High Level Play Advice

[PaintByBlood]

So, I get very into D&D from time to time. Especially during character creation, I read the guides, I read about strategies and things to focus on, all that stuff. I like to think I'm very familiar with a large amount of the system and how it works - however, I've played rather few games of D&D, and the highest character I've ever actually played was level 10 (and that campaign kind of petered out).

Now, I'm making a level 18 character for a published adventure, and I want to ask: can the more experienced players out there give some advice about what to really expect out of high level play?

In part, I have ideas based on optimization guides and such, but I don't know if the concerns there are actually that prevalent, especially in a published adventure. Should I really expect that every enemy I face has true seeing/see invisibility, immunity to fear, high SR... etc?
So, any advice about actual high level play experiences would be greatly appreciated. Not just for this particular instance (Warlock//Binder gestalt in a level 18 published adventure - really we're just looking to mess around with this one anyway) but for high level play in general as well - it is something I'm really lacking a good understanding of, even though I really fancy design and optimization aspects of the game.

[Segev]

Going into a published adventure with no knowledge of things other than that it's high-level, I'd focus on the parts of the guides that talk about defenses first. You want to make sure your AC and saves are in the right ranges for the level (which the guides can help you determine), and then you want to look into the kinds of defenses that protect against save-or-suck effects.

That done, since you're playing a Warlock//Binder, you don't seem to be going for the full tier 1 uberpackage. I think you will get a lot of mileage out of Hellfire Warlock, however, so take all 3 levels of that and make sure to bind Nabaerius for the ability-healing. Other than that, I'd decide what your schtick as a warlock//binder is to be, then follow the guides' advice on how to do that best.

High level play can vary so much that telling you what the published mod will be like is pretty well impossible. But don't be afraid to use your abilities to quickly solve problems, and don't be surprised when quickly solving problems only gets you to bigger problems faster. Well-done high-level games ASSUME you have the high-level powers to do cool stuff, so they almost become "must be this cool to enter" barriers.

[Starmage21]

So, I get very into D&D from time to time. Especially during character creation, I read the guides, I read about strategies and things to focus on, all that stuff. I like to think I'm very familiar with a large amount of the system and how it works - however, I've played rather few games of D&D, and the highest character I've ever actually played was level 10 (and that campaign kind of petered out).

Now, I'm making a level 18 character for a published adventure, and I want to ask: can the more experienced players out there give some advice about what to really expect out of high level play?

In part, I have ideas based on optimization guides and such, but I don't know if the concerns there are actually that prevalent, especially in a published adventure. Should I really expect that every enemy I face has true seeing/see invisibility, immunity to fear, high SR... etc?
So, any advice about actual high level play experiences would be greatly appreciated. Not just for this particular instance (Warlock//Binder gestalt in a level 18 published adventure - really we're just looking to mess around with this one anyway) but for high level play in general as well - it is something I'm really lacking a good understanding of, even though I really fancy design and optimization aspects of the game.

There are certain status effects, that if you do not make yourself immune to, will get you killed before things even start to get interesting. I suggest looking through the list of "Necessary Magic Items", and buying something from every category.

Also, there are builds which are hard to play while leveling up, but really "come-online" as they get higher in level. Some of those wonky prestige classes start to work at this point.

You're also going to notice the differences between the different class tiers much more obviously at this level. Anyone who has ever said "Fighters dont suck", has not played one next to a Warblade at 18th level, or a Warblade next to a Wizard at 18th level. Shapechange alone will invalidate entire classes, and its just a 9th level spell that an incantatrix will have very little trouble making last ALL day.

[PaintByBlood]

Yeah, I'm somewhat intentionally avoiding the very highest tiers. This is partly because I don't want to be the one showing up someone who chooses to be a fighter or similar, and partly because I really want to play with the concept I'm working with.
I've checked out the Lists of Necessary Magic Items, and I have something for or from most of them, though I don't know if I can fit continuous True Seeing, complete continuous Mind Blank (instead I plan on pumping my Will save for now, and I have Slippery Mind so that I can make it twice), or immunity to death effects or stun/daze in at this moment - mostly because I'm sort of out of money. I am doing what I can to keep my saves high, as well as my armor class, and to go first as much as possible
We are working with some Homebrew, which I failed to mention. This is making the Warlock more tolerable by giving it better damage and more invocations (it might even be too much, so it may be tweaked down).

One thing I'm a little concerned about, as a Warlock, is spell resistance. I've done a little bit to pump my SR with some items, so out of the box it should be ~CL(18)+4. I've also picked up a Wand of Assay Resistance for when that isn't enough. Should CL+14 be enough, or should I do some more work there? I do have some invocations for just outright ignoring SR, but I think I'd like to be able to use the ones that don't as well, even if it takes a little effort.

