Has anyone here played a single class Hexblade?

[HeartfulSmiler]

I was just wondering...
Has anyone here played a hexblade warlock without multiclassing (preferably past level 5)?

What was your experience like? Pros and cons of sticking to hexblade? Did you wish you multiclassed?

[TyGuy]

Has anyone here played a hexblade warlock without multiclassing (preferably past level 5)?

Just 3-6 before campaign fizzled.

What was your experience like?

Super fun, but I was buffed with a RAF ring of spell storing. Summon shadowspawn was super on theme and fun with our setup.

Pros and cons of sticking to hexblade?

Pro: no delay to features and spells.
Pro: super fun and powerful gish.
Con: burning pact magic slots on low level spells. This isn't unique to hexblade. And I side stepped this with a magic item.
Con: eldritch invocation taxes.

Did you wish you multiclassed?

Not at all. Just wish I got to experience it at fiet levels.

[Frogreaver]

I was just wondering...
Has anyone here played a hexblade warlock without multiclassing (preferably past level 5)?

What was your experience like? Pros and cons of sticking to hexblade? Did you wish you multiclassed?

Yes. Though mine was setup as an EB caster in a 1 shot. We were level 10 I think.

I remember casting hold monster on the bbeg and it failing so many saves as we beat it to a pulp.

Was effective. I would play the character again.

[Zuras]

Had a player take one to level 18. Just killed things right and left with Elven Accuracy. In general, single class works very well, but if you use point buy/standard array, you do end up significantly more fragile in melee than (for example) a Paladin or Fighter. You can do it, but will need spells for support (like Armor of Agathys, etc).

Whether you have fun or not is all about your invocations. They took mask of many faces early on, and had a blast with it.

[Toadkiller]

Playing one now. Level 4 in a slow advancement campaign. Has been fun, didn’t pay the EB tax as I want to be in melee. Fiendish vigor helps, at least so far in our campaign.

Assuming the game goes on I’m planning to stay single class. Though a sorcerer dip is tempting.

[Hael]

Was one of my favorite characters a few years back, and I played the usual Pamlock build! They're not as OP as the multiclass variants, but are still very effective particularly with the darkness/DS combo. Best to play them only if you know there is a good tank/controller in the party, as they won't survive melee for long after tier1. They're really good at dueling and put out very high damage, they are also quite mobile with the darkness aura and are excellent at taking out individually strong monsters.

I likely played suboptimally (focusing more on melee damage than using spells) but its a fun playstyle.

If I had to redo it, i'd probably be a blastlock with pact of the chain, and enjoy the versatility of having lots of different invocations, but it kinda defeats the purpose a bit.

[MoiMagnus]

Played from level 5 to 15.

No multiclass because the GM didn't allowed them, but in exchange I could suggest some homebrew.
In particular, here is the homebrew I got:

The spell learn from Mystic Arcanum are added to the known spells, so you always have "warlock level+1" known spells. You can learn spells from any level like regular full spellcasters (so you can have multiple known level 7 spells if you want). Mystic Arcanum give spell slots instead of those weird "once per long rest" recharge. Those high level spell slots still recharge only at long rests (so your level 5 spell slots recharge at short rest, and your level 6-7-8-9 at long rest). This allows for more flexibility as you can cast low level spells with those high spell slots if you ever need to.

The beginning was great. There was a moment around level 10 where I wished I could multiclass to fighter (paladin would not have been possible anyway with my 8 Strength). Since there was already enough spellcasters in the team (Wizard + Paladin + Arcane Trickster + my Hexblade), I'm pretty sure my character would have been better muticlassed. But the homebrew rule we used meant that at least, this was not a frustrating game and I had plenty of fun.

[Kane0]

I was just wondering...
Has anyone here played a hexblade warlock without multiclassing (preferably past level 5)?

What was your experience like? Pros and cons of sticking to hexblade? Did you wish you multiclassed?

DM'd one levels 5-7, before lockdowns ruined everything. Slow progression game so still had a dozen or so sessions.

He largely played like a mage with hunger of hadar, summon aberration and the polymorph invocation taking up concentration and agonizing blast for the rest. He also had PAM to go with his pact spear though, so I couldnt challenge him like i would with other casters by getting enemies up in his face.
Really didnt see a need to multiclass, he mostly had to find excuses to use hex/curse.

I should note: his spear was +1 that also functioned as a rod of pact keeper, and he traded the spectre for casting arcane eye for fee once per long rest. Wasnt really overpowered compared to the others but he always had something to say and do (experienced player though, i dont put it all on the class)

[Warder]

I was just wondering...
Has anyone here played a hexblade warlock without multiclassing (preferably past level 5)?

What was your experience like? Pros and cons of sticking to hexblade? Did you wish you multiclassed?

I did, from levels 10-13 over maybe 5 months because my old character died. Incredibly strong single-class character for those levels. I used a glaive, Shadow of Moil and elven accuracy and I was just a blender with amazingly good defense from most of the things we faced. I picked Soul Cage for my 6th level Mystic Arcanum and although it's probably not the first choice for most it was incredibly useful in most every situation.

I wouldn't have changed anything and I would certainly not have multiclassed.

[Paulini]

I played through 1 to I think 17 level. Very strong in melee and single target at range. I build Elven Accuracy GWM PAM RES (CON) Hexblade. Very effective in melee DPR using Shadow Of Moil and later Foresight.

However, one think to note is that it didn't feel like caster at all for most part. Only once I had Mystic Arcanums and 4 slots I was feeling finally like a full caster. That's mostly becasue in 9/10 scenarios you want to save your slots for Shadow of Moil (earlier Darkness) to grand yourself your full power. Bonus Action Curse, Action: Shadow of Moil was my 9/10 boss combo. Or just SoM in regular encounters.

I almost never in 1,5 years of campaign used Eldricht Smite becasue I didn't have slots, I was always afraid (and was right many times) that I won't get short rest between this and next encounter and I need slot for Shadow of Moil and we only had 2 short rests during day and on average around 5 encounters in adventuring day so I couldn't allow myself to waste slot on smite.

So at some point I actually removed Smite invocation for something else. It's just not worth not having access to SoM when you need it. And only once I had 3 slots I would even start to think about smiting (which I didn't) but I prefered to save that slot for some utility/AOE spell if necessary (like forver great Hypnotic Pattern).

So till I got Mystic Arcanum and 4 slots I was pretty much just magical Fighter. And while I had fun being main DPS of my party: it wasn't what I was expecting. I wanted to feel more like caster-fighter, not fighter with just 1-2 things to cast. Once I got used to it I had fun but it was also very boring at the last months of campaign. Shadow of Moil, Shadow of Moil, Shadow of Moil. My range casting was reduced mostly to just spamming Agonizing Blast when I couldnt reach in melee.

Also no point to multiclass Hexblade if Hexblade is your main class. Hexblade is great dip for other classes but he is not that good for other classes to dip into him. Better stick to monoclass Hexblade.

So to sum it for you:

1. If you want to play Hexblade as pure melee/range and just buff->attack all the time with either weapon or Agonizing Blast: you will have fun. Hexblade is very balanced martial becasue yu have both powerful melee and one of the best range attacks.

2. If you want to smite: go play Paladin or Paladin-builds. You will never have slots for that and even if you will have that crit-smite, you will regret it next encounter when you can't cast advantage-buff

3. You are very very dependent on short rests. VERY. If your DM don't know how bad warlocks are when they don't have short rests then you will struggle a lot. You never know when short rest will happen, your party may not want to do that, DM may not allow it, story may not allow it. So if you want to cast a lot as warlock and not being stressed out about short rest: play different full-caster

4. If you imagine hexblade as that melee hurling spells from one hand and attacking with other: nope. Not enough slots for that. Go and Play Bladesinger, Hex-Swordbard/Valorbard, Paladin, Ranger, Arcana Cleric etc.

After campaign we had to redesign warlock class totally, giving him spell points and adjusting so he could cast low-level spell without using max slot level which is just stupid. This way, he had better control of his resources and not being forced to never cast lower level spells becasue "it's not worth higher level slot", which was 100% true.

[Warder]

I played through 1 to I think 17 level. Very strong in melee and single target at range. I build Elven Accuracy GWM PAM RES (CON) Hexblade. Very effective in melee DPR using Shadow Of Moil and later Foresight.

However, one think to note is that it didn't feel like caster at all for most part. Only once I had Mystic Arcanums and 4 slots I was feeling finally like a full caster. That's mostly becasue in 9/10 scenarios you want to save your slots for Shadow of Moil (earlier Darkness) to grand yourself your full power. Bonus Action Curse, Action: Shadow of Moil was my 9/10 boss combo. Or just SoM in regular encounters.

I almost never in 1,5 years of campaign used Eldricht Smite becasue I didn't have slots, I was always afraid (and was right many times) that I won't get short rest between this and next encounter and I need slot for Shadow of Moil and we only had 2 short rests during day and on average around 5 encounters in adventuring day so I couldn't allow myself to waste slot on smite.

So at some point I actually removed Smite invocation for something else. It's just not worth not having access to SoM when you need it. And only once I had 3 slots I would even start to think about smiting (which I didn't) but I prefered to save that slot for some utility/AOE spell if necessary (like forver great Hypnotic Pattern).

So till I got Mystic Arcanum and 4 slots I was pretty much just magical Fighter. And while I had fun being main DPS of my party: it wasn't what I was expecting. I wanted to feel more like caster-fighter, not fighter with just 1-2 things to cast. Once I got used to it I had fun but it was also very boring at the last months of campaign. Shadow of Moil, Shadow of Moil, Shadow of Moil. My range casting was reduced mostly to just spamming Agonizing Blast when I couldnt reach in melee.

So to sum it for you:

1. If you want to play Hexblade as pure melee/range and just buff->attack all the time with either weapon or Agonizing Blast: you will have fun. Hexblade is very balanced martial becasue yu have both powerful melee and one of the best range attacks.

2. If you want to smite: go play Paladin or Paladin-builds. You will never have slots for that and even if you will have that crit-smite, you will regret it next encounter when you can't cast advantage-buff

3. You are very very dependent on short rests. VERY. If your DM don't know how bad warlocks are when they don't have short rests then you will struggle a lot. You never know when short rest will happen, your party may not want to do that, DM may not allow it, story may not allow it. So if you want to cast a lot as warlock and not being stressed out about short rest: play different full-caster

4. If you imagine hexblade as that melee hurling spells from one hand and attacking with other: nope. Not enough slots for that. Go and Play Bladesinger, Hex-Swordbard/Valorbard, Paladin, Ranger, Arcana Cleric etc.

After campaign we had to redesign warlock class totally, giving him spell points and adjusting so he could cast low-level spell without using max slot level which is just stupid. This way, he had better control of his resources and not being forced to never cast lower level spells becasue "it's not worth higher level slot", which was 100% true.

I agree with nearly everything here except Eldritch Smite - I have much of the same experience you did, in the sense that it was almost never useful to spend a spell slot on it. But I picked it anyway because when it was useful it was very useful. It wasn't so much "oh crit! I guess I smite!" as it was "this spellcaster's concentration spell needs to go, and it needs to go now" or setting up a guaranteed prone on a high-value target for the rest of the team. Of course, the value of a precious invocation slot on a situationally useful ability can be discussed until the end of time, but for me it was very worthwhile.

[Zuras]

In terms of drawbacks or regrets compared to multi-classing, the biggest one is probably that Shield is much better if you multi-class. As a pure hexblade you will probably drop it off your spells known by 5th level. All the other goodies you get are more than worth it, assuming you are going to make it to level 9.

Being able to cast multiple 5th level spells per short rest is amazing, so I wouldn’t delay it by multi-classing. You end up with a limited number of extremely powerful options, and much less flexibility than a prepared caster, but you have vastly more flexibility in combat, with solid ranged and melee options, than most builds.

You’re still a Warlock, though—in my experience, the limited number of spells available means to enjoy playing the class you need to enjoy using Charisma skills and/or get significant use out of your at-will invocations.

[Keravath]

I have played a hexblade through level 9 - variant human with PAM, GWM and resilient con for ASIs/feats - started with 14 dex/15 con/16 cha.

Uses a glaive in melee, darkness+devils sight upgraded to shadow of moil at level 7 to generate advantage. I didn't go with elven accuracy because I wanted the other ASIs first and wanted GWM before level 12. I took resilient con to round out the con to 16 and improve concentration saves. With only 2 spell slots and being in melee it is critical that they maintain concentration on essential spells as often as possible. I found the character fun to play and they could contribute quite a bit in melee.

Being a melee bladelock using darkness requires quite a few invocations - improved pact weapon, thirsting blade, devils sight - so extra invocations like agonizing blast aren't available until level 7 at the earliest.

However, the character found a ring of spell storing at level 9 so I multi-classed one level of shadow sorcerer so that I could have level 1 spell slots to fill it with. Using the sorcerer slots I could put several shield spells and a hex into the ring over a couple of days. As a side benefit the character also picked up 120' darkvision so I could swap the devils sight invocation if I want to. (A level 9 warlock has only 5th level spell slots so a single casting of anything will fill the ring - though it could have been used to store an extra 5th level spell and would still have been useful).

[RSP]

Played one through SKT (up to level 13).

Was a Pact of Blade. Had a Ring of Spell Storing, which would be some combo of Absorb Elements and Shield.

Was fine doing damage, but the biggest issue was nothing in the toolkit of the class really allows the character to mitigate incoming damage.

Through tier 2, this wasn’t really a problem, they had enough AC and HPs to do the job. But by around level 10/11, the hits/damage coming in just were too much.

Example: a Fire Giant has 2 melee attacks at +11 to hit, for about 28 (6d6 + 7) damage.

At those levels you’re fighting multiple of those during an encounter.

Example: A level 10 Hexblade has about 73 HPs (with Con 14), with about 19 or 20 AC (mine had Adamantine Half Plate and a Sentinel Shiepd, so AC 19 but no crits - which was probably better that +1 HP as a crit from a giant really hurts).

So each FG you’re in melee with has about a 50% chance to hit you, so about 1 hit per FG your dealing with, and you drop after 3 hits (~84 damage).

Yes, you can use AoA, however, that’s not really an effective use of a 5th level slot: it’s actually less effective defensively than a 1st level Shield spell. Either mitigates about one attack’s damage, though Shield is more likely to impact a second or third incoming attack. The AoA’s 25 tHPs is generally consumed in one attack (with still taking a few HPs). Plus, the advantage of AoA is you can precast it, however, that means you’re dedicating that spell slot before seeing the encounter, and the vast majority of the time, a different spell (such as Synaptic Static or Fear) is a much better use of a slot.

The RoSS helped my character stay up with 3-5 castings of Shield per LR (at this table, we see the die roll on the attack so each casting mitigated at least 1 in-coming attack).

I felt like in earlier levels, the Hexblade’s damage output allowed for being on the frontlines to make sense: depending on the enemy, they could even take one out before weathering any hits (a great form of damage mitigation).

However, this just wasn’t the case by tier 3, and the class’s lack of healing and damage mitigation, without anything to boost AC, just left me often pulling back from the front after a few rounds added up (we also had an AG Barb to share frontline duties) and using Repelling Blast/AB Eldritch Blast to better set the battlefield (with Sickening Radiance, when appropriate). The majority of the Invocations I had accumulated for melee became useless.

I think I tried using Armor of Hexes all of three times (all failed to turn the hit into a miss), and found it ineffective. I found I actually rarely had Hexblades Curse up at this point, as Hex was more effective in terms of overall damage and usability: Hex lasts multiple combats and can be applied to multiple enemies, while HC is only usable on one creature per SR. I often found it was better to hold onto HC, waiting for an Alpha threat, rather than applying it to a random giant (or whatever) during an encounter with five of them.

AoH also competed with other Reactions (namely Shield, AEs and Counterspell). Shield was the main competition, which was a guaranteed miss when applicable as opposed to a 50% miss. Shield could also mitigate other attacks, while AoH will only ever possibly affects the one. If in an encounter where you think you’ll need either Counterspell or AEs, saving your reaction for them is better than using it on AoH.

So if in melee with two FGs, and HC is applied to one, and the first FG missed on both attacks, and the other, with HC applied, missed the first attack, but hits on the second, and I have enough HPs that I can take the hit if AoH fails, then yeah, I’d try it, but, overall, AoH was just a non-factor for me.

Shadow of Moil, the other common defense at that level for the Hexblade, isn’t awful, and I used it more in tier 2, but in tier 3 I found dedicating a turn and a spell slot to it, again, just wasn’t worth the cost. Even at DisAdv, enemies in tier 3 still hit often enough, causing Conc checks in addition to the HP attrition issue. Plus, the damage done by SS, adding in the -1d6, and not using Conc, was a better use of a slot; as was using a well placed Fear to take 2 or 3 enemies out of the fight altogether. I kept SoM in my spells known as it was a sure fire way to eliminate line of sight, but I only used it once or twice in tier 3, and then just when facing casters.

By contrast, the Bladesinger gets better AC with Bladesong (and similar AC to the Hexblade when not using it), doesn’t need attunement and a RoSS to use Shield and AES effectively (and has plenty of slots to use it, plus it’s needed less due to better AC, and more effective for that same reason), a better and more reliable defensive ability at level 10, better spell selection for whatever role they’re occupying, and a better feature for using them efficiently (Spellcasting>Pact Magic).

Tier 1 and 2 they’re fun and work fine, but Tier 3 things change for the Hexblade PoB, and other subclass’s/class features would probably be preferable.

Just my findings/opinions, but this is what I found.

[Unoriginal]

I've seen a Livestream for Descent into Avernus where someone played an Hexblade up to lvl 7 or 8.

She was pretty good. At one point (at around lvl 3, I think), she managed to Hold Person the boss and then whack said boss to death with her Greatsword while the rest of the party managed to keep the rest of the bad guys busy elsewhere thanks to the environmental setup.

I remember the player being kind of frustrated at some points, though, due to the character's AC not being the best.

[LordShade]

A lot of posters here have called out the Hexblade's relative squishiness as a front-line damage dealer.

How does this compare to a Str fighter using PAM+GWM? The fighter would have AC 18 or 19 to the Hexblade's AC 17, and ~92 HP at level 11 to the Hexblade's 80. This is assuming neither of the extra ASIs are going to Con, and both classes have Con 14.

[Gryndle]

We have had 2 single classed Hexblades (in different campaigns) and only one Hexblade that multi-classed (battle master fighter).

I played one of the single-class hexblades from 1st level until his sad death at 9th level. The other was played from 1st to 17th, the entirety of that campaign.

The one that multi-classed started as a fighter, and at campaign end was battlemaster 11, hexblade 6 I think.

