I am about to get access to 5th level spells for my Fiend Chainlock and I was thinking about replacing Vampiric Touch (VT) with Enervation as I do not see a point in keeping VT since Enervation is just better on so many levels. Mind you I do not use VT too often as I try saving spell slots for something more useful and life drain is not that great, but I picked it early on just to have a melee spell in case an enemy is engaging me and I do not want to provoke an opportunity attack nor cast a range spell with disadvantage but still want to deal decent damage. This would not be a problem with Enervation (as it is a spell save) but I can also cast it from up to 60 ft. and on successful save I deal at least some damage (unlike VT). Thanks for your opinions!
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Warlock in WoW, warlock in D&D, warlock everywhere.
One key difference between enervation and vampiric touch is that vampiric touch only ends if you break concentration; enervation also ends if your enemy succeeds on the first save, or if they go out of range or get behind total cover, or if you want to do anything else with your action.
Otherwise they do pretty much exactly the same damage and healing (when cast at the same level), but the advantages of enervation are range and potentially automatic damage on later turns (for the cost of an action) whereas vampiric touch you need to be up close and you need to hit every round to use it every round.
I guess it will partly depend on your DM; if they're prone to having enemies use cover then that might be the biggest problem you're likely to face?
Overall I do think enervation is slightly better, especially thanks to its range and the automatic damage in later rounds, you just need to take care to avoid having it interrupted, and hope the enemy fails its first save (ideally you will combo it with another spell or party member who can apply a penalty).
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Hi everyone,
I am about to get access to 5th level spells for my Fiend Chainlock and I was thinking about replacing Vampiric Touch (VT) with Enervation as I do not see a point in keeping VT since Enervation is just better on so many levels. Mind you I do not use VT too often as I try saving spell slots for something more useful and life drain is not that great, but I picked it early on just to have a melee spell in case an enemy is engaging me and I do not want to provoke an opportunity attack nor cast a range spell with disadvantage but still want to deal decent damage. This would not be a problem with Enervation (as it is a spell save) but I can also cast it from up to 60 ft. and on successful save I deal at least some damage (unlike VT). Thanks for your opinions!
Warlock in WoW, warlock in D&D, warlock everywhere.
One key difference between enervation and vampiric touch is that vampiric touch only ends if you break concentration; enervation also ends if your enemy succeeds on the first save, or if they go out of range or get behind total cover, or if you want to do anything else with your action.
Otherwise they do pretty much exactly the same damage and healing (when cast at the same level), but the advantages of enervation are range and potentially automatic damage on later turns (for the cost of an action) whereas vampiric touch you need to be up close and you need to hit every round to use it every round.
I guess it will partly depend on your DM; if they're prone to having enemies use cover then that might be the biggest problem you're likely to face?
Overall I do think enervation is slightly better, especially thanks to its range and the automatic damage in later rounds, you just need to take care to avoid having it interrupted, and hope the enemy fails its first save (ideally you will combo it with another spell or party member who can apply a penalty).
Former D&D Beyond Customer of six years: With the axing of piecemeal purchasing, lack of meaningful development, and toxic moderation the site isn't worth paying for anymore. I remain a free user only until my groups are done migrating from DDB, and if necessary D&D, after which I'm done. There are better systems owned by better companies out there.
I have unsubscribed from all topics and will not reply to messages. My homebrew is now 100% unsupported.
Very true, thanks for the opinion!
Warlock in WoW, warlock in D&D, warlock everywhere.