Acolyte of the Skin- Worth it?

[Sigdel]

The Warlock that I am playing just reached 4th level. I am thinking on if it would be worth it to pick up a PrC. The only one that is reachable out of the three I liked is the Acolyte of the Skin. The other choices were Enlightened Fist and Blood Magus. My question is the AotS worth it? From what I've seen you give up too much for too little. But I want to know if anyone has played it and if it actually works out better than it seems.

 

[Sejs]

...The other choices were Enlightened Fist and Blood Magus...

Er, yeah, the last time I checked, Blood Magus had a rather steep entry requirement.

 

[MadMaxim]

I'll say no, because your primary weapon (your eldritch blast) gets the shaft with only half spell progression and the Acolyte's special abilities don't make up for the loss of firepower, in my opinion. Besides, I think the Warlock gets enough cool abilities to keep him going through all 20 levels. The Blood Magus would be a better choice, but his special abilities don't suit the Warlock very well (inscribe spells onto your skin and make potions in your blood stream for easy consumption just don't work for a class that uses spell-like abilities). Enlightened Fist would perhaps be the best, but unless your Lawful Evil, you'll have a difficult time getting a couple of Monk levels. So my advice would be to stay with the base class.

 

[wuyanei]

Its not worth it. You are giving up 1 caster level, one feat (you will be taking the Practiced Spellcaster[/b] feat) and access to Dark invocations in return for +1 Natural armor, +2 Dex bonus, Fiendish Glare 1/day plus some flavor text (Glare of the Pit is worse than a straight Hellrime blast; you get energy resistance as a warlock anyways).

A better choice might be to wait until you reach 6th level, take the charm invocation, then go the Mindbender PrC route. You can then take the Practiced Spellcaster feat so you do not lose any caster levels at all (except at Mindbender 10, but trust me, thrall is worth it)! It does hurt to lose access to Dark invocations, though.

Of, if your DM is accomodating, you can ask him to give you some demonic flavor descriptions to your Warlock powers, so that you are mechanically a pure warlock, but with AotC flavor. For example:

A dark ritual that drains 10000 XP (two wishes worth), costs 7650 gp (two scrolls of wish, minus XP cost), and must be conducted when the dark moon obstructes the sun.

The ritual grants +2 inherent bonus to Dex, but also sticks you with the [Evil] alignment subtype (so you always detect as evil, regardless of your true alignment, and weapons or abilities that smack Evil smack you as well), plus an aura of evil (inverse of the Paladin's Aura of Good). I would even throw in a +4 racial bonus to social interactions against evil outsiders (you are now considered 'one of them').

The ritual is the first step of your metamorphus towards true evil. Phrase all of your warlock abilities as 'Gifts from the Lower Realms'. At 20th level, you become an [Evil] outsider, in a fashion similar to the monk.

None of these benefits alter the game balance one iota. Now, you might not be able to afford 10000XP at the moment, but that just gives yor DM a plot hook to use as you quest for the ritual and resources.

It is all in the flavor text. Use your creativity!

Bon gaming!

 

[Shin Okada]

Enlightened Fist is a strong class, especially for a Monk/Sorcerer. He can take Ascetic Mage feat from Complete Adventurer to apply Charisma Bonus instead of Wisdom Bonus to AC. Which in unavailable to a Warlock. Arcane Strike is nice but it is also unavailable to a Warlock. Wraith Strike is maybe too much but it is also unavailable to a Warlock. Multiclassed Sorcerer can bump up his caster level with Practiced Spellcaster feat but it is also unavailable to a Warlock.....sigh

Many of the abilities of Blood Magus are related to spells. So useless for a Warlock.

 

[wuyanei]

If I am not mistaken, isnt there an errata stateing that the eldritch blast damage scales with caster level, if the warlock's caster level improves (by taking a PrC class)? If that is the case, Practiced Spellcaster has merit... or is this just a House Rule we've been using so long that I have got it mixed up with the RAW?

 

[Sigdel]

I gave up on the thought of the Blood Magus when I saw that his BAB was that of a wizard. But I did plan on taking 12 levels in Warlock and 8 in Blood Magus. Enlightened Fist I was going for but when I made the Warlock I forgot to give him a good wisdom so I couldnt get the feat stunning fist.
I am all for roleplaying and story benifets, but if it doesnt benifet my character mechanics wise, I'm a bit leery of paying gold an xp for a "badge" (this a City of Heroes jibe) that does nothing for my guy.

 

[Shin Okada]

If I am not mistaken, isnt there an errata stateing that the eldritch blast damage scales with caster level, if the warlock's caster level improves (by taking a PrC class)? If that is the case, Practiced Spellcaster has merit... or is this just a House Rule we've been using so long that I have got it mixed up with the RAW?

I think improved caster level due to prestige class can surely increase the damages of Eldritch Blast.

But I am afraid that Warlock is not a spellcasting class and thus Practiced Spellcaster feat cannot be applied to it.

 

[Sigdel]

If I am not mistaken, isnt there an errata stateing that the eldritch blast damage scales with caster level, if the warlock's caster level improves (by taking a PrC class)? If that is the case, Practiced Spellcaster has merit... or is this just a House Rule we've been using so long that I have got it mixed up with the RAW?

It does scale. And the Warlock does improve with Practiced Spellcaster. But still not worth it on paper.

 

[wuyanei]

Well. Then how about mindbender? Or just pure warlock? