First 5e character: help me building a gish warlock

[Selion]

Hi there, i'm beginning a PBF 5e campaign shortly.
I'm a veteran pathfinder player but I still never played 5e d&d before, actually yesterday it has been the very first time i opened the player's handbook.
I like the gish approach of the warlock class and I'd like building a Great Old One Pact of the Blade Warlock (probably human).
I already know GOO it's not the better choice for a gish character, but it doesn't matter to me, i just fear that by inexperience i could miss some obvious options that would fit for my character.
DM allowed just the player's handbook (i heard there is a hexblade class, but i suspect it's on another manual).

At level 1st, for example, the first thing that flashed on my eyes is that i can either spend a feat to wear medium armors or ignoring armor competences and picking the mage armor invocation, also a 1 level dip in fighter is possible. Any suggestion?
Thank you

[Ventruenox]

Evil Anagram put out a rather good guide for the 5e Warlock you may want to check out.

GOOlock Blade Pact, PHB only? Oof, without at least access to the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide cantrips of Booming Blade and Green Flame Blade, that'll be a bit rough. The easiest way will be to start with your first level being Fighter for Constitution save proficiency and access to martial weapons and heavy armor.

Go with Variant Human and take Pole Arm Master as your starting feat. When you start Warlock at character level 2, choose Minor Illusion and Eldritch Blast as your cantrips. Hex ought to be one of your spell choices. At Warlock 2, Invocations of Devil's Sight and either Agonizing or Repelling Blast. At Warlock level 3, take Darkness as a spell choice. The Darkness+Devils's Sight combo will carry you through most the campaign in combat, but position yourself carefully on the battlefield - your allies won't be able to see in the dark you create. Hex your enemies, and go to town making attack rolls with advantage. Eldritch blast is your ranged option, decide if damage or forced enemy movement is more valuable to you. Finally, Minor Illusion and your GOOlock telepathy will provide you with a fair bit of utility or RP potential, depending on how you want to play your character.

[Monster Manuel]

Welcome to 5E!

There's not a whole heck of a lot that the GOO patron gives to a gishy, pact-of-the-blade warlock, aside from their 6th level ability to impose disadvantage on an attack as a reaction once per short rest.

A warlock is a bold choice for a first shot at the 5e ruleset, but they can be a lot of fun. You've got a lot of moving parts, with the pact, the patron, the invocations and the spell choices. One thing to keep in mind is that you'll have very few spells known compared to what you're used to from PF. Think of them as a way to augment your primary role, rather than the focus of what you;re doing...the Warlock isn't really a primary caster.

A weakness of the Pact of the Blade boon is that they never get an extra attack. There was an invocation in Xanathar's Guide which addresses that, but otherwise, a melee focused blade pact warlock will lag behind other melee classes which get two attacks per action at or around lvl 5, and since you're PHB only, you'll be stuck without that invocation. One thing you may want to consider is more than just a dip into fighter...if you take the fighter levels all the way to 5th for that free attack. You'll also get medium armor proficiency, so that negates the need for the mage armor invocation (you won't need to worry about weapon proficiency, because you're always proficient in your pact weapon).

One of the ways that the Warlock got around the lack of an extra attack is from the Eldritch Blast cantrip, which gives you extra blasts as you increase in level. But if you're looking to gish, that ranged blast is not going to be terribly helpful to you.

Since you say you're just cracking open the 5E PHB for the first time, there's a lot of stuff that will seem intuitive based on what you know from PF, but have actually changed quite a lot. Are you looking for any high-concept "this is how 5E differs from PF" sort of advice? Or sticking strictly to warlock build advice?

Ultimately, even though most of the terminology is the same, you'll do best if you un-learn everything you know from PF, approach this as a whole new game.

[Addaran]

Welcome to 5E!


A weakness of the Pact of the Blade boon is that they never get an extra attack. There was an invocation in Xanathar's Guide which addresses that, but otherwise, a melee focused blade pact warlock will lag behind other melee classes which get two attacks per action at or around lvl 5, and since you're PHB only, you'll be stuck without that invocation. One thing you may want to consider is more than just a dip into fighter...if you take the fighter levels all the way to 5th for that free attack. You'll also get medium armor proficiency, so that negates the need for the mage armor invocation (you won't need to worry about weapon proficiency, because you're always proficient in your pact weapon).

Thirsting Blade invocation at lvl 5, they don't lag behind other martial. It's pretty much the only reason to take Pact of Blade, else you can do a Tome gish using shillelagh and the SCAG cantrips.

[DarknessEternal]

Mentally prepare yourself for boredom.

Don't be fooled by Warlock's access to spells. You get to cast fewer than 1 spell per encounter. Warlocks are practically Fighters; your turn is always "move up to something, swing sword".

[Wildarm]

As folks have mentioned, without Xanathar's which fixes some of the core issues with melee Warlocks, you're setting yourself up for a pile of no fun by the time you hit level 5.

I'd recommend looking at an Eldritch Knight instead if you're tied to PHB only. They make a decent Gish. Again, access to Booming Blade and Green Flame Blade would make it better, but they can get by just fine without them.

[Monster Manuel]

Thirsting Blade invocation at lvl 5, they don't lag behind other martial. It's pretty much the only reason to take Pact of Blade, else you can do a Tome gish using shillelagh and the SCAG cantrips.

OP said PHB only, so Thirsting Blade is out, as are the SCAG cantrips. This makes pact of the blade tricky.

However, going pact of the tome and shillelagh (pact of the tome lets you pick a number of extra cantrips, Shillelagh is a druid cantrip in 5e) is an interesting choice to give your character some melee power. You still only get the one attack, though, so while you're getting a nice melee attack which uses CHA for attack and damage, you're still only getting to use it once per round.

Another way to look at it might be to consider what it is about Warlcok that appeals to you. You may be better off focusing on another martial class, and doing the dip into a few levels of warlock, rather than the other way around...

[Reevh]

OP said PHB only, so Thirsting Blade is out, as are the SCAG cantrips. This makes pact of the blade tricky.

However, going pact of the tome and shillelagh (pact of the tome lets you pick a number of extra cantrips, Shillelagh is a druid cantrip in 5e) is an interesting choice to give your character some melee power. You still only get the one attack, though, so while you're getting a nice melee attack which uses CHA for attack and damage, you're still only getting to use it once per round.

Another way to look at it might be to consider what it is about Warlcok that appeals to you. You may be better off focusing on another martial class, and doing the dip into a few levels of warlock, rather than the other way around...

Thirsting Blade appears in my PHB...

[Monster Manuel]

Thirsting Blade appears in my PHB...

Well, what do you know...

Yeah, so it is. I was 100% convinced they added it in Xanathar's.

That being the case, yeah, a blade pact Warlock with Thirsting Blade and the Hex spell going will be on par with a ranger or paladin in number of attacks. Still MAD for charisma and strength or dex, but better than what I was thinking...

[Chaos Jackal]

Pact of the Blade is a tough option if you're going PHB only. You're MAD because you're gonna want Str or Dex, at least some Charisma (unless you're planning to completely dump it and use nothing that requires spell attacks or saves, which curbs Eldritch Blast and severely limits your spellcasting) and more Con than the average warlock due to being melee, and there's little synergy with the patrons.

You could start as a fighter for the armor proficiencies and switch to warlock on lv2, if you don't mind delaying your spellcasting. That'll give you medium or heavy armor as well as shields, complimenting your relatively weaker defenses. Keep in mind you'll need at least 13 Cha to multiclass into warlock, if you plan on dumping it (which I wouldn't advise)

You also want the Resilient (Constitution) or War Caster feat. You'll get hit a lot more in the frontlines compared to being in the back. That means plenty more concentration saves, and if you wanna get mileage out of Hex you don't want to be failing those. Polearm Master is also a good feat, especially if you're a Vhuman.

Remember Thirsting Blade as soon as you hit lv5. Without the SCAGtrips, it's pretty much mandatory.

[Sorinth]

I'll second V. Human with PAM. The biggest problem with PHB only is that you are MAD. Because of that I would recommend going with Strength as your primary, and Charisma/Consitution as your secondary. Warlocks have a number of strong buff spells so just stick with those.

Starting as Fighter and then swapping to Warlock is probably optimal, but I don't think it's required.

Offensively you want to use Hex and maximize the number of attacks which is why PAM is a strong choice as it can grant to easily accessible extra attacks. Armor of Agathys is another strong spell, it's ok at level 1 but once you start casting at higher slots it becomes very good. You basically want to be near the frontline without being directly on it.

For invocations grab the Pact of Blade specific ones when available but otherwise grab the most fun RP ones for your character. Personally I always love at will Disguise Self.

