Warlock v Wizard

[Bigmouth]

So another warlock thing.

In a previous thread talking about Eldritch Blast a lot of the conversation drifted towards defending the warlock overall as a class. (which the thread was never meant to be about. It was just about EB as a ranged weapon equivalent). There was a lot of staunch support of the warlocks spell casting abilities. So are the warlock's spellcasting the equivalent of the wizard's? Could one take the wizard's spellcasting (list, slots, and long rest recovery) and replace the warlock's with it to build a balanced third class? (Keeping invocations) This Warzard would not get Arcane Recovery, Spell Recovery, or Signature spells.

If the wizard's casting is too powerful, would any other long rest caster's list be a fair swap? Warcerer? Warbard?

[LudicSavant]

So are the warlock's spellcasting the equivalent of the wizard's?

No, but neither is anyone else's.

[ad_hoc]

You mean change to a regular full caster progression?

In theory they're the same power. The Warlock gets more higher level spells while regular full casters get many lower level spells to compensate.

The value of spells will change a lot. Hex keeps its usefulness after level 5 for example. So choices would be different.

Specific levels will have different power levels too. A regular full caster is better at level 10 while the Warlock is stronger than a regular caster at level 5.

The biggest problem here is the similarity to Wizard and especially the Sorcerer would be greater. Classes shouldn't be this similar.

[LastOblivion]

If you were to break down both the wizard and warlock casting into 3.5 spell points (with the exception of 1st level being worth 2 rather than 1 point in 5e shown by the sorceror spell creation cost), it takes between 3 to 5 short rests assuming every spell slot is used for the warlock to match the wizards effective spell slots.

[Protolisk]

If you were to break down both the wizard and warlock casting into 3.5 spell points (with the exception of 1st level being worth 2 rather than 1 point in 5e shown by the sorceror spell creation cost), it takes between 3 to 5 short rests assuming every spell slot is used for the warlock to match the wizards effective spell slots.

Unless, of course, they were using invocations that can be cast without using a spell slot. Then they are getting free spells without needing a short rest. A (rather dumb, admittedly) personal example was a character of mine that, until combat, just constantly used Detect Magic, at all times. Casting a spell every 10 minutes for free is a lot of free resources.

Mask of Many Faces, Misty Visions, Eldritch Sight: these are all very easy invocations to get with spells that can be easily abused, all free. Once you include invocations (and everyone always seems to forget to) the weights start equalizing.

[Misterwhisper]

Unless, of course, they were using invocations that can be cast without using a spell slot. Then they are getting free spells without needing a short rest. A (rather dumb, admittedly) personal example was a character of mine that, until combat, just constantly used Detect Magic, at all times. Casting a spell every 10 minutes for free is a lot of free resources.

Mask of Many Faces, Misty Visions, Eldritch Sight: these are all very easy invocations to get with spells that can be easily abused, all free. Once you include invocations (and everyone always seems to forget to) the weights start equalizing.

And while you have wasted multiple class abilities to get single spells, the wizard just casts them anyway because he got them in his spell book.

Let's face it Warlock is just Agonizing Blast with some awesome fluff and RP class features.

Pact of the blade is just a weaker and less cost effective blade singer.
Tome is just a half a feat and rituals that the wizard gets free anyway.
Chain is just a fancy familiar.

They tried to fix things with making Hexblade so powerful but they did not plan ahead far enough and it just ended up making people take warlock as a dip class even more.

Warlock has the best RP and story based class features in the game, but that is about all it has going for it.

I would literally play the sidekick spell caster class before I ever play a warlock again.

[Protolisk]

And while you have wasted multiple class abilities to get single spells, the wizard just casts them anyway because he got them in his spell book.

Let's face it Warlock is just Agonizing Blast with some awesome fluff and RP class features.

Pact of the blade is just a weaker and less cost effective blade singer.
Tome is just a half a feat and rituals that the wizard gets free anyway.
Chain is just a fancy familiar.

They tried to fix things with making Hexblade so powerful but they did not plan ahead far enough and it just ended up making people take warlock as a dip class even more.

Warlock has the best RP and story based class features in the game, but that is about all it has going for it.

I would literally play the sidekick spell caster class before I ever play a warlock again.