My personal experience, for what it is or isn't worth, is that a lot of theory-crafted multi-class dips don't happen nearly as much at the table as the forums would make it seem.

[RSP]

A lot of posters here have called out the Hexblade's relative squishiness as a front-line damage dealer.

How does this compare to a Str fighter using PAM+GWM? The fighter would have AC 18 or 19 to the Hexblade's AC 17, and ~92 HP at level 11 to the Hexblade's 80. This is assuming neither of the extra ASIs are going to Con, and both classes have Con 14.

I haven’t seen a straight fighter in tier 3 that wasn’t a ranged SS build. My guess is the PAM GWM fighter will have similar issues as the Hexblade in that they don’t have anything that provides damage mitigation, like Shield or Rage, or enough healing to recover on their own, like a Pally would have with spells and LoH. I imagine they will outclass the Hexblade damage-wise, but I feel at those levels, the hits are such that you need something to compensate.

I’m curious on the thoughts of someone who has played a straight melee fighter at those levels.

[Thunderous Mojo]

A lot of posters here have called out the Hexblade's relative squishiness as a front-line damage dealer.

How does this compare to a Str fighter using PAM+GWM? The fighter would have AC 18 or 19 to the Hexblade's AC 17, and ~92 HP at level 11 to the Hexblade's 80. This is assuming neither of the extra ASIs are going to Con, and both classes have Con 14.

A Rune Knight Fighter knows 4 Runes.

1. The Cloud Rune can be used to negate one hit per Short Rest.
   
2. The Hill Rune grants Resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage for 1 minute.
   
3. The Storm Rune allows you to trade your Reaction to become a master at controlling fate by doling out Advantage/Disadvantage to Attacks, Saving Throws, or Ability Checks.
   
4. The Fourth Rune can be anything else that tickles your fancy.

Giant's Might can be used up to 4 minutes per day, and does 1d8 damage once per turn, assuming a hit.

Without Hexblade's Curse, the Rune Knight is doing greater DPS compared to a Hexblade, and is likely more resilient than a Hexblade, barring the Hexblade using their 3 spell slots for spells like Shadow of a Moil.

(I So want to make a Shadow of Mohel, joke...I atoned yesterday 🃏)

The Rune Knight also has some force protection through Runic Shield.

[DracoKnight]

I was just wondering...
Has anyone here played a hexblade warlock without multiclassing (preferably past level 5)?

What was your experience like? Pros and cons of sticking to hexblade? Did you wish you multiclassed?

I have played multiple single-classed Hexblades. I’ve taken it all the way up to 11, and then either the campaign fizzled out, or I did end up dipping into another class (I’ve only multiclassed the one Hexblade, though). Single-classed, it still makes a solid single-target striker.

If you play into the fantasy and take Pact of the Blade, it’s definitely more fun than playing “optimally” and hanging out in the backline with your higher AC and Eldritch Blast.

I’m very much of the opinion that you don’t need to make *every* optimal choice in your build to make it fun. Like you don’t need to have PAM, GWM, etc to have a good time. I’ve done everything from the PAM/GWM build, to Longsword and a shield, to a weird TWF build. It was fun every time, and I think it makes for a solid arcane Paladin-style character.

There are some drawbacks: you are still a warlock. Spell slots are a precious resource. Do not be too seduced by Eldritch Smite. I wouldn’t really consider taking that invocation before 7th level. And even when you do, you want to save that smite for crits even more than you want to as a Paladin. You don’t otherwise have enough spell slots to make this well and truly worth it.

If you’re going for a Sword and Board build, or the PAM/GWM build, the Spirit Shroud spell is a HUGE boon. For my TWF build, I had a scimitar (eventually a longsword after I took Dual Wielder) as my Pact Weapon, and cast Shadow Blade for my off hand.

Single-classes Hexblade is a lot of fun. It’s worth a shot. The class isn’t just multiclass fodder. It’s the easiest Blade Pact subclass to build, and if you play into that fantasy the experience is rewarding.

[Keravath]

Played one through SKT (up to level 13).

Was a Pact of Blade. Had a Ring of Spell Storing, which would be some combo of Absorb Elements and Shield.

Was fine doing damage, but the biggest issue was nothing in the toolkit of the class really allows the character to mitigate incoming damage.

Through tier 2, this wasn’t really a problem, they had enough AC and HPs to do the job. But by around level 10/11, the hits/damage coming in just were too much.

Example: a Fire Giant has 2 melee attacks at +11 to hit, for about 28 (6d6 + 7) damage.

At those levels you’re fighting multiple of those during an encounter.

Example: A level 10 Hexblade has about 73 HPs (with Con 14), with about 19 or 20 AC (mine had Adamantine Half Plate and a Sentinel Shiepd, so AC 19 but no crits - which was probably better that +1 HP as a crit from a giant really hurts).

