Hexblade Impressions

I got to try out the infernal-pact hexblade as part of D&D Encounters tonight, which was a blast for two reasons; the first is that I was the only person in the general area aside from Shazbot that had a copy of Heroes of the Forgotten Kingdoms, but the second is that I like being able to conjure up a hellish sword of dark energy that deals 14 damage on average. Reminds me of the end of Scott Pilgrim vs. The World.

It was the grand finale of Chapter 1, which had us stumble into a clearing while searching for someone. I don’t recall the exact plot behind the encounter because the store owner was doing it on the fly and hadn’t really read up on things. All I know is that it was a storm warpriest, dwarf slayer, and me up against a trio of lizardfolk, dragonborn, and “crazy guy”. Despite having a new guy and being outnumbered, we kicked all kinds of ass.

Unfortunately, it was only one encounter so I can’t say for certain how well the class holds up in the long term, but its a solid concept that I wholly endorse. The hit points and damage output are superb, and the Armor Class ain’t too shabby. Having Charisma and Constitution as two key stats (go tiefling racial mods!), combined with the class bonus, ensures that my Fortitude and Will are pretty high to boot. Finally, since one at-will is usable as a melee basic makes Strength a pretty distant concern, and I think I’ll focus more on Intelligence for a better Reflex and Arcana.

Since the store owner gave me a copy of both Chapter 1 and 2 for Keep on the Borderlands, I might use it for my own group for play reports.

Meet The Hexblade

The 3rd Edition hexblade sucked, to say the least. From what I recall, it was a hybrid class that attempted to mix martial swordplay with a pittance of arcane practice to create a sub-par fusion of incompetence. It’s key ability was to impose a generic curse upon an opponent, that would penalize them in some fashion for baaasically the entire battle.

This hexblade is a melee-oriented arcane striker that comes with a built-in pact weapon, that she can form out of raw, arcane energy.  They’re proficient with chainmail, can use all simple and military melee weapons (and simple ranged if you give two fucks), in addition to rods and wands. All of the 1st-level infernal stuff is previewed with the exception of daily spells, which is fine because I prefer devils to faeries anyway.

• This time around, eldritch bolt is the new blast. It’s still keyed to Charisma and deals the same damage, but its force instead of untyped. Infernal hexblades can conjure the blade of annihilation, which aside from sounding badass, is a heavy blade that gets +2 to attack and deals 1d12 damage. The best part? It’s one-handed.
• Like warlock pacts you get an attack based on your pact, in this case soul eater, which is a Charisma-based melee attack that deals necrotic damage and gives you a bonus on the next attack you make against the same critter.
• There’s also a previewed encounter spell, blazing doom of the void. It’s also Charisma based, but deals double-weapon damage and gives you a hefty damage bonus against the next attack you make.
• Infernal Pact Reward grants you a bonus to all damage rolls equal to your Constitution modifier.
• The last class feature previewed is level nine’s Summon Warlock’s Ally, which in the case of infernal hexblades is a spined devil lackey that grants a bonus to Intimidate checks and can make ranged attacks with its quills. I can’t tell if its a daily or what, but it might be a similar to a familiar or spirit companion. 

Personally I’d like to see a star pact hexblade, but this is pretty damned cool.