What broken warlock builds are there?

[CaDzilla]

I want to know some warlock builds that are incredibly overpowered

[Chronos]

You can be incredibly overpowered at level 1 by taking the Summon Swarm invocation. Hit up to four adjacent enemies at once, while avoiding friendlies, from range, with 1d6 damage that avoids attack rolls or saving throws, and simultaneously force two different save-or-suck effects, one of which you can choose. Oh, yeah, and you can also get around invisibility or hiding. And do this every single round of the day.

It doesn't keep up at higher levels, but for a level 1 character, that's pretty amazing.

[paperarmor]

Glaive/clawlocks are pretty strong though not broken. Most of the "Brokeness" of warlocks involes the use of Imbue Item which lets them sub a UMD check, that they can take ten on with decieve Item, to craft without knowing the spell (but they need to know the item creation feat)

[nedz]

The short answer to your question is: not many.

Warlock 12 / Chameleon 2 is well known.

Warlock 12 gives you Imbue Item whilst Chameleon 2 gives you a floating feat. On combat days you use the floating feat to choose an invocation of your choice via Extra Invocation (or whatever you want really); on down time days you choose an item creation feat of your choice and become an artificer.

[Socratov]

The short answer to your question is: not many.

Warlock 12 / Chameleon 2 is well known.

Warlock 12 gives you Imbue Item whilst Chameleon 2 gives you a floating feat. On combat days you use the floating feat to choose an invocation of your choice via Extra Invocation (or whatever you want really); on down time days you choose an item creation feat of your choice and become an artificer.

This. Use this to make a candle of invocation and start the whole wish abuse thing. You see, as long as there is a spell that does what you want to do (and if that doesn't work there is always Wish to do what you want) you can make it. Either in wand form, scroll form, or in rings, pendants, headbands, you name it.

Also, you know how useful Shatter is? Well, at lvl 1 you can do it all day, every day. Also, at lvl 1 you can get bluff up to +10 before charisma bonus and rolling. That's rather good for a lvl 1 character. Besides, the buffs are rather nice and last 24 hours.

then there is the fact that with the warforged race combined with Warlock you are literally a never ending machine. You don't get fatigued, you don't run out of spells, you can go on indefinitely. The question is, is it broken? Short answer: no. It is contested whether Warlock is T3 or T4, but everything it does is nice, yet not breaking the game in any way. Wizards, Clerics and Druids break the game way worse then that and even though the warlock can go on ad infinitum, it matters little when others have the option of retreating to extradimensional space.

[SinsI]

Warlock 12 with Scribe Scroll feat that has Charisma>=10 and full ranks in UMD is almost as powerful as Wizard 17 that knows every Arcane spell in existence.

[Dr. Cliché]

You can be incredibly overpowered at level 1 by taking the Summon Swarm invocation. Hit up to four adjacent enemies at once, while avoiding friendlies

How do you avoid friendlies with it?

[CyberThread]

Zubat repellent .

[Grod_The_Giant]

You can be mighty strong at the lowest levels, as has been mentioned. At higher levels, you can be a cut-rate artificer (Warlock 12 / Chameleon 2 with all the feats to make crafting cheaper), but that's about it. And even that is pretty cut-rate, since you don't get the refillable crafting reserve, dedicated wright*, or ability to add metamagic to your scrolls and wands. Honestly, most warlock optimization is dedicated to getting them level-APPROPRIATE damage/options.


Warlock 12 with Scribe Scroll feat that has Charisma>=10 and full ranks in UMD is almost as powerful as Wizard 17 that knows every Arcane spell in existence.
Except that it costs him gold and experience and time to "prepare" his spells.


*Not without blowing three feats on it, at least.

[nedz]

How do you avoid friendlies with it?

It has Duration:Concentration, whilst the spell has Duration:Concentration+2, so whilst you might occasionally hit friendlies with it you can sort out the mess as effectively a free action.

