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?

[FrontlinerDelta]

Messaggio originale di Sniperfox47:

Messaggio originale di FunkBaconDeluxe:

I really hope you can go higher than level 10.

I hope so too considering with just the stuff before Baldur's Gate you can hit Level 5 potentially (once they release the level cap). I really hope the 25 hours of game we have now isn't over half the story.

Yeah...that would be the first disappointing thing I've heard about this game so far. It would make it pretty short compared to DOS2 as well.

I know DnD levels are more impactful/less common than your typical RPG but I also hope we get to have some of the higher levels as that's where a lot of the super OP, fun stuff is as far as I understand lol.

[Grey Lensman]

so far the story, the world and the characters have been 100% for me, and if anyone can play this game within 25hrs is missing a massive amount of enjoyable story and game play. please don't watch/listen to the influencer trolls. Take your time and get into the game.

[Pat]

Messaggio originale di torr071:

in short, you're clueless to the mechanics of magic in DnD. Wizards can specialize and are the most powerful casters hands down. Sorcs and warlock are blood-casters, magic earned by birth. sorry, but just had to correct wall of bs. Wizards are the fighters of magic, end of debate.

Wizards learn Magic, Sorcerers are Magic, Warlocks borrow Magic and Druids draw Magic from Nature.

[fenlander]

Warlock is the ranged arttillery in a group. The spell Eldritch Blast is the most powerful cantrip in the game.

Yes Warlocks get the least spell slots, they get all those spell slots back after a short rest. Also Eldritch Invocations are what gives the warlock a swiss army knife of abilities.

I just wish there was the other patrons as well like Hexblade and the Fey patron.

[Grey Lensman]

yeh but short resat in BG3 is very weird lol, just role a Wizard.

[fenlander]

Messaggio originale di GreyLensman:

yeh but short resat in BG3 is very weird lol, just role a Wizard.

No Warlock and Monk are two of my favourite classes.

[Grey Lensman]

Messaggio originale di fenlander:

Messaggio originale di GreyLensman:

yeh but short resat in BG3 is very weird lol, just role a Wizard.

No Warlock and Monk are two of my favourite classes.

Sorry mate, but its true atm in EA

[Fendelphi]

Messaggio originale di GreyLensman:

Messaggio originale di fenlander:

No Warlock and Monk are two of my favourite classes.

Sorry mate, but its true atm in EA

Wizards dont have great dialogue rolls though, while a Warlock(charisma based caster, with Invocations to further improve on this) is.

I have done a few tests, and so far I have been able to get to level 3 without using any long rests, in large part due to the Warlock 1-shotting most enemies(1 attack pre-combat, 1 attack in the surprise round and 1 attack during the actual combat round, means 2-3 enemies dead before they usually get to act).

[RocketMan]

Messaggio originale di Bloodletter:

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

I would argue that it's not. The shoving thing is very powerful (when you can use it) but standard dps wise Ranger's colossus slayer and hunter's mark do way more damage.

[Pat]

Messaggio originale di Sniperfox47:

Messaggio originale di 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.

I'm talking about the skill by itself the maximum it can do. More recent posts saying they're gonna up the level cap in release to above 10 so depending on by how much EB will have at least 3 beams.

[Captain Weegee]

Messaggio originale di aef8234:

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

Can you tell me what "ability checks" are for?
What advantage I get from it?

I tried out to hex enemies with condition, charisma, strength, ranged combat etc. but it seems to do absolutely nothing in terms of an advantage.
Yes it does not gives you an damage boost on them neither makes my accuracy any better when using ranged, spells or melee.

[aef8234]

Messaggio originale di Buldor:

Messaggio originale di 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

On the bright side, you finally figured out the topic isn't about Warlock, but about Eldritch Blast.

What I'm saying is that Eldritch Blast is the STRONGEST CANTRIP.
Read the second part. A Cantrip.
A level 0 spell. A spell specifically designed to replace the OG start of using darts as a spellcaster when you're out of meteor swarms/cloudkill to use.

Also imagine saying "It's not in Early Access, so it isn't OP yet lol."
Because doing more damage than all spammable ranged options right now isn't powerful.

Or do you think "OP" is supposed to entail "100000 flat damage at level 1?"

Messaggio originale di Captain Weegee:

Messaggio originale di aef8234:

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

Can you tell me what "ability checks" are for?
What advantage I get from it?

I tried out to hex enemies with condition, charisma, strength, ranged combat etc. but it seems to do absolutely nothing in terms of an advantage.
Yes it does not gives you an damage boost on them neither makes my accuracy any better when using ranged, spells or melee.

Ability Checks are supposed to be for every manuever (trip, disarm, jump, etc.), and iirc every skill check (arcana, lockpick, etc.).

What you're thinking of are saving throws, which are essentially dice rolls to see if an attack "misses."

[DAVOS CENSORSHIP 2030 FTW!!!]

It's also a troll cantrip since you can push enemies over surfaces again. It's ranged shove.

[Arani]

Messaggio originale di 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...

Sorry to necro a thread but I was looking into this, since a warlock is one of the classes I'm interested in for the full release. Since we now know the level cap is 12, will Eldritch Blast still be good for early / mid / endgame?

And can someone sum up exactly what feats, levels, etc. and in which order I would need to take to maximize it and how and in what spell combinations do you actually use it in the game? While I'm not looking to powergame per se, it would help to know whether the big picture about powerful warlocks fits into my playstyle and desired stats and feats at all. Because I specifically want to make a max charisma character to have as much charm and dialogue options as is possible.

[Blame]

Not sure who said that Warlock is the best ranged class...
But Eldritch Blast is the strongest CANTRIP in the game.
Warlock can get some pretty strong spells (like fireball), but they have a very limited amount of spell slots, though it's good that they get refilled with a short rest.
Another thing that makes Warlocks good is that they have high charisma, which makes the roleplay easier with better success rate at most conversation options.

But if you want the "strongest" ranged class... Then I don't know what to tell you, each has their own perks. Like a Wizard has a lot of versatility and lots of spell slots so he can do a lot of stuff in the battle, or a Sorcerer which has less spells, but has stronger spell effects thanks to metamagic, making him a more focused spellcaster, or, heck, you can take a ranger with a long bow for multiple ranged attacks per turn + have pets dealing damage, tanking and debuffing enemies (for example having a raven to blind a target so all the party will have advantage against that enemy, increasing the overall damage output of the whole party), or have a ranged rogue to continuously do ranged sneak attacks for high damage, while having all the other classic benefits of a rogue.. So on, so forth.

Heck, my Berserker Barbarian can just throw a whole bunch of weapons at enemies each turn dealing a lot of damage without even needing to to be in melee range.

It's hard to say which is the "best", because they are all great in doing their own thing.

EDIT: Oops, did not see the date that this was posted.
To arani: Yes, Warlock is still strong. Remember to take the perk that adds your charisma proficiency to EB at level 2, and at level 4 I'm not sure if any of the feats are particularly great, take what seems fun for you, or just take something to increase your charisma to at least 18 for that +4 proficiency. At level 5 you'll be casting double Eldritch Blast, which is pretty strong, but you'll also have access to Fireball at that level, and other strong spells to choose from. Don't be shy, experiment around, there's not much that you can do wrong.