My Version of the New HEXBLADE

Even though I like a lot of the stuff in the new version of Hexblade. Its focus is too much on concentration and not enough on weapons. There is only one feat that actually benefits weapons and thats at level 6, where you can attack with a weapon as a bonus action when you cast a +1 spell. And because there's no need to actually use a weapon, we can just keep using eldritch blast instead of investing in 5 pact of the blade invocations. So I made my own version of Hexblade based off of the new version. Would love to hear some feedback on it. (It might be a little OP, but I was just having fun it, I kept some of the new features of the Hexblade subclass, modified others, and then made some new ones)

I kept the new Spell List the same. Even though I was tempted to replace some of the spells.

LEVEL 3: Hexblade's Curse

When using your Pact Weapon as your spellcasting focus, you can curse a creature that you can see within 30 feet of yourself with your Hexblade's Curse by casting the spell Hex on them. (Edited: Without expending a Pact Spell slot.) When you cast Hex this way it lasts 1 minute with no CONCENTRATION and you can choose between Necrotic, Psychic, or Radiant damage for the 1d6 damage (You choose when you curse a creature). You can do this a number of times equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum of 1). If the cursed creature dies within the 1 minute, you can take a Bonus Action to move it and curse another creature. You regain all expended uses when you finish a Long Rest.

Hungering Hex: When the target cursed by your Hexblade's Curse drops to 0 Hit Points, you gain Temporary Hit Points equal to 1d8 plus your Warlock Level.

Accursed Shield: While you aren't wearing armor or wielding a shield, you gain a +2 bonus to your AC while you are within 10 feet of the target cursed by your Hexblade's Curse.

HEX WARRIOR:
You gain the Invocation The Pact of the Blade if you already have this Invocation, you can choose your own, you can now also choose to have a Bow as your Pact Weapon. In addition you gain 1 Fighting Style and 1 Weapon Mastery. (Every time you gain a new Warlock Level you can change your Fighting Style and Weapon Mastery.)

LEVEL 6: Masterful Hex

Accursed Critical: While attacking with your Pact Weapon any attack roll you make against the target cursed by your Hexblade's Curse or against any creature that's within 15 feet of the cursed creature scores a Critical Hit on a roll of 19 or 20.

Hindering Curse: When you hit the target cursed by your Hexblade's Curse with an attack roll, the target has Disadvantage on the next saving throw it makes before the start of your next turn.

Inescapable Hex: When the target of your Hexblade's Curse ends its turn 30 feet or further from you, you can move up to your speed straight toward the target, without provoking Opportunity Attacks.

LEVEL 10: Armor of Hexes

While wielding your Pact Weapon and you take damage from the target cursed by your Hexblade's Curse, you can take a Reaction to reduce the damage taken by an amount equal to your Warlock Level plus your Charisma modifier. The cursed creature must then make a Wisdom Saving Throw against your DC on a fail the creature takes half of the damage (rounded up) that you took. The damage type is the damage type of your Pact Weapon.

LEVEL 14: Wrathful Hex

Cursed Smite: When you deal damage to the target cursed by your Hexblade's Curse with your Pact Weapon you can deal a total damage of 8d8 force damage. Each creature of your choice in a 30-foot Emanation originating from the target takes 4d4 Force damage, and must make a wisdom saving throw against your spell save DC. On a failed save the creatures are frightened of you and their Speed is reduced by 10 feet until the start of your next turn. In addition if the target cursed by your Hexblade dies from this attack you can then move your Hexblade's Curse to another creature as a Free Action, the Hexblade's Curse then lasts an extra minute. Once you use this benefit, you can't use it again until you finish a Long Rest unless you expend a Pact Magic slot (no action required) to restore your use of it.

Improved Accursed Shield: You now gain the benefits of the Accursed Shield feature while you are within 30 feet of the target cursed by your Hexblade's Curse. You can now add your Charisma modifier to your AC when your wearing no armor or wielding a shield.

