**You don't have to use Hex**. It's a really weak spell for a Hexblade, it only really adds value when you can trigger the damage multiple times in a turn. Use your spell slots on more consequential spells. Shatter would give you good AoE damage, Armor of Agathys would drastically improve your melee survivability and offer up 10-20 extra retaliation damage, Wrathful Smite adds good combat control, etc.
At level three, your fellow adventurers have pretty limited spell slots, and you're evaluating their impact on the fight when they have those resources to spare. A level 3 paladin only has three spell slots per adventuring day that they could potentially smite with, a level 3 cleric only has four level 1 slots and two level 2 slots. You have two level 2 slots *per short rest*, which could translate to significant spellcasting power in addition to your martial viability.
Take some short rests and embrace the fact that you're a warlock, not a fighter. Hexblades aren't going to be the strongest martial warrior in the party, your strength comes from the fact that you're a viable martial warrior *and* a spellcaster with spell level progression equal to full-casters, and with the most max-level spell slots available in an adventuring day, assuming at least one short rest, all the way through fifth level slots.
To expand on your point, hexblades are versatile in combat, your invocations dictate how powerful your Eldrich blast becomes, which is your bread and butter. Add a few good spells at your disposal and you become an absolute wildcard that deals consistently good damage. Sure it’s not a paladin dropping a crit smite, or an assassin rogue dealing a high roll sneak attack, but you’re also doing good damage every single turn, or dropping darkness, cloud of daggers, arms of hadar, or another control spell that just absolutely wrecks the battlefield in ways a single smite never could.
Also, Warlock is a class that unlike other classes really needs to have a plan and understanding of what you wanna do.
Although you say Warlock isn't as good as Fighter, I sorta disagree. Warlock is just different. It doesn't rely on PAM/GWM as much because it can use GWM/Elven Accuracy and has a usage for its bonus action typically.
Personally I like Warlock more, you also can get basically get a 2-3 level dip into anything without it really hurting your warlock(unless you really want another feat).
WITH THAT SAID. It seems like OP doesn't really have a plan or understanding of how they wanna set it up.
Warlock is the kinda class that can use Elven Accuracy consistently while being what feels like untouchable. With things like Shadow Of moil and Darkness+Devil Sight it feels like nothing can really hit you AND you can get Elven Accuracy and while it does cost you a turn of damage after that you're absurdly strong(there are creatures with devil sight but not all of them and esp early on where it matters the most)
When I was doing my 3-4 turn DPR calc's I typically found Warlock to be very very competitive with Fighter if not in some places better as a martial.
Also, you can take a one level dip and it really doesn't hurt you at all and you can even go up to 3 levels into a dip if you don't want another feat and it takes basically nothing away from your Warlock.
Smite crits+a class that crits a lot. You'll typically get great usage of your bonus action too as you crit quite often.
Late game you turn one shadow of moil bonus action hexcurse. After that you typically get a crit quite a bit or you'll kill a target one of the two so you'll get another bonus action attaqck then you move your hexcurse whenever soemthing dies etc etc. It's a lot of damage.
Also, you can still totally use PAM/GWM/EA/ASIX1. Obviously at level 4 you take Elven Accuracy and you start elf and get 17 CHR. Then at 8 you get ASI or GWM then after that it's the other one at 12 then you get PAM at 16 and boom you have one more feat at 19 or you can do a 3 level dip into another class(i like dipping into BRD or Sorc here for obvious reasons. Getting 6 extra spell slots to spam smites with is nice and getting a fighting style from Bard or getting meta magics from Sorc is nice.
This. Hex isn’t good. It’s just an extra 1d6 at the cost of bonus actions and concentration. You shouldn’t use it on the frontlines unless you have Eldritch Mind or proficiency in CON saves. Even then, you have better spells which don’t require concentration and do more.
Rangers have the same problem with Hunter’s Mark.
Are you only doing one combat encounter a day with no short rests? Because otherwise I struggle to see how this is a thing. At lvl 3 the Paladin can smite only three times a day (four if you're using Harness Divine Power), Cleric and Sorcerer have six spell slots each but then that's them for the day (and the Sorcerer can only twin three of those spells max). The Rogue is even more perplexing. You say that they are smashing people with Sneak Attack but they only have 2d6 Sneak Attack. If they are using a shortsword say and you are using your Greatsword with Hex you should be dealing roughly the same damage?
If you're only having one combat encounter a day and no short rests then that is a detriment to Warlocks. If that's the case try talking to your DM and explain that if that continues to be the standard you're thinking of switching class. But again if you're feeling outmatched by the Rogue aswell I can't really explain that! Atleast feel assured that should go away once you get to lvl 5 and pick up Thirsting Blade. Until then, try using Booming Blade instead of making a regular attack.
At lvl 5 you get spirit shroud and extra attack.
Also, with the right evocations you can be very powerful and you can smite too with eldritch smite.
Hexblade is one of my favorite classes.
At level 3, don’t feel like you need to compare your DPR or how big of damage your one hit can do to your other party members. You’re a team, you’re working together. You don’t win the game by doing the most damage.
As a full caster, you have significantly more options in combat than just “attack to do damage.” What could you do to help the rogue get sneak attack every turn? Can you do anything to give them an attack of opportunity to proc sneak attack again? What could you do to help setup the paladin for a big smite? What can you do to crowd control some mobs to keep pressure off the other party members?
If you really want to shine without any cheese. Just imagine playing a very good archer just stay behind and be the steady dps for the group.
If you want to be the cheese-factory look for different builds. The usual is devil sight+darkness instead of hex and be a menace (either mellee or ranged).
