Hexblade: Ideal Companion

[Easy_Lee]

Say you're building another character specifically to support a Blade-pact Hexblade. You want synergies and also to shore up the Hexblade's weaknesses. What do you play?

Celestial chain-pact warlock seems like a good pick. Good scouting, you can cast darkness for each other and both see through it with Devil's Sight (so can the imp), agonizing blast is a good ranged option, and celestial has healing capabilities to help keep the Hexblade alive.

What other good options exist?

[Arcangel4774]

Combos with darkness are nice, as you already noted. Shadow sorc can see through his own magical darkness, and gloomstalker also has its own darkness, if just the normal sort, shenanigins. If its just the 2 of you a summoner of sorts, necromancer or druidic, coukd work wonders.

[Dudewithknives]

Say you're building another character specifically to support a Blade-pact Hexblade. You want synergies and also to shore up the Hexblade's weaknesses. What do you play?

Celestial chain-pact warlock seems like a good pick. Good scouting, you can cast darkness for each other and both see through it with Devil's Sight (so can the imp), agonizing blast is a good ranged option, and celestial has healing capabilities to help keep the Hexblade alive.

What other good options exist?

Shadow Sorcerer, that has some solid synergy.

If you are a Hexblade archer with improved pact weapon, or an Eldritch bolter, then you can't go wrong with Ancestral Guardian Barbarian.

Massive tanking. Great damage and damage mitigation.

[Lonely Tylenol]

Assuming no Darkness/Devil's Sight-specific interactions (because those are evident enough to just be the first response):

A Hexblade with Eldritch Smite benefits from ways to gain advantage before knocking them prone (because it makes the likelihood of the first attack hitting greater). Totem Barbarian and Mastermind Rogue both do this - one through a pack tactics-like effect, and one through bonus action Help.

A Hexblade without Eldritch Smite wants a prone foe, for easy, reliable advantage. Totem Barbarian, again, helps with this (which just makes him a generally good bash buddy for a Hexblade), as does Battlemaster Fighter and any Paladin (thanks to Thunderous Smite). Bonus points for Protection Cleric/Fighter/Paladin with Shield Master, as it can use the shield to actually protect an adjacent Hexblade as well as prone a foe.

Hexblades want to be a Haste beneficiary, both for the extra attack and the AC, so any caster that can cast Haste, such as any Wizard, Sorcerer, or Bard, as well as the Eldritch Knight and Arcane Trickster, would be beneficial.

Hexblades are squishy, and enjoy healing. Of the Haste casters listed above, only the Bard and Favored Soul Sorcerer have reliable access to healing spells, but the Paladin can also heal, both through Lay On Hands and healing spells. Protection Clerics can also fill this niche.

Hexblades aren't particularly skillful. A Rogue (especially Scout Rogue), Bard (especially Lore Bard), Knowledge Cleric, or some combination thereof can fill a lot of skill gaps the Warlock can't. Of these, the Lore Bard is probably the best fit for other things, but also overlaps with Charisma focus, so there might also be redundant skill focus.

Without Improved Pact Weapon, Hexblades aren't great at range. Many classes can build into some form of ranged option, so I won't go into specifics. But, the option you choose should either provide flight assistance or ranged coverage options.

Now, rank this list by priority, and then score any theoretical option against this list based on whether they have or don't have it. For example: A Favored Soul has Haste, healing, and ranged damage options. A Lore Bard has Haste, healing, and ranged damage options (but not very good ones unless you burn secrets to be blasty), but also has good skill coverage and provides to-hit benefits through Bardic Courage (but not advantage generation), making them probably a better companion for a Hexblade. But, neither of them have advantage generation, which might be the biggest, most important thing, and if that's the case, they immediately become less important than, say, a Totem Barbarian.

[Chugger]

Going back to phb sorry - but wolf totem barb is killer to partner w/ any meleer - particularly two meleers. It's a very deadly combo (wolf tot barb gives the others advantage, and the wolf tot barb gets adv from doing reckless - one of the others can be a meleeing cleric or a healer of some sort, and you're golden).

[agnos]

Wolf Barb is super for granting advantage. Ancestral Barb is super because is basically gives the Hexblade resistance to the BBEG’s attacks. Shield Bash Bard is pretty strong. Sorcerers are great for Twin haste. Battlemaster is strong. Mastermind is decent.

Basically anyone who either grants you advantage or protects your hit point pool is a great ally for Hexblades.