[Selion]

Thank you for your help.
According to the previous post and after another look to the manual, i can say there are some major issues with this build, namely:
1) There are not a lot of invocations/spells which synergize with spell-casting. Spell and blade would be two separate strategies, both underwhelming for such a character.
2) Warlock class has a serious lack of spell slots in respect to the usual full caster
3) Such a character is too much MAD to be effective.
Let's figure out if these points would be such a serious hindrance to game mechanics that would make me find another class to build a similar concept (eldritch knight, for example).
I'm ok with lack of power, but i agree that boredom would be a serious issue.

1) There are really few synergies which i found with pact of the blade, but it's still better than nothing:
- thirsting blade (level 5) and lifedrinker (level 12) are both in the player's handbook, it's enough to keep the pace with fighters until level 10, at level 11, well, the fighter is better, but by that time a warlock has level 6 spells (ok, just one)
- entropic ward seems a good defensive-offensive option, which would suggest to focus in AC to proc the advantage in the subsequent attack
- armor of agathys and mirror images are both useful for survivability
- darkness and devil's sight is a viable strategy, a darkness effect on allies in some situations is not that bad considering you get telepathy at will.
2) This doesn't bother me too much, after all, warlock recharges their slot and most abilities after a short rest, furthermore some invocations grant low level spells at will, so i think i could live with that, especially if i can roleplay the need of stopping briefly during adventures in order to recharge my powers
3) This one is what seems to me the real big problem with this build, i have not insight of balance in 5e to understand to what degree this may be an hindrance. I see that in 5e finesse weapon are available without a feat tax, this could help reducing the abilities i need to cha, dex and con. Focusing on dex should help surviving with a light armor, maybe using a feat to gain shield proficiency could bring the AC a little higher.

[Keravath]

The hexblade archetype in Xanathar's was introduced to make the melee blade pact warlock more viable. If your DM would allow it, it would be the best choice.

However it is still doable with the phb but is a bit MAD.

Start variant human for the feat. Vision issues will be compensated for by taking the Devil's Sight invocation at level 2 warlock.

1) Strength build
- start with 16 str and 16 cha, dump dex.
- level 1 fighter - heavy armor and shield - defence fighting style (assuming you want to go with GWM later)
- PAM feat - use quarterstaff of spear
- level 2+ warlock - devils sight + agonizing blast - use eldritch blast for ranged attacks
- boost str first if you plan to focus on melee mostly (then charisma)
- take the Great Weapon Master feat (GWM) if you want to switch to two handed glaive at some point.

2) Dex build
- start with 16 dex and 16 cha - dump strength
- a few choices possible

- level 1 fighter - medium armor and shield - dueling or defensive fighting style - use a rapier and keep a bow handy too

- warlock 1 - take medium armor feat which allows use of medium armor and shields (resilient con is another feat option giving +1 con and proficiency with con saves).

- both raise dex over charisma if you want to focus on weapon use ... however, keep in mind that these builds will never keep up with the damage from agonizing blast. Agonizing blast is d10+charisma mod for each bolt (1 to start, 2 for levels 5-10, 3 bolts level 11-16, 4 bolts level 17+) while your weapon attacks will be d8+dex mod. At level 5 you can get thirsting blade for an extra attack with your pact weapon and at level 12 you can pick up Lifedrinker which will also add your charisma mod to weapon attack damage.


The strength build has the possibility of doing more damage with weapons than with eldritch blast but it will take an additional feat and both builds probably want to max both the attack stat and charisma while having a decent constitution.

-----

Other than that, other archetypes might make a better gish when using just the phb. Eldritch knight comes to mind as a class built around the fighter chassis with some magical abilities.

-----

P.S. From experience, darkness+devils sight can be very effective and it was my primary spell casting option on my melee warlock until level 7. (However, I was playing a hexblade from Xanathar's with access to Shadow of Moil at level 7 (also from Xanathar's)).

[Selion]

The hexblade archetype in Xanathar's was introduced to make the melee blade pact warlock more viable. If your DM would allow it, it would be the best choice.

However it is still doable with the phb but is a bit MAD.

Start variant human for the feat. Vision issues will be compensated for by taking the Devil's Sight invocation at level 2 warlock.

