Best Magic Items for Warlock in D&D 5e
The Warlock is a class of extremes. Maximum power on all your spells, the best damaging cantrip in the game, plenty of features and optional choices to enhance your strategy, and an itty bitty pool of spell slots that recharge on a short rest. This leaves us with a class that has plenty of strong points, but a few weaker areas that we can and should seek to improve on.
In terms of magic items, I’m looking for items that improve our defenses, but especially for items that effectively give us more spell slots. There are a few items that literally do just that, and plenty of others that come with charges that can be spent to cast certain spells from the item. I’ll also make note of items that enhance the power of Eldritch Blast in some way. For you weapon wielding Warlocks, any magic weapon will be great for you, so I won’t bother to make special note of those.
Rod of the Pact Keeper (Attunement, Rarity Varies): This provides a bonus to your spell save DC and your spell attack rolls (boosting EBs accuracy, though not its damage). More importantly than that, this allows you to use an action to regain a pact slot once per day. This is effectively an extra slot per day, which helps you keep pace a bit better when time isn’t there for a short rest.
Spell Scrolls (Rarity Varies): Scrolls are great for every spellcaster, and anyone who can make use of them should. The reason that I specifically mention them for Warlocks is because they provide more spellcasting each day than you could normally access. All you need is proficiency in the Arcana skill to scribe your own scrolls, and low level scrolls can be created very quickly and cheaply. This is a great way to get plenty of uses of low level spells like Shield and Absorb Elements, massively increasing your durability.
Wand of the War Mage (Attunement, Rarity Varies): This is a simple bonus to spell attack rolls depending on the rarity of the wand. This can stack with a Rod of the Pact Keeper, making your EBs super accurate.
Uncommon:
Decanter of Endless Water: I mention this specifically for the Fathomless Warlock’s capstone feature. That feature allows you to teleport long distances, but your destination must be a pond or larger body of water. This, plus the Mold Earth cantrip allows you to create points that you can teleport your party back to, such as creating a pond just outside the dungeon you are about to explore. This turns a normally difficult to use feature into a much easier and very interesting ability for a high level Warlock.
Pearl of Power (Attunement): This item works kinda weirdly with Pact Magic. Before 7th level, this functions exactly as you’d expect, always restoring a spent pact slot at the highest possible level. Once you’ve got 4th level pact slots, then this item actually restores a spent 4th level pact slot as a 3rd level pact slot, which you shouldn’t be able to have as a 7th level Warlock. All that to say, this item is still great. Any means of getting more pact slots is a welcome addition to any Warlock’s sheet.
Wand of Web (Attunement): Warlocks do get good control spells, but again, not many spell slots. This gives you the best low level control spell many times each day, allowing you to spend your limited slots on something else.
Winged Boots (Attunement): Only the Genie Warlock gets flight, so for everyone else this item is amazing. Being able to fly out of melee range and pepper enemies with EB is very powerful, and this item gives you exactly that.
Rare Items:
Cape of the Mountebank (Attunement): Spending one of your precious slots on a simple teleport can feel kinda bad. This item alleviates that feeling of wastefulness, and that might be enough for some to have this take up an attunement slot.
Cloak of Displacement (Attunement): This is a great item for boosting our defenses, imposing disadvantage on most attacks coming our way. Combine this with medium armor and a shield through Hexblade, Moderately Armored, or a multiclass dip and you’ll be extremely hard to hit.
Ring of Spell Storing (Attunement): The obvious use of this is to cast a spell you’ll expect to need in combat (something like Sickening Radiance) on a downtime day, then you have the spell as an extra option on the day you actually need it. Essentially, this lets you bank a spell slot on an off day. The better use of this is to give the ring to your familiar, allowing them to cast the spell and concentrate on it while you cast and concentrate on a different spell. Nothing like pulling off the Forcecage/Sickening Radiance microwave combo all by yourself!
All of the Staves that grant extra spells (All require Attunement): There are a ton of these, and they all grant a number of charges each day that can be spent to cast select spells. The Warlock’s main issue is a low number of spell slots, so getting free castings of powerful spells is amazing. My personal favorites are the Staff of Defense for Shield and the Spider Staff for Web and Spider Climb. The Very Rare Staves of Fire, Frost, Power, and the Voyager Staff are fantastic items as well.
Wand of Fireballs (Attunement): Do I really need to explain why a Warlock would love a ton of Fireballs to throw around every day?
Very Rare Items:
Animated Shield (Attunement): This works around our lack of shield proficiency, increasing our AC by +2 while leaving our hands free. A great filler option if you’ve got a spare attunement slot.
Cloak of Arachnida (Attunement): Basically a better Wand of Web, as it also gives us access to Spider Climb.
Illusionist’s Bracers (Attunement): Can I interest you in two castings of EB every turn? This item literally doubles a blaster Warlock’s damage output, making it a clear standout choice as the best magic item a blaster Warlock could possibly have.
Legendary Items:
Cloak of Invisibility (Attunement): Permanent advantage on all your attacks and disadvantage imposed on enemy attacks targeting you is pretty amazing, just be mindful that many enemies of this tier of play have a way to see through invisibility.
Jester’s Mask (Attunement): This is another +3 to your spell save DC and spell attack rolls, stacking with any other items that also provide the same bonuses like a Rod of the Pact Keeper. The other features are nice too.
Robe/Staff of the Archmagi (Attunement): These items just give you a ton of spells and charges to cast those spells with, along with defensive bonuses. You’ll forget ever running out of slots if you find either of these items, especially so if you get both.
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