The Newest Warlock Handbook [3.5]

[Deepbluediver]

The nice thing about eldritch glaive is that it's easy for most warlocks to just retrain into it at higher levels and have it be decent without a ton of effort, but at lower levels it does practically nothing. Eldritch Claws is more powerful and can be used right from level 3, but of course you need to actually care about Strength.

Alright, can someone explain to me what the goal of Glaivelocks and Clawlocks was originally? Like, why is this build even a thing that exists? What was the point?
Except for the medium BAB, Warlocks don't really seem to have many mechanics or much fluff to support a melee build outside of this. It seems to me like someone was trying to shoehorn a melee-with-spells option into what was otherwise a mainly spellcasting/ranged-damage-dealing class, simply because in most of 3.5 melee classes weren't allowed to have nice things, and many of the Warlock's invocations are pretty nice (and so is the unlimited-at-will system).

The whole idea of melee-with-magical-energy-weapons seem to be much more like what the Soulknife was supposed to be, except that they didn't really pull it off well there either, and the SK never get as much love and attention as the Warlock did.

It's entirely possibly I've misread the situation though; if I have will you please set my mind at ease?

[Troacctid]

Alright, can someone explain to me what the point of Glaivelocks and Clawlocks was originally? Like, why is this even a thing that exists? Except for the medium BAB, Warlocks don't really seem to have many mechanics or much fluff to support a melee build outside of this. It seems to me like someone was trying to shoehorn a melee-with-spells option into what was otherwise a mainly spellcasting/ranged-damage-dealing class, simply because in most of 3.5 melee classes weren't allowed to have nice things, and many of the Warlock's invocations are pretty nice.

The whole idea of magical-energy-weapons seem to be much more like what the Soulknife was supposed to be, except that they didn't really pull it off well there either, and the SK never get as much love and attention as the Warlock did.

It's entirely possibly I've misread the situation though; if I have will someone please set my mind at ease over this?

It's a damage multiplier. When you're making multiple attacks, you can double or even triple your damage output. With eldritch glaive, you also get to force multiple saves against whatever eldritch essence you're using, which is pretty nice. Now, granted, you can achieve a similar multiplier by using eldritch chain, eldritch cone, or eldritch doom, but eldritch glaive does it for only a least invocation (very cheap!) and allows you to focus all the damage on a single target (which is often tactically advantageous e.g. in boss fights).

Warlocks are traditionally more of a support-blaster than a DPS-blaster. They're good at laying down some consistent, reliable damage every turn, often with save-or-suck riders attached, but they're not so good at dealing big chunks of damage all at once. All three of the melee options represent an increased risk in exchange for a bigger damage payload: hideous blow lets you add weapon damage + 1.5x Strength to your single strike, plus potential rider effects depending on the weapon; eldritch glaive lets you essentially make a full attack while still targeting touch AC; and Eldritch Claws lets you make multiple attacks that ignore spell resistance, add Strength to damage, and can be combined with other attacks.

[Deepbluediver]

It's a damage multiplier. When you're making multiple attacks, you can double or even triple your damage output. With eldritch glaive, you also get to force multiple saves against whatever eldritch essence you're using, which is pretty nice. Now, granted, you can achieve a similar multiplier by using eldritch chain, eldritch cone, or eldritch doom, but eldritch glaive does it for only a least invocation (very cheap!) and allows you to focus all the damage on a single target (which is often tactically advantageous e.g. in boss fights).

Warlocks are traditionally more of a support-blaster than a DPS-blaster. They're good at laying down some consistent, reliable damage every turn, often with save-or-suck riders attached, but they're not so good at dealing big chunks of damage all at once. All three of the melee options represent an increased risk in exchange for a bigger damage payload: hideous blow lets you add weapon damage + 1.5x Strength to your single strike, plus potential rider effects depending on the weapon; eldritch glaive lets you essentially make a full attack while still targeting touch AC; and Eldritch Claws lets you make multiple attacks that ignore spell resistance, add Strength to damage, and can be combined with other attacks.

Thanks- that's really helpful.
Overall there doesn't seem to be much opportunity cost to these options, and I feel like maybe the better solution would be to just give Warlocks a full-round attack option with their standard Eldritch Blast, but homebrewing is outside the scope of the thread I guess.