My level 6 Celestial Warlock (Tome Pact) just reached level 7, and I need to focus on melee survivability, as my party turns out to be even flimsier in melee than me. I planned on him being able to do ok both ranged and melee, but it seems I have to be the main melee guy.
So this is my character thus far:Stats: 9,14,14,10,12,18 Feat: Moderately armored Cantrips: Eldritch Blast, Sacred Flame, Booming Blade, Shillelagh, Green-Flame Blade, Guidance, Thaumaturgy, Light Spells: Spirit Shroud, Hypnotic Pattern, Revivify, Hex, Armor of Agathys, Misty Step, Cure Wounds Invocations: Book of Ancient Secrets, Agonizing Blast, Repellent Blast
I'm now trying to level from 6 to 7 and deciding what to do. I get 1 spell and 1 invocation and can change some of what I have.
Invocations: I guess I could swap Repellent Blast with Tomb of Lev and get Devil's Sight (see below)?Spells: I guess Shadow of Moil could be a good option (even though I'll soon have a Cloak of Displacement), perhaps also get Darkness instead of something else?
Oh, and we're playing Storm King's Thunder. Which means that I will be hit hard. And often.
My level 6 Celestial Warlock (Tome Pact) just reached level 7, and I need to focus on melee survivability, as my party turns out to be even flimsier in melee than me. I planned on him being able to do ok both ranged and melee, but it seems I have to be the main melee guy.
So this is my character thus far:Stats: 9,14,14,10,12,18 Feat: Moderately armored Cantrips: Eldritch Blast, Sacred Flame, Booming Blade, Shillelagh, Green-Flame Blade, Guidance, Thaumaturgy, Light Spells: Spirit Shroud, Hypnotic Pattern, Revivify, Hex, Armor of Agathys, Misty Step, Cure Wounds Invocations: Book of Ancient Secrets, Agonizing Blast, Repellent Blast
I'm now trying to level from 6 to 7 and deciding what to do. I get 1 spell and 1 invocation and can change some of what I have.
Invocations: I guess I could swap Repellent Blast with Tomb of Lev and get Devil's Sight (see below)?Spells: I guess Shadow of Moil could be a good option (even though I'll soon have a Cloak of Displacement), perhaps also get Darkness instead of something else?
Oh, and we're playing Storm King's Thunder. Which means that I will be hit hard. And often.
I could really do with some advice :)
In SKT, my general advice is don't get hit. The invocation Whatever of Levistus(XGtE) is good when your in a high damage adventure. I'd recommend a feat that gives you Con save proficiency because I think shillelagh is concentration and most of your spells definitely are.
Just a few thoughts- Cloak of Displacement has a lot of limitations. Get hit once and your disadvantage is gone until your turn. Get charmed and it’s gone. Get restrained and it’s gone. Shadow of Moil is powerful but you will be in melee and gotta maintain concentration. Disadvantage works out to about -3 to -5 to hit on average depending on whose math you believe. So assuming medium armor with your +2 Dex, you are around 16 AC without either effect. Not exactly a tank but respectable at level 7. I would probably take the cloak and I’ll tell you why in a moment.
Thinking about your invocations- Levistus is strong but situational. You will be taking a lot of hits so Eldritch Mind to boost your concentration is a thought. The one that gives False Life at Will would functionally move your hit die up to Fighter level for the next level or two- in the short term I would strongly consider that. If you want constant extra damage on everything in melee with you, Cloak of Flies is an option as well. The Darkness/Devils Sight combo is strong but then your party is gonna struggle to help you kill the thing your in melee with. Other Invocations to consider are Sculpter of Flesh so you can polymorph yourself into something with an extra pile of hit points or Mire the Mind to cast Slow on whomever is attacking to restrict their number of attacks and make them easier to hit. I normally don’t recommend the Invocations that only grant access to a learned spell but they are appropriate spells for your need. Consider asking your DM for a homebrew rule that any Invocation which grants a new learned spell grants a once per long rest base level casting without a Warlock slot. We have run this at my table for 3 different campaigns now without any balance issues.
