I've got a Hexblade Warlock 12-14 that I'm thinking of diverting 6-8 levels depending on domain. My plan is to EB until in range and then attack in melee and I'm looking at 4 different domains for some support options and performance buffs. I've eliminated light domain because I couldn't see a way for the patron and the god to actually coexist, and while there is some great rp opportunities in that tension, it doesn't feel like the way the character is coming together in my mind. Some of these domains give heavy armor proficiency, which is a non factor considering my strength is only 10 and I'm already MAD enough as is. I've got a 14 dex so I'm happy sticking with medium armor. Additionally, the martial weapon proficiency is a non factor since hexblade already gives it. strength 10, dex 14, con 16, int 11, wis 17, cha 18. ASIs are tentatively planned for Cha +2, resilent (con), con +1 wis +1, and then whatever else fills right at that point but likely the usual suspects for melee/gishy builds. The character is an Protector Aasimar whose family has a history with a patron called Crucifix, the Seeker and starts with Warlock upon inheriting the ancient family tome which pact he triggers while reading the pact out loud. I'm pretty certain that I want to get the Grasp of Hadar invocation, probably will get the agonizing blast, though maybe not since I'm not planning on blasting all the time, and possibly devil's sight. That leaves 3-4 other invocations at the Warlock 12-14 area. I'm probably leaning towards a priority on pacts as 1. chain, 2. blade, 3. tome. Chain becomes less interesting to me if I go with devils sight and blade lets me use hex warrior on whatever weapon I want. Tome just doesn't feel right for this character since I'm already picking up other spells from another class.
War domain was my first thought when thinking of this build. I would take 8 levels to get to the first divine strike (1d8) which would give me War Priest (bonus action attack, wisdom modifier {3} times per long rest), followed by Channel Divinity: Divine Strike and Channel Divinity: War God's Blessing to give either myself or an ally +10 to an attack roll. This would be ideal if I was planning on taking the Great Weapon Master or a party member was and we wanted to ensure that the attack was likely to hit 1-2 times per short rest. The always prepared spells would be: 1st level @ cleric 1- divine favor and shield of faith, 2nd level @ cleric 3- magic weapon and spiritual weapon, 3rd level @ cleric 5- crusader's mantle and spirit guardians, and 4th level @ cleric 7-freedom of movement and stoneskin. I'm not super familiar with all of these spells, but they sound like a who's who of melee range cleric spells and many of which I might be inclined to prepare anyway. Magic weapon is an interesting inclusion since it is on the list of three out of the four domains I'm considering. I do feel like this spell list is one of the stronger ones that allows for more utility options to prepare and makes up for the somewhat blah feeling that I'm getting from the other abilities, though I'm feeling better about them having considered. The bonus action use of war priest and possibly spiritual weapon would interfere with hex and a probable follow up of the maddening hex invocation and possibly relentless hex. The idea would be that the war domain god would be interested in seeing what this patron is allowing the warlock to do and, in the interest of furthering the cause of war, giving him his blessing so that the warlock can sow a little discord among his/her enemies.
Arcana domain is an interesting draw for a few reasons. The diversion would go 8 levels deep to allow for potent spellcasting so that the wis and cha modifiers would be thrown onto booming blades and green flame blades (cha for the weapon attack and wis for the spell component). This would end up giving me an option for an additional skill, since Arcana automatically be included at cleric 1. Since I currently have Arcana, history, investigation, and survival (mostly for flavor reasons and from background), this would allow me to change out arcana for either deception or intimidation for some extra tools to unlock the mystery of my inheritance. Channel Divinity: Arcane Abjuration can be handy in a celestial, elemental, fey, or fiend rich environment and upgrades to banishment starting at cleric 5. Combined with turn undead and destroy undead, that makes my channel divinity into a crowd control option that is limited to 5 different creature types. Spell breaker gives me some options to help dispel some effects while giving some off heals. All in all, a good package for what I'm considering for my character and probably the one that I'm considering to be in the lead at the moment. The always prepared spells would be: 1st level @ cleric 1- detect magic and magic missle, 2nd level @ cleric 3- magic weapon and Nystal's magic aura, 3rd level @ cleric 5- dispel magic and magic circle, and 4th level @ cleric 7- arcane eye and Leomund's secret chest. This set includes a few that I would consider taking as well with detect magic, dispel magic, and arcane eye (this would be the only way that I could get arcane eye without going pact of the tome). I haven't read much on the rest yet, though I seem to remember Leomund's secret chest being the ultimate paranoid person's secret vault. The Arcane god would be interested in what Crucifix really is and why it has mobilized my aasimar. The blessing would be to help in the discovery of this information and potentially for protection in case of bad intentions.
Forge domain would go 8 levels to get divine strike. Smith's tools would be the only bonus proficiency (outside of arcana opening up a social skill) that would be interesting for me. Blessing of the Forge would be a great way to shore up my defenses if I haven't upgraded from leather armor by cleric 1 or to get a damage boost and bust through nonmagical damage resistance (assuming hex walker or pact of the blade {if applicable} doesn't already do it. Channel Divinity: Artisan's Blessing is a great option for bypassing trouble or stealing something and leaving a duplicate behind (only for good purposes, I promise!). Soul of the Forge loses some luster, since I won't be using heavy armor, but having fire damage resistance in addition to radiant and necrotic damage resistance is nice. The always prepared spells would be: 1st level @ cleric 1- identify and searing smite, 2nd level @ cleric 3- magic weapon and heat metal, 3rd level @ cleric 5- elemental weapon and protection from energy, and 4th level @ cleric 7- fabricate and wall of fire. These seem like they would be much more circumstantially useful (aside from identify) considering that I'm likely keeping my spells more for support (though nothing says that dealing damage can't be support if I'm running attackers off my healer and ranged attackers). My thought for this one would be that Crucifix is trying to get the PC to forge a new weapon (possibly one that would house Crucifix if it ends up being a sentient weapon that needs a new body) and Crucifix commands the PC to seek out the help of a god of the forge for help in this purpose (what the god doesn't know about the true intentions isn't going to hurt it, or is it?) This is the closest that I've got for some tension possibly arising between the patron and the domain god.
Finally, we have Grave domain. This is probably a close second place right now. I would go 6 levels to get Sentinel at Death's Door, leaving off potent spellcasting without an opportunity to get the SCAG cantrips through the domain to take advantage. Otherwise, I'm planning on my damage cantrips primarily coming from warlock (primarily EB) and thus potent spellcasting doesn't do much for me. Circle of Mortality gives me spare the dying at 30 ft with a bonus action (which I'm less squeamish about in this capacity than with a damage vs damage option) and whenever I heal a creature at 0 hit points, the spell automatically uses the highest possible number for each die. This feels like it's essentially a free upcast on those instances when you factor average rolls vs max rolls. Please let me know if I'm wrong. Channel Divinity: Path to the Grave seems like a great option for big hitters or potentially to cancel out resistances and could be fun in conjunction with a rogue that regularly gets sneak attack going off. Sentinel at Death's Door helps to eliminate critical strikes against the party. The always prepared spells would be: 1st level @ cleric 1- bane and false life, 2nd level @ cleric 3- gentle repose and ray of enfeeblement, and 3rd level @ cleric 5- revivify and vampiric touch. This is a strong spell set that can be useful in most instances. Even the ones that feel more dud-ish (false life and ray of enfeeblement) could see some action, particularly false life to buff up the meat shield. The tie here for the God would either be to enjoy having a champion who is sending the undead back where they belong, enjoys bringing more souls under their dominion, or wants to check the warlock from killing unnecessarily due to the blood lust that his new powers temporarily elicited.
There you have it. This is my analysis of these domains and how they would mix with my aasimar warlock. Please tell me where my analysis is lacking or things that I have potentially overlooked. Also, vote for your favorite!
