UA: Hexblade (Again)

 The Hexblade Warlock is one that I've written a lot about over the years - introduced in Xanathar's Guide to Everything, it was a massively powerful one-level dip, giving you everything from Medium Armor and Shields to being able to attack using Charisma to the quite-good Hexblade's Curse.

Some of these benefits, most notably the ability to use Charisma for weapon attacks, got moved (appropriately) to the Pact of the Blade option in 2024, and I've wondered a lot whether the days in which the Hexblade was the dominant Warlock subclass were finally over (funnily enough, this is actually the subclass that I've played the most of among Warlock ones, largely because I wanted a Shadowfell-themed Warlock when playing Descent into Avernus, and the Undead patron hadn't come out and also wouldn't have been Adventurer's League-legal).

The recent Horror Subclasses UA gave us an update of the Hexblade, and it was an extreme example of whatever the opposite of a glow-up is. I commented that if the goal was for players to try other subclasses, that version would have achieved it.

However, as I'm sure that the previous revision proposal was so poorly rated, they've come back to try it again.

Before we get into it, let's talk about the reasons that that one was such a nerf.

The first reason is actually one that I think was a reasonable balance adjustment. Hexblades getting martial weapons, medium armor, and shields all went a long way to making it the go-to subclass for playing a melee warlock. The subclass wouldn't need to have its Hex Weapon option anymore because Pact of the Blade now has that functionality, but lacking the armor and shield training does leave Warlocks having to look outside the class features to become a bit more resilient to monsters' attacks. Neither the previous nor this version restores this armor training, so you're still looking to either a feat or a 1-level dip in another class to get this.

The second reason, though, was that the subclass was built entirely around the Hex spell. And while Hex is a classic Warlock spell, it created a few issues: the biggest being that when you stopped concentrating on Hex, like if you wanted to cast, say, Animate Objects - which was one of the patron spells you got - the rest of features effectively disappeared. Given their small number of spell slots at any given time, a Warlock really wants to have a good concentration spell, and this forced you into only using that one option you've had since 1st level.

So, let's see how they do with a second revision. First impressions were that it's improved, but we'll still see how appealing the subclass looks overall.

Patron Spells:

1st: Hex, Shield

2nd: Arcane Vigor, Wrathful Smite

3rd: Bestow Curse, Conjure Barrage

4th: Freedom of Movement, Staggering Smite

5th: Animate Objects, Steel Wind Strike

    I don't think this is hugely different from the last version, but I will note that Bestow Curse is going to have a bigger potential role that we'll see moving forward. These spells will encourage a Pact of the Blade playstyle to an extent. I will note that Shield on a Warlock is not quite as appealing as it is on other spellcasters, because one of the things that makes Shield so good is that it's a 1st level spell and thus "cheap," but here it's going to take up one of your very few pact slots.

Level 3:

Hexblade's Curse returns, allowing you to curse a target within 30 feet of yourself for 1 minute, gaining a few benefits, listed below. You can use this Cha times per long rest. When you cast a spell with a spell slot that curses a target (such as Hex or Bestow Curse) you can use your Hexblade's Curse as part of the casting of that spell (no action required). When you do so, the target of the spell is the target of the Hexblade's Curse, and the duration of of your Hexblade's Curse is either 1 minute or the duration of the spell, whichever lasts longer.

Hungering Hex: When the target cursed by Hexblade's Curse drops to 0 HP, you regain HP equal to 1d8+Cha

Accursed Shield: When you aren't wearing armor or wielding a Shield, you gain a +2 bonus to AC while you are within 10 feet of the target cursed by Hexblade's Curse.

    Lot to break down here. First off, as I read this, casting spells that curse a target like Hex will let you combine it with Hexblade's Curse in terms of action economy, but not resource economy - you'll still expend uses of the feature along with the spell slot. And I don't think Hex's usual transferability will apply to HbC.

    That being said, this does give you the opportunity to focus on other spells than Hex. You can get this one-minute (which generally means one encounter) option that is concentration free and spell-agnostic, and can use it a decent number of times per day. Honestly, that's really the big thing that we wanted.

    Now, how about the actual benefits? You'll notice that this version doesn't (at least yet) actually increase your damage. The old one allowed you to add your PB to the damage you dealt the cursed target, and also allowed you to crit on a 19. This, instead, actually just gives you some survival features - some healing and a weird AC buff.

    Actually, let's focus in on that AC buff, because this is actually probably worthless. Getting a +2 to AC but only if you're not wearing armor or a shield means that you could literally wear Studded Leather armor (something that a 2nd-level character can probably afford to buy easily) and get this benefit regardless of who's cursed and how close you are. Now, to be fair, if you have Armor of Shadows and thus always have Mage Armor up, that could stack up (and would mean you'd be not wearing armor anyway) to give you a 17 AC with only a +2 to Dex, which is pretty decent, though this would only be when you're very close to your cursed target.