Strange, I didn't remember Wizards being able to get literally ALL ritual spells, or that anyone can get every ritual spell for the cost of a single feat, across 4 caster classes, so as to include non wizard spells, and I guess I forgot Silent Image and Disguise Self are rituals as well. How careless of me.

I give examples where Warlocks can shine, and you just said "nah they are just Agonizing Blast", which strikes me as more confusing since they can get Agonizing blast AND these other cheap spells. Which for Wizards are not entirely cheap, as they still cost spell slots, and need to be prepared that day to use. Only rituals can be cast straight from their book.

[Hobbo Jim]

They tried to fix things with making Hexblade so powerful but they did not plan ahead far enough and it just ended up making people take warlock as a dip class even more.

Warlock has the best RP and story based class features in the game, but that is about all it has going for it.

I would literally play the sidekick spell caster class before I ever play a warlock again.

To be fair, in the RP universe, warlock dips might be the most common depending on whether or not its a one time deal or a continuous serving. If it's a one time deal, you do something and get something nice from your patron, then split ways and do your own things. But I understand the grievance of wanting to play something like a less religious Cleric, or depict a tenuous relationship with a patron where you are constantly trying to get a leg up over the other, etc.

[MilkmanDanimal]

Playing a Warlock, and loving it. Sure, I've got a few levels of Lore Bard for additional slots and utility, but "Eldritch Blast and then big spells for big moments" works great, and casting at max level adds a lot to it. Absolutely think Warlock is fine as-is, and, as someone who has played one a lot, it's not a spellcaster; it's a magical archer with a few spell slots. That's it. It's no different than the Ranger with their bow or the Barbarian with the Greataxe, and the invocations on EB for push/pull/slow gives you some definite battlefield control options. While I think Blade is underwhelming for a non-Hexblade (to put it mildly), Tome is more uniqueness and flexibility, Chain's familiar is ridiculously useful.

Genuinely think Warlock is the most fun and best-designed class in 5e, and IMO a big part of the issue is people thinking of them as a big-S "Spellcaster", and Warlocks fit a weird role where they aren't that. They spam EB because it's what they do, and then between all the customization and the big spell slots, they have plenty of other moments.

[Tanarii]

If you were to break down both the wizard and warlock casting into 3.5 spell points (with the exception of 1st level being worth 2 rather than 1 point in 5e shown by the sorceror spell creation cost), it takes between 3 to 5 short rests assuming every spell slot is used for the warlock to match the wizards effective spell slots.IIRC
after 3 short rests a Warlock is ahead of the Wizard at all levels, even before invocation spells. At some levels (mostly early ones) they are ahead at 2 short rests.

[ad_hoc]

If you were to break down both the wizard and warlock casting into 3.5 spell points (with the exception of 1st level being worth 2 rather than 1 point in 5e shown by the sorceror spell creation cost), it takes between 3 to 5 short rests assuming every spell slot is used for the warlock to match the wizards effective spell slots.

The reality is different than that though.

Higher level spells are a lot more powerful than lower level ones. Not just in raw effect but in actions used too.

0/0/6 is much stronger than 4/3/2

Though at 10th...

0/0/0/0/6 is weaker than 4/3/3/3/2

Still, even at 10th level the Warlock isn't too far behind (their biggest problem is that cantrips suck at 10th level so the regular casters' lower level spells are worth quite a bit more).

Then, once we hit 11th, the Warlock dominates.

0/0/0/0/9/1 vs 4/3/3/3/2/1


In general the Warlock comes out ahead in odd numbered levels, while the other casters make up for it in even levels.

The Warlock does very well in a 2 short rest day. Even on 0-1 short rest days the regular casters aren't often going to get to use all of their spells as they will want to keep some in reserve in case the day is longer than it turns out to be.

[Misterwhisper]

The reality is different than that though.

Higher level spells are a lot more powerful than lower level ones. Not just in raw effect but in actions used too.

0/0/6 is much stronger than 4/3/2

Though at 10th...

0/0/0/0/6 is weaker than 4/3/3/3/2

Still, even at 10th level the Warlock isn't too far behind (their biggest problem is that cantrips suck at 10th level so the regular casters' lower level spells are worth quite a bit more).

Then, once we hit 11th, the Warlock dominates.

0/0/0/0/9/1 vs 4/3/3/3/2/1


In general the Warlock comes out ahead in odd numbered levels, while the other casters make up for it in even levels.