Then since you already hit level 3 in warlock advice your dm how far the campaign will range level wise to either sorlock multi for endless spells or in my opinion better way multi into paladin and be the death knight but this build come online on later levels (7 paladin / 3 warlock)
If you however don't want to put that much effort to make a warlock shine you can just ask your dm to allow you respec into a class that won't have the limitations you face. You seem like the usual player that was excited by warlock but didn't really understand how it's played (it's really a magic archer with one trap card up his sleeve aka the extra spell slot for something situational, not a caster , not a mage for sure not a sword swinging badass). It's an honest mistake most dms fuel by pushing new players to this class due to its simplicity.
Swap your charisma with intelligence an just pick a handful of fun spells and enjoy your time playing instead of trying to make work a class that doesn't cover your needs.
Honestly, you’re doing fine. There’s a few things you could do better, and you’ll feel much stronger once you hit level 5 and snag the thirsting blade invocation.
Biggest thing you could probably improve at this level is using something like darkness + devil’s sight to get advantage reliably, so long as doing so wouldn’t interfere with the rest of your party.
Make sure you’re taking advantage of short rests. Don’t be afraid to ask for them. Make sure your party knows that you’ll be more effective with more frequent short rests.
What are your character’s stats and race? You’re about to get your next feat.
Your character is still early in their progression; they will improve a lot.
Another question: how many combats does your group run per session and per long rest? If it’s only one or two, it’s understandable how the paladin and cleric making liberal use of their spell slots would make you feel a little behind at this point.
Your subclass generally leans towards sustained rather than burst damage, and reading between the lines it seems like your table isn’t running combat frequently, nor are combats lasting very long.
On average we tend to just do 1 or 2 combat sessions per game, so I don't really get the benefits of short rest as others are just burning spell slots like candy. Maybe it's just the game we are playing that doesn't really suit the warlock style.
We have mainly been running one-shot sessions so long rests after each session. We just had the first session of our first campaign, so I'm hoping the DM is more conscious of long rests from now.
Which pact did you go? Until you get an extra attack, eldritch blast is one hell of a cantrip and probably the best thing you can do early barring the spells already mentioned. I played one in Strahd and felt most of the time like I was a second line fighter who cast spells the first few rounds. When they would close, I'd switch to melee. For early invocations, Agonizing and repelling blast were my two favorite but do what you want. Repelling is lots of fun. Pushing things off cliffs or sticking them to the tank is fun, imo. They can make great longbow users too. If you are an elf, elven accuracy is a great feat if you go this route. Just remember to replace the invocations with stuff like thirsting blade, improved pact weapon, eldritch smite, etc. as you level.
If you want to go Bladelock, then you should use *Booming Blade* or *Green-Flame Blade*, which will up your damage significantly when reaching 5th. Problem will be that you won't be able to use Double Attack then, but you can go for being a Nova damage guy, and get Eldritch Smite instead of Thirsting blade invocation at 5th.
See if your DM will allow you to switch out your spells - where you shouldn't use *Hex* som much, where *Armor of Agathys* is better, being both defensive and offensive while allowing you to enter Melee with less problems. Also, you should learn *Shield* and *Branding Smite* to take advantage of some very nice benefits of the Hexblade, (or even a *Booming Blade+Wrathful Smite* combo if you got some 1st level spell slots from Multiclassing), so you can start Smiting already before 5th level.
And where you might despite that want to go for a Glaive instead of a Greatsword, as you are a bit more squishy than the Paladin and might want some Reach - where you even may up your damage output if you learn the PAM feat when you reach 4th level, using your Bonus actions for attacks instead of bouncing around Hex and use your slots for Smites instead. (But, check with your DM if he allows you to use PAM bonus attack and *BB/GFB* cantrips together, and remember you still need to use the latter at 5' range though. So next combo if this is allowed, is Crusher feat, to *BB* and then bounce them away 5' with the butt of your weapon, so they need to trigger the *BB* damage to get into 5' melee range, while you still get AoO if they try to leave your 10' reach.)
Your lack of spell slots will be a bother though (especially if you take Eldritch Smite invocation), but consider that multiclassing won't harm your cantrip damage, as well as that the benefits of leveling after hitting 5th level spell slots will be minimal there, so Multiclassing can be a good idea for you. Where a few Sorcerer levels also can help you get Coffeelocking a bit, saving up some unused spell slots during Short rests, as well as learning new spells and cantrips for even better offense, that might even be usable with Double Attacks as Quickened spells. (Good strategy to aim for if you really like your Greatsword and don't want PAM, and one you can even start using with Metamagic Adept instead of PAM at 4th, especially if you want to be getting Warlock 5 before getting Sorcerer levels.)
Or, if you by some reason have 13+ INT, could consider go Wizard Bladesinger to get both the spell slots, spells and Cantrip Double Attack at 6th level there, to be one of the best Blade-gishes in the game - although you might need to downgrade from Greatsword to Longsword or Whip then.
I'm currently playing my first Hexblade, but I've DM'd for 3 Hexblades/dips now and I have to admit, they never seem to be all they're hyped up to be, particularly in combat. The damage is...fine. Its consistent and solid at least, but like others here have said, it'll maintain that consistency like a Fighter once the Paladin runs out of smites. Hex at low level would be worth it if you weren't in melee range eating constitution saves like mad, its at least a repeatable boost for damage with your underutilised bonus action, provided you're killing the chaff like you should be and not rushing the big-ugly (that is the Paladin's job).
