Hey D&D peeps. I know there are already way too many posts on the new warlock, so of course I decided to add one more!
The thing is I’ve always loved the style and flavor of the Warlock, so I got a lot of feelings on this one that I just needed to sort out and put on paper. Writing this more to sort my own head out, but I think there are some ideas in here you all might enjoy. I’m not a number cruncher, so my focus is going to be on the core abilities and identity of the Warlock class and a suggestion that I think will make the new warlock really fun, flavorful, and impactful.
First off, let’s acknowledge that there are a lot of strong feelings, both love and hate, regarding Pact Magic. Personally, I enjoyed Pact Magic. I’m sad to see it go, and I think it was unnecessary (a bit about that at the end), but I think I get why they did it and I don’t think it ruins or destroys the warlock in any way.
Overall, I think the new Warlock presented in the latest UA is a really solid foundation. I just don’t think it’s complete. I also don’t think it’s that fun to play. BUT I THINK IT CAN BE! And here’s my idea on how…
GO.ALL IN. ON HEX.
Now what do I mean by that and why do I feel that way? I mean I think Hex should be more than just a damage buff. I think it should be developed as a core ability of the class that can provide unique debuffs and utility, and be customized through further developed Invocations.
If we look at the new Warlock in the UA we’ve got a class with a half caster spell progression and class features that pretty clearly focus on spellcasting. It’s got more spells available and can cast them more often, but the trade off has been spell potency. And that is a big trade. 3rd level spells just don’t have the impact at 9th level that they do at 5th. And 5th level spells are game changers at 9th level! But at 17th their just kinda “meh”. But I don’t think this trade off is bad. I think it’s missing a major counterweight.
In short, if the new UA Warlock is a half-caster…. What’s the other half?
If we look at the Paladin and the Ranger, the two other half casting classes in the game, and now I think the closest comparisons to Warlock, the other half of each of those classes is clear. It’s down in their DNA and built into their core design. Paladins get a mix of fighter and cleric abilities, and Rangers I would say have a mix of fighter and rogue abilities. In either case, when the Paladin and Ranger aren’t casting spells they still have plenty of tools in their toolbox to make use of. But what if we ask that question of the Warlock. What is the new Warlock doing when they aren’t casting a spell?... And I got nothing.
Chain and Tome Warlocks can spam Eldritch Blast. But that’s a cantrip, technically a spell, and frankly also boring. Blade Pact Warlocks can dive into melee. But while the new Pact Weapon cantrip makes them okay at it, they never really get the tools to be great at it, or even really good. They start okay at it, and they stay just okay at it.
Which brings us back to:
GO. ALL IN. ON HEX.
Everything about Hex as it’s presented to us now screams to me that it should be a core class feature, a unique Warlock ability, and not a spell. So go for it.
First off, make Hex a class feature and make it not require concentration or a spell slot. Having Hex up is already part of the base damage and balance calculations for the Warlock, so just pull the damn trigger on it already and make it a class feature that doesn’t expend a limited resource or require concentration.
That change alone is, in my opinion, a minimal mechanical change that offers a huge quality of life improvement. But what can make this really fun is that now you can design and introduce a host of new Invocations to amplify your Hex ability as your Warlock levels up!
SO GO. ALL IN. ON INVOCATIONS.
Right now, we’ve been presented with wildly disparate invocation options that range from niche flavor abilities that no one is ever going to take to absolute “must haves” that will ubiquitously appear on every Warlock build ever. They’re ALL going to take Agonizing Blast, and they’re ALL going to take 3 to 4 Mystic Arcanum (minimum) and that’s just to bring them up to parity with the original 5e base Warlock. That’s why these keep being called false choices, and as has been said many times – “a false choice is no choice at all.”
So, let’s make other Invocation choices meaningful, impactful, and most of all viable.