I had rolled for the stats first and they were rolled in order. Since I'd rolled 16s for con, cha, and wis, I wanted a story that would have incorporated all of them. That meant leaving dex at 14, int at 11, str at 10 to not go supernova MAD. It also told me medium armor. It eliminated paladin as an option since starting was less than 13 and told me that I was either going hexblade or shillelagh for melee damage, or forgoing it almost entirely. I decided hexblade was sounding interesting, which meant that I was going to be going into melee more than a typical caster. However, I wanted to take advantage of the high wisdom with more than just skills. I honestly forgot about monk and settled on spellcasters, leaving ranger, druid, and cleric. The nature aspect mixed with hexblade wasn't ringing true for this character (no nature cleric among the options either) which left cleric and the 4 domains in the op. Thanks for the feedback! Honestly, I was thinking that Magic Missile would have been primarily fluff in the build, primarily serving for the auto hits and a quasi AoE for mop up duty. Since it has no attack roll, it can't crit and there's nothing I'm seeing that screams magic missile with the curse since it's limited to 1 creature that couldn't be matched or bested by something like EB outside of the autohit. What am I missing?
Magic missile is a little unique in that you roll damage once and apply kthat total to each arrow. This means each arrow would deal 1D4+1+CHA. That’s going to give you a pretty good damage for a first level spell that you can up cast at higher levels. Auto hit is great also.This is not going to replace Eldritch blast but it is great to have in your toolkit.
Magic missile is a little unique in that you roll damage once and apply kthat total to each arrow. This means each arrow would deal 1D4+1+CHA. That’s going to give you a pretty good damage for a first level spell that you can up cast at higher levels. Auto hit is great also.This is not going to replace Eldritch blast but it is great to have in your toolkit.
Where are you getting the charisma bonus from, and there is nothing specifying you roll the damage once and it applies to each dart. It is still a very good spell, and the Arcana Domain looks to be an interesting one in conjunction with Hexblade
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"Where words fail, swords prevail. Where blood is spilled, my cup is filled" -Cartaphilus
"I have found the answer to the meaning of life. You ask me what the answer is? You already know what the answer to life is. You fear it more than the strike of a viper, the ravages of disease, the ire of a lover. The answer is always death. But death is a gentle mistress with a sweet embrace, and you owe her a debt of restitution. Life is not a gift, it is a loan."
I've seen a Crawford post that RAI, magic missile is 1 roll, but he then stated that it's not a big deal balance wise either way. After all, the difference between the average of 2.5+1 and 1+1 or 4+1 isn't significant 4.5 total damage either direction. Since people are willing to use average damage for damage rolls and are foregoing more in the process (1d12 and 2d6 for example) it's not that important until it is (TPK while the creature is at <5 HP).
I'm in agreement that it looks interesting in conjunction with hexblade. I think that it comes online early for a multiclass starting to add the flavor as early as warlock 1/cleric 1 if you really wanted to go that route. I've seen some that don't really come online until level 6 and one I theory crafted didn't come online until level 8 for the main features
I'm wondering if they think that hex warrior or potent spellcasting some how affect the damage of magic missile. Mean time, I'm seeing the magic missile hexblades curse being better than eb/melee hexblades curse plus bonus healing word only if the party resources are low enough that killing 3 remaining creatures is imperative or that killing the big boss will be likely from the 3 bolts and the hit is nearly critical to have.
Alright, I see where that's coming from now. The first bullet from hexblades curse. That does make it quite a bit stronger than I was originally thinking particularly if it's one damage roll for all darts and the DM applies the prof bonus to all darts (or even does so but forces a different roll for each dart). That would mean that at minimum the spell would do 3 * (1+1+2) = 12 damage directed at the target of the hexblades curse at level 1 and up to an additional 9 damage (in increments of three if 1 damage roll) for a max output of 21. I'm thinking that due to the nature of the curse, it would apply to each dart, but only each dart that hit the target of the cursed creature. That certainly puts it as the better option than EB even with agonizing blast (min of 1+ 2 prof + cha modifier (4))=7 and max of 16) assuming either enough hp on the cursed creature to not overkill it significantly or at least one other creature to direct the excess bolts and assuming the availability of the spell slot (which cost isn't as high with warlock/ full caster multi class at low levels). It definitely becomes less situational then. However, the increased chance of a crit on EB due to hexblades curse limits the full advantage a touch and the additional beams starting at 5th limit that advantage after that point, since you'd have to upcast magic missile to keep up damage wise.
