The character concept is as old as time, you've seen Game of Thrones, or Vikings or The Last Kingdom and many many other media depicting the Warrior wading into combat with 1 sword in his hand and either a shield or no shield deep in the fray hacking left and right, slaying all enemies around him. Then just add magic to his "Off-hand", like a Jedi or Sith, as said Warrior is hacking and slashing and gaining glory for valhalla or whatever, an enemy charges toward him and...he blasts him in the face with a fireball (like Endeavor or Todoroki from My Hero Academina or something).
How good does UA Hexblade + Blade Pact Warlock do this concept?
Final question: Is there any way to access the Hexblade from UA in the "Beyond" Character Builder?
The main strength of a Hexblade in melee is that they, unlike paladins, only need Charisma. (Decent Con and Dex are still nice, though. Ideally, you want 14 Dex to get the most out of your medium armor proficiency.)
An interesting drawback is that they can't use a sword (or shield, like a paladin) as a spellcasting focus without the DM saying they can.
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"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both" -- allegedly Benjamin Franklin
The main strength of a Hexblade in melee is that they, unlike paladins, only need Charisma. (Decent Con and Dex are still nice, though. Ideally, you want 14 Dex to get the most out of your medium armor proficiency.)
An interesting drawback is that they can't use a sword (or shield, like a paladin) as a spellcasting focus without the DM saying they can.
The highlighted part is the main draw, for me, to this subclass.
My favorite gish build, the Sorcadin (Paladin + Sorcerer), is pretty MAD. Luckily you'd have access to Half Elf to get the ability scores you need plus a bunch of other nice goodies like Darkvision, languages, skills, and resilience to a few spells. I swear, they made Half Elf almost too good.
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So it makes for a functional and useful gish with plenty of sword AND sorcery? Perhaps dip into that young Sorcerer pool for some Sorcery Points Quick Cast bonus action sweetness if spamming Green Flame Blade cantrip for at will melee damage + a cool blaster spell on top of that? Or is it the other way around...cast a spell then you can bonus action a cantrip? Either way the point is sword + magic maybe even in 1 turn - Hexblade does this right and proper?
Hexblade is fine, but it depends on what you are trying to do. If you want a min max gish there are better options if you ask me. (Paladins, EKs & StoneSorc come to mind) I love warlocks, but bladelocks just lack something right now and I personally think fiend is a bit better for bladelocks. There are pros and cons to both, but the main draw to the fiend is survivability with later levels.
To answer your question, you have to check out the spells. As a hexblade you get access to some pretty great paladin weapon spells like wrathful, branding and staggering smite as well as magic weapon. These join hex in the list of bonus action concentration spells that you want to choose from. None of the cantrips are bonus actions as far as I can see, so those will be most useful at level 1-4. Taking a dip into sorc is definitely an option, but I would choose another class to multiclass into for better bonus', like fighter. A 2 level dip into fighter gets you second wind, action surge and fighting styles.
In the end I think bladelock needs a revision and personally I have always thought that Thirsting Blade, Voice of the Chain Master and Tome of Ancient Secrets should have been baked into their respective pacts. I hate the fact hat Hexblade exists, because it feels like a band-aid patron to fix bladelocks. That's just my two copper. Make no mistake I actually love the theme and imagery of a hexblade.
The main strength of a Hexblade in melee is that they, unlike paladins, only need Charisma. (Decent Con and Dex are still nice, though. Ideally, you want 14 Dex to get the most out of your medium armor proficiency.)
An interesting drawback is that they can't use a sword (or shield, like a paladin) as a spellcasting focus without the DM saying they can.
In the Revised UA Improved Pact Weapon allows a Hexblade patron warlock with Pact of the Blade to use their summoned weapon as a spell casting focus. A warlock doesn't get the pact boon until level 3 so it's probably a good idea to ask the DM to allow a level 1 Hexblade patron warlock to use the sword as a spell casting focus. I agree its a weird oversight for a caster subclass designed to use a sword.
The main strength of a Hexblade in melee is that they, unlike paladins, only need Charisma. (Decent Con and Dex are still nice, though. Ideally, you want 14 Dex to get the most out of your medium armor proficiency.)
An interesting drawback is that they can't use a sword (or shield, like a paladin) as a spellcasting focus without the DM saying they can.
In the Revised UA Improved Pact Weapon allows a Hexblade patron warlock with Pact of the Blade to use their summoned weapon as a spell casting focus. A warlock doesn't get the pact boon until level 3 so it's probably a good idea to ask the DM to allow a level 1 Hexblade patron warlock to use the sword as a spell casting focus. I agree its a weird oversight for a caster subclass designed to use a sword.
The character concept is as old as time, you've seen Game of Thrones, or Vikings or The Last Kingdom and many many other media depicting the Warrior wading into combat with 1 sword in his hand and either a shield or no shield deep in the fray hacking left and right, slaying all enemies around him. Then just add magic to his "Off-hand", like a Jedi or Sith, as said Warrior is hacking and slashing and gaining glory for valhalla or whatever, an enemy charges toward him and...he blasts him in the face with a fireball (like Endeavor or Todoroki from My Hero Academina or something).
How good does UA Hexblade + Blade Pact Warlock do this concept?
Final question: Is there any way to access the Hexblade from UA in the "Beyond" Character Builder?
UA hasn't been added yet, but it's coming.
The main strength of a Hexblade in melee is that they, unlike paladins, only need Charisma. (Decent Con and Dex are still nice, though. Ideally, you want 14 Dex to get the most out of your medium armor proficiency.)
An interesting drawback is that they can't use a sword (or shield, like a paladin) as a spellcasting focus without the DM saying they can.
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both" -- allegedly Benjamin Franklin
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So it makes for a functional and useful gish with plenty of sword AND sorcery? Perhaps dip into that young Sorcerer pool for some Sorcery Points Quick Cast bonus action sweetness if spamming Green Flame Blade cantrip for at will melee damage + a cool blaster spell on top of that? Or is it the other way around...cast a spell then you can bonus action a cantrip? Either way the point is sword + magic maybe even in 1 turn - Hexblade does this right and proper?
Hexblade is fine, but it depends on what you are trying to do. If you want a min max gish there are better options if you ask me. (Paladins, EKs & StoneSorc come to mind) I love warlocks, but bladelocks just lack something right now and I personally think fiend is a bit better for bladelocks. There are pros and cons to both, but the main draw to the fiend is survivability with later levels.
To answer your question, you have to check out the spells. As a hexblade you get access to some pretty great paladin weapon spells like wrathful, branding and staggering smite as well as magic weapon. These join hex in the list of bonus action concentration spells that you want to choose from. None of the cantrips are bonus actions as far as I can see, so those will be most useful at level 1-4. Taking a dip into sorc is definitely an option, but I would choose another class to multiclass into for better bonus', like fighter. A 2 level dip into fighter gets you second wind, action surge and fighting styles.
In the end I think bladelock needs a revision and personally I have always thought that Thirsting Blade, Voice of the Chain Master and Tome of Ancient Secrets should have been baked into their respective pacts. I hate the fact hat Hexblade exists, because it feels like a band-aid patron to fix bladelocks. That's just my two copper. Make no mistake I actually love the theme and imagery of a hexblade.
There isn't a revised UA class option for a Hexblade warlock. The Uneartherd Arcana: Revised Class Options has revised warlock Eldritch invocations that can be used by a Hexblade patron warlock. http://dnd.wizards.com/articles/unearthed-arcana/revised-class-options