Who needs expensive spellbooks and cranky magic mentors when an Eldritch sugar daddy will grant the heart's wildest desires? That's how Warlocks get to enjoy life better in Dungeons and Dragons. Because if Wizards are the hardworking scholars in the class, then the Warlock is that one ambitious but lazy student who ends up seducing the teacher for grades.
That isn't to say Warlocks are not brilliant as magic-users in D&D. It's just that they love to cut corners, making them rather resourceful and creative by nature. Hence, playing as a Warlock can be a blast – literally and figuratively. Apart from the fact that no two Warlocks are alike, there are also some lesser-known ways of "cutting corners" and surprising both the DM and party members with actions they didn't know you could do.
8 Make Up A Patron
Tired of the usual selection of deities and otherworldly beings in the rulebooks? Then forget the rulebooks! The mind is the rulebook when it comes to thinking up an origin story and one of the most flexible backstory elements for Warlocks is their patron or deity. The one who grants them their magic powers.
Instead of picking the typical War or Fertility god, or god forbid another Devil or demon, maybe create something that doesn't fit that mold. It could be anything from an over-possessive Fey who lashes out when the player character talks to beautiful people or the ghost of a mother who wants players to offer her children as sacrifices on a regular basis. With that kind of edginess, players likely won't need any sort of melee weapon.
7 Sacrifice That Annoying Party Member Or NPC To A Patron
It's only thematic for a Warlock's patron to demand something in return for the powers they received. That's the deal, after all, whether the contract was written elaborately or is just verbal. So players looking to be more faithful to roleplaying can find creative or even clever ways to utilize this debt.
Does a DM have a preferred NPC that likes to withhold information too much? Since Warlocks are bound by contract, they have more valid reasons to murder that NPC and offer them as a sacrifice to their patron. Whereas Fighters and Barbarians get called dummies if they resort to that kind of behavior. Is a party member wrestling with their death-saving throws? Help them meet your patron! That's a hefty payment if the patron is The Fiend.
6 Bring Another Member To The Party That You Control
Speaking of patrons, this one is mostly applicable to Hexblade Warlocks or those who assume the Pact of the Hexblade. Because patrons for that Warlock subclass actually need to be a sentient weapon. However, there is no rule stating that that weapon can or will talk only to the wielder, meaning the Hexblade weapon could very well be a campfire chatterbox.
For players looking to fill in for another role apart from their character (to break the monotony, for example), they can voice out the Hexblade weapon and even give him some valuable inputs during social or combat situations (assuming the DM allows it – and they should!). It's also a good way to introduce some metacommentary and if players want, they can make the weapon sound like either Eddie Murphy or talk like Deadpool!
5 Make Enemies Go Mad With Telepathy
Great Old One Warlocks or those who took the Pact of the Great Old One might find their subclass a little underwhelming. Still, it has its nifty uses thanks to the Awakened Mind pact feature. It's essentially one-way telepathy where the Warlock can speak to other creatures within 30 feet. It works regardless of the language barrier.
This very well means that Warlocks can sneak up a bit to enemies or enemy placements and then make them all fight by filling their heads with maddening thoughts of betrayal. If they start questioning who that is, players can just say they're their conscience or something. All that Jiminy Cricket-ing around might prompt the DM to have the Warlock roll a Persuasion check. It can also work for NPCs, especially the religious ones.
4 Tank Enemy Attacks
Whereas Wizards and Sorcerers are sitting ducks once enemies get too near, Warlocks have a plethora of options that can transform them into vanguards. It's not the HP pool though, they're not as beefy as Fighters or Paladins but they have all kinds of spells, class features, and jujus to help them survive and even soak up some damage in case the party's dedicated tank underperforms.
First off, the spell Darkness can act as some kind of pseudo-defense field. Warlocks can, later on, drop it for Shadow of Moil, which is better than both Darkness and Invisibility combined. Any hit against them will have a disadvantage with Shadow of Moil activated. If all else fails, then the Tomb of Levistus Eldritch Invocation is pretty much a panic button that boosts a Warlock's staying power. With these, a Warlock is even less likely to enter the death-saving throw stage compared to melee classes.
3 Blind Enemies With Magic Darkness & Other Methods
Warlocks might not have the Blindness Deafness spell universally available to them, but they have something even better. They have several spells that cause enemies to effectively be blind either to their surroundings or to the Warlock. The aforementioned Shadow of Moil and Darkness.
Hunger of Hadar is another one and it acts like area-of-effect forced blindness to enemies with no special seeing methods. This will open them up for Warlock attacks that have an advantage, making the Warlock good at both tanking and dishing out some surprising and borderline unfair amounts of damage.
2 Snipe Hapless Enemies With Eldritch Blast
By "snipe" we're not talking about that measly default 120-foot range of Eldritch Blast (which is in itself impressive already). Because Eldritch Blast's range can go as high as 600 feet on a non-multiclassed Warlock. It's thanks to the Eldritch Spear Invocation which makes the base range of Eldritch Blast 300 feet.
Pair that with Spell Sniper feat (available at level 4) and the range doubles. That's enough to get the jump on any creature, provided there's a party scout (Druids come in handy here); plus the attack will have an advantage. If that range isn't enough, then multiclass three levels to Sorcerer and pick up the Distant Spell metamagic. This doubles the Eldritch Blast range to 1,200 feet. That's overkill already.
1 Stacking Multiple Advantages On Attacks
If one advantage isn't enough, then Warlocks should be pleased to know that they can roll as many as three D20 dice on their attack rolls. This can be done through the aforementioned spells such as Shadow of Moil or Darkness (or simply attack prone enemies) but the Warlock has to be either an Elf or Half-elf for the Elven Accuracy perk.
The Elven Accuracy lets characters re-roll their lowest attack roll die, effectively turning two dice into three. If that's not enough, Warlocks can then snag the Lucky feat which lets them roll another D20, making it four D20 attack rolls. After that, it's a matter of watching the DM scratch their head as they math out how their Adult Dragon boss got bullied by one sub-level 10 Warlock.