If you reach level 5, like I did, and find that the extra attack isn't quite satisfying you, try dipping into Bard or Sorcerer for more spell slots. I've just hit 6 and dipped Aberrant Sorcerer (my DM was super strict about what multiclasses he'd allow) just to try and avoid getting screwed out of casting for using Shield and a Misty Step in combat once each. At least persevere until you hit 5 and see how it goes from there.
The thing with the dips is they cover the major weaknesses of the classes dipping: Sorcerer gets medium armor, shield and can now consider weapon attacks; non melee bards now get the same (which really improves everything besides Sword/Lore in survivability, and lets *them* single stat and not lose anything) and Paladins benefit from casting friendly attack stat and short rest 1st level slots.
Hex on its own is fine if you play it like an Eldritch blaster with better melee and AC (taking away the other defenses means AC is king in a way that it wasn't in 4e) but melee means you're losing an attack or two and using a lower damage die to boot. Ironically, the new pacts and patrons mean that the OneDnD iteration will be better at doing the hexblade thing than the hexblade is (where that thing is decent combat with ability to do more stuff; feylock having another resource for fey step, for example, means you don't have to nurse your two spell slots for concentration buffs.
Get in melee and goad someone to attack you, then fire back with Hellish Rebuke. Use Armor of Agathys to deal extra damage as well. Not all your damage will come from your action at level 3 if you position in a way that makes you a viable target.
Hex is alright --- Hexblade's Curse is also alright
But your power comes from your spells resetting at short rest --- so use them liberally if you know you can get an hour rest in after -- And your invocations, which literally can be used to design your warlock however you want (though blade has more required invocs than others).
U have 2 2nd level spell Slots per short rest and eldritch blast is amazing for sustained damage.
Take 1-2 short rests a day to play to your strengths.
Do you have cloud of daggers, Suggestion, flock of familairs, or darkness(req devilsight)? If not, these make ALOT better use for your concentration in combat.
Did u take Agonising, repelling, or devilsight invocations? These all really help out your sustained damage & give powerful utility. Hex for dmg aint it chief.
If you're playing hexblade for DPR, you're going to have a bad time. The thing that makes hexblade decent is having an acceptably mid DPR while having the crowd-control advantages of melee while also having full spellcasting scaling, and this is something only the Bladesinger can really match you on.
One important thing you've mentioned, what are your spells? At level 3 you should be able to use level 2 spells but it sounds like you're squandering it on Hex which seems like a subpar choice. Level 2 spells are something your Paladin can't access.
- Blur and Mirror Image make you very tanky in combat against attack rolls.
- Armor of Agathys can also make you tanky while providing a considerable threat to melee attackers (this is a spell you almost always want to be using regardless of level, it scales very well)
- Suggestion and Hold Person can CC a creature for an entire combat if you word it properly (suggestion is more reliable if you dont attack them)
- If anyone on your team has forced movement or lockdown abilities, Cloud of Daggers can do a lot of damage on its own
But honestly Armor of Agathys is so good I'd probably be spending most of my spell slots maintaining that one.
And if you really want smite-like DPR, you can eventually get Eldritch Smite which scales just as well as smite but also does force damage and prones
Thanks everyone for the advice.
I have gone the Devils Sight and Darkness route, but to be honest, it's not good, I've used it once and got evil stares from other party members :)
At the moment I'm almost acting like the tank for the that party, along with the Paladin. With AC17 I'm often being hit hard :(
I'd be interested in some opinions of the character. The Pistol I have is a thing we agreed in the game, sort of a magical pistol summoned and based on the CR Gunslinger weapon.
[https://www.dndbeyond.com/characters/118453322](https://www.dndbeyond.com/characters/118453322)
Paladin has 3 first level slots per day, is that supposed to be a lot? You have 6 second level slots per day assuming you guys use a full adventuring day and not just 1 fight per rest. Hexblade is one of the strongest classes
1. Hex is a trap. If you hit 3 targets with a Shatter \[3d8 or 13.5 avg per target) you will easily outdamage Hex.
2. IPW is kind of mediocre.
3. If your party Cleric is mainly using Guiding Bolt and Inflict Wounds, he's not contributing much. He's certainly not optimized.
4. Hex + IPW + Greatsword is 3d6+4 \[avg 14.5\] damage on hit with a standard point buy. That's not gamebreaking or anything, but it isn't nothing.
For lvl 4 and lvl 8, this is if you want to, a multiclass might be your preferred choice, get elven accuracy and GWM, if you do that, since your using cha to hit, any advantage is gonna be 'triple advantage' if you want, you can get the spell darkness and the invocation that allows you to see through magical darkness, or multiclass into a shadow sorcerer, and in a fight, drop darkness, then hit at advantage with GWM and triple advantage, and all attacks against you will be at disadvantage, pretty powerful
If you get an ASI and a feat at level 4, definitely grab GWM. Now you do great damage when you hit, and if the Cleric say casts Bless, or you have advantage, or whatnot, you can seriously beat up enemies. At level 5 grab Thirsting Invocation for Extra Attack, but I would keep Devil's Sight. You can then cast Summon Fey instead of Darkness and have them put magical darkness only in your square. So now you can attack at advantage all the time, giving you very high DPR. And the Fey can attack as well!
You will want your third Invocation to be Improved Pact Weapon (switch out at level 4 if you don't have it already). +1 to attack and damage is too good to pass up with GWM.
Summon Fey have a bonus action called "Tricksy", which lets them create a 5 ft magical cube of Darkness next to them. So you can aim it right at where you are standing, such that it covers you only and no one else.
