Warlock 5e Class Guide — How to Play and Build a Warlock

Table of Contents

• •Quick Answer
• •Warlock Basics
• •Warlock Class Table (2014)
• •Warlock Class Table (2024)
• •Key Features Explained
• •The Fiend Patron
• •How to Build a Warlock
• •How to Play a Warlock at the Table
• •Warlock in the 2024 Rules
• •Multiclassing a Warlock
• •Frequently Asked Questions

Quick Answer

The warlock is a Charisma spellcaster with a d8 Hit Die, light armor and simple weapons. It has very few spell slots, but they are always cast at the warlock's highest slot level and they come back on a short rest, not just a long rest. On top of that it picks Eldritch Invocations, permanent upgrades such as Agonizing Blast, which turns the Eldritch Blast cantrip into a reliable damage source at every level.

Build it with Charisma first and Constitution second. Take Eldritch Blast and Agonizing Blast as soon as you can, spend your two slots on spells that matter for the whole fight, and ask the party for short rests. The one patron in the free rules (the SRD) is the Fiend, which adds fire spells and temporary hit points.

Warlock Basics

A level 1 warlock with Constitution 14 starts with 10 hit points. Taking the fixed 5 per level, the same warlock has 38 at level 5. The HP calculator does this for any level and Constitution score.

Warlock Class Table (2014)

From SRD 5.1. All of your Pact Magic slots are the level shown in the Slot Level column.

Warlock Class Table (2024)

From SRD 5.2.1. "Spells Known" became "Prepared Spells", invocations start at level 1, and the subclass arrives at level 3.

Key Features Explained

Pact Magic: two slots, always at full power

Pact Magic is the warlock's version of spellcasting, and it works differently from every other class. You have one or two slots for most of your career, four at most, and every slot is the same level. At level 5 you have two 3rd-level slots. Cast Charm Person and it goes off as a 3rd-level spell whether you wanted that or not.

Those slots come back when you finish a short or long rest. A level 5 full caster such as a cleric has nine slots per long rest (four 1st, three 2nd, two 3rd). A level 5 warlock has two 3rd-level slots per rest. With two short rests in an adventuring day, that becomes six 3rd-level casts. With none, it is two. The warlock's spell output depends on rests more than any other caster's, so this is the single most important thing to understand about the class.

Slots stop rising at 5th level. From level 11, Mystic Arcanum gives you one spell each of 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th level (at levels 11, 13, 15 and 17), each castable once per long rest without a slot.

In 2014 you know a fixed number of spells and can swap one each time you gain a level. In 2024 you "prepare" them, but the swap rule is the same: one spell when you gain a Warlock level. Unlike a cleric, a warlock cannot rebuild its spell list after a long rest.

Eldritch Invocations

Invocations are the warlock's customization. In 2014 you get two at level 2 and eight by level 18. In 2024 you get one at level 1 and ten by level 18. You can swap one invocation each time you gain a warlock level.

The ones that come up in almost every build:

Armor of Shadows matters because the warlock only has light armor. Mage Armor sets your base AC to 13 + Dexterity modifier. Leather armor is 11 + Dexterity and studded leather, the best nonmagical light armor, is 12 + Dexterity, so the invocation beats any armor a warlock is trained to wear.

Pact Boon

In 2014, level 3 gives you one Pact Boon:

• •Pact of the Chain: you learn Find Familiar, cast it as a ritual, and can pick an imp, pseudodragon, quasit or sprite as the familiar's form. When you take the Attack action you can give up one of your attacks so the familiar attacks with its reaction.
• •Pact of the Blade: you create a melee weapon of any form in your hand as an action. You are proficient with it and it counts as magical for overcoming resistance. You can bond a magic weapon to it with a 1-hour ritual.
• •Pact of the Tome: a Book of Shadows with three cantrips from any class's spell list, castable at will while you carry it.

In 2024 there is no separate Pact Boon feature. Pact of the Blade, Chain and Tome are invocations, so you can take one at level 1. They also changed a lot; see the 2024 section.

Eldritch Master and Magical Cunning

In 2014, Eldritch Master at level 20 lets you spend 1 minute to regain all your Pact Magic slots, once per long rest. In 2024 the early-game version arrives at level 2: Magical Cunning is a 1-minute rite that restores up to half your maximum Pact Magic slots (round up), once per long rest. At level 20, Eldritch Master upgrades it to restore all of them.

The Fiend Patron

The SRD includes one patron: the Fiend. The Archfey and the Great Old One are in the 2014 Player's Handbook and other patrons are in later books; none of them are in the SRD, so they are not covered here.

