Hexblade shield and longsword build

[Bannan_mantis]

I am looking to make a Hexbalde that can be a decent defender with a sword and shield instead of what a lot of other people do with great weapons. My question is what suggestions would you have for a build like this? official stuff only and I have already picked up war caster

[Kadesh]

Shield Master puts a lot of strain on strength: but if you pick up Expertise through Rogue 1 and Hex the target, you can help somewhat, bearing in mind that with JC's ruling over it only available after you take the attack action.

[Theodoxus]

I've thought about doing that, and what would make the best S&B warrior...

Couple things to determine up front - are you looking to be a meat shield, or do you want some bite? Are you looking for tricks (like Shield Master) or just a traditional bash and gash warrior? How effective do you want to be outside of combat? And finally, how much multi-classing are you willing to do?

To get all the goodies, my recommendation would be Vhuman with Shield Master, starting Fighter 1 for weapon and armor proficiencies, with at least 15 in Strength and Charisma (if Point buy) with a decent Con. If you're rolling, stat priority would Str -> Cha -> Con -> Dex -> Wis -> Int. Grab either the Defense fighting style (if you want more AC), Protection (if you're a team player AND have a teammate who will be rolling melee with you) or Dueling if you want to hit a little harder.

At 2nd level, go Hexblade. This lets you concentrate on Charisma from now on.

At 3rd level, this is where a lot of the questions above need to be answered. Options are Paladin, grabbing a couple levels for another fighting style (more AC, Protection, more damage, depending on what you took as fighter). More Hexblade if you're fine with the single fighting style and want to get to Extra Attack (via Invocation) as quickly as possible (as well as other bennies from Warlock).

Further on, I wouldn't really bother with anything beyond 5th level warlock, though depending on how generous your DM is, you might need a 6th level if you're planning on taking Fighter or Paladin to 5th and beyond for Extra Attack, as the Invocation won't stack, and RAW you can't swap out Invocations without gaining another level...

FWIW, in every game I've ever played, no DM (including myself) has ever been bothered to track whether your hands are "full" when it came to casting (and that includes AL, where you'd think such things would actually matter). Warcaster is great for the advantage on Conc checks vs damage, but if you already have prof in Con Saves (such as starting Fighter), it's redundant. Of course, if you know your DM is a stickler, then have a nut - but I think shield master is the superior feat for this build.

I'll also state here that I tried this build in AL. Worked pretty well - I did end up rebuilding him into a glaive hexblade at 4th level, just because I was saddled with three other melee types, and 1) the fighter level was cramping my spells, 2) I was fighting others for 5' of space against foes and 3) glaives are cool ;) Swapped SM for PAM and tore things up...

ETA: @Kadesh If you're human, you can also grab the Prodigy feat for expertise in Athletics - which might be better than another otherwise dead level (you're really getting nothing else from Rogue other than another skill (which the feat would give you) and since he's going longsword, the extra d6 from sneak wouldn't matter (outside of getting a sunblade - definitely possible, but certainly not guaranteed to the point of building around it).

[Millface]

I'm playing exactly this right now, just started Curse of Strahd.

First two levels of hexblade, in Scale Armor with the shield you're at 18 AC at level 1, which is great. Hexblade get's great spells for this, also a plus.

You can go Paladin for divine smite, +1 AC from fighting style, Aura, and support spells.

Or you can go Divine Soul sorcerer for more magic at the cost of divine smite. I'm doing Sorcerer, a sort of Ranged OR melee tank character depending on the situation. My party was short on heals, so that's what I went with. Paladin is probably more optimized for pure tank, though Sorc with Shield/Armor of Agathys/Mirror Image and stuff will have no issue being in the thick of things.

Levels go Warlock 1 and 2, Sorcerer 1 for two more 1st level slots, Warlock 3 for second level spells and Pact of Blade, Sorc 2 for sorcery points, Warlock to 5 then Sorc the rest. It can Eldritch smite, tank, bless, heal, and blast.

[RSP]

Interesting option: go “sword and board” but use a whip as your Pact weapon. The d4 compared to d8 isn’t a big deal as most of your damage comes fromHex/Hexblade’s Curse and Smites. The 10’ reach, however, can often allow for escaping some hits.

Certainly not a tank, but not a bad option as a damaging skirmisher.

[Pharaon]

Interesting option: go “sword and board” but use a whip as your Pact weapon. The d4 compared to d8 isn’t a big deal as most of your damage comes fromHex/Hexblade’s Curse and Smites. The 10’ reach, however, can often allow for escaping some hits.

Certainly not a tank, but not a bad option as a damaging skirmisher.

Shield and whip hexblade is my current character and I find it highly effective.

OP already has Warcaster, which I combo with Spell Sniper to make booming blade opportunity attacks on anyone moving out of my 10 ft reach.