Pact Magic and Spells Known

[diplomancer]

So, having played a Warlock for the first time for about 10 months, up to level 8, I've noticed a big difference between the way they should think of their spells and other casters. Here are my thoughts, feel free to comment on them.
1- Concentration Spells: while playing with a regular caster, it's somewhat important to not focus too much on concentration spells. They are very powerful, and thus tempting, but if you get too many of them you'll realize you end up with uncast slots. This does not apply to Warlocks; they get so few slots that they can easily use all of them only for concentration spells. Sure, you should still get a few non-concentration spells, both for out of combat and for those "all-in" combats, but it's ok to have a "concentration-heavy" list.
2- Reaction spells. Not as good as for other casters. As so many players do, I got Counterspell at first opportunity. On my first fight against casters, I realized I couldn't afford to fight a "counterspelling war" with them with my slots, and decided to leave this as a job for wizards, sorcerers, and lore bards. I still kept hellish rebuke, but only for the reason in the next point.
3- Though warlocks are spells known casters, and a brief look at their class table would give someone an impression that they would be as constrained as sorcerers when it comes to spell selection, they really don't feel that way, for three reasons:
3a Mystic Arcanum- they don't count as spells known, so Warlocks (19 spells known) are closer to Bards (22 spells known) than to Sorcerers (15 spells known) in that regard.
3b- Invocations; this comes at a cost, but it's a way to get even more spells
3c- more relevant to Pact Magic; there isn't much need to keep low level spells as a Warlock levels up. My Celestial Warlock 8 knows a bunch of 3rd level spells, some 4th level, zero 2nd level (though I did get Misty Step and Invisibility from other sources), and 2 1st level (Hellish Rebuke and Cure Wounds, though I'm phasing CW out at next opportunity).

Thoughts?

[stoutstien]

I think it's mostly a good thing. If I had it my way I think each Caster would have and a unique spell progression and/or interaction with pacing. They look limited if you only consider spells known but invocations go a long way to address this.
Reaction spells can be expensive for locks but they do tend to scale well so while they are slot drainers they are also impactful.

**If you are using gift of everliving on a celestial lock I would recommend holding on to cure wounds. That's a massive pile of HP you can recover.**

[diplomancer]

I think it's mostly a good thing. If I had it my way I think each Caster would have and a unique spell progression and/or interaction with pacing. They look limited if you only consider spells known but invocations go a long way to address this.
Reaction spells can be expensive for locks but they do tend to scale well so while they are slot drainers they are also impactful.

**If you are using gift of everliving on a celestial lock I would recommend holding on to cure wounds. That's a massive pile of HP you can recover.**

Yeah, at next level (9th), I'm either getting the invocation and keeping the spell or discarding the spell and getting another invocation, haven't decided yet. Though, being a backliner, I rarely need it, and I have the impression that just having it as a spell known incentivizes me to save on spell slots just so I can use it before a short rest to improve party healing, and I'm not sure that's the best strategy for a Warlock, which is why I'm considering giving it up in the first place.

[JellyPooga]

Something else I'd note is the increased value of spells that scale with spell level or decreased value of those that don't. Shield is great at level one as a lvl.1 spell, but when you're using a 5th lvl slot to cast it with no greater benefit than at 1st, it's a waste of resources compared to the potential. Likewise, it's easy to forget that Bane cast by a level 10 Warlock affects a group of 7 and not just 3 or that Moonbeam is dealing 5d10 damage every time it deals damage, should you be able to swing those spells into your list.

tl;dr - Some spells scale better than others and others don't scale at all. Warlocks like spells that scale well (and some might be better than you think).

