The Duelist of Radiance: A Versatile Warlock D&D 5E Build!

[@pederw4900]

Hey, you can take Agonizing Blast and Repelling Blast on Booming Blade; the agonizing blast will add your charisma to the secondary damage (and from 5th level onward to the on-hit damage), and the repelling blast will push them back 10 feet and encourage them to proc the secondary damage. Use a Warhammer to push them 20 feet instead! Also, Searing Smite will deal the Radiant Soul damage on hit and at the start of the target's turn, way outpacing the damage of Divine Smite. Combined, Booming Blade and Searing Smite will deal very satisfying damage off your turn.

[@Reubenhater]

I would like to add that Divine Favor should not be slept on either. No more concentration and also procs Radiant Soul.

[@sethw777]

I think it is worth noting that for a regular damage round, an upcasted spirit shroud can still give more damage than the blade of disaster. Because high level warlock spells are almost always quite underwhelming, I would recommend a sorcerer dip for anyone who wants outlandish DPR. If you take spell sniper and quicken eldritch blast, or just quicken a bladetrip for more DPR. Not to mention increased utility, shield, a sorcerer subclass, misty step ect.

[@comradewarners]

Is that true though? You can’t upcast with Mystic Arcanum, so the highest Spirit Shroud gets is 2D8, I haven’t done the math in awhile, but I’m pretty sure Blade of Disaster would still do more especially with the expanded crit range and Elven accuracy. On a non-warlock caster with 9th level slots I would agree. As far as doing an Eldritch Blast build I’m sure that’s the case, but that’s not the point of this video. The concept is a melee warlock. I’m sure you’re right though.

[@zakcat5175]

I love this content. Please make more 2024 build videos!

[@comradewarners]

@@zakcat5175 thank you so much!! I am very much planning on it! 😄

[@zakcat5175]

@@comradewarners I just subscribed. I can't wait for it :)

[@comradewarners]

@@zakcat5175 thank you so much!

[@SummerOtaku]

I love the celestial warlock!

[@comradewarners]

@@SummerOtaku me too! It’s great! 😄

[@vlogoftea]

I just looked it up, and you actually make death saving throws at the start of your turn, so the Searing Vengeance feature would actually let the creature take the rest of its turn.

[@comradewarners]

@@vlogoftea that’s good to know! Really great ability then!

[@TheKilogram1000]

I'm interested to see the build! Mine was based on LudicSavant's Generalist build.

[@comradewarners]

I hope you like it!! Very fun build for sure!

[@alfonsovallejo2665]

Divine Smite is affected by Radiant Soul, so thats a nice synergy with paladin. Also, you can get yourself with half your hit points, no action required, and thats awesome; also, blind to all enemies nearby with nosave required.

[@neoman4426]

For Searing Vengeance, I'd have to look at the wording in 5.5 to be sure, but I know in base 5e Death Saves happened specifically at the beginning of your turn, so if you got the roll of 20 result you could use half your movement to stand up and start whacking people with 1HP

[@comradewarners]

If that's the case it should probably be the same! Especially since the blinded condition until the end of your turn would be useless otherwise!

[@neoman4426]

@@comradewarners Yep, looked it up, wording is substantially the same, "Whenever you start your turn with 0 Hit Points". Minor changes like splitting the 3 successes or failures bit up into its own subheading rather than just part of the description paragraph (presumably to make it easier to find at a quick glance), and removal of the "aided only by spells and features that improve your chances of succeeding on a saving throw." text (presumably they still are aided, just considered redundant to list as they're specifically saves already in both versions), but basically the same between 5e and 5.5

[@rexgar0092]

I have a similar character concept. More of a caster build though. An Aasimar Glamour Bard who used his influence and enchantment magic for selfish means without much concern for the consciences. Not BBEG level, but bad enough to have an adventuring party sent after him. Party kills him and an Angel appears after the party leaves. The Angel is his ancestor and gives him a second chance, but he must devote his life to helping and healing those in need. Since all he did with his bard abilities was evil, he has those locked away. He can never remember a song, he tries to play an instrument and his hands spasm in pain, he tries to sing... no words come out. Levels would be straight Warlock for a bit until his Angel Patron sees enough personal growth from the char. The first bard level will be a big roleplay moment. I will probably go with a different bard subclass than Glamour to really show how he's changed at his second chance at life.

[@comradewarners]

@@rexgar0092 that’s so cool!! I love when multiclassing is used in the story telling of a character! So good!!

[@rexgar0092]

@@comradewarners Thank you. Plus the DM gets an adventuring party that killed me and tons of NPS that I wronged to drop in on me at any random point 😳

[@comradewarners]

@@rexgar0092 that must be so much fun the DM! I can imagine them being like, “what encounter do I put here? Ahah! The trustee previously wronged backstory character!!”

[@johnnybrravo5791]

feels like figther is gonna be picked for every multiclass build. i want to see you do it with only warlock.

[@guamae]

I love a lot of the details on Warlocks, but there are a few things that I always Feel need tweaking... My table uses the Spell Point Variant rules from the DMG, and even though it says "you can't use those for Warlocks", it's really easy to smooth out and match their power curve by giving them two Spell Points per level up to 10, and 1 Spell Point per level above that. They end up getting about a third as many Points as other full casters, which is perfect for a 2 Short Rest day (and you don't have to worry about blowing a 5th level Slot for Shield). I also let their 6+ Level slots work like everyone else's. They still only come back on a Long Rest, but I can't imagine a reason they shouldn't be able to cast a 7th level Armor of Agathys (for example). Finally... It kinda makes me sad that it's so hard to make a Blade-Lock without Multiclassing... I'm thinking there ought to be an Invocation for Medium Armor and Shields...

[@comradewarners]

That would be really cool! I could also see them in a feature book remaking the Hexblade again. That variant rule seems very fun and ai would love to try that out sometime! Seems very good and pretty balanced!

[@guamae]

@@comradewarners Hexblade had the most disappointing Lore to me,(I know *what* Fey, Fiends, and Celestials are... I don't have any particular idea what 'hexblade' is, or why they're powerful enough to create Warlocks 😲) so I'm quite glad they gave away it's defining feature... It was only when I started making builds for NPCs that I realized there's no decent solution to the 'AC issue' for a straight-class Warlock 😬

[@comradewarners]

@@guamae true! I never liked Hexblades either, hopefully if they remake them, they make the lore waaayy better!

[@RickMcQuay]

Summoned familiars have to be CR0, Sphinx is CR1, so how are you getting it at lvl1?

[@comradewarners]

@@RickMcQuay it’s because this is the new 2024 rules and warlocks get their “pact boon” at level 1 now, because all pact boons are just invocations, So this is the warlock enhanced familiar.

[@ericpeterson8732]

My 2014 celestial warlock was a petty thief (criminal background) who stole from the wrong temple and was subject to divine judgment. Because he wasn't a complete baddie, just a idiot thief, his case was referred to the Angel Redemption Force. The Celestial in charge (his Patron) made a deal with him akin to parole. He has to stay on the straight and narrow or face damnation. His pact of the chain familiar is a sprite, reflavored to be a shoulder angel (his conscience as it were). The sprite, invisible most of the time, not only informs him when he strays but also is his parole agent and ankle monitor (the Celestial can see through the sprites's eyes when he wants. He was a lot of fun. I completed one mission without combat, just using my Cha skills and my background's thieves tools. Sadly, he got sniped in the next AL adventure. By Orcs in the "Forges of Fury", I think it was called.

[@comradewarners]

That’s a really cool concept! Sucks he died!

[@ericpeterson8732]

​@comradewarners the concept was so good, I will revisit it in the future.

[@guamae]

Blade of Disaster as a 9th level spell is an.... Interesting choice... It's practically the same as an upcast Bigby's Hand (I know there are fringe benefits to the higher level spell, but I keep looking at that 30 ft movement speed, and thinking it's not gonna do much after the first target or two drops... or just moves away.) Personally, I think Foresight is the obvious pick, but I've never had a game hit 9th level spells, so it's hard to say 🤷

[@comradewarners]

@@guamae so the thing about Foresight with this build specifically is that I already have so many other ways to get advantage that is actually isn’t very helpful, also sadly Warlocks don’t get access to Bigby’s Hand, and even if they did they wouldn’t be able to upcast it. The real best option is True Polymorph, but then it’s not even a build video anymore, I’m just explaining how a CR 20 monster is strong lol. I feel like for Warlock specifically it’s the way to go, but it’s mostly just because I think it looks cool thematically lol

[@guamae]

@@comradewarners Yeah, like I said, I don't have any particular experience with gameplay that high (my highest campaign got to around 16th level when it ended). Just really like the 8h duration with no Concentration. Even though Warlocks don't get Bigby's Hand, Summon Fiend would play the same roll as Blade of Disaster, and I'm sure the party Rogue would appreciate Unending Advantage 😉 (but, similar to True Polymorph, doesn't quite fit into a Build Video).

