Analysing the Warlock’s Eldritch Invocations in D&D 2024 (5.5e)

Become an eldritch master as I group, rank and strategise for all the eldritch invocations of the updated warlock.

Blade invocations

If you want to play a blade wielding, melee warlock, then you’ll want to consider the eldritch invocations below. A blade build is fun to play, but beware of the warlock’s natural vulnerability. You’re no tank!

You’ll likely want to use feats and other options to increase your durability. To this end, I’d strongly consider taking armor of shadows, eldritch mind and fiendish vigor for a better AC, improved concentration and temporary hit points.

The other thing to be aware of is to keep pace with cantrip damage, you will need to take multiple blade-focused invocations so it can be a resource heavy route that leaves less options for other invocations.

Pact of the blade – 4/5

Good for: Melee warlocks

Ability: Bond to a weapon. Become proficient with that weapon. Use charisma for weapon attacks with your pact weapon. Make damage from that weapon either necrotic, psychic, radiant or the normal damage of the weapon.

Requirements: None

Tactics: Essential if you want to play a melee warlock. The other melee invocations rely on this so you’ll need it.

When it comes to choosing a weapon to bond, keep in mind a few things. Throwing weapons will only work once, then you’ll have to retrieve your pact weapon or suffer without it. It only works for melee weapons. Dual wielding is challenging as one weapon won’t be a pact weapon and you’ll need to grab multiple feats to make it work (namely weapon mastery and dual wielder). This means your best options are two handed weapons and sword and shield (with the lightly armored feat).

Make sur you change up your damage type to avoid resistances. You can check out my research on damage types for more details.

Eldritch smite – 3/5

Good for: Dealing more damage with your pact blade.

Ability: Expend a spell slot to deal more damage and knock an enemy prone.

Requirements: Level 5+, pact of the blade

Tactics: The extra damage you deal will be at least 4d8 at level 5 and will become 6d8 from level 9 onwards. At the expense of a spell slot is expensive though, but if you weren’t going to be casting spells anyway because you’re making weapon attacks, maybe the trade off isn’t too bad.

Automatic prone is handy. Make sure you use this for your first attack so subsequent attacks have advantage. You can also work in concert with others to grant them advantage or even have an ally grapple the enemy while they’re down for advantage on subsequent rounds.

Thirsting blade – 4/5

Good for: Dealing more damage with your pact weapon.

Ability: Gain an extra attack with your pact weapon.

Requirements: Level 5+, pact of the blade

Tactics: You get to hit more often now. Just make sure you’re using your pact weapon for attacks.

Lifedrinker – 4/5

Good for: Melee warlocks wanting to be a bit more durable.

Ability: Once per turn, deal an extra d6 damage with your pact weapon and heal yourself.

Requirements: Level 9+, pact of the blade

Tactics: You’ll average an extra 7.5 healing per turn with this (if you have 16 constitution). This is more than the 5 you’ll average from healing word for instance, and without expending a spell slot or bonus action.

Devouring blade – 4/5

Good for: Melee warlocks wanting to deal even more damage.

Ability: Gain another extra attack.

Requirements: Level 12+, thirsting blade

Tactics: Deal even more damage. Just make sure you’re using your pact blade and attacking with it often to take advantage of this.

Combat spell invocations

If you’d rather blast spells from a relatively safe distance, you can build a more spell-focused warlock instead. This tends to be an easier build to work with as if in doubt, you can always use eldritch blast.

Eldritch mind – 3/5

Good for: Maintaining concentration in the heat of battle.

Ability: Gain advantage on constitution saving throws to maintain concentration.

Requirements: None

Tactics: Concentration spells can be a warlock’s best friend. With so few spells slots, they can ensure a consistent effect is in play. The challenge, especially for a melee warlock, is maintaining that concentration while getting hit. This should help you keep something like hex to work longer.

You still lack durability so I’d still recommend hit and run tactics or avoiding combat altogether, especially crowds of enemies.

Agonising blast – 5/5

Good for: Enhancing damage dealing cantrips.

Ability: Add your charisma modifier to damage rolls for a chosen cantrip.

Requirements: Level 2+, a damage dealing cantrips.

Tactics: Some solid extra damage here. Even though you can use this for any damage dealing cantrip now, there’s only a couple of options that make sense here.

Once you hit level 5, cantrips start dealing more damage, but where most (like poison spray) will just increase damage once, eldritch blast requires separate damage rolls and can target multiple enemies. This means that something like poison spray (which is technically more powerful) will get a single damage boost equal to your charisma modifier, but eldritch blast will get this once for each beam. This means that at level 5 (assuming a charisma modifier of +4), poison spray will average 17 damage while eldritch blast will average 19 damage making it superior. This disparity only grows as your cantrips become more powerful.

AoE spells can also benefit here too as multiple enemies can be affected by the extra damage if you can position yourself to hit multiple enemies. Your only warlock spell that can do this is thunderclap which is just a 5ft emanation which is hard to make work, but you only need to hit 2 enemies to make it worthwhile. This is especially the case for warlocks who likely want to avoid crowds.

Below I’ve put together a table of average damage for a few different spell options with agonising blast applied. Notice that if you do want to go with thunderclap, you only need to hit 2 enemies for it to outstrip even eldritch blast’s damage:

Spell	Lv1	Lv2 (+3)	Lv5 (+4)	Lv11 (+5)	Lv17 (+5)
Poison spray	6.5	9.5	17	24.5	31
Eldritch blast	5.5	8.5	19	31.5	42
Thunderclap (1 enemy)	3.5	6.5	11	15.5	19
Thunderclap (2 enemies)	7	13	22	31	38
Thunderclap (3 enemies)	11.5	20.5	35	49.5	57
Thunderclap (4 enemies)	14	26	44	62	76

Personally, I’d consider agonising blast practically essential for any warlock. Even melee warlocks will need to make ranged attacks at times and this invocation is just such a consistent source of extra damage.

Armor of shadows – 4/5

Good for: Some extra AC.

Ability: You can cast mage armor on yourself without expending a spell slot.

Requirements: None

Tactics: This will give you 1 extra AC above what studded leather will grant (13+ dexterity modifier). It’s a solid return and because you can cast it for free, just recast it every 8hrs when it runs out.

If you grab lightly armored feat, you can also get shield proficiency and you can use shields with mage armor (this was confirmed by Jeremy Crawford for D&D 2014 and should be the same for the revised rules).

Eldritch spear – 2/5

Good for: Becoming a spell sniper.

Ability: Make a damage dealing cantrip go further (an extra 30ft x your warlock level).

Requirements: Level 2+, a damage dealing cantrip

Tactics: The range increase on this is considerable, however, it’s rare to need a huge amount of range on attacks as battle areas tend to be much more limited. It’s got it’s uses though in things like wide open fields. But it’s limited application scores this one lower.

Fiendish vigor 4/5

Good for: Toughening up with extra HP.

Ability: Cast false life without using a spell slot and always get the maximum number of temporary hit points.

Requirements: Level 2+

Tactics: You should always have this applied since you can cast it without expending spell slots. I’d just cast this at the end of each encounter (if the temporary hit points have been depleted) and you’ve got a nearly permanent 12 extra HP to play with.

Repelling blast – 3/5

Good for: Tactical moving of enemies when hitting them with cantrips.

Ability: Push a large or smaller creatures 10ft away with a cantrip.

Requirements: Level 2+, a cantrip that deals damage with an attack roll.

Tactics: Great for keeping enemies away from you and moving them tactically. You could knock an enemy off a wall, into a spell effect or into range of your terrifying barbarian.

Just be aware of the limitations on this one. It won’t work on anything bigger than large and will only work on attack roll cantrips so no thunderclap or toll the dead.

Gift of the protectors – 3/5

Good for: Protecting yourself and allies.

Ability: Save a creature from hitting 0hp.

Requirements: Level 9+, Pact of the tome

Tactics: Get the names of yourself and allies in your tome and ensure they stay in the fight a bit longer. Just be aware that it’ll only work once per long rest.

Familiar invocations

A familiar can be useful for any warlock, but there are a few invocations that relate specifically to making your familiar as powerful as possible. Warlocks get the best familiars in the game as pact of the chain gives you better options like imps and quasits so could make a tempting 1 level multiclass dip.

If you want to know more about tactics for familiars, you can check out my familiar guide.

Pact of the chain – 5/5

Good for: Having an enhanced familiar.

Ability: Get find familiar as a known spell and cast it for free. You can also pick from an expanded range of familiars and can have your familiar attack instead of you.