[diplomancer]

Something else I'd note is the increased value of spells that scale with spell level or decreased value of those that don't. Shield is great at level one as a lvl.1 spell, but when you're using a 5th lvl slot to cast it with no greater benefit than at 1st, it's a waste of resources compared to the potential. Likewise, it's easy to forget that Bane cast by a level 10 Warlock affects a group of 7 and not just 3 or that Moonbeam is dealing 5d10 damage every time it deals damage, should you be able to swing those spells into your list.

tl;dr - Some spells scale better than others and others don't scale at all. Warlocks like spells that scale well (and some might be better than you think).

While this is certainly true, some spells are so good in the right circumstance (cough, cough, Hypnotic Pattern) that you might want to keep it indefinitely even though it doesn't scale at all.

[stoutstien]

Yeah, at next level (9th), I'm either getting the invocation and keeping the spell or discarding the spell and getting another invocation, haven't decided yet. Though, being a backliner, I rarely need it, and I have the impression that just having it as a spell known incentivizes me to save on spell slots just so I can use it before a short rest to improve party healing, and I'm not sure that's the best strategy for a Warlock, which is why I'm considering giving it up in the first place.

It's actually not a bad strategy. Not going to be a plan A or anything but rest casting is the warlocks bread n butter so anytime you can convert unused slots into something positive for the party it's a net gain. Don't think it's so much as an incentive to not use slots as much as a way to prevent wasting them. It allows players who are more conservative with their resources to not feel like they got screwed just because they didn't blow all their short rest slots. it's one of the reasons why I think the class is one of the best designed in the game because it's applicable regardless of what style of resource management that you enjoy. If want to go into every fight and drop the biggest gun you got or expend only what's necessary the lock can works for you.

It is annoying that the iconic warlock spells don't scale..

[Chronos]

Another point to remember is that warlocks have a really great combat cantrip, that gets even better with invocations supporting it, so there's less need to rely on your leveled spells. A wizard should generally be casting leveled spells every round, against everything but trash encounters or mopping up, and so it matters more how good their leveled spells are. But a warlock who uses their action on Eldritch Blast is generally doing just fine.

[diplomancer]

Another point to remember is that warlocks have a really great combat cantrip, that gets even better with invocations supporting it, so there's less need to rely on your leveled spells. A wizard should generally be casting leveled spells every round, against everything but trash encounters or mopping up, and so it matters more how good their leveled spells are. But a warlock who uses their action on Eldritch Blast is generally doing just fine.

True. Usual Warlock tactics are:
Round 1 (or, when possible, pre-cast) Big concentration spell:
Subsequent rounds: Eldritch Blast (or Pact of the Blade)

While Wizard tactics are:
Round 1- similar to Warlock
Rounds 2-3- lower level spells. At deadlier battles, maybe also still powerful spells, but that comes at a cost on balanced adventuring days. On a similar battle, Warlock might also use all his slots if he can.
Subsequent rounds- mopping up, cantrips.

As a simple comparison, it's interesting that Scorching Ray has exactly the same expected damage of a level 5 EB+AB. Scorching Ray is more flexible and consistent, since it's 3 attacks instead of two, but EB can also have some control options if you've invested in them, and its damage type is more reliable.

[Joe the Rat]

Warlocks really do nicely with concentration, since they will typically cast one slot per fight. Might as well make it last. Specific to Celestial, I've gotten DM-aggravation level mileage out of flaming sphere, which does level up in damage.

The one caveat on concentration spells is the Hex Fiend tendencies in optimization. Once you hit 5th level, one casting of hex can last an entire workday (and an entire day at 9th), which can make Warlocks ...hesitant to use other options, particularly in a Rest-poor environment.

[Demonslayer666]

I really liked my warlock but I found myself being way too guarded on using my spell slots because they were so few. I felt like there was almost never a good time to use them all.

[tiornys]

Treantmonk (https://youtu.be/P5I940rMZVo) has a nice take on this; paraphrasing he roughly says that from mid-levels onward Warlocks are going to have more spell preparations than they can possibly cast. In addition to considerations already mentioned in this thread (focus on strong concentration spells and spells that scale well) this means that Warlocks can afford to pick up spells that are highly circumstantial but very powerful when they apply. A great example is Hold Person; I wouldn't even consider this early (too circumstantial, too easy for it to do nothing) but by the time you're upcasting for 3-4 targets it's awesome to have in your back pocket for when you run into humanoids.

