Level 1 comes with a measly 1 spell slot, and because of that, many might choose the Hexblade or Genie to make up for their spell slots, or lack thereof. Others choose to (over)use the [Tooltip Not Found] or might rely on multi classing. Some valid ones are
Sorcerer 3 (Any)
Fighter 3 (eldrich knight)
Bard 3 (valor/swords)
Rouge 1
At level 2 you get two invocations. You most likely will want shadow armor/eldich blast or buiguling whispers. WIP
Helper of Create a World thread/Sedge is Chaotic Neutral/ Mega Yahtzee High: 34, Low: 14/I speak English, je me parle le Francais, agus Labhraim beagan Gaeilge
You have to think differently with the Warlock spell slots - they aren’t played the same as your typical spellcaster so you have to think longer term. Here are some thing to remember:
1) Look for spells that scale when upcasted. If you’re using a 2nd level spell slot to cast Mage Armor, for example, that might not be an efficient use of resources.
2) Focus on Invocations that either a) give you something to cast without using your spell slots, or b) improve your action economy by giving you bonus actions or reactions.
3) A few key spells to remember:
- Hex upcasted to level 3 lasts 8 hours, which means you can continually use it over and over again without needing to use additional spell slots. It stays over short rests, which means you can have this spell active and have two spell slots still available.
- Sign of Ill Omen allows you to cast Bestow Curse. When upcasted to level 5 it does not have a concentration component anymore and can be used in conjunction with other normal concentration spells. It also coordinates with all of your other Hex-required Invocations (Maddening Hex for example, which also improves your action economy for Bonus Actions)
4) Concentration requires Con saving throws. Resilient Con, Warcaster, and Eldritch Mind are super valuable here. Consider adding one or two of these to ensure you don’t lose a spell slot to some errant damage.
Warlocks present an interesting challenge at level 1... on the one hand they only get 1 spell slot compared to all the other dedicated caster classes which start with at least 2, but they also get that spell slot back on a short rest. If you can convince your party to take an hour to sit and rest on the regular you're actually going to outperform your allies on your first adventuring day.
The other thing to keep in mind is that Warlocks get their subclass benefits right on Level 1, and while not every Warlock subclass gets something mechanically useful for combat, it's still big boost to the class at lower levels.
In general cantrip choice is key for Warlocks at very low levels. Remember that Warlocks at level 1 can also take eldritch blast, one of, if not the best cantrips in the game, and by level 2 can start optimizing it with invocations to do all sorts of things (additional damage, battlefield positioning, etc).
Additionally, as stated above, your subclass kicks in at level 1 which means you have options of:
an AoE charm/frighten mechanic (Archfey)
bonus cantrips and a healing mechanic (Celestial)
A movable attack/control feature and a swimming speed, plus underwater breathing (Fathomless)
a Temp HP mechanic (Fiend)
a magical house/bag of holding + bonus damage on an attack roll each turn (Genie)
Telepathy (Great Old One)
a combat curse effect, additional proficiencies, and the ability to use your spellcasting ability for attack rolls (Hexblade)
Buff of Temp HP and a Frighten effect (UA Undead)
So a lot of options to choose from even at level 1.
Hex is a very popular spell for Warlocks to throw up in fights, because it makes Eldritch Blast do so much damage. But the takeaway from that for me is not "crap, I only have one other spell slot per fight?!" but rather... that Warlocks really aren't supposed to be casting leveled spells in combat, but rather, Eldritch Blast (or if you're a melee-lock, melee attacks and cantrips like Booming Blade) round after round after round. Once you let go of thinking in terms of casting Hold Person, or Fireball, or whatever every round and accept that the core function of a Warlock is to spam Eldritch Blast its entire life, you start to see Pact Slots as being a reliable resource for out-of-combat utility spells between fights, or in-combat panic buttons that solve combat problems that can't be solved with damage alone.
You're not a wizard when you're a Warlock, you're an archer who occasionally spikes their damage with Hex or has creative problem solution with a spell now and again.