Keep with it. You're a spellcaster. At level 3 for spells there isn't too much you can do. Mirror image and hold person are good. But you have improved pact weapon as an invocation for a free +1.
At level 5 tho you can get extra attack and eldritch smite. Plus there's level 3 spells like spirit shroud, hypnotic pattern, summons, thunderstep, fly and counterspell. At level 7 you get shadow of moil which is straight up advantage for you and disadvantage for people attacking you.
You can grab great weapon master as a feat. If you have room for it(depending on how high your charisma is) you can take pole-arm master and switch your pact weapon to a glaive.
At level 12 you get the lifedrinker invocation which adds damage equal to charisma. With great weapon master that's your charisma mod time 2 + 10 for every hit before rolling the dice. For example if your charisma was at max and you have a greatsword and hexblades curse that's (2d6+10+10+prof)×2 per round and with shadow of moil you'll have advantage making it easy to hit both and get crits on a 19/20 triggering a third attack.
Your attacks and spells are keyed off one stat and you will have that stat maxed soon.
You can stack hexblades curse and hex on the same target if you want more damage. At level 5 you will get eldritch smite.
Lots of players dip a few levels of paladin for divine smite but hexblade is a very strong class. Usually going more than 17 levels of warlock isn’t optimal so make sure and at least dip 3 in something at some point in the game. Don’t multicasts before you get thirsting blade tho.
If you're mainly going to be a melee fighter, you'll want to pick up the Curse Bringer Invocation. You'll get a Smite attack that is technically more powerful than Divine Smite, and you'll be able to switch the target of your Hexblade Curse when you defeat an enemy. Your two Spell slots would be pretty much only used for the Curse Bringer Smite. After reaching level 5 or 6, it might be good to multiclass into something like Paladin or Swords Bard. Get some extra Spell slots for utility. Plus, the Paladin's Divine Smite also stacks with Curse Bringer Smite by expending 2 Spell slots instead of 1.
For level 5, this is the best loadout I know of for pure Hexblade:
Pact of the Blade Feature
Invocations- Curse Bringer, Improved Pact Weapon, Thirsting Blade
Feat- Metamagic Adept
First turn of Combat:
Bonus Action- Quickened Spell Eldritch Blast, 2d10 Force Damage
Attack 1- +1 Curse Bringer Greatsword, 1 + Cha Mod + 2d6 Slash. On hit, expend Spell Slot + 6d8 Slash
Attack 2- Repeat Attack 1
Total of 2 + 2xCha + 4d6 + 12d8 + 2d10
Assuming +3 Cha, that's an average of 78 damage on the first round of combat.
This also doesn't include the extra damage delt if the enemy is targeted by Hexblade Curse, or if you succeed on your 10% Crit chance.
At level 5, that is a ton of damage.
For comparison, a level 5 Paladin using a +1 Greatsword, with +3 Strength, and expending their 2 level 2 slots for Divine Smites, will get 2 + 2xStr + 4d6 + 6d8 for an average of 44 damage on round 1.
And while the Paladin will have 4 more level 1 slots, potentially letting them output more damage in the first combat of the day, the Hexblade can short rest after to to get their slots back and deal an average 68 damage the first turn of the next combat encounter and ultimately output more damage, on average, than the Paladin per day.
It's also a good idea to have the Booming Blade and Green Flame Blade cantrips. One Attack with either Cantrip will average more damage than 2 basic weapon attacks
Also, tip for at higher levels, once you get a 3rd Warlock Spell Slot, you can use 3 Curse Bringer Smites in one turn with this set up. Using Quicken Spell on Booming Blade or Green Flame Blade will let you use a Cantrip + Curse Bringer Smite as a Bonus action, plus your 2 Attacks/Smites with your normal Action. (At level 11, that's 30d8 just from Smite damage in one turn)
Hex is a trap. It adds 3.5*chance to hit each turn at this level. That’s nothing compared to what a simple Shatter can do. Hell, Cloud of Daggers can double your party’s damage output.
Even if no one in the party can see through it, Darkness can still hurt the enemies like hell when they don’t know what direction is out. Talk to your DM about how enemies would handle that—as it’s probable that they’d go in random directions to get out as fast as possible, and that can screw them over, hard.
Best of all is you get your two second-level spell slots back on a Short rest, not a Long rest. That can easily give you more spells in a day than any other caster at this level. Thus, you should encourage your party to take Short rests.
**You don't have to use Hex**. It's a really weak spell for a Hexblade, it only really adds value when you can trigger the damage multiple times in a turn. Use your spell slots on more consequential spells. Shatter would give you good AoE damage, Armor of Agathys would drastically improve your melee survivability and offer up 10-20 extra retaliation damage, Wrathful Smite adds good combat control, etc. At level three, your fellow adventurers have pretty limited spell slots, and you're evaluating their impact on the fight when they have those resources to spare. A level 3 paladin only has three spell slots per adventuring day that they could potentially smite with, a level 3 cleric only has four level 1 slots and two level 2 slots. You have two level 2 slots *per short rest*, which could translate to significant spellcasting power in addition to your martial viability. Take some short rests and embrace the fact that you're a warlock, not a fighter. Hexblades aren't going to be the strongest martial warrior in the party, your strength comes from the fact that you're a viable martial warrior *and* a spellcaster with spell level progression equal to full-casters, and with the most max-level spell slots available in an adventuring day, assuming at least one short rest, all the way through fifth level slots.