[diplomancer]

Treantmonk (https://youtu.be/P5I940rMZVo) has a nice take on this; paraphrasing he roughly says that from mid-levels onward Warlocks are going to have more spell preparations than they can possibly cast. In addition to considerations already mentioned in this thread (focus on strong concentration spells and spells that scale well) this means that Warlocks can afford to pick up spells that are highly circumstantial but very powerful when they apply. A great example is Hold Person; I wouldn't even consider this early (too circumstantial, too easy for it to do nothing) but by the time you're upcasting for 3-4 targets it's awesome to have in your back pocket for when you run into humanoids.

I saw the video when it came out, and it HAS been useful and I agree with a lot of it; still, I do have my disagreements, like his recommendation of Counterspell. Warlocks simply don't get enough slots to make Counterspelling worthwhile, specially if the opponents can counterspell as well (which is somewhat common, at least in my experience.

Are you the only one that can Counterspell in the party? Then consider getting it at some point, maune tier 3; the cost when you cast it is substantial, but you DO have spells known to spare, and it might save your life. But if there's someone else who can do it, let them, they will do it better than you.

[Yora]

One thing I noticed about warlock spells immediately is that even with the very small spell list, there are a number of spells on it that nobody should ever take under any circumstances. Not because they are completely useless, but because learning them means missing out on spells that are just so much better. Crown of madness, illusory script, and hypnotic patern, and enthrall being the most notable. It could be used in some rare circumstances, but what warlock or bard would take it and pay for it by not learning invisibility, hold person, or suggestion instead?
The warlock list of plausible spells is even shorter.

[tiornys]

Crown of madness, illusory script, and hypnotic patern, and enthrall
One of these spells is not like the others. Hypnotic Pattern is one of the strongest spells for its level and well worth taking. But in general I agree, a lot of Warlock spells are pretty weak.

[diplomancer]

One of these spells is not like the others. Hypnotic Pattern is one of the strongest spells for its level and well worth taking. But in general I agree, a lot of Warlock spells are pretty weak.

Sometimes, I think weak spells, Warlock or otherwise, are there not so much for players, but for NPCs. They will have the exact powers they need to have for the roles they will need to play.

Hypnotic Pattern is so good that, as a Warlock, you want to cast it even with a 5th level slot sometimes.

[Telok]

Warlock counterspell comes into its own in a particular scenario: when the warlock has a decent non-spell movement option, there is one main enemy caster who doesn't have or doesn't want to counter-counterspell, the warlock has the three 5th level slots, the party can deal with the rest of the encounter. A rod of the pact keeper is a nice bonus too.

You won't dispell everything, generally letting the bonus action spells through (if you can tell the difference) is safe, and maybe the cantrips if you can guess or be told. But you'll effectively shut down the enemy caster while dealing normal damage. Gives best results if you're facing a force multiplier or cc type caster than a simple nuker.

[Lokishade]

I just love how the Warlock's magic is functionally unlimited in social situations. Dropping two spells per hour at the maximum level you can cast is huge.

And then it only takes an hour to transition into combat, where you have those two spell slots back online to drop powerful concentration spells.

[SharkForce]

One of these spells is not like the others. Hypnotic Pattern is one of the strongest spells for its level and well worth taking. But in general I agree, a lot of Warlock spells are pretty weak.

I would even say illusionary script is fine, for the reason noted above: the warlock has lots of room for stuff that is normally useless, but might suddenly become valuable in the right situation. most of the time you still won't need it, but it isn't like you need to choose between this and something good; this is probably quite far down on your choices. it isn't replacing the number 1 pick... it is replacing what would otherwise be your 15th-least-appealing pick, and frankly, the other options for 15th place aren't all that compelling either.

