Hexblade/Swashbuckler Build

[Das_Tabby]

Hello again!
For some odd reason I find myself with the 3rd invitation to a table of 5e dnd in short time and for the second time I'm considering a multiclass character.

We'll be doing "Storm King's Thunder".

Afaik the Party will be:
A Pixie Lore Bard
A Kenku Sorcerer or Wizard who wants to be a blastmage
And 2 people who said they wanted to make druids. The only thing I heard from them, is that one of them has a -1 con-modifier. (We got a few new people ... and the dm said he wants to focus more on narrarion and rp, but I'm a bit worried)

I kinda fell in love with the idea of doing a reimagination of my first dnd character ever who was, back in 3.5 days, a terrible mess consisting of equal levels in bard and rogue. And he was a Half-Drow

This time around I want to do better ... But I guess I don't have do optimize him.

So the plan for now is a Half-Drow Hexblade/Swashbuckler with the urchin background (taking Warlock at lvl 1)
for stats we'll use the array (15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8)
After racial adjustments I considered:
Str: 8
Dex: 16
Con: 14
Int: 12
Wis: 10
Cha: 16



I'm set on Rogue and would prefer the Swashbuckler archetype, but when you got better suggestions, I might consider them.
I droped bard for Hexblade as we a) already got a bard and b) I might need that medium armor proficiency and defensive spells as it's looking like I'll be alone at the frontlines and c) booming blade


Right now I'm aiming at a hit-and-run tactic with booming blade, forcing enemies to follow me so booming blades secondary damage triggers. I'm aware of the downside of only getting one chance to apply sneak attack with that tactic.

My questions now are: how should I split my classes? I want to focus on rogue, but I'm unsure how many lvl of warlock I should take? I consider anything from 2-4

Or should I drop Hexblade entirely for either another class that helps me survive (paladin? If so, which vow that also suits Eilistraee?)
or pure rogue for maximum sneak attack and maybe a feat that will grant me booming blade?

So, what are your thoughts?

[Chad.e.clark]

Hello again!
For some odd reason I find myself with the 3rd invitation to a table of 5e dnd in short time and for the second time I'm considering a multiclass character.

We'll be doing "Storm King's Thunder".

Afaik the Party will be:
A Pixie Lore Bard
A Kenku Sorcerer or Wizard who wants to be a blastmage
And 2 people who said they wanted to make druids. The only thing I heard from them, is that one of them has a -1 con-modifier. (We got a few new people ... and the dm said he wants to focus more on narrarion and rp, but I'm a bit worried)

I kinda fell in love with the idea of doing a reimagination of my first dnd character ever who was, back in 3.5 days, a terrible mess consisting of equal levels in bard and rogue. And he was a Half-Drow

This time around I want to do better ... But I guess I don't have do optimize him.

So the plan for now is a Half-Drow Hexblade/Swashbuckler with the urchin background (taking Warlock at lvl 1)
for stats we'll use the array (15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8)
After racial adjustments I considered:
Str: 8
Dex: 16
Con: 14
Int: 12
Wis: 10
Cha: 16



I'm set on Rogue and would prefer the Swashbuckler archetype, but when you got better suggestions, I might consider them.
I droped bard for Hexblade as we a) already got a bard and b) I might need that medium armor proficiency and defensive spells as it's looking like I'll be alone at the frontlines and c) booming blade


Right now I'm aiming at a hit-and-run tactic with booming blade, forcing enemies to follow me so booming blades secondary damage triggers. I'm aware of the downside of only getting one chance to apply sneak attack with that tactic.

My questions now are: how should I split my classes? I want to focus on rogue, but I'm unsure how many lvl of warlock I should take? I consider anything from 2-4

Or should I drop Hexblade entirely for either another class that helps me survive (paladin? If so, which vow that also suits Eilistraee?)
or pure rogue for maximum sneak attack and maybe a feat that will grant me booming blade?

So, what are your thoughts?

