How, in Theme/Flavor/logic of Hexblade, is Conjure Barrage a class spell? Spectral weapons. It's raining Glaives, Great Clubs, Daggers, Blackrazors? I keep looking for better options and Concentration becomes the Blocker. I suggest, Counterspell to replace it. Reaction, non-concentration, perfect for that bad guy 40' away casting Lightning Bolt down the tight corridor that you cannot move enough in time to thug stick them.
How, in Theme/Flavor/logic of Hexblade, is Conjure Barrage a class spell? Spectral weapons. It's raining Glaives, Great Clubs, Daggers, Blackrazors? I keep looking for better options and Concentration becomes the Blocker. I suggest, Counterspell to replace it. Reaction, non-concentration, perfect for that bad guy 40' away casting Lightning Bolt down the tight corridor that you cannot move enough in time to thug stick them.
I see it, in the case of this UA, as spectral weapons superficially resembling the weapon which is the Patron, a Pact Weapon the PC has, and/or a weapon(s) significant to the backstory/memories/dreams/nightmares of the PC, their patron and/or said patron's rightful wielder, among others. So I see where they're coming from with this one.
Also, by "raining"...are you implying that a Cone comes down from above targets? Or are you using "raining" in the sense of raining bullets?. (Honest Question, I'm having trouble with your metaphor.)
Conjure Barrage allows a melee style character the ability to give an aoe attack. Instead of thinking of weapons firing out at the targets think about an anime like sword swipe that hits a wide area or a lighting fast move from target to target and then back to your original position.
Remember to consider those who do not optimize, powergame, metagame or rules lawyer, as well as new, younger and/or casual players(all of the above are valid in their own ways, times &/or places, BTW). Because they deserve an opt-out of the Gish stuff if they want it.
I'm not an optimizer/power gamer. Not in the least.
If you don't want a gish....then don't play a gish subclass. There are already multiple warlock subclasses available.
The subclass is called the Hexblade. The patron is literally a weapon. Why would you play a Hexblade if you don't want the gish stuff?
Wizards needs to either rename the subclass or take it back to the more martial aspects, including armor and shield training.
Remember to consider those who do not optimize, powergame, metagame or rules lawyer, as well as new, younger and/or casual players(all of the above are valid in their own ways, times &/or places, BTW). Because they deserve an opt-out of the Gish stuff if they want it.
I'm not an optimizer/power gamer. Not in the least.
If you don't want a gish....then don't play a gish subclass. There are already multiple warlock subclasses available.
The subclass is called the Hexblade. The patron is literally a weapon. Why would you play a Hexblade if you don't want the gish stuff?
Wizards needs to either rename the subclass or take it back to the more martial aspects, including armor and shield training.
As has been previously noted, it's extremely likely that the artifact name is being kept specifically because they want to take the medium armor and shield out of circulation for the 2024 Warlock, rendering either of those paths you've suggested counterproductive. I'm certain they received a fair bit of "bring the profs back" responses, ergo if they didn't included them in the updated version, it means they've very firmly decided not to bring it back.
Remember to consider those who do not optimize, powergame, metagame or rules lawyer, as well as new, younger and/or casual players(all of the above are valid in their own ways, times &/or places, BTW). Because they deserve an opt-out of the Gish stuff if they want it.
I'm not an optimizer/power gamer. Not in the least.
If you don't want a gish....then don't play a gish subclass. There are already multiple warlock subclasses available.
The subclass is called the Hexblade. The patron is literally a weapon. Why would you play a Hexblade if you don't want the gish stuff?
Wizards needs to either rename the subclass or take it back to the more martial aspects, including armor and shield training.
its more martial than it was. martial does not mean medium armor and shields.
cleric is a full casters with mediium/heavy armor and shields, bard has light armor and shields, druid has medium armor and shields
rogue is a martial it doesnt have medium armor and shields
monk is a martial it doesnt have medium armor and shields
barbarians are martial they do have medium armor and shields, but using reckless essentially negates that.
fighter is the equipment god
so at best 50% of pure martials get medium armor and shields.
there is no way the warlock with full caster arcane spell progression and tons of defensive spells, 3-4 attacks per round needs to have easy AC, without severely outperforming all of the aforementioned full martials at defense and offense.
with the current requirments its in the world of martials, with Base easy AC it will surpass them easily.