[RogueJK]

Something else I'd note is the increased value of spells that scale with spell level

Like the Summon X spells, whose abilities like HP, AC, damage, and number of attacks all scale with spell level.


One thing I noticed about warlock spells immediately is that even with the very small spell list, there are a number of spells on it that nobody should ever take under any circumstances ... hypnotic patern

Honestly, this is the first time I've ever seen Hypnotic Pattern listed as a spell that "nobody should ever take under any circumstances". It's generally regarded as one of the better spells, and possible even overpowered, especially when it first comes online at Level 5. You can easily take a big chunk of the enemy forces, or the entire enemy force, out of the fight with one fell swoop, and then focus the entire party to pick them off one at a time with the others still incapacitated and unable to help. It affects a wide area, and unlike most incapacitation/debuff spells it doesn't allow subsequent saving throws. Great stuff. (Sure, it can't be used against enemies immune to Charm, but no spell is good in every single situation.)

It's so good that it doesn't even matter than it doesn't scale with 4th and 5th level slots. Hypnotic Pattern remains quite useful up until high level stuff like Mass Suggestion and Forcecage come online to serve the same purpose in combat. And even then, a Warlock only gets 1/day on those Mystic Arcanum spells, whereas they can cast multiple Hypnotic Patterns each day.

The only other spell that I'd consider dropping Hypnotic Pattern for is Banishment cast from a 5th level slot, which serves a similar purpose of removing 2 enemies from the fight while Concentration is maintained. But even then, Hypnotic Pattern potentially affects more enemies due to its large area of effect, so it's worth keeping both in your back pocket for different situations.


Specific to Celestial, I've gotten DM-aggravation level mileage out of flaming sphere, which does level up in damage.

Flaming Sphere is great on a Celestial Warlock until Wall of Fire comes online, which is even better. Wall of Fire + forced movement from EB with Grasp of Hadar/Repelling Blast = Piles of added damage. Even more so if the party buys in and has additional forced movement capabilities so they can trigger more Wall of Fire damage on their turns.


The one caveat on concentration spells is the Hex Fiend tendencies in optimization. Once you hit 5th level, one casting of hex can last an entire workday (and an entire day at 9th), which can make Warlocks ...hesitant to use other options, particularly in a Rest-poor environment.

The issue with 8 hour/24 hour Hex is that it also uses your Concentration for those 8/24 hours. This conflicts with you being able to use your Concentration on other even better Concentration spells.

There's sometimes going to be a better use for your concentration in some combats than adding +1d6 damage to each hit. Would you rather use your Concentration to add +2d6 to your two EBs on your turn, or use your Concentration and two EB's forced movement to trigger +6d8 Wall of Fire damage on your turn turn and another +6d8 damage on the enemy's turn?

But 8/24 hour "free" Hex (cast at the beginning of the day and then Short Rest to get the slot back) is still a viable and efficient default strategy to have running until you get to those big combats where your Concentration is better served elsewhere. It's not an "all the time to the exclusion of all other Concentration spells" kinda thing. Don't be afraid to drop Concentration on Hex in order to bust out the bigger guns like Summon X, or Wall of Fire, or Hypnotic Pattern, or Banishment, etc.

[Chronos]

The thing to remember with Hex is that it never actually lasts 24 hours, or even 8. Over that kind of timeframes, you're almost certainly either going to drop it to cast some other concentration spell, or get hit hard enough to lose your concentration. If you have any regular spell slots, such as from multiclassing, you want to cast Hex from a first-level slot (and then re-cast it as needed), and save your big slots for things that scale better.

[tiornys]

Hex is also a great candidate for scroll scribing. It doesn't care about your casting stat whatsoever and 25gp for an hour of Hex is cheap.

[BW022]

...
Thoughts?

