(animated) 5E D&D Eldritch Blast?

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Eldritch blast warlocks 5e d&d animated spellbook dungeons and dragons animation stories.

[@theranger3318]

I love how Sacrafell has a big doofy fish face

[@TOAST-FACEKILLAH]

The Ranger33 do not mock the old ones you fool!!! They could be listening.

[@ryonkemp5980]

But you think that that fool can make a warlock, the true Prince of the Depts shall show you what true power is! For Dagon!

[@theguywhokillsfenrir9977]

Slarkrethel*

[@isaacthek]

Except you can't fire a large crossbow every turn. Or twice a turn with twinned spell.

[@zavexcapricious2519]

Isaac Kotlicky yes, and Eldritch blast can be fired multiple times in one casting, gaining more shots as you level, and with agonizing blast invocation you add your charisma mod to each attacks damage

[@MasterLagoz]

I can see a warlock using a crossbow as their eldritch blast. They made a nefarious deal with the local blacksmith for the power.

[@hannessteffenhagen61]

Except Warlocks don't have proficiency with martial weapons, so they could only use a light crossbow (1d8). They'd have to take Pact of the Blade with Improved Pact Weapon or have the Hexblade patron to use a Heavy Crossbow. At level 3 the crossbow is actually better than EB if you are pact of the blade, took IPW and a lot of Dex, and at level 5 it's still better if you also take Thirsting Blade. By level 11 the only way it could keep up though is if you somehow found a really powerful magical crossbow. So yeah, if your campaign never goes high level using a crossbow instead of eldritch blast actually makes some amount of sense if you rolled both high dex and high charisma.

[@sashashadowhive6128]

@@hannessteffenhagen61 sounds like fun. sadly my group is much more combatoriented and not so much RP or puzzle solving. I also admit this is my very first DnD Session so what do I know :P

[@AbsoluteMongoloid]

@@hannessteffenhagen61 It doesn't matter. With Pact of the Blade, you can choose a Heavy Crossbow. Technically, that means it counts as a melee weapon now, and can be combined with a Ruby of the War Mage as an Arcane Focus. Now you can shoot Eldritch Blasts from a Heavy Crossbow. Use Bolts at low level and Eldritch Blasts at high level.

[@hannessteffenhagen61]

@@AbsoluteMongoloid Nothing about Pact of the Blade turns a Heavy Crossbow into a Melee Weapon. Yes, you can use it as a focus if you get Improved Pact Weapon and summon a Heavy Crossbow with it (although of course if you haven't taken Improved Pact Weapon you couldn't summon a Heavy Crossbow at all).

[@AbsoluteMongoloid]

@@hannessteffenhagen61 Allow me to quote the books. "You can choose the form that this melee weapon takes each time you create it. You are proficient with it while you wield it." This means that the Pact Weapon counts as a melee weapon. However, there is also this clause: "You can transform one Magic Weapon into your pact weapon by performing a Special Ritual while you hold the weapon." It does not specify that the Magic Weapon needs to be a melee weapon, meaning that if you can find or craft a magical version, you could use a Magic Crossbow and still have it count as a melee weapon. If I were the DM, I'd let you simply choose the form of a Crossbow if you could draw out a working mechanism as proof of concept. Crossbows and Swords are both made from metal and wood, so there isn't much in Lore reason for it not to be functional. The arrows it fires would not be magical, however, because I know that the concept is slightly game-breaking.

[@lancerd4934]

Me: Oh Great One. I pledge my service and eternal soul to your ineffable might. Nyarlathotep: Great. Here's a crossbow, but you can't see it cos, it's like, a _mind_ crossbow. Kthxbai.

[@LeviathanTamer31]

Gotta love how if you don't know txt speek, that last line is completely unreadable.

[@zekrua4006]

@@LeviathanTamer31 ah, yes, the Eldritch God Kthxbai (pronounced kuh-thox-buy)

[@Skyblade12]

Is that like a mind axe?

[@scienceface8884]

MIND BULLETS!!!

[@VestedUTuber]

Really? Ya picked Nyarlathotep? The guy was always stingy like that. You gotta sign on with the King in Yellow. Ya know, Hastuur.

[@tribbianiEXPLODER]

Sure it’s a crosbow... an invisible, weightless, infinite ammo, auto reload crossbow.

[@lordcabbage1285]

That does Force damage, one of the best damage types in the game. Pushing a creature 10-40 feet and reducing it's movement speed by 10 feet using invocations can be. . . . . something else.

[@thecookiemeister5374]

Oh and it deals more damage as you level up, right? Pretty sure it does that.

[@sumdud2129]

@Henry Cooper at level 17 you get to fire as many crossbow bolts as a fighter at 20th level, with the crossbow expert feat (to ignore the loading property) Level 17 warlock needs no such feat and can fire three hundred feet without disadvantage. Awesome right? I wish more people played warlocks

[@mrscechy8625]

@@sumdud2129 yeah it's really powerful. At level 17 if you hit with all 4 blasts, you do 4d10+20 force damage, averaging at 42. As a cantrip.

[@Stormwovles]

@@mrscechy8625 you also have to take invocations to make eldritch blast good. Putting all your eggs into one basket kinda shtick. And aside from the added charisma a firebolt from a 17th level wizard also does 4d10 to one target. But they also have a much wider array of spells and the ability to cast more than 4 leveled spells in a single combat. If you run a game where short rests are plentiful warlocks are amazing, especially early, but they quickly get out paced by full casters. Eldritch blast needs to be strong to make it able to hold them up after they use their 2 spell slots in a single combat

[@TheDisturbed6666]

I really like rewatching this video whenever it pops up in the recommendations. The story captures a style of lovecraftian horror in less than 3 minutes and the comments are always filled to the brim with all sorts of arguments why, no an eldritch blast is in no way comparable and indeed far superior to a mere crossbow. All while the video clearly states that how a character is built should not overpower the way the character is roleplayed.

[@lucase.crusader1196]

👏😂

[@himedo1512]

It is a really shit comparison though. Like no debate factually wrong kinda bad.

[@professornope4792]

Warlock: gain mediocre power through soul loss, mental torture, and near death Paladins: gains godlike power without even using a god

[@Cptbravo221]

And if one works hard enough and has the misfortune having said God murdered become one

[@FoxHound-ut1hu]

Must hurt that eldritch smite is the best smite

[@Cptbravo221]

its always gonna be same max cap of 5d8 with divine smite max at 6d8 if undead

[@robertaperoglio]

Clerics: devoting their life to a god but when called, said god will respond and do pretty much anything

[@cyansy]

@William Sheridan u mean jod?

[@attemptedunkindness3632]

Had a buddy who wanted to play a Hexblade, but was adamant he didn't require a patron, thought the patron mechanic was somehow worse than pally restrictions. It was turning into an argument. Fine. No spooky demons or eldritch entity to commune with. I start writing up a character sheet, he asks me what that is for, I just grin evilly and say "Your sword, of course, Mr. Hexblade" He is now as paranoid and cautious of his powers as any self-respecting Warlock should be.

[@thnecromaniac]

To be fair, for a cantrip to be equal in power with the Heavy Crossbow is pretty good, also no need to waist time to reload, or deal with ammo shortage. And then there is the higher level bonuses.

[@Unanimoustoo]

Plus Eldritch invocations that can further augment it. Like 600 range with Eldritch Spear and the Spell Sniper feat. Or it can push people back 10 feet and reduce their movement to 10 feet.

[@barrybend7189]

Unless your the arcane archer.

[@lastthursday1416]

Warlocks should be able to burn their own health (or risk going insane or something) to increase damage on all cantrips or spells. I always think it's weird that Warlocks are just normal dps casters when their whole shtick is making pacts with elder gods.

[@darkhart1234]

It's why I feel some aspects of Blood Hunter are more in line with actual warlock lore stuff, especially stuff like Lycanthropes.

[@chrisbotha6462]

As DM I make the patron test the Warlock by occasionally dealing massive damage via Eldritch Blast but potentially blowing his damn arm off. Because making deals with devils is fun for everyone

[@wandererwerewolf477]

Well, insanity is up to the player. Beyond that, warlocks don't usually sell their souls. They make an agreement to SERVE the patron, either now or when the patron calls them.

[@galensturupcomeau1242]

You could do this by taking the envoker wizard's overchannel and make it a warlock class feature. Then, make warlocks cast with constitution, and have each spell cost say 1 hp per spell level. To obtain power, one must make sacrifices.

[@Brockstacks]

I've always pictured eldritch blast as a sort of tentacle-like arcing beam, looking similar to the Hypernova trail from rocket league color wise

[@Nioureux]

I thought it was similar to lightning

[@davos6129]

I picture it differently, depending on the patron. What would a satan style devil like Asmodeus have to do with tentacles?

[@victorvirgili4447]

I imagined it like a ball of black fire

[@NeflewitzInc]

They do the same damage but you left out that you get multiple casts of EB in line with martials leveling up their extra attacks. That's why it's so powerful, along with the pushing/pulling, +cha damage, extended range invocations.

[@graluvack9760]

NeflewitzInc on top of that crossbows don’t typically get multiple attacks

[@Seffyzero]

And to add to that, you also *need* a crossbow to fire crossbow bolts. You don't need ammo or a weapon to fire eldritch blast, so there's no need to purchase anything, nor can you be disarmed.

[@heykak]

but martials get magical weapons.

[@chuckles819]

Ezraen you can *always* be disarmed. Can't do somatic components without arms.

[@SupLuiKir]

Crossbows get multiple attacks with a feat.

[@phantasydragon696]

"They're the same" Ya but you got a cool back story with 1.

[@FishBola1991]

I remember our warlock getting both the push and pull invocations shortly before entering a collapsing under-dark temple of some sort and turning the ensuing battles from serious challenges into an episode of loony toons. She pushed and yanked numerous dangerous enemies into the cavernous void circumventing triple digit HP and obscene AC’s with the unyielding cruelty of gravity.

