Okay. Let me crack my hands and start writing about one of my favorite class in the Baldur's Gate, and Dungeons and Dragons.
Warlock is a class that you can play both in the Dungeons and Dragons tabletop game and in the Baldur's Gate 3 video game. Since the Baldur's Gate 3 game we have, of course uses the Dnd as a source, and I have been playing in both of these games for a long time, I would like to talk to you about the Warlock class. I will talk about why I think this class is among of the best classes. I will talk about why it is very successful both in roleplay and mechanically both in the computer game and in the DnD table.
Warlock class has a feature that no other class has.
It recovers spell slots on short rest. In Baldur's gate, short rest can be done with just one click. This allows you to focus on the game without having to take a long rest again, without having to go back to your own camp and without having to pause while moving forward in the story. In this way, you can continue the game without interruption and your resources are replenished. Your HP fills up a little bit, and you go back to your strongest state as if another spell caster has long rested. One of the most important thing in a game is fluidity. Pace and fluidity must be satisfactory in any game.
When playing a dungeons and dragons board game, players who constantly request long rest always slow down the game. This can cause the dungeon that players enter to explore to take 2 times longer than normal. In order to prevent this, some DMs metagame and tell the players from the very beginning that they cannot long rest in this dungeon. Although this is a good method, I don't prefer it because I think it ruins the realism and believability, reality of the game.
In order not to break this credibility, there are dungeon masters who create problems for players whenever they try to make a long rest. Because they want their adventure to be harder and more challenge. Most game masters will agree that this challenge breaks down when players have all their resources. They are right to think so. There is indeed a big difference between having few resources and having all resources.
For these reasons, long rest is not possible anyway. But many dungeon masters allow their players to short rest. At least that's how it was at dozens of tables I played at and that's how I made them play in the games I’ve run. Because even though there are not many resources regenerated with short rest, your players get a little HP, and they feel a little better and they can take the risk. There are two stars that shine in this situation. One of these two stars is Warlock, the other is Monk. Since our topic today is the Warlock class and it is the only class among spell casters that recovers spell slots with short rest, we will continue to talk about it. When we talk about martial class, we talk about the failure of the monk class. We will have to work hard to make the monk class a good one...
Eldrich Blast. Yeah. Is this a must have? (Un)(?)fortunately, it's a cantrip that is as powerful in Dungeons and Dragons as it is in Baldur's Gate. It has 1d10 damage dice and on top of that, Agonazing Blast allows you to add your charisma to this damage roll after taking the eldrich invocation. The damage type is also force. So there are incredibly few creatures that can resist it.
The distance you can target is 120 ft. Also, the enemy does not need to or get to make any saving throw roll. You try to hit by making a d20 roll. This means that you have a chance to critically hit and suddenly your damage dice can be 2d10. After level 5, things change and you can cast an Eldrich Blast spell to create 2 different beams.
When you put all this together, it is very easy to understand that it is an S-Tier spell. Other classes do not have a spell that combines so many features together. Even cleric cantrip spells that try to compete with it are lagging behind. The fire bolt spell that Wizard characters can cast is powerless because many creatures on the later stages will be resistant to fire. In short, for this cantrip, yes it is great, I even saw characters who multiclassed just for this spell.
Many warlock characters choose an evil patron from whom they get their powers. Of course, you can also choose a good patron. Whatever power you agree on, it is a secret to you.
Even if you give some signals with the shape of your spells, the color of your spells, or the focus of your spells, no one will know unless you tell them. Many DMs prefer to keep this patron a secret and use it later in the game to keep surprises in store, which makes for a much more enjoyable experience.
Also, since this patron is not a god, but still a very powerful being, dungeon masters can be more flexible when planning. Personally, I like to play with a warlock character who chooses a proper patron, because it makes me happy when I leave them little crumbs in the course of the game, and when I see how much more enjoyment they get when they pick up these crumbs and move forward. A Cleric character or a Paladin character, on the other hand, has always bothered me because they shout a lot about the god they believe in.
