I admit to being a little confused from your assertion that your pact weapon is dealing less damage than your eldritch bolt, up until 5th you should be using your charisma to hit and damage and even with a standard allocation of stats and for some reason not choosing a race with a charisma buff you will have +2 to hit and damage (14 / 15 cha) so 1d8+2 opposed to 1d10, well it does the same but more on average.
I have the horrible feeling one of your pacts was agonising blast to increase your eldritch blast damage, if so then yes you will do more with AB but that's because your building against your hex blade roots.
Like any class you can take options that are less than stellar when playing, (an aquatic elf and never encounter any water) Hexblades rely on Hex to keep their damage up (it works on weapons as well as spells) and try to avoid being hurt in melee as they might lose it. Your invocations will be the key to your Hexblade being amazing or lacklustre. The break out levels are at 5th and 12th and require no spell expenditure except hex. Also for the love of all that's hex never use Witchbolt. It requires you hit, does Xdice of damage, and +1 if hex is in play, but hex cant be in play because it requires concentration and no matter how many dice of additional damage Witchbolt does it requires concentration and an action each turn to deal only 1 dice of damage regardless of the initial hits number, also this damage stops and the spell ends if you dont use your action on it, making it ludicrous.
Ultimately your Hexblade can decide if he is going to be an armoured line the enemy shall not cross (go defensive) or a glass / aluminium cannon (pactblade two handed sword and hex)
I admit to being a little confused from your assertion that your pact weapon is dealing less damage than your eldritch bolt, up until 5th you should be using your charisma to hit and damage and even with a standard allocation of stats and for some reason not choosing a race with a charisma buff you will have +2 to hit and damage (14 / 15 cha) so 1d8+2 opposed to 1d10, well it does the same but more on average.
I have the horrible feeling one of your pacts was agonising blast to increase your eldritch blast damage, if so then yes you will do more with AB but that's because your building against your hex blade roots.
How are you getting better damage with a pact weapon, though? Sure, if you don't pick Agonizing Blast, your pact weapon might do more average damage, but why not pick Agonizing Blast? What better option for a Melee Hexblade is there at that point? At level 3, you can get Improved Pact Weapon, for a +1/+1, which is only better at melee if you go two-handed, or you find a magic weapon. I'm not saying EB is always better than melee, for Hexblade Warlocks, but getting damage to match, or surpass, EB with melee takes significant investment: forgoing shields (for two-handed weapon), several invocations (thirsting blade, lifedrinker), and you still need to be in melee range. EB, on the other hand, just needs one invocation (Agonizing), and it scales with level. Let's assume 20 CHA (+5). At level 11, EB with agonizing blast is doing 3x(1d10+5), for an average of 31.5 damage, with +9 to hit. A greatsword would be doing 2x(2d6+11), for an average of 28 damage, with a +10 to hit. So you're doing less damage on average, and losing +2 to AC from a shield, to gain a +1 to hit. Hex and Curse apply equally to both. Granted, at melee range, you're getting Disadvantage on the EB, unless you get Crossbow Expert. And, of course, you can do things in melee like Eldritch Smite, which gives you nice nova damage. But overall, EB will outdamage melee over time, probably, with just one invocation's cost (Agonizing).
Like any class you can take options that are less than stellar when playing, (an aquatic elf and never encounter any water) Hexblades rely on Hex to keep their damage up (it works on weapons as well as spells) and try to avoid being hurt in melee as they might lose it. Your invocations will be the key to your Hexblade being amazing or lacklustre. The break out levels are at 5th and 12th and require no spell expenditure except hex. Also for the love of all that's hex never use Witchbolt. It requires you hit, does Xdice of damage, and +1 if hex is in play, but hex cant be in play because it requires concentration and no matter how many dice of additional damage Witchbolt does it requires concentration and an action each turn to deal only 1 dice of damage regardless of the initial hits number, also this damage stops and the spell ends if you dont use your action on it, making it ludicrous.
