In Dungeons and Dragons‘ fifth edition, it’s possible to create an overpowered character with an investment of just four levels. D&D 5e was first released in 2012, and with over a decade to play around with it fans have discovered almost every character build possible. A significant portion of the fanbase is dedicated to powergaming, trying to create the most powerful possible builds within the game system, which has led to many notable multiclassing combinations D&D players don’t normally think of.
Normally these builds require a fairly precise combination of levels and feats in a certain sequence to produce the greatest effects. However, by combining just two levels of the hexblade warlock subclass and two from the fighter class, as well as potentially a feat, players can set themselves up to be wildly overpowered in combat all the way up to level 20 while still being able to invest sixteen levels in whatever class they want. One caveat however is that players will have to invest heavily in their charisma stat if they want to optimize their offensive power.
Stacking Eldritch Blast Castings And Damage Adds Up
The main damage dealer in this build is the popular cantrip eldritch blast. The reason choosing the hexblade warlock patron, one of D&D‘s best, is so important is because of a powerful feature it gets at level one: Hexblade’s Curse. Though the daily uses are limited, as a bonus action it allows the player to gain a bonus to damage rolls equal to their proficiency bonus as well as double the critical hit range. This provides substantial extra damage when paired with eldritch blast specifically because while most cantrips do more damage as they scale in level, eldritch blast‘s beams deal the same amount of damage but they increase in number – up to four in a single casting at maximum power. Notably, Hexblade’s Curse does not require the player to use their concentration on it, so the player may also use the concentration spell hex (a spell many D&D players don’t use correctly) with another bonus action to add an additional 1d6 damage to each eldritch blast beam as well. However, just one level in warlock won’t do, because another powerful feature is their signature Eldritch Invocations, gained at level two. The invocation relevant to this build is agonizing blast, which allows the player to add their charisma modifier as bonus damage for each eldritch blast beam.
While the investment in warlock has allowed the player to stack multiple instances of damage on top of each eldritch blast hit, the rest of this build focuses on maximizing the number of Eldritch Blast hits achievable in one turn. This is where the two levels in fighter get overpowered fast, as they grant the Action Surge feature, allowing the player to make two actions in a single turn. Additionally, depending on whether the player chooses to invest in sorcerer or not, a final addition needed for this build is the Metamagic Adept feat, specifically the Quickened Spell Metamagic. This allows using a bonus action to cast a spell that would normally take an action to cast.
Putting all these pieces together, the character is able to achieve a powerful combo. By first stacking hex and Hexblade’s Curse on a target in previous turns, the player may cast eldritch blast with their action, cast it again (since it’s a cantrip, an often skipped-over D&D spells rule) with action surge, and then use quickened spell to cast it a third time in the same turn. At maximum level this would be 12 attacks each dealing 1d10 damage, with an additional 1d6, plus Charisma Modifier and Proficiency Bonus, dealing an average of 240 damage in a single turn, assuming the player maximizes their Charisma.
This is an extremely powerful combo for sheer damage output, especially considering that a player can acquire it with a relatively small investment. With sixteen levels still available, players have more than enough room to add their own unique twist to a character using this build. However, players should first clear this build with their DM to avoid surprising them with overpowered builds, as this is one way to potentially break fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons.