in 5e d&d there is a differece between class levels and character levels
eg Warlock L1 Bard L2 casts eldritch blast at the bad guy another Warlock L3 does as well... the first one hits as L1 and the other guy hits as L3
No, this is not correct. Eldritch blast is a cantrip, so it scales on character levels. These two characters would cast the same level spell.