A warlock is a great way to make your character an edgy boy. But do you know what can help them seem less of a loner and more of a healer whilst still having that ‘rough-around-the-edges class personality? The answer is the Celestial Warlock patron, which can be found in Xanathar’s Guide To Everything.

This guide will help you understand all the benefits of entrusting your little warlock friend with a celestial patron.  So how does this warlock class work? It is very simple because, with the pact of a celestial, your warlock will have the ability to cast healing spells, aid your party and shower the battlefield with lawful fire and radiant energy.

What is a Celestial?

A celestial is a creature that exists outside of the material plain, which cannot be considered a divine being such as a god. The celestial realm is where you can find common celestials such as unicorns and angels. Furthermore, they are often depicted as lawful and good, the opposite of Fiends, who are chaotic and evil beings.

Where do I start with making a Celestial Warlock?

When you create your warlock, you must choose a patron who gifted you with your warlock-y powers. The celestial being that you choose doesn’t have any game-changing effects on how you will play your character. Still, it is recommended to select an interesting celestial tied to your character’s background.

For example, picking a unicorn as a patron. The unicorn saved you from death as a child, and so you made a pact with it. You could have decided to make this pact to thank the being for its aid and fulfil its desires in any shape or form. The gift you received from this pact is the warlock spellcasting abilities. In addition, you get a select number of spells that you know, which usually are reserved for clerics and the likes. And if those were not enough, you also get special warlock abilities at certain level milestones, which allow you to grow in celestial power as a warlock.

Pact Magic for a Celestial Warlock

As a rule, from The Player’s Handbook, a warlock gets access to the warlock spell list, which they can choose several spells from with each new level up.  So when you become a celestial warlock, not only do you get access to warlock spells, you also get access to celestial warlock spells.

Warlocks cast spells through pact magic, sharing the magic with an otherworldly patron and using an arcane focus to channel it. Furthermore, mechanically, warlocks used Charisma as their spellcasting ability. Therefore, to optimize your build at the first level, you should give your highest stat rolls to Charisma and then go from there.

Level One Spells and Cantrips

The spells that a celestial warlock gets at level one includes Cure Wounds and Guiding Bolt. Moreover, they learn the cantrips Light and Sacred Flame, which don’t count towards the number of cantrips known.  These are the cheese and crackers of this subclass and allow the celestial warlock to channel their healing magiks, usually only reserved for other classes.

Cure Wounds

This level one spell is an excellent addition for a party lacking a Cleric or Druid. They now have a celestial warlock to help keep everyone up and fighting! It costs one action, requiring you to touch the target to heal them for 1D8 (+spellcasting ability modifier) (The Player’s Handbook). This increases by 1D8 per spell slot level used. Still, Warlocks have access to fewer slots, so it is recommended to hold on to this for emergencies and use your Healing Light ability instead.

Guiding Bolt

Do you want to show off the power of your celestial’s radiant power? Hit them with a level one guiding bolt, which does way too much damage for the requirements with a severe 4D6 radiant damage on a hit. This power increased by 1D6 radiant damage for each spell slot level above 1^s (The Player’s Handbook). And if that wasn’t enough to kill your foe, the next attack roll made against the target before the end of your next turn has advantage, because the poor man is now glowing like a crazy light show! It would be crazy if you didn’t use this crazy spell which has a range of 120 feet and is usually only given to Clerics! In addition to the extra radiant damage you get with your special class abilities, you will find this spell is useful.

Sacred Flame

Warlocks love to collect cantrips, so why not add the popular cleric one of choice? Sacred Flame is a useful cantrip with a range of 60 ft and throws flame-like radiant showers on a chosen target. They must make a Dexterity saving throw or take 1D8 radiant damage. If they succeed, they take no damage, but cantrips can be used repeatedly, which is excellent when you are out of spell slots and need to throw radiance at fiends! This damage increases, like with other cantrips, at levels 5 (2D8), 11 (3D8) and 17 (4D8) (The Player’s Handbook).

