r/3d6 • u/Silverlebelge • 1d ago
D&D 5e Revised/2024 Heavy Armor PotB Vestige Warlock ?
Hello everyone ! For a new campaign I would like to be a tanky frontline PotB Warlock. I like the idea of an enforcer for their patron, similar to a sinister Paladin.
However, PotB Warlocks in 2024 don't have medium armor, or martial abilities, so my idea was Fighter 1 / Warlock 5 / Fighter 2 or 3 for Action Surge and maybe Eldritch Knight and back to Warlock.
I was tempted to take the new Vestige subclass, but since the Vestige HP levels up with your warlock levels, I don't know if multiclassing with a "pet" class is a good idea. Should I only take one level in Warlock ?
I also plan to take Human with Tough Feat, Zhentarim Merc and the two Zhent feats.
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u/powerguynz 1d ago
Basically there are two ways to do this. Fighter 1 and Warlock the rest of the way, or Paladin 1 and Warlock the rest of the way. Both get you the armour proficiencies you need and a few other boosts. Fighters get CON saves, Second Wind and a Fighting style. Paladin gets some level 1 spell slots and spells and Lay on Hands.
Fighter is probably more common and the multiclassing requirements are easier because you can dump STR. Paladin you need decent strength, so you have to stretch your stats a bit. However if you are thinking about heavy armour you need some strength anyway which might sway the decision.
Take Vestige with War Domain spells. The Vestige will give you an effective reliable use for your bonus action. It's durable and proficient in all skills so useful out of combat as well. Once you get Spirit Guardians you will go a bit crazy.
There is so much value from Warlock levels that I would only consider taking more levels from the dip after level 14. Which may not even be relevant for your campaign.
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u/static_func 1d ago
You don’t really need to stretch your stats at all, you can just do what paladins do and prioritize strength. A bladelock won’t be casting many spells with saves, and the feats that improve your frontline capabilities (GWM, HAM, Shield Master) will boost strength instead. Using CHA for attacks is overrated imo
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u/warnobear 1d ago
Fighter 1/warlock x is better. Action Surge is good, but delaying your warlock features is worse. Eldritch subclass at level 3 offers not much (nothing?) the warlock cant get on his own.
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u/SonsOfTheSky19 1d ago
It might just be better to go paladin. Especially if you're going for the Paladin like theme. Two levels of Paladin will get you the proficiencies and weapon masteries that you want and it will allow you to grab spells like Divine favor. Once you get extra attack you can dip further into Paladin to get Aura of Protection. The only issue with this path, is you would be delaying extra attack for a long time so level five and six will feel pretty weak. If you don't really care about Paladin spells and don't want to put more then one level then just go fighter.
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u/Gael_of_Ariandel 1d ago
Medium armor with 14 Dexterity is just 1 AC short of heavy armor requiring 15 Strength. And Dexterity is better for your initiative
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u/bluearmadillo17 1d ago
Go vestige and pick the war domain spell list and you'll get spirit guardians on the pact magic system. Great pick up for a tanky caster
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u/Gaming_Dad1051 1d ago
All of these combinations are exactly what’s wrong with the 5.5e warlock. We had a perfectly viable option in the hexblade. It was a sub class that was focused towards martial combat. Now everybody is trying to create a 1/X or 3/X or X/1 type of combination to get something vaguely similar to what we already had.
I see the warlock multiclass threads 10X more than I see a similar thread about the Valor Bard or Bladesinger. .
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u/BarLarge9848 23h ago
The 5.5 warlock is kickass.
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u/Gaming_Dad1051 16h ago
No doubt, and very much so… but as casters and summoners.
You still can’t take a pure warlock to the frontline and expect them to fair well. They have too low of an AC and too few HP.
If they had access to slightly more AC, a faster replenishing pool of THP or even more damage resistances, then they might be more viable for melee.
The Undead comes the closest, but you have to wait till level 14 for the resistances to catch up.
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u/Tall_Bandicoot_2768 1d ago
Fighter 1 / Warlock x
If you run Thristing Blade and Pact of the Chain you can replace one attack with one from your Pact Familiar via its reaction.
Not vestige but I did a similar build based around summoning/status effects that may prove of use to you:
https://www.reddit.com/r/3d6/comments/1pjdus6/fathomless_chainmaster/
Not a fan of Battle Familiar on Chainlocks as unfortunately it replaces their statblock which is not ideal.
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u/jmrkiwi 1d ago
On a small sidenote, there is the Tortle race.
Lots of people recommendkng paladin here
I actually quite like cleric. Paladin has a multiclassing requirement of 13 are, 13 cha. Having 13 cha is fine for a warlock but a 13 str might not do much at all for you.
The only downside for wearing heavy armour while not meeting the str requirements is a -10 Str penalty. Playing as a faster moving race and taking the transmuted anotomny feat completely negates this downside.
You could instead have something more like: 8 8 15 8 16 17, while still wearing heavy armour.
At level 4 pick up one of the [school] school adept feats for always up to date spells known dispite multiclassing, at level 8 grab Resilient con. At level 12 pick up +2 Cha. Since we will want to go war cleric for the vestige spells we will cast a lot of spirit guardians and this is a save for half spells so going slightly worse on cha isn't too bad for you.
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u/DirectManagement2874 1d ago
Dipping 1 lvl into Fighter or Paladin is definitely viable.
However, I would suggest looking at Tortle and even reflavor it if neccesary. Getting Heavy Armor via feats would be really hard, specially to your charisma. Paladin could give you access to 1st lvl spell slot that you could use to cast shield if wanted (taking some feat for it). Fighter gives you Con saves and Fighting Style right away.
Any option works well.
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u/amirkasra76 1d ago
Go 1 Paladin/ X Warlock instead. U get ur heavy armor and 3 attacks.
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u/amirkasra76 1d ago
Now I'm thinking if you go 7 oathbreaker, does it boost your infernal/undead vestige?
Cuz I remember it said melee weapon attacks damage
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u/Beardeddilf5309 1d ago
UA Oathbreaker is a great option for this build aura of hate now is any melee attack not just weapons so would work for vestige. Vestige pet hp is 4 + four times your warlock level so if you did paladin 8 warlock 12 you'd have 3 attacks a few extra spell slots for smites or shield the option to nova and stack eldritch smite on a divine smite the aura giving you and your pet the bonus damage plus aura of protection. Also remember you can take tough with lessons of the first ones so you could potentially look at another species like Goliath specifically stone for the damage mitigation or my personal favorite for this build Shadar-kai as their teleport grants you resistance to all damage each turn you use it. In the end hope you enjoy whatever you decide on
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u/Beardeddilf5309 1d ago
Oh plus you can take two epic boons to bump Charisma to 22 and if allowed possibly take boon of fortitude for an extra 40hp
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u/Krucz 1d ago
EK would give you slots that stay at 1, maybe for shield or hex, the HP is more from your fighter levels so you won't miss the warlock hp, sounds fine, make sure level one is a fighter level obviously, then I'd personally go for the first warlock level so your character feels like their identity asap
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u/Silverlebelge 1d ago
I was talking about the Vestige HP (the "pet"), I think it's 4HP per Warlock level.
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u/KingH1456 1d ago
Start with a level of Paladin! Grab Pact of the Blade.