[@vampireraef]

This worked really well for my Paladin/Warlock during an airship battle

[@shannymuffin1317]

Warlocks are a class for roleplayers, you pretty much have to work around rules but they are veeeery good at what they dk

[@arthurhutchinson2755]

Fuck the Eldritch Blast and Fuck Heavy Crossbow - Grab a Fighter Lvl 1 + Warlock (Hexblade) Level whatever Grab a Crossbow, Hand +1 and Crossbow Expert (Enjoy Never Reloading) Grab Pact of the Blade, apply it to your magical Crossbow, Hand +1 so you can use it as your pact weapon (Since it is a magical weapon) and HEX your crossbow with Hex Warrior. Grab Improved Pact Weapon. Grab Thirsting Blade to be able to attack twice with your pact weapon. Grab the Hex spell. Grab Lifedrinker. Grab Archery as your Fighting Style Fill your inventory ONLY WITH CROSSBOW BOLTS - On your turn: HEX to get that sweet 1d6 Necrotic Damage and use it on your bonus. Attack with your hand crossbow +1 with the Hit DC of: +1 (Either the +1 of the weapon or from Improved Pact Weapon), +CHA Modifier(Mine was 4), +Proficiency Bonus (Mine was +4), +2 Attack Bonus w/ Range (From Archery) You get 1+4+4+2 = 11 to hit. BUT WAIT, you got sharpshooter, take away -5. You get +6 bonus to hit. - Let's say you hit with your 1d20+6 For damage add: 1d6 Necrotic from Hex, 1d6 from your Crossbow Hand, +10 from your Sharpshooter Feat, +4 for CHA Modifier, +1 for it being magical or from improved weapon pact, +4 Necrotic Damage from Lifedrinker. Congrats, you've done minimum of 21, max of 31 damage implying the attacker is not immune/resistant to necrotic damage and implying you have the proficiency bonus of +4 and CHA+4 - BUT WAIT, YOU ATTACK AGAIN FROM THIRSTING BLADE So implying you succeed on your 1d20+6 attack: Minimum of damage of two attack 21x2 = 42 Maximum of damage of two attacks 31x2 = 62 - That's your first turn. Now on your second turn you now get a total of 3 attacks. Two from thirsting blade with your action, one from your bonus from Crossbow Expert. On this turn, you now can deal a total of (Implying no immunity/resistance to necrotic and all 3 bolts hit) : Min Damage - 21 x 3 = 63 Max Damage 31 x 3 = 93 - Enjoy having your DM brutally murder your character in the most agonizing way and banish you from the table. - (Not including critical hits)

[@7heSH4K]

Matey we can go further, consistent damage is cool but we can add mad alpha damage and crits for cheap. - Firstly we use our curse feature to add our prof of +4 to damage to every attack. Once per long rest but screw the boss monsters eh. Additionally we throw in eldritch smite for some big boi alpha damage , a decent 6d8 or 12d8 on a crit (at our level). Finish with be an elf or half elf for the elven accuracy feat for that triple threat advantage and you will rarely miss. Now you combo triple roll advantage with curse which allows crits on a roll of 19-20 and you are swimming in crits. - This addition allows you to infuriate your DM further by insta gibbing their most beloved NPC bosses.

[@arthurhutchinson2755]

dude wtf you're evil, more evil than chaotic evil

[@KingNedya]

@@arthurhutchinson2755 Chatoic evil isn't more evil than other evil alignments, it's just a type of evil.

[@athanasios3019]

good build exept i would reverse it lv1 Warlock+ lv x Fighter. Get crossbow expert and sharpshooter. Go battle master for precision (I went monster hunter for theme both works). Use perision every time you miss with sharp shooter and you get your build but with free +30 damadge per round.

[@aldoushuxley5953]

or use oathbreaker 8 hexblade 12, get polearm master, be a fallen aasimar. You deal ~100 base damage, plus your smites on crits (19-20)

[@tytuspearman4117]

You could get the spell sniper and the eldritch spear invocation for a range of 600 feet for eldritch blast, which you do at level 2 if you play a varient human.

[@ATMOSK1234]

Too bad you rarely see a fight coming from that far away.

[@tytuspearman4117]

Hawk familiar and high wisdom solves that problem and it can be used at short ranges too, it just means that hiding is ineffective

[@swe113]

@@ATMOSK1234 neither does the enemy!

[@BordrKing]

So I finally cracked it. The way to think about the warlock is they are a form of magic fighter, not a full-blown spellcaster. Eldritch blast let's you have magic extra attack giving you the same number of attacks as a fighter at each tier and your spell slots are like your occasional special abilities which is why they refresh on short rest just like fighter abilities

[@BordrKing]

If you wanna be melee, go hexblade or at least take blade pact and thirsting blade. Either way you have similar versatility to a fighter but all your shit is magic

[@GruntJoe0341]

@@BordrKing And, if you want to be even nastier, play as an elf or a half-elf, and take the Elven Accuracy feat. You'll love it when you have advantage.

[@chrismanuel9768]

With the right evocations and feats, that can be a 600' range 4d10+Cha AoE that can accurately strike a target behind 3/4 cover with a 30' knockback... every. single. turn.

[@glenmurie]

Warlocks can be powerful and potent members of a party, but they need to take a different approach from most characters. Yes, most of the time you're going to build on Hex+Eldritch Blast. It's just easier all around. Sidenote: have a home rule that players can replace the damage type of Hex with Psychic if they don't think Necrotic fits with the character theme. Warlock players need to approach their character like they're Batman. Aside from looking cooler it lets you understand just what Warlocks are best at. Filling in the gaps. Don't try to optimize. It's a trap. Make your character personality and background fun and entertaining, because the most powerful character is one everybody at the table likes. Then take the weird stuff for your Invocations and Spells. Spider Climb, Eyes of the Rune Keeper, Beast Speech, Eldritch Sight, Mask of Many Faces. Mostly useless in the eyes of an optimizer, but every other adventure out there has crucial clues hidden in obscure languages, and no other spell caster will prepare Spider Climb, but I did and it paid off. You have so few spell slots spare after casting Hex you need to go for weird utility spells that will be invaluable once every several to a dozen encounters. Like Batman and his utility belt of weird gadgets. Everyone will mock you for taking Shark Repellent until you get attacked by sharks.

[@Lytbringr0]

This! I take a couple Cleric levels. Combine that with the short rest for all spells and you have weak heals for emergencies.

[@glenmurie]

@@Lytbringr0 And if you take a Celestial patron take Sanctuary and Protection from Evil/Good, because no cleric will prepare them, but on the rare occasions they're needed the whole party loves you.

[@dappercharmer9176]

I remember in a campaign where I played a warlock, I was not told what my patron was. I knew the type, but not the specific name. My character had also forgotten his history before reading cursed knowledge that made his pact. Several sessions in and the whole party began finding out history about my character, because he turned out to a scholar that had been married to one of the heads of a library we were investigating

[@therjschannel904]

That sounds really awesome! Definitely keeps the party guessing and invested in the story

[@austaryxthelastofthesane3870]

Say the line warlock! “Eldritch blast” *YAAAAAAAY*

[@itsleepsintheday]

In my party there are two Warlocks, myself and a good friend of mine, the rest of the party typically want us to "say the line" so the other warlock doesn't bother and just says "I cast eldritch blast"...I, on the other hand, have dedicated my time to saying any description I can to avoid saying the spells name just to prove a point haha.

[@johankaewberg9512]

I made a deal with my bank. They own my soul. The power they granted is… a home. Not a bad deal!

[@SarSaraneth]

Yes, the same damage as a heavy crossbow. That is to say, a Warlock can point at someone and hurt them as badly as a hit from a crossbow that requires a winch to load.

[@wirelessg18]

And do it multiple times in a turn with no feats or spent resources

[@Darasilverdragon]

Broke: Making a deal with Cthulhu Broke: Making a deal with Mephistopheles Broke: Getting *EPIC GAMER PRANK'D* with cosmic powers by an archfey with unclear motives Broke: Making a deal with Gabriel Broke: Rubbing a lamp Broke: Making a deal with Dagon Broke: Making a deal with Acererak Woke: Making a deal with a sapient dwarven urgosh with a deep and thick scottish accent, who demands you make at least one elf cry per week in return for your powers And this is why hexblades are the best, thank you for coming to my TED talk

[@lukedeakin7124]

Making a deal with a sentient sword that just wants you to tell it information, which can include stories

[@Jeagan2002]

Eldritch Blast gets additional shots, up to 4 I believe. So a cantrip doing 1d10+CHA per beam, and you can attack up to 4 targets in a single attack? That's not terrible. Not to mention spell sniper doubling your range with it as well, for a grand total of 600ft of force damage goodness xD

[@NoFaithNoGlory]

It also negates cover(almost) with that feat. It also makes a wonderful combo with Armor of Agathys and Hellish Rebuke. Once I defeated a Wyvern being level 5 just by throwing everything at him then letting him hit me. It took him 8 turns to reach me, by that time he was on 18hp. Bite attack got all the armor damage and allowed me to throw hellish rebuke and kill him before he could use the stinger.

[@Kaipyro67ALT]

And if you want to play a warlock that doesn't rely on Eldritch Blast... good fucking luck. One of my players is doing Blade Pact warlock and she likes getting into the fray but it's really fucking hard when you have low AC and even with decent Constitution, a d8 for HP isn't very good. Rogues can get away with it because of sneak attack, but there's a reason why every other heavy melee character (Barbarian, Fighter, Paladin) has at least 1d10 for their health. Additionally I am playing a spell-heavy warlock and I still go down a lot because of low HP and Eldritch Blast. Warlock is... weak. Armor of Agathys and Hellish Rebuke are great spells! But if a CR 6 enemy lays into you with all of its attacks, you're going down regardless of if you have Hellish Rebuke or not. (Also you only have two spell slots, so good luck escaping if Hellish Rebuke doesn't kill the monster)

[@DrMDHyde]

I get, your soul, you get an unflavored super laser you can spice up however you like.

[@lornbaker1083]

Combine agonizing plus the knock back. You no longer have an Eldritch blast. You have an eldritch shotgun! Now isn't that groovy?

[@jasonrobinson401]

Considering it fires multiple beams at higher levels, I'd say pretty groovy indeed 😎👍

[@MySpaceBarsBroken0o]

Not all 'locks sell their soul. Some might be lucky enough to have a fae sugar daddy to shower them with magical power if they occasionally provide them with "entertainment", others might just siphon power off of eldritch horrors living in the 5th dimension so far above us they don't even notice, or maybe big G decided His devout servant deserves a pat on the back for keeping the faith.

[@destonnight5444]

To be honest I find joy when I find warlocks who's patrons aren't evil uncaring bastards

[@sabliath9148]

@@destonnight5444 I had a concept for a Warlock who may in a roundabout way be his own patron. The idea goes with this: Celestial Warlock of a being that's slowing working its way up to full godhood. This being is Lawful Neutral, desiring order and balance. The thing is, this being's essence was fragmented long ago, and the Warlock possesses one of these fragments with within his body. Bu granting the Warlock his powers, this Celestial is strengthening itself. I'm actually on the second incarnation of this Warlock now, as the game the 1st version was in ended due to the DM having scheduling conflicts.

[@destonnight5444]

@@sabliath9148 I always liked the idea of gods reincarnating as player characters, that could work like a divine soul sorcerer, or in this case, a celestial warlock. I've had an idea for a fire and music god reincarnating to a bard, I should probably go through with that idea some time

[@lieutenantkettch]

I have a Scourge Aasimar Warlock whose angelic guide and Celestial patron are one and the same. And whom he suspects may actually be his father.

[@it_buddy]

I like playing a hexblade pact of the blade warlock. With the right invocations, you can use an action to summon your hex weapon as any simple or martial weapon you want, including ranged weapons, and it's always +1 and does magical damage. And you can smite with it. You can eldritch smite and branding smite at the same time, at range. And you get hexblade's curse, which is great.

[@e4ehco21]

Can you elaborate I'm playing a warlock and trying to optimize a hexblade pact of the blade

[@it_buddy]

@@e4ehco21 Take Improved Pact Weapon at level three, and take Eldritch Smite and Thirsting Blade at level five.

