Best Feats for Warlock 5e
by Prince Phantom
The Warlock is my favorite class in 5e. The creativity born from the limitations placed by this class makes for some of the most interesting builds I’ve seen. While some see Warlock as nothing but an abusable multiclass, I make the case that it is an above average straight class thanks to its customizability and the fact that spells are busted, even if you only have 2 per fight for half of the game.
Feat selection is interesting, because we are already choosing a number of invocations, which frequently can feel like mini-feats or, in some instances, even stronger than most feats. We need to look for feats that fill holes that invocations cannot fill, which means Warlocks are not nearly as feat hungry as many other classes.
Best Feats for Warlock 5e
Moderately Armored (ASAP): Going from an average of 14 AC all the way to 19 AC with half plate and a shield is such a massive boost that I can’t imaging making a Warlock that doesn’t take this feat. We can reliably hold a shield, as most Warlocks are probably only holding their spell focus, if even that.
Crusher (Lv 4, Dao Genie only): The Genie is probably the best subclass for a straight Warlock, and it also gives us the ability to add bludgeoning damage to one of our Eldritch Blasts per turn. We can combo this with Repelling Blast in an interesting way. Crusher does not specify that we have to push our target horizontally, so I plan on pushing them straight up 5ft into the air. Repelling Blast just specifies that we must push them away from us, so I chose for them to go up, as we are now under them (assuming flat terrain). This causes them to fall 15ft down, taking a d6 falling damage and falling prone. Note that we are attacking at range, so we want to use this strategy carefully as we will have disadvantage to hit prone targets. It’s best to do this if we only have one beam, if we have multiple targets and can switch once we knock one prone, or on our 2nd attack (3rd once we get more beams). This strategy works to keep enemies far away from us and give all melee party members advantage on their attacks, and it does all this without a save. Dao Genie is the best Warlock and you can’t convince me otherwise.
Fey Touched (Lv 4): We really don’t want to spend one of our precious slots on Misty Step. It’s a great spell, even a lifesaver at times, but it’s very low impact most of the time and many casters use it as a convenience. We don’t have that luxury, so Fey Touched helps us in this regard. It also gives us access to Silvery Barbs, a great use for our reaction and a spell Warlocks don’t usually get.
Telekinetic (Lv 8): Warlocks have very few options for bonus actions, mostly stemming from subclasses. For those who don’t, which are many, Telekinetic can give us a 5ft shove to push enemies into our own area of effect spells like Hunger of Hadar or Sickening Radiance. Special shout out to Dao Genie Warlocks (we stay winning) who get Spike Growth, making this 5ft shove also deal 2d4 damage.
Resilient (Lv 8): It’s very common for Warlocks to start as a level 1 Sorcerer to get more slots, the Shield spell, and Constitution saving throw proficiency. If you do that, take this for Wisdom saves, otherwise take it for Constitution. We need to shore up our concentration saves because we don’t have the slots to spare to cast the spell again. Also consider the Eldritch Mind invocation for advantage on those checks, and take War Caster if you can’t fit that invocation on your list.
Inspiring Leader (Lv 12): As always, only take this if no one in your party has a means of granting consistent, party-wide temporary hp. If they don’t, this is a ton of extra hp you can give your party every day. Great for making friends if you’re playing with people you don’t know!
Gift of the Gem Dragon (Lv 12): This is a good defensive reaction if we didn’t get Shield somehow up to this point. If you’ve got Shield, disregard this feat, especially if you’ve got some low level slots from a few multiclass levels. Assuming you don’t, this can prevent multiattacks from monsters. All we have to do is stay a decent distance away from our enemies, forcing them to use most or all of their movement to get to us, meaning after being pushed away they can’t make it back to complete their attacks.
Lucky/Tough (Lv 16): Both of these defensive feats are about equally as good at this level. Lucky prevents crits and rerolls saves, and Tough makes you more durable to attacks overall. If your DM uses more saving throws, take Lucky, otherwise I’d take Tough.
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