First thing I would say is this: a melee rogue/warlock being the only frontline in a group means that group isnt going to have much of a frontline at all. You will lost likely get swarmed, overran, and dropped to 0, or just ignored, since you will only threaten a 3x3 block. At least thats how I see it playing out.

If you stay with Warlock/Rogue, I would go with Arcane Trickster for the Rogue Subclass, if only for the first level spell slots to cast Shield with. If you take Warlock past level 2, it kinda hurts to cast Shield with level 2 or higher Pact Magic slots.

Couple of different trains of thought for progressing from there tho.


Take Warlock to level 3 and grab Tome so you can have Find Familiar for generating Sneak Attacks for yourself via the Help action. However, Sneak Attacks are going to scale slower, and you still have to use a finesse or ranged weapon which kind of takes the luster out of Hexblade, since your Dex and Cha are both 16 to start, so there isn't a huge advantage to be levered from attacking with Cha.

Another thought is to go Hexblade 1or2/ Swords Bard x. Bards are fantastic skillmonkeys, 2nd only to Rogues. But they also get Jack of All Trades. And they are a full caster. If the other Bard in the group is a Lore Bard, I see no reason to not go Swords Bard. I don't see a Lore Bard stepping on a Swords Bard toes or vice versa. Hexblade 2 gives you consistent ranged damage when you need it, and Swords bard can be a more than passable Melee participant with Defensive Flourish.

[Sorinth]

If you are planning medium armor then you don't need the 16 dex so maybe swap it with con.

Theres nothing bad about that multiclass or using BB as your main attack. If one of your druids goes Moon then at least you won't be alone on the front line. How many levels of warlock depends on whether there are any spells or invocations you really want.

I'd be tempted to take the entertainer background if you wanted to emulate your old character without actually taking bard levels. Though expertise in the performance skill can do it as well.

An alternative to consider might be a bladesinger rogue multiclass. It offers similar but different vibes to your old character.

[Innocent_bystan]

Or should I drop Hexblade entirely for either another class that helps me survive (paladin? If so, which vow that also suits Eilistraee?)


Take a look a the "Fiendish Vigor" invocation. It gives 8 temporary hit points whenever you have a couple of rounds with nothing to do.
Assuming 4 encounters per day, that's 32 extra hit points.

And it also allows you to ignore a lot exploration damage like falling (up to 20ft), low damage traps, fire, causal stabs in the back, ...
It's at least equivalent to a +4 bump in constitution at low levels.

And you can swap it out later.

[Bobthewizard]

If you want to play this character, play it, but it's not the best fit for this party. The bard, wizard, and any casting druids could use a real front line. I have enjoyed playing a big, dumb, runs-right-in barbarian in a party of spell casters (I'd go zealot), but paladin or the right fighter could be great here too. Echo and rune are my favorite fighters.

[Sorinth]

If you want to play this character, play it, but it's not the best fit for this party. The bard, wizard, and any casting druids could use a real front line. I have enjoyed playing a big, dumb, runs-right-in barbarian in a party of spell casters (I'd go zealot), but paladin or the right fighter could be great here too. Echo and rune are my favorite fighters.

At least at early levels there isn't really a problem. Starting Hexblade this character can have 18 AC and 11 HP (Swapping the dex and con scores). If as suggested above they grab that 2nd level of warlock and take Fiendish Vigor they have decent AC and a large HP pool that can mostly replenish after every fight.

That's as tanky as any other frontline character.

[Das_Tabby]

If you want to play this character, play it, but it's not the best fit for this party. The bard, wizard, and any casting druids could use a real front line. I have enjoyed playing a big, dumb, runs-right-in barbarian in a party of spell casters (I'd go zealot), but paladin or the right fighter could be great here too. Echo and rune are my favorite fighters.
I know, but I'm already building a tank for one of the other groups (it's a battle master 'cause I love the tome of battle vibes that one gave me)
For some reason I always end up in groups where everyone and they're dog want to play casters (although there are different people in every single one of it), I have considered a paladin or rune knight, because one day I want to try those too, but I couldn't come up with a satisfying character concept for one of those classes yet.
On the other hand I'm at a point where I still want to try new classes and fighting styles, so at least I really want to avoid fighter, even when rk hugely differs from bm


Take a look a the "Fiendish Vigor" invocation. It gives 8 temporary hit points whenever you have a couple of rounds with nothing to do.
Assuming 4 encounters per day, that's 32 extra hit points.

