[RPG] Must a warlock replace spells with new spells of exactly their Pact Magic spell slot level

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The Warlock Pact Magic feature says:

The Spells Known column of the Warlock table shows when you learn more
warlock spells of your choice of 1st level and higher. A spell you
choose must be of a level no higher than what’s shown in the table’s
Slot Level column for your level. When you reach 6th level, for
example, you learn a new warlock spell, which can be 1st, 2nd, or 3rd
level.

Additionally, when you gain a level in this class, you can choose one
of the warlock spells you know and replace it with another spell from
the warlock spell list, which also must be of a level for which you
have spell slots.

Consider a single-classed warlock leveling up from level 4 to level 5, where their Pact Magic spell slots change from 2nd level to 3rd level. They can replace a warlock spell they know with a spell from the warlock spell list which "must be of a level for which they have spell slots," and they don't have 2nd level spell slots anymore. Can the warlock therefore only replace a warlock spell they know with a 3rd level warlock spell? Or can they learn a new 2nd level warlock spell instead?

(The word "also" suggests the same conditions apply as in the previous paragraph, but the first paragraph uses different wording — "a level no higher than what's shown in the table's Slot Level column," and the second paragraph refers to "a level for which you have spell slots.")

I am aware that this answer claims the interpretation that you can learn lower-level spells, but it doesn't give any justification for that interpretation or discuss the specific wording.

Best Answer

The Warlock's spell slot level indicates the maximum spell level they may select.

I agree the wording is a little confusing but consider the general rule for spell slots:

When a character casts a spell, he or she expends a slot of that spell's level or higher, effectively "filling" a slot with the spell. You can think of a spell slot as a groove of a certain size--small for a 1st-level slot, larger for a spell of higher level. A 1st-level spell fits into a slot of any size [...]

In other words, the phrase "for which you have spell slots" more fully means "for which you have spell slots that the spell can fill."

The rules for Warlock spells known suggests newly gained spells for a Warlock may choose spells that are no higher than what is shown on the table for their level:

The Spells Known column of the Warlock table shows when you learn more warlock spells of your choice of 1st level and higher. A spell you choose must be of a level no higher than what's shown in the table's Slot Level column for your level.

Additionally, when you gain a level in this class, you can choose one of the warlock spells you know and replace it with another spell from the warlock spell list, which also must be of a level for which you have spell slots.

The wording here explicitly states that newly learned spells must be "no higher" than the slot level indicated for your current level on the warlock table.

The subsequent paragraph goes on to say that if you swap a spell out for a new one, that new spell must "also" be of a level for which you have spell slots. The word "also" indicates that it follows the same rules for the new spells (ie, equal to or less than the slot level on the table).

Another way of thinking about this: Classes that must prepare spells from a larger list (Druid, Cleric, Wizard) are told "The spells must be of a level for which you have spell slots." It's the same "for" wording, but no one would argue that these classes must prepare spells of equal (base) level available to them. They are free to choose only lower level spell and upcast them using the available higher level slots.

Altogether, the rules indicate that a Warlock is free to choose any spell that is of a level that is equal to or less than the slot level indicated on the Warlock table, regardless of whether that spell is swapped in or learned in addition to the previously known spells.

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