DnD Warlock Patrons 5e explained

When your Dungeons and Dragons Warlock reaches level three, they’ll choose a subclass and align themselves with a particular DnD Warlock Patron. Their pact with a fey, fiend, or eldritch being is what defines the Warlock as a class, as this deal is where they gain their most unique and powerful abilities. This guide explains each of the Warlock Patrons 5e has to offer, with plenty of advice packed in to help you choose your perfect Patron.

For more advice on building a DnD 2024 Warlock, head to our full class guide for more expertise. Or, for more character options, here’s everything you need to know about DnD classes and DnD races.

DnD Warlock Patrons explained:

Archfey Warlock

An Archfey Warlock pledges themselves to a member of Fey nobility. An Archfey patron might be quite pleasant and have plenty of mystical secrets to share, or could be extraordinarily petty, proud, and unforgiving. Creatures of the Feywild are notoriously tricky, and so an Archfey Warlock gains lots of abilities focused on deception, illusion, and mind control, as well as some defensive powers.

Here’s some more details on the powers you’ll unlock by working with an Archfey:

Archfey Spells

You always have the following Archfey spells prepared:

These DnD spells are a mixed bag, with some incredibly useful support and utility options mixed in with more situational choices. Misty Step is useful for pretty much any build, plus Faerie Fire and even Sleep offer serious value at lower levels.

Things get less impressive at higher levels. Greater Invisibility is ideal for stealth missions, but the limited targeting abilities of your ‘dominate’ spells mean they might not be worth the spell slot. Plant Growth offers some area control, but it’s going to feel disappointing if the party’s DnD 2024 Druid whips out Spike Growth.

Steps of the Fey

Thanks to Steps of the Fey, you can cast Misty Step without a spell slot a number of times equal to your Charisma modifier. All spent uses of this ability are regained on a DnD long rest.

Every time you cast Misty Step in this way, you can trigger one of these benefits:

• Refreshing Step – After you teleport, you or a creature you see within 10 feet gets 1d10 temporary HP.
• Taunting Step – Creatures within five feet of the spot you teleported from must pass a Wisdom saving throw against your spell save DC. If they fail, they have disadvantage on attack rolls against creatures other than you until the start of your next turn.

Given how limited their spell slots are, free Misty Steps feel fantastic for a Warlock. They allow you to position yourself carefully on the battlefield and maximize your support powers. Your party will thank you for the sudden burst of extra health or the decreased probability of enemy hits.

Misty Escape

Misty Escape lets you cast Misty Step as a reaction after you take damage. It also grants you extra options to choose from when you use Steps of the Fey:

• Disappearing Step – You become invisible until the start of your next turn (or you make an attack roll, deal damage, or cast a spell).
• Dreadful Step – Creatures within five feet of the space you teleported from make a Wisdom saving throw against your spell save DC, taking 2d10 psychic damage on a failure.

Teleporting as a reaction can come in handy when facing melee foes with multiple attacks. It limits how often you can make DnD opportunity attacks, however.

Plus, these new Steps of the Fey abilities are slightly less potent than the level-three options. An Eldritch-Blastin, Misty-Steppin’ Warlock isn’t likely to stay invisible for long in combat (though it could be a handy way to make yourself invisible outside of combat, for free). And while 2d10 damage is a nice ‘screw you!’ to the guy that just hurt you, it’s not going to leave much of a dent compared to more damage-focused party members.

Beguiling Defenses

Beguiling Defenses makes you immune to being charmed, and it gives you a new reaction. After you see a creature hit you with an attack roll, you can spend that reaction to reduce the incoming damage by half.

You also force the creature to make a Wisdom saving throw against your spell save DC, with them taking psychic damage equal to the damage you took on a failure. This reaction can only be used once per long rest, unless you spend a Pact Magic spell slot to restore it.

This reaction is extremely limited in its uses, and it’s definitely not powerful enough to justify wasting a precious spell slot replenishing. Plus, you might want to save your single reaction per round for a Misty Step – which has far more varied effects thanks to Steps of the Fey.

