comparable to the relationship between a Cleric and their deity, the Warlock serves in their patron ‘s appoint — but nonnatural Patrons are rarely gods. hush, the powers they bestow scope from impressive to astronomic, making them an envy to peers who do n’t understand how they are able to carry out such things in the field .
CBR VIDEO OF THE DAY Note: Updated July 26, 2021 following the secrete of Van Richten ‘s Guide to Ravenloft.
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9. The Hexblade
The Hexblade Patron is a mysterious entity from the Shadowfell, possibly one like the Raven Queen, who extends her power to the Warlock and grants them abilities that rely heavily on the consumption of shadows. As the Hexblade Warlock levels up, they gain access to knock-down hexes and curses that wreak psychic wrong on their enemies, ampere well as learning the art of crafting shadows into weapons .
This patron besides grants access to a number of intrigue spells designed to coincide with the potent shadows they wield, like Blink, Phantasmal Killer and Banishing Smite. Hexblade Warlocks besides gain potent features, like Accursed Spectre, which allows them to bind the soul of a slain enemy into their service until it is slain or the caster takes a long stay, at which fourth dimension it disappears and moves on to the afterlife. But while undeniably hard, other patrons offer even more scheme options .
8. The Genie
Those who form a treaty with the noble Genie find themselves award elemental abilities, but at a price that could come back to bite them in the end. Most genies in the position to extend such a treaty rival minor gods in might, and their arrogance typically makes them revengeful. They take big joy in wreaking havoc in the lives of those who would seek to trap their kind in servitude. When they enter into a treaty with a Warlock seeking exponent, it is about constantly to expand their own strive and power .
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The baron granted by a Genie Patron depends upon its nature, which the Warlock can choose before entering into their treaty or cast on the Genie Kind table. Each of the four types of Genie ( Dao, Efriti, Djinni and Marid ) offer a different powers that reflect their element. In time, the Genie grants their Warlock a count of boons that enhance characteristics and resistances like to the Genie itself. As the Warlock levels up, they can evening gain access to small wishes. unfortunately, despite the affiliation with Genies, these Warlocks never actually gain access to the Wish spell itself .
7. The Archfey
The Archfey Patron falls in the middle of the number because their pacts are often fancifully terrifying and completely cryptic when they are made. An Archfey rarely reveals their motivations, and they can fall anywhere between them just searching for a way to make maleficence to priming their Warlock for an ages ‘ old retaliation plot they ‘ve been itching to carry out for centuries .
Archfey Patrons lend their Warlocks a fraction of their own office, like immunity to charm, the ability to charm and manipulate others, and illusive charming that casts frightening presence or madden aspects. These farewell enemies all but addled — if they actually survive an encounter with the Warlock. The Archfey thrives on causing rabies, which makes the Warlocks who enter into pacts with them dangerous enemies to encounter .
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6. The Undead
When choosing this patron, there are a variety show of undead entities one could choose from. For example, Strahd Von Zarovich or Lord Soth could extend their boons to a Warlock looking to unlock the secrets of exponent in living death. The Undead Patron offers a short ton of cool features, like an expanded while list to choose from, manifestation of the Warlock ‘s patron that allows the player to transform for astir to a moment ( gaining neat features during that prison term ) and the ability to continue surviving without eating, drinking or breathe .
Upon reaching degree 14, these Warlocks project their spirit, becoming untethered from their bodies. In this spirit form, they gain resistances to piercing, bludgeoning and slashing price and gain a flying accelerate equal to their walk speed. When dealing necrotic damage, they can siphon life from their targets to replenish their HP, making them brawny enough to earn sixth home on the list .
5. The Celestial
celestial Patrons are knock-down beings of the Upper Planes, which include entities like solars, ki-rin, unicorns and empyreans. Entering into a treaty with a celestial grants the Warlock just a touch of the holy light that touches every corner of the multiverse. In some cases, that connection becomes sol potent that it changes who the Warlock is at their kernel. Some become therefore bind to their Patrons that they find themselves driven to good wrongs, eliminate dark and spare the barren from damage .
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The powers granted by Celestial Patrons, while potent, tend be slightly similar to those granted to Clerics, providing entree to spells like Cure Wounds, Guiding Bolt and Greater Restoration. As they level up, Celestial Warlocks advance brawny boons like Celestial Radiance ( which grants irregular reach points upon completion of a short or long rest ) and Searing Vengeance ( which allows them to resist death itself so they can continue on with their work ). Though it decidedly puts a modern spin on the function of the therapist, its similarities to other healing builds puts it in the center of the number .
