Hey everyone. I'm new to the Warlock class but really enjoying playing this Tabaxi Hexblade which just turned level 5. I'm a bit struggling with invocations and spells though and would love some advice. I play this character as a mainly melee fighter carrying no physical weapons and relying on pact weapons. Here is my build:
STR 8 | DEX 16 | CON 14 | INT 8 | WID 12 | CHA 18
AC: 16 (Medium Armor) or 19 (with Shield +1)
Pact of the Blade
Invocations:
Improved Pact Weapon - This gives me +8 to Hit and +1 magical damage.
Thirsting Blade - Also an obvious one for two attacks.
Hesitating here with:
Maddening Hex - Nice to be able to do some extra damage as a Bonus Action to potentially multiple targets.
Devil's Sight - We haven't gotten Darkness spells done on us yet, but useful for sight in the dungeons (we play on roll20).
Agonizing Blast - The extra damage is nice but I don't use Eldritch Blast that often.
or anything else you could recommend.
Spells (any recommendations here on changing things are welcome)
Booming Blade
Eldritch Blast
Green-Flame
Armor of Agathys - good to boost health and deal extra damage when I'm hit.
Hex - I'm still using Hex for extra damage but I could be convinced to switch.
Hellish Rebuke - for extra damage when I'm hit.
Shatter - kinda took it as least worst option I could find but one of only spell that hits multiple enemies.
Remove Curse - I had to to remove a curse but will get rid of it at next level.
Thunder Step - Useful if surrounded and to save an incapacitated friend (it happens often) while dealing damage to multiple enemies.
Questions
Any changes to invocations you would recommend ?
Any changes to spells you would recommend ?
What kind of spell tactics do you recommend while in melee fight ? Right now I use the first spell slot for Hex and keep the 2nd one for specific situations.
Do you recommend I use the longsword + shield combo to keep an AC of 19 or drop it to 17 and use a Greatsword or Glaive ? I tried once the combo of using a Glaive to attack at distance combined with Booming Blade so that the monster is forced to move to attack and get the extra damage. But the situations where that monster was not near an ally did not happen often.
Improved Pact Weapon is fun. Great for a sword and board built. Just gonna put that there first off. Thirsting blade is a necessity for a bladelock.
Imma touch a bit on my own hexblade cause I've been using him in a stream (just hit level 5, but story ended up having me nab my first level in paladin instead of getting thirsting blade.)
Aggonizing Blast is awesome. I didn't think I'd ever really use it, but having that option to range that also procs off of the main class features (cha, hex, hexblade curse) made it a reliable alternative if someone was out of range or if I was trying to close a distance but didn't have enough movement.
Melee cantrips are fun, but less so for a Hexblade. As you get more damage the more you attack, having one strike and only one strike limits the amount of extra damage from hex or the hexblade curse. Polearm master on the other hand capitalizes on this by giving you an extra attack that can gain the benefits and is usable on any bonus action you attack with. As a note, melee cantrips have a range of 5ft so you can't actually use the reach of your weapon to hit someone 10ft away for the booming blade.
What I end up casting depends on the situation. Hex is great, lasts an hout the minimum, and can switch targets. I use that if there's something I need to kill, and sometimes I use it when i need the target to start failing skill checks. Like when I'm lying to its face. Or my buddy is trying to grapple. On the otherside, I use the armor. The bonus temp hp is nice as I dont have that high of an AC, and punishes folks for hititng me. Even better when the foes are swarms of weaker enemies. They deal 3 damage each and take ten till I loose all ten. That's 40 points of damage!
The other spells are nice. Good choices.
As for 4, the only reason to use a polearm is with polear master. The bonus attack is amazing, and at 12 when you get thirsting blade you can get a total of 15 extra damage flat versus just 10.
So the Polearm Expert sounds really good but I'm worried it's gonna lock me into one single strategy which is use my two spells for Hex (for the extra damage) and Armor of Agathys (to cover the lower AC). I like the idea of having one extra slot for situational spells like Hellish Rebuke or Thunder Step. Also I'd have to stop using that sweet Shield +1 I just got. But yeah that Polearm Master would make me a beast.
Now that I think about it, with the lower AC, I might lose concentration on Hex more often too.