[@foxmccould1]

See, this fucking guy gets it. I'm playing a greatsword warlock with a 2 level dip in fighter and im immediately the god of combat just for being the best short rest fighter around....and im hardly a fighter.

[@foxmccould1]

@@cyberpunkalphamale I mean you can or jtalk to your dm about using eldritch energy for ammo. it makes sense considering its your pact weapon. unless you aren't a fun DM.

[@foxmccould1]

@@cyberpunkalphamale I mean yeah its essentially "build you own 1/2 caster" and its fun. I think Undying Light can be broken but its UA so it can be broken.

[@flood256]

yes it's a large crossbow, but it's a large crossbow with infinate ammo, that deals magical damage of the force type (outside of bear totem i don't think anything is resistant/immune to force) at 300 meters with no penalty, can rapid fire at later levels and if you really spec into it will shove the target back and slow them (great for keeping high threat targets away just the little bit longer, so you can keep blasting them (RAW unless i missed an errata with repelling blast you can completely undo your targets movement at level 11 assuming all 3 shots hit as it is not specified that the effect can only trigger on a target once (so 3 hits =30 feet of pushing away)

[@Nahlimer]

You forget the bane of all warlocks. The Helmed Horror. Immune to both necrotic and force. The arcnemisis of all warlocks.

[@clairetellkamp6253]

@@Nahlimer Ah yes, I also remember exclusively fighting helmed horrors.

[@metageek7878]

To be fair at higher levels you add your charisma mod to every hit with eldrich blast. And it's unique in that each bolt is a separate attack roll in one turn so if you land all 4 bolts on your turn its 24 minimum

[@hoid4121]

They do the same until 5th level when your lovely crossbow will be doing 1d10+dex and eldritch blast is doing double that and hitting multiple targets

[@ekkoree5464]

So very slightly stronger than a level 5 martial with a longbow, except they also prolly have a fighting style, maybe more.

[@euducationator]

But if you're playing a martial class you'll probably be getting multi-attack at the same levels so it would still be the same.

[@noahblack914]

@@euducationator Only if they take the Crossbow Expert feat. Otherwise the crossbow's Loading properly prevents it from working with Extra Attack. But they're obviously going to take Crossbow Expert at 4th if their weapon of choice is a crossbow, especially for this specific reason.

[@gratox1730]

@@noahblack914 But that's the point - the martial is giving up an ASI just to match the power of one cantrip, and come 11th level only the fighter will be able to equal it.

[@vidyagains8535]

@@gratox1730 The fighter would be able to get an ASI to match the warlock at level 6 and would have a better chance to hit if they picked the archery fighting style. A lot of people overestimate how powerful eldritch blast is, it's a damn good cantrip but it's still just a cantrip. I think the real power of the warlock comes from getting their spell slots back on a short rest, assuming you're able to get 1-3 short rests off in an adventuring day.

[@KujouCh]

I often equate the warlock to an incredibly inept, morally ambiguous megaman. He can do many things, but his primary function is shoot.

[@kabobawsome]

Personally, I hate that they use Charisma. It just makes them some sort of weird sort-of full caster paladin mechanically, and makes no sense thematically. Dark pact for knowledge, yeah. That makes sense for working off Charisma. Tbh, I'd have accepted Wisdom over Charisma. Charisma just makes no sense at all.

[@KujouCh]

It's not exactly wise to sell yourself to some higher, or lower in some cases, power. While the paladin uses their Charisma to be an upright leader, the warlock uses their's to levy favor from their patron so they can continue to use the patron's power.

[@KappaKiller108]

@@kabobawsome think of it this way. The one giving you power considers you a dumb insect no matter how smart you are. They are always better than you. So the only way you'd ever catch their attention would be by being a particularly interesting dumb insect. And the only way they'd give you more is if you interested them, so naturally people with high "intensity" and force of personality would be the only ones the beings would interact with. And because, to them, your strength and intelligence are so miniscule the only thing they can appreciate is your personal character

[@kabobawsome]

@@KappaKiller108 You can personally justify it anyway you want. But with the whole forbidden knowledge thing going on, it was clearly meant to be Intelligence. Indeed, it was during the 5E playtest. But the old "3.5E was best" players (the same ones who, to this day, whine about 4E), whined about it not being the same as in past editions, so they changed it.

[@Nazo-kage]

At 1st-4th level it might only deal 1D10, but once you reach 5th level each attack becomes two shots. You could focus them on one person for 2D10 or separate targets, And in all honesty as it is plain without any added benefits of a warlock Eldric blast fits nicely in the “setback“ category of the damage severity by level chart. Plus if you wanted to give a player warlock a little extra umph with that cantrip, just give them an Homebrewed item, like: Amulet of (insert patron here) An item they could find in a treasure chest that while in their possession doubles the amount of beams produced when they fire an Eldrich last.

[@wizardtim8573]

That'd be a game breaking thing. Adding Cha or Dex bonus to damage (stacking with the bonus from the invocation, so potentially double Cha bonus) would give it a more sane boost. Otherwise your Warlock has more attacks than a DWing fighter.

[@Nazo-kage]

@@wizardtim8573 how about if the item could only be used three times a day? (Or maybe even 1D4 charges per day) Plus the more beams shot out The more versatile it gets, The fewer the targets the more damage is dealt, but the more targets there are the less overall but the more you can hit.

[@ninjaofnerds7602]

hexblade warlock pact of the blade, eldritch smite. 1d8 per spell lvl dmg ontop of weapon attack, knockdown against huge or small with no roll to resist. can be used on ranged attacks if using upgraded pact weapon. warlock can do insane damage its just gotta be the focus, instead of the usual utility bits. also eldritch blast gets multi attack without needing it as a class feature (which also means ur getting that charisma dmg on each hit) so you have the damage output of a fighter with crossbow feats without taking any feats

[@hinty6424]

Except, as a Warlock you get virtually no spells. If you are wasting your precious spell slots on doing a little extra damage on one attack, you picked your spells badly. I mean, I know refreshing your spells is much easier in 5th Ed, but even so, those spells are invaluable for dealing with things your sword cant.

[@ninjaofnerds7602]

@@hinty6424 when you can turn said sword into a heavy crossbow with a perminant +1 and it counts as magic for resistance, get an extra attack off invocations, get the reload feat. before any mods to damage or setting a target for your hex you are now doing 2d10+2 dmg + spell level d8, and it knocks them prone. you get dex mod, charisma mod and a 3rd dmg stack from hex on that if i remember correctly? you can still queue other spells for use, smite doesnt need to be prepped its just an alternate use off of invocations. warlocks also regain spells on a short rest instead of a long. warlocks are weird for 5e, most of the classes are simple, warlock feels a little closer to actualy building a class so its easy to miss a lot of its weird bits

[@curnott6051]

If we're going to be honest, a Hexblade Warlock is one of, if not the, best Warlock Patron in 5e.

[@icarosro]

warlocks? No. Just hexblade, the other pacts are just weak

[@ninjaofnerds7602]

Theres other builds for other patrons. iirc built right elder god patron was pgood and there was another patron that was capable of outdamaging hexblade. couldnt tell you which one or how, havent touched 5e since i moved to playing pathfinder

[@novadrake9232]

Depite eldrich blast having the same damage output as a heavy crossbow the cantrip has no need for ammo just your level and actions (while you have to replenish your cross bows ammo and have to reload as often as a sniper)

[@overlordmadness1548]

If you play the game traditional then yes. Unfortunately, most group especially newer ones don’t keep track of their ammo.

[@gregorymerryman7207]

good point. Also eldrich blast scales in targets not dice so when the fighter with the heavy crossbow gets exra attack and cant use it because of loading the crossbow it will balance out in the warlock's favor

[@novadrake9232]

@@gregorymerryman7207 unless the fighter gets crossbow expert

[@novadrake9232]

@@overlordmadness1548 agreed and I'm 2 months pre pandemic new (haven't been playing AL every week since my DM has work pulling him in for overtime and shift covering if not that it's family matters ) and still learning

[@gregorymerryman7207]

@@novadrake9232 good point but the warlock can get the charisma added to damage with an invocation and use that asi on pumping charisma or grabbing a different feat like war caster

[@ScrewBall105]

There's also the fact at later levels Eldritch Blast shoots additional beams that are all separate attacks, each one can crit and every beam benefits from Agonizing Blast. Eldritch Blast is like pushing a fridge down a steep hill; it starts pretty slow but gets crazy after a while.

[@josiaharaki7310]

With Crossbow Expert, a fighter with Extra attack scales virtually identically. To me, what's interesting is the pull and push aspects for area control...

[@benjoffe948]

@@josiaharaki7310 And that Agonizing Blast applies to each individual beam, so you get a total of something like a +20 bonus to your Eldritch Blast once your Charisma is maxed out and your cantrip scaling is done.

[@Feasco]

But you'd look silly shouting *ELDRITCH BLAST* whilst firing a crossbow

[@kparish05]

Gnome de Plume actual....

[@flygawnebardoflight]

But what if you enchanted your bolts or crossbow to make firing it be an eldritch blast?

[@nolongerdude]

This is funny cause Yeah damage is the same But is that all? Nah You can push creatures away and that's enough to make a difference Now with a crazy build that utilizes like 3 classes you can become a eldritch factory There are even fun builds around it

[@willwhite6628]

whats this about an eldritch factory?

[@raidurincarnate]

Crossbow requires a feat to fire more than once a round. Eldritch blast gets extra beams as you level. At first level, sure, they're pretty much the same, but after that, eldritch blast wins out, hands down.

[@thomasscroggs3080]

raidurincarnate This is true, but with the feat comes with extra features, such as being able to fire in melee without penalty.

[@Xsuh]

Thomas Scroggs Not all games even use feats, though.

[@thejohnrahm]

raidurincarnate A character using Eldritch Blast is thought to be optimal by me. No other characters come close to the Polearm Master/War Caster/Grasp of Hadar, and Draconic Bloodline (Spellcasting/Quickened Spell/Flight) Warlock, who's actually a Sorcerer, who's still a Warlock.

[@thejohnrahm]

@@Xsuh In that case, the Heavy Crossbow Fighter is... how to put it? Screwed.

[@dylanembry8492]

I appreciate that the main character looks like Lovecraft.

[@Strix182]

I'm sure I'm not the first to try to harp on this point, but we can't forget that Eldritch Blast is a leveled Cantrip, so you get those sweet, sweet additional beams at 5th, 11th, and 17th level. Meanwhile, a Heavy Crossbow has the Loading property, so even as a Level 20 Fighter with 3 Attacks per action, you can still only fire one bolt unless you use an action surge. Also, I filtered on D&D Beyond to check this -- there are only TWO WoC official monsters with Immunity to Force damage -- Helmed Horrors and the big scorpion golem from Waterdeep Heist. There are no monsters with resistance. It's more or less the beat-all damage type, so it has a lot more utility than a non-magical crossbow. I do get that the crossbow quip was mostly for the humor, I had a good laugh as I do with all of these videos. The thought just occurred to me, and I know it would have tormented me if I didn't let it out in a comment. Don't mind me.