Let’s start by breaking Invocations down into four basic categories (sorry, that’s just the way my brain works):
Blast Invocations (invocations to amplify your eldritch blast cantrip)
Hex Invocations (invocations to amplify your Hex ability)
Mystic Arcanum (invocations to amplify your spellcasting)
Boon Invocations (invocations to amplify your Pact Boon)
The current game already has some great examples of invocations being used to amplify our eldritch blast or our spellcasting. So, let’s build on that and apply it to our other abilities!!!
Let’s write a bunch of new invocations that let your Hex do weird stuff!! Let’s make them a viable alternative to just picking a Mystic Arcanum.
Some initial ideas….
Curse of Fear: When you damage a creature affected by your Hex ability, the creature becomes Frightened of you until the start of your next turn.
Curse of Sloth: When you damage a creature affected by your Hex ability, they gain the Slowed condition until the end of your next turn.
Invocation of Pain: The additional damage applied by your Hex ability now scales with your level. Affected creatures now take 2d6 necrotic damage at 5th level, 3d6 at 11th level, and 4d6 at 17th.
Curse of Enfeeblement: A creature affected by your Hex now has Disadvantage on saving throws for one of its ability scores. This must be the same ability score for which you have cursed their Ability Checks. (ok, that’s worded badly but you get the idea!)
Invocation of the Many (requirement 11th level): When you use your Hex ability, you may now Hex a number of targets equal to your spellcasting ability modifier.
Curse of Exile (requirement12th level, or something like that): When you damage a creature affected by your Hex, the creature is banished to another plane of existence until the start of your next turn.
Do some of these seem wildly overpowered on first glance??? Absolutely! They definitely need some restrictions and limitations. Some should definitely allow saving throws. Others should probably require concentration. The really powerful stuff should probably need both and they’ll need to be gated with level requirements. And there probably should be a limit of only using one Hex invocation per turn, or a creature can only be affected by one Hex invocation per turn, or something like that.
But the point is there are ways to make Hex and Invocations a really cool core class ability that provide a meaningful alternative to just taking invocations to bring our Warlocks in line with full casters. Because they’re NOT full casters. And I don’t think they should be. But if they’re not going to be full casters then they need more tools in their arsenal than just casting spells.
I could go on quite a bit more. I’d love to see more Blast Invocations that also apply conditions or effects. Like one that can restrain the target or knock it prone. I’d love to see more Boon Invocations that also do weird stuff. Like Invocations designed to make a Chain warlock really excel at Summoning, or a Boon Invocation that let’s a Pact Blade warlock apply their Eldritch Blast invocations to their weapon attacks.
As said before, I’m not a number cruncher. So, I really have no idea how to design these new abilities/invocations in a way that’s balanced for the game. BUT… I absolutely have faith that Jeremy Crawford and Chris Perkins and the rest of DnD design team can!! I think they’ve done an incredible job bringing the game to where it is today. And I think the new UA Warlock is a really solid foundation. But I want more from it. And I think shifting the focus to Hex as a core class ability that can be augmented by Invocations is the way to do it.
One final note that I mentioned at the beginning of this post. A word on Pact Magic and why I think getting rid of it was a mistake but one we should accept and roll with now.
I think getting rid of Pact Magic was a mistake because it seems like people’s problem wasn’t actually with Pact Magic. The problem was with the Short Rest mechanic and how that was, or wasn’t, being used in a lot of games. And while they are intertwined, they are in fact two separate issues. I think if there was a problem with mechanic A (the short rest mechanic) then the designers should have addressed A directly, not entirely scrapped and re-written mechanic B (Warlock Pact Magic). And if the main concern was giving Warlocks more spellcasting, then the easier way to do that was to give them a different or alternative mechanism for recovering their spell slots. First thing that comes to mind would be a new class ability to spend Hit Die to recover pact magic slots. Could have called it Eldritch Sacrifice (cause man we love that word don’t we). But in short, I think throwing out and redesigning Warlock spellcasting to address a problem with an entirely different mechanic was the wrong approach.
But I also think that ship has sailed. And while I think the Warlock has lost a little bit of its unique flavor with that change, I also think it will make multiclassing much simpler and allow the Warlock to integrate much more smoothly with other classes during play. So I say we embrace the change and roll with it.