Light

This cantrip is not as usual as Sacred Flame, and if you have a race with Darkvision, this one might seem like a wasted line on your character sheet. However, you might have a player who doesn’t. So this ability to cast a 20 ft radius orb of light might be helpful, or you need a disco light for a local tavern’s gala. The orb can change colours as well and lasts an hour! As a celestial warlock, you automatically have this spell in your arsenal, so you never know when you might find a use for a free-to-cast light spell (The Player’s Handbook).

Level Two Spells

When the celestial warlock reaches level two, they learn Flaming Sphere and Lesser Restoration. Unfortunately, unlike level one, they don’t learn any extra cantrips. However, these two spells make up for this fact!

Flaming Sphere

This level 2 spell creates a five-foot sphere of fire within 60 feet of the caster, and when a creature ends its turn inside makes a Dexterity saving throw. The creature takes 2D6 fire damage on a failed save, or half as much on a successful save. The sphere can be moved as a bonus action, up to 30 feet, and if it hits a creature, they must make a saving throw in that same turn to take damage. In addition, the sphere causes flammable objects not held or worn to ignite and casts a bright light of 20-feet (The Player’s Handbook).

Warlocks should want to use this spell as it uses concentration, lasts a minute, and can be moved to cause extra damage as a bonus action! This allows you to keep a distance from targets and attack with other spells if you desire in the same turn, following the initial set-up.

Lesser Restoration

This spell for a warlock is helpful if your party lacks other classes, such as a Cleric or Paladin. Since a celestial warlock gets it for free, you can’t complain. It is used to end one disease or condition, such as blinded, deafened, paralyzed, or poisoned, on a creature (The Player’s Handbook).  This is a level two spell. Because a warlock is cautious about using their short supply of spells, they might skip using it unless they are in a situation where it is a matter of life or death.

Level Three Spells

At level three, the celestial warlock learns Daylight and Revivify. With these spells, the time has indeed come to shine as a celestial warlock and a steadfast party supporter. However, they don’t have to fear death when they have Revivify and a diamond on hand!

Daylight

This level three spell is the Dungeons and Dragons equivalent of that moment in Lord of the Rings where Gandalf came into the battle of Helms Deep just as the battle was surely lost. He appeared on the horizon with a glowing sphere of light as the sun rose, and he directed it upon the shadow of the Dark Lord’s forces and swept Middle-Earth to victory against evil. Sure, it might not be nearly as epic, but for the sake of roleplay, this spell adds excellent flavour to a battle where the Darkness spell has been cast, or you are in a dark battlefield. Apart from creating a 60-foot-radius sphere of light, this spell has no other effect besides lighting up the area (The Player’s Handbook).

Revivify

This level three spell is the bread-and-butter of a support class where you can heal and bring players back from the dead! The spell requires a diamond worth 300 gp and the ability to touch a recently deceased creature that died less than a minute before you cast the spell. When you cast the spell, the components are consumed, and the creature comes back to life with 1 hit point (The Player’s Handbook). You should let your Cleric, Druid or Paladin reserve spell slots for this spell, but if you are the only caster with this ability, you should always keep a spell slot for this spell just in case.

Level Four Spells

At level 4, celestial warlocks learn the spells Guardian of Faith and Wall of Fire. Both are great spells to help block the advancement of an enemy before it reaches your party, such as a hoard or a large Big Bad Evil Guy.

Guardian of Faith

A warlock can use the fourth level spell Guardian of Faith to create a Large spectral guardian within 30 feet of themselves. This spectral soldier has the aura of the celestial that the warlock follows, wielding a sword and shield ready to attack if any hostile creature enters its space within 10 feet. The first time an enemy enters this range, they must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw or take 20 radiant damage. This damage is halved if they succeed. The guardian disappears when a total of 60 cracks has been dealt (The Player’s Handbook). This spell has high requirements, but maybe you want to show off your celestial with a rad bodyguard that lasts 8 hours? You don’t have to be in combat to cast this spell, and it can be used as a wall to negate damage to players in your party.