So each FG you’re in melee with has about a 50% chance to hit you, so about 1 hit per FG your dealing with, and you drop after 3 hits (~84 damage).

Yes, you can use AoA, however, that’s not really an effective use of a 5th level slot: it’s actually less effective defensively than a 1st level Shield spell. Either mitigates about one attack’s damage, though Shield is more likely to impact a second or third incoming attack. The AoA’s 25 tHPs is generally consumed in one attack (with still taking a few HPs). Plus, the advantage of AoA is you can precast it, however, that means you’re dedicating that spell slot before seeing the encounter, and the vast majority of the time, a different spell (such as Synaptic Static or Fear) is a much better use of a slot.

The RoSS helped my character stay up with 3-5 castings of Shield per LR (at this table, we see the die roll on the attack so each casting mitigated at least 1 in-coming attack).

I felt like in earlier levels, the Hexblade’s damage output allowed for being on the frontlines to make sense: depending on the enemy, they could even take one out before weathering any hits (a great form of damage mitigation).

However, this just wasn’t the case by tier 3, and the class’s lack of healing and damage mitigation, without anything to boost AC, just left me often pulling back from the front after a few rounds added up (we also had an AG Barb to share frontline duties) and using Repelling Blast/AB Eldritch Blast to better set the battlefield (with Sickening Radiance, when appropriate). The majority of the Invocations I had accumulated for melee became useless.

I think I tried using Armor of Hexes all of three times (all failed to turn the hit into a miss), and found it ineffective. I found I actually rarely had Hexblades Curse up at this point, as Hex was more effective in terms of overall damage and usability: Hex lasts multiple combats and can be applied to multiple enemies, while HC is only usable on one creature per SR. I often found it was better to hold onto HC, waiting for an Alpha threat, rather than applying it to a random giant (or whatever) during an encounter with five of them.

AoH also competed with other Reactions (namely Shield, AEs and Counterspell). Shield was the main competition, which was a guaranteed miss when applicable as opposed to a 50% miss. Shield could also mitigate other attacks, while AoH will only ever possibly affects the one. If in an encounter where you think you’ll need either Counterspell or AEs, saving your reaction for them is better than using it on AoH.

So if in melee with two FGs, and HC is applied to one, and the first FG missed on both attacks, and the other, with HC applied, missed the first attack, but hits on the second, and I have enough HPs that I can take the hit if AoH fails, then yeah, I’d try it, but, overall, AoH was just a non-factor for me.

Shadow of Moil, the other common defense at that level for the Hexblade, isn’t awful, and I used it more in tier 2, but in tier 3 I found dedicating a turn and a spell slot to it, again, just wasn’t worth the cost. Even at DisAdv, enemies in tier 3 still hit often enough, causing Conc checks in addition to the HP attrition issue. Plus, the damage done by SS, adding in the -1d6, and not using Conc, was a better use of a slot; as was using a well placed Fear to take 2 or 3 enemies out of the fight altogether. I kept SoM in my spells known as it was a sure fire way to eliminate line of sight, but I only used it once or twice in tier 3, and then just when facing casters.

By contrast, the Bladesinger gets better AC with Bladesong (and similar AC to the Hexblade when not using it), doesn’t need attunement and a RoSS to use Shield and AES effectively (and has plenty of slots to use it, plus it’s needed less due to better AC, and more effective for that same reason), a better and more reliable defensive ability at level 10, better spell selection for whatever role they’re occupying, and a better feature for using them efficiently (Spellcasting>Pact Magic).

Tier 1 and 2 they’re fun and work fine, but Tier 3 things change for the Hexblade PoB, and other subclass’s/class features would probably be preferable.

Just my findings/opinions, but this is what I found.

Three quick comments ...

1) Did you have someone else to fill the ring of spell storing for you? With only 5th level slots, the ring can only hold one shield spell.

2) You mention mitigation but Hexblades have one of the best mitigations in the game but you didn't mention it. Shadow of Moil (or before that Darkness+devils sight) gives all creatures attacking the hexblade disadvantage on the attack rolls since they can't see them while the hexblade has advantage on their attack rolls. This has a major impact on both offense and defence and it continues into tier 3. Between disadvantage to be hit and the shield spell along with an AC in the 20 range (not including other possible magic items) ... a hexblade can be harder to hit than most other characters. Hitting AC 25 with a +11 requires a 14 which is a 35% chance - with disadvantage this drops to about 12% - which is really pretty good mitigation.

3) I've never used AoA - with only 2 spell slots through level 10 there were always better choices.

[Willie the Duck]

I haven’t seen a straight fighter in tier 3 that wasn’t a ranged SS build. My guess is the PAM GWM fighter will have similar issues as the Hexblade in that they don’t have anything that provides damage mitigation, like Shield or Rage, or enough healing to recover on their own, like a Pally would have with spells and LoH. I imagine they will outclass the Hexblade damage-wise, but I feel at those levels, the hits are such that you need something to compensate.