Looking at spells- take mirror image- it requires no concentration and will add considerably to your defensive capabilities. Mirror Image + Cloak of Displacement should make it very hard for anything to hit you. Pair that with the False Life Invocation and you should be a reasonable Gish at level 7. Cast False Life in between battles so it’s always up when you get in a fight. Then when a fight happens, cast mirror image and run up to whatever your trying to aggro and bonus action cast Cloak of Flies. You now deal constant poison damage, they have disadvantage to hit you and when they hit, they have a high chance of hitting your mirror instead which will keep Displacement active more often. Then you alternate between False Life and Attack cantrips and potentially casting mirror image again in a longer / bigger fight.
Vampiric Touch is another spell to both deal melee damage and heal you.
My level 6 Celestial Warlock (Tome Pact) just reached level 7, and I need to focus on melee survivability, as my party turns out to be even flimsier in melee than me. I planned on him being able to do ok both ranged and melee, but it seems I have to be the main melee guy.
So this is my character thus far:Stats: 9,14,14,10,12,18 Feat: Moderately armored Cantrips: Eldritch Blast, Sacred Flame, Booming Blade, Shillelagh, Green-Flame Blade, Guidance, Thaumaturgy, Light Spells: Spirit Shroud, Hypnotic Pattern, Revivify, Hex, Armor of Agathys, Misty Step, Cure Wounds Invocations: Book of Ancient Secrets, Agonizing Blast, Repellent Blast
I'm now trying to level from 6 to 7 and deciding what to do. I get 1 spell and 1 invocation and can change some of what I have.
Invocations: I guess I could swap Repellent Blast with Tomb of Lev and get Devil's Sight (see below)?Spells: I guess Shadow of Moil could be a good option (even though I'll soon have a Cloak of Displacement), perhaps also get Darkness instead of something else?
Oh, and we're playing Storm King's Thunder. Which means that I will be hit hard. And often.
I could really do with some advice :)
In SKT, my general advice is don't get hit. The invocation Whatever of Levistus(XGtE) is good when your in a high damage adventure. I'd recommend a feat that gives you Con save proficiency because I think shillelagh is concentration and most of your spells definitely are.
It's not concentration, but I'm considering Eldritch Mind.
My level 6 Celestial Warlock (Tome Pact) just reached level 7, and I need to focus on melee survivability, as my party turns out to be even flimsier in melee than me. I planned on him being able to do ok both ranged and melee, but it seems I have to be the main melee guy.
So this is my character thus far:Stats: 9,14,14,10,12,18 Feat: Moderately armored Cantrips: Eldritch Blast, Sacred Flame, Booming Blade, Shillelagh, Green-Flame Blade, Guidance, Thaumaturgy, Light Spells: Spirit Shroud, Hypnotic Pattern, Revivify, Hex, Armor of Agathys, Misty Step, Cure Wounds Invocations: Book of Ancient Secrets, Agonizing Blast, Repellent Blast
I'm now trying to level from 6 to 7 and deciding what to do. I get 1 spell and 1 invocation and can change some of what I have.
Invocations: I guess I could swap Repellent Blast with Tomb of Lev and get Devil's Sight (see below)?Spells: I guess Shadow of Moil could be a good option (even though I'll soon have a Cloak of Displacement), perhaps also get Darkness instead of something else?
Oh, and we're playing Storm King's Thunder. Which means that I will be hit hard. And often.
I could really do with some advice :)
In SKT, my general advice is don't get hit. The invocation Whatever of Levistus(XGtE) is good when your in a high damage adventure. I'd recommend a feat that gives you Con save proficiency because I think shillelagh is concentration and most of your spells definitely are.
It's not concentration, but I'm considering Eldritch Mind.
Just a few thoughts- Cloak of Displacement has a lot of limitations. Get hit once and your disadvantage is gone until your turn. Get charmed and it’s gone. Get restrained and it’s gone. Shadow of Moil is powerful but you will be in melee and gotta maintain concentration. Disadvantage works out to about -3 to -5 to hit on average depending on whose math you believe. So assuming medium armor with your +2 Dex, you are around 16 AC without either effect. Not exactly a tank but respectable at level 7. I would probably take the cloak and I’ll tell you why in a moment.