14 dex 20 chr 18 con warlock with 19 AC baseline, access to agathys, synaptic. static, mirror images, shadow of moil, mislead, tough from great old ones, etc will blow them out the water. not even close.
basically they are saying a warlock who wants decent AC needs to invest in dex and likely an invocation or mage armor, or get light armor. +1-3
or they can give up AC and focus CON./hp in either case they will supllement defense by using defensive spells/features
People claiming that having access to meidum armor and shields at level 3 is a problem, when Level 1 as fighter gives everything that a melee class wants, is a poor argument.
Of classes that want to be in melee.
Fighter, light/medium/heavy armor, and shield.
Paladin, light/medium/heavy armor, and shield.
Ranger, light/medium, and shield.
Barbarian, light/medium, and shield.
Rogue, light armor.
Monk, unarmored defense.
Close support
Cleric, light/medium, and shield, heavy optional.
Druid, light, and shield, medium optional.
Ranged Caster Classes
Wizard, no armor.
Sorcerer, no armor, Draconic subclass gives unarmored bonuses.
Bard, light armor, Valor subclass gives medium armor and shield.
Warlock, light armor.
Of all the melee classes only Rogue and PotB Warlock are left relying exclusively on light armor. Rogue and Monk both have damage mitigation mechanics, and both benefit directly from pumping up dexterity that bolsters both their offensive stats, and their defensive stats. Warlock wants to pump up charisma, which doesn't affect their AC, and can expend many of its invocation slots to provide some damage mitigation, but PotB is already invocation heavy, meaning that the selling point for Warlock, its flexibility, ceases to exist.
Taking the Spell Sniper feat at level 4 gives the Warlock the ability to cast Eldritch Blast in melee range, which means that they effectively have a D10+Cha weapon that gains extra attack automatically at level 4, level 11, and level 17. To boost it they only need the Agonizing Blast invocation, and they're not having to split stats to dexterity for AC.
At level 11 3(d10+5) is exactly the same as a PotB Warlock wielding a longsword two-handed, making the longsword redundant. The PotB build could take Polearm Master with a spear to get 3(d8+5) + (d4+5) but they wouldn't hit 20 Charisma until level 12.
Thanks to the way that cantrips scale, the Warlock could take Fighter 1 for the armor proficiencies, then go with the Spell Sniper build and they'd still have three attacks at level 11 whereas PotB would be delayed another level.
As has been previously noted, it's extremely likely that the artifact name is being kept specifically because they want to take the medium armor and shield out of circulation for the 2024 Warlock
Tone is hard to read here, but I mean this as a sincere response: I'm not having much luck parsing this. They're keeping name because they want to make it harder for a Hexblade to get medium armor and shields? I'm not understanding the connection.
If they don't rename it, people just pick a legacy hexblade and get their medium armor and shields. WOTC does not want this, clearly. By replacing it, there can be no argument that the intent is that you do not have medium armor and shields on your warlock.
Not caving, and giving people medium armor and shields is about the only thing I LIKE about what they have done here. This version of hexblade is just terrible.
Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
People claiming that having access to meidum armor and shields at level 3 is a problem, when Level 1 as fighter gives everything that a melee class wants, is a poor argument.
Of classes that want to be in melee.
Fighter, light/medium/heavy armor, and shield.
Paladin, light/medium/heavy armor, and shield.
Ranger, light/medium, and shield.
Barbarian, light/medium, and shield.
Rogue, light armor.
Monk, unarmored defense.
Close support
Cleric, light/medium, and shield, heavy optional.
Druid, light, and shield, medium optional.
Ranged Caster Classes
Wizard, no armor.
Sorcerer, no armor, Draconic subclass gives unarmored bonuses.
Bard, light armor, Valor subclass gives medium armor and shield.
Warlock, light armor.
Of all the melee classes only Rogue and PotB Warlock are left relying exclusively on light armor. Rogue and Monk both have damage mitigation mechanics, and both benefit directly from pumping up dexterity that bolsters both their offensive stats, and their defensive stats. Warlock wants to pump up charisma, which doesn't affect their AC, and can expend many of its invocation slots to provide some damage mitigation, but PotB is already invocation heavy, meaning that the selling point for Warlock, its flexibility, ceases to exist.
Taking the Spell Sniper feat at level 4 gives the Warlock the ability to cast Eldritch Blast in melee range, which means that they effectively have a D10+Cha weapon that gains extra attack automatically at level 4, level 11, and level 17. To boost it they only need the Agonizing Blast invocation, and they're not having to split stats to dexterity for AC.
At level 11 3(d10+5) is exactly the same as a PotB Warlock wielding a longsword two-handed, making the longsword redundant. The PotB build could take Polearm Master with a spear to get 3(d8+5) + (d4+5) but they wouldn't hit 20 Charisma until level 12.
Thanks to the way that cantrips scale, the Warlock could take Fighter 1 for the armor proficiencies, then go with the Spell Sniper build and they'd still have three attacks at level 11 whereas PotB would be delayed another level.
Warlock has defensive features, called spells, mirror image, bestow curse, synaptic static, mirror image, shadow of moil, blade ward.
they also can have 18 AC if they want to invest in dex. which is higher than rogue. hexblade will have 20 AC if they stay in melee.
yeah they can dip for armor, but at least they have to dip, thats puts them one level behind on every spell/feature, level 5 spells a level later, third attack a level later, level 7 spell a level later foresight a level later.
19 ac warlock with 20chr/16 con by level 8 is not balanced compared to martials. And will likely out perform them in survivability, while doing damage.
I intend to mark the whole subclass green with the exception of Hexblade's Curse which needs to be transferable and the range limitation of the +2 AC needs to be removed or at the very least increased to 30 feet. Edit: and it should work with Armor.
I'll try to make this my last post about, as I'm clearly in the minority AND Wizards seems dead set in their move away from the XGTE version of the subclass: one of the most important differentiators between the gishy original Hexblade was hit points. I know this from experience. Even with medium armor, a shield, and spells and magic abilities, you're squishier than any fighter, any ranger, any paladin, any barbarian. Which is correct and right. The trade off for Hexblades having the training to fighing on the front line is they simply can't absorb damage like the true martial classes, not even with spells and abilities. There's a very real danger for Hexblades that a higher AC only partially protects from (and this becomes less so as you level up and face monsters with bigger Attack modifiers).
Warlock has defensive features, called spells, mirror image, bestow curse, synaptic static, mirror image, shadow of moil, blade ward.
they also can have 18 AC if they want to invest in dex. which is higher than rogue. hexblade will have 20 AC if they stay in melee.
yeah they can dip for armor, but at least they have to dip, thats puts them one level behind on every spell/feature, level 5 spells a level later, third attack a level later, level 7 spell a level later foresight a level later.
19 ac warlock with 20chr/16 con by level 8 is not balanced compared to martials. And will likely out perform them in survivability, while doing damage.
Warlocks have two, count them, two spell slots for most of their progression, or at least most of the progression that most people play over. They're not getting all those spells at the same time, and (depending on rests) may not be getting them for most of the adventuring day.
If a Warlock invests in dexterity, they're a worse Warlock. Rogues invest in dexterity because they're a dexterity class, the same with Monk. Warlocks are a charisma class.
A Warlock who starts with 14 dex, 16 con, and 17 charisma, can take Spell Sniper at level 4, gaining 18 charisma, and gaining the ability to use their Eldritch Blast in melee, which makes it a better weapon than a Pact Blade weapon. That gives them automatic scaling at level 5, 11, and 17, regardless of whether they multiclass or not. That for the investment of one invocation (Agonizing Blast) and one feat, which they were probably going to take anyway. PotB requires at least three invocations, and probably four or five. If PotB takes any martial feat, like Polearm Master, they won't be boosting their primary stat.
The caster Warlock can also take that first level in Fighter for constitution saving throw proficiency, and all weapons and armor, and it won't really affect their most important attack feature.
Although the feat of choice was Crossbow Expert in 2014, we're in almost exactly the same position as then, in that a Warlock that specializes in spell-casting is a better melee fighter than the Warlock who supposedly specializes in melee. That's why Hexblade was introduced in Xanathar's.
If Warlock came with proficiency in light armor and shields, like Druid, with an invocation or class option that gave them access to medium armor, that would bridge the gap Hexblade leaves.
And all casters outperform martials, because, almost without exception, martials suck. If WotC want martials to suck less, they give them access to spells. As has been pointed out before, a party of martials will struggle in D&D without caster support. A caster heavy party can run easily without needing martials.