Witch Bolt is just a badly designed spell overall, not just for Warlocks. The "extra automatic damage with no to-hit or saving throw" for a whole minute looks great on paper, until you notice it's just 30' range, which means almost every single creature in the books will break it with one turn's worth of movement. If you do manage to hold them down (grapple, entangle, web, hold person, etc.), then maybe it can work. On the other hand, the damage isn't much better than EB; you're probably not going to have a lot of difficulty hitting, if they're held still; you'll do more damage with Hex and/or Curse (or even w/o those, if you've got Agonizing Blast); and you save a spell slot by using a cantrip rather than a slot spell.
I admit to being a little confused from your assertion that your pact weapon is dealing less damage than your eldritch bolt, up until 5th you should be using your charisma to hit and damage and even with a standard allocation of stats and for some reason not choosing a race with a charisma buff you will have +2 to hit and damage (14 / 15 cha) so 1d8+2 opposed to 1d10, well it does the same but more on average.
I have the horrible feeling one of your pacts was agonising blast to increase your eldritch blast damage, if so then yes you will do more with AB but that's because your building against your hex blade roots.
How are you getting better damage with a pact weapon, though? Sure, if you don't pick Agonizing Blast, your pact weapon might do more average damage, but why not pick Agonizing Blast? What better option for a Melee Hexblade is there at that point? At level 3, you can get Improved Pact Weapon, for a +1/+1, which is only better at melee if you go two-handed, or you find a magic weapon. I'm not saying EB is always better than melee, for Hexblade Warlocks, but getting damage to match, or surpass, EB with melee takes significant investment: forgoing shields (for two-handed weapon), several invocations (thirsting blade, lifedrinker), and you still need to be in melee range. EB, on the other hand, just needs one invocation (Agonizing), and it scales with level. Let's assume 20 CHA (+5). At level 11, EB with agonizing blast is doing 3x(1d10+5), for an average of 31.5 damage, with +9 to hit. A greatsword would be doing 2x(2d6+11), for an average of 28 damage, with a +10 to hit. So you're doing less damage on average, and losing +2 to AC from a shield, to gain a +1 to hit. Hex and Curse apply equally to both. Granted, at melee range, you're getting Disadvantage on the EB, unless you get Crossbow Expert. And, of course, you can do things in melee like Eldritch Smite, which gives you nice nova damage. But overall, EB will outdamage melee over time, probably, with just one invocation's cost (Agonizing).
You can do some stacking, like Booming Blade, Green Flame Blade... pretty sure there's others.
Alrighty then, I don't want to simply roll out an optimised build by numbers but here goes. Lets start with choosing a hex lock - why? Did you want to be cheesy and have the armour or were you going for melee? - If you love melee then melee you shall be.
Your example suggests a +5 charisma bonus, so an EB lock could deal 1d10+5, twice at 5th, thrice at 11th and a quadzilla at 17. So at 17 Minimum (if all hit) 24, average 42, maximum 60. All without misses or crits. This is without the hex of course.
A hex lock with +5 charisma attacks twice a round at 5th onwards, at 12th damage with a greatsword is 2d6+5+5 necrotic (invocation) +whatever magic weapon or pact blade + you have, this comes to a substantial 24 minimum damage 34 average and a tawdry 44 maximum without crits. Of course that's without factoring the hex blades curse increasing threat range or adding proficiency to damage or in fact the + of the improved pact blade or magic weapon or the possible use of great weapon master and +10 damage a hit, although with difficult to hit creatures lets not get into that. (or poison and eldritch smite invocation for an annihilation strike)
Try that again with a flametongue greatsword (yeah not much chance it just pops up at random) and the damage becomes 4d6+5+5 for a minimum damage of 28, average of 48 and maximum of 68 without crits. We have a chicken dinner and without factoring in limited use poisons, melee buff spells from allies or eldritch invocations. You cant do that with a spell caster, there aren't magic items or spells that boost spell damage unless your homebrewing your way to the stars, and at that stage any character can do anything 'because - homebrew!'
