MonoClass Optimizing: Eldritch Blaster Warlock (5e Optimized Character Build)

Concept

Warlocks are some of the most customizable characters in all of DnD. This means that even as a monoclass there are multiple options to optimize them with. This guide will go over the most common, Eldritch blast Master, possible with only the players handbook. The Eldritch Blast Master is pretty simple, take the Eldritch Blast cantrip and buff it with Hex and Invocations.

Ability Scores and Races

In general, you're looking for maximum Charisma, to increase you hit chance and damage and then whatever takes your fancy, being tough is always good.

Human, Variant: Increase your Charisma and something else, then take a feat that gives charisma or a powerful feat like lucky.

Half-elf: +2 to Charisma is good and then darkvision, fey ancestry and 2 skills are useful.

lightfoot Halfling: +1 to Charisma and lucky is great. Plus you're brave, nimble and stealthy.

Tabaxi(WotC Rules): +1 to Charisma. You can double your speed sometimes and climb 20ft which is great for kiting. Dark vision, stealth and perception are all good.

Spells and Invocations

Eldritch Blasters share more in common with an Eldritch Knight than they do other mages. Since they are based on making multiple attacks with each action, you can think of them more like an archer that brings more crowd control in exchange for losing the Sharpshooter Feat. But when you add in their spell boosts like Hex you don’t actually lose very much and you don’t get the aim penalty and it doesn’t require a feat.

Spells

• Eldritch Blast: This is the core spell, it has 120ft range, deals 1d10 Force damage and when you get to higher levels you fire more shots instead of it dealing more damage So it multiplies the effect of buffs. You get 2 at level 5, another at 11 and another at 17.

• Hex: This really helps too. The target of hex takes an extra 1d6 from your attacks, including each eldritch blast, and they have disadvantage on a ability check type of your choice. When the target of hex dies, you can transfer it to another victim.

So now your Blasts deal 1d10+1d6 each.

(Correction, many people think the disadvantage on an ability check counts for saves as well, but it is plenty clarified in many places, like Sageadvice!)

Invocations

• Agonizing Blast: Adds your charisma modifier to your Blasts. So now you’re basically casting heavy crossbow. And it is added to each of your Blasts, so it’s like you’re a fighter and you ignore the loading rule.
• Eldritch Spear: Your Blast now have a range of 300ft. So twice of a longbows normal range.
• Repelling Blast: Your Blasts can now push targets 10ft away from you on a hit and this can be applied by all of your Blasts so you can push them up to 40ft at level 17. So this can help you kite someone and stop them from taking opportunity attacks against you and allies and generally manipulate the battlefield.

With Unearthed Arcana you have even more Invocations to take.

• Kiss of Mephistopheles: When you hit your target with your Blast, you can cast Fireball with a bonus action but centred on the target. Not much to say, this lets you cast Fireball as well as Blast so 20ft radius 8d6 damage that can only be halved by a dex save. You still have to spend a spell slot but spamming Fireball is just plain great. This requires the Fiend Patron.
• Frost Lance: Your Blast now reduces speed by 10ft for a turn, however this does not stack so you can’t lock down someone. It’s still useful for kiting though, especially combined with Repelling Blast. This requires the Archfey Patron
• Grasp of Hadar: Once per turn, your Blast can move a target 10ft towards you on a hit. This is more situational as you really only want it for slowing someone from getting away or some niche situation. It also requires the Great Old One Parton so you can’t combo it with Frost Lance without a friendly DM. Though if it wasn’t once per turn that would be more useful. Otherwise, there’re better things to get.
• Raven Queen’s Blessing: This is an odd one. When you score a critical hit with your Blast, you or someone within 30ft can expand a single Hit Dice to heal like in a short rest. As it only happens randomly, this is not healing you can rely on so this is meh. It also requires the Raven Queen patron.

Progression

• First level: Use Hex to deal 1d10+1d6 Blast or 2d4+2d6+dex/str dual wielding daggers.
• Level 2: Agonising Blast Invocation to add charisma to Blasts plus another Invocation of your choice.
• Level 5: Another Invocation and you fire two blasts.
• More Invocations at 7, 9, 12, 15 and 18.
• More Blasts at 11 and 17.

With just these, you’re a powerful ranged damage dealer with some crowd control and there’s still many more features.

Variants

Darkness:

This is simple and powerful. The Invocation Devil’s Sight gives you 120ft of magical darkvision so cast darkness on your clothes and you’re basically invisible and everyone else within 15ft is blind. So you have advantage against everyone within 15ft and everyone has disadvantage against you. If you can have a party where everyone has mulitclassed into warlock for 3 levels to do this, you will cheese fights.

Perception:

This is just a list of Invocations that give you unique information gathering abilities.

• Devil’s Sight: 120ft magical darkvision.
• Eldritch Sight: Cast detect magic without using spell slots.
• Eyes of the Rune Keeper: You can read all writing.
• Gaze of Two Minds: You can touch a willing creature and you perceive their senses instead of your own. You need to use an action every turn to maintain this.
• Visions of Distant Realms: You can cast Arcane Eye without using spell slots.
• Voice of the Chain Master: You can perceive your familiars senses.
• Whispers of the Grave: You can cast Speak with Dead without using spell slots.
• Witch Sight: You can see through creatures affected by illusion, transmutation and shapechanging within 30ft.

Unearthed arcana;

• Chronicle of the Raven Queen: like Speak with Dead but answers are truthful and translated and there are more limitations.
• Gaze of Khirad: As an action, you can see through solid objects up to 30ft for a turn.
• Seeker's Speech: After a long rest you can pick 2 languages. You gain fluency in them until your next long rest.

So with all of these, there’s very little that can be hidden from you.

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