Bewitching Magic

After you cast an enchantment or illusion spell that costs an action and a spell slot, you can cast Misty Step as part of the same action – and without using another spell slot. Bewitching Magic offers even more freebies and ways to trigger your Steps of the Fey powers. You’ll be exceptionally hard to pin down on the field, and you can now juggle multiple spells and effects per turn. The action economy is tasty, but since none of your subclass abilities scale as you level, you’re achieving a lot of little things rather than a few seriously impactful ones.

Celestial Warlock

A Celestial Warlock does the bidding of a member of the Upper Planes – perhaps an angel, an archon, or a unicorn. Characters of a good DnD alignment are most likely to shoulder this burden, though playing an evil character with a Celestial Warlock patron might be a fun challenge.

The Celestial Warlock gets a neat blend of healing powers and fire magic. If you want to be your party’s healer, but are also keen to set things ablaze from a distance, this all-rounder subclass could be the Warlock patron for you. Here’s more details on those subclass abilities:

Celestial Spells

These Celestial spells are always prepared for your Warlock:

The Celestial Warlock gains access to many of the DnD 2024 Cleric’s favorite spells. You’re not as impressive a healer, however (no Healing Word and very limited spell slots to contend with). Still, anyone with the ability to cast Revivify is going to make lots of friends – and you’ve got plenty of damage options to fall back on in the form of Sacred Flame, Guiding Bolt, Summon Celestial, and Wall of Fire.

Healing Light

Healing Light gives you a pool of d6s equal to your Warlock level plus one. These can be spent as a bonus action to heal you or another creature you see within 60 feet. Your target gains HP equal to the value rolled, though you can only roll a number of dice equal to your Charisma modifier at once. You replenish your dice pool only after a long rest.

Our advice: save your spell slots for your damage-dealers and rely on this for your healing powers. It’s the most cost-effective way to juggle both your party roles – and you’ll only get better at Healing Light as you level.

Radiant Soul

At sixth level, you get Radiant Soul, which gives you resistance to radiant damage and increases your radiant damage output. You add your Charisma modifier to a damage roll using fire or radiant damage – one roll per spell, against one target.

This mainly boosts your Sacred Flame cantrip, if you’re opting to use it over old Eldritch Blast. The 2024 D&D rules mean that your best Eldritch Invocations can be used with any damage-dealing cantrip, so this is a more viable option than it’s ever been. Still, Eldritch Blast can do more damage…

Celestial Resilience

Whenever you use the Warlock’s Magical Cunning ability or finish a rest, Celestial Resilience gives you temporary HP equal to your Warlock level plus your Charisma modifier. You can also choose up to five creatures you can see, and they’ll gain temporary HP equalling half of this sum.

For a squishy spellcaster, any regular source of hit points will come in handy. It also scales as you level, which is nice – though many campaigns don’t progress far past level 10, so your mileage may vary.

Searing Vengeance

If you or an ally within 60 feet is about to make a DnD death save, Searing Vengeance lets the target regain HP equal to half its maximum. This also ends the prone condition for your target, and every creature of your choice within 30 feet of them takes radiant damage equal to 2d8 plus your Charisma modifier. Oh, and if that wasn’t enough, those damaged creatures are blinded, too.

As you can imagine, this ability can only be used once per long rest. That limited use makes this a bit less impressive in our opinion, but hopefully you won’t be dying much. In the rare cases where you do need this ability, it’s suitably explosive.

Fathomless Warlock

A Fathomless Warlock gains their powers from a pact with an enormous ocean dweller – think an incredibly powerful octopus or sea turtle. You might serve as eyes and ears above your patron’s watery realm, or be required to go a-sailing to further their goals.

