OK folks, I’m trying to figure out the best use of my available 2 spell slots. In your opinion which is the better option for Melee combat: Darkness plus devil sight or Armor of Agathys plus Hex.
As I see it both options have their advantages and disadvantages. Darkness will give you an advantage on attack and a disadvantage for attackers. However the spell also requires concentration which means I cannot use Hex. This combo leaves me one spell slot for a hellish rebuke or counterspell.
Armor of Agathys give me 35 temporary hit points at level seven and dishes out 35 damage on a hit. At this level the armor can usually sustain a couple hits (or more) so that’s a minimum of 70 damage to attackers. The spell does not require concentration which leaves me free to use Hex. At that point I’ll be out of spells slots.
Since I’m a chainlock and not a exactly a melee specialist I don’t want to use up my limited number of spells to carry both Darkness and Armor of Agathys.
So which do you suggest? Or maybe there’s a better option? Mirror image?
The highest level spell slot a Warlock gets is 5th, so at most, Armor of Agathys will give you 25 temp hit points. The hit points/damage is based on spell level, not Warlock level. A level 7 Warlock spell slots are 4th level, so at the level you would get 20 temp hit points. Still nice, and I like Armor of Agathys, but the spell isn't quite as powerful as you calculated it.
Darkness is great as long as you are away from your other party members. Darkness and devil sight is a great combo, but you will likely find many times you can't use it as it will interfere with the other players. I'd use this when needed, but have a backup plan for those times you are fighting in close corners.
Mirror image is a great protection spell. Only a 25% chance that they hit you instead of one of your doubles. That spell saved my sorcerer's skin many times. Plus no concentration so you can have this and Hex up at the same time.
One of the nice things about Hex is that at higher levels the spell lasts all day, as long as you keep concentration. You can cast Hex, take a short rest, still have the original Hex going and get the spell slot back.
You will likely have to go through 3 rounds of combat before you get a short rest, so you can't rely on using your spell slots every combat. I see these spell slots as reserved for the oh shit moments where up your protection or do something special to get yourself or your party out of trouble. The majority of combat is no spell slots used and Eldritch Blast as your attack. As a Chainlock, you can have your familiar aid in battle to give you or another party member advantage.
Good point on Armor of Agathys. I was misremembering when I wrote the post. So would you keep all 3 in your arsenal? Right now I only have Darkness but I'm considering swapping the spell for Armor of Agathys when I level up.
My problem with the Darkness/Devil's Sight combo is that you have to remember you're in party. So while "yes" it's a cool combo, but if you play that card too much no one will like you. The DM will start fielding things with blindsense or devils sight and your party will... be really really bored.
It's a great trump card to play in the right situation. I used it when an enemy Wizard was the last one left and was nuking our party. I used it to block line of sight to the party as as a Celestial Warlock heal them. As someone who has played two warlocks and both of them melee (Shadow Monk/Outer Gods Warlock and a Celestial Pact of the Tome), I've rarely used the Darkness. That said because I'm a Tiefling melee warlock with Flames of Phlegethos, using Green Flame Blade with Shillelagh. Anyone who attacks me is likely to take 1d4 fire from Flames of Phlegethos, 20 cold (at my lvl) for Armor of Agathys almost every attack, and 3d10 fire from Hellish Rebuke once a day. I have more often then not, done more damage when someone attacks me then I do myself!
That said you mentioned you are NOT a melee based warlock. This is a benefit to using Darkness, but it requires plenty of space. Eldritch Blast has a 120' range and Darkness has a 15' radius. If the party is doing it's thing and you are far enough away, and worried about getting pin cushioned. Then using Darkness on yourself means that you can still attack with Adv and if anyone tries to go after you they have DisAdv, BUT you're not screwing over the whole party by trying to envelope the monster in Darkness. Your party won't hate you because you aren't monopolizing the combat.
That said it can also be useful when you want to sneak. It should at the very least grant Adv on a Stealth check.
Remember that Darkness ends spells of 2nd level or lower that produce light if the spell's area overlaps the area of light. If anyone in the party is relying on the Light spell for vision, you need to maintain 55 feet of distance from them: 15 for Darkness and 40 for the radius of dim light. And you still need line of sight. And you need 1 turn to set up Darkness on top of losing Hex damage.
If the party uses Faerie Fire regularly the darkness strategy is also largely pointless. You already have advantage, and you usually stay safe enough just keeping your distance. If you set up Darkness anyways, a smart enemy could run near it to end Faerie Fire.
On the other hand, Darkness + Devil's Sight can also have some huge upsides against spellcasters - a lot of spells simply can't target you, including Counterspell. It's not a bad combo by any means, but it's also not a tactic that can be easily applied to every encounter.
If you're worried about getting attacked, Mirror Image is always a solid choice - the fact that it doesn't use up concentration is a huge benefit. You're still free to concentrate on other spells and you won't lose it prematurely if the enemy gets lucky or you take damage from a saving throw.
