Hello! This is my first time building a melee hexblade and I'm not sure on what to pick up. I definitely want to focus on melee with no multiclassing, but am open to the whole "darkness + devil's sight" combo. My PC is starting at level 6 btw.
STR 8 | DEX 14 | CON 16 | INT 8 | WIS 12 | CHA 18
Half-Elf (Drow SCAG) w/ Elven Accuracy Feat
Pact of the Blade
Invocations:
Improved Pact Weapon
Thirsting Blade
Agonizing Blast / Devil's Sight
Cantrips & Spells (No idea what I'm doing here)
Eldritch Blast
Friends
Prestidigitation / Minor Illusion
Level 1 Spells
Armor of Agathys
Hex
Shield
Level 2 Spells
Darkness
Misty Step / Shatter
Level 3 Spells
Counterspell
Hunger of Hadar
I'm looking to act as a melee off-caster who specializes in glaives or longswords. Definitely want some warlock flair with hunger of hadar and hex. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Personally, I've never seen the value of Shield. Only 1 round duration, and takes 1/2 your spell slots.
Strong suggestion for Booming Blade. Attack with BB, Misty Step, and you've dealt an additional 1d8.
I like the Fiendish Vigor Invocation. Basically, 8 temp HP at will.
Also, Eldritch Smite (XGtE) invocation for extra 4d8 damage - amazing if dropped on a Crit. With BB. And maybe Hex thrown in for good measure.
I'm a Tiefling, so I get Hellish Rebuke as a racial, and will get Darkness free at lvl 6. I don't have SCAG, but regular PH Drow gives you Dancing Lights cantrip, as well as Fairie Fire and Darkness spells 1x/day without using a spell slot. Check the racial Drow magic rules to be sure. Might save you a slot here and there, and open up your list.
The only thing in your list that's very iffy to me is Darkness. Keep in mind many spellcasters use Light to see in dark dungeons, and Darkness will dispel any light-producing spell of 2nd level or lower if it overlaps. If any of your party members rely on that, your Darkness spell will remove their light source unless they stay about 50 feet away, which is often impractical. Also, if you place Darkness on top of enemies, it's going to interfere with everyone else's ability to attack, and the other spellcasters won't even be able to target the enemy with many spells.
It's probably better to drop Devil's Sight altogether for something you can use more regularly if any of your party members lacks darkvision.
I'd also consider dropping Agonizing Blast for that matter, since Improved Pact Weapon lets you turn your Pact Weapon into a bow or crossbow. That'd free you up for Fiendish Vigor like Mike_Row suggests, or features like Relentless Hex and Maddening Hex.
Personally, I've never seen the value of Shield. Only 1 round duration, and takes 1/2 your spell slots.
It becomes less useful as you level, but at low levels sometimes your choices are 1) use Shield or 2) get knocked unconscious or suffer some other really bad side effect (e.g. Life Drain, getting knocked prone, getting grappled). You can't help what the monsters decide to do, and sometimes you'll get in a fight with 3-5 monsters that single one person out. Also, it's not really 1/2 of your spell slots since you should be getting at least 1 or 2 short rests throughout the day.
I would definitely consider swapping it out between 3rd and 5th level. Once you hit 3rd, Mirror Image becomes an option. By 5th level, using up a 3th level slot becomes less than ideal.
Strong suggestion for Booming Blade. Attack with BB, Misty Step, and you've dealt an additional 1d8.
That seems like a waste of a Misty Step for such a small amount of additional damage. Considering Misty Step lets you bypass difficult terrain, environmental hazards and get out of grapples, I'd save it for a better opportunity. There's also not guarantee the enemy will try to follow you, especially if they're already engaged in melee combat with someone else. If you're using Fiendish Vigor and/or Mirror Image, you can probably afford to let the enemy take a swing at you.
Also, Eldritch Smite (XGtE) invocation for extra 4d8 damage - amazing if dropped on a Crit.
I second this. Eldritch Smite is great for a lot of reasons:
It's extremely reliable: you don't waste the slot if you miss, practically nothing resists force damage and the enemy doesn't get a save to reduce it.
You can use it from a distance if you turn your Pact Weapon into a bow or crossbow with Improved Pact Weapon.
You can use it to knock flying creatures that can't hover down to the ground without a saving throw (so not even Legendary Resistance works.)
I play a Variant Human Hexblade in AL, so I've got a couple restrictions you don't (no Booming or Greenflame Blade for me, grumble PHB+1 grumble), but I can toss out some ideas.
As a VH, I get a Feat at first level. I took Polearm Master, which gives me a bonus action extra attack from jump (strike with the butt of the weapon). First and second level I used Quarterstaff and Shield, which is cheese, but it lets you survive and you're starting at 6th anyway, and as soon as I picked up Blade Pact, I went Glaive. With Thirsting Blade, that gives two regular attacks and 1 bonus attack from the second round on (first round you bonus cast Hex).
Elven Accuracy is good, but requires you have advantage. Darkness and Devil's Sight would do that, but that nerfs the rest of your party. So you might consider Polearm Master, following with Great Weapon Master or Sentinel.
Invocations: If you're really going to concentrate on melee and not ranged, get rid of the Agonizing Blast since you’re not going to be spamming Eldritch Blast as your go to in combat. Fiendish Vigor is nice for low levels, but as you level up, it becomes less useful. By 6th, you’re probably fine without it. Improved Pact Weapon and Thirsting Blade are integral to the Hexblade. Devil’s Sight is good if you don’t have Darkvision (like my Variant Human), but as a Drow, you will. And while the Darkness/Devil’s Sight Combo isn’t a bad thing to have in your pocket, its use is circumstantial. So either swap it out for Eldritch Smite, or take that at Warlock 7.
Spells: Misty Step (2nd) is great, as is Mirror Image (2nd) the one is a bonus action and the second does not require Concentration, which works great with Hex. Protection from Evil and Good (1st) is good in certain circumstances. It is Concentration unfortunately, so no Hex, but if you’re fighting a bunch of typed mooks, 10 things having disadvantage and not hitting you, including ranged, or charming you, can be better than the extra d6 you get against 1 thing at a time. It works best if you know you’re going into battle and cast it first, so you don’t lose a round of combat.
I know you said you don't want to Multiclass, and you specifically want to concentrate on melee, but hear me out. :) Consider a 1 level dip into Sorcerer.
I'm Warlock 6/Sorcerer 1. The Sorcerer dip gave me access to 4 extra Cantrips, and I took useful utility ones like Mending and Minor Illusion (I had Mage Hand and Eldritch Blast among other from Warlock), and two more first level spells known, but more importantly, two extra first level spell slots which can be used for Warlock spells. (And the Warlock slots can be used to cast your 1 level Sorcerer spells at the Warlock slot level, should you so choose.) That's two more Hexes per day at the very least, and if I want to fire off a Shield or a Hellish Rebuke, I haven't taken out half my spell slots. It gives me breathing room and some flexibility. Everything runs off of CHA, so great. You could do Bard instead, but they get two Cantrips and four 1st known with the same amount of spell slots, and I’ve found more Cantrips known to be better than more 1st levels known.
With a 1 level dip, all you miss out on is Eldritch Master at 20th level Warlock, which, if you actually get to 20, is concentrate for 1 minute and you get all your spell slots back once per long rest. Handy, yes. More handy than the extra slots through all the rest of your levels? Not to me, but to each their own.
Branding Smite is also really useful for just overall damage, unless if there’s a Celestial involved. At level 5 Hexblade I’m doing an average of 19 - 27 damage every attack. Plus 4 charisma mod on my attacks, +2 long sword, 1d8-10 [versatile] plus 3d6 radiant Damage, and that increases to 5d6 by the end of your class run, put that with hexblades curse, and you can do serious damage. Last session i did a total of 58 damage In a Round because of double critting.
With only 2 spell slots and the bulk of combat actions needing to be attacks, i tried to pick spells that were bonus actions or reactions. I wanted to mix some 'fun' things in (mask of many faces, enemies abound). In terms of combat crunch, using polearm master to get that extra attack is nice because its another chance to dump the static damage you get from the build, +CHA modifder from hexblade, +1 from improved pact weapon, +proficiency from hexblades curse.
