Monstrous Compendium Vol. 1: Spelljammer Creatures
Frozen Sick
D&D Beyond Basic Rules
Basic Rules (2014)
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Monstrous Compendium Vol. 1: Spelljammer CreaturesFrozen SickD&D Beyond Basic RulesBasic Rules (2014)Sign in to view your library & saved favorites.
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A better question might be what they were, as you no longer have access to an eldritch invocation that made it work (Improved Pact Weapon). Also, the feat sharpshooter was nerfed, so you can no longer gain +10 damage for a -5 to your hit roll. So back then you could at least get close to the same damage as eldritch blast to combine it with things like eldritch smite to make it viable, but the fact is this specific build no longer works well. You’re basically giving up damage to use a bow.
If you were to use it, you would still want the sharpshooter feat as well as the crossbow expert one. Afterwards you would want to maximize your charisma (these two feats only improve your dexterity). In addition, I would personally start a level in fighter to among many other things get the archery fighting style.
It comes on late, and the burst damage with eldritch smite is super limited, but if you really wanted to make a 2024 bowlock that is how I would personally do it.
Oh! I just realized another problem. Eldritch Smite makes the target prone, which makes it harder for you to hit with a ranged weapon. I guess if you have mostly melee fighters this could still be a good thing, but again I think you’re better off either going melee pact of the blade or eldritch blaster.
Does this help answer your question on what the hypothetical niche build would be?
P.S.: Here’s a link to an old video that revolves around a warlock using a ranged weapon. Again, it’s outdated, as it’s from 5.0 and this is 5.5, but it might give you further ideas on how to to make such a build possible now.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=N_iU4wCfjHs&ra=m
Blade pact warlock, investing invocations just like a blade lock would but shooting a bow instead of swinging a sword, You're shooting multiple times because you took the invocations to do so, you're eldritch smiting. you CAN (not have to) prone when you eldritch smite, so if you have someone flying? Prone em and add fall damage. Stop them from fleeing? Prone em. Instead of buffing eldritch blast, you're taking stuff like thirsting blade, devouring blade, eldritch smite, etc.
As I said, it's niche. It'll probably do slightly less damage than an EB spammer at high levels, but it's got other tricks up it's sleeve with eldritch smite.
Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
Tasha
That's incorrect. Eldritch smite CAN make the target prone, but it's players choice. Use it tactically as necessary.
Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
Tasha
Thank you, I assumed as this was creating a character it would be for 2024 rules, but it appears that this uses a lot of the 2014 rules.
No, it does not. Those are all 2024 invocations I mentioned.
Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
Tasha
For clarification, this is based on 5.5, not 5e. Archer lock is just a variant of the pact blade lock, taking pact of the blade, thirsting blade, and devouring blade for 3 attacks/round by 12th level. The warlock bonds with a magic bow. One of the reasons to do it would be because you have found a nice magic bow, like a Glimmering Moonbow, which adds a D6 to each shot. So, even if you cant get that 4th attack like with Eldrich Blast, and the longbow doesn't do D10, you can do more damage because you get D8+D6 with each of your attacks. And you are still adding your CHA bonus to each attack because the Pact of the Blade is using CHA instead of DEX for your attacks.
You can't conjure a bow, but you can certainly use a magic bow, plenty effectively. With magical bonuses or additional damage, or feat/multiclassing, you can even be quite a bit more effective than your traditional eldritch blaster.
So (Archer-Lock) with the Ascendant Step and Devils Sight invocations you can float out of melee range, sit in a globe of darkness and shoot your pact bow at people.
Life's hard - get a helmet!
If you can afford the stats for it, Great Weapon Master can add damage to each attack if you are using a Longbow or Crossbow, Heavy. Well worth the investment if you can work it in.
As others have mentioned, there are a good variety of feats and invocations that support archer locks. Is going archery better than eldritch blast? That really depends on how you define better. For raw damage numbers, I'm not sure archery can beat EB spam once EB gets their 4th bolt. I've never run the numbers and honestly, do not have any interest in doing so. What archery brings to the table is the ability to do things that EB cannot do with feats, invocations, and weapon masteries (should one MC to gain them). Is the value of those extra things that it can do worth the price of entry? That's hard to say, because the price of entry in feats and invocations IS pretty expensive. But a player is certainly not WRONG for doing it as some other folks would have you believe. It's just a different path.
Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
Tasha
^^This sums it up perfectly.
Also, I apologize if my information was wrong. I sincerely thought based on nerfs that it was no longer viable.
it's viable, but has a heavy invocation tax that some folks think is wasteful. I kinda like the idea that I always have an invocation that I care about to look forward to, but not sure I want to spam a bow any more than I really want to spam EB anymore. For the right character, I could probably do it. It's just that the right character concept would have to come along in my mind to make me want to give it a go.
Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
Tasha
Rough Hack - - > Ftr 1 (Archery) Lock19
Feats, Great Weapon Master, Sharpshooter, ASI CH+2, Fey Touched CH+1 , Boon of something.
Entertainer ST+1, CH+2
ST 14+1=15
DX 9+1=10
CN 15+1=16
IN 8
WS 9
CH 15+2+2+1=20
ST15 for heavy armour as no dex. Con for HP and concentration. CH for everything else.
Fey touched gives hunters mark so a shortbow with vex does 1d6 (2d6 with HM) and has vex so you start getting advantage which adds more dmg in the long run than a longbow.b The 3d8 a round from the longbow gives +3 avg dmg over the dhortbow but doesn't get advantage. I prefer vex.
GWM adds 6, CHA adds 5, if we assume a vicious shortbow cos it's my hack so why not that adds 2d6 a hit also.
4d6 averages 14, + 5CHA + 6Prof = 25 per hit. Lifedrinkers adds 1d6 per rnd to give us 78.5 per round.
Hexblade I haven't used.
EB is what 4d10 + 20 which is 42? If we don't use Hexblade what else stacks on EB?
If we consider hexblade (adds prof to damage against hexed target)
Shortbow adds 18 to give 96.5. EB adds 24 to give 66.
rod of the pact keeper/wand of the war mage adds to attack roll but not damage.
I'm seeing the shortbow gaining here as vex gives you advantage on subsequent shots and archery fighting style boosts the attack roll to counter gains from the wand/rod approach.
What am I missing pls?
Dropping the vicious shortbow in favour of a +2 shortbow reduces it by avg 15 / rnd. Which leaves it as 66 vs 81.5 still and another +2 to hit on the advantage shortbow.
Life's hard - get a helmet!