There are a lot of Hexblade shenanigans out there. I’ve never actually tried this magic missile idea but I’ve read a lot of posts about the potential. Not a great reason to pick the Arcana Domain alone, I admit. All it takes is 1 cast of the Shield Spell to ruin your whole night!
I really do love the versatility of this domain. Arcane Abjuration is great. The wizard spells are a great boon. What could be better than serving a God or Goddess of Magic.? Now, is this Domain dramatically better than War Domain, probably not. I’m guessing Hexblade has lot more synergy with War Domain than Arcana.
As an Arcana Cleric my character relies a lot on Booming blade and Green Flame Blade along with Spiritual Weapon as a bonus attack. Potent spellcasting will help me boost overall damage at level 8. I’m not exactly Tank or DPR-darling but I do alright. And I’ve got plenty of spell slots for healing word or bless to help out my homie hobos.
I was already not counting on magic missile being a big factor and someone choosing to cast shield when I chose to cast it would have had it available for my other spells. Which reminds me, I'll need to make sure I pick up a spell save attacker, which wasn't something I had fully counted on to this point. That probably pushes grave to 8 for potent spellcasting unless I figure that I have hexblades curse up enough to merit master of hexes (which essentially means how often do I find myself needing the heal and how well do we kite to new packs, with the latter being sketched due to run away potential). Of course that's level 15 at the earliest (warlock 14/cleric 1) and there's no guarantee the campaign even goes that far, though I suppose that decision actually comes up at starting at level 8 (if cleric 6/warlock 1 at 7) or 14 (if warlock 12/cleric 1 at 13.
I'd actually say life domain or if allowed death domain...
Life domain is pretty close to Light domain as far as the gods involved are concerned and plays more heavily into the support abilities than I was anticipating. Reaper from death domain becomes outclassed by Eldritch Blast at level 5 for damage (especially with Agonizing Blast) but has a pretty good secondary option for multiple saves Toll the Dead or against undead or creatures that heal (Troll! There's a troll in the dungeon! I though you should know... *swoons*) with Chill Touch, but I didn't look at the other features. As I remember the gods are pretty much the same for death domain as they are for grave domain.
Assuming that I'm going to 8 for Life domain for the melee attack bump and 6 for death (since that's what I did for grave), what would you suggest as the reason for taking them and what would the reason be for the God allowing me to become it's cleric when I'm already working with a warlock patron? I also wouldn't mind hearing why to take death to 8 if you think it merits it.
I was mostly thinking thematic since those are the domains for Raven Queen... Who I've mainly taken to be the main patron of the hexblade
The Raven Queen is typically associated with the hexblade, but I haven't seen anything so far suggesting domains for patrons.... interesting. I'll have to look into that aspect some more since that could allow for some flavoring of the cleric levels as a different type of Warlock.
I googled the Raven Queen is how I came across her associated domains to be fair and I feel that truthfully I'd lean towards death because of the warlock's Spectre feature...
Out of your choices I like the Arcana 1st and the War 2nd. They both mesh well with the Hexblade. I currently play a Hex (15)/Cleric(4) (Trickery) domain. I love the utility and punchiness with the mix of the two. But I don't go for max damage in my playstyle I tend to gravitate to utility. Don't get me wrong my lil Hex can turn up the heat and has but it's a slow build and managing my spells to account for choosing which concentration spell I want to maintain.
I really love the mix and as a theorycraft put into actual use has really played out well for my playstyle.