[Vhaidara]

Can you post the houserules you're using for beefing up the warlock?

Also, if you aren't going Hellfire Warlock, SR shouldn't be a problem. Take Vitriolic Blast. It is a great EE invocation, and it ignore SR. Use it against things with SR, and otherwise use Utterdark Blast.

[Segev]

I believe there's a Vestige that gives immunity to stun/daze, but I don't recall who it is other than it being one of those in the Tome of Magic (so not a web supplement or something).

[Starmage21]

Yeah, I'm somewhat intentionally avoiding the very highest tiers. This is partly because I don't want to be the one showing up someone who chooses to be a fighter or similar, and partly because I really want to play with the concept I'm working with.
I've checked out the Lists of Necessary Magic Items, and I have something for or from most of them, though I don't know if I can fit continuous True Seeing, complete continuous Mind Blank (instead I plan on pumping my Will save for now, and I have Slippery Mind so that I can make it twice), or immunity to death effects or stun/daze in at this moment - mostly because I'm sort of out of money. I am doing what I can to keep my saves high, as well as my armor class, and to go first as much as possible
We are working with some Homebrew, which I failed to mention. This is making the Warlock more tolerable by giving it better damage and more invocations (it might even be too much, so it may be tweaked down).

One thing I'm a little concerned about, as a Warlock, is spell resistance. I've done a little bit to pump my SR with some items, so out of the box it should be ~CL(18)+4. I've also picked up a Wand of Assay Resistance for when that isn't enough. Should CL+14 be enough, or should I do some more work there? I do have some invocations for just outright ignoring SR, but I think I'd like to be able to use the ones that don't as well, even if it takes a little effort.

You can cast Mind Blank on yourself, I think it lasts 24 hours already.

Not being immune to death effects means that if you fail a save, you could be sitting out.

[Segev]

True, as a Warlock, you can take 10 on UMD checks. I'd try to find room for a staff of mind blank and death ward. Or at least a few scrolls.

[PaintByBlood]

If you are familiar with the Rebalanced/Rebalancing Compendium, we are using bits and pieces of that - mostly the things that improve classes, feats, and other things rather than any of the parts that balance things downward.
For the Warlock, this prettty much means only this: Eldritch Blast is 1d6 per level (so damage is much less important to increase), an invocation is gained every level, and the Warlock's damage reduction is doubled. They also threw in a few new invocations, some of dubious balance, but I'll mention only the ones that are likely to have any bearing here: one (blast shape) allows you to make a 60ft range touch full attack, one gives 5 + 5 per 3 levels temporary HP (35 at level 18), one (eldritch essense) makes your attacks no-SR and treats them as a magic and piercing weapon, and one (blast shape) gives you a long range 20ft spread.

As said, some of these things are a little questionable, I think, but we'll probably tweak that during play, and I'll try not to abuse the more obvious problems (3 ranged touch iteratives with noxious blast against one enemy feels a little bit unfair).

EDIT: I completely forgot that Mind Blank lasts 24 hours... thank you for pointing that out. We are being very open book with this one, so I think I should be able to get a Minor Schema of Mind Blank...
EDIT 2: Nevermind, I just remembered that they are maximum of 6th level. Still, I'll consider a staff for it.

[Vhaidara]

Okay, yeah, full attack vitriolic will wreck anything with SR (60d6 is nuts). The temp HP one is pretty bad imo. What is the point of the one that makes it magic and piercing? It would actually make it vulnerable to DR, which it normally isn't. By "long range 20ft spread", do basically mean Eldritch Fireball?

[PaintByBlood]

Well, the thing about the temp HP, I think, is that you can put it up any time and it lasts for an hour, so you can basically have a constant boost to your HP that costs you a single (now more common) invocation. Thats why it is in consideration - this is a least invocation, by the way, so it is competing to be one of five with the other least invocations.
I think the idea behind the magic/piercing one is if you ever run into the case of something having high SR and acid immunity - it just acts as another option. That one is a lesser.
And yes, basically Eldritch Fireball.

[Vhaidara]

I'm trying to think of anything with magic immunity that wouldn't have obscene DR. Mostly because magic immunity is largely the purview of golem. And I just remembered 3.5 golems aren't that bad, my GM was just using the 3.0 golems (DR30/+3, for example).

Looking over the revised
As a least, Inhuman toughness is actually solid. Take it.
Shocking Blast. Take it, combine it with AoE Blast Shapes. Entangled is a really good debuff, and the save penalties for metal armor are great.

[PaintByBlood]

Well, I picked up a magic item for 2000gp that lets me entangle those I damage for 1d3 rounds, no save. The cost is half damage (and it gives a tiny bit of extra damage over its duration). However, I'm really a fan of the no save, potentially longer duration, and the ability to use it on /anyone/ (since it will work with the no-SR invocations as well).