Do the Hexblade warlock's Hex Warrior feature and the warlock's Pact of the Blade feature refer to 2 different weapons, or the same weapon?

Question

The Hexblade Warlock has me in a bind. The Hex Warrior feature says:

[...] Whenever you finish a long rest, you can touch one weapon that you are proficient with and that lacks the two-handed property. When you attack with that weapon, you can use your Charisma modifier, instead of Strength or Dexterity, for the attack and damage rolls [...]

The Pact of the Blade feature says:

You can use your action to create a pact weapon in your empty hand. You can choose the form that this melee weapon takes each time you create it (see chapter 5 for weapon options). You are proficient with it while you wield it. This weapon counts as magical for the purpose of overcoming resistance and immunity to nonmagical attacks and damage.

Are these two different weapons you can use, or just one? If they are 2 different weapons, can I use my Improved Pact Weapon eldritch invocation on both?

Answer 1

Yes, they can be two separate weapons

Based on your question, I'm assuming you are pulling your Hexblade class out of Unearthed Arcana, instead of Xanathar's Guide.

XGTE adds this clarification:

If you later gain the Pact of the Blade feature, this benefit extends to every pact weapon you conjure with that feature, no matter the weapon’s type.

This raised a further question in someone (same question as yours, actually), which was volleyed up to Jeremy Crawford (Official Voice of Rulings for WotC)

Q: So Hex Warrior, the way it is worded has perked up a question for me. Can you have both a bonded regular/magic weapon and a pact weapon gaining the Cha bonus benefit at the same time?

A: The Hex Warrior feature is intentionally worded to extend its benefit to two potential weapons: the weapon you touch and a pact weapon you conjure.

https://twitter.com/JeremyECrawford/status/930235396792786944

Answer 2

They can be two different weapons.

Hex Warrior (Xanathar's Guide to Everything, p.55)

If you later gain the Pact of the Blade feature, this benefit extends to every pact weapon you conjure with that feature, no matter the weapon's type.

This means every weapon you create with the Pact of the Blade class feature benefits from the Hex Warrior ability. The "If you later" part of the rule is there to cover the fact you gain Hex Warrior at 1st level but gain Pact of the Blade later at 3rd level, if you choose it. It is intended to make the rule clearer, even though it probably achieves the opposite.

The rules do not preclude you from touching a different weapon, one that is not your Pact Weapon, at the end of a long rest and effecting it with the Hex Warrior ability in addition to every Pact Weapon you conjure. It is just that every Pact Weapon is effected, however else you use the ability.

Any magic weapon you make your Pact Weapon is included, Pact of the Blade (PHB p.108) states:

You can transform one magic weapon into your pact weapon by performing a special ritual while you hold the weapon.

as even if it is two handed the Hex Warrior ability "extends to every pact weapon you conjure with that feature, no matter the weapon's type".

As to Improved Pact Weapon (Xanathar's Guide to Everything, p.57):

the weapon gains a +1 bonus to its attack and damage rolls, unless it is a magic weapon that already has a bonus to those rolls

If you take "Improved Pact Weapon" the +1 bonus from this invocation applies to every pact weapon you create and, as it is a different effect to Hex Warrior, they both apply at the same time to a Pact Weapon.

However, as is explicitly stated in the invocation description, if you have made a magic weapon with a magical bonus your pact weapon as above, you do not get this +1, just the bonus from the weapon.

If the Hex Warrior weapon is not a Pact Weapon then the invocation does not extend to it.