Thinking about your invocations- Levistus is strong but situational. You will be taking a lot of hits so Eldritch Mind to boost your concentration is a thought. The one that gives False Life at Will would functionally move your hit die up to Fighter level for the next level or two- in the short term I would strongly consider that. If you want constant extra damage on everything in melee with you, Cloak of Flies is an option as well. The Darkness/Devils Sight combo is strong but then your party is gonna struggle to help you kill the thing your in melee with. Other Invocations to consider are Sculpter of Flesh so you can polymorph yourself into something with an extra pile of hit points or Mire the Mind to cast Slow on whomever is attacking to restrict their number of attacks and make them easier to hit. I normally don’t recommend the Invocations that only grant access to a learned spell but they are appropriate spells for your need. Consider asking your DM for a homebrew rule that any Invocation which grants a new learned spell grants a once per long rest base level casting without a Warlock slot. We have run this at my table for 3 different campaigns now without any balance issues.
Looking at spells- take mirror image- it requires no concentration and will add considerably to your defensive capabilities. Mirror Image + Cloak of Displacement should make it very hard for anything to hit you. Pair that with the False Life Invocation and you should be a reasonable Gish at level 7. Cast False Life in between battles so it’s always up when you get in a fight. Then when a fight happens, cast mirror image and run up to whatever your trying to aggro and bonus action cast Cloak of Flies. You now deal constant poison damage, they have disadvantage to hit you and when they hit, they have a high chance of hitting your mirror instead which will keep Displacement active more often. Then you alternate between False Life and Attack cantrips and potentially casting mirror image again in a longer / bigger fight.
Vampiric Touch is another spell to both deal melee damage and heal you.
Hope that was helpful- good luck!
Thank you for a comprehensive answer!
I will defenitely go for Mirror Image then. I'll swap Repellent Blast for False Life. Not sure if I'll pick up Eldritch Mind or the Flies or some of the others you suggest.
As for your spells I would argue that since you are sort of turning into the party's melee combatant, having both Spirit Shroud and Hex is redundant. I know I am a warlock heretic, but unless you are going to be an Eldritch Blast cannon, I find Hex vastly overrated since it requires concentration. I would argue Spirit Shroud will be the more useful to you in melee since it also hinders the enemies movement. Hex typically performs better with Eldritch Blast because it triggers for each beam. Since you will be leaning more on Booming Blade and Green Flame Blade, Spirit Shroud seems the better fit. I would trade Hex for something else useful that doesn't tax your concentration as you will likely be using it for your Spirit Shroud and Hypnotic Patterns such as Lesser Restoration which is clutch when needed.
Longer term I would also trade Misty Step for Dimension Door since it's the same spell slot regardless and Dimension Door is Misty Step on steroids.
The rest of your spells are solid and should all find uses.
I know I am a warlock heretic, but unless you are going to be an Eldritch Blast cannon, I find Hex vastly overrated since it requires concentration. I would argue Spirit Shroud will be the more useful to you in melee since it also hinders the enemies movement. Hex typically performs better with Eldritch Blast because it triggers for each beam. Since you will be leaning more on Booming Blade and Green Flame Blade, Spirit Shroud seems the better fit. I would trade Hex for something else useful that doesn't tax your concentration as you will likely be using it for your Spirit Shroud and Hypnotic Patterns such as Lesser Restoration which is clutch when needed.
Longer term I would also trade Misty Step for Dimension Door since it's the same spell slot regardless and Dimension Door is Misty Step on steroids.
The rest of your spells are solid and should all find uses.
Great input. I totally agree with Hex. I haven't actually used it for a while, I've usually cast Armor of Agathys before wading into combat. Saving my other slot for whatever is needed. But I guess I've felt that I couldn't really play a warlock without Hex. But I guess I can, especially since the Sprit Shroud will be better. Though I'm not sure if I'll use that too often, but still can be useful in some situations.