To repeat myself. There is no balance between martials and casters. That's not an argument against Hexblade/Warlock having access to medium armor and shields.
Warlock has defensive features, called spells, mirror image, bestow curse, synaptic static, mirror image, shadow of moil, blade ward.
they also can have 18 AC if they want to invest in dex. which is higher than rogue. hexblade will have 20 AC if they stay in melee.
yeah they can dip for armor, but at least they have to dip, thats puts them one level behind on every spell/feature, level 5 spells a level later, third attack a level later, level 7 spell a level later foresight a level later.
19 ac warlock with 20chr/16 con by level 8 is not balanced compared to martials. And will likely out perform them in survivability, while doing damage.
Warlocks have two, count them, two spell slots for most of their progression, or at least most of the progression that most people play over. They're not getting all those spells at the same time, and (depending on rests) may not be getting them for most of the adventuring day.
If a Warlock invests in dexterity, they're a worse Warlock. Rogues invest in dexterity because they're a dexterity class, the same with Monk. Warlocks are a charisma class.
A Warlock who starts with 14 dex, 16 con, and 17 charisma, can take Spell Sniper at level 4, gaining 18 charisma, and gaining the ability to use their Eldritch Blast in melee, which makes it a better weapon than a Pact Blade weapon. That gives them automatic scaling at level 5, 11, and 17, regardless of whether they multiclass or not. That for the investment of one invocation (Agonizing Blast) and one feat, which they were probably going to take anyway. PotB requires at least three invocations, and probably four or five. If PotB takes any martial feat, like Polearm Master, they won't be boosting their primary stat.
The caster Warlock can also take that first level in Fighter for constitution saving throw proficiency, and all weapons and armor, and it won't really affect their most important attack feature.
Although the feat of choice was Crossbow Expert in 2014, we're in almost exactly the same position as then, in that a Warlock that specializes in spell-casting is a better melee fighter than the Warlock who supposedly specializes in melee. That's why Hexblade was introduced in Xanathar's.
If Warlock came with proficiency in light armor and shields, like Druid, with an invocation or class option that gave them access to medium armor, that would bridge the gap Hexblade leaves.
And all casters outperform martials, because, almost without exception, martials suck. If WotC want martials to suck less, they give them access to spells. As has been pointed out before, a party of martials will struggle in D&D without caster support. A caster heavy party can run easily without needing martials.
To repeat myself. There is no balance between martials and casters. That's not an argument against Hexblade/Warlock having access to medium armor and shields.
disagree with your final statement, and even if i agreed, i dont think the solition would be HAHa lets make it worse.
but the fact of the matter is warlock nor hexblade need medium armor to melee. or survive
also they have two spells per SR, + and half that. at 11 or whatever they get 3 spells, and a 6th level spell slot, not 2 spells in a vaccum.
if you dont want to use dex, dont use dex, you can build a con warlock easiily, but not sure why you think warlock has a divine right to both AC and CON as a primarily caster class.
the new version of this class does damage to everything around when they make a concentration save, can essentially follow a target without a reaction, and gets extra ac while close to their target, as well as reducing damage from the target. And can attack with a weapon as a Ba when casting a spell with its main action. Its clearly better adapted to melee and pact of the blade than other subclasses.
this is a better meleer than other warlocks. easily. And instead of taking a feat to negate disadvantage, you can take a feat that improves your weapon/martial style like mastery, defensive duelist, pam, gwm, dual wielder, charger, sentnel, warcaster crusher. Or just take a full asi and get more defense or offense.
if you want to play a long ranged fighting style, not sure why you need medium armor and shields to do your job on warlock. And warlocks survivability in melee without medium and shields is in the same family as most martial subclasses who arent deeply dedicated to being a tank, as it should be.
