Is Eldritch Blast that strong?

[Matt [Reckless Boi]]

I've seen people say that warlock is the best ranged class during the early access period, mostly due to eldritch blast. Why tho?

[Mira113]

引用自 Pat：

at 17th level you can do max of 60 damage with all 4 beams.

They can also get a perk that adds their charisma modifier to the damage of the beams, which can increase that damage significantly if it's per beam.

引用自 snilldog：

I made it to the level cap with a Warlock main. Warlock is really strong at first, but eldritch blast seriously loses power as the game goes on and they have a really low number of spell slots. My rogue and warrior were outputting way more damage near the end.

The biggest issue is that, in EA, eldritch blast can't get it's second beam which would be at lvl5, aka one level above max level in EA which would double it's damage, meanwhile rogues or fighters get a bit more gradual damage increase, especially rogues getting a second sneak attack dice at lvl3.

[etskh]

In terms of the actual origin of that spell and its history. It is (in the tabletop version of the game) very punchy. And Warlocks are generally known for just spamming Eldritch Blast, so in a sense, Larian definitely captured that part of the Dungeons and Dragons experience.

[aef8234]

To put it simply a common combo for doing the most DPR in PnP involves Eldritch blast, Quicken metamagic, Hex, Action Surge, and Agonizing Blast. All of which you can get at about level 6?

Since cantrips scale based on CHARACTER level and not CLASS level, at the level eldritch blast should be firing two beams at a time, now with quicken and action surge you can use eldritch blast twice, meaning you have 6d10+CHA by default.

Now add Hex damage, which should do 1d6 per hit. And now you have 6d10+CHA and 6d6 on hit on a turn. Meaning you just did an upwards of 120 damage in one turn, and can then probably do a 4d10 + 4d6 in subsequent turns.

Meaning you just solo-killed a red dragon in about 3 turns, to put it in perspective Red Dragons are CR14, CR = Challenge Rating, which is the recommended level for a FULL group of adventures to fight .

tl;dr - in theory eldritch blast is so overpowered within given context that you can solo a fight that requires a full party of adventurers almost 3 times your level. To make no mention that force damage is a damage type that very little monsters have resistance to.

Now, if you somehow add Scorching Ray into the mix instead of Eldritch blast...

[Pat]

引用自 Mira113：

引用自 Pat：

at 17th level you can do max of 60 damage with all 4 beams.

They can also get a perk that adds their charisma modifier to the damage of the beams, which can increase that damage significantly if it's per beam.

The 60 damage is accounting for Agonizing Blast Invocation.

[Buldor]

引用自 Pat：

引用自 Milkie：

It's a cantrip, isn't it? I know later on you can specifically build to strengthen it rather considerably, but even then... cantrips have no usage limit. That on its own limits how much damage it should be able to do compared to the stronger, spell-slot-limited spells.

at 17th level you can do max of 60 damage with all 4 beams.

The game's max level is already stated to be level 10. So, no. It won't scale well.

[Buldor]

引用自 aef8234：

To put it simply a common combo for doing the most DPR in PnP involves Eldritch blast, Quicken metamagic, Hex, Action Surge, and Agonizing Blast. All of which you can get at about level 6?

Since cantrips scale based on CHARACTER level and not CLASS level, at the level eldritch blast should be firing two beams at a time, now with quicken and action surge you can use eldritch blast twice, meaning you have 6d10+CHA by default.

Now add Hex damage, which should do 1d6 per hit. And now you have 6d10+CHA and 6d6 on hit on a turn. Meaning you just did an upwards of 120 damage in one turn, and can then probably do a 4d10 + 4d6 in subsequent turns.

Meaning you just solo-killed a red dragon in about 3 turns, to put it in perspective Red Dragons are CR14, CR = Challenge Rating, which is the recommended level for a FULL group of adventures to fight .

tl;dr - in theory eldritch blast is so overpowered within given context that you can solo a fight that requires a full party of adventurers almost 3 times your level. To make no mention that force damage is a damage type that very little monsters have resistance to.

