The Celestial Warlock 5E Guide | Rules, Tips, Builds, and More

The Warlock is a class that typically links itself to chaotic or evil forces to gain extra power. Within the pages of Xanathar’s Guide to Everything comes a new type of Patron; a really good one. From Angels to Unicorns, this Warlock finds their patron anywhere on the Good side of the plans. Tasked with bringing light to the dark places of the world, you’ll find that this archetype has much different flavor than most. So put on your favorite Cleric cosplay, and let’s explore one of the most support-focused builds that a Patron has to offer with our Celestial Warlock 5E Guide. 

Channel Your Divinity: The Celestial Warlock 5E

As a warlock patron, The Celestial focuses on introducing Cleric utility to the Warlock. From slightly weak damage options, to Cure Wounds, to even reviving allies, this subclass is oozing with flavor. It’s a really safe option, though the question must be asked – Why not bring a Cleric instead?

Expanded Spell List

The spell list for the Celestial is, as stated above, pulled right out of a Cleric’s possible options. The list all possible uses for a Cleric, so it’s actually a pretty decent spread.

Let’s start with the generic Cleric role spells; Cure Wounds, Lesser Restoration, Revivify, and Greater Restoration. Cure Wounds is an alright healing spell, but a future class ability limits how useful it is. Take a pass, unless you don’t have a primary healer on your team. Lesser Restoration and Greater Restoration quickly and effectively remove rather disruptive status effects… But, Warlocks probably shouldn’t be the ones to hold onto these. It’s not awful, but if anyone else can cast it, let them. Revivify can turn a lost cause into an easy win. Learn it; your Cleric might not have the time to cast it themselves.

For damage, you have Guiding Bolts, Flaming Sphere, Wall of Fire, and Flame Strike. Guiding Bolts scales quite well, deals high damage, and grants advantage. That’s a good pinging spell; worth a grab. Flaming Sphere is a pretty solid use of concentration, usually against swarms and stuff. A really good choice. Wall of Fire and Flame Strike are rather good area of effects, though they are both slightly expensive for their spell cost. Not much of a problem for Warlocks, and area of effect spells are rare for Warlocks. Pick up Wall of Fire, consider taking Flame Strike.

And then, weird utility. Daylight is a great counterspell, clearing darkness and completely nullifying some encounters. The problem is, you only have so many spells known. So many classes can learn Daylight, and some races can learn it as an at-will ability… Maybe leave this out of your headspace.

Guardian of Faith is a strange anti-invisibility spell that deals alright damage. If you really want a way to deal 60 damage, Flaming Sphere tends to handle it better. If you want a good flavor spell, this isn’t completely useless… But, there’s better spells.

Not a horrific spread of spells, but there’s a reason a lot of them are on a Cleric spell list. You’ll get some good uses out of the list, so go crazy! Try to fill in the weaknesses of your party.

Bonus Cantrips

You gain some special cantrips at level 1! Woo!

At 1st level, you learn the Light and Sacred Flame cantrips. They count as warlock cantrips for you, but they don’t count against your number of cantrips known.

Well, that’s actually great!

Light is an okay cantrip, but is really good when it doesn’t cost a cantrip known. Your party never has to carry torches again!

Sacred Flame is pretty interesting. Just in case Eldritch Blast isn’t useful, you have a way to weave around cover and get around the extremely rare Force Immunity. Probably won’t come up often, but as a way to get around high AC, it’s not bad.

This is nothing but an upside for your Warlock, so that’s good, though it might not come up too often.

Healing Light

Back in 3.5, Clerics got the ability to heal targets by spending a separate pool of d6s. Now, that pool makes a triumphant return!

At 1st level, you gain the ability to channel celestial energy to heal wounds. You have a pool of d6s that you spend to fuel this healing. The number of dice in the pool equals 1 + your warlock level.

As a bonus action, you can heal one creature you can see within 60 feet of you, spending dice from the pool. The maximum number of dice you can spend at once equals your Charisma modifier (minimum of one die). Roll the dice you spend, add them together, and restore a number of hit points equal to the total.

These only refresh on long rests.

The only significant use of this ability is to pick your allies off the ground. Spending a bonus action to cause someone to immediately succeed 3 death saves and be able to fight again is well worth it. And doing that without spending a spell slot? That’s extremely efficient.

As an burst heal… You could do better. With +5 Charisma, you can expend 5d6 at once, as long as you’re level 4. That’s pretty significant; you’re healing 2d8+5 if you learn Cure Wounds by now. Considering the Warlock class has next to no healing, this is quite strong as just something you can throw out as a Bonus Action.

