Long time lurker, first time poster here. I'm currently playing a hexblade warlock and I'm level 6. The key aspects of the build are:
- polearm master - half drow so use darkness semi-often to gain advantage - will be taking eldricht smite next level (current invocations are improved weapon, thirsting blade and devils sight) - stats are 8, 14, 16, 11, 11, 19 after bonuses
I'm torn between war caster and elven accuracy... I know this is a personal decision but I love theory crafting and am guessing some people here do also :)
War caster is great because obviously adv on concentration on a melee caster who concentrates a lot is great, but I'm being hit with disadvantage a lot due to darkness/shadow of moil in the future. It will also let me use my PAM reaction to cast booming blade which is huge.
Elven accuracy is great because it gets my Cha to 20 and further enables the crit fishing with eldricht smite. A dead enemy can't break your concentration (well, usually).
I'm leaning towards elven accuracy because of the dual bonus of maxing charisma and the super advantage, but I'd love to hear any opinions on why this isn't the best choice :)
Thanks!!!
ps. our party is an ancients barb, life cleric and a lore bard
My Hexblade never had time to cast anything, so war caster was a moot point. I took Eldritch blast in case I couldn't reach anyone (e.g. flying or on a ledge) and that was it for casting.
Quick question, what weapon do you plan to use with Polearm Master? I ask because if you have a 10ft reach weapon, like a Glaive, then Booming Blade will be of no use as its max range is 5 ft.
Because you have odd charisma, then elven accuracy might pull ahead a little bit. Crit fishing is usually pretty minor benefit UNLESS you combine it with eldritch smite. With Hexblades curse, EA and two attacks, you have about 45% chance of landing at least a single crit. So you are critting about on every other round, and after Darkness you have one spell slot left to burn for Eldritch smite.
You get some of the warcaster benefits from improved pact weapon. The biggest benefit for you is the that you can make your opportunity attacks with eldritch blast. That is pretty significant benefit, especially if your role is to hold the front line.
If you're planning on using your Pact Magic slots for Eldritch Smite, then you're less likely to be casting/concentrating, I'd definitely go with Elven Accuracy. Go crit-fishing, my friend! :)
As others have said, Elven Accuracy. Combined with all the Charisma based benefits from Hexblade it's almost a no-brainer selection.
Great Weapon Master, Polearm Master, Elven Accuracy and Improved Pact Weapon, along with your maxed Charisma is pretty darn good for a melee character.
Elven Accuracy is why I regard Half-Elf as the best mechanical option for a Hexblade Warlock.
Yeah, good point about the problem with warcaster, which is probably enough to sway me. The synergy with half-drow getting a free darkness cast per day and then being able to get 2 smite slots on every crit (which I believe will happen over half the time with 3 attacks, hexblades curse plus elven accuracy if i'm not mistaken) is just too good - especially since I'm definitely fulfilling the role of the party's single target damage burst option.
I believe our Barbarian is taking a level in rogue for RP reasons and also to get expertise in grappling which makes EA even dirtier!
Hey all,
Long time lurker, first time poster here. I'm currently playing a hexblade warlock and I'm level 6. The key aspects of the build are:
- polearm master
- half drow so use darkness semi-often to gain advantage
- will be taking eldricht smite next level (current invocations are improved weapon, thirsting blade and devils sight)
- stats are 8, 14, 16, 11, 11, 19 after bonuses
I'm torn between war caster and elven accuracy... I know this is a personal decision but I love theory crafting and am guessing some people here do also :)
War caster is great because obviously adv on concentration on a melee caster who concentrates a lot is great, but I'm being hit with disadvantage a lot due to darkness/shadow of moil in the future. It will also let me use my PAM reaction to cast booming blade which is huge.
Elven accuracy is great because it gets my Cha to 20 and further enables the crit fishing with eldricht smite. A dead enemy can't break your concentration (well, usually).
I'm leaning towards elven accuracy because of the dual bonus of maxing charisma and the super advantage, but I'd love to hear any opinions on why this isn't the best choice :)
Thanks!!!
ps. our party is an ancients barb, life cleric and a lore bard
My Hexblade never had time to cast anything, so war caster was a moot point. I took Eldritch blast in case I couldn't reach anyone (e.g. flying or on a ledge) and that was it for casting.
Quick question, what weapon do you plan to use with Polearm Master? I ask because if you have a 10ft reach weapon, like a Glaive, then Booming Blade will be of no use as its max range is 5 ft.
Because you have odd charisma, then elven accuracy might pull ahead a little bit. Crit fishing is usually pretty minor benefit UNLESS you combine it with eldritch smite. With Hexblades curse, EA and two attacks, you have about 45% chance of landing at least a single crit. So you are critting about on every other round, and after Darkness you have one spell slot left to burn for Eldritch smite.
You get some of the warcaster benefits from improved pact weapon. The biggest benefit for you is the that you can make your opportunity attacks with eldritch blast. That is pretty significant benefit, especially if your role is to hold the front line.
I'd say go for Elven Accuracy at this point, worry about war caster later.
If you're planning on using your Pact Magic slots for Eldritch Smite, then you're less likely to be casting/concentrating, I'd definitely go with Elven Accuracy. Go crit-fishing, my friend! :)
As others have said, Elven Accuracy. Combined with all the Charisma based benefits from Hexblade it's almost a no-brainer selection.
Great Weapon Master, Polearm Master, Elven Accuracy and Improved Pact Weapon, along with your maxed Charisma is pretty darn good for a melee character.
Elven Accuracy is why I regard Half-Elf as the best mechanical option for a Hexblade Warlock.
Yeah, good point about the problem with warcaster, which is probably enough to sway me. The synergy with half-drow getting a free darkness cast per day and then being able to get 2 smite slots on every crit (which I believe will happen over half the time with 3 attacks, hexblades curse plus elven accuracy if i'm not mistaken) is just too good - especially since I'm definitely fulfilling the role of the party's single target damage burst option.
I believe our Barbarian is taking a level in rogue for RP reasons and also to get expertise in grappling which makes EA even dirtier!
Sentinel/Polearm master/Elven accuracy When you get to a high enough level but for now Polearm master/Elven accuracy.