Lets move on. An issue with flesh locks aka squish locks is that the closer they get the more chance they could be hit by an opportunistic attacker. The hexblade courts melee, (and should seriously consider resilient con feat to avoid failing every concentration save) so her other invocations could be a poisonous fog doing charisma damage to those adjacent to her at the start of the opponents turn, multiplying damage in mob fights, and a hex buff that yes the EB lock could also pick which does area damage to all those surrounding the hex target - of course the hex blade is a natural damage magnet so finds it easier to gather the prey.
Its true that at maximum level a Hex lock will do less over an extended period than an EB lock if everything always hits, but the hex lock can (when built and played well) also serve as monstrous tank and that level 6 spectral assistant is a great disposable scout when it can be 'summoned' and adds some more damage to the pile. Also the hex lock benefits from haste and other melee buffing abilities. (of which there are a few, but you are reliant on magic items or allied spells, unlike spellcasters who have no real self spell buffing damage spells so don't expect it)
If your opponents never reach melee and never shoot at you then by all means go EB, but if you like the risk and reward of every combat round being slightly different then enjoy the hexblade, especially when you want the option to obliterate your opponent with a stupendous hit available to you.
You can go kensei and use a weapon with high damage output, like a greataxe or pike as your kensei weapon. But it might not be good if you want pure warlock
I remember watching Browns games in the late 80's, early 90's... game transcript:
"First and 10 - Metcalf up the middle."
"Second down and 8 - Metcalf up the middle."
"Third and 4 - Metcalf up the middle"
"Fourth down, out comes the punting team."
Add some variety, man. Get in there and slash off some limbs, lop of a head or two, skewer a couple Kobolds at once. Use a dead Wizard's cloak to clean off your blade. And, if you wanna intimidate something... Wouldn't you rather flourish your two-handed metal instrument of fatal destruction - especially by making it jump from one hand to the other, while transporting it to and from the Ether - or... hold out your empty hand?
Alrighty then, I don't want to simply roll out an optimised build by numbers but here goes. Lets start with choosing a hex lock - why? Did you want to be cheesy and have the armour or were you going for melee? - If you love melee then melee you shall be.
Your example suggests a +5 charisma bonus, so an EB lock could deal 1d10+5, twice at 5th, thrice at 11th and a quadzilla at 17. So at 17 Minimum (if all hit) 24, average 42, maximum 60. All without misses or crits. This is without the hex of course.
A hex lock with +5 charisma attacks twice a round at 5th onwards, at 12th damage with a greatsword is 2d6+5+5 necrotic (invocation) +whatever magic weapon or pact blade + you have, this comes to a substantial 24 minimum damage 34 average and a tawdry 44 maximum without crits. Of course that's without factoring the hex blades curse increasing threat range or adding proficiency to damage or in fact the + of the improved pact blade or magic weapon or the possible use of great weapon master and +10 damage a hit, although with difficult to hit creatures lets not get into that. (or poison and eldritch smite invocation for an annihilation strike)
Try that again with a flametongue greatsword (yeah not much chance it just pops up at random) and the damage becomes 4d6+5+5 for a minimum damage of 28, average of 48 and maximum of 68 without crits. We have a chicken dinner and without factoring in limited use poisons, melee buff spells from allies or eldritch invocations. You cant do that with a spell caster, there aren't magic items or spells that boost spell damage unless your homebrewing your way to the stars, and at that stage any character can do anything 'because - homebrew!'
Lets move on. An issue with flesh locks aka squish locks is that the closer they get the more chance they could be hit by an opportunistic attacker. The hexblade courts melee, (and should seriously consider resilient con feat to avoid failing every concentration save) so her other invocations could be a poisonous fog doing charisma damage to those adjacent to her at the start of the opponents turn, multiplying damage in mob fights, and a hex buff that yes the EB lock could also pick which does area damage to all those surrounding the hex target - of course the hex blade is a natural damage magnet so finds it easier to gather the prey.