Now, if you somehow add Scorching Ray into the mix instead of Eldritch blast...

Hex affects saving throws, not damage.

Action Surge is not available to Warlocks.

Agonizing Blast is a modifier to the beam, adding your CHA bonus to the + roll.

[aef8234]

引用自 Buldor：

引用自 aef8234：

To put it simply a common combo for doing the most DPR in PnP involves Eldritch blast, Quicken metamagic, Hex, Action Surge, and Agonizing Blast. All of which you can get at about level 6?

Since cantrips scale based on CHARACTER level and not CLASS level, at the level eldritch blast should be firing two beams at a time, now with quicken and action surge you can use eldritch blast twice, meaning you have 6d10+CHA by default.

Now add Hex damage, which should do 1d6 per hit. And now you have 6d10+CHA and 6d6 on hit on a turn. Meaning you just did an upwards of 120 damage in one turn, and can then probably do a 4d10 + 4d6 in subsequent turns.

Meaning you just solo-killed a red dragon in about 3 turns, to put it in perspective Red Dragons are CR14, CR = Challenge Rating, which is the recommended level for a FULL group of adventures to fight .

tl;dr - in theory eldritch blast is so overpowered within given context that you can solo a fight that requires a full party of adventurers almost 3 times your level. To make no mention that force damage is a damage type that very little monsters have resistance to.

Now, if you somehow add Scorching Ray into the mix instead of Eldritch blast...

Hex affects saving throws, not damage.

Action Surge is not available to Warlocks.

Agonizing Blast is a modifier to the beam, adding your CHA bonus to the + roll.

1. Hex doesn't effect saving throws, it effects ability checks, also adds damage based on attack hits.

2. It's available to fighters at level 2, and before you go on about quicken, it's available at 2 for sorc.

3. Agonizing blast adds your CHA to a hit, Eldritch Blast adds more hits per level, not more damage dice.

I've been doing nova strats for a long time dude, I know what I'm talking about.

[Sniperfox47]

引用自 Pat：

引用自 Milkie：

It's a cantrip, isn't it? I know later on you can specifically build to strengthen it rather considerably, but even then... cantrips have no usage limit. That on its own limits how much damage it should be able to do compared to the stronger, spell-slot-limited spells.

at 17th level you can do max of 60 damage with all 4 beams.

If you're building your warlock really poorly sure?
1d10+5(agonizing blast)+1d6(hex)+6(hexblades curse) * 4 = 108 damage max. For free with no resource expendature other than 1 spell slot you cast at the start of the day (hex).
+5d6(branding smite)=138 damage max which you can do 3 times per short rest.


Even just average damage is 80 average or 97.5 with a branding smite. That's maaaaaaaybe a little behind other classes at really high levels but not by much. And it falls off after level 11. This game is only planned up to level 10 based on what they said in the AMA.

[Fendelphi]

引用自 Sniperfox47：

引用自 Pat：

at 17th level you can do max of 60 damage with all 4 beams.

If you're building your warlock really poorly sure?
1d10+5(agonizing blast)+1d6(hex)+6(hexblades curse) * 4 = 108 damage max. For free with no resource expendature other than 1 spell slot you cast at the start of the day (hex).
+5d6(branding smite)=138 damage max which you can do 3 times per short rest.


Even just average damage is 80 average or 97.5 with a branding smite. That's maaaaaaaybe a little behind other classes at really high levels but not by much. And it falls off after level 11. This game is only planned up to level 10 based on what they said in the AMA.

Branding Smite requires a weapon attack though, which Eldritch Blast is not(unless this was changed somewhere).

[Sniperfox47]

引用自 Fendelphi：

引用自 Sniperfox47：

If you're building your warlock really poorly sure?
1d10+5(agonizing blast)+1d6(hex)+6(hexblades curse) * 4 = 108 damage max. For free with no resource expendature other than 1 spell slot you cast at the start of the day (hex).
+5d6(branding smite)=138 damage max which you can do 3 times per short rest.


