Warlock: a few questions

[FdL]

1. Does Ability Focus (Eldritch Blast) add +2 to the Ranged Touch Attack of the Eldritch Blast or just to the magical effects of the associated essence?

2. Does Ability Focus (Eldritch Blast) add against Spell Resistance?

3. How many invocations of each "level" does a L7 warlock have?

4. For overcoming SR checks, is caster level considered to be full or it's always half with the warlock?

5. Is there another way of improving the Ranged Touch Attack for an Eldritch Blast than boosting Dexterity? (Would Weapon Focus (Ray) work?)

More to come... :p

[TheOOB]

1) No, ability focus only applies to saving throw DCs. I'm not sure off the top of my gead if ability focus(eldritch blast) works, or if you need it in the individual blast shape/essence invocations

2) No, see #1

3) Assuming you always get the highest level invocation possible and you dont take the extra invocation feat, a 7th level lock would have 3 least invocations and 1 lesser invocation

4) A warlocks caster level for their blast an invocations is equal to their class level.

5) A ray counts as a weapon for the purpose of feats such as weapon focus/specilization. Generally speaking, anything that increases your attack roll with a ranged weapon will increase your attack roll with a blast.

[Dragonmuncher]

Just to elaborate on #5, you can also take other feats to improve your ranged attack. I'm almost positive that Point Blank Shot and Precise Shot work with your Eldritch Blast.

[TheOOB]

They do, anything that affects a ranged attack effects an eldritch blast.

[EntilZha]

1. Does Ability Focus (Eldritch Blast) add +2 to the Ranged Touch Attack of the Eldritch Blast or just to the magical effects of the associated essence?

2. Does Ability Focus (Eldritch Blast) add against Spell Resistance?

3. How many invocations of each "level" does a L7 warlock have?

4. For overcoming SR checks, is caster level considered to be full or it's always half with the warlock?

5. Is there another way of improving the Ranged Touch Attack for an Eldritch Blast than boosting Dexterity? (Would Weapon Focus (Ray) work?)

More to come... :p

1. Ability Focus, in the Warlock's case, adds +2 to the DC for all saving throws against her invocations.

2. No.

3. Generally a Warlock has three least, three lesser, three greater, and three dark by the time she gets to 20th level. The Extra Invocation feat can be used to gain more Invocations, but these must be of a lower grade than the highest ones you're capable of casting.

4. The caster level is considerered full for a Spell Penntration check

5. Weapon Focus Ray will work

[brian c]

1. Does Ability Focus (Eldritch Blast) add +2 to the Ranged Touch Attack of the Eldritch Blast or just to the magical effects of the associated essence?

2. Does Ability Focus (Eldritch Blast) add against Spell Resistance?

3. How many invocations of each "level" does a L7 warlock have?

4. For overcoming SR checks, is caster level considered to be full or it's always half with the warlock?

5. Is there another way of improving the Ranged Touch Attack for an Eldritch Blast than boosting Dexterity? (Would Weapon Focus (Ray) work?)

More to come... :p

I'm no expert on warlocks, but i'll answer the best I can:

1) Ability Focus only raises DC, won't effect the attack roll.

2) Again, only raises the DC, no effect on SR.

3) Looking in Complete Arcane, A level 7 warlock knows 4 total invocations. Your first three have to be Least, then the fourth one could be a Lesser invocation, if I'm reading it correctly.

4) Normally you use d20 + caster level for overcoming spell resistance. I don't see anything that signifies anything different for warlocks.

5) Weapon Focus(Ray) should work, as it's described as a ray.

[TheOOB]

Many similar questions have been addressed in the official FAQ, i suggest you try looking there.

[FdL]

Thanks for the help, guys!

Anyway, following the last piece of advice I dug into the official support info, and to have a better picture I'll use this thread as a repository for reference of the class.

Complete Arcane Errata

"Warlocks With Class" feature in WoTC

Warlock FAQ thread in WotC boards (by Rich Baker, author of CA)

I guess with that I can get all the answers I need. I'll read it all and then ask again.

[Draz74]

EntilZha's answers are all correct AFAIK. Also, on #5, I have a couple other suggestions besides Weapon Focus (a lame feat) about how to boost your Eldritch Blast accuracy -- though you won't be able to afford them until high levels.

Try a Skin of the Hero and a Pale Green Ioun Stone.

The Skin of the Hero is especially nice for a Warlock, because it gives him a bonus to AC (which is nice because he generally has to worry about AC more than a Wizard or some caster like that), a Resistance bonus to saves (which is nice because he might not be able to have a Cloak of Resistance, since that slot is often occupied by a Cloak of Charisma), and an Enhancement bonus to attack rolls, which is nice because Eldritch Blast can't be affected by a Greater Magic Weapon spell or anything like that.

[Dausuul]

EntilZha's answers are all correct AFAIK. Also, on #5, I have a couple other suggestions besides Weapon Focus (a lame feat) about how to boost your Eldritch Blast accuracy -- though you won't be able to afford them until high levels.

Actually, you don't really need to boost your accuracy. It's a ranged touch attack. In many cases, touch ACs actually go down as the CR goes up--the higher level you are, the bigger the monsters get, and the more of a size hit they take to their AC. Just get a good Dex and some gloves of dexterity, and you should be fine.

[TheOOB]

Actually, you don't really need to boost your accuracy. It's a ranged touch attack. In many cases, touch ACs actually go down as the CR goes up--the higher level you are, the bigger the monsters get, and the more of a size hit they take to their AC. Just get a good Dex and some gloves of dexterity, and you should be fine.

That is until you are facing something with a really high dex (like an air elemental) or other bonuses to AC (monk, swordsage, ect).