Sorcerers get access to Fly. And they also get access to Feather Fall if they start falling. Wizards get access to Fly. And they also get access to Feather Fall if they start falling. Artificers get access to Fly. And they also get access to Feather Fall if they start falling. Bards don't get access to Fly, unless they choose it with their Magical Secrets, which is a reasonable pick as a Lore Bard at 6th level. And they also get access to Feather Fall if they start falling.
Warlocks also get access to Fly. But if they lose concentration on the spell while they're flying way up above the battle shooting Eldritch Blasts at the enemy, they don't get to cast Feather Fall. However, they do have one ability that they can use to keep from taking a huge amount of falling damage. They can use their Tomb of Levistus ability. Falling damage maxes out at 20D6, so once you reach level 7 in Warlock, your Tomb of Levistus ability will take an amount of damage equal to the average falling damage from any height, and by level 10, there's almost no chance that you'll take any falling damage from any height if you use Tomb of Levistus.
You can literally fall out of the sky from a mile up and use your Tomb of Levistus ability and take zero damage. Mechanically, Feather Fall is better. But thematically, very few things are as cool as falling out of the sky from the height of a skyscraper, hitting the ground, getting the wind knocked out of you, and standing up six seconds later having taken zero damage from the fall.
Shadow of Moil is another one of those Warlock only things (unless a Bard takes it with Magical Secrets, of course) that has a coolness factor to it. It's got a very similar effect to Greater Invisibility for combat, with the added effect that you can deal some damage when enemies close to you hit you with an attack. It's also mechanically superior, not just because of the damage, but because as far as I understand it, it blocks you from being seen by blindsight or truesight, whereas Greater Invisibility does not do that. Also, I do think it's just a cooler effect than Greater Invisibility because it's an aura of darkness that surrounds you instead of you just being invisible.
Warlocks are probably the most customizable class with all of their invocations, and the combination of Pact and Patron being chosen separately. What are some of the other things that only Warlocks can do that make them cooler than any other class?
I'd say they're one of the few classes that can make a passable gish.
Hexblade with Pact of the Blade for your melee component. Then invocations, Eldritch Blast, and your limited number of spells for your casting side. They've more melee than something like a Sword or Valor Bard, and have more casting than a Eldritch Knight or Arcane Trickster.
I think Abjuration Wizard, Bladesinger Wizard, and War Magic Wizard make good gishes. I don't know about including any Sorcerers as good gishes, maybe Draconic Ancestry is the most likely? I think Bladesinger and War Magic Wizards using Tenser's Transformation once they reach level 11 might be the most powerful gishes in the game
My two characters right now are a Celestial Warlock that probably qualifies as a gish, and a Tempest Cleric that probably qualifies as a gish, since both are full casters but have dexterity as their top ability score. Clerics make fantastic melee fighters that are full spell casters, but the question I think comes down to how a gish is defined. Does a gish have to be an arcane spell caster, or can a gish be a divine spell caster? Normally Warlocks are seen as arcane spellcasters, but would a Celestial Warlock like mine (with a Chaotic Good Ghaele patron) be considered an arcane spell caster or a divine spell caster? Both my characters have 19 AC, so they're somewhat tanky, which also seems to be a necessary quality in a gish.
Both examples I gave were abilities that other classes have, where Warlocks have an ability that is mechanically pretty similar, but thematically done in a cooler way. Your example is similar in that other classes are able to be gishes. Would you say that Warlock gishes are thematically cooler than Wizard, Cleric, and other non-Warlock gishes?
Sorcerers get access to Fly. And they also get access to Feather Fall if they start falling.
Wizards get access to Fly. And they also get access to Feather Fall if they start falling.
Artificers get access to Fly. And they also get access to Feather Fall if they start falling.
Bards don't get access to Fly, unless they choose it with their Magical Secrets, which is a reasonable pick as a Lore Bard at 6th level. And they also get access to Feather Fall if they start falling.
Warlocks also get access to Fly. But if they lose concentration on the spell while they're flying way up above the battle shooting Eldritch Blasts at the enemy, they don't get to cast Feather Fall. However, they do have one ability that they can use to keep from taking a huge amount of falling damage. They can use their Tomb of Levistus ability. Falling damage maxes out at 20D6, so once you reach level 7 in Warlock, your Tomb of Levistus ability will take an amount of damage equal to the average falling damage from any height, and by level 10, there's almost no chance that you'll take any falling damage from any height if you use Tomb of Levistus.
You can literally fall out of the sky from a mile up and use your Tomb of Levistus ability and take zero damage. Mechanically, Feather Fall is better. But thematically, very few things are as cool as falling out of the sky from the height of a skyscraper, hitting the ground, getting the wind knocked out of you, and standing up six seconds later having taken zero damage from the fall.
Shadow of Moil is another one of those Warlock only things (unless a Bard takes it with Magical Secrets, of course) that has a coolness factor to it. It's got a very similar effect to Greater Invisibility for combat, with the added effect that you can deal some damage when enemies close to you hit you with an attack. It's also mechanically superior, not just because of the damage, but because as far as I understand it, it blocks you from being seen by blindsight or truesight, whereas Greater Invisibility does not do that. Also, I do think it's just a cooler effect than Greater Invisibility because it's an aura of darkness that surrounds you instead of you just being invisible.
Warlocks are probably the most customizable class with all of their invocations, and the combination of Pact and Patron being chosen separately. What are some of the other things that only Warlocks can do that make them cooler than any other class?
I'd say they're one of the few classes that can make a passable gish.
Hexblade with Pact of the Blade for your melee component. Then invocations, Eldritch Blast, and your limited number of spells for your casting side. They've more melee than something like a Sword or Valor Bard, and have more casting than a Eldritch Knight or Arcane Trickster.
I think Abjuration Wizard, Bladesinger Wizard, and War Magic Wizard make good gishes. I don't know about including any Sorcerers as good gishes, maybe Draconic Ancestry is the most likely? I think Bladesinger and War Magic Wizards using Tenser's Transformation once they reach level 11 might be the most powerful gishes in the game
My two characters right now are a Celestial Warlock that probably qualifies as a gish, and a Tempest Cleric that probably qualifies as a gish, since both are full casters but have dexterity as their top ability score. Clerics make fantastic melee fighters that are full spell casters, but the question I think comes down to how a gish is defined. Does a gish have to be an arcane spell caster, or can a gish be a divine spell caster? Normally Warlocks are seen as arcane spellcasters, but would a Celestial Warlock like mine (with a Chaotic Good Ghaele patron) be considered an arcane spell caster or a divine spell caster? Both my characters have 19 AC, so they're somewhat tanky, which also seems to be a necessary quality in a gish.
Both examples I gave were abilities that other classes have, where Warlocks have an ability that is mechanically pretty similar, but thematically done in a cooler way. Your example is similar in that other classes are able to be gishes. Would you say that Warlock gishes are thematically cooler than Wizard, Cleric, and other non-Warlock gishes?
bladesinger, paladin, EK, hexblade, swords bard, bloodhunter, ranger(not as good) as single classes all make good gishes
for multi classes: padlock, sorcadin, fighter/wizard, palabard.
not just warlocks :)
“I will take responsibility for what I have done. [...] If must fall, I will rise each time a better man.” ― Brandon Sanderson, Oathbringer.