[@anachronity9002]

Well you can also take crossbow expert as a feat to bypass loading and use crossbows without penalty while adjacent to a foe. But lets be real, by 20th level you can find a +1 bow. 1d8+1 damage on average is equivalent to 1d10. Also a level 20 fighter has 4 attacks, not 3. Buuut the best part of eldritch blast is that you can take your 2nd level of warlock and from then on know that your eldritch blast will continue to scale regardless of where else you may decide to multiclass. And of course there's also quicken.

[@TheVigilante2000]

Yeah, and a Heavy Crossbow is a giant weapon that can be broken, lost, needs ammo, not concealable, hostile looking, needs time to get ready, is a high end missal weapon, etc. or you could just use your finger to zap'em.

[@marshmallow3200]

@@anachronity9002 In most campaigns you'll have a lot better than a +1 bow at that level.

[@anachronity9002]

@@marshmallow3200 yeah I was making a point using the absolute minimum of what you would have. Not to mention archery style giving a +2 to hit, or the sharpshooter feat...

[@jacobgraemoor5778]

I think alone, warlocks can be a bit underpowered, but it seems to synergize with other classes super well. Maybe its true power is in being a super good multiclass tool.

[@TrentTroop]

Warlock/Bard is super fun.

[@FullmetalOrk]

Speaking as someone addicted to playing warlock as well as multiclassing, yes you are exactly right.

[@jacobfreeman5444]

It is a large crossbow that weighs nothing, can have lots of additional perks stacked on it, and almost nothing will resist. Also will never need ammo. I know ammo is likely handwaved most of the time for the sake of everybody's convenience but it still bears mentioning. Honestly I feel the biggest concern about eldritch blast isn't damage but flavor. How do you make what will likely be the single most used option your warlock will utilize not mind numbingly tedious? So you should have a game plan on how you are gonna rp using it. Of course one could say the same of more mundane weapons like a sword...but examples of how to make hitting things with a sharp metal club interesting come to mind easier.

[@GVencislavov]

The large crossbow can have a ton more perks attached to it, like the spells rangers get, the maneuvers of the battle master, the sneak attack of the rogue. Arguably the best being a fighter. Plus you can actually get a magical crossbow that is +1/+2/+3 or does extra 1d6 elemental damage, or magical ammo for it. Perfectly comparable, and down to preference whether you want to make a pact with an extraplanar being, or the pact that you will lug a backpack the size of a cart with you :D

[@aquamarinerose5405]

God I wish warlock was good, it's so freaking cool... but I'll take my sentient sword and shield that yells "Fuck" when I swing it and be happy I guess.

[@eleanorcarpenter37]

Well tbh that's why you play warlock

[@aquamarinerose5405]

@Svellsongur Granted I haven't played much but from what I understand of warlock. Bladelocks other than Hexblades are generally pretty bad, and that purely depending on whether your campaign uses a lot of short rests or long rests you'll either be pretty decent or totally neutered.

[@ccshade7294]

eldritch blast basically makes it so that warlock is a caster class that doesn't require a specific subclass to be able to extra attack

[@trialnerror3643]

Paladin: "one of the monsters escapes quickly kill it before it can warn the rest of the horde" Warlock: "don't worry, I got this" *wirls up Eldritch blast* "EL-DRITCH-BLAAAAAST" *Rolls a 5 and misses* "hmm, fuck" Paladin: "Nevermind I got it" *pulls out heavy cross bow and one shots the goblin* Warlock: "What, you killed it just as easily as I would've with Eldritch blast" *depressed look on his face* "I indebted myself to a cosmic horror and ancient power to get my Eldritch blast" Paladin: "And I spent 500gp plus 50 on bolts for mine" *hefts crossbow on his shoulder* "Maybe next time explore your options before selling your soul to a demon"

[@RedwoodTheElf]

The same damage, but no range penalty. If your target is in range, you have the same roll to hit at your maximum range as you do close up.

[@strionic770]

Can't forget that EB is a spell and that each individual beam can slow, push, pull, and/or trigger Hex on your enemies. It's actually really crazy when you factor in its mechanics beyond damage. And that's at-will, without ammunition, producable without a weapon. It's pretty nuts.

[@Squall598]

Difference between eldritch blast and a crossbow? You can hit eldritch blast at 1200ft. Take the 300 ft invo take spell sniper and then 3 levels in sorcerer to double its range to 1200ft. My DM ended up banning it when I combined it with "VISIONS OF DISTANT REALMS" as with a little preparation I managed to snipe every guard off a wall at 1200ft.

[@Adu767]

That works until you run out of sorcery points, then you have to do it from 600ft which is within longbow range.

[@Squall598]

@@Adu767 True but 5 sorcery points is more than enough for a single long range encounter. Also another down side to this is that it requires a few levels to even start doing it. A con to the longbow range is that it is at disadvantage for the longbow shot.

[@CitanulsPumpkin]

So you're not talking about a warlock then. You're talking about a sorcerer with a 2 level dip. If you need to take five levels on an entirely different caster class to min max your damage then you're no longer talking about how OP one cantrip is. You're talking about how OP min maxing and multiclassing is.

[@nightxsabbath]

@@CitanulsPumpkin A fair point that this setup requires multiclassing, but Visions of Distant Relms requires 15 levels in Warlock to get.

[@chunkytheclown3422]

The sniping shenanigans you get get up to with Eldritch Blast are definitely fun, but the real difference is that it can fire multiple beams that massively increase your damage as you gain levels (especially considering Agonizing Blast works for each separate beam) and don't need to encumber yourself with a heavy crossbow and bolts that require you to reload in between shots. Between its damage and customization potential, Eldritch Blast itself is without a shadow of a doubt far superior to a basic heavy crossbow, the real issue is that it's nowhere near good enough to make up for the other lackluster Warlock class abilities and paltry spell slots/spell variety when compared to other classes as a whole. To really put things in perspective, a Fireball cast with the minimum level 3 spell slot against more than a single enemy does only slightly less total damage on average if the enemies fail to resist it than Eldritch Blast does when cast by a LEVEL SEVENTEEN Warlock with Agonizing Blast. Obviously a level 17 Eldritch Blast and Fireball both have different strengths and weaknesses, but the idea that someone could even think to compare a spell used by most level 5 casters to anything used by a level 17 character is just ridiculous.

[@Bloodblade70]

Eldritch Blast an extra 1d10 (+Cha with agonizing blast) every 4 lvls, each of which can be made against different targets. combined with Spell sniper, which ignores 1/2 and 3/4 cove, and doubles the range of ALL atk (not Sv) spells (600ft with Eldritch spear)(or, an attack with booming blade, reach).

[@its_sii]

That does it, I'm making a Warlock Ranger.

[@jamesbg314]

Booming blade doesn't always work with spell sniper, it's a melee spell attack, not a ranged spell attack, only works if your weapon also has reach.

[@Bloodblade70]

@@jamesbg314 Spell sniper states that it doubles the range of any atk spell. Booming blade is an atk spell with a range of 5 feet. Shocking grasp is an atk spell that requires touch. going by the book, this would give a melee weapon (such as shadow blade) reach, of course it is ultimately the DM's call as to whether or not it is allowed.

[@TheDisturbed6666]

It's amazing how people still debate the strength of EB, and you are right, the additional rays and the invocations make it in most cases more effective than a heavy crossbow. But that's not the point of the video. The point is to not reduce the warlock to a single cantrip, but to embrace the idea of a warlock being required to pledge himself to a higher, possibly malicious, power, an incomprehensible being to whom you now owe a debt.

[@BluegrassGeek]

Except... you really don't. The main key to a warlock is that you didn't study for your magic & you weren't born with natural power: you've bargained for it, stolen it, or accidentally stumbled upon it. There's tons of other options for how you got your power. Perhaps you "stole" it from some powerful being (you're like an ant stealing some sugar, if you get caught you're squished, but most likely you'll be gone & they won't even notice). Or partaking in a ritual gone wrong, exposing you to a magical conflagration. Or sleeping in just the right spot under the meeting point of two ley lines during a full moon.Pretty much whatever you'd like.

[@lordbuss]

@@BluegrassGeek The last options are closer to sorcerer.

[@aldoushuxley5953]

@@lordbuss which is coincidentally what your warlock will become after two levels

[@KaldonisPondo]

this episode hardly does the cantrip any justice...

[@tineresnt5505]

Kaldonis 600 ft range wasn’t even mentioned

[@theapexsurvivor9538]

@@tineresnt5505 nor was for shots per turn.

[@thepurehealer1279]

@@theapexsurvivor9538 fighters can get 4 atks with the crossbow with one feat tho (remember, fighters will almost definitely be having feats anyway) not to mention crossbows can also do that range... I think warlock is fun and all but a buff might be in order

[@trevordavis6830]

I think the point has less to do with the cantrip itself and more with how mechanically boring and weak Warlocks are. They have such great flavor text that could make for a ton of cool backstories. The idea of signing a contract with Cthulu for ancienct eldritch power sounds so cool and awesome, and then the only useful thing you get as a warlock is the best cantrip in the game, which while good, still overall makes you a very boring and weak class since you're sacrificing a variety of cool and powerful abilities for one powerful ability.

[@thepurehealer1279]

@@trevordavis6830 one powerful ability that isn't even the strongest of ranged options ×_× for that matter if any person should have ranged attack power why the hell is it the warlock? The class that subverts magical rules to tap into strange powers the one that is the generic shooty pew pew class

[@ZJasmineDragon]

A large cross bow that doesnt need ammo, to be loaded, and can be fired twice per turn...

[@blookarakal4417]

I thought they could only be fired once per turn

[@araccoonstolemyradiator]

No one cares about ammo, loading is literally a free action, and using an action surge or metamagic (or a magic item) to cast it twice per turn does not contribute to eldritch blast's strength, a crossbow is just better at

[@philosophicaljay3449]

A LV5 Battle Smith Artificer using a large crossbow using the Repeating Shot infusion (thus never need ammo, never need to load it, and it does an extra +1 damage from the infusion). Add sharpshooter and it is yet another +10. If we assume, for the sake of argument, a +5 Int or Dex modifier, the damage is now is now 2d10+32, or an average of 27dmg. This is higher than average damage to a LV11 Warlock's Eldritch Blast with Agonizing Blast, also assuming a +5 Cha scare (3d10+15, averages 24). Now, if we are talking hypothetical ways to maximize damage even further (Sorcery Points on Eldritch Blast, 10 levels in Evocation Wizard to add Int to damage, etc.) then I think one also has to consider hypothetical ways to maximize the large crossbow damage. While I am sure that eventually the Eldritch Blast will win out at high levels, it is in no way superior to a large crossbow in the low and mid levels. Furthermore, if you choose to instead use a hand crossbow and pick up the Crossbow Expert feat you get 3 attacks when you pick up an extra attack (regular, extra, feat's). If you take 2 levels of artificer (or have the party's artificer just infuse YOUR weapon) and primarily play as a fighter, then it can get even crazier. Potentially attacking 4 or 5 times and being able to double that with your action surge. Let's say LV 20 Fighter, crossbow infused from someone else, sharpshooter, crossbow expert, action surge. That is , potentially, 10d6+160 (unless I am forgetting something), and I am sure I am forgetting something there. So while Eldritch Blast is great and it is easy to make it great, a dedicated crossbowman can easily compete. Now, I may well be forgetting some things that can make Eldritch Blast even better, but tbh I almost never play to min-max things or look for how to get the most damage, I like DnD for the RP.