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I've got a Hexblade Warlock 12-14 that I'm thinking of diverting 6-8 levels depending on domain. My plan is to EB until in range and then attack in melee and I'm looking at 4 different domains for some support options and performance buffs. I've eliminated light domain because I couldn't see a way for the patron and the god to actually coexist, and while there is some great rp opportunities in that tension, it doesn't feel like the way the character is coming together in my mind. Some of these domains give heavy armor proficiency, which is a non factor considering my strength is only 10 and I'm already MAD enough as is. I've got a 14 dex so I'm happy sticking with medium armor. Additionally, the martial weapon proficiency is a non factor since hexblade already gives it. strength 10, dex 14, con 16, int 11, wis 17, cha 18. ASIs are tentatively planned for Cha +2, resilent (con), con +1 wis +1, and then whatever else fills right at that point but likely the usual suspects for melee/gishy builds. The character is an Protector Aasimar whose family has a history with a patron called Crucifix, the Seeker and starts with Warlock upon inheriting the ancient family tome which pact he triggers while reading the pact out loud. I'm pretty certain that I want to get the Grasp of Hadar invocation, probably will get the agonizing blast, though maybe not since I'm not planning on blasting all the time, and possibly devil's sight. That leaves 3-4 other invocations at the Warlock 12-14 area. I'm probably leaning towards a priority on pacts as 1. chain, 2. blade, 3. tome. Chain becomes less interesting to me if I go with devils sight and blade lets me use hex warrior on whatever weapon I want. Tome just doesn't feel right for this character since I'm already picking up other spells from another class.
War domain was my first thought when thinking of this build. I would take 8 levels to get to the first divine strike (1d8) which would give me War Priest (bonus action attack, wisdom modifier {3} times per long rest), followed by Channel Divinity: Divine Strike and Channel Divinity: War God's Blessing to give either myself or an ally +10 to an attack roll. This would be ideal if I was planning on taking the Great Weapon Master or a party member was and we wanted to ensure that the attack was likely to hit 1-2 times per short rest. The always prepared spells would be: 1st level @ cleric 1- divine favor and shield of faith, 2nd level @ cleric 3- magic weapon and spiritual weapon, 3rd level @ cleric 5- crusader's mantle and spirit guardians, and 4th level @ cleric 7-freedom of movement and stoneskin. I'm not super familiar with all of these spells, but they sound like a who's who of melee range cleric spells and many of which I might be inclined to prepare anyway. Magic weapon is an interesting inclusion since it is on the list of three out of the four domains I'm considering. I do feel like this spell list is one of the stronger ones that allows for more utility options to prepare and makes up for the somewhat blah feeling that I'm getting from the other abilities, though I'm feeling better about them having considered. The bonus action use of war priest and possibly spiritual weapon would interfere with hex and a probable follow up of the maddening hex invocation and possibly relentless hex. The idea would be that the war domain god would be interested in seeing what this patron is allowing the warlock to do and, in the interest of furthering the cause of war, giving him his blessing so that the warlock can sow a little discord among his/her enemies.
Arcana domain is an interesting draw for a few reasons. The diversion would go 8 levels deep to allow for potent spellcasting so that the wis and cha modifiers would be thrown onto booming blades and green flame blades (cha for the weapon attack and wis for the spell component). This would end up giving me an option for an additional skill, since Arcana automatically be included at cleric 1. Since I currently have Arcana, history, investigation, and survival (mostly for flavor reasons and from background), this would allow me to change out arcana for either deception or intimidation for some extra tools to unlock the mystery of my inheritance. Channel Divinity: Arcane Abjuration can be handy in a celestial, elemental, fey, or fiend rich environment and upgrades to banishment starting at cleric 5. Combined with turn undead and destroy undead, that makes my channel divinity into a crowd control option that is limited to 5 different creature types. Spell breaker gives me some options to help dispel some effects while giving some off heals. All in all, a good package for what I'm considering for my character and probably the one that I'm considering to be in the lead at the moment. The always prepared spells would be: 1st level @ cleric 1- detect magic and magic missle, 2nd level @ cleric 3- magic weapon and Nystal's magic aura, 3rd level @ cleric 5- dispel magic and magic circle, and 4th level @ cleric 7- arcane eye and Leomund's secret chest. This set includes a few that I would consider taking as well with detect magic, dispel magic, and arcane eye (this would be the only way that I could get arcane eye without going pact of the tome). I haven't read much on the rest yet, though I seem to remember Leomund's secret chest being the ultimate paranoid person's secret vault. The Arcane god would be interested in what Crucifix really is and why it has mobilized my aasimar. The blessing would be to help in the discovery of this information and potentially for protection in case of bad intentions.