About Agonizing Blast. I do love the damage it gives bur since my need for Eldritch Blast would be less common, I wonder if I shouldn't pick something more tactical like the invocations that pushes or pulls with Eldritch Blast. Maddening Hex would give me 4 damage as a Bonus action for at least one target or more (better than the Polearm rear Attack).
If you’re not carrying a shield and you want to use not physical weapons (also not carrying a shield) Don’t takeThirsting Blade instead you can use booming blade or green flame blade for your main hand attack action with your pact weapon, take Shadow Blade 2nd level concentration spell (so no hex) and use it as an offhand weapon for a second attack and it likely going to give you more damage than hex's 2d6 and you can scale it with your pact slots so it is less wasteful. Take the Warcaster feat for opportunity attacks with booming blade (since they are moving...). Just a good scaling damage build with one feat.
Great Weapon Fighter power hitter
Don’t take booming blade or green flame blade (because the limit you to one attack) go with Thirsting Blade and great weapon master feat for -5 to hit and +10 damage and use a great sword for maximum damage with single hits during your attack and opportunity attack then Sentinel for more swings with great weapon master. This also allows you to use all pact spell slots on Eldritch smite since it doesn’t require any spell casting. You can use hex if you want to use your first attack to knock an enemy prone (them at disadvantage on the test) for advantage on the second to negate the loss of “to hit” on the second attack vs High AC enemies and you could get and extra 1-3d6 but eldritch smite is likely better. 2-3 power hits without a need for magic.
Multi-strike hex damage
If you want to use hex, use a Glaive two-handed with polearm master feat for the most attacks in a turn, thirsty blade, sentinel feat for 4 attacks in around the hex is better at 4d6 + the attacks from 10ft away so that your not in melee and can possible have more options for sentinel. Or use hex when your fighting at range as eldritch blast scales from 1to 4 attacks at higher levels. Many smaller attacks so you should generally get more consistent damage but its not going to WOW unless your hitting with all of them.
The lack of inflection in text means that a reader of any post adds their own inflection as they "verbalize" it in their head. I write long and repetitive in an effort to be clear and avoid my intent from being skewed or inverted. I am also bad at examples. It is common for people to skim my posts pull out the idea they think I mean or want to argue against or focus on my bad example instead of the point I am actually trying to make. I apologies for the confusion my failure to be clear and concise creates.
How do you get 4 attacks with quarterstaff? Is that with the butt end bonus action and the attack of opportunity? And why use quarterstaff when glaive is 1d10 in damage instead of 1d6/1d8. Glaive also gives reach, which is awesome with polearm master and sentinel.
How do you get 4 attacks with quarterstaff? Is that with the butt end bonus action and the attack of opportunity? And why use quarterstaff when glaive is 1d10 in damage instead of 1d6/1d8. Glaive also gives reach, which is awesome with polearm master and sentinel.
Sentinel gives you an attack using your reaction attack when your target attacks someone else so you just fight the same enemy as an ally and unless they only target you (GM meta gaming) then you will usually get the attack, particularly on boss fights vs single larger enemies. (So Extra attack, bonus attack, sentinel opportunity attack = 4) I was thinking quarter staff because I was thinking about monks for some reason who can use dex with quarter staffs and flurry of blows for 5 attacks. I had actually fixed putting 5 attacks but still put quarterstaff. You are correct that a glaive would be a better choice for a Warlock.
The lack of inflection in text means that a reader of any post adds their own inflection as they "verbalize" it in their head. I write long and repetitive in an effort to be clear and avoid my intent from being skewed or inverted. I am also bad at examples. It is common for people to skim my posts pull out the idea they think I mean or want to argue against or focus on my bad example instead of the point I am actually trying to make. I apologies for the confusion my failure to be clear and concise creates.
Thanks again for all the advice. Seems like going for the glaive fighting style is a solid option. So here's some extra questions:
I could change my level 4 Ability Score Improvement (CHA + 2) to a Feat instead. This would mean I would lose a +1 to all my attacks and damage but maybe it's worth the extra attack? Or do I pick the Feat at level 8?
If I do that, I hesitate between Polearm Master and Sentinel. They both offer greater chances for opportunity attacks (one when entering reach, other when creature attacks friend within reach), but the extra effects seem to favour Sentinel in my opinion. The Polearm Master extra d4 Bonus attack is not that impressive compared to other kinds of damage I could do with other bonus actions (e.g. Maddening Hex is 3 or 4 damage to cursed target and all other monsters around it). Also it only works with a polearm while Sentinel works with all weapons and can reduce speed to 0 and nullify Disengage. Thoughts?