I'm also about to start running a Celestial patron Warlock with Pact of the Tome, starting fresh at level 1. Any tips for avoiding being too squishy? My starting stats are 10 13 13 12 13 16, and my chosen melee weapon is a Quarterstaff (but I also have throwing daggers and a Javelin.) I'm new to playing a Healer so I'm excited about having that ability, but also very daunted by an AC of only 12 and a measly 9 HP. Would love some tips from someone who made it to level 7! TYIA
I'm also about to start running a Celestial patron Warlock with Pact of the Tome, starting fresh at level 1. Any tips for avoiding being too squishy? My starting stats are 10 13 13 12 13 16, and my chosen melee weapon is a Quarterstaff (but I also have throwing daggers and a Javelin.) I'm new to playing a Healer so I'm excited about having that ability, but also very daunted by an AC of only 12 and a measly 9 HP. Would love some tips from someone who made it to level 7! TYIA
You shouldn't need to worry about survivability if you are an EB spammer. The warlock in an OotA campaign I played in didn't get hit after he picked up Devil's Sight(He was a human and the only darkvisionless party member, although the DM put light everywhere after we reached 3rd level and the ranger became a gloom stalker) and he didn't take Eldritch Spear.
I played a melee Celestial Warlock in SKT, and I was better at staying up than the Bear Totem Barbarian. I was built to be a tank though, with 1 level in Fighter for the defense fighting style and second wind, and I used a shield, and I had the gift of the ever living ones invocation from being a pact of the chain warlock. Fiendish Vigor was also a great invocation at lower levels when the 8 temporary HP before every fight made a big difference.
My advice is to not use Tomb of Levistus. If you use that ability, it makes you lose concentration on whatever spell you're concentrating on, and with the very limited number of Warlock spell slots, that's not a good thing.
Shadow of Moil is fantastic. If you're a melee character and you're fighting in dim light against enemies that don't have dark vision, then any of your melee allies with dark vision that are standing within 10ft of you automatically get advantage on their attacks and attacks against them automatically have disadvantage. It's very common in SKT to have encounters in dim light against enemies that don't have dark vision, so this isn't nearly as situational an occurrence as it initially sounds. It also means that you can't be targeted with spells that require the caster to see its target, and that comes up quite often. It's nice to be able to ask the DM to check whether or not the spell he wants to cast on you requires the caster to see its target.
I'm also about to start running a Celestial patron Warlock with Pact of the Tome, starting fresh at level 1. Any tips for avoiding being too squishy? My starting stats are 10 13 13 12 13 16, and my chosen melee weapon is a Quarterstaff (but I also have throwing daggers and a Javelin.) I'm new to playing a Healer so I'm excited about having that ability, but also very daunted by an AC of only 12 and a measly 9 HP. Would love some tips from someone who made it to level 7! TYIA
Well, you see some of my build in the thread. I was variant human and picked up the moderately armored feat to get medium armor and shield and some better AC. Fiendish vigor will help in the early levels (I had it, but removed it later, but taking it again I think). If you have tanky friends, then focus on eldritch blast for damage, but if you want some melee capabilities as I do, grab Shillelagh and at green-flame blade & booming blade. It¨s great fun being able to damage fairly well both in melee and ranged, being able to heal and do some other stuff. I also have some ritual spells to help with identify etc.
I played a melee Celestial Warlock in SKT, and I was better at staying up than the Bear Totem Barbarian. I was built to be a tank though, with 1 level in Fighter for the defense fighting style and second wind, and I used a shield, and I had the gift of the ever living ones invocation from being a pact of the chain warlock. Fiendish Vigor was also a great invocation at lower levels when the 8 temporary HP before every fight made a big difference.
My advice is to not use Tomb of Levistus. If you use that ability, it makes you lose concentration on whatever spell you're concentrating on, and with the very limited number of Warlock spell slots, that's not a good thing.
Shadow of Moil is fantastic. If you're a melee character and you're fighting in dim light against enemies that don't have dark vision, then any of your melee allies with dark vision that are standing within 10ft of you automatically get advantage on their attacks and attacks against them automatically have disadvantage. It's very common in SKT to have encounters in dim light against enemies that don't have dark vision, so this isn't nearly as situational an occurrence as it initially sounds. It also means that you can't be targeted with spells that require the caster to see its target, and that comes up quite often. It's nice to be able to ask the DM to check whether or not the spell he wants to cast on you requires the caster to see its target.