Its true that at maximum level a Hex lock will do less over an extended period than an EB lock if everything always hits, but the hex lock can (when built and played well) also serve as monstrous tank and that level 6 spectral assistant is a great disposable scout when it can be 'summoned' and adds some more damage to the pile. Also the hex lock benefits from haste and other melee buffing abilities. (of which there are a few, but you are reliant on magic items or allied spells, unlike spellcasters who have no real self spell buffing damage spells so don't expect it)
If your opponents never reach melee and never shoot at you then by all means go EB, but if you like the risk and reward of every combat round being slightly different then enjoy the hexblade, especially when you want the option to obliterate your opponent with a stupendous hit available to you.
I remember watching Browns games in the late 80's, early 90's... game transcript:
"First and 10 - Metcalf up the middle."
"Second down and 8 - Metcalf up the middle."
"Third and 4 - Metcalf up the middle"
"Fourth down, out comes the punting team."
Add some variety, man. Get in there and slash off some limbs, lop of a head or two, skewer a couple Kobolds at once. Use a dead Wizard's cloak to clean off your blade. And, if you wanna intimidate something... Wouldn't you rather flourish your two-handed metal instrument of fatal destruction - especially by making it jump from one hand to the other, while transporting it to and from the Ether - or... hold out your empty hand?
Hrmph, I guess I didn't make my point clear, I'm sorry about that! I didn't mean to imply EB-locks were superior to Melee-locks! I was just responding to a comment about how melee damage was, or could be, or should be, higher than EB damage. Of course how much damage you can put out isn't everything. And while I'm currently playing a Wizard, I'm almost hoping he gets killed soon, cuz I'm dying to bust out my Hexblade, Pact of the Blade, melee-focused Warlock.
Sorta glad I did, though... some good info came out of the misunderstanding. =)
No worries Tonio, My view was that I don't like listing of a series of specific examples, it can seem too 'this build good other builds bad', you end up with people quoting it and misquoting it but never understanding why it does what it does. That's why I was vague (an a little less than helpful, sorry) with my first explanation. I want people to keep exploring so they find something new, for themselves and their friends, and maybe even for all of us.
I would say that in previous iterations of Adnd 1/ 2, dnd3 /3.5 whilst casters could do more damage in a burst, they never had unlimited cantrips like now. (ok except 3.5 towards the end which had reserve magic which could make non casters cry) but in these editions one thing held true, a melee monster character (oh my! Another max strength weapon swinger, what lucky rolls!) would end up doing more over time than a caster, and in some cases more even when the caster brought out the boss fight spells. This was due to the stats for melee translating directly to increased damage, which casters couldnt get, with magic items that boosted damage, that casters couldnt get and with magic that improved the number of attacks they made, which casters couldnt* get.
(* errata, nerf bats etc were all applied to multiple cast a round abilities - there were some but they were usually one a day or cost the caster in other ways when a warrior suffered none of this)
5th removed a lot of these melee buff options or required concentration on an allies behalf to assist your attack AND removed nearly all of the creature abilities that stopped spells dead meaning the melee type was the only tool for the job. What this means for the casters of 5th is they can sort of keep even with cantrips, some will, some wont, but the maximum consistent damage every round (without multiclass parmesan wafting about) is likely to be somebody sticking a sharp piece of metal into something. (unless everything always dies before it can reach the party, but in which case pat yourself on the back and give your GM something to cheer themselves up with as you trash his carefully planned encounters with your brilliance.)
The other side, the less 'alluring' side of a game is Mitigating incoming damage. Because if you can avoid injury and resources expended you can move on further. This is where a Hexlock's appeal increases further as they have a better AC and of course dont take damage.
OK that needs explaining, 2nd invocations, one can get you temp hits, not many but that's durability till you trade it for something better later, seeing through darkness makes you a potentially impossible target for ranged attacks and hard to hit in melee and finally the GM soul crushing 1st level warlock specific spell that spells death for most bosses. Used in combination with bladeward laugh as when they hit you, they die, without it hit them and when they hit you they die. From behind the screens this is as much fun as a root canal, when your the hexlock in question your smile will be wider than an alligators.