Hex Restoration: You regain one expended use of Hexblade's Curse when you finish a Short Rest or use your Magical Cunning feature

The 3rd level feature does that require a pact magic slot to use the ability?  Alsoaccursed shield is pretty rubbish even with light armour it’s a maximum of 19 ac with a condition. Level 14 feature seems bad because at that level I’m already making 3x 2d6+d6+5+4+Gwm damage damage so maybe allow it as a bonus?  I do like armour of hexes, the fighting style/weapon mastery and masterful hex/malign brutality mash though

The 3rd level feature doesn't require a pact magic slot. It's just connected to your cha mod on how many times you can use it. I hear you on the accursed shield, that was a feature in the new hexblade subclass so i kept it. But how I read it and wrote it out, you can use Mage Armor on yourself that gives you a AC of 13 +2 + Dex and then at lvl 14 you can add your cha to your AC so now its 13 +2 +Dex +Cha, which can get anyone over 20+. Lvl 14 I wrote it with the intent of it being a free modified Eldritch Smite. So your 3 attacks can be, Atttack 1: Cursed Smite - 8d8 (4d4 dmg on any creature 30 feet around the cursed target) And then you have your 2nd and 3rd attack still. But yes Level 14 could be a little stronger with more damage 

See the way I read 14th level is it is instead of your attack. The accursed shield is a bit odd because it either burns a slot or an invocation slot which is a big deal

Thats true about the accursed shield. I had thoughts to give the Armor of Shadows Invocation as part of the Hex Warrior feat, but I thought giving out 2 free invocations would be too much. But I also thought most ppl would just take the mage armor invocation anyways when they play as a bladelock or just multiclass into fighter (which i try not to do, but playing as a bladelock its sometimes hard not to multiclass) But yeah the accursed shield is a weird feat 

I just think that a subclass should be as invocation tax free as possible(why I like the free pact) and should only have minor tax 

You said it yourself: It might be a little OP.

The level 3 feature grants:
- Free Pact of the Blade / +1 Invocation
- Weapon Mastery (exclusive to martial classes),
- Fighting Style (exclusive to Fighter, Paladin, Ranger) with swap (exclusive to Fighter),
- it gives you 3-5x free-casts of Concentration-free Hex per Long Rest that is improved with your Hexblade's Curse.
- The Curse grants [ 1d8 + Warlock lvl ~ 7.5 at lvl 3 ] Temp HP on kill. For reference the Fiend subclass grants [ CHA + Warlock lvl ~ 6 ]. Fiend does count on any nearby kill, but other than the subclass spell list, that's all the subclass does.
- and a +2 bonus to Unarmored AC when in 10 ft. of Curse target.

That's... a lot. While I understand the inclination to add Weapon Mastery and Fighting Style I would refrain from adding them to the Hexblade. Leaving some reason for multiclassing is still a good thing. The subclass just have to carry itself as well and where it falters the most is on the defensive. Fighting Style would mainly add TWF, Dueling, and Archery (with the new option to make a ranged Pact Weapon) - ways to add damage, on top of free Hexes... not really needed.

Even though the Hex cast with this feature is Concentration free, I really don't like how the UA Hexblade have introduced this intermingling of Hexblade's Curse (an otherwise stand alone feature) with the Hex spell. Still, it dodges the issue of a melee Warlock getting hit in the nogging is somewhat prone to drop Concentration, and keeps your Concentration "slot" open for a defensive spell - I would have wished using this opportunity to revise the spell list to include some of those defenses like Blur, Haste, Shadow of Moil (please WotC, bring it back).

Still I would prefer to keep Hexblade's Curse as a stand alone feature. I would consider letting the Hexblade curse as part of an attack or as a BA - this you can also use as a hook for other features. Furthermore, when Hex is not a Concentration spell, how do you account for multiple castings of this feature at a time? It seems like you only want one curse active at a time, but then there should be a phrase about it.

The Unarmored Defense is also one I would like to see go - Warlocks already have Light Armor Training, so ditching armor entirely to instead rely on Armor of Shadows + this Unarmored Defense Bonus is backwards to me. Medium Armor Training as a substitute would secure a level 3 Warlock with 14 + 2 DEX (on par with most shield-less Martials) - it would limit the need to invest in DEX and give room to invest in CON. It would remove the reliance on Armor of Shadows, so +1 Invocation. It would open up the Armor slot for Magic items in the future. And you cap out at 15 + 2 DEX like most other Medium Armor users (Barbarian, Ranger) without accounting for magic items.
(Furthermore an Armor of Shadows with the +2 and +CHA to Unarmored Defense along with a Bracers of Defense would accrue 13 + 3 DEX + 2 UD + 5 CHA + 2 BoD = 25 AC. I do want to make the Hexblade more sturdy than your baseline Warlock, but it can go too far.)

