The Hexblade Warlock - D&D: Optimized #1

[@DnDDeepDive]

Come join the conversation at reddit.com/r/DnDoptimized/

[@tonyscaletty8705]

Is the m in pamlock for monk?

[@DnDDeepDive]

@@tonyscaletty8705 ha ha - nothing wrong with a Monklock!

[@leenickels6481]

Get a hireling npc bard to put darkness on that Dark Coin Lantern....then summon your Ubber Shadow Hex Glaive of Doom and Destruction.

[@leenickels6481]

Just realized that Bard's name is David Draiman...

[@leenickels6481]

One more and I'm done...This Epic level Bard obviously enchants the Coin and "The Sound of Silence" bellows from the Latern when opened just as the Darkness spreads.....

[@WAMTAT]

Where it all began. You've come so far yet been awesome from the start.

[@DnDDeepDive]

Ha ha Thanks! I have a hard time watching these old videos. So janky. But I do laugh when I see myself say “this is where it all began!” So cocky 🙄

[@BLynn]

Level 1:(see above) [warlock 1 patron & race] Level 2:(@12:29) [warlock 2 eldritch invocations] Level 3:(@12:50) [warlock 3 sub-class] Level 4:(@16:27) [warlock 4 ASI] Level 5:(@17:53) [warlock 5 eldritch invocation] Level 6:(@18:33) [warlock 6] Level 7:(see above) [warlock 7] Level 8:(@25:05) [warlock 8 ASI] Level 9:(@25:26) [warlock 9] {skipped levels 10 & 11} Level 12:(@26:13) [warlock 12 ASI & eldritch invocation] Level 13:(@29:43) [warlock 13] Level 14:(see above) [warlock 14] {skipped level 15} Level 16:(@31:43) [warlock 16] Level 17:(@33:36) [warlock 17]

[@kikrotin]

I've rarely seen so much details and quite relevant explanations about a dnd 5e build. BRAVO (from France).

[@DnDDeepDive]

Merci beaucoup mon ami!

[@Afael42]

Waaaa sa essaye de parler français ici ? uwu

[@justsomerandomassalbinobear]

Just found this and im ready to spent 137 hours to binge every episode, lets go

[@DnDDeepDive]

Ha ha! Welcome! And don’t worry - the audio/visual quality greatly improves. 😉

[@Velvet74]

I agree ! OMG I just came here frome BG3 yes but I'd very much like to try the game (and will) and the diffrence in videos, improvement, though it was already amazing, became godly. I mean, the Charisma, the Skill, the Technique, the Flow... Should I continue? :) @@DnDDeepDive

[@DnDDeepDive]

@@Velvet74 🥰

[@harrisv.stheworld4949]

Will be watching the whole playlist. There’s truly no other build maker who feels so genuine and knowledgeable, but also transparent and focused on fun. Excited.

[@Thetailofthetrident]

Thank you Home Lander for this very informative and helpful video. I find the Warlock class Hexblade not withstanding to be a challenging class. However, I can see how it is an enjoyable class.

[@mountainsage1449]

"Home Lander" - Hahahahahaha! I love it!

[@owatahfuhlaiyem4776]

This guy's much nicer and more intelligent than Home Lander.

[@marky6456]

I really enjoy your voice. Very clear and concise. I love seeing people's builds for classes I've never played, so thanks for this!

[@DnDDeepDive]

Thanks - glad you enjoyed!

[@eldurrp8359]

Thank you for creating this video. It's great to see an optimized pure warlock build along with the math. Most optimization builds contain a multi-class splash into hexblade.

[@DnDDeepDive]

I may be guilty of that myself in episode 6 :P

[@WolfHreda]

To be fair, Hexblade and an invocation of any sort is a huge boon for two levels. Especially if your main class has a crap capstone (a crap stone?) that you don't feel bad about missing out on.

[@destroyerinazuma96]

Spamlock- warlock with the Chef feat

[@DnDDeepDive]

:D

[@swxqt6826]

I don’t get it…

[@alextrollip7707]

@@swxqt6826 spam is a type of food. It's just a silly little pun.

[@swxqt6826]

@@alextrollip7707 K... didn't know that it was a food.

[@matthewdickerson826]

@@swxqt6826 spam is also very gross looking also referred to as mystery meat.

[@biscuitknight5609]

Eyyyyyyyy I finally found the legendary Episode One... I thought it was lost to the ages. ^^ Thanks for all the vids, really enjoying the style of them and your voice is pleasant to listen to. :)

[@DnDDeepDive]

😂😂 thanks - glad you’re enjoying!

[@kevingrandke6075]

Warlock has to be my favorite class to play out of all the ones I have tried and used to level 15/17 this is my main go to with every build. Either leveling into it or starting, flavor is amazing! Keep up the great work. AND YES I have watched all your videos thus far! Much Love my friend much love!

[@JetZV]

10:18 It's a little thing, but the Pike does not get the additional attack from the Polearm Master feat; it only gets the extra opportunity attack range. Even worse, the Lance (despite being a reach weapon) isn't mentioned in the feat at all. Even though the flavor text says "keep your enemies at bay with reach weapons," the only weapons that gain the extra attack are the Glaive, Halberd, Quarterstaff, and Spear.

[@yarinice1]

Well, the pike seems like an oversight so there's no reason the DM wouldn't allow it. The lance shouldn't get the butt end attack, since it's not meant for combat on foot anyway. Attacking with the butt end of it would be ridiculous.

[@Zinfandelthered1979]

Well presented and put together. There are weaknesses to the build like saves, low H.P. and small spell selection. But overall the strengths outweigh the weaknesses.

[@ellisraynor228]

Love all of your unique builds and the way you flesh everything out.

[@Dave004]

I'm sure someone else has mentioned another good race, Levistus Tiefling, give +2 charisma, +1 constitution, darkvision, fire resistance, Ray of Frost cantrip (meh not great not bad), Armor of Agathy's at level 3 (really great for extra HP and dealing passive damage) and Darkness at level 5, both you can cast once per day and again after a long rest. Same with Drow though, you don't "learn" these spells so even if you have extra spell slots you can't use them unless you add them to your known spell list as well, but they're great once a day bonuses. And Tieflings look cool so bonus.