The scaling on this spell highly limits its usefulness as a burst heal; you get a maximum of 21 dice. That’s not awful, but that means you can only heal that 5d6 four times. As a primary healing method… That’s probably not going to be good enough by itself.

Use this primarily to pick people off the ground. But if you desperately need to bring someone over a certain health threshold, spend those dice.

Radiant Soul

This ability combines some offense and defense to make… Mediocrity.

Starting at 6th level, your link to the Celestial allows you to serve as a conduit for radiant energy. You have resistance to radiant damage, and when you cast a spell that deals radiant or fire damage, you add your Charisma modifier to one radiant or fire damage roll of that spell against one of its targets.

Every time I looked back at Xanathar’s, I kept thinking this gave you resistance to Fire. I really wish it did.

Resistance to radiant damage isn’t the worst thing in the world… But, it’s not exactly the most common damage type. Radiant damage is normally slung by angels and unicorns, which also happen to be your Patrons. If you’re an Evil character, this becomes a little more useful… But that’s unlikely with this Patron.

The bonus damage seems juicy, but you just don’t have access to many spells that deal radiant or fire damage. Your cantrip, Sacred Flame, is a good use of this… But, Eldritch Blast – with Agonizing Blast – far outclasses it. And since it only applies to one damage roll, you can’t use Flaming Sphere and get the benefit every single turn.

It does combo quite well with your area of effect fire/radiant spells, like Wall of Fire or Flame Strike; For Wall of Fire, you’ll have to make sure it hits as many people as possible with the initial cast. 

This really isn’t all that bad, but it suffers a similar fate to the Tempest Domain; a lack of that damage type in the spell list.

Celestial Resistance

And now for a far superior defensive ability.

Starting at 10th level, you gain temporary hit points whenever you finish a short or long rest. These temporary hit points equal your warlock level + your Charisma modifier. Additionally, choose up to five creatures you can see at the end of the rest. Those creatures each gain temporary hit points equal to half your warlock level + your Charisma modifier.

It’s like the Inspiring Leader feat, but worse… yet also not taking up a Feat slot. Gah, which is better?!

So, as a Warlock, you’re probably going to ask your party to finish a short rest pretty often. And after each of them, you’re getting 15 to 25 hit points. In addition, you give them between 10 to 15 hit points. That may not sound like a lot, but you want every single chance to survive an attack you can get; 15 can easily let a Wizard tank an extra hit and get another turn off. The fact that you can give it to your whole party is even better – add everyone’s health together, and depending on party size, you could be giving 70-100 hit points with this ability at 20. That’s huge!

And since this ability is on a short-rest clock, and isn’t limited to time per day, you’ll be giving that HP often. This is an extremely useful way to save resources, and could easily be the reason that your party wins a fight.

Don’t you dare ever forget you have this. This temp HP is basically guaranteed to be useful.

Searing Vengeance

Remember how your level 1 ability helped other people get off the ground? Well, Wizards of the Coast decided to give you a good way to get off the ground, too.

Starting at 14th level, the radiant energy you channel allows you to resist death. When you have to make a death saving throw at the start of your turn, you can instead spring back to your feet with a burst of radiant energy. You regain hit points equal to half your hit point maximum, and then you stand up if you so choose. Each creature of your choice that is within 30 feet of you takes radiant damage equal to 2d8 + your Charisma modifier, and is blinded until the end of the current turn.

Sadly, you only get this puppy after a long rest. But boy, does it deserve that restriction!

So, this essentially gives you a full turn when you make a death saving throw. Even if this set you to 1 health, that alone wouldn’t be too bad. Getting a hybrid healer-damage character back into action is super important. You also get to use this when you make “a” death saving throw… If you really want to, you can use this after you fail two death saves just to guarantee your survival. You probably shouldn’t, but the option is there!

This doesn’t just put you at 1, however. Healing half your health is a pretty big deal. Let’s say a level 20 Warlock has 180 health. This ability lets you heal 90 health once per long rest; That’s an 8th level Heal spell. That’s probably enough that you could theoretically start healing people before you get a-

Wait! You also get to stand for free. That’s useful! It means one extra move action in your pocket, allowing you to retreat to safe Eldritch Blast distance (preferably within 60 ft of your party members). That’s a really good repositioning tool…

But that’s not all! Get to level 14 now, and you get a Blind effect… For free! No saves allowed! If you got downed by a melee combatant, or simply a spell with a range of 30 ft, those creatures no longer get to see you. You can escape opportunity attacks, further rays from the enemy Wizard, and prevent them from being a real threat to the rest of your party for a little while. 

The damage is a nice cherry on top; an average of 14 damage isn’t significant by this point in the game, but you get it for free. And in a 30 ft radius. 

This ability just does so much, all for not even an action. This alone is reason enough to take Celestial.

Pact Boon Synergies

All Warlocks gain access to a pact at level 3, which alters their gameplan and offers some new Invocations for them to choose. As with most Warlocks, a Celestial should probably consider Eldritch Blast as their primary damage source. However, there are reasons to pick all of them.

Pact of the Blade

Even that said… The Pact of the Blade is hard to justify. You’ll be more consistently in range for Healing Light, and you’ll make slightly better use out of your temp HP… But that’s kind of it. For Pact of the Blade to work, it’d take a lot of investment into armoring up through feats, or multiclassing. Kind of a bummer by itself.

Pact of the Chain

If you’re looking for a scout, then Pact of the Chain gets you a really good one. You’ll get an easy way to pass Cure Wounds while in the backline, get access to something that can easily turn invisible to sneak around for you, and potentially rock the frontline in the extremely early game. Your options are… Somewhat strange, flavorwise. Imp is the best, but why would a Celestial have an imp? Consider either talking to your GM to reflavor your options, or maybe just say the imp is repenting for a crime.

Pact of the Talisman

With the release of Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything, the Pact of the Talisman is here. And, while the Pact of the Tome might be stronger on the surface, the Talisman offers supportive buffs that live on a single target. So, if you want your Celestial Warlock to more easily protect a single person in the party, this pact offers solid support options beyond just Guidance and Ritual spells.

Pact of the Tome

Perhaps the most obvious choice, the Pact of the Tome offers a little more out-of-class utility and some interesting invocations. With this, you go from having 6 to 9 total cantrips at once – 5 of which can be from out-of-class. You could use this to add spells like Firebolt or Hand of Radiance to your list, but… You should probably just stick to slinging Blasts. Consider checking out our Wizard cantrip or Cleric cantrip list, if you need inspiration.

Best Race for The Celestial Warlocks

Like most warlocks, the Celestial enjoys Charisma the most. If you can get a race with +1 Charisma, you’ll be set. While any race could make for a potent pact-mate with the Divine, there’s a few options that tend to be better.

Human

Humans have been the stars of the show in every single edition of Dungeons & Dragons. 5E is no different. If you want an easy choice, this is the direction to go. If your GM allows it, go Variant Human. Not only do you get to increase your Charisma and either Dexterity or Constitution by 1, but you can put a feat on top of it. You could go Alert so you can go first. Defensive Duelist isn’t a bad idea for a Blade Pact Warlock. Durable gets you extra health, and lets you heal more during your critical short rests… There’s a massive list of feats, and therefore a massive number of possible builds to discover.

Aasimar

Okay, so this might be the most obvious choice since our Fiend race picks, but let me explain. This Volo’s Guide to Monsters race is not only flavorfully fantastic; it’s mechanically so, too! The massive bonus to Charisma will never not be good. You get a few damage resistances to make magical duels less painful. And if you pick Scourge, you’ll be a tanky beast with some extra options to light up the arena! 

The only reason that this might rank a little lower than Human is because you actually have a lot of class/race overlap. Celestial Resistance loses half of its power, since you’ll soon resist radiant damage anyways. And you lose the benefits of Light Bearer completely. Even still, Aasimar is just too good of a choice to overlook.

Best Feats for Celestial Warlock

The Celestial Warlock uses feats to improve their damage and support capabilities. They can also serve to get solid defensive and mobility options, or to expand their spellcasting capabilities. 

Since the Celestial Warlock gets the ability to provide temporary HP on a short rest, two killers – Chef and Inspiring Leader – get axed from the list. Chef can technically still see some use, because you can always eat the treats after your allies’ temp HP is gone, but we think its weakened enough that another niche option arises in its place.

Eldritch Adept

This feat grants you an Invocation of your choice, which you get to change on each level. This sits just outside of what you normally grab with Invocations, so you can theoretically tag out two invocations per level. Provided one of them is this one, of course.

Using this feat, you can take some of the more weird and situational options that a Warlock has to offer. Getting spells like Polymorph for clutch situations is smart, but what about weird invocations like Whispers of the Grave? Those can be very useful, but it’s sometimes hard to justify taking them over buffs to Eldritch Blast or more consistent survival options. This feat lets you prepare for different arcs of a campaign more easily, a touchstone for a supportive class.

Fey Touched

Fey Touched is our favorite feat that we recommend for most casters in the game. It does one thing, but it does it very well – improve your spell list significantly.

