Best Feats for Undead Warlock 5e
by Prince Phantom
The Undead Warlock definitely feels like a redo of the woefully underpowered Undying Warlock from the Sword Coast Adventurers Guide, and it succeeds with flying colors. The subclass builds its playstyle and identity out of being able to inflict fear every turn just by hitting your opponent with an attack thanks to your Form of Dread ability.
All of the other subclass features manage to feel like impactful and meaningful improvements to your character’s abilities, and the expanded spell list isn’t half bad either, with Death Ward being a big standout. Feats for this subclass should mostly line up with what a normal Warlock wants, with a few exceptions to synergize with that very reliable fear effect.
Best Feats for Undead 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.
Fey Touched (Lv 4): More spell slots is what a Warlock yearns for, and while this isn’t exactly that, it’s as close as we’re getting without multiclassing. Misty Step is a great spell but not one I’m usually happy to use a pact slot on because it just doesn’t have as big of an overall impact as I’d like a spell to have, so getting it for free is perfect. Silvery Barbs is my go-to pick for the other spell, as we don’t normally get it as a Warlock.
Telekinetic (Lv 4): Form of Dread takes up our bonus action on round 1, but after that we are probably pretty free to use that action as we please. Telekinetic fills that hole very nicely, and a 5ft push can go a long way towards keeping our enemies where we want when combined with the frightened condition. Creatures frightened of us cannot move closer to us, so if we are standing behind our friendly neighborhood Fighter than got a bit in over their head with that giant spider and push that spider with Telekinetic, that spider cannot get in range to attack our ally anymore. This is a great reason to always pay attention to our position on the map so our fear effect is as strong as possible and keeps our party safe.
War Caster (Lv 8): This feat can be replaced by Eldritch Mind if you can fit it on your build, but not all characters can manage that. Invocations are highly competitive, especially at low levels. This feat is definitely needed if you are building with blade pact, as you will be getting hit more often and you probably can’t spare the invocation slot because so many invocations are necessary for a blade pact to even function.
Resilient (Lv 8): If you can fit Eldritch Mind on your sheet, take this at 8th level instead. If you can’t fit it, take this at 12th level and take War Caster instead now. Obviously we are taking this for constitution saves, as we want to ensure success when we make our concentration check.
Inspiring Leader (Lv 12): We don’t need the temporary hp, but our party might. Us not needing the hp is actually a good thing because now we can give something like a summon or animal companion those hit points that would have otherwise been used on us, as the feat can only target 6 creatures. Obviously don’t take this if your party already has a source of mass temporary hp.
Eldritch Adept (Lv 16): Is there an invocation that you really want but you can’t fit it on your sheet because you need all the ones you have for your build to function? Take this and have at it. There probably aren’t any invocations at this level that you both can’t fit on your sheet and also really want, but hey, there isn’t many more feats that we desperately need at this point so feel free to take something fun.
Tough (Lv 16): Tough plus our temporary hp from Form of Dread make us quite a bulky Warlock. Don’t be confused and think we are a tank by any means, but there is a certain hp threshold that is good to meet at this level, and it’s called Meteor Swarm. DMs love to use this spell in the late levels to really put the party on the back foot, as it can down even some level 20 characters if you don’t prepare for it and fail your save. Tough gets us over that threshold comfortably.
Honorable Mention:
Dragon Fear: This is a racial feat exclusive to Dragonborn, so I didn’t include it on the main list. This feat used to suck before the printing of 3 new Dragonborn races that all allow you to replace one attack with a breath weapon, rather than it taking your whole action. This means that we can use Pact of the Blade to make an interesting build where we fight more like a Hexblade that throws fear effects constantly. Our subclass lets us fear individuals each turn, and this feat lets us inflict a very sticky fear effect to a whole group, and then we can still make a weapon attack and fear another creature that either succeeded their save or wasn’t in the range of the feat. This is pretty niche but if you have the stats for it, it could be a very fun and unique build.
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