2014 Hexblade Question

So I see all of these folks in threads under the subject of "Optimized Hexblade" recommending taking Devil's Sight and then using Darkness in order to give opponents Disadvantage on attacks against you while you have Advantage on attacks against them. This sounds great, in theory, but I fail to see how this can be workable in the game. First, you have to use your first round action to cast Darkness (wasting a turn). Second, in your typical Dungeon setting casting Darkness on yourself basically blinds the entire party. They can't see into it and if you are up front as a Hexblade fighting a couple of enemies your party is useless. There is not enough space (typical 10x10 dungeon corridor or 20x20 room) for you to run off to one side so your party can see the other enemies. Yes, those enemies can't see past you to the party either, but you've turned the encounter into your own private melee while everyone else stands around doing nothing. What am I missing?

Second, in your typical Dungeon setting casting Darkness on yourself basically blinds the entire party.

I agree, I could not get this to work, even outside in the woods et. al.  Instead, I used the spell to give me hiding space to to do the ritual to get back spells.

First, you have to use your first round action to cast Darkness

You need to cast it then hope combat starts after you cast it.  Again, I could not get this to work on the table.

I only had a 2025 warlock, and I used my Imp familiar to stand watch inside the darkness.  I also cast darkness on a stone and let the imp fly carrying it.  So no devils sight invocation, but did have Pact of the chain.  

Devil sight with darkness totally works. In my last campaign, there was my Hexblade and another warlock. We both took turns using darkness. The trick is to cast it on something that you can use a free action on to stow away, like a ring, or the blade of a weapon, or a hat.

It's not a wasted turn if another party member can take advantage of it. Using darkness is all about teamwork.

The two Warlocks both with Devil's Sight can see, yes, but no one else in the party can. Also (not sure if this is what you meant) if you use a Free Action to stow the item the Darkness was cast on during melee then the enemy does not get Disadvantage on their turn as there is no Darkness when they go. If you have a whole party of Warlocks it can work, but it messes up everyone else in the group

Quote from Zeim59 >>

So I see all of these folks in threads under the subject of "Optimized Hexblade" recommending taking Devil's Sight and then using Darkness in order to give opponents Disadvantage on attacks against you while you have Advantage on attacks against them. This sounds great, in theory, but I fail to see how this can be workable in the game. First, you have to use your first round action to cast Darkness (wasting a turn). Second, in your typical Dungeon setting casting Darkness on yourself basically blinds the entire party. They can't see into it and if you are up front as a Hexblade fighting a couple of enemies your party is useless. There is not enough space (typical 10x10 dungeon corridor or 20x20 room) for you to run off to one side so your party can see the other enemies. Yes, those enemies can't see past you to the party either, but you've turned the encounter into your own private melee while everyone else stands around doing nothing. What am I missing?

 It's a tactic you'd use in more open battlefields, when you're scouting ahead of the party, or if you can get behind the enemy.

But also, an awful lot of the people who talk about their optimized builds talk about them under ideal conditions, and assume that they get setup time. Theorycrafting is often much less applicable to actual play than it looks at first glance.

jl8e is on the money. Most "builds" on the internet have never been played at any table by their creators and are designed to perform well as an individual character using one particular strategy in a blank white room, not as part of a party / group in a complex environment. They are made by and for people who have 30+ characters on their DnDBeyond account, of which they have actually played no more than 5 and even then most were played in one-shots or short campaigns. Just look D4 or Treantmonk for an example of this, dozens and dozens of "build" videos, but not a single video of any table game longer than a one-shot, compare this to Dungeon Dudes or Arcane Arcade who have videos describing each class and some pros/cons of them but no specific builds but many many videos of full, long-term campaigns.