Dark One's Blessing is why the Fiend is sturdy for a d8 class. A level 5 warlock with Charisma 18 gains 9 temporary hit points (4 + 5) every time it finishes off an enemy. In 2024 the trigger also covers allies' kills within 10 feet, so it goes off far more often. Temporary hit points don't add together: when you gain a new batch, you choose whether to keep the old one or take the new one.

How to Build a Warlock

Ability scores

1. •Charisma first. It sets your spell attack bonus, your save DC, and your Agonizing Blast damage.
2. •Constitution second, for hit points and concentration saves.
3. •Dexterity third, because light armor and Mage Armor both add it to AC.

The 2024 SRD's Standard Array suggestion for a warlock is Str 8, Dex 14, Con 13, Int 12, Wis 10, Cha 15. With point buy (27 points), 15 / 14 / 14 for Charisma / Constitution / Dexterity costs 9 + 7 + 7 = 23, leaving 4 points: put them in a 12 (Wisdom, for Wisdom saves) and leave Strength and Intelligence at 8. Try your own spread in the point buy and ability score calculator.

Then add your bonuses. In 2024 your background raises scores: the SRD's Acolyte background lists Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma, so you can raise Charisma to 17. In 2014 your race does it: in SRD 5.1 the half-elf (+2 Charisma, +1 to two others) and the tiefling (+2 Charisma, +1 Intelligence) both fit. Take an Ability Score Improvement at level 4 to reach Charisma 18.

Cantrips and spells

The warlock cantrip list is the same in both SRDs: Chill Touch, Eldritch Blast, Mage Hand, Minor Illusion, Poison Spray, Prestidigitation and True Strike. Take Eldritch Blast. It creates two beams at level 5, three at 11 and four at 17, each with its own attack roll for 1d10 force damage.

What Eldritch Blast does at level 5. Charisma 18 (+4) and proficiency +3 give a +7 spell attack. Against AC 13 each beam hits on a 6 or higher, 75% of the time, for 1d10 + 4 (9.5 average) with Agonizing Blast. Two beams average about 14 damage a turn, ignoring critical hits. Those 14 points cost no slot. Hex (a 2024 SRD spell; it is not in SRD 5.1) adds 1d6 to each hit and raises it to about 19.5, but it costs a slot and your concentration.

Spells worth a slot, from the SRD lists:

The 2024 SRD list adds Hex, Bane, Hideous Laughter, Mind Spike, Charm Monster, Teleportation Circle, Gate and others. Shatter, Conjure Fey, Flesh to Stone, Mass Suggestion and Feeblemind are not on it; Befuddlement appears at 8th level.

Because you only have two slots, concentration is your real budget. You can keep one concentration spell going at a time, and Hex, Hold Person, Darkness, Hypnotic Pattern and Fly all compete for it.

Invocations to take first

• •2014, level 2: Agonizing Blast and Armor of Shadows. Devil's Sight if you plan to pair it with Darkness.
• •2024, level 1: a pact invocation (Pact of the Blade for a melee warlock, Pact of the Chain or Tome otherwise). At level 2, Agonizing Blast is the priority among your new picks.

Feats

SRD 5.1 contains a single feat, Grappler, which does little for a warlock. SRD 5.2.1 has more: you get Ability Score Improvement at 4, 8, 12 and 16 and an Epic Boon at 19 (Boon of Fate is the recommendation in the class text). The 2024 invocation Lessons of the First Ones grants an Origin feat such as Alert or Magic Initiate. Popular feats from the Player's Handbook such as War Caster are not in the SRD.

How to Play a Warlock at the Table

Count your slots per rest, not per day. Two slots means two big spells per fight that matters. Open with the spell that changes the fight (Hold Person, Hypnotic Pattern, Banishment) and then fall back on Eldritch Blast.

Ask for short rests. A short rest is 1 hour. If the party skips them, the warlock loses most of its spellcasting. Say so when the group is deciding whether to push on.

Stay at range. You have a d8 Hit Die and light armor. Eldritch Blast has a 120-foot range (300 with the 2014 Eldritch Spear), so there is little reason to be within reach of a melee monster unless you built a Pact of the Blade warlock.

Watch the Darkness and Devil's Sight combo. You can see inside your own Darkness, and creatures that can't see you have disadvantage on attacks against you. Your allies can't see in it either, including your healer. Tell the table before you cast it.

