# Blade-Pact Warlock Invocations

Warlock is an awesome class, full of flavor and utility.  Unfortunately, not all of it's archetypes are created equal.  While the 'primary' archetypes at first level are all flavorful and valid across a variety of playstyles, the secondary archetypes feel distinctly unequal.  Pact of the Tome sits in pride of place as the most powerful of the three.  It plays to the warlocks existing strengths, and does so in ways that can effectively negate the other pacts.  Pact of the Chain is an acceptible pact; it's basic ability is useful, and can work at most levels.  As you level up, it becomes less effective, but it still plays, somewhat, to the core caster-oriented nature of the class.  The Pact of the Blade is the odd child out.  By itself it's acceptible in T1, and falls behind later on.  Where the other pacts can be *enhanced* by invocations, Pact of the Blade *requires* the use of invocations to maintain pace.  To maintain overall powerlevels, characters must embrace specific builds and multiclassing in order to even try and keep up with the Blastlock.  *Even with* specialized builds, in many cases simply firing Eldritch Blast remains more effective and damaging than the resource a Bladelock has attempted to specialize in.

As an example, lets compare a Bladelock and a Blastlock over the course of their careers, with additional characters for reference purposes.  I've chosen the levels below to try and capture distinct breakpoints, notably tier jumps, ASIs, and major invocations (Lifedrinker).  There are three characters on the charts.  They are each built as a plain human in an effort to minimize the effect of efforts at min/maxing the overall character design.  This is an effort to try and normalize across the different characters for ease of use; just remember the level differences involved, and that some characters have to wait an extra level or two to see their power boost.  Also note the charts do *not* follow identical level progressions; when there's no reason to show a given level, it's skipped.  For example, level 8 and 9 are identical on the ranged charts, and ergo only 8 is shown.

* Dex Bladelock - Dexterity at levels 4 and 8 (to 20), then charisma at 12 and 16 (to 20).  Key invocations are Armor of Shadows, Thirsting Blade, and Lifedrinker.
* Str Bladelock - Needs a first level fighter for heavy armor, so note he's always one level behind; Strength at 5 and 9, and charisma at 13 and 17.  Key invocations are Thirsting Blade and Lifedrinker.
* Blastlock - 'Default' build: key invocation is Agonizing Blast.  Charisma at levels 4 and 8.
* Generic Fighter -- stated out with the assumption of keeping the attack stat maximized, for reference purposes only.

Note that because the Bladelocks need to max *two* stats in order to maximize their damage, they are less free to pick up feats like Resilient(con) and Warcaster, which they typically need even *more* than the Blastlock (who finds it less painful to grab these) does.  Additinonally, the Blastlock's primary stat - Charisma -- is more tightly tied to the underlying spellcasting mechanics of the class, giving him more power not apparent on these charts.

##### Average Ranged (Eldritch Blast or bow) Damage by Level Chart; Base/With Hex
|  | Dex Bladelock | Str Bladelock | Blastlock | Bow Fighter |
|:--------:|:---------:|:---------:|:---------:|:-----------:|
| Level 3  | 5.5 / 9   | 5.5 / 9   | 8.5 / 12  | 7.5 / 11    |
| Level 4  | 5.5 / 9   | 5.5 / 9   | 9.5 / 13  | 8.5 / 12    |
| Level 5  | 11 / 18   | 11 / 18   | 19 / 26   | 17 / 24     |
| Level 5  | 11 / 18   | 11 / 18   | 21 / 28   | 19 / 26     |
| Level 8  | 11 / 18   | 11 / 18   | 21 / 28   | 19 / 26     |
| Level 11 | 16.5 / 27 | 16.5 / 27 | 31.5 / 42 | 28.5 /39    |
| Level 17 | 22 / 36   | 22 / 36   | 42 / 56   | 28.5 / 39   |
| Level 20 | 22 / 36   | 22 / 36   | 42 / 56   | 38 / 52     |