Forge domain would go 8 levels to get divine strike. Smith's tools would be the only bonus proficiency (outside of arcana opening up a social skill) that would be interesting for me. Blessing of the Forge would be a great way to shore up my defenses if I haven't upgraded from leather armor by cleric 1 or to get a damage boost and bust through nonmagical damage resistance (assuming hex walker or pact of the blade {if applicable} doesn't already do it. Channel Divinity: Artisan's Blessing is a great option for bypassing trouble or stealing something and leaving a duplicate behind (only for good purposes, I promise!). Soul of the Forge loses some luster, since I won't be using heavy armor, but having fire damage resistance in addition to radiant and necrotic damage resistance is nice. The always prepared spells would be: 1st level @ cleric 1- identify and searing smite, 2nd level @ cleric 3- magic weapon and heat metal, 3rd level @ cleric 5- elemental weapon and protection from energy, and 4th level @ cleric 7- fabricate and wall of fire. These seem like they would be much more circumstantially useful (aside from identify) considering that I'm likely keeping my spells more for support (though nothing says that dealing damage can't be support if I'm running attackers off my healer and ranged attackers). My thought for this one would be that Crucifix is trying to get the PC to forge a new weapon (possibly one that would house Crucifix if it ends up being a sentient weapon that needs a new body) and Crucifix commands the PC to seek out the help of a god of the forge for help in this purpose (what the god doesn't know about the true intentions isn't going to hurt it, or is it?) This is the closest that I've got for some tension possibly arising between the patron and the domain god.
Finally, we have Grave domain. This is probably a close second place right now. I would go 6 levels to get Sentinel at Death's Door, leaving off potent spellcasting without an opportunity to get the SCAG cantrips through the domain to take advantage. Otherwise, I'm planning on my damage cantrips primarily coming from warlock (primarily EB) and thus potent spellcasting doesn't do much for me. Circle of Mortality gives me spare the dying at 30 ft with a bonus action (which I'm less squeamish about in this capacity than with a damage vs damage option) and whenever I heal a creature at 0 hit points, the spell automatically uses the highest possible number for each die. This feels like it's essentially a free upcast on those instances when you factor average rolls vs max rolls. Please let me know if I'm wrong. Channel Divinity: Path to the Grave seems like a great option for big hitters or potentially to cancel out resistances and could be fun in conjunction with a rogue that regularly gets sneak attack going off. Sentinel at Death's Door helps to eliminate critical strikes against the party. The always prepared spells would be: 1st level @ cleric 1- bane and false life, 2nd level @ cleric 3- gentle repose and ray of enfeeblement, and 3rd level @ cleric 5- revivify and vampiric touch. This is a strong spell set that can be useful in most instances. Even the ones that feel more dud-ish (false life and ray of enfeeblement) could see some action, particularly false life to buff up the meat shield. The tie here for the God would either be to enjoy having a champion who is sending the undead back where they belong, enjoys bringing more souls under their dominion, or wants to check the warlock from killing unnecessarily due to the blood lust that his new powers temporarily elicited.
There you have it. This is my analysis of these domains and how they would mix with my aasimar warlock. Please tell me where my analysis is lacking or things that I have potentially overlooked. Also, vote for your favorite!