The +1 Charisma that Fey Touched offers is just the tip of the iceberg. Admittedly, it’s a very strong iceberg, and this is a great start. Rounding out your casting stat as a Warlock is gigantic. It improves your Eldritch Blasts, Spell Save DC, attack rolls, everything. Starting at 17 at minimum is a ritual that most Warlocks complete very willingly, so this can be your ticket to 18 at level 4.

Which we highly recommend, since Fey Touched expands your casting list with two spells. Misty Step is normally a strong spell on the Warlock List, so you’re not expanding your boundaries. But, learning this spell from a feat instead of your own doing is smart. A Bonus Action teleport can be a lifesaver for a class that wants to sit back and Eldritch Blast. For the Celestial Warlock, this teleport can also let you get next to someone or quickly 

Resilient

Resilient is one of the most simple feats in the game, but that simplicity obscures an otherwise very powerful feat. 

This feat, for a Warlock, usually means a +1 to Constitution and proficiency in Constitution Saving Throws. Warlocks live or die on their concentration check, with spells like Hex and Hunger of Hadar requiring you to keep concentration. So, getting a variant +2 to +6 to it is far from a bad idea. 

War Caster provides a similar – if not slightly better – version of this ability, but we don’t plan on being near the frontlines most of the time. Consider War Caster for a type of melee Celestial Warlock with Pact of the Blade, and use Resilient when you want a more traditional build. That +1 to Constitution and more stagnant +2-6 to Constitution saves will be extremely helpful for your typical Eldritch Blaster.

Metamagic Adept

The Celestial Warlock has a few options that go beyond what a Warlock typically has. Some of those options, like Cure Wounds, Revivify, and Wall of Fire, have absolutely pitiful range. Metamagic Adept is one of the only ways to actively solve this issue.

By taking Distant Spell and Transmuted Spell, you can slightly adjust two spells per day. This might not sound significant and, realistically, it rarely is. However, extra damage to specific targets with Vulnerability to effects is nice. More nice is being able to cast Revivify at a longer range, potentially saving the life of a dying teammate. For emergencies, Metamagic Adept offers the Warlock exactly what you’re looking for.

And hey, with Eldritch Spear, you can get 600 ft Eldritch Blasts. That’s a tenth of a mile that you cross with each bolt. That’s absolutely horrifying.

Telekinetic

While the Warlock has a strong bonus action option with Hex, the occasional turn can go by where, if the Warlock doesn’t want to spend any resources, they have a dead bonus action. The Telekinetic feat can change that, or at the very least offer some decisions to be made during a turn.

Telekinetic is useful as it offers a Warlock a +1 to Charisma, putting it in competition with a few other very strong feats in the early game. However, if you like your spell list, then Telekinetic helps in a few ways unique to options like Fey Touched or Shadow Touched.

Firstly, you get Mage Hand as a bonus cantrip. Unlike the actual cantrip, this Mage Hand doesn’t require any components to cast and is invisible. Plus, if you know or learn Mage Hand later, it gets improved range. That’s really nice. As one of the strongest out-of-combat options in 5E, getting an empowered Mage Hand is nearly good enough to be a feat on its own.

However, that’s not it! You also get a bonus action to shove someone forward or backward, based on your Charisma DC. That’s actually a bit significant. One of the themes of the Celestial Warlock is Wall of Fire, a great spell by itself. However, by moving someone towards it, you can deal monumental bonus damage to a target. Or, you can move an ally away from the danger zone before you light it up. 

A great option, powerful despite its simplicity. If only it wasn’t competing for that +1 Charisma category!

Best Multiclass Options for Celestial Warlock

The Celestial Warlock’s multiclass options are usually to cover a big hole in its gameplan. Despite being a support caster in ideals, the Celestial Warlock actually has precious few options to actively support a party.

Bard

While every Warlock loses some potential magic in a multiclass, the Bard multiclass might feel the worst on the surface. Bard’s spell list is historically lopsided, with a focus more on debuffs than buffs. However, it learns a spell that every Celestial Warlock dreams they could have: Healing Word. Getting this spell makes you a much better healer, since you can Healing Word into Eldritch Blast and waste very little time during your turn.

Combine that with the other great bonus action of Bardic Inspiration and you’ll always have something to do. If you dig deeper into Bard, you buff allies during short rests even more, gain access to subclasses with medium armor and shield proficiencies, and can even get your bardic inspirations back the same way you get your Warlock spells back. Overall, a really cool 1 level dip or something that can turn into a very strange but fun support build.