The bonus attack is nice from the Polearm master. I use it all the time, its called "Butt End" in my roll20 char, still makes me lol. Anyways, id take the stat increase first and then the feat at lvl 8. So many skills and abilities will earn bonuses with higher cha instead of one attack extra. And I would choose Polearm master first, at lvl 8, and then sentinel at lvl 12. The last paragraph on the Polearm Master is why:
While you are wielding a glaive, halberd, pike, or quarterstaff, other creatures provoke an opportunity attack from you when they enter your reach.
Meaning each time a enemy approaches you or a friend thats close you will get to use your reaction for an extra attack. And pair that with sentinel at lvl 12, they will stop 10 feet away from you! Awesome for crowdcontroll! And remember, the bonus attack also adds your charisma and other modifieres to the roll and damage, so its pretty ok extra damage.
Im currently playing a lvl 8 Warlock and I dish out almost more damage per round (even without using hex and hexblades curse) then our two barbarians. With up to 4 attacks hitting each round, without the curses, the damage averages (for my warlock) to about 52 damage per round (if i hit with every attack). And thats without spending any limited abilites like spells and etc.
Cool thanks a lot for the tips. I'll stick to my boosted Charisma for now and will look into the Feats for level 8.
I have a game tonight so need to make my final picks now. I think I'll go with Maddening Hex for the extra bonus damage.
As for combat strategy, I'm thinking to go with the glaive with general encounters that involve multiple enemies and for a big boss, I might switch to longsword and shield for the extra AC.
I'm still hesitating on combat spells though. I feel like Hex and Armor or Agathys is a nice mix, but it leaves me with no extra slots for anything else. I really wish I could have 3 slots :)
I rarely use anything else but Dimension door or other movement spells and Hex. Screw the extra armor, there are so many mobility spells that can help you when using a reach weapon
Cool thanks a lot for the tips. I'll stick to my boosted Charisma for now and will look into the Feats for level 8.
I have a game tonight so need to make my final picks now. I think I'll go with Maddening Hex for the extra bonus damage.
As for combat strategy, I'm thinking to go with the glaive with general encounters that involve multiple enemies and for a big boss, I might switch to longsword and shield for the extra AC.
I'm still hesitating on combat spells though. I feel like Hex and Armor or Agathys is a nice mix, but it leaves me with no extra slots for anything else. I really wish I could have 3 slots :)
I recommend: Rod of the pact keeper +1 uncommon ( +1 to hit and spell DC as well as you can use an action to restore any 1 pacts slot once per long rest), Pearl of Power uncommon (used an action to regenerate a spell slot once per long rest the only down fall is if higher than a level 3 slot it returns as a level 3 slot ), and the magic initiate feat (Warlock) selecting Hex as a the first level spell. Per Sage advice it counts as a "spell known" but does not count against it so you can learn an extra spell and cast hex once per long rest for free. These three will really open you up on the caster side of being a warlock basically giving you 5 spell slots instead of 2. That said I would focus on your melee plan first before grabbing the magic initiate feat but the magic items are uncommon so you can aim for them early.
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The lack of inflection in text means that a reader of any post adds their own inflection as they "verbalize" it in their head. I write long and repetitive in an effort to be clear and avoid my intent from being skewed or inverted. I am also bad at examples. It is common for people to skim my posts pull out the idea they think I mean or want to argue against or focus on my bad example instead of the point I am actually trying to make. I apologies for the confusion my failure to be clear and concise creates.
Mobility spells? At level 5, I can only think of Thunder Step (I'm not even counting Misty Step)
For what DukeForau is saying then you cast Farstep at level 9 warlock with your 5th level spell slots. Being able to avoid opportunity attacks and move around the field using your bonus action for 10 rounds is pretty awesome for a Bladelock. The only down side is its concentration so you can't use it with hex and if you get hit your might lose it, so move into reach, attack, then move/farstep away so they can't move to you. hit and run style is your best bet, unless you have sentinel then they should stop at 10ft so its not really a consern. That's my 2 cents on it anyway. Since your level 5 your best option is fly and just fly 10 foot up attacking their heads.
