Heroes of the Forgotten Kingdoms previews? Any bones for the warlock?

[Felon]

So, the wizard got some nice touches thrown in to add a little more oomph. Any chance we'll the same for his PHB arcane colleague? Something to address the MAD, the inflexible at-wills, the soft damage output, and all of the other things that renders its appeal more thematic than mechanical?

Played an infernal warlock for a couple of years and found it pretty lacking in practical assets. Got permission to re-roll a sorcerer and found it to be a dramatic upgrade in sheer heall-raising power.

Not utterly unplayable, but if there's a class that needs some love, this is the one.

 

[Almacov]

Well, what we know so far is that Heroes of the Fallen Lands says that the Warlock build Heroes of the Forgotten Kingdoms contains is the "Hexblade". That name will be familiar to people who owned 3.5's Complete Warrior, but whether it has any resemblance to the class in that book is yet to be seen.
Interestingly though, the promotional text for Heroes of Shadow contains this little tidbit: "The Shadowfell is a cold, grim place through which the spirits of the dead must pass on their way to... wherever. Dark, evil things live there, suffused with the power of shadow. Some mortals in the natural world learn how to tap into this source. Assassins. Necromancers. Hexblades."

This has lead many to the question... are Hexblade Warlocks of the Shadow power source? Two sources, like the Executioner Assassin?

Noone knows that yet.
Whatever the case, it feels like this new Warlock build could depart from what we're used to a bit. (Hey, "Pact" isn't even in the new build's name! =P )

 

[Felon]

Well, what we know so far is that Heroes of the Fallen Lands says that the Warlock build Heroes of the Forgotten Kingdoms contains is the "Hexblade". That name will be familiar to people who owned 3.5's Complete Warrior, but whether it has any resemblance to the class in that book is yet to be seen.
Interestingly though, the promotional text for Heroes of Shadow contains this little tidbit: "The Shadowfell is a cold, grim place through which the spirits of the dead must pass on their way to... wherever. Dark, evil things live there, suffused with the power of shadow. Some mortals in the natural world learn how to tap into this source. Assassins. Necromancers. Hexblades."

This has lead many to the question... are Hexblade Warlocks of the Shadow power source? Two sources, like the Executioner Assassin?

Noone knows that yet.
Whatever the case, it feels like this new Warlock build could depart from what we're used to a bit. (Hey, "Pact" isn't even in the new build's name! =P )

Yeah, that would add a melee option to warlocks (which sorcerers already have via a feat), and one of the annoying things about warlocks I didn't mention was that 90% of their attacks are the same thing (ranged 10). And adding [W] damage to their repetoire is one way to unsoften their damage.

 

[DracoSuave]

Yeah, that would add a melee option to warlocks (which sorcerers already have via a feat), and one of the annoying things about warlocks I didn't mention was that 90% of their attacks are the same thing (ranged 10). And adding [W] damage to their repetoire is one way to unsoften their damage.

Eldritch Strike?

 

[Dice4Hire]

Well, the Dragon King Pact at-will adds a nice touch or ranged power.

Having a melee warlock would be a nice addition.

As for Shadow, it is possible, but I cannot see Essentials going that far off the range. I think the hexblade will be arcane, and might bear a striking resemblence to a swordmage.

 

[Neverfate]

Funny, I think it'll bear a resemblance to to the Non-E Assassin. A fullblade and curse damage. . . Hopefully not as frail. Though I'm in the minority of enjoying the Assassin (both old and new). I do look forward to seeing what the Hexblade is. Whatever it is (as it's not the Shadow power defender I wish for).

 

[Felon]

Eldritch Strike?

Is that some DDI thing? At any rate, [W] is where it's at.

 

[Almacov]

Is that some DDI thing?

It's from one of the "Player's Handbook Heroes" nonrandom miniatures boxes. (Arcane Heroes 1)

Pretty obscure in terms of print availability, but it got a lot of love from the Character Optimization forums. You can see it here.

Anyway, as for the Hexblade, I'm betting it will be Arcane and Shadow, especially since we've just found out both Ranger subclasses in the book will be Martial and Primal.

In any case, I love warlocks, so I'm eagerly anticipating more info.