You probably know what this is about already, but I'll go over it again.
I'm trying to figure out which weapon to use as my Pact Weapon for a Hexblade. It is a Levistus Tiefling (Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes) and I am aiming to go to level 20 as a Warlock. Any suggestions? And could you give me a reason why?
That's the beauty of it all. It can be whatever you need.
Fighting a horde of skeletons? Summon it as a maul to take advantage of their vulnerability to bludgeoning damage. Need reach? Glaive/halberd. Fighting a bunch of goblins? Greatsword. Want to use a shield? Longsword. Fighting underwater? Trident.
Otherwise, if you're asking about what specific magic item you should make as your pact weapon, that's going to depend on what you even come across, and other factors like who needs it most or what hand-me-downs you're getting, etc.
Initially I'd say the double-bladed scimitar. It weaponizes your bonus action for free, and with 2D4 damage on the primary attack and D4 on the secondary it out damages things like longswords. Because you're making it with Pact of the Blade you can use your charisma statistic to fight with it so you don't have to worry about the Elf only feat Revenant Blade.
You have the option of continuing to level 12 with this weapon, maximizing your charisma on the way, maybe taking the Infernal Constitution feat to give resistance to cold and poison damage (and +1 con) or you can take Pole-Arm Master and Great Weapon Master at levels 4 and 8, then bumping charisma at level 12. If you go the second path replace your double-bladed scimitar with a halberd or glaive once you get PAM.
The virtue of the DBS or PAM is that when you start layering on the damage via Hexblade's Curse, Hex or Spirit Shroud, it's multiplied by three attacks instead of two, which provides a roughly 50% increase in damage for free. PAM and GWM make the strongest melee Hexblades.
Your selection of invocations should follow your function, but at level 2 I'd take Agonizing Blast and Mask of Many Faces. Agonizing Blast maximizes the damage from Eldritch Blast for the cost of one invocation, and on demand Disguise Self provides a lot of potential hilarity. At level 5 I'd take Thirsting Blade because two attacks are twice as good as one, and at level 7 I'd take Improved Pact Weapon to make your pact weapons +1 magical weapons. Level 9 Eldritch Mind, to help maintain concentration on your spells like Spirit Shroud, or Eldritch Smite (although most of the time Spirit Shroud is a better use of your spell slots). Level 12 gets Lifedrinker, which is the last damage boost available.
@Matteo2358, The Levistus Tiefling PC might be able to wield a 'Trident' as a 'Pact Weapon', besides it is mechanically possible to wield a 'Warhammer' too.
Don't worry about endgame weapons. There's no way of knowing what your DM will spring on you, though you can always have conversations about what you'd like to see between sessions. What you need to worry about is early game. Don't put the cart before the horse.
As a Hexblade, you'll probably want to take the option for Starting Wealth By Class instead of the usual trappings for your class and background. That will help you get better armor, like a chain shirt or some scale mail depending on your skill proficiencies. You don't want a shield, and you will want a component pouch. The reason for this is your Legacy of Stygia trait. Your spells all have either Somatic or Material Components. And because they're not technically warlock spells for you (despite appearing on the warlock spell list), you cannot use your arcane focus to cast them. That's right, if you want to cast armor of Agathys using your Legacy of Stygia trait then you must actually provide the water. Not even your Improved Pact Weapon eldritch invocation will solve this problem for you. It only applies to warlock spells, and these racial spells are not warlock spells. Nor can you use your spell slots to cast them.
My advice for your starting weapon is to pick something Versatile because you need a free hand to cast spells, either open or by manipulating the contents of your pouch, and can still use two for attacking. You don't need the pouch right away, there are enough spells it's a non-issue, but you will want it by third level. Speaking of third level, your Hex Warrior feature lets you pick a weapon distinct from anything tied to Improved Pact Weapon. This means you can have two weapons key off your Charisma. And if you take the invocation, note that it doesn't stack with weapons that already have a bonus to attack and damage rolls─you always just take the higher bonus. To get the most bang for your buck, you'd want something that doesn't have a bonus. Examples might include a flame tongue, a frost brand, or even a simple weapon of warning.
Banishing Smite, Branding Smite, Cone of Cold, and Phantasmal Killer are all spells which are 5th level or scale up to 5th level; making them excellent choices to have from your expanded spell list. Elemental Weapon can be useful for yourself, but only if you don't have Improved Pact Weapon. You can, however, always take to give to an ally. And it will scale up to +2 to attack and +2d4 elemental (acid, cold, fire, lightning, or thunder) damage. You could have all of these at their full power by 9th level and they'd still only be half of what you can learn by then. Pick whatever else you like to round out your list, but in general you probably want spells that scale up with your slots. That said, avoid Hex unless you plan on sticking to ranged combat with as many attacks as possible.
