Thinking about how in DND 5e, by solving the problem of "casters don't have an option for limitless basic attack like martial classes" they kinda ended up undercutting all melee casting

Feels bad when as a hexblade blade pact warlock you can invest so much into making melee your thing and you'll still be out paced by Eldritch blast

Or when you take bladesinger only to realize that firebolt is better than melee anyways

The solution isn't necessarily to give them extra attacks on par with fighters, bc then fighters melee damage is competed with by someone who also is a full caster

But imo those options need something to actually make the melee option attractive

Eldritch knight ironically has a nice solution to this by saying "hey people you hit with a melee attack actually get disadvantage" because now you have a reason to charge in and slash over standing in the backline, to make them easier to hit with a fireball next turn

Bladesinger and Hexblade need *something* to warrant actually using the sword, bc as they currently stand they basically end up being worse cantrips and the player invested their entire build into this idea of being a melee caster only to end up flinging firebolt anyway

At least for bladesinger it's a fairly close race: firebolt maxes at 22 expected damage per round. With maxed dex and int, a rapier, and the extra attack, a bladesinger using the attack action can do 29 expected damage per round.

But this is melee range.

The hexblade is screwed any way you slice it, though. With the level 1 ability of hexblades to add proficiency to damage, and agonizing blast, they can do +11 damage per ray, for 66(!) expected damage per round with Eldritch blast.

If they take polearm master, use a glaive, and take lifedrinker AND thirsting blade, AND use their bonus action to make a haft attack, it's 2d10 + 1d4 + (16*3) for ... 61.5 expected damage per round.

Why should a hexblade take 2 invocations AND a feat AND take a certain pact boon to deal 61.5 dpr when they can just take one invocation and do more damage at range? Melee offers no advantage for them.

And yeah some subclasses will do more damage than others, and hexblade gets some other utility, but I guess it just feels weird that they're so tailor made to be *melee kids* and yet the pact blade still loses to Eldritch blast

Like yay I'm a melee caster, but Eldritch blast is still better than this axe, and I still get improved AC and the specter summoning if I just use Eldritch blast, and can do more damage with this cantrip, so there is No Reason to Ever Use Melee

It'd be one thing if agonizing blast was limited to certain patrons or something, because then by selecting hexblade you're saying "yes I am taking lower damage in exchange for higher defense"

But you can be a hexblade and still shoot mega Eldritch blasts so...

Idk it needs some kind of work tbh. Most likely agonizing blast needs to be nerfed in some way or otherwise be limited or require more of an investment. As it stands, pact blade warlocks end up getting a weapon that looks cool but sucks worse than a cantrip that any warlock gets

Hexblades do get smites, but those use their already limited slots for nova damage when a caster warlock can do much more damage with a 5th level spell slot.

Basically: either Eldritch blast needs to be reworked so that it isn't just the best method of consistent damage no matter your patron and boon, forcing warlocks to use it or essentially be missing out on free damage,

Or hexblades need to get some benefit to hitting someone

Granted this criticism is less about the hexblade and more about the pact blade in general, and how it gives less damage than a baseline warlock option so really you should go tome or chain anyway

Bladesingers issue is that once you get enough spell slots to last you through combat you probably won't ever be using your cantrips anyways, and since bladesinging improves your melee instead of your spells, once you stop using your melee option...

The moment you have enough spells to last you, you don't ever really need to go into melee again, and it begs the question: why be a bladesinger at all?

Eldritch Knight, at least, gives options that interleave spells and attacks, and attacks can give disadvantage on saves

But bladesingers don't get that bonus, so why bother using the sword? It's just something you hold while you rain meteors from the backline.

Anyways this has been a too long rant

All this is to say: 5e's implementation of caster/melee hybrids is such that they have little reason to ever want to use melee over casting, and it kind of sucks to want to play a certain fantasy but know it's a less effective choice