Hexblade really shines with polearm and polearm master. That's one way to surpass eldritch blast. Conceptually its straightfoward, both run the same damage die and similar modifiers (assuming agonizing blast on EB and improved pact weapon on the glaive), but you get an extra d4 plus all the static damage using polearm master. Even at level 12, when you get the 3rd blast, you're adding an extra 10 damage from invocations plus the 3rd polearm strike.
You have to dedicate many of your invocations to melee if you want to go that route, but it does give it more raw output.
"...You shouldn't be in melee unless you multi-class (pally is a great choice). Instead you should skirt the edge of the battle and use your abilities to help your friends and hinder your foes..."
Actually, I'm playing a GOOlock, Pact of the Blade. I'm constantly in the front lines and I have no issues. Oh, and I'm not multiclassing. I didn't invest in EB. I didn't see the point w/ PotB.
What level are you? What Invocations did you take? That has far reaching consequences for your Warlock.
Wizard: Yes. I cast the Wish spell and I wish that everybody loves me!
DM: You transform into an irresistible, magnificent feast. It was so great, all who participated in devouring you tell of the joy they felt with tears in their eyes and all who hear the tale only feel sorrow that they weren't there to eat.
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I admit to being a little confused from your assertion that your pact weapon is dealing less damage than your eldritch bolt, up until 5th you should be using your charisma to hit and damage and even with a standard allocation of stats and for some reason not choosing a race with a charisma buff you will have +2 to hit and damage (14 / 15 cha) so 1d8+2 opposed to 1d10, well it does the same but more on average.
I have the horrible feeling one of your pacts was agonising blast to increase your eldritch blast damage, if so then yes you will do more with AB but that's because your building against your hex blade roots.
Like any class you can take options that are less than stellar when playing, (an aquatic elf and never encounter any water) Hexblades rely on Hex to keep their damage up (it works on weapons as well as spells) and try to avoid being hurt in melee as they might lose it. Your invocations will be the key to your Hexblade being amazing or lacklustre. The break out levels are at 5th and 12th and require no spell expenditure except hex. Also for the love of all that's hex never use Witchbolt. It requires you hit, does Xdice of damage, and +1 if hex is in play, but hex cant be in play because it requires concentration and no matter how many dice of additional damage Witchbolt does it requires concentration and an action each turn to deal only 1 dice of damage regardless of the initial hits number, also this damage stops and the spell ends if you dont use your action on it, making it ludicrous.
Ultimately your Hexblade can decide if he is going to be an armoured line the enemy shall not cross (go defensive) or a glass / aluminium cannon (pactblade two handed sword and hex)
And remember, moon druids never sleep.
How are you getting better damage with a pact weapon, though? Sure, if you don't pick Agonizing Blast, your pact weapon might do more average damage, but why not pick Agonizing Blast? What better option for a Melee Hexblade is there at that point? At level 3, you can get Improved Pact Weapon, for a +1/+1, which is only better at melee if you go two-handed, or you find a magic weapon. I'm not saying EB is always better than melee, for Hexblade Warlocks, but getting damage to match, or surpass, EB with melee takes significant investment: forgoing shields (for two-handed weapon), several invocations (thirsting blade, lifedrinker), and you still need to be in melee range. EB, on the other hand, just needs one invocation (Agonizing), and it scales with level. Let's assume 20 CHA (+5). At level 11, EB with agonizing blast is doing 3x(1d10+5), for an average of 31.5 damage, with +9 to hit. A greatsword would be doing 2x(2d6+11), for an average of 28 damage, with a +10 to hit. So you're doing less damage on average, and losing +2 to AC from a shield, to gain a +1 to hit. Hex and Curse apply equally to both. Granted, at melee range, you're getting Disadvantage on the EB, unless you get Crossbow Expert. And, of course, you can do things in melee like Eldritch Smite, which gives you nice nova damage. But overall, EB will outdamage melee over time, probably, with just one invocation's cost (Agonizing).