and you got options if you want to go that route, multiclass, or use features. not sure why you think it needs to be baseline
^^ and this is why WOTC should not cave and just give warlocks medium and shields. Hexblade is bad, but lack of armor and shield is not why. The features just suck.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
If WOTC wants to take medium armor and shields away from the hexblade I don't really care, i"m going to start fighter 1 anyways (fighter 1/warlock 12/valor bard 3/fighter 2-3/bard 4/fighter4). But hexblade was the *only* way for a warlock to dual wield (getting cha to two weapons, a hex weapon and a pact weapon). If they leave the hexblade with the ability to dual wield and and make the features not suck, im fine. So my plea... if you (WOTC) take away medium weapons an shields... leave us the 2014 hexblades curse but fold the 2014 master of hexes into the base ability. Also give the hex weapon cha to attack and damage, and if the hexblade warlock had taken pact of the blade, THEN the hex weapon also counts as a SECOND pact weapon. Replace accursed spectre with the ability to replace an attack made with their hex weapon as part of an attack action with a cantrip attack. Replace armor of hexes with "jinx" once per round when the target of your hexblade's curse makes a d20 check, as a reaction you can force them to roll another d20 and take the worse result. It's less protection than a 50/50 chance of a power opponent (the guy you used hexblade's curse on) missing an attack that would otherwise hit you but it's more flexible/has more utility. And the new master of hexes is you can have two simultaneous applications of hexblade's curse active against two separate opponents at a time, you can activate both with a single bonus action, or apply them separately on separate rounds with 2 separate bonus actions. If his new master of hexes is too powerful, then use "jinx again" the target of your jinx reaction has disadvantage on their next d20 check made before the end of your next turn.
The conditional +2 shield bonus and the 1d8 + Charisma heal without any scaling, make for a very underwhelming ability. Instead, simplify it and integrate the classic version with the Warlock’s curse spells and class features like this:
Gain your proficiency bonus to damage rolls against the cursed target.
Critical hits on a 19 or 20 when attacking the cursed creature.
When the cursed target drops to 0 hit points, you can end the curse to regain hit points or temporary HP equal to your Warlock level + Charisma modifier (minimum 1), and you may immediately apply the curse to a new target (no action required).
Uses: A number of times equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum once), regaining all expended uses after a long rest.
This restores the classic flavor and impactful feel of Hexblade’s Curse.
🛡️ Accursed Shield
Currently, you gain a +2 AC bonus if you’re not wearing armor or wielding a shield while within 10 feet of your cursed target. This mechanic is clunky and restrictive.
Suggestion: Restore medium armor and shield proficiency. It’s far more flexible than a situational AC bonus, and a single level dip into Fighter currently provides more benefit than three levels in Hexblade.
Also give Hexblade Mastery. you tied to a weapon and dont know how to use its Mastery?
⚔️ Armor of Hexes (Level 10)
This feature is in good shape overall, though I personally prefer the original version for its simplicity and power.
🎯 Masterful Hex (Level 14)
As it stands, this capstone feature is underwhelming for such a high-level reward. Consider strengthening it with:
Advantage on all d20 checks and attack rolls against creatures affected by your curses or hexes.
Increase your Hex spell damage to 2d6, providing a capstone-level boost worthy of level 14.
RemoveAnimate Objects – it's suffer from too minions spell and requires concentration, which you will use for your curses.
AddConjure Volley – this keeps the weapon-based theme and serves as a thematic replacement for Cone of Cold. You retain that classic "area burst" feel while staying more aligned with the subclass flavor.
How, in Theme/Flavor/logic of Hexblade, is Conjure Barrage a class spell? Spectral weapons. It's raining Glaives, Great Clubs, Daggers, Blackrazors? I keep looking for better options and Concentration becomes the Blocker. I suggest, Counterspell to replace it. Reaction, non-concentration, perfect for that bad guy 40' away casting Lightning Bolt down the tight corridor that you cannot move enough in time to thug stick them.
Have you seen the Sign?
I see it, in the case of this UA, as spectral weapons superficially resembling the weapon which is the Patron, a Pact Weapon the PC has, and/or a weapon(s) significant to the backstory/memories/dreams/nightmares of the PC, their patron and/or said patron's rightful wielder, among others. So I see where they're coming from with this one.
Also, by "raining"...are you implying that a Cone comes down from above targets? Or are you using "raining" in the sense of raining bullets?. (Honest Question, I'm having trouble with your metaphor.)
DM, player & homebrewer(Current homebrew project is an unofficial conversion of SBURB/SGRUB from Homestuck into DND 5e)
Once made Maxwell's Silver Hammer come down upon Strahd's head to make sure he was dead.
Always study & sharpen philosophical razors. They save a lot of trouble.
Conjure Barrage allows a melee style character the ability to give an aoe attack. Instead of thinking of weapons firing out at the targets think about an anime like sword swipe that hits a wide area or a lighting fast move from target to target and then back to your original position.
I'm not an optimizer/power gamer. Not in the least.
If you don't want a gish....then don't play a gish subclass. There are already multiple warlock subclasses available.
The subclass is called the Hexblade. The patron is literally a weapon. Why would you play a Hexblade if you don't want the gish stuff?
Wizards needs to either rename the subclass or take it back to the more martial aspects, including armor and shield training.
As has been previously noted, it's extremely likely that the artifact name is being kept specifically because they want to take the medium armor and shield out of circulation for the 2024 Warlock, rendering either of those paths you've suggested counterproductive. I'm certain they received a fair bit of "bring the profs back" responses, ergo if they didn't included them in the updated version, it means they've very firmly decided not to bring it back.
its more martial than it was. martial does not mean medium armor and shields.
cleric is a full casters with mediium/heavy armor and shields, bard has light armor and shields, druid has medium armor and shields
rogue is a martial it doesnt have medium armor and shields
monk is a martial it doesnt have medium armor and shields
barbarians are martial they do have medium armor and shields, but using reckless essentially negates that.
fighter is the equipment god
so at best 50% of pure martials get medium armor and shields.
there is no way the warlock with full caster arcane spell progression and tons of defensive spells, 3-4 attacks per round needs to have easy AC, without severely outperforming all of the aforementioned full martials at defense and offense.
with the current requirments its in the world of martials, with Base easy AC it will surpass them easily.
14 dex 20 chr 18 con warlock with 19 AC baseline, access to agathys, synaptic. static, mirror images, shadow of moil, mislead, tough from great old ones, etc will blow them out the water. not even close.
basically they are saying a warlock who wants decent AC needs to invest in dex and likely an invocation or mage armor, or get light armor. +1-3
or they can give up AC and focus CON./hp in either case they will supllement defense by using defensive spells/features
Pretty much the "raining bullets". :)
Have you seen the Sign?
People claiming that having access to meidum armor and shields at level 3 is a problem, when Level 1 as fighter gives everything that a melee class wants, is a poor argument.
Of classes that want to be in melee.
Fighter, light/medium/heavy armor, and shield.
Paladin, light/medium/heavy armor, and shield.
Ranger, light/medium, and shield.
Barbarian, light/medium, and shield.
Rogue, light armor.
Monk, unarmored defense.
Close support
Cleric, light/medium, and shield, heavy optional.
Druid, light, and shield, medium optional.
Ranged Caster Classes
Wizard, no armor.
Sorcerer, no armor, Draconic subclass gives unarmored bonuses.
Bard, light armor, Valor subclass gives medium armor and shield.
Warlock, light armor.
Of all the melee classes only Rogue and PotB Warlock are left relying exclusively on light armor. Rogue and Monk both have damage mitigation mechanics, and both benefit directly from pumping up dexterity that bolsters both their offensive stats, and their defensive stats. Warlock wants to pump up charisma, which doesn't affect their AC, and can expend many of its invocation slots to provide some damage mitigation, but PotB is already invocation heavy, meaning that the selling point for Warlock, its flexibility, ceases to exist.
Taking the Spell Sniper feat at level 4 gives the Warlock the ability to cast Eldritch Blast in melee range, which means that they effectively have a D10+Cha weapon that gains extra attack automatically at level 4, level 11, and level 17. To boost it they only need the Agonizing Blast invocation, and they're not having to split stats to dexterity for AC.
At level 11 3(d10+5) is exactly the same as a PotB Warlock wielding a longsword two-handed, making the longsword redundant. The PotB build could take Polearm Master with a spear to get 3(d8+5) + (d4+5) but they wouldn't hit 20 Charisma until level 12.
Thanks to the way that cantrips scale, the Warlock could take Fighter 1 for the armor proficiencies, then go with the Spell Sniper build and they'd still have three attacks at level 11 whereas PotB would be delayed another level.
Tone is hard to read here, but I mean this as a sincere response: I'm not having much luck parsing this. They're keeping name because they want to make it harder for a Hexblade to get medium armor and shields? I'm not understanding the connection.
They should've just renamed the subclass.