##### Average Melee (Weapon or Shocking Grasp) Damage by Level Chart
|          | Dex Bladelock | Str Bladelock | Blastlock | Duelist Fighter | GWM Fighter |
|:--------:|:-------------:|:-------------:|:---------:|:---------------:|:-----------:|
| Level 3  | 7.5 / 11      | 10 / 13.5     | 4.5 / 8   | 9.5 / 14        | 11.2 / 14.7 |
| Level 4  | 8.5 / 12      | 11 / 14.5     | 4.5 / 8   | 10.5 / 15       | 12.2 / 15.7 |
| Level 5  | 17 / 24       | 11 / 14.5     | 9 / 12.5  | 21 / 30         | 24.4 / 31.4 |
| Level 6  | 17 / 24       | 22 / 29       | 9 / 12.5  | 23 / 32         | 26.4 / 33.4 |
| Level 9  | 19 / 26       | 24 / 31       | 9 / 12.5  | 23 / 32         | 26.4 / 33.4 |
| Level 13 | 27 / 34       | 32 / 39       | 13.5 / 17 | 34.5 / 45       | 39.6 / 49.1 |
| Level 16 | 29 / 36       | 34 / 42       | 13.5 / 17 | 34.5 / 45       | 39.6 / 49.1 |
| Level 17 | 29 / 36       | 34 / 42       | 18 / 21.5 | 34.5 / 34.5     | 39.6 / 49.1 |
| Level 20 | 29 / 36       | 34 / 42       | 18 / 21.5 | 46 / 60         | 52.8 / 66.8 |

Now, these charts seem almost straight-forward.  Blastlocks are better than bladelocks at range, and vice versa in melee.  But also note the degree of difference.  A blastlock in melee is outclassed by a bladelock in melee, yes, but at level 20 *bladelock in melee is just as outclassed by a blastlock at distance*.  A bladelock, under best possible situations, can manage 42 damage a round in melee (assuming everything hits); a blastlock gets 56.  A 14 point improvement for being at range.  This overlooks the natural survival advantages of being at a distance.  Now, at lower levels, this distinction looks less drastic; at level 5 26 damage at range vs 29 in melee.  The melee actually outdamages the blaster in T2!  At the cost of the usual melee disadvantages of being at shorter range, more subject to attacks, and similar issues.

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But of more relevance to this document, is the disparity between bladelocks and fighters on the one hand, and bladelocks and blastlocks on the other.  You need to compare their damage and durability to understand the issues at hand, as if you look only at damage numbers the issues may not be cast into the proper light.

Bladelocks in T1 are distinctly weaker than fighters.  *This is normal and desired*.  The damage levels are about *right*, since Warlocks are still spellcasters, with slightly more versatility via EB at range and their full-up spells like Hex.  In T2, the pattern continues, with fighters beign *slightly* better with at-will damage, but Warlocks catching up via Hex and their other spellcasting options.  T3 also continues this pattern, which is arguably an issue since Warlocks are picking up Arcanums.  It breaks down completely at level 20, but that's the power of the Fighter capstone, and by then the Warlock has access to a level 9 spell via his Mystic Arcanums.  Also note that to keep competitive it requires the Warlock to accept a lower spellcasting stat simply to compete in at-will damage until late T4, when he's maxed both relevant stats.

Second is the survivability levels of Warlocks and Fighters in the relevant tiers.  The dex based fighter has access to light armor, like warlocks, but can also upgrade to medium armor.  In T1, the 'relevant' armors are likely to be Mage Armor, studded leather, and scale mail.  The fighter therefore can have an AC of 15 or 16 at level 3 or 4, or upgrade to medium for an AC of 16.  Warlock's can get the same ACs via light armor or the Armor of Shadows invocation.  The strength based fighter can easily get a 16 or 17 AC via chain mail or splint, but warlocks don't have this option.  A strength based warlock is still going to need a high dex to maintain a reasonable AC, leading them to become impossibly MAD and nigh-unplayable.  Of course, a fighter can also grab a shield for +2 to AC, an option *not* available to Warlocks.  Not only are they not proficient, but it would deny them the benefits of their spellcasting abilities.

At T2, the survivability pattern continues.  The relevant armors are studded leather, mage armor, breastplate, and half plate.  A dex warlock can get up to an AC of 17, 18 with mage armor, while a fighter can get similar numbers.  In fact, the fighter in light armor caps out at 17, while medium armor wearers only get up to 16 without either  a feat or accepting disadvantage to stealth.  The fighter, of course, has higher HP to survive this and still has the option to use a shield.  A heavy armor fighter caps out with full plate at 18 AC, matching the best a warlock can do, and of course both strength and dex fighters have the option of using a shield, pushing themselves outside a warlock's reach.

In T3 and T4, the survivability trend is still based primarily on HP differences, and the differences are otherwise minimal.  And of course, the survivability is still based around the assumption that Warlocks keep their physical stats maxed instead of their spellcasting stats, meaning that they are both inferior to the fighter's they strive to fight alongside *and* aren't keeping up with the spellcasting options.  Warlocks also find themselves struggling because so much of their combat potential come from the spells that they're supposed to be trading off for, via Hex and mage armor.

So the conclusion is that, if the warlock specializes completely in physical combat, he can *almost* keep up with the fighter in terms of damage output, at the cost of being significantly squishier, and trading off a decent spellcasting ability.  You more or less have to cast Hex to keep up, pushing your damage higher but *still* leaving yourself squishy and vulnerable to breaking concentration.  This also ignores the potential for magical armor to push a fighter's AC further than a warlock can even *dream* of keeping up, though both sides can benefit from boosts to their offensive power via magical items.

