My first ever d&d character - Fiend Tiefling Tomelock - just hit level 4 and I'm struggling to decide on what feat to take. Initially I was sure I would take "Lucky" to help my character overall, but since I learned scorching ray I am now considering Flames of Phlegethos or Elemental Adept(fire). Already have 20 charisma so no need to take statistics. Since it is my first character please help me decide on what to take.
My first ever d&d character - Fiend Tiefling Tomelock - just hit level 4 and I'm struggling to decide on what feat to take. Initially I was sure I would take "Lucky" to help my character overall, but since I learned scorching ray I am now considering Flames of Phlegethos or Elemental Adept(fire). Already have 20 charisma so no need to take statistics. Since it is my first character please help me decide on what to take.
I have many questions.
Are you that rarest of Warlocks who didn't take the Agonizing Blast Invocation? If you did take it, that's generally more reliable damage than using your only spare spell slot (two if you didn't take Hex for some reason) on Scorching Ray. The two feats you mentioned would be a lot better if you were mixing things up with multiclassing, like Dragon Sorcerer and Scribes Wizard, which would also seriously muck with your spell slots.
What invocations do you have? Agonizing Blast, Devil's Sight, and Book of Ancient Secrets are my personal top 3 for a Tomelock, but you won't get a third until level 5 and might well disagree with me.
Here are the top feats I would recommend, in no particular order:
Inspiring Leader: Excellent on any CHA 20 character.
Metamagic Adept: Twinned Hex is amazing, and Extended Spell is great for many spell options you may consider, to help your limited spell slots do more work. But since you get so few points per day, probably you'll use this at earlier levels to cast Extended Hex, take a long rest, and then have Hex up for another 8 hours, and then start twinning it once its duration is 24 hours so you can have cast it yesterday without the metamagic's help.
Eldritch Adept: It's common and typical for a Warlock to want more invocations than they can have, so this is always a decent choice.
Spell Sniper: This is a Warlock meme for a reason - it's the reason you shouldn't seriously consider the Eldritch Spear invocation.
Lucky.
Fey Touched (Hex, Bless, or Heroism; Tasha's is great at low levels but won't scale, and Warlocks are all about spells that scale).
Resilient (Constitution) or War Caster: War Caster is better at low levels, Resilient (Constitution) at high levels, and I don't know your Constitution stat. The goal here is being good at Concentration Saves, but which feat is better depends on a lot of things - what your cantrips are, what your Con stat is, whether you have the Eldritch Mind invocation, etc etc. Being competent at Con saves is why Warlock/Sorcerer builds generally take their first level in Sorcerer.
I have Agonizing Blast and Book of Ancient Secrets invocations, planning on taking Devil's Sight on 5th level because I get darkness spell for free from racial on 5. I am considering using scorching ray only because my character found Rod of the Pact Keeper +2 so I have aditional spell slot. Also my GM is kind enough in his dungeon design that our party is allowed to at least short rest almost every room (that might change in the future). My Con is 19 because of Amulet of Life so it's not so bad. I will probably take Lucky or Metamagic Adept then.
If I may: Fey touched or shadow touched are worth consideration if you have odd value for CHA. You don't feel it at level 4, but pretty soon your party casters will start having a lot more slots, while you're stuck with 2 per short rest until level 11. Having two additional casting per long rest can be a huge difference. I took the actor feat at level 4 due to odd CHA (we didn't have Tasha at the time) and I really regret it now at level 9.
Plus at levels 5, 7 and 9 you'll be eager to jump into higher level spells. You can do that more easily with a couple additional low spells levels known because you can more aggressively forget other low level spells. Fey touched in particular allows you to take bless (VERY nice party buff), or just to have an additional Hex to use per day (always useful).
It's also quite a bummer to spend a precious spell slot on something like Misty step or Invisibility just for yourself, even if they can give you pretty big advantages. Having a slot-free casting eases your mind a lot.
