Eldritch Adept first appears as an intriguing feat found in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything that offers a little bit more power boost primarily to the warlock class – although certain other builds may find this feat useful in the right situation. While this gives more potential depth to a warlock build or gives an intriguing add-on to some other classes there’s an obvious question that remains:
Is the eldritch adept feat any good?
Eldritch Adept is a 5E Dungeons & Dragons feat that allows players to select one invocation from the warlock list. Introduced in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything, this feat appears versatile but practically is quite limited and best used to further “warlock” the warlock class.
Why the design team put so much restriction on this feat is hard to say, but despite that there are some potential interesting uses both in and out of the warlock class once you really break down how this feat works.
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Breaking Down the Eldritch Adept Feat
At first glance this is a feat with some potential to be an interesting and versatile addition to the optional feats that part of 5th Edition Dungeons & Dragons, upon further review there are far more doubts about how good this feat can really be.
So let’s dive right into the breakdown by looking at how the feat is worded in the source book before moving into a thorough look at each section.
Directly from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything:
Prerequisites: Spellcasting or the Pact Magic feature
Studying occult lore, you have unlocked eldritch power within yourself: you learn one Eldritch Invocation option of your choice from the warlock class. If the invocation has a prerequisite of any kind, you can choose that invocation only if you’re a warlock who meets the prerequisite.
Whenever you gain a level, you can replace the invocation with another one from the warlock class.
Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything, p. 79
The key here is that if the invocation has a prerequisite, you MUST be a warlock to meet the prerequisite.
That doesn’t say you have to meet the prerequisite. That doesn’t matter according to this feat. You need to be a warlock, period, which means that bard or wizard you envisioned giving eldritch blast and then giving them agonizing blast, that’s a no-go.
This feat doesn’t allow it because the requirement through this feat isn’t have Eldritch Blast, it states that ANY eldritch invocation with a prerequisite requires you to be a warlock.
Benefit #1: Pick one Eldritch Invocation of your choice, if that invocation has a prerequisite you MUST be a warlock who meets that prerequisite.
For the most part straight forward. Find an eldritch invocation worth a level up to your character, and take it. Generally I refer to this as “Do you want more warlock with your warlock” because most invocations have a requirement. This means that non-warlock characters are actually extremely limited in what they can do (more on that below).
But having played a warlock twice in 5E, I’m very familiar with the struggle of having two invocations I’d really like to take but only room for one. There are some very good Eldritch Invocations, and the ability to add another one to the
Is this worth missing out on an ability raise though? Depends on the build and if you’re maxed out on charisma – but some of these invocations are strong and they might be worth it for the right warlock in the right build or situation.
Benefit #2: You can replace the invocation with another one from the warlock class when you level up.
The versatility is nice. There are some skills that are fantastic at low levels but lose their muster as you level up. The ability to change these out or to take an invocation later that you release will be used much more often based on the tone of the campaign is a nice little bit of versatility.
For a 5E player it also lets you test a lot of different invocations that go under warlock for future campaigns or future builds.
No, Eldritch Adept Does NOT Allow You Agonizing Blast
You don’t have to be a dedicated mix-max player to automatically link this with agonizing blast in your mind. Considering how popular Eldritch Blast is as a pick for Magic Initiate, that shouldn’t be surprising. However, this feat does not allow you to pick up agonizing blast, even if you have the Eldritch Blast spell.
Unless you dipped two levels into warlock in which case…why the hell don’t you already have agonizing blast? What are you doing????
That aside, there are situations where a sorcerer who has dipped two levels might want this feat to pick up a third invocation, but the min-max dream of being able to pick up an agonizing blast enhanced eldritch blast will need to remain a fevered dream, for now.
So can you get agonizing blast with Eldritch Adept?
Nope.
Unless your DM home rules it. Speaking of home rules for this feat…
Possible House Rule for Eldritch Adept Feat
There are a few DMs I’ve talked to who removed the need to be warlock section. They basically make it if you have the prerequisite of the invocations then you are in good shape.
I’m a bit torn in this, as it can make the feat overpowered, but at the same time it does make it much more attractive for non-warlock classes than it otherwise be.
If the DM accepts this home rule for the 5E Eldritch Adept feat then it suddenly becomes far more viable for other classes as it opens up the possibilities and makes agonizing blast an option.
But for many DMs this will be a tough sell for a home rule.
Best Invocations to Take with Eldritch Adept Feat If You’re Not a Warlock
First of all, here’s a list of all the invocations you can take with Eldritch Adept if you are not a warlock because none of these have an actual prerequisite.