OK folks, I’m trying to figure out the best use of my available 2 spell slots. In your opinion which is the better option for Melee combat: Darkness plus devil sight or Armor of Agathys plus Hex.
As I see it both options have their advantages and disadvantages. Darkness will give you an advantage on attack and a disadvantage for attackers. However the spell also requires concentration which means I cannot use Hex. This combo leaves me one spell slot for a hellish rebuke or counterspell.
Armor of Agathys give me 35 temporary hit points at level seven and dishes out 35 damage on a hit. At this level the armor can usually sustain a couple hits (or more) so that’s a minimum of 70 damage to attackers. The spell does not require concentration which leaves me free to use Hex. At that point I’ll be out of spells slots.
Since I’m a chainlock and not a exactly a melee specialist I don’t want to use up my limited number of spells to carry both Darkness and Armor of Agathys.
So which do you suggest? Or maybe there’s a better option? Mirror image?
The highest level spell slot a Warlock gets is 5th, so at most, Armor of Agathys will give you 25 temp hit points. The hit points/damage is based on spell level, not Warlock level. A level 7 Warlock spell slots are 4th level, so at the level you would get 20 temp hit points. Still nice, and I like Armor of Agathys, but the spell isn't quite as powerful as you calculated it.
Darkness is great as long as you are away from your other party members. Darkness and devil sight is a great combo, but you will likely find many times you can't use it as it will interfere with the other players. I'd use this when needed, but have a backup plan for those times you are fighting in close corners.
Mirror image is a great protection spell. Only a 25% chance that they hit you instead of one of your doubles. That spell saved my sorcerer's skin many times. Plus no concentration so you can have this and Hex up at the same time.
One of the nice things about Hex is that at higher levels the spell lasts all day, as long as you keep concentration. You can cast Hex, take a short rest, still have the original Hex going and get the spell slot back.
You will likely have to go through 3 rounds of combat before you get a short rest, so you can't rely on using your spell slots every combat. I see these spell slots as reserved for the oh shit moments where up your protection or do something special to get yourself or your party out of trouble. The majority of combat is no spell slots used and Eldritch Blast as your attack. As a Chainlock, you can have your familiar aid in battle to give you or another party member advantage.
Good point on Armor of Agathys. I was misremembering when I wrote the post. So would you keep all 3 in your arsenal? Right now I only have Darkness but I'm considering swapping the spell for Armor of Agathys when I level up.
My problem with the Darkness/Devil's Sight combo is that you have to remember you're in party.
So while "yes" it's a cool combo, but if you play that card too much no one will like you. The DM will start fielding things with blindsense or devils sight and your party will... be really really bored.
It's a great trump card to play in the right situation. I used it when an enemy Wizard was the last one left and was nuking our party. I used it to block line of sight to the party as as a Celestial Warlock heal them.
As someone who has played two warlocks and both of them melee (Shadow Monk/Outer Gods Warlock and a Celestial Pact of the Tome), I've rarely used the Darkness.
That said because I'm a Tiefling melee warlock with Flames of Phlegethos, using Green Flame Blade with Shillelagh. Anyone who attacks me is likely to take 1d4 fire from Flames of Phlegethos, 20 cold (at my lvl) for Armor of Agathys almost every attack, and 3d10 fire from Hellish Rebuke once a day.
I have more often then not, done more damage when someone attacks me then I do myself!
That said you mentioned you are NOT a melee based warlock. This is a benefit to using Darkness, but it requires plenty of space. Eldritch Blast has a 120' range and Darkness has a 15' radius. If the party is doing it's thing and you are far enough away, and worried about getting pin cushioned. Then using Darkness on yourself means that you can still attack with Adv and if anyone tries to go after you they have DisAdv, BUT you're not screwing over the whole party by trying to envelope the monster in Darkness. Your party won't hate you because you aren't monopolizing the combat.
That said it can also be useful when you want to sneak. It should at the very least grant Adv on a Stealth check.
Remember that Darkness ends spells of 2nd level or lower that produce light if the spell's area overlaps the area of light. If anyone in the party is relying on the Light spell for vision, you need to maintain 55 feet of distance from them: 15 for Darkness and 40 for the radius of dim light. And you still need line of sight. And you need 1 turn to set up Darkness on top of losing Hex damage.
If the party uses Faerie Fire regularly the darkness strategy is also largely pointless. You already have advantage, and you usually stay safe enough just keeping your distance. If you set up Darkness anyways, a smart enemy could run near it to end Faerie Fire.
On the other hand, Darkness + Devil's Sight can also have some huge upsides against spellcasters - a lot of spells simply can't target you, including Counterspell. It's not a bad combo by any means, but it's also not a tactic that can be easily applied to every encounter.
If you're worried about getting attacked, Mirror Image is always a solid choice - the fact that it doesn't use up concentration is a huge benefit. You're still free to concentrate on other spells and you won't lose it prematurely if the enemy gets lucky or you take damage from a saving throw.
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