Pact of the Talisman
Review by Sam West, Twitter: @CrierKobold
Added in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything, Pact of the Talisman is the latest warlock invocation aimed at giving warlocks a more clear support route. On its own, it's a mediocre improvement to one creature's ability checks at a time, which I’m not typically thrilled with. Pact of the Tome can give you Guidance as one of its three cantrips, and that will often feel similar to this (if not a bit better).
Most of the time, if you don’t have any invocations for it, your best bet is just keeping the talisman on yourself. If you know going into a situation somebody is going to be taking the lead and making the more important checks, sure, you pass it off then, but the majority of the time, this is going to feel like a passive buff to your own ability checks.
To make Pact of the Talisman really shine, you’re going to want to take a couple of its better invocations.
Bond of the Talisman is certainly the coolest reason to take Pact of the Talisman. It links you and the talisman wearer to be able to teleport to each other, and you get to do this regardless of distance. Throw it on the wizard who is about to Dimension Door the fighter up the tower, and now all three of you get to go! Drop the talisman back down, and the fourth member of your party can teleport up to you too. It’s not crazy busted or even that practical most of the time, but it is definitely the main reason I consider Talisman on a lot of characters.
Protection of the Talisman is like a base level upgrade that will function similarly to the ability check increase. Saving throws, notably, can be far more critical. This will help you maintain concentration on spells, shrug off potent save or dies, or turn lethal damage into non-lethal damage. I’m never excited to take this, but it is a fine quality of life upgrade.
Rebuke of the Talisman is really nifty. It is definitely going to offer the most tactical choices and encourage specific builds, which I love. Melee frontline warlocks can stick this on themselves and get a damaging disengaging shove, while backline control warlocks can stick this on friends and use the shove to take advantage of area of effect damaging spells. There being no save makes this very consistent, and can be a major boon to bringing area control or skirmisher builds together. It gives you a new reaction with unlimited uses, automatically making it a consideration for a ton of warlocks.
Pact of the Talisman leans heavily on its invocations, but with them, can be weaponized in a wide array of builds that are super sweet. If you like long term planning for your characters, and want some interesting choices to make encounter to encounter, Pact of the Talisman offers that.
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