Whoa that is a lot to take in! Can I ask why cleric? You could get a similar feel with Paladin with a SAD build.
Anyway, I voted for Arcane Cleric because you get Magic Missile as a domain spell which is very potent when combined with Hexblades curse.
I had rolled for the stats first and they were rolled in order. Since I'd rolled 16s for con, cha, and wis, I wanted a story that would have incorporated all of them. That meant leaving dex at 14, int at 11, str at 10 to not go supernova MAD. It also told me medium armor. It eliminated paladin as an option since starting was less than 13 and told me that I was either going hexblade or shillelagh for melee damage, or forgoing it almost entirely. I decided hexblade was sounding interesting, which meant that I was going to be going into melee more than a typical caster. However, I wanted to take advantage of the high wisdom with more than just skills. I honestly forgot about monk and settled on spellcasters, leaving ranger, druid, and cleric. The nature aspect mixed with hexblade wasn't ringing true for this character (no nature cleric among the options either) which left cleric and the 4 domains in the op. Thanks for the feedback! Honestly, I was thinking that Magic Missile would have been primarily fluff in the build, primarily serving for the auto hits and a quasi AoE for mop up duty. Since it has no attack roll, it can't crit and there's nothing I'm seeing that screams magic missile with the curse since it's limited to 1 creature that couldn't be matched or bested by something like EB outside of the autohit. What am I missing?
Magic missile is a little unique in that you roll damage once and apply kthat total to each arrow. This means each arrow would deal 1D4+1+CHA. That’s going to give you a pretty good damage for a first level spell that you can up cast at higher levels. Auto hit is great also.This is not going to replace Eldritch blast but it is great to have in your toolkit.
Magic Missile
Where are you getting the charisma bonus from, and there is nothing specifying you roll the damage once and it applies to each dart. It is still a very good spell, and the Arcana Domain looks to be an interesting one in conjunction with Hexblade
"Where words fail, swords prevail. Where blood is spilled, my cup is filled" -Cartaphilus
"I have found the answer to the meaning of life. You ask me what the answer is? You already know what the answer to life is. You fear it more than the strike of a viper, the ravages of disease, the ire of a lover. The answer is always death. But death is a gentle mistress with a sweet embrace, and you owe her a debt of restitution. Life is not a gift, it is a loan."
I've seen a Crawford post that RAI, magic missile is 1 roll, but he then stated that it's not a big deal balance wise either way. After all, the difference between the average of 2.5+1 and 1+1 or 4+1 isn't significant 4.5 total damage either direction. Since people are willing to use average damage for damage rolls and are foregoing more in the process (1d12 and 2d6 for example) it's not that important until it is (TPK while the creature is at <5 HP).
I'm in agreement that it looks interesting in conjunction with hexblade. I think that it comes online early for a multiclass starting to add the flavor as early as warlock 1/cleric 1 if you really wanted to go that route. I've seen some that don't really come online until level 6 and one I theory crafted didn't come online until level 8 for the main features
I'm wondering if they think that hex warrior or potent spellcasting some how affect the damage of magic missile. Mean time, I'm seeing the magic missile hexblades curse being better than eb/melee hexblades curse plus bonus healing word only if the party resources are low enough that killing 3 remaining creatures is imperative or that killing the big boss will be likely from the 3 bolts and the hit is nearly critical to have.
Sorry the bonus damage equals your proficiency bonus not your charisma modifier. That’s still pretty decent.
Alright, I see where that's coming from now. The first bullet from hexblades curse. That does make it quite a bit stronger than I was originally thinking particularly if it's one damage roll for all darts and the DM applies the prof bonus to all darts (or even does so but forces a different roll for each dart). That would mean that at minimum the spell would do 3 * (1+1+2) = 12 damage directed at the target of the hexblades curse at level 1 and up to an additional 9 damage (in increments of three if 1 damage roll) for a max output of 21. I'm thinking that due to the nature of the curse, it would apply to each dart, but only each dart that hit the target of the cursed creature. That certainly puts it as the better option than EB even with agonizing blast (min of 1+ 2 prof + cha modifier (4))=7 and max of 16) assuming either enough hp on the cursed creature to not overkill it significantly or at least one other creature to direct the excess bolts and assuming the availability of the spell slot (which cost isn't as high with warlock/ full caster multi class at low levels). It definitely becomes less situational then. However, the increased chance of a crit on EB due to hexblades curse limits the full advantage a touch and the additional beams starting at 5th limit that advantage after that point, since you'd have to upcast magic missile to keep up damage wise.