If they don't rename it, people just pick a legacy hexblade and get their medium armor and shields. WOTC does not want this, clearly. By replacing it, there can be no argument that the intent is that you do not have medium armor and shields on your warlock.
Not caving, and giving people medium armor and shields is about the only thing I LIKE about what they have done here. This version of hexblade is just terrible.
Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
Tasha
Warlock has defensive features, called spells, mirror image, bestow curse, synaptic static, mirror image, shadow of moil, blade ward.
they also can have 18 AC if they want to invest in dex. which is higher than rogue. hexblade will have 20 AC if they stay in melee.
yeah they can dip for armor, but at least they have to dip, thats puts them one level behind on every spell/feature, level 5 spells a level later, third attack a level later, level 7 spell a level later foresight a level later.
19 ac warlock with 20chr/16 con by level 8 is not balanced compared to martials. And will likely out perform them in survivability, while doing damage.
I intend to mark the whole subclass green with the exception of Hexblade's Curse which needs to be transferable and the range limitation of the +2 AC needs to be removed or at the very least increased to 30 feet. Edit: and it should work with Armor.
She/Her Player and Dungeon Master
I'll try to make this my last post about, as I'm clearly in the minority AND Wizards seems dead set in their move away from the XGTE version of the subclass: one of the most important differentiators between the gishy original Hexblade was hit points. I know this from experience. Even with medium armor, a shield, and spells and magic abilities, you're squishier than any fighter, any ranger, any paladin, any barbarian. Which is correct and right. The trade off for Hexblades having the training to fighing on the front line is they simply can't absorb damage like the true martial classes, not even with spells and abilities. There's a very real danger for Hexblades that a higher AC only partially protects from (and this becomes less so as you level up and face monsters with bigger Attack modifiers).
Warlocks have two, count them, two spell slots for most of their progression, or at least most of the progression that most people play over. They're not getting all those spells at the same time, and (depending on rests) may not be getting them for most of the adventuring day.
If a Warlock invests in dexterity, they're a worse Warlock. Rogues invest in dexterity because they're a dexterity class, the same with Monk. Warlocks are a charisma class.
A Warlock who starts with 14 dex, 16 con, and 17 charisma, can take Spell Sniper at level 4, gaining 18 charisma, and gaining the ability to use their Eldritch Blast in melee, which makes it a better weapon than a Pact Blade weapon. That gives them automatic scaling at level 5, 11, and 17, regardless of whether they multiclass or not. That for the investment of one invocation (Agonizing Blast) and one feat, which they were probably going to take anyway. PotB requires at least three invocations, and probably four or five. If PotB takes any martial feat, like Polearm Master, they won't be boosting their primary stat.
The caster Warlock can also take that first level in Fighter for constitution saving throw proficiency, and all weapons and armor, and it won't really affect their most important attack feature.
Although the feat of choice was Crossbow Expert in 2014, we're in almost exactly the same position as then, in that a Warlock that specializes in spell-casting is a better melee fighter than the Warlock who supposedly specializes in melee. That's why Hexblade was introduced in Xanathar's.
If Warlock came with proficiency in light armor and shields, like Druid, with an invocation or class option that gave them access to medium armor, that would bridge the gap Hexblade leaves.
And all casters outperform martials, because, almost without exception, martials suck. If WotC want martials to suck less, they give them access to spells. As has been pointed out before, a party of martials will struggle in D&D without caster support. A caster heavy party can run easily without needing martials.
To repeat myself. There is no balance between martials and casters. That's not an argument against Hexblade/Warlock having access to medium armor and shields.
With a DEX of 13+ can get Defensive Duelist for a reaction only boost to AC
disagree with your final statement, and even if i agreed, i dont think the solition would be HAHa lets make it worse.
but the fact of the matter is warlock nor hexblade need medium armor to melee. or survive
also they have two spells per SR, + and half that. at 11 or whatever they get 3 spells, and a 6th level spell slot, not 2 spells in a vaccum.
if you dont want to use dex, dont use dex, you can build a con warlock easiily, but not sure why you think warlock has a divine right to both AC and CON as a primarily caster class.
the new version of this class does damage to everything around when they make a concentration save, can essentially follow a target without a reaction, and gets extra ac while close to their target, as well as reducing damage from the target. And can attack with a weapon as a Ba when casting a spell with its main action. Its clearly better adapted to melee and pact of the blade than other subclasses.
