Warlock Questions (mostly involving Multiclassing/Prestiges)

[Talbot]

So, I've never played a Warlock. I want to, though. But straight Warlock seems kinda bleh. And Hellfire, while powerful, isn't grabbing me either. What I want to do is a cool Warlocky multiclass that still gets up to at least great (and ideally Dark) invocations. So....

How does Warlock interact with/compliment:

Binder?
Shadowcaster (or whatever that other ToM class is. Also, is there something wrong with it? I've like, never, seen it mentioned)
Marshal?
Favored Soul?
Sorc?

And what are the good prestige options for some/all of those multiclasses?

Any cool obscure feats/ACFs for Warlocks I probably don't know about?

[Amnestic]

The Infernal Adept (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/frcc/20070613) feat might be considered 'obscure' to you. It allows you access to some of the Invocations on the DFA list. Might want to consider it.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

So, I've never played a Warlock. I want to, though. But straight Warlock seems kinda bleh. And Hellfire, while powerful, isn't grabbing me either. What I want to do is a cool Warlocky multiclass that still gets up to at least great (and ideally Dark) invocations. So....

How does Warlock interact with/compliment:

Binder?
Shadowcaster (or whatever that other ToM class is. Also, is there something wrong with it? I've like, never, seen it mentioned)
Marshal?
Favored Soul?
Sorc?

And what are the good prestige options for some/all of those multiclasses?

Any cool obscure feats/ACFs for Warlocks I probably don't know about?

Well, I'm glad you asked...

Here's the problem. Warlocks are kind of an odd duck with respect to prestige classes. Unless it's explicitly able to PrC into it, the odds of being able to are slim, which really hampers the utility of a warlock.

Sorcerer and Favored Soul (although why bother when you can have a Spontaneous Variant cleric from the SRD rules?) work well. Eldritch Theurge and Eldritch Disciple respectively lets you do this fairly well.

With Marshall, it's really best if you dip one or the other for various class features (auras from marshall, a least invocation from warlock), because there are no PrC's that give you the ability to synergize the two classes.

Binder and Shadowcaster... Hellfire Naberius combo aside... I'm not very familiar with the classes. However, it seem to me that it's like trying to take two caster classes without using a 'theurge' PrC... both end up completely useless.

[Particle_Man]

Complete Mage has the "heritage feats" if you want to go for Fiendish or Fey heritage that explicitly blends with Warlockness. Not necessarily powerful, but possibly thematic.

Maybe you can talk to your DM about a little reskinning? Same mechanics, but a different flavour to them? Maybe your power source is something different, your powers could be renamed, etc.?

[Urpriest]

Eldritch Disciple is nice, allows you to meld Warlock with Cleric or Ur-priest or the like. But if you don't want to overshadow the warlock side it won't necessarily be your thing.

Marshal generally gets stirred in to Warlock for two purposes: Diplomancers and party support characters. Maximizing Diplomacy involves a bunch of dips, but after the dips progressing as Warlock is an ok choice (though Bard is probably better). As for party support characters, I occasionally see pixies and the like with both Marshal and Warlock as part of a hodgepodge of utility stuff to leverage their racial abilities and minimize the impact of their high LA. Similarly, I might dip both Warlock and Marshal at the end of the Succubus Monster Class.

[true_shinken]

Of your listed options, Favored Soul is your best bet because of Eldritch Disciple. This one of the best prestige classes for a Warlock. It gets even better if you are a melee Warlock - eldritch glaive + Divine Powah is awesome.

[Forged Fury]

Of your listed options, Favored Soul is your best bet because of Eldritch Disciple. This one of the best prestige classes for a Warlock. It gets even better if you are a melee Warlock - eldritch glaive + Divine Powah is awesome.
I don't think Favored Soul works since Eldritch Disciple requires turn undead.

On a side note (say if you went the standard cleric route), could you put Healing Blast on your Eldritch Glaive and heal your companions as a full attack?

[true_shinken]

On a side note (say if you went the standard cleric route), could you put Healing Blast on your Eldritch Glaive and heal your companions as a full attack?
Eldritch glaive is a full-round action, not a full-attack, but yes.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

I don't think Favored Soul works since Eldritch Disciple requires turn undead.

On a side note (say if you went the standard cleric route), could you put Healing Blast on your Eldritch Glaive and heal your companions as a full attack?

Let's see...

EB can have one essence and one shape applied.

Healing Blast is an essence.

Glaive is a shape.

Yep, it checks out. You can heal your allies by hitting them with a lightsaber of positive energy