Dungeons and Dragons’ warlock class is perfect for the social deviants who were never gifted with magical abilities or had the aptitude to grind fo wizardry. It involves only a classic and simple fantasy trade involving one’s soul for some awesome powers from a shady god or higher being. It just so happens that there as so many of those in D&D.

Hence, the multiple combinations for warlock features and spells can be dizzying. Building a warlock is certainly not as clear-cut as a simpler class, like the Paladin. Many players might end up making a suboptimal warlock which is bad enough already considering those powers literally cost a soul. So for those who want to make the most out of their deal with the devil or are just regular power-gamers, here are five overpowered warlock spells and another five to avoid.

10 OVERPOWERED: FLY/INVESTITURE OF WIND

 

Oh sure, the wizards, sorcerers, and other spellcaster classes also get the straightforward Fly spell but it’s more meaningful for the warlock. That’s because the warlock’s signature cantrip spell, Eldritch Blast, can be jacked up to have a range of 300 to 1,000 feet.

So what happens when a warlock chooses to fly up way beyond an enemy’s projectile attack range with Fly and with an Eldritch Blast that has more than 300 feet of range? The DM panicking over how to curb this early level power abuse, that’s what. They’ll likely improvise an enemy with flight spells too to balance it out.

9 AVOID: TRUE STRIKE

It’s a cantrip but warlocks or even most classes in Dungeons and Dragons are better off without this clunky spell. True Strike lets players have an advantage on their next attack… if they actually get to attack next turn.

Statistically, True Strike is worse than attacking twice in a row without advantage because advantage doesn’t even guarantee scoring a critical hit or even a hit for that matter. Not to mention it takes up precious cantrip space as well.

8 OVERPOWERED: SHADOW OF MOIL

Shadow of Moil is an overlooked warlock spell due to its somewhat vague and confusing wording but it’s actually the best warlock spell in tier 2 of levels. It envelops the warlock in shadow-like flames and these flames effectively blind anyone who looks at them.

This gives the warlock advantage on all attacks and their attackers disadvantage on all their attacks. If a Hexblade warlock couples this with a perk like Elven Accuracy or Lucky, they’ll be rolling three or four d20s per attack, essentially crit-fishing. Meanwhile, other warlock subclasses also enjoy the major boost in offense and defense.

7 AVOID: CROWN OF MADNESS

Crown of Madness might sound good on paper, but in practice, it’s worse than just going all out with attacks. It’s basically a mind control where the warlock takes over one creature and must use an action each turn to maintain this control.

Meanwhile, the controlled creature can only enact the commands on its own turn and also cannot attack itself. It also only works on melee creatures– the ranged ones with no alternate weapon or melee attacks will just punch and claw pathetically if charmed this way.

6 OVERPOWERED: SYNAPTIC STATIC

Fireball is one of the most famous spells in Dungeons and Dragons and thankfully, warlocks who chose The Fiend as their patron can have it. Those who don’t needn’t worry as a similar warlock spell called Synaptic Static appears to work even better.

It does the same number of damage as the Fireball but psychic instead of fire, which is better as fire resistance it way too common in D&D. Moreover, it also gives a debuff to the targets where they subtract a d6 to their attack rolls and ability checks. It’s better, really.

5 AVOID: INVESTITURE OF STONE

Investiture of Stone is an Earth-themed warlock spell that’s perfect for Hexblade bruisers who want in the thick of the fight. It gives resistance to physical damage and can make enemies in melee range go prone for advantage on attacks against them

The only problem is, Shadow of Moil does those things much earlier in a warlock’s tenure and better too. It also uses a lower-level spell slot considering Investiture of Stone is a Mystic Arcanum spell.

4 OVERPOWERED: MASS SUGGESTION

Being creative with spells is one of the best selling points of spellcaster classes. Warlocks are no exception. Certain spells like Mass Suggestion is just way busted with the right wording. It allows the warlock to control up to 12 creatures with a sentence or two.

After that, they’ll carry out the command and won’t snap out of it until after the deed is done. The kicker is that it has a duration of 24 hours, meaning if you give the creatures an impossible task, they’ll try to do it for a day. Say goodbye to two-hour-long encounters.

3 AVOID: SUMMON LESSER/GREATER DEMON

This is another one of those spells which look good at first glance but is a complete chaotic catastrophe in an actual game. Summon Lesser Demons or its Greater Demon big brother, lets the warlock do just that, except the evil demons are not loyal to the summoner.

It’s great for ambushing enemies but that doesn’t happen often. Moreover, the range of the spell is only 60 feet. That means they can attack the party and their summoner if they run out of targets. Other times, they can cause a party wipe since lots of encounters end in the party members at near-death.

2 OVERPOWERED: FORESIGHT

Foresight is pretty much Shadow of Moil but better since it also encompasses advantage on ability checks and saving throws, not just attacks. Enemies also have disadvantage when attacking a creature with Foresight.

What makes it better than Shadow of Moil is that it doesn’t use up a concentration slot and lasts a whopping eight hours. For a warlock that regains its spell slots on short rest, this spell is golden.

1 AVOID: INFERNAL CALLING

Infernal Calling is similar to the Summon Demons spell but a lot worse since it costs a 999 gp Ruby. It lets the warlock summon a devil that comes with all kinds of conditions attached to it– all of them too bothersome to perform.

It’s great for roleplaying, questing, and comedic purposes but in the heat of combat or most other circumstances, bargaining and negotiating with a DM-controlled devil is just a slapstick waiting to happen. Just avoid the demon and devil summoning-related spells as a warlock and excuse the irony.

NEXT: 10 Ways to Make an Overpowered Warlock in Dungeons and Dragons