[Ruethgar]

If you want to be powerful from a damage point of view, Strongheart Vest, Major Bloodline, Uncanny Trickster, Hellfire Warlock. You can now attack for 22d6(plus the actual damage from EB) every round with irresistible damage.

Edit: it is third party, however I might as well mention it. AEG Dragons has optional dragon versions of the base classes, intended for true dragons but accessible to all dragons, I'm looking at you Kobold. The sorcerer one lets you, at level three, convert your SLAs into sorcerer spell slots. Although this is better and more fluff appropriate for a DFA(one level dip for third level invocation), both classes are viable for providing infinite spell slots.

[Psyren]

Urlock and Shairlock are both T1, though to be fair that isn't due to the "warlock."

[Urpriest]

There's the whole interpretation that you can combine Summon Swarm and Dark Speech using the BoVD Hive Mind rules to get a minion with epic level Sorceror casting.

I'm pretty thoroughly convinced that it doesn't work for several reasons, but if you want a "broken" (as opposed to "strong") warlock that's the way to do it.

[Socratov]

If you want to be powerful from a damage point of view, Strongheart Vest, Major Bloodline, Uncanny Trickster, Hellfire Warlock. You can now attack for 22d6(plus the actual damage from EB) every round with irresistible damage.

Edit: it is third party, however I might as well mention it. AEG Dragons has optional dragon versions of the base classes, intended for true dragons but accessible to all dragons, I'm looking at you Kobold. The sorcerer one lets you, at level three, convert your SLAs into sorcerer spell slots. Although this is better and more fluff appropriate for a DFA(one level dip for third level invocation), both classes are viable for providing infinite spell slots.

Strongheart vest is no longer an option since the FAQ caught up with it. 1 lvl of binder and binding Naberius is still valid, however, as is a a wand of vigor.


Would the strongheart vest soulmeld (MoI 89) protect you from the ability damage of the hellfire warlock’s hellfire blast ability (FCII 90)?
The strongheart vest soulmeld reduces the amount of ability damage you receive from an attack; however, it does not keep you safe from the costs of hellfire blast because the ability damage you are taking is not from someone attacking you.

source (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/er/20070731a)

[Anlashok]

or ability to add metamagic to your scrolls and wands.

You can put metamagic on wands by default though. Says so on the SRD.

[Urpriest]

You can put metamagic on wands by default though. Says so on the SRD.

Not when creating them, when casting from them.

[Stella]

Not when creating them, when casting from them.
The exact opposite.

The modifications made by these feats only apply to spells cast directly by the feat user. A spellcaster can’t use a metamagic feat to alter a spell being cast from a wand, scroll, or other device.

With the right item creation feat, you can store a metamagic version of a spell in a scroll, potion, or wand. Level limits for potions and wands apply to the spell’s higher spell level (after the application of the metamagic feat). A character doesn’t need the metamagic feat to activate an item storing a metamagic version of a spell.

[Divide by Zero]

Strongheart vest is no longer an option since the FAQ caught up with it. 1 lvl of binder and binding Naberius is still valid, however, as is a a wand of vigor.


Would the strongheart vest soulmeld (MoI 89) protect you from the ability damage of the hellfire warlock’s hellfire blast ability (FCII 90)?
The strongheart vest soulmeld reduces the amount of ability damage you receive from an attack; however, it does not keep you safe from the costs of hellfire blast because the ability damage you are taking is not from someone attacking you.

source (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/er/20070731a)
I call shenanigans:

Any time you would take ability damage, such as Constitution damage or Strength damage, the amount of the damage is reduced by 1 point, to a minimum of 0.
Nothing about "from someone attacking you" in there. This is why the FAQ is so ill-regarded.

[SinsI]

Except that it costs him gold and experience and time to "prepare" his spells.
*Not without blowing three feats on it, at least.

Quill of crafting doesn't require any feats;
Brokenness is defined by how overpowered your abilities are, not by how much you have to pay for using them or how often you can use them.

