Celestial Warlock

[carrdrivesyou]

I got invited to my friend's game and was gonna make a celestial warlock. My idea is to be a bit of a magical dabbler. I went with the celestial patron to gab some divine and healing magic, I took magic initiate (V. human feat at 1st) with disguise self, prestidigitation, and mending. And I was thinking of going pact of the tome to add even more versatility (book of ancient secrets to follow). Am I spreading myself too thin here, do I need to focus a bit more, or am I justified in taking so many cantrips and such?

Additionally, should I go with a different pact boon to make the character more well rounded? Party is mostly melee, but also has a cleric and a druid.

[RSP]

I got invited to my friend's game and was gonna make a celestial warlock. My idea is to be a bit of a magical dabbler. I went with the celestial patron to gab some divine and healing magic, I took magic initiate (V. human feat at 1st) with disguise self, prestidigitation, and mending. And I was thinking of going pact of the tome to add even more versatility (book of ancient secrets to follow). Am I spreading myself too thin here, do I need to focus a bit more, or am I justified in taking so many cantrips and such?

Additionally, should I go with a different pact boon to make the character more well rounded? Party is mostly melee, but also has a cleric and a druid.

Don’t take Disguise Self as at level 2 you can get it at will with an Invocation. It would be a waste of a Feat to take it for 1x/day casting when you can get it with unlimited castings/day.

[Waazraath]

I don't think you're stretching yourself too thin. With what you describe, you'll have plenty to do out of combat, and the only question is what you'll do during combat (healing aside). But for that, you have all your regular spell choices, and and all invocations. The basic (but good) Eldritch Blast, and accompanying invocations (agonizing blast, and optionally the BFC versions that push, pull or slow targets), will make you more than relevant for combat. With this party composition, I wouldn't take too many divine or healing spell choices; you only know a few, and with a Cleric and a Druid in the party...

Possible alternative for variant human: one of the Tiefling variants from Mordenkainen's. That should also give you more spells (cantrip, and a few also give disguise self 1/day, as well as one other spell), and in addition you'll get better stat attributes and a few extra racial features.

[carrdrivesyou]

I don't think you're stretching yourself too thin. With what you describe, you'll have plenty to do out of combat, and the only question is what you'll do during combat (healing aside). But for that, you have all your regular spell choices, and and all invocations. The basic (but good) Eldritch Blast, and accompanying invocations (agonizing blast, and optionally the BFC versions that push, pull or slow targets), will make you more than relevant for combat. With this party composition, I wouldn't take too many divine or healing spell choices; you only know a few, and with a Cleric and a Druid in the party...

Possible alternative for variant human: one of the Tiefling variants from Mordenkainen's. That should also give you more spells (cantrip, and a few also give disguise self 1/day, as well as one other spell), and in addition you'll get better stat attributes and a few extra racial features.

Sadly, only PHB races were allowed. But that thought had crossed my mind! Glad to see I wasn't the only one thinking it lol.

It's meant to be a low level campaign, probably ending around 6-8 depending on how we go about things. So that limits me to very few invocations; so I figured i'd use those mostly for combat; i.e. blast upgrades.

[Waazraath]

Sadly, only PHB races were allowed. But that thought had crossed my mind! Glad to see I wasn't the only one thinking it lol.

It's meant to be a low level campaign, probably ending around 6-8 depending on how we go about things. So that limits me to very few invocations; so I figured i'd use those mostly for combat; i.e. blast upgrades.

In that case, it seem like a balanced build to me. gl hf!

[Keravath]

You might want to consider find familiar rather than disguise self unless you have a reason to want to be disguised for an hour once/day. The familiar generally has a lot of utility and owls are great for performing the help action in game to give one of your team mates or yourself advantage to hit on an important attack (never mind all the potential for scouting).

In addition, the main invocation you'd be looking at is agonizing blast. Repelling blast can be interesting for some mild crowd control but isn't essential. You will probably find devils sight useful as a variant human to give you some ability to see in the dark unless your party will be carrying light sources. You also need the Tome of Ancient Secrets invocation to make the most of being a Tomelock so you will be squeezed for choices.

However, if disguise self is an important aspect to your character I would still tend toward the at-will invocation rather than taking the spell as part of a feat.

[Trampaige]

I think it's a complete waste. Prestidigitation is already a warlock spell and if you go tomelock, you learn 3 cantrips at lvl3 and one more at lvl4 for a total of 6. lvl3 really isn't a long time to wait, unless your DM really, really drags it out.

Prestidigitation, eldritch blast, minor illusion, guidance, mending, maybe mage hand? And when you become a tomelock, one of your obligatory free rituals is find familiar, which another poster suggested for magic initiate.

You'd be better off with a different feat or race. Devil's sight is a lot less important if you go half-elf, for example.

Tome is precisely what you need because there's no one to cast arcane rituals or provide a familiar. Given the cleric and druid, see if you can work with them and the DM to have them teach you their ritual spells. Wizards can cast any ritual they have in their book, but clerics and druids have to memorize them, so it's entirely possible you'll need a divine ritual that they don't have prepared. If you can provide all of the arcane ones, as well as allowing your priests to prepare extra spells, it's pretty solid.

[Man_Over_Game]

I think it's a complete waste. Prestidigitation is already a warlock spell and if you go tomelock, you learn 3 cantrips at lvl3 and one more at lvl4 for a total of 6. lvl3 really isn't a long time to wait, unless your DM really, really drags it out.

Prestidigitation, eldritch blast, minor illusion, guidance, mending, maybe mage hand? And when you become a tomelock, one of your obligatory free rituals is find familiar, which another poster suggested for magic initiate.

You'd be better off with a different feat or race. Devil's sight is a lot less important if you go half-elf, for example.

Tome is precisely what you need because there's no one to cast arcane rituals or provide a familiar. Given the cleric and druid, see if you can work with them and the DM to have them teach you their ritual spells. Wizards can cast any ritual they have in their book, but clerics and druids have to memorize them, so it's entirely possible you'll need a divine ritual that they don't have prepared. If you can provide all of the arcane ones, as well as allowing your priests to prepare extra spells, it's pretty solid.

Agreed with most of what Trampaige said here.

You can go VHuman, but don't do it to get Magic Initiate. Even if it's to get something like Spell Sniper, that'd be a better use than Magic Initiate on a Tome Warlock.

Ideally, you'd want to grab the Invocation that lets you cast rituals, so that between having the most amount of cantrips, every available ritual, and Short Rest spellcasting, you'll have a solution for anything.

[TheFryingPen]

Magic Initiate is a bit of a waste on a warlock when you're planning to go tome and already have 2 other casters in the group.


You can go VHuman, but don't do it to get Magic Initiate. Even if it's to get something like Spell Sniper, that'd be a better use than Magic Initiate on a Tome Warlock.

Spell Sniper's usefulness is dependent on terrain, from how far away your DM lets you initiate a fight and how often cover (especially that granted by other combatants) is used. It ranges from "I don't know why I even got this... " (90% of fights in close quarters and creatures never provide cover) to "Really good to have!" (sniping foes down to 0 before they close in and preventing hitting your friends in skirmishes due to applied cover and hitting cover rules).

All I can say about celestial WL: just be a warlock with a few little heals in a pinch (Healing light is amazing to get unconscious people up). Other than that, try to get a lot out of your spell slots (mid combat cure wounds rarely ever is a good idea, better only use that to replenish someone's HP when you're about to short rest and still have a slot left).

[Chronos]

It's tough to really screw up a warlock, since if nothing else, you've got Eldritch Blast and probably an invocation or three to boost it. But yeah, you can get a lot more use out of a feat than Magic Initiate.

[LudicSavant]

Here's a single class warlock build folks seem to like. Very much a jack of all trades sort.


The party is Sorcerer, Paladin, Fighter, Warlock. As warlock, you can:
* be a primary healer via celestial patron
* be a melee damage via hexblade
* be a ritual caster via Tome
* be a diplomat, spy, impersonator, or thief
* serve as secondary or primary controller (eldritch blast invocations and utility spells)
* be the magic detector, or other weird things a warlock does best
* be the best archer ever

And most of those roles aren't exclusive.
Just to emphasize your point further...

I see your most, and raise you all! :smallsmile:

Celestial Generalist
https://i.postimg.cc/5211V7NS/radiant-cleric-of-pelor-by-grandanvil.jpg
VHuman Celestial Tomelock 12
20 Cha / 16 Dex / 16 Con
Moderately Armored (+1 Dex) / +4 Cha (ASIs) / War Caster

Cantrips: Booming Blade, Green-Flame Blade, Eldritch Blast, Mage Hand, Shillelagh, Shape Water (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?481560-Creative-Cantrips-Shape-Water), Guidance, Light, Sacred Flame (Yes, they know 9 Cantrips; 4 base, 2 Celestial, 3 Tome).

Spells: Cure Wounds, Greater Restoration, Revivify, Hellish Rebuke, Synaptic Static, Thunder Step, Hypnotic Pattern, Counterspell, Armor of Agathys, Hex, Misty Step, Mass Suggestion

Invocations: Agonizing Blast, Repelling Blast, Book of Ancient Secrets, Eldritch Sight, Mask of Many Faces, Maddening Hex


Let's go down the checklist!

HEALER? You've got Healing Light (which is like 13 Healing Words a day, or a lesser number of bonus action burst heals), the various status-removal spells, and Revivify. That's pretty much all the important bases. You also can take advantage of your short-rest recharge healing to make the party's breaks more efficient.

DIPLOMAT/SPY/IMPERSONATOR? You have 20 Charisma, the proper proficiencies, Guidance, and Disguise Self at-will (which doesn't even use your Concentration, so you're totally using it in dungeon situations too to surprise or confuse people). Oh, and Mass Suggestion.

THIEF? You can teleport, impersonate easily, have 16 Dex + proficiency in the proper skills, and are the magic detector (I find this comes up a lot when doing second story work). There are also some fun thievery tricks you can do with Shape Water and Mage Hand.

MAGIC DETECTOR? Yep, you've got Eldritch Sight.

RITUAL CASTER? Yep, you've got access to every class's rituals from Book of Ancient Secrets.

ARCHER? You've got a 24-hour Hex and an Eldritch Blast that does 3d10+3d6+15, plus a 30 foot knockback (with no size limit, unlike most knockbacks), and Maddening Hex for a guaranteed-hit 5 damage AoE on top of that. You can just dish out that 47 damage all day. And have fun playing pinball (knock enemy into another enemy, then use the Maddening Hex AoE).

MELEE? You have the AC of a dex fighter, a bonus action heal better than Second Wind, Armor of Agathys, Shillelagh, and Green-Flame Blade that gets buffed by Radiant Soul and your 24-hour Hex. Oh, and War Caster, so if they try to move past you, they get a Booming Blade OA for 6d8+5 (or perhaps something spending an actual spell slot). You also get 16 temp hp every short rest from Celestial Resilience (and your teammates get some too). And if somehow they get through all of that and you need to get out of dodge, you can use Thunder Step to damage them, get out, and rescue a teammate while you're at it!

Someone attacking you in melee could take 25 damage per melee hit from AoA, then take 6d10+5 (38) from Hellish Rebuke, then get whacked by Green-Flame Blade for 3d8+1d6+10 (27) and another 3d8+5 (18.5) to the person standing next to them. Oh, and you have a familiar, so you can make that attack with Advantage.

CONTROLLER? You've got Synaptic Static, Hypnotic Pattern, Mass Suggestion, and 30 foot knockback on your Eldritch Blast. Oh, and moving past you in melee provokes nasty War Caster OAs.

[carrdrivesyou]

Here's a single class warlock build folks seem to like. Very much a jack of all trades sort.

Holy hell... literally! I'm using the crap out of this! Thanks man!

[LudicSavant]

Holy hell... literally! I'm using the crap out of this! Thanks man!

NP :redcloak:

[Ebon]

Solid core, just want to offer a few modifications:

First, Sword Coast Adventure's Guide Cantrips (SCAG) aren't going to mix with the Celestial (from Xanathar's) in an Adventure's League Game. They come from two different supplements, and can't be combined in a Player's Handbook +1 environment.

However, if you get DM approval, it is a very strong combo because it adds the Celestial Charisma bonus to the Green Flame Blade damage. You can argue that because it adds to only one hit, it's not that OP. Also, it helps if you take it as part of your Pact of the Tome Cantrips, which say you can take any cantrips. Be sure to take Shillelagh if so.

