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Desmond Tiny
2010-01-07, 06:10 PM
How would you optimise a warlock? What invocations and feats would you choose? What prcs would you get into?

Lysander
2010-01-07, 06:16 PM
Fell Flight and Walk Unseen are must-haves. Flee The Scene is also very nice.

Zaydos
2010-01-07, 06:18 PM
What do you want defense, offense or what?

HCL
2010-01-07, 06:20 PM
Hellfire warlock and either a binder dip for naberius or Shape Soulmeld: Strongheart vest

that gives you something like +6d6 eldritch blast damage. Get the invocation that bestows negative levels and the one that turns it into a cone. That takes care of blasting.

You are also going to want a bunch of utility things, like the fly invocation.

And optimize your UMD/UPD checks. Taking Shape Soulmeld: Mage's specacles gives you +4. If you max it each level and have good charisma and take 10 it should be easy to hit DC20 for wands, and you can use the occasional scroll and do some crafting as well.

Blas_de_Lezo
2010-01-07, 06:45 PM
Fell flight will save your ass so many times that you'll regret doing the question.:smallbiggrin:

I played a warlock 3.5 sime time ago. Baleful Utterance was one of the best choices I made. Each time an armed enemy appeared, I just shuttered his weapon to one hundred pieces.

Ravens_cry
2010-01-07, 07:10 PM
Fell flight will save your ass so many times that you'll regret doing the question.:smallbiggrin:

I played a warlock 3.5 sime time ago. Baleful Utterance was one of the best choices I made. Each time an armed enemy appeared, I just shuttered his weapon to one hundred pieces.
Yeah, but now your fellow PC's are gonna be a wee bit POed.

oxybe
2010-01-07, 07:27 PM
you can easily have a hellfire warlock flying about in mithril fullplate, with a mithril buckler with no fail chance, eldrich glaive-ing anyone who dares piss him off.

+5 mithril full plate (+13), mithril buckler (+6), +3 dex mod (10 dex+6 item), some natural armor/deflection boosts and you're hitting the high ACs of a fighter.

a hellfire empowered eldrich glaive can deal 15d6 VS melee touch AC with a 10 ft reach at BAB 14/9/4. note that there is a maximize spell-like feat so you can deal 90 damage x3 with ease. more if you use things like the greater chausible of fell power, gloves of eldrich admixture, warlock's scepter. together can let you deal 3 instances of 150 damage.

also note you're flying+invis or greater invis at this point. with a rod of silence (MiC, silence that only effects the user) you can do this quietly.

warlocks do have lots of tricks, they just take time to gather since your invocations are gained slowly

Zevox
2010-01-07, 07:32 PM
I played a warlock 3.5 sime time ago. Baleful Utterance was one of the best choices I made. Each time an armed enemy appeared, I just shuttered his weapon to one hundred pieces.
...so, you never faced opponents with magic weapons? :smallconfused:

Anyway, I'm currently playing a Warlock myself, and agree with most of the suggestions thus far. Fell Flight, Walk Unseen, and so on are all good invocation choices, and UMD is pretty much their claim-to-fame skill with the Decieve Item and Imbue Item class features (speaking of which, item creation feats are also nice to have at level 12+, assuming your DM gives you crafting time). Also, Vitrolic Blast is a must-have - ignoring SR and leaving persistent damage is very nice, and acid resistance is rare enough that you shouldn't have to worry about it much.

High ranks in bluff, intimidate, and some cross-class in diplomacy, plus the beguiling influence invocation is also a good idea. With the kind of bluff check you can get with that and the high charisma you'll want anyway, you can convince just about anyone of just about anything.

Voracious Dispelling/Devour Magic are also good, with the latter replacing the former once you get access to it. Frees up the rest of the party's casters from the need to prepare any (Greater) Dispel Magic spells, if nothing else.

Also, Chausible of (Greater) Fell Power. You can't go wrong with a permanent boost to your Eldritch Blast damage output.

Zevox

mabriss lethe
2010-01-07, 07:42 PM
There are several types of warlock you can play, and over time you might be able to mix and match some of the ideas into a single character. Here's just a quick, off the cuff list of various build directions you can take a warlock.

Glaivelock: a build designed for close combat using the eldritch glaive invocation.

Feylock: uses the Fey Heritage feats from Complete Mage to very good effect. (Improved DR, some useful 1/SLAs and a boost to your invocation DCs....)

Shadowlock: Uses the feats from Drow of the Underdark to get Hide in Plain sight at 1st level (must take Darkness as an invocation.) Great when combined with sneak attack sources.

Craftlock: Focuses on item creation, usually has a 2 level dip in Chameleon to get that nice floating feat. (chameleon is an amazing prestige class for warlocks anyway.)

Hellfire warlock: Prestige class,you blow stuff up real good. Need a dip into binder to really make it work well.

