Elfdope's Profile

Probably how I wrote it, but the main pull of Arcane Omens to me is the saving throw feature.  Its just nice to get Guidance as well.   Interestingly Arcane Omens because it is based on PB becomes a better feat as your character levels.  You might not take it at level 2, but it could be worth it later on.

I agree on Arcane Eloquence for those who want to be the face.  It can allow a warlock to approach the power of the stronger skill builds.  

In a separate thread it was discussed that with each new set of origin feats we get new invocations via Lessons of the First ones.  Arcana Unleashed gives us 10 new origin feats.  Here are the 4 I find worth considering taking via Lessons of the First Ones.  Of these I think Arcane Omens and Familiar Friend are the most interesting. Let me know if you find any others of note and why.

Arcane Omens: Guidance cantrip.  1d4 to a failed save for someone within 30 ft with your reaction PB/LR.  This will come up rarely, but when it does and works its a big deal.   Guidance is also a great cantrip. (I think I prefer this to Transmuted Anatomy, it is just more usable in more ways).

Familiar Friend:  Free casting without material components is nice on the wallet.  2 HP  per characer level to the familiar does a nice job boosting them up (like always having aid cast on them).  Advantage on skill checks when the familiar is within 5 ft PB/LR.  This is very good for a Chain pact warlock. Also opens up access to the chained general feats.

Portal Jumper: Resistance to an uncommon energy type and the ability to no action teleport 15 ft using 15 ft of move (PB/LR).  The teleport is interesting and getting resistance to psychic, radiant, or necrotic is great in the right campaign.

Transmuted Anatomy: +5 move, Advantage against shape shifting saves, PB/LR uses of a reaction to add 1d4 to your failed Con saves.  Another way to boost Con saves that isn't a feat.  Somewhat redundant with Eldritch Mind, but also usable on actual Con saves instead of just concentration.   

I am currently playing a paladin and have found the steed to be mostly useful as treating it as disposable.  I find in about 50% of the combats I am in it is not relevant as a mount due to the map or the risk.  There are many times where I use it to deliver my character to where I want them and then have them exit.  The mobility is really key in turn 1 but after that they are less needed.  Later then can function as a summoned creature and occasionally offer support or blocking.  Simply having the steed run to a position to dodge and block can be valuable in slowing down enemies and protecting your back line.  With a free daily casting it is fine to have it get killed.

So I wouldn't bother with Mounted Combatant.  I think other str based feats give you more, and I would rather increase my Charisma.

Every new origin feat is a new invocation.  The combination of some of those is already getting out of control.  Adding tireless reveler to musician is already silly strong.  But it seems with each book we are getting a lot of origin feats.  That pipeline is going to continue to add interesting options for the life of the game.

The real gap then is higher level invocations aimed at the pacts.  Level 10+ invocations to expand the power and utility of each of the pacts.  And its not even all of them. because Pact of the Blade is already in good shape.  Chain is good at 5th - 10th, but needs some help above.  Tome needs a lot of help.  I would recommend the ability to steal a spell from one of the other classes (it would need to be carefully set up so that it doesn't step on the bard too badly but the thieving bards already step on everyone else's game so they might deserve the turnabout).  A revised pact of the talisman would be good as well.

A couple of thoughts.
The upgrade to heavy armor functionally is a minimal boost... Plate is AC 18, and Half Plate with a dex of 14 is AC 17.  IN particular with the option of using a shield for either the AC boost is minimal to non existent (for example if you want to use a two handed martial weapon then you might be in plate, but you won't have a shield).

The upgrade to martial weapons is important at low levels, but becomes gradually less and les important.  Simple weapons caps out at 1d6 (1d8 two handed), martial weapons jumps one handed weapons to 1d8  and two handed to 2d6 (or 1d12).  So in general 1 point damage increase one handed and up to 2.5 for two handed.

Meanwhile the thaumaturge gets you a bonus cantrip and a nice skill boost to arcana/religion.  This means improved casting flexibility and some skill support.

I find these very balanced.  In general the two options represent some different playstyles and build types.  Protector enables str based clerics who mix it up (particularly at low levels).  Thaumaturgy prvoides some nice caster support.  At least in my experience I generally don't have a lot of regrets when I make the choice.  

Apparently the response to the Hexblade Unearthed Arcana was extremely negative so its shelved for the time being.  That is probably a good thing.  We don't need bad updated subclasses.  My wish for 2027 is to drop the recycle rate from 75% on subclasses to less than 25%.  We need new stuff.

I just don't see the other big ranged martial damage dealers who are crushing the floor of EB+AB.  Fighters can do it with adding in some optimization with GWM and the EK grabbing HM/Hex.  Rogue can get there eventually.  Ranger can't and lets not talk too much about bow using barbarians, paladins, and monks (lack of dedicated weapon, kensei, and focused aim ruined them).

The melee builds do much more damage and if your point is you shouldn't bother going ranged with the new ruleset then I get your point.  Ranged still has defensive and positional options that are just better than melee.  In 5.0 you didn't have to be stuck with a lower DPR at Range, but in 5.5 you generally do.

I do agree they need some love.  I think they are getting some sneakily via "Lessons of the First Ones", but particularly at high level they could use some toys there.

EB when compared to other ranged options manages itself rather well against other single class optimization.  Throughout tier 1 2 and early 3 it is similar or exceeds.  Tier 3 and 4 require some finesse in how you manage your other spells, but it is still reasonable.  You get beat by things like high level fighters and true strike rogues.  I wouldn't recommend comparing it to melee damage optimization, but melee has more defensive risks.  

