Most functional warlock gish, did I screw my build?

[Aleister VII]

The warlock is my favorite class and I've made quite some warlocks to this point and I thought that my current warlock PC was pretty good but a friend of mine pointed that I probably messed up the build or at least ain't using it at his full potential, here's the deal:

V. Human, Hexblade Tomelock level 11, scores are 8 strength, 16 constitution, 14 Dexterity, 12 wisdom, 10 intelligence and 20 charisma, it also has the Warcaster feat, uses medium armor, shield (a +1 shield BTW) and long sword.

The idea is having a high AC, a reliable weapon for melee, EB is as usual present for ranged and ritual casting via tome's invocation to get as much versatility as I can since my party lacks a wizard and the other caster is a 6/5 rogue/sorcerer that is most of times doing sneak attack and casting shadow blade, we also have a war priest/fighter but he is build solely for destroy enemies at melee and seriously lack the utility that a cleric should have.

Anyways the point is that I tend to go into melee with armor of Agathys up and using booming blade instead of my normal attacks as default and So far I considered it pretty good but a friend of mine pointed out that I should've gone for pact of the blade instead of tome for thirsting blade and lifedrinker if I wanted to go in melee.

I'm not sure about the maths but I has been making up the lack of extra attack with booming blade however an extra attack let's me add my Cha mod two times and lifedrinker adds it again so with two attacks with my longsword I'll be doing 2d8+20, that +20 seems very tempting and as it's fixed (unless the target resist necrotic) is much more reliable than gamble with BB rider.
Furthermore I can forgo my shield and use a polearm take PAM and deal 2d10+20+1d4+10, that ups the not rolled damage to +30 and has reach... Add the darkness + devil sigh combo for free advantage then GWM to one of your attacks to add another +10 to get an insane +40 (!!!) Damage and I'm not even considering a hexblade's curse that adds your proficiency as damage and Hex that adds a 1d4 per hit... in comparison a full power EB does 4d10+20, in a good day EB can roll a lot of 10s and be better but if I'm unlucky a few 1s or 2s in the damage roll will leave me relying in my +20 damage (agonizing blast) and even if you roll roll the Max damage it'll be 40+20=60 while the previous formula will be 20(weapon)+4(PAM bonus attack)+30(CHA mod+ lifedrinker)+10 (GWM)=64, there's also there's fact that BB is a single attack roll while two attacks yield two and if I miss BB I'll not deal any damage that turn while with two attacks I may miss one but can try again with my second one and not waste my turn.

I can also optimize the use of BB with a Polearm + BB + Spell Sniper (Makes BB range 10ft) + Warcaster (cast a cantrip as a OA) + PAM (can make and OA when an enemy enter my reach) + sentinel (to further improve my OA and almost completely shut down my enemies) with this I can BB and stop anything that approach me and if they dare to move they take BB extra damage, bonus points if you throw GWM into the mix or you take a dip into fighter and somehow convince your DM to let you use the tunnel fighter fighting style from UA to get infinite OA and become officially broken O.O yet this combo need too feats for my tastes...

It's also worth mentioning that Bladelocks has Eldritch Smite, I'm not sure if it's worth burning one of my spell slots to do some Nova damage but Hexblade's curse increase my critical range and the darkness combo grants me free advantage so smiting on a critical will be devastating.
There's also improved pact weapon, a lot of people overlook it but I my current warlock just has a +1 shield so getting a magical weapon at the price of an incantation that I can swap later on looks very nice to me.

So is getting thirsting blade, lifedrinker and CHA based heavy/two handed/reach weapons better than using the blade cantrips, a shield, get ritual casting and pilfer three cantrips from any other class?

[solidork]

Yes, going Blade as you described will do more damage but you will give up some stuff. How much do you use your rituals? You'll also be giving up 2 Eldritch Invocations, if not more. Personally, I favor more utility over raw murderforce and am currently playing a character that reflects that with no regrets.

[MephitBlue]

If your goal is to have the best Warlock for melee, then yes, it would be better to go pact of the blade along with accompanying invocations. However, your party may need the versatility of a Tomelock that can do ritual casting over someone who is optimized for melee combat.

Have you thought about taking the Crossbow expert feat and using Eldritch Blast as your main attack? That would let you fight in melee range using EB and get the multiple EB ray attacks, which would likely be more damage than a single attack with a one handed weapon plus booming blade.

If you are having fun playing your character as it currently is, then I'd say don't worry if there was a more optimal path. Tomelocks bring a lot of out of combat versatility to any party.

[JeffreyGator]

So the key to optimization is make optimized parties more than optimized characters.

Sure as you pointed out you could build your melee higher as a bladelock, but with the tomelock you gain the versatility that your party needs.

With the two other casters modified for melee versus versatility you have made the best choices.

Warcaster and SCAG cantrips are a good second place to what you can get with melee on a bladelock.
D8+cha +2d8 and either 3d8 if they move or 2d8+cha to another enemy with 5'

Also without all the invocations spent on upping melee you have more for the eldritch blast goodness.