I've played three since 5e. I'll add...
4. There is a huge benefits in even a level of multi-class to any other spellcaster (bards and sorcerers are obvious, but even a single level of cleric, druid, or wizard works) This is important because you get 2 1st-level slots to power hex or shield, you can up cast your other class spells (say cures) using your warlock slots before your short/long rest.
5. You need a base ability using something other than spells. Eldritch blast is obvious, but so is some weapon option with pact of the blade, or family attacks with chain. Stealth builds, getting heavier armor tanky builds, infiltration builds using invocations to disguise self, etc. I.e. you need to assume you won't be spell casting 90% of the time.
6. Ritual casting (even if you take the feat) can be useful as it reduced the need for taking so many utility spells.
7. Remember you can swap spells out, so things like swapping levitate out for fly makes sense. Likewise, do consider some lower-level spells which are useful, but don't scale, knowing you can swap them out for something else.
8. Not everyone likes playing the class since the spell slots are a really decision maker... will we be resting after this?
9. You can reduce spell uncertainty by investing in some powerful single-use items. If you have a scroll of polymorph or even a few hex scrolls, you might not be as afraid to blow both 5th-level slots.
10. Since you only have a limited number of slots, look for combos with the other party member, invocations, or other abilities. Repelling blast works great if you have a Hunger of Hadar. Likewise, improved invisibility might be a better choice at 4th-level if you are a hexblade with PAM... or you have a rogue in the party.

[thorr-kan]

Interesting thread.

One place where the warlock does *not* shine is if you are the only caster in a group. I found myself in such a situation for an online pickup adventure for Al-Qadim 5E last May. Not knowing what the other players would bring to the table and being level 3, I went for cantrip versatility, skill monkey, and some healing. I ended up with a Celestial Warlock 2/Divine Soul 1. The only other spellcaster ended up being a paladin, so I had to handle pretty much everything.

It worked out rather well. It was a constant balancing act between cantripping, concentration, healing, or going nova. We ended at level 4 (2/2 for my character), and I survived. That included a face-to-face battle with a yuan-ti priestess I managed to kill. I very much enjoyed the character, and I look forward to revisiting him.

[Corran]

1- Concentration Spells: while playing with a regular caster, it's somewhat important to not focus too much on concentration spells. They are very powerful, and thus tempting, but if you get too many of them you'll realize you end up with uncast slots. This does not apply to Warlocks; they get so few slots that they can easily use all of them only for concentration spells. Sure, you should still get a few non-concentration spells, both for out of combat and for those "all-in" combats, but it's ok to have a "concentration-heavy" list.
Semi related to that, limited spell picks and few slots at any given time, means that long duration spells are more important to you than to other casters. Using something like conjure fey or a precasted hex to run through two encounters means you have 3 slots available to use with non concentration spells as needed (eg synaptic static, armor of agathys, dimension door, dispel magic, smites, etc). While a wizard for example might have to think twice before commiting to long duration spells, firstly since they'll most likely have enough slots available to use with non concentration spells, but more importantly since commiting to one concentration spell for multiple fights might easily mean that they are not using options more suited to each encounter individually (since they have a plethora of options to choose from).

[diplomancer]

Semi related to that, limited spell picks and few slots at any given time, means that long duration spells are more important to you than to other casters. Using something like conjure fey or a precasted hex to run through two encounters means you have 3 slots available to use with non concentration spells as needed (eg synaptic static, armor of agathys, dimension door, dispel magic, smites, etc). While a wizard for example might have to think twice before commiting to long duration spells, firstly since they'll most likely have enough slots available to use with non concentration spells, but more importantly since commiting to one concentration spell for multiple fights might easily mean that they are not using options more suited to each encounter individually (since they have a plethora of options to choose from).

Ah, I'd thought of that but forgot to add it. Yes, long duration spells are really gold for Warlocks. It's quite possible that a Summon Fey will last through all the combats between short rests in a dungeon-crawl.