[@haruharaharuko1222]

Was wondering about that. I had already made a character a while ago for my first ever proper campaign, and it's a levistus tiefling. I was wondering how it would fit into this build. Glad to see this comment!

[@russellstanley8884]

At higher levels, I recommend trying to acquire a Staff of Swarming Insects - the ability to put up a non-concentration globe of heavy obscurement that even devil sight or true seeing can't penetrate - so you can have Advantage while using Hex and Hexblades curse. And save on spell slots.

[@torunsmok5890]

How are you not affected by it though?

[@russellstanley8884]

@@torunsmok5890 It's in the description of the ability on the staff. I rationalize it as you seeing through the eyes of the insects, but it doesn't actually give a reason. It just magically works.

[@Johnnyxmanic]

This video is so helpful, Glad I went with a half-elf (drow) Hexblade

[@andrewpaul8732]

Check out RA Salvatore's legend of drizzt stories. The first 3 books are his stay in the underdark with drow elves. Great stuff.

[@RedK11]

The algo brought me back here 🤙 crazy how much you've come on in just 18 months

[@vexten6425]

Some DMs could make things difficult with this build at early levels (Particularly 1-3), considering that you can't cast any spells with a somatic component while you're holding a weapon and shield at the same time. That would be another reason to rush to get a polearm, but as pointed out, you can't use the benefits of your hex weapon feature on a two handed weapon until level 3. Once you've got a two handed weapon, the problem goes away since you can hold a two handed weapon with one hand, and it only requires two when you make an attack with it.

[@syrupchugger421]

I found the first video! Thanks for this guide. I didn't realize just how powerful this is. Thank you

[@SeanSnyder1993]

I'm really enjoying watching these builds. My friends and I just started playing and I'm going all in. I've been reading the books and whatnot, and I've just finished making my new character for our first non-Starter Set story based on this build. Pamela Locke is the breathtakingly original name I've come up with. Very exciting. Anyway, really enjoying the videos and your delivery.

[@leohale6449]

Per PHB Errata the Polearm Master feat also includes the Spear. I like the look of the spear over the quarterstaff. Medium armor, shield, and spear makes me Sparticus.

[@alfonsovallejo2665]

it is a more defensive build, but I wouldn't use it for the hexblade. The hexblade is unique because it can use heavy weapons with charisma, no other class can do this (the battle smith artificer can do it with inteligence, but it just doesn't have the same spell progression) and that means it can use elven accuracy with it. The hexblade has the best damage dealing combo in the game thanks to the elven accuracy + GWM + eldritch smite + hexblade's curse, if you would want a spear and shield it might be better to take just 1 level of hexblade and other class (maybe swords bard) with better defensive capabilities.

[@x-ones]

Dont agree, ypu can go with spear to l3. 1-3 you get the founds to buy scale mail and glaiv and so on. Dosent matter if you choos spear or quaterstaf in l1-3.

[@psoren423]

Randomly got this video in my list and watched your 101 class list to check you out and love what your doing. Can never have enough people who value the diversity of gameplay without purposefully omitting or destroying the rules to make the game something it isn’t. You also do a great job of explaining from differing perspectives how the game play can be enhanced through knowledge of the character/role you choose to play. Nothing worse than the only healer class in the party deciding to be the main DPS and the DM having to manage the story so that the whole party doesn’t die to a random encounter. All while still showing that the game with all its intricacies is a ton of fun and really exercises the rarely used imagination muscle.

[@camusreviews6877]

I made a PAM-lock build where I took the grasp of hadar invocation. When someone enters your 10ft range you can use your reaction to opportunity attack them. With grasp of hadar you can eldritch blast to pull someone 10ft closer. You can eldritch blast to pull someone from 20ft away into your range and still attack them.

[@gameb14]

You can make an opportunity attack when a hostile creature that you can see moves out of your reach. To make the opportunity attack, you use your reaction to make one melee attack against the provoking creature. The attack occurs right before the creature leaves your reach. You can avoid provoking an opportunity attack by taking the Disengage action. You also don't provoke an opportunity attack when you teleport or when someone or something moves you without using your movement, action, or reaction. Not sure if this is what your getting at but you can only use your reaction opportunity attack if the targets own movement is used, pushing and pulling should not work

[@camusreviews6877]

With Polearm Master it allows you to make an opportunity attack when something enters your range, and the eldritch blast can force a creature to enter my range. While it’s unclear whether or not the entering range opportunity attacks granted by the feat follow the same forced movement rules, my DM allowed it.

[@gameb14]

thats fine if dm says it is okay but rules state that even with PAM u dont get AOO if u move the target into your range

[@alfonsovallejo2665]

you would need war caster tho. I think warcaster is only worth taking if you have a shield and other weapon for the casting, is just not worth taking it unless you don't need it.

[@DnDAnalysis]

@@camusreviews6877 PAM only changes the direction that allows AoO (entering your reach as well as leaving). Forced movement still does not allow AoO. I know the wording is a little unclear, but there would need to be a specific clause relating to forced movement to trump the general rule. When wording is unclear remember two things: Specific trumps general. If it doesn't say it, it doesn't do it.

[@cosmoniums5990]

Just started a hexblade warlock, so this is good to have access to

[@rpgdream9700]

so happy youtube algorithm recommended this, bless yo nerdy soul my friend XD XD

[@DnDDeepDive]

Ha ha me too! Hopefully you’ll enjoy the more recent stuff even more 😬

[@Freazerr]

Going into a campaign tomorrow as a hexblade for the first time, this video helped alot. Keep up the awesome work

[@jaeger2780]

How was it?

[@warrenm72]

Darkness works a little differently than you think... So yes allies gain disadvantage when attacking others, however, they also gain advantage for attacking a creature that is blind. This means the attack is made with only one d20. So darkness makes no difference in this respect for darkvision players. For humans, and halflings it would equal the playing field. The major benefit of fighting in darkness is that only you can target individuals in darkness. So for target-specific spells like hold person, neither allies nor enemies can cast them while in darkness. There is another impact on rogues: They can use their bonus action to take the hide action while in darkness. This is best done after the attack, making it almost impossible to be targeted with an enemy attack roll. Your stealth roll just hast to beat their passive perception, but you gain advantage on that roll as you are invisible. Then when the rogue attacks at the beginning of the next turn they have an overall advantage on the attack and apply sneak attack damage.