Hex up, you can do 3d10 + 3d6 + 15 at range for one invocation. For another invocation you could add 5 more damage to that together and all its friends within 5'.

As you point out With a feat PAM and two invocations (magic weapon, dual attack) you get 2d10+2d6 +12 + d4+d6+6 necro cha damage adds another 15 for another invocations.


Potentially as a tome lock you should be hitting more often as well since you have a familiar that can give your attacks advantage.

[Sinon]

I would say the same thing.

Could you do more damage with the blade pact? Yes.

But it sounds like you need the rituals.

I'll also point out that your cleric and (I assume) sorc/rogue are very damage focused; you don't have to be.

To that end, Booming Blade is more than just a way to make up for the damage you miss out on making only one attack: it is a way of controlling your opponent - forcing them to stay put or take damage.

I think your strategy of using it with a high AC and Armor of Agathys is going to be plenty effective.

[Talionis]

I will also agree. You look to be using the Hexblade for the armor and shield. Booming Blade is Okay for melee since you Eldritch Blast for your high damage attack. As has been said Crossbow Master feat allows you to EB into melee attack range without penalty. I would suggest you get the invocation that allows you to push away targets hit by EB. That adds control to your attacks, its especially nice to have with Crossbow Master Feat, since you can push opponents in melee range out of melee range.

Otherwise you do have the correct idea with Pact of the Tome. Its very useful in a party without a Wizard, especially if your DM is working with you and helping you to have access to enough rituals.

If you are playing your Warlock, like a melee character then you may want to change your build.... But it doesn't seem like that's what your party needs. I'd just add the Crossbow Master feat or just let your familiar give you advantage to offset any disadvantage on attack rolls.

[Grod_The_Giant]

I mean, Hexblade combined with the Scag cantrips is a pretty good melee fighter already. If you want to get even nastier, you can grab Banishing Smite. Going Blade Pact would net you a bit more damage, but cost you a heck of a lot of versatility.

[Aleister VII]

I see... looks like I've made the right decision with going tome instead of blade, the thing is that my friends and I usually compete to see who deals the most damage and their builds are crazily melee oriented x.x

And yes my rituals more often than not save my party's butt when we're not fighting, not to mention that I'm also the face and my friends hide behind me in social encounters.

And I didn't know that crossbow expert let me EB at close range O.O I'll definitely try that since I already have capped charisma and OK constitution, I'll however must wait a little for my next ASI x.x
Yet I was also considering taking a dip in fighter to get a fighting style (most likely defense for even more AC or dueling for a little extra damage) and action surge (Maybe I can BB an enemy then action surge and EB it with repelling blast to keep him away from me xD)

I think I'll play as the damage dealer in my next campaign and leave the ritual casting to the player of our barbarian who is interested in playing a wizard xD

[DarkKnightJin]

I agree with the rest that you don't need to change anything. The others are good at fighting things. That's okay. That's just one of the pillars of play. With rituals and a high Charisma, your Warlock has plenty presence on the other 2 pillars, which are just as needed.
For your next level, I would indeed strongly recommend looking into getting the Crossbow Expert feat. Combined with War Caster, you might be able to dump 3d10+15 into the target leaving your melee range. If the DM allows you to cast EB only targetting that enemy.
You might want to ask your DM that first, before you commit to anything.
You could always grab another feat, or boost Con or Dex with your next ASI.

[Citan]

The warlock is my favorite class and I've made quite some warlocks to this point and I thought that my current warlock PC was pretty good but a friend of mine pointed that I probably messed up the build or at least ain't using it at his full potential, here's the deal:

V. Human, Hexblade Tomelock level 11, scores are 8 strength, 16 constitution, 14 Dexterity, 12 wisdom, 10 intelligence and 20 charisma, it also has the Warcaster feat, uses medium armor, shield (a +1 shield BTW) and long sword.

The idea is having a high AC, a reliable weapon for melee, EB is as usual present for ranged and ritual casting via tome's invocation to get as much versatility as I can since my party lacks a wizard and the other caster is a 6/5 rogue/sorcerer that is most of times doing sneak attack and casting shadow blade, we also have a war priest/fighter but he is build solely for destroy enemies at melee and seriously lack the utility that a cleric should have.

Anyways the point is that I tend to go into melee with armor of Agathys up and using booming blade instead of my normal attacks as default and So far I considered it pretty good but a friend of mine pointed out that I should've gone for pact of the blade instead of tome for thirsting blade and lifedrinker if I wanted to go in melee.

I'm not sure about the maths but I has been making up the lack of extra attack with booming blade however an extra attack let's me add my Cha mod two times and lifedrinker adds it again so with two attacks with my longsword I'll be doing 2d8+20, that +20 seems very tempting and as it's fixed (unless the target resist necrotic) is much more reliable than gamble with BB rider.
Furthermore I can forgo my shield and use a polearm take PAM and deal 2d10+20+1d4+10, that ups the not rolled damage to +30 and has reach... Add the darkness + devil sigh combo for free advantage then GWM to one of your attacks to add another +10 to get an insane +40 (!!!) Damage and I'm not even considering a hexblade's curse that adds your proficiency as damage and Hex that adds a 1d4 per hit... in comparison a full power EB does 4d10+20, in a good day EB can roll a lot of 10s and be better but if I'm unlucky a few 1s or 2s in the damage roll will leave me relying in my +20 damage (agonizing blast) and even if you roll roll the Max damage it'll be 40+20=60 while the previous formula will be 20(weapon)+4(PAM bonus attack)+30(CHA mod+ lifedrinker)+10 (GWM)=64, there's also there's fact that BB is a single attack roll while two attacks yield two and if I miss BB I'll not deal any damage that turn while with two attacks I may miss one but can try again with my second one and not waste my turn.

