Best Feats for Fathomless Warlock 5e
by Prince Phantom
The Fathomless is a patron that is often seen as campaign dependent, as it does have a few features that interact with bodies of water. However I do not share this opinion, as its most important and powerful features work regardless of your environment.
The main feature is the Tentacle of the Deep, which basically lets us cast Ray of Frost every turn as a bonus action. This is a wonderful increase to our damage and control capabilities, so we will be looking for feats to compliment this and increase our defenses.
Best Feats for Fathomless Warlock 5e
Moderately Armored (ASAP): Every Warlock subclass not named Hexblade should be taking this feat (assuming you aren’t multiclassing with a class that already grants these proficiencies). The increase in potential AC from 14 to 19 is staggering, and we have no problem holding a shield. Take this as early as you can, preferably at level 1. It makes surviving those deadly early levels much easier.
War Caster (Lv 4): This subclass is just begging us to stack the slow from the tentacle with Lance of Lethargy, so we likely can’t afford Eldritch Mind until very high levels. I don’t like waiting that long, because protecting our concentration is most important right now when we only have 2 slots per fight. We also really want to be concentrating on a big area of effect, because we have tools to keep foes in that area for longer than normal.
Alert (Lv 4): Going first is really big for us. Sticking an area of damage on a creature and lowering their speed is much more effective and easier to do when they haven’t taken any actions yet. Slowing a creature is better the farther away from any of your party it is, and most of the time the only point where there’s much distance is right at the start of combat. Take a moment to also communicate with your melee party members what your general plan is so that they can work around it and everyone can perform at a higher level. If, for example, your Fighter knows that you will be casting Hunger of Hadar on the group of enemies at the start of combat, they can make a ranged attack if they roll higher than you in initiative and stay out of the way for this turn.
Resilient (Lv 8): If you didn’t start as a level 1 Sorcerer like a lot of Warlock players do, take this for Constitution. I’ll say it until I’m blue in the face, dropping concentration as a Warlock sucks a whole lot. If you did take that Sorcerer level to start, you might still consider this for Wisdom saves, but I’d wait until level 12.
Fey Touched (Lv 8): Misty Step is actually not as great for us as most casters because we always have a use for our bonus action except for in the longest adventuring days. It’s still a great spell to have in a pinch, and there will be plenty of times where teleporting 30ft is much better than slowing a creature. We’re also definitely taking Silvery Barbs, because the reaction damage reduction given by our subclass is laughably pitiful. We won’t feel bad to use our reaction on something else.
Tough (Lv 12): We have a means of getting temporary hp pretty reliably thanks to our 10th level subclass feature, so why not tack on even more durability? I recommend taking this either here or at level 16, especially if you know you’re eventually going to reach the tier of play where enemies might start casting Meteor Swarm. Surviving that without going down is pretty important.
Inspiring Leader (Lv 12): As previously stated, we already have some temporary hp of our own, so we don’t need this for ourselves. That is actually a boon in the right party, as now you can use that 6th target on an animal companion or summon. As always, every party only needs one source of mass temporary hp, so don’t take this if your party already has that department covered.
Lucky (Lv 16): Might as well bolster our defenses even further. Use luck points to negate crits and reroll saves. Don’t dare waste these precious three points on meaningless ability checks or your 3rd out of 4 Eldritch Blasts. You’ve made it to high level play, surely you’ve learned what managing your resources is by now.
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