I’m curious on the thoughts of someone who has played a straight melee fighter at those levels.

I've played and DMed melee fighters to high level-both EKs and Battlemasters, in one case alongside a single-class hexblade. They are surprisingly resilient in a way that the 1+1/lvl hit points don't encapsulate. Here are my thoughts:

1. Most PAM builds seem to take defensive fighting style. That, plus wearing plate means they are 2 AC higher than the Hexblade.
2. Nearly all fighters who hit tier 3 have proficiency in both Con and Wis saves, which means a lot.
3. Action Surge means that they shut down a lot of fights quicker, meaning that they are subject to fewer rounds of attacks.
4. Second Wind, although a small effect, adds up (particularly if they take as many short rests as the hexblade would like).
5. They have their archetype abilities. EK is casting shield to beat the band while battlemaster is turning their misses into hits, getting extra attacks on enemies that miss them, tripping enemies for advantage, or scaring them into being ineffective (oh, plus the ~+4-5d10 extra damage/sr, depending on which maneuvers you end up using). It all adds up.
6. Sometimes, yes, it is the 10-12 extra hp, because that's one more round they get to take a swing, or because they get to run away or heal themselves on their own turns while the hexblade is having the guy with healing word get them back up on their feet.

None of which dismisses the frustration one has with playing a fighter at tiers 3&4, in that they are still just being really good at killing things while the casters have been gradually increasing the scope of what they can do, but fighters really are very good at that killing things bit. A hexblade can pretty much keep up ... if and only if they dedicate all their resources to that endeavor.

[Pixel_Kitsune]

I've played a single class Hexblade to level 12 and a MultiClass Hexblade 8/Paladin 6

In general I found the class solid and reliable and fun. The Paladin multiclass the second time around was explicitly me trying to play Tank/support so Paladin was pretty much for LoH, Crown channel divinity and the Aura.

As an aside to see how it plays in general, the second campaign of Critical role has a single class Hexblade go from level 2-level I want to say 12 before it multiclassed due to story reasons.

[Pex]

I did it to try out for Bladelock and found for my personal taste to play a warlock I'd rather stick with Agonizing Eldritch Blast as my goto attack. I was doing that more than attacking with a weapon plus the spells. The armor proficiency helped, and its Curse works with Eldritch Blast, so the subclass itself is fine to be used as a not a Bladelock. Hooray for those who enjoy Bladelock and make it work for them, but I'm glad for the opportunity to have tried it to define my taste. I think Tomelock is my favorite, but I may try Chainlock one day.

[Rynjin]

I did it to try out for Bladelock and found for my personal taste to play a warlock I'd rather stick with Agonizing Eldritch Blast as my goto attack. I was doing that more than attacking with a weapon plus the spells. The armor proficiency helped, and its Curse works with Eldritch Blast, so the subclass itself is fine to be used as a not a Bladelock. Hooray for those who enjoy Bladelock and make it work for them, but I'm glad for the opportunity to have tried it to define my taste. I think Tomelock is my favorite, but I may try Chainlock one day.

Popped in to say exactly this, actually.

I played a Hexblade from levels 3 to 9, as I recall. One of the last 5e characters I played, actually.

It was fun enough. I remember the Hex ability being pretty good the whole time, a bit like Pathfinder Paladin Smite. Just a solid boost to attack/damage, though as I recall without the defensive buff that ability granted.

However, the "blade" part was significantly less exciting than the Hex part just because...Eldritch Blast does more damage. And has more fun toys to play with, like the Invocations that shove people away or tractor beam enemies toward you.

Ultimately I had just as much fun as a standard Bladelock (who just had a knife as a backup weapon in case people got in close) and even more fun as a Booklock, because getting more spells known and rituals is neato burrito.

The Hexblade ultimately kind of suffers because of the class making Eldritch Blast a "choice" instead of a baked in part of the class. If Eldritch Blast was a class feature instead of a cantrip, they could have given Hexblade an ability that removed their ability to Blast at range, but let them attack in melee with it with some other boosts perhaps.

[Lokishade]

I played one up to level 7.
I didn't pay the Eldritch Invocation tax for Eldritch Blast because I wanted to fashion this character as Valkyrie.

The Devil's Sight/Darkness combo lets you have all the advantage in combat when you have your own space (plus it creates a safety bubble for wounded allies to get a breather).

Disguise Self for RP. My character's a Valkyrie, walking amongst mortals and taking the guise of an unassuming nun of Freya.

At third level, I took the Tome pact. It granted me access to Viscious Mockery (reflavored as divine threats or me goading cowards into fighting), Taumaturgy and Druidcraft for that extra RP feeling of a goddess. That means I played a Variant Human with Polearm Master in order to get my two melee attacks. I wanted a lot of things on this character.

