Bard/Hexblade Grappler build

[follacchioso]

I'm designing a character for levels 6-8. There are two main options, and I can't decide.
First level must be bard. Race is Orc, and key stats are STR 19 and CHR 15.


Option 1: Hexblade 5 / Lore Bard 1-3

Pros:
- Hexblade provides armor and shield proficiency.
- Hex is one of the few ways to give disadvantage to Athletics and Acrobatics, with the additional benefit of being able to choose depending on the opponent (e.g. cast on STR on the paladin and DEX on the halfling).
- The three invocations would be Thirsting Blade (2X attack), Eldritch Smite (which can be handy on a grappler, a free shove prone without saves or contested checks, at the cost of a spell slot), and Improved Pact Weapon (for the weapon focus, and damage vs resistant enemies)
- Spells that are not in the Bard list: Shield (although with few spell slots), Hellish Rebuke, Fly, Counterspell, Branding Smite
- Expertise in Athletics at Bard level 3, plus cutting words to reduce any lucky enemy contested grapple roll, and extra skills

Cons:
- Very few spell slots
- Only two lv2 Bard spells - probably Invisibility and Silence


Option 2: Swords Bard 8

Pros:
- 4th level Bard spells, such as Freedom of Movement, Polymorph, Greater Invisibility
- Extra speed from Swords Bard
- Earlier access to Expertise for Athletics
- Fighting Style, although unfortunately there is no good synergy with Grappling
- Two ASIs
- Don't need to sell my soul to an external entity :-)

[Kemev]

You might be misreading how Thirsting Blade works... it doesn't let you mix and match the way the actual Extra Attack class feature does. Basically, it gives a melee warlock two options:

1. You have one attack. If you replace it with a grapple or shove, that's the end of your attack action.
2. You have one attack. If you make that attack with your Pact weapon, then Thirsting Blade happens and you make an extra attack with the pact weapon weapon.

Either way, you can't shove/grapple someone first, then make an attack. So if that's your gameplan, Bard is the better option.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Be sure to use Exandria Orc or Eberron Orc instead of Volo's Orc, as neither of those get the -2 Int but are otherwise the same, except that you have a list of skills to choose from instead of just gaining Intimidation proficiency.

I'm playing a grappler Lore Bard with one level of Life Cleric for heavy armor and shield proficiency, among other benefits. You could do the same and pick from Life, Forge, Nature, Order, Tempest, Twilight, or War for your domain. This way you can dump Dex but you'll need Wis 13+, but that gets you additional prepared spells to cast from your Bard slots and your spell slot progression isn't slowed down at all. I took Shield Master so I can use my action to grapple, then a bonus action to shove them prone, which means they can't get up. With Cutting Words I pretty much always win the checks. Bards get plenty of spells that only take a verbal component, such as Cutting Words and Healing Word and Dissonant Whispers. When in doubt of what to do, just kick (unarmed strike) the target you have grappled, with advantage since they're prone, and bonus-action shove another nearby creature prone.

With Lore Bard you don't exactly need an absurd Str score thanks to Expertise. You could go with a Zariel Tiefling from Mordenkainen's, which gets Cha +2, Str +1, replace the legacy trait (racial cantrips and spells) with the winged variant in SCAG, then do the grapple > fly up high > drop opponent trick. Go Hexblade 2/ Lore Bard 6, pick Agonizing Blast and Grasp of Hadar, and use those while flying to make them take extra falling damage. You can also get the Create Bonfire cantrip then drag a grappled opponent into the fire.

[follacchioso]

You might be misreading how Thirsting Blade works... it doesn't let you mix and match the way the actual Extra Attack class feature does. Basically, it gives a melee warlock two options:

1. You have one attack. If you replace it with a grapple or shove, that's the end of your attack action.
2. You have one attack. If you make that attack with your Pact weapon, then Thirsting Blade happens and you make an extra attack with the pact weapon weapon.

Either way, you can't shove/grapple someone first, then make an attack. So if that's your gameplan, Bard is the better option.

Thank you, I didn't see that at all... This makes the Hexblade option much less appealing. What a shame, I don't understand why the poor blade pact warlocks need to have so many restrictions.