Best Feats for Hexblade Warlock 5e

by Prince Phantom

Ah Hexblade. Often maligned as the most overpowered subclass in the game, but is it really? Sure, one level of it on a Paladin is an obvious and immediate upgrade, and Sorcerers and Bards love the extra armor proficiencies, but how good is it as a straight class? In my opinion, it’s not even the strongest Warlock when going a full 20 levels. The short answer for why is that you must give up so much of what makes a Warlock good and unique just to make this subclass function.

You must take Pact of the Blade. You must take Improved Pact Weapon if you want ranged weapons. You must take Thirsting Blade. All of this makes a warlock that feels pretty amazing at damage dealing, and useful at very little else. Feat selection is one area of customization that isn’t hogged by this subclass, so let’s discuss a few that might allow your character to be both better at what they are already good at, and at least decent at what they aren’t. I’ve also denoted what levels I think would be best to take each feat to help you prioritize the most important and impactful ones.

Best Feats for Hexblade Warlock 5e

Sharpshooter + Crossbow Expert (ASAP): Let’s talk about why running into melee as a warlock is a bad idea. D8 hit die, shield competes with our 2 spells per short rest, no extra movement speed, average armor, and no special gimmicks besides an occasional spell. Yes, you can play a melee Hexblade and have a good time. If you go this route, replace these with Great Weapon Master and Polearm Master. However, I cannot in good faith recommend it from an optimization standpoint. For these reasons and more, take these two feats. Don’t cast Hex once you’ve got Crossbow Expert, the bonus action attack will do more than Hex ever can unless you hit the same target 4 turns in a row (in which case you could have also cast a better concentration spell). Note that this build doesn’t turn on until level 3 when you can pick up Pact of the Blade and Improved Pact Weapon, but I still think it is worth it. Hexbows for life.
Magic Initiate (level 8): We’ve given up every possible means for the Warlock class to give us Find Familiar, and we are starved for cantrips as a Warlock. This solves both problems. Pick the best utility cantrips the Wizard class has to offer that don’t rely on a save. I recommend Minor Illusion, Mage Hand, Prestidigitation, Mold Earth and Message.
War Caster (level 8): A great play pattern for a Hexblade is to cast a big control spell and then make weapon attacks. With the limited slots a warlock has, losing one to a failed concentration check really hurts. The other benefits are good if you insist on melee (get Booming Blade for opportunity attacks), but the help with concentration saves is enough for even Hexbows to take. Do note that the Eldritch Mind invocation also grants this, so if you can fit that onto your sheet, take this next one instead.
Resilient (level 8): We are already proficient in Wisdom saves so we’re probably taking this for Constitution. You could also consider starting as a level 1 Sorcerer, but I’m assuming no multiclassing. Not dropping your concentration on that Hypnotic Pattern is really important. Try to start the game with an odd Con score so this can round that modifier up.
Fey Touched (level 8): Huzzah! More spells! Every warlock’s dream! Spending a precious slot on a Misty Step feels really bad, so having one for free each day feels very freeing. Use it to get out of a bad spot, like getting surrounded by an ambush, especially if you are a hexbow. As for the 1st level spell, Gift of Alacrity, Bless, Hideous Laughter, and Detect Magic are all great choices.
Inspiring Leader (level 12): This is just a ton of temporary HP, even more so since we are fully invested in Charisma. If you insist on melee, this will go a long way towards your survivability. You will also instantly become everyone at the table’s best friend. Just remember that you don’t actually have to give a 10 minute speech in real time at the table. That’s a funny bit exactly once, and never thereafter.
Alert (level 12): We are a glass cannon no matter what we do, so being immune to surprise is actually very good, though better with some DMs and worse with others. The initiative bump helps us to either make sure our enemies never reach us by laying down a control spell, or getting very far away on turn one if we don’t like the looks of things.
Metamagic Adept (level 12): Quicken spell is one heck of a drug. Believe me, I know how powerful it feels to lay down a sickening radiance and knock a creature standing inside it prone with Eldritch Smite in the same turn. Be warned however, with great power comes great responsibility. Use only for the biggest encounter each day. This feat also comes with the realization that you probably should have taken some Sorcerer levels.
Tough (level 16): It’s not very exciting, but if you insist on melee combat, this is essential at higher levels. D8 hit die might sound like the average, but every other class is getting things to buff AC, speed, resistances, and more, so we’ll take whatever we can get.

Honorable Mentions:

Gunner (ASAP if this is the build you want): The fantasy here is just too good not to love. A gun toting warlock just speaks to me in a way that I haven’t been spoken to since Optimus Prime rode a robot dinosaur. It’s also a surprisingly decent build. You’ll ironically do slightly less damage than the Crossbow Expert build since you don’t get a bonus action attack (unless you get your hands on a futuristic firearm, which your DM should definitely not let you do). This does free up your bonus action for other things like Hexblade’s Curse and Telekinetic, so try and work out something synergistic that supports the rest of your build.
Drow High Magic (level 12): This is exclusive to Drow, so I didn’t feel like it should make this list, but 3 free spells is a heck of a deal. Not just that, but all of these spells are good, ones that you probably don’t want to use a pact slot on, and they work off of your Charisma! It doesn’t hurt that Drow also make pretty good Warlocks, gaining some innate spells of their own to really make you feel like you have a separate toolbox of cool stuff to do outside of your normal capabilities.

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