If not, Shocking Grasp is a perfectly suitable substitute. It doesn't do as much damage, but prevents the opponent's reaction, and works off Charisma. Primal Savagery provides more damage, but the reaction effect and advantage versus metal armored opponents of Shocking Grasp is worth it.

Second, the Hex spell isn't on the list of spells . . . which list too many. Take Hex.

Third, the Eldritch Sight invocation is redundant on a character that can Detect Magic as a ritual. The invocation reads that it doesn't require material components or a spell slot. Detect Magic doesn't have any material components, and if cast as a ritual, doesn't take a spell slot. So, take Detect Magic as one of your free rituals from Book of Ancient Secrets. Find Familiar is your other ritual.

You might also try learning the other ritual spells available to a Warlock (Unseen Servant, Comprehend Languages, Illusory Script), add them to your Book of Shadows, and later replace them with higher level spells.

Mask of Many Faces, and the ability to shapeshift between scenes is one of the major draws here. Disguise Self and Silent Image (Misty Visions) become very powerful when you can cast them at will.

Given your ability to dish out Force Damage, and Healing Light as a bonus action, you can control and influence the battlefield to an amazing extent. Good Luck.

[LudicSavant]

Thanks for the feedback Ebon :smallsmile:



First, Sword Coast Adventure's Guide Cantrips (SCAG) aren't going to mix with the Celestial (from Xanathar's) in an Adventure's League Game. The build is not intended for AL.


Second, the Hex spell isn't on the list of spells . . . which list too many. It does not list too many. Remember that Mystic Arcanum doesn't count against spells known, so at that level you know 11+1. (https://rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/70045/does-mystic-arcanum-take-up-a-spells-known-slot) Which is how many is listed. However, it is intended to have Hex on there. Corrected.


Third, the Eldritch Sight invocation is redundant on a character that can Detect Magic as a ritual. There actually is a reason to take Eldritch Sight over just having it as a ritual. If you have Eldritch Sight, it can be maintained perpetually as an extra sense, keeping you ever-watchful for things like a Subtle sorcerer trying to pull something in the king's court. By contrast, if you have the ritual, you can only maintain it in 10 minute bursts (with 10 minute casting times beforehand).

You certainly are free to change it if you don't value the always-on aspect for your particular campaign, but Eldritch Sight (rather than just having Detect Magic) was one of the boxes I was asked to tick when making that build, and I don't consider it redundant.

[RSP]

The difference is that Eldritch Sight can be "always on," while Detect Magic can only be kept on for 10 minutes at a time (followed by needing a 10 minute cast). That might seem unimportant to some, but it allows you to do some things with it that you can't do otherwise and can be useful for having largely passive sensory abilities. You certainly are free to change it if you don't value the always-on aspect, but Eldritch Sight (rather than just having Detect Magic) was one of the boxes I was asked to tick when making that build.

Eldritch Sight being always “on” runs into Concentration issues with Hex, particularly at spell slot level 3 when you could have it up for up to 8 hours on one casting. This isn’t a knock on the build or anything, just pointing out an issue with having Detect Magic “always on.”

[LudicSavant]

Eldritch Sight being always “on” runs into Concentration issues with Hex, particularly at spell slot level 3 when you could have it up for up to 8 hours on one casting. This isn’t a knock on the build or anything, just pointing out an issue with having Detect Magic “always on.”

Agreed. You have to choose between having one or the other active. Hypnotic Pattern also competes for Concentration.

[Chronos]

Honestly, when I played a warlock, I found there were just so many things that competed for concentration that I didn't even bother taking Hex. If you just want to do consistent damage with low resource expenditure, it's great, but you don't have to restrict yourself that way.

[Crgaston]

Honestly, when I played a warlock, I found there were just so many things that competed for concentration that I didn't even bother taking Hex. If you just want to do consistent damage with low resource expenditure, it's great, but you don't have to restrict yourself that way.

Same. I'd rather be giving 3 melee allies (or 2+myself) the ability to Fly, or have either Greater Invisibility or Far Step working. But that character wasn't the primary DPR in the party, either. It really boils down to spell selection. You could be rocking Hex all day and rely on non-concentration spells for your slots just as well.