Had I known what kind of party we ended up with I would possibly have gone a similar route, but suddenly the one of the players (playing a defensive fighter) dropped out early on, and a couple of the others changed their playstyle. But thanks for a great tip. Will definitely remind my DM about that.
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My level 6 Celestial Warlock (Tome Pact) just reached level 7, and I need to focus on melee survivability, as my party turns out to be even flimsier in melee than me. I planned on him being able to do ok both ranged and melee, but it seems I have to be the main melee guy.
So this is my character thus far:Stats: 9,14,14,10,12,18
Feat: Moderately armored
Cantrips: Eldritch Blast, Sacred Flame, Booming Blade, Shillelagh, Green-Flame Blade, Guidance, Thaumaturgy, Light
Spells: Spirit Shroud, Hypnotic Pattern, Revivify, Hex, Armor of Agathys, Misty Step, Cure Wounds
Invocations: Book of Ancient Secrets, Agonizing Blast, Repellent Blast
I'm now trying to level from 6 to 7 and deciding what to do. I get 1 spell and 1 invocation and can change some of what I have.
Invocations: I guess I could swap Repellent Blast with Tomb of Lev and get Devil's Sight (see below)?Spells: I guess Shadow of Moil could be a good option (even though I'll soon have a Cloak of Displacement), perhaps also get Darkness instead of something else?
Oh, and we're playing Storm King's Thunder. Which means that I will be hit hard. And often.
I could really do with some advice :)
In SKT, my general advice is don't get hit. The invocation Whatever of Levistus(XGtE) is good when your in a high damage adventure. I'd recommend a feat that gives you Con save proficiency because I think shillelagh is concentration and most of your spells definitely are.
I have a weird sense of humor.
I also make maps.(That's a link)
Just a few thoughts- Cloak of Displacement has a lot of limitations. Get hit once and your disadvantage is gone until your turn. Get charmed and it’s gone. Get restrained and it’s gone. Shadow of Moil is powerful but you will be in melee and gotta maintain concentration. Disadvantage works out to about -3 to -5 to hit on average depending on whose math you believe. So assuming medium armor with your +2 Dex, you are around 16 AC without either effect. Not exactly a tank but respectable at level 7. I would probably take the cloak and I’ll tell you why in a moment.
Thinking about your invocations- Levistus is strong but situational. You will be taking a lot of hits so Eldritch Mind to boost your concentration is a thought. The one that gives False Life at Will would functionally move your hit die up to Fighter level for the next level or two- in the short term I would strongly consider that. If you want constant extra damage on everything in melee with you, Cloak of Flies is an option as well. The Darkness/Devils Sight combo is strong but then your party is gonna struggle to help you kill the thing your in melee with. Other Invocations to consider are Sculpter of Flesh so you can polymorph yourself into something with an extra pile of hit points or Mire the Mind to cast Slow on whomever is attacking to restrict their number of attacks and make them easier to hit. I normally don’t recommend the Invocations that only grant access to a learned spell but they are appropriate spells for your need. Consider asking your DM for a homebrew rule that any Invocation which grants a new learned spell grants a once per long rest base level casting without a Warlock slot. We have run this at my table for 3 different campaigns now without any balance issues.
Looking at spells- take mirror image- it requires no concentration and will add considerably to your defensive capabilities. Mirror Image + Cloak of Displacement should make it very hard for anything to hit you. Pair that with the False Life Invocation and you should be a reasonable Gish at level 7. Cast False Life in between battles so it’s always up when you get in a fight. Then when a fight happens, cast mirror image and run up to whatever your trying to aggro and bonus action cast Cloak of Flies. You now deal constant poison damage, they have disadvantage to hit you and when they hit, they have a high chance of hitting your mirror instead which will keep Displacement active more often. Then you alternate between False Life and Attack cantrips and potentially casting mirror image again in a longer / bigger fight.
Vampiric Touch is another spell to both deal melee damage and heal you.
Hope that was helpful- good luck!
It's not concentration, but I'm considering Eldritch Mind.
I read the tooltip. That makes it better.
I have a weird sense of humor.
I also make maps.(That's a link)
Thank you for a comprehensive answer!