I remember talking to someone in another thread months back about something similar... they were getting tired of the fact that, as a Warlock, they felt stuck just casting Eldritch Blast round after round instead of taking advantage of all the cool spells they know, since they're out of slots within seconds. However, a lot of people encouraged thinking of it more like being a martial fighter... a ranged fighter is going to be shooting arrows round-after-round, and in many cases will still be doing less damage than a Warlock doing the same thing with Eldritch Blast.
The other important thing about Hex to remember is the duration... at level 1 it lasts for a full hour, which means a single casting can benefit the caster through multiple combats. However, if it's cast with a lvl 3 Spellslot it lasts for 8 full hours, and at 5th level it lasts 24 full hours. You can maintain concentration through a short rest, so a Warlock who's careful to avoid getting their concentration broken can cast Hex once at the start of the day, then keep the benefits of Hex all day long, even while taking short rests to recover spell slots.
Level 1 comes with a measly 1 spell slot, and because of that, many might choose the Hexblade or Genie to make up for their spell slots, or lack thereof.
The overwhelming majority of people pick their Patrons because they have a cool concept they want to play out, then figure out a way to make it as mechanically awesome as possible. Lots of people primarily take Hexblade because, honestly, its a stealth fix for Pact of the Blade and its multitude of issues.
Others choose to (over)use the [Tooltip Not Found] or might rely on multi classing. Some valid ones are
Sorcerer 3 (Any)
Fighter 3 (eldrich knight)
Bard 3 (valor/swords)
Rouge 1
Okay, I really have to start objecting to this. In the first place, I hate the word "valid" - it implies that there are objectively wrong choices.
Very few people dip three levels of sorcerer and the rest warlock. Indeed, its overwhelmingly the opposite - two levels of warlock, then the rest sorcerer; three levels of sorcerer doesn't really help a warlock-focused build. People take Fighter (or paladin!!) dips primarily for the save options and armor, then use it to build a good Bladelock. Advantages and disadvantages of each. Lots of people take 2 levels of rogue, not 1, for cunning action. and when they do only take one level of rogue, its for skills and expertise monkies, which has little to do with the spell slot issues - they just like skills.
Throwing out three levels of multiclassing makes me feel like you're talking about a Warlock 17 / something else 3 thing, which is a pretty crappy way to look at it. Warlocks are still full casters (or pseudo-full-casters, whatever, don't want to argue over the definition of full caster) who HATE HATE HATE delaying spellcasting progress. Yes, even with limited spell slots. Plus, qualifications for invocations depend on warlock levels. You're not really looking at what these multiclasses are offering the warlock, -when- they should be taking these levels, etc. Which is a pretty major issue, imho.
At level 2 you get two invocations. You most likely will want shadow armor/eldich blast or buiguling whispers.
Beguiling Whispers is actually one of the less popular invocations unless you like skills. That's not really a given for a lot of warlock players.
When you say Eldritch Blast, I presume you mean Agonizing Blast.
Shadow Armor is good, but less so if you stumble onto +1 leather armor. Or you're a Hexblade, or otherwise have medium armor.
Other super popular options include: Devil's Sight, Fiendish Vigor that you trade out at level 3 for a Pact-form based option, Eldritch Sight, Mask of Many Faces (used with Friends cantrip). I like Cloak of Flies and the Minor Image ones, but understand others don't.
At higher levels, you get access to things like Levitate, the wealth of Pact Form abilities, other Eldritch Blast enhancements, other Sight enhancements. All very popular.
------------------------------
Warlocks and spell slots -
Hex is very popular, not just for the extra damage, but also because its one of the most powerful social interaction spell you can get. Who needs to Charm a person when you can inflict a penalty to their WIS (and thus Insight/Perception) for manipulating them or sneaking past? Given the kill-then-move option, you can actually kill a rat, then place the Hex without anyone being the wiser.
Another very popular option is Armor of Agathys, just for the extra survivability.
