So, as far as I understanding the improved pact weapon invocation allows a warlock's pact weapon to be a bow, act as the focus, AND get a plus one to attack and damage.
Now pact of the blade allows you to essentially pull a magical (for the purpose of overcoming resistance) weapon from pocket space. HOWEVER, as ranged weapons that don't have the thrown trait require ammunition, and ammunition itself is not considered a weapon...
Does the pact weapon, let's say a longbow, also generate arrows for it? Does it still even require ammunition or do you just shoot "magic arrows lasers" like Pit?
Personally I feel like if it does require ammunition then it kind of gets rid of part of the biggest perk of being able to pull the weapon out of pocket space and having it ready at all times. Oh yeah you can conjure this really cool bow, but if you forgot your normal mundane quiver at home, it's not gonna do nothing for you.
But ask your DM. Some DMs, myself included, don't even track ammunition as it is. So it shouldn't be game breaking for the pact weapon to create its own arrows when ever you fire it.
It does require ammunition. It does not generate its own ammunition.
The summoning feature is basically for imprisonment/disarmament scenarios. If your pact weapon is a bow/crossbow, you'll need to find ammunition. Keep in mind, however, that you can choose the form of your weapon every time you summon it... If you're in a situation where you don't have ammunition then summon a different weapon. 🤷♂️
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
You don't know what fear is until you've witnessed a drunk bird divebombing you while carrying a screaming Kobold throwing fire anywhere and everywhere.
The Improved Pact Weapon Eldritch Invocation allows an extended list of summoned pact weapons which extends to short and long bows, and both heavy and light crossbows.
Old thread, but since someone else necro'd it first...
My group doesn't feel that tracking ammunition adds anything to the game, so we stopped doing it.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
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.
Actually the sling is on the list of proficient weapons so it is viable. You just have to pact bond to it.
Hex Warrior
At 1st level, you acquire the training necessary to effectively arm yourself for battle. You gain proficiency with medium armour, shields, and martial weapons.
The influence of your patron also allows you to mystically channel your will through a particular weapon. Whenever you finish a long rest, you can touch one weapon that you are proficient with and that lacks the two-handed property. When you attack with that weapon, you can use your Charisma modifier, instead of Strength or Dexterity, for the attack and damage rolls. This benefit lasts until you finish a long rest. If you later gain the Pact of the Blade feature, this benefit extends to every pact weapon you conjure with that feature, no matter the weapon’s type.
That and add to it the magic stone cantrip and you hit hard. This is giving me an idea for a character.
Actually I take back the Magic Stone plan it isn't that good.
The rules allow you to conjure a weapon out of thin air, and when you qualify for it, you can get bows and the arrows to fire it. You get +1 to both, so you get a total of +2 to hit and +2 once you've fired the arrow for damage. Same applies for crossbows or any weapon you can load. Pew pew magical lazors. It's inferior to Eldritch Blast, other than the range, so I don't see a problem there.
One thing you can't do is change the form of an existing magical weapon you bind as a Pact Weapon. So if you get a +2 bow, you need arrows for it, and you can't conjure anything more than a +1 arrow. +3 to hit, +1 to the damage, so you're better off using the non magical bow. and it gets worse if you've got magical ammunition. (there are some improvements to Improved Pact of the Blade in UA at the moment I think.) So if arrows are being tracked, you have a 50% chance of losing any arrow you fire. Better keep a count.
The rules allow you to conjure a weapon out of thin air, and when you qualify for it, you can get bows and the arrows to fire it.
I mean, I wish that were true, but it's not. Even with the DMs who allow Improved Pact Weapon to summon ammunition I've never seen any of them say that the ammunition also got a +1.
Pact of the Blade
You can use your action to create a pact weapon in your empty hand. You can choose the form that this melee weapon takes each time you create it
Improved Pact Weapon
Prerequisite: Pact of the Blade feature
You can use any weapon you summon with your Pact of the Blade feature as a spellcasting focus for your warlock spells.
In addition, the weapon gains a +1 bonus to its attack and damage rolls, unless it is a magic weapon that already has a bonus to those rolls.
Finally, the weapon you conjure can be a shortbow, longbow, light crossbow, or heavy crossbow.
Fair enough. I hope someday when they get the more improved versions of Improved Pact Weapon, they clarify this point. The current rules allow a lot of freedom for the weapons you can create out of the air, but at the moment, you can't get more than a plus one weapon, nor arrows to fire from it. It's clear that they don't want people to depend on magic items to get past +1. Who wants to be stuck with the fantastic ability to use any weapon of any kind, but only at +1, in Tier two or beyond?
