Does warlock really fall off this hard at high levels or am I playing BG3/D&D wrong? 🤔
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in reply to @PuddlesTheVaporeon's post:
I think it might??? IDK, at least for BG3
I might be playing it wrong too bc like
I am also multiclassed as a thief rogue on my current solo run, I wanted to experiment to see how it'd work
And like it was REALLY GOOD for a minute and then it started to fall off really quick as I got further in
IDK from what I gathered most folks go Warlock specifically for Devil's Sight + Darkness + lv. 5 Pact upgrade and not much else
Like every non-Cleric Shadowheart build is like "five levels Pact Weapon Warlock + however much Paladin + Fighter for action surge"
Interesting...I should've done devil's sight and darkness...
Warlock is weird when trying to take a good amount of levels in it. I can't speak for any changes in BG3, but at least in base d&d, warlock needs to focus heavily on stacking eldritch blast in order to keep up.
Having so few spell slots means you can't let them go to waste, so you usually want spells that are guaranteed to have a good effect and can linger. Usually this is in the form of something like Hex or Spirit Shroud to up your consistent damage from EB, but it can also be something like a summon spell, because action economy is strong and that's a consistent benefit. Save or suck spells basically don't work on warlock.
Usually warlocks like having sorcerer levels, both for more spell slots, and for Quicken Spell, which is very good for massively increasing damage from EB. Fighter's Action Surge can do this too for 2 levels, but only once per short rest.
But yeah, in my campaign (currently at level 10), the warlock player has started to feel like they're falling off hard due to not being an EB build, so our warlock revision got moved up to help them have more fun with it.
Taking notes for sure. The issue with BG3 is that the default story character Warlock in the party (Wyll) is a spellsword and REALLY wants to do blade pact (BG3 does the "you can enchant your sword" house rule, so any sword works for this), but yet, EB still outperforms most of the time. I might respec him, and consider giving him sorcerer levels
Meanwhile my character IS a sorcerer and while I respecced, I did have 2 levels in Warlock for EB with the charisma modifier tacked on. I'm doing a lightning build now, so things are a bit different, but it was fun just using EB to do more damage than most levelled spells for a bit.
My party is at level 11, and...yep. I'm feeling it with my pure Warlock. I'll see what I can do to save him...
I'm not sure how much control you have over your other party members, but there's definitely ways to make blade lock work! The most important invocations you have are Thirsting Blade for 2 attacks, Lifedrinker for 5 extra damage on each attack, and Eldritch Smite (assuming it exists in the game) to get a lot of burst damage out of spell slots, though if multiclassed, you can still only use Warlock spell slots on it. If the spell Spirit Shroud exists, it's also fantastic on Blade Lock. You usually only need a max of 12 levels in Warlock to get Lifedrinker, then the rest can go elsewhere.
A paladin multiclass is great for having more burst damage and getting it more consistently, on top of the synergy of both having charisma spellcasting. 2 levels is enough for smites, though more levels for more spell slots is definitely appreciated since Warlock gives so few. 3 levels gets you a subclass, 5 levels gives 2nd level slots and innate extra attack so you no longer need Thirsting Blade, 6 levels is Aura of Protection which is very strong, 7 gives a subclass aura which may be good depending on subclass, and 11 gives Improved Divine Smite which is free extra damage on every attack. After that point, Paladin tends to fall off.
Fighter is always good for Action Surge, I think 2 levels in fighter just gets a free mention in every build guide for any class ever.
Sorcerer also stays great on a blade lock, though having less HP is a bit scary. But if you're cool, being a melee sorcerer is consistently the most fun I have in d&d. If they're in the game, Booming Blade and Green-Flame Blade are fantastic cantrips that automatically scale with your full character level in damage, and have good bonus effects. While they don't work with Extra Attack (or Thirsting Blade), they do work with Sorcerer's Quickened Spell, allowing you to spend Sorc points to double cast it in one turn, or to cast a full spell as your action and still stab as a bonus action. And if you get scared of being squishy in melee, Sorcerer has the Shield spell as a get out of jail free card.
Also, since Paladin smites can be used with the many extra slots from Sorc, you can go all 3 classes for a strong and consistent combo. 12 Warlock / 2 Paladin / 6 Sorcerer isn't shabby at all.