Celestial Warlock Build Guide – A Holy Pact – 2024 Update
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For all D&D guides on Nat1gaming, they only use the main sourcebooks (2024 Player’s Handbook, Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything, Xanathar’s Guide to Everything) as well as Strixhaven: A Curriculum of Chaos (mostly for Silvery Barbs) as those tend to be the most commonly used books at tables. Always be sure that if you’re following a guide that you’re adhering to your tables rules about what sourcebooks you are allowed to follow. Furthermore, be sure that you’re using the most current edition of the rules, especially as some 2024 Player’s Handbook rules are updates on Tasha’s or Xanathar’s rulings.
Any spell, class, feature, or other game item that is linkable on this website is covered by the 5th edition Open Games License and will be in the Player’s Handbook, but not everything in the Player’s Handbook will be linked to. All other materials that aren’t linked to are from other sourcebooks or aren’t allowed to be linked to per the 5th Edition Open Games License, so please refer to the appropriate sourcebooks for that information.
For the purposes of this guide, it will be assumed that you would not be multiclassing. While multiclassing can be excellent for many of these, this is for those who want to play the build all the way through in the same class. Guides that use multiclassing will be separate from these.
For spellcasters, you may notice substantial overlap between the spell lists of builds with the same base class. This is due to each guide utilizing a generically good spell list and not considering extenuating factors that will influence how you particularly sculpt your spell list. When creating your own spell list, you should take into account the campaign setting, what spells any other party members are capable of casting, potential overlap (ritual spells tend to overlap so it’s rare you need multiple people capable of casting them), or potential shortcomings in the parties total spell list. While this guide can definitely help point you in the right direction for crafting a spell list, you should use your judgement and preferences to figure out what spells make the most sense for your character.
To that end, please refer to the Spell List and Spell Tier list for any substitutions you’d want to make to the build.
Warlock Spell List and Spell Tier List
Why Pact of the Celestial Warlock?
There are a lot of benefits to playing a Pact of the Celestial Warlock, but I believe two stand above the rest.
The first is an easy one, it’s simply a pretty powerful subclass due to having a host of great abilities that give it access to a lot of features and spells that a Cleric would have access to. Between healing and some damage spells, Celestial Warlocks get a nice mix of effects that fill gaps in their toolkit that they normally couldn’t do with other subclasses.
The second reason is less obvious, but having a good patron can allow players to more easily RP as a good aligned Warlock. While there are ample excellent RPing opportunities for a good Warlock with an evil patron, it’s much simpler when you don’t have to construct a narrative with having a devil on your shoulder constantly when you just want to be a good guy.
Celestial Warlock Abilities Ranked
Healing Light (Level 3) – A Tier – You have a functional wellspring of Healing Words, and better yet, this actually scales really well. Best yet, Warlock does not normally get access to healing, especially a spell as good as Healing Word, so this is an excellent alternative for having a dedicated healer on the team.
1st Level Spells (Level 3) – C- Tier – Two cantrips and two reasonable spells. While your cantrips won’t get much use and Guiding Bolt will only remain reasonable for a few levels, an upcasted Cure Wounds can be solid in a pinch.
2nd Level Spells (Level 3) – B Tier – Two solid spells as Lesser Restoration is good in a pinch and Aid upcasts well.
3rd Level Spells (Level 5) – A- Tier – If you don’t have any party member that can cast Revivify, this is a necessity for your team. If you do, then this is insurance.
Radiant Soul (Level 6) –