[@castas115]

i think the creature that is in the dark zone is not blind, he could se whats outside the dark bubble, for example a ranged attacker.

[@RatboyW]

@@castas115 That's not how magical darkness works at all. That doesn't even make sense logically, if you can't see directly in front of you, how could you see a ranged attacker 20+ feet away lol

[@castas115]

@@RatboyW irl if ur on a dark plaxe at night u can se places bright places even if they are far from u. I dont know if magicald darkness works the same

[@atomictree5000]

@@castas115 its magical, so it blocks light from entering. That's why even races with dark vision can't see inside the bubble.

[@orangeflame568]

2 advantages + 1 disadvantage doesn't result in advantage Rules As Written. They just cancel out for neither advantage or disadvantage.

[@matiej]

One of the best, if not the best, hexblade explanation out there. Amazing job!

[@DnDDeepDive]

Thanks!

[@miriamfeldhausen9402]

Looking forward to playing a Hexblade in my next campaign, and thank you for putting this together! Also, for the Tasha's update!

[@DnDDeepDive]

You're welcome! Glad you enjoyed :)

[@SteveWhipp]

Caught the thrown wep build, was amazed so I've subbed and now going through and viewing the rest. Just make sure my players don't see them! :-)

[@DnDDeepDive]

Ha ha - thanks and glad you're enjoying!

[@tomtomlinson2835]

Welcome to the best D&D channel on YT, you're gonna love it.

[@diavoloinc]

Hey, thank you very much for this video. I have hours reading and watching videos of this class. and your video was the one that really educated me as I wanted. Excellent content.

[@Thelastpagangod]

I built one of my characters in a similar way. I wanted to play a warlock but I didn't want it to be a one-trick pony eldritch blast warlock. I went the variant human route, chose to start with 2 lvls of fighter for proficiencies and action surge and then all-in for hexblade warlock. We played from lvl 1 to 8 or 9. One thing I found very annoying was that summoning a pact weapon used your action. That effectively shuts down any kind of switcharoo-shenanigans mid-fight. (greater pact weapon invo from XGtE made it so you could apply your bonuses to a long range wpn and the idea of being able to switch from melee to range with the same kit was very appealing to me (didn't pick EB on purpose)) Overall it was a fun build that was surprisingly tanky and hit like a truck kinda like a variant Eldritch knight.

[@Esodum]

Played a campaign recently, also begun with 2 levels of fighter, then went 3 of warlock to get pact of the blade and replace one of my invocations with improved pact weapon. Then switched back to fighter for 5 more levels, chose eldritch knight and when i hit lvl 7 in fighter i could use my bonus action to attack every time i used a cantrip. I had a bow and a polearm, we played until lvl 12, it was very fun. I could use booming blade + one of the hexblade's smites when i was melee or i could make the bow my pact weapon prior to a fight i thought i would be more useful at range and do 3 eldritch blasts when i hit lvl 11 + bonus action attack + extra attack, it was very fun to crit farm with this build.

[@TsujiCross]

Yeah, I wish IPW let you switch weapon form as a bonus action, maybe it could even have become free once at the start of your turn at higher levels, a la Stars Druid’s Twinkling Constellation feature

[@IkBenNoLife]

Hey man, love the vids. I also had a variation idea i discussed with my dm. So lets say you just won a 1v1 in your darkness. My chosen race was a changeling so if you take the shape of what you just defeated and cast minor illusion on the thing you killed to look like you, you can end the darkness looking like the enemy you fought won and use that against your enemies.

[@DnDDeepDive]

Love this!

[@bigferg1975]

That’s really clever.

[@josiaharaki7310]

Only thing is, isn't there an invocation that allows you to cast disguise self at will?

[@FullCampColby]

Was talking with my DM brother yesterday about starting a new campaign. He asked me what new class char i am going to roll will be. I said I thought a female warlock ala our mean grandmother could be fun. A bitter old crone that just curses and spits and has a general disdain for all things happy. Crotchety snake of a lady. This build you are discussing reminded me of being a kid my brother and i getting into to trouble with my granny. She told us to pick a switch from a pile of branches from our neighbors recently felled tree. My brother and I decided to bring back this very long branch maybe 6 feet long thinking she couldn't spank us with it...😉 Well... she took a look at it , picked it up and broke it in half over her knee... 😳 Not sure what piece was worse. The thicker end or the whip like smaller end. But we both got a taste of each. 😬 I like the idea of kind of using that memory in the build , creation of this character. Mean and jaded old lady with a staff just bonking people on the head and wrecking everything. 😂😂😂

[@nicholasf98]

Got recommended your swashbuckler rogue build video recently and now I'm looking at this for my next character. Going to go check out what the "Tasha Updated" versions look like after this. I currently play at a table full of optimizers so your builds are really going to make an impact. Great videos mate, keep them up and you'll prosper into one of the biggest channels in short time I'm sure.

[@DnDDeepDive]

Hey thanks, glad you're enjoying!

[@VestigialLung]

With the polearm focus, I'm a little surprised the sentinel feat wasn't mentioned as a variant. This character would be on the front lines, and being able to shut down avenues of travel past you is pretty huge, even if there's a bit of a damage dip from losing/stalling a feat or charisma boost.

[@DnDDeepDive]

A strong option no doubt - I was trying to focus on maximizing DPR with this particular build, but no reason why you couldn’t sacrifice some damage for control (or survivability, or utility, etc)

[@DeadpoolAli]

Basically what I'm doing with my char. Polearm sentinel warcaster. Also going with sign of Ill omen (bestow curse) so that it can stack on hexblade curse (neither taking concentration) for added 1d8 necrotic dmg per hit. Adding ≈12 dmg to your equations! Only downside is that it can't jump enemies like hex/hexblade curse can. So it's something you want to maybe reserve for BBEG.