I ended up taking Eldritch Smite instead of Agonizing Blast as my third invocation. Since I wasn't going to be in the backline that often, I figured I might as well take something to further supplement my weapon damage.
Also I removed Darkness from my spell list. We have a barbarian in the frontline and I don't think he can see through magical darkness so I switched it out for Mirror Image.
Branding Smite is also really useful for just overall damage, unless if there’s a Celestial involved. At level 5 Hexblade I’m doing an average of 19 - 27 damage every attack. Plus 4 charisma mod on my attacks, +2 long sword, 1d8-10 [versatile] plus 3d6 radiant Damage, and that increases to 5d6 by the end of your class run, put that with hexblades curse, and you can do serious damage. Last session i did a total of 58 damage In a Round because of double critting.
Branding Smite only does extra damage on your next hit, not every hit for the duration. It reveals and prevents invisibility for the duration.
Polearm master, war caster, and booming blade is a pretty good combo. One of the features of polearm master is you can make an opportunity attack when an enemy enters your melee range, which is 10 ft with a glaive/halberd. War caster allows you to cast a spell instead of attacking for an opportunity attack. Booming blade does damage, and will do additional damage if the enemy willingly moves. Most enemies will probably have a 5 ft melee range, so they'll have to choose between taking the extra booming blade damage or not getting close enough to deal damage that turn.
Edit: Actually, after I read the spell description for booming blade again, I realized this combo doesn't work. Booming blade says that as part of casting the spell, you must make a melee weapon attack WITHIN THE RANGE OF THE SPELL, and booming blade's range is 5 ft.
Would it be worthwhile to make a pact of the blade hexblade, use a one handed light weapon with finesse in one hand and use the Shadow Blade spell to attack with your off-hand? I'm trying out warlock for the first time and I don't see any mentions for this route. I'm just trying to find something fun to do with my concentration spells.
Would it be worthwhile to make a pact of the blade hexblade, use a one handed light weapon with finesse in one hand and use the Shadow Blade spell to attack with your off-hand? I'm trying out warlock for the first time and I don't see any mentions for this route. I'm just trying to find something fun to do with my concentration spells.
You'll want to get the Dual-Wielder feat ASAP if you want this build to be viable, otherwise the highest weapon damage die you'll be able to use in your main hand is 1d6. Using shadow blade in your offhand makes sense since it doesn't add your ability modifier to its damage anyway.
Only downside is the limited spell slots - you only get 2 per short rest, and if you fail a CON save, it's gone.
My Hexblade is fairly dependent on her pact weapon, for 2-handed damage, and with Thirsting Blade, she can 2-hit all day long, with CHA modifiers on to hit and damage rolls. She tries to save slots for Smites, preferably on Crits.
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Hello! This is my first time building a melee hexblade and I'm not sure on what to pick up. I definitely want to focus on melee with no multiclassing, but am open to the whole "darkness + devil's sight" combo. My PC is starting at level 6 btw.
I'm looking to act as a melee off-caster who specializes in glaives or longswords. Definitely want some warlock flair with hunger of hadar and hex.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Personally, I've never seen the value of Shield. Only 1 round duration, and takes 1/2 your spell slots.
Strong suggestion for Booming Blade. Attack with BB, Misty Step, and you've dealt an additional 1d8.
I like the Fiendish Vigor Invocation. Basically, 8 temp HP at will.
Also, Eldritch Smite (XGtE) invocation for extra 4d8 damage - amazing if dropped on a Crit. With BB. And maybe Hex thrown in for good measure.
I'm a Tiefling, so I get Hellish Rebuke as a racial, and will get Darkness free at lvl 6. I don't have SCAG, but regular PH Drow gives you Dancing Lights cantrip, as well as Fairie Fire and Darkness spells 1x/day without using a spell slot. Check the racial Drow magic rules to be sure. Might save you a slot here and there, and open up your list.