Paladin

The Paladin is a more traditional option for Warlocks, offering up heavy armor – as long as you start Paladin – as well as stronger weapon options. Healing comes naturally to the class, with Lay on Hands and a supportive spell list to back you up. 

However, being able to channel Warlock spells into Smites is great for any Warlock subclass, Celestial included. By being front and center, you can get a ton of different utility support options. Then, when you’re sure you don’t need them, you can just convert them into Divine Smites. Granted, this won’t proc your Radiant Soul, but it’ll still offer great damage for spells like Restoration.

Investing more into Paladin usually isn’t necessary, but six levels can grant you fantastic saving throws, an oath like Ancients or Devotion to work with, and better healing options. Extra attack isn’t bad either, though you could always Invocation into it.

Sorcerer

Sorcerer/Warlock is a classic multiclass due to its ability to convert Warlock spell slots into Sorcery Points. But, the Supportcerer could always use a bit more help on its crusade. By selecting the Divine Soul Sorcerer, a Celestial Warlock has access to this strange amalgamation of a spell list. 

A few divine spells, such as Healing Word and Shield of Faith, mixed with the best of the best Arcane magic, like Haste or Fireball. All fueled by Warlock spell slots that can either serve as more consistent, powerful concentration spells or simply turned into high-value sorcery points. This build is a shockingly strong caster, intermingling support and legitimately strong offense.

Best Backgrounds for Celestial Warlock

The Celestial Warlock has some gaps to fill in its resume, mainly when ensuring that it is safe around the fringes of combat and during conversations. Backgrounds can help by providing some skills. These backgrounds have next to no consideration of what your character’s story is. We can only help mechanically; it’s up to you to decide if your character would actually come from these origin points.

Criminal/Spy

The Criminal (or Spy, if that meets your fancy) is a good Player’s Handbook background for anyone looking for friends. You get Deception (something a Warlock doesn’t need) and Stealth (something they’d certainly appreciate). Then, you get proficiency with Thieves’ Tools, a huge boon for any class. Your Gaming Set doesn’t really matter, though everyone likes a game of dice. 

Your equipment is solid, as you start with a good amount of gold and the occasionally useful crowbar. What we like the most about Criminal and Spy is their contact. Your friend in low places is always going to be useful, no matter what your campaign is. As long as your DM and you work together, this NPC can help the party keep track of the story while giving you the chance to get high-quality information.

Guild Arisan

This background is great. You get Insight and Persuasion, two options that are really good for a Warlock. Persuasion isn’t on the Warlock’s list, letting you get all three talking skills without a race or Invocation. And Insight rounds out the talking skills by letting you read someone’s face. Hard to have a conversation if your parter is constantly lying to you, after all.

Then, you get an artisan’s tools and a language. Neither of these are that important. Pick something that might be helpful to your party, like Leatherworker’s Tools or Alchemist’s Supplies. The language should be something your DM gives you guidance on: One campaign might want you to take Elven, and another Giant.

Your equipment is solid and your Guild Membership gives you a significant amount of power wherever your guild is. However, you will have to pay that 5 gp per month if you want it to be at max strength. Otherwise, you might find yourself getting kneecapped by your own background.

Urban Bounty Hunter

Urban Bounty Hunter, an option from Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide, is a great option for any character looking to be an effective face. You get to choose between Deception, Insight, Persuasion, and Stealth. We recommend Insight and Persuasion if you’re going to be the one representing your party, since the Warlock can sometimes have trouble in peaceful situations. 

Then, for tool proficiencies, we recommend a musical instrument and Thieves’ Tools. Thieves’ Tools are extremely useful, even for someone with middling Dexterity, and the musical instrument has a higher chance of being Charisma-based. You’re a bit more likely to make money than trying to cheat at games.

Your equipment is basically 20 gp. Not bad at all, since you might need to buy a set of Thieves’ Tools early on. Then, your feature is basically the same as Criminal. However, instead of a guaranteed single NPC that you can talk to, you just have your roots in each underworld. Still solid.

FAQ for the Celestial Warlock

What makes for a good Celestial Warlock?

Celestial Warlocks combine strong support options with high damage choices. While Healing Light and Celestial Resilience are great for helping your party members, Radiant Soul and Searing Vengeance ask them to be slightly more aggressive. We recommend using more of the aggressive tools, taking the solid area of effect options from the expanded spell list and only using the healing and support options when absolutely necessary.

What book is the Celestial Warlock in?

The Celestial Warlock is in Xanathar’s Guide to Everything, on page 54. This puts it right before the Hexblade and just after Storm Sorcery.

What Celestials make pacts with Warlocks?