That said, my DM is stingy with rests, which might not be your case.
If I may: Fey touched or shadow touched are worth consideration if you have odd value for CHA. You don't feel it at level 4, but pretty soon your party casters will start having a lot more slots, while you're stuck with 2 per short rest until level 11. Having two additional casting per long rest can be a huge difference. I took the actor feat at level 4 due to odd CHA (we didn't have Tasha at the time) and I really regret it now at level 9.
Plus at levels 5, 7 and 9 you'll be eager to jump into higher level spells. You can do that more easily with a couple additional low spells levels known because you can more aggressively forget other low level spells. Fey touched in particular allows you to take bless (VERY nice party buff), or just to have an additional Hex to use per day (always useful).
It's also quite a bummer to spend a precious spell slot on something like Misty step or Invisibility just for yourself, even if they can give you pretty big advantages. Having a slot-free casting eases your mind a lot.
That said, my DM is stingy with rests, which might not be your case.
I have Agonizing Blast and Book of Ancient Secrets invocations, planning on taking Devil's Sight on 5th level because I get darkness spell for free from racial on 5. I am considering using scorching ray only because my character found Rod of the Pact Keeper +2 so I have aditional spell slot. Also my GM is kind enough in his dungeon design that our party is allowed to at least short rest almost every room (that might change in the future). My Con is 19 because of Amulet of Life so it's not so bad. I will probably take Lucky or Metamagic Adept then.
Thanks a lot.
Wow, your GM is really generous. I've never gotten 2 rare magic items by level 4 in any campaign ever.
Rod of the Pact Keeper is a total game-changer, and so is the Amulet of Health. If you come back and ask for build advice again, please mention them. :)
I have Agonizing Blast and Book of Ancient Secrets invocations, planning on taking Devil's Sight on 5th level because I get darkness spell for free from racial on 5. I am considering using scorching ray only because my character found Rod of the Pact Keeper +2 so I have aditional spell slot. Also my GM is kind enough in his dungeon design that our party is allowed to at least short rest almost every room (that might change in the future). My Con is 19 because of Amulet of Life so it's not so bad. I will probably take Lucky or Metamagic Adept then.
Thanks a lot.
Wow, your GM is really generous. I've never gotten 2 rare magic items by level 4 in any campaign ever.
Rod of the Pact Keeper is a total game-changer, and so is the Amulet of Health. If you come back and ask for build advice again, please mention them. :)
I got amulet of Health only because I was the only one in the party to loot a group of enemies after a fight while the rest of the party marched forward and Rod of the Pact Keeper I got only because when we were rolling for loot after a dungeon I rolled 100 :D. In the future I will mention such items when asking for advise, I wasn't aware that those items are so powerful for my level.
You've got 20 CHA, but you could still benefit from boosting another stat; CON or DEX are always good to boost (more AC, or more HP, what's not to love).
Resilient (CON) is usually worth it for Warlocks, as you'll mostly being using your slots on concentration spells, when you're not slinging cantrips.
Fey Touched and Shadow Touched can boost your INT or WIS, as well as give you free, once per long rest casting of spells, which is really handy in a pinch.
Magic Initiate, for those sweet bonus cantrips, and a bonus 1st level spell
Eldritch Adept, because what Warlock doesn't want an extra invocation?
Crossbow Expert negates the disadvantage for using your ranged attacks at melee distance
Spell sniper, which doubles your range, ignores half and three-quarters cover, and gets you a bonus attack cantrip
Alert reduces the chances of your squishy warlock from going last, and prevents you from being surprised in combat
Moderately Armored gives yuo medium armor and shields,plus a boost to STR or DEX; extra AC is always welcome
Skill Expert, gives you +1 to a stat of your choice, and gives you proficiency, and expertise
Infernal constitution for the CON bonus, the resistance to cold and poison damage, and advantage against being poisoned
I am not sure how does increasing CON works when it's set to 19 by Amulet of Health (was 16 before wearing the amulet). That beeing said I will get into consideration taking something with DEX since I got only 9 Dex points, thanks for advise!