The Warlock does very well in a 2 short rest day. Even on 0-1 short rest days the regular casters aren't often going to get to use all of their spells as they will want to keep some in reserve in case the day is longer than it turns out to be.

The main issue I always had was the almost total lack of utility.

When you are level 9+ or even lower possibly, your high levels can be for combat but lower levels are great for utility, buffs, and investigating.
Ex. If a warlock knows shield, they have a much bigger decision on whether to blow that 5th level slot on it where as someone else can just spend a 1st.
Their best spell in my opinion, Hunger of Hadar is amazing, but it does not scale with level on a class that is forced to upcast.
Playing a Warlock in a group with a Lore Bard sucks when they pick HoH and use it better than the warlock does.
Or when a Sorlock uses Agonizing blast more often and better than the base warlock does, and recovers more spell slots thanks to SP.
Or when the Palock is out there agonizing blasting in plate and smiting

If I was playing a game that did not have multi classing and that I KNEW would get at least 1 SR per LR maybe even 2, I would play a warlock.
However, not a single module is designed that way, and I have never once seen a home game that used SR more than maybe once every 2 or 3 games.
the 15 min adv. day is FAR too common.

[Protolisk]

The reality is different than that though.

Higher level spells are a lot more powerful than lower level ones. Not just in raw effect but in actions used too.

0/0/6 is much stronger than 4/3/2

Though at 10th...

0/0/0/0/6 is weaker than 4/3/3/3/2

Still, even at 10th level the Warlock isn't too far behind (their biggest problem is that cantrips suck at 10th level so the regular casters' lower level spells are worth quite a bit more).

Then, once we hit 11th, the Warlock dominates.

0/0/0/0/9/1 vs 4/3/3/3/2/1


In general the Warlock comes out ahead in odd numbered levels, while the other casters make up for it in even levels.

The Warlock does very well in a 2 short rest day. Even on 0-1 short rest days the regular casters aren't often going to get to use all of their spells as they will want to keep some in reserve in case the day is longer than it turns out to be.

To be a little more fair, of the Warlock can gain his short rest powers, so can the Wizard. Arcane recover is basically a free level 5 spell at wizard level 10.

Still, comparing 0/0/0/0/6 with 4/3/3/3/3, then showing 0/0/0/0/9/1 to 4/3/3/3/3/1 is a little telling.

Then add in invocations for free spells, and the fact that the Wizard is using a far better cantrip for combat so its bread and butter is resource-less, while the Wizards cantrips aren't as sufficient. Wizards can get rituals, but a warlock that cares about rituals can outdo the wizard for the same purpose, so they can match one another on that end.

[ad_hoc]

To be a little more fair, of the Warlock can gain his short rest powers, so can the Wizard. Arcane recover is basically a free level 5 spell at wizard level 10.

Still, comparing 0/0/0/0/6 with 4/3/3/3/3, then showing 0/0/0/0/9/1 to 4/3/3/3/3/1 is a little telling.

Then add in invocations for free spells, and the fact that the Wizard is using a far better cantrip for combat so its bread and butter is resource-less, while the Wizards cantrips aren't as sufficient. Wizards can get rituals, but a warlock that cares about rituals can outdo the wizard for the same purpose, so they can match one another on that end.

Right, but we were talking about Warlock short rest casting vs regular caster progression. I think the OP wanted to know if they changed the Warlock to have a standard caster progression if it would be balanced.

Class abilities complicates things as we get to add in Invocations, Pact Boon, and Patron abilities vs the Wizard abilities.

I disagree with Eldritch Blast being 'much better' or even just 'better' for that matter. It's still just a d10 cantrip. It's not special unless Invocations are spent on it. Personally, I prefer to spend Invocations on things to round out the character rather than making a cantrip better. One nice thing about the Warlock is having a lot of choice and flexibility as Invocations can be changed as needed on level up.

[Protolisk]

Right, but we were talking about Warlock short rest casting vs regular caster progression. I think the OP wanted to know if they changed the Warlock to have a standard caster progression if it would be balanced.

Class abilities complicates things as we get to add in Invocations, Pact Boon, and Patron abilities vs the Wizard abilities.