[@Super_Beast124]

Wow, been watching Colby concoct crazy character customizations (say that 3x quickly lol) for awhile now and finally stumbled upon video #1! And what a difference in presentation, he's so nervous in this one, especially in the beginning. He does finally relax and start to sound more like his current self at the higher levels of this build, and its cool to see just how far his style and delivery has come over the course of the show. I'm amazed he didn't multiclass in this episode lol. Anyway, I must admit I missed his warm and genuine "then welcome home, this is where you belong", still makes me smile everytime. Love ya Colby, thanks for all the time, energy, and love you put into these videos even after all this time! Also a request: Celestial Tomelock/Divine soul sorcerer, who's patron is a pheonix. Focus on healing and fire damage. If you ever even see this

[@DnDDeepDive]

Ha ha thanks Michael! I don't often go back and read comments on old videos but this made me smile :). Maybe I should pin it to help people know that I *do* get better with the presentation, eventually :P. Celestial Tomelock/Divine Soul on the list!

[@TsujiCross]

14:00 just a nitpick, Pact of the Blade already makes your weapon attacks count as magical to bypass resistance/immunity to nonmagical weapon attacks, so you don’t really need Improved Pact Weapon for that purpose. (Going off on a bit of a tangent regarding IPW, the +1 to attack and damage and ranged weapon options are still sweet IMO, and getting to use your weapon as a focus might come up for sword and board builds, but I’m not sure IPW is quite worth it in general over stuff like Eldritch Mind, Agonizing Blast, Eldritch Smite and even out of combat utility options like Mask of Many Faces, especially if the +1 part gets covered by getting a +X polearm to make into your pact weapon)

[@andymcdermott2108]

Probably better not to take devils sight until you can pair it with darkness. Since darkness is a 2nd level spell, you cant get it until warlock level 3. Maybe take fiendish vigor at level 2 for early game survivability and then at level 3 when you can get the darkness spell swap it for devils sight,. Important to note if you take Drow half elf you still wont get darkness until level 5. It may not seem like a big deal but depending on how fast you get levels at your table you might be stuck with a invocation you cant use for a long time.

[@sansblueye3876]

You can only swap out invocations on asis

[@andymcdermott2108]

@@sansblueye3876 Im not sure where you got that from. The information I have found says this "Additionally, when you gain a level in this class, you can choose one of the invocations you know and replace it with another invocation that you could learn at that level."

[@sansblueye3876]

@@andymcdermott2108 nope the only thing like that is the eldritch versatility feature which only applies to ASI levels

[@jiminkpen9750]

@@sansblueye3876 the version I have also says this in the description of eldritch invocations: Additionally, when you gain a level in this class, you can choose one of the invocations you know and replace it with another invocation that you could learn at that level. I do wonder if a lot of rules disagreements are due to different printings of books or other online sources.

[@DannyD_GoF]

Love coming back to watch this episode 😍 So far since the start. Congrats.

[@joestumpf3396]

awesome video man. really helped me figure my warlock build out.

[@DnDDeepDive]

Thanks - glad it was useful!

[@Alex413xAlien]

Today thanks to this build (2 lvs of fighter 7Lvs Worlock) I made almost 150 damage against an adult blu dragon and I saved one of my friends from a free fall (He was unconscious) ALL IN ONE TURN WITH ACTION SURGE. All of that being 600 ft. from the ground (turn 1 casted fly on me and the wizard I saved). best turn of my life. SHUT UP AND FOLLOW COLBY.

[@RJWdevelopment]

Quick add-on note - Spears now qualify as Polearms, so if you want to go into battle with a shield and spear and scream, "This is SPARTA!" and kick people off cliffs, you can now do that. Spears don't qualify as Great Weapons, and they do the same damage as quarterstaffs, but for the first few levels, it's a fun flavor. Plus in a pinch you can throw your spear, then summon it back into your hand (which is objectively awesome, though it costs an action). And who knows, you may find that you prefer wielding a shield for more tankiness even in the long run.

[@DnDDeepDive]

spears don't get enough love :)

[@MrBakersdozen2020]

I love it! I need a war magic wizard build asap, it's my fave wizard subclass!

[@DnDDeepDive]

I'll get it added to the queue :). Anything in particular you'd want to see in the build?

[@MrBakersdozen2020]

@@DnDDeepDive well let's go with what I have now, a multiclass war mage/ hexblade build maybe? I'm currently trying to get the most out of the warmage class (the defensive boosts are nice, plus the extra spell slots are lovely) but also get some offensive spells going. Would you suggest dipping 3 levels or six levels into hexblade to make this work efficiencly?

[@DnDDeepDive]

@@MrBakersdozen2020 Alright, I'll add it to the "future episodes" queue :). I'll soon be doing one on a Bladesinger, which is very similar in playstyle, I think. We'll see if that scratches the itch for now...

[@DnDDeepDive]

@MrBakersdozen2020 Alright, I've got a Bladesinger episode up that you might enjoy... it's not quite a War Mage, but I think it's close... I gave you a shout out - tell me what you think :). kzbin.info/www/bejne/nqC9o5mmrLqVfqc

[@destroyerinazuma96]

@@MrBakersdozen2020 Half-Elf would be perfect. 8 13+1 13+1 13 9 15+2 with Elven Accuracy at level 4. It's possible to just take Hexblade for the perks. For instance 8 13+1 14 15+1 10 12+2. Hex 3 / Zard X with a +1 weapon and Booming Blade doesn't sound too bad.

[@kristianwilliams6665]

ah yes my favorite subclass in dnd

[@rgmelkor]

Can't watch your videos without thinking in homelander, you are so similar and also your voice and face expressions. Lol. Great guides mate!

[@DnDDeepDive]

ha ha - thanks!

[@batangbatugan]

I have a Hexblade nova build I got from a D&D veteran we usually play with. Start with Paladin 2 for Divine Smites. then Hexblade 5 for Eldritch Smite, Thirsting Blade and Eldritch Mind, taking Polearm Master at level 4, then Whispers Bard 6+ for Psychic Blades. I have three sources or smites, two of them recharge every short rest (Warlock spell slots and Bardic Inspiration). If I hit with all three attacks, I can use Divine Smite, Eldritch Smite and Psychic Blades on one attack(esp. if its a crit), and then use divine smites on the other two. I'm currently at Paladin 2/Hexblade 5/Bard 10 and I plan to stay at Bard and maybe another level of Paladin and get the Oath of Vengeance for Vow of Enmity. The original build further cheeses it with a Staff of Striking, 2 levels of Fighter for Action Surge, and 2 levels of Grave Cleric for Channel Divinity: Path to the Grave.