Give your patron to your DM. The patron is an NPC. The 2014 SRD names examples such as demon lords and archdevils; the 2024 text describes a patron whose aims are "the corruption or destruction of all things." What it wants from you is a story hook. Agree on it with your DM before the campaign starts. This is table advice, not rules text.

Warlock in the 2024 Rules

The Pact of the Blade change is the big one. In 2024 a Blade warlock attacks with Charisma, so it no longer needs Strength or Dexterity to fight in melee. Add Thirsting Blade at level 5 and the 2024 Eldritch Smite (spend a Pact Magic slot on a hit for 1d8 force plus 1d8 per slot level, and knock a Huge or smaller target prone) and the warlock can be a front-line fighter using only SRD material.

Multiclassing a Warlock

To take a level in warlock you need Charisma 13, plus the minimum for the class you already have. In 2014, a first warlock level gives you light armor and simple weapons. In 2024 it gives the Hit Point Die and light armor training. Check any combination with the multiclass calculator.

Two rules matter for warlock multiclasses:

• •The two slot pools stay separate but can cross-cast. The multiclassing rules say that if you have both Pact Magic and the Spellcasting feature, you can use Pact Magic slots to cast spells you know or have prepared from your Spellcasting classes, and your Spellcasting slots to cast warlock spells. Warlock levels don't count toward the Multiclass Spellcaster table, and Pact Magic slots still return on a short rest. Track both sets in the spell slot tracker.
• •Thirsting Blade doesn't stack with Extra Attack. If you already have Extra Attack from another class, the invocation gives you nothing extra.

The other Charisma classes in the SRD are the bard, the paladin and the sorcerer, so one ability score serves both classes. See our paladin guide for how the paladin side works.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the warlock good in 5e?

It is strong at sustained damage and flexible out of combat. Eldritch Blast with Agonizing Blast gives it reliable at-will damage that scales to four beams at level 17, and its slots always cast at the highest level it has. The weak point is resources: with few slots that return on a short rest, a warlock in a group that never short rests casts far fewer spells than other casters.

What is the best warlock patron in 5e?

The SRD only includes the Fiend, so it is the only patron this guide covers in detail. It is a solid choice: temporary hit points every time you finish off an enemy, Fireball on your list, and resistance to a damage type of your choice from level 10. Other patrons such as the Archfey and Great Old One are in the Player's Handbook, not the SRD.

How do warlock spell slots work?

All your Pact Magic slots are the same level, shown in the Slot Level column of the class table, and you regain all of them on a short or long rest. You have one slot at level 1, two from level 2, three from 11 and four from 17. The slot level rises to 5th at level 9 and stops there. Spells of 6th to 9th level come from Mystic Arcanum instead, once each per long rest.

What does Agonizing Blast do?

In 2014 it adds your Charisma modifier to the damage of each Eldritch Blast beam that hits. In 2024 it works on one damaging warlock cantrip of your choice, and you can take it again for a second cantrip. With Charisma 18 that is +4 per beam, raising the average from 5.5 to 9.5 damage per hit.

Can a warlock wear armor?

Warlocks are proficient with light armor and simple weapons only. The Armor of Shadows invocation lets you cast Mage Armor on yourself without a slot, which gives a base AC of 13 plus your Dexterity modifier. Medium or heavy armor needs a multiclass or a feature that grants the proficiency.

How many invocations does a warlock get?

In 2014, two at level 2, rising to three at 5, four at 7, five at 9, six at 12, seven at 15 and eight at 18. In 2024, one at level 1, three at 2, five at 5, six at 7, seven at 9, eight at 12, nine at 15 and ten at 18. In 2024 the pact boons are invocations, so one of those picks is usually your pact.

What changed for the warlock in the 2024 rules?

Invocations start at level 1 and the pact boons became invocations. The subclass moved from level 1 to level 3. Magical Cunning at level 2 restores half your Pact Magic slots once per long rest. Pact of the Blade now uses Charisma for attacks, Agonizing Blast works with any damaging warlock cantrip, and level 19 grants an Epic Boon feat instead of an Ability Score Improvement.

What should a warlock multiclass with?

You need Charisma 13 to take warlock levels, so other Charisma classes are the natural pairing: the paladin, sorcerer and bard all cast with Charisma. Pact Magic slots return on a short rest and can be used to cast spells from your other spellcasting class. Remember that Thirsting Blade adds nothing if you already have Extra Attack.

Class tables and features: System Reference Document 5.1 (2014) and 5.2.1 (2024), Wizards of the Coast, CC-BY-4.0. Build advice and worked examples are Loreify's own.