How Warlock Pact Magic Works in 5e
Pact Magic gives a Warlock very few spell slots, all of one level, and every one comes back on a Short Rest. A level 5 Warlock has two slots, both level 3; a level 5 Wizard has nine, from level 1 to 3, back only on a Long Rest. With no Short Rest the Warlock casts 3 spells that day (Magical Cunning returns one). With two Short Rests it casts 7, all at level 3: 21 slot levels against the Wizard's 19. Below: the rules quoted, the table, and where each class comes out ahead.
The rule
Spell Slots. The Warlock Features table shows how many spell slots you have to cast your Warlock spells of levels 1–5. The table also shows the level of those slots, all of which are the same level. You regain all expended Pact Magic spell slots when you finish a Short or Long Rest.
The SRD's own example:
For example, when you're a level 5 Warlock, you have two level 3 spell slots. To cast the level 1 spell Charm Person, you must spend one of those slots, and you cast it as a level 3 spell.
So every Warlock spell is upcast. A level 1 spell with a "Using a Higher-Level Spell Slot" line gets that boost for free; one without it just costs a big slot.
A Short Rest is "a 1-hour period of downtime, during which a creature does nothing more strenuous than reading, talking, eating, or standing watch." One hour in, both slots are back.
The table
| Warlock level | Slots | Slot level | Prepared spells |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 3–4 | 2 | 2 | 4–5 |
| 5–6 | 2 | 3 | 6–7 |
| 7–8 | 2 | 4 | 8–9 |
| 9–10 | 2 | 5 | 10 |
| 11–16 | 3 | 5 | 11–13 |
| 17–20 | 4 | 5 | 14–15 |
Slots stop at level 5. Spells of level 6 to 9 come from Mystic Arcanum instead (below).
Magical Cunning
At level 2:
You can perform an esoteric rite for 1 minute. At the end of it, you regain expended Pact Magic spell slots but no more than a number equal to half your maximum (round up). Once you use this feature, you can't do so again until you finish a Long Rest.
With two slots that is one slot back, once a day, in a minute instead of an hour. At level 20, Eldritch Master changes it: "When you use your Magical Cunning feature, you regain all your expended Pact Magic spell slots."
Warlock against Wizard
The Wizard has its own Short Rest trick, Arcane Recovery: once per Long Rest, after a Short Rest, it takes back slots with "a combined level equal to no more than half your Wizard level (round up)", none of level 6 or higher.
Spells cast in one day, every slot spent, Magical Cunning and Arcane Recovery used:
| Level | Warlock, no Short Rest | Warlock, two Short Rests | Wizard |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 (level 1) | 3 (level 1) | 3 |
| 3 | 3 (level 2) | 7 (level 2) | 8 |
| 5 | 3 (level 3) | 7 (level 3) | 12 |
| 9 | 3 (level 5) | 7 (level 5) | 19 |
| 11 | 5 (level 5) | 11 (level 5) | 22 |
The Wizard's count mixes levels: at level 5, four of its nine slots are level 1. Count slot levels instead (a level 3 slot = 3) and the picture changes:
| Level | Warlock, no Short Rest | Warlock, two Short Rests | Wizard |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 6 | 14 | 10 |
| 5 | 9 | 21 | 19 |
| 9 | 15 | 35 | 41 |
| 11 | 25 | 55 | 47 + one level 6 |
Wizard numbers count levels 1 to 5 plus Arcane Recovery. A Warlock with two Short Rests a day matches or beats the Wizard at most levels. A Warlock with none falls far behind. The Short Rests decide it, and the Warlock's player can't call them alone.
Mystic Arcanum
From level 11 the Warlock picks one level 6 spell:
You can cast your arcanum spell once without expending a spell slot, and you must finish a Long Rest before you can cast it in this way again.
A level 7 spell joins at 13, level 8 at 15, level 9 at 17. One cast each per Long Rest, the same as a Wizard's single slot of each level from 11 to 17. Short Rests don't bring Arcanum back.
What to spend slots on
Hex is the classic. It is a Bonus Action, Concentration "up to 1 hour", and adds "an extra 1d6 Necrotic damage to the target whenever you hit it with an attack roll." Cast from a higher slot, it lasts longer: "a spell slot of level 2 (up to 4 hours), 3–4 (up to 8 hours), or 5+ (24 hours)." When the target drops, a Bonus Action moves it to a new one.
A level 5 Warlock with Charisma 16 (+6 to hit) fires Eldritch Blast, two beams, at a Goblin Warrior's AC 15. Each beam hits 60% of the time:
| Eldritch Blast, level 5 | Damage per turn |
|---|---|
| Plain, 1d10 a beam | 7.2 |
| With Agonizing Blast (+3 a beam) | 10.8 |
| With Agonizing Blast and Hex | 15.3 |
Hex adds about 4.5 damage a turn, and one level 3 slot keeps it going for up to 8 hours. Any other spell needs a fresh slot each time, so a Warlock usually spends one slot on Hex and saves the other for a spell that ends a fight.
Multiclassing
Pact slots and Spellcasting slots stay separate, but each can cast the other's spells:
If you have the Pact Magic feature from the Warlock class and the Spellcasting feature, you can use the spell slots you gain from Pact Magic to cast spells you have prepared from classes with the Spellcasting feature, and you can use the spell slots you gain from the Spellcasting feature to cast Warlock spells you have prepared.
A Paladin with two Warlock levels can spend a Pact slot, back on a Short Rest, on a Paladin spell. Multiclassing has the rest.
Quick reference
- Slots: 1 at level 1, 2 from level 2, 3 at 11, 4 at 17; all one level, max level 5.
- Recharge: Short or Long Rest; Magical Cunning once per Long Rest.
- Every spell is cast at your slot level.
- Level 6–9 spells: Mystic Arcanum, once each per Long Rest.
- Spellcasting ability: Charisma.
Every number here comes from the d20 and the damage dice. The Book of Dice covers both in Part I, The Object. The odds here are computed exactly from the dice above.
This work includes material from the System Reference Document 5.2.1 ("SRD 5.2.1") by Wizards of the Coast LLC, available at dndbeyond.com/srd. The SRD 5.2.1 is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