[Karnith]

The exact opposite.
No, Urpriest and Grod are saying that Artificers have the ability to add metamagic to wands and scrolls at the time of casting, via the Metamagic Spell Trigger and Metamagic Spell Completion class abilities, whereas in most other situations a character would need to create the item using the metamagic'd spell. Which is an advantage that Artificers have over Warlocks.

[Stella]

Ah, gotcha. The way it read to me I thought they were saying that metamagic couldn't be included when a wand was crafted, and that metamagic could be added when a wand was used (with no mention of any exceptions).

[Socratov]

I call shenanigans:

Nothing about "from someone attacking you" in there. This is why the FAQ is so ill-regarded.

you may call it whatever you want, I stand by naberius being the better option. From my quote collection:

Psyren as a fiendish soul connoiseur:

I see Incarnum as being like tofu. Sure you can shape it to look like a steak, and even add steak flavoring, but it's never going to be a steak.

call me stupid, but if I was a devil/fiend, I wouldn't settle for tofu, I'd want the bloody prime cut. Well, I wouldn't accept tofu anyway, I like meat way too much for that. And seeing how Hellfire stems from sacrificing part of your soul (con score) I'd rule that tofu just won't do. Just plain regenerating your mojo would be fabulous though, might even got you a storyhook for a deal with the proverbial devils. I'd even include te regen ability in the bind vestige feat (depending on group balance). But I think the Strongheart Vest just doesn't cut it. but then again, this is a debate that has been literally going on since FCII has been published. Nobody in the meantime has found the definite answer.

[Optimator]

It makes perfect sense why the Strongheart Vest doesn't work with Hellfire and Naberius does. The vest prevents the damage and Naberius heals it right after. Clear cut and I can't conceive how anyone could view it as otherwise.

Anyway, mixing Warlock, Chameleon, Ur-Priest, and Eldritch Disciple makes for a very powerful and flavorful character--I'd say that's as "broken" as it can get. The early to mid teen levels will make you feel like a god.

[Rijan_Sai]

It makes perfect sense why the Strongheart Vest doesn't work with Hellfire and Naberius does. The vest prevents the damage and Naberius heals it right after. Clear cut and I can't conceive how anyone could view it as otherwise.

It has to do with the fluff aspect of using the "soul energies of all sentient creatures; living, dead and...not yet born" to "feed" the hellfire, rather then your own.

Actually seems right up the alley of an "Oathbreaker" who is already dealing with fiendish entities for power to "cheat" by using someone else's soul...

[Taveena]

It has to do with the fluff aspect of using the "soul energies of all sentient creatures; living, dead and...not yet born" to "feed" the hellfire, rather then your own.

Actually seems right up the alley of an "Oathbreaker" who is already dealing with fiendish entities for power to "cheat" by using someone else's soul...

Unless you're using Necrocarnum, which the vest explicitly isn't, then you're not using souls, you're using vague potential soul energy. It's like feeding someone a plate of grass and claiming that because a cow COULD come as a result, it's as good as a piece of steak.

[Rijan_Sai]

Unless you're using Necrocarnum, which the vest explicitly isn't, then you're not using souls, you're using vague potential soul energy. It's like feeding someone a plate of grass and claiming that because a cow COULD come as a result, it's as good as a piece of steak.

You could see it that way, but you could also say that, normally, you are giving up some of your own "soul energy." It just happens to be a "formed" soul, rather then the "unformed" souls that a shaped Soulmeld is...

Basically, rather then the steak/tofu comparison, it's more like a cookie (your soul/CON) vs. cookie dough (incarnum)! I'm sure that there are some fiends that would be quite happy with cookie dough... **mmm...cookie dough...**

All that said, I would still advocate for Binder/Naberius, as it is without question.

[Snowbluff]

I'm all for strongheart vest.

Anywho, Warlock can enter Anima Mage at level 2 with some finagling.

[Andezzar]

Strongheart vest is no longer an option since the FAQ caught up with it. 1 lvl of binder and binding Naberius is still valid, however, as is a a wand of vigor. How does the vigor spell help? it grants fast healing 2 it does nothing to ability damage.

