Seeking feedback on my Shadow Hexblade Sorlock for Curse of Strahd

[YCombinator]

Hey everyone,

I'm starting Curse of Strahd and interested in any critiques anyone has for my build. The party, at the moment, is only two players. A Light Domain Cleric and my SorLock. We definitely had some trouble in the Death House, which we're still inside, during our first two sessions. The DM is obviously scaling some things due to the party size. We're likely to try to add two more players but that might not happen.

Here's what I've got so far:


Backstory: I am a deadbeat father who gave up his son to a religious cult seeking a new messiah to raise as their own. In exchange I was given otherwordly powers from my Warlock patron. No desperate to right my wrongs, I have gone back decades later to rescue him. Upon getting him out, we enter the mists of Borovia. In case it wasn't clear, the Cleric of the party is my son.
Race: Human
Background: Haunted One
Skills: Arcana, Investigation
Ability Scores:
STR 8+1 (-1)
DEX 13+1 (+2)
CON 15+1 (+3)
INT 9+1 (0)
WIS 11+1 (+1)
CHA 15+1 (+3)

Notes: Haunted one was specific to Strahd and fit well with my backstory and it's Strahd specific so it seemed like fun to try out. I know that Drow is optimal for a SorLock but for role playing reasons and the fact that the DM favored nothing too exotic since Borovia hates outsiders, we both went human. Dex is only +2 and Con +3 since I'll have medium armor.



Sorcerer Level 1
Skills: Persuasion, Deception
Origin: Shadow
Cantrips: Firebolt, Shocking Grasp, Friends, Minor Illusion
Spells: Shield, Sleep

Notes: Firebolt is great for now. I'll be moving into Eldritch Blast for most of my damage when I get it. Shocking Grasp is so key for escaping melee. I am hoping to have decent out of combat utility for the campaign. I don't know what to expect but I think it will have plenty of out of combat challenges that minor illusion and friends might come in handy for. Sleep is great early and I might swap it at higher levels. I've loved shield so far. Not taking Mage Armor since I'll have medium armor soon. Not sure how much I'll need to deceive people. Maybe insight is better? Maybe intimidation? I went Shadow for the heck of it. Darkness and dark vision is a cool combo.



Sorcerer Level 2
Spell: Magic Missile

Note: Solid for hard to hit targets.Should have gone Warlock Level 1 for this level though. I desperately needed the HP and AC.



Warlock Level 1
Otherworldly Patron: Hexblade
Cantrips: Eldritch Blast, Mage Hand
Spells: Hex, Arms of Hagar

Note: We are currently level 3 finishing up the Death House. Mage Hand was pretty arbitrary pick but it can be super strong in some situations. Eldritch Blast is the key to my build here along with Hex. Hex, sadly, is weak against a lot of undead. I don't know how many I'll face that are resistant to necrotic. It's a weakness of this build but there's no replacement. Arms of Hagar might have been best as Armor of Agathys but I'll be grabbing that one as my final Warlock spell. Hexblade is very strong for this build. I get the +PROF attack which is amazing and the medium armor + shields is key in a two character party. My ally can't take all the damage forever.



Sorcerer Level 3
Meta Magic: Quicken, Twin Spell
Spell: Suggestion

Note: Quicken is another key to the build. I'll be doing the Quickened Eldritch Blast each turn and buffing it with Agonizing Blast and Hex.Twin is very strong though I'm not sure my spell list makes great use of it. I did however opt for Suggestion here because it's twinable and also has out of combat strength. That's great because I might be burning a lot of spell slots to blast anyway.



Warlock Level 2
Invocations: Agonizing Blast, Maddening Hex
Spell: Armor of Agathys

Note: Agonizing Blast is key to the combo. Maddening Hex seemed super strong. Also Repelling blast was considered but I worried it was very situational and I'm not sure which will be stronger in Curse of Strahd. Input welcome there if you have any thoughts.



Sorcerer Level 4
Ability Score Improvement: Charisma +2
Cantrip: Create Bonfire
Spell: Mirror Image

Notes: Boosting the Charisma to 20 asap here, obviously. As for a cantrip, a figured an area of effect was useful. Very open to debate there. The bonfire might pair better with repelling blast if I had it but I don't know that I would take the time to set that up.



Sorcerer Level 5
Spell: Fireball

Note: I know I have other damage but it's hard to say what is useful for me here. Hypnotic Pattern I worry about undead being immune to charms. As for Haste, we don't have a party that can really benefit but from it. There's not much weapon damage.