1) Strength build
- start with 16 str and 16 cha, dump dex.
- level 1 fighter - heavy armor and shield - defence fighting style (assuming you want to go with GWM later)
- PAM feat - use quarterstaff of spear
- level 2+ warlock - devils sight + agonizing blast - use eldritch blast for ranged attacks
- boost str first if you plan to focus on melee mostly (then charisma)
- take the Great Weapon Master feat (GWM) if you want to switch to two handed glaive at some point.

2) Dex build
- start with 16 dex and 16 cha - dump strength
- a few choices possible

- level 1 fighter - medium armor and shield - dueling or defensive fighting style - use a rapier and keep a bow handy too

- warlock 1 - take medium armor feat which allows use of medium armor and shields (resilient con is another feat option giving +1 con and proficiency with con saves).

- both raise dex over charisma if you want to focus on weapon use ... however, keep in mind that these builds will never keep up with the damage from agonizing blast. Agonizing blast is d10+charisma mod for each bolt (1 to start, 2 for levels 5-10, 3 bolts level 11-16, 4 bolts level 17+) while your weapon attacks will be d8+dex mod. At level 5 you can get thirsting blade for an extra attack with your pact weapon and at level 12 you can pick up Lifedrinker which will also add your charisma mod to weapon attack damage.


The strength build has the possibility of doing more damage with weapons than with eldritch blast but it will take an additional feat and both builds probably want to max both the attack stat and charisma while having a decent constitution.

-----

Other than that, other archetypes might make a better gish when using just the phb. Eldritch knight comes to mind as a class built around the fighter chassis with some magical abilities.

-----

P.S. From experience, darkness+devils sight can be very effective and it was my primary spell casting option on my melee warlock until level 7. (However, I was playing a hexblade from Xanathar's with access to Shadow of Moil at level 7 (also from Xanathar's)).

These two seem the only viable routes, the lack on damage in respect to eldritch blast hurts. I thought that this could be mitigated later with magic enhancement, I'm still under pathfinder bias, in d&d 5e apparently magic weapons don't improve the damage that much.
"- PAM feat - use quarterstaff of spear"
I just don't understand this, why shouln't I just start with glaive? It appears like i miss something obvious.
Furthermore, in order to wield a shield i'd need the "war caster" feat at level 4, it's still required with a two handed weapon?

By the way, you are right, Eldricht Knight would be far more effective in melee, but high level casting is just alluring.

[RSP]

Warlock’s can be a fantastically fun class to play.

I’d suggest, as others have, starting with either Fighter (1 level) or Paladin (2 levels), then multiclassing in Warlock the rest of the way. The big advantage with either is getting Med and Heavy proficiency and proficiency with shields. Either way, I’d take the Defense fighting style.

Paladin trades an additional level for some standard spell slots and spells known, more flexible healing, and Smites. Particularly on a melee Warlock, having a couple 1st level slots for Shield isn’t a bad idea.

I do disagree with planning on running Hex with PAM: I’d commit to one or the other and stick with it as the BA Attack from PAM competes with the BA required to cast or move Hex. Having played a Pact of Blade Paladin/Warlock in OoTA, and a PoB Hexblade Warlock in SKT, and running Hex on both, I’ve paid close attention to how often I’d actually use that BA Attack and it’s not very often.

Running Hex goes well with Sword and Board, however, and I prefer the extra defense and higher damage. Not taking PAM also frees up a feat for Warcaster or Resilient (Con). Or just have better stats.

The PAM/Darkness combo is popular on these boards, but I’ve never seen it as particularly interesting or effective in real play: Adv is nice, but it’s a very high cost in terms of dedicating a feat, an invocation, your first Action each combat, and a spell slot each combat. So realistically, you only really benefit from all these choices, at most, twice per SR, and even that, that’s at the cost of all your other potential castings. Something like Synaptic Static or Armor of Agathas tend to be very useful as options for spells. Later on, I’d wait until level 11 and the third spell slot, Eldritch Smite is a fun invocation.

Hex, particularly with Warcaster and/or Resilient (Con), runs all day potentially (in my experience, I’ve seen it hold up just fine with one of the feats), through SRs, allowing one to benefit from it while still having all their other slots for utility/AoE.

Just how I generally see it though.

