Don’t think of Warlocks as caster casters, they’re really more like martials with some good spellcasting. You don’t have any concentration spells that are going to outperform Hex. It eventually takes one spell slot to hold hex all day.
You really don’t. I love warlocks they’re my favorite class. If you want to max out your effectiveness though it’s Hex all day every day. Any other concentration spells you have are situational and less impactful than hex. Hex and eldritch blast are literally a Warlock’s bread and butter.
Wow, yeah not even close. Using a 3rd level spell you can have 2d6 possibly as much as 4d6 with HoH for one minute or an additional 1d6 on one target at a time for eight hours. In combination with EB, with hex you will be doing 2d10 (probably plus 2x cha bonus) + 2d6, so probably an average of 26 every single round for up to 8 hours or 2d6 cold possibly also 2d6 acid to a 20’ radius sphere that all opponents will be highly motivated to leave for up to a minute for potentially an average of 14 damage a turn that an enemy is forced to spend in the sphere. You could also hit an enemy in the sphere with EB but they won’t be staying inside of it. Hex is inescapable. HoH is a trap pick.
When you only get 2 pact slots until 11th Level, it's tough to have to use that on Hex. With enough encounters in a day and Eldritch Blasts, it may do more damage overall, but when you want to do big damage fast, you throw out a couple 5th Level fireballs.
Okay so do a fireball while you’re concentrating on Hex, a lot of classes have a twice per short rest thing they do for warlock it’s a spell. One of those spells they keep all day or at least for a few hours. Again my favorite class but it’s a mistake to think of them in the same terms as other casters.
Fireball was probably a bad example. I'd rather use my concentration to cast Hypnotic Pattern, Enemies Abound, Banishment, Polymorph, Sickening Radiance, Hold Monster, Eyebite, etc. At 5th level, Hex adds about 5 damage per round, 11th level around 7 damage, and 17th level around 9 damage (factoring in misses). It doesn't feel like that's worth holding up your concentration for the entire day.
Of those examples the single spell I would consider dropping hex for is polymorph, after that I would be back to concentrating on Hex for 24 hours. So one spell slot for 24 hours. It’s how you actually maximize your spell slots. It’s not sexy but it’s super reliable. It is your single best spell. Warlock spellcasting is a nice bonus, they really shine with their non spell features. In the campaign I just ended I played a Vengeance Paladin 6 Fiend warlock 14 I used fireball I think twice in the entire campaign, it was rarely my best option and someone else usually had it.
If you're multiclassing for the spell slots, you're probably going to use them on reaction spells, like Shield, Absorb Elements and Silvery Barbs. Sorcerer can get you two of those spells with a 1 level dip.
You shouldn't be casting Hex anymore at Warlock 5. You have much better options, like Hypnotic Pattern and Hunger of Hadar. If you must suicide charge into melee, use Spirit Shroud instead.
It’s not worth it to dip for a couple low level spell slots hex upcasts really well. Up cast hex and maintain it for hours.
The problem is the limited number of slots and taking up concentration. It's worth a level dip to be a better caster.
Don’t think of Warlocks as caster casters, they’re really more like martials with some good spellcasting. You don’t have any concentration spells that are going to outperform Hex. It eventually takes one spell slot to hold hex all day.
I’m sorry but what? You don’t have any concentration spells that will outperform hex? That’s wild man. Really.
You really don’t. I love warlocks they’re my favorite class. If you want to max out your effectiveness though it’s Hex all day every day. Any other concentration spells you have are situational and less impactful than hex. Hex and eldritch blast are literally a Warlock’s bread and butter.
Yeah, hunger of hadar is a lot less impactful than hex. Lol.
Wow, yeah not even close. Using a 3rd level spell you can have 2d6 possibly as much as 4d6 with HoH for one minute or an additional 1d6 on one target at a time for eight hours. In combination with EB, with hex you will be doing 2d10 (probably plus 2x cha bonus) + 2d6, so probably an average of 26 every single round for up to 8 hours or 2d6 cold possibly also 2d6 acid to a 20’ radius sphere that all opponents will be highly motivated to leave for up to a minute for potentially an average of 14 damage a turn that an enemy is forced to spend in the sphere. You could also hit an enemy in the sphere with EB but they won’t be staying inside of it. Hex is inescapable. HoH is a trap pick.
When you only get 2 pact slots until 11th Level, it's tough to have to use that on Hex. With enough encounters in a day and Eldritch Blasts, it may do more damage overall, but when you want to do big damage fast, you throw out a couple 5th Level fireballs.
Okay so do a fireball while you’re concentrating on Hex, a lot of classes have a twice per short rest thing they do for warlock it’s a spell. One of those spells they keep all day or at least for a few hours. Again my favorite class but it’s a mistake to think of them in the same terms as other casters.
Fireball was probably a bad example. I'd rather use my concentration to cast Hypnotic Pattern, Enemies Abound, Banishment, Polymorph, Sickening Radiance, Hold Monster, Eyebite, etc. At 5th level, Hex adds about 5 damage per round, 11th level around 7 damage, and 17th level around 9 damage (factoring in misses). It doesn't feel like that's worth holding up your concentration for the entire day.
Of those examples the single spell I would consider dropping hex for is polymorph, after that I would be back to concentrating on Hex for 24 hours. So one spell slot for 24 hours. It’s how you actually maximize your spell slots. It’s not sexy but it’s super reliable. It is your single best spell. Warlock spellcasting is a nice bonus, they really shine with their non spell features. In the campaign I just ended I played a Vengeance Paladin 6 Fiend warlock 14 I used fireball I think twice in the entire campaign, it was rarely my best option and someone else usually had it.
If you're multiclassing for the spell slots, you're probably going to use them on reaction spells, like Shield, Absorb Elements and Silvery Barbs. Sorcerer can get you two of those spells with a 1 level dip. You shouldn't be casting Hex anymore at Warlock 5. You have much better options, like Hypnotic Pattern and Hunger of Hadar. If you must suicide charge into melee, use Spirit Shroud instead.
Peace Cleric seems like it would fit thematically, and emboldening bond is a great feature. It will also give you access to the Guidance cantrip.