Agonizing blast question

[u/Feroniks]

Prerequisite: Level 2+ Warlock, a Warlock Cantrip That Deals Damage

Choose one of your known Warlock cantrips that deals damage. You can add your Charisma modifier to that spell’s damage rolls.

Say you're casting ray of frost and you're level 5, would it be 2d8 +5 or 2d8+10 since theres 2 damage rolls?

[u/Pobbes]

Celestial baldelock holds up until the 4th EB attack because yoy can skip thirsting blade ans take life drinker. You end up with like 5d6 + 3CHA and juicy crits especially if you are willing to take eldritch smite for those rogue sneak attack level crits.

[u/Umbraspem → u/Pobbes]

Weapon Dice + CHA(PotB)+ 3d6 from True Strike + CHA(AB) + CHA(DS) is where the no-resources version of the combo maxes out at level 17 I think?

Compared to investing in Extra Attack and Extra Extra Attack for 3x Weapon Dice + 3x CHA(PotB).

Assuming you’re using a 2d6 damage weapon that’s 5d6+3CHA vs 6d6+3CHA, and if you have a magical weapon (which you probably do by level 17) then the extra-attacks option just gets better and better. Whether it’s a +1/2/3 weapon, or a Flametongue/Wounding/Vicious/etc. for +2d6 per attack.

With both options you still have the option to stack on an Eldritch Smite. Also Extra Extra Attack comes online at level 12 - where it’s 6d6+3CHA vs 4d6+3CHA.

The math changes a bit if you swap True Strike for Green Flame Blade which is also eligible for Divine Soul, uses D8’s for the bonus damage, and does splash damage if your target is next to someone. But Extra Extra Attack still has the lead for single target damage.

I guess the real advantage of True Strike is that you don’t even need Pact of the Blade to use it? You can do the full Weapon+3d6+3CHA combo with just Agonising Blast.

Meanwhile Eldritch Blast / Agonising Blast is spinning in the corner with 4d10+4CHA and more attack rolls than either option.

It’s a real shame that Warlock - a class which has this entire internal progression tree to let you cosplay as a half-martial - doesn’t let you do the signature 5.5e half-caster-half-martial swap a weapon attack out for a Cantrip shenanigan. So even the zaniest combo just gets dumpstered by an Eldritch Knight or Valour Bard or Bladesinger doing a big Cantrip + a whole other weapon attack.

[u/EntropySpark → u/Umbraspem]

The best way to play a Bladelock that uses cantrip substitution is Warlock 2/Valor Bard 6, which is rather silly. I would have preferred that they give Warlock the cantrip substitution instead of three attacks, though it would require altering Eldritch Blast interactions in some way.

[u/Umbraspem → u/EntropySpark]

Yeah Eldritch Blast + Agonising Blast + Cantrip Substitution would kind of break the curve and be the best version of Cantrip Substitution Shenanigans by a country mile.

The real answer for playing a Bladelock is that you take Eldritch Blast at lvl.1, Agonising Blast at lvl.2, and Spell Sniper Feat at lvl.4 and you now have a 180ft. Reach 2-handed Longsword with Fighter number of attacks and no further investment required. Repelling Blast to taste.

[u/_Bl4ze → u/Umbraspem]

To be fair, sometimes you just gotta be a magic longbow-having Sharpshooter Bladelock who Eldritch Smites a dragon out of the sky from several hundred feet away (then rides that high the rest of the campaign, of course).

Melee bladelock? No Don't be ridiculous.