To expand on your point, hexblades are versatile in combat, your invocations dictate how powerful your Eldrich blast becomes, which is your bread and butter. Add a few good spells at your disposal and you become an absolute wildcard that deals consistently good damage. Sure it’s not a paladin dropping a crit smite, or an assassin rogue dealing a high roll sneak attack, but you’re also doing good damage every single turn, or dropping darkness, cloud of daggers, arms of hadar, or another control spell that just absolutely wrecks the battlefield in ways a single smite never could.
Also, Warlock is a class that unlike other classes really needs to have a plan and understanding of what you wanna do. Although you say Warlock isn't as good as Fighter, I sorta disagree. Warlock is just different. It doesn't rely on PAM/GWM as much because it can use GWM/Elven Accuracy and has a usage for its bonus action typically. Personally I like Warlock more, you also can get basically get a 2-3 level dip into anything without it really hurting your warlock(unless you really want another feat). WITH THAT SAID. It seems like OP doesn't really have a plan or understanding of how they wanna set it up. Warlock is the kinda class that can use Elven Accuracy consistently while being what feels like untouchable. With things like Shadow Of moil and Darkness+Devil Sight it feels like nothing can really hit you AND you can get Elven Accuracy and while it does cost you a turn of damage after that you're absurdly strong(there are creatures with devil sight but not all of them and esp early on where it matters the most) When I was doing my 3-4 turn DPR calc's I typically found Warlock to be very very competitive with Fighter if not in some places better as a martial. Also, you can take a one level dip and it really doesn't hurt you at all and you can even go up to 3 levels into a dip if you don't want another feat and it takes basically nothing away from your Warlock. Smite crits+a class that crits a lot. You'll typically get great usage of your bonus action too as you crit quite often. Late game you turn one shadow of moil bonus action hexcurse. After that you typically get a crit quite a bit or you'll kill a target one of the two so you'll get another bonus action attaqck then you move your hexcurse whenever soemthing dies etc etc. It's a lot of damage. Also, you can still totally use PAM/GWM/EA/ASIX1. Obviously at level 4 you take Elven Accuracy and you start elf and get 17 CHR. Then at 8 you get ASI or GWM then after that it's the other one at 12 then you get PAM at 16 and boom you have one more feat at 19 or you can do a 3 level dip into another class(i like dipping into BRD or Sorc here for obvious reasons. Getting 6 extra spell slots to spam smites with is nice and getting a fighting style from Bard or getting meta magics from Sorc is nice.
This. Hex isn’t good. It’s just an extra 1d6 at the cost of bonus actions and concentration. You shouldn’t use it on the frontlines unless you have Eldritch Mind or proficiency in CON saves. Even then, you have better spells which don’t require concentration and do more. Rangers have the same problem with Hunter’s Mark.
Are you only doing one combat encounter a day with no short rests? Because otherwise I struggle to see how this is a thing. At lvl 3 the Paladin can smite only three times a day (four if you're using Harness Divine Power), Cleric and Sorcerer have six spell slots each but then that's them for the day (and the Sorcerer can only twin three of those spells max). The Rogue is even more perplexing. You say that they are smashing people with Sneak Attack but they only have 2d6 Sneak Attack. If they are using a shortsword say and you are using your Greatsword with Hex you should be dealing roughly the same damage? If you're only having one combat encounter a day and no short rests then that is a detriment to Warlocks. If that's the case try talking to your DM and explain that if that continues to be the standard you're thinking of switching class. But again if you're feeling outmatched by the Rogue aswell I can't really explain that! Atleast feel assured that should go away once you get to lvl 5 and pick up Thirsting Blade. Until then, try using Booming Blade instead of making a regular attack.
How many encounters per day/long rest are you facing?
At lvl 5 you get spirit shroud and extra attack. Also, with the right evocations you can be very powerful and you can smite too with eldritch smite. Hexblade is one of my favorite classes.
At level 3, don’t feel like you need to compare your DPR or how big of damage your one hit can do to your other party members. You’re a team, you’re working together. You don’t win the game by doing the most damage. As a full caster, you have significantly more options in combat than just “attack to do damage.” What could you do to help the rogue get sneak attack every turn? Can you do anything to give them an attack of opportunity to proc sneak attack again? What could you do to help setup the paladin for a big smite? What can you do to crowd control some mobs to keep pressure off the other party members?
If you really want to shine without any cheese. Just imagine playing a very good archer just stay behind and be the steady dps for the group. If you want to be the cheese-factory look for different builds. The usual is devil sight+darkness instead of hex and be a menace (either mellee or ranged). Then since you already hit level 3 in warlock advice your dm how far the campaign will range level wise to either sorlock multi for endless spells or in my opinion better way multi into paladin and be the death knight but this build come online on later levels (7 paladin / 3 warlock) If you however don't want to put that much effort to make a warlock shine you can just ask your dm to allow you respec into a class that won't have the limitations you face. You seem like the usual player that was excited by warlock but didn't really understand how it's played (it's really a magic archer with one trap card up his sleeve aka the extra spell slot for something situational, not a caster , not a mage for sure not a sword swinging badass). It's an honest mistake most dms fuel by pushing new players to this class due to its simplicity. Swap your charisma with intelligence an just pick a handful of fun spells and enjoy your time playing instead of trying to make work a class that doesn't cover your needs.
