Dipping Warlock with a Lore Bard?

[imany]

We just hit level 7. I want to dip into another class with my level 6 Lore Bard. My party consists of three frontliners (monk, gish, barbarian) and a cleric. Damage is covered pretty well and between my bard and the cleric we also have a lot of utility and emergency healing. However, I don't think we have a lot of AOE. (I did not take Fireball with my level 6 magical secrets due to our campaign dealing with a lot of fire-immune creatures atm.)

My lore bard fights by standing far away and handling battlefield control. RP-wise, this character is a neutral good but rather unfriendly Scourge Aasimar spy for the crown who is very 'end justifies the means', and tends to be the sort who kills with a borrowed hand and without getting dirty. I have the Actor feat and pretty decent stats.

I tentatively want to take a warlock dip for 1 or 2 levels. I really like the flavor of making a pact and think it's the sort of thing my character would do. What I really want to do is pick up some extra spy-friendly stuff (Eyes of the Rune Keeper or Mask of Many Faces, that sort of thing). However, I'm worried about delaying spell progression and ASI. We intend to go to 20.

I'm looking for some advice on:

1) Whether this is a good idea in terms of optimization. Is it worth dipping 2 levels for the invocations for what I want to do, or is there a better way for me to get more spy stuff? Will I miss those high level spell slots late game? I think I'm the only counterspeller and based on where the story is going I think we're going to start dealing with casters soonish.

2) Who should I pact with if it's worth doing?

3) Is Hex that great? It seems to be the recommended spell to take, but I usually already have a concentration spell going in fights due to being focused on battlefield control. I'm sure I'll take EB with this dip but I don't know how much I'll actually use it.

Under consideration for pacting:

- The Celestial: flavor-wise, I think this one fits the most in terms of my PC's race. Emergency bonus heal seems pretty good for emergencies but is probably redundant. My PC doesn't currently have Revivify but does have Healing Word and Aasimar daily heal already.
- Great Old One: Awakened Mind seems pretty useful but if I get +2 extra first level spells, I'll probably take Comprehend Languages anyway.
- Hexblade: this PC doesn't really use weapons and doesn't actually attack much other than by trying to trigger AOO with Dissonant Whispers... but medium armor seems nice to have? I don't have War Caster yet so maybe the extra AC is worthwhile?

[Languid_Duck]

1) The 2 level Warlock dip is classic for Bards for a reason. It shores up the Bard's primary disadvantage in combat by offering Eldritch/Agonizing Blast and has a lot of mechanical synergy. Mask of Many Faces is perfect for the style you seem to be going for. Even a 2 level dip will pay off well.

2) Celestial is the easiest storywise, and mechanically the second strongest. The bonus healing isn't a spell, so it saves you spell slots and doesn't conflict with casting a spell with your action. Hexblade is the best for raw combat, thanks to armor + shields + the curse (though you can always get the AC through Moderately Armored). It works just as well if you forgo the melee aspects. GOO is a bit underwhelming.

3) Hex is cool for raw damage, especially as you get more Eldritch Blast beams. Could do a lot worse for the low cost of a 1st level slot.

[GoodmanDL]

He has value for raw single-target damage, but as a Bard, damage really isn't your job. Particularly as a use for you concentration slot. I'd advise toward non-concentration spells that benefit from upcasting.

[RSP]

I love the Lore Bard, but the capstone is awful, making level 20 pretty much useless, so I wouldn’t worry too much about the dip. In my opinion, 2 invocations some spells and short rest recharging 1st level slots is better than Bard 19 as well. Bard 18 still gets you Wish.

Hex is also really useful out of combat: Hex their Wis prior to your Actor shananagins, or any type of deception.

With what you’ve stated, I’d pick Pact based on RP, so Celestial if that’s what works - the extra healing won’t hurt and probably will be as helpful as anything else to you. .

[imany]

Thanks guys, these answers were helpful!


He has value for raw single-target damage, but as a Bard, damage really isn't your job. Particularly as a use for you concentration slot. I'd advise toward non-concentration spells that benefit from upcasting.

Have any suggestions along those lines? There don't seem to be a lot of upcast-able first level spells that would be better to have in my arsenal than some of the utility spells I think I'd rather have for my character concept. Hex being useful for some out-of-combat stuff makes it seem like it might be worth picking up esp since I'll be able to recharge first level spells with short rests.