Requirements: None

Tactics: Familiars in general are pretty great, especially as scouts and for the help action. The familiars available from pact of the chain are even better than the standard familiars too. I’d recommend imps, quasits, sprites and the sphinx of wonder.

Gaze of two minds 4/5

Good for: Stealth, scouting and being sneaky with spells.

Ability: You can perceive through your familiar’s senses and casts spells as if you were where your familiar is.

Requirements: Level 5+

Tactics: This is secretly very powerful for utility roles. Being able to see through your familiar’s eyes is great for scouting. Some familiars have things like darkvision and other senses which you could use by putting it on your shoulder and seeing through it’s eyes instead of your own.

What’s perhaps even better is the ability to cast spells through your familiar. Imagine for instance, taking a quasit and having it become invisible. Then walk it into the middle of some enemies and cast thunderclap (enhanced with agonising blast) and then simply walk away. Because your quasit didn’t cast the spell, the invisibility doesn’t end.

You could also have your quasit shapeshift for skulking around and create distractions with things like minor illusion or silent image. There’s actually loads of clever things you can do here.

Investment of the chain master 3/5

Good for: Anyone using a familiar.

Ability: Grant your familiar a bunch of buffs like attacks using your bonus action, damage resistance, alternative damage types, a flight or swim speed and more.

Requirements: Level 5+, pact of the chain.

Tactics: If you’ve got your bonus action free, you can deal some extra damage. Your best option for a damage dealing familiar is 3d6+3 from an imp which is really good for a bonus action.

Flight and a swim speed give some broader utility. You should be able to ensure it always avoids resistances with alternate damage types too.

Utility invocations

Warlocks don’t get a lot of spell slots or even spells known for a full spellcaster. But, if you fancy yourself as a bit of a utility caster, there’s a bunch of invocations that will give you utility spells you can cast without using spells slots.

A lot of these will enable you to explore, scout or sneak more effectively so you may want to consider some complementary skills too.

Pact of the tome 3/5

Good for: Becoming more of a utility spellcaster.

Ability: Conjure a spell book containing 3 cantrips and 2 level 1 spells that are rituals.

Requirements: None

Tactics: More spells known is always handy for a warlock.

Something like shillelagh can let you wield a one handed weapon and get the damage levels of a two handed weapon (at mid-higher levels). Guidance will let you enhance ability checks. You can also just pick up more warlock cantrips like minor illusion, mage hand, thunderclap and/or mind sliver on top of the essential eldritch blast.

For the level 1 spells, you’re limited to ritual spells. For a comprehensive look at these, check out my guide to ritual spells.

Devil’s sight 3/5

Good for: Those that don’t have darkvision and tactics involving magical darkness.

Ability: See through magical and non-magical darkness.

Requirements: Level 2+

Tactics: Darkvision is always useful but is very easily gained so not a huge boon.

You could have a buddy cast darkness for you then wreak havoc on your blinded foes! Just be aware that your allies may not have the same benefit.

You will need a bit of teamwork and tactical nous to get this working well, but it can be an effective tactic.

Lessons of the first ones 3/5

Good for: When you need more origin feats.

Ability: Gain an extra origin feat. You can take this multiple times.

Requirements: Level 2+

Tactics: Skilled, tough, lucky, musician and magic initiate are all good options for a warlock. Check out my guide to origin feats for more detailed advice.

Mask of many faces 3/5

Good for: Social subterfuge.

Ability: You can cast disguise self without expending spell slots.

Requirements: Level 2+

Tactics: Cast this as often as you like to basically become a shapeshifter. Just don’t tip anyone off that you’re impersonating someone else as your disguise won’t hold up to inspection. For this reason, you’ll want to invest heavily in social skills for this invocation.

Misty visions 3/5

Good for: Stealthy subterfuge

Ability: Cast silent image without using a spell slot.

Requirements: Level 2+

Tactics: Use an illusion as a distraction or a trick. Great for sneaking past guards and giving them something to inspect. Just don’t let them catch on that it’s an illusion or they’ll know something’s up.

Otherworldly leap 3/5

Good for: Jumping a long distance and increasing movement speed.

Ability: Cast the jump spell on yourself without expending spell slots.

Requirements: Level 2+

Tactics: This spell is less for jumping and accessing awkward places (though it can do this) and more for increasing your movement speed by 20 for a combat. Handy if you have a spare bonus action each combat, especially if you need to get around the battlefield a lot (as melee warlocks often will).