Metamagic Adept: Twinned Hex is amazing, and Extended Spell is great for many spell options you may consider, to help your limited spell slots do more work. But since you get so few points per day, probably you'll use this at earlier levels to cast Extended Hex, take a long rest, and then have Hex up for another 8 hours, and then start twinning it once its duration is 24 hours so you can have cast it yesterday without the metamagic's help.
Just to point out, Metamagic Adept only gives you 2 sorcery points. So unless you plan on getting sorcery points by multiclassing into sorcerer, Twinned Spell is going to be useless for you after you reach level 5. That is because it costs 1 sorcery point for every level of the spell you are trying to cast. As a warlock you only have 3rd level spell slots and cantrips when you hit 5th level. So you would be unable to twin any spell except cantrips (Minus Eldritch Blast) unless you multiclass or take a feat like Fey Touched to give you a 1 per day, 1st level spell.
As for what you should take now that you are level 4:
Inspiring Leader - This will make your entire party love you as you give them Temp HP every time you short or long rest. And the amount is not insignificant especially as you level up.
Eldritch Adept - This is always nice because of the increased invocations. But unless you have a plan for a bunch invocations to allow you to fill a certain roll, then I'd go with something else.
Spell Sniper - great feat for a squishy warlock as it allows you hide far in the back and just snipe everyone without worrying about cover.
Lucky - always a good choice if you're not aiming to build something specific.
War Caster - good feat for concentration spells and for the ability to cast spells as a reaction (though only for AoO)
For more options you'd have to tell me the direction you want to go with your Warlock. What roll are you looking to play as you all level up.
You've got 20 CHA, but you could still benefit from boosting another stat; CON or DEX are always good to boost (more AC, or more HP, what's not to love).
Resilient (CON) is usually worth it for Warlocks, as you'll mostly being using your slots on concentration spells, when you're not slinging cantrips.
Fey Touched and Shadow Touched can boost your INT or WIS, as well as give you free, once per long rest casting of spells, which is really handy in a pinch.
Magic Initiate, for those sweet bonus cantrips, and a bonus 1st level spell
Eldritch Adept, because what Warlock doesn't want an extra invocation?
Crossbow Expert negates the disadvantage for using your ranged attacks at melee distance
Spell sniper, which doubles your range, ignores half and three-quarters cover, and gets you a bonus attack cantrip
Alert reduces the chances of your squishy warlock from going last, and prevents you from being surprised in combat
Moderately Armored gives yuo medium armor and shields,plus a boost to STR or DEX; extra AC is always welcome
Skill Expert, gives you +1 to a stat of your choice, and gives you proficiency, and expertise
Infernal constitution for the CON bonus, the resistance to cold and poison damage, and advantage against being poisoned
I am not sure how does increasing CON works when it's set to 19 by Amulet of Health (was 16 before wearing the amulet). That beeing said I will get into consideration taking something with DEX since I got only 9 Dex points, thanks for advise!
Basically... Anything below 19 is over ridden as is everything above 19 because it's an item giving you a set value. If you have less you can boost it to eventually get yourself to 19 or higher naturally so that you don't need it but you won't notice the increases in the mean time. If your higher for some reason then you shouldn't use items that set values that are lower than what you have, such as having 20 in a stat but using a stat item that does 19. This however is a fairly rare interaction because usually those that have such an item choose to spend their increases elsewhere and rely on the item. and it takes a very specific and usually narrow gap to meet or exceed the item with the normal max being 20 and when people have better they generally wouldn't use the item anyway.
My first ever d&d character - Fiend Tiefling Tomelock - just hit level 4 and I'm struggling to decide on what feat to take. Initially I was sure I would take "Lucky" to help my character overall, but since I learned scorching ray I am now considering Flames of Phlegethos or Elemental Adept(fire). Already have 20 charisma so no need to take statistics. Since it is my first character please help me decide on what to take.
I have many questions.
Here are the top feats I would recommend, in no particular order:
Thank you for answering!
I have Agonizing Blast and Book of Ancient Secrets invocations, planning on taking Devil's Sight on 5th level because I get darkness spell for free from racial on 5. I am considering using scorching ray only because my character found Rod of the Pact Keeper +2 so I have aditional spell slot. Also my GM is kind enough in his dungeon design that our party is allowed to at least short rest almost every room (that might change in the future). My Con is 19 because of Amulet of Life so it's not so bad. I will probably take Lucky or Metamagic Adept then.
Thanks a lot.
The feats you are considering are cool and good choices, as are the ones suggested by quindraco.
I'll second resilient (con) or warcaster, as they are great, if a little boring if you like to use concentration spells.
Skilled and skill expert are also awesome feats.
If I may: Fey touched or shadow touched are worth consideration if you have odd value for CHA. You don't feel it at level 4, but pretty soon your party casters will start having a lot more slots, while you're stuck with 2 per short rest until level 11. Having two additional casting per long rest can be a huge difference. I took the actor feat at level 4 due to odd CHA (we didn't have Tasha at the time) and I really regret it now at level 9.
Plus at levels 5, 7 and 9 you'll be eager to jump into higher level spells. You can do that more easily with a couple additional low spells levels known because you can more aggressively forget other low level spells. Fey touched in particular allows you to take bless (VERY nice party buff), or just to have an additional Hex to use per day (always useful).
It's also quite a bummer to spend a precious spell slot on something like Misty step or Invisibility just for yourself, even if they can give you pretty big advantages. Having a slot-free casting eases your mind a lot.
That said, my DM is stingy with rests, which might not be your case.
They said their charisma was already a 20.
I have a weird sense of humor.
I also make maps.(That's a link)
Wow, your GM is really generous. I've never gotten 2 rare magic items by level 4 in any campaign ever.
Rod of the Pact Keeper is a total game-changer, and so is the Amulet of Health. If you come back and ask for build advice again, please mention them. :)
I got amulet of Health only because I was the only one in the party to loot a group of enemies after a fight while the rest of the party marched forward and Rod of the Pact Keeper I got only because when we were rolling for loot after a dungeon I rolled 100 :D. In the future I will mention such items when asking for advise, I wasn't aware that those items are so powerful for my level.
I am not sure how does increasing CON works when it's set to 19 by Amulet of Health (was 16 before wearing the amulet). That beeing said I will get into consideration taking something with DEX since I got only 9 Dex points, thanks for advise!
Just to point out, Metamagic Adept only gives you 2 sorcery points. So unless you plan on getting sorcery points by multiclassing into sorcerer, Twinned Spell is going to be useless for you after you reach level 5. That is because it costs 1 sorcery point for every level of the spell you are trying to cast. As a warlock you only have 3rd level spell slots and cantrips when you hit 5th level. So you would be unable to twin any spell except cantrips (Minus Eldritch Blast) unless you multiclass or take a feat like Fey Touched to give you a 1 per day, 1st level spell.
As for what you should take now that you are level 4:
For more options you'd have to tell me the direction you want to go with your Warlock. What roll are you looking to play as you all level up.
Basically... Anything below 19 is over ridden as is everything above 19 because it's an item giving you a set value. If you have less you can boost it to eventually get yourself to 19 or higher naturally so that you don't need it but you won't notice the increases in the mean time. If your higher for some reason then you shouldn't use items that set values that are lower than what you have, such as having 20 in a stat but using a stat item that does 19. This however is a fairly rare interaction because usually those that have such an item choose to spend their increases elsewhere and rely on the item. and it takes a very specific and usually narrow gap to meet or exceed the item with the normal max being 20 and when people have better they generally wouldn't use the item anyway.
Ok I like mask of many faces