Yeah if I conjure a bow out of thin air I want to be able to summon arrows out of thin air too. Toting around a quiver of arrows but no bow just sounds wierd. Generating mundane ammunition is nothing more than a ribbon and makes for a much more evocative ability.
If a magic weapon has the ammunition property, ammunition fired from it is considered magical for the purpose of overcoming resistance and immunity to nonmagical attacks and damage.
but the ammo isn't +1 as well.
Otherwise, I'm in agreement with Zot... if I'm summoning a weapon, tracking ammo isn't just a pain, it's 'un-fun.'
The rules allow you to conjure a weapon out of thin air, and when you qualify for it, you can get bows and the arrows to fire it. You get +1 to both, so you get a total of +2 to hit and +2 once you've fired the arrow for damage. Same applies for crossbows or any weapon you can load. Pew pew magical lazors. It's inferior to Eldritch Blast, other than the range, so I don't see a problem there.
One thing you can't do is change the form of an existing magical weapon you bind as a Pact Weapon. So if you get a +2 bow, you need arrows for it, and you can't conjure anything more than a +1 arrow. +3 to hit, +1 to the damage, so you're better off using the non magical bow. and it gets worse if you've got magical ammunition. (there are some improvements to Improved Pact of the Blade in UA at the moment I think.) So if arrows are being tracked, you have a 50% chance of losing any arrow you fire. Better keep a count.
That's not how any of this works. A longbow, +2 adds +2 to hit and damage. If you have an arrows, +1 (sorry for the bad grammar - dndbeyond incorrectly lacks the magic item in the singular in its taggable database) and you fire it from a +2 bow, you have +3 to hit and damage, because they stack.
The reason this isn't so good it's an autoinclude is that Warlocks simply don't have any abilities that let them summon +1 arrows. They can pactify a found magic weapon and they have an invocation for a +1 weapon, but that's it for permanent weapons. Past that you need to switch to spells like magic weapon and elemental weapon.
I don't have a clue. I just looked through the UA forum and after 15 pages I couldn't find it. I remember seeing it somewhere. Their idea was that a Warlock should be able to keep pace all the way to Tier 4 with +3 to hit and damage conjured weapons, rather than having to depend on the normal magical ones which couldn't change shape. Your guess is as good as mine.
TL;DR : Do pact bows require ammunition?
So, as far as I understanding the improved pact weapon invocation allows a warlock's pact weapon to be a bow, act as the focus, AND get a plus one to attack and damage.
Now pact of the blade allows you to essentially pull a magical (for the purpose of overcoming resistance) weapon from pocket space. HOWEVER, as ranged weapons that don't have the thrown trait require ammunition, and ammunition itself is not considered a weapon...
Does the pact weapon, let's say a longbow, also generate arrows for it? Does it still even require ammunition or do you just shoot "magic arrows lasers" like Pit?
Personally I feel like if it does require ammunition then it kind of gets rid of part of the biggest perk of being able to pull the weapon out of pocket space and having it ready at all times. Oh yeah you can conjure this really cool bow, but if you forgot your normal mundane quiver at home, it's not gonna do nothing for you.
Let me know what y'all think.
It does require you to provide ammunition.
But ask your DM. Some DMs, myself included, don't even track ammunition as it is. So it shouldn't be game breaking for the pact weapon to create its own arrows when ever you fire it.
Check out my Homebrew Magic Items
It does require ammunition. It does not generate its own ammunition.
The summoning feature is basically for imprisonment/disarmament scenarios. If your pact weapon is a bow/crossbow, you'll need to find ammunition. Keep in mind, however, that you can choose the form of your weapon every time you summon it... If you're in a situation where you don't have ammunition then summon a different weapon. 🤷♂️
You don't know what fear is until you've witnessed a drunk bird divebombing you while carrying a screaming Kobold throwing fire anywhere and everywhere.
If all else fails, gather some small-ish stones and summon a +1 sling. Free ammo!
DICE FALL, EVERYONE ROCKS!
Sadly that isn't on the list of the summonable weapons so you'd have to convince your DM to let you do that as well.
The Improved Pact Weapon Eldritch Invocation allows an extended list of summoned pact weapons which extends to short and long bows, and both heavy and light crossbows.
Old thread, but since someone else necro'd it first...
My group doesn't feel that tracking ammunition adds anything to the game, so we stopped doing it.