Witch Bolt is just a badly designed spell overall, not just for Warlocks. The "extra automatic damage with no to-hit or saving throw" for a whole minute looks great on paper, until you notice it's just 30' range, which means almost every single creature in the books will break it with one turn's worth of movement. If you do manage to hold them down (grapple, entangle, web, hold person, etc.), then maybe it can work. On the other hand, the damage isn't much better than EB; you're probably not going to have a lot of difficulty hitting, if they're held still; you'll do more damage with Hex and/or Curse (or even w/o those, if you've got Agonizing Blast); and you save a spell slot by using a cantrip rather than a slot spell.
You can do some stacking, like Booming Blade, Green Flame Blade... pretty sure there's others.
Alrighty then, I don't want to simply roll out an optimised build by numbers but here goes. Lets start with choosing a hex lock - why? Did you want to be cheesy and have the armour or were you going for melee? - If you love melee then melee you shall be.
Your example suggests a +5 charisma bonus, so an EB lock could deal 1d10+5, twice at 5th, thrice at 11th and a quadzilla at 17. So at 17 Minimum (if all hit) 24, average 42, maximum 60. All without misses or crits. This is without the hex of course.
A hex lock with +5 charisma attacks twice a round at 5th onwards, at 12th damage with a greatsword is 2d6+5+5 necrotic (invocation) +whatever magic weapon or pact blade + you have, this comes to a substantial 24 minimum damage 34 average and a tawdry 44 maximum without crits. Of course that's without factoring the hex blades curse increasing threat range or adding proficiency to damage or in fact the + of the improved pact blade or magic weapon or the possible use of great weapon master and +10 damage a hit, although with difficult to hit creatures lets not get into that. (or poison and eldritch smite invocation for an annihilation strike)
Try that again with a flametongue greatsword (yeah not much chance it just pops up at random) and the damage becomes 4d6+5+5 for a minimum damage of 28, average of 48 and maximum of 68 without crits. We have a chicken dinner and without factoring in limited use poisons, melee buff spells from allies or eldritch invocations. You cant do that with a spell caster, there aren't magic items or spells that boost spell damage unless your homebrewing your way to the stars, and at that stage any character can do anything 'because - homebrew!'
Lets move on. An issue with flesh locks aka squish locks is that the closer they get the more chance they could be hit by an opportunistic attacker. The hexblade courts melee, (and should seriously consider resilient con feat to avoid failing every concentration save) so her other invocations could be a poisonous fog doing charisma damage to those adjacent to her at the start of the opponents turn, multiplying damage in mob fights, and a hex buff that yes the EB lock could also pick which does area damage to all those surrounding the hex target - of course the hex blade is a natural damage magnet so finds it easier to gather the prey.
Its true that at maximum level a Hex lock will do less over an extended period than an EB lock if everything always hits, but the hex lock can (when built and played well) also serve as monstrous tank and that level 6 spectral assistant is a great disposable scout when it can be 'summoned' and adds some more damage to the pile. Also the hex lock benefits from haste and other melee buffing abilities. (of which there are a few, but you are reliant on magic items or allied spells, unlike spellcasters who have no real self spell buffing damage spells so don't expect it)
If your opponents never reach melee and never shoot at you then by all means go EB, but if you like the risk and reward of every combat round being slightly different then enjoy the hexblade, especially when you want the option to obliterate your opponent with a stupendous hit available to you.
You can go kensei and use a weapon with high damage output, like a greataxe or pike as your kensei weapon. But it might not be good if you want pure warlock
I stole my pfp from this person: https://mobile.twitter.com/xelart1/status/1177312449575432193
I remember watching Browns games in the late 80's, early 90's... game transcript:
"First and 10 - Metcalf up the middle."
"Second down and 8 - Metcalf up the middle."
"Third and 4 - Metcalf up the middle"
"Fourth down, out comes the punting team."
Add some variety, man. Get in there and slash off some limbs, lop of a head or two, skewer a couple Kobolds at once. Use a dead Wizard's cloak to clean off your blade. And, if you wanna intimidate something... Wouldn't you rather flourish your two-handed metal instrument of fatal destruction - especially by making it jump from one hand to the other, while transporting it to and from the Ether - or... hold out your empty hand?