[Sorinth]

These two seem the only viable routes, the lack on damage in respect to eldritch blast hurts. I thought that this could be mitigated later with magic enhancement, I'm still under pathfinder bias, in d&d 5e apparently magic weapons don't improve the damage that much.
"- PAM feat - use quarterstaff of spear"
I just don't understand this, why shouln't I just start with glaive? It appears like i miss something obvious.
Furthermore, in order to wield a shield i'd need the "war caster" feat at level 4, it's still required with a two handed weapon?

By the way, you are right, Eldricht Knight would be far more effective in melee, but high level casting is just alluring.

Quarterstaff and spear can be wielded one-handed so you can up your AC by also using a shield.

As for needing war caster, you can draw or stow your weapon as your one free action. So you can stow your spear cast your spell, and then next turn draw your spear. So you lose out on potential opportunity attacks for 1 round if you cast a spell which isn't that big a deal. Generally you will start the combat with your weapon stowed, cast a spell, draw your weapon and then fight with your weapon the rest of the combat.

Whether you need war caster while wielding two handed weapons is DM dependent.

[Sorinth]

I do disagree with planning on running Hex with PAM: I’d commit to one or the other and stick with it as the BA Attack from PAM competes with the BA required to cast or move Hex. Having played a Pact of Blade Paladin/Warlock in OoTA, and a PoB Hexblade Warlock in SKT, and running Hex on both, I’ve paid close attention to how often I’d actually use that BA Attack and it’s not very often.

It does depend on the type of monsters you are facing. Using your BA to Hex can still be worth it when you know you are going to spend next around attacking that monster. So it works well when fighting monsters with lots of hit points, especially if you are soloing that monster while your party is dealing with other threats and is not worth it against swarms of mooks, or where your party is focus firing on one enemy and then moving on to the next.

Also keep in mind it's not just the BA attack, but the reaction attack when they come into range. How consistently you can get that extra attack will certainly vary so you have to consider the tactics your party/DM uses to determine whether it's worth it.

[RSP]

It does depend on the type of monsters you are facing. Using your BA to Hex can still be worth it when you know you are going to spend next around attacking that monster. So it works well when fighting monsters with lots of hit points, especially if you are soloing that monster while your party is dealing with other threats and is not worth it against swarms of mooks, or where your party is focus firing on one enemy and then moving on to the next.

Also keep in mind it's not just the BA attack, but the reaction attack when they come into range. How consistently you can get that extra attack will certainly vary so you have to consider the tactics your party/DM uses to determine whether it's worth it.

Right but the reason to run Hex is it’s duration: you’re committed to it (otherwise you’re just wasting spell slots). There’s really no reason to be maintaining Concentration on Hex if not using it. Even if you’re just keeping it up for a later boss fight and not during swarms of mooks, that’s a spell slot/Concentration that could have been used on something else.

So again, the competing BA is an issue with running Hex and using PAM. Sure there’s other benefits of PAM, but the BA Attack is the best one and you’re mitigating that, sometimes by 50% or more, by running Hex with it. There’s better spells to use if going PAM.

Plus, you’re risking losing Concentration on those mook fights when you’re not even using it which is just more of a waste (and you’ve already spent a feat on PAM so probably don’t also have Warcaster or Resilient Con, unless just completely neglecting stat increases, which can be fine, but again, seems a lot of an investment for only one BA)

[Sorinth]

Right but the reason to run Hex is it’s duration: you’re committed to it (otherwise you’re just wasting spell slots). There’s really no reason to be maintaining Concentration on Hex if not using it. Even if you’re just keeping it up for a later boss fight and not during swarms of mooks, that’s a spell slot/Concentration that could have been used on something else.

So again, the competing BA is an issue with running Hex and using PAM. Sure there’s other benefits of PAM, but the BA Attack is the best one and you’re mitigating that, sometimes by 50% or more, by running Hex with it. There’s better spells to use if going PAM.

Plus, you’re risking losing Concentration on those mook fights when you’re not even using it which is just more of a waste (and you’ve already spent a feat on PAM so probably don’t also have Warcaster or Resilient Con, unless just completely neglecting stat increases, which can be fine, but again, seems a lot of an investment for only one BA)

The difference in damage between PAM and Hex isn't a huge amount, at low levels the BA will do on average 2 more damage, and that will increase to 4 after ASI increases. So yes with PAM you aren't dependent on Hex, but just because the PAM Warlock doesn't need Hex, it doesn't mean it's not a strong spell a lot of the time.

The risk of losing Concentration applies to all Bladelocks so is irrelevant when discussing PAM.