[Psyren]

I think he means wand of lesser restoration.

[Andezzar]

I think he means wand of lesser restoration.If that is the case, go for an eternal wand or two. In the long run it will be cheaper.

[nedz]

If that is the case, go for an eternal wand or two. In the long run it will be cheaper.

Except that you tend to need Lesser Restoration in bursts: so on a typical day you will need 0 castings, but if you've been fighting some creatures which damage abilities then you might need 10 charges.

[Chronos]

An eternal wand or two might not be enough, depending on how often he uses hellfire, and in the long run, the cost of the regular wand will disappear into neglibleness.

[Andezzar]

I thought it was to compensate the STR damage from the Hellfire blast. On average you can heal the damage of 5 blasts/day with one eternal wand.

[Psyren]

I thought it was to compensate the STR damage from the Hellfire blast. On average you can heal the damage of 5 blasts/day with one eternal wand.

Con damage actually - much more dangerous.

5 blasts is probably a single combat encounter assuming you are blasting every round.

[Andezzar]

Of course, I confused that with (Greater) Luminous Armor.

5 rounds is a pretty long combat. With some blast shapes that let you affect more than one creature you should be fine.

[nedz]

Of course, I confused that with (Greater) Luminous Armor.

5 rounds is a pretty long combat. With some blast shapes that let you affect more than one creature you should be fine.

Depends on the game, in my games 5 rounds is not long. Also, how many encounters per day ? Also: game dependant.
You could go with one of each, but there again they are quite cheap.

[Chronos]

One also presumes that if you're going warlock to begin with, it's because you want to be able to handle many encounters per day. Hellfire without Naberius kind of defeats the purpose.

[Andezzar]

Yup. if you want to do the hellfire blast all day long, get a level of binder, if you want it as an occasional damage boost, get some way to have lesser restoration cast on you.

[Necroticplague]

It makes perfect sense why the Strongheart Vest doesn't work with Hellfire and Naberius does. The vest prevents the damage and Naberius heals it right after. Clear cut and I can't conceive how anyone could view it as otherwise.

I view it otherwise because I see fluff as mutable. That hellfire blast might be a bargain with the devil manifesting. It also might just be you burning yourself out to add a bit more "oomph" into it. Thus, I don't consider the fluff aspect of using the strongheart vest to be of any relevance to whether it works within the rules. However, working form a mechanics view, both work perfectly. Strongheart vest reduces ability damage (including CON damage) by one. Hellfire Blast only checks for 2 things; immunity to con damage, and a constitution score. Assuming you already meet both those conditions, adding a Strongheart Vest does not modify them (it neither removes your CON score, nor does it make you immune to ability damage). Thus, you take damage, which is reduced to zero.

[Jagernaut]

Yup. if you want to do the hellfire blast all day long, get a level of binder, if you want it as an occasional damage boost, get some way to have lesser restoration cast on you.

Pretty sure Warlocks qualify for Obtain Familiar and Improved Familiar. I always found the idea of a Hellfire Warlock with an Imp familiar appealing. Plus the Imp can use your UMD skill for wands of lesser restoration.

[aleucard]

As far as out-and-out nukes are concerned, there's really not that much aside from Imbue Item, and Artificer probably does every application of that better anyway. Hellfire Claw/Glaivelock and similar are pretty good for damage once you get some method to mitigate Con damage that your DM agrees will work for it, but it's not going to be anything special if you're in a game where Uberchargers and similar are in evidence. Your best bet is probably going full-tilt on the Energizer Bunny from Hell schtick and getting something for HP regen, boosting your stealth chops, and using Guerrilla tactics whenever possible; that way, you minimize damage, and have enough time to let your regen patch you back up for the next pass. It's not party-friendly, though, so you're going to be looking a lot like a more glowy Rogue in most engagements if you go this route. Again, Chameleon 2 helps in almost every way, giving some minor utility in having access to quite literally every SL 0-2 Arcane and Divine spell with Wizard preparation for the former and Cleric preparation for the latter (though again with access to every divine spell in the book that is SL0-2), and obviously the floating feat that lets you have access to any Invocation up to 1 level under your current max (isn't there a feat that allows access to DFA invocations?) as well as basically every feat you could possibly want given 24 hours notice. Taking the PrC further makes you less of a Warlock and more of a Chameleon with some good all-day utility, though. If you're only interested in Warlock for Imbue Item, though, go nuts.