The only thing in your list that's very iffy to me is Darkness. Keep in mind many spellcasters use Light to see in dark dungeons, and Darkness will dispel any light-producing spell of 2nd level or lower if it overlaps. If any of your party members rely on that, your Darkness spell will remove their light source unless they stay about 50 feet away, which is often impractical. Also, if you place Darkness on top of enemies, it's going to interfere with everyone else's ability to attack, and the other spellcasters won't even be able to target the enemy with many spells.
It's probably better to drop Devil's Sight altogether for something you can use more regularly if any of your party members lacks darkvision.
I'd also consider dropping Agonizing Blast for that matter, since Improved Pact Weapon lets you turn your Pact Weapon into a bow or crossbow. That'd free you up for Fiendish Vigor like Mike_Row suggests, or features like Relentless Hex and Maddening Hex.
It becomes less useful as you level, but at low levels sometimes your choices are 1) use Shield or 2) get knocked unconscious or suffer some other really bad side effect (e.g. Life Drain, getting knocked prone, getting grappled). You can't help what the monsters decide to do, and sometimes you'll get in a fight with 3-5 monsters that single one person out. Also, it's not really 1/2 of your spell slots since you should be getting at least 1 or 2 short rests throughout the day.
I would definitely consider swapping it out between 3rd and 5th level. Once you hit 3rd, Mirror Image becomes an option. By 5th level, using up a 3th level slot becomes less than ideal.
That seems like a waste of a Misty Step for such a small amount of additional damage. Considering Misty Step lets you bypass difficult terrain, environmental hazards and get out of grapples, I'd save it for a better opportunity. There's also not guarantee the enemy will try to follow you, especially if they're already engaged in melee combat with someone else. If you're using Fiendish Vigor and/or Mirror Image, you can probably afford to let the enemy take a swing at you.
I second this. Eldritch Smite is great for a lot of reasons:
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I play a Variant Human Hexblade in AL, so I've got a couple restrictions you don't (no Booming or Greenflame Blade for me, grumble PHB+1 grumble), but I can toss out some ideas.
As a VH, I get a Feat at first level. I took Polearm Master, which gives me a bonus action extra attack from jump (strike with the butt of the weapon). First and second level I used Quarterstaff and Shield, which is cheese, but it lets you survive and you're starting at 6th anyway, and as soon as I picked up Blade Pact, I went Glaive. With Thirsting Blade, that gives two regular attacks and 1 bonus attack from the second round on (first round you bonus cast Hex).
Elven Accuracy is good, but requires you have advantage. Darkness and Devil's Sight would do that, but that nerfs the rest of your party. So you might consider Polearm Master, following with Great Weapon Master or Sentinel.
Invocations: If you're really going to concentrate on melee and not ranged, get rid of the Agonizing Blast since you’re not going to be spamming Eldritch Blast as your go to in combat. Fiendish Vigor is nice for low levels, but as you level up, it becomes less useful. By 6th, you’re probably fine without it. Improved Pact Weapon and Thirsting Blade are integral to the Hexblade. Devil’s Sight is good if you don’t have Darkvision (like my Variant Human), but as a Drow, you will. And while the Darkness/Devil’s Sight Combo isn’t a bad thing to have in your pocket, its use is circumstantial. So either swap it out for Eldritch Smite, or take that at Warlock 7.
Spells: Misty Step (2nd) is great, as is Mirror Image (2nd) the one is a bonus action and the second does not require Concentration, which works great with Hex. Protection from Evil and Good (1st) is good in certain circumstances. It is Concentration unfortunately, so no Hex, but if you’re fighting a bunch of typed mooks, 10 things having disadvantage and not hitting you, including ranged, or charming you, can be better than the extra d6 you get against 1 thing at a time. It works best if you know you’re going into battle and cast it first, so you don’t lose a round of combat.
I know you said you don't want to Multiclass, and you specifically want to concentrate on melee, but hear me out. :) Consider a 1 level dip into Sorcerer.
