So, I recently started playing a Changeling Hexblade in one of my player's new campaign (he's learning how to DM). It takes place in the Forgotten Realms, and I currently have a longsword and shield. I quickly realized that I won't be doing as well as if I had chosen to be an eldritch-blast spammer pretty soon when I level up, so I'm looking for some ideas on how to catch up.
My idea is to have a lance, and ride on a horse, or some other creature. Anything work better than this?
Anything helps. Thanks.
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Theres been a few posts lately about the Hexblade and I got to reminiscing about the 3.5e warlock Hideous Blow invocation...so decided to create it as a cantrip
My DM doesn't allow homebrew, but I could run it past him. I don't know if I want to go the route of "eldritch blast works better, so let's just apply that here" instead of "here are some multiclass or combat tactics that can help with that."
Also, that cantrip doesn't scale well. It does increase in damage, but with 2 attacks in an attack action at level 5, I don't think it would be useful to use beyond level 5, which is when hexblades become noticeably less powerful than eldritch blasters.
I want to use a lance, but horses are expensive and die easily. Any advise?
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Re eldirthc bblast, I usually favour Chill Touch instead, its side effects are much more useful...
If you went pact of the blade then it is a tad harder to come up with a steed option.
Pact of Tome would eventually give you access to Phantom Steed as a ritual so if you had time to prepare then you have a spectral steed and if it dies you could just summon another.
Or Pact of Tome or Pact of Chain + Sculptor of Flesh Invocation for Polymorph and you have a familiar that you can turn into a Rhino for a steed, same can also be done as a pact of the blade if you dip into Wizard for a level, you could of course just use Polymorph on an ally or some random pet mouse for your mount or if you have access to feats take Magic initiate Wizard anf get find fmailiar 1xLong Rest
You have the usual Warlock gone Paladin to get access to Find Steed/Find Greater steed but that might eat up 5-13 levels.
Multiclass to Beastmaster Ranger for some other options and some bonuses for you mount but its not a great subclass.
I'd likely say avoid using a Lance due to the disadvantage you get if attacking someone within 5ft...go Halberd or Pike instead, its only a 1pt difference in damage on average but does mean you wont be able to use a shield....but halberds and pikes are Heavy so if you go for the Great Weapon Master feat then happy days.
As a complete tangent, one thing I would like to try at some point is a Hexblade with a 2-3 level dip into Barbarian, whack up a Armour of Agathys and then rage.....
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The problem with halberds and pikes is that they have the two-handed weapon property, which you aren't able to use as a Hexblade. My strength is 9 (-1), Dex is a +1, and Cha is +3, so I'm pretty dependent on using charisma for my weapon attacks. I don't have enough wisdom to multiclass Beast Master ranger, and I don't want to suck.
Pact of the Tome would give me phantom steed, but I need to be pact of the blade. I might take ritual caster, or some other feat, and I do have eldritch blast, but I want to do the best melee combat that I can do, thus the lance, as a 1d12 weapon, along with a shield, so I can survive attacks. I need a mount that is cheap or easy to get, and can survive more than one hit in combat, and won't be that big of a problem while dungeon delving.
This may be an impossible request, but I do want to be as good as a melee fighter as possible as a Hexbladelock. I might eventually multiclass into paladin to get Divine Smite and Find Steed, but for now I want to also be viable as a melee attacker without multiclassing.
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There are hundreds of posts, both before and after Xanathar's, about making the best melee hexblade.
Long story short: You CAN do better damage with melee than with Agonizing Blast, but only slightly better, and you need the Hexblade Patron and the Pact of the Blade, AND it will take almost all of your feats AND invocations. If that's the character you want, go for it an enjoy every bit of it.
I normally choose to be a Warlock with a the Pact of the Tome, rely on Agonizing Blast for most of my damage, use my leveled spells for crowd control and fun, and my feats and invocations for utility.
