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Subclass Warlock Hexblade Patron
The Hexblade is a melee Warlock subclass that applies Hex and layers curse effects onto every attack.
This rework gives the Hexblade a complete mechanical identity centered on a new resource: Hexblade Manifest — a pool of charges scaled directly to your Charisma modifier that changes how Hex works at its core.
It has a full progression from Level 3 to Level 10 with meaningful features at every tier.
| LEVEL | FEATURE |
|---|---|
| 3 | Hexblade Spells, Hexblade Manifest, Draining Slash, Harrowing Blade, Stymying Mark |
| 6 | Life Stealer, Hungering Hex |
| 10 | Armor of Hexes |
Your pact grants you a permanently expanding spell list. These spells are always prepared and do not count against your Prepared Spells limit:
| WARLOCK LEVEL | SPELLS ADDED |
|---|---|
| 3 | Hex, Shield, Arcane Vigor, Wrathful Smite |
| 5 | Bestow Curse, Conjure Barrage |
| 7 | Freedom of Movement, Staggering Smite |
| 9 | Steel Wind Strike |
Key change: Hex can now be cast by consuming a Hexblade Manifest charge instead of a spell slot. If you have a Manifest charge available, Hex costs nothing from your Pact Magic.
A new action resource that regenerates on rest. The number of charges you receive scales directly with your Charisma modifier:
| CHARISMA SCORE | MANIFEST CHARGES |
|---|---|
| 13 or lower | 1 |
| 14–15 | 2 |
| 16–17 | 3 |
| 18–19 | 4 |
| 20–21 | 5 |
| 22–23 | 6 |
| 24+ | 7 |
This makes Charisma investment directly rewarding — not just for spell DCs and attack rolls, but for the frequency of your core class loop.
At Level 3, you gain access to three toggleable passive effects that all trigger on attack against a Hexed target. Only one can be active at a time — this is a combat decision, not a passive bonus.
When you hit a Hexed target, force a Constitution saving throw against your Spell Save DC.
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Failure: The target is inflicted with
DRAINING_SLASH— a debilitating status that reduces their effectiveness.
When you hit a Hexed target, force a Wisdom saving throw against your Spell Save DC.
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Failure: The target is inflicted with
HARROWING_BLADE. - Additionally: If you attack a target that does not have Hex on them, you still deal 1d6 necrotic damage.
When you hit a Hexed target, apply STYMYING_MARK — a status that impairs their ability to act effectively.
When you miss an attack against a Hexed target, the miss still deals damage.
- Trigger:
OnAttackwhere the result is a miss and the target has Hex - Effect: Deal necrotic damage to the target regardless of the miss
A missed attack still drains the target — the Hex persists and the necrotic damage applies regardless.
- Trigger: When a Hexed character is reduced to 0 HP by your damage
- Effect: Regain 1d8 + Charisma modifier hit points instantly
This passive is hidden — it works automatically in the background without cluttering your hotbar. It rewards focusing your Hex on priority targets and finishing them yourself.
Armor of Hexes introduces a second Charisma-scaled resource — the ArmorOfHexes pool — and a powerful reaction interrupt:
Interrupt — Armor of Hexes:
-
Trigger: You take damage while you yourself are under a Hex-adjacent status (
HasHexStatusReverse) - Cost: 1 ArmorOfHexes charge + your Reaction
- Effect: Reduce incoming damage by 2d8 + Charisma modifier
The number of ArmorOfHexes charges scales identically to Hexblade Manifest:
| CHARISMA SCORE | ARMOR CHARGES |
|---|---|
| 13 or lower | 1 |
| 14–15 | 2 |
| 16–17 | 3 |
| 18–19 | 4 |
| 20–21 | 5 |
| 22–23 | 6 |
| 24+ | 7 |
At high Charisma, Armor of Hexes provides substantial damage absorption across a long fight — meaningful survivability for a subclass that operates in melee.
The Hexblade is a Charisma-first melee striker with strong curse-based debuffs and surprising survivability at later levels.
Your combat loop:
- Apply Hex — consuming a Manifest charge instead of a spell slot
- Choose your Mark Effect toggle based on the fight
- Attack the Hexed target to apply the chosen mark effect
- If you miss at Level 6+, Life Stealer still deals necrotic damage
- When a Hexed target drops, Hungering Hex refuels you for the next one
- At Level 10, use your Reaction to absorb punishment and stay in the fight