A Warlock of The Archfey

The Archfey Patron

Your patron is a lord or lady of the fey, a creature of legend who holds secrets that were forgotten before the mortal races were born. These being's motivations are often inscrutable, and sometimes whimsical, and might involve a striving for greater magical power or the settling of age-old grudges. Beings of this sort include The Prince of Frost; The Queen of Air and Darkness, Ruler of the Gloaming Court; Titania of the Summer Court; her consort Obathorn, The Green Lord; Hyrsam, The Prince of Fools; and ancient Hags.

Expanded Spell List

The Archfey lets you choose from an expanded list of spells when you learn a warlock spell. The following spells are added to the warlock spell list for you.

Archfey Expanded Spells

Spell Level	Spells
1st	Faerie Fire, Sleep
2nd	Calm Emotions, Phantasmal Force
3rd	Blink, Plant Growth
4th	Dominate Beast, Greater Invisibility
5th	Dominate Person, Seeming

1st-level Spells

Faerie Fire makes things very easy for any Rogues in the party, and it’s a great way to handle invisible foes. Sleep is usually an option which Wizards dump after low levels because it’s not good enough to spend high-level spell slots on, but Warlocks cast every spell with their best spell slot, so there’s no reason why Sleep can’t remain a go-to option for a Warlock.

2nd-level Spells

Two decent save-or-suck options. Calm Emotions can handle crowds, and Phantasmal Force can handle single targets. Unfortunately neither benefit from spell level scaling.

3rd-level Spells

Blink is an effective defensive buff which doesn’t require Concentration, but Shadow of Moil comes online at 4th-level spells, and if you’re going to spend a spell slot and an Action for a 1-minute buff, you want it to be Shadow of Moil. Plant Growth is very situational.

4th-level Spells

Dominate Beast is very situational, especially since you won’t be running into many beasts by the time you can cast 4th-level spells. Greater Invisibility is an absolutely fantastic spell for many reasons, but in combat Shadow of Moil may be more appealing.

5th-level Spells

Dominate Person is among the best single-target control/debuff spells in the game, but it is single-target and only works against a single creature type. Humanoid enemies in combat at this level are uncommon, and when they do appear they’re typically major antagonists, but you can still use Dominate Person in non-combat situations to accomplish numerous goals by dominating NPCs. Seeming is basically a mass version of Disguise Self with a huge duration, and while that’s very situational, the 8-hour duration means that you can cast it early in the day and immediately take a Short Rest to recover your spell slot. The ability to target unwilling creatures opens up some hilarious tactical options like disguising everyone in the room (including enemies) as the same creature, and if that doesn’t scream “Archfey” I don’t know what does.

Fey Presence

Starting at 1st level, your patron bestows upon you the ability to project the beguiling and fearsome presence of the fey. As an Action, you can cause each creature in a 10-foot cube originating from you to make a Wisdom Saving Throw against your warlock Spell Save DC. The creatures that fail their saving throws are all Charmed or Frightened by you (your choice) until the end of your next turn.
Once you use this feature, you can't use it again until you finish a Short or Long Rest.

Misty Escape

Starting at 6th level, you can vanish in a puff of mist in response to harm. When you take damage, you can use your Reaction to turn Invisible and Teleport up to 60 feet to an unoccupied space you can see. You remain invisible until the start of your next Turn or until you attack or cast a spell.
Once you use this feature, you can't use it again until you finish a Short or Long Rest.

Beguiling Defenses

Beginning at 10th level, your patron teaches you how to turn the mind-affecting magic of your enemies against them. You are Immune to being Charmed, and when another creature attempts to charm you, you can use your Reaction to attempt to turn the charm back on that creature. The creature must succeed on a Wisdom Saving Throw against your warlock Spell Save DC or be charmed by you for 1 minute or until the creature takes any damage.
Situational by design, but charm effects are common, and turning them back upon the creature can be both powerful and hilarious. Imagine turning a vampire’s Charm back upon the vampire.

Dark Delirium

Starting at 14th level, you can plunge a creature into an illusory realm. As an Action, choose a creature that you can see within 60 feet of you. It must make a Wisdom Saving Throw against your warlock Spell Save DC. On a failed save, it is Charmed or Frightened by you (your choice) for 1 minute or until your concentration is broken (as if you are concentrating on a spell). This effect ends early if the creature takes any damage.
Until this illusion ends, the creature thinks it is lost in a misty realm, the appearance of which you choose. The creature can see and hear only itself, you, and the illusion.
You must finish a Short or Long Rest before you can use this feature again.

Gaming by etsy

Warlock of The Archfey

Focused on illusion, deception, and enchantment. The Fey’s subclass features provide a variety of useful options. However, illusions, enchantments, and fear effects face challenges because resistance and immunity to those effects are common. You’ll need to diversify your capabilities to make sure that running into something without a brain doesn’t reduce you to spamming Eldritch Blast with no other useful options.
While few of the Archfey’s options are actually bad, the only truly fantastic feature is Faerie Fire. After that, most of the options are good but unremarkable. There’s very little here that’s exceptional, but there’s also very little here that’s really disappointing.
Overall, the Archfey is a solid, but not amazing options. The spellcasting expands your capabilities without adding significant complexity, so the Archfey is a good choice for relatively inexperienced players looking to improve their understanding of spellcasting classes. More experienced players will find the Archfey reasonably effective, but you may find that the more situational portions of the subclass’s features go a long time without being useful.