Hrmph, I guess I didn't make my point clear, I'm sorry about that! I didn't mean to imply EB-locks were superior to Melee-locks! I was just responding to a comment about how melee damage was, or could be, or should be, higher than EB damage. Of course how much damage you can put out isn't everything. And while I'm currently playing a Wizard, I'm almost hoping he gets killed soon, cuz I'm dying to bust out my Hexblade, Pact of the Blade, melee-focused Warlock.
Sorta glad I did, though... some good info came out of the misunderstanding. =)
No worries Tonio, My view was that I don't like listing of a series of specific examples, it can seem too 'this build good other builds bad', you end up with people quoting it and misquoting it but never understanding why it does what it does. That's why I was vague (an a little less than helpful, sorry) with my first explanation. I want people to keep exploring so they find something new, for themselves and their friends, and maybe even for all of us.
I would say that in previous iterations of Adnd 1/ 2, dnd3 /3.5 whilst casters could do more damage in a burst, they never had unlimited cantrips like now. (ok except 3.5 towards the end which had reserve magic which could make non casters cry) but in these editions one thing held true, a melee monster character (oh my! Another max strength weapon swinger, what lucky rolls!) would end up doing more over time than a caster, and in some cases more even when the caster brought out the boss fight spells. This was due to the stats for melee translating directly to increased damage, which casters couldnt get, with magic items that boosted damage, that casters couldnt get and with magic that improved the number of attacks they made, which casters couldnt* get.
(* errata, nerf bats etc were all applied to multiple cast a round abilities - there were some but they were usually one a day or cost the caster in other ways when a warrior suffered none of this)
5th removed a lot of these melee buff options or required concentration on an allies behalf to assist your attack AND removed nearly all of the creature abilities that stopped spells dead meaning the melee type was the only tool for the job. What this means for the casters of 5th is they can sort of keep even with cantrips, some will, some wont, but the maximum consistent damage every round (without multiclass parmesan wafting about) is likely to be somebody sticking a sharp piece of metal into something. (unless everything always dies before it can reach the party, but in which case pat yourself on the back and give your GM something to cheer themselves up with as you trash his carefully planned encounters with your brilliance.)
The other side, the less 'alluring' side of a game is Mitigating incoming damage. Because if you can avoid injury and resources expended you can move on further. This is where a Hexlock's appeal increases further as they have a better AC and of course dont take damage.
OK that needs explaining, 2nd invocations, one can get you temp hits, not many but that's durability till you trade it for something better later, seeing through darkness makes you a potentially impossible target for ranged attacks and hard to hit in melee and finally the GM soul crushing 1st level warlock specific spell that spells death for most bosses. Used in combination with bladeward laugh as when they hit you, they die, without it hit them and when they hit you they die. From behind the screens this is as much fun as a root canal, when your the hexlock in question your smile will be wider than an alligators.
Hexblade really shines with polearm and polearm master. That's one way to surpass eldritch blast. Conceptually its straightfoward, both run the same damage die and similar modifiers (assuming agonizing blast on EB and improved pact weapon on the glaive), but you get an extra d4 plus all the static damage using polearm master. Even at level 12, when you get the 3rd blast, you're adding an extra 10 damage from invocations plus the 3rd polearm strike.
You have to dedicate many of your invocations to melee if you want to go that route, but it does give it more raw output.
"...You shouldn't be in melee unless you multi-class (pally is a great choice). Instead you should skirt the edge of the battle and use your abilities to help your friends and hinder your foes..."
Actually, I'm playing a GOOlock, Pact of the Blade. I'm constantly in the front lines and I have no issues. Oh, and I'm not multiclassing. I didn't invest in EB. I didn't see the point w/ PotB.
What level are you? What Invocations did you take? That has far reaching consequences for your Warlock.
DM: Are you sure?
Wizard: Yes. I cast the Wish spell and I wish that everybody loves me!
DM: You transform into an irresistible, magnificent feast. It was so great, all who participated in devouring you tell of the joy they felt with tears in their eyes and all who hear the tale only feel sorrow that they weren't there to eat.