Warlocks really, really do know too many spells for so few spell slots. Which, in turn, actually creates an odd situation where you're really only carrying a few combat spells - usually an AoE like Hypnotic Pattern, Hex, Armor of Agathys, and Misty Step. You're free to pick up spells that are useful in towns or other situations when you're pretty much guaranteed to have access to short rests after. Or "just in case" stuff like Remove Curse or Banishment. No reason not to.
If you're hanging around towns a lot, then warlocks are amusingly more free with their spell slots than when they're in the middle of a dungeon - toss around whatever you feel like, because it honestly doesn't matter, you'll get the slots back. Random encounter on the way anywhere? Burn through your slots, even if its a waste, because you'll get them back before the next attack.
Warlocks are very short rest dependent, and that will change how they play - different tables have different rates of short rests. The same is true of magic items - a warlock with staves and wands will have lots of non-EB options to toss out, which does change how they play as well. Rings of Spell Storing are actually really, really good for warlocks as well. Fill it up with level 1 Hex spells, and you're saving your spell slots for other things.
Another thing to keep in mind with warlocks and spells - lots of people actually use Grasp of Hador or Repelling Blast after setting up something like Grasping Tentacles, constantly knocking enemies into a killing field. Or Darkness and Devil's Sight, another popular combo. Keep your eyes out for ways to combine your Invocations and spells.
Other full casters get 2 spell slots per long rest, while Warlocks get 1 spell slot per short rest. Warlocks have it much better than other spell casters for the first 2 levels. Especially at level 2 when they have 2 spell slots per short rest, and other full casters get 3 spell slots per long rest.
When you say Eldritch Blast, I presume you mean Agonizing Blast.
*an eldrich blast boosting
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Helper of Create a World thread/Sedge is Chaotic Neutral/ Mega Yahtzee High: 34, Low: 14/I speak English, je me parle le Francais, agus Labhraim beagan Gaeilge
Level 1 comes with a measly 1 spell slot, and because of that, many might choose the Hexblade or Genie to make up for their spell slots, or lack thereof. Others choose to (over)use the [Tooltip Not Found] or might rely on multi classing. Some valid ones are
Sorcerer 3 (Any)
Fighter 3 (eldrich knight)
Bard 3 (valor/swords)
Rouge 1
At level 2 you get two invocations. You most likely will want shadow armor/eldich blast or buiguling whispers. WIP
Helper of Create a World thread/Sedge is Chaotic Neutral/ Mega Yahtzee High: 34, Low: 14/I speak English, je me parle le Francais, agus Labhraim beagan Gaeilge
Dream of Days Lore Bard 9/Wizard 4 Baulder's Gate: Descent to Avernus (In Person/Over Zoom)
Saleadon Morgul Battle Smith Artificer 11 Tyranny of Dragons (In Person/Over Zoom)
Hurtharn Serpti Ghostslayer Blood Hunter 7 Spelljammer (Over Zoom)
Ex Sig
You have to think differently with the Warlock spell slots - they aren’t played the same as your typical spellcaster so you have to think longer term. Here are some thing to remember:
1) Look for spells that scale when upcasted. If you’re using a 2nd level spell slot to cast Mage Armor, for example, that might not be an efficient use of resources.
2) Focus on Invocations that either a) give you something to cast without using your spell slots, or b) improve your action economy by giving you bonus actions or reactions.
3) A few key spells to remember:
- Hex upcasted to level 3 lasts 8 hours, which means you can continually use it over and over again without needing to use additional spell slots. It stays over short rests, which means you can have this spell active and have two spell slots still available.
- Sign of Ill Omen allows you to cast Bestow Curse. When upcasted to level 5 it does not have a concentration component anymore and can be used in conjunction with other normal concentration spells. It also coordinates with all of your other Hex-required Invocations (Maddening Hex for example, which also improves your action economy for Bonus Actions)
4) Concentration requires Con saving throws. Resilient Con, Warcaster, and Eldritch Mind are super valuable here. Consider adding one or two of these to ensure you don’t lose a spell slot to some errant damage.