The PAM bladelock might very well find better uses of his concentration then Hex, and in those situations by all means drop concentration on Hex. But again it's a spell that will often be very useful, when it's not as useful then don't use it. You mentioned you kept track of how often you would've benefited by having a BA attack and said not often, which presumably means most rounds you were using your BA and rarely had turns where your BA wasn't used by doing something. Are you saying that almost every round you were moving Hex to a new target? Because that's not been my experience, which makes me think there was something else competing with your BA.

[ezekielraiden]

Yeah, Hexblade really is...not indispensable, because you can figure out something without it, but it comes really close. It's the reason Warlock 2-3 is an extremely tempting dip for many characters; Warlock 2 gets you some invocations, Warlock 3 gets you Blade pact so you can use 2H weapons. It's very tempting for a Paladin, Sorcerer, or Bard that wants to engage in melee. And the next step before that is SCAG cantrips, as noted, which let you enhance melee attack damage with scaling cantrip damage.

Bluntly, the designers kinda messed up with the Pact of the Blade in PHB1. It's anemic at best if that's the only resource you've got. SCAG and, more importantly, XGtE changed that--the former with cantrip bandaids, the latter with a just-shy-of-explicit "yeah, sorry, we did it wrong, here's a fix." And as we're seeing with the alternate class feature UA, it looks like they still think it needs just a little more (specifically for Str-based bladelocks, 'cause those are the only ones that would want the new invocation that lets you treat a piece of heavy armor as though you were proficient with it).

[RSP]

The risk of losing Concentration applies to all Bladelocks so is irrelevant when discussing PAM.

It is relevant because it’s a second feat on a PAM character and not the first. Put another way, if getting PAM, you might not be able to afford getting a second feat, particularly on a non-Hexblade, which requires high Str/Dex and high Cha, and decent Con. Unless rolling stats, and rolled well, it’s a heavy sacrifice to take two feats on a MAD character that, in most campaigns, may only get one other ASI (and if getting more than one other ASI, then the Bladelock is probably getting to level 12 and Lifedrinker, which again, stresses the need for ASIs on Cha as well as for the attack stat).

Plus the non-PAM Warlock can have Warcaster and/or Resilient four levels sooner than the PAM Warlock.

The fact that the PAM character has to invest a feat in PAM rather than taking Warcaster, Resilient or an ASI is, indeed, a relevant point to the discussion because ASIs are a very limited resource.

The PAM bladelock might very well find better uses of his concentration then Hex, and in those situations by all means drop concentration on Hex. But again it's a spell that will often be very useful, when it's not as useful then don't use it. You mentioned you kept track of how often you would've benefited by having a BA attack and said not often, which presumably means most rounds you were using your BA and rarely had turns where your BA wasn't used by doing something. Are you saying that almost every round you were moving Hex to a new target? Because that's not been my experience, which makes me think there was something else competing with your BA.

My current character uses their BA to move Hex a lot in our SKT campaign. He does have Hexblades Curse, but I actually rarely use it outside of boss fights. Every combat starts with moving/casting Hex and most combats have multiple enemies so that it’s moved at least once during combat.

At one point (I think at level 7), I took Maddening Hex to give myself something else to do when not moving Hex, and to see how often I’d actually be able to use it. Used it 3 times before swapping it out when I next leveled. Maybe you had a different experience with Hex, I’m just stating mine.

Yes, you could ask your group to let you solo enemies to prevent having to move Hex as much, but it’s way more efficient to focus fire in 5e, as 4 injured enemies are more dangerous than 3 uninjured enemies and one dead enemy. So its not really an argument for using Hex and PAM as you’re actually asking your group to be less efficient.

[Selion]

Ok, i made up my mind, i'm well aware that the most effective way to increase weapon damage is going 1 level fighter, but i'll forfeit the DIP to rush to level 3 (PBF are usually slow, so i don't want to sit a year waiting for my build to come on line), furthermore i figure my character as a nimble fighter blessed by obscure powers, so the polearm master tank doesn't fit too much with the concept.

