Amazing find by Peregrinator9 on Reddit with a tip that Volo's Ersatz Eye can 'used" by right clicking on it your inventory. Using it gives your toon a +1 charisma, -1 Int buff until your next long rest. This buff does not have an icon so you will only see the stat updates on your character sheet. This will allow you to get to 20 Charism, 5E's stat max at level 4! At creation take any of the races with +2 Cha (all half-elves and tieflings) then max cha at 17. Then use the eye buff for 18 and choose +2 cha at level 4 for 20 total! 20 Cha will give your Cha based spells +5 to hit and your eldritch blasts 1D10+5 to damage if you take agonizing blast at level 2. Currently sorcerers are the only class in game using Cha as a casting stat but that will change when other classes get added.

You can get the Ersatz Eye in one of two ways. One letting Volo gouge your real eye out in camp trying to remove the tadpole, or two pick pocketing it off him. The first opportunity to steal it is at the Druids Grove. The first time you enter the circle Volo is there talking to a bear. If you have one toon talk to the bear and turn its field of vision away from Volo you can then have another char hide and pickpocket Volo. You can also pickpocket Volo in your camp after you rescue him from the goblins. Volo never offers the eye for sale.

Volo is also a decent merchant but he never has a trade dialogue option. You can force the trade window open when speaking with him by clicking the trade button in the lower left of the UI. Almost all non hostile NPCs in game will trade with you by doing this but most have little to nothing to trade. If you trade with Volo in the Druids grove before he leaves he has decent gold, a nice clerics ring, some scrolls and 5 animal speaking potions. When he is in your camp he can be used like any other in game merchant and his supply of gold and animal speaking potions restocks after every long rest.

Very interesting! Do you know what the book is in his inventory?

If you steal the eye, does it still remove the ability to crit? I can't lose that sweet crit.

That is an excellent question, I do not know since the buff/debuff doesn't show. I wonder if +1 to hit and damage would be worth the tradeoff for no crits if the buff in fact blocks them? That +1 to hit is an additional 5% chance to hit vs a 5% chance to crit?

Edit: This appears to be a permanent ability point change. It has lasted through two long rests.

Hmm, I wonder if Ethel's hair can be used now too?

As of patch 3 it cannot. Fingers crossed for 4.

No and there are other things for which are still broke and things that are now broken that worked before. Hopefully, the new update will fix a lot of these things.

20 Charisma Warlock

Have you determined whether or not you can crit after this?

I am pretty sure I have critted several times but keep forgetting that's what I am looking for. I think the permanent no crit debuff is applied when Volo takes your eye, not when you use the eye afterwards.

Can confirm you can still crit after using Volo's Eye to increase Charisma.

What is Volo's eye? It's the cure he proposes? (I traded with him and got the ring, but didn't saw any eye). By the way the litch also has the trade option (while Halsin doesn't) and you can buy resurrection scrolls from him.

I gave this a try as soon as my party got to the Druid Grove and can confirm you still get criticals after using the eye in this manner.
Landed two crits in the fight vs. the



Will do this for every warlock, and sorcerer and bard eventually, going forward.

Just to be sure:
You lose your ability to crit when you lose an eye.
You get the ability to crit back (with +1cha and -1int) when you use Volos eye.

I guess it also works when you lost an eye because of the hag?

I *think* that they simply never lost the ability to crit. I believe that BraveSirRob simply picked Volo's pocket and stole the eye. You lose the crit when you lose *YOUR* eye, but if you just click on Volo's eye you get the stat exchange with no effect on crit. So if you pick his pocket and click then you get the stats without losing crit.

If you let Volo take your eye you lose the ability to crit even after he gives you the replacement eye. However if you steal the ete from him and "use" it you get a permanent +1 cha/-1 Int ability point adjustment but retain the ability to crit.

Does this still work? I attempted to click on the eye after picking his pocket just now, but I got a message like: "I'd rather put another tadpole in my eye". Wondering if anybody else had seen this.

Never mind, reloaded that save and it did work this time.