Hey D&D peeps. I know there are already way too many posts on the new warlock, so of course I decided to add one more!
The thing is I’ve always loved the style and flavor of the Warlock, so I got a lot of feelings on this one that I just needed to sort out and put on paper. Writing this more to sort my own head out, but I think there are some ideas in here you all might enjoy. I’m not a number cruncher, so my focus is going to be on the core abilities and identity of the Warlock class and a suggestion that I think will make the new warlock really fun, flavorful, and impactful.
First off, let’s acknowledge that there are a lot of strong feelings, both love and hate, regarding Pact Magic. Personally, I enjoyed Pact Magic. I’m sad to see it go, and I think it was unnecessary (a bit about that at the end), but I think I get why they did it and I don’t think it ruins or destroys the warlock in any way.
Overall, I think the new Warlock presented in the latest UA is a really solid foundation. I just don’t think it’s complete. I also don’t think it’s that fun to play. BUT I THINK IT CAN BE! And here’s my idea on how…
GO. ALL IN. ON HEX.
Now what do I mean by that and why do I feel that way? I mean I think Hex should be more than just a damage buff. I think it should be developed as a core ability of the class that can provide unique debuffs and utility, and be customized through further developed Invocations.
If we look at the new Warlock in the UA we’ve got a class with a half caster spell progression and class features that pretty clearly focus on spellcasting. It’s got more spells available and can cast them more often, but the trade off has been spell potency. And that is a big trade. 3rd level spells just don’t have the impact at 9th level that they do at 5th. And 5th level spells are game changers at 9th level! But at 17th their just kinda “meh”. But I don’t think this trade off is bad. I think it’s missing a major counterweight.
In short, if the new UA Warlock is a half-caster…. What’s the other half?
If we look at the Paladin and the Ranger, the two other half casting classes in the game, and now I think the closest comparisons to Warlock, the other half of each of those classes is clear. It’s down in their DNA and built into their core design. Paladins get a mix of fighter and cleric abilities, and Rangers I would say have a mix of fighter and rogue abilities. In either case, when the Paladin and Ranger aren’t casting spells they still have plenty of tools in their toolbox to make use of. But what if we ask that question of the Warlock. What is the new Warlock doing when they aren’t casting a spell?... And I got nothing.
Chain and Tome Warlocks can spam Eldritch Blast. But that’s a cantrip, technically a spell, and frankly also boring. Blade Pact Warlocks can dive into melee. But while the new Pact Weapon cantrip makes them okay at it, they never really get the tools to be great at it, or even really good. They start okay at it, and they stay just okay at it.
Which brings us back to:
GO. ALL IN. ON HEX.
Everything about Hex as it’s presented to us now screams to me that it should be a core class feature, a unique Warlock ability, and not a spell. So go for it.
First off, make Hex a class feature and make it not require concentration or a spell slot. Having Hex up is already part of the base damage and balance calculations for the Warlock, so just pull the damn trigger on it already and make it a class feature that doesn’t expend a limited resource or require concentration.
That change alone is, in my opinion, a minimal mechanical change that offers a huge quality of life improvement. But what can make this really fun is that now you can design and introduce a host of new Invocations to amplify your Hex ability as your Warlock levels up!
SO GO. ALL IN. ON INVOCATIONS.
Right now, we’ve been presented with wildly disparate invocation options that range from niche flavor abilities that no one is ever going to take to absolute “must haves” that will ubiquitously appear on every Warlock build ever. They’re ALL going to take Agonizing Blast, and they’re ALL going to take 3 to 4 Mystic Arcanum (minimum) and that’s just to bring them up to parity with the original 5e base Warlock. That’s why these keep being called false choices, and as has been said many times – “a false choice is no choice at all.”
So, let’s make other Invocation choices meaningful, impactful, and most of all viable.
Let’s start by breaking Invocations down into four basic categories (sorry, that’s just the way my brain works):
Blast Invocations (invocations to amplify your eldritch blast cantrip)
Hex Invocations (invocations to amplify your Hex ability)
Mystic Arcanum (invocations to amplify your spellcasting)
Boon Invocations (invocations to amplify your Pact Boon)
The current game already has some great examples of invocations being used to amplify our eldritch blast or our spellcasting. So, let’s build on that and apply it to our other abilities!!!
