D&D 5E Warlock problems

[Mandragola]

Medium armour is a tricky one. It's quite good, but with 16 dex it's actually not better than mage armour - which you can cast at will at 2nd level.

A shield is another matter. For a book or chain warlock it's seriously useful. A blade warlock wants to hold a blade in one hand, which makes life complicated when want to cast a spell if there's a shield in the other hand.

Of course another great thing about medium armour is that you don't really need much dex. Your book/chain warlock could take dex 14, scale armour, a shield and have AC 18. Awesome for a level 1 caster.

 

[Fion]

Thanks for the clarification guys. I read the pact magic section but it isn't laid out very clearly.

If I might ask, I have a group member who wants to roll up a Chain Pact Feylock. Any thoughts on a good build as his character advances? Right now all he has down is that he envisions a pseudodragon wrapped around his shoulders haha.

 

[Snapdragyn]

Depends a lot on what role he wants to play.

Battlefield Control? Misty Visions invocation, make use of the Fey Presence ability, Darkness, Hold Person (scales decently with additional targets at higher slots), Hunger of Hadar, Hypnotic Pattern - lots of choices.

Sniper? Misty Visions again to shroud yourself in heavy 'fog' (& thus gain advantage on EBs), Agonizing Blast, Repelling Blast, take the Spell Sniper &/or War Caster feat(s) (makes going human especially appealing, as well as burning the variant feat on Medium Armor so Dex can be largely ignored). Spells Hex (obviously), & maybe Armor of Agathys &/or Hellish Rebuke for when things get close - make them PAY for hitting you.

Buffer/Debuffer? Not an easy role for a 'lock due to low # of spell slots, but it could be used a bit in the right campaign. Protection from Evil & Good (but very limited on targets w/ low spell slots), Invisibility (better, since it scales # of targets), Dispel Magic, Fly, etc. Really, the slot limits are going to kill you here, though. I'd only recommend as a secondary role to Sniper, where you're most likely to have spells available since your main schtick is done with 1 cantrip + invocations.

Does he want a 'face' role? Take the invocation to gain Deception & Persuasion. Consider the Enthrall spell.

Does he want a 'stealth'/scout role? Plenty of ways he could do that himself, or just have the pet go look around. Maybe the Voice of the Master invocation for delivering messages to people that are hard to get to.

Remember that invocations and spells can both be switched out whenever new ones are gained, so think about what works NOW and reassess as the character levels. Perfect example: Armor of Agathys is pretty weak in comparison to Hellish Rebuke at level 1, IMO. By level 3, however, it's pulled ahead - & it just keeps getting better. If you want an 'oh no you DIDN'T!' spell, start off with Hellish, then swap out around 3rd.

 

[Fion]

Thanks Snapdragyn, I'll relay this info. If I know his style well he'll probably end up with a scout/sniper mix. He's already chosen the Criminal background largely for that sweet, sweet Thieve's Tools proficiency haha.

 

[Christian]

I'm a bit unsure about whether you could prepare a 5th level paladin spell like banishing smite once you reached level 9 warlock, even if you were just a level 2 paladin. Could be a little broken if a level 11 character cast a spell that a single-class paladin couldn't do before level 17! As a DM I don't think I'd allow that, only allowing a character to prepare paladin spells that he could cast as a paladin. It's clear though that the same character could use a warlock slot to cast healing word (if he'd prepared it as one of his paladin spells for that day) and it would heal 5D8+cha. I'm pretty sure he could only use paladin slots for smiting things, not warlock ones.

Your first ruling is definitely correct. Multiclass characters know and prepare spells based on their level in a class, so your pactladin can only prepare banishing smite if he has at least 17 paladin levels.

The multiclass rules state that you can use your spell slots 'only to cast lower level spells' if you can't prepare spells of that level, so that seems to preclude using those higher-level slots to smite. But since a paladin with Branding Smite prepared could cast it with a higher-level warlock (or multiclass) slot to do extra damage with it, I don't see any issue with letting the pactladin just burn those slots for regular smites.

 

[Zaruthustran]

Sounds like this will be a solo campaign with occasional help. So, your character needs to be self-sufficient. Skills are important. You can't depend on others for healing.

I recommend:

Rogue 1 (for Expertise, skills, finesse weapons, sneak attack).
Warlock 3 (Pact of Chain for an Imp familiar--this gives you an ally to trigger sneak attack, and an invisible scout).
Rogue 2 (for Cunning Action)
Rogue 3 (for additional sneak attack die, and Arcane Trickster for versatility and access to Sleep)
Warlock X

Infernal Patron is probably best. Gives you access to high-damage spells and Dark One's Own Luck helps you make those clutch rolls. And at 14th level you can throw someone through Hell--that's pretty sweet.

Invocations: Voice of the Chain Master lets you get the most out of your familiar. Mask of Many Faces and Misty Visions are amazing tools for non-combat problem solving (though Arcane Trickster covers some of this by giving easy access to Disguise Self and Silent Image). Devil's Sight is of course amazing, and combos well with the Imp's ability.