[Andezzar]

Your best bet is probably going full-tilt on the Energizer Bunny from Hell schtick and getting something for HP regen, boosting your stealth chops, and using Guerrilla tactics whenever possible; that way, you minimize damage, and have enough time to let your regen patch you back up for the next pass.Pixie Hellfire warlock sniper?

[Snowbluff]

Everyone sing along this time.

"Hellfire does not work with eldritch claws."

[aleucard]

Pixie Hellfire warlock sniper?

....... Call it Tinkerbell. DO IT. >XD :smallbiggrin:

[Mato]

Nothing about "from someone attacking you" in there. This is why the FAQ is so ill-regarded.

When you are struck by an attack that would damage your ability scores, a wave of incarnum energy passes through you, blunting the effectiveness of the attack.The FAQ is ill-regarded because people like to half read a subject and refuse to admit their idea of it isn't what the entry attempts to explain. Please take a moment and watch the video in my signature and learn the first of the many reasons why our justice system uses judges and juries are final say on "written rules".

At the topic it's self, I'm a huge fan of hellfire of course. Legacy champion and uncanny trickster grant virtual hellfire levels and the blast scales per level accordingly. An often overlooked choice is crawling eye and disembodied hand. Both of can be obtains at level 6 and with them you can adventure by proxy. They have no limit on range or duration so you can chill at the inn and TPKs at best dazzle you for a few hours.

[Andezzar]

....... Call it Tinkerbell. DO IT. >XD :smallbiggrin:

I'm pretty sure it's been done already. At the moment I cannot find pixie builds with Hellfire Warlock.

[Psyren]

The FAQ is ill-regarded because people like to half read a subject and refuse to admit their idea of it isn't what the entry attempts to explain. Please take a moment and watch the video in my signature and learn the first of the many reasons why our justice system uses judges and juries are final say on "written rules".

But but flavor text rabble rabble (sarcasm, I'm on your side here.)

[Chronos]

Quoth NecroticPlague:

Hellfire Blast only checks for 2 things; immunity to con damage, and a constitution score.
It says "immunity to this con damage". The con damage from Hellfire Warlock comes one point at a time, thus, reducing the damage you take by 1 makes you immune to it.

[Andezzar]

It says "immunity to this con damage". The con damage from Hellfire Warlock comes one point at a time, thus, reducing the damage you take by 1 makes you immune to it.No, immunity means the damage is never applied. Reduced damage means that damage is applied even if the CON score is reduced by 0 after the reduction.

[Necroticplague]

It says "immunity to this con damage". The con damage from Hellfire Warlock comes one point at a time, thus, reducing the damage you take by 1 makes you immune to it.

The first part of your statement is false. Here's the full quote of the relevant part (and I checked,the book and the online article agree).


Each time you use this ability, you take 1 point of Constitution damage. Because the diabolical forces behind the power of hellfire demand part of your essence in exchange for this granted power, if you do not have a Constitution score or are somehow immune to Constitution damage, you cannot use this ability. No reference to "this con damage", just "con damage".

[Bakkan]

The FAQ is ill-regarded because people like to half read a subject and refuse to admit their idea of it isn't what the entry attempts to explain. Please take a moment and watch the video in my signature and learn the first of the many reasons why our justice system uses judges and juries are final say on "written rules".



When you are struck by an attack that would damage your ability scores, a wave of incarnum energy passes through you, blunting the effectiveness of the attack.

The strongheart vest protects you from attacks that would reduce your ability scores.

