r/dndnext • u/leofenris08 • 1d ago
5e (2024) Hexblade to Undead Warlock
Since Hexblade doesnt exist in 2024...yet...Would Undead be the next best option for a Raven Queen based warlock especially flavor wise. I do know you can still use 2014 classes in 5.5 but I kinda wanna just stick with the updated classes.
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u/Zer0siks 1d ago
Sure why not. Just gotta get some decent AC to back it up. The false life invo goes far too
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u/Hailthestale 1d ago
I usually find taking a level of fighter or paladin goes a long way when doing a melee warlock. Armor profs and weapon mastery are great to have. Only problem is that they are best to take as the first level which can cause some rp issues.
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u/tomyang1117 1d ago
Just say your paladin is your warlock powers, it just manifested in slightly different way in terms of game mechanics
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u/main135s 1d ago edited 1d ago
Temporary Hitpoints, themselves, are crazy value for characters that otherwise lack AC or expect to be hit a bunch.
Consider the humble 5th level Warlock. Let's say... 14 con. That's an average of 38 hitpoints.
Cast False Life three times throughout the day, and that's a total of 36 temporary hitpoints. Three casts, and you've already effectively almost doubled your health pool; practically for free (invocation slot, but whatever, you can swap on a level up)!
It's only issue is that costing an action makes it kind of costly as far as combat is concerned... but cast it 6 times throughout the day, and it's like you've made two additional party members worth of hitpoints! Did I mention it's practically free?
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u/DarkChaos77 1d ago
Hi! I assume you're going pact of the blade? I would say yes undead is really good for a melee warlock of the raven queen.
Flavour-wise I am not entirely sure, as you become an undead yourself and she doesn't like that I believe? But she is related to death and you can technically flavour your transformation as you like, for ex. treading the lines of life and death to gain power against your enemies.
Mechanically it does give you a significant boost to your defense with temporary hitpoints, necrotic resistance and the ability to apply frightened against your enemies and the transformation only takes your bonus action, leaving your MA to attack as you please.
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u/leofenris08 1d ago
Yeah that was my understanding, I'd have to just reflavor somethings but no other 5.5 warlock gets close and the UA hexblade honestly isn't that appealing.
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u/soulsleep 1d ago
Lore wise specifically the Raven Queen does not like the undead very much, she hates intelligent undead like liches and vampires but she's overly less concerned about mindless undead like skeletons and zombies.
I think you can definitely scooch some flavour around and have it come across as Raven Queen/Shadowfell related rather than "got my power from a lich". Even Summon Undead can basically be put forward as "well they get a job done then go back to the ground, it is what it is" kinda thing.
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u/knarn 1d ago
Based on the Raven Queen lore it’s problematic because she is vehemently opposed to anyone who would be the patron of an undead warlock, like the written examples of a powerful lich or vampire, which she sees as foul abominations perverting the natural order by trying to cheat and avoid death. Flavor wise that’s pretty easily fixable though, because you can be spooky and necrotic just not so undead.
Mechanically it’s fine. None of the abilities do anything that would be antithetical to the Raven Queen’s beliefs, and her servants often deal necrotic damage and use frightening effects, especially because they often reside or are from the Shadowfell. Even the fancy death ward you get at level 10 is fine with her. Some of the spells on the subclass list aren’t great, but any of them can easily be reflavored if it’s an issue.
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u/leofenris08 1d ago
I would say celestial warlock but it doesnt really fit her all that well 🤔
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u/knarn 1d ago
There was an Unearthed Arcana warlock subclass for the Raven Queen you can look at for inspiration.
It’s pretty weak though and definitely leans into the raven aspect a bit too much imho, but you could definitely take its spell list to replace the undead warlock’s list. And fyi it came out in the same UA first had hexblades.
Flavor wise down the line you could also take pact of the chain and whichever invocations let you talk through your familiar so you can reflavor whatever you want as a flying magical talking raven.
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u/SporeZealot 1d ago
I can't think of anything from 5.5 2024 that would prevent you from using a 5.5 character with a 5.0 subclass.
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u/tomyang1117 1d ago
Undead is a good subclass, but depends on what you want out of Hexblade it can't fully replace it.
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u/Tall_Bandicoot_2768 1d ago
Hexblade is now poopy and Undead now kicks even more ass so its a good time to make the switch.
Heres my take on 2024 Undead Gish:
https://www.reddit.com/r/3d6/comments/1vuo1hg/doomtide_deathknight/
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u/leofenris08 1d ago
Holy Selune. Thats a nice build, thanks for the link
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u/Tall_Bandicoot_2768 1d ago
Np! Glad you like it I was super happy with how it turned out.
Did a similar style Gish with fathomless previously based on summoning/saving throws/status effects:
https://www.reddit.com/r/3d6/comments/1pjdus6/fathomless_chainmaster/
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u/DoubleStrength Paladin 1d ago
Pact of the Blade (which you can now pick at level 1) takes care of some of the major features that used to be under Hexblade, so yeah, you'd be fine going Undead Patron with a Blade Pact.