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So my advice: Ditch the Weapon Mastery and Fighting Style. I would change the bonus AC to just Medium Armor Training (higher floor, lower ceiling). Consider changing the spell list to accommodate you have Concentration that can be used for defenses rather than being locked to Hex like the UA would have you do. I would consider to make the Hexblade's Curse it's own thing again, which also means no free damage from Hex, especially considering how much free stuff you give the Warlock at level 3 compared to their other subclasses.

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Lvl 6 feature: It's almost the same as the UA. You replaced the "casting a leveled spell comes with a BA-attack" with increased critical hit range... I think that's a loss.

I would bring back the BA-attack with a spell casting instead of the increased crit range. Personally I would love for it to be triggered with any spell casting, but Eldritch Blast always looms, so you need a caveat to only work with leveled spells, or with cantrips with a range of self or touch (this includes Sword-cantrips like Booming Blade but excludes EB).
This also functionally allows the Sword-cantrip + weapon attack that other gishes are allowed at this level - at the expense of a BA. It technically also makes Thirsting Blade superfluous if you don't need that BA.

One additional thing that could be considered is under the Hex Warrior to add;
"If you later acquire the capabilities to attack more than once when taking the Attack action, you may replace two of those attacks with a casting of a spell with a casting time of an action."

This essentially only affects you when you get Devouring Blade (3x attacks) at lvl 12, to allow you to cast a spell and get 1 weapon attack alongside it + 1 weapon attack as a BA (if the spell you cast is not a cantrip with a range that isn't self or touch).
You don't have many spell slots, so you're not flinging Fireballs and attacking twice that many times. But that spell cast could be used to cast Blade Ward, Fiendish Vigor or another resource free spell that otherwise is super awkward to give up 3x attacks for. You can also upgrade your usual 3x attack to 1 Sword-cantrip + 2x attacks at the cost of a BA - same baseline as level 14 Valor Bard/Bladesinger.

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Lvl 10 feature: Still consider this a worse version of Monk's Deflect Attack (1d10 + DEX + Monk lvl). The retaliation thing is neat, but I don't think damage is what the Hexblade require.

I keep coming back to wanting to do something with Hit Dice. To spitball something:

Level 10: Borrow from Tomorrow

Whenever you would take damage, you may expend a Hit Die, roll it and add your Constitution modifier to the roll. Reduce the damage you would take by that amount, down to a minimum of 0. You may repeat as many times as you want.

Not everything the Hexblade does has to be tied to the Hexblade's Curse. This feature might quickly run you out of Hit Dice, so perhaps the lvl 3 Hungering Hex can also regain a spent Hit Die in addition to the Temp HP on-kill, providing a bit of bonus out-of-combat healing in the earlier levels. This feature can also function to manage damage you take so Concentration breaks are less likely to happen. With your d8 Hit Die, this effectively grants an avg. of 45 + CON * 10 extra HP when you get it. With Medium Armor you can likely afford a +3 CON, so in total 75 as a form of superior Temp HP on average.

I find the Armor of Hexes to be a very limiting feature. It requires the HB's Curse on the damage dealing target, it requires your Reaction, and then the damage reduction is mediocre at 15 HP. At level 10, this is somewhat equivalent to getting a bit more than Resistance to the damage. While the effective amount of HP that AoH can provide over an adventuring day can become a lot higher than 75, it is far from consistent. Again a case of raising the floor, lower the ceiling. Although this might be lowering the ceiling a bit much. Perhaps a conversion of Pact Magic and/or Mystic Arcanum into regaining up to 5 spent Hit Dice per slot is needed to keep it going.

To add a bit more to this level, you could add a rider-effect to when you curse a target with the HB's Curse, like;

• You may Teleport within 5 ft. of the cursed target (consider removing the chase from the lvl 6 feature)
• Gain a +2 to attack rolls against the cursed target until the end of your turn.
• Critical hits on 18, 19 or 20 on attack rolls against the cursed target until the end of your turn.