Let’s write a bunch of new invocations that let your Hex do weird stuff!! Let’s make them a viable alternative to just picking a Mystic Arcanum.
Some initial ideas….
Curse of Fear: When you damage a creature affected by your Hex ability, the creature becomes Frightened of you until the start of your next turn.
Curse of Sloth: When you damage a creature affected by your Hex ability, they gain the Slowed condition until the end of your next turn.
Invocation of Pain: The additional damage applied by your Hex ability now scales with your level. Affected creatures now take 2d6 necrotic damage at 5th level, 3d6 at 11th level, and 4d6 at 17th.
Curse of Enfeeblement: A creature affected by your Hex now has Disadvantage on saving throws for one of its ability scores. This must be the same ability score for which you have cursed their Ability Checks. (ok, that’s worded badly but you get the idea!)
Invocation of the Many (requirement 11th level): When you use your Hex ability, you may now Hex a number of targets equal to your spellcasting ability modifier.
Curse of Exile (requirement12th level, or something like that): When you damage a creature affected by your Hex, the creature is banished to another plane of existence until the start of your next turn.
Do some of these seem wildly overpowered on first glance??? Absolutely! They definitely need some restrictions and limitations. Some should definitely allow saving throws. Others should probably require concentration. The really powerful stuff should probably need both and they’ll need to be gated with level requirements. And there probably should be a limit of only using one Hex invocation per turn, or a creature can only be affected by one Hex invocation per turn, or something like that.
But the point is there are ways to make Hex and Invocations a really cool core class ability that provide a meaningful alternative to just taking invocations to bring our Warlocks in line with full casters. Because they’re NOT full casters. And I don’t think they should be. But if they’re not going to be full casters then they need more tools in their arsenal than just casting spells.
I could go on quite a bit more. I’d love to see more Blast Invocations that also apply conditions or effects. Like one that can restrain the target or knock it prone. I’d love to see more Boon Invocations that also do weird stuff. Like Invocations designed to make a Chain warlock really excel at Summoning, or a Boon Invocation that let’s a Pact Blade warlock apply their Eldritch Blast invocations to their weapon attacks.
As said before, I’m not a number cruncher. So, I really have no idea how to design these new abilities/invocations in a way that’s balanced for the game. BUT… I absolutely have faith that Jeremy Crawford and Chris Perkins and the rest of DnD design team can!! I think they’ve done an incredible job bringing the game to where it is today. And I think the new UA Warlock is a really solid foundation. But I want more from it. And I think shifting the focus to Hex as a core class ability that can be augmented by Invocations is the way to do it.
One final note that I mentioned at the beginning of this post. A word on Pact Magic and why I think getting rid of it was a mistake but one we should accept and roll with now.
I think getting rid of Pact Magic was a mistake because it seems like people’s problem wasn’t actually with Pact Magic. The problem was with the Short Rest mechanic and how that was, or wasn’t, being used in a lot of games. And while they are intertwined, they are in fact two separate issues. I think if there was a problem with mechanic A (the short rest mechanic) then the designers should have addressed A directly, not entirely scrapped and re-written mechanic B (Warlock Pact Magic). And if the main concern was giving Warlocks more spellcasting, then the easier way to do that was to give them a different or alternative mechanism for recovering their spell slots. First thing that comes to mind would be a new class ability to spend Hit Die to recover pact magic slots. Could have called it Eldritch Sacrifice (cause man we love that word don’t we). But in short, I think throwing out and redesigning Warlock spellcasting to address a problem with an entirely different mechanic was the wrong approach.
But I also think that ship has sailed. And while I think the Warlock has lost a little bit of its unique flavor with that change, I also think it will make multiclassing much simpler and allow the Warlock to integrate much more smoothly with other classes during play. So I say we embrace the change and roll with it.
Done now. Flame away!!!