Lance."YVou have disadvantage when you use a lance to attack a target within 5 feet of you. Also, a lance requires two hands to wield when you aren't mounted"
So you might need to also think about your action economy using a lance whilst mounted and then using the pact of the blade feature to switch to another weapon when on foot. BUT.....also worth noting the last line of the Hexblade feature: "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" so going pact of blade will allow you to summon any weapon and use you Cha bonus for attack/damage so two handed shouldn't be an issue,
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Lance."YVou have disadvantage when you use a lance to attack a target within 5 feet of you. Also, a lance requires two hands to wield when you aren't mounted"
So you might need to also think about your action economy using a lance whilst mounted and then using the pact of the blade feature to switch to another weapon when on foot. BUT.....also worth noting the last line of the Hexblade feature: "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" so going pact of blade will allow you to summon any weapon and use you Cha bonus for attack/damage so two handed shouldn't be an issue,
Okay, thanks, I didn't realize that I could have a Pact of Blade Halberd or Glaive that uses Charisma. Thanks for that.
I generally want to use a lance because my main identity as a Changeling is a human knight from a distant land, so I thought that lance and shield on horse could be thematic, but I might make it different so I can be better with melee combat. Lances are good, but not that good, especially because of the disadvantage within 5 feet of an enemy. Dual Weilding lances might be a good idea, instead of a shield.
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So, I recently started playing a Changeling Hexblade in one of my player's new campaign (he's learning how to DM). It takes place in the Forgotten Realms, and I currently have a longsword and shield. I quickly realized that I won't be doing as well as if I had chosen to be an eldritch-blast spammer pretty soon when I level up, so I'm looking for some ideas on how to catch up.
My idea is to have a lance, and ride on a horse, or some other creature. Anything work better than this?
Anything helps. Thanks.
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
Disclaimer: This signature is a badge of membership in the Forum Loudmouth Club. We are all friends. We are not attacking each other. We are engaging in spirited, friendly debate with one another. We may get snarky, but these are not attacks. Thank you for not reporting us.
Theres been a few posts lately about the Hexblade and I got to reminiscing about the 3.5e warlock Hideous Blow invocation...so decided to create it as a cantrip
https://www.dndbeyond.com/spells/408085-hideous-blow
You're welcome to use it if you like it.
My DM doesn't allow homebrew, but I could run it past him. I don't know if I want to go the route of "eldritch blast works better, so let's just apply that here" instead of "here are some multiclass or combat tactics that can help with that."
Also, that cantrip doesn't scale well. It does increase in damage, but with 2 attacks in an attack action at level 5, I don't think it would be useful to use beyond level 5, which is when hexblades become noticeably less powerful than eldritch blasters.
I want to use a lance, but horses are expensive and die easily. Any advise?
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
Disclaimer: This signature is a badge of membership in the Forum Loudmouth Club. We are all friends. We are not attacking each other. We are engaging in spirited, friendly debate with one another. We may get snarky, but these are not attacks. Thank you for not reporting us.
Thanks for the suggestion, though.
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
Disclaimer: This signature is a badge of membership in the Forum Loudmouth Club. We are all friends. We are not attacking each other. We are engaging in spirited, friendly debate with one another. We may get snarky, but these are not attacks. Thank you for not reporting us.
Re eldirthc bblast, I usually favour Chill Touch instead, its side effects are much more useful...
If you went pact of the blade then it is a tad harder to come up with a steed option.
Pact of Tome would eventually give you access to Phantom Steed as a ritual so if you had time to prepare then you have a spectral steed and if it dies you could just summon another.
Or Pact of Tome or Pact of Chain + Sculptor of Flesh Invocation for Polymorph and you have a familiar that you can turn into a Rhino for a steed, same can also be done as a pact of the blade if you dip into Wizard for a level, you could of course just use Polymorph on an ally or some random pet mouse for your mount or if you have access to feats take Magic initiate Wizard anf get find fmailiar 1xLong Rest
You have the usual Warlock gone Paladin to get access to Find Steed/Find Greater steed but that might eat up 5-13 levels.