Then... Human, high stats in dex/cha/con (in this order) bonus feat in medium armor proficiency. I'll use eldritch blast until level 3

level 2:
Invocations: agonizing blast, devil's sight
level 3: pact of the blade (rapier)
level 4: either resilient (dex) or war caster (shield master could be a viable option too)
level 5: thirsting blade
level 7: invocation... well, i don't know, either misty vision or eldritch sight, or another free 1st level spell invocation
level 8: stats increase (either dex or cha, probably dex)
level 9: invocation- levitate at will
level 12: lifedrinker

I'll use armor of agathys and hex as main combat strategy, darkness in hard fights and occasionally thematic crowd control spells, like phantasmal force or black tentacles
Out of combat i'll focus in utility spells.
The only thing i don't like with this build is that i'm using a blade and a 1st level concentration spell just to keep with the eldritch blast damage at level 11.
It's not a powerful build, i just hope i won't fall too much behind my comrades, but i'll likely still be the closest thing to a full caster we have in the group, so things hopefully shouldn't go too sour.

[Keravath]

Ok, i made up my mind, i'm well aware that the most effective way to increase weapon damage is going 1 level fighter, but i'll forfeit the DIP to rush to level 3 (PBF are usually slow, so i don't want to sit a year waiting for my build to come on line), furthermore i figure my character as a nimble fighter blessed by obscure powers, so the polearm master tank doesn't fit too much with the concept.

Then... Human, high stats in dex/cha/con (in this order) bonus feat in medium armor proficiency. I'll use eldritch blast until level 3

level 2:
Invocations: agonizing blast, devil's sight
level 3: pact of the blade (rapier)
level 4: either resilient (dex) or war caster (shield master could be a viable option too)
level 5: thirsting blade
level 7: invocation... well, i don't know, either misty vision or eldritch sight, or another free 1st level spell invocation
level 8: stats increase (either dex or cha, probably dex)
level 9: invocation- levitate at will
level 12: lifedrinker

I'll use armor of agathys and hex as main combat strategy, darkness in hard fights and occasionally thematic crowd control spells, like phantasmal force or black tentacles
Out of combat i'll focus in utility spells.
The only thing i don't like with this build is that i'm using a blade and a 1st level concentration spell just to keep with the eldritch blast damage at level 11.
It's not a powerful build, i just hope i won't fall too much behind my comrades, but i'll likely still be the closest thing to a full caster we have in the group, so things hopefully shouldn't go too sour.

Just a quick comment but melee warlocks WILL want to be able to maintain concentration on spells. It may be darkness (for the darkness+devils sight combination) or hex for additional damage or another spell, I would suggest resilient con will be more useful in the long run than resilient dex.

If you are using variant human and point buy you could start with 8 16 13 10 10 16 then use resilient con at level 4 to boost con to 14 and gain proficiency in con saves.

[RSP]

Ok, i made up my mind, i'm well aware that the most effective way to increase weapon damage is going 1 level fighter, but i'll forfeit the DIP to rush to level 3 (PBF are usually slow, so i don't want to sit a year waiting for my build to come on line), furthermore i figure my character as a nimble fighter blessed by obscure powers, so the polearm master tank doesn't fit too much with the concept.

Then... Human, high stats in dex/cha/con (in this order) bonus feat in medium armor proficiency. I'll use eldritch blast until level 3

level 2:
Invocations: agonizing blast, devil's sight
level 3: pact of the blade (rapier)
level 4: either resilient (dex) or war caster (shield master could be a viable option too)
level 5: thirsting blade
level 7: invocation... well, i don't know, either misty vision or eldritch sight, or another free 1st level spell invocation
level 8: stats increase (either dex or cha, probably dex)
level 9: invocation- levitate at will
level 12: lifedrinker

Running Hex as your Conc spell all day is fine, but yeah, you’ll want Resilient Con or Warcaster, otherwise you’re wasting slots recasting it.

Also, Fear is a fantastic spell for a gish. It can trivialize entire combats, and a melee character is usually able to get good positioning to maximize its effect.

I like my Bladelocks running Hex all day, and saving slots for either AoA, Synaptic Static, Fear, or, post level 11, Eldritch Smite. Fear is really the one spell I’m fine dropping Hex for on a regular basis as, if positioning is right, it’s an “I win” button.

[Selion]

Just a quick comment but melee warlocks WILL want to be able to maintain concentration on spells. It may be darkness (for the darkness+devils sight combination) or hex for additional damage or another spell, I would suggest resilient con will be more useful in the long run than resilient dex.

If you are using variant human and point buy you could start with 8 16 13 10 10 16 then use resilient con at level 4 to boost con to 14 and gain proficiency in con saves.

