Warlocks have always been a unique class among the Dungeons & Dungeons character options, both for their pact magic and the eldritch invocations that define many of their abilities. Warlock spellcasting progresses differently than every other class in the game, with fewer slots available at a time that come back more quickly, supplemented by magical powers that invocations grant at certain levels. The 2024 Player’s Handbook makes eldritch invocations more important than ever, absorbing some other warlock features and taking center stage.
These changes come with some major shifts in warlock class progression, from delaying their subclass choice to providing more versatility around cantrip selection. The new PHB alters many invocations at an individual level and also makes sweeping changes to the ways that these features work in general. Players should take a look at these ten changes to the ways warlock invocations work to familiarize themselves with the new rules and plan out how they will build their next warlock characters.
10 Gaze Of Two Minds Has An Expanded List Of Powerful Effects
A Once-Underwhelming Invocation Gets An Upgrade
One returning invocation from the 2014 PHB is gaze of two minds, an ability warlocks can use to perceive the world through the senses of another creature. While this ability is unique and quite interesting, its implementation in previous editions left much to be desired. It required an action to set up and another each turn to maintain, and provided little other than perceiving the world through another’s eyes and ears.
The new 2024 handbook rules have made this invocation much more viable. It now takes a bonus action to set up and maintain, meaning it is theoretically more useful in combat situations. Players are also no longer blinded and deafened to their own surroundings while perceiving through the senses of another. Finally, and most importantly, warlocks can now cast spells through the other creature, as long as they are within 60 feet of one another. This opens up all kinds of creative uses for extending range and changing the origin point of AOE spells.
9 With Sight Receives Some Important Updates To Its Wording
Warlocks Can See More Than Ever
Witch sight is an invocation only available to powerful characters, at level 15 and up in both the old and new versions. But importantly, the specific wording around how this version of sight works has been updated to make it better. In the 2014 PHB, witch sight says that it allows warlocks to see creatures disguised or concealed by illusion or transmutation magic, as well as the true forms of shapechangers, up to 30 feet away.
This is nice, but the 2024 PHB version grants full truesight for 30 feet, which is a bit better. Truesight grants the ability to see through normal and magical darkness, the true form of any creature or object concealed or transformed by magic, and into the Ethereal plane, glimpsing other dimensions and transdimensional creatures. Because of this wording change, witch sight is more powerful than before, expanding the realms of a warlock’s perception.
8 One With Shadows Gains A Longer Duration Thanks To Some Rules Changes
Players Are No Longer Bound To One Place
One with shadows is a classic invocation that allows warlocks to turn invisible while standing in dim light or darkness. This is a great ability that gives them the opportunity to ambush enemies or hide mid-combat, but it came with a serious restriction: warlocks would lose their invisibility when they took an action, reaction, or moved. This means that warlocks would have to stand still while invisible, meaning enemies could fairly easily figure out right where they are.
The new version makes a simple change, just giving warlocks the ability to cast invisibility on themselves without using a spell slot while in dim light or darkness. This still takes an action to pull off, but the invisibility spell has more forgiving restrictions. Players can move around while invisible, even leaving the darkened area; it ends if the character makes an attack, casts a spell, or deals damage. They can still take actions like dash or interact with objects. The downside here is that invisibility requires concentration, taking up that resource when warlocks use this invocation.
7 Eldritch Spear Can Go Farther Than Before, But There’s A Catch
Alterations To A Certain Feat Affect The Change In Range
Eldritch spear is among the invocations which applied solely to the cantrip eldritch blast in the 2014 PHB, but has now become applicable to any warlock cantrip. But aside from that, it has also seen an important change: while it once simply altered the range of eldritch blast from 120 to 300 feet, it now adds range equal to 30 feet times the warlock’s level. While this only provides a slight range increase at early levels, it quickly surpasses what the old eldritch spear could do.
The usefulness of such an outrageous range for these spells may differ depending on the table players are at, and how willing their DM is to allow for fights to happen over such a long distance.
With the new rules, a max level warlock could cast eldritch blast up to a range of 720 feet, or spells like poison spray up to 630 feet, probably more range than they will ever need. This does have implications for a certain feat that was often paired with eldritch blast in the 2014 game, that being spell sniper. This used to increase the range of spell attack rolls by twice their original distance; now, it just adds 60 feet to that range. This means that, unfortunately, warlocks cannot use this new invocation to shoot a 1,440 foot eldritch blast, something many DMs will probably be grateful for.
6 Reduced Improvements For Two Iconic Features
The 2024 Player’s Handbook Seems To Favor A Certain Warlock Playstyle
Of course, one of the biggest changes to invocations is that they have absorbed the pact boon feature warlocks once got at level 3. Now, the pact of the blade, the tome, and the chain are all individual eldritch invocations that players can choose to take or not. Making these invocations available at first level means that warlocks can pick them up much earlier than before, and even take two or all three of them if they so desire.
