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InDungeons & Dragons, there are full casters, such as wizards and sorcerers. Then there are half-casters, such as paladins and artificers, who have fewer spell slots and don’t get cantrips, and then there are warlocks. Functionally, warlocks are full spellcasters, given they can use cantrips.
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However, they technically don’t have access to spell slots above fifth level, and they have other class features that allow them to get around this limitation, one of which is Eldritch Invocations. These invocations have a variety of effects, and you know them on top of your spells. However, several require certain prerequisites to use.
How To Use Eldritch Invocations
You gain Eldritch Invocations starting at your second level of the warlock class or by taking the Eldritch Adept feat.
As long as you meet the necessary prerequisites,you can learn any Eldritch Invocation, and each invocation will explain when and how it can be used.
Make sure you and your DM are aware of which books you’re pulling from for Eldritch Invocations.
Between the Player’s Handbook, Xanathar’s Guide to Everything, and Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything, thereare over 50 Eldritch Invocations.However,some will require a specific Pact Boon, spell, or level before you can take them.
Eldritch Invocations For Pact Of The Chain
Invocations that require the Pact of The Chain feature will all either help your familiar or help your familiar help you.
Voice of the Chain Master
With this, you can telepathically communicate with your familiar, look through their senses, andeven speak through your familiar.This is really helpfulif yourparty is ever split upor you need to investigate something far away.
Investment of the Chain Master
This allows you tostrengthen your familiarby letting it use your spell save DC if it forces enemies to make a saving throw, allowing its attacks to be magical, and protecting your little guy by using your reaction to grant it resistance to damage.
More situational but still very fun is the ability to give your familiar a flying or swimming speed, meaning your cat familiar can fly.
Eldritch Invocations For Pact of The Blade
Since Pact of the Blade grants you a magic weapon you’re proficient in, most of the invocations for it helps improve damage. However, most official ones have level prerequisites, so you’re able to’t use them immediately.
Improved Pact Weapon
With this invocation, you canuse your weapon as a spellcasting focus, preventing you from worrying about keeping more things on your person.
When you use your weapon, you can have a +1 to both your damage rolls and attack rolls,and this increases the types of weapons you can summon as a pact weaponto include ranged options like a shortbow or heavy crossbow.
Thirsting Blade
This invocation requires you to be fifth level or higher, but itallows you to attack twicewhen you use your pact weapon as an action. It’s a useful way to potentially do more damage to a single target.
Eldritch Invocations For Pact of The Tome
Pact of the Tome gives you a spellbook that allows you to learn three cantrips from any class’s spell list and will provide features that help with spellcasting and preparation.
Aspect of the Moon
This invocation makes it so youno longer need to sleep and can’t be put to sleep. Instead, if you want to get the benefits of a long rest, you’re able to do light activity.
The official wording is you “can’t be forced to sleep by any means,” but individual DMs might have different opinions on whether that includes something like being hit upside the head.
If your party is prone to getting ambushed,this is a good way to always have someone on watch, cast spells with multiple hour casting times, or copy spells into your tome.
Book of Ancient Secrets
Book of Ancient Secrets allows you to cast ritual spells and copy any new ritual spells you find into your tome. You can only cast these spells as rituals, butyou can use spells from any classas long as they have the ritual tag.
Eldritch Invocations For Pact of The Talisman
The Pact of the Talisman doesn’t require you personally to have your talisman on you. It’s very useful togive it to another ally to help protect them.
Rebuke of the Talisman
When someone wearing your talisman gets hit with an attack, and you can see them, you can push the attacker away using this invocation and deal a small amount of psychic damage using your reaction.
If you need to protect an important NPC or want to help keep enemies away from your healer, this can help with crowd control.
Protection of The Talisman
When whoever is wearing your talisman fails a saving throw,they can add a d4 to try and improve it.However, you have to be seventh level to take this invocation.
Eldritch Invocations For Eldritch Blast
The signature warlock cantrip, Eldritch Blast, can also be improved with invocations, taking this cantrip and turning it into a reliable attacking option even at higher levels.
Agonizing Blast
This allows you to add your Charisma modifier to the damage from anything you hit with Eldritch Blast, making it better at higher levels.
Lance of Lethargy
If you need a way to do some crowd control or keep your enemies in one place to help your barbarian, for example, you can use Lance of Lethargy to slow down enemies with Eldritch Blast and reduce their movement speed.
Eldritch Invocations That Grant Spells
Various invocations allow you to cast a spell once per long rest, in some cases not even requiring a spell slot. These are good ways to expand your spell list outside the ones you already know.
Gift of the Depths
15th Level
Whispers of the Grave
Seventh Level and requires a warlock spell slot
Ninth Level and requires a warlock spell slot
Fifth Level and requires a warlock spell slot
Requires a warlock spell slot
Eldritch Invocations For Hexes
If you have the spell Hex, are ahexblade warlock, or can cast Bestow Curse thanks to the Signs of Ill Omen invocation, you may usea couple of special invocations on creatures you’ve hexed.
Maddening Hex
You can deal psychic damage to the creature you’ve hexed and creatures immediately surrounding it equal to your charisma modifier.
The creature you’ve hexed must be within 30 feet of you, and you have to be able to see them.
Relentless Hex
You can teleport to a creature you’ve hexed as long as they’re in range and within sight. This is really helpful if you need to get out of a sticky situation quickly orcatch up to a fleeing enemy.
Other Eldritch Invocations
There are yet more Eldritch Invocations that don’t fall into the other categories. These can have a variety of effects for both combat and roleplay.
Beguiling Influence
Beguiling Influence simply gives youproficiency in your deception and persuasion checks.
Although simple, these two checks come up often and will often be the difference between getting something done quickly and having to fight your way through, so it’s always helpful.
Cloak of Flies
This one does exactly what the name says: it surrounds you in a bunch of buzzing flies. Unsurprisingly, this gives you disadvantage on every type of Charisma checkexcept for intimidation.
Enemies that start their turn within your aura will take poison damage, which is mostly useful for combat.
Eldritch Mind
This gives you advantage on concentration checks to maintain spells, something that is always useful for spell castersbecause you can keep your spells up longer.
Ghostly Gaze
This one is good for exploring dungeons because it allows you to see through solid objectsas long as you can keep up concentration.
If you ever need to spy on someone or find hidden treasure, this is a good invocation. However, you can only use it once you’ve at least finished a short rest.
The Eldritch Adept Feat
The Eldritch Adept feat allows non-Warlocks to gain one Eldritch Invocation and choose which stat they’d like to use for spellcasting.
Warlocks cannot use this to gain extra invocations
However, you can only use this if the invocationdoes not have a prerequisite.If it has any prerequisite, you have to be a Warlock, meaning even if you have Eldritch Blast, you can’t take Agonizing Blast unless you talk to your DM about it first.
As such, non-Warlocks should either take one of the invocations that grant a spell or something like Eldritch Mind or Beguiling Influence that doesn’t require anything.