If you just want to jump up high places or across awkward gaps, I’d just take ascendent step at level 5.

Just be aware this won’t increase your dash speed and can only be cast on yourself so no spamming it on the whole party. But because it doesn’t use spells slots, you can still cast a levelled spell with your action, and this with your bonus action.

Ascendent step 3/5

Good for: Traversing tall terrain and disabling melee opponents.

Ability: You can cast the levitate spell without using a spell slot.

Requirements: Level 5+

Tactics: Use this to scale high walls or to take a melee opponent out of combat for a bit. Enemies can still use ranged attacks and spells while levitating, but a melee specialist will struggle to have much impact on combat from up there.

Gift of the depths 2/5

Good for: Aquatic exploration

Ability: You can breath underwater, gain a swim speed equal to your movement speed and can cast water breathing once per long rest for free.

Requirements: Level 5+

Tactics: Most campaigns don’t require much water-based exploration or combat making this potentially redundant. But if you do have some water-based activities, this becomes invaluable.

But even if you are playing an aquatic campaign, master of myriad forms basically does the same thing and more so I’d probably ignore this invocation anyway and take that instead.

Master of myriad forms 4/5

Good for: Disguises and aquatic traversal.

Ability: Cast alter self without expending spell slots.

Requirements: Level 5+

Tactics: Alter your form to appear different, gain swimming capabilities or natural weapons. This is basically what you can do with gift of the depths and mask of many faces making it a 2 in 1 kind of invocation (and those 2 a little redundant by 5th level).

In theory, natural weapons makes unarmed combat somewhat viable, but don’t be fooled. Even with something like tavern brawler, it will still be inferior to a pact weapon.

One with shadows – 4/5

Good for: Sneaking

Ability: When in darkness or dim light, you can cast invisibility on yourself without casting a spell slot.

Requirements: Level 5+

Tactics: Invisibility is excellent for sneaking around as it lasts long enough for most stealth segments and even if it doesn’t, just recast it for free. You can also use it for surprise attacks on enemies or to escape a deadly combat.

Obviously this is only good in shadows, but most places you’d want to sneak in likely have shadows. It’s also worth noting that you only have to cast it in shadows, you can then move around freely into light and remain invisible.

If you do want to play a stealthy warlock, maybe grab stealth proficiency through your background or the skilled feat to help you out here.

Whispers of the grave 3/5

Good for: Investigating by speaking with the dead.

Ability: You can cast speak with dead without expending a spell slot.

Requirements: Level 7+

Tactics: Just use the dead to speak with them and find out facts.

Visions of distant realms 3/5

Good for: Information gathering.

Ability: You can cast arcane eye without expending a spell slot.

Requirements: Level 9+

Tactics: Use it for information gathering by sneaking around places. By having free castings of this spell, it also means you can use it for more frivolous things like peeking round corners or into the next room without giving away your presence.

Witch sight 3/5

Good for: Seeing invisible things and seeing through illusions.

Ability: Gain truesight.

Requirement: Level 15+

Tactics: You likely won’t always need this, but when you do, it’ll be invaluable. There are spells that can reveal things like invisibility or illusions, but this is the most convenient solution to this issue.

Choosing eldritch invocations for your build

If you’re still struggling to know which eldritch invocations to take as you level up, I’ve put together a progression table below for you. It takes a few different builds you could go for and gives an idea of what to prioritise and what could be good options at each level.

Feel free to deviate from this though, there’s no perfect build and you may find that certain abilities are more important for you or your party.

Warlock level	Number of eldritch invocations	Melee	Spell damage	Utility
1	1	Pact of the blade	Pact of the tome	Pact of the chain
2	3	Armor of shadows, fiendish vigor	Agonising blast, repelling blast	Agonising blast, pact of the tome
5	5	Thirsting blade, agonising blast	Armor of shadows, pact of the chain	Gaze of two minds, master of myriad forms
7	6	Eldritch mind	Gaze of two minds	Investment of the chain master
9	7	Lifedrinker	Investment of the chain master	Whispers of the grave
12	8	Devouring blade	Ascendent step	One with shadows
15	9	Eldritch smite	One with shadows	Ascendent step
18	10	Gift of the protectors	Witch sight	Witch sight

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What do you think of the revisions to eldritch invocations? And what are your favourite options? Let me know in the comments below.

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