Warlocks present an interesting challenge at level 1... on the one hand they only get 1 spell slot compared to all the other dedicated caster classes which start with at least 2, but they also get that spell slot back on a short rest. If you can convince your party to take an hour to sit and rest on the regular you're actually going to outperform your allies on your first adventuring day.
The other thing to keep in mind is that Warlocks get their subclass benefits right on Level 1, and while not every Warlock subclass gets something mechanically useful for combat, it's still big boost to the class at lower levels.
Watch Crits for Breakfast, an adults-only RP-Heavy Roll20 Livestream at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty
And now you too can play with the amazing art and assets we use in Roll20 for our campaign at Hazel's Emporium
In general cantrip choice is key for Warlocks at very low levels. Remember that Warlocks at level 1 can also take eldritch blast, one of, if not the best cantrips in the game, and by level 2 can start optimizing it with invocations to do all sorts of things (additional damage, battlefield positioning, etc).
Additionally, as stated above, your subclass kicks in at level 1 which means you have options of:
So a lot of options to choose from even at level 1.
Hex is a very popular spell for Warlocks to throw up in fights, because it makes Eldritch Blast do so much damage. But the takeaway from that for me is not "crap, I only have one other spell slot per fight?!" but rather... that Warlocks really aren't supposed to be casting leveled spells in combat, but rather, Eldritch Blast (or if you're a melee-lock, melee attacks and cantrips like Booming Blade) round after round after round. Once you let go of thinking in terms of casting Hold Person, or Fireball, or whatever every round and accept that the core function of a Warlock is to spam Eldritch Blast its entire life, you start to see Pact Slots as being a reliable resource for out-of-combat utility spells between fights, or in-combat panic buttons that solve combat problems that can't be solved with damage alone.
You're not a wizard when you're a Warlock, you're an archer who occasionally spikes their damage with Hex or has creative problem solution with a spell now and again.
dndbeyond.com forum tags
I'm going to make this way harder than it needs to be.
I remember talking to someone in another thread months back about something similar... they were getting tired of the fact that, as a Warlock, they felt stuck just casting Eldritch Blast round after round instead of taking advantage of all the cool spells they know, since they're out of slots within seconds. However, a lot of people encouraged thinking of it more like being a martial fighter... a ranged fighter is going to be shooting arrows round-after-round, and in many cases will still be doing less damage than a Warlock doing the same thing with Eldritch Blast.
The other important thing about Hex to remember is the duration... at level 1 it lasts for a full hour, which means a single casting can benefit the caster through multiple combats. However, if it's cast with a lvl 3 Spellslot it lasts for 8 full hours, and at 5th level it lasts 24 full hours. You can maintain concentration through a short rest, so a Warlock who's careful to avoid getting their concentration broken can cast Hex once at the start of the day, then keep the benefits of Hex all day long, even while taking short rests to recover spell slots.
Watch Crits for Breakfast, an adults-only RP-Heavy Roll20 Livestream at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty
And now you too can play with the amazing art and assets we use in Roll20 for our campaign at Hazel's Emporium
The overwhelming majority of people pick their Patrons because they have a cool concept they want to play out, then figure out a way to make it as mechanically awesome as possible. Lots of people primarily take Hexblade because, honestly, its a stealth fix for Pact of the Blade and its multitude of issues.
Okay, I really have to start objecting to this. In the first place, I hate the word "valid" - it implies that there are objectively wrong choices.
Very few people dip three levels of sorcerer and the rest warlock. Indeed, its overwhelmingly the opposite - two levels of warlock, then the rest sorcerer; three levels of sorcerer doesn't really help a warlock-focused build. People take Fighter (or paladin!!) dips primarily for the save options and armor, then use it to build a good Bladelock. Advantages and disadvantages of each. Lots of people take 2 levels of rogue, not 1, for cunning action. and when they do only take one level of rogue, its for skills and expertise monkies, which has little to do with the spell slot issues - they just like skills.
