The New 2024 Warlock: DnD 5e Class Changes
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The Warlock remains one of the most popular and problematic of all DnD 5e classes. One of the key issues is that they have a limited number of spell slots compared to other casters, and as a result are often overly reliant on taking short rests. This has meant that many Warlock players end up hoarding spells for more difficult combat and encounters that may actually never come.
All that is changing, however, with Wizards of the Coast forging a new pact with the DnD 5e Warlock in the pages of the 2024 Player’s Handbook. Many of these changes will be familiar to anyone who’s been following the One D&D playtest, but there have also been further refinements, particularly in terms of spell restoration, subclasses and the way that Eldritch Invocations work.
So just what other new abilities and features are included in the new 2024 Warlock? We bow down before the Great Old Ones and summon all the details
What’s changed in the new 2024 Warlock for DnD 5e?
Below are all the changes to the 2024 Warlock versus the 2014 Warlock (notably, both still fall under the DnD 5e rules).
| Warlock Feature | Level | Changes to the 2024 Warlock Class |
|---|---|---|
| Eldritch Invocations | 1 | – Can now select one invocation at level 1. – The former Pact Boons are now Invocations. Can select one at level 1. You are no longer limited to just one as you level up. – You gain more invocations, and at earlier levels. – Cantrip buffing invocations can be chosen for other cantrips than Eldritch Blast. – Invocations are not fueled by spell slots, with one exception. (see below) |
| Magical Cunning | 2 | – Once per Long Rest, complete a 1-minute ritual to restore half of your maximum Pact Magic spell slots. – Restores all Pact Magic spell slots at level 20. |
| Warlock Subclasses | 3 | – Selected at level 3 now. – Always-prepared spell lists have had tweaks for each subclass. – Archfey Patron: Several key features have been replaced or updated. – Celestial Patron: Magical Cunning can restore the use of Celestial Resistance in addition to Short or Long Rests. – Fiend Patron: Several quality-of-life updates and changes to features. – Great Old One Patron: Brand new features added, changes to previous features, replacements to others. |
| Contact Patron | 9 | – Brand new Warlock feature. – Once per Long Rest, you can use Contact Other Plane spell to communicate with your patron. – Automatically succeeds in the saving throw for the spell. |
| Mystic Arcanum | 11 | Previous optional rule from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything to change your Mystic Arcanum spells when you gain a Warlock level is now built into the class. |
| Epic Boon | 19 | Choose one Epic Boon feat or another feat of your choice. |
How will the 2024 Warlock changes impact gameplay?
Level 1: Eldritch Invocations
In the 2014 Warlock rules, a Pact Boon (such as the Pact of the Blade or Pact of the Chain) was a separate feature that you received at level 3 and granted you a range of abilities from your Patron. In the 2024 rules, Pact Boons have been removed entirely, with Patron-bestowed abilities now falling under the Eldritch Invocations feature. And while in the 2014 rules, you were limited to just one Pact Boon over the course of your career, in the 2024 rules, your Warlock can access all of their features as you advance in levels. This means that in theory, you could have a pact weapon (via Pact of the Blade), a familiar (via Pact of the Chain) and a Book of Shadows (via Pact of the Tome).
What’s more, the new 2024 Warlock can now access Eldritch Invocations at level 1 (rather than level 3 as per the 2014 rules). Additionally, you now receive more Invocations, maxing out at 10 when you reach level 18 (in the 2014 rules, you maxed out at just 8 invocations).
The way some Warlock invocations work have also been updated for 2024. In the old 2014 Warlock rules, you could only add your Charisma modifier to damage for the Eldritch Blast cantrip. Now, you can apply it to a number of other spells, as long as they deal damage, such as Thunderclap or Toll the Dead. You can also select these Invocations multiple times when adding new Eldritch Invocations. So in theory, you could add Agonizing Blast or Repelling Blast to multiple cantrips.
One additional, major change in 2024, is that none of the Eldritch Invocations require the use of a spell slot. You still have spell slots for your Pact Magic, but they no longer fuel the Invocations you receive from your Patron. Instead, Eldritch Invocations have been redesigned to really be a separate form of arcane power for Warlocks in addition to their standard spellcasting abilities.
Level 2: Magical Cunning
The 2024 Warlock’s Pact Magic and spell slot progression works the same way it did for 2014, and you can also still recover expended spell slots at the end of a Short or Long Rest. Magical Cunning, however, is a new feature that provides another way to recover your Warlock spell slots. Now, once per Long Rest, you can use this feature to spend 1 minute on a ritual that restores half of your maximum spell slots (rounded up). This is a huge update that addresses many of the complaints from fans about Warlocks hoarding spell slots because of how difficult they were to recover.