Wings of Peace
2010-01-07, 07:53 PM
The usual tricks some of which have been mentioned:

-Hellfire Warlock 3 + Nebarius Bind/Strongheart Vest = 6d6 More Damage

-Ur-Priest 2 + Eldritch Disciple 8 = Turning and Divine Spells


Personal Favorite Trick:

-Mindbender 1 + Mindsight = MASSIVE/120ft. area Blindsight

AirGuitarGod32
2010-01-07, 08:01 PM
I second the idea of a Silverbrow Human Hellfire Glaivelock for some serious damage.

oxybe
2010-01-07, 08:23 PM
The usual tricks some of which have been mentioned:

-Hellfire Warlock 3 + Nebarius Bind/Strongheart Vest = 6d6 More Damage

-Ur-Priest 2 + Eldritch Disciple 8 = Turning and Divine Spells


Personal Favorite Trick:

-Mindbender 1 + Mindsight = MASSIVE/120ft. area Blindsight

it's not really blindsight, more like radarsight. you still can't "see" the enemy, you just know which square they're in, their int score and creature type. this will allow you some idea what you're fighting but if they're invisible or whatever, you're out of luck. this is where See the Unseen & Devil's Sight come into play: see invis+true darkvision+30ft magical darkvision.

another funny ones: Devil's Sight+eldrich blast/glaive+the darkness invocation targeting self. bamf! no one can see 5 ft in front of them while i cut them up into ribbons outside of their vision.

Optimystik
2010-01-08, 01:15 AM
Bard 1/Warlock 8/Eldritch Theurge 1/Sublime Chord 1/ET +9. 9th-level spells, 2 Dark invocations, 8d6 Eldritch Blast. Practiced Caster fills the CL gap; Song of Arcane Power demolishes it. Use Precocious Apprentice and Sanctum Spell to qualify for SC.

ShneekeyTheLost
2010-01-08, 01:55 AM
another funny ones: Devil's Sight+eldrich blast/glaive+the darkness invocation targeting self. bamf! no one can see 5 ft in front of them while i cut them up into ribbons outside of their vision.

Darkness only grants concealment, does not block line of sight. At least, not without shenanigans.

Krazddndfreek
2010-01-08, 02:00 AM
But you could get Breath of the Night and which summons a Fog Cloud(they block LOS).

ShneekeyTheLost
2010-01-08, 02:03 AM
But you could get Breath of the Night and which summons a Fog Cloud(they block LOS).

yes, but Devil's Sight doesn't penetrate Fog Cloud, just Darkness

Krazddndfreek
2010-01-08, 02:05 AM
Eh well, in that case, Darkness is far more worth it anyway, even if it doesn't block LOS.

AslanCross
2010-01-08, 02:12 AM
UMD is probably the best way of doing this. You can get so much mileage out of that one skill.

gorfnab
2010-01-08, 02:26 AM
The usual tricks some of which have been mentioned:

-Hellfire Warlock 3 + Nebarius Bind/Strongheart Vest = 6d6 More Damage

-Ur-Priest 2 + Eldritch Disciple 8 = Turning and Divine Spells


Why not both?
Warlock 4/ Binder 1/ Ur-Priest 2/ Eldritch Disciple 10/ Hellfire Warlock 3
Divine Power +Eldritch Glaive +Hellfire is very nice.

Biffoniacus_Furiou
2010-01-08, 03:02 AM
I'm a big fan of Eldritch Chain + Beshadowed Blast, though that's a bit of a holdover from when CA was the only source of Warlock material and optimizing damage wasn't an option.

The feats Fey Heritage, Fey Power, and Fey Skin from CM are nice to have. Flyby Attack is the Warlock's Natural Spell, you take it at level 6. Ability Focus: Eldritch Blast adds +2 DC to any Eldritch Essence you use.

Incorrect
2010-01-08, 05:12 AM
On early levels take the summon swarm one. Swarm are nasty!

Tokiko Mima
2010-01-08, 06:21 AM
I always recommend Pixie as a race for a warlock.
Yes, they are LA +4 but their ability modifiers, size, special abilities, SLA's, bonus feats, movement modes, and lack of racial hit die makes them synergize almost perfectly as warlocks.
They get Greater invisibility as a free action and 60' native flight, which is like getting better versions of Fell Flight and Retributive Invisibility for free at ECL 5.
Because it has innate spell-like abilities, Pixie also qualifies you for Supernatural Transformation feat from Savage Species. Snag it for one of the best ways to make your Eldritch Blast immune to spell resistance (that's three reasonably high level warlock invocations Pixies can snag at level one, if you're keeping count.)
Greater Invisibility is awesome for any warlock, because it takes the dexterity+dodge bonuses out of the touch attack AC so you'll autohit as soon as you overcome size mod+10. They get Weapon Finesse as a racial bonus feat which means your Eldritch Blast attack bonus is based on Dexterity... the same Dexterity they have a +8 racial bonus to. And pixies can cast/suppress it as a free action, allowing them to become living strobe lights. :smalltongue:
They're great at air superiority. Most methods of flight can be dispelled, but not a Pixies... when you add that to a potential for limitless dispelling... :smalltongue:

If you want to take the Darkness invocation, there's a nice feat in Drow of the Underdark that makes it an immediate action to cast. Another feat from the same book lets you hide in plain sight as a swift action anywhere within 10' of an area of magical darkness, and another lets you buff your hide checks with it. You can get a lot of mileage out of that one invocation, even if it's not fantastic on it's own merits.