I'm Warlock 6/Sorcerer 1. The Sorcerer dip gave me access to 4 extra Cantrips, and I took useful utility ones like Mending and Minor Illusion (I had Mage Hand and Eldritch Blast among other from Warlock), and two more first level spells known, but more importantly, two extra first level spell slots which can be used for Warlock spells. (And the Warlock slots can be used to cast your 1 level Sorcerer spells at the Warlock slot level, should you so choose.) That's two more Hexes per day at the very least, and if I want to fire off a Shield or a Hellish Rebuke, I haven't taken out half my spell slots. It gives me breathing room and some flexibility. Everything runs off of CHA, so great. You could do Bard instead, but they get two Cantrips and four 1st known with the same amount of spell slots, and I’ve found more Cantrips known to be better than more 1st levels known.
With a 1 level dip, all you miss out on is Eldritch Master at 20th level Warlock, which, if you actually get to 20, is concentrate for 1 minute and you get all your spell slots back once per long rest. Handy, yes. More handy than the extra slots through all the rest of your levels? Not to me, but to each their own.
Branding Smite is also really useful for just overall damage, unless if there’s a Celestial involved. At level 5 Hexblade I’m doing an average of 19 - 27 damage every attack. Plus 4 charisma mod on my attacks, +2 long sword, 1d8-10 [versatile] plus 3d6 radiant Damage, and that increases to 5d6 by the end of your class run, put that with hexblades curse, and you can do serious damage. Last session i did a total of 58 damage In a Round because of double critting.
I played a 5th level hexblade and fell in love with the class. I used this build:
Hexblade, Pact of the blade, Polearm master feat
Invocations
Spells
With only 2 spell slots and the bulk of combat actions needing to be attacks, i tried to pick spells that were bonus actions or reactions. I wanted to mix some 'fun' things in (mask of many faces, enemies abound). In terms of combat crunch, using polearm master to get that extra attack is nice because its another chance to dump the static damage you get from the build, +CHA modifder from hexblade, +1 from improved pact weapon, +proficiency from hexblades curse.
Thanks guys for the great advice!
I ended up taking Eldritch Smite instead of Agonizing Blast as my third invocation. Since I wasn't going to be in the backline that often, I figured I might as well take something to further supplement my weapon damage.
Also I removed Darkness from my spell list. We have a barbarian in the frontline and I don't think he can see through magical darkness so I switched it out for Mirror Image.
Branding Smite only does extra damage on your next hit, not every hit for the duration. It reveals and prevents invisibility for the duration.
Polearm master, war caster, and booming blade is a pretty good combo. One of the features of polearm master is you can make an opportunity attack when an enemy enters your melee range, which is 10 ft with a glaive/halberd. War caster allows you to cast a spell instead of attacking for an opportunity attack. Booming blade does damage, and will do additional damage if the enemy willingly moves. Most enemies will probably have a 5 ft melee range, so they'll have to choose between taking the extra booming blade damage or not getting close enough to deal damage that turn.
Edit: Actually, after I read the spell description for booming blade again, I realized this combo doesn't work. Booming blade says that as part of casting the spell, you must make a melee weapon attack WITHIN THE RANGE OF THE SPELL, and booming blade's range is 5 ft.
Your combination will work if you also throw in Spell Sniper, which doubles the range of all your spells that require attack rolls.
Would it be worthwhile to make a pact of the blade hexblade, use a one handed light weapon with finesse in one hand and use the Shadow Blade spell to attack with your off-hand? I'm trying out warlock for the first time and I don't see any mentions for this route. I'm just trying to find something fun to do with my concentration spells.
You'll want to get the Dual-Wielder feat ASAP if you want this build to be viable, otherwise the highest weapon damage die you'll be able to use in your main hand is 1d6. Using shadow blade in your offhand makes sense since it doesn't add your ability modifier to its damage anyway.
Only downside is the limited spell slots - you only get 2 per short rest, and if you fail a CON save, it's gone.
My Hexblade is fairly dependent on her pact weapon, for 2-handed damage, and with Thirsting Blade, she can 2-hit all day long, with CHA modifiers on to hit and damage rolls. She tries to save slots for Smites, preferably on Crits.