More help with a Warlock (3.5)

[Overlord Rion]

So, I'm looking for some help with a Warlock/Mindbender build. He's gotta just the typical PHB Halfling, with the Mindbender thing, feel free to get the recommendations out there.

He's starting at level 6, and here are his stats.

STR-8
DEX-14
CON-18
INT-16
WIS-15
CHA-15

[Zilzmaer]

Switch the Con and Cha. Extra HP is good, but not as good as save DCs and getting through SR.

[Keneth]

How did you get your abilities into negatives? :smalltongue:

Jokes aside, those are some crazy stats, I'm guessing you rolled them and can only be shuffled around? Or are they completely static? Personally I would put 18 in Dex, you'll be using it a lot if you're gonna be blasting and the bonus to AC and Ref saves is cool. Put 16 in Cha because it modifies your DC which is nice since you won't be going for a straight up damage build (although it has no effect on SR unlike what the above poster said). You can also switch Dex and Cha, but since the DC is the only thing you really get out of it, I don't think it's a better idea (you'll be maxing Cha by other means anyway). 18 in Con is nice but somewhat wasteful unless you're gonna be in thick of things the whole time, 15 should be enough and you can bump it up to 16 once you get an ability increase (the rest should probably go into Cha or Dex).

Seeing how you're gonna have telepathy, you'll probably want to take the Mindsight feat, and since you'll be using Charm a lot, you'll also need Ability Focus (Charm) and later (Dominate). Combat style is more or less up to you, but you'll probably get best results out of eldritch glaive and weapon finesse. The remaining feats you'll probably want to invest into extra invocations since you'll be missing several warlock levels.

[Diarmuid]

Switch the Con and Cha. Extra HP is good, but not as good as save DCs and getting through SR.

Charisma has nothing to do with bypassing SR for 'locks.

[Yorrin]

As the above have said, if you can rearrange your stats, for a warlock Dex>Con/Cha>Int>Wis>Str.

And mindsight is almost mandatory as your level 6 feat. Beyond that? I'd pick up point blank shot and precise shot with your other two feats to make best use of your EB. But playing a warlock is all about your invocation selection. What do you want to be good at? If you're going for a combat focus then Baleful Utterance is a pretty solid choice. Spiderwalk is always a good call for mobility. See the Unseen is quite useful in many situations. Darkness+Devil's Sight makes for a nasty combo, especially when combined with the Darkness feats from DotU. So yeah, lots of options.

[OracleofSilence]

Uh, Cha is still what warlocks saves are based off of. And small question. After you finish Mindbender with that irst level what do you want from your classes? I mean there are the simple things like:

Urlocks (Warlock 5/Mindbender 1/Urpriest 2/Eldtritch Disciple 9/Hellfire Warlock 3 (this might be spread around))

Clawlocks (any of the builds with Eldritch Claws) and Glaivelocks (Warlock 5/Mindbender 1/Someprestigeclassthatisusefull 4/Hellfire Warlock 3/Legacy Champion 7 for really really really obsence damage)

But there are also (less effective things) like charmlocks (focuses on social crap and using their charms needs more stuff to work, hell maybe it even uses more Mindbender), and fearlocks (using fear blasts and fear based PrC's that help them).

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Your stats are going to be determined by what you plan on doing with this character.

Do you plan on just doing damage, or do you plan on doing things that are going to be requiring saves?

If you don't pick up any invocations that allow a save, Charisma is pointless, and can be safely dropped. If you do, then it will be necessary.

Dex, however, should probably be your highest stat. It determines your ranged attack bonus (for your Eldritch Blast), bonus to AC (since you're in Light armor anyways), and Reflex saves.

Your next highest stat should be Charisma, if you plan on doing save-based invocations, or Con if not.

Your third highest stat should be the other of Con/Cha, whichever you didn't choose previously.

The rest can be safely dumped.

So you're going Warlock6/Mindbender1? Then Mindsight will be your 9th level feat. You won't qualify for Mindbender until you get the Charm Invocation, which you can't get until Warlock6.

What do you plan on doing after that? As a halfling, you can't go Chameleon, however the stat bonuses were definitely worth it.

HFW is always the most commonly suggested path from here, simply because it lets you deal relevant damage. However, YMMV. Not everyone likes it.

[nedz]

But there are also (less effective things) like charmlocks (focuses on social crap and using their charms needs more stuff to work, hell maybe it even uses more Mindbender), and fearlocks (using fear blasts and fear based PrC's that help them).

There's also FeyLock
Half Fey 1/Warlock 4/Mindbender 1/ etc.

Half Fey racial class from Savage Species (available online) gives Charm Person SLA at will, Dex +2, Cha +2, Con -2, and a bunch of other SLAs. CL is Character level for the Half Fey SLAs.
There is a second level, which can be taken at anytime (possibly never) which grants more SLAs, Wis +2, Cha +2, and Wings (2x land speed)

This build costs you a couple of levels, but gives you lots of flexibility - though mainly in the enchantment area.

Note
Half Fey 1/X 4/Mindbender 1/ is also possible, even if X is something quite mundane.