Warlock Sniper Help!

[Alcopop]

I've been wanting to make a non eldritch glaive based warlock recently, focusing on good range and high damage, So far i can think of Eldritch Spear combined with hell fire warlock and arcane trickster (using martial stance for the sneak requirements) So that’s decent (7d6 I think) sneak combined with full eldritch blast progression and hellfire warlocks added damage. Bracers of Murder ups the sneak attack damage (reroll 1s) and I can take max/empower spell like as well.

Any other tricks anyone knows to add to the bag? I want the damage to be ridicules but I still want it to be in the flavor of a "sniper".


Cheers!

[Alleine]

Horizon Goggles from Complete Mage extend your EB range by 50%, making you MUCH more sniperish. You'll probably want to buff the Hide skill so you can do things like hide, snipe, move and hide again and snipe.

[T.G. Oskar]

I'd speak of Empower Spell-like Ability, but it may not apply to Eldritch Blast, and it's mostly 3/day empowering. Still, dealing 1.5 times the damage is good for what you need it.

Using the definitions of Complete Arcane, you'd have essentially 8d6 Eldritch Blast + 6d6 Hellfire Blast + 7d6 Sneak Attack damage. I'd recommend the 3 levels of Rogue while you're at it, since you'll be going Hide/Strike/Hide each time, along the Martial Stance feat (but remember you need one Martial Study feat as well). Since you're probably going the way of sniping with your Warlock, get as much Eldritch Blast invocations as you can, as well as invocations fit for sneaking (Walk Unseen, if possible, is a good choice; use it while you find a place to hide)

Also, make sure you have a very high Constitution or a way to recover all that damage swiftly, since you'll be eating your constitution way too fast if you do it that way.

I have a question, though; considering that the eldritch blast is a weapon-like spell, if you were to be psionically infused, would the feats of Psychic Shot and Greater Psychic Shot apply? Probably not, but given that most of the feats made for weapons are applied to weapon-like spells. That would add another 4d6, but only every other round (unless you take Psionic Meditation). You'd need Point Blank Shot as well, but since you're in the need to be at least 30 feet near the opponent, the PBS feat auto-kicks in.

[Hunter Noventa]

Don't forget to pick up a Warlock's Scepter and (Greater) Chausible of Fell power at the first opportunity. Both are in Complete Arcane. The Mortalbane feat, from the Book of Vile Darkness, can give a decent boost against non-outsiders as well, though only three times a day or something.

[Apropos]

Umm... you do know that you can't sneak attack from more than 30ft. away?

[Zaq]

Take Darkness as a Least invocation, then get the feat from DotU that lets you use "your Darkness SLA" to hide in plain sight as a swift action. Makes getting sneak attack much simpler.

Also, on the subject of the range on sneak attack, if a warlock can't UMD Sniper's Shot, no one can.

[subject42]

There's a feat in Races of the Wild called "Able Sniper" that gives you a +2 to hit when you are more than 30 feet away, as well as a +10 bonus to making your hide check after an attack.

I had a player that used it to good effect with a halfling warlock once. It was a pathfinder game, so that +20 - +30 modifier to the target's Perception check make it wicked awesome whenever she could set up before a fight.

[LichPrinceAlim]

I also wish to ask if EB counts as a "Ray Spell," because if it does, with one feat (namely Arcane Discipline in Force for Magic Armor) you can take Spellwarp Sniper, which I belive allows you to SA from +30 ft.

[Draz74]

Don't forget Craven, of course.

[Master_Rahl22]

@T.G. Oskar: By my reading of it, yes those feats apply to EB per the weapon-like spells section in C. Arcane.

OP, you might want to give this thread a look if you haven't already. It's lots of great stuff and quite a few build ideas.

[gorfnab]

Umm... you do know that you can't sneak attack from more than 30ft. away?

A Wand of Sniper' Shot (SC) is only 750gp and can get as much distance on your sneak attack as you need.

[Darrin]

Any other tricks anyone knows to add to the bag? I want the damage to be ridicules but I still want it to be in the flavor of a "sniper".

Hengeyokai (Oriental Adventures) in Sparrow form. 50' fly speed, +14 bonus on ranged attacks (+8 size, +6 Dex), AC 24, and a +22 Hide bonus (+16 size, +6 Dex). That's at ECL 1. Take the Darkness invocation and Blend Into Shadows feat (Drow of the Underdark) and you can Hide In Plain Sight as a swift action. And we're still at ECL 1.

I recommend Unseen Seer over Arcane Trickster, although meeting the requirements are a bit trickier. With Advanced Learning, you can grab Hunter's Eye (PHBII) for +1d6 Sneak Attack/3 caster levels.

[The Shadowmind]

Don't forget Gloves of Eldritch Admixture, for +2d6 /3day on the eldritch Blast, or +4d6 /1day, and you get to pick from a range of elements for that extra damage. In MiC.

[Tinydwarfman]

Hengeyokai (Oriental Adventures) in Sparrow form. 50' fly speed, +14 bonus on ranged attacks (+8 size, +6 Dex), AC 24, and a +22 Hide bonus (+16 size, +6 Dex). That's at ECL 1. Take the Darkness invocation and Blend Into Shadows feat (Drow of the Underdark) and you can Hide In Plain Sight as a swift action. And we're still at ECL 1.