[@bobdole4eva1]

I've just come back to this video after all these months because I'm starting a new campaign next week and I'm playing a Vengeance Paladin with PAM and GWM, and honestly I think it might be better than the Hexblade if not at least as good! Having advantage for a minute every short rest isn't quite the same as having it on demand with devil's sight, but it does mean I don't make life harder for my party with Darkness, and being able to Divine Smite on successful hits really spikes the big damage through!

[@DnDDeepDive]

Vengeance Pallies can be great! One thing to keep in mind about this combo, I think: even though Darkness can definitely be disruptive for your party and DM (having experienced it recently in our campaign), it really only lasts for 4 levels or so - at level 7 you pick up Shadow of Moil and that becomes your go to for the rest of your career and everything's peachy. Granted, levels 3-7 can be a really big chunk of some campaigns, so in reality is probably closer to half the characters "lifespan" than it is a fifth of it, but for what it's worth...

[@bobdole4eva1]

@@DnDDeepDive oh dayum, I did forget shadows of moil completely, thats definitely a good point! I think the 2 classes run very similarly, especially as Vengeance Pally gets Hunters Mark at level 3 and Haste at 9, which is comparable to Hex in terms of added DPR...but my big draw is that Divine Smite is just so cool, and Unwavering Resolve being once per short rest is not as good but close enough

[@DnDDeepDive]

@@bobdole4eva1 Right. I'd say the Pally route has better burst potential, with Hexblade taking the lead for sustained damage. Both great!

[@dravencallisto]

Will edit if this gets mentioned later in the video(at around 10 minutes in) but be prepared to piss off the rest of your party if you rely too heavily on darkness. Especially if your DM likes small areas and highly mobile enemies. EDIT: Gets mentioned to replace with some awesome suggestions. Also like that little trick for darkness, it's pretty cool.

[@DnDDeepDive]

No doubt - that's the key reason for switching to Shadow of Moil asap!

[@dravencallisto]

@@DnDDeepDive Forgot to update, sorry! Was going to mention just that. It's definitely the best replacement for that combo, considering darkness is the expendable part of it.

[@DigiCount]

Could also point out that blind attacker vs. blind enemy = cancellation. If your party has some cool thing they wanted to do to get advantage, it'll be a bummer, but anyone under a negative effect will also be making straight rolls as well. It's a finicky thing, but you can use some strategy to determine if you want to use Hex or Darkness.

[@fishbonesinc]

Hadn’t heard about this one. Very great overview!

[@DnDDeepDive]

Thanks!

[@beneteus3833]

I like the variant with 3-6 levels in sorcerer, (starting 1 in sorcerer for con saves) but instead of going with a reach polearm going with spear and shield. Going with Polearm Master, Sentinel and Warcaster Ofc, great weapon master + PAM is more damage.

[@pheonox7197]

Nerdy numbers?! Sounds like my kind of thing.

[@DnDDeepDive]

me.me/i/when-a-player-picks-up-the-dmga-thisisnt-about-oragonsat-c7ecf11fc7a74abfaa72eb9b6bf915f7

[@Mrjosifal]

Newly discovered this channel, and i hate that i love it! there is something about minmaxing that really apeals to me even tho im somewhat against it. Im in the middle of making a hexblade warlock, but i started with a lvl in fighter to get that con saving throw, second wind and a littlebit extra hp. I was thinking it would be cool to find the cursed blade in the campain, just need to make a deal with my DM. Great videos, keep them coming ;)

[@DnDDeepDive]

Ha ha - thanks! I'm actually working on a "team" build right now that involves a slight rework of my Hexblade... starting with level 1 Fighter :). Stay tuned!

[@Mrjosifal]

@@DnDDeepDive Looking forward to it, i will hit that bell icon so i dont miss it!

[@Barkstopper]

Hexblade combo that i love: reaction on a runner, BB smack. Hehe

[@TheWereWolf001]

Im playing with this atm and i just hit lvl 4. Its doing amazingly!

[@mickschilder3633]

For the AC, the treshold for great weapon mastet is generally 12+to hit bonus

[@zeevorourke6876]

I like this more as an NPC. I could see them as a villain assassin the party must contend with. Infact, give them 3 levels of rogue for assassinate and sneak attack damage stacked on all those advantage attacks in magical darkness. Burst damage for daaays. Plus still ranged attacks with crossbow or Eldritch blast as needed. Maybe some mobility spells, evasion.... That's a bbeg right there

[@yharleththegrandobserver236]

And then everyone starts using aoe spells...

[@EtherealLethargy]

Maybe not relevant to theorycrafting, but when considering practical application in a party, the Darkness/Devil's Sight combo is a great way to piss off your entire party. Its 15' radius means you're blanking a 30' circle, not just your target; your front-liners are likely also caught in your darkness, and your back-liners can't target anything in that huge area... You can mitigate all of that by using Shadow of Moil instead: all the benefits, none of the drawbacks. But it's a 4th level spell, so 7th level at the earliest.

[@EtherealLethargy]

I see you addressed this at around the 15 minute mark (long video, hadn't gotten that far)

[@markusvest2373]

I have put my darkness spell on my "void star". It is a small steel ball on a 35 foot chain on my hip. As my interaction portion of my turn, I throw the ball the 35 feet. I cast darkness on it. Thus, I have the enemies in darkness all the way up to my 5 foot square. And with polearms, I am attacking the enemies at max reach, and hitting them while they are disadvantaged by the remaining 5 foot of darkness, and still an additional 5 feet away from me. and I xan see them plainly with my devil's sight, granting me an advantage on my attacks.

[@zomarleyonwriting8322]

Wanting to do this build with Crossbow/SS expert over PAM/GWF. Not sure it’ll be nearly as powerful, but I hope so! The campaign is only for 3 months from levels 5-10, so I’ll go variant human. Excited!

[@DnDDeepDive]

Should work great :)

[@habanerohombre2708]

Late to the party, but I'm playing a Levistus Tiefling Hexblade starting this weekend (my level 2 dwarf cleric was killed by our barbarian after he nat 1'd). I like him because he has an extra cast of darkness at level 5.

