[Top 5] D&D Best Warlock Race - What's the Best Race for Warlocks?

Adventurers teaming up to fight a horde of monsters

Updated:

28 Dec 2022

Warlocks are powerful spellcasters who call on pacts made with patrons and higher beings to access all sorts of mystical abilities. They’re fun, fairly easy to pick up, and come with high-damage spells and cantrips (Blade Ward, Eldritch Blast, etc.) to let players turn their enemies to dust. This list compiles the races that make Warlock spellcasting easier and more fun. There are so many options for building a good Warlock that players might as well spice things up with some crazy race benefits that keep combat varied and chaos on high.

Kobold

Little rascals with red horns and a bad attitude. Kobolds are a staple in traditional DND

Kobolds are usually the first monster many adventuring parties run into. These small, angry reptiles are mechanically pretty simple, so they're a great fit for new Warlock players. The downside is that Kobolds get their abilities from being massive cowards, which is what puts them at the bottom of this list.

Why Kobolds are great for Warlocks

Kobolds come with a +2 to dexterity. Whilst this does not help Warlocks with spellcasting, it does give players an extra, nimble edge for dodging attack damage from enemies.
As an action, players can grovel, cower and beg to distract nearby enemies. It might not give players the cool adventurer reputation they were expecting, but it does give their allies an advantage on attack rolls.
Kobolds also gain an advantage on attack rolls from the racial feature pact tactics. This pairs well with Warlocks, as Players who follow the “Pact of the Chain” will be able to summon a familiar that will trigger the advantage from pact tactics.

Autognomes

The Autognomes come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, with cogs, armour and angry little faces to boot.

Autognomes are built by regular gnomes to fulfil tasks and follow commands. These little robots come with a cold, hard, adorable exterior which is extremely beneficial for Warlocks, who are notoriously bad at taking damage. Additionally, they come with useful class traits that boost the player's effectiveness in battle and have good ability scores to match. Turn this robot into a warlock-themed murderbot and watch how quickly it cleans up enemies.

Why Autognomes are great for Warlocks

Autognomes can choose any ability score to increase by two and another to increase by 1. These can be placed into Charisma and constitution, perfect for the player's spellcasting.
The Autognome's Armored Casing and Mechanical Nature feature provide a solid boost to the Warlock's defence. These abilities give players a 13 Armor class (plus their dexterity modifier), resistance to poison damage, immunity to disease, and an advantage on poison or paralysis saving throws.
On top of this, Autognomes can regain hit points from the mending spell, as well as normal healing spells such as Cure Wounds and Healing Word. These abilities give Warlocks more protection against damage and more options to recover health if they do get hit.
The Autognomes Built for Success race trait lets players add a d4 to one ability check, attack roll, or saving throw after the d20 has been rolled. This lets players course-correct if they roll poorly trying to cast spells or dodge damage, giving them a better chance of not completely botching their turns thanks to a poor roll of the dice.

Gem Dragonborn

These multicoloured dragon-men might look like something from a cartoon, but they are excellent options for anyone looking to start playing Warlock

Introduced in “Fizban’s treasury of dragons”, The Gem Dragonborn are descendants of the Ruby Dragon Sardior, giving them mystical, mysterious powers. In gameplay terms, they're a more beefed-up version of the regular Dragonborn. Gem Dragonborn have a more powerful version of the traditional breath weapon, flight, and flexibility with their ability scores. An excellent offensive race for Warlocks looking to do some real damage.

Why Gem Dragonborns are great for Warlocks

There are 5 varieties of Gem Dragonborn: Amethyst, Crystal, Emerald, Sapphire, and Topaz. Depending on what type of Dragonborn the player chooses, they can use Force, Radiant, Psychic, Thunder, or Necrotic damage (respectively) with their Breath weapon.
In typical dragon fashion, the Breath Weapon lets players blast enemies in a 15-foot cone with a magical attack corresponding with their gem type. This ability does 1d10 damage and becomes more powerful as the player levels up. This makes it a great companion to the Warlock's regular spells as it will be a reliable source of damage even when players high level.
Additionally, Gem Dragonborn can manifest spectral wings using their racial trait Gem Flight, giving them the power of flight for 1 minute every long rest. Whilst the duration of this flight is not long, paired with the Dragonborn’s breath weapon it gives players a massive amount of manoeuvrability on the battlefield and the ability to deal devastating damage from above.
They also come with a free choice of where to put a +2 and +1 ability score boost, letting players focus on their charisma and constitution.

Simic hybrids

Weird blue skin and crab claws. Maybe not exactly what comes to mind when you think Warlock but hey the animal powers are cool.

Simic Hybrids are humanoids (Humans, Elves, or Vedalken) who, through experimentation, have been fused with different animal parts to gain new traits and abilities. Ranging from fish gills to crab claws, this race might be an abomination to science but they sure do get some cool upgrades.

Why Simic Hybrids are great for Sorcerers

Simic Hybrids gain a constitution score of +2 and have the freedom to invest an extra +1 ability score, which should be placed in Charisma.
Simic Hybrids come with the racial trait Animal Enhancements, which give them several new abilities as they level up and gain more animal-like characteristics.
At the first level, Simic Hybrids gain Manta Glide, Nimble Climber, and Underwater Adaptation. Manta Glide gives players manta ray fins fitted to their back which can be used to glide or slow descent if they are falling, Nimble Climber increases climbing speed to match the players walking speed and Underwater Adaptation lets players breathe underwater. These abilities boost the player's manoeuvrability at an extremely early level, which will help combat scenarios and basic world exploration.
At 5th Level, Players gain Grappling Appendages, Carapace, and Acid Spit. Grappling Appendages gives players claws or tentacles (their choice, both still super weird) as new limbs which can be used to grapple or make a bludgeoning attack. Carapace gives players +1 to their Armor Class if they’re not wearing heavy armour. Acid Spit, surprisingly, lets players spit acid on their target. These abilities give players a range of extra offensive and defensive abilities without taking up their limited spell slots.
Simic Hybrids also have Darkvision, but this is absolutely a creature you would not want to encounter in the dark.

Fairy

With great wings, these little guys let you play as Tinkerbell, if she was into borrowing magic from deities and killing folks.

They fly, have great immunities, and give players a couple of new, cool spells to make up for their limited spell slots. Altogether, Fairies are a simple, easy choice for Warlocks that also come with some cool customization options to let players get creative when developing their character.

Why Fairies are great for Warlocks

Thanks to their Fey heritage, Fairies cannot be affected by spells such as hold or dominate person, which could be used to immobilize and shut down Warlocks on the battlefield.
Unlike Dragonborn, Fairies have an unlimited flight from the get-go, without needing to use spell slots or concentration. Flight is helpful in just about every situation a player can face, so having access to it from level 1 is a massive benefit.
They also gain the spells Faerie fire (3rd level) and enlarge/reduce (5th level). Enlarge/reduce will likely be most useful for Warlocks during puzzle solving, but gaining Faerie fire at an early level to have an advantage on attack rolls makes offensive spellcasting much easier.
Players can also choose the +2 to Charisma and +1 to the constitution to optimize their Fairy for being a Warlock

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