How to challenge this Warlock build?

What would challenge this Warlock?

Human Warlock 6
Feats:
Improved Flight
Maximise SLA (Eldritch Blast)
Extra Invocation x2

Invocations:
Fell Flight
Darkness
Devil's Sight
Baleful Utterance
Frightful Blast
Sickening Blast

He flies around in a globe of Darkness from which he can see normally. Eldritch Blasting for 3d6 plus shaken plus sickened, the Darkness helping make the ranged touch attacks much easier.

What general categories of creatures would give him a hard time?
-blarg

Well the first thing that jumps our at me is that since he can use only one shape essence and one type modification essence (blanking on the official term) he can cause someone to be shaken *OR* sickened, but not both.

As for what might challenge him an anti-magic field certainly would, perhaps the variety built in on a beholder? Trolls might also be rough since he doesn't have Brimstone Blast or Vitriolic Blast at the moment. And IIRC Maximise SLA is only useable 3/day, so it shouldn't be overly powerful.

Also, how did he get Extra Invocation twice? You have to be able to use Lesser Invocations in order to take that and you don't get that, I think, until 5th or 6th level, I could be wrong on that though.

Also any spell caster with a Globe of Minor Invulnerability would be immune to all of his blasts since non of his current blast modification invocations modify the level to more than 3rd level.

That's about all I can think of just off the top of my head.

Yep, this is the problem with this class IMO. Conceptually, it's a great idea, but in actual gameplay I've never met a warlock I liked. A 6th-level character that can fly at will, and create Darkness at will that he can see through shouldn't be. Far from invulnerable, just a pain in the neck. I don't fault the player; but considering that the class is specifically designed to have a small powerset that it uses over and over, it was just given some really poor choices of powers.

Now you just need another few levels so you can get Chilling Tentacles.

At any rate, edtorial aside, I'll chime in add that Darkness does not create total concealment, so opponents in it won't be blind automatically. It does, however, negate magical light sources of equal or lower level, so it can effectively render some humans blind if they're relying on continual light.

vulcan_idic said:

As for what might challenge him an anti-magic field certainly would,

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An antimagic field spell is at least a spell for a wizard level 11.

vulcan_idic said:

perhaps the variety built in on a beholder?

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IIRC a beholder is creature of CR 13.

Combined actions of his enemies will help. A targeted dispel magic from a wizard on the warlock and he either will loose both spells or only one.
If he looses his globe of darkness archers can hit him with their arrows.
If he looses his ability to fly fighters with blindfight can attack him.

blargney the second said:

What would challenge this Warlock?

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Well, first of all the DM, since the character is illegal.

You have Maximize SLA, which requires 6th caster level.

Then you have all those Extra Invocation feats, with which you can only choose an invocation of one grade lower than the highest you know, which at levels 1st thru 3rd (where you must have picked them up, since you had to choose Maximize SLA at 6th already) is the level below least, so no available invocation to choose from. That's why the prerequisite of the feat is the ability to use lesser invocations or better. These require at least 6th level as well.

Likewise with Improved Flight, which requires the ability to fly to be taken, which again isn't possible at 1st thru 3rd level, but only at 6th when you get Fell Flight.

All four feats can only be taken at 6th level, but you only have one feat choice at that time, not four. Therefore three of your four feat choices are illegal!

Obviously the invocations are wrong, too, as a result. No problem, we'll just remove Baleful Utterance and Sickening Blast. Those are not relevant for the concept, anyways.

He flies around in a globe of Darkness from which he can see normally.

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And everyone can see him... with a 20% miss chance, that is all.
Please re-read the 3.5 darkness rules.

Also note, that the vision is limited to 30 feet when using Devil's Sight.
So you have to stay close to the target, in order to benefit from it.

I'd say, that any archer or mage will simply blast him out of the blue... err... black.
Sure, the darkness will protect him somewhat, but a 20% miss chance is hardly invulnerability; and that's only for targeted attacks.

Eldritch Blasting for 3d6 plus shaken plus sickened

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Nope, you have to choose one of those to apply, you cannot apply both at the same time, tho nothing hinders you to switch once the first one affects the target for future blasts to stack the other one on top of the first with a later attack.

The Darkness helping make the ranged touch attacks much easier.

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It doesn't help at all, where did you get that from?

Only in a very specific environment (total darkness, which is only illuminated by non-magical or low-magical lights (not something like Daylight, which will simply suppress the Darkness)). And that is already a stretch and not a literal reading of the 3.5 darkness rules.

Unless you use 3.0 rules, that is, but the class is - of course - built with the 3.5 rules in mind.

What general categories of creatures would give him a hard time?

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Every creature with either a fly speed (which is quick/maneuverable enough to keep up; one attack (grapple) is enough to shut him down completely) or a ranged attack (which is nasty enough to keep up with the eldritch blast).

Bye
Thanee

Actually the Maximize SLA requires a spell-like ability at caster level 6 so the character could have it if they took it a 6th level without taking Improved Flight or the Extra Invocation feats. Maximize SLA is in Complete Arcane. As for the blast invocations there can only be one eldritch essense (sp?) and one blast shaping invocation applied to the eldritch blast at a time.

As for challenging the character something else that works is an evoker or any other caster with 3rd level spells. You want to fly around in a globe of darkness, that's just fine. Target the fireball at the top of the globe in the center so that it catches him in the blast. Concealment doesn't help for area effect spells.

Warlocks can be fun to play, provided that they are built right.

capnfro said:

Actually the Maximize SLA requires a spell-like ability at caster level 6...

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Hmm... looked it up in CA and you are, of course, right.

This is weird, however, as it breaks the general rules for meta-SLA feats (prerequisite: minimum caster level of 2x (equivalent metamagic spell level modifier + 1); maximum equivalent spell level = ½ caster level - equivalent metamagic spell level modifier).

Anyways...

EDIT: Updated the above post to remove the stuff about Maximize SLA.

Bye
Thanee

This is weird, however, as it breaks the general rules for meta-SLA feats (maximum equivalent spell level = ½ caster level - equivalent metamagic spell level modifier).

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Yea I know. It really weird. I'm kinda suprised they didn't errata it.

Or any warlock 1/fighter X archer with devil's sight.

...or any spellcaster with Deeper Darkvision or any devil.

Bye
Thanee