[@KPlay-oh3fd]

I have decided to try to make all of your builds in BG3. I will also make them on DnD beyond at the same time. I am using mods to get stuff like the Hexblade Warlock and a Feat at level 1, and for my companions, I am using your builds from your video for them. I have the Party Limit Begone Mod on, so I will have overlap in class with Wyll, but I think it will be fine. Let’s see how far I can get!

[@DnDDeepDive]

Looking forward to it!

[@ticozayas6430]

Would love to see a variation of this that does not rely on the darkness spell... to me the darkness spell is not team friendly, sure it's great if ur the only one fighting, but if u have a party u are effectively making everything harder for them by casting the spell to boost just yourself.

[@andresromero5409]

maybe something like the prone condition along with the slasher feat and summon shadow spawn spell: dispair form (or flanking rules if available), faerie fire spell, restrained condition with something like a three level dip into sorcerer for web and pair it with crusher or paladin, oath of vengeance for the channel divinity. Ultimately, a race from eberron like mark of shadow with greater invisibility

[@Herosanoj]

You can switch out Darkness for Shadow of Moil. Also makes you able to switch out Devil's Sight for whatever Eldritch Invocation you'd like.

[@skullkrusher-dx4kg]

Paladain warlock is one of my favorite multiclasses.

[@TheRobversion1]

ditto. to be specific vengeance/conquest and hexblade.

[@skullkrusher-dx4kg]

@@TheRobversion1 oathbreaker/hexblade for me but ancients paladain is also fun, there's just so much you can do.

[@TheRobversion1]

@@skullkrusher-dx4kg sadly my dm disallows oathbreaker (no evil pcs). But yeah theorycraft wise i'd be excited to play a fighter 2, oathbreaker 7, hexblade 1.

[@skullkrusher-dx4kg]

@@TheRobversion1 oathbreaker isn't necessarily evil a character design I like the idea is of a fallen king who broke his oath to his God after the god forsake him. I really like hexblade 3 oathbreaker 7, the one less asi kinda sucks but you get both of your paladain auras and a heavy weapon.

[@TheRobversion1]

@@skullkrusher-dx4kg ah i see where you're coming from. That's old flavor of the paladin. The 5e paladin doesnt get his powers from a god. Its from an oath. A paladin is beholden to principles/philosophies/ideals/tenets in 5e. Not a god. That's why the DMG insists an oathbreaker paladin is evil by RAW. its not because you worship something evil now and use their power for good. Its because for a paladin to become an oathbreaker they have to be consistently breaking their oath and doing something evil. I would prefer a heavy weapon as well and would eventually get it as i progress through hexblade levels (as i also want eldritch smite). Its just that the power bump action surge and an extra fighting style gives is too good to delay.

[@waltflood3224]

After 2.0 had to come back and check out the OG. Quite a bit of growth in 2 yrs

[@Snowy123]

Pamlock Variant Human, Warlock, Hexblade. STR: 8 DEX: 14 CON: 15 +1 INT: 8 WIS: 10 CHA: 15 +1 Lv1: Feat: Polearm master; Spell: Hex Lv2: Invo: Devil's sight Lv3: Pact Boon: Pact of the blade; Invo: Improve pact weapon Lv4: Spell: Darkness; Feat: Great weapon master. Lv5: Invo: Thirsting Blade Lv6: - Lv7: Spell: Shadow of Moil Lv8: ASI: CHA LV9: - LV10: - Lv11: - Lv12: Invo: Life drinker

[@johnja4922]

love the video, well explained and to the point!

[@DnDDeepDive]

Thanks glad you enjoyed!

[@IRdatank]

The idea to lantern your Darkness is fucking incredible

[@DnDDeepDive]

ha ha thanks - I wish I could take credit for it :P

[@SinclairLocke]

Most DMs wouldn't allow it. The build is strong enough already.

[@IRdatank]

@@SinclairLocke It's how the spell works normally, so I don't see how a GM is going to disallow this usage. If your problem with the build is that it is too powerful, you would need to nerf something about it or disallow it entirely. Not letting someone creatively use a spell the way it's written which is inevitably to the other party member's benefit is the worst way to keep a character in check.

[@Blizzard_the_Pilot_Wannabee]

Hey! I have a bit of a challenge for you, if you think it’d be interesting, maybe make a build that uses only things from the Player’s Handbook? Possibly some sort of spell caster/ranged build would be interesting! I really enjoy your content, and I’ve been a subscriber for a little while now, I hope you’re doing well, and good luck dude.

[@JS-uk7du]

Thanks for the vid home lander. Very informative.

[@DnDDeepDive]

😉

[@varietasVeritas]

Hexblade 6/ aberrant mind sorcerer 14 Pamlock with quickened eldritch blast for ranged attacks.

[@M0DERNSAiNT]

currently running a tiefling warlock hexblade fighter with sentinel and polearm master - pseudotank build is workign out well

[@ShardPF2e]

Did you mention Eldritch Smite? I watched the video and I don't recall it coming up. An amazing invocation for this build allowing you to nova damage a single target - wait until you get a crit and then drop a spell slot on smite for double damage. This works really well with the Hexblade curse double crit chance - and Elven Accuracy... the more dice you roll the more chance you have of landing that 19 or 20. I have seen this build before, and a ranged version of the build as well. I think I actually prefer the ranged longbow/sharpshooter version because it's one feat less and the party unfriendliness of darkness can be reduced by not needing to be on the front lines, plus you'll take less damage which will prolong the average concentration spell duration and reduce the need for Warcaster. Half Drow is definitely the way to go - I would actually go Elven Accuracy first (it also helps with Eldritch Blast) and then go Sharpshooter later. Eldritch Smite also works for ranged weapons - smiting foes from hundreds of feet away is really fun. The ranged version has less attacks and therefore less damage but in actual play will likely keep the spells going longer which will probably balance things out. (Half) Drow elves get faerie fire as well, another nice advantage + Elven Accuracy synergy.