I recommend Unseen Seer over Arcane Trickster, although meeting the requirements are a bit trickier. With Advanced Learning, you can grab Hunter's Eye (PHBII) for +1d6 Sneak Attack/3 caster levels.

I think this race is another example of WOTC being total retards. What the hell were they thinking?

[Sinfire Titan]

I think this race is another example of WOTC being total retards. What the hell were they thinking?

You assume more than I do about them.

[raitalin]

I think this race is another example of WOTC being total retards. What the hell were they thinking?

They were thinking that a sparrow cannot use a weapon or cast spells. Warlock wasn't around in 3.0.

[Optimystik]

Hengeyokai (Oriental Adventures) in Sparrow form. 50' fly speed, +14 bonus on ranged attacks (+8 size, +6 Dex), AC 24, and a +22 Hide bonus (+16 size, +6 Dex). That's at ECL 1. Take the Darkness invocation and Blend Into Shadows feat (Drow of the Underdark) and you can Hide In Plain Sight as a swift action. And we're still at ECL 1.

Not to burst your bubble, but there are a couple of problems with this idea:

All invocations, including eldritch blast, have a somatic component.

A somatic component is a measured and precise movement of the hand. You must have at least one hand free to provide a somatic component.

Sparrows don't have hands - therefore, no somatic component. You will have to change back to humanoid form, causing you to lose your sparrow bonuses (and fall out of the sky.)

[Darrin]

Sparrows don't have hands - therefore, no somatic component. You will have to change back to humanoid form, causing you to lose your sparrow bonuses (and fall out of the sky.)

From the MM/SRD:

"A spellcasting creature that lacks hands or arms can provide any somatic component a spell might require by moving its body."

Also, if you want to get into physiology, sparrows do have "hands", they just happen to be covered with feathers and look like wings. If their wings are busy, they also have claws/talons/feet that are functionally equivalent to hands.

You forgot to bring up that invocations require a verbal component, which means you need to be able to speak. But Hengeyokai in animal form also have the (Su) ability to speak with animals of their own type, which means they can cast spells with verbal components.

And if your DM is being thickheaded about it, Savage Species has a feat called Surrogate Spellcasting that lets spellcasters in nonhumanoid forms substitute vocalizations and gestures appropriate to your shape.

[Fortuna]

Surely the existance of such a feat implies that you can't do that normally?

[Optimystik]

From the MM/SRD:

"A spellcasting creature that lacks hands or arms can provide any somatic component a spell might require by moving its body."

A Pedantic DM would say that invocations are not spells

Also, if you want to get into physiology, sparrows do have "hands", they just happen to be covered with feathers and look like wings. If their wings are busy, they also have claws/talons/feet that are functionally equivalent to hands.

To quote George Orwell: "A wing, dear comrades, should be considered a leg, as it is a limb of propulsion rather than manipulation."

At best you could say that they are arms, really.

You forgot to bring up that invocations require a verbal component, which means you need to be able to speak. But Hengeyokai in animal form also have the (Su) ability to speak with animals of their own type, which means they can cast spells with verbal components.

EB doesn't have a verbal component, does it? I wasn't aware of that.

And if your DM is being thickheaded about it, Savage Species has a feat called Surrogate Spellcasting that lets spellcasters in nonhumanoid forms substitute vocalizations and gestures appropriate to your shape.

That would be fine by me.

[Darrin]

Surely the existance of such a feat implies that you can't do that normally?

Savage Species isn't exactly widely regarded as one of the more... shall we say, "coherent" sourcebooks.

EB doesn't have a verbal component, does it? I wasn't aware of that.

I thought it did, but it looks like I'm mistaken. There may be some invocations that involve speech (Baleful Utterance, for example), but I can't find an explicit verbal component mentioned anywhere.

[The Shadowmind]

Savage Species isn't exactly widely regarded as one of the more... shall we say, "coherent" sourcebooks.



I thought it did, but it looks like I'm mistaken. There may be some invocations that involve speech (Baleful Utterance, for example), but I can't find an explicit verbal component mentioned anywhere.

Even Baleful utterance got clarified in the Official FAQ, that is doesn't even actually need a mouth, or the ability to speak to be used, and the dark speech thing is just fluff.

[Thiyr]

If you're in Ebberon or your DM dosen't mind you adding deities to the world/ignoring worship requirements (pesky worship requirements), Escalation Mage from Faiths of Ebberon is quite fun, especially with Arcane Mastery (Complete Arcane). Sure, it takes 5 levels, but being able to quicken every round (presuming you don't raise the spell level too high)

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Qualifying for Arcane Trickster could be tricky without the ability to cast at least 3rd level spells. Warlocks don't cast spells, they use SLA's.

[Optimystik]

Qualifying for Arcane Trickster could be tricky without the ability to cast at least 3rd level spells. Warlocks don't cast spells, they use SLA's.

Bard/Sorcerer 1 with Precocious Apprentice and Earth/Sanctum Spell. After you qualify, use AT to advance Warlock instead of the chosen caster.

[NiteCyper]

Surely the existance of such a feat implies that you can't do that normally?

I consider that the "Natural Spell" feat, the "Surrogate Spellcasting" feat, and the "Nonverbal Spell" feat differ enough in that they address the verbal component(s) (as well as the somatic component(s)).

I don't understand what the preceding text means anymore. If it's any consolation, I've found and posted some Sage Advice OFFICIAL ANSWERS in the last post of my thread.