this is a better meleer than other warlocks. easily. And instead of taking a feat to negate disadvantage, you can take a feat that improves your weapon/martial style like mastery, defensive duelist, pam, gwm, dual wielder, charger, sentnel, warcaster crusher. Or just take a full asi and get more defense or offense.
if you want to play a long ranged fighting style, not sure why you need medium armor and shields to do your job on warlock. And warlocks survivability in melee without medium and shields is in the same family as most martial subclasses who arent deeply dedicated to being a tank, as it should be.
and you got options if you want to go that route, multiclass, or use features. not sure why you think it needs to be baseline
^^ and this is why WOTC should not cave and just give warlocks medium and shields. Hexblade is bad, but lack of armor and shield is not why. The features just suck.
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Tasha
If WOTC wants to take medium armor and shields away from the hexblade I don't really care, i"m going to start fighter 1 anyways (fighter 1/warlock 12/valor bard 3/fighter 2-3/bard 4/fighter4). But hexblade was the *only* way for a warlock to dual wield (getting cha to two weapons, a hex weapon and a pact weapon). If they leave the hexblade with the ability to dual wield and and make the features not suck, im fine. So my plea... if you (WOTC) take away medium weapons an shields... leave us the 2014 hexblades curse but fold the 2014 master of hexes into the base ability. Also give the hex weapon cha to attack and damage, and if the hexblade warlock had taken pact of the blade, THEN the hex weapon also counts as a SECOND pact weapon. Replace accursed spectre with the ability to replace an attack made with their hex weapon as part of an attack action with a cantrip attack. Replace armor of hexes with "jinx" once per round when the target of your hexblade's curse makes a d20 check, as a reaction you can force them to roll another d20 and take the worse result. It's less protection than a 50/50 chance of a power opponent (the guy you used hexblade's curse on) missing an attack that would otherwise hit you but it's more flexible/has more utility. And the new master of hexes is you can have two simultaneous applications of hexblade's curse active against two separate opponents at a time, you can activate both with a single bonus action, or apply them separately on separate rounds with 2 separate bonus actions. If his new master of hexes is too powerful, then use "jinx again" the target of your jinx reaction has disadvantage on their next d20 check made before the end of your next turn.
The new version is up.
Youtubers Discussing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xj6l_uPWtwc
https://youtu.be/M_O-20ALRUU?t=13
Some of my thoughts:
🧙♂️ Hexblade’s Curse
The conditional +2 shield bonus and the 1d8 + Charisma heal without any scaling, make for a very underwhelming ability. Instead, simplify it and integrate the classic version with the Warlock’s curse spells and class features like this:
Gain your proficiency bonus to damage rolls against the cursed target.
Critical hits on a 19 or 20 when attacking the cursed creature.
When the cursed target drops to 0 hit points, you can end the curse to regain hit points or temporary HP equal to your Warlock level + Charisma modifier (minimum 1), and you may immediately apply the curse to a new target (no action required).
Uses: A number of times equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum once), regaining all expended uses after a long rest.
This restores the classic flavor and impactful feel of Hexblade’s Curse.
🛡️ Accursed Shield
Currently, you gain a +2 AC bonus if you’re not wearing armor or wielding a shield while within 10 feet of your cursed target. This mechanic is clunky and restrictive.
Suggestion: Restore medium armor and shield proficiency. It’s far more flexible than a situational AC bonus, and a single level dip into Fighter currently provides more benefit than three levels in Hexblade.
Also give Hexblade Mastery. you tied to a weapon and dont know how to use its Mastery?
⚔️ Armor of Hexes (Level 10)
This feature is in good shape overall, though I personally prefer the original version for its simplicity and power.
🎯 Masterful Hex (Level 14)
As it stands, this capstone feature is underwhelming for such a high-level reward. Consider strengthening it with:
Advantage on all d20 checks and attack rolls against creatures affected by your curses or hexes.
Increase your Hex spell damage to 2d6, providing a capstone-level boost worthy of level 14.
A new proposal for spell changes at level 5:
Remove Animate Objects – it's suffer from too minions spell and requires concentration, which you will use for your curses.
Add Conjure Volley – this keeps the weapon-based theme and serves as a thematic replacement for Cone of Cold. You retain that classic "area burst" feel while staying more aligned with the subclass flavor.