HEX FIEND REVIEW MANUAL FULL

When melee/ranged Hexblade builds are able to utilize Feats such as Great Weapon Master and Sharpshooter to provide boosts in damage, they can end up outputting more damage than EB builds. So, when does a ranged/melee build become more optimal than an EB build? When Feats get brought in. As discussed in our Hexblades Builds, melee/ranged Hexblades require a lot more resources in order to keep their damage on par with their EB counterparts. On top of this, the only invocation that is actually “required” to optimize EB Hexblade builds is Agonizing Blast. The fact that e ldritch blast has 120ft range, deals 1d10 damage, has a great damage type, stacks with levels, and is a cantrip makes it a pretty hard feature to beat.

For some reason, the smites that Hexblade Warlocks get access to are also concentration which negates them as useful spells to use in combat.īelow is a chart comparing the damage output of melee, ranged, EB Hexblade builds:Īs you can see, the Hexblade Warlock builds using e ldritch blast can certainly outpace melee Hexblade builds, even with all of the benefits the Hexblade subclass provides melee/ranged Warlock opportunists.

One of the Warlock’s best spell, hex, is concentration.

Casting a 1st-level shield with a 3rd-level spell slot feels bad man. shield, blur, and blink, while great defensive spells, don’t scale with levels.

Warlocks have limited spell slots and can only cast them at the highest available slot.

The Expanded Spell list that Hexblades get is pretty horrendous. The medium armor, shields, and the Hexblade Curse provided by the subclass are also beneficial if you want to stay at a distance and use a ranged weapon or eldritch blast. The Hexblades benefits do not solely benefit melee Warlocks. This brings melee/ranged Hexblade builds from Multiple-Ability Dependent (MAD) to Single-Ability Dependent (SAD). The biggest boon of the Hex Warrior trait allows Hexblades to add their CHA bonus to weapon attack rolls and damage, instead of STR and DEX. The Hex Warrior class feature gives access to armor, shields, and maintainable ability scores all at 1st level. The Hexblade solves a lot of problems that casters usually have when dipping their toes into weapon combat. Hexblades are held to similar restraints as typical Warlocks in terms of spellcasting, but their Hex Warrior feature allows them to make weapon attacks their CHA, rather than STR or DEX. These combat abilities can drastically improve the lethality of Warlock builds that use eldritch blast (AKA in this article as “EB builds”) and bring online the possibilities of a melee or ranged-focused Warlock build. Hexblade Warlocks are Warlocks that, in their pact with their patron, gain access to additional combat abilities.

HEX FIEND REVIEW MANUAL FULL

Full customization and control of your character, none of the flipping through hundreds of pages to reference obscure rules. If you do not take this option your character would not be optimizedįor our Subclass Guides, we focus mainly on the Blue and Sky Blue options, because the other options are discussed in the 5e Warlock Guide or other Subclass Guides.ĭ&D Beyond can help create your characters by making choices using a step-by-step approach.

Blue is a great option, you should strongly consider this option for your character.

Red isn’t going to contribute to the effectiveness of your character build at all.You can find a full overview of the Warlock class here: DnD 5e Warlock.įor our full class guides, we use the following color rating scheme: This guide is meant as a deep dive into the Warlock Subclass, the Hexblade.

Hex fiend review manual