4. The Undying
The Undying Patron was once deadly themself, so they understand the all-consuming lecherousness for ability, cognition and everlasting life. Through their own pursuit for immortality and power, they gained huge amounts of cognition, and they ‘re willing to pass it on — for a price. Undying Patrons include beings like Vecna and Gilgeam the God of Unther .
This Patron ranks senior high school on the list because they bestow their wisdom on the learning of endless life. Warlocks who make pacts with the Undying Patron profit entree to Spare the Dying. Their ability to cheat their own death ( ampere well as helping others do the lapp ) grants them the opportunity to bounce spinal column to life when they succeed on Death Saving Throws .
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As this Warlock levels up, they no longer need to breathe, consume, sleep or hydrate to stay alive, though they do calm require “ rest ” to diminish points of exhaustion. At level 14, they gain the indestructible Life feature, which allows them to regain hit points to sustain them in battle and reattach severed consistency parts without the annoying use of a Cleric .
3. The Fiend
Making a treaty with a fanatic from the lower planes of being is a dangerous endeavor, as all beings of this nature have evil intentions. The Warlock will struggle against this evil even if that is not their own nature. Fiends seek alone destruction, and will do everything in their might to destroy all in their path — particularly those who enter into pacts with them .
The Fiend Patron ranks sol eminent because it ‘s a delicate and exciting libra between the Warlock ‘s nature and their patron ‘s power. Fighting that corruption can become all-consuming the longer their treaty remains. As this Warlock levels up, they learn how to draw life from those who die around them to fuel their own ability. They can besides call on their demonic Patron to turn their luck around when things do n’t go their way. They even gain the ability to send their foes straight to hell, resulting in non-fiend enemies taking 10d10 psychic damage upon their return .
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2. The Fathomless
Warlocks who reach out to those entities of the abstruse find themselves making pacts with creatures of the sea and the Elemental Plane of Air. Shipwrecked sailors on the verge of death may find themselves reaching out to these Patrons in hopes of not only surviving, but rising above their flat of office to control the very sea that tried to take their life. The Fathomless Patron grants Warlocks the ability to Create or Destroy Water, Control Elements like wind, big h and lightning, and actually Control Water itself as they gain power .
One of the reasons this ranks thus high is that Warlocks in pacts with the Fathomless can summon tentacles to attack their foes in conflict. The higher their proficiency bonus, the more tentacles they can summon to wreak havoc on enemies and finally tied grant the caster impermanent strike points .
As the Warlock grows potent, therefore do the tentacles, finally earning the ability to cast Evard ‘s Black Tentacles without expending a spell slot once per long rest. They besides gain the ability to transport themselves and up to five will allies in a whirl of tentacles through a watery portal vein that resurfaces the party into another pool of water the Warlock is familiar with up to a nautical mile away .
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1. The Great Old One
The highest rank nonnatural Patron is the Great Old One, knock-down creatures like H.P. Lovecraft ‘s Cthulhu whose very essence and nature are unfamiliar to the reality people have come to understand and rely on. Beings of this nature come from places like the Far Realms, where absolutely nothing makes common sense, and their motivations for entering into pacts with mortals are indiscernible to those who try to understand them .
These Great Old Ones often are n’t even mindful of the mortals who enter into pacts with them, and many do n’t very care one way or the early. however, the secrets Warlocks gain through this mysterious alliance are horrifyingly intense. Those who fall prey to their abilities are often left mentally destroyed, their integral skulls little more than a vessel for what may have once been a perfectly functioning beware .
With spells like Telepathy, Clairvoyance, Detect Thoughts and Dominate Person, Warlocks who follow the path of the Great Old One form it their clientele to reach into the minds of those around them. They have the ability to telepathically communicate with anyone, regardless of whether they share a common lyric. These Warlocks can besides protect their own minds from invasion as they grow more herculean, and the control nature of their abilities allows them to create thralls who must do their bid until another caster removes the bane from them — or the Warlock casts the go on person else .
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Jennifer Melzer
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artist, writer, avid crippled, lover of comics, manga and anime and all about swot, Jennifer has been creating on-line content for numerous websites for over 15 years. She can generally be found on Tuesday nights playing Drow Warlock Zaelien Vel’rai in the So many Levels D & D political campaign on twitch !
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