You can't use Eldritch Blast as a melee attack, no (for example, some features specifically trigger off of melee or ranged attacks; just because you're casting "at melee range" doesn't mean it isn't still a ranged attack), but you don't suffer disadvantage for casting it within 5 feet of an enemy.
Oh yes, SagaTympana is correct. It doesn't change it to a melee attack, it just removes the penalty for attacking within 5ft of an enemy. But it does apply to any ranged attack, weapon or spell.
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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!
Oh this is fun. I have an idea to play a warlock, but work with the DM to try and pass off his eldritch blast as monk attacks and his other spells as monk abilities for as long as possible for a campaign, always keeping the other players kind of wondering wtf he actually is. Meanwhile, he'll be a pathological liar of a playful tabaxi.
No, that would be an asinine interpretation. Why would Crossbow Expert allow you to all of a sudden shoot any ranged ability with out close range disadvantage? The mechanisms are entirely different. That would be dumb.
No, that would be an asinine interpretation. Why would Crossbow Expert allow you to all of a sudden shoot any ranged ability with out close range disadvantage? The mechanisms are entirely different. That would be dumb.
If you feel that way you are always free to rule it that way at your table. However, Wizards of the Coast has issued a Sage Advice saying that Crossbow Expert enabling all Ranged Attacks (including ranged spell attacks) to be made without disadvantage when within 5ft of an enemy is intended.
Then why not just call it Point Blank Range expert?
Crossbow expert was an incorrect naming if they claim it covers everything ranged.
Because that isn't all that it does. In previous editions where feats were more plentiful but also more minor, there were different feats for this stuff, but in 5e they combined a bunch of those feats into one to raise the power level and make them more impactful. The design intention was likely for you to be able to go into melee with a one handed sword and the hand crossbow or something, or it wasn't thought out that much and they only had a few feats that affected ranged weapons so it fell on crossbow expert since sharpshooter is supposed to be for ranged sniping at targets.
Was this the right decision? It's arguable from a design perspective, maybe they should have kept an extra ranged feat around that was meant for using them in closer quarters that did the point blank bit and a few other things. This was a PHB feat though, so it suffers from some early design weirdness. Weapon Master only gives four weapon proficiencies instead of just all martial weapons. Savage attacker lets you reroll one weapon attack damage once per turn. The other feats are also quite situational/campaign dependent and haven't aged very well.
If you really don't like the idea that it's tied to the Crossbow Expert and Gunner feats, you could always Homebrew one designed for close quarters shooting instead and ask your DM to allow it.
This could be a really dumb use of the feat, but it does say:
So could my warlock take Crossbow Expert and use eldritch blast as a melee attack?
Yes
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!
You can't use Eldritch Blast as a melee attack, no (for example, some features specifically trigger off of melee or ranged attacks; just because you're casting "at melee range" doesn't mean it isn't still a ranged attack), but you don't suffer disadvantage for casting it within 5 feet of an enemy.
Oh yes, SagaTympana is correct. It doesn't change it to a melee attack, it just removes the penalty for attacking within 5ft of an enemy. But it does apply to any ranged attack, weapon or spell.
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!
Oh this is fun. I have an idea to play a warlock, but work with the DM to try and pass off his eldritch blast as monk attacks and his other spells as monk abilities for as long as possible for a campaign, always keeping the other players kind of wondering wtf he actually is. Meanwhile, he'll be a pathological liar of a playful tabaxi.
Note: you can get this benefit from the Gunner feat, as well, and it comes with +1 DEX.
No, that would be an asinine interpretation. Why would Crossbow Expert allow you to all of a sudden shoot any ranged ability with out close range disadvantage? The mechanisms are entirely different. That would be dumb.
If you feel that way you are always free to rule it that way at your table. However, Wizards of the Coast has issued a Sage Advice saying that Crossbow Expert enabling all Ranged Attacks (including ranged spell attacks) to be made without disadvantage when within 5ft of an enemy is intended.
If you are curious about their reasons for writing this feat this way you can read the Sage Advice here: https://dnd.wizards.com/articles/features/sageadvice_feats
Then why not just call it Point Blank Range expert?
Crossbow expert was an incorrect naming if they claim it covers everything ranged.
Because that isn't all that it does. In previous editions where feats were more plentiful but also more minor, there were different feats for this stuff, but in 5e they combined a bunch of those feats into one to raise the power level and make them more impactful. The design intention was likely for you to be able to go into melee with a one handed sword and the hand crossbow or something, or it wasn't thought out that much and they only had a few feats that affected ranged weapons so it fell on crossbow expert since sharpshooter is supposed to be for ranged sniping at targets.
Was this the right decision? It's arguable from a design perspective, maybe they should have kept an extra ranged feat around that was meant for using them in closer quarters that did the point blank bit and a few other things. This was a PHB feat though, so it suffers from some early design weirdness. Weapon Master only gives four weapon proficiencies instead of just all martial weapons. Savage attacker lets you reroll one weapon attack damage once per turn. The other feats are also quite situational/campaign dependent and haven't aged very well.
If you really don't like the idea that it's tied to the Crossbow Expert and Gunner feats, you could always Homebrew one designed for close quarters shooting instead and ask your DM to allow it.
My only beef is with the name, not the use.