[@araccoonstolemyradiator]

e ohno, having to use a feat to buff your weapon that you were already building around anyway.

[@araccoonstolemyradiator]

@@mediocre8045 a feat is not a balance tipper compared to the other advantages and disadvantages they have over each other.

[@D0cSwiss]

This is something someone else mentioned online that I agree with, it kinda feels like Eldritch Blast is meant to be the equivalent of a fighter's attacks, being their go-to attack. Warlocks are extremely limited in how much magic they can use, so whatever cantrip they have is gonna be something they heavily rely on. Personally, I kinda wish it was just a default thing ever warlock got, cause there's not a lot of other options that really work for them.

[@ExatedWarrior]

That's exactly it. Warlocks are fighters with cantrips.

[@quinmanley4928]

I had never even thought before that parties would just ignor short rests in favor of long rests. In every game I've played, and therefor dm'd, long rests are just the players resting throughout the night and sleeping. So they couldn't just decide to take a long rest in the middle of the day. They would have to take a short rest, press on, or waste half of a day if they wanted to wait till night and take a long rest. I suppose I have a habit of giving my players incentives to not waste days like this though. They usually have a deadline or some sort of resource drain that accrues daily.

[@aldoushuxley5953]

it depends on how you play. Many have more "cinematic" fights, so one big monster, instead of multiple easier fights. This is also why wizards are considered op by the way. I have yet to see a wizard use a cantrip. I don't think that is what they were designed to do

[@MrAlice613]

Yeah, eldritch blast does the same numerical damage as a large crossbow, but you’re ignoring the fact that it’s force damage. Out of all the monsters in the Monster Manual, only one is immune to force damage. That’s free force damage at level 1. That’s damn good

[@jordaosantana9607]

AND damage progression that only fighter have, AND Eldritch invocations

[@PokeTheThing]

How many are immune to crossbow damage? My bard now has questions

[@BioroidPilot]

@@PokeTheThing plenty are resistant and if it isn't a magic crossbow then a good few are immune :P

[@guitarhausdoesntknowwhatac3285]

@@BioroidPilot Even if the crossbow is magic the bolts are what does the actual damage and thus need to be enchanted in their own right, further due to the rules for ammo, only 1/2 of them can be recovered after the fight and thus are going to eat a whole in your budget unless you also have the magic quiver. Which means you need a plethora of magic items to match a level 1 warlock.

[@BioroidPilot]

@@guitarhausdoesntknowwhatac3285 actually pretty sure if you use a magic bow or crossbow that counts as a strike with a magic weapon think of the bow passing some magic into a arrow or crossbow into its bolt, then firing the enhanced thing at the target.

[@DetectiveMekova]

The warlock class is a really good class to multiclass into. Specifically Hexblade. I have a fighter battlemaster who is level 7, and then he embraced this dark corruption that slowly consumed his mind. He is now unstoppable and the reason is because Eldritch Blast with that Invocation that brings people closer to you basically turns me into Scorpion from Mortal Kombat. Eldritch Blast > Action Surge > Menacing Attack If they leave, I get an attack of opportunity. If they try and fight, I can use Riposte if they miss. 10/10 I love this combo.

[@buggoth]

Eldritch Blast is force damage, though...which is seriously good in 5e. Scaling + invocations makes it pretty good, and with something like War Caster, EB can be solid. The problem is that the warlock should capitalize more on EB.

[@fhuber7507]

Lets say you start with a fighter that has a decent charisma. . He’s in battle with something and gets his tail handed to him. 0 HP in one shot. then fails 3 death saves. . The party is too low to have the funds to buy a revivify even if they could get him to a high enough level priest in time. . Fighter is on his way to the 39th level of the abyss for an eternity of torment and, his spirit is pulled aside. . “Dude. Want to make a deal? I can fix this. I can get you out of here and give you some power. I just need you to do something for me.” . The fighter discusses it a while and they come to terms. Fighter signs on the dotted line. . 6 seconds after the fighter appeared to take his last breath… he stands up with a flash of reddish glow in his eyes… “Come get some!“ Eldrich Blast! . Just this once… its an autocrit… max damage.

[@shinethief3785]

I have a feylock in a gritty realism campaign. My patron and I have a sort of Romeo and Juliet thing going on with her disapproving father on top. My payment for my eldritch blasts amis just writing sonnets and poems at the end of each session. It's been a lot of fun

[@link090909]

Shall I compare thee to a heavy crossbow? Nay, for eldritch blast scales at higher levels Shall I compare thee to fire bolt? A fire bolt only targets one creature, eldritch blast can target one per beam

[@biiill5259]

I’ve imagined a complete rework of the warlock based more on what I like to call the “blood mage” casting style. As other casters simply use up their magical potential the point of the warlock is that they don’t actually have any. So instead they use their life force. Health. You can use a bonus action to subtract an of health and gain a spell slot who’s level is dependent on how much health you subtract usable during that turn. Eldritch blast would be given by default and in addition you gain health equal to half of the damage dealt.

[@Akeche]

The power comes once you're dealing with multiple beams, whereas a heavy crossbow will always need to be reloaded. Stack multiple beams on top of Hex. 1d10+1d6+CHA Mod each hit. It isn't the d10 cantrip which makes it powerful, it's the fact that it's the only cantrip which essentially gives multiple attacks as you level instead of increasing the damage dice of a single attack.

[@averyn4788]

Crossbow expert also exists

[@gothtastic1]

I don't think the argument is that Eldritch blast is bad per say, but rather it taxes the class a bit much for what it actually accomplishes. I mean a hunter, for example, has a longbow with Colossus Slayer and hunters mark 1d8+1d8+1d6+dex. Then add extra attack and sharpshooter and a lvl5 ranger is doing more damage than your Eldritch blast at lvl11, which makes me feel bad as a warlock fan.

[@fangsabre]

@@gothtastic1 that's fair. Although Eldritch blast is useful and it can have its damage stacked. It's a cantrip. You know what else is a cantrip? Faerie fire, which is more or less a pretty light show. As for damage dealing honestly Witch Bolt is probably the best way to go when it comes to low-mid level damage dealing. If they fail the first saving throw you've got them in a net of guaranteed lightning damage that's also a D10, and you can just keep the damage coming every turn the whole fight if your team agro manages enough and you make the concentration saves. Dont even have to use more spell slots. That AND the hex curse on top of it, you're just spitting out damage the whole time.

[@triploshadow]

You can out dps a ranger easily lol, you can pick raven queen as your patron. you get a free familiar you can use to give you advantage on everysingle blast due to them occuring simultaneously. then you add in Hex for 1d10+cha+1d6 that you twice as likely to crit and hit due to advantage then you add in your bound spell of spiritual weapon for an extra 1d8+cha+1d6. Then mix in a multiclass sorcerer where you use quickned spell and you can double cast EB doing 1d10+5+1d6 (2x) + 1d10+5+1d6 (2x) and you can also push people up to 40ft considering you hit all blasts while saving your spell slots for other useful things like shield, absorb elements and ect

[@gothtastic1]

@@triploshadow I ADORE pact of the chain! I'm playing a fey warlock with an imp that I describe as a flying monkey.. His name is Albert... And he's amazing.. 😍

[@lordfelidae4505]

The best thing about Warlocks is how much the DM can use them to guide the party.

[@theera9514]

"Eldrich blast does as much damage as a heavy crossbow" Well, the heavy crossbow is a MARTIAL, LOADING WEAPON meaning few classes can use it, and even they did, most martial classes get multi attack, making loading weapons even more useless, meanwhile eldrich blast can make up to 4 attacks at higher levels

[@shanemurphy6130]

If u take the gunner feat and ur DM is okay with muskets you can be pretty powerful

[@theera9514]

@@shanemurphy6130 thats true but not really relevant cus the gunner feat only works with the firearms in the dmg

[@Bluecho4]

@@theera9514 Moreover, even if it worked that way, you'd still be paying the opportunity cost of one Feat to gain the damage output Eldritch Blast is capable of natively. This is not even remotely a fair trade. You could have spent that "Feat slot" on literally anything else, including just a stat increase.

[@sploofmcsterra4786]

Well every class gets stronger at higher levels.

[@fendelphi]

Fighters can also make 4(5, even 6) attacks at higher levels. They can also get a high amount of damage modifiers(due to extra feats and non-reliance on Concentration). They can even do action surge and be a very tough cookie while doing it. Or, you could just cast fireball. Or Scorching Ray. Both Sorcerers and Wizards have far more Spell slots, and by the time a Warlock can fire 4 beams, they can clear the entire room through various spells and effects. Eldritch Blast is nice. It is reliable. It can even taste like your favorite flavour icecream(Patrons, am I right?). But in terms of action ecomony and oppotunity costs, it is simply just "fine". Compare it's single target damage in 1 round, with a Rogue that effectively can get 3 sneak attacks off against a single target, in 1 round(while also making an extra sneak attack against a different target). Or a Handcrossbow Fighter with Sharpshooter, doing an action surge and is Hasted. Sure, they cant cast magic like a Warlock can, but if you invest highly into the Blaster Warlock, you also diminish what other options you have available.

[@austinbostrom5304]

Eldritch blast gets up to four hits which a crossbow will only get if you’re a lvl 20 fighter

[@jackbarman7063]

Nope, crossbows take an entire action to fire once. No multi attack allowed. It has the “loading” feature.

[@kos4251]

@@jackbarman7063 you can take a feat (crossbow expert) that removes the loading feature of crossbows you are proficient with

[@DONKINDONUTS]

@@jackbarman7063 Yeah but crossbow expert is like, always taken with any meaningful crossbow build.

[@austinbostrom5304]

Jack Barman that’s right, you’d need to use a feat for that. You only need to use an Eldritch Invocation to add your charisma to Eldritch Blast. One if the other advantages of the crossbow is that one could get some +3 ammunition for it, causing the crossbow to do superior damage (I don’t think anything has resistance to magical piercing damage)

[@princesstheadorablecat]

I like hearing your voice as you explain spells and make it entertaining. Make a dex save, Skank Mcgank. Ohp you fail, the odd kobold embeds its claws into your gut and casts eldritch blast.

[@BlueNEXUSGaming]

You forgot to mention that it's a Leveled Cantrip, meaning that it Scales with Player (not Class) Levels, & that (RAW) you Roll for Damage once and use that Damage for All of the Beams, and the invocation would add the Cha Mod to EACH Beam so, compared to the Heavy Crossbow it's: 2× stronger at Lv 5 3× stronger at Lv 11 4× stronger at Lv 17 This Scale continues beyond 20 if you ever decide to go that far, with the next steps at 23 & 29 Also, since it's a Cantrip, it leaves the Bonus Action available for a Sorcerer's Quickened Spell Metamagic, or any other Bonus Action Spells, such as a Quickened Spell Fireball (insert self reference to previous video), or Quickened Spell Haste (another self reference to previous video), or, should you need some distance or mobility, a nice old fashioned Expeditious Retreat.