Throwing out three levels of multiclassing makes me feel like you're talking about a Warlock 17 / something else 3 thing, which is a pretty crappy way to look at it. Warlocks are still full casters (or pseudo-full-casters, whatever, don't want to argue over the definition of full caster) who HATE HATE HATE delaying spellcasting progress. Yes, even with limited spell slots. Plus, qualifications for invocations depend on warlock levels. You're not really looking at what these multiclasses are offering the warlock, -when- they should be taking these levels, etc. Which is a pretty major issue, imho.
Beguiling Whispers is actually one of the less popular invocations unless you like skills. That's not really a given for a lot of warlock players.
When you say Eldritch Blast, I presume you mean Agonizing Blast.
Shadow Armor is good, but less so if you stumble onto +1 leather armor. Or you're a Hexblade, or otherwise have medium armor.
Other super popular options include: Devil's Sight, Fiendish Vigor that you trade out at level 3 for a Pact-form based option, Eldritch Sight, Mask of Many Faces (used with Friends cantrip). I like Cloak of Flies and the Minor Image ones, but understand others don't.
At higher levels, you get access to things like Levitate, the wealth of Pact Form abilities, other Eldritch Blast enhancements, other Sight enhancements. All very popular.
------------------------------
Warlocks and spell slots -
Hex is very popular, not just for the extra damage, but also because its one of the most powerful social interaction spell you can get. Who needs to Charm a person when you can inflict a penalty to their WIS (and thus Insight/Perception) for manipulating them or sneaking past? Given the kill-then-move option, you can actually kill a rat, then place the Hex without anyone being the wiser.
Another very popular option is Armor of Agathys, just for the extra survivability.
Warlocks really, really do know too many spells for so few spell slots. Which, in turn, actually creates an odd situation where you're really only carrying a few combat spells - usually an AoE like Hypnotic Pattern, Hex, Armor of Agathys, and Misty Step. You're free to pick up spells that are useful in towns or other situations when you're pretty much guaranteed to have access to short rests after. Or "just in case" stuff like Remove Curse or Banishment. No reason not to.
If you're hanging around towns a lot, then warlocks are amusingly more free with their spell slots than when they're in the middle of a dungeon - toss around whatever you feel like, because it honestly doesn't matter, you'll get the slots back. Random encounter on the way anywhere? Burn through your slots, even if its a waste, because you'll get them back before the next attack.
Warlocks are very short rest dependent, and that will change how they play - different tables have different rates of short rests. The same is true of magic items - a warlock with staves and wands will have lots of non-EB options to toss out, which does change how they play as well. Rings of Spell Storing are actually really, really good for warlocks as well. Fill it up with level 1 Hex spells, and you're saving your spell slots for other things.
Another thing to keep in mind with warlocks and spells - lots of people actually use Grasp of Hador or Repelling Blast after setting up something like Grasping Tentacles, constantly knocking enemies into a killing field. Or Darkness and Devil's Sight, another popular combo. Keep your eyes out for ways to combine your Invocations and spells.
Other full casters get 2 spell slots per long rest, while Warlocks get 1 spell slot per short rest. Warlocks have it much better than other spell casters for the first 2 levels. Especially at level 2 when they have 2 spell slots per short rest, and other full casters get 3 spell slots per long rest.
When you say Eldritch Blast, I presume you mean Agonizing Blast.
*an eldrich blast boosting
Helper of Create a World thread/Sedge is Chaotic Neutral/ Mega Yahtzee High: 34, Low: 14/I speak English, je me parle le Francais, agus Labhraim beagan Gaeilge
Dream of Days Lore Bard 9/Wizard 4 Baulder's Gate: Descent to Avernus (In Person/Over Zoom)
Saleadon Morgul Battle Smith Artificer 11 Tyranny of Dragons (In Person/Over Zoom)
Hurtharn Serpti Ghostslayer Blood Hunter 7 Spelljammer (Over Zoom)
Ex Sig