If you learn Eldritch Smite, save it for critical hits. Maddening Hex isn't a lot of damage, but it could be fun and is a solid use of your bonus action. Thirsting Blade is good at giving you more chances to hit. Eventually, you may pick up War Caster as a feat so you can properly use a shield. But you will still be limited by your racial spells and unable to cast them if you do. And if you have an odd Constitution score, you may wish to look into Infernal Constitution. That said, focus on improving your Charisma first.
P.S.
All of this is rules-as-written. This is the bare minimum you should be able to accomplish. As always, check with your DM to see what house rules, if any, they are implementing. For example, some like to drop the material component cost for racial spells (such as with the Firbolg) and even let characters use their spell slots for them (like with some of the feats introduced in Tasha's Cauldron of Everything).
Others have pointed to the double-bladed scimitar as a possible weapon. This is native to the Eberron setting and is not universally allowed. Again, check with your DM. You can always take another Two-Handed weapon, like a greatsword, should you take Improved Pact Weapon.
With Hexblades, especially after level 12 (lifedrinker), remember additional hits means adding your modifier more. Early it will be +5 and maybe a bit more with Hexblade's Curse. But by level 12 it's +10. If your campaign goes to level 14, you can move your Hexblade's curse multiple times upon the target's death. So a smaller damage die, that maybe means on average 1-2 points less per attack is an ok trade off for a weapon that allows you to use your bonus action to hit.
With that being said...
Levels 1-2, probably a long sword, since you cannot have the two handed property. 1d8 id the best you can hope for until you take Pact of the Blade
Levels 3-whenever, double bladed scimitar...allows you to weaponize your bonus action immediately, *every turn* with no feat investment. If you are eying different feats and don't want GWM, PAM or Sentinel, then this is your weapon. Even if you do want those feats, it probably makes sense to use this until level 8, assuming you aren't already at 20 CHA by level 4.
If you want to invest in the GWM feat at level 8 or later, switch to a Great Sword or Maul
If you want to also invest in PAM and or Sentinel feats switch to a Glaive or Halberd. This allows you to weaponize your bonus action *and* your reaction.
You probably know what this is about already, but I'll go over it again.
I'm trying to figure out which weapon to use as my Pact Weapon for a Hexblade. It is a Levistus Tiefling (Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes) and I am aiming to go to level 20 as a Warlock. Any suggestions? And could you give me a reason why?
That's the beauty of it all. It can be whatever you need.
Fighting a horde of skeletons? Summon it as a maul to take advantage of their vulnerability to bludgeoning damage. Need reach? Glaive/halberd. Fighting a bunch of goblins? Greatsword. Want to use a shield? Longsword. Fighting underwater? Trident.
Otherwise, if you're asking about what specific magic item you should make as your pact weapon, that's going to depend on what you even come across, and other factors like who needs it most or what hand-me-downs you're getting, etc.
It depends on your build.
Initially I'd say the double-bladed scimitar. It weaponizes your bonus action for free, and with 2D4 damage on the primary attack and D4 on the secondary it out damages things like longswords. Because you're making it with Pact of the Blade you can use your charisma statistic to fight with it so you don't have to worry about the Elf only feat Revenant Blade.
You have the option of continuing to level 12 with this weapon, maximizing your charisma on the way, maybe taking the Infernal Constitution feat to give resistance to cold and poison damage (and +1 con) or you can take Pole-Arm Master and Great Weapon Master at levels 4 and 8, then bumping charisma at level 12. If you go the second path replace your double-bladed scimitar with a halberd or glaive once you get PAM.
The virtue of the DBS or PAM is that when you start layering on the damage via Hexblade's Curse, Hex or Spirit Shroud, it's multiplied by three attacks instead of two, which provides a roughly 50% increase in damage for free. PAM and GWM make the strongest melee Hexblades.
Your selection of invocations should follow your function, but at level 2 I'd take Agonizing Blast and Mask of Many Faces. Agonizing Blast maximizes the damage from Eldritch Blast for the cost of one invocation, and on demand Disguise Self provides a lot of potential hilarity. At level 5 I'd take Thirsting Blade because two attacks are twice as good as one, and at level 7 I'd take Improved Pact Weapon to make your pact weapons +1 magical weapons. Level 9 Eldritch Mind, to help maintain concentration on your spells like Spirit Shroud, or Eldritch Smite (although most of the time Spirit Shroud is a better use of your spell slots). Level 12 gets Lifedrinker, which is the last damage boost available.
@Matteo2358, The Levistus Tiefling PC might be able to wield a 'Trident' as a 'Pact Weapon', besides it is mechanically possible to wield a 'Warhammer' too.