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The lack of inflection in text means that a reader of any post adds their own inflection as they "verbalize" it in their head. I write long and repetitive in an effort to be clear and avoid my intent from being skewed or inverted. I am also bad at examples. It is common for people to skim my posts pull out the idea they think I mean or want to argue against or focus on my bad example instead of the point I am actually trying to make. I apologies for the confusion my failure to be clear and concise creates.
Mobility spells? At level 5, I can only think of Thunder Step (I'm not even counting Misty Step)
For what DukeForau is saying then you cast Farstep at level 9 warlock with your 5th level spell slots. Being able to avoid opportunity attacks and move around the field using your bonus action for 10 rounds is pretty awesome for a Bladelock. The only down side is its concentration so you can't use it with hex and if you get hit your might lose it, so move into reach, attack, then move/farstep away so they can't move to you. hit and run style is your best bet, unless you have sentinel then they should stop at 10ft so its not really a consern. That's my 2 cents on it anyway. Since your level 5 your best option is fly and just fly 10 foot up attacking their heads.
I didn't see anybody mention that at 5th lvl your Hex will last 8 hrs and at 9th lvl 24. Wake up an hour early, cast Hex, and take a short rest. This frees up your casting as long as you stay away from other concentration spells.
I didn't see anybody mention that at 5th lvl your Hex will last 8 hrs and at 9th lvl 24. Wake up an hour early, cast Hex, and take a short rest. This frees up your casting as long as you stay away from other concentration spells.
What target do you choose for that Hex? You need a target for it and then when that target drops to 0 HP you can choose another one? I just cant see how you can toss that spell at a random straw of grass or something.....
I didn't see anybody mention that at 5th lvl your Hex will last 8 hrs and at 9th lvl 24. Wake up an hour early, cast Hex, and take a short rest. This frees up your casting as long as you stay away from other concentration spells.
What target do you choose for that Hex? You need a target for it and then when that target drops to 0 HP you can choose another one? I just cant see how you can toss that spell at a random straw of grass or something.....
I didn't see anybody mention that at 5th lvl your Hex will last 8 hrs and at 9th lvl 24. Wake up an hour early, cast Hex, and take a short rest. This frees up your casting as long as you stay away from other concentration spells.
What target do you choose for that Hex? You need a target for it and then when that target drops to 0 HP you can choose another one? I just cant see how you can toss that spell at a random straw of grass or something.....
Bag of rats or a squirrel.
As a GM I would say sleeping counts as loosing consciousness which would end any concentration spell the same a falling unconscious from hitting 0 hit points. In fact, as per the alert feet preventing you from being surprised would also not cover you while asleep for the same reason as listed in the feat. ... So I don't see carrying the spell into the next day unless your only taking short rests and willing to take a level of exhaustion for it.
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The lack of inflection in text means that a reader of any post adds their own inflection as they "verbalize" it in their head. I write long and repetitive in an effort to be clear and avoid my intent from being skewed or inverted. I am also bad at examples. It is common for people to skim my posts pull out the idea they think I mean or want to argue against or focus on my bad example instead of the point I am actually trying to make. I apologies for the confusion my failure to be clear and concise creates.
I didn't see anybody mention that at 5th lvl your Hex will last 8 hrs and at 9th lvl 24. Wake up an hour early, cast Hex, and take a short rest. This frees up your casting as long as you stay away from other concentration spells.
What target do you choose for that Hex? You need a target for it and then when that target drops to 0 HP you can choose another one? I just cant see how you can toss that spell at a random straw of grass or something.....
Bag of rats or a squirrel.
As a GM I would say sleeping counts as loosing consciousness which would end any concentration spell the same a falling unconscious from hitting 0 hit points. In fact, as per the alert feet preventing you from being surprised would also not cover you while asleep for the same reason as listed in the feat. ... So I don't see carrying the spell into the next day unless your only taking short rests and willing to take a level of exhaustion for it.
Or choose the right invocation so you dont need to sleep :D
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Hey everyone. I'm new to the Warlock class but really enjoying playing this Tabaxi Hexblade which just turned level 5. I'm a bit struggling with invocations and spells though and would love some advice. I play this character as a mainly melee fighter carrying no physical weapons and relying on pact weapons. Here is my build:
Questions
Thanks for all the help and advice.