In return, you’ll gain access to a variety of water-based abilities. In a naval, exploration, or pirate-themed DnD campaign, the Fathomless Warlock is king, but on dry land, you may find some of your abilities a bit less useful. Speaking of abilities:

Fathomless Spells

You always have the following Fathomless spells prepared at various levels:

There’s only a handful of standout spells here. Thunderwave is great for pushing back melee enemies, but its range means it won’t be a consistent source of damage. Silence can be devastating for spellcasters if you can maintain concentration on it and keep them in its range, but that’s always a challenge. Everything else is extremely situational or extremely ‘okay’.

Tentacle of the Deeps

Tentacle of the Deeps lets you create a large, spectral tentacle within 60 feet as a bonus action. Your Tentacle of the Deeps lasts for one minute or until you resummon it, and you can summon it a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus before you need a long rest.

When you first create your appendage ally, you can make a melee spell attack against a creature within 10 feet of it, dealing 1d8 cold damage and reducing its speed by 10 feet until the start of your next turn on a hit. You can move the tentacle 30 feet and repeat this attack as a bonus action on future turns. From level 10, the damage these attacks deal becomes 2d8.

This is a fairly consistent way to deal damage at low levels, and it doesn’t eat up your precious action on a turn. However, it doesn’t scale too well, so that bonus action damage becomes less impressive with each DnD level up.

Gift of the Sea

Gift of the Sea gives a swimming speed of 40 feet and means you can breathe underwater. This is fantastic in some situations and useless in others.

Oceanic Soul

Oceanic Soul gives you resistance to cold damage and the ability to talk underwater. Specifically, when submerged, any other fully-submerged creature can understand you, and you them. This seemingly applies regardless of the DnD languages you speak. Resistance to cold damage could be useful against some DnD monsters, but this is another incredibly situational feature. Thankfully, it’s not the only one you get at level six.

Guardian Coil

Guardian Coil is a defensive upgrade to your Tentacle of the Deeps. When you or an ally you can see takes damage within 10 feet of the tentacle, you can use your reaction to reduce that damage by 1d8 (2d8 after 10th level). This can really come in clutch against high damage monsters, drastically reducing the amount of hurt your party receives. Plus, it gives you a reason to keep summoning the tentacle.

Grasping Tentacles

Your 10th-level ability, Grasping Tentacles, automatically grants you an extra spell – Evard’s Black Tentacles. This doesn’t count against your number of spells, and doesn’t use a spell slot, instead being castable once per long rest. It’s a decent spell that’s made even more appealing by its cheap casting costs, even if you only get limited uses of it.

Plus, you actually get a slightly upgraded version of the (already solid) spell – your Fathomless patron grants you temporary HP equal to your level when you cast it, and you don’t break concentration on the spell when you take damage.

Fathomless Plunge

Fathomless Plunge is an action that lets you teleport yourself and five willing creatures within 30 feet of you into any body of water (it has to be at least pond-sized) within one mile that you’ve previously seen. You can do this once per short rest. This is far too situational to recommend in situations other than a water-based emergency.

Fiend Warlock

Deals with the devil are perhaps the most well-known Warlock pact, making a Fiend Warlock a minion of the game’s most iconic Patrons. This Warlock serves a demon or devil, though how dastardly their actions are is up to you.

The Fiend patron grants tons of great combat abilities, giving you great defensive and (especially) offensive options, all themed around fire. If you want to be a battlemage first and foremost, make a deal with the devil with this Warlock patron for you. Here’s more on how the subclass works:

Fiend Spells

A Fiend Warlock has the following Fiend spells always prepared:

This spell list gives you a range of strong area-of-effect spells, most notably the infamous Fireball. Not every spell on this list is a home run, but with such limited spell slots, you’re likely to rely on a few firm favorites, anyway.

Dark One’s Blessing

When your actions reduce an enemy to zero HP, you gain temporary HP equal to your Charisma modifier and Warlock level. Dark One’s Blessing also triggers if someone else brings an enemy to zero HP within 10 feet of you.

This temporary HP is given to you with no action required, leaving you free to focus on damage output. Plus, it scales nicely as you level up. It can be a little tricky to stay within 10 feet of another damage-dealing ally, but if you can pull it off, you’ve got a fairly consistent buff.

Dark One’s Own Luck

When you make an ability check or saving throw, Dark One’s Own Luck lets you add 1d10 to the roll before its results resolve. This can be done a number of times equal to your Charisma modifier before you need a long rest (though it can only be used once per roll).

Any chance to improve the odds of a roll should be taken, and you’ll get a fair few of these as your Charisma modifier scales. It won’t always get you out of a bind, but often your devilish luck will help you out.

Fiendish Resilience

Every time you take a short or long rest, you can use Fiendish Resilience to become resistant to one DnD damage type (except force). While the force damage restriction stops this from being overpowered, flexible resistances will be very useful for a Warlock who plans ahead.

Hurl Through Hell

When you successfully attack a creature, Hurl Through Hell lets you force an additional Charisma saving throw on your target. If they fail, you can send them on a whistle-stop tour of a hellish landscape, incapacitating them until your next turn. Unless they’re a fiend, when they come back they’ll take a massive 8d10 psychic from the sheer horror of it all.

Technically this feature can be used once per turn. However, after using it once, you either need a long rest or to spend a Pact Magic spell slot to restore it. Given how much damage and control this ability offers, using it more than once against a boss might just be worth that expensive price tag.

Genie Warlock

A Genie Warlock serves – you guessed it – a djinn. A Genie Warlock’s powers depend on the type of genie they work for, so they have great versatility. Plus, all Warlocks of this subclass gain access to a particularly potent spell – the desirable Wish.

Here’s some more details on their powers:

Genie Spells

All Genie Warlocks gain access to a Genie spells list, which they always have prepared. Additionally, depending on whether your patron is a dao, djinni, efreeti, or marid, you gain another spell list:

The Genie spells aren’t much to write home about, and the quality of each individual spell list varies wildly. The Dao spell list is excellent, while the Marid feels a bit useless – the remaining options are somewhere in between. The Genie Warlock is a subclass that gives the illusion of choice, but players who want the optimal options are railroaded quite a bit.

Genie’s Vessel

In order to gain access to its strength, a Genie patron gives the Warlock their own Genie’s Vessel, a lamp, ring, bottle, or other locus of power. Once per long rest you can enter an extradimensional space within that vessel and hang out there for a number of hours equal to your proficiency bonus. It might seem a mostly flavor ability, but this Bottled Respite provides the ultimate spot to have a short rest – though you are flung out if the vessel is destroyed.

The vessel’s AC is your spell save DC and its HP is your Warlock level + proficiency bonus. If you carelessly break it, no matter – you can get a new one by performing a ceremony during your next rest.

Until you do, you’ll not have access to Genie’s Wrath. This ability lets you deal extra damage (equal to proficiency bonus) on your attack once per turn. The damage type depends on your genie (dao is bludgeoning, dinni is thunder, efreeti is fire, and marid is water). It may seem minor, but that extra damage stacks up.

Elemental Gift

At sixth level, your Genie Warlock patron starts breaking out the really cool powers. You get Elemental Gift, which gives you damage resistance (of your genie’s elemental type).

Much more importantly, you can fly! As a bonus action, you gain flight for 10 minutes, with a speed of 30 feet. You get a number of uses equal to your proficiency bonus, and this recharges every long rest. I don’t think we need to explain why being able to fly is extremely good.

Sanctuary Vessel

Sanctuary Vessel improves your Bottled Respite feature, meaning that you can bring up to five willing creatures within 30 feet inside your vessel. If they’re poor house guests, you can always evict them as a bonus action – and everyone is kicked out if the vessel is destroyed.

Additionally, anyone who spends at least 10 minutes inside your vessel gains the benefits of a short rest. And anyone inside can add your proficiency bonus to the number of HP they regain if they spend Hit Dice inside the vessel.