All matter of celestial beings can make a pact with a mortal Warlock. Beings as strong as empyreans and angels, or as relatively weak as unicorns, can grant a Warlock their strength. Celestial Warlocks are usually people with innate good in their heart who look to Celestials for either repentance for past crimes, justice for crimes against them, or an interest in the Upper Planes.

Example Celestial Warlock Build

Before we can begin constructing our brilliant Celestial Shaman build, we’ll need to know a few things about our DM and our group first. Since we’re playing a support-ish character, it’s a good idea to know what party members we’ll be supporting.

• No multiclassing. Our DM doesn’t want to deal with multiclass characters. That’s fair enough. We’ll be a pure Warlock.
• No lineage rules. A bit harsher, we can’t use Lineage or Custom Lineage options. This limits the races that we’re allowed to use quite significantly.
• Can use any book for races or backgrounds. As long as we don’t use Lineage races, of course. This gives us a few different options, at least. 
• Default equipment. No lump sum. Boo! This guide won’t focus much on gear, since that changes massively from campaign to campaign.
• Our party is a Barbarian, Druid, and Wizard. A very strange party with slightly limited healing. We’ll be okay, as long as we defeat enemies quickly. But, keep this in mind as we move along. We might have to keep Cure Wounds around for a lot longer than I’d be normally comfortable with.

We’ll be making a Verdan, from Acquisitions Incorporated, with the Urban Bounty Hunter background. This race is weird, since they grow over the course of the campaign. However, they have telepathy and the ability to get Persuasion. They also have advantage on specific saving throws, which is fine by me! Our focuses for Bounty Hunter will be on Insight, Stealth, Gaming Set, and Thieves’ Tools. These are the most generally useful.

Then, we have to think about our ability scores. We’ll be going for a standard 14, 14, 17 spread for our Dexterity, Constitution, and Charisma, respectively.

Our skills largely speak for themselves. We have Insight and Persuasion, so we can just scoop up Deception and Intimidation. Great, we’re talkin’ like champions.

5E Celestial Warlock Build

Race: Scourge Aasimar Ability Scores: STR 8, DEX 14, CON 14 (13 + 1), INT 10, WIS 12, CHA 17 (15 + 2) Proficiencies: Deception, Intimidation, Insight, Persuasion, Stealth, Dice Set, Thieves’ Tools Starting Equipment: Demon Hunter’s Garbs, 20 gp Languages: Common, Celestial

