What to do with this Hexblade character

[Protato]

A game I was in a while back, about 1/4th Elemental Evil and 3/4th homebrew stuff, had fallen through due to DM moving onto a different game. However, she said at some point, she might reboot the EE game but with a big twist. Basically, the party has failed. None other than Tharizdun himself has been awoken and only the efforts of a major NPC named Jason, a very powerful Wizard that's created entire cities, is holding Tharizdun at bay. He's been fighting Tharizdun for ten years but the center will surely not hold forever. There's only so much he can do on his own and he needs champions, and that's where we come in. Specifics have yet to be decided as I've only been told of this idea recently and its probably months off.

My character is a soldier that works for, and was trained by, Jason. I've got to decide more on what to do with him, and how to flesh him out when the game is closer to starting, but I've had the idea that he's loyal to his master to a fault and is a very capable warrior that uses magic primarily to augment his martial abilities. His stats are just below. Spells listed don't include Hexblade spells or spells gained via Feats.

VHuman Hexblade Bladelock 9, Battlemaster 5
Str: 15
Dex: 20
Con: 16
Int 10
Wis 14
Chr 20 (These numbers were rolled 4d6 drop lowest, reroll 1s)

Skills: Arcana, Athletics, Intimidation, Perception
Fighting Style: Dueling
Feats: Resilient Wis, Magic Initiate (Find Familiar, Booming Blade, Mage Hand)
Maneuvers: Riposte, Parry, Precise Attack
Invocations: Agonizing Blast, Eldritch Smite, Improved Pact Weapon, Relentless Hex
Cantrips: Minor Illusion, Eldritch Blast, Lightning Lure
L1: Hex, Armor of Agathys
L2: Misty Step, Shatter, Magic Weapon
L3: Fly, Hypnotic Pattern
L4: Dimension Door, Banishment
L5: Hold Monster
Items: Marthim Sword (1d10 one-handed slashing sword that ignores magical resistance, can be summoned at will via Hex Warrior), Shield, Studded Leather, Explorer's Pack

And with that, are there any suggestions for how to improve my build at all? What magic items should I see about finagling out of my DM (surely he didn't do nothing for ten years while his master was fighting the biggest threat ever known across the cosmos)? Should he go more Fighter, or more Hexblade? Should he MC into Bard for more spell slots and Expertise? Rogue Swashbuckler for crazy good initiative? Paladin for more slots and a Radiant smite, or is it a waste since he has a Force smite? Since he's got good stats, what of Feats? Martial Adept could be used to pick up another Maneuver and gain another Superiority Die, but is it worth it over something like Lucky? My plan is to go Hexblade 12/Shadow Sorcerer 3 and pick Soulcage or Truesight as my L6 Arcanum along with Lifedrinker and a feat, and then pick Hightened and Twinned Spells as my Metamagic along with some utility spells from Sorcerer.

[Malifice]

Don't like that level breakdown.

Hexblade 11/ BM 3 works much better. 3 slots/ rest.

Or even 12/2 for lifedrinker.

[th3g0dc0mp13x]

My character is a soldier that works for, and was trained by, Jason. I've got to decide more on what to do with him, and how to flesh him out when the game is closer to starting, but I've had the idea that he's loyal to his master to a fault and is a very capable warrior that uses magic primarily to augment his martial abilities. His stats are just below. Spells listed don't include Hexblade spells or spells gained via Feats.

VHuman Hexblade Bladelock 9, Battlemaster 5
Str: 15
Dex: 20
Con: 16
Int 10
Wis 14
Chr 20 (These numbers were rolled 4d6 drop lowest, reroll 1s)

Skills: Arcana, Athletics, Intimidation, Perception
Fighting Style: Dueling
Feats: Resilient Wis, Magic Initiate (Find Familiar, Booming Blade, Mage Hand)
Maneuvers: Riposte, Parry, Precise Attack
Invocations: Agonizing Blast, Eldritch Smite, Improved Pact Weapon, Relentless Hex
Cantrips: Minor Illusion, Eldritch Blast, Lightning Lure
L1: Hex, Armor of Agathys
L2: Misty Step, Shatter, Magic Weapon
L3: Fly, Hypnotic Pattern
L4: Dimension Door, Banishment
L5: Hold Monster
Items: Marthim Sword (1d10 one-handed slashing sword that ignores magical resistance, can be summoned at will via Hex Warrior), Shield, Studded Leather, Explorer's Pack

And with that, are there any suggestions for how to improve my build at all? What magic items should I see about finagling out of my DM
Looks like your going for a level fourteen build right?

Things that pop out to me

You don't have a reason to go fighter five unless you plan to take it all the way to 11 for a third attack. I would go fighter 2/hexblade 12 This gets you Action surge, second wind, armor proficiency and your fighting style. Plus you get the lifedrinker invocation.
You have three ASI's two of which went to stats and one of which went to an extra feat. Magic initiate is not the feat I would pick for this character, If you really want a familiar grab ritual caster and have some more utility. Booming blade can be grabbed with your spare cantrip.
Strength really doesn't do anything for your build and it's a rare saving throw, I would throw that onto wisdom so that you can get a 16 when you grab resilient (wisdom)



If your coming into the game at fourteen see if you can grab a +1/2 longsword that way you can drop Improved pact weapon.
Relentless Hex is cool but has a lot of competition for a bonus action.
If you choose hexblade 12 you have 6 invocations. Thirsting Blade, Lifedrinker, Eldritch smite, and three others of your choice or flavor are what I would recommend.
Magic weapon will probably be useless to you, It's competing for concentration and you'll probably have a +2 weapon (hopefully)
One thing to keep in mind is that you don't know your hexblade spells automatically if you want anything off that list you'll have to make a choice.