It felt a bit selfish to keep this hiding place to ourselves, so being able to bring your party into the vessel is a welcome addition. Plus, the extra healing doesn’t hurt.

Limited Wish

As an action, you can use Limited Wish to cast any spell of sixth-level or lower and a casting time of one action. It can be from any class spell list, and you don’t need to meet any requirements to cast the spell. Once used, Limited Wish replenishes after 1d4 long rests. You can’t use it often, but it’s still incredibly versatile – and powerful.

Great Old One Warlock

The Great Old One Warlock serves perhaps the weirdest Patron of all – an unknowable, eldritch, Lovecraftian entity. Some of the Great Old One Warlock’s brain-bending powers are too situational, while others are excellent if deployed strategically. But all of them lend this Warlock subclass a spooky feeling that’s great fun to roleplay.

Here’s some more details on the subclass:

Great Old One Spells

Your Warlock always has the following Great One One spells prepared:

While there are some excellent spells here, few of them scale as you level up, so your spell list will feel less impressive at higher tiers. Still, there’s plenty of ways to get creative with an enemy here – just expect to rely on your Eldritch Blast if you want to deal consistent damage.

Awakened Mind

As a bonus action, Awakened Mind lets you communicate telepathically with a creature you can see within 30 feet. This telepathy lasts for minutes equal to your Warlock level, and its range is a number of miles equal to your Charisma modifier. Crucially, you and your target must share a language if you want to chat.

If the party knows it’s about to split up, or you’re planning to send one person ahead to scout, this is an excellent utility option. However, depending on the kind of campaign you’re in, you might not get to use it as often as you think.

Psychic Spells

When you cast a Warlock spell that deals damage, you can have it deal psychic damage instead of its regular damage type. Plus, Psychic Spells lets you cast enchantment or illusion spells from the Warlock spell list without verbal or somatic components.

While it’s not the rarest damage type to be resistant to, you can use Psychic Spells to bypass some of the more common damage resistances. Plus, it’s perfect for creating illusions and enchantments without your targets noticing. Nice, though not ridiculous in its power level.

Clairvoyant Combat

Clairvoyant Combat modifies your Awakened Mind ability, turning it into a hostile ability as well as a helpful one. When you connect to a creature telepathically, you can now force it to make a Wisdom saving throw against your spell save DC. If it fails, it has disadvantage on attack rolls against you during the bond, and you have advantage on attack rolls against it.

This feature can be used once before you need a rest. Alternatively, you can spend a Pact Magic spell slot to restore it – though that’s a pretty steep cost for a Warlock.

This actually gives you a reason to use Awakened Mind before or during combat. It’d feel stronger if this Warlock subclass had serious damage output that would be worth giving advantage to. But as it stands, some more consistent Eldritch Blasts are still pretty good.

Eldritch Hex

Thanks to Eldritch Hex, you always have the Hex spell prepared. Creatures you target with Hex also have disadvantage on the saving throws of the skill you chose to affect.

Hex is a staple Warlock spell, and Eldritch Hex makes it even better. Creatures with disadvantage on Constitution saves are more likely to lose concentration on a spell, and debuffing Wisdom, Charisma, or Dexterity now makes it more likely that your team’s offensive spells will take effect.

Thought Shield

You’re immune to others reading your thoughts via telepathy, and Thought Shield also makes you resistant to psychic damage. Plus, when a creature deals psychic damage to you, they take the same amount of damage. This is a nice way to deal extra damage for free, though the output is small, and the other benefits available here are situational.

Create Thrall

When you cast the spell Summon Aberration, Create Thrall lets you do so without concentration. This version of the spell only lasts for one minute, however, and the Aberration you summon has temporary HP equal to your Warlock level and Charisma modifier. After this, any time the Aberration hits a creature affected by your Hex spell, it deals extra psychic damage equal to that spell’s bonus damage.

An extra buddy in combat that can deal additional damage and synergizes with your other popular spells? We’re big fans of this, particularly for a class that lacks other impressive ways to harm foes.

