcome opinions on Invocation choice, as I'm still not sure what the correct choice is.
[NOTE: The DM of this campaign is allowing me to forge a longsword instead of a greatsword with Cursebringer, so I won't be losing out on Hex Warrior's CHA to attack, even when I choose to two-hand because the longsword is Versatile instead of Two-Handed]
Sorcerer:
Sorcerer is the obvious choice to pair with Warlock - both cast off of Charisma and both are blaster-caster style mages.
Stone Sorcerer specifically drew my attention as Stone's Durability allows me to operate near enough to the frontline while spell slinging to function properly, without having to worry about suddenly getting nuked for my full pool of HP.
In addition to this, Stone Aegis allows me to help out the party's primary melees as well as giving me an easy way to engage into melee with them if fights start to go south thanks to the granted reaction.
Finally, Stone's Edge at 14th allows a nice damage boost that has some cute synergy with Twinned and Quickened Spell, though it's not the reason I was drawn to this class.
I've selected Scourge Aasimar as my race for obvious reasons
+2 to Cha, +1 to Con is about as good as I could wish for
Damage Resists are always nice when I'm sticking my neck out as a caster
The Racial Ability also allows me to either pump out slightly more AoE damage in a melee or discourage targets from getting close to me when disengaging.
The playstyle, in theory, is spell slinging from a distance and entering melee at key moments via Stone Aegis or otherwise to nuke down targets with Curse Bringer's smite attacks and Metamagic'd spells. This was the best Arcane Gish implementation of the Hexblade I could put together, and I hope it's worth the time I spent agonizing over build paths.
Any suggestions or feedback are totally welcome.
Cheers, MidgetMarine
It's been years since I came to the forums, but after DMing 5 back-to-back campaigns, I'm finally hanging up my DM hat for a while and playing a campaign as a player. I haven't played as a character in 5th edition, though I've DMed 3 full campaigns, but most of my character optimization was from 3.5
I set out to try and pull off an Arcane Gish (Which I know is rather difficult in 5) and ended up having my eye caught by the Hexblade Warlock pact and Hex Warrior's ability to enable a similar style of build to the Warlock/Paladin Shillelagh build.
Understanding that the system makes it difficult to play a fully functional dual-role Gish, I've settled on a slightly caster-heavy Gish frame involving Stone Sorcerer (Allowing me to focus exclusively on CHA and CON to gain the much needed extra boost of tankiness that prevents me from getting instantly nuked when I enter close combat) with the ability to enter melee to nuke important targets. The basic concept is to play a slightly supportive midrange spellslinger that can duck into a melee, via Stone Sorcerer's Aegis or otherwise, and use a series of Metamagic'd Greenflame Blade & Booming Blade
We're starting at 6, so I'm beginning with Stone Sorcerer 3/Hexblade Warlock 3.
The two options I've considered for the final build are:
Warlock 5/Sorcerer 15 - this enables Thirsting Blade or Eldritch Smite, but costs me the eventual capability of 9th level casting.
so it's a pricey choice but it's an option
Warlock 3/Sorcerer 17 - this is the ratio I'm leaning towards just because the ability to cast a 9th level spell is so powerful that it's hard to say no
In this vein, the basic chassis of the build at launch is as such:
Warlock 3:
Taking Warlock gives me access to Hex Warrior, which is exceptionally nice in allowing the Warlock to be SAD in both casting and melee attacks. This is really the crux of the build, being able to focus on the Sorcerer's casting stat while improving my melee capabilities is exactly what I want.
The third level of Warlock importantly gives me my Pact Boon (Pact of the Blade, of course) and the Invocations of Curse Bringer and Improved Pact Weapon. Cursebringer is pretty vital, giving me a smite ability similar to the Paladin's with even better scaling, which is really a boon to the ability to be relevant in a melee when the going gets tough. I will admit, I'm torn on whether I should be taking Agonizing Blast instead of Improved Pact Weapon, as the +1 scales less well than CHA to EB, especially when the build hit later levels. I suspect it might be correct to take Agonizing Blast instead, giving me more effectiveness at spellslinging, but slightly more limited in melee. I welcome opinions on Invocation choice, as I'm still not sure what the correct choice is.
[NOTE: The DM of this campaign is allowing me to forge a longsword instead of a greatsword with Cursebringer, so I won't be losing out on Hex Warrior's CHA to attack, even when I choose to two-hand because the longsword is Versatile instead of Two-Handed]
Sorcerer:
Sorcerer is the obvious choice to pair with Warlock - both cast off of Charisma and both are blaster-caster style mages.
Stone Sorcerer specifically drew my attention as Stone's Durability allows me to operate near enough to the frontline while spell slinging to function properly, without having to worry about suddenly getting nuked for my full pool of HP.
In addition to this, Stone Aegis allows me to help out the party's primary melees as well as giving me an easy way to engage into melee with them if fights start to go south thanks to the granted reaction.
Finally, Stone's Edge at 14th allows a nice damage boost that has some cute synergy with Twinned and Quickened Spell, though it's not the reason I was drawn to this class.
I've selected Scourge Aasimar as my race for obvious reasons
+2 to Cha, +1 to Con is about as good as I could wish for
Damage Resists are always nice when I'm sticking my neck out as a caster
The Racial Ability also allows me to either pump out slightly more AoE damage in a melee or discourage targets from getting close to me when disengaging.
The playstyle, in theory, is spell slinging from a distance and entering melee at key moments via Stone Aegis or otherwise to nuke down targets with Curse Bringer's smite attacks and Metamagic'd spells. This was the best Arcane Gish implementation of the Hexblade I could put together, and I hope it's worth the time I spent agonizing over build paths.
Any suggestions or feedback are totally welcome.
Cheers, MidgetMarine