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Lvl 14 feature: I assume this is a bonus damage situation, ala Smite? So on average +36 damage to main target, 10 damage AoE and a WIS-save to Frighten for a round. Paladins at lvl 9 get a Channel Divinity to do a WIS-save Frighten to up to CHA-amount creatures until those creatures take damage. Frighten is a very powerful control tool, but there's also a lot of tier 3+ monsters who are WIS-save proficient and/or Frighten-immune.

Compared to a Divine Smite at 5th lvl (6d8) this (8d8) is better by a bit. Seems decent, a tad overtuned on the main target - could lower the bonus damage to 4d8 (avg. 18) and let the AoE be the same. Better AoE clear (something the Hexblade don't do well) with less burst damage (less overshadowing Smite spells and you have 3x Attacks; you have good single-target damage).

The +CHA to Unarmored Defense I would remove as per the lvl 3 comments to go for armored defenses. Seeing how we're mostly running a 15 Half Plate + 2 DEX + likely 1 from magic items for 17-18 AC at this point, it could be considered to add a flat +2 to AC as long as you don't wield a shield. Basically you get a hands-free shield.

With HB's Curse having a duration of 1 minute and you can transfer it after the curse target is dead, means I don't think you'll run out of them - but if you do the rider-effects on cursing it gives you a reason to reapply the curse even on a target that is already cursed. It's a resource; use it. I think it's worth considering this angle and then a replenishment of HB's Curse charges is a good thing and not superfluous.

Quote from EagerestSnow207 >>

The 3rd level feature does that require a pact magic slot to use the ability?  Alsoaccursed shield is pretty rubbish even with light armour it’s a maximum of 19 ac with a condition. Level 14 feature seems bad because at that level I’m already making 3x 2d6+d6+5+4+Gwm damage damage so maybe allow it as a bonus?  I do like armour of hexes, the fighting style/weapon mastery and masterful hex/malign brutality mash though

Are you really investing 13 STR to get Greatsword and GWM? If you are, there's no reason not to start level 1 Fighter for Heavy Armor, CON-save prof., Weapon Mastery and Fighting Style + a later lvl 2 dip for Action Surge. I don't even know how your stat spread would look like if you attempted 13 STR with a pure Warlock build.

If I would go pure Warlock it would not be as glamourous, as I would just be picking up a Versatile weapon and invest CHA > CON and leave DEX at 14. Granted if Hexblade provides Medium Armor Training like in 2014. It would look more like 3x [ 1d10 + 5 + 1d6 ] for avg. 42 damage. But I would have fairly decent survivability with 17 AC + magic bonuses and a +4 to CON.

I Would remove the fighting style, Add Cha to your base armor class without armor or shields (like monks, sorcs and gennie pallys), Allow it to use 2 handers without dissavantage, no weapon masterys.

You can build full Cha, and go melee without dying with 17AC level 3 +2Ac if hexing, at level 8 you can max your Cha and get a nice 18+2 AC.

Atlevel 12 yku can either flex for Feats or go for Dex Score +2.

This still makes you a melee lock Cha focused, unique as the only lock with heavy weapons and not a strong caster as it does not have Fiend Fire spells.

I think you get the best of all worlds, can even grab Fey Touched feat or Shadowmor Hexer for extra uses if required.

For Level 3 you can only curse one creature at a time. I didn't realize that I didn't write that in (thanks for pointing that out). And yeah the Hexblade curse probably should be it's own thing. (just thought for the most part in the later levels no one usually uses Hex spell anymore, so i figured that extra 1d6 bonus is always nice to have) Now to address all of the fighting style, masteries and ac bonus. What about making it like this. I drop the accursed shield feat and change the Hex Warrior feat to: 

Hex Warrior: You gain proficiency in Medium Armor. You gain the Invocation The Pact of the Blade if you already have this Invocation, you can choose your own, you can now also choose to have a Bow as your Pact Weapon. In addition you gain 1 of the following Fighting Style of your choice, Two Weapon Fighting, Dueling, Archery.