Even just average damage is 80 average or 97.5 with a branding smite. That's maaaaaaaybe a little behind other classes at really high levels but not by much. And it falls off after level 11. This game is only planned up to level 10 based on what they said in the AMA.

Branding Smite requires a weapon attack though, which Eldritch Blast is not(unless this was changed somewhere).

My bad, I literally copy-pasted my dual wielder hexblade build and redid the math. You're right. But 108 max 80 average damage is still pretty beefy.

[Buldor]

引用自 aef8234：

引用自 Buldor：

Hex affects saving throws, not damage.

Action Surge is not available to Warlocks.

Agonizing Blast is a modifier to the beam, adding your CHA bonus to the + roll.

1. Hex doesn't effect saving throws, it effects ability checks, also adds damage based on attack hits (6 damage, therefore weaker than any "dipped" bonus).

2. It's available to fighters at level 2 (multiclassing isn't possible atm and buff can only be self applied), and before you go on about quicken (sorc is not available atm), it's available at 2 for sorc.

3. Agonizing blast adds your CHA to a hit, Eldritch Blast adds more hits per level, not more damage dice.

I've been doing nova strats for a long time dude, I know what I'm talking about.

So what you're saying is, when supported by other classes, it can do your strategy. And only midway through the game. And only after about 6-7 months of development for features not currently there.

Great, so we'll maybe be able to see this after a year. Thank you for your talk on maybes of maybes

[Cassilda]

Eldritch Blast is simply put, the best and most reliable attack cantrip in D&D5. This make Warlocks very reliable ranged damage dealers. But Warlocks simply don't have the range of spells available to full spellcasters, and while they recover their magic easily, they also have very few slots.

[Sniperfox47]

引用自 Buldor：

引用自 aef8234：

1. Hex doesn't effect saving throws, it effects ability checks, also adds damage based on attack hits (6 damage, therefore weaker than any "dipped" bonus).

2. It's available to fighters at level 2 (multiclassing isn't possible atm and buff can only be self applied), and before you go on about quicken (sorc is not available atm), it's available at 2 for sorc.

3. Agonizing blast adds your CHA to a hit, Eldritch Blast adds more hits per level, not more damage dice.

I've been doing nova strats for a long time dude, I know what I'm talking about.

So what you're saying is, when supported by other classes, it can do your strategy. And only midway through the game. And only after about 6-7 months of development for features not currently there.

Great, so we'll maybe be able to see this after a year. Thank you for your talk on maybes of maybes

I mean that's lategame when Warlock has fallen off. Warlock falls off after level 11.

Early game Eldritch Blast is beastly. It's a 1d10 force damage cantrip at level 1 with an extra +1d6 once they add hex in. And then at level 2 it's a 1d10+Cha cantrip (+1d6 once you have hex) making it the equivalent to a longbow with better range. Then at level 5 it's 2 1d10+Cha(+1d6) beams which is the equivalent to a longer range longbow with extra attack. And then if the game gets to level 11 you get 3 1d10+Cha(+1d6) beams. Which is basically a ranged fighter with their 2 extra attacks plus a discount sorcerer on top of that.

Plus you can push/pull foes around the battlefield screwing with their positioning.

And that's if Larian don't add Hexblade which stacks extra flat damage on top of all that with Hexblade's Curse.

[Fendelphi]

引用自 Sniperfox47：

引用自 Fendelphi：

Branding Smite requires a weapon attack though, which Eldritch Blast is not(unless this was changed somewhere).

My bad, I literally copy-pasted my dual wielder hexblade build and redid the math. You're right. But 108 max 80 average damage is still pretty beefy.

No doubt there. :)

[Void]

引用自 Sniperfox47：

This game is only planned up to level 10 based on what they said in the AMA.

I really hope you can go higher than level 10.