And it also allows you to ignore a lot exploration damage like falling (up to 20ft), low damage traps, fire, causal stabs in the back, ...
It's at least equivalent to a +4 bump in constitution at low levels.

And you can swap it out later.

I'll consider it, thank you!



I'd be tempted to take the entertainer background if you wanted to emulate your old character without actually taking bard levels. Though expertise in the performance skill can do it as well.

An alternative to consider might be a bladesinger rogue multiclass. It offers similar but different vibes to your old character.

I wanted to grab performance once I entered rogue, I chose urchin over entertainer to get those rogue-y skills at lvl 1

I kinda forgot about bladesinger, that might be fiting indeed, but with which rogue subclass? Swashbuckler means I'll be MAD and arcane trickster seems redundant


First thing I would say is this: a melee rogue/warlock being the only frontline in a group means that group isnt going to have much of a frontline at all. You will lost likely get swarmed, overran, and dropped to 0, or just ignored, since you will only threaten a 3x3 block. At least thats how I see it playing out.

Yeah, I'm afraid of that happening, too. But as I mentioned above, I just couldn't come up with a good Idea for a Paladin or something like that, although I know the group could use a tank



Take Warlock to level 3 and grab Tome so you can have Find Familiar for generating Sneak Attacks for yourself via the Help action. However, Sneak Attacks are going to scale slower, and you still have to use a finesse or ranged weapon which kind of takes the luster out of Hexblade, since your Dex and Cha are both 16 to start, so there isn't a huge advantage to be levered from attacking with Cha.

Another thought is to go Hexblade 1or2/ Swords Bard x. Bards are fantastic skillmonkeys, 2nd only to Rogues. But they also get Jack of All Trades. And they are a full caster. If the other Bard in the group is a Lore Bard, I see no reason to not go Swords Bard. I don't see a Lore Bard stepping on a Swords Bard toes or vice versa. Hexblade 2 gives you consistent ranged damage when you need it, and Swords bard can be a more than passable Melee participant with Defensive Flourish.

I actually like the idea of hexblade/swords bard, but as said I was worried because of the other bard. But maybe I'll consider it under this circumstances. Thanks for the suggestion!

[Gignere]

A hex/rogue can have incredible synergies so I wouldn’t worry too much about not contributing. With medium armor and as suggested above go arcane trickster so you get the sweet level 1 slots to cast shield spell and you’ll be plenty tanky.

I’d recommend redo your abilities to have only 14 in dex, 15 con and 17 in cha to start. My recommendation is to beeline warlock to level 5 and grab elven accuracy +1 cha at level 4 before going to rogue. Your next ASI should probably be resilient con.

[Frogreaver]

As the only melee character I'd focus alot more on defense than offense.

I don't see any particularly good level 1 spells for a warlock/rogue - hexblade's do get Shield spell but that requires warcaster to use with a weapon and shield. However, there are a number of useful level 2 spells (Invisibility, Misty Step, Darkness, etc). So I think you need to take warlock at least to level 3. It's up to you if you want to go on to level 4 for the ASI. Level 3 allows you to pick a pact. Chain for the familiar probably makes the most sense.

Suggested Leveling
Level 1 Hexblade -> Level 3 Swashbuckler -> Level 3 Hexblade.

[Konradhelt]

I'm playing one now in tomb of Annihilation, fluffed as a cursed pirate. We are currently lvl9 with me being hex3/Swach6. I'm chain, mostly for the fluff and have picked Luck at lvl1 as human.

I must say it is great fun, but with all tbe goodies rogues gets I'm not getting much value from the Swachbuckler sub. If I were to do it again I would definitely go Arcane trickster instead.

Agree with the rest on Dex14 Con16.

[RogueJK]

For level split, if you're going to be the primary frontliner for the party, I'd recommend just taking Rogue to 4 and being primarily a Hexblade.

For stats I'd start:
Str: 8
Dex: 13+1
Con: 14+2
Int: 12
Wis: 10
Cha: 15+1

For level progression, head to Hexblade 5 right off the bat. The 2nd/3rd level spells, Invocations, and Thirsting Blade's Extra Attack will benefit you at the earlier levels as a frontliner more than some extra Sneak Attack damage or Swashbuckler's free Disengage. (Or, if you want some extra skill utility and a bit of SA damage early on, you can toss in a splash of Rogue by doing something like Warlock 1 or 2 > Rogue 1 > Warlock 5.) After Warlock 5, then take your 3-4 Rogue levels, before going back to Warlock.

And as mentioned, Arcane Trickster would be better than Swashbuckler for this particular build, since as a primary frontliner you wouldn't be able to utilize Swashbuckler's free Disengage very well, and you already have several ways to generate Advantage for Sneak Attack (racial Faerie Fire, Darkness + Devil's Sight, Familiar Help Action, and potentially Shadow Blade). Swashbuckler's Initiative Bonus is nice, but not as nice as having additional Shields to save your butt, and if you go Warlock primary, the higher level Swashbuckler abilities are moot since you're stopping at Rogue 4. Whereas if you go with Arcane Trickster for the Rogue levels, it gets you additional defensive spellcasting slots for Shield/Absorb Elements, plus some additional utility cantrips and spells, and you can snag Find Familiar as your "any school" spell pick for an Owl Familiar to help generate Advantage with its Flyby Help Action.

But also as mentioned, you wouldn't be able to cast Shield without a free hand until Warcaster comes online anyway, so there's no point in heading to Rogue 3 for Arcane Trickster's Shield slots before getting Warcaster anyway. Hence the recommendation to go Hexblade 5 first, picking up Warcaster at Hexblade 4, and only then taking the 4 Rogue levels. Warcaster also gets you Booming Blade Opportunity Attacks, to help bolster your frontlining ability by discouraging enemies from moving past you to squishier party members.

You'll want to decide if you want to go Pact of the Blade for Thirsting Blade's Extra Attack (which is likely the better route), or potentially go with Pact of the Tome/Chain/Talisman and just stick to Booming Blade to bolster your lone attack. Unfortunately, as a frontliner, you won't be able to as easily utilize the traditional "Booming Blade + Disengage" routine for caster Rogues, since you'll need to be able to stand your ground, so you'll be less likely to trigger the rider damage.


At Character Level 9, it'd look something like:
Half-Drow Hexblade Warlock 5/Arcane Trickster Rogue 4, wearing Medium Armor, and wielding a Shield and Rapier (or occasionally Shadow Blade).
Str: 8
Dex: 14
Con: 16
Int: 12
Wis: 10
Cha: 18
ASIs: Warcaster at Warlock 4, +2 CHA at AT 4.
Pact of the Blade
Warlock Invocations: Devil's Sight, Thirsting Blade (swapping out Fiendish Vigor at Warlock 5), and Maddening Hex (or possibly sub in Agonizing/Repelling Blast if you want to also bolster your ranged options too)
Warlock Cantrips: Booming Blade, Eldritch Blast, Minor Illusion
Arcane Trickster Cantrips: Mage Hand, Message, Prestidigitation
Warlock Spells Known: Shield, Hex, Armor of Agathys, Darkness, Shadow Blade, Hypnotic Pattern
Arcane Trickster Spells Known: [Find Familiar], Disguise Self, Silent Image
Pact Slots: 2x 3rd level
AT Slots: 3x 1st level (reserved almost exclusively for Shield)