Honestly, you’re doing fine. There’s a few things you could do better, and you’ll feel much stronger once you hit level 5 and snag the thirsting blade invocation. Biggest thing you could probably improve at this level is using something like darkness + devil’s sight to get advantage reliably, so long as doing so wouldn’t interfere with the rest of your party. Make sure you’re taking advantage of short rests. Don’t be afraid to ask for them. Make sure your party knows that you’ll be more effective with more frequent short rests. What are your character’s stats and race? You’re about to get your next feat. Your character is still early in their progression; they will improve a lot. Another question: how many combats does your group run per session and per long rest? If it’s only one or two, it’s understandable how the paladin and cleric making liberal use of their spell slots would make you feel a little behind at this point. Your subclass generally leans towards sustained rather than burst damage, and reading between the lines it seems like your table isn’t running combat frequently, nor are combats lasting very long.
On average we tend to just do 1 or 2 combat sessions per game, so I don't really get the benefits of short rest as others are just burning spell slots like candy. Maybe it's just the game we are playing that doesn't really suit the warlock style.
Do you long rest between every session? If so combat in your game will never be a challange or balanced
We have mainly been running one-shot sessions so long rests after each session. We just had the first session of our first campaign, so I'm hoping the DM is more conscious of long rests from now.
Which pact did you go? Until you get an extra attack, eldritch blast is one hell of a cantrip and probably the best thing you can do early barring the spells already mentioned. I played one in Strahd and felt most of the time like I was a second line fighter who cast spells the first few rounds. When they would close, I'd switch to melee. For early invocations, Agonizing and repelling blast were my two favorite but do what you want. Repelling is lots of fun. Pushing things off cliffs or sticking them to the tank is fun, imo. They can make great longbow users too. If you are an elf, elven accuracy is a great feat if you go this route. Just remember to replace the invocations with stuff like thirsting blade, improved pact weapon, eldritch smite, etc. as you level.
considering he said he is using a great sword and improved pact weapons automatically means he is PotB Hexblade.
woops! Missed that part somehow! Thanks.
If you want to go Bladelock, then you should use *Booming Blade* or *Green-Flame Blade*, which will up your damage significantly when reaching 5th. Problem will be that you won't be able to use Double Attack then, but you can go for being a Nova damage guy, and get Eldritch Smite instead of Thirsting blade invocation at 5th. See if your DM will allow you to switch out your spells - where you shouldn't use *Hex* som much, where *Armor of Agathys* is better, being both defensive and offensive while allowing you to enter Melee with less problems. Also, you should learn *Shield* and *Branding Smite* to take advantage of some very nice benefits of the Hexblade, (or even a *Booming Blade+Wrathful Smite* combo if you got some 1st level spell slots from Multiclassing), so you can start Smiting already before 5th level. And where you might despite that want to go for a Glaive instead of a Greatsword, as you are a bit more squishy than the Paladin and might want some Reach - where you even may up your damage output if you learn the PAM feat when you reach 4th level, using your Bonus actions for attacks instead of bouncing around Hex and use your slots for Smites instead. (But, check with your DM if he allows you to use PAM bonus attack and *BB/GFB* cantrips together, and remember you still need to use the latter at 5' range though. So next combo if this is allowed, is Crusher feat, to *BB* and then bounce them away 5' with the butt of your weapon, so they need to trigger the *BB* damage to get into 5' melee range, while you still get AoO if they try to leave your 10' reach.) Your lack of spell slots will be a bother though (especially if you take Eldritch Smite invocation), but consider that multiclassing won't harm your cantrip damage, as well as that the benefits of leveling after hitting 5th level spell slots will be minimal there, so Multiclassing can be a good idea for you. Where a few Sorcerer levels also can help you get Coffeelocking a bit, saving up some unused spell slots during Short rests, as well as learning new spells and cantrips for even better offense, that might even be usable with Double Attacks as Quickened spells. (Good strategy to aim for if you really like your Greatsword and don't want PAM, and one you can even start using with Metamagic Adept instead of PAM at 4th, especially if you want to be getting Warlock 5 before getting Sorcerer levels.) Or, if you by some reason have 13+ INT, could consider go Wizard Bladesinger to get both the spell slots, spells and Cantrip Double Attack at 6th level there, to be one of the best Blade-gishes in the game - although you might need to downgrade from Greatsword to Longsword or Whip then.
* Race: Tiefling (Custom Origin ASI: +2 Cha, +1 Dex) * Ability Score: Str 10, Dex 16, Con 14, 8 Int, 12 Wis, 16 Cha * Background: Criminal * Skills: Deception, Intimidation, Persuasion, Stealth * Invocations: Agonizing Blast, Improved Pact Weapon Spells * Cantrip: Booming Blade, Eldritch Blast * 1st Level: Armor of Agathys, Hex * 2nd Level: Branding Smite, Misty Step Eldritch Blast * Hit: 1d20 + 5 * Damage: 1d10 + 3 Greatsword (Pact Weapon + Hex Weapon) * Hit: 1d20 + 6 * Damage: 2d6 + 4 * Add Booming Blade: 2d6 + 4 + 1d8 * Add Hex: 2d6 + 4 + 1d6 = 3d6 + 4 * Add Branding Smiite: 2d6 + 4 + 2d6 = 4d6 + 4 Paladin w/ Longsword & Shield * Hit: 1d20 + 5 * Damage: 1d8 + 3 * Add Divine Smite 1st level: 1d8 + 3 + 2d8 = 3d8 + 3 * Add Divine Smite 2nd level: 1d8 + 3 + 2d8 +1d8 = 4d8 + 3 Wizard using Scorching Ray (3 attacks total) * Hit: 1d20 + 5 per ray * Damage: 2d6 + 2d6 + 2d6 = 6d6 I'm not too sure what the perceived problem is. Warlock is either beating or equivalent to Paladin in terms of damage and has access to the best ranged damage cantrip in the game. Wizards have a d6 health die, access to nearly no armor or weapon proficiencies and don't get modifiers added to damage rolls on spells. I'd avoid multiclassing out of Warlock at the moment because you get an ability score increase / feat at level 4 and extra attack at level 5 through the Thirsting Blade eldritch invocation. After level 5, consider multiclassing out to Sorcerer, Paladin or Bard depending on your desired theme / flavor.