At 5th level, I got my wings. I took the Cloak of Flies Eldritch Invocation and fluffed it as sprouting a 15 foot flightless wingspan (I have access to the Fly spell, though), surrounded by a storm of feathers that sting like wasps (because it originally does Poison damage and I don't want/need to affect the mechanics of the game).

At 7th level, and only because I didn't want to drop Disguise self, I got Book of Ancient Secrets. As a Valkyrie, I play her as a priestess, so I needed to pick up Ceremony to believably sent people to Valhalla when setting up funeral pyres. The other ritual I picked was Find Familiar.

So I have a crow that can hide in the trees and give me a line of sight on my enemies. I then call them cowards through Taumaturgy and inflict them constant Psychic damage via Viscious Mockery while they either close the distance or flee. Fun fact, they don't even need to understand the words I say to feel the pain, meaning they could merely hear me let out a cry of rage and uffer damage as though the gods themselves screamed at them.

Usually, the Accursed Specter feature kinda clashes against the concept of the characters people want to make with Hexblade. I mean, this class is supposed to be melee Warlock, not a new flavor of Necromancer. But this is just another tool in the bag to show that my Valkyrie has power over life and death.

Background was Acolyte. It let me start with a religious symbol, which was a Reliquary. A helmet adorned with feathers.

In the right setting, this character is a blast to play. She plays best into intrigue involving churches and war. She can be a Joan of Arc esque type of character.

[RSP]

1) Did you have someone else to fill the ring of spell storing for you? With only 5th level slots, the ring can only hold one shield spell.

Yeah, we had a Wizard in the group who would help with AE and Shield fill ups.

2) You mention mitigation but Hexblades have one of the best mitigations in the game but you didn't mention it. Shadow of Moil…

I did, in fact, discuss SoM in detail in my post. I found in tier 3 it didn’t do enough to mitigate in-coming attacks to be worth the spell slot and action to use.

3) I've never used AoA - with only 2 spell slots through level 10 there were always better choices.

Agreed, except maybe levels 1-4, where it may mitigate more than one incoming attack, and might be enough damage to kill the attacker.

[Hael]

Yea for what its worth, the hexblade in tier3 was very strong (imo it's tier2 where its a little less good relatively speaking b/c of the spell slot issue and the fact that other classes are getting great lvl 6 features).

I didn't have as much issue with AC defense as a PAM user b/c of the aforementioned SoM, which is like a free +4-5 points of AC giving it something like a 22 or 23 effective AC, which is good enough b/c of the free disengages.

I did however have a problem with saves, like most martials and gishes in tier3. Anything that paralyzes or stuns is a major problem as it will drop your primary defense (eg SoM or darkness), and then you are in a world of pain. So eg dex and str saves tend to be really annoying to deal with, although movement conditions aren't as bad b/c you have eldritch blast. This is imo one of the big reasons the monoclass is a little less scary than the MC versions.

[Zuras]

A lot of posters here have called out the Hexblade's relative squishiness as a front-line damage dealer.

How does this compare to a Str fighter using PAM+GWM? The fighter would have AC 18 or 19 to the Hexblade's AC 17, and ~92 HP at level 11 to the Hexblade's 80. This is assuming neither of the extra ASIs are going to Con, and both classes have Con 14.

The Hexblade is a lot squishier in ways that aren’t obvious till you start trying to bring one into melee. As others have pointed out, Fighters have native Con saves, which help against numerous damage dealing effects, and have an additional ASI over the warlock by 11th level as well.

What’s not obvious till you spend a good chunk of a campaign wading into melee with an 8 Strength is that there are a *lot* of Strength saves and checks that get dumped on you in melee that fighters completely ignore that a warlock will be challenged by. At 15th level you will still need to worry about the DC 11 saves to avoid falling prone or being flung away by monsters, beholders will give you regular telekinetic wedgies, and you will be terrified of Shadow Assassins.

You can still do fine in melee if you spend resources on buffs like Armor of Agathys, but you are definitely more fragile than a typical fighter. In my campaign the Hexblade definitely started feeling squishy compared to the Paladin and GWM fighter, and switched to wading into melee only periodically.

[Jerrykhor]

I played one from 7 to 13. It was interesting considering my party is full of people with 2 to 3 level warlock dips, so i could make some comparisons.

Pros:

- Crit harder than the Paladin
- More invocations to choose from
- Tomb of Levistus add about 100+ temp hp at high levels. Its amazing, you could survive some really big damage that would one shot most people.
- Shadow of Moil is very good.

Cons:

- Lots of Invocation tax to make melee work.
- A bit squishy
- Mystic Arcanum is quite limited. None of them facilitate the gish playstyle, and i wish i had Tensers Transformation.