Quote from Dokaru >>

I Would remove the fighting style, Add Cha to your base armor class without armor or shields (like monks, sorcs and gennie pallys), Allow it to use 2 handers without dissavantage, no weapon masterys.

 

You can build full Cha, and go melee without dying with 17AC level 3 +2Ac if hexing, at level 8 you can max your Cha and get a nice 18+2 AC.

Atlevel 12 yku can either flex for Feats or go for Dex Score +2.

 

This still makes you a melee lock Cha focused, unique as the only lock with heavy weapons and not a strong caster as it does not have Fiend Fire spells.

I think you get the best of all worlds, can even grab Fey Touched feat or Shadowmor Hexer for extra uses if required.

I think it's a better idea to go for a new base armor calculation like this, than what the UA tried with the Accursed Shield. But this would also pretty much remove Armor of Shadows/Mage Armor as a choice on the Hexblade.

So the AC would look like: 10 base + 3 DEX + 5 CHA for 18 AC - similar to a Draconic Sorcerer.

Still... I don't get why the Warlock would discard their own armor training.

I would personally not mess around with circumventing weapon properties - to ignore the Heavy weapon property is not really interesting design, it just means you never would run a Bladelock with anything but Heavy weapons. That detracts from build choices and consequences in my eyes. And you still can't get access to GWM (which I imagine is part of the main draw here) because that one requires 13+ STR. So you're trading a 1d10 Longsword for a 2d6 Greatsword or +1.5 avg. on weapon dice.

I think the Hexblade could utilize something more interesting to up their damage like; Hexblade's Curse, Hex spell, using Sword-cantrips.

Quote from FaolanWinter >>

<snip> What about making it like this. I drop the accursed shield feat and change the Hex Warrior feat to: 

Hex Warrior: You gain proficiency in Medium Armor. You gain the Invocation The Pact of the Blade if you already have this Invocation, you can choose your own, you can now also choose to have a Bow as your Pact Weapon. In addition you gain 1 of the following Fighting Style of your choice, Two Weapon Fighting, Dueling, Archery.

I don't really see the need for a Fighting Style. Why is it important? You already want to do weapon attacks to take advantage of Pact of the Blade, alongside Thirsting Blade and Devouring Blade for the 3x Attack.

The reason I said a Fighting Style on the Warlock would most likely lead to either of those three is because they add the most from the Fighting Style feats to choose from. FS: Defense would for most players be preferable, but with the prior concept of Unarmored AC (from the UA and OP) then you're not wearing armor and thus can't get the bonus AC.

FS: TWF means you trade your Bonus Action to start moderately higher on avg. DPR compared to a Versatile d10 weapon, but the advantage quickly levels out when you get multiple attacks.
FS:TWF would be at 2x [ 1d6 + 3 CHA ] ~ 13 avg. DPR instead of 1x [ 1d10 + 3 CHA ] ~ 8.5 avg. DPR. At level 5; 3x [ 1d6 + 4 CHA ] ~ 22.5 avg. DPR versus 2x [ 1d10 + 4 CHA ] ~ 19 avg. DPR (already uncomfortably similar damage at the expense of your BA). At level 12; 4x [ 1d6 + 5 CHA ] ~ 34 avg. DPR versus 3x [ 1d10 + 5 CHA ] ~ 31.5 avg. DPR.
Hex spell obviously favors TWF a bit with +3.5 avg. DPR. Still not a lot to gain here - and you make your spell casting more awkward possibly requiring War Caster feat.

FS: Dueling is just a +1 DMG over using a Versatile martial weapon like a Longsword - speaking averages. Warlocks are the main place where Versatile weapons actually may have a real home, as Versatile weapons are exclusively found without Finesse so only STR-users can get use of it (and Monks replace the weapon die at soon as lvl 5). STR-users prioritize Heavy weapons (because why not get more out of the weapon die) and utilize GWM/PAM for damage. Warlocks however exists in that place in between where they don't have the STR for Heavy weapons, but can use CHA as their weapon stat to avoid the need for Finesse and thus gain Versatile. FS: Dueling invalidates that home by turning any d8 one-hander weapon into a superior weapon than a Versatile one wielded two-handed.