Wall of Fire

The level four spell Wall of Fire is perfect for large scale boss fights or areas where you have loads of enemies running towards you, and you need to find a way to slow them down whilst doing the most amount of damage. The spell has a range of 120 feet and lasts a minute under concentration, and when called, you can create a wall of fire. This wall can be up to 60 feet long, 20 feet high, and 1 foot thick with an opaque appearance. When it appears, creatures inside a wall make Dexterity saving throws, where the damage is halved if they succeed. The wall deals 5D8 fire damage to each creature, and they must move out or will have to roll again for more damage at the end of their turn (The Player’s Handbook). For a warlock, this spell is fantastic when you also consider what additions you can add to this damage with your celestial class abilities.

Level Five Spells

And finally, at fifth level, celestial warlocks acquire the spells Flame Strike and Greater Restoration.

Flame Strike

Yes, making a fire wall is excellent, but what if you could also blast fire with a divine flair? Flame Strike allows you to fulfil those dreams by becoming a radiant juggling and fire shooting warlock. With a range of 60 feet, you can call upon a vertical column of divine fire from the heavens with a 10-foot radius and 40-foot-high cylinder around a central point of focus. A creature at this point takes not just 4D6 fire damage but also 4D6 radiant damage. The damage taken requires a Dexterity saving throw to determine if it is total damage or halved (The Player’s Handbook). All celestial warlocks need to use this spell; it is the poster boy of their subclass, with edgy fire mixed with celestial radiant flair.

Greater Restoration

This is the level 5 equivalent of the level 1 spell Lesser Restoration, and I will say that if you have a Cleric, you will unlikely use this spell. It costs a 100 gp diamond, and you touch a creature to undo an effect. This includes reducing exhaustion by one level, ending charmed or petrifaction, reversing a curse, removing reduced target’s ability scores, or an effect reducing a target’s hit point maximum (The Player’s Handbook). As a support class, these spells are helpful, but to save a fifth level spell from casting it, I would recommend against, instead use other spells such as Flame Strike.

Spells and Cantrips for a Celestial Warlock

There are a lot of spells that a celestial warlock can choose from as they level up. Sometimes the choice can seem overwhelming, so this section will serve as a guide to highlight the best spells on the Warlock list.

Celestial Warlock Build

When building your celestial warlock, you will need to decide what spells you will take with each level up. Unlike other healing classes, like the Cleric or Druid, you can only choose these spells once, so you need to pick them carefully.

So, you have chosen to go with the celestial patron to it makes sense to maximize your class bonuses and abilities with the spells you take as well as race and background. If you want to be a machine in the battlefield, or you can choose to craft another path based on your character’s backstory and how you intend to roleplay. These cantrips and spells will just be the most essential spells for this class, and from there, you can then pick the spells that suit you.

The Cantrips for a Celestial Warlock

Cantrips are great for all spellcasting classes as they can be used again and again! However, they are handy for the warlock who has fewer spell slots than other classes, so I encourage all warlocks to take cantrips from a variety of different damage types (not just radiant and fire).

• Create Bonfire: 1D8 fire damage from a magical bonfire for the creatures, which are a little flammable.
• Eldritch Blast: EVERY warlock should take this cantrip. It has a range of 120 feet, and if the ranged spell attacks, the target takes 1D10 force damage.
• Green–Flame Blade: Make a weapon attack, and on a hit, the target becomes damaged and encompassed in a green flame. They take 1D8 fire damage and can jump from creature to creature if they are within five feet of each other. This cantrip is good if you intend to get in close with a melee weapon.
• Toll the Dead: This cantrip is a personal favourite because it does good damage for a cantrip, even more when the target is injured. The damage begins at 1D8 necrotic damage and increases to 1D12 if damaged.
• Friends: This cantrip gives you an advantage on Charisma checks directed at one creature, and it is excellent if you want to find your one true love or stop that scary knight from killing your friend. However, when it ends after one minute, the creature will know it has been charmed.
• Mage Hand: This spell is iconic and very useful for those that want to stay on the edge of danger. You can conjure a magical hand to pick up light objects. Or safely knock on a door as you hide behind a tree giggling to yourself as your foes have no idea; they have a great prankster king making the rounds of their dungeon again.

The Essential Spells for a Celestial Warlock

The list of spells here is what a celestial warlock should have when they reach the required level to cast it. Then you can select other spells to suit your chosen playstyle, which could be an offensive, supporter, or a mixture of the two. The key here is to choose damage types related to your patron, which buffs fire and radiant damage.

First Level Spell:

• Hellish Rebuke: You cause flames to come up from the ground, and if a creature fails a dexterity saving throw, they take 2D10 fire damage, or half as much on a success.

Forth Level Spell:

• Elemental Bane: A creature must make a con save or be affected for a minute by the spell. At the start of their turn, when they take damage from a chosen type, they will take damage extra damage of 2D6 of the same kind. In addition, their resistance to that type is gone until the spell ends.
• Sickening Radiance: A greenish light comes from the point of your choice within 120 feet of you. From this point, a 30-foot radius sphere of radiant energy appears. It lasts ten minutes, and creatures inside of it, if they fail con saves take 4D10 radiant damage, or half, and suffer a level of exhaustion.  In addition to these benefits, you can also see any creature that might be invisible!

Fifth Level Spell:

• Wall of Light: A radiantly charged wall of light appears at a point within range, and it can be up to 60 feet long, 10 feet high, and 5 feet thick. All creatures inside it take 4D8 radiant damage, and if they end their turn in it, they will retake the damage. Apart from the damage, creatures that fail their Con saves become blinded and must reroll at the end of each of their turns to see if they overcome it. This wall can be moved as an action to redo the damage on monsters that might have moved out.

Sixth Level Spell:

• Investiture of Flame: Your body becomes fire! The benefits of this come in many forms. To begin with, you are immune to fire damage and have resistance to cold damage. Next, any creature that comes within five feet of you takes 1D10 fire damage. And, as an action, you can create a 15 feet long and 5 feet wide line of fire in any direction, and all creatures along this path must make a dexterity saving throw. On a failure, they take 4D8 fire damage, or half as much on a success. This spell is fantastic as it lasts ten minutes!

Seventh Level Spell:

• Crown of Stars: Seven-star motes appear around your head and hover for up to an hour. You can attack a target as a bonus action to spend one of the motes at a range of 120 feet, and if it hits the target takes 4D12 radiant damage. This spell is good to use in combination with other actions so that you can hit more than once per turn.

The Celestial Warlock Special Abilities

When you pick the celestial warlock subclass, you will get specific abilities with each level that allow you to shape your destiny in the world with the aid of your celestial patron.

Healing Light

At level one, the celestial warlock can channel celestial energy to heal. This comes in the form of a pool of D6s, which are spent to heal, and the number of dice you have equals 1+ your warlock level.  So at level one, you have 2D6s to heal, and by level 20, you would have 21D6s. You can use Healing Light as a bonus action to heal one creature you see within 60 feet, and you spend dice from the pool. The amount you can spend per use equals your Charisma modifier (minimum 1), and you simply roll the dice and restore the hit points of their total. In addition, this ability returns as the end of a long rest.

This ability is excellent as it acts as the spell Healing Word, except you can heal 1D6 rather than 1D4. The ability to heal targets from up to 60 feet is impressive when you are in the ruckus of combat and stabilize someone down.  You will find you will use this ability a lot even with other healers in the party as often they are limited by the fact, they need to touch a target to heal.

Radiant Soul

At level six, your celestial allows you to serve as a conduit of radiant energy. You now have resistance to radiant damage. When you cast radiant or fire damage, you add your charisma modifier as damage to one radiant or fire damage roll of the spell. This ability makes spells like Fire Wall or Flame Strike even more deadly!

Celestial Resistance

At tenth level, you can now gain temporary hit points at the end of a short or long rest. These equal your warlock level + your Charisma modifier. So, at tenth level, you could be getting an extra 15 hit points after each rest! In addition, you can choose up to five creatures at the end of their rests, and they also gain temporary hit points equal to half your warlock level + charisma modifier. So, your allies at tenth level could get up to 10 temporary hit points! This ability is perhaps one of the most useful for the celestial warlock if you are focused on being purely a support class rather than an offensive one as your party in general will be tankier.  Although even the warlock that loves to fire Eldridge Blasts every battle, this will be great for you too! Knock over your enemies prone and breathe in that feeling of extra hit points keeping you going.