The end result is that a melee warlock has to devote significant resources in terms of feats and starting stats to keep up with the ranged warlock.  This is doubly punishing for a strength based warlock, to the point of being nigh-impossible without multiclassing, which is unfortunate because I can easily see several horror movie villians being done as strength-based warlocks (just *try* and tell me Jason Voorhees recast into 5E isn't an Undying Pact bladelock... I'll wait).  And on the other side, a range-based warlock just needs one invocation and stat to max himself out.  With luck, his dexterity and constitution scores will only rarely come up, since he can stay out of melee.

Warlocks have invocations that help boost their AC (Armor of Shadows) and their damage in melee (Thirsting Blade, Lifedrinker).  Their AC boost works for dex based warlocks, but still leaves them distinctly behind fighters, and doesn't work *at all* for strength based warlocks.  In my opinion, something needs to step into this gap, and preferably do so *without* stepping on the toes of feats like Warcaster.  As such, I'm creating the following Warlock Invocations with the aim towards helping adjust the situation.  Some definitely need work, and I'd love to hear more feedback.

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## Concentration Charts

Additional charts to show what happens when a warlock takes his focus away from maximal damage to concentration -- the ability to actually *maintain* their damage output instead of dropping hex.  Intended as a cross-reference for previous charts.  Shown will be the same strength and dex based warlocks, and they'll be taking resilient(con) and warcaster to improve their concentration, followed by dex, then charisma.  As reference, I'll add the charisma-based 'Confident Strikes' invocation in as well.  Note that the 'confident' builds now have an extra ASI to play with, while the combat builds never reach their full, maximum potentials.

##### Average Melee (Weapon or Shocking Grasp) Damage by Level Chart; Concentration Oriented
|  | Dex Bladelock | Str Bladelock | Dex Bladelock (Confident) | Str Bladelock (Confident) |
|:----|:-------------:|:---------:|:--------:|:---------:|
| Level 3  | 7.5 / 11 | 10 / 13.5 | 7.5 / 11 | 10 / 13.5 |
| Level 6  | 15 / 22  | 20 / 27   | 15 / 22  | 20 / 27   |
| Level 9  | 15 / 22  | 20 / 27   | 15 / 22  | 20 / 27   |
| Level 13 | 23 / 30  | 28 / 35   | 25 / 32  | 30 / 37   |
| Level 16 | 25 / 32  | 30 / 37   | 29 / 36  | 34 / 41   |
| Level 19 | 26 / 34  | 32 / 39   | 29 / 36  | 34 / 41   |

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## New Warlock Invocations -- Favored

#### Confident Strikes
**Prerequisite: Pact of the Blade**

You may use your charisma modifier for attack and damage when wielding your pact weapon.

*Author's Note:* Obviously enough, I need a better name for this one.  I'm mildly concerned with balance, but not so much as to be seriously concerned.  A dex based warlock is still going to want dexterity for defense, unless they spend a feat (or multiclass) to gain access to medium armor.  A strength based warlock is still completely screwed, absent gaining access to heavy armor via multiclassing (or way, way too many feats).  This feels like a way to let a character trade-off defensive capability for extra damage, and I like that.


#### Arcane Strikes

**Prerequisite: Pact of the Blade, Warlock Level 17**

You may spend one use of your mystic arcanum to gain one point of damage to any melee attack that hits until you complete a long rest.  If the arcanum used was above level 6, gain one point of damage for each level above 6.  You may not use this invocation again until you complete a long rest.

*Author's Note:* This one I'm iffy on.  I can definitely help close up the at-will damage gap between a figher and a warlock at level 20, I'm just not sure if that's a good thing since the extra attack is a fighter capstone.  It can also help for a blade-pact warlock who just can't find anything appropriately flavorful at a given spell level, by letting them use this in place of the arcanum they don't want.  I'd love to allow users to stack giving up multiple arcanums for benefits, but that would go to a very dark place very quickly as users stacked, say, a 9th level and 8th level arcanum for +7 damage instead of the +4, which would be a little too potent.  If they went full-hog and turned all the arcanums into damage, they could get +10 to damage, which could definitely overshadow other classes.  Maybe only allow stacking 2 arcanums, and not more?  See a variant below which may work better, which would cap out at +7 for all the arcanums.  At the end of the day, I want *something* like this that allows a bladelock to trade-off their high level spellcasting for better melee combat.  I'm also tempted to drop the invocation down to level 12.