[@Frawstbyte]

EDIT: Nevermind, I just looked up the description and it casts separate rays, meaning separate damage rolls.

[@BlueNEXUSGaming]

Frawstbyte Correct, the way it's worded makes the Damage Range for each Beam 0~15, & since it says in the Damage chapter of the PHB to Roll once and use that number for ALL of the Damage, the chance to deal 60 Damage per Cantrip is 10%. The way Agonizing Blast is worded, it adds the Cha Mod to each Beam, & it can't go below Zero (eg: (1 +(-2))=0, not -1), thus, 0~15 Damage per Beam per Blast.

[@BlueNEXUSGaming]

I had entirely forgotten about the Hex based Invocations as well, add a minimum of 1d6

[@Nukestarmaster]

Wait, it scales with player level? I thought it scaled with class level.

[@BlueNEXUSGaming]

Nukestarmaster Nope, all Cantrips Scale with Player Level. Fighter 19 + Warlock 1 is using Lv 20 Cantrips. It's because it's representative of the mental Experience of the Caster, even if they are new to Casting, they've got all of the Experience mentally of those 19 Levels of Warrior. It also allows players to not regret it as much if they Multiclass and never look back, as they've still got a viable Weapon at Lv 20 that they otherwise would find themselves regretting.

[@WilliamnotW]

Much like your pact with your granter of eldritch power, the details about EB aren't wrong, per se, but they don't exactly tell the full story either...

[@jamesbiggs8397]

I was looking at some Warlock spells for a Skald-Bard & while looking through their list I couldn't help but notice Hex gives Eldritch Blast that extra kick it needed to really be a candidate for "Most Powerful Cantrip". The reason is that rather than just scale the damage up, E.B. lets you make an additional attack. This lets you shoot your beams at multiple targets, but the big reason is that thanks to Hex you're adding an additional Xd6 Necrotic damage, X being the number of blasts that hit. This means the most basic E.B. now has a damage minimum of 2, a ceiling of 16, & an average of 10. This is basically the 120ft range equivalent of a Greatsword so... that's something at least. A crossbow certainly needs a lot less investment though.

[@a_thunderous_hound]

plus agonizing blast and the fact that its damge is basically unresisted also helps

[@jamesbiggs8397]

Yeah, assuming all 4 blasts hit at higher levels that's (4d10+4*Cha) Force + 4d6 Necrotic, which is on-par with various 3rd level spells. Fiend Warlocks also get Scorching Ray as a default spell, which becomes 12d6 Fire + 6d6 Necrotic (Assuming all rays hit) at 5th level.

[@ravenhack6053]

Right at the end of 2021 chuthulu finally arrives. Me: can I have Eldridge Blast?

[@naturallyartificial4090]

Love how you unintentionally misspelled eldritch and correctly spelled the name of a town in iowa at the same time.

[@fjhatsu]

Eldridge blast is either the one you get from USS Eldridge patron or a lightning damage Eldritch blast

[@Heavenlyhounds96]

Of all the spellcaster-based classes, (aside from druid and cleric which CAN use non-magical weapons and the like), I've got an idea for wizard, but also sort of one for warlock. I'm not sure about developing these ideas though cause I'm not that big on RELYING on magic; when a bow and arrow or mighty sword do well enough sometimes (Though as a warlock I could cast eldritch *Jocat blast effect* if I run out of slots).

[@defensivekobra3873]

Why does it feel like half this comment is removed?

[@Heavenlyhounds96]

@@defensivekobra3873 it isnt. Though I did end up writing up the Warlock sometime after the video

[@defensivekobra3873]

@@Heavenlyhounds96 are you perhaps making an low-magic wizard?

[@Heavenlyhounds96]

@@defensivekobra3873 the idea was a good-aligned necromantic wizard but in the end the warlock spoke out to me more

[@defensivekobra3873]

@@Heavenlyhounds96 And what is your warlock idea then?

[@set-theory]

I'm making a sea gothic fathomless warlock character and currently trying to write out a sort of backstory. I've had this video in my mind the whole time and have come back to soak in the atmosphere

[@witchBoi_Connor]

The real power of warlocks comes in the form of your invocations, giving you significant powerful passive features and a few more powerful active ones, such as some at Will spells. This is still a little strange, warlocks don’t get much more blasting power than other classes, just a lot of utility at your disposal to choose from.

[@captaindoubleday]

Half-elves Can see well In the dark That line though...

[@seaperson5704]

Eldritch blast is way better than a crossbow for one main reason - the BIG killer of ranged weapons in 5e: THE MISSILES NEED TO BE MAGIC TO GET PAST RESISTANCE, NOT JUST THE WEAPON. This can be extremely hard to account for in a setting that isn't highly magical. That's why Arcane Archers get a specific ability around this.

[@Chimburger12]

This was changed in an errata to the DMG; the bow itself can now bypass resistance. Force damage is certainly an advantage, though. I'm not sure why AA has that ability. I'm pretty sure the errata happened before XGtE came out, so I don't think it was meant to work around resistance like what monks get. Arcane Shot originally required magic arrows, so maybe that's it? Although that also got errata'd out, and J Craw said the restriction wasn't supposed to be there in the first place...

[@Chimburger12]

@Sterf Google What tripped me up was the fact that abilities like this are really uncommon. Monk gets a feature that makes their unarmed strikes magical so they don't get left behind the spellcasters and martials with magic weapons. Since things like Eldritch Knight don't get this, it seemed weird to me. On the other hand, the Kensei Monk actually does get the same benefit with their kensei weapons, so it's probably meant to be more of a flavor thing. Would be pretty helpful in a campaign with fewer magic items, though. My games tend to make them more accessible.

[@Chimburger12]

@Sterf Google To clarify, it wasn't EK not getting that feature that was weird to me; it was that AA uniquely *does* get it, when other martial classes/subclasses don't, including the ones with magical abilities like EK. Then I remembered Kensei, which was from the same book. It was probably just a phase at WotC lol. You'd think HBs would have to go PotB, but since most of their features don't care what you're using, they're just as viable with the typical EB build. I probably wouldn't do that though. I like gishes too much.

[@snake698]

But then when you add another d10 you also add your modifier again, so at high levels it becomes like 3d10+15, and if you used hex you also add the extra dice again so it's 3d10+3d6+15

[@DrgoFx]

A Fighter with a heavy crossbow at same level as the warlock would do the same with extra attacks, plus whatever bonus the crossbow gets because it's definitely a magical crossbow now. Best argument you could make damage wise is how it's like having a magic weapon from the start.

[@snake698]

@@DrgoFx Good point, but not really, the beams are unlocked earlier than the extra attacks. Other than that... My argument is that it is kind of cool to be able to do as much damage as a fighter with a cantrip. And your fighter had some way to overlook the loading property, usually fighters use a bow because of that, which is not a d10. I get your point, however. It's not like a paladin's smite despite having the same "signature" reputation

[@sploofmcsterra4786]

Well yeah every class gets stronger as you level up. Warlock has to put everything into Eldritch blast to make it good.

[@giorgitsiklauri840]

@@snake698 Other than the mismatch at the last beam/attack with 17 vs 20 cantrip improvements line up exactly with extra attacks.

[@snake698]

@@sploofmcsterra4786 What I mentioned was only one invocation for eldritch blast: the only thing you put into eldritch blast is the invocation that adds your CHA mod, you don't need anything else...

[@beybladesinmyheels1267]

Just a reminder that each bolt gains the cha mod damage and 10ft move from invocations. With only a two level dip into warlock and the rest sorcerer you can cast it twice, pretty op tbh.

[@patdav56]

Plus if you go an extra warlock level, you basically have 2 extra slots for making sorc points per short rest :p

[@LooBiggerthanyoo]

You dont have to spend 3 rounds reloading Eldrich Blast. And you never run out of ammo. Then later on - Getting better range, double damage, and 4 targets

[@Sanches7557]

And all this stuff for a little price of your eternal soul :D

[@AGS363]

@@Sanches7557 Depends on the patron...

[@Sanches7557]

@@AGS363 True. Counterpoint: what doesn’t depend on a patron? - weapons)

[@eziakla7993]

Artificers can do this at lvl 10 with flying and other awesome buffs

[@kingsquester136]

@@eziakla7993 How ?

[@darkstone_official_2427]

Hmmmmmmm....Eldritch Blast or a heavy crossbow?...... (picks up crossbow) Ahhhh yoink.

[@thecodeserror742]

Zee: Warlocks should be more powerful Me: Looks at our Hexblade Warlock

[@chrisessick7192]

As others have said. Eldritch blast isn't anything special. It's the ability to customize and abuse the mechanics that lead to it being widely regarded as the best offensive cantrip. You've got the combo of firing up to 8 eldritch blasts a turn by multiclassing sorcerer. The ability to push or pull targets into damaging effects or cc. The ability to focus on your character vs what your character can do. All with a relatively cheap class investment. Warlocks being underpowered is also dependent on the game. They shine in short rest heavy dungeons where the other players get progressively weaker while the warlock remains at full strength. They have access to the best familiars. They have the tools to be some of the best face characters. They get a lot of at will casting which is important when spell slots inevitably run dry.

[@chrisessick7192]

Basically the warlock sells his soul to never have to cast anything ever again. They can go and be whatever they want now that the pesky 'what do you do in combat' thing is put of the way.

[@merendell]

Not sure how worth it the 8 shot ED is. As ED hits multi targets you cant twinne'd spell it for 1 point so you need to use the 2 point quickened and sac your bonus action to boot. You only have 3 points at lvl 3 sorc and only 4 lvl 1's and 2 lvl 2 slots (another 6 points) to convert into extra points. Basicly 4 shots and the tank is dry. you can convert warlock slots as far as I know but your caped at 3 points so best case your wasteing 2 points to the cap every time you sac one. 6 more shots if you alternate your lvl 1's and pact slots to empty out and get the max 3 for each lock slot. So basicly 10 shots of 8d10 every long rest with a recharge of 4 shots on a short rest at the cost of an ASI and all your other spell casting potential besides your mystic arcanum. Yes its alot of damage to pump out every round for 10 rounds but there are alot of ways to dish out high damage(pumped fireballs for example). stacked invocations depends a alot on the situation and is hard to quantify. Honestly might be better going the other way around, 17-18 sorc 2-3 lock as ED is character level not lock level. More spell slots and spells to play around with but much lower utility on ED with only 2 invocations. Give up ASI either way and have to choose between lvl 18 sorc origin or the lock pact feature. if you choose lock the 2 lvl 2 slots per short rest is equivalent to the lvl 20 sorcerous restoration though. could chaingun ED for days although haveing to evaluate 8 attack rolls every round may get old quickly.