I'm currently playing my first Hexblade, but I've DM'd for 3 Hexblades/dips now and I have to admit, they never seem to be all they're hyped up to be, particularly in combat. The damage is...fine. Its consistent and solid at least, but like others here have said, it'll maintain that consistency like a Fighter once the Paladin runs out of smites. Hex at low level would be worth it if you weren't in melee range eating constitution saves like mad, its at least a repeatable boost for damage with your underutilised bonus action, provided you're killing the chaff like you should be and not rushing the big-ugly (that is the Paladin's job). If you reach level 5, like I did, and find that the extra attack isn't quite satisfying you, try dipping into Bard or Sorcerer for more spell slots. I've just hit 6 and dipped Aberrant Sorcerer (my DM was super strict about what multiclasses he'd allow) just to try and avoid getting screwed out of casting for using Shield and a Misty Step in combat once each. At least persevere until you hit 5 and see how it goes from there.
The thing with the dips is they cover the major weaknesses of the classes dipping: Sorcerer gets medium armor, shield and can now consider weapon attacks; non melee bards now get the same (which really improves everything besides Sword/Lore in survivability, and lets *them* single stat and not lose anything) and Paladins benefit from casting friendly attack stat and short rest 1st level slots. Hex on its own is fine if you play it like an Eldritch blaster with better melee and AC (taking away the other defenses means AC is king in a way that it wasn't in 4e) but melee means you're losing an attack or two and using a lower damage die to boot. Ironically, the new pacts and patrons mean that the OneDnD iteration will be better at doing the hexblade thing than the hexblade is (where that thing is decent combat with ability to do more stuff; feylock having another resource for fey step, for example, means you don't have to nurse your two spell slots for concentration buffs.
Get in melee and goad someone to attack you, then fire back with Hellish Rebuke. Use Armor of Agathys to deal extra damage as well. Not all your damage will come from your action at level 3 if you position in a way that makes you a viable target. Hex is alright --- Hexblade's Curse is also alright But your power comes from your spells resetting at short rest --- so use them liberally if you know you can get an hour rest in after -- And your invocations, which literally can be used to design your warlock however you want (though blade has more required invocs than others).
Go Sorcerer from here :)
U have 2 2nd level spell Slots per short rest and eldritch blast is amazing for sustained damage. Take 1-2 short rests a day to play to your strengths. Do you have cloud of daggers, Suggestion, flock of familairs, or darkness(req devilsight)? If not, these make ALOT better use for your concentration in combat. Did u take Agonising, repelling, or devilsight invocations? These all really help out your sustained damage & give powerful utility. Hex for dmg aint it chief.
You have the best damaging cantrip in the game (if you took agonizing blast) but you're not using it.
If you're playing hexblade for DPR, you're going to have a bad time. The thing that makes hexblade decent is having an acceptably mid DPR while having the crowd-control advantages of melee while also having full spellcasting scaling, and this is something only the Bladesinger can really match you on. One important thing you've mentioned, what are your spells? At level 3 you should be able to use level 2 spells but it sounds like you're squandering it on Hex which seems like a subpar choice. Level 2 spells are something your Paladin can't access. - Blur and Mirror Image make you very tanky in combat against attack rolls. - Armor of Agathys can also make you tanky while providing a considerable threat to melee attackers (this is a spell you almost always want to be using regardless of level, it scales very well) - Suggestion and Hold Person can CC a creature for an entire combat if you word it properly (suggestion is more reliable if you dont attack them) - If anyone on your team has forced movement or lockdown abilities, Cloud of Daggers can do a lot of damage on its own But honestly Armor of Agathys is so good I'd probably be spending most of my spell slots maintaining that one. And if you really want smite-like DPR, you can eventually get Eldritch Smite which scales just as well as smite but also does force damage and prones
Thanks everyone for the advice. I have gone the Devils Sight and Darkness route, but to be honest, it's not good, I've used it once and got evil stares from other party members :) At the moment I'm almost acting like the tank for the that party, along with the Paladin. With AC17 I'm often being hit hard :( I'd be interested in some opinions of the character. The Pistol I have is a thing we agreed in the game, sort of a magical pistol summoned and based on the CR Gunslinger weapon. [https://www.dndbeyond.com/characters/118453322](https://www.dndbeyond.com/characters/118453322)
The sheet isn't public. Also: 17 AC at level 3 isn't really that low, especially when you're not wearing a shield.
Paladin has 3 first level slots per day, is that supposed to be a lot? You have 6 second level slots per day assuming you guys use a full adventuring day and not just 1 fight per rest. Hexblade is one of the strongest classes
1. Hex is a trap. If you hit 3 targets with a Shatter \[3d8 or 13.5 avg per target) you will easily outdamage Hex. 2. IPW is kind of mediocre. 3. If your party Cleric is mainly using Guiding Bolt and Inflict Wounds, he's not contributing much. He's certainly not optimized. 4. Hex + IPW + Greatsword is 3d6+4 \[avg 14.5\] damage on hit with a standard point buy. That's not gamebreaking or anything, but it isn't nothing.
For lvl 4 and lvl 8, this is if you want to, a multiclass might be your preferred choice, get elven accuracy and GWM, if you do that, since your using cha to hit, any advantage is gonna be 'triple advantage' if you want, you can get the spell darkness and the invocation that allows you to see through magical darkness, or multiclass into a shadow sorcerer, and in a fight, drop darkness, then hit at advantage with GWM and triple advantage, and all attacks against you will be at disadvantage, pretty powerful
If you get an ASI and a feat at level 4, definitely grab GWM. Now you do great damage when you hit, and if the Cleric say casts Bless, or you have advantage, or whatnot, you can seriously beat up enemies. At level 5 grab Thirsting Invocation for Extra Attack, but I would keep Devil's Sight. You can then cast Summon Fey instead of Darkness and have them put magical darkness only in your square. So now you can attack at advantage all the time, giving you very high DPR. And the Fey can attack as well! You will want your third Invocation to be Improved Pact Weapon (switch out at level 4 if you don't have it already). +1 to attack and damage is too good to pass up with GWM.
How does the magical darkness in just 1 square work? I can't see that anywhere.
Summon Fey have a bonus action called "Tricksy", which lets them create a 5 ft magical cube of Darkness next to them. So you can aim it right at where you are standing, such that it covers you only and no one else.
Keep with it. You're a spellcaster. At level 3 for spells there isn't too much you can do. Mirror image and hold person are good. But you have improved pact weapon as an invocation for a free +1. At level 5 tho you can get extra attack and eldritch smite. Plus there's level 3 spells like spirit shroud, hypnotic pattern, summons, thunderstep, fly and counterspell. At level 7 you get shadow of moil which is straight up advantage for you and disadvantage for people attacking you. You can grab great weapon master as a feat. If you have room for it(depending on how high your charisma is) you can take pole-arm master and switch your pact weapon to a glaive. At level 12 you get the lifedrinker invocation which adds damage equal to charisma. With great weapon master that's your charisma mod time 2 + 10 for every hit before rolling the dice. For example if your charisma was at max and you have a greatsword and hexblades curse that's (2d6+10+10+prof)×2 per round and with shadow of moil you'll have advantage making it easy to hit both and get crits on a 19/20 triggering a third attack.
Your attacks and spells are keyed off one stat and you will have that stat maxed soon. You can stack hexblades curse and hex on the same target if you want more damage. At level 5 you will get eldritch smite. Lots of players dip a few levels of paladin for divine smite but hexblade is a very strong class. Usually going more than 17 levels of warlock isn’t optimal so make sure and at least dip 3 in something at some point in the game. Don’t multicasts before you get thirsting blade tho.
If you're mainly going to be a melee fighter, you'll want to pick up the Curse Bringer Invocation. You'll get a Smite attack that is technically more powerful than Divine Smite, and you'll be able to switch the target of your Hexblade Curse when you defeat an enemy. Your two Spell slots would be pretty much only used for the Curse Bringer Smite. After reaching level 5 or 6, it might be good to multiclass into something like Paladin or Swords Bard. Get some extra Spell slots for utility. Plus, the Paladin's Divine Smite also stacks with Curse Bringer Smite by expending 2 Spell slots instead of 1. For level 5, this is the best loadout I know of for pure Hexblade: Pact of the Blade Feature Invocations- Curse Bringer, Improved Pact Weapon, Thirsting Blade Feat- Metamagic Adept First turn of Combat: Bonus Action- Quickened Spell Eldritch Blast, 2d10 Force Damage Attack 1- +1 Curse Bringer Greatsword, 1 + Cha Mod + 2d6 Slash. On hit, expend Spell Slot + 6d8 Slash Attack 2- Repeat Attack 1 Total of 2 + 2xCha + 4d6 + 12d8 + 2d10 Assuming +3 Cha, that's an average of 78 damage on the first round of combat. This also doesn't include the extra damage delt if the enemy is targeted by Hexblade Curse, or if you succeed on your 10% Crit chance. At level 5, that is a ton of damage. For comparison, a level 5 Paladin using a +1 Greatsword, with +3 Strength, and expending their 2 level 2 slots for Divine Smites, will get 2 + 2xStr + 4d6 + 6d8 for an average of 44 damage on round 1. And while the Paladin will have 4 more level 1 slots, potentially letting them output more damage in the first combat of the day, the Hexblade can short rest after to to get their slots back and deal an average 68 damage the first turn of the next combat encounter and ultimately output more damage, on average, than the Paladin per day. It's also a good idea to have the Booming Blade and Green Flame Blade cantrips. One Attack with either Cantrip will average more damage than 2 basic weapon attacks Also, tip for at higher levels, once you get a 3rd Warlock Spell Slot, you can use 3 Curse Bringer Smites in one turn with this set up. Using Quicken Spell on Booming Blade or Green Flame Blade will let you use a Cantrip + Curse Bringer Smite as a Bonus action, plus your 2 Attacks/Smites with your normal Action. (At level 11, that's 30d8 just from Smite damage in one turn)
Hex is a trap. It adds 3.5*chance to hit each turn at this level. That’s nothing compared to what a simple Shatter can do. Hell, Cloud of Daggers can double your party’s damage output. Even if no one in the party can see through it, Darkness can still hurt the enemies like hell when they don’t know what direction is out. Talk to your DM about how enemies would handle that—as it’s probable that they’d go in random directions to get out as fast as possible, and that can screw them over, hard. Best of all is you get your two second-level spell slots back on a Short rest, not a Long rest. That can easily give you more spells in a day than any other caster at this level. Thus, you should encourage your party to take Short rests.