However, the other invocations included in the 2024 PHB seem to indicate that the pacts of the chain and tome are no longer being given the same importance they once had. In the old rules, there were several invocations that provided buffs to these pact boon features, from giving the chain warlock a more powerful familiar to adding ritual spells to the tome warlock’s book. Now, both of these boon invocations only get one other invocation that improves their features. This wouldn’t be a big deal if it weren’t for what happened to pact of the blade.
5 Pact Of The Blade Gains Some Massive Buffs
Melee Warlocks Are Better Than Before
The third pact boon feature, pact of the blade, now has three separate invocations that buffs its features. Plus, the pact of the blade itself is much more valuable than it once was in the old rules. Before, it simply allowed warlocks to bond themselves to a weapon, gaining proficiency with it, the ability to overcome damage resistance, and to summon the weapon from far away. Now, it still grants proficiency, allows warlocks to use their charisma modifier for attack and damage rolls, and choose to make the weapon deal psychic, necrotic, or radiant damage.
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Using charisma instead of strength or dexterity is a massive power boost, once restricted to the hexblade subclass that no longer exists. This means more warlocks than before can be melee-focused and use weaponry. In addition, there are several other invocations to improve pact of the blade, giving players two or three attacks instead of one and adding extra damage and life-stealing properties to the weapon. These are all very powerful improvements, and definitely create a power imbalance between the pact boon options.
4 The Level Requirement For Some Invocations Has Seen A Huge Reduction
More Power At Earlier Levels For These Eldritch Casters
Many eldritch invocations had, and still have, prerequisites that prevent warlocks from taking them until a certain point. These prerequisites are largely level-based, to keep warlocks from getting the most powerful options until later on. However, many of the improved invocations that originally appeared in the 2014 PHB have had their level requirement reduced significantly, giving players earlier access to their features.
The invocations with reduced level requirements include: ascendant step, lifedrinker, master of myriad forms, otherworldly leap, and visions of distant realms. And these aren’t small reductions. Some of these invocations are now available up to seven levels earlier than they once were. Granted, there are fewer invocations now than before, but having these more powerful options earlier on makes up for it.
3 Warlocks Can Choose To Improve Many Different Cantrips
Eldritch Blast Gains Some Competition
Eldritch spear previewed this change, but multiple eldritch invocations that once only affected eldritch blast can now be applied to other cantrips. Agonizing blast, which adds extra damage, could now be applied to chill touch, mind sliver, poison spray, thunderclap, toll the dead, and true strike. Repelling blast, which knocks creatures backwards, can now apply to chill touch, poison spray, and true strike. On the surface, this sounds like a good change, but it might be kind of a trap for players looking to experiment.
While these invocations can be applied to more cantrips, the warlock list only includes a few damaging cantrip options besides eldrtich blast. This negates some of the excitement of being able to apply these powers to a variety of spells.
That’s because the invocation still only applies to one cantrip at a time, meaning a warlock could take agonizing blast and add damage to poison spray, but it wouldn’t affect any other cantrips unless they took it again. Eldritch blast is still the most powerful damaging cantrip warlocks have, since it makes multiple attacks. While this change sounds like a nice way to let warlocks do more than just eldritch blast, everything else is objectively weaker in most cases.
2 Pact Of The Talisman No Longer Has A Place In The Game
Removal Of A Classic Warlock Feature
Those familiar with the warlock pact boons may have noticed that the pact of the talisman was missing from the list. That is because this boon is no longer present in any way in the 2024 PHB. The feature, which granted warlocks the ability to buff certain d20 checks, has been removed from the warlock’s options.
For the most part, content that isn’t included in the 2024 PHB can still be used in conjunction with its changes, but not the pact of the talisman. Since the warlock no longer has a step in its progression where it unlocks pact boons, and there isn’t a new version of the talisman as an invocation, there is no time at which the warlock could take this feature. It’s unlikely many players will lose sleep over this, since the talisman was probably the weakest of the boon options. Still, it’s a shame to see a viable options for character creation vanish.
1 Casting Invocation Spells No Longer Uses A Slot
Warlocks Will Be Casting More Magic Than Ever Before
Many of the old warlock invocations simply granted access to a new spell otherwise unavailable on the warlock list, but only allowed for them to cast it once a day or by using one of their limited slots. There were certain invocations, like armor of shadows, which allowed for spells to be cast at will, but these were limited to early-and-late-game options. Now, warlocks can cast these extra spells however much they want.
Many of the innovations now missing from the warlock’s repertoire are the ones centered around once-per-day spell casts, like the thief of five fates.
The 2024 PHB has several invocations that add extra spells to the warlock list, like silent image, arcane eye, speak with dead, and jump. All of these invocations say that players can cast their given spells without using a slot, making them essentially available at will. This is a very nice change for the warlock, whose spell slots are scarce, giving more arcane power in an adventuring day to equal other Dungeons & Dragons classes.
Dungeons and Dragons
- Original Release Date
- 1974-00-00
- Publisher
- TSR Inc. , Wizards of the Coast
- Designer
- E. Gary Gygax , Dave Arneson
- Player Count
- 2-7 Players
