Probably not. You’ll still have prof bonus and a high cha. You should be fine. And sneak attack won’t apply to eldritch blast. You’d be giving up a level in warlock for a +2 to a few rolls per session. Granted, that +2 will grow over time, but personally I don’t think it’s worth it.
Taking the first level in Rogue is amazing for anyone who plans to use a lot of skills, since you start out with four proficiencies, and expertise in two.
That still leaves you with two levels of warlock, so you still have Agonizing Blast, and since cantrips advance with your character level instead of your class level, your Cantrip will always be on par with a full warlock. Missing out on the L12 ability score improvement at the very end of the game is a small price to pay for having expertise in your two main skills and having several extra proficiencies for the entire game.
I want to double down on this. Skill Expert is a GREAT feat for customizing your character without slowing down your level progression. It gives you a little bit of everything... you still get half-ASI, you get an extra proficiency, and you get expertise in one skill to really sell your character being truly great at one thing. At that point, as the party face, you just have to decide if you'd rather be expertly Persuasive, or expertly Deceptive.
I think if you intend to multiclass and go the route of the bardlock, the optimal path is for most of your levels to come from bard (I think you want 2/3 levels in warlock and the rest should be bard?). I'm not familiar with how a rogue warlock multiclass would work but I imagine the majority of your levels come from rogue and you add a dash of warlock for some arcane abilities and neat features to supplement what you're doing as a rogue.
I think your best option would either stick with warlock (assuming you want to do a bit more blasting than provide utility) or go bard with a dash of warlock (get bonuses to your skills and a lot of great utility options, but your damage won't be as fantastic as a straight warlock).
Completely forgot about this but you could probably make the dip into rogue as a warlock if you go the hexblade subclass. Anything other subclass and the rogue dip probably wouldn’t be worth it.
If you want a Rogue dip to improve your competence as a party face, optimal solution is a 3-dip into Soulknife, as that gets you Psionic Energy dice, which in many ways are like a radically inferior version of Bardic Inspiration dice but work on your own ability checks. You also gain access to a telepathy mechanic, which can be relevant to a face (although the Soulknife one can be ended by the target at will, which can be bad when you're trying to calm down a very angry target). Of course, as others have noted, once you sink 3 levels in, you should be considering Eloquence bard.
I did a Rogue dip on a Bard a while ago to get more expertise, but with Skill Expert now existing I'm not sure I would recommend it anymore; the key is to get proficiency in the skill you need, and even with a high modifier you can still fail (my experience has been the higher I got the modifier, the worse I rolled).
For the character in question, I took a hiatus from them so with the (re-?)release of College of Eloquence since I created them, I've taken the opportunity to re-spec them as that instead, which is so much more valuable (but would require a three level dip for a multiclass). He now basically cannot fail most deception/persuasion checks. And actually by dropping the level in Rogue I can now multiclass him into Warlock instead, funnily enough, as I'll get so much more out of that than I was getting from the tiny dip into Rogue. I think you shouldn't dip into Rogue now unless you're planning to get at least another level or two; this is true of a lot of multiclasses, though some do make for really good single level dips, but Rogue on that Bard was a mistake as he just wasn't good enough at melee or sneaking to really make it work.
When I say the skill you need, you don't have to be strong at both deception and persuasion to be a good face; with a little ingenuity you can deceive or persuade your way through any situation, either by always lying to get what you want (deception) or by framing the truth to say what you need (persuasion), so you only really need the one of these that suits your character the best, you don't need to excel at both. If someone in your party has guidance or enhance ability then they can give you some extra help if you need it, or they can just straight up use the Help action if they've got a good way to do it.
But yeah, College of Eloquence is the gold standard if you can sacrifice three levels for it, one in Rogue I just don't know about when you can now just take Skill Expert while continuing your main class. While Rogue gives you two expertise, Skill Expert gives you one on top of progressing the main class (you won't usually get anything at the same level as an Ability Score Increase, but you're closer to the next level, and 5th-level is a big one for most classes).
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My favorite was a lw 6 eloquence bad/ lw 7-14 fire genie warlock.
Start with lw1 bard - then lw7 warlock - then lw6 bard - then rest warlock
(Face/Infiltration) Have actor feat + mask of many faces + misty visions to be high class illusionist and manipulator + eloquence bard + expertise in Deception and perception ( Rank S)
(Scouting ) Pact of the chain imp to scout situation + high perception from expertise (Rank A)
(Utility)-Even you your skills are not in History or arcane or religion you do have useful skills (Comp Languages, Detect magic, Identify) And jack of all trades for a little boost (Rank B)
(Dps) Fireball for low lw crowds(Slots from bard and Warlock) + Concentrated damage from Eldritch blast and summon aberration while flying (Rank A)
(Control) Class has good combo ,Unsettling Words + Silvery barbs + Hold person/ Raulothim's Psychic Lance to almost guarantee a success on a boss. (Rank A)
(Survivability) You are not a tank but you do have Armor of agahtis + fly from genie + Misty step to avoid damage (Rank B) (Support) Class does not have good support but you can give healing potions if if party has goodberry to imp for easy heals for dropped players and bardic inspiration (Rank C)
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Going into a level 3 campaign with a max level of 12, I'm playing archfey warlock so ranged casting/control. I will also be the party face.