Personally, if you go the Hellfire Glaivelock route, I say ignore Binder and Stongheart Vest. HFGL is kind of like an uber charger, you can count of whatever you hit being dead next round. You usually have more than enough time to use something cheap like a Rod of Bodily Restoration from Magic Item Compendium. Don't forget the Hellfire Shield too! It's fun to add reactive damage whenever someone tries to hit you.

Try to pick up at least one of dispel magic invocation, preferably one that allows counterspelling at a range (e.g. Voracious Dispelling, Caster's Lament, etc.) Unless the caster you're engaged with has focused on raising their counterspelling ability (and most NPC's haven't in my experience) you can lock down enemy mages while your allies close in or trigger some magical traps from a distance.

The best first level invocation is Summon Swarm. It doesn't seem like it but when you analyze how tough a swarm is at early levels versus other options for dealing damage, it sells itself. It does lose some steam later on because of it's low damage output, so count on it being the first invocation you trade in for another (usually Eldritch Glaive! :smallsmile: )

Solid feats for you to take to do damage include Quicken SLA, Empower SLA, and Maximize SLA (Complete Arcane.) You can apply all of these 3/day, and if you're feeling like going nova, they can all be applied to the same Blast/Glaive. For Hellfire Glaivelocks, truly ridiculous damage can be obtained by using these three feats together with a Hellfire Glaive and a pre-self buffing of Divine Power. It hits for something like 8 attacks of your Eldritch damage maximized + 50% of normal Eldritch damage + your Hellfire damage maximized + 50% of your normal Hellfire damage, each. OW! :smalleek:

Always remember that Eldritch Glaive is an invocation, not a weapon attack. This is both a blessing and a curse in some ways. Haste doesn't add an extra Glaive attack like it would to a weapon's full attack, but at the same time you can apply meta-SLA's to your entire full attack. Be aware that you'll need to make a Concentration check if you use any warlock invocation in a threatened space, so that skill will be important.

Vizzerdrix
2010-01-08, 06:44 AM
If you want to go pixie without the nasty +4 LA, Monte Cook's Arcana Unearthed (NOT Unearthed Arcana) has the Faen Race. They can turn into a spryte (Tiny flying with a few SLAs) and take the Spryte Racial class (3 levels. Gives better flight, better SLAs and they count towards caster levels). They make scary good Tricklocks.

UA Generic Expert-1/ Warlock-1/Generic Expert-1/ Spryte Racial class-3/Arcane Trickster-10/Hellfire Warlock-3/Binder-1.

Taken in that order, you must loose your 3rd HD feat to become a Spryte, but UA Expert-2 will give you a feat so take flyby attack. You will also need to take the feat that grants Mage Hand as a SLA (out of Comp. Arcana). By sixth level your like a stealth bomber, strafing the battle field, blasting key targets and quickly moving out of range of retaliations. Or your sitting above the field, countering casters by readying actions to drop thunderstones on them for fun.

By 20th level, your the Death Star, only without that annoying vent that got the original blown up. Hellfire sneak attacking rays from above. No pesky LA or racial HD to get in the way of your fun either.

The White Knight
2010-01-08, 05:29 PM
Why not both?
Warlock 4/ Binder 1/ Ur-Priest 2/ Eldritch Disciple 10/ Hellfire Warlock 3
Divine Power +Eldritch Glaive +Hellfire is very nice.

I think I love this build, conceptually and mechanically. Requires a bit of a fluff stretch on the Ur-Priest vs. Eldritch Disciple RP-requirements, but nothing any sane DM wouldn't compromise on. If only it had more than just the one Dark invocation...

Prime32
2010-01-08, 05:46 PM
Warlock handbook (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=2915.0)
</thread>

Optimystik
2010-01-08, 05:52 PM
Warlock handbook (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=2915.0)
</thread>

Very happy to be proven wrong. :smallsmile:

Also, the flavor behind the halfling warlock made me LOL. "My ancestor pulled a fast one on an archdevil" indeed!

EDIT: Reading through it - I didn't realize Xeph's made such good Warlocks. Better than elves even. Psionic Shot line is great for a lock.

Telonius
2018-02-12, 03:29 PM
EDIT: Gah, please ignore! Posted in the wrong one...

ayvango
2018-02-13, 06:46 AM
...so, you never faced opponents with magic weapons? :smallconfused:
Relentlessly dispel them and baleful utterance them after that