I'm going to be playing a hexbalde for an upcoming CoS (no spoilers!). I'm trying to make sure that my build is going to be functional and that I've chosen the best spells that I can. Here is my current build (and plan for lvl 1- 10)
Dhampir (+2 CHA/ +1 CON), Hexblade Warlock, Pact of the Blade
(Point buy) STR 8, DEX 14, CON 16, INT 9, WIS 9, CHA 17
Invocations: Improved Pact Weapon, Eldritch Mind, Thirsting Blade, Relentless Hex, One With the shadows
I don't intend to completely min-max the character so my race choice isn't the most optimal. I would love to hear if you have better reccomendations for spells, feats, stats, invocations etc.
I would replace Relentless Hex and One With Shadows. Those 2 look good on paper but in practice is a lot less useful. For example One With Shadows, while in dim light or darkness you can use an action to become invisible, cool looks good so far. But it only lasts until you move, take an action or a reaction, not so great any more. The killer for this ability is the move part and the fact you can only use it on yourself. This flaw is compounded by the fact that you are already planning on taking the Invisibility spell which is far superior in every way possible.
Relentless Hex is something that again looks good on paper. Until you apply it to a combat situation. For example your intended target is 90 ft away, you Hex it then move towards it and maybe throw a Eldritch Blast at it. Looking good so far. On your next turn you can now teleport to it provided you still can not reach it with your movement and can now hit it with your melee weapon. Still on board with this. But if you manage to kill your target you now have no bonus action to move your Hex to another target (basically if you can kill your out of range target with your melee weapon attacks, you also have a very high chance to do it with your Eldritch Blast which would not also use up your bonus action).
Other Invocations I would suggest include Misty Visions (or any invocation that provides at will cast spells that you find useful because of the 2 spell slots conundrum), Devil's Sight (can be paired with the Darkness spell to generate advantage for your attacks) or Agonizing Blast (even though you are a Hexblade you will still use Eldritch Blast fairly often, mainly on the 1st round of combat when enemies are out of reach). Eldritch Smite is also worth consideration but maybe only if your campaign goes past level 11 and you get a 3rd spell slot.
In terms of feats I would suggest you ignore the Great Weapon Master feat and pick up a CHA half feat to boost CHA to 18. Something like Fey Touched or Shadow Touched is great as the free spell casts greatly help the 2 spell slots per rest conundrum.
In terms of spells I would try and fit Darkness (if you take Devil's Sight) or Shadows of Moil in there somewhere. Self generating advantage is a useful trick to have in your pocket.
With an 8 str, you need to ask your DM how they are playing encumbrance. If they are using standard strength rules its 15x str which is no problem, but if they use the option encumbrance rules its 5x for 40 pounds of gear before you suffer penalties.
Breastplate and a glaive alone gets you to 26 lbs of gear. Just about any of the standard adventuring gear will tip you over past 40 lbs. 5 days of rations alone is 20 lbs.
Whatever you do, you need to take agonizing blast. It's just way too good to pass up. It's essential in order to have an effective EB. With that, your character is good either from a distance or up close, either situation is fine.
Next, replace green flame blade. GFB will only be a good option until you unlock PAM. Aftewards, using GFB is always a suboptimal decision. Even when GFB increases its damage at lvls 5 and 11, you're still better rewarded by focusing damage on one target instead of splitting it between two. Might I suggest a cantrip like minor illusion? There's loads you can do with that cantrip, both in and out of combat.
Now, I think GWM+PAM is a fantastic feat combination. But of course, it's not easy to ignore the fact you're going to settle for a +3 modifier in your charisma as a result for the entirety of the campaign. That said, until you come across a +1 reach weapon of your own, improved pact weapon invocation is pretty much mandatory to compensate for your lower attack rolls. Also, you may want to consider picking up shadow of moil. If you're gonna have lower to-hit, you'll really want a source of persistent advantage, and shadow of moil does just that. Honestly, once you've unlocked 3rd level spells, your concentration should never be on hex, so get rid of it in favor of shadow of moil once you can unlock it.
Also, I think you should consider picking up GWM first instead of PAM. Numerically, it's optimal to go PAM first as an attack on reaction and on your bonus action means your DPR increases by a decent, consistent amount. But, this doesn't mean GWM is a bad choice, it's good, just not as good... However, what going GWM first does is allow you more wiggle room. What if you come across a really good non-reach weapon? It could be a greataxe, a greatsword, or a maul. You'd be more likely to run into one of those than a polearm. In that instance, there'd be no issue because GWM is more versatile. If that were the case, your next ASI could focus on increasing CHA.