Is it worth taking a lvl 1 dip in rogue to get expertise in persuasion and deception?
Or just take the Skill Expert feat at some point.
Probably not. You’ll still have prof bonus and a high cha. You should be fine.
And sneak attack won’t apply to eldritch blast. You’d be giving up a level in warlock for a +2 to a few rolls per session. Granted, that +2 will grow over time, but personally I don’t think it’s worth it.
Taking the first level in Rogue is amazing for anyone who plans to use a lot of skills, since you start out with four proficiencies, and expertise in two.
That still leaves you with two levels of warlock, so you still have Agonizing Blast, and since cantrips advance with your character level instead of your class level, your Cantrip will always be on par with a full warlock. Missing out on the L12 ability score improvement at the very end of the game is a small price to pay for having expertise in your two main skills and having several extra proficiencies for the entire game.
I want to double down on this. Skill Expert is a GREAT feat for customizing your character without slowing down your level progression. It gives you a little bit of everything... you still get half-ASI, you get an extra proficiency, and you get expertise in one skill to really sell your character being truly great at one thing. At that point, as the party face, you just have to decide if you'd rather be expertly Persuasive, or expertly Deceptive.
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I think if you intend to multiclass and go the route of the bardlock, the optimal path is for most of your levels to come from bard (I think you want 2/3 levels in warlock and the rest should be bard?). I'm not familiar with how a rogue warlock multiclass would work but I imagine the majority of your levels come from rogue and you add a dash of warlock for some arcane abilities and neat features to supplement what you're doing as a rogue.
I think your best option would either stick with warlock (assuming you want to do a bit more blasting than provide utility) or go bard with a dash of warlock (get bonuses to your skills and a lot of great utility options, but your damage won't be as fantastic as a straight warlock).
On the long run you will get more out of the Warlock level and Skill expert than that single level of Rogue.
Completely forgot about this but you could probably make the dip into rogue as a warlock if you go the hexblade subclass. Anything other subclass and the rogue dip probably wouldn’t be worth it.
If you want a Rogue dip to improve your competence as a party face, optimal solution is a 3-dip into Soulknife, as that gets you Psionic Energy dice, which in many ways are like a radically inferior version of Bardic Inspiration dice but work on your own ability checks. You also gain access to a telepathy mechanic, which can be relevant to a face (although the Soulknife one can be ended by the target at will, which can be bad when you're trying to calm down a very angry target). Of course, as others have noted, once you sink 3 levels in, you should be considering Eloquence bard.
I did a Rogue dip on a Bard a while ago to get more expertise, but with Skill Expert now existing I'm not sure I would recommend it anymore; the key is to get proficiency in the skill you need, and even with a high modifier you can still fail (my experience has been the higher I got the modifier, the worse I rolled).
For the character in question, I took a hiatus from them so with the (re-?)release of College of Eloquence since I created them, I've taken the opportunity to re-spec them as that instead, which is so much more valuable (but would require a three level dip for a multiclass). He now basically cannot fail most deception/persuasion checks. And actually by dropping the level in Rogue I can now multiclass him into Warlock instead, funnily enough, as I'll get so much more out of that than I was getting from the tiny dip into Rogue. I think you shouldn't dip into Rogue now unless you're planning to get at least another level or two; this is true of a lot of multiclasses, though some do make for really good single level dips, but Rogue on that Bard was a mistake as he just wasn't good enough at melee or sneaking to really make it work.
When I say the skill you need, you don't have to be strong at both deception and persuasion to be a good face; with a little ingenuity you can deceive or persuade your way through any situation, either by always lying to get what you want (deception) or by framing the truth to say what you need (persuasion), so you only really need the one of these that suits your character the best, you don't need to excel at both. If someone in your party has guidance or enhance ability then they can give you some extra help if you need it, or they can just straight up use the Help action if they've got a good way to do it.
But yeah, College of Eloquence is the gold standard if you can sacrifice three levels for it, one in Rogue I just don't know about when you can now just take Skill Expert while continuing your main class. While Rogue gives you two expertise, Skill Expert gives you one on top of progressing the main class (you won't usually get anything at the same level as an Ability Score Increase, but you're closer to the next level, and 5th-level is a big one for most classes).
Former D&D Beyond Customer of six years: With the axing of piecemeal purchasing, lack of meaningful development, and toxic moderation the site isn't worth paying for anymore. I remain a free user only until my groups are done migrating from DDB, and if necessary D&D, after which I'm done. There are better systems owned by better companies out there.
I have unsubscribed from all topics and will not reply to messages. My homebrew is now 100% unsupported.