Sorcerer Level 6
Spell: Hypnotic Pattern

Note: Still worried about undead just ignoring Hypnotic Pattern but not sure there are better choices.



Sorcerer Level 7
Spell: Banishment

Note: It's strong. We'll see. Thoughts?



Sorcerer Level 8
Ability Score Improvement: Charisma +2
Spell: Greater Invisibility

Note: I considered Dimension Door here too. Not really clear on what will be good for the adventure. Interested in advice from folks who know it.


Thanks for taking a look. Happy to hear critiques. Thanks. :)

[Corran]

A ranged build wont be great in a small party. If you are set on playing a sorcerer, then 1 level in hexblade is a good idea for the defense boost it will get you (start as variant human warlock for the wisdom save proficiency, warcaster and resilient con being the first two feats, sorcerer all the way after the first warlock level), but after that I would aim at advancing in sorcerer levels, as I wouldn't value ranged combat that much to delay spell levels for the invocation (and finishing as hex1/sorc9 is nice cause it'll get you 5th level spells). Twinned is nice for a two man party, but it pairs poorly with the shadow origin since the hound burns fast through sp. So I'd either choose to keep twinned and change the origin (probably to divine soul), or I'd keep shadow and then I'd look to pick up some low-cost metamagic (careful and one of subtle or empower). Then spell selection depends on what you choose to do with origin and metamagic. But if you end up playing as a shadow sorcerer, then your spell selection should revolve around 4 things (for the first 9 sorcerer levels at least):
1) Increased darkvision range. Meaning that you need an attack cantrip with a range of 120', and probably some similar spells (chromatic orb -> scorching ray -> eventually being replaced if you hit character level 11).
2) Hound. Meaning that you need spells targeting saves. Polymorph, banishment and hold monster are good candidates here. At later levels you probably want to end up with something like confusion and banishment here, and with blindness (most likely replacing scorching ray when you hit character level 11) as a backup for when your main target (which the hound affects) is unaffected, but other enemies are affected so you don't want to drop concentration.
3) Metamagic #1
4) Metamagic #2

Plus, you need to make enough room in your spell list to include spells like misty step, counterspell, etc.

[YCombinator]

A ranged build wont be great in a small party. If you are set on playing a sorcerer, then 1 level in hexblade is a good idea for the defense boost it will get you

Yeah I'm set on the SorLock. The range hasn't been too bad so far. We've be playing decent positional tactics and my ally is into working on our tactics as well. I do definitely get into melee range from time to time but that's what shocking grasp and arms of hadar are for. I've been able to move around okay. Not to say I always will and that's why I'm a Hexblade though. I even can swing a weapon to decent effect when I need to, though I haven't yet.


(start as variant human warlock for the wisdom save proficiency, warcaster and resilient con being the first two feats,

I would need to pick up Green Flame blade or Booming Blade to make War Caster worth it. I'm also not really planning on being in combat range all that much. My standard MO is to try to Shocking Grasp and get out of there to cast at range. War Caster would be committing a good deal of build resources to something I'm avoiding.


sorcerer all the way after the first warlock level), but after that I would aim at advancing in sorcerer levels, as I wouldn't value ranged combat that much to delay spell levels for the invocation (and finishing as hex1/sorc9 is nice cause it'll get you 5th level spells).

Really? You'd skip Agonizing Blast? As you say you wouldn't really value ranged combat much. But really, moving out of the Eldritch Blast+Hex+Agonizing Blast+Quicken combo changes pretty much everything about my build. I'm not sure I'm ready to do that. It's a build I've been wanting to try.


Twinned is nice for a two man party, but it pairs poorly with the shadow origin since the hound burns fast through sp. So I'd either choose to keep twinned and change the origin (probably to divine soul), or I'd keep shadow and then I'd look to pick up some low-cost metamagic (careful and one of subtle or empower). Then spell selection depends on what you choose to do with origin and metamagic. But if you end up playing as a shadow sorcerer, then your spell selection should revolve around 4 things (for the first 9 sorcerer levels at least):
1) Increased darkvision range. Meaning that you need an attack cantrip with a range of 120', and probably some similar spells (chromatic orb -> scorching ray -> eventually being replaced if you hit character level 11).
2) Hound. Meaning that you need spells targeting saves. Polymorph, banishment and hold monster are good candidates here. At later levels you probably want to end up with something like confusion and banishment here, and with blindness (most likely replacing scorching ray when you hit character level 11) as a backup for when your main target (which the hound affects) is unaffected, but other enemies are affected so you don't want to drop concentration.
3) Metamagic #1
4) Metamagic #2

Plus, you need to make enough room in your spell list to include spells like misty step, counterspell, etc.

It's a good point about Twinned and also the Hound using up points. I will definitely be hurting for spell points but that's another good reason for a second level or Warlock, wouldn't you think? Gaining back extra spell points on a short rest. I will consider dropping Twinned, though, and look for spells that target saves more to couple with the Hound.

[Corran]

Yeah I'm set on the SorLock. The range hasn't been too bad so far. We've be playing decent positional tactics and my ally is into working on our tactics as well. I do definitely get into melee range from time to time but that's what shocking grasp and arms of hadar are for. I've been able to move around okay. Not to say I always will and that's why I'm a Hexblade though. I even can swing a weapon to decent effect when I need to, though I haven't yet.



I would need to pick up Green Flame blade or Booming Blade to make War Caster worth it. I'm also not really planning on being in combat range all that much. My standard MO is to try to Shocking Grasp and get out of there to cast at range. War Caster would be committing a good deal of build resources to something I'm avoiding.
Fair enough.




Really? You'd skip Agonizing Blast? As you say you wouldn't really value ranged combat much. But really, moving out of the Eldritch Blast+Hex+Agonizing Blast+Quicken combo changes pretty much everything about my build. I'm not sure I'm ready to do that. It's a build I've been wanting to try.
Ideally I would go back and grab a second warlock level after getting 5th level spells, which plays nicely with the fact that that's when EB would get another boost.




It's a good point about Twinned and also the Hound using up points. I will definitely be hurting for spell points but that's another good reason for a second level or Warlock, wouldn't you think? Gaining back extra spell points on a short rest. I will consider dropping Twinned, though, and look for spells that target saves more to couple with the Hound.
It's not only the sorcerer points. It's also that the hound and twinned rely on different concentration spells, and with the sorcerer's small spell selection it will be hard to fit them in your list of known spells. One exception is polymorph, which you could use both with twinned and with the hound (ie targeting your ally and an enemy), though this will eat all of your sorcery points once you are able to use it (ie 7 sorcerer levels), and as you keep leveling up polymorph loses value as a buff.

[Keravath]

First, quickening eldritch blast is more of a high level or desperation move since at lower levels it is hard to have enough sorcery points to pay for it frequently unless you burn all your spells slots converting them to sorcery points but then you aren't casting spells.

I have a level 7 (1fighter/4sorcerer/2lock with quicken and twin and I am more likely to twin something like chromatic orb or dissonant whispers (GOO warlock) than to use quicken for eldritch blast since twin is 1 point and quicken is 2.

I personally like devils sight as an invocation, especially on a human, since it gives you the ability to see perfectly in the dark. Always having to carry a light source makes your party very visible. One way you can increase the effectiveness of a small party is if everyone has a couple of levels of warlock for devils sight and then use the darkness spell to prevent opponents from seeing you. You all get advantage on your attacks and they all have disadvantage but you need to plan the characters for it to work well.

[YCombinator]

First, quickening eldritch blast is more of a high level or desperation move since at lower levels it is hard to have enough sorcery points to pay for it frequently unless you burn all your spells slots converting them to sorcery points but then you aren't casting spells.

It might not be that strong early game, but yeah, converting all your spell slots to sorcery points and not casting that many spells is generally how I see this build discussed.


I have a level 7 (1fighter/4sorcerer/2lock with quicken and twin and I am more likely to twin something like chromatic orb or dissonant whispers (GOO warlock) than to use quicken for eldritch blast since twin is 1 point and quicken is 2.

I might end up doing this to save some points. It's nice to be able to have a big round or two though. Twin is likely more economical depending on the spell. I have possibly been talked into Polymorph given the synergy with Twin as well as Hound of Ill Omen.


I personally like devils sight as an invocation, especially on a human, since it gives you the ability to see perfectly in the dark. Always having to carry a light source makes your party very visible. One way you can increase the effectiveness of a small party is if everyone has a couple of levels of warlock for devils sight and then use the darkness spell to prevent opponents from seeing you. You all get advantage on your attacks and they all have disadvantage but you need to plan the characters for it to work well.

I'm a Shadow Sorcerer so I already have this combo. (see level 1 section of original post)