    The subclass is thus encouraging you to go Pact of the Blade without strictly requiring it.

Unyielding Will is another feature at 3rd level. When you succeed on a concentration saving throw, you can deal 2d6 necrotic damage to any creatures of your choice within a 10-foot emanation, once per round (or, as it's worded, you can't do this until the start of your next turn).

Additionally, if you fail a concentration saving throw, you can choose to succeed instead, and gain Temp HP equal to 1d10 plus your Warlock level. You can do this once per long rest.

    First off: note that this in no way requires Hexblade's Curse to be up. I love synergy between subclass features, but when those features are limited-use, it's good to have some exceptions. This is also going to do a lot to help you if you're a Bladelock, as you'll be getting hit more often and thus making more concentration saves. The free damage on a successful save is not bad for something that doesn't even take a reaction, and the limited-legendary-resistance is nice as well. I can't really complain about this feature.

Level 6:

Malign Brutality (which is a cool name for a feature) gives you three benefits:

Harrowing Hex: After you cast a level 1+ spell with a casting time of an action, you can make a weapon attack as a bonus action.

    This is kind of like the old version of the Eldritch Knight's Improved War Magic. Notably, once again, this is not limited by Hexblade's Curse or anything. It's still limited in that you will need to be expending a spell slot (though in theory if you cast something via an item, that should work as well) but it's a bit of extra damage.

Hindering Curse: When you hit the target of your Hexblade's Curse with an attack roll, the target has disadvantage on the next saving throw it makes before the start of your next turn.

    Sadly, this doesn't work with the previous feature. Indeed, you might struggle a bit to actually get the benefit of this saving throw disadvantage for yourself, as you're probably not going to be imposing saves on the same turn you're making attacks. But this can, of course, benefit your allies as well - smack that monster and then have your Druid entangle them.

Inescapable Hex: When the target of your Hexblade's Curse ends its turn 30 feet or further from you, you can move up to your speed straight toward the target.

    Notably, this does not cost a reaction. So, while it'll still by necessity only happen once a round, this is off-turn, action-free movement.

    Like the original, the subclass can theoretically play without Pact of the Blade, but it's pretty clear that this is meant to be the subclass for a melee-focused weapon warlock.

Level 10:

Armor of Hexes allows you to use a reaction to reduce the damage you take when the target of your Hexblade's Curse deals damage to you. The reduction is equal to your Warlock level.

    Quite a redesign from the old version, but more reliable at least. Starting off with a damage reduction of 10, this is obviously going to feel more impactful against individual weapon attacks than a giant dragon's breath, but it's a decent chunk of damage to reduce. I've been noting the various features you'd expect to use your reaction that didn't, and I wonder if they're designed that way in order to give you room to use this one.

Level 14:

Masterful Hex gives three benefits:

Accursed Critical: When you attack the target of your Hexblade's Curse, you score a critical hit on a 19 or 20.

    Obviously a nice feature that expands your critical strike chance to 10%, though we get it a full 13 levels later than the original version did. I feel like this is pretty late to get this.

Explosive Hex: When you deal damage to the target of your Hexblade's Curse, you can cause the curse to explode, dealing your 3d6 of your choice of necrotic, psychic, or radiant damage to each creature of your choice within a 30-foot emanation, and affected creatures' speeds are reudced by 10 feet until the start of your next turn. Once you use this, you can't do so again until you finish a long rest, or unless you expend a Pact Magic spell slot to restore your use of it.

    This is cool - again, some AoE damage without a saving throw. That said, it's pretty low damage, so unless you really need the AoE slow, I don't think I'd be likely to expend a 5th level spell slot to get this back, and probably only use it once per day.

Hex Restoration: You regain one expended use of Hexblade's Curse when you finish a Short Rest or use your Magical Cunning feature.

    Ok, yeah, that's nice. We already have a decent number of uses for the feature (if we only use it once per combat, we're probably not going to run out, as few adventures involve more than 4 combats per day) but this gives us a bit of flexibility.

Overall Thoughts:

I don't think this is the powerhouse that was the Xanathar's Hexblade, but that's good - that version was too powerful, and gave too many benefits that went beyond what other subclasses did. I also think this is a big improvement over the, frankly, dogshit version of the Hexblade presented in the Horror Subclass UA.

This version feels functional and even, dare I say, maybe actually quite good? I don't know that it would really appeal to me - for one thing, the flavor of the Hexblade patron is pretty dull (if I play a Bladelock, I'd probably want to go with a Death Knight as an undead patron) - and I suspect it won't be as popular as the Xanathar's one because it's not as front-loaded with power.

Still, with a little adjustment here and there (I'd consider putting some of the Masterful Hex features into the level 6 feature, so it's still a commitment, but you don't have to be halfway through tier 3 to crit on a 19) I think this could be in quite good shape.

    Next, we'll be revisiting the four Wizard subclasses that were ejected from the Player's Handbook in 2014, starting with the Conjurer.