Cursed Blade Samurai

[Inculta]

Just finished playing Sekiro and had an urge to make a samurai-like character. :)
I wanted it also be somewhat of a "party-face" and skill monkey. So, I've decided on Hexblade 3/Samurai 17. (starting with fighter 1/warlock 3/fighter all the way till the end)
Race option: Half-elf for +CHA, 2 skills and Elven Accuracy feat later on.
Weapon of choice: Nodachi (greatsword).

Wanted to ask you for suggestions on armor type: is it worth it to get 15 str for heavy armors or medium armor with 14 dex is fine? How much do I lose in numbers and possibilities presented? I guess, going with Heavy Armor will leave me with lowering DEX and there are many saving throws that rely on DEX, while Fighter gives me proficiency in STR and CON saves anyway.

Eldritch Invocation: I will have access to two and am considering between: Improved Pact Weapon (but not sure if it is worth it, because I will probably get +1 weapon as my Hexblade weapon of choice anyway after Tier 1), Beguiling Influence (kinda skill monkey - 2 skills from half-elf, 2 from fighter, 1 from samurai, 2 from background and 2 from this one), Devil's Sight (considering it to be best) and Eldritch Sight (situational, because I don't know how much infinite Detect Magic at will is actually valuable).

For stats I have two options:
1) Heavy armor: 15 8 16 8 10 17;
2) Medium armor: 10 14 16 8 10 17

The idea of character - it's a half-elf warrior from Kozakura, which served as a shinobi to the daimyo (dealing with shady and confidential staff, due to his heritage) and was send off with a cursed blade, that is believed to be possesed by a demon who brought misfortune to the lands of said daimyo, in order to find a way how to either lift the curse or commune with the demon and find out what is it he wants and why he is bringing misfortune). So, the character travels in a strange land, playing his shamisen (lute), meditating on the blade and acting on behalf of the good, but never forgeting about his lord and mission to protect his homeland. He is curious, yet cautious and suspicious, sometimes acting weird in the eyes of common folk and all that misterious. (background from SCAG: Far Traveler seems right for that description!).

What do you think? Both from concept and efficiency - is it a well-made character? I am also considering this concept to be playable in AL games I have in my local store, so tried to stay in phb+xanathar and point-buy.

For a damage in combat - I will be getting extra attack late, but will compensate it with Hex, Hexblade's Curse and Elven Accuracy (samurai gives advantage 3 times/long rest + elven accuracy additional roll + 19-20 crits from hexblade's curse ones per short rest).
Feats I am considering:
Elven Accuracy, GWM and other ASI will bump CHA, CON and probably WIS.

Will be glad to see your comments!

[Vogie]

I wouldn't grab Beguiling Influence, I'd lean more towards using something like the Skilled feat if you want to augment your skills. You could certainly use something like Fiendish Vigor (for more THP without dipping into your Fighting spirit uses), Eldritch Sight (usefulness is largely based on the campaign and if you already have someone who has it as a ritual), or Misty Visions (Which you can use to duplicate yourself or anything else at will).

Improved Pact weapon will allow you to also use all of your samurai features at range using your pact bow, so I'd stick with that. It also makes sure your weapon can be your focus, which is a great ease of life bonus.

Devil's Sight is not only good by itself, but you can also gain the combo with the darkness spell, effectively giving you 2 more uses of your Fighting spirit feature.


While some people love the Heavy Armor, I'd only get it if you're intending on picking up the HAM feat. I'd rather have +2 Initiative, wearing medium armor for 16 AC, potentially bumped up to 17 if you grab MAM at some point.

[Inculta]

I wouldn't grab Beguiling Influence, I'd lean more towards using something like the Skilled feat if you want to augment your skills. You could certainly use something like Fiendish Vigor (for more THP without dipping into your Fighting spirit uses), Eldritch Sight (usefulness is largely based on the campaign and if you already have someone who has it as a ritual), or Misty Visions (Which you can use to duplicate yourself or anything else at will).

Improved Pact weapon will allow you to also use all of your samurai features at range using your pact bow, so I'd stick with that. It also makes sure your weapon can be your focus, which is a great ease of life bonus.

Devil's Sight is not only good by itself, but you can also gain the combo with the darkness spell, effectively giving you 2 more uses of your Fighting spirit feature.


While some people love the Heavy Armor, I'd only get it if you're intending on picking up the HAM feat. I'd rather have +2 Initiative, wearing medium armor for 16 AC, potentially bumped up to 17 if you grab MAM at some point.

Fiendish Vigor seems okay, especially at low levels and medium armor path. Although, I don't understand: if I can use it infinite amounts of time - does it mean I can just basically cast it untill I get maximum (8 THP)? Also, seems a bit weak when going high levels, when I won't be able to replace it.
Will look at Misty Visions - seems nice for the character I am building!
Beguiling Influence is deffinetely not that good, because he won't be about Deception, more like Honor as a worshiper of Path of Enlightenment.
With Improved Pact - if I am correct, Hexblade will be my greatsword (which I have to carry a draw as normal) and pact, for example, longbow (that will be considered +1), which I will be able to summon as action and release without using action? It might be good, especially if I go Medium.
Devil's Sight will be definetely one of the two, because I actually didn't realise that I get 2 lvl spells with 3 warlock! That is good with darkness indeed! Thank you!

And yeah, MAM seems to be a good choice as it will give more stealth opportunities, which is great, I think!
6 ASI will give me: EA, GWM, MAM, 20 CHA and 16 DEX, so it will be same AC as full-plate, but with stealth option on top of better DEX saves and longbow usability.

[Man_Over_Game]

Temporary Hitpoints don't stack. If you have 5 Temporary Hitpoints and something gives you 2, you can choose to keep the 5 or the 2, not the sum of both (7).

[Inculta]

Temporary Hitpoints don't stack. If you have 5 Temporary Hitpoints and something gives you 2, you can choose to keep the 5 or the 2, not the sum of both (7).

no, I mean, this invocation allows to cast spell, that adds 1d4+4, so from 5 to 8. but I can cast it infinitely, so I can basically CHOOSE to have 8 all the time (assuming, it's out of combat)

[Man_Over_Game]

no, I mean, this invocation allows to cast spell, that adds 1d4+4, so from 5 to 8. but I can cast it infinitely, so I can basically CHOOSE to have 8 all the time (assuming, it's out of combat)

Ah.

Well, yes. The main value of the Fiend Warlock pact is that its feature doesn't slow you down from doing anything you'd already be doing, it only enhances it. Unlike the Hexblade (which can get in the way of Hex or Two-Weapon Fighting), Archfey (which requires you to use your Action for a non-spell), the Fiend allows you to keep fighting and just do it strictly better.

Still, I wouldn't recommend either the Fiend or Fiendish Vigor with the Samurai, if only because it's redundant with the Samurai's THP.

Honestly, I'd rather recommend a pure Hexblade, going Pact of the Blade, as that fits my image of a cursed blade Samurai than the actual Samurai subclass (which is basically a Fighter that temporarily makes himself a better combatant through willpower, or something). With things like Warlock Smites, Fiendish Vigor and Tomb of Levistus, you can be almost as tanky and bursty as a Samurai, but so much cooler while doing it.