[@chrisessick7192]

@@merendell you go much more sorcerer than warlock. By the time you get to that 8 blasts a turn combo your level 15 I believe so anywhere from lvl10 to lvl13 sorcerer. Which means you have plenty of SP to keep the combo up round after round and plenty of spell slots to convert if you need to. Going at least 4 warlock gets you a bonus of 6? I believe SP from burning your warlock slots which come back on a short rest of course while 5lvls get you 10 SP every short rest. Which means not only do you get a combo that makes the fighter's damage look like chump change but your going to finish out with 6-9th level spells depending on build AND get basically get the sorcerer capstone. AND if you have 2-3 fights a day as opposed to 1 large fight a day your going to do more consistent damage than a "full" caster since they have very few high level slots and even fewer high level spells devoted to combat. Picking up a rod of the pact keeper or pearl of power keeps your combo going even longer. And of course you can still do stuff like twin disintegrate quicken eldritch blast.

[@chrisessick7192]

@@merendell warlock in this case is a tool to let you focus on a specific gameplay style for combat and generally ignore other combat options if you want. Warlock on it's own isn't a bad class either but will quickly find other things to do besides eldritch blast every turn. Like use it's at will casting or be a psuedo fighter. Also for extra fun be a kobold. For advantage on many of your EBs to basically roll 16d20 a turn on your attack round which means you have roughly about 80%? Chance to crit at least once. Which is basically the equivalent of being a champion fighter. See how that level of shenanigans can free you up from having to worry about combat effectiveness?

[@Tonatsi]

ORBITAL ELDRITCH BOMBARDMENT!

[@viviblue7277]

Quickened eldritch blast is the easiest way to break dpr balance. At level 5 that’s 4d10+4ability mod. That’s really good damage for level 5 better than a a fireball with a decent ability mod and attack rolls are better than dex saves.

[@gavingameplay5790]

Dont forget with the new metamagic feat you can doo this 3 times per longrest

[@viviblue7277]

Gavin gameplay have you read what that feat does? It gives you ONE per long rest as it only gives you two points. Honestly lucky is still usually higher on the pick priority in a wargame. The only uses for the feat are the rare pure clockwork sorcerer looking for more metamagic variety to be a tolerable caster with or for one use novas with quickened spell that sometimes have the option to be something else like subtle in order to actually be stealthy.

[@gavingameplay5790]

@@viviblue7277 i missread the feat as giving 3 points all gained back on a long rest and accidently applied the rules for twinning a spell to quickening one instead.

[@The_Number1Candyman]

A fighter can do the same but better. For this analysis both characters will be level 5, and let's assume they have capped class stats ( for the most part, there will be an exception at one point). A fighter with a heavy crossbow, crossbow expert, and action surge also does 4d10+(ability mod multiplied by 4), however, they can combine this with sharpshooter, making it 4d10 + (ability mod multiplied by 4) + 40, assuming all attacks hit, which can be tricky with the -5 to each attack, but you could save this for either low AC enemies, or for times when you have advantage (example, the sorcerer cast hold person on the BBEG). This can ALSO be combined with the battle master subclass, which would make it: 4d10 + (ability mod multiplied by 4) + 4d6 (and the bonus effects of the battle maneuvers like disarming, knocking prone, etc.) + 40. In order to get both crossbow expert and sharpshooter at level 5 you need to be either a variant human or custom lineage from Tasha's, and if you choose variant human then your ability mod can be +4 at best, which does hurt the fighter slightly, but literally the next level fighters get another ASI so they can fix that. Both quickened EB and the action surge wombo combo mentioned above can only be done once each per long rest at level 5. Warlock average damage for this one turn: 42 Fighter average damage for this one turn: 56 if you don't risk sharpshooter or don't have it, 96 if you do and chose custom lineage (if you chose variant human it's 92) All of this means the fighter keeps up with the warlock at its worst (a world where you didn't choose battle master as your subclass and don't have sharpshooter), and makes it look like a joke in comparison at its best. I love warlocks, they're an amazing roleplay class, but they aren't as good as people make them out to be.

[@DullPoints]

@@The_Number1Candyman this is helpful, thank you.

[@StephenGillie]

JoCat says Eldritch Blast is the whole reason to play Warlock. Nice rebuttal.

[@Telor21]

JoCat doesn't really play DnD, shown by how he fucked up the cleric video the first time

[@Telor21]

If he'd played practically any edition of DnD he'd realize clerics aren't healbots

[@LordZanas]

He also presents a disclaimer that the crap guide series won't teach you anything, and shouldn't be taken seriously.

[@mennograafmans1595]

And he also said fireball is the only solution for a wizard. It's not. They also have Za Warudo from that one silly anime that nobody likes.

[@inigo137]

@@mennograafmans1595 :)

[@taxman3749]

I use my eldritch blast as a way to manuver enemies around the field, using the spell's knock back. if they're near a ledge or on top of a roof. they're going over.

[@Master_E444]

I usually imagine the Somatic and Verbal Components as one of the Following: -Making a Finger Gun at the Target(s) and whispering “Bang” -Launching a Punch and Yelling “ELDRITCH FIST” -Doing a Kamehameha -Firing an Eye Beam by making a Little Monocle with your Hand and Humming the Superman Anthem. -Breathing it out You mouth, throwing your arms back, and Yelling either “Fus Ro Dah” or “Imma Firing My Laser” Just some of the funniest things you can do with Spells like this that you can do just for some fun or flavoring. Gives some quirkiness to the Normally quite edgy Warlock.

[@kevingriffith6011]

"A translucent construct of pure energy appears in my hands in the shape of a Heavy Crossbow...."

[@michaelbesser5348]

I'm totally casting Eldritch blast for now on using a finger gun and shouting "Spirit Gun".

[@Master_E444]

@@michaelbesser5348 you are a mad genius good sir. I'd likely Yell "Getsuga Tensho" whenever I use Eldritch Smite as a Hexblade Warlock.

[@hammdogporkington3058]

Get a tentacle-y patron DOCTOR OCTAGONAPUS BLAAAAAAAAAAAAA

[@razorkee7600]

Tbf these can be used with quite a lot of spells.

[@josiaharaki7310]

So the issue with a Heavy crossbow vs EB is that you get 1 shot without taking feats, so without feats, 5th level has EB: 1D10+Char 2X HC:1d10+Dex Now, let's give the Crossbow user a boon and say he's got extra attack and takes Crossbow expert. It takes a feat to match a Warlock's 5th level Cantrip damage. By 11th level, everyone but the fighter drops off completely. Now, that fighter could take a second feat in Sharpshooter to surpass the warlock's EB damage, and I'm pretty sure that's a popular ranged build, yet even then the warlock doesn't lag too far behind for far cheaper than the cost of two feats by simply hex spell to both add a d6 to every EB hit without the -5 to hit sharpshooter gives. The unused feats can then be used for additional versatility or consistency by taking something like Lucky, Resiliant(con), War Caster, or metamagic adept. Ironically, the Hexblade might be a strong contender for that heavy crossbow though if given enough time to setup via hexblades curse+Hex+Lifedrinker= 2x 1d10+proficiency+1d6+5+1, crits on a 19 or 20, and can still stack with the Sharpshooter feat and (if you really wanted to) eldritch Smite.

[@andrebryant3312]

Heavy Crossbow was likely shown just because of the D10, in reality, you're going to be stacking that CBE with a Hand Crossbow for the bonus action attack. You're also neglecting the Archery Fighting Style, which adds a +2 to hit which is really strong (especially when you stack it with SS.) If we look at the 11th level benchmark, a warlock with Hex, EB, and 20 Charisma (if we assume ASIs instead of feats), will have 26.55 DPR against an enemy with 18 AC. A handcrossbow with CBE, Sharp Shooter, and a +4 mod (fighters get an extra ASI at 6) would have 28.7 DPR. If you were to have advantage for whatever reason, EB would have 37.9125 DPR, but Fighter man would have 46.125. If whatever you're fighting has lower AC, this difference would be further exascerbated . This doesn't seem big, but when you realize that Fighter probably has additional ways to augment this and Warlock doesn't, or at least not without a battle of the bonus actions, whereas fighter has action surge. Hexblade is pretty funny, tho. Give that a hand crossbow. Forget about hex, just stick with HB curse. Save your pact slots for the big gun spells, the higher your level, the more of an opportunity cost Hex is.

[@benjamincarlson6994]

I would say that with Xanthar's guide to everything, warlocks got some interesting new options it needed. Though I found ways of making even a generic tiefling Warlock is the Fiend interesting. I would say that the main pull of the warlock isn't direct combat numbers, it's lore and cool thematic gimmicks. Pair the right pact with the right race and background, and you can make the warlock feel like a edgier version of a different trope, and I think that's why so many people, including me, like the class

[@justinjacobs1501]

Yep, hard to say no to being able to change your appearance at will when your trying to infiltrate a building, or be able to read any written language when studying ancient artifacts. I think the Warlock's true strength is that it's kind of like the Bard in it's versatility.

[@EpicUltraKingSmizzy]

But at higher levels you get up to FOUR attcks! Thats like a fighter... like a fighter with a crossbow! No, wait... Thats exactly like a fighter with a crossbow.

[@JMa0820]

A fighter that had to take a feat, and doesn't have spellcasting, and doesn't have invocations, and can't multiclass or else his extra attack progression is delayed, and has to wait 3 more levels and can't multiclass at all if he wants to get 4 attacks. A warlock comparing himself to a fighter is like a billionaire comparing himself to a middle-class worker because they both have a 4-wheel vehicle known as a car, even though one's a ferrarri and the other is a honda

[@scttydsntknw]

@@JMa0820 So depending on your stats that is, if you are happy with them and don't need/want to take an ASI you can use one of your 7 ASI's to get the feat. You will have more hit points than a Lock, can wear heavy armor right off the bat, can add to your attack rolls right off the bat and y'know what if by some chance you run out of bolts in the battle well than you can take that longsword off your belt and do the same damage (depending if your Strength is up there). So I think the analogy is like a rich kid whos daddy buys him all his airsoft equipment trying to compare himself to a Navy SEAL.

[@JMa0820]

Heavy Armor requires 13-15 strength which if you are archery is a stupid expectation, and if you are wearing light/,medium your AC is equal to or worse than a base warlock with light armor, and definitely worse if he got mage armor via an invocation. A fighter on average has 1 more hp per level compared to warlock. And in your perfect world where a fighter somehow has both the strength and dex to combine heavy armor and archery, there is no way the fighter can afford to have high constitution and a spare feat. Please play the game more before you try to make rule arguments--reality is much different than just what's in the PHB.

[@scttydsntknw]

@@JMa0820 If you are a fighter and you don't have at 13 Strength then you are doing it wrong. Like I said it depends on your stats if you roll and have damn near max stats and only need to burn one ASI to Max them then you have 6 other ASIs ( because Fighters get more than regular classes). Fighters will lead the pack in damage per round hands down simply due to the fact they can rely on both ranged and melee( if you go champion you get a secondary fighting style). Warlocks might beat a Fighter in burst damage(maybe not because of action surge) and utility but not in pure damage output and tankiness. I started playing 2e in highschool so don't start telling me I need to play the game more because I am making better arguments than you.