Forgot Magic Items, Any of the following would probably be really nice to have. (I avoided legendary items since those have basically zero chance of being said yes to.)

Amulet of Health, HP is always nice and keeping concentration.
Ring of spell storing, Endless uses, Also can allow you an extra spell per short rest if you didn't use it the rest before. (or have your wizard buddy cast 5 shields into it for you.)
Rod of the Pact keeper (not even for the +1 just the extra spell slot is nice on a warlock.)
Tome of leadership (your dm probably won't but why not ask anyway.)


That's all I can think of for now.

[kardar233]

If you’re going 5 levels into Fighter (or any class that gets Extra Attack) I’d honestly consider swapping Blade Pact for Tome, as you can grab the cantrips you’re getting with Magic Initiate from the Tome and if you want Find Familiar you can get it with an invocation slot, which is a lot less expensive than a feat/ASI.

I would definitely consider dipping into a class with regular-style casting; getting a group of low-level slots to cast Shield and Absorb Elements from will really increase your survivability. You don’t even need to go Sorc or Wiz; you can grab those spells from the Hexblade and Warlock lists and use them with your Cleric or Bard slots or whatever.

I’d look into trying to grab Stealth if you’re committed to that high Dex, as your score will be really good so you can play a combative scouting role. If you’re not going to get Stealth, plate armour will get you one more point of AC than studded leather and 20 Dex will. I think that if you’re not stealthy, the jump from AC 19 to AC 20 is significant.

It might be a departure from your character concept, but if you’re going to get 20 Dex anyway, I would consider changing from Hexblade; Hex Warrior’s Cha-SAD ability isn’t necessary in that case, and while the hex is quite nice, if you’re not going deep enough into Hexblade to get Armour of Hexes or the bonkers Master of Hexes synergy, you might as well go Fiend to take advantage of Dark One’s Own Luck’s lifesaving save boost as well as the amazing temporary hit points from every kill. Plus, Fireball is a great spell to have.

I’d think about taking another feat or two if you can spare the ASIs. As a Duelist, Shield Master is really nice for you and it synergizes well with Hex (they resist the shove with a check), giving you something to do with your bonus action when you’re not swapping Hex or chasing with Relentless. Plus, it boosts your decent Dex save and gives Evasion. You also might take a look at Sentinel, to synergize and support your team a little more, especially if you’re Fiend and thus are kinda ludicrously tough.

I would strongly recommend War Caster. Keeping Concentration on Hex (or whatever else) is really important and even with Con save proficiency you’ll likely lose it at the worst time. On top of that, using Booming Blade as an opportunity attack is incredibly powerful, especially at your tier. Dealing 6d8+weapon damage is very powerful.

[Protato]

Thank you for all the responses, I think I've got a bit better idea on what to do now, and this reply is to ask about a revised build made with the help of everyone that replied. I'll also be explaining a bit about what I DO know I want from this character.

My character's name is Levi and I've atually planned him out as far back as Hexblade was in UA, a bit before Xanathar's was out. I basically imagine Levi as beng raised or trained by some shadowy group that imbued him with magical powers and gave him a weapon called the Marthim Sword so as to carry out the group's will as some sort of enforcer. I thought of him as some sort of Dark Knight sans armor.

For mechanical stuff related to the concept, Find Familar was to have a Shadow Hound (reflavored, slightly mechanically different as needed Imp I imagine) like the UA version did because I thought it would be both interesting and helpful. Marthim deals 1d10 to keep it competitive with EB. Battlemaster reinforces the idea that my character is a skilled melee warrior and gives some useful abilities as reactions, and Precision Attack helps me to hit if I use Action Surge to nova. I got Dex mostly for armor but I realize I forgot to add a VHuman skill, only background and class skills, so I'll probably grab Stealth. I might swap Wis and Str scores, as well, as Str is only really used for Athletics on him. Since he has Hold Monster I might replace Magic Weapon with Hold Person, could be a go-to option to cast Holds and I'd have an option for weaker enemies and for stronger ones as well.

For progression, I'm thinking about still going Fighter 4 for the Feat (might take War Caster or Shield Master at L12 Hexblade) but I'd be L10 Hexblade Bladelock. Bladelock grants me Thirsting Blade and Lifedrinker comes only two levels later, and therefore I'd have two attacks plus some bonus damage without cutting into my progression by a level. I'd have Agonizing Blast to keep my ranged competitive with melee along with Eldritch Smite, so I have two more options to play with. If I don't get War Caster I'll keep Improved Pact Weapon. That would leave me with one wild card, possibly Devil's Sight, but I might swap it or just not take it if I go Shadow Sorcerer. Incidentally, Shadow Sorcerer or Sword Bard, which would be a better option? Once I hit L12 Hexblade and L4 Battlemaster I'd only have four more levels to play with if we go to L20 (which we very well might). Heighten Spell and Twin Spell could be useful for casting Hold spells, potentially shutting down entire fights at a time, but Flourishes might be useful as well. Both are SAD and both would fit the character concept too.

Finally, I'm going to post an image of my character, art is by @gurobyte on Twitter. I'd comissioned this shortly after I came up with the character. He's very edgy, yes, but that's sort of the point, I thought that would be a fun kind of character to play at some point.
https://78.media.tumblr.com/e2623dbfb33334156ff87f97da90b73c/tumblr_inline_oy5p3jOQ4e1tzu4pl_1280.jpg