CoS Hexblade from Glaive to Crossbow

[Master O'Laughs]

------ TLDR: If possible, should I switch our polearm master and great weapon master for crossbow expert and sharpshooter ------

So in my Curse of Strahd campaign I play in, we are currently level 4. As a Vuman, I chose Polearm master at level 1 and GWM at level 4 (rolled stats started with 18 Charisma).

When we started we were a Paladin, Warlock (me), Gunslinger, and 2 druids (land and moon). I figured I was 1 of 2 front liners most of the time (the moon druid has slowly realized what he should be doing in combat) and I would be able to position myself to use darkness to gain advantage on my attacks. Well... I have gotten to use it twice and both times it was not advantageous to the party. Now the land druid recently switched to a light cleric because he was feeling very ineffective (he wanted to go with a water theme and... yeah it struggled). As he is a tortle he has 19 AC. I on the other hand have a measly 16 AC (the 2nd lowest after moon druid).

Since there are now 4 front line characters, would I be better off switching (with DM approval) to crossbow expert and sharpshooter? It would help my defense, offense, and allow me to more easily use darkness without screwing over the party?

What do I lose by switching besides reaction attacks when people enter my reach?


Lastly, after lvl 5 and thirsting blade would 2 levels of fighter be worth it for action surge and archery fighting style or stick with warlock to have the reaction 50% miss chance ability?

[Master O'Laughs]

I have been thinking about it and would I be better served ditching the weapons all together?

The light cleric will have some blasting covered, but there is no real debuffing going on.

I could just switch to an eldritch blast build and while DPR may drop, I could provide more flexibility (even though I like doing damage).

Another question on top of that would be whether to switch to pact of the tome or pact of the chain? Also, my current invocations are devil's sight and improved pact weapon, improved pact weapon would be come agonizing blast for sure, but should I switch out devil's sight for utility (mask of many faces), control (repelling blast, grasp of hadar or lance of lethargy),or keep it?

Also, all this is possible because he is letting us respect our characters until level 5 (which is fast approaching).

[Karsalem]

I hate to point this out but Hexblade warlocks cannot use two handed weapons.


At 1st level, you acquire the training necessary to effectively arm yourself for battle. You gain proficiency with medium armor, shields, and martial weapons.
The influence of your patron also allows you to mystically channel your will through a particular weapon. Whenever you finish a long rest, you can touch one weapon that you are proficient with and that lacks the two-handed property. When you attack with that weapon, you can use your Charisma modifier, instead of Strength or Dexterity, for the attack and damage rolls.
This benefit lasts until you finish a long rest. If you later gain the Pact of the Blade feature, this benefit extends to every pact weapon you conjure with that feature, no matter the weapon’s type.


Glaive 20gp 1d10 slashing 6lb. Heavy, reach, two-handed
Crossbow, heavy 50gp 1d10 piercing 18lb. Ammunition (range 100/400), heavy, loading, two-handed
Crossbow, light 25gp 1d8 piercing 5lb. Ammunition (range 80/320), loading, two-handed


Yeah, I would probably switch to the eldritch blast-darkness-devils-sight-perma-advantage-cheese.

The problem with melee and darkness is that you obscure the target for the rest of your party who can't see though magical darkness even with darkvision.

[Eragon123]

At 1st level, you acquire the training necessary to effectively arm yourself for battle. You gain proficiency with medium armor, shields, and martial weapons.
The influence of your patron also allows you to mystically channel your will through a particular weapon. Whenever you finish a long rest, you can touch one weapon that you are proficient with and that lacks the two-handed property. When you attack with that weapon, you can use your Charisma modifier, instead of Strength or Dexterity, for the attack and damage rolls.
This benefit lasts until you finish a long rest. If you later gain the Pact of the Blade feature, this benefit extends to every pact weapon you conjure with that feature, no matter the weapon’s type.




Unless of course they go Pact of the Blade Hexblade.

[Contrast]

I hate to point this out but Hexblade warlocks cannot use two handed weapons.

Unless he's pact of the blade, (which he does appear to be) who can use two handed weapons if its their pact weapon :smallbiggrin:

Edit - darn shadowmonks /edit

But yeah I've always thought the darkness thing was way overblown on the internet in terms of how useful it actually is. That said, as a human, it does give you (better) darkvision so still worth considering even if you're not trying to use Darkness a lot. Hexblades can still be good but if you're planning on giving up weapons entirely and going for eldritch blast you aren't really making much use of being a hexblade.

[Twigwit]

I hate to point this out but Hexblade warlocks cannot use two handed weapons.

They can if they take Pact of the Blade at 3rd Level, as their Pact Weapon is exempt from those restrictions.

As for rebuilding your character, I highly advise keeping Devil's Sight. Besides that it doesn't seem like your party is deficient in any one area, do as you like.

[Master O'Laughs]

Yeah I am currently a pact of blade hexblade and had taken improved pact weapon as an invocation.

I am considering the switch to a traditional eldritch blast warlock since most if not all (the fighter: gunslinger is planning on using a shotgun on the front lines) will be in melee. At that point, darkness seems to be more of a burden and difficulty to place well (the majority of fights have been indoors).

Eventually shadow of moil would solve this problem but it feel redundant to have so many people upfront in the midst of battle. At first I thought of switching to a hand crossbow but I realized it may be better to go with pact of chain or tome instead and add more versatility to the group.

I still like the damage hexblade would give me (also medium armor) and the specter at lvl 6 seems cool. New questions I have though if I switch to ranged caster would be:

Invocations: Agonizing blast & (Repelling blast, lance of lethargy, mask of many faces, book of secrets [if tome] [pick 3 since almost lvl 5])
cantrips: eldritch blast, booming blade (if caught in melee), minor illusion or friends (only if mask of many faces chosen) (more if pact of tome)
lvl 1: Hex, Shield, Hellish Rebuke (pick 2 or 3)
lvl 2: Misty Step, Mirror Image, Shatter, Hold Person, Invisibility (pick 2 or 3)
lvl 3: Blink, Counterspell, Hunger of Hadar, Fly, Summon Lesser Demon, Thunder Step (pick 1 or 2)
Feats: Warcaster and either Spell-sniper (avoid cover penalties), mobile (to pair with booming blade), Leadership or Alert

Any input would be greatly appreciated. I want to contribute as much as possible to the party.

We are in the town with the bizarre baron who wants to have festivals every other day. We just rescued the daughter of the vishtani guy and are about to have a party with them.

[Master O'Laughs]

One more thing! If chain, is imp being the most versatile familair hinge on whether your DM allows the shared Magic Resistance or not? I know J.C. said it does not apply but some DMs may still allow it at table. Assuming both positions, which would be the best familiar?