I can also optimize the use of BB with a Polearm + BB + Spell Sniper (Makes BB range 10ft) + Warcaster (cast a cantrip as a OA) + PAM (can make and OA when an enemy enter my reach) + sentinel (to further improve my OA and almost completely shut down my enemies) with this I can BB and stop anything that approach me and if they dare to move they take BB extra damage, bonus points if you throw GWM into the mix or you take a dip into fighter and somehow convince your DM to let you use the tunnel fighter fighting style from UA to get infinite OA and become officially broken O.O yet this combo need too feats for my tastes...

It's also worth mentioning that Bladelocks has Eldritch Smite, I'm not sure if it's worth burning one of my spell slots to do some Nova damage but Hexblade's curse increase my critical range and the darkness combo grants me free advantage so smiting on a critical will be devastating.
There's also improved pact weapon, a lot of people overlook it but I my current warlock just has a +1 shield so getting a magical weapon at the price of an incantation that I can swap later on looks very nice to me.

So is getting thirsting blade, lifedrinker and CHA based heavy/two handed/reach weapons better than using the blade cantrips, a shield, get ritual casting and pilfer three cantrips from any other class?
Short answer: you didn't.
Long anser: you really, really didn't. XD

True answer: Blade Pact can indeed end up as *slightly* better damage than what you currently have, but at the price of sacrificing everything for that: having Hex up to pair with Extra Attack instead of Booming Blade, being dual-wielding too (extra attack for Hex and Hexblade to activate), and taking Lifedrinker.

Honestly? You *really* don't care.
You deal enough damage as is, the fact you instead picked up Tome Pact means not only that you can help the party, you can boost your own mobility (*cough* Phantom Steed *cough*) when needed.
You are also far more reliable when situations make melee nigh useless, since there were also Invocations choices you could spend on improving Eldricht Blast (tip: Repelling Blast at your level is a great deal when you'd like to Disengage from one enemy yet still deal damage: even at disadvantage, with 3 rays, you *will* hit at least once).

And when you really need to deal strong damage, personally, instead of using a slot on a smite, I'd rather try and make a Hold X stick: the party output will be much better while still diminishing the threat as surely as killing it at least for one round.
Another thing you could do is upcast Shadow Blade and simply count on expanded crit range: Booming Blade (2d8) + 5th level Shadow Blade (4d8) + weapon attack die (1d8), on crit, amounts to 12d8.
Largely worth enough to deal with most bad guys.

Honestly, your build *is* the optimal one imo, because you can output a good amount of sustained damage whatever situation your party face, and the fact you can't use slots on smite instead motivates you to use them on all Warlock's greatness.
The only true flaw of your build is that if you miss with Booming Blade, you suck hard that turn. Something that Extra Attack avoids. :)

If you *really* feel some regret about your choice (although imo you shouldn't) and are not interested further in spellcasting, answer is easy. You can mix and match any of those.
- Pick 3-6 levels of Devotion Paladin: Sacred Weapon will make you a beast in to-hit (so no problem of missing with Booming Blade anymore), you'll get unlimited smite, as well as interesting spells (Bless / Command / Compelled Duel / Wrathful Smite). Going further would net you Extra Attack and Aura of Protection, but imo it's too far.
Oooh. Sorry. Forgot about the STR. Well, it's a no-go then.

- Pick Observant (because it's a great feat, especially since you can learn Comprehend Languages, and now you meet requirement for ) and grab 2-3-6 levels of Tempest Cleric: proficiencies are a waste, but you can now maximize the damage of a Booming Blade, possibly with a topped Elemental Weapon (thunder) on that (provided DM allows it to affect extra dice from the weapon buff. I would but probably houserule).

- Pick three levels of Battlemaster: Action Surge and Precision Attack means when you need nova, you can apply it reliably.

[Talionis]

I would not go Fighter. Action Surge is nice and if you really like that then great, but you already have Medium armor and multiclassing into Fighter late won't increase your armor other than if you take Defensive. So the benefit of FIghter levels would really be just Action Surge.

I would be inclined to level Warlock as fast as you can to get the extra ASI's.

If you are looking to multiclass, then Rogue might interest you for Cunning Action, and possibly Assassin for auto-crits in surprise situations, which is more damage for you.

Also you might look at Sorcerer before Fighter since you can get some great damage spells that can be cast out of your Warlock spellslots for good damage and the Metamagic can be really fun for a Caster. In many ways Quicken is better than Action Surge.