I disagree with Eldritch Blast being 'much better' or even just 'better' for that matter. It's still just a d10 cantrip. It's not special unless Invocations are spent on it. Personally, I prefer to spend Invocations on things to round out the character rather than making a cantrip better. One nice thing about the Warlock is having a lot of choice and flexibility as Invocations can be changed as needed on level up.

Ah, I see now. Yeah, I jumped the gun on considering that it was a comparison between warlock and wizard. Still, the Warlock should compare it that way, as all other spell classes have some extra resource, be it wild shape, channel divinity, basic inspiration, or sorcery points, which are not linked to spell slots. Wizards only get recharging spell slots. Warlocks only get the top of the line spell slots recharged, but numerous at will smaller spells.

I still find Edlritch Blast to be the strongest cantrip, even without Agonizing Blast (though it and the other upgrades do go a long way). My main reason is that it is multiple attacks, which makes its damage more consistent. 2 seperate chances at 1d10s is better than a single chance at 2d10, which is very swingy. Add on the fact that it also can be used against multiple targets makes it worth more as you have less overkill and instead more even damage distribution. And it is Force, a notoriously un-resisted damage type, when even Firebolt or Toll the Dead have lots of resistances. This is without invocations upgrading it, or even other spells like Hex altering its functionality. Even without the upgrades, it is a bread and butter cantrip for a reason.

[Misterwhisper]

I wish they would have just made warlocks non-casters like they were in 3.5.

Nifty abilities that are always available not "well if we get a short rest I can be useful"

[Tanarii]

I still find Edlritch Blast to be the strongest cantrip, even without Agonizing Blast (though it and the other upgrades do go a long way). My main reason is that it is multiple attacks, which makes its damage more consistent. 2 seperate chances at 1d10s is better than a single chance at 2d10, which is very swingy. Add on the fact that it also can be used against multiple targets makes it worth more as you have less overkill and instead more even damage distribution. some players like swingy. They'll take the odds of a high damage hit vs reliable damage.

For example at level 11, Firebolt has a 25% chance of doing an extra 25-30% damage against an AC 16 target (roughly ~+5 damage). The exchange is you've got a significant chance of doing none. But the DPR is identical.
Damage curves:
https://anydice.com/program/183a0

[Warlush]

And while you have wasted multiple class abilities to get single spells, the wizard just casts them anyway because he got them in his spell book.

Let's face it Warlock is just Agonizing Blast with some awesome fluff and RP class features.

Pact of the blade is just a weaker and less cost effective blade singer.
Tome is just a half a feat and rituals that the wizard gets free anyway.
Chain is just a fancy familiar.

They tried to fix things with making Hexblade so powerful but they did not plan ahead far enough and it just ended up making people take warlock as a dip class even more.

Warlock has the best RP and story based class features in the game, but that is about all it has going for it.

I would literally play the sidekick spell caster class before I ever play a warlock again.

"That's just like, your opinion. Man."

[Protolisk]

some players like swingy. They'll take the odds of a high damage hit vs reliable damage.

For example at level 11, Firebolt has a 25% chance of doing an extra 25-30% damage against an AC 16 target (roughly ~+5 damage). The exchange is you've got a significant chance of doing none. But the DPR is identical.
Damage curves:
https://anydice.com/program/183a0

45% of doing nothing is a steep fall off. When analyzing damage curves that way, straight percentages and averages are not your only tools for analysis. Because straight percentages look at chances over a long period of time, and we dont get that many chances during a combat.

You are right, the average damage is the same, but the deviation is so skewed in the 1d20 for 3d10 example. Especially in a combat where, when it comes down to it, you only get maybe 3 to 4 turns. Even considering that yes, a Spellcaster is more likely to use leveled spells, when push comes to shove I'd like my attacks to actually hit. Average damage is the same, yes, but over one turn, I'd prefer a 9% chance of doing no damage rather than a 45% chance of doing bupkis per round. As you said, the average damage is the same. When lives and time are on the line, standing around doing nothing is a liability, not a strength.

I won't argue over this, because at that point, yes, it is a matter of opinion. I am saying "I would rather", so I guess you are right, it's not the "best". But I think its certainly up there due to its reliability. And the ability to boost it higher than any other cantrip is there, if you want it. Which is the large benefit of Warlocks, the sheer customizability.

