What’s stronger at level 3?

With the new Battle Pet spell, I am curious about starting my warlock as a Fighter and delaying my spell progression. Currently I start off as a duelist fighter and then go Pact of the Blade Warlock, starting off with medium armor and a shield and thus an 18 AC. The Eldritch invocations vary after that point, but I would love to hear from you all what I should take, but under the starting set Pact of the Chain just isn’t as good.

Anyway, the new option would probably be to start off Pact of the Chain Warlock and get to level 3 ASAP to get the Battle Familiar level 2 spell. From there, I would just wait to take Pact of the Blade and Thirsting blade at level 5 followed by the fighter class at level 6. 

The only thing really stopping me is the late game. With no proficiency in Con to start, I would be taking Resilient Constitution at level 13 and put my epic boon into Constitution to even it out to 20. The problem there is Constitution doesn’t get any boosting items like Charisma does, so I’m missing out on pushing a stat to 30.

Like many times, I think writing it out like this has helped me determine what is most important, but I’d like to hear it from all of you before I go making any changes. So please, tell me what you think!

BTW - AC is over-rated. The DM will always use opponents that will be able to hit whatever AC character you bring in, in order to keep the game balanced. Also, don't forget that the opponents with higher 'to hit' bonuses, do much more damage than those with lower 'to hit' bonuses. The race towards highest AC possible is more often than not, counter productive (you'll end up taking more damage than if you didn't focus on AC). 

Think of it this way... if the entire party has an AC of 15, they are likely to face lower CR creatures for longer into the campaign (just more of them). But if the party has 25+ AC, they'll be fighting higher CR creatures (because no DM is going to allow a party that can't be hit) long before their hp total can take those hits. The DM is likely (consciously or not) to keep the hit rate in the 40 - 60 % range, regardless of what your AC says. The higher your AC, the stronger the baddies to maintain that hit rate.

Just my 2.4 copper pieces.

I guess it depends on your DM, but yeah I wanna optimally prepare. So what weapon would you recommend I go with?

If it helps, Actionsparda, I have a Fighter 1 / Warlock 6 (Vestige) character right now and it is very fun to play.  For Weapon Mastery, they use Warhammer for Push, Trident for Topple, and Rapier for Vex.  Mostly using Warhammer right now to Push monsters back into zones like Hunger of Hadar and Conjure Animals (the latter from the Conjuration Adept feat) should they escape.  If they need to pretend to be a front-liner, they can use Blade Ward (at the exclusion of other concentration spells of course).  They can also blast with Fireball from the Light domain from the Vestige pact.  Jack of several trades, essentially.  Very fun to play in adapting to different scenarios.  Patron is a Noble Efreet who is well on their way to becoming a deity.

And yes, they do wear half plate.  I totally get where HarmAssassin is going and it is absolutely a consideration.

This does help! Thank you!

I’m not sure I would use Hunger of Hadar when I eventually get Wall of Fire and can get Repelling Blast as an Eldritch Invocation at Warlock level 7, but I realize you are still a level shy of it. 

So I take it you don’t use a shield since your only feat is Conjuration Adept and not War Caster? Interesting. I’m not sure where I would put Eldritch Mind in my Invocations. My first few are Pact of the Blade, Agonizing Blast, Pact of the Chain, Invocation of the Chain Master, Repelling Blast, Etc. As I stated before, I’d either want Evocation Adept with War spells or War Caster with Light Spells. Yours is neat and tempting too though, even though I would feel weird using Misty Step or even Dimension Door since they do not gain power when used with higher level magic slots. (I use Thunder Step instead for more damage at higher levels. I’m obsessive, I know.)

Since the pact blade can be used as a spellcasting focus, no extra hand is needed.  Technically RAW (or I would like to say poor interpretations of the RAW) it would only work for spells with both a somatic and material component.  However, our house rule is that the blade can be used to make the somatic motions.  It is quite illogical that it would work for both somatic and material but not for somatic alone.  The value of Warcaster is that things would be even more versatile.  If your DM is more strict, Warcaster would be the way to go.  If your DM goes with common sense (seriously...) then things are more flexible.

Pact of the Chain is interesting but, at least from my perspective, Invocation of the Chain Master doesn't get you a whole lot.  If you are going blaster, as it looks like from your choices, I am not sure Pact of the Blade is for you.  Pact of the Blade involves a good deal of investment to lean into it and you will run out of invocation slots.

Vestige will get you a different kind of familiar so you don't have to go with Pact of the Chain.  However, a key difference with a Vestige is that you don't get to see through its eyes, etc. by default.  I use a combination of the Message cantrip to talk to the Vestige at a distance and, eventually, Gaze of Two Minds for scouting (next level).  You can communicate normally with the Vestige when not at a distance but not telepathically like with a familiar.

My character has the option to Blade Ward and Armor of Agathys up close or go distance and blast/area control - or close and area control.  If your DM is strict about spellcasting foci, set up your field at first with casting with a free hand then summon your blade and go to town.  Casting wisely is always about the right action at the right time.

If you go Human, like with mine, you can pick up Magic Initiate (Wizard) for Shield (1/long rest without using a slot too) and two nice cantrips.  I chose Minor Illusion and Blade Ward to free up my Pact of the Tome slots for interesting items from other classes and my Warlock slots too.  I run with:

Blade Ward
Eldritch Blast
Guidance
Mage Hand
Message
Mind Sliver
Minor Illusion
Spare the Dying

Regarding Misty Step and Dimension Door, one tricky thing for your character, unless you go with a strength build rather than dexterity, is grappling and sticky situations like Entangle, Web, etc. that can really put a damper on their movement and is risky for their health.  Teleportation solves that issue as it breaks grapples and gets the character out of some other strength-based messes.  They don't have to scale to be useful at all levels of play.

Edit to add: Worth mentioning here that Misty Step is a bonus action and thus that may be of value should you wish to do something else with your action when you are free (other than cast a leveled spell of course).  Also of note is that Push from a Warhammer can knock people out of grapples in extremis.

I’ve heard both interpretations on Pact of the Blade and am not sure which one to go with. I’ve never used a Pact of the Blade build in a campaign before to be honest.

From what I’ve read, combining Investment of the Chain Master with Battle Familiar spell can lead to some good results, but I’m still learning.

I’m more of a gish at this point, but having multiple attacks allows for both my Vestige and my Familiar to attack if I don’t go Investment if the Chain Master, which would open up room for Gaze of Two Minds. Still, I would think I would want the invisible imp over my Vestige.

We don’t have many spells or cantrips in common. Also, I’m pretty set on my Verdan Race/Species. Still, again, I like a lot of your ideas.

I’ll have to review Thunderstep and see if it’s a teleport spell or more of a jump. Still, you getting misty step earlier than it is a plus. Perhaps I may make that change in my design.

If I may ask, what is the list of your current Eldritch Invocations? The build I’m using for reference (D4 Deep Dive) starts off as a fighter but then goes warlock with pact of the chain, then eldritch mind and random one, followed by pact of the blade and thirsting blade at level 6 (warlock level 5).

Here is my build: https://www.dndbeyond.com/characters/139719073/0tXYXJ

There are advantages and disadvantages in starting off Fighter.  I chose not to but as I went Dex build for Fighter I could qualify later for the multiclass.  I picked up Fighter after 5 levels of Warlock.

You can always make your Vestige invisible via a spell, send it into position within 60 feet with Gaze of Two Minds and Message, and then blast away with Eldritch Blast as that originates from the space, not the Vestige so it remains invisible.  Or you could have your familiar use your Vestige as a mount - no judgement!  Lots of possibilities with both Pact of the Chain and a Vestige.  Just adjusts your action economy as you will be giving up a bonus action and/or attack in some way to make certain things happen.

Pact of the Tome is quite nice and versatile for in and out of combat.  You can also change your spell selections for it every short rest as needed - it is explicitly allowed.

This helps so much!

So according to this, the Vestige like Investment of the Chain Master familliars take their action as your bonus action, whereas regular Pact of the Chain familliars require your action.

One interesting thing pointed out to me on a similar topic was that using a weapon with the nick mastery gives you an extra attack that we believe can be given to your familiar as a bonus action. Of course, you could just give it to your Vestige patron, but I digress.

Maybe I’m trying to do too much. I know having a bunch of minis on the table and actions can bog the game down.

Here’s what I’ve gathered so far: You are a Human Vestige Warlock 6 /Fighter 1 with Light spells. Your Eldritch Invocations are Pact of the Blade, Eldritch Mind, Pact of the Tome, Gaze of Two Minds and Thirsting Blade. You use message from the Tome, Invisibility and Gaze of Two Minds together for scouting. You don’t use a Familiar (not even the Battle Familiar spell). You have teleportation and traps via Conjuration Adept and Hunger of Hadar.

If I can better understand your build and rotation, perhapse it will be easier for me to make adjustments as needed.

The character's invocations are:

I’m not sure yet where I would put Pact if the Tome in my build.

Devil’s Sight is nice, but I found something better in Demon Sight as part of the Pact Seeker background as well as teaistance to either fire or poison (currently fire, but if I get acess to Vestige I will switch to poison and get fire from my fiend vestige eventually) AND proficiency in deception. Plus I love the story it tells!

Myriad Form is cool, but without the Actor feat I would be concerned using it

Agreed on Pact of the Blade and Thirsting Blade.

I like the idea behind using Gaze of Two Minds.i’m just not sure based on my current or future DM’s playatyle how often scouting will come up. Wo far in my current campaign or his one-shots it hasn’t.

I forgot Conjuration Adept gave a small buff to concentration. Still, could be better with Eldritch Mind.

Your battleplan is solid and in ways simmilar to mine. The big differences are I would be relying on wall of fire or wall of force and I would like to also have tepelling blast, but might bot have the room.

Right now I’m thinking Pact of the Blade, Eldritch Mind, Pact of the Chain, Investment of the Chain Master and Thirsting Blade gor my Vestige Patron. If I go with your Conjuration Adept I might swap Eldritch Mind for Agonizing Blast and then take Repelling Blast at Warlock level 7.

Here’s what else I’m thinking; I have a few mini’s. One is an old non pact of the blade of me that resembles my icon that i will not be using. I have one that is that will tepresent my character. I also have an imp, a female demon and a male demon (gifts from my father actually). So, i can have up to 3 summons. The vestige could be any one of them really, but if i do a familliar or battle familiar i feel like it should be the imp like it use to be for me in 5.0. The male demon could be my Vestige patron or a level 6 summoned fiend. The female demon could also be my vestige patron or a level 3 summoned fey.

Thoughts?