Investment Of The Chain Master: Warlock's Best Friend

Dive deep into the Investment of the Chain Master invocation, a powerful upgrade for Warlocks in Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition (D&D 5e). This article will explore the benefits, strategic uses, and overall value of this invocation for Warlocks who choose the Pact of the Chain. Whether you're a seasoned player or new to the Warlock class, understanding the Investment of the Chain Master can significantly enhance your gameplay and bring new dimensions to your familiar.

Understanding the Investment of the Chain Master

The Investment of the Chain Master is an invocation available to Warlocks of 5th level or higher who have chosen the Pact of the Chain. This invocation enhances the Warlock's familiar, granting it several potent abilities. Let's break down each benefit to fully grasp its impact:

Aerial or Aquatic Adaptation

With this enhancement, your familiar gains either a Fly Speed or a Swim Speed of 40 feet. This is a significant boost in mobility, allowing your familiar to navigate various terrains and situations with ease. Imagine your imp zipping through the air to scout ahead or your pseudodragon diving into a lake to retrieve a lost artifact. The added mobility not only expands your familiar's utility but also opens up tactical possibilities in combat and exploration. This ability is particularly useful in campaigns that involve a lot of travel or exploration, ensuring that your familiar can always keep up and remain effective.

Consider the strategic advantages this provides. A flying familiar can scout ahead, providing valuable information about enemy positions, traps, or other hazards. An aquatic familiar can explore underwater environments, retrieve items, or even harass enemies from an unexpected angle. The flexibility to choose between flying and swimming speed allows you to adapt your familiar to the specific challenges of your adventure, making it an indispensable asset in any situation. The increased mobility dramatically enhances the familiar's utility in both combat and exploration, making it a cornerstone of the Warlock's strategic toolkit.

Quick Attack: Unleashing Your Familiar's Offensive Potential

The Quick Attack feature is a game-changer for Chain Pact Warlocks. As a Bonus Action, you can command your familiar to take the Attack action. This means your familiar can attack on the same turn you cast a spell or take other actions. Before this, familiars were primarily utility creatures, offering help actions or scouting. Now, they become a genuine damage threat on the battlefield.

This ability significantly boosts your action economy. In D&D 5e, action economy is king, and having an additional attacker each round can dramatically increase your party's damage output. Imagine casting Eldritch Blast with your action and then commanding your imp to attack with its poison sting as a bonus action. This not only adds to the damage but also applies conditions like poison, further hindering your enemies. The ability to use your bonus action to command an attack means you're getting more value out of each turn, making you a more effective combatant.

Furthermore, the Quick Attack ability enhances the versatility of your familiar. It’s no longer just a scout or a source of advantage; it’s now a legitimate combatant. This can shift the balance of power in encounters, forcing enemies to consider your familiar as a threat. This tactical flexibility is invaluable, especially in challenging encounters where every action counts. Quick Attack transforms your familiar from a support character into a valuable offensive asset, greatly enhancing your combat prowess.

Necrotic or Radiant Damage: A Versatile Damage Type

This feature allows you to change the damage type of your familiar's attacks to either Necrotic or Radiant damage. This versatility is crucial because some creatures are resistant or immune to certain damage types. By being able to switch between Necrotic and Radiant damage, your familiar can overcome these resistances and deal consistent damage.

Necrotic damage is particularly effective against creatures that are resistant to physical damage, while Radiant damage is potent against undead and fiends. The ability to adapt your damage type on the fly makes your familiar a more reliable damage dealer. For instance, if you're fighting a group of skeletons, switching to Radiant damage can make a significant difference. Similarly, against a heavily armored foe, Necrotic damage might bypass some of their defenses.

This damage versatility also adds a layer of strategic depth to your encounters. You can assess the enemy's weaknesses and adjust your familiar's damage type accordingly, maximizing its effectiveness. This tactical flexibility ensures that your familiar remains a relevant threat in a wide range of situations. The choice between Necrotic and Radiant damage provides a significant tactical advantage, allowing your familiar to bypass resistances and exploit vulnerabilities.

Your Save DC: Ensuring Your Familiar's Abilities Land

Many familiars have abilities that require creatures to make saving throws. With the Investment of the Chain Master, these abilities become much more reliable because your familiar uses your spell save DC. This ensures that your familiar's abilities, such as a pseudodragon's sting or an imp's poison, are more likely to succeed.

Your spell save DC is typically higher than a familiar's innate save DC, making it significantly harder for enemies to resist the effects. This is particularly important for familiars like imps and pseudodragons, which have debilitating effects tied to successful saving throws. For example, the pseudodragon’s sting can inflict the poisoned condition, which can severely hinder an enemy’s combat capabilities. By using your spell save DC, you greatly increase the odds of inflicting this condition.

This feature not only enhances the effectiveness of your familiar's abilities but also adds to its strategic value. Enemies are less likely to shrug off your familiar's effects, making it a more consistent source of control and debuffs. This reliability can be crucial in challenging encounters where controlling the battlefield is paramount. Using your spell save DC ensures your familiar's abilities are consistently effective, enhancing its control and debuff capabilities.

Resistance: Keeping Your Familiar in the Fight

The ability to grant your familiar Resistance to damage as a Reaction is a crucial defensive benefit. Familiars are fragile creatures, and keeping them alive is essential for maintaining the advantages provided by the Pact of the Chain. This feature allows you to mitigate damage taken by your familiar, significantly increasing its survivability.

When your familiar takes damage, you can use your Reaction to grant it Resistance against that damage type. This effectively halves the damage taken, making your familiar much more resilient. This is particularly useful against area-of-effect spells or attacks that target multiple creatures. By using your Reaction strategically, you can keep your familiar in the fight longer, ensuring it continues to provide its benefits.

The defensive boost provided by this feature is invaluable. A familiar that can withstand more damage is a familiar that can continue to scout, attack, and provide tactical advantages. This increased survivability enhances your overall combat effectiveness and ensures that your investment in the Pact of the Chain pays off. Granting Resistance significantly improves your familiar's survivability, allowing it to remain a valuable asset throughout encounters.

Strategic Uses of the Investment of the Chain Master

The Investment of the Chain Master opens up a plethora of strategic options for Warlocks. Here are some ways to maximize the benefits of this invocation:

Scouting and Information Gathering

The enhanced mobility and survivability of your familiar make it an excellent scout. Send your familiar ahead to gather information about enemy positions, traps, or other hazards. The flying speed is particularly useful for navigating complex terrains and avoiding ground-based threats.

Battlefield Control and Harassment

Use your familiar to harass enemies, distract them, or apply conditions. The Quick Attack feature allows your familiar to make attacks while you focus on casting spells. A pseudodragon's poisonous sting or an imp's attacks can disrupt enemy formations and create openings for your party.

Damage Dealing

With the Quick Attack and damage type versatility, your familiar can contribute significantly to your party's damage output. Focus on targeting enemies with vulnerabilities to Necrotic or Radiant damage, and use your familiar's attacks to supplement your own.

Saving Throws and Debuffs

Leverage your familiar's abilities that require saving throws, such as the pseudodragon's poison or the imp's sting. By using your spell save DC, these abilities become much more reliable, allowing you to control enemies and hinder their effectiveness.

Defensive Tactics

Use the Resistance feature to protect your familiar from damage, ensuring it remains in the fight. This is particularly important in encounters with area-of-effect attacks or enemies that target multiple creatures.

Is the Investment of the Chain Master Worth It?

For Warlocks who embrace the Pact of the Chain, the Investment of the Chain Master is undoubtedly one of the best invocations available. It enhances your familiar in almost every way, making it a versatile and powerful asset in combat, exploration, and social encounters.

The benefits of this invocation extend beyond mere damage dealing. The enhanced mobility, survivability, and control options it provides make your familiar an invaluable tool for any Warlock. Whether you're scouting ahead, harassing enemies, or applying debilitating conditions, your familiar becomes a key component of your strategy.

Conclusion

The Investment of the Chain Master is a must-have invocation for any Warlock who chooses the Pact of the Chain. It transforms your familiar from a simple companion into a potent ally, enhancing its capabilities in combat, exploration, and social interactions. By understanding and utilizing the benefits of this invocation, you can significantly improve your Warlock's effectiveness and enjoy a more engaging and strategic gameplay experience.

For further reading on Warlock invocations and character builds, consider exploring resources like D&D Beyond's Warlock Class Guide. This can provide additional insights and strategies for optimizing your Warlock character.