Moreover it provides a floor for what the warlock can do for damage.  That floor is rather high with a single invocation investment.  Its also extremely simple.  Take EB, take AB, max out charisma, and do anything else you want with your character.

Reminder.  Via lessons of the first ones all origin feats are warlock invocations.  That has generally been more than enough power creep for me.

Treat them as two pacts.  Two contracts.  Realize that pacts do not have to be long term continued items.  They can be payment for services rendered.  The 5e designers have talked at length that a pact and patron do not have to be ongoing concerns.  You could have saved celestial or fiend or provided a service and they granted you power.  They can be aloof and uncaring not wanting to be involved or heavily involved.

My recommendation is that your infernal pact from you background is payment for services rendered, but with mild strings (you cannot unattach those strings). 

The Celestial pact as it is your subclass is a path of redemption.  You could be a pet redemption project for a celestial.

What might that look like given what you have already stated the above.

While in the monastery you were struggling with something personal. Could have been budding Aberrant sorcery changes.  You prayed and prayed but nothing seemed to help.  While doing yard work at the monastery you met a man who seemed out of place.  He noticed your freakish lineage and said there was a book in the library that if you got for him he could help you.  Books aren't allowed outside the library, but he assured you that if you brought this to him he could help.  So you stole the book.  You gave it to the stranger.  He opened it to a page and a wall of flame circled around you.  The flames spoke to you assuring you that the aberration had been purged from your blood.  He asked for your soul, but you declined.  He thanked you for the book and left you with the gifts of the feat.  He said if you need him again he will find you, and if he needs you well... he knows where you always are.

The Celestial angle is much easier.  The monastery had to figure out what to do with you.  You stole a book and gave it to a devil.  What is wrong with you.  But a Celestial intervened and noted that you had not exchanged your soul.  While you were tied to the devil, he did not own you.  That Celestial asked if you would serve the cause of good.  You accepted.

Now you are capable of walking two paths and neither.  You are tainted by your infernal pact and cannot get rid of it.  A devil may recognize the pact in you which makes you possibly free to explore the Hells.  The Celestials can use this for their own purposes.

3. The standard harvesting rules apply to all creatures.  That includes familiars.  If you wish to work with your DM on creating different rules for familiars that is fine, but the rules are general. Refer to the definition of creature from the glossary "Creature: Any being in the game, including a player’s character, is a creature."  Yes this means you can polymorph a PC into a venomous creature, cast feign death on them and harvest poison from them.   But only once.

4. Exactly right.  We can surmise that the poison doesn't disappear because the effects certainly don't just because the famliar is destroyed.

I agree that one should be able harvest from a familiar easier than a wild creature, but the other limitations make sense (only once per creature, DC20 Nature w/ Poisoner's kit, 1-6 minutes, etc.).  

Commanding it to sleep.  Interesting approach.  I had forgotten Unconscious got you to incapacitated.  Will still require some DM approval, but it would seem fine to me.

A character can attempt to harvest poison from a venomous creature that is dead or has the Incapacitated condition. 

It does not allow you to coax poison from your familiar.  RAW it has to be dead or incapacitated.  As noted elsewhere this means you can harvest from your familiar and then dismiss it and resummon to get a new one.  That comes with some GP cost and you do save money, but it is not free.  The only way I see to do it mechanically is Feign Death.  If someone has a better way to get 6 minutes of incapacitated on your familiar I am all ears.

"A character can attempt to harvest poison from a venomous creature that is dead or has the Incapacitated condition. The effort takes 1d6 minutes, after which the character makes a DC 20 Intelligence (Nature) check using a Poisoner’s Kit. On a successful check, the character harvests enough poison for a single dose, and no additional poison can be harvested from that creature. On a failed check, the character is unable to extract any poison. If the character fails the check by 5 or more, the character is subjected to the creature’s poison."

That is the full text.  You can't harvest from your familiar when it is "dead".  It just disappears.  So you need to harvest from it in the incapacitated condition and you need 1 to 6 minutes.  There is only one spell that is workable to the best of my knowledge and that is Feign Death.  There are likely poisons that could do it, but then you would be using a poison to harvest a poison and that is not very useful.  Get you a wizard friend.

My take is the Hollow Warden is not broken, nor is it the best EVER Ranger subclass.  It will certainly be one of the stronger melee options. The AC bump will be most useful in melee, but even a longbow Ranger will find the the +3 to their AC useful.  The lack of tier 1 damage bump (no +1d4 or 1d8 to a hit each turn), means that it is slightly behind the other Rangers for DPR (which isn't that big of a deal since Rangers are fine in Tier 1).  But you can't say its broken when it is objectively behind in damage in tier 1 and 2.

The AC and Con protection are both very good and for a more defensive minded player one of the stronger defensive subclasses.  Gloom stalker with invisibility in darkness and wisdom save proficiency is in the same ball park and I am not sure defensively which is stronger.  The level 11 feature is great, but I will need to play it some to see how often it triggers.  Given you didn't get a damage bump at level 3 it should come out ahead.  I don't mind concentrating on Hunter's Mark all the time, but I also note that concentrating on Conjure Animals will be easier with Con Save protection.  

In the end I like that the subclass will play different than others.  Its mechanically strong and I am not worried about the AC.  I am currently playing a damn near unhittable sword and board paladin and I have played through the reduced DPR of that build, so I know the tradeoff.  Also I know that the DM still has plenty of options including hitting the rest of the party.  I hope it prints as written.  Looks like fun.