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
Actually the sling is on the list of proficient weapons so it is viable. You just have to pact bond to it.
Hex Warrior
At 1st level, you acquire the training necessary to effectively arm yourself for battle. You gain proficiency with medium armour, shields, and martial weapons.
The influence of your patron also allows you to mystically channel your will through a particular weapon. Whenever you finish a long rest, you can touch one weapon that you are proficient with and that lacks the two-handed property. When you attack with that weapon, you can use your Charisma modifier, instead of Strength or Dexterity, for the attack and damage rolls. This benefit lasts until you finish a long rest. If you later gain the Pact of the Blade feature, this benefit extends to every pact weapon you conjure with that feature, no matter the weapon’s type.
That and add to it the magic stone cantrip and you hit hard. This is giving me an idea for a character.
Actually I take back the Magic Stone plan it isn't that good.
The rules allow you to conjure a weapon out of thin air, and when you qualify for it, you can get bows and the arrows to fire it. You get +1 to both, so you get a total of +2 to hit and +2 once you've fired the arrow for damage. Same applies for crossbows or any weapon you can load. Pew pew magical lazors. It's inferior to Eldritch Blast, other than the range, so I don't see a problem there.
One thing you can't do is change the form of an existing magical weapon you bind as a Pact Weapon. So if you get a +2 bow, you need arrows for it, and you can't conjure anything more than a +1 arrow. +3 to hit, +1 to the damage, so you're better off using the non magical bow. and it gets worse if you've got magical ammunition. (there are some improvements to Improved Pact of the Blade in UA at the moment I think.) So if arrows are being tracked, you have a 50% chance of losing any arrow you fire. Better keep a count.
<Insert clever signature here>
I mean, I wish that were true, but it's not. Even with the DMs who allow Improved Pact Weapon to summon ammunition I've never seen any of them say that the ammunition also got a +1.
But seeing as that's a stupid ruling, I would allow Improved Pact Weapon to generate mundane ammunition.
Canto alla vita
alla sua bellezza
ad ogni sua ferita
ogni sua carezza!
I sing to life and to its tragic beauty
To pain and to strife, but all that dances through me
The rise and the fall, I've lived through it all!
Fair enough. I hope someday when they get the more improved versions of Improved Pact Weapon, they clarify this point. The current rules allow a lot of freedom for the weapons you can create out of the air, but at the moment, you can't get more than a plus one weapon, nor arrows to fire from it. It's clear that they don't want people to depend on magic items to get past +1. Who wants to be stuck with the fantastic ability to use any weapon of any kind, but only at +1, in Tier two or beyond?
<Insert clever signature here>
Yeah if I conjure a bow out of thin air I want to be able to summon arrows out of thin air too. Toting around a quiver of arrows but no bow just sounds wierd. Generating mundane ammunition is nothing more than a ribbon and makes for a much more evocative ability.
From the DM's Guide -
If a magic weapon has the ammunition property, ammunition fired from it is considered magical for the purpose of overcoming resistance and immunity to nonmagical attacks and damage.
but the ammo isn't +1 as well.
Otherwise, I'm in agreement with Zot... if I'm summoning a weapon, tracking ammo isn't just a pain, it's 'un-fun.'
That's not how any of this works. A longbow, +2 adds +2 to hit and damage. If you have an arrows, +1 (sorry for the bad grammar - dndbeyond incorrectly lacks the magic item in the singular in its taggable database) and you fire it from a +2 bow, you have +3 to hit and damage, because they stack.
The reason this isn't so good it's an autoinclude is that Warlocks simply don't have any abilities that let them summon +1 arrows. They can pactify a found magic weapon and they have an invocation for a +1 weapon, but that's it for permanent weapons. Past that you need to switch to spells like magic weapon and elemental weapon.
(there are some improvements to Improved Pact of the Blade in UA at the moment I think.)
Which UA? I'm not finding that...
I don't have a clue. I just looked through the UA forum and after 15 pages I couldn't find it. I remember seeing it somewhere. Their idea was that a Warlock should be able to keep pace all the way to Tier 4 with +3 to hit and damage conjured weapons, rather than having to depend on the normal magical ones which couldn't change shape. Your guess is as good as mine.
<Insert clever signature here>
It's old pre Xanathar's
2017 UA
https://media.wizards.com/2017/dnd/downloads/20170213_Wizrd_Wrlck_UAv2_i48nf.pdf
Ah, yes... I recall this one.
Thanks...