- Armor of Shadows – You can cast mage armor on yourself at will, without expending a spell slot or material components
- Beast Speech – You can cast speak with animals at will, without spending a spell slot
- Beguiling Influence – You gain proficiency in the Deception and Persuasion skills
- Devil’s Sight – You can see normally in darkness, both magical and non-magical, up to a distance of 120 feet
- Eldritch Mind – You have advantage on Constitution saving throws that you make to maintain concentration on a spell
- Eldritch Sight – You can cast detect magic at will, without expending a spell slot
- Eyes of the Rune Keeper – You can read all writing
- Fiendish Vigor – You can cast false life on yourself at will as a 1st-level spell, without expending a spell slot or material components
- Mask of Many Faces – You can cast disguise self at will, without expending a spell slot
- Misty Visions – You can cast silent image at will, without expending a spell slot or material components
As you can see there are some intriguing options here that could work well with certain classes or builds, but the lion’s share of what’s available are going to be those only available to the warlock class.
5E Classes That Should Consider Taking the Eldritch Adept Feat
Pretty much warlock. As the rule is written a warlock is going to be the class that can make the most out of this because there are no limits to which Eldritch Invocations you can take to further supplement your warlock build.
So should all warlocks take this?
Well….not necessarily. This can be very powerful, but in situations. You want to make sure your Charisma is maxed out, and if you are a melee based warlock then you also need to consider other ability scores like DEX or CON. Not to mention other feats that can be used by the warlock to make them even stronger.
However, there’s no denying that some of these invocations are quite strong and adding an extra one might be the best move for your build but it’s warlock and it’s situational.
Popular Multi-Class Option: It is worth noting that in campaigns allowing multi-classing the sorcerer with two levels of warlock dip, a very popular multi-class, those players might get a benefit from taking this feat for a third invocation. But again: a very narrow field of players, but worth noting.
5th Ed Classes that should consider taking the Eldritch Adept Feat: Warlocks
5E Classes That Should NEVER Take the Eldritch Adept Feat
Pretty much every other class. Some classes may find that speaking to animals at will is a nice roleplaying or flavor feature for your character. If you’re one of the few races who can’t see in the dark, then Devil’s Sight is very handy. Beguiling Influence is a really interesting set of skills to pick up.
But does any of this justify a non-warlock class taking this feat? Not too likely unless it’s for flavor or very, very situational.
For those classes this 5E feat is a hard skip.
5th Ed classes that should never take the Eldritch Adept Feat: Everyone who isn’t a warlock, assuming the house rule doesn’t come into play with this feat.
Final Feat Grade for 5E Eldritch Adept
Eldritch Adept Feat Grade: C-
Is the 5E Eldritch Adept Feat Worth It?
Eldritch Adept can be a solid B if you’re playing a warlock, especially if you feel like you’re just one invocation away from having the perfect warlock build. However, for the majority of other players, builds, and classes, it will fall short. The reason this is a C- instead of a D is because there are some very versatile and very powerful invocations from the warlock’s list.
The boosts from those, especially in the hands of an experienced player and a creative player can make it all the stronger. However, if you’re not a warlock then likely the only reason you’d even pay this even a passing glance is likely for flavor or a very specific character class on a build where you rolled for stats, killed it, and have ability score improvements/feats to burn.
Eldritch Adept Feat FAQ
How do I get Eldritch Adept?
During a level up when you get an ability score improvement, you take this feat instead. Assuming your DM allows feats (though the overwhelming majority of them do).
Can you take Eldritch Adept more than once?
No. Unless it’s specifically stated that the feat can be taken more than once then one is the limit, and that limit applies to the Eldritch Adept feat.
What invocations can you take with Eldritch Adept?
Warlocks who take the Eldritch Adept feat can take any invocation that they meet the requirements for. Non-warlock classes are limited to eight which are Armor of Shadows, Beast Speech, Beguiling Influence, Devil’s Sight, Eldritch Mind, Eldritch Sight, Eyes of the Rune Keeper, and Fiendish Vigor, which are covered above.
In Conclusion
While I’m generally a fan of anything that adds some extra depth or layering to the warlock class, which is so interesting and full of potential from a roleplaying perspective, and while this can be decent for a warlock, I want a feat to be knock my socks off if it is very narrow, or incredibly versatile and interesting. It feels like that Eldritch Adept falls flat on both counts, unfortunately.
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Proud to embrace the locally created moniker of “Corrupt Overlord” from one of the all time great Lords of Waterdeep runs, Shane is one member of the Assorted Meeples crew and will be hard at work creating awesome content for the website. He is a long-time player of board games, one time semi-professional poker player, and tends to run to the quirky or RPG side of things when it comes to playing video games. He loves tabletop roleplaying systems like Dungeons & Dragons, Pathfinder, Werewolf, Fate, and others, and not only has been a player but has run games as DM for years. You can find his other work in publications like Level Skip or Hobby Lark.