The patron your Warlock character deals with can give him secret missions. Your dungeon master can write private dreams for you. He can create information that only you can read. Keep in mind that if you are charismatic and brilliant enough to attract the attention of such a powerful patron, you should also think that you are probably an intelligent person as well.
This character should not have accepted his powers by chance. I'm not a big fan of characters that are created in this way with little thought. Instead, I'm more interested in characters who have done a lot of research or who, after a big event happens to them, make a deal to solve it, sometimes for revenge, sometimes for rescue.
I should add that you can play any character you want. I played two different warlocks at my table, one had made a deal with a good Angel and the other with an evil Lord. Both had very different backgrounds. The one who made a deal with the good Angel sent me only one page of history. But the adventures we had with him were very enjoyable. The character who made a deal with an evil Patron sent me a history that was almost 3 pages long. I think we were more interested in intrigues and polemics at the time.
If you're playing a Warlock character who has made a deal with an evil force, and your other friends in your group have created characters with good intentions, then you're in for some great personal growth.
You can play a character who is increasingly questioning their own thoughts as they go on missions to save people. The intentions of a character who realizes the happiness that comes from helping people for free can change in a short time.
For these and similar reasons, I think it is a class that is very open to character development.
As I said, of course, you don't have to make a deal with an evil force. But you can be sure that your patron has intentions and goals that you don't know about. Maybe in the future there might even be a chance to oppose your patron. I don't know any other class that offers something as fun as discovering and experiencing this in-game. Maybe paladin...
In Dungeons and dragons game, if you think that your character is weak, you can get a level from another class. We call this situation multiclassing. Of course, at the same time, you may not want to level from the warlock class anymore for roleplay reasons. You may have a new idea.
Warlock opens up a lot of options for you in this regard. Since it is a character based on charisma, it opens the doors of two very good classes such as Sorcerer and Paladin from the very beginning. If you want to continue on magic, you can continue with the combination we call SORLOCK by taking your 6th level from the Sorcerer class after level 5, as many Warlocks do.
If you are playing Hex-Blade Warlock and prefer to fight up close, you can start taking levels from the Paladin class this time. You only need a little bit of STR for this class. It can be multiclassed very easily if you plan ahead.
For these reasons, you will have a lot of options. You can decide according to the taste of what you want to do. At first you will see many flavors when choosing Warlock sub-class. You can play a character who makes a deal with a "Genie" and have a magic lamp of your own. You can make a deal with a demonic creature and command fires. If you prefer to use a weapon like I mentioned above, you can choose the "HexBlade". If you have made a deal with a Lich, one of the most powerful creatures in the game, you can now become an Undead or Undying warlock. If you have discovered an extraterrestrial being as a result of your research and you are thinking of a character concept related to space, or fear, or both, you can choose "The Great Old One Warlock" sub-class. If you think that you have encountered a very good creature, or, you have been searching for a god for years and your god, did not recognize you, and did not give you powers like a cleric, but you made a deal with this powerful creature instead, you can become a "Celestial Warlock". These are just examples.
Personally, I think Warlock is one of the best classes in the game, both in terms of roleplay chances and mechanical advantages. I can clearly say that it is one of my favorite classes both in Baldur's Gate and in the Dungeons and Dragons tabletop game. I can say out loud that it does very well in the early levels.
If your game is going to go to very high levels, that is, if you can reach the spells at level 6 and 7, I think Wizard and Sorcerer are ahead this time. I can explain the reasons for this in another article. But from what I've seen and from the surveys that Wizards of the Coast has done, it seems that most of the games take place in the first 10 levels. And I think the champion of the first 10 levels is Warlock.
I'm looking forward to playing Warlock in my next game.
So what do you think is the best class in Baldur's Gate? Which class did you enjoy playing more? What are your thoughts on the Warlock class in the Dungeons and Dragons board game? Do you think this will change with "One Dnd" coming out next year? Thank you very much for reading! See you soon!