[@comradewarners]

@@guamae the party rogue would LOVE you lol so true 😂

[@Cirdan345]

​@@comradewarners I'd go with Foresight as well but only because it improves your survivability through advantage on all saving throws and disadvantage on all attacks against you. The other guy is right. Low mobility severely limits the usefulness of the Disaster blade.

[@thecaptainmolina]

I was using elven acuraccy on my 2024 build sorlock but it turns out it’s not included on there 😢

[@comradewarners]

@@thecaptainmolina you are allowed to use it though by the official rules!

[@LoreFoundry]

But DND beyond doesn't allow you to select the option if you are using the 2024 Classes. If you pick a 2014 class they let you pick 2024 content though. "Backwards compatible my ..."

[@comradewarners]

@@LoreFoundry not true with my dnd beyond account. I literally do it in this video 🤷. 13:00

[@hardwire99cdj30]

As for the Shadow of Moil, The heavily obscured condition is due to Darkness and True sight sees through darkness.

[@comradewarners]

@@hardwire99cdj30 it never says darkness. It says, “Flamelike Shadows”. 5E is very specific with its language. It has a secondary effect of turning dim light into darkness and bright light into dim light, but it never says magical darkness. That would mean regular dark vision would see through it and I know that’s not how it works.

[@hardwire99cdj30]

@@comradewarners Incorrect, teh second sentence spells out that you are in darkness "The shadows turn dim light within 10 feet of you into darkness, and bright light in the same area to dim light."

[@comradewarners]

@ that is a completely separate part of it, also if that’s the case it doesn’t say “magical darkness” so that means anyone with dark vision could see you. This is the darkness spell, “Magical darkness spreads from a point you choose within range to fill a 15-foot-radius sphere for the duration. The darkness spreads around corners. A creature with darkvision can’t see through this darkness, and nonmagical light can’t illuminate it.” It has completely different wording and never outright says, “you’re heavily obscured” like Shadow of Moil says. Also there is a tweet from Jeremy Crawford x.com/jeremyecrawford/status/1084904730789212160?s=46&t=NfUwwhzQeFjnZcUnTGltVw

[@Cirdan345]

​@@hardwire99cdj30 It's a separate part of it and it's a completely new sentence. The spell does two separate things. Moreover it's a Necromancy school of magic instead of Evocation as in Darkness or Illusion as in other spells. Plus Crawford confirmed the spell does two separate things and that heavily obscured doesn't come from Darkness part.

[@Cirdan345]

​​@@comradewarners I should've read your comment before typing because that's the tweet I was referring to.

[@leohale6449]

Can you use the Swords Bard to craft a Bladesinger?

[@comradewarners]

@@leohale6449 with the new rules Valor Bard would actually be a better fit!

[@leohale6449]

@@comradewarners Ok lets see a Bladesinger using the Valor Bard then

[@Elemenopi23]

Where is this character planner?

[@comradewarners]

It’s called dndbeyond.com 😄

[@JocZayZay1]

What's he like in your campaign?

[@comradewarners]

@@JocZayZay1 so basically I gave my DM a ton of freedom with my patron. I told him I wanted to be the celestial warlock, but that I viewed that as just mechanics and the patron could be whatever he wanted. I wanted to immerse myself with my characters decision to sign a pact he knew absolutely nothing about. That being the case it turns out my patron is very evil, and survives off of siphoning off people’s souls. We then themed all the healing spells as soul energy that was siphoned previously being used to heal. Also we eventually homebrewed it a bit and we replaced the “radiant soul” feature with Hexblades 6th level feature. (You literally steal someone’s soul and make it into a specter lol) so yeah, a good amount different, but almost the same mechanically.

[@spiritandsteel]

@@comradewarnersI really dig this. In my homebrew setting, angels/celestials are just kinda bad news to begin with. Not “evil” per se (cosmic alignment isn’t a thing in my setting)- just incredibly alien, powerful, and incomprehensible. So a celestial pact is inherently a little scary.

[@comradewarners]

@@spiritandsteelyeah! That makes a lot of sense! That’s super cool!

[@jamesknowles9236]

I was so excited to see this build...until I saw that you were mixing in the old stuff, which is just more of the same crap we've seen for the past 10 years. I'm looking for some fresh, 2024 only builds and this is just a rehashed old build.

[@comradewarners]

@@jamesknowles9236 that’s fair. I mostly just used Elven Accuracy, and then some older spells, but those are allowed within the new rules. Both classes and subclasses were the new ones as well. I do know that some tables are planning to just use to new PHB though so I get it. If I’m not mistaken my build I posted last week only uses the new rules, so check that out if you would like!