The D&D Player’s Handbook sums up the definition of a Warlock better than I: “A warlock is defined by a pact with an otherworldly being.” The Warlock is probably the most macabre of the classes, as they make deals with demons, devils, nobles, and otherworldly beings to gain their powers. (At 3rd Level, a Warlock makes a Pact of the Chain, a Pact of the Blade, or a Pact of the Tome.)
Admittedly, when I first played D&D in the 1980s, the Warlock class was not yet created. Instead, it appeared in version 3.5 in 2004. Much like the other classes, the Warlock has several subclasses to choose: The Archfey, The Celestial, The Fathomless, The Fiend, The Genie, The Great Old One, The Hexblade, The Undead, and The Undying. Through research, I have discovered the Top 3 Subclasses, so you can spend more time playing in your next campaign and less time figuring out which Warlock to play!
3. The Archfey
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Unlike most of the other classes where decisions are made at Level 3, the Warlock needs to decide at Level 1 which way to pursue: the Archfey, the Fiend, or the Great Old One. The D&D Player’s Handbook states that “your patron is a lord or lady of the fey, a creature of legend who holds secrets that were forgotten before the mortal races were born.” Read on to find out why the Archfey is one of the best Warlock subclasses to play!
Why The Archfey is Great
The Archfey gives the PC (Player Character) a lot of cool expanded spells! At 1st level, Archfey has faerie fire and sleep spells. At 2nd level, they have calm emotion and phantasmal force. At 3rd level, the Archfey have blink and plant growth. At 4th level, they have dominate beast and greater invisibility, and at 5th level, they have dominate person and seeming.
Fey has the charisma galore! From the get-go (level 1), Archfey can charm or frighten creatures who fail a Wisdom check to become charmed or scared. (When Warlocks do this, they must sleep before casting this spell again.)
The Archfey details:
Warlocks start with 8 hit points plus Constitution modifier. They then have 1d8 hit points per class level.
Warlocks can wear light armor and carry simple weapons.
They have saving throws for Wisdom and Charisma.
Archfey can choose two Skills from the following: Arcana, Deception, History, Intimidate, Investigation, Nature, and Religion.
At 6th level, Archfey can make a misty escape and disappear to mist when harmed. Talk about a dramatic exit!
When the Archfey reaches 10th level, they learn beguiling defenses. This is where they can turn enemies against each other.
At 14th level, the Archfey creates a dark delirium and creates a fake realm for opponents.
2. The Fiend
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Another cool (or more appropriately, hot) subclass of Warlocks is The Fiend. This is where a Warlock ultimately makes a deal with the devil or some other evil entity such as balors, demons, and pit fiends. Obviously, this type of Warlock would play a neutral or evil alignment. If you want to showcase your dark side, The Fiend is the Warlock for you! Read more to find out why The Fiend is one of the best to play!
Why The Fiend is Great
There would be a lot of drama with the other PCs in a campaign, especially if there are Paladins, Halflings (who are generally Lawful Good), or Clerics of a good alignment.
The Fiend may be able to negotiate rather than defeat an evil entity.
There are expanded spells for Fiends. At level 1, The Fiends can choose from burning hands or command. At level 2, they can cast blindness/deafness and scorching ray. The Fiends learn fireball and stinking cloud at level 3. At level 4, The Field learns fire shield and wall of fire, and on the 5th level, The Field learns flame strike and hallow.
The Fiend details:
As a Warlock, The Fiend is permitted to wear light armor and to carry simple weapons.
Warlocks, including The Fiends, start with 8 hit points plus Constitution modifier. They then have 1d8 hit points per class level.
Like the Archfey, The Fiends have saving throws for Wisdom and Charisma, and can choose two Skills from the following: Arcana, Deception, History, Intimidate, Investigation, Nature, and Religion.
At level 1, The Fiend starts out with the dark one’s blessing by temporarily gaining hit points from a fallen opponent when they reach 0 hit points.
The Fiend can literally push their luck with dark one’s own luck by having their patron alter fate.
At 10th level, The Fiend gains fiendish resilience by resisting a particular type of damage.
Finally, at 14th level, The Fiend can literally send an opponent to Hell with a spell called hurl through hell. On a successful attack, the opponent (unless also a fiend) literally spends a turn on a lower plane and suffers 10d10 psychic damage.
1.The Genie
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The Genie is a subclass of the Otherworldly Patrons. The D&D Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything states that “such entities rule vast fiefs on the Elemental Planes and have great influence over lesser genies and elemental creatures.” Warlocks who are Genies may choose or randomly select (1d4) the kind of Genie they want as their patron: Earth Element is Dao, Air Element is Djinni, Fire Element is Efreeti, and Water Element is Marid. Read on to find out why the Genie is another best Warlock to play!
Why The Genie is Great
The Genie has several spell options based on Dao, Djinni, Efreeti, or Marid.
At 1st level, Genies determine or randomly roll a d6 which vessel contains a portion of the Genie’s magical power: oil lamp, urn, ring with a compartment, stoppered bottle, hallow statuette, or an ornate lantern. Another cool feature is that when touching the vessel, Genies enter or exit the vessel at will.
Also, there is a Genie’s Wrath feature that allows the caster to deal extra damage to an opponent.
The Genie details:
Genies start with 8 hit points plus Constitution modifier. They then have 1d8 hit points per class level.
As a Warlock, Genies can wear light armor and carry simple weapons.
Genies have saving throws for Wisdom and Charisma.
Like the Archfey and the Fiend, Genies can choose two Skills from the following: Arcana, Deception, History, Intimidate, Investigation, Nature, and Religion.
At 6th level, Genies receive elemental gift, which you start becoming more like your patron regarding resistance. Also, Genies enjoy a bonus action of flying 30 ft in the air for up to 10 minutes!
At 10th level, Genies can have a party in their vessel with up to five willing participants. (This is called a sanctuary vessel.)The sanctuary vessel serves as a place for party members to have a short rest.
At 14th level, Genies have the limited wish option, where they can retreat to their vessel and ask their patron a wish. The wish is a spell that can be granted from any class.
