WotC Says D&D Warlocks Have “No Unique Class Identity” Before Stripping Warlocks of Unique Mechanics in Playtest
Warlocks get hit with the Nerf bat, ending up with fewer spell slots, and watered-down rules in the newest playtest.
One D&D‘s playtest really puts the community through the paces. We’ve seen a couple of exciting changes to some of the classes. And then there’s the Warlocks, who don’t get Nerfed into the ground, but who do get relegated from their special status as not-quite-casters into playing by the rules like everyone else.
All because, per WotC, “they didn’t have a unique class identity.” Well if they didn’t before, they certainly don’t now.
New Warlock Playtest – Soulless and Not in the Good Way
It’s not even that they sold out, or lost an edge, it’s that the new Warlock is weirdly watered down while also WotC is telling us that it’s all for our own good and somehow the thing that “every player” was asking for. But just look at the online communities, be they on Discord, Reddit, D&D Beyond’s own message board; the story’s the same. Folks aren’t happy.
But why? It all comes down to WotC’s decision to alter the very thing that makes Warlocks unique: Pact Magic. Pact Magic is a bit confusing, sure. But it’s tied directly to the idea that Warlocks get their magic, not through study, or through devotion, but from contact with some powerful entity.
And in game terms, it means that Warlocks have fewer spell slots than the average caster, but the slots they do have they cast at full power. This is probably the only way you’ve ever actually upcast a spell in 5th Edition because Warlocks always go as hard as they possibly can with their spell slots.
Not so now. The most current version of Warlocks loses that ability, instead becoming just Half Casters. Meaning they advance in spellcasting ability much slower, at the expense of maybe being able to cast a few more spells each time. But they’re all regular. No more recharging back up to full-on a Short Rest (something WotC seems to be doing away with, for the most part).
And now, instead of gaining access to a single 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th level spell just for being a high-enough leveled Warlock, they have to dedicate one of their limited Eldritch Invocations to taking them. Which feels bad.
That said, not every aspect of the new Warlock is bad. There are some solid foundational works. For instance, depending on which Pact you form, your spellcasting ability can vary. Warlocks are no longer Charisma only! They can be Wisdom, Charisma, or Intelligence.
And as a bonus to multiclassers, they get their Pact benefit at 1st level. Meaning a single level of Warlock is enough to let anyone use Wisdom or Charisma for their attack and damage rolls with melee attacks, thanks to the Pact Weapon spell of Pact of the Blade.
Fiend Patron Warlock
The Warlock Subclass included with the playtest is the Fiend Patron. This Warlock is very similar, though a bit improved. You get a list of spells you always have prepared that don’t count towards your limit, which is fantastic. And you can cast one for free once per long rest, which is also extremely good.
Dark One’s Blessing now grants you hit points whenever you kill an enemy or whenever one drops to 0 hit points within 5 feet of you. And Hurl through Hell, the most flavorful ability in the game that’s still actually quite good and worth using, is now repeatable as long as you spend a spell slot of 4th level or higher to repeat it. Which you will, because it not only deals 10d10 damage to a creature, it also literally sends them to hell (or another Lower Plane) for a round.
The survey for this playtest will be open for feedback May 17th!