Searing Vengeance

At level 14, your celestial friend gives you the power to resist death with radiant energy. When you must make a death saving throw at the start of your turn, instead, you can choose to bring back up to your feet with the power of radiant energy. As a result, you regain hit points equal to half your maximum. In addition, each creature within 30 feet of your choice takes 2D8 (+ Charisma modifier) radiant damage, and they are blinded until the end of their next turn. This can only be used once before a long rest is needed to recharge it.

The best Races to play a Celestial Warlock?

So what is the best race to play a celestial warlock? The answer is that any race can be used to play a warlock, but if you want to look at optimizing your build, a few suggestions are listed below. Weighing in the benefits of these selected races and thinking about the lore of these races that could fit into a celestial-mortal themed relationship.

Races with Charisma and/or Constitution Bonuses

A warlock build should look for a race that gives bonuses to Charisma and Constitution. Below is a list of races and the bonuses they give to these stats. Details have been omitted, and the ones highlighted are some of the better options.

• Half-Elves (+2 Cha and +1 to two other non-Cha stats)
• Tieflings (+2 Cha)
• Aasimar (+2 Cha)
• Half-Orc (+1 Con)
• Humans (+1 to all stats)
• Dragonborn (+1 Cha)
• Dwarves (+2 Con)
• Genasi (+2 Con)
• Goliath (+1 Con)
• Hobgoblin (+2 Con)
• Lizardfolk (+2 Con)
• Yuan-ti Pureblood (+2 Cha)

Half-Elves

Half-elves offer the best bonuses for a warlock overall as they have a +2 to Cha and a +1 to two other non-Cha stats, which can also be put into Con. In terms of lore, elves are innately magical, and they have always taken to the magical arts more than some of the other races. So half-elf celestial warlock would fit in snugly to an in-game world.

Humans

Humans offer a +1 to all game stats in character creation, and so are a great all-rounder race to play. However, they often like to try lots of different things and throw themselves into the unknown. They are a young and reckless race compared to others who live longer. A human celestial warlock could be an interesting take on how humanity often gets themselves into trouble by selling their souls away, or maybe you just want to play a very lawful celestial follower!

Aasimar

This race is my personal favourite, and if I was ever to create a celestial warlock, this would be it! They offer a +2 to their Cha, and their ancestral background as a fallen angel makes them a great thing to tie in with lawful celestials. Perhaps they were part celestial themself, and they signed a pact with one of their celestial ancestors? There is a lot of ways you can make this a fun time.

The best Celestial Patron?

Now it’s one thing to create the warlock that will wield the celestial power, and it’s another thing entirely to decide who is giving them this power. So, you now ask yourself who is the best celestial patron for my warlock?

Empyrean

Children of gods and from the Upper Planes. They are the universal depiction of beauty and are eternally youthful. You can choose a preestablished one or make up your own!

Ki-rin

Ki-rin are noble creatures that are native to the celestial planes and work in direct opposition to evil. Their skin and hair are golden, whilst their eyes are purple, similar to unicorns in appearance but more stag or dragon-like. If you desire a more beastly patron, this would be a terrific choice!

Solar

The solars are mighty lawful angels, and because of this power, they are godlike and often take their own worshippers. They are in direct opposition to evil and perhaps the few creatures those Demon Lords fear more than anything else.

Unicorn

Unicorns are large celestial horses with a horn on their forehead known for dodging death and can often sense it when it is close. They appear to offer an aura of protection from evil to touch those that need aid with their horn to heal their wounds and cure poison. This would be what I could pick for my patron as it goes so well with the healing and lawful elements to the celestial warlock build.

Final Thoughts

The celestial warlock subclass is a refreshing way to play the warlock class. It allows you to become a healing edgeboy with the flair of a lawful celestial and the classic elements of a warlock that many love it for. In addition, it adds flavor to a class often put aside in favor of the more traditional roles such as the cleric or paladin. Yes, these classes are still the better option for going fall out the healer, but this adds another point of difference. So if you want to have a bit of both cleric and warlock, this might be the class for you!