Level 9: Contact Patron
Starting at 9th level, every 2024 Warlock has the ability to reach out and contact their patron directly once per Long Rest. This feature grants you the spell Contact Other Plane as an always-prepared spell. You can use this spell once per day to contact your Patron without expending a spell slot, and you automatically succeed on the Intelligence saving throw required to complete the spell.
Level 11: Mystic Arcanum
The Mystic Arcanum features functions virtually the same way it did for the 2014 Warlock. The only chang is that when you advance beyond level 11 as a Warlock, you can replace one of your arcanum spells with another of the same level. Notably, this was previously an optional feature known as “Eldritch Versatility” that was found in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything, but is now officially a part of the Warlock class.
Level 19: Epic Boon
In the previous 2014 rules, Epic Boons were only available to Dungeon Masters. In the new 2024 core rules, however, players now have access. Warlocks can choose from any of the 12 Epic Boons, but Wizards of the Coast recommends going with the Boon of Fate, which increase one ability score by 1 (to a maximum of 30). Additionally, when you or another creature within 60 feet of you succeeds or fails on a D20 Test, you can roll 2d4 and add or subtract the result from the d20 roll. Once you use this feat, you can’t use it again until you complete a Short Rest, a Long Rest or when you next roll for Initiative.
What are the changes to the 2024 Warlock subclasses?
In the new 2024 Player’s Handbook there are four official Warlock subclasses (each of which represents a particular Patron): Archfey, Fiend, Great Old One and Celestial. Notably, the first three appeared in the 2014 Player’s Handbook while the Celestial first appeared in Xanathar’s Guide to Everything.
One of the biggest overaching changes to subclasses, however, is that 2024 Warlocks now get their subclass at Level 1 (as opposed to level 1 in the 2014 rules). This is part of a major shift of the new 2024 Core Rules, with all classes now choosing their subclass at Level 3.
In addition, the four core 2024 subclasses have been given some major updates as follows:
- Archfey Patron: Misty Step is now added to your prepared spell list, and many of the features of this subclass give you extra uses of the spell, along with healing bonuses and damage effects on enemies when you use it. Beguiling Defenses has also been updated to reduce damage you take and inflict damage with a Reaction.
- Celestial Patron: Celestial Resilience now also grants Temporary Hit Points when you finish the new Magical Cunning ritual or complete a Short or Long Rest.
- Fiend Patron: Dark One’s Blessing now also grants you Temporary Hit Points if someone else reduces an enemy to 0 Hit Points within 10 feet of you. Instead of once per Long Rest, you can use Dark One’s Own Luck a number of times equal to your Charisma modifier and use Hurl Through Hell again by expending a Pact Magic spell slot.
- Great Old One Patron: This subclass now focuses on using your Patron’s powers to curse your enemies with Hex, break their minds with Psychic damage and summon unholy creatures to aid you in combat.
Final Thoughts on the New Warlock
The Warlock is a relatively new class to Dungeons & Dragons, but it’s also become one of the most popular. The changes to the 2024 Warlock are pretty substantial and most of them go a long way towards addressing some of the major issues with the class, particularly how spell recovery and Eldritch Invocations work. In that sense, these changes will likely be well received by fans.
At the same time, however, the inclusion of only four subclasses is likely going to rub a few players the wrong way, as it means that fan favorites like the Hexblade and Undead Warlocks won’t be available in the 2024 version.
That being said, overall these changes are a step in the right direction for the Warlock. It remains to be seen, however, what the reaction will be from the larger DnD 5e community.
You can find the updated rules for the new Warlock in the 2024 Player’s Handbook, which is available for pre-order now on D&D Beyond and Amazon.
Below is also a video from the official Dungeons & Dragons YouTube channel, with DnD lead designer Jeremy Crawford providing more details on the Warlock class changes.
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Cameron Nichols is a Senior Editor who lives in Boston, Massachusetts, and has been playing D&D since the early 90s, when he was introduced by his older brother and cut his teeth on AD&D 2nd Edition. Since then he’s played virtually every RPG he could get his nerdy little mitts on (including a weird Goth phase in the early 2000s when he rocked Vampire: The Masquerade pretty hard). His favorite D&D campaign setting is the Forgotten Realms and his favorite character to play was a Half-Orc Barbarian named Grug (who was unfortunately devoured by a gelatinous cube).
