Half-Elf Hexblade 2 / Bard 1 - where to go from here?

[Wasp]

Hi everyone

I have started a game with the following Hexblade 2 / Bard 1 character in a two player game with a Swashbuckler Rogue 3 and I was wondering what you would recommend doing from here on out (I was thinking of going mostly Lore Bard):

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Hexblade 2 / Bard 1
Charlatan

STR 08
DEX 16
CON 14
INT 10
WIS 12
CHA 16

Eldritch Invocations: Mask of Many Faces, Agonizing Blast

Cantrips:
Warlock: Eldritch Blast, Minor Illusion
Bard: Mage Hand, Prestidigitation

Spells:
Warlock: Armor of Agathys, Hex, Shield
Bard: Healing Word, Sleep

Prof: Arcana, Deception, Insight, Investigation, Perception, Persuasion, Stealth
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We already became very well aware in the first session that we are kinda lost in Nature, but fights and social went quite well, nothing major yet. I don't expect the Campaign to go beyond Tier 2.

[ff7hero]

It's hard to go wrong with Lore Bard. Pass Without Trace would likely be a strong choice for Magical Secrets with your party.

[Keravath]

Hi! Hexblade warlock/lore bard is a great combination. I don't know if your stats are fixed but if you used some form of point buy then you could go with 14 dex and 16 con instead since you will likely be wearing medium armor+shield and the 16 dex won't increase your AC. You will also likely be using ASI to increase charisma so you won't be increasing dex much if at all.

If your stats are still adjustable, you might also want an odd number in your constitution since you will want to take the feat resilient con at some point since your bard will likely be concentrating on spells.

As a lore bard you will get three more skills at 3rd level so you can pick up survival and/or nature if you want better outdoor skills.

If there is any chance you will play to level 20 then you may want to consider whether to take more warlock levels or not since a bard picks up magical secrets at level 18 which would let them pick Wish and another 9th level spell. If you know you won't be playing that long then a third level of warlock offers some good rewards as well. (Tome or chain pact - for a scouting familiar plus 2 short rest 2nd level spell slots). On the other hand, more levels of warlock delays your bard spell progression and you will really want your 3rd level spells at character level 7 and additional magic secrets at level 8.

Anyway, at this point I would go lore bard for the next 5 levels and then decide at level 8 whether you want more warlock or continue with lore bard.

[Wasp]

Thanks for the tips! So you woulkd recomment Con 15 then as starting stat (in case I can rejigger the stats).

And yeah, I think Bard can bring a lot to the character, I was just not sure if getting a familiar through Warlock 3 would be better in such a small group...

[cutlery]

As a counter option -

If you think you'll ever do much melee, whispers bard could be a good choice. Get extra attack eventually from warlock (pact of the blade) and use psychic blades from whispers like a smite - only apply it when you crit or you really need it.

You've got access to medium armor, and might even benefit from medium armor master later on. You can use two handed weapons like a greatsword with charisma if you take pact of the blade; but can neatly use longswords or battle axes two-handed (the versatile property) to take advantage of 1d10 damage die.

Later on, if you take the eldritch smite invocation you can double up, using a smite and a psychic blades on a crit; both double for big damage.

[Chugger]

Con 16 and Dex 14 - cuz the most you can get from dex bonus w/ medium armor is +2 (unless you take a feat, medium armor mastery - and it's probably not worth it).

With lore bard which spells will you steal? Fireball? Spirit Guardians? Some sort of big heal like healing spirit (or the similar lvl 3 Pal one?)? Revivify? Counterspell? It's hard to pick; you only get 2.

Another option, if DM will let you make a change, is to go Sorlock, which is vastly more powerful. You'd lose your skills you get from bard, so you'd need your partner to handle those - if he/she can't and skills and social abilities are important, maybe keep bard.

But sorlock can do some social stuff - persuasion and other cha based skills - very well, too, just not as well.

Hexblade 2 divine soul sorcerer x means you can quicken cast Eldritch Blast in tough fights. EB is already good: 1d10 + 1d6 (hex) + 4 or +5 from agonizing blast, depending on how high cha is. That's an average of 13 or 14 a hit - at lvl 4 that's 26 or 28 damage a turn if both hit - but - if you quicken using metamagic (from sorc) you can double that and do 52 or 56 - you're shooting 5 EB's in one turn if you quicken, like on a boss fight.

And you have access to cleric spells on top of sorc spells. So you can take healing word, spirit guardians, aid, lesser restoration, bless - and you can pick sorc spells - like fireball, hypnotic pattern, invis, misty step, absorb elements, polymorph, dimension door. You can't pick all those, but you can take most of that list or choose what you'd like.