But, speaking of CHA, if you don't intend on compromising on the PAM+GWM plan, then I should suggest that you lower your 17 CHA down to 16, as having it be odd is doing you no favors. Use that to increase the WIS and INT to 10. Or bump up STR to 10 to avoid potential encumbrance issues.
I mostly agree with cgarciao, with a few minor thoughts/quibbles.
I would go PAM first and hope the DM will make it work for you. I think a good DM will custom certain things in their campaign to work with the players he/she has. If it's pure Adventurer's League stuff, then don't go PAM, at all! Very few polearms in WotC modules and unless your DM will help you out...you may just have a non-magical polearm forever. In that case, use your first ASI to power up your CHA to 18.
Also, that GWM -5 on your "to hit" can be devastating early on, until you have either a high to hit plus or a regular means of gaining advantage, like Shadow of Moil. So, to me, that means by the time I'm getting GWM at level 8, I already can have Shadow of Moil for the advantage on attacks. Shadow of Moil is also probably required, since you are going to be squishy, thus need the disadvantage it will provide on attacks against you.
Which brings me to the second thought on the build. Frequently, we see hexblade multi-classed, for multiple reasons. With a d8 for hp, no shield, no shield spell (nor would it be optimal, without cheap first level spell slots to use on it) and only medium armor, you are going to be really squishy for the frontlines imo. Hexblades frequently multi-class with paladin (starting in paladin, if they are going that route), bard or sorcerer. You can get the lower level spells that allow you to utilize the Shield spell, which will be hugely helpful to you, thus not having to waste higher level Pact spell slots. Up to you, but just realize, you may get "lit up" in the frontlines with lower hp and lower AC.
Although Dhampir is pretty cool, mechanically the Half-Elf is likely a better option.
With the High-Elf's floating +1s and +2 you can start with Str8, Dex14, Con16, Int10, Wis10, Cha 17.
Two skill proficiencies are always useful (take Perception, always).
If you want to play a PAM/GWM build then V-Human is really the best option.
8/14/16/8/10/16 starting with PAM. Take GWM at level 4, then focus on maximizing charisma.
I would take the Urchin background because stealth, slight of hand, thieves tools, and disguise kit are always useful. Replace the Urchin's equipment with the Noble's though, because it comes with the most gold.
You want to sell all the equipment you're not going to use, so where you have an option take the most expensive option.
From Warlock
Light crossbow and bolts, sell for 13GP
Component pouch, keep.
Scholars Backpack, sell for 20GP.
Leather Armor, sell for 5GP
2 Daggers, keep.
Simple weapon, choose Light Crossbow, sell for 12.5GP
Noble
From purse, 25GP
Fine clothes, sell for 7.5GP
Signet Ring, sell for 2.5GP
Scroll of Pedigree, no value, chuck in the bin.
Total GP 85.5 or 85GP and 5SP
First you don't want to be naked, so buy some common clothes for 5SP, leaving us with 85GP to spend on starting equipment.
The Explorer's Pack is 10GP, and gives you everything you really need to be an explorer. That's 10GP leaving us with 75GP.
At level 1 you can't make a two-handed weapon your Hex weapon, that has to wait until level 3 when you can take Pact of the Blade. We could go with a spear or quarterstaff for a weapon that's compatible with Polearm Master, or we could go with a versatile martial weapon. The cheapest versatile martial weapon is the battleaxe at 10GP. 5GP cheaper than the longsword.
Lets take the battleaxe, leaving us with 65GP.
Now we need some armor. Since we're proficient with medium armor, and because our dex is only 14, we are looking at the chain shirt or scale mail at 50GP. The chain shirt gives us 15AC and scale mail 16AC, but scale mail has disadvantage on stealth checks. If we want to be stealthy go with the chain shirt, if we're happy to make the stealth sacrifice take scale mail. We spend 50GP leaving us with 15GP.
We can either hang onto the 15GP or spend 10GP on a shield. That will give us AC17 or AC18 to start off with, if we take the option of using our versatile weapon one-handed.
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I'm going to be playing a hexbalde for an upcoming CoS (no spoilers!). I'm trying to make sure that my build is going to be functional and that I've chosen the best spells that I can. Here is my current build (and plan for lvl 1- 10)
Dhampir (+2 CHA/ +1 CON), Hexblade Warlock, Pact of the Blade
(Point buy) STR 8, DEX 14, CON 16, INT 9, WIS 9, CHA 17
Invocations: Improved Pact Weapon, Eldritch Mind, Thirsting Blade, Relentless Hex, One With the shadows
ASI: lvl 4 Polearm, lvl 8 Great Weapon Master
Spells: Eldritch Blast, Green-Flame blade, Mage Hand, Prestidigitation
1st Armor of Agathys, Hex
2nd Invisibility, Misty step, Shatter
3rd Spirit Shroud, Hypnotic Pattern, Counterspell
4th Dimensiom Door
5th Synaptic Static
I don't intend to completely min-max the character so my race choice isn't the most optimal. I would love to hear if you have better reccomendations for spells, feats, stats, invocations etc.
I would replace Relentless Hex and One With Shadows. Those 2 look good on paper but in practice is a lot less useful. For example One With Shadows, while in dim light or darkness you can use an action to become invisible, cool looks good so far. But it only lasts until you move, take an action or a reaction, not so great any more. The killer for this ability is the move part and the fact you can only use it on yourself. This flaw is compounded by the fact that you are already planning on taking the Invisibility spell which is far superior in every way possible.
Relentless Hex is something that again looks good on paper. Until you apply it to a combat situation. For example your intended target is 90 ft away, you Hex it then move towards it and maybe throw a Eldritch Blast at it. Looking good so far. On your next turn you can now teleport to it provided you still can not reach it with your movement and can now hit it with your melee weapon. Still on board with this. But if you manage to kill your target you now have no bonus action to move your Hex to another target (basically if you can kill your out of range target with your melee weapon attacks, you also have a very high chance to do it with your Eldritch Blast which would not also use up your bonus action).
Other Invocations I would suggest include Misty Visions (or any invocation that provides at will cast spells that you find useful because of the 2 spell slots conundrum), Devil's Sight (can be paired with the Darkness spell to generate advantage for your attacks) or Agonizing Blast (even though you are a Hexblade you will still use Eldritch Blast fairly often, mainly on the 1st round of combat when enemies are out of reach). Eldritch Smite is also worth consideration but maybe only if your campaign goes past level 11 and you get a 3rd spell slot.
In terms of feats I would suggest you ignore the Great Weapon Master feat and pick up a CHA half feat to boost CHA to 18. Something like Fey Touched or Shadow Touched is great as the free spell casts greatly help the 2 spell slots per rest conundrum.
In terms of spells I would try and fit Darkness (if you take Devil's Sight) or Shadows of Moil in there somewhere. Self generating advantage is a useful trick to have in your pocket.
With an 8 str, you need to ask your DM how they are playing encumbrance. If they are using standard strength rules its 15x str which is no problem, but if they use the option encumbrance rules its 5x for 40 pounds of gear before you suffer penalties.
Breastplate and a glaive alone gets you to 26 lbs of gear. Just about any of the standard adventuring gear will tip you over past 40 lbs. 5 days of rations alone is 20 lbs.
Whatever you do, you need to take agonizing blast. It's just way too good to pass up. It's essential in order to have an effective EB. With that, your character is good either from a distance or up close, either situation is fine.
Next, replace green flame blade. GFB will only be a good option until you unlock PAM. Aftewards, using GFB is always a suboptimal decision. Even when GFB increases its damage at lvls 5 and 11, you're still better rewarded by focusing damage on one target instead of splitting it between two. Might I suggest a cantrip like minor illusion? There's loads you can do with that cantrip, both in and out of combat.
Now, I think GWM+PAM is a fantastic feat combination. But of course, it's not easy to ignore the fact you're going to settle for a +3 modifier in your charisma as a result for the entirety of the campaign. That said, until you come across a +1 reach weapon of your own, improved pact weapon invocation is pretty much mandatory to compensate for your lower attack rolls. Also, you may want to consider picking up shadow of moil. If you're gonna have lower to-hit, you'll really want a source of persistent advantage, and shadow of moil does just that. Honestly, once you've unlocked 3rd level spells, your concentration should never be on hex, so get rid of it in favor of shadow of moil once you can unlock it.
