Does it seem odd to anyone else that Warlocks have so many attack cantrips?

[Rebonack]

Considering that Eldritch Blast gets all the Invocation support and as a result is miles better than every other cantrip that gets set before them?

I suppose if you make a Warlock who doesn't pick up Agonizing Blast and focuses wholly on utility Invocations and your spell slots it isn't relevant, but I have the feeling that's the exception rather than the rule. A Warlock without Agonizing Blast is rather like a Dex Barbarian. It can work just fine, but you're ignoring some of the classes' most potent features to do it.

Would it break anything if all of the Warlock's cantrips had a pair of Invocations to bolster them, allowing for alternate lines of specialization? Obviously that would take a fair bit of work to hash out, but I suspect the result would be well worth it.

[Millstone85]

- Damage cantrips I think might be nice to have in addition to eldritch blast:
* When an enemy finds itself unable to move, create bonfire lets you put your concentration to fiery work while you blast. It is a shame that its apparent nerf (https://twitter.com/JeremyECrawford/status/937859941892628481) now seems to preclude repelling-blast-into-bonfire strategies.
* If you expect regenerative enemies, consider chill touch.
* A chainlock could give their familiar ranged attacks thanks to magic stone.
* While force is rarely resisted or ignored, any non-force cantrip would account for that possibility.

- Damage cantrips I think might be nice to have instead of eldritch blast: booming blade, green-flame blade, lightning lure, sword burst and thunderclap, on a bladelock, though that is ever the debate.

[MrStabby]

Easiest fix might be to allow the benefits of the eldritch blast invocations to apply to all cantrips. Eldritch blast is still probably out the front but there could be a nice set of attacks as backup for niche situations.

[Pex]

If the warlock is not a Bladelock and is next to an enemy, attacking with Eldritch Blast would be at disadvantage so it is helpful to have a back-up cantrip. The Bladelock would attack with his Eldritch Blade so doesn't need another attack Cantrip.

Contrary to perception, a Bladelock is permitted to have Agonizing Eldritch Blast as well as any other warlock for his range attack needs.

[Rebonack]

Easiest fix might be to allow the benefits of the eldritch blast invocations to apply to all cantrips. Eldritch blast is still probably out the front but there could be a nice set of attacks as backup for niche situations.

I had considered something like that, but I don't think it's really the best plan.

One of the points for Warlock that strikes me as really good design is just how many ways they can be assembled. They're the most modular class in the game, bar none. They're more or less 'build a caster' and that's a cool way to represent how varied Otherworldly Patrons are.

To that end, I feel like the better route would be something like cobbling together a pair of Invocations for each of their cantrip options. Obviously that would take more work, but the end result would be quite a bit more fulfilling. The generic damage upgrade to most Invocations would probably be something akin to 'This cantrip now deals bonus damage equal to your Warlock level.' That would keep things mostly on par with Eldritch Blast while missing out on hitting as hard (or at all) with Hex. The second utility Invocation would vary pretty widely depending on which Cantrip we're talking about, though we would want it to be more or less on par with the power offered by Repelling Blast.

So this would mean there are options beyond the Eldritch Blast Warlock. You could have Warlocks specializing in Lightning Lure or Bonefire or Chill Touch instead. And that would be pretty neat.


- Damage cantrips I think might be nice to have in addition to eldritch blast:
* When an enemy finds itself unable to move, create bonfire lets you put your concentration to fiery work while you blast. It is a shame that its apparent nerf (https://twitter.com/JeremyECrawford/status/937859941892628481) now seems to preclude repelling-blast-into-bonfire strategies.
* If you expect regenerative enemies, consider chill touch.
* A chainlock could give their familiar ranged attacks thanks to magic stone.
* While force is rarely resisted or ignored, any non-force cantrip would account for that possibility.

- Damage cantrips I think might be nice to have instead of eldritch blast: booming blade, green-flame blade, lightning lure, sword burst and thunderclap, on a bladelock, though that is ever the debate.

Do note: I'm not saying that the other damaging cantrip options are totally without application. Just that their applications are very very narrow. They're a fallback for pretty uncommon situations, barring edge cases like Green Flame Blade Celestial Tomelock. But I suspect that's more a case of Green-Flame/Booming Blade being really silly more so than anything else.

I'm thinking more in terms of the follow-up question. Why don't other cantrips get Invocation support? Probably the closest equivalents would be Misty Visions (technically just turning 1st level spell into a cantrip for all practical purposes) and pairing Friends with Mask of Many Faces for hilarious shenanigans.

[Danielqueue1]

Warlocks get so many attack cantrips because they will be relying on them more than any other caster (exception can be made for bladelocks). That being said, I love the Idea of other cantrips getting Eldritch invocations.

one invocation to up the damage, and maybe one to add special effects to it.
(made these up on the spot. they are not play tested

Chill Touch (already fulfills its situational purpose pretty well)
Create Bonfire "lingering flames" a creature who ends their turn in the flames is lit on fire and takes 1d6 fire damage at the end of their turn until a creature uses their action to put the fire out.

Frostbite
Infestation "Focused swarms" when the target is forced to move you can use your reaction to decide the direction of its movement.

Lightning Lure "Crackling Chain" Any creature between you and your target must also make the saving throw. taking the damage on a failure, but are not pulled.

Magic Stone not sure what to do with this one.

Poison Spray "potent fumes" a creature who fails its Saving Throw by 5 or more suffers from the poisoned condition until the end of its next turn.

Sword Burst "placeholder name" you may chose to exclude creatures of your choice from having to make the saving throw

Thunderclap "deafening boom" a creature who fails its Saving Throw by 5 or more suffers from the Deafened Condition until the end of its next turn.

Toll the Dead "for whom the bell tolls" a creature that takes damage from this spell has disadvantage on the saving throw from this spell until the end of your next turn.

True Strike "powerful insight." This spell now has a duration of 1 minute. a sleight of hand check allows you to hide the casting of the spell. the spell ends early if you successfully hit with an attack.


just some random ideas. probably way too OP or UP, but I like the idea of other cantrips getting invocations, so here are some ideas.

[Greywander]

To that end, I feel like the better route would be something like cobbling together a pair of Invocations for each of their cantrip options.
I did something like this, but it was as a feat and had options for cantrips that aren't available to warlocks. The idea was to give players an alternative to a 2 level dip into warlock for Agonizing Blast, but it went beyond just damage cantrips.

For example, I made Ray of Frost create difficult terrain in a 5 foot radius around the target, so not only does it slow them down, but now they, and anyone passing through that area, have to spend extra movement crossing difficult terrain. If you hit a flying enemy, it instead drops them 10 feet.

Another option allowed you to fly up to 10 feet immediately after using Shocking Grasp. This movement doesn't provoke an opportunity attack (in case you miss with Shocking Grasp, or there is more than one enemy surrounding you). It makes Shocking Grasp not only a good escape cantrip, but also gives you very limited flight as a cantrip. Pairs well with the warlock's infinite Levitate invocation for an awkward out-of-combat at-will flight.

Another option for Vicious Mockery made it so that when you give an enemy disadvantage on an attack, and they miss with that attack, you can make it hit another creature of your choice within range.

Another option for Control Flames, Gust, Mold Earth, and Shape Water allowed you to create two effects with one casting of the spell, and to affect a 10 foot cube instead of a 5 foot cube. It also gives you one of these cantrips for free.

And so on. It still needs some work, and there's more cantrips I need to cover, but as it is I've already got 10 different options covering 15 different cantrips.