I have read the warlock class and am confused on how things work when dealing with spells. If I understand the chart on page 106 in the Players Handbook correctly the warlock knows 2 first level spells at first level. They have one spell slot and its got to be a first level spell.
As the character advances in level they have 2 spell slots at level two though level 10. So for the next 9 levels they can only cast 1 more spell than they did at first level.
By the time the warlock reaches 11th level they have 3 spells they can cast and at level 17 they can cast 4 spells.
The number of spells they can cast before a short or long rest seems ridicolous, too few spells.
Now the slot level shows what level the spell is cast at. For example as a 10th level warlock casting a spell, it would be cast as if the character were 5th level not 10th level and at 20th level the same spell is still cast as if the character were 5th level. Thus a warlock with The Fiend Patron casting fireball would receive 5d6 damage regardless of whether they are 10th level or 20th level, the damage is unchanged. This seems wrong too.
Now if the highest level spell a warlock can obtain is 5th level according to the spell slot entry on the chart....how does the warlock eventually obtain 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th level spells?
I have read this over and over and cannot find anything explaining how a warlock obtains 6th through 9th level warlock spells. Also it seems to me the numberbof spells they can cast is horribly low before having to rest.
Can someone tell me what I am misunderstanding?
The warlock can cast one spell each of those higher levels.
The Mystic Arcanum ability on page 108 explains it in detail: in essence the warlock can cast one spell of each level of 6 or higher once per long rest without expending any of their spell slots.
As far as the small number of spells slots is concerned. It's true that it's limited but there are two factors to consider: 1. they get their slots back after a short rest (but not the mystic arcanum spells), 2. their primary class abilities come from their eldritch invocations, which include several at will spells and other bonuses. Warlocks are generally expected to primarily use eldritch blast and other cantrips and supplement that with their invocations.
I googled it and pretty much got the answers to my previous post. Clearly warlock are a different type of caster using a totally different set of rules. I rolled up a 1st level warlock last night and played. I hope I won't be disapointed in the class as the character progresses in level.
Thanks.
A well built warlock can almost out damage a Hunter ranger.
1d10 (eldritch blast) + 5 (agonizing blast) + 1d6 when using hex. Twice a round at 5th level, thrice at 11th, and 4 times at 17th.
No Sharp Shooting feat, though. Spell Sniper might be worth it, since it is almost equivalent to Eldritch Spear invocation (240 feet vs. 300 feet), plus an extra cantrip and the ability to ignore cover.
The Volo book has a bunch of monstrous warlocks in it, and it seems most of them have the equivalent of the Book of Shadows boon, so a ton of scary cantrips.
Another key thing for warlocks is equipment. The Rod of Pact Magic or whatever it's called lets the warlock use an action to re-gain a spell slot. A Pearl of Power lets him do the same thing. That can be pretty clutch in a harrowing battle.
The at will invocation spells are pretty utilitarian. The more interesting invocation spells are only usable once per day AND require a spell slot to use.
I googled it and pretty much got the answers to my previous post. Clearly warlock are a different type of caster using a totally different set of rules. I rolled up a 1st level warlock last night and played. I hope I won't be disapointed in the class as the character progresses in level.
If you play with lots of Short Rests, I think you should be fine. Warlocks really need lots of short rests, but depending on the nature of the scenario, that shouldn't be a problem. Depending on the make up of your party, you can be pretty persuasive in getting them to the right amount of short rests. For example, monks get all their ki points on a short rest. Pretty much all classes get some benefit from Short Rests, particularly 5th level bards, divine channeling clerics, wildshaping (and natural recovering) druids, action surging and superiority dice using fighters, ki-using monks, divine channeling paladins, warlocks, and arcane recovering wizards.
Speaking of sorcerers, a multiclass or Warlock and Sorcerer means casting 2 eldritch blasts a round when needed to deal damage that only gets outpaced by fighters and paladins. It's a good way to diversify if you feel weak.
Are you referring to the twinned spell metamagic? It seems to me like that is a bit of a grey area, because eldritch blast can theoretically target multiple creatures.
Levels in warlock seem fun for any Charisma-based spellcaster. :-)
I hear that a warlock paladin is especially sick. I wonder if they can use their warlock spell slots for paladin smites.Yes they can, it's explicitly in the errata.
Oh my!
"Why yes, as a matter of fact I do have 4 level 5 smites that recharge after a short rest. What of it?"I should rebuild the warlock i made yesterday as a bladelock paladin.
That sounds like fun. Powerful, but at 19th level, +6d8 isn't going to be destroying encounters. How does it synergize with paladin spells using those 5th level spell slots?
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Warlocks seem to be the perfect dipping class for charisma classes. No real reason NOT to take it, it seems.
I actually went the other way around: my warlock has a 1-level dip in bard (mainly for Cure Wounds and Bardic Inspiration). He has 8 WIS and believes he's a cleric of a "good" deity whom nobody's heard of and whose name sounds suspiciously like that of an archfiend.
;D
Depends on if you're willing to join the dark side (and take Darkness and fiendvision).
I played a Warlock (Fiend) from 1-10. This was straight out from playtest (where we simply abandoned our playtest campaign) to 5e proper (where we started Tyranny of Dragons), so I can actually tell you about the class with the best kind of advice. What not to do.
Firstly, don't be afraid to short rest when you can. You are a full caster if you get plenty of rests, since you reclock spells at the same rate as fighter abilities, you have every reason to rest with one around.
Avoid choosing spells that do not scale using your slots unless they are REALLY important. Hex is a key spell to take, as is Eldritch Blast. Darkness, while it doesn't scale, but synergies incredibly with Fiend Sight, is a good choice. Invisiblity only gets better as you level so you can target more creatures. Dimension Door once saved my party's life. (kinda) Always casting Counterspell at your highest slot is hilarious but less effective than a Sorcerer/Wizard doing the same, though it will help you throughout your career.
Probably don't get Pact Blade unless you go Dex-based. Trust me, I tried to go strength and it went BAD. REALLY BAD. That is, until I got medium armour proficiency and then it was fantastic. But that was 8 levels and 2 later I retired the character XP Instead, if you want to go melee, take Tome and grab Shillelagh for Charisma quarterstaff. I never got to use Chain but I regret not doing so, because the familiar looks like SO much fun.
Never take any of the Invocations that use spell slots and recharge on a long rest UNLESS it's for Bestow Curse, since that is vicious, and Dreadful Word is a close second for a decent crowd control. Definitely take the spells at-will that work with your playstyle. Honestly, focusing on just boosting your Eldritch Blast is also a great strategy, but it can get...boring. Trust me. But with the right choices you can wade into the melee quick well.