Level	Class Benefits	Choices
1	-Pact Magic -Expanded Spell List -Bonus Cantrips -Healing Light	Ugh, even after all of that work, we still have a lot of work to do. Cantrips. We only get two of these, so we better make them count. With Sacred Flame and Light in the tank, we can take Eldritch Blast for standard damage and Mage Hand for basic utility.  Spells. Even with our awkward position, we’re going to want to grab Hex for damage. It’s just too much over the course of an hour. We’ll actually grab Sleep for our other spell. It has good early game utility and we can trade it out when we need to. If your Druid isn’t helping out with healing before Circle of the Moon comes online, then it’s their fault.
2	-Eldritch Invocations	Alright, a bit more book-keeping. Spells. Guiding Bolt is a shockingly high-damage spell at this level. 4d6 is nothing to sneeze at. We’ll rely on Healing Hands and our Healing Light pool to keep the party on their feet.  Invocations. Agonizing Blast is far too powerful to ignore. Adding Charisma to each and every Eldritch Blast is way too potent. The other invocation is where the choice is. We’ll go ahead and grab Armor of Shadows, since our AC is a bit low without it. We can replace it once we get better armor. As an addendum, it is important to keep the flexibility of invocations in mind. The ability to change them out quickly is important. Make sure you pick the right ones for your campaign! For example, Devil’s Sight is great for an Underdark setting.
3	-Pact Boon -2nd Level Pact Magic	Alrighty, let’s keep it up.  Pact Boon. Pact of the Talisman is very good for a utility Warlock, like we have in front of us. Place this on a friend who is about to make an ability check and you’ll be doing your part. That includes yourself during conversations, by the way.  Spells. Flaming Sphere is actually quite enticing, since it can do area of effect damage and will soon apply our Charisma. However, as a support character, we’ll take Hold Person for helping out our competent frontline take down major targets fast. Our Wizard is responsible for clearing multiple targets.
4	-Ability Score Improvement	Great, a feat! Feat. Fey Touched is absurdly powerful, giving us access to Misty Step and the strong Silvery Barbs. It also rounds out our Charisma, which is just the cherry on top.  Cantrip. We get a cantrip at this level. We’ll take Prestidigitation as an all-around decent utility choice. Warlocks don’t get a very high number of cantrips, so you’ll have to make do with jack-of-all-trade options.  Spell. As for the spell we get for this level, we’ll take Flaming Sphere now. It’s worth it for situations where holding down hallways is more important than the longevity of Hex. We’ll also replace Sleep with Cure Wounds, since Sleep is losing its luster and our Druid is getting tired of healing.
5	-3rd Level Pact Magic	Excellent, we’re just entering the realm of the third level.  Spells. Revivify is a good enough option that we’ll grab it. Our Druid can’t raise the dead quite yet, so it does fall on our shoulders. We’re good otherwise, as long as Hold Person keeps finding targets.  Invocation. Rebuke of the Talisman is a fairly solid option for the Barbarian in our party. They get hit often, so we’ll basically get a guaranteed reaction. Well, as long as our Barbarian wants the target to be pushed a bit away from them. Otherwise, we can use it on ourself or the Wizard to keep them safe.
6	-Radiant Soul	Spell. Fly is a good enough option, since our party might run into bad situations. Our Moon Druid can fly to specific spots, but what will our Barbarian do if they can’t fly up to a specific spot? They’d probably get angry, but not the profitable type of anger that we’re wanting.
7	-4th Level Pact Magic	Another level with spells and invocations.  Spell. Both of the spells that we can get from the Celestial are great here. Wall of Fire might take concentration, but it can clear encounters by itself. We also have enough healing with Healing Light that we can consider alternative methods of protecting our party. We’re gonna tag out Cure Wounds for Counterspell. In specific situations, we’ll need to block a Fireball. That’ll deal much, much more damage than we could ever hope to heal. Invocation. We’ll continue to support our Talisman with Protection of the Talisman. Our Talisman is now Guidance and Resistance permanently, which is nice! Not exactly overpowered, but it takes a load off of our mind for when we start dealing with spellcasters.
8	-Ability Score Improvement	Nice and boring feat choice this level. We’re just going to take a +2 to Charisma. Get to 20, don’t have to worry about our spells getting any stronger. Let’s take a peek at our spells known.  Cantrips: Eldritch Blast, Light, Mage Hand, Prestidigitation, Sacred Flame Spells: Guiding Bolt, Hex, Silvery Barbs, Flaming Sphere, Hold Person, Misty Step, Counterspell, Fly, Revivify, Wall of Fire  Looking good. We have a few spells, like Guiding Bolt and Flaming Sphere, that no longer really have a home. Guiding Bolt’s 6d6 is okay, but not really cutting it. And Flaming Sphere’s 4d6 doesn’t match up to Wall of Fire. Let’s eat away at those two spells for the next two levels. We’ll start with Flaming Sphere. Get Guardian of Faith in here! That’s a lot of solid damage, even if it doesn’t benefit from Radiant Soul. Then, for our actual spell known, we’ll grab Banishment to deal with high-priority targets for a time.
9	-5th Level Pact Magic	The 5th level is here! Flame Strike does relatively pitiful damage compared to even the initial damage of Wall of Fire, so we’ll leave that on the chopping block. However, Wall of Light provides radiant damage and applies the Blinded debuff. We can also use it for radiant damage rolls to continuously improve our Radiant Soul damage per round. In addition, Guiding Bolt will be tagging out for Synaptic Static, a great Area of Effect spell that doesn’t take our Concentration and debuffs enemies.Invocation. Minions of Chaos is a good option for our build, since we are interested in supporting the frontline. Summons can help with that quite a bit. In addition, we’ll assume that we have good enough armor that Armor of Shadows is no longer useful. Let’s tag it out for Eldritch Mind. Our Concentration checks are starting to become very, very important.