[@JMa0820]

If you are an archer and you have 15 strength (which you need for plate since you are all about heavy armor) you were dropped on your head as a child. The only build that beats out eldritch blast as a Dps is a combination of pure fighter + sharpshooter + crossbow expert, which is the highest dps build in the game. And even then a warlock can take an easy multi class into sorcerer to eldritch blast twice in one round when it matters. Not only that but a fighter archer sacrifices everything for that DPS, a warlock sacrifices only a few invocations to get the same benefit on top of having 9th level spellcasting.

[@Gen_Warlock]

I think it's the invocations that make a warlock good. Spells are of course a great bonus, but personalizing both eldritch blast and your own character is great. Are you purely ranged? Well then, go with lance of lethargy or forceful blast. Are you a hexblade? Grasp of hador brings them right to you if you aren't close enough to hit. Afraid of getting hit hard? Cast magic darkness with devil sight centered on yourself! Have a dungeon focused campaign? Keep guard with pact of the moon. Unlike other magic casters, warlocks remain with great damage just from a cantrip. You don't have reload and don't need to take a feat just to get multiple ranged attacks. Hell, you can obliterate the field with the one very rare magic item called illusionists bracers. Casting 4 d10s that each have a bonus to your charisma and push an enemy back 10 feet for every hit is insane. I also think the limited spell slots is genius, you are essentially using your patrons powers. They obviously wouldn't want their strength sapped from them, so they decide to give you a couple spells and go "hey bud, just focus on your spells that I don't need to use my energy on"

[@Wolfphototech]

*Except as a warlock levels up .* *They gain more beams of Eldritch Blast an the beams can hit one or more targets .* *Also different invocations can add pull , push & a speed reduction .* *Edit 1 : I love speed reduction , range , power ( Eldritch Blast ) and all invocations that improve sense and ability to gather info .* *Edit 2 : Eldritch blast also uses no ammo & requires no weapon .* *As well does FORCE damage which is rarely resisted and almost nothing is immune to it .*

[@torva360]

Yeah but you have to choose those invocations over others, like infinite detect magic and disguise self.

[@Wolfphototech]

@@torva360 I know that . There are a lot of cool invocations . Some warlocks focus on the Blast . Some are tricksters . Some love the hex / curse . An so on .

[@TenchiJeff]

And there's no ammo limit to worry about, or dropping a crossbow or having it break.

[@GstroyHD]

Wait, people still track ammo?

[@OGTwist]

Also I play a west marches and a lot of DMs straight nerf repelling blast to only being able to repel the same creature once per turn using some made up excuse that jeremy crawford said so. I ended up enjoying it the most when a DMs excuse for nerfing it was "I like to have fun too" although it's kind of the only really good eldritch blast ability we get

[@Alex_K221]

Supporting writer: H.P. Lovecraft

[@silverthorngoodtree5533]

I miss the 3rd edition blast shapes. Adding those and doubling invocations to a warlock over time, aka no dips, would be nice.

[@thebitterfig9903]

3rd Edition Eldritch Blast was truly special, when Warlocks were the only casters to have powerful unlimited spells. 4th gave everyone roughly the same structure for their abilities. So when 5th rolls around, that original Warlock trade-off between weaker spells and unlimited casting kind of leaves them in the lurch, since everyone has almost as good cantrips.

[@keagasourus9883]

Yeah I also play Pathfinder and I find that 5e casters especially at higher levels should not conceivably be out damaged by a martial class especially because cantrips mean they can do just as much damage as a fighter of equal level without having to worry about running out of spell slots and damage output, but in earlier editions and Pathfinder there are no cantrips above a d4 you might have some class abilities that give you a 3+abilitymod that deal a d6 burning hands deals d4s, spells in Pathfinder upgrade as you level similarly to how cantrips do in 5e, but the way I see it unless at very high levels it remains pretty well balanced because you can run out of spell slots and many are duration based and not damage it's honestly my biggest frustration with 5e, I feel like if I'm not playing some form of caster even arcane trickster or eldritch knight I just feel worse like I don't contribute as meaningfully

[@gavros9636]

@@keagasourus9883 Except the Martials do outpace the casters vastly, to the point I have to specifically consider the martial character during encounter building, I built a Mind Flayer dungeon, and I intentionally looked for a really good choice of heavy-hitting melee monster to act as counter tank, and it still didn't work to my liking.

[@treetopsamuelson488]

edlritch is force dmg, bypassing nearly all resistance a crossbow has reloadding, which takes a feat to overcome, and stops you from firing more than once eldritch is also 4 seperate attacks, not one attack for 4d10, which means at least SOME of the dmg is likely to make it through

[@Ben-jl2rh]

So at max level 17 you can make 4d10 + 20 damage minimum. Since it is an auto hit, and each attack is seperate and can push back an enemy 10 feet/ slow them down. So at bare minimum 1 blast will do 6 damage, all 4 blasts will do minimum of 24 damage or a maximum of 60 damage at 300 feet and push back the enemy 40 feet while reducing there speed and you gain their hitpoints as temporary hit point! Yet this guy compares it to a heavy crossbow which takes a a round of reload and dosnt do more damage unless it is enchanted or uses special arrows!

[@SomeGuy-ty7kr]

@@Ben-jl2rh it's not auto hit you damn clown

[@novadrake9232]

Well atleast you dont have to pay for ammunition

[@ellispedersen4192]

The largest drawback warlocks face to me is the fact they are forced to upcast their spells, but way less spells than you think on the warlock spell table provide any benefit to upcasting them at all

[@janehrahan5116]

And this is what pacts are for. Also have some copypasta from my own comment. mhmm hex+eb 1d10+1d6 at level 1, only beat by great weapon fighters. Levels 2 through 20 scaling d10+d6+cha out dpr'ing any standard combat build. Did I mention this is on a full caster. I feel like I should, on a standard adventuring day a 9th level warlock gets 6! 5th level spell slots. The ONLY reason you multiclass into sorcerer if you are minmaxing is because you can use your base sorcery pool and canibalize lol level spell slots to cast 2 eldritch blasts per turn on your targets (for those paying attention this means you are a character with greater than melee fighter dpr at range who can action surge something like 20 times per adventuring day). Warlocks are OBVIOUSLY overpowered for those capable of basic math.

[@extremejon]

Agreed. I think their gimmick would make more sense if they got higher level spell slots before other classes.

[@II-wu7mx]

Other invocations of eldritch blast apply on each bolt too, that’s 4d10 and pushing someone away 40 ft and slowing them

[@dragonix8527]

Comparatively to what almost every other class gets at the same higher levels, that's still very underwhelming.

[@II-wu7mx]

@@dragonix8527 that’s not all they get though right? Seems like an apples to oranges comparison.

[@dragonix8527]

Not as much as you'd think. The issue is that nearly no one plays the game in a way that benefits how warlocks are written. You either take Eldritch Blast and work around it to become a one trick pony and stay mechanically viable, or you go for the "cool/fun" build with the class to do whatever you like, but suffer for it by being easily one of the least useful party members. Some sub-classes at least partially alleviate this issue, but unless you're going for specific builds that limit the creativity warlocks seem to be built around, the class as a whole gets very stale, very easily if you do anything other than make yourself able to last in combat. Granted, that's an issue many classes have, but warlock specifically is designed in a way that feels much more punishing for it. It's not a "bad" class, it's just too reliant on a single cantrip, that isn't even overly good at what it does. Unless you multiclass, pure warlocks are very limited by the one spell they specialize in, and it does the same things any other class can do with a dozen other options, while still gaining other benefits.

[@calebmurray4438]

That’s true but it uses up class features that could be used on not having a pathetic amount of spells I LOVE Warlock but in the end it’s not particularly strong

[@II-wu7mx]

@@calebmurray4438 what makes you think warlock is meant to be casting a lot of spells?

[@gawayne1374]

They do the same damage at low levels. At high levels it's a multiattack crossbow

[@StoutShako]

Plus everyone knows heavy crossbows suck

[@nyaccoon]

agonizing blast levels as well as a fighter with a crossbow and the expert feat which is pretty good but it is not as OP as people say it is

[@joelhaggis5054]

This is all very logical. If Eldritch Blast was OP, everyone would play Warlock. Not everyone plays Warlock. Therefore, Eldritch Blast is not OP.

[@arnijulian6241]

Fighter crossbow expert is superior to eldritch blast due to (Sharpshooter). 4D10+ 4x charisma < 4D10+ 4 x dex + 40 as fighter is basically double a warlock with eldritch blast & evocations stacked. I don't do as I don't play knife ears Note: Elves & 1/2 Elves gain access to eleven accuracy which is effectively triple advantage so if you have a means of advantage say sneak attack or I like ( Faerie fire) if accessible though find familiar from eldritch knight fighter will service. Hands down Crossbow expert fighter is the most effective martial as you are at range competing with Polearm master damage build! Eldritch knight might be a 1/3 caster but having access to 7 ASI's if not 8 as variant human allows some specialised high damage builds as magic initiate opens up options. Mind I still Prefer Heavy armour master sentinel & Pole arm master builds as you are basically walking death that shrug's of everything short of a dragon or BBEG. Ranged builds are mathematically superior but boring to play as no tension or enjoyment from being in the thick of it.

[@nyaccoon]

@@arnijulian6241 a few small notes the elven accuracy build also works for warlock and i mean if you really wanna go ranged attacker a coffeelocked spellsniper has 1200ft range (which should probably just give you the advantage of a hidden attack) but also it wasn't really my point to say that it is better or even equal to a fighter with a crossbow just that agonizing blast has the same leveling as being a fighter with a crossbow so i just meant that it's pretty decent at higher levels for a cantrip

[@arnijulian6241]

@@nyaccoon Coffee-lock the easiest guaranteed way to make the DM your enemy! Nice choice but few tables will allow such. I assumed it wasn't your point but was more trying to discuss builds. Personally upgrading Eldritch blast is trap for warlock can do so much more though would I consider them strong, no but neither are they weak. Warlock is 7th of the 13 classes for potential power as the 6 full casters & paladin are just in another league. Thematically mind warlock is high as the role play choices are vast. Sharpshooter is the big difference as +40 at level 20 is significant on fighter. 1200ft is nice but I have yet to see a table map that big personally so a bit redundant & as I stated I don't play elves with one exception! To anger a 1/2 elf player that I selected to played a high elf wizard claiming to be his great grand father & how his mother is wh@re after he spouted a cliché parents dead dark brooding tripe. Him 120 or something with my Character 682 in old age as an elf should if not mister generic. I enjoyed playing Maximillian the sexiest, racist, senile, supremacist elf. I called him 1/2 spawn. DM loved it but the all elf jerk circle players hated it which serves them right. they wanted me to play a elf but you should be careful what you ask for;)

[@johnkelleh9448]

You forgot the part where cantrips scale with player level naturally.

[@mitchhaelann9215]

Eldritch Blast is good, but it's hardly broken. The only truly powerful element to the Warlock class is the front-loading. You get your subclass choice and starting class options at level 1 and 50% of your end-game spell slots at level 2. That makes Warlock the IDEAL class for multiclass dips. A handful of utility or control spells and some special features to augment any other class.

[@RandomAmbles]

You know, that stat progression actually tracks quite well with the story aspect of making a deal with a powerful entity. Lotta power all at once, but maybe you come to regret it. Neat.