Any time you would take ability damage, such as Constitution damage or Strength damage, the amount of the damage is reduced by 1 point, to a minimum of 0.


Sentences 1 and 2 say the vest protects from attacks that damage ability scores. Sentence 3 says the vest protects against any ability damage. There is no contradiction between the sentences, but the only way for sentence 3 to be true is if the vest's protection also applies to ability damage not resulting from attacks.

[Mato]

You are placing a high level emphasis on a single word and ignoring the context set forth by both the preceding sentence and prior paragraph which is the basis for bad communication and willful neglect.

Any can be used to refer to a limited list instead of everything you can possible think of. Like how a store clerk offering free samples that tells you to choose any one you like doesn't mean you can choose their car and steal it. Thanks to an official game rule publication provided by wizards of the coast, we know the real usage of the word any is limited to a list of possible attacks rather than everything possible and the answer is clear and precise.

As a personal suggestion between you and I, the next time you are having problems with your misunderstandings is to approach the matter as if making an inquiry. Ask why, not defend an erroneous opinion. When in doubt, I'm sure you don't carry the disillusionment that you, as some poster on a third party forum, are the ultimate authority on a publication you don't own or helped write so use the publication that is an official part of the game rules released by the owners, wizards of the coast, for the intended purpose of providing additional clarification on otherwise questionable subjects. And if you don't like how it explain things, we are discussing the people that printed the complete psionic, manipulate form, ice assassin, and the fighter class. It's honestly expected for you to disagree with the published rules in specific areas, but any remediation is a houserule and you should treat it as such.

[Bakkan]

You're of course correct that the term "any" needs to be qualified unless the intention is really to include all possible objects in our universe of discourse. In your example, the store clerk might say "you may choose any one" as a shortcut for the more complete phrase "choose any one of these samples which I have in front of me." The clause following the term "any" tells us what collection of objects the "any" refers to. On the other hand, if the clerk did say "you may choose any one of these samples which I have in front of me" and then stopped me when I reached for one directly in front of him, saying "you may not choose that one," that would be a contradiction.

In the strongheart vest description, the term "any" is immediately followed by "time you would take ability damage". From this sentence alone, we read that the collection of objects from which we may take "any" is the collection of "times you would take ability damage". I hope that we agree that if this were the only sentence in the description of the soulmeld, then there would be no confusion and the strongheart vest would protect against all instances of ability damage.

Now for the two previous sentences, we see that both indicate that the strongheart vest protects against attacks that deal ability damage. However I see no language suggesting that these are intended to establish hard limits to the strongheart vest's abilities or preclude later sentences from expanding the soulmeld's powers. If such language existed, then there would be a contradiction, and we would have need of clarification. However, it is reasonable to read the thrid, fourth, and fifth sentences as a growing list of the capabilities the strongheart vest has, just as the acid fog spell's description takes three sentences to finish describing the effects of the spell. Therefore there is a reasonable interpretation of the words on the page that is consistent with every sentence and hence no need for additional clarification regarding the RAW. I do not know of any other interpretation that meets these criteria, and if one exists, I would like to hear it.

So we have a situation in which there is a consistent reading of the rules obtained referring only to primary sources. On the other hand, we have a ruling from the FAQ moderators that is inconsistent with this reading. In the case of a contradiction we can look to primary source rules, which indicate that the rulebook itself is most primary. Therefore in choosing between an interpretation in which we are consistent with all of the rulebook text and inconsistent with the FAQ and one in which we are inconsistent with the rulebooktext and consistent with the FAQ, we must choose the former if we are to stay as close to RAW as possible.

[Mato]

You're of course correct that the term "any" needs to be qualified unless the intention is really to include all possible objects in our universe of discourse.I find it interesting your primary point is based on the intention of the article, given the intention is quite clear and specifically addresses the matter.