[Corran]

I saw the video when it came out, and it HAS been useful and I agree with a lot of it; still, I do have my disagreements, like his recommendation of Counterspell. Warlocks simply don't get enough slots to make Counterspelling worthwhile, specially if the opponents can counterspell as well (which is somewhat common, at least in my experience.

Are you the only one that can Counterspell in the party? Then consider getting it at some point, maune tier 3; the cost when you cast it is substantial, but you DO have spells known to spare, and it might save your life. But if there's someone else who can do it, let them, they will do it better than you.
Another limiting factor is distance (at least if we are talking about the typical EB canon as opposed to a melee build). EB has a nice range (even in darkness if you have taken devil's sight), and warlock escape and defense options tend to be expenssive. So being close to enemy casters can often be a no go if you are actively trying to keep your distance from the enemy in general. Though at some point (probably at tier 3 or 4) I'd probably pick it up anyway just for cases when lots of things go wrong.


I just love how the Warlock's magic is functionally unlimited in social situations. Dropping two spells per hour at the maximum level you can cast is huge.

And then it only takes an hour to transition into combat, where you have those two spell slots back online to drop powerful concentration spells.
Not limited but really well suited to something like scrying. Heck, you could have your character booking apointments and turn it into a side job.



The only other spell that I'd consider dropping Hypnotic Pattern for is Banishment cast from a 5th level slot, which serves a similar purpose of removing 2 enemies from the fight while Concentration is maintained. But even then, Hypnotic Pattern potentially affects more enemies due to its large area of effect, so it's worth keeping both in your back pocket for different situations.
How about synaptic static? Different effects but both work when you need an AoE. The supposed upgrade is that you get to use synaptic static (AoE) without dropping/commiting concentration.

[RogueJK]

How about synaptic static? Different effects but both work when you need an AoE.

Well, my point with mentioning Banishment is that it's similar enough in effect/purpose to Hypnotic Pattern that one could potentially justify dropping Hypnotic Pattern in favor of it if one were concerned with redundancy in ones spells known.

But that's not the case with Synaptic Static, which has a very different purpose/effect than Hypnotic Pattern, and is not a direct (or even all that similar) replacement for Hypnotic Pattern.

Synaptic Static is a fantastic spell, combining a Fireball-esque AoE blast with a nice debuff rider, and is practically a must-have for a Warlock. But it fills a totally different niche than control spells like Banishment/Hypnotic Pattern.

A Warlock would do well to have both types of spells on tap for different situations (an AOE blast spell like SS and a "Knock a chunk of enemies out of the fight immediately" control spell like HP), not just one or the other.

[tiornys]

Agreed; Synaptic Static is the upgrade to Shatter (and it's a massive upgrade). Even those subclasses that get Fireball/Lightning Bolt should seriously consider swapping to Synaptic Static (or at least adding it); the damage is a little lower but it targets a better save and includes a debuff with the damage.

Banishment is good and worth taking once you have 5th level slots, but it's not really a replacement for Hypnotic Pattern. I think most Warlocks want both. None of the Warlock spells, not even those on the extended lists, do what Hypnotic Pattern does; the closest is Evard's Black Tentacles for Fathomless/GOO but that's more of a Web upgrade than a Hypnotic Pattern upgrade. Or maybe Wall of Stone from Dao Genie.

[diplomancer]

Agreed; Synaptic Static is the upgrade to Shatter (and it's a massive upgrade). Even those subclasses that get Fireball/Lightning Bolt should seriously consider swapping to Synaptic Static (or at least adding it); the damage is a little lower but it targets a better save and includes a debuff with the damage.

Banishment is good and worth taking once you have 5th level slots, but it's not really a replacement for Hypnotic Pattern. I think most Warlocks want both. None of the Warlock spells, not even those on the extended lists, do what Hypnotic Pattern does; the closest is Evard's Black Tentacles for Fathomless/GOO but that's more of a Web upgrade than a Hypnotic Pattern upgrade. Or maybe Wall of Stone from Dao Genie.

If anything, I'd say Banishment and Hypnotic Pattern are reversed; you use Banishment to take the BBEG out of the fight and deal with the minions; you use Hypnotic Pattern if you want to do the opposite. Which tactic is best will depend on different factors (like "does the BBEG have Legendary Resistances?" "do the minions have charm immunity, or are too scattered?")

[Chronos]

Do no warlocks have Fear? That's probably the closest spell to Hypnotic Pattern: Wis save in an area of effect to temporarily take enemies out of the fight. I can certainly see a spells-known caster opting to have only one of those two, because they have so much overlap, and which one any given caster chooses would likely be as much based on thematics as mechanics.

[tiornys]

True, Fear is a generic Warlock spell and I agree that it's similar to Hypnotic Pattern. I'd say it's slightly weaker (smaller AoE, harder to place AoE) but it does hit a different class of enemies (each condition has 23 pages of immune monsters with an online search, combined search has 45 pages so it appears there is surprisingly little overlap in immunities; I've been spot checking and this can't possibly be right; I've already found nearly 3 pages worth of overlap and I've only looked at 4 pages) and might well be worth is maybe worth having alongside Hypnotic Pattern. However, like Hypnotic Pattern, it's a 3rd level spell with no upcasting. I was thinking more along the lines of upgrades and looking at the 4th and 5th level spell selection.

Update: apparently the D&D Beyond monster search using two tags just double lists any monster that fits both tags. Among monsters I can view, I find 58 immune to Frightened but not Charmed, 51 immune to Charmed but not Frightened, and 298 immune to both. Not a big incentive to have both, and Hypnotic Pattern seems to have the edge here too.

[KorvinStarmast]

One thing I noticed about warlock spells immediately is that even with the very small spell list, there are a number of spells on it that nobody should ever take under any circumstances. Not because they are completely useless, but because learning them means missing out on spells that are just so much better. Crown of madness, illusory script, and hypnotic patern, and enthrall being the most notable. It could be used in some rare circumstances, but what warlock or bard would take it and pay for it by not learning invisibility, hold person, or suggestion instead?
The warlock list of plausible spells is even shorter.


Do no warlocks have Fear? I used it from levels 5 through 8 and then swapped something else in at 9. Good tool for breaking up mobs.

[diplomancer]

True, Fear is a generic Warlock spell and I agree that it's similar to Hypnotic Pattern. I'd say it's slightly weaker (smaller AoE, harder to place AoE) but it does hit a different class of enemies (each condition has 23 pages of immune monsters with an online search, combined search has 45 pages so it appears there is surprisingly little overlap in immunities; I've been spot checking and this can't possibly be right; I've already found nearly 3 pages worth of overlap and I've only looked at 4 pages) and might well be worth is maybe worth having alongside Hypnotic Pattern. However, like Hypnotic Pattern, it's a 3rd level spell with no upcasting. I was thinking more along the lines of upgrades and looking at the 4th and 5th level spell selection.

Update: apparently the D&D Beyond monster search using two tags just double lists any monster that fits both tags. Among monsters I can view, I find 58 immune to Frightened but not Charmed, 51 immune to Charmed but not Frightened, and 298 immune to both. Not a big incentive to have both, and Hypnotic Pattern seems to have the edge here too.

I got Fear before Hypnotic Pattern for flavour reasons, but ended up regretting it, specially considering the way the DM decided to run Fear.

[Chronos]

Hypnotic has some advantages over Fear, but Fear also has some advantages over Hypnotic: Enemies can't free each other as easily, you and your allies can still attack the victims without breaking the effect, and even if they do recover, they'll probably still have to spend the same number of rounds getting back into the fight. Overall, though, I'd say that the difference between the two spells are much smaller than the similarities, so I'd still choose based on thematics.