[ad_hoc]

Ah, I see now. Yeah, I jumped the gun on considering that it was a comparison between warlock and wizard. Still, the Warlock should compare it that way, as all other spell classes have some extra resource, be it wild shape, channel divinity, basic inspiration, or sorcery points, which are not linked to spell slots. Wizards only get recharging spell slots. Warlocks only get the top of the line spell slots recharged, but numerous at will smaller spells.

I still find Edlritch Blast to be the strongest cantrip, even without Agonizing Blast (though it and the other upgrades do go a long way). My main reason is that it is multiple attacks, which makes its damage more consistent. 2 seperate chances at 1d10s is better than a single chance at 2d10, which is very swingy. Add on the fact that it also can be used against multiple targets makes it worth more as you have less overkill and instead more even damage distribution. And it is Force, a notoriously un-resisted damage type, when even Firebolt or Toll the Dead have lots of resistances. This is without invocations upgrading it, or even other spells like Hex altering its functionality. Even without the upgrades, it is a bread and butter cantrip for a reason.

There are a number of top tier cantrips. The differences in power between them are minimal to none.

Yes, EB is force, but it's not really a big deal. A Warlock still needs another cantrip to deal with being in melee (unless blade pact) so they're still spending 2 slots on attack cantrips or else risk having a bad one for the job.

Remember too that Firebolt can target objects and ignite them.

Swingyness isn't a big deal either because these are cantrips we're talking about. Think of it as how much they add to the contribution of the entire party. Not much.

[Tanarii]

You are right, the average damage is the same, but the deviation is so skewed in the 1d20 for 3d10 example. Especially in a combat where, when it comes down to it, you only get maybe 3 to 4 turns. Even considering that yes, a Spellcaster is more likely to use leveled spells, when push comes to shove I'd like my attacks to actually hit. Average damage is the same, yes, but over one turn, I'd prefer a 9% chance of doing no damage rather than a 45% chance of doing bupkis per round. As you said, the average damage is the same. When lives and time are on the line, standing around doing nothing is a liability, not a strength.
While I personally agree, there are some people that accept a 45% chance of total miss in return for a 55% chance of doing 3d10, instead of a 17% chance of doing 3d10.

[Bigmouth]

heh
Not sure I am getting a feel for the general consensus of whether replacing the warlock's spellcasting with that of the warlock would be unbalanced. There seems to be some definite passion about the warlock being equal to the wizard. As interesting as the direct head to head comparison is, I'm more interested in the hybrid notion. I didn't plan on going into the reason for the rumination, but...

Player picks GoO Warlock, Pact of the Chain for rp reasons. Likes the notion of the improved telepathic communication and the improved familiar. By his estimations he chose the worst combination possible for power/fun, but loves the rp hooks derived from those choices. Over the course of playing the character he continues to love the familiar and the telepathy but has come to hate more and more the lack of versatility that he'd expect with playing a caster. Our game tends to be 15 minute workday and that is how the players like it. I've had a few discussions about it to make sure. I've suggested alternatives but no one (the warlock included) is particularly interested in changes to their encounter economy. I've offered giving the warlock 2x spell slots (with the group's approval). Nope. The player wants to larger spell list and variety offered by other spellcasters. I've suggested just rewriting the character as a new class, but again, he loves his telepathy, his familiar, the background he wrote for being a warlock. So at this point, I'm sure some folks are going to instantly suggest Multiclassing, which is what he's done. However, I am immensely bothered by it. He's again in a class he doesn't like, but which works mechanically due to being Charisma based. Plus he's still got those levels of warlock sitting there, annoying him with the two spell slots. I know I am a minority, but I don't much care for dipping, especially when it is done purely for mechanical reasons. So, I would rather make the warlock something he can enjoy. Swapping out the short rest spell system for the long rest system of the wizard would seem to work...if the two systems are roughly equivalent.

[Protolisk]

I don't know how much help this would be, but maybe ask if they'd like to be a new UA Abberant Mind Sorcerer, but with the addition of the stronger familiar? It hits the same psionic feel of GOOlock, I think. A patron is also just story, fluff. It's not really part of the rules, so the story of this character can stay largely the same. It's also still a Charisma based class if it matters.

But at the same time, they wanted a "mechanically worst combination", then complains it isn't as good as they thought? Maybe ask them what they really wants from this character. If he doesn't actually hate the dead 3 levels then maybe it isnt so bad.

[MirrorDarkly]

I think that in general Wizard spell progression is better then pact magic + mystic arcanaum.

Which is why warlocks get so many other features on top of base spellcasting.

Of course it's your game so do whatever you and all of your players will enjoy. However if I was playing at a table with someone who got to play a wiz-lock as you described I'd probably be fairly envious.

[Tanarii]

heh
Not sure I am getting a feel for the general consensus of whether replacing the warlock's spellcasting with that of the warlock would be unbalanced.Of course it would be unbalanced. The wizard's core feature is Spellcasing. The Warlock's Pact Magic is roughly 75-90% as strong most levels, especially once you start considering spell lists, but they get a lot more non-spell feature power than wizards to balance that out.

[rbstr]

You can let him use Spell Points instead of Slots. Then he'd have spell-level flexibility.
Or yeah, he can have the regular spellcasting progression. It's designed to be roughly the same amount of spell power. Just don't let him change the actual list he can choose from.

IMO that's boring, and part of the fun of warlock is not having a throttle on their spells. If you want to be a wizard be that...

Basically the Warlock's spell slots are roughly structured like this:
Convert the standard slot progression to spell points.
Convert those into the highest spell-level a caster knows.
Divide those by 3. (for a day with two short rests)

Once they learn Mystic Arcanum, that's counted in the daily allotment as well.

[Greywander]

So another warlock thing.

In a previous thread talking about Eldritch Blast a lot of the conversation drifted towards defending the warlock overall as a class. (which the thread was never meant to be about. It was just about EB as a ranged weapon equivalent). There was a lot of staunch support of the warlocks spell casting abilities. So are the warlock's spellcasting the equivalent of the wizard's? Could one take the wizard's spellcasting (list, slots, and long rest recovery) and replace the warlock's with it to build a balanced third class? (Keeping invocations) This Warzard would not get Arcane Recovery, Spell Recovery, or Signature spells.

If the wizard's casting is too powerful, would any other long rest caster's list be a fair swap? Warcerer? Warbard?
I might have said this in the thread your referring to, but the warlock feels like a caster class built using martial guidelines. Martials are typically short rest classes who focus on sustainable abilities. Things like the fighter's Extra Attack, the rogue's Sneak Attack and Cunning Action, the monk's Martial Arts and Unarmored Defense/Movement, etc. These are things they can do all day. On top of this, they get a few (i.e. countable on one hand) abilities that come back on a short rest, and then one or two abilities that come back only on a long rest. Any of this sound familiar?

Personally, I find this very interesting. Typical casters seem to have a vastly different design philosophy compared to martials, and I wouldn't be surprised if this wasn't contributing to the perceived superiority of casters. Wizards, and all full casters, are very powerful, much more so than any martial or warlock. But they're not sustainable. A wizard relies on not running out of spell slots before getting to take a long rest. As a result, a warlock ends up playing a lot more like a martial than a caster; high sustainability, mostly short rest dependent, with just a few long rest abilities.

I have to say, I do really like the way warlocks are designed. I think the build-your-own-class aspect of invocations is pretty neat, and between your patron and your boon you get a lot of leeway on what sort of character you can make. You could have an all-warlock party and have a lot of variety. I also like the sustainability aspect. As a wizard, I'd be tempted to hoard my spell slots, but as a warlock I can get at-will spells through invocations, and get spell slots back after only a short rest, so I can cast a lot more freely.


If you were to break down both the wizard and warlock casting into 3.5 spell points (with the exception of 1st level being worth 2 rather than 1 point in 5e shown by the sorceror spell creation cost), it takes between 3 to 5 short rests assuming every spell slot is used for the warlock to match the wizards effective spell slots.
If you look up Spell Points variant rule in the DMG (p. 288), you'll see that 1st level spells do indeed cost 2 spell points. And actually, the sorcerer also needs 2 sorcery points to create a 1st level spell, so I'm not sure what you're talking about, unless I'm interpreting what you said backwards.


A (rather dumb, admittedly) personal example was a character of mine that, until combat, just constantly used Detect Magic, at all times. Casting a spell every 10 minutes for free is a lot of free resources.
A bit of an aside, but I feel like the duration of these spells should be indefinite as long as you maintain concentration. Otherwise you do get shenanigans where you have to recast the spell periodically, which could be a bit disruptive. I mean, they're already at-will, so unlike other casters you wouldn't need to expend another spell slot to keep it up, so why not just make the duration infinite?


The main issue I always had was the almost total lack of utility.
Warlocks can have a lot of utility if they try to get the most mileage out of their cantrips and at-will spell invocations. Try bartering with your DM for an at-will spell invocation for a spell not listed. Enlarge/Reduce would be a good and fun example. At-will Bane at 1st level would also be a good one; the existing invocation uses a spell slot, but that means you're also casting at a higher level, so there'd still be a meaningful choice between them. I kind of wish warlocks got more invocations (and had more to choose from) for this reason. Baking the EB invocations into the core class would free up a lot of options, but I can also understand that this would almost make non-EB warlocks obsolete. Extra invocations or pact magic slots would make great quest rewards for warlock players, but this goes beyond strict RAW.


heh
Not sure I am getting a feel for the general consensus of whether replacing the warlock's spellcasting with that of the warlock would be unbalanced. There seems to be some definite passion about the warlock being equal to the wizard. As interesting as the direct head to head comparison is, I'm more interested in the hybrid notion. I didn't plan on going into the reason for the rumination, but...

Player picks GoO Warlock, Pact of the Chain for rp reasons. Likes the notion of the improved telepathic communication and the improved familiar. By his estimations he chose the worst combination possible for power/fun, but loves the rp hooks derived from those choices. Over the course of playing the character he continues to love the familiar and the telepathy but has come to hate more and more the lack of versatility that he'd expect with playing a caster. Our game tends to be 15 minute workday and that is how the players like it. I've had a few discussions about it to make sure. I've suggested alternatives but no one (the warlock included) is particularly interested in changes to their encounter economy. I've offered giving the warlock 2x spell slots (with the group's approval). Nope. The player wants to larger spell list and variety offered by other spellcasters. I've suggested just rewriting the character as a new class, but again, he loves his telepathy, his familiar, the background he wrote for being a warlock. So at this point, I'm sure some folks are going to instantly suggest Multiclassing, which is what he's done. However, I am immensely bothered by it. He's again in a class he doesn't like, but which works mechanically due to being Charisma based. Plus he's still got those levels of warlock sitting there, annoying him with the two spell slots. I know I am a minority, but I don't much care for dipping, especially when it is done purely for mechanical reasons. So, I would rather make the warlock something he can enjoy. Swapping out the short rest spell system for the long rest system of the wizard would seem to work...if the two systems are roughly equivalent.
Typically, since most people seem to agree that the rules assume two short rests per long rest, you'd want to switch him to 3x, not 2x, the pact magic slots, which only come back on a long rest. Alternatively, give him two "tokens" that he can spend out of combat to take an instant short rest, and he gets the tokens back after a long rest. This still limits him to 2 spells per combat, but lets him do three fights with 2 spells each. Or just make short rests 1 minute, or automatic as soon as combat ends. (Note that this last option essentially makes out-of-combat casting at-will.)

In this case, though, it does sound like he brought a short rest class to a long rest party, and no one wants to change their routine to accommodate the difference. GOO chainlock is a fun combo, so I can understand his apprehension about rebuilding his character as a different class. Maybe one of the above options will fix the short rest problem.

As for the limited spell list, the warlock already has a method for gaining spells not on their list: invocations. Does he want a particular spell not on the warlock list? As the DM, you can decide whether or not to allow him to use an invocation to learn that spell. And depending on the spell, you could make it at-will rather than costing a spell slot, which would be a huge boon. Or, as the DM, you can just decide to give him access to those spells without needing to spend an invocation. Or you could make it a quest reward. Magic Initiate and Ritual Caster are also options, as are multiclass dips if he's just after low level spells (which will also give him the spell slots to use them). Heck, you can even give him extra spells to use his Mystic Arcanum on, basically letting him learn two or three spells per spell level 6th and up.

You might also see if you can get him to adjust his thinking. As someone else said, warlocks aren't really casters, per se. They're magical archers with a few spells and other neat abilities. Maybe if he can shift his perspective on what his character is trying to be, mechanically, it will help him enjoy playing a warlock a bit more.