Improved Pact Weapon is fun. Great for a sword and board built. Just gonna put that there first off. Thirsting blade is a necessity for a bladelock.
Imma touch a bit on my own hexblade cause I've been using him in a stream (just hit level 5, but story ended up having me nab my first level in paladin instead of getting thirsting blade.)
Aggonizing Blast is awesome. I didn't think I'd ever really use it, but having that option to range that also procs off of the main class features (cha, hex, hexblade curse) made it a reliable alternative if someone was out of range or if I was trying to close a distance but didn't have enough movement.
Melee cantrips are fun, but less so for a Hexblade. As you get more damage the more you attack, having one strike and only one strike limits the amount of extra damage from hex or the hexblade curse. Polearm master on the other hand capitalizes on this by giving you an extra attack that can gain the benefits and is usable on any bonus action you attack with. As a note, melee cantrips have a range of 5ft so you can't actually use the reach of your weapon to hit someone 10ft away for the booming blade.
What I end up casting depends on the situation. Hex is great, lasts an hout the minimum, and can switch targets. I use that if there's something I need to kill, and sometimes I use it when i need the target to start failing skill checks. Like when I'm lying to its face. Or my buddy is trying to grapple. On the otherside, I use the armor. The bonus temp hp is nice as I dont have that high of an AC, and punishes folks for hititng me. Even better when the foes are swarms of weaker enemies. They deal 3 damage each and take ten till I loose all ten. That's 40 points of damage!
The other spells are nice. Good choices.
As for 4, the only reason to use a polearm is with polear master. The bonus attack is amazing, and at 12 when you get thirsting blade you can get a total of 15 extra damage flat versus just 10.
How is your CON so high?
Thanks for the replies.
First, the Con 24 was a typo and it's fixed.
So the Polearm Expert sounds really good but I'm worried it's gonna lock me into one single strategy which is use my two spells for Hex (for the extra damage) and Armor of Agathys (to cover the lower AC). I like the idea of having one extra slot for situational spells like Hellish Rebuke or Thunder Step. Also I'd have to stop using that sweet Shield +1 I just got. But yeah that Polearm Master would make me a beast.
Now that I think about it, with the lower AC, I might lose concentration on Hex more often too.
About Agonizing Blast. I do love the damage it gives bur since my need for Eldritch Blast would be less common, I wonder if I shouldn't pick something more tactical like the invocations that pushes or pulls with Eldritch Blast. Maddening Hex would give me 4 damage as a Bonus action for at least one target or more (better than the Polearm rear Attack).
In conclusion, so many options. I'm confused :)
Two Weapon Magic blades
If you’re not carrying a shield and you want to use not physical weapons (also not carrying a shield) Don’t take Thirsting Blade instead you can use booming blade or green flame blade for your main hand attack action with your pact weapon, take Shadow Blade 2nd level concentration spell (so no hex) and use it as an offhand weapon for a second attack and it likely going to give you more damage than hex's 2d6 and you can scale it with your pact slots so it is less wasteful. Take the Warcaster feat for opportunity attacks with booming blade (since they are moving...). Just a good scaling damage build with one feat.
Great Weapon Fighter power hitter
Don’t take booming blade or green flame blade (because the limit you to one attack) go with Thirsting Blade and great weapon master feat for -5 to hit and +10 damage and use a great sword for maximum damage with single hits during your attack and opportunity attack then Sentinel for more swings with great weapon master. This also allows you to use all pact spell slots on Eldritch smite since it doesn’t require any spell casting. You can use hex if you want to use your first attack to knock an enemy prone (them at disadvantage on the test) for advantage on the second to negate the loss of “to hit” on the second attack vs High AC enemies and you could get and extra 1-3d6 but eldritch smite is likely better. 2-3 power hits without a need for magic.
Multi-strike hex damage
If you want to use hex, use a Glaive two-handed with polearm master feat for the most attacks in a turn, thirsty blade, sentinel feat for 4 attacks in around the hex is better at 4d6 + the attacks from 10ft away so that your not in melee and can possible have more options for sentinel. Or use hex when your fighting at range as eldritch blast scales from 1to 4 attacks at higher levels. Many smaller attacks so you should generally get more consistent damage but its not going to WOW unless your hitting with all of them.
The lack of inflection in text means that a reader of any post adds their own inflection as they "verbalize" it in their head. I write long and repetitive in an effort to be clear and avoid my intent from being skewed or inverted. I am also bad at examples. It is common for people to skim my posts pull out the idea they think I mean or want to argue against or focus on my bad example instead of the point I am actually trying to make. I apologies for the confusion my failure to be clear and concise creates.
How do you get 4 attacks with quarterstaff? Is that with the butt end bonus action and the attack of opportunity? And why use quarterstaff when glaive is 1d10 in damage instead of 1d6/1d8. Glaive also gives reach, which is awesome with polearm master and sentinel.
The lack of inflection in text means that a reader of any post adds their own inflection as they "verbalize" it in their head. I write long and repetitive in an effort to be clear and avoid my intent from being skewed or inverted. I am also bad at examples. It is common for people to skim my posts pull out the idea they think I mean or want to argue against or focus on my bad example instead of the point I am actually trying to make. I apologies for the confusion my failure to be clear and concise creates.
Thanks again for all the advice. Seems like going for the glaive fighting style is a solid option. So here's some extra questions:
The bonus attack is nice from the Polearm master. I use it all the time, its called "Butt End" in my roll20 char, still makes me lol. Anyways, id take the stat increase first and then the feat at lvl 8. So many skills and abilities will earn bonuses with higher cha instead of one attack extra. And I would choose Polearm master first, at lvl 8, and then sentinel at lvl 12. The last paragraph on the Polearm Master is why:
Meaning each time a enemy approaches you or a friend thats close you will get to use your reaction for an extra attack. And pair that with sentinel at lvl 12, they will stop 10 feet away from you! Awesome for crowdcontroll! And remember, the bonus attack also adds your charisma and other modifieres to the roll and damage, so its pretty ok extra damage.
Im currently playing a lvl 8 Warlock and I dish out almost more damage per round (even without using hex and hexblades curse) then our two barbarians. With up to 4 attacks hitting each round, without the curses, the damage averages (for my warlock) to about 52 damage per round (if i hit with every attack). And thats without spending any limited abilites like spells and etc.
Cool thanks a lot for the tips. I'll stick to my boosted Charisma for now and will look into the Feats for level 8.
I have a game tonight so need to make my final picks now. I think I'll go with Maddening Hex for the extra bonus damage.
As for combat strategy, I'm thinking to go with the glaive with general encounters that involve multiple enemies and for a big boss, I might switch to longsword and shield for the extra AC.
I'm still hesitating on combat spells though. I feel like Hex and Armor or Agathys is a nice mix, but it leaves me with no extra slots for anything else. I really wish I could have 3 slots :)
I rarely use anything else but Dimension door or other movement spells and Hex. Screw the extra armor, there are so many mobility spells that can help you when using a reach weapon
Mobility spells? At level 5, I can only think of Thunder Step (I'm not even counting Misty Step)
The lack of inflection in text means that a reader of any post adds their own inflection as they "verbalize" it in their head. I write long and repetitive in an effort to be clear and avoid my intent from being skewed or inverted. I am also bad at examples. It is common for people to skim my posts pull out the idea they think I mean or want to argue against or focus on my bad example instead of the point I am actually trying to make. I apologies for the confusion my failure to be clear and concise creates.
The lack of inflection in text means that a reader of any post adds their own inflection as they "verbalize" it in their head. I write long and repetitive in an effort to be clear and avoid my intent from being skewed or inverted. I am also bad at examples. It is common for people to skim my posts pull out the idea they think I mean or want to argue against or focus on my bad example instead of the point I am actually trying to make. I apologies for the confusion my failure to be clear and concise creates.
I didn't see anybody mention that at 5th lvl your Hex will last 8 hrs and at 9th lvl 24. Wake up an hour early, cast Hex, and take a short rest. This frees up your casting as long as you stay away from other concentration spells.
The lack of inflection in text means that a reader of any post adds their own inflection as they "verbalize" it in their head. I write long and repetitive in an effort to be clear and avoid my intent from being skewed or inverted. I am also bad at examples. It is common for people to skim my posts pull out the idea they think I mean or want to argue against or focus on my bad example instead of the point I am actually trying to make. I apologies for the confusion my failure to be clear and concise creates.