InkedBee (Undead_Analyst)
Covetous, Dragonish Thoughts - Jenviel Tsumara: Fallen Aasimar- Monk|Crimson Sands of Time - Navarra Iltazyara: Human- Druid/Warlock| Bleak Prospect - Ermasnietsz: Reborn- Clockwork Soul Sorcerer
Don't worry about endgame weapons. There's no way of knowing what your DM will spring on you, though you can always have conversations about what you'd like to see between sessions. What you need to worry about is early game. Don't put the cart before the horse.
As a Hexblade, you'll probably want to take the option for Starting Wealth By Class instead of the usual trappings for your class and background. That will help you get better armor, like a chain shirt or some scale mail depending on your skill proficiencies. You don't want a shield, and you will want a component pouch. The reason for this is your Legacy of Stygia trait. Your spells all have either Somatic or Material Components. And because they're not technically warlock spells for you (despite appearing on the warlock spell list), you cannot use your arcane focus to cast them. That's right, if you want to cast armor of Agathys using your Legacy of Stygia trait then you must actually provide the water. Not even your Improved Pact Weapon eldritch invocation will solve this problem for you. It only applies to warlock spells, and these racial spells are not warlock spells. Nor can you use your spell slots to cast them.
My advice for your starting weapon is to pick something Versatile because you need a free hand to cast spells, either open or by manipulating the contents of your pouch, and can still use two for attacking. You don't need the pouch right away, there are enough spells it's a non-issue, but you will want it by third level. Speaking of third level, your Hex Warrior feature lets you pick a weapon distinct from anything tied to Improved Pact Weapon. This means you can have two weapons key off your Charisma. And if you take the invocation, note that it doesn't stack with weapons that already have a bonus to attack and damage rolls─you always just take the higher bonus. To get the most bang for your buck, you'd want something that doesn't have a bonus. Examples might include a flame tongue, a frost brand, or even a simple weapon of warning.
Banishing Smite, Branding Smite, Cone of Cold, and Phantasmal Killer are all spells which are 5th level or scale up to 5th level; making them excellent choices to have from your expanded spell list. Elemental Weapon can be useful for yourself, but only if you don't have Improved Pact Weapon. You can, however, always take to give to an ally. And it will scale up to +2 to attack and +2d4 elemental (acid, cold, fire, lightning, or thunder) damage. You could have all of these at their full power by 9th level and they'd still only be half of what you can learn by then. Pick whatever else you like to round out your list, but in general you probably want spells that scale up with your slots. That said, avoid Hex unless you plan on sticking to ranged combat with as many attacks as possible.
If you learn Eldritch Smite, save it for critical hits. Maddening Hex isn't a lot of damage, but it could be fun and is a solid use of your bonus action. Thirsting Blade is good at giving you more chances to hit. Eventually, you may pick up War Caster as a feat so you can properly use a shield. But you will still be limited by your racial spells and unable to cast them if you do. And if you have an odd Constitution score, you may wish to look into Infernal Constitution. That said, focus on improving your Charisma first.
P.S.
All of this is rules-as-written. This is the bare minimum you should be able to accomplish. As always, check with your DM to see what house rules, if any, they are implementing. For example, some like to drop the material component cost for racial spells (such as with the Firbolg) and even let characters use their spell slots for them (like with some of the feats introduced in Tasha's Cauldron of Everything).
Others have pointed to the double-bladed scimitar as a possible weapon. This is native to the Eberron setting and is not universally allowed. Again, check with your DM. You can always take another Two-Handed weapon, like a greatsword, should you take Improved Pact Weapon.
With Hexblades, especially after level 12 (lifedrinker), remember additional hits means adding your modifier more. Early it will be +5 and maybe a bit more with Hexblade's Curse. But by level 12 it's +10. If your campaign goes to level 14, you can move your Hexblade's curse multiple times upon the target's death. So a smaller damage die, that maybe means on average 1-2 points less per attack is an ok trade off for a weapon that allows you to use your bonus action to hit.
With that being said...
Levels 1-2, probably a long sword, since you cannot have the two handed property. 1d8 id the best you can hope for until you take Pact of the Blade
Levels 3-whenever, double bladed scimitar...allows you to weaponize your bonus action immediately, *every turn* with no feat investment. If you are eying different feats and don't want GWM, PAM or Sentinel, then this is your weapon. Even if you do want those feats, it probably makes sense to use this until level 8, assuming you aren't already at 20 CHA by level 4.
If you want to invest in the GWM feat at level 8 or later, switch to a Great Sword or Maul
If you want to also invest in PAM and or Sentinel feats switch to a Glaive or Halberd. This allows you to weaponize your bonus action *and* your reaction.
Thank you guys! I am going to go with a glaive and take the Polearm Master feat, but this has helped so much!