Good invocations

[Zenos]

Hello, I am making a level 6 Warlock, and I've already chosen two of my least invocations (Baleful Utterance and See the Unseen), but I still need to choose my third least and my lesser invocation, what kind of invocations would be good for me? I have complete Arcane and Complete Mage.

[monty]

Beguiling Influence is a good least if you do a lot of social stuff. For lesser, I highly suggest Fell Flight and Flee the Scene.

[SamTheCleric]

I'll second the Fell Flight...

No shaping or essence? Eldritch Chain has always been one of my favorites...

[SilentNight]

The devil's sight/darkeness combo is always nice. Fell flight is also good. Shatter if you just want to screw around.

[Tempest Fennac]

A least Invocation called Eldrich Glaive will give you an Eldrich Reach weapon which used Touch attacks. You also get extra attacks if your BAB is high enough. That's good if you're prepared to improve your AC.

[Meat Shield]

And to counter the glaive-lock that Tempest mentioned, I say go for Eldritch spear. That combined with Fell Flight means never having to get within range of the bad guys weapons, and lets you laugh at their feeble attempts to get back at you for hitting them all day long from 250 feet above their heads.

[Zenos]

Hmmm, yes, I think I might go eldritch spear/fell flight combo. And if a mook starts shooting arrows at me, I'll just shatter his bow.

By the way, Shatter at will is a load of fun, you can shatter Holy symbols and spellbooks, then retreat.

[Zenos]

Hmmm, now I have to pick four feats, does anyone have any good warlock feats?

[SamTheCleric]

Point Blank/Precise are a good investment to avoid the -4 from firing into melee...

Empower Spell Like Ability (Eldritch Blast) is useful, but I'm not sure at what level you can take it.

[Zenos]

Hmmm, I AM a 6th level warlock... Well, this sounds like something to counteract the poor scaling of the EB.

[Zenos]

Still one feat to use, I am considering Improved Initiative, but what other feats are mechanically useful?

[MammonAzrael]

Warlock Handbook

It's certainly not the best Handbook out there, but it's got some decent advice. The problem with suggesting Invocations is that there are several different builds for Warlocks. I'm assuming you aren't going Glaivelock, And Fell flight is almost always a must. Entropic Warding is fantastic, you'll probably want that. Beguiling Influence if you're the party face. Spiderwalk can be fun, but is quickly replaced by Fell Flight.

Feat wise, you don't really need Precise Shot, since EB is Ranged Touch. If you've got at least 13 Wisdom, think about Psionic Shot, Psionic Meditation, and Greater Psionic Shot. You'll need at least one power point to get these, but they can add a big chunk of damage to your EBs. (They can be found in the SRD)

[Kurald Galain]

Depending on your style...

Either Fell Flight or Walk Unseen. If you don't take Fell Flight, do take Spiderwalk.

Most essence invocations aren't worth it, with the exception of Eldritch Glaive and Eldritch Spear. If you take the latter, top it off with Entropic Warding.

Beguiling Influence is fun depending on your style, again. If it is, you probably have high enough charisma to make Dark One's Own Luck worthwhile.

Note that you cannot shatter magical items. Therefore, it may be interesting to combine it with Relentless Dispelling.

Regarding feats, Imp Initiative is always good, as is Extra Invocation. I find that pointblank & precise shot doesn't come up often enough to be worth two feats. The Fae Bloodline feats stack with the warlock's natural DR, and are flavorful for some builds. A very useful feat is Quicken SLA, but you can't take that at level six, yet. If you're blasting a lot, you may want to splurge on Improved Critical. If you can somehow obtain Sneak Attack ability (and there's magical items that let you), the Craven feat is good.

[Duke of URL]

Least

Shapes: Spear or Glaive, depending on style
Essences: None
Others: See The Unseen, Beguiling Influence, Baleful Utterance, Entropic Warding, Voice of Madness (other than low DC [11+CHA], this scales with level)

Lesser

Shapes: Chain, if you're expecting groups and want to get close enough
Essences: Hellfire or Hellrime, if you're planning on taking Hellfire Warlock later
Others: Fell Flight, Walk Unseen, Devour Magic, The Dead Walk

Feats (assuming Human)

Glaive users:

1: Armor Proficiency Medium
1: Battle Caster
3: Weapon Finesse (for Glaive users only)
6: Combat Reflexes (for Glaive users only)

Everyone Else

1: Ability Focus (Eldritch Blast)
1: (any)
3: (any)
6: Extra Invocation (Least)

Supernatural Transformation would be perfect, except I believe it's been errata'd to exclude Sp abilities gained from classes. Able Learner (level 1 only) is a good choice if you want a 2-level Chameleon dip (for crafting).

[Zenos]

Ok, with the help of exra Invocation feats I now have the invocations:

Baleful Utterance
Beguiling Influence
See the Unseen
Eldritch Spear
Entropic Shield
Fell Flight

Any comments?

[Duke of URL]

You can't have 5 least invocations at level 6 -- the most you can have is 4: 3 from class levels and one from Extra Invocation at level 6. Extra Invocation can only be used to take an invocation one grade less than your maximum, and so can't be taken prior to level 6.