Running Hex as your Conc spell all day is fine, but yeah, you’ll want Resilient Con or Warcaster, otherwise you’re wasting slots recasting it.

Also, Fear is a fantastic spell for a gish. It can trivialize entire combats, and a melee character is usually able to get good positioning to maximize its effect.

I like my Bladelocks running Hex all day, and saving slots for either AoA, Synaptic Static, Fear, or, post level 11, Eldritch Smite. Fear is really the one spell I’m fine dropping Hex for on a regular basis as, if positioning is right, it’s an “I win” button.

Yes, i noticed that resilient should go on constitution myself briefly after posting, i have stats on array 15 14 13 12 10 8, which i'll arrange this way:
8 14 15 13 10 12 -> 8 16 16 13 10 12 at first level
At level 4 i'll raise con to 14 with the resilient feat.
Thank you all, you have been very helpful

[sithlordnergal]

Hi there, i'm beginning a PBF 5e campaign shortly.
I'm a veteran pathfinder player but I still never played 5e d&d before, actually yesterday it has been the very first time i opened the player's handbook.
I like the gish approach of the warlock class and I'd like building a Great Old One Pact of the Blade Warlock (probably human).
I already know GOO it's not the better choice for a gish character, but it doesn't matter to me, i just fear that by inexperience i could miss some obvious options that would fit for my character.
DM allowed just the player's handbook (i heard there is a hexblade class, but i suspect it's on another manual).

At level 1st, for example, the first thing that flashed on my eyes is that i can either spend a feat to wear medium armors or ignoring armor competences and picking the mage armor invocation, also a 1 level dip in fighter is possible. Any suggestion?
Thank you

So...I'm gonna be honest with you, without Hexblade, Pact of the Blade is a trap option. Its really not a good Pact Boon without Hexblade's support. That said, you can still make a GISH Warlock, its just gonna work a bit differently then you'd expect:

- First, I do suggest starting in Fighter, and going at least 2 levels in it. This gives you access to all weapons, all armor, you'll have slightly more HP since you start with a d10 hit dice, and you gain proficiency in Constitution saving throws. This is important because Concentration checks, which happen if you're concentrating on a spell and are hit by an attack, use your Con save

- Next, take the Pole Arm Mastery feat. This is a useful Feat for a variety of reasons, but the big thing you're going to wanna worry about is that you can use the bonus action attack one handed with quarterstaves. Meaning you can use a Quarterstaff and Shield. You'll also eventually want to snag Warcaster.

- Finally, to finish off your Gish, take Pact of the Tome, and take the Shillelagh cantrip from the Druid spell list. It's a bonus action cantrip allows you to turn a quarterstaff or club into a magical weapon that deals 1d8 damage instead of the usual 1d6 or 1d4. It also allows you to use your casting modifier to make attacks with that weapon.

- Last but not least, if you wanna be tanky, make sure you have 15 strength, snag Plate Armor, and a shield.

This really is going to be the best way to make a PHB only Warlock GISH. PAM+Shillelagh+Quarterstaff gives you a quick way to make two attacks per round without wasting your invocations, you only have to worry about raising Charisma, the Fighter levels give you much needed AC, and thanks to using a Quarterstaff you can use a shield. Not to mention if you find any magical staffs, you'll be a shoe in as the best user for them due to using them as your primary weapon.

DO NOTE that several people on this forum find the one handed quarterstaff+PAM combo to be kind of gimicky...so ask your DM if you can use PAM's bonus action attack while wielding the quarterstaff in one hand.

[Klorox]

Mentally prepare yourself for boredom.

Don't be fooled by Warlock's access to spells. You get to cast fewer than 1 spell per encounter. Warlocks are practically Fighters; your turn is always "move up to something, swing sword".

Is that any different than a ranged warlock who just casts EB?

[Man_Over_Game]

I think you'll get more out of the concept going Paladin with Warlock on the side. You'll get all of the tankiness of a melee combatant, with most of the versatility and magic that being a Warlock provides in just its first few levels. 3 Warlock levels is all someone needs to feel like a pumped-up Warlock.

Find a class that fits your playstyle, not your lore. You're going to be spending a lot more time being a melee-magical bruiser than you are praying to Ogdem, The Desolate. Do you think he cares if you kill with lasers or a sword?

[DarknessEternal]

Is that any different than a ranged warlock who just casts EB?

Yes, that was exactly what I said.