There are a lot of Hexblade shenanigans out there. I’ve never actually tried this magic missile idea but I’ve read a lot of posts about the potential. Not a great reason to pick the Arcana Domain alone, I admit. All it takes is 1 cast of the Shield Spell to ruin your whole night!
I really do love the versatility of this domain. Arcane Abjuration is great. The wizard spells are a great boon. What could be better than serving a God or Goddess of Magic.? Now, is this Domain dramatically better than War Domain, probably not. I’m guessing Hexblade has lot more synergy with War Domain than Arcana.
As an Arcana Cleric my character relies a lot on Booming blade and Green Flame Blade along with Spiritual Weapon as a bonus attack. Potent spellcasting will help me boost overall damage at level 8. I’m not exactly Tank or DPR-darling but I do alright. And I’ve got plenty of spell slots for healing word or bless to help out my homie hobos.
I was already not counting on magic missile being a big factor and someone choosing to cast shield when I chose to cast it would have had it available for my other spells. Which reminds me, I'll need to make sure I pick up a spell save attacker, which wasn't something I had fully counted on to this point. That probably pushes grave to 8 for potent spellcasting unless I figure that I have hexblades curse up enough to merit master of hexes (which essentially means how often do I find myself needing the heal and how well do we kite to new packs, with the latter being sketched due to run away potential). Of course that's level 15 at the earliest (warlock 14/cleric 1) and there's no guarantee the campaign even goes that far, though I suppose that decision actually comes up at starting at level 8 (if cleric 6/warlock 1 at 7) or 14 (if warlock 12/cleric 1 at 13.
I'd actually say life domain or if allowed death domain...
Life domain is pretty close to Light domain as far as the gods involved are concerned and plays more heavily into the support abilities than I was anticipating. Reaper from death domain becomes outclassed by Eldritch Blast at level 5 for damage (especially with Agonizing Blast) but has a pretty good secondary option for multiple saves Toll the Dead or against undead or creatures that heal (Troll! There's a troll in the dungeon! I though you should know... *swoons*) with Chill Touch, but I didn't look at the other features. As I remember the gods are pretty much the same for death domain as they are for grave domain.
Assuming that I'm going to 8 for Life domain for the melee attack bump and 6 for death (since that's what I did for grave), what would you suggest as the reason for taking them and what would the reason be for the God allowing me to become it's cleric when I'm already working with a warlock patron? I also wouldn't mind hearing why to take death to 8 if you think it merits it.
I was mostly thinking thematic since those are the domains for Raven Queen... Who I've mainly taken to be the main patron of the hexblade
The Raven Queen is typically associated with the hexblade, but I haven't seen anything so far suggesting domains for patrons.... interesting. I'll have to look into that aspect some more since that could allow for some flavoring of the cleric levels as a different type of Warlock.
I googled the Raven Queen is how I came across her associated domains to be fair and I feel that truthfully I'd lean towards death because of the warlock's Spectre feature...
Out of your choices I like the Arcana 1st and the War 2nd. They both mesh well with the Hexblade. I currently play a Hex (15)/Cleric(4) (Trickery) domain. I love the utility and punchiness with the mix of the two. But I don't go for max damage in my playstyle I tend to gravitate to utility. Don't get me wrong my lil Hex can turn up the heat and has but it's a slow build and managing my spells to account for choosing which concentration spell I want to maintain.
I really love the mix and as a theorycraft put into actual use has really played out well for my playstyle.