*Variant*: You may spend one use of your mystic arcanum to gain one point of damage to any melee attack that hits until you complete a long rest.  If the arcanum used was above level 6, gain one point of damage for each level above 6.  You may also spend additional arcanum when using this invocation, gaining an additional one point of damage for each arcanum so spent.  You may not use this invocation again until you complete a long rest.

#### Patron's Shield

**Prerequisite: Pact of the Blade**

You gain proficiency in shields.  You also may spend an action to conjure up a shield, which will act as a shield in all respects but also acts as an arcane focus for warlock spells.  You may dismiss the shield with a bonus action.

*Author's Note:* This one I think is actually fairly good.  It's still strong enough to tempt tome or chain warlocks into switching pacts to get it, but not so good as to be a no-brainer, especially compared to some of their competing features.  That feels like a good balance.  And it still allows a gish to do their spellcasting.  Name could use work.

*Author's Note, Part 2:* Based on some online discussions, this one could use some small improvements.  See the variant below.  My first, second, and third reaction was 'too strong', but I don't think reality bears it out.  Yes, it makes the bladelock even more flexibible -- but isn't that the *point* of a bladelock, on some levels?  If you wanted to be a pure melee combatant, you'd go fighter.  This simply lets the bladelock switch from a more offensive to a more defensive stance more readily, without actually increasing raw power.  Fighter's will still have more power, this just lets the bladelock have the flexibility that is supposed to be his offset for weaker power.  I've also tightned up the wording.

*Variant:* You gain proficiency in shields.  When you use your action to conjure a pact weapon, you may also conjure a shield, which will act as a shield in all respects but also acts as an arcane focus for warlock spells.

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## New Warlock Invocations -- Disfavored

#### Earthen Resilience

**Prerequisite: Pact of the Blade, Strength Score of 15**

You gain proficiency with heavy armor.  Additionally, you may take a piece of stone and magically work it into a suit of magical splint mail using an hour long ritual.

*Author's Note:* I don't **like** this invocation.  Leaving just proficiency makes for a boring, non-flavorful invocation.  I think I struck a decent compromise on full plate vs splint, since full plate is too strong while splint will eventually 'age out' of relevance for heavy armor wearers.  The issue is it also leaves warlocks stuck with a two level gap in which their low dexterity is a drag, since they can't take this until level 3 when they gain their pact boon.  I don't want to remove the pact requirement, because this is *too* good for a Chain or Tome pact warlock.  I could actually see blastlocks going blade pact *just* to grab this for the extra couple of points of AC, which is pushing things.  I'd really like to see something else step in here.  I think there is *definitely* room for a strength-based bladelock in lore, I'm just not sure how to make it work effectively.  I toyed with the idea of a con or strength based AC, and they kinda work, but they also leave you with the level gap issue and still might be too tempting to chain or tome warlocks.

#### Defense of the Pact-Keeper

**Prerequisite: Pact of the Blade**

While attuned to a Rod of the Pact Keeper and holding it in your hand, you gain an AC boost equal to the bonus level of the rod (+1 for uncommon, +2 for rare, +3 for very rare).

*Author's Note:* This invocation is one one many that suffers from the underlying issue of blastlock's wanting to take it for the boosts it grants.  It's too much of a must-have.  Also, tying it to a magic item seems like a bad idea, much less an item that boosts spellcasting.

#### Steel Will
**Prerequisite: Pact of the Blade**

While wielding your pact weapon, gain advantage on concentration checks.

*Author's Notes:* Treads a little too closely on warcaster, especially combined with Patron's shield above.

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## Referenced UA Invocations

In addition to the above toys, the following invocations are copied from (and in one case, modified) from UA documents.

#### Raven Queen's Blessing
**Prerequisite: Raven Queen patron**

When you store a critical hit, pick yourself or an ally you can see within 30 feet of you.  The chosen creature can immediately expend a Hit Di to regain hit points equal to the roll + the creature's Constitution modifier (minimum of 1 hit point)

#### Improved Pact Weapon
**Prerequisite: Pact of the Blade, Warlock Level 5**

Any weapon you create using your Pact of the Blade feature is a +1 weapon.  This invocation doesn't affect a magic weapon you transformed into your pact weapon.

#### Superior Pact Weapon
**Prerequisite: Pact of the Blade, Warlock Level 9**

Any weapon you create using your Pact of the Blade feature is a +1 weapon.  This invocation doesn't affect a magic weapon you transformed into your pact weapon.

#### Ultimate Pact Weapon
**Prerequisite: Pact of the Blade, Warlock Level 15**

Any weapon you create using your Pact of the Blade feature is a +1 weapon.  This invocation doesn't affect a magic weapon you transformed into your pact weapon.