FS: Archery (and the ranged weapon Pact weapon) gives a ranged weapon alternative to Eldritch Blast, and that is nice. But comparing EB's 1d10 + CHA Force damage to the Longbow's 1d8 + CHA Piercing/Radiant/Necrotic/Psychic damage - and the other possible upgrades to EB... I think the +2 to ATK rolls is unlikely to triumph. The numbers technically gives a very small margin to the Longbow accounting an average 65% chance to hit for EB, with +2 from FS:A that's 75% to hit with the Longbow, the damage is very similar, <1 difference. It comes down to really wanting that invocation for something else than Agonizing Blast and not wanting to main a melee weapon. In other words; ranged attacks is not a Warlock's weakness and this choice changes very little.

I did fumble a little in the selection of Fighting Styles, as there is definitely a chance that a Warlock might pick up FS: Interception to trade their Reaction for 1d10 + Prof. Bonus damage reduction against an attack roll hit for themselves or a close ally. In 2014 it was only for an ally, but 2024 broadened it to include yourself. It's not super, avg. 5.5 + 2-4 Prof. Bonus for about 8.5 avg. damage reduction during tier 1-2 play, where most people play. But when survivability is not your strong suit, you might take whatever you can get.

I realize the level 3 feature have to give a lot because it tries to convert the ranged spellcaster Warlock to a mostly melee combatant, but it still does provide a lot:
- Medium Armor Training
- Pact of the Blade* + ranged Pact Weapon / +1 Invocation
- Hexblade's Curse for on-kill Temp HP that rivals the Fiend's
- Hexblade's Spell List (still would advocate for a revised/more defensive orientated spell list)

I think that is fine.

* Hex Warrior should probably also say that you cannot replace the Pact of the Blade Invocation through your Eldritch Invocation feature whenever you gain a Warlock level. Semantics.

If you really want Fighting Styles and kept it to largely inconsequential options - meaning not improving much on what the Warlock already does, or improving much on what other martials can do, I would consider limiting the choice to: Archery, Blind Fighting, or Interception.

Archery brings a ranged weapon alternative to EB. Blind Fighting brings some amount of utility but is largely overshadowed by Devil's Sight for shenanigans. Interception could actually be a really solid defensive tool, that scales horribly; lvl 1-20: 7.5 - 11.5 avg. redux (only scales with Prof. Bonus). Thus it could complement the changed level 10 feature I suggested to spend Hit Dice instead of a Reaction to reduce incoming damage. Interception is an improvement on what Warlock can do, mainly because it is limitless. Otherwise Hexblade do get access to the Shield spell that can avoid quite a bit of damage, but due to Pact magic is really really not desirable to do.

I did consider the Thrown Weapon Fighting Style for a minute, but that would require Pact Weapons to be instantly re-summoned once thrown this way... and would largely result in Trident's 1d8 at 20 ft. range for the same damage as FS: Dueling with a Longsword. A few added hoops for no real interesting gain.

I may even be warming up enough to Interception being a real contender to let Dueling be part of that list. Either you get a little bit of extra damage or you get another way to use your reaction to avoid a little bit of damage. The main attraction to Dueling is the ability to hold a Shield while keeping good weapon damage - but that's not available to this Hexblade. The main trouble to get Dueling on that list would then be multiclassers picking 1 lvl in Fighter for FS: Defense and a Shield.

i agree on the 2 handed take, restricts class creativity.

Spell Balding cantrips would be awesome, unfortunatly the multi attacks on warlock dont work unless they make it like valor Bards.

the AC calcs are Considering you are using Armor if Shadows you get your Cha + Dex +3 of armor of shadows.

i honestly think the +2 AC its bad because when the monster dies your AC dies.

Dueling is amazing when you can wield a Shield.

the thing is as now getting a shield as warlock required to either forgo 1 ability score on Cha or multiclass.

both ways make you fall behind on spellcasting and its the only subclass that have this problem.

valor bard, Eldritch knight, swords bard, bladesinger.

all of them work similarly and while Blade singer does not have a regular armor the mage armor plus the song gives you alot of benefits and armor.

Hexblade warlock does not have a good baseline armor like valor or EK nor the song of the BS and their Int Scales directly on both damage and armor.

its insane the Hexblade is this bad.