I am a forever DM that will get a chance to play as a PC soon. I am thinking of playing a fighter that was forced into a contract with an undead entity (TBD), multiclassing in the Undead patron warlock class. I am struggling to choose the right subclass for this character. I want to stay away from "Meta" builds, such as the hexblade or the battle master. I am leaning towards a Earth Genasi, since I like having the blade ward cantrip as a bonus action. I will be more of a tank than a damage dealer for this group.
I don't like the battle master and the echo knight. So these are a no-no. As a multiclass character, my STR and CHA and CON are prioritized. Therefore, Arcane Archer, Eldritch knight, Gunslinger and Psi Warriors are out of question (INT or DEX based). That leaves me with Cavalier, Champion, Rune knight, purple knight or Samuraï.
Since I will reach level 6-7 in the class by the end of the campaign, I am looking more at the low-level bonus for the subclass.
Strangely, I am leaning more towards Champion... Can you talk me out of taking the worst subclass in the whole game?
Well, I can say I played a goliath Rune Knight through level 8 and I had a blast with it. The runes were excellent buffs, including some for out of combat, and I always felt like I had something to do. There would be some conflict, with both your form of dread and the rune knight's turning large taking a bonus action, so it would take a couple rounds for to get both of those going, but when you did, it would be super cool.
Lots of them aren't going to work very well with a warlock, as things like champion and samurai both have their big powers applying to weapon attack rolls, so it won't help your eldritch blasts. Though, I guess if you're tanking, maybe EB isn't really a priority for you?
Also, I disagree that champion is the worst. It's the simplest, and probably the most boring, but its quite effective at what it tries to do. (I'd say the worst is a wild magic sorcerer or maybe a four elements monk, but I don't want to hijack your thread.)
But back to the topic. One downside would be if you are planning to be melee, and a tank melee in particular, frightening other creatures with form of dread works against you. It will keep the enemies away, when you want them to come up to you. I guess you can still go up to them, but if you're the tank, you don't want to be re-directing them toward your allies. So, to my mind undead warlock + tank really has you working against yourself. Have you thought about just RP'ing the contract? Not everything has to be reflected mechanically.
There is nothing wrong with the good old champion. They may be basic but they are the good kind of basic. Hmm guess I am trying to talk you into champion so I should make a token effort to push the samurai. Advantage for all your Eldritch Blasts (especially combined with Action Surge) can guarantee killing a dangerous enemy that's on its last legs but the drawback is it uses a Bonus Action and Warlocks tend to have many uses for their Bonus Actions. There we go I have fulfilled my obligation of trying to talk you out of champion lol.
There is nothing wrong with the good old champion. They may be basic but they are the good kind of basic. Hmm guess I am trying to talk you into champion so I should make a token effort to push the samurai. Advantage for all your Eldritch Blasts (especially combined with Action Surge) can guarantee killing a dangerous enemy that's on its last legs but the drawback is it uses a Bonus Action and Warlocks tend to have many uses for their Bonus Actions. There we go I have fulfilled my obligation of trying to talk you out of champion lol.
Fighting Spirit gives advantage on weapon attacks. it would not apply to EB. The action surge letting you fire off lots of them could still work, just they wouldn't have advantage.
There is nothing wrong with the good old champion. They may be basic but they are the good kind of basic. Hmm guess I am trying to talk you into champion so I should make a token effort to push the samurai. Advantage for all your Eldritch Blasts (especially combined with Action Surge) can guarantee killing a dangerous enemy that's on its last legs but the drawback is it uses a Bonus Action and Warlocks tend to have many uses for their Bonus Actions. There we go I have fulfilled my obligation of trying to talk you out of champion lol.
Fighting Spirit gives advantage on weapon attacks. it would not apply to EB. The action surge letting you fire off lots of them could still work, just they wouldn't have advantage.
Oh nice catch. I've never played nor been in a game with a samurai so made that silly mistake, thank you for pointing it out. Guess I'm back to pushing the good old champion again lol.
I am a forever DM that will get a chance to play as a PC soon. I am thinking of playing a fighter that was forced into a contract with an undead entity (TBD), multiclassing in the Undead patron warlock class. I am struggling to choose the right subclass for this character. I want to stay away from "Meta" builds, such as the hexblade or the battle master. I am leaning towards a Earth Genasi, since I like having the blade ward cantrip as a bonus action. I will be more of a tank than a damage dealer for this group.
I don't like the battle master and the echo knight. So these are a no-no. As a multiclass character, my STR and CHA and CON are prioritized. Therefore, Arcane Archer, Eldritch knight, Gunslinger and Psi Warriors are out of question (INT or DEX based). That leaves me with Cavalier, Champion, Rune knight, purple knight or Samuraï.
Since I will reach level 6-7 in the class by the end of the campaign, I am looking more at the low-level bonus for the subclass.
Strangely, I am leaning more towards Champion... Can you talk me out of taking the worst subclass in the whole game?
Well, I can say I played a goliath Rune Knight through level 8 and I had a blast with it. The runes were excellent buffs, including some for out of combat, and I always felt like I had something to do. There would be some conflict, with both your form of dread and the rune knight's turning large taking a bonus action, so it would take a couple rounds for to get both of those going, but when you did, it would be super cool.
Lots of them aren't going to work very well with a warlock, as things like champion and samurai both have their big powers applying to weapon attack rolls, so it won't help your eldritch blasts. Though, I guess if you're tanking, maybe EB isn't really a priority for you?
Also, I disagree that champion is the worst. It's the simplest, and probably the most boring, but its quite effective at what it tries to do. (I'd say the worst is a wild magic sorcerer or maybe a four elements monk, but I don't want to hijack your thread.)
But back to the topic. One downside would be if you are planning to be melee, and a tank melee in particular, frightening other creatures with form of dread works against you. It will keep the enemies away, when you want them to come up to you. I guess you can still go up to them, but if you're the tank, you don't want to be re-directing them toward your allies. So, to my mind undead warlock + tank really has you working against yourself. Have you thought about just RP'ing the contract? Not everything has to be reflected mechanically.
There is nothing wrong with the good old champion. They may be basic but they are the good kind of basic. Hmm guess I am trying to talk you into champion so I should make a token effort to push the samurai. Advantage for all your Eldritch Blasts (especially combined with Action Surge) can guarantee killing a dangerous enemy that's on its last legs but the drawback is it uses a Bonus Action and Warlocks tend to have many uses for their Bonus Actions. There we go I have fulfilled my obligation of trying to talk you out of champion lol.
Fighting Spirit gives advantage on weapon attacks. it would not apply to EB. The action surge letting you fire off lots of them could still work, just they wouldn't have advantage.
Oh nice catch. I've never played nor been in a game with a samurai so made that silly mistake, thank you for pointing it out. Guess I'm back to pushing the good old champion again lol.
I think I will go with Rune Knight, selecting Cloud Rune and Stone Rune. Both uses a reaction and therefore, do not interfere with my warlock powers.
Thanks for the input!