10	-Celestial Resilience	Our choices are finally going to start to slow down just a touch. For instance, at this level, we just need to choose our final cantrip. Our choice will be Minor Illusion, a weak spell but one that can at least direct someone’s attention away from you. That’s likely worth more than small amounts of damage or Blade Ward. Our spell list is looking good. But, I’m willing to trade Hold Person for Hold Monster. We’re not fighting many humanoids at this point in the campaign, so consistency is going to reign.
11	-Mystic Arcanum (6th Level)	The Mystic Arcanum mechanic starts now. So, we’ll have to think about spells that we’re cool with casting once per day. Mystic Arcanum. Being able to cast Scatter once per day is usually helpful for a Warlock. You get to reposition your party, get weak-willed enemies out of the way, and keep yourself safe. A good thing to have in your back pocket.  Spell. Let’s get Dispel Magic. At level five, it’ll get rid of most standard effects. And if it doesn’t we have an okay roll to do so. Especially with a Talisman.
12	-Ability Score Improvement	We didn’t mention this in our favorite feats, but depending on the campaign, you might want to get the Chef feat. While we hand out temporary HP quite often, we can use the treats after the temp HP is lost to further bolster our party.! As for our Invocation, Sculptor of Flesh is a solid way to spend a Warlock spell. Even though it targets a stronger saving throw, Polymorph can still ruin someone’s day.
13	-Mystic Arcanum (7th Level)	Alright, another Arcanum and another spell. Mystic Arcanum. Crown of Stars is a consistent bonus action that deals Radiant damage. It’s a must-have for the Celestial Warlock.  Spell. Raulothim’s Psychic Lance deals good damage and applies Incapacitated, a great way to skip a creature’s turn. Psychic damage is fairly strong to begin with, too. Just a great spell that’s hard to resist and nearly impossible for bosses to just ignore.
14	-Searing Vengeance	The Warlock calms down at this point. This is the first level where we have zero decisions to make, unless we want to tag out an Invocation or Spell. I’m a big fan of our spell list right now, so let’s focus on relaxing and using our spells to their full advantage by rotating out Hex when we need to.
15	-Mystic Arcanum (8th Level)	And now for a level where we have three choices. Good lord. Mystic Arcanum. Power Word Stun is a spell that has the potential to stun even legendary creatures out of actions. It’s a great way to guarantee damage, turns, and more. Make sure to have a good way to estimate when it’ll be online, like a strong Medicine check from our friendly Druid.  Spell. Dimension Door will let us bring important targets to a different spot. At this point, we’re kind of just searching for ways to spend our spell slots in non-combat situations, so this’ll do nicely.  Invocation. Shroud of Shadow is our choice. Permanent invisibility, as long as we’re willing to spend actions, is annoying for enemies to deal with in the best case scenario for them.
16	-Ability Score Improvement	We can round out our Constitution with either Chef for temporary HP or Resilient for better constitution saving throws. I like Resilient here, just because of how many of our high-impact spells are Concentration. And we still give temporary HP after each short rest, so it’s not like we’re losing out on that.
17	-Mystic Arcanum (9th Level)	Our final Mystic Arcanum, though not our final spell. We’re almost there, though! And we got our fourth spell slot, so we’re basically gods. Mystic Arcanum. Much like our last spell slot, Power Word Kill has fantastic utility as a spell that has no saving throw. You do have to be very careful about using it willy-nilly, but 100 HP is a lot to take out with a single spell, guaranteed. Use it wisely.  Spell. Galder’s Speedy Courier is a fun way to send items around the world. Seriously, it’s great fun.
18		Our final Invocation will be Bond of the Talisman, since it is growing more and more likely that our DM will send us to different parts of the map at times. Let’s get right back to our friends.
19	-Ability Score Improvement	Our final feat, our final spell. You’re at the finish line.  Feat. Our last feat will simply be Metamagic Adept. Sometimes, you just need more range on your spell. Get Distant and Extended spell for this.  Spell. Danse Macabre can be insanely useful for dealing with massive arena encounters. Even though they’re just zombies and skeletons, getting a +5 or more to attack and damage rolls is pretty huge. Swarm the field!
20	-Eldritch Master	And we’re done! Let’s take one last look at the spell lists.  Cantrips: Eldritch Blast, Light, Mage Hand, Prestidigitation, Sacred Flame Spells: Hex, Silvery Barbs, Misty Step, Counterspell, Dispel Magic, Fly, Revivify, Banishment, Dimension Door, Galder’s Speedy Courier, Guardian of Faith, Raulothim’s Psychic Lance, Wall of Fire, Danse Macabre, Hold Monster, Synaptic Static, Wall of Light Mystic Arcanum. Scatter, Crown of Stars, Power Word Stun, Power Word Kill Perfect! Be sure to adjust them for your own campaign. Otherwise, there’s not really much I’d adjust for a standard game. We have quite a few options here, and they’re all rewarding for combat. With a few sprinkled in for out-of-combat utility, of course.

Conclusion – Our Take on the Celestial Warlock 5E Guide

The Celestial Patron has the unenviable position of trying to be the best of two worlds, and failing at both. It’s not the most efficient blaster, nor the best healer. If you have another healer in the party already – like a Bard or Druid – then this can help them heal a bit more, while still dealing decent damage. You could do much worse than this Patron, so give it a try if you’ve got a character in mind!

Want a better look at playing a warlock? Check out our Warlock 5E Guide!