Also, I think you should consider picking up GWM first instead of PAM. Numerically, it's optimal to go PAM first as an attack on reaction and on your bonus action means your DPR increases by a decent, consistent amount. But, this doesn't mean GWM is a bad choice, it's good, just not as good... However, what going GWM first does is allow you more wiggle room. What if you come across a really good non-reach weapon? It could be a greataxe, a greatsword, or a maul. You'd be more likely to run into one of those than a polearm. In that instance, there'd be no issue because GWM is more versatile. If that were the case, your next ASI could focus on increasing CHA.
But, speaking of CHA, if you don't intend on compromising on the PAM+GWM plan, then I should suggest that you lower your 17 CHA down to 16, as having it be odd is doing you no favors. Use that to increase the WIS and INT to 10. Or bump up STR to 10 to avoid potential encumbrance issues.
I mostly agree with cgarciao, with a few minor thoughts/quibbles.
I would go PAM first and hope the DM will make it work for you. I think a good DM will custom certain things in their campaign to work with the players he/she has. If it's pure Adventurer's League stuff, then don't go PAM, at all! Very few polearms in WotC modules and unless your DM will help you out...you may just have a non-magical polearm forever. In that case, use your first ASI to power up your CHA to 18.
Also, that GWM -5 on your "to hit" can be devastating early on, until you have either a high to hit plus or a regular means of gaining advantage, like Shadow of Moil. So, to me, that means by the time I'm getting GWM at level 8, I already can have Shadow of Moil for the advantage on attacks. Shadow of Moil is also probably required, since you are going to be squishy, thus need the disadvantage it will provide on attacks against you.
Which brings me to the second thought on the build. Frequently, we see hexblade multi-classed, for multiple reasons. With a d8 for hp, no shield, no shield spell (nor would it be optimal, without cheap first level spell slots to use on it) and only medium armor, you are going to be really squishy for the frontlines imo. Hexblades frequently multi-class with paladin (starting in paladin, if they are going that route), bard or sorcerer. You can get the lower level spells that allow you to utilize the Shield spell, which will be hugely helpful to you, thus not having to waste higher level Pact spell slots. Up to you, but just realize, you may get "lit up" in the frontlines with lower hp and lower AC.
Although Dhampir is pretty cool, mechanically the Half-Elf is likely a better option.
With the High-Elf's floating +1s and +2 you can start with Str8, Dex14, Con16, Int10, Wis10, Cha 17.
Two skill proficiencies are always useful (take Perception, always).
If you want to play a PAM/GWM build then V-Human is really the best option.
8/14/16/8/10/16 starting with PAM. Take GWM at level 4, then focus on maximizing charisma.
I would take the Urchin background because stealth, slight of hand, thieves tools, and disguise kit are always useful. Replace the Urchin's equipment with the Noble's though, because it comes with the most gold.
You want to sell all the equipment you're not going to use, so where you have an option take the most expensive option.
From Warlock
Light crossbow and bolts, sell for 13GP
Component pouch, keep.
Scholars Backpack, sell for 20GP.
Leather Armor, sell for 5GP
2 Daggers, keep.
Simple weapon, choose Light Crossbow, sell for 12.5GP
Noble
From purse, 25GP
Fine clothes, sell for 7.5GP
Signet Ring, sell for 2.5GP
Scroll of Pedigree, no value, chuck in the bin.
Total GP 85.5 or 85GP and 5SP
First you don't want to be naked, so buy some common clothes for 5SP, leaving us with 85GP to spend on starting equipment.
The Explorer's Pack is 10GP, and gives you everything you really need to be an explorer. That's 10GP leaving us with 75GP.
At level 1 you can't make a two-handed weapon your Hex weapon, that has to wait until level 3 when you can take Pact of the Blade. We could go with a spear or quarterstaff for a weapon that's compatible with Polearm Master, or we could go with a versatile martial weapon. The cheapest versatile martial weapon is the battleaxe at 10GP. 5GP cheaper than the longsword.
Lets take the battleaxe, leaving us with 65GP.
Now we need some armor. Since we're proficient with medium armor, and because our dex is only 14, we are looking at the chain shirt or scale mail at 50GP. The chain shirt gives us 15AC and scale mail 16AC, but scale mail has disadvantage on stealth checks. If we want to be stealthy go with the chain shirt, if we're happy to make the stealth sacrifice take scale mail. We spend 50GP leaving us with 15GP.
We can either hang onto the 15GP or spend 10GP on a shield. That will give us AC17 or AC18 to start off with, if we take the option of using our versatile weapon one-handed.