Which I suppose explains this.

we must choose the former if we are to stay as close to RAW as possible.Everything before this is tossed out by it's own violation and your own belief in it's value. After all, why engage in a losing dispute of intent if RAW is all that matters?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but RAW stands for rules as written correct? Because the faq is part of the game rules by wizards of the coast's volition but your choice to ignore it isn't. In addition according to the rules compendium, and no errata was published after it's rules update to try claiming any primary source concept, one of the most basic rules of D&D is the most specific rule holds priority. Irregardless of what strongheart vest says, the faq's entry on how the two things interact holds the highest priority in the game and must be followed.

By RAW and by intent, this specific discussion of the thread is over. You may sour grape things as you wish but do not expect the merit of my attentions.

[Snowbluff]

Who is this guy and why is he wrong all the time?

FAQ isn't rules, it isn't RAW, and it's hardly right. Speaking of RAI, the people who could answer that question would be the people who wrote the vest, which clearly states all ability damage.

[Kane0]

I've never understood the ferocity with which pepole fight over the strongheart vest issue. I admit i wrote a sizable response but i just wiped it cause it doesnt really matter.

To me reading my FCII, hellfire is stopped by two things: immunity and having a CON of - (or N/A, however you write it).
To me reading my MoI, Strongheart vest grants you DR (or resistance) 1 + essentia invested against ability damage.
Not immunity. Immunity is a fairly clearly defined game term, and having enough DR or energy resistance to reduce damage taken to 0 is not immunity.
Edit: Actually, the closest thing i found to an actual definition of immunity in the DMG is under cold immunity and fire immunity. They say a creature immune to [fire/cold] never takes [fire/cold] damage. Odd how often immunity comes up but is never formally defined.
Immune might still be extrapolated as 'never subject to' though, which seems reasonable doesnt it?

Theres also the fluff debate, but thats much more dependant on interpretation so YMMV.

But regardless, at the end of the day your either spending a level in binder for naberius to be able to get that mediocre boost in EB damage from HFW or your spending a feat for access to strongheart vest to get the same benefit. Neither option leaves the warlock in a much better position and there are plenty of bigger ways characters can break the game with a single one feat or a 1 level dip so i cant see what all the fuss is about to be honest.

/2cp

[malonkey1]

If that is the case, go for an eternal wand or two. In the long run it will be cheaper.

Getting lesser restoration on an eternal wand requires...shenanigans, seeing as the Eternal Wands can specifically only hold arcane spells.

[Socratov]

I think he means wand of lesser restoration.

Yes, yes I did.

Also, everyone, sorry for opening up this can of worms. Even though I thoroughly enjoy this discussion while sipping some whiskey (if you need to now, Connemara is on the menu for tonight). So, please, carry on...

[nedz]

Arcane Disciple from one of these: Restoration Domain, Chastity Domain, Hope Domain, Life Domain, Renewal Domain or Restoration Domain.

[Divide by Zero]

Arcane Disciple from one of these: Restoration Domain, Chastity Domain, Hope Domain, Life Domain, Renewal Domain or Restoration Domain.

Aren't those still cast as divine spells?

And regardless of what possible shenanigans there are, you still have to find a NPC who can do those shenanigans, unless you can craft it yourself.

[Troacctid]

Or use a regular wand of Lesser Restoration and have your familiar poke you with it every couple of rounds. (By this level its UMD should be high enough to do that.) Or use a Rod of Bodily Restoration. Either option is cheaper than a feat or a class level.

[nedz]

Aren't those still cast as divine spells?

And regardless of what possible shenanigans there are, you still have to find a NPC who can do those shenanigans, unless you can craft it yourself.
Er, nope.

( Complete Divine p79)
Choose a deity, and then select a domain available to clerics of that deity. You can learn to cast the spells associated with that domain as arcane spells.
Your second point would be true even if you wanted a Wand of Fireballs.

[Andezzar]

Getting lesser restoration on an eternal wand requires...shenanigans, seeing as the Eternal Wands can specifically only hold arcane spells.Only if you call a Knight of the Weave with Craft Wondrous Items a shenanigan.

There is also the low price of the eternal wand of a 1st level spell that makes such an item widely available.