I'm playing a Hexblade with Pact of the Blade, and I was wondering whether the weapon you use as part of the Hex Warrior ability counts as an arcane focus, or only if it's a pact weapon and you have Improved Pact Weapons Invocation?
[RPG] Is a Hexblade Warlock’s weapon their arcane focus by default
class-featurednd-5ehexbladespellcasting-focuswarlock
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Best Answer
A Hex Weapon isn't an arcane focus automatically
The Hex Warrior class feature (XGtE, p. 55) says:
Nowhere does it mention anything about the weapon being an arcane focus, so it isn't one.
As you've noted, the Improved Pact Weapon eldritch invocation (XGtE, p. 57) can allow you to use your weapon as an arcane focus, since it says:
So you would need this eldritch invocation to use your hex weapon as an arcane focus. However, your hex weapon would also need to be your pact weapon, since it says "with your Pact of the Blade feature", so you would need to choose your hex weapon as the magic weapon you shunt out of existence and resummon with Pact of the Blade, as per the PHB (p. 107):
If you were to choose your hex weapon as your pact weapon, then it would count as a pact weapon to satisfy the Improved Pact Weapon eldritch invocation. At that point, your hex weapon could be used as an arcane focus.