Multiclass to Beastmaster Ranger for some other options and some bonuses for you mount but its not a great subclass.
I'd likely say avoid using a Lance due to the disadvantage you get if attacking someone within 5ft...go Halberd or Pike instead, its only a 1pt difference in damage on average but does mean you wont be able to use a shield....but halberds and pikes are Heavy so if you go for the Great Weapon Master feat then happy days.
As a complete tangent, one thing I would like to try at some point is a Hexblade with a 2-3 level dip into Barbarian, whack up a Armour of Agathys and then rage.....
The problem with halberds and pikes is that they have the two-handed weapon property, which you aren't able to use as a Hexblade. My strength is 9 (-1), Dex is a +1, and Cha is +3, so I'm pretty dependent on using charisma for my weapon attacks. I don't have enough wisdom to multiclass Beast Master ranger, and I don't want to suck.
Pact of the Tome would give me phantom steed, but I need to be pact of the blade. I might take ritual caster, or some other feat, and I do have eldritch blast, but I want to do the best melee combat that I can do, thus the lance, as a 1d12 weapon, along with a shield, so I can survive attacks. I need a mount that is cheap or easy to get, and can survive more than one hit in combat, and won't be that big of a problem while dungeon delving.
This may be an impossible request, but I do want to be as good as a melee fighter as possible as a Hexbladelock. I might eventually multiclass into paladin to get Divine Smite and Find Steed, but for now I want to also be viable as a melee attacker without multiclassing.
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
Disclaimer: This signature is a badge of membership in the Forum Loudmouth Club. We are all friends. We are not attacking each other. We are engaging in spirited, friendly debate with one another. We may get snarky, but these are not attacks. Thank you for not reporting us.
There are hundreds of posts, both before and after Xanathar's, about making the best melee hexblade.
Long story short: You CAN do better damage with melee than with Agonizing Blast, but only slightly better, and you need the Hexblade Patron and the Pact of the Blade, AND it will take almost all of your feats AND invocations. If that's the character you want, go for it an enjoy every bit of it.
I normally choose to be a Warlock with a the Pact of the Tome, rely on Agonizing Blast for most of my damage, use my leveled spells for crowd control and fun, and my feats and invocations for utility.
just worth noting the small print of the Lance:
Lance."YVou have disadvantage when you use a lance to attack a target within 5 feet of you. Also, a lance requires two hands to wield when you aren't mounted"
So you might need to also think about your action economy using a lance whilst mounted and then using the pact of the blade feature to switch to another weapon when on foot. BUT.....also worth noting the last line of the Hexblade feature: "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" so going pact of blade will allow you to summon any weapon and use you Cha bonus for attack/damage so two handed shouldn't be an issue,
Okay, thanks, I didn't realize that I could have a Pact of Blade Halberd or Glaive that uses Charisma. Thanks for that.
I generally want to use a lance because my main identity as a Changeling is a human knight from a distant land, so I thought that lance and shield on horse could be thematic, but I might make it different so I can be better with melee combat. Lances are good, but not that good, especially because of the disadvantage within 5 feet of an enemy. Dual Weilding lances might be a good idea, instead of a shield.
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
Disclaimer: This signature is a badge of membership in the Forum Loudmouth Club. We are all friends. We are not attacking each other. We are engaging in spirited, friendly debate with one another. We may get snarky, but these are not attacks. Thank you for not reporting us.
Dual-weilding lances when mounted? Because they're two-handed when not mounted.
Yes, when mounted.
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
Disclaimer: This signature is a badge of membership in the Forum Loudmouth Club. We are all friends. We are not attacking each other. We are engaging in spirited, friendly debate with one another. We may get snarky, but these are not attacks. Thank you for not reporting us.