Hexblade Warlock

A Hexblade Warlock’s Patron is a sentient weapon that offers a range of martial and magical abilities. These weapons originate from the Shadowfell, and are believed to be related to the Raven Queen. If you wish to play a spellcaster who can swing a sword without getting muscle cramps, this is the Warlock subclass for you.

Here’s more details on the Hexblade:

Hexblade Spells

Your Warlock always has the following Hexblade spells prepared:

There’s several excellent spell options here that can protect you from harm and add extra damage to your melee attacks. However, many of them require concentration, and they’ll feel more expensive for a spellcaster with such limited spell slots.

Hexblade’s Curse

Hexblade’s Curse is a once-per-short-rest power that helps you to whale on an enemy in combat. You can curse a foe as a bonus action, and after doing that, you get a bonus to damage you deal to them (equal to your proficiency). Plus, you score crits on them with both a 20 and a 19, and when they die, regardless of who killed them, you gain HP equal to your Charisma modifier plus Warlock level.

A blanket application of extra damage feels very nice at low levels, as does an increased chance of scoring a critical hit. Plus, those extra hit points will ensure you stay alive while in the same range as regular martials. You’re no DnD 2024 Fighter when it comes to hit points, but now you’re less likely to die in a single hit.

Hex Warrior

Your first-level ability Hex Warrior grants proficiency with medium armor, weapons, and shields. You also get to use Charisma instead of the Strength or Dexterity DnD stats for attack and damage rolls – the key feature of this Warlock subclass. Without it, your plans for a melee Warlock build would fall apart.

Accursed Specter

Accursed Specter gives you your own little shadow buddy. You have to hit the final blow on a humanoid enemy, and then they come back as a specter monster to serve you until your next long rest.

They gain temporary bonus HP equal to half your Warlock level and a bonus to attack equal to your Charisma modifier. The big problem is this effect may not actually come up all that often, unless you can work with your party to guarantee the kill shot.

Armor of Hexes

Armor of Hexes improves your capacity to curse. Any time a creature targeted by your Hexblade’s Curse lands an attack roll, you can spend a reaction to roll a d6. On a result of four or higher, the attack misses. It costs you nothing to use this ability, and you’re likely to be cursing enemies fairly often, so it’s always worth rolling the dice.

Master of Hexes

With Master of Hexes, your Hexblade’s Curse can be transferred to another creature once its original target dies. The next target must be within 30 feet, and you can’t be incapacitated. Also, you don’t regain HP from the previously cursed creature if you choose to transfer its curse. This extends the shelf life of an already fairly powerful ability, meaning it’s a win in our books.

Undead Warlock

An Undead Warlock’s Patron a lich, a vampire, a chatty skull, or some other form of intelligent undead. A warlock who makes a pact with one of these creatures, all of whom defied death and come back for more, gains ghastly powers, likely to frighten and befuddle. Choose this Warlock subclass, and you’ll gain plenty of neat spellcasting and defensive buffs, plus access to some neat utility spells.

Here’s more details on this Warlock Patron:

Undead Spells

Your Warlock will always have these Undead spells prepared:

The lower-level spells are average at best and unimpressive at worst. Things get much better once you can cast fourth-level spells, as Death Ward and Greater Invisibility are both fantastic for stealth and keeping people alive.

Form of Dread

A standout feature of this Warlock subclass, Form of Dread, transforms you into an upsetting half-undead form, visually related to your patron. This gives you both defensive and offensive options – and both are pretty strong.

You gain 1d10 + warlock level temporary HP, and are immune to the frightened 5e condition. The most exciting part? Once per turn, you can frighten an enemy when you hit them with an attack (though they get to make a Wisdom saving throw to avoid this condition). You can use this ability as a bonus action and get a number of charges equal to your proficiency bonus. These recharge with a long rest.

Grave Touched

Grave Touched means that you no longer need food, water, or to breathe. That last one is probably pretty handy, though the other parts probably only matter if you’re in a very survivalist campaign.

Also, once per turn, you can replace a successful attack roll’s damage type with necrotic damage. While in your Form of Dread, you can also roll an extra damage die when calculating said necrotic damage.

Necrotic damage is one that fewer creatures are resistant to, but it’s still beaten by the damage type of your most reliable damage-dealer, Eldritch Blast. Still, if you can apply this to another damage-dealing spell while in your Form of Dread, you can generate plenty of value.

Necrotic Husk

Necrotic Husk gives you resistance to necrotic damage (and immunity when transformed by Form of Dread). Also, when you would reach zero HP, you can instead drop to one HP and deal 2d10 plus your Warlock level in necrotic damage to creatures within 30 feet. This power can only be used every 1d4 long rests. You get a level of exhaustion as a result, and you’re still on one HP, but this can be a useful last hurrah – though not one you can use frequently.

Spirit Projection

Once per long rest, you can use an action to trigger Spirit Projection. Your mortal body falls unconscious, but your spirit can fly around freely for up to one hour (or if your concentration on this ability is broken as if it were a spell). When this astral projection ends, your body teleports to your spirit’s space.

While in spirit form, you gain several benefits. Both your spirit and body are resistant to slashing, piercing, and bludgeoning damage, and you have a flying speed equal to your walking speed.

You can move through creatures and objects as if they were difficult terrain, and you can cast necromancy or conjuration spells without somatic or material components (unless they have a significant cost). Also, if your Form of Dead is active, you can regain HP equal to half the necrotic damage you deal with an attack on your turn.

This is a fun, flavorful, and surprisingly powerful bit of utility. Just don’t forget to keep an eye on your fleshy body – and any enemies that might be assailing it.

Undying Warlock

Not dead, not resting, just living it up on top – your Undying Warlock Patron is an immortal being who has cheated death, without all the gross stuff that comes with undeath. Whereas an Undead patron gives their Warlock many undead features, the Undying makes their Warlocks hover on the boundary between life and death without ever falling over. They’re not quite a party healer, but they’re good at preventing party members from dying.

Most of your powers here are defensive, but this Warlock subclass is generally considered the worst of the bunch, with niche abilities, and little unique or truly powerful going for it. Here’s some more detail:

Undying Spells

Your always-prepared Undying spells are:

There’s some nice control and utility options here – Blindness/Deafness, Silence, Speak with Dead, Death Ward, and Contagion are our particular favorites. The remaining spells can be quite situational, which brings down our overall impression of the spell list.

Among the Dead

Thanks to Among the Dead, you can cast Spare the Dying as if it were a Warlock cantrip, and you have advantage on saving throws against disease. It also stops undead targeting you unless they make a Wisdom save. Unfortunately, even after they fail they can still target someone else instead.

Disease saving throws are very situational, and Among the Dead isn’t a very impressive spell. Your other ability will feel a bit useless if you never meet an undead, too.

Defy Death

Defy Death means that when you stabilize someone with Among the Dead, or when you yourself pass a death saving throw, you regain 1d8 + Con modifier HP. This is great for bringing you shambling from your grave for more battling, but it is a once per long rest ability.

Undying Nature

You don’t have to breathe, sleep, eat, or drink (you still need rest), thanks to your Undying Nature. This would be cool as a first-level ability or a bonus to another, mightier power. On its own, it’s ridiculously underwhelming.

Indestructible Life

At 14th level you get Indestructible Life, your final, ultimate ability and it’s… 1d8 + warlock level healing, which you can use as a bonus action once per short rest. That’s such a weirdly low amount for something that’s supposed to blow your socks off. You can also reattach a severed body part, but few DMs are likely to dismember their players… unless it’s for the express purpose of allowing the Undying Warlock to get some use out of their garbage capstone ability.

For more help building your Warlock, here are the DnD 2024 backgrounds you can choose from. We can also suggest some powerful DnD character builds to take inspiration from.