I will defenitely go for Mirror Image then. I'll swap Repellent Blast for False Life. Not sure if I'll pick up Eldritch Mind or the Flies or some of the others you suggest.
Should I swap any of my other spells mayhaps..?
As for your spells I would argue that since you are sort of turning into the party's melee combatant, having both Spirit Shroud and Hex is redundant. I know I am a warlock heretic, but unless you are going to be an Eldritch Blast cannon, I find Hex vastly overrated since it requires concentration. I would argue Spirit Shroud will be the more useful to you in melee since it also hinders the enemies movement. Hex typically performs better with Eldritch Blast because it triggers for each beam. Since you will be leaning more on Booming Blade and Green Flame Blade, Spirit Shroud seems the better fit. I would trade Hex for something else useful that doesn't tax your concentration as you will likely be using it for your Spirit Shroud and Hypnotic Patterns such as Lesser Restoration which is clutch when needed.
Longer term I would also trade Misty Step for Dimension Door since it's the same spell slot regardless and Dimension Door is Misty Step on steroids.
The rest of your spells are solid and should all find uses.
Great input. I totally agree with Hex. I haven't actually used it for a while, I've usually cast Armor of Agathys before wading into combat. Saving my other slot for whatever is needed. But I guess I've felt that I couldn't really play a warlock without Hex. But I guess I can, especially since the Sprit Shroud will be better. Though I'm not sure if I'll use that too often, but still can be useful in some situations.
I'm also about to start running a Celestial patron Warlock with Pact of the Tome, starting fresh at level 1. Any tips for avoiding being too squishy? My starting stats are 10 13 13 12 13 16, and my chosen melee weapon is a Quarterstaff (but I also have throwing daggers and a Javelin.) I'm new to playing a Healer so I'm excited about having that ability, but also very daunted by an AC of only 12 and a measly 9 HP. Would love some tips from someone who made it to level 7! TYIA
You shouldn't need to worry about survivability if you are an EB spammer. The warlock in an OotA campaign I played in didn't get hit after he picked up Devil's Sight(He was a human and the only darkvisionless party member, although the DM put light everywhere after we reached 3rd level and the ranger became a gloom stalker) and he didn't take Eldritch Spear.
I have a weird sense of humor.
I also make maps.(That's a link)
I played a melee Celestial Warlock in SKT, and I was better at staying up than the Bear Totem Barbarian. I was built to be a tank though, with 1 level in Fighter for the defense fighting style and second wind, and I used a shield, and I had the gift of the ever living ones invocation from being a pact of the chain warlock. Fiendish Vigor was also a great invocation at lower levels when the 8 temporary HP before every fight made a big difference.
My advice is to not use Tomb of Levistus. If you use that ability, it makes you lose concentration on whatever spell you're concentrating on, and with the very limited number of Warlock spell slots, that's not a good thing.
Shadow of Moil is fantastic. If you're a melee character and you're fighting in dim light against enemies that don't have dark vision, then any of your melee allies with dark vision that are standing within 10ft of you automatically get advantage on their attacks and attacks against them automatically have disadvantage. It's very common in SKT to have encounters in dim light against enemies that don't have dark vision, so this isn't nearly as situational an occurrence as it initially sounds. It also means that you can't be targeted with spells that require the caster to see its target, and that comes up quite often. It's nice to be able to ask the DM to check whether or not the spell he wants to cast on you requires the caster to see its target.
Well, you see some of my build in the thread. I was variant human and picked up the moderately armored feat to get medium armor and shield and some better AC. Fiendish vigor will help in the early levels (I had it, but removed it later, but taking it again I think). If you have tanky friends, then focus on eldritch blast for damage, but if you want some melee capabilities as I do, grab Shillelagh and at green-flame blade & booming blade. It¨s great fun being able to damage fairly well both in melee and ranged, being able to heal and do some other stuff. I also have some ritual spells to help with identify etc.
Had I known what kind of party we ended up with I would possibly have gone a similar route, but suddenly the one of the players (playing a defensive fighter) dropped out early on, and a couple of the others changed their playstyle. But thanks for a great tip. Will definitely remind my DM about that.