[Kurald Galain]

1: Armor Proficiency Medium
1: Battle Caster

I'm a bit surprised at this. The best medium armor is only one AC better than the best light armor (and if you go mithril, the best heavy armor is three points, which still doesn't seem to be worth two whole feats, given the plethora of AC boosting items). Am I missing something here?

I have not heard of Voice of Madness, however. Can you tell me what it does? Perhaps cast Confusion or something?

[Duke of URL]

I'm a bit surprised at this. The best medium armor is only one AC better than the best light armor (and if you go mithril, the best heavy armor is three points, which still doesn't seem to be worth two whole feats, given the plethora of AC boosting items). Am I missing something here?

Other than there not really being very many good Warlock feats, period, no. What you take with those extra feats prior to level 6 is pretty much a matter of personal preference -- Improved Initiative and something else would make a good swap-out, especially if you're pumping DEX high enough that you're likely not going to wear armor anyway. Edit: Spell Penetration and its Greater version aren't bad either, though by the time you really need them, you should have access to Vitriolic Blast.

I have not heard of Voice of Madness, however. Can you tell me what it does? Perhaps cast Confusion or something?

It's from Dragon magazine, I think. Confuses single target for 1 round + 1 round/2 levels. Will save, so great to spam on front-liners when you're at level 4-6 or so, especially if you boost CHA. May eventually want to swap it out for another least invocation once the save DC gets too low to be useful.

[Zenos]

Ok, I think I've got the feats sorted out, so now I am getting items. I guess a crucible of fell power is would make a good item, although then I would have to ignore any rules about maximum spending on a single item.

[Burley]

Also, for feats: The Fey/Demonic Heritage feats from Complete Mage! They give you a DR/Cold Iron bonus that stacks with your Warlock DR. PLUS, a bunch of other stuff that'll boost the CL of your invocations...Yo.

As for items: At 6th level, wands are your best friend. Wands of Cure Light Wounds is a must, as you should have your UMD maxed. (Max it, Man!) Gloves of Dexterity are a good thing to have, as well. Then, the obligitory (Amulet of Natural Armor +1) + (Ring of Protection +1) + (Bracers of Armor +1) for the cheapest +3 to AC that you can get, without messing with your invoking.

[SamTheCleric]

Bracers of Armor +1 are 1000g for a +1 Armor bonus
+1 Mithral Chain Shirt is only 2100g for a +5 armor bonus

Neither interfere with casting.

[Kurald Galain]

Also, for feats: The Fey/Demonic Heritage feats from Complete Mage! They give you a DR/Cold Iron bonus that stacks with your Warlock DR.

Demonic heritage doesn't give DR/Cold iron; it gives fire and acid resistance instead.

[Zenos]

Ok, now I have good Light armour, Wand of CLW and a heavy mace just in case (why do I always rhyme when I don't intend to? Why?!), but personaly I would like to know if there are any utility items I might use.

[Kurald Galain]

Ok, now I have good Light armour, Wand of CLW and a heavy mace just in case (why do I always rhyme when I don't intend to? Why?!), but personaly I would like to know if there are any utility items I might use.

Chausible of Fell Power. Increases your blast damage.

Rogue's Vest. Likewise.

[Duke of URL]

Chausible of Fell Power. Increases your blast damage.

That requires a body slot already taken up by armor. It's also a bit on the expensive side for a 6th-level character, isn't it? (Maybe the lesser version isn't so costly...)

Utility wands/scrolls are nice, as well as one wand to deliver an offensive spell that ignores SR, just in case.

[Burley]

Chausible of Fell Power costs too much. That rule about not letting one item be x% of your total wealth. I think the Rogue Vest is the same.

I'd snag a few tanglefoot bags, just in case there are enemies that are particularly hard to hit, or (heaven forbid it at your level) Spell Resistance.

[Zenos]

My DM just said me 'Lock could get one invocation per level.









Time to go pick some more invocations, should be interesting.

Edit: Okay, I've chosen beguiling influence so I can Bluff my enemies into Oblivion, what other Least from CArcane or CMage should I choose?

[Burley]

One at every level?

Well, get ready to be extremely overpowered...
Take Summon Swarm for lots of win.

[Craig1f]

Edit: Okay, I've chosen beguiling influence so I can Bluff my enemies into Oblivion, what other Least from CArcane or CMage should I choose?

Beguiling influence is not very impressive. A Bard or Beguiler with Glibness will blow your bluff check out of the water. That said, if you're already maxing out your social skills, a +6 is not-too-shabby. But that also depends on how seriously your DM takes social skills.

Baleful Utterance, Spider Climb, Spear, Glaive, and See the Unseen are all very solid. Summon Swarm is also good with the sheer number of invocations you get. If you're taking fell flight, then I'd replace Spider Climb with Summon Swarm.

I would get Flee the Scene even if you're already getting Fell Flight since you're getting so many invocations. A readied action to Flee the Scene against an attack will save your life very often. You can Flee to an area with total cover, and your enemies will waste their attacks on you.

[Sstoopidtallkid]

Heward's Handy Haversack. Always get one. You'll be the team's Magic Item cart, so you need a way to get to your wands in combat, and if your DM enforces encumberance, you'll automatically want one.