Hexblade (Melee Warlock Pure Build)

Warlocks can be a melee class. This might be counter intuitive when initially glancing over the class, but by picking options that compensate for their lack of physical toughness you can produce a character that is both strong on the front lines, and has a powerful arsenal of magic at your disposal.

This post will discuss a viable melee warlock build, for a unique character play style and aesthetic. There are generally two directions to go with when choosing the type of hexblade you can create: Strength-based two-handed (mountain dwarf suggested) or dexterity-based two-weapon fighting (drow suggested);but other interesting builds are possible.

The core abilities of this build are:
- Pact of the Blade - creates a weapon that you are automatically proficient with
- Defensive options (feats, spells, and invocations)

The strategy
- At the beginning of a combat encounter, or right before, buff yourself with defensive abilities.
- Use modifier independent spells to increase the value of your character's less than optimal charisma ability score.

The weakness
Unfortunately this build is a bit more difficult to optimize, since you benefit quite a bit from multiple ability scores.

The warlock has a pool of limited resources. It recovers spell slots quickly, but can leave you with little option from time to time.

Powerful additions to this build
- Hex - if you want to do a two-weapon warlock, this is especially good, otherwise a good source of extra damage
- The Fiend Patron - getting extra temporary hit points each time you kill an enemy is very nice for some extra tenacity
- Fiendish Vigor - extra tenacity
- Armor of Agathys - very good defensive spell that scales well with level
- Races
Half elf - Has a big +2 bonus to charisma and a +1 in two other ability scores
Mountain Dwarf - a +2 in strength and constitution, plus proficiency in medium armor
Stout halfling - +2 in dex and +1 in consituttion
Drow - +2 in dex and +1 in charisma and extra benefit to charisma score
- Multiclassing - its not a bad idea to dip a few levels into other classes for a little bit of extra benefit. Provided they synergize well with the warlock class.
Paladin - As seen in an earlier post (the Corrupted Paladin) there is some good synergy with the divine
Fighter - Getting a fighting style at level one and action surge at level 2 can be a good way to get a few extra actions at the beginning of combat. Especially if you are doing a dual wielding style of warlock.
Sorcerer - If you want a bit of extra flavor to your spells, sorcerer isn't a bad pick. It synergizes well if you have a decent charisma score, the draconic bloodline is quite durable, and sorcery points can be created quickly with your warlock spell slots.

Suggested level progression to 10 
(Strength Based, Mountain Dwarf/Drow or stout halfling - Favor Str/Dex>Con>Cha)
Level 1 - Fiendish Patron, Spells (Armor of Agathys, Hex), Cantrips (True Strike, Blade Ward) - if you have access to Sword Coast Adventurers Guide use cantrips from there, they are more melee based.
Level 2 - Eldritch Invocations (Fiendish Vigor, Devil's Sight(STR)/Armor of Shadows(DEX)), Spell (Expeditious Retreat)
Level 3 - Pact boon (Pact of the Blade), Spell (Darkness(STR)/Mirror Image(DEX))
Level 4 - Ability Score increase (feat - heavily armored(dwarf)/war caster (two-weapon)), Spell (Misty Step), Cantrips (Eldritch Blast)
Level 5 - Invocation (Thirsting Blade), Spell (Fly)
Level 6 - Spell (Remove Curse)
Level 7 - Invocation (One with Shadows), Spell (Dimension Door)
Level 8 - Ability Score increase (Great weapon Mastery, or Heavy Armor Master (STR)/ ), Spell (Counterspell)
Level 9 - Spell (Gaseous Form)
Level 10 - Invocation (Otherwordly leap), Spell (Tongues)

What do you think? Have any additions or alternatives you'd like to add? please comment and let us know!

Corrupted Paladin (Paladin/Warlock 5e multiclass)

This build combines the tenacity of the Paladin with the power and versatility of the Warlock for a deadly and fluid combination. The true synergy power between the Paladin and Warlock is the Paladin's smite and the Warlock's ability to regain spell slots each short rest allowing the paladin to use Divine Smite quite often.

This build requires a minimum Paladin level of 2, and the first level should be taken in Paladin. This character is primarily considered a melee character to utilize the strength-based abilities of the Paladin (including smite) and heavy armor. Charisma is a highly favored ability score, since both Paladin and Warlock spells and abilities use this score. Constitution, as usual, is extremely important for survival. At level 3 and further, levels should be put in Warlock, taking melee option abilities as you level.

The core abilities of this build are:

• Divine Smite - Deal an extra 2d8 radiant damage on a melee hit and +1d8 against fiends/undead when you expend a spell slot.
• Warlocks regain all spell slots during a short rest.

The strategy:

• As often as possible, utilize Divine Smite on hits to increase melee power - which can be then replenished during a short rest.

The weakness:

• Although few monsters are resistant to radiant, this build focuses on radiant damage. Explore alternative damage sources for backup.
• This build is mainly suited for single target damage, facing multiple enemies can pose a problem. If you have access to Sword Coast Adventures book, use the Green Flame cantrip to increase your AoE potential without sacrificing your spell slots on AoE spells.

For many levels Warlock is granted only two spell slots, limiting the number of Divine Smite's per encounter. However, the damage for each Divine Smite increases as the Warlock levels since the effective spell level increases - cappng at 5d8 radiant damage at Warlock level 9. One thing to note is, if you decide to level both Paladin and Warlock, the levels do not stack for effective caster level (ie. Paladin 6/Warlock 6 gives effective caster level of 3, not 9 - but you can still cast spells with an effective spell level of 3 with Pact Magic, using Warlock spell slots instead of Paladin spell slots). Therefore, how you build this warlock should be consistent with the role you wish to fulfill.

Powerful additions to this build:

• Going the full melee powerhouse with a two-handed sword, great weapon fighting (fighting style), great weapon master (feat), savage attacks (feat), with Oath of Vengeance with Vow of Enmity and Life Drinker (Pact of the Blade Invocation) - in total requiring a minimum of Paladin 3/ Warlock 12 for massive burst damage potential. 
• Warlock abilities that maximize your tenacity are: Fiend Patron (Dark One's Blessing, Fiendish Resistance), Fiendish Vigor (invocation), and Armor of Agathys (spell).

Paladin and Warlock combined together may or may not turn the Dungeon Master's (DM's) stomach a bit. This is because many DM's prefer the Good only Paladin dogma, so it's worth talking to your DM to see his point of view on the matter and try and come up with a compromise. One thematic synergy that can be made is the Oath of the Ancients and the Fey Patron to create a sort of 'Nature's Warden' type of character. This Nature Warden build allows you to focus on a particular theme while still using the Divine Smite combo, and also giving you great crowd control options.

Below is the damage scale comparison between a Battle Master Fighter, two-weapon Rogue, and the Corrupted Paladin. All builds considering optimized build for single target damage. The y-axis represents damage, and the x-axis represents levels. Green = maximum damage, Red = Average damage and Blue = Minimum Damage.

Corrupted Paladin

Battle Master Fighter

Two-weapon Rogue

Like the build? have your own additions to the build?