[@DnDDeepDive]

yep, did a basic Blastlock build for episode 6 with a twist of taking lots of Sorc levels. That said, both of these are altered by Tasha's, so I've updated them a little bit in my latest episode. I *do* mention Eldritch Smite in my Yin/Yang build but the problem with it, obviously, is the super limited number of spell slots you get as a Warlock, making it a "use only in case of emergency" type ability, but a powerful one in a pinch, no question.

[@ShardPF2e]

@@DnDDeepDive I haven't reached episode 6 yet ;) The Bladesinger one popped up first, I subscribed (of course!), and I'm now working my way up from the beginning. Expect more comments :P

[@DnDDeepDive]

@@ShardPF2e Thanks and enjoy!

[@colinrivas3750]

That's a sick Snowbird shirt. Utah is a sick spot.

[@-hunt-6225]

Hey Colby love your vids and I’m about to play this build! Would you advise Shadar-Kai over Half-Elf Drow or Variant Human now with the new books that have released since this video?!

[@christopherbailey3406]

Love the build. Been running similar things myself. Only problem is that shadow of moil and darkness take concentration, but so does hexblade curse as far as everything I have read shows. And since you cant have more than 1 thing concentrated on, you lose out on a lot.

[@christopherbailey3406]

Nevermind. I gave just been making this way harder on myself I guess.

[@nerfyew]

@@christopherbailey3406 Seems like you've figured it out a bit. A funny story actually, hex blade curse is not a spell which means you can use it on the same turn you cast a leveled spell i.e. shadow of moil action + hex blade curse bonus action on one turn. Makes for really easy setups against big bads.

[@Lilobot22]

If you take sentinel, when someone enters your reach, you can hit them and they stop and can’t attack you if they have 5 foot reach.

[@sammorris1906]

I've just got this image of this like, A Human gladiator in studded armour/breastplate, unassuming but a legendary arena fighter, stepping out onto the field with quarterstaff in hand taking down enemies like it's nothing. Being faced with a tougher opponent, their eyes turn black, the staff is enveloped in shadows to become a glaive or other reach weapon, darkness seeps out of them and you just hear this violent desperate scream, then silence, as the darkness receeds and they'red left there, victorious, surrounded by defeated opponents... Very satisfying.

[@wizard380]

How did i not find this channel until now ?

[@hallo123456a]

Which are the 3 recommended feats, that are mentioned in the Video? Just to be clear. 1. Polearm Master 2. Great weapon Master 3. Sentinel?

[@DnDDeepDive]

Warcaster :) - Admittedly, thanks to the addition of the Eldritch Mind invocation, this is less necessary today than it used to be.

[@hallo123456a]

@@DnDDeepDive in which book does the eldritch mind invocation appear? Also xanathars? I have only the playershandbook + startet Set at the Moment.

[@TheRobversion1]

@@hallo123456a tasha's cauldron of everything. you can find free copies of these books (pdfs) online.

[@DnDDeepDive]

@@hallo123456a Eldritch Mind is new to Tasha's Cauldron of Everything.

[@everythingknife8763]

I know it's a little late but you can use a hand crossbow. Being a Warlock gives you proficiency in light armor and simple weapons. Hexblade gives you medium armor, shields, and martial weapons. At 1st level you have proficiency in everything except heavy armor. A hand Crossbow can even be your pact weapon because it lacks the two-handed property. Crossbow expert still works for Hexblade Warlock but it is a weaker option.

[@crownlexicon5225]

15:50 Fun fact, your allies don't actually have disadvantage. It's really stupid, but while it's true that if you can't see your target, you have disadvantage, it's also true that if they can't see you, you have advantage. The advantage and disadvantage cancel out since neither can see the other and thus becomes neutral.

[@alfonsovallejo2665]

I have 3 questions for this build: 1- Why polearm hexblade if you can do the same with sharpshooter and crossbow expert (using a handcrossbow) at a distance? You don't really have any defensive capabilities other than the shield spell so it would be better being far from danger. 2- All this combo matches the eldritch blast spam unless you get a really good magic weapon, and even if you do, you are wasting 2 feats and accuracy (GWM gets a -5 to hit) just to have a slight damage edge from something you already have and you can do from 120 feet away; the only shtick is eldritch smite (which is bonkers when you get lv 5 slots, is just too powerful on a crit with that extra 12d8 force damage on a hit...) but is severily limited (you waste 1 warlock slot to buff yourself so you wouldn't get more than 1 extra slot to smite until lv 11). 3- Why this instead of a sorlock? Ok, the sorlock has limited sorcery points for quickened spell but at higher levels you get plenty of those and you can even save them by using spiritual weapon to put your bonus action on use (just for divine souls sorcerer but come on, it is the best option for a sorlock). So, you can do well with a GWM polearm hexblade but can it compare with 8 eldritch blasts and a way better spell list?

[@alfonsovallejo2665]

Jeremy crawford responded that a creature with truesight or devil's sight can see you (but you still don't need it because the spell says you can see through).

[@joseph6889]

love the content, in the Hexblade chart why are you not increasing the Charisma modifier after lvl 12 from +5 to +10 from life drinker? Not sure if I might be missing its addition somewhere else

[@DnDDeepDive]

Thanks! I account for it in the calculations, just don't bump it in the chart (since your Charisma isn't doubled, just the bonus your receive on attacks is)

[@GMToolbox]

What are you thoughts on taking 3 levels of fighter at some point. Get that Con Save Prof and Great Weapon Fighting for your fighting style. Maybe take Battle Master Archetype and some good Maneuverers. I was thinking Disarming Attack, feinting attack, Riposte. When would be a good time to take these? I was thinking after level 8. Could also take the first 2 levels early and take the 3rd level later. Also, can get heavy armor. But you would need higher str. This would be good if you are rolling stats rather than point buy assuming you roll really well.

[@DnDDeepDive]

That's exactly what I did when I updated the build for my Yin/Yang combo episode and "How Tasha's Changes everything part 1" - check them out for details! Admittedly, at the time I was saying go Rune Knight but then it got nerfed so, while it's still good, Battle Master might be better depending on if you prefer sustained damage over expendable resource damage/utility...

[@coregoon]

26:30 - Wait, I'm confused. Doesn't the two builds now have the exact same Charisma? That is 18.

[@coregoon]

Ooop, never mind, I was under the impression that the Ability Score Improvement feature was always +1 to two stats.

[@Chaddington1119]

Hey, I'm just staring to get into DnD and was interested in this build. I've watched many of your videos and noticed that you mention going custom lineage in one of them and taking a couple of fighter levels in others. In addition to the Eldritch mind invocation, would there be any concise guide on how you would set up the build for present day. Your videos were great and helped me to understand buidling a lot. Cheers.

[@kyled6242]

I would like to offer you some tips on playing Hexblade Warlock If multi classing is allowed take your first level in fighter, this grants a large number of benefits 1. Better saving throw proficiencies. Normally you get wisdom and charisma which is not great. Wisdom is your 4th highest stat at best so your character is terrible at saving throws. Fighter gives strength and constitution allowing you better concentration checks for spells and have a common saving throw that your good at. 2. Better starting equipment. With warlock your can start with leather armour, a quarterstaff/spear, and a light crossbow and bolts worth 45gp when sold. 3. A fighting style. Fighting styles are very important and strong on weapon users, and since hexblade fights as a half caster it's good on them as well. For shield take dueling. For heavy polearm take defense. Taking your first level in fighter will delay your multitrack attack invocation until lvl 6, however thats still in line with sword bard and bladesinger. You also already have two attacks due to polearm master and cantrips like eldritch blast scale with character level so you won't really be missing damage. At level 5 you really should pick up eldritch smite. I know a lot of people don't understand why so I will explain. Eldritch smite: Once per turn when you hit a creature with your pact weapon, you can expend a warlock spell slot to deal an extra 1d8 force damage to the target, plus another 1d8 per level of the spell slot, and you can knock the target prone if it is Huge or smaller. Eldritch smite has no activation cost so it is very action economy friendly, it auto knocks prone if the target is huge or smaller (if the target is flying it drops 60 feet instantly), melee attacks have advantage on prone enemies, and lastly it works just like divine smite meaning you choose to add it to an attack after it hits. With hexblades curse doubling you crit chance, you save eldritch smite for when you crit and with a 5th level spell slot deal an additional 12d8 damage on that attack. Your basically swinging a truck at your target. It is almost useless to go more than 12 levels in hexblade warlock. lvl 13. The only good 7th level mystic arcanum is crown of stars, but that uses a bonus action to attack which you can already do. Crown of stars is only good on bowlocks. lvl 14. Master of hexes needs a bonus action to move hexblades curse so the turn you move it you miss out on a 1d4+20 damage attack. Your next turn hexblades curse would only grant an additional 15 damage, so it would take 1.45 turns to make up for the lose of damage. Hexblade warlocks are arguably the best single target combatants in D&D 5e so they should really just curse the biggest bad guy and work on them, moving the curse from one small fry to another is inefficient and not really "Optimized". lvl 15. You get a an eldritch invocation which is great but it is not worth the two useless level before it. After 12 levels in hexblade warlock you should multi class into Bard: college of swords, college of whispers (great for bowlocks) Fighter: battle master, arcane archer (good for bowlocks) Paladin: oath of vengeance, oath of conquest, oath of glory, oathbreaker (note hexblade warlock is incompatible with oath of devotion) Sorcerer: Divine soul (note this is my personal choice)

[@kyled6242]

This got all jumbled up when I posted it, but I think it's fixed now.

[@DnDAnalysis]

Master of hexes does not require any action to move your hexblade's curse.

[@victorcabritagomez4037]

Does Shadow of Moil count as magical darkness?? it's specified in the Darkness spell, but not in this one, so you won't have advantage against a creature with darkvision

[@TheRobversion1]

it doesn't count as magical darkness. you will have advantage because you are heavily obscured. its basically a better darkness.

[@jonnyWisconsin]

@@TheRobversion1 for 150g a crack it better be

[@TheRobversion1]

@@jonnyWisconsin a little fun fact, if a creature has blindsight or tremorsense they will ignore the obscuring of shadow of moil. darkvision, truesight, see invisibility, any light effect, devil sight however won't work on you.

[@GMToolbox]

A thought on this build If you are doing the Half Elf, what if you take Great Weapon Master at 4, Elven Accuracy at 8, and Polearm Master at 12? Up until level 12, use a great sword instead of a polearm. Will this be better then the path you suggested? Or even taking Elven Accuracy at level 4 and GWM at 8. That way you can get that 18 Cha early.

[@DnDDeepDive]

The math says no :) I mean, if you want to because it sounds fun and cool, then you should, but from a pure numbers perspective: taking PAM early gives you one more attack per turn than you otherwise would get. When you add your Cha bonus (even if it's just +3) and, more importantly, your GWM +10 to hit, that extra attack is *way* more important than the damage from the weapon (2d6 vs. 1d10 for polearm).

[@GMToolbox]

@@DnDDeepDive Was thinking the same. Just wanted to run it by. I had done a similar build in the past with the Half elf Drow and took Elven Accuracy at 4 and GWM at 8 while using the great sword and it wasn't bad. Did 136 in 1 round with an eldritch smite on a crit. So applying that to this character should be fun. I got the gold to start so went with Quarterstaff and Shield and scale mail. I assume I drop the shield when I get my glaive but hopefully pick up half-plate.

[@andrewpaul8732]

Zariel tiefling blades bard at level 5 on a crit would deal 2d6+3 (weapon) + 2d6 (double inspiration die + 4d6 Radiant (from branding smite) Haven't finished this video yet but I'm wondering if you can output more than 8d6+Modifier by level 5

[@urethaneslanger]

love the build, and love the shirt! im also in slc

[@DnDDeepDive]

I love the bird!

[@rexs4245]

Can U do pact of the blade Hexblade multiclassing 1 pleas

[@wikiwing348]

I am so tempted to take agonizing blast and or eldritch adept

[@moriyasanae8130]

oook, this is a cool build imagely aswell the Spear of Shadow would be cool if DM even support the playstyle and give some extra fashion magic item :3

[@Mr911superstar]

By 16, I think its more optimal to take Resilient Con than war caster, at least for holding concentration

[@MsNathanv]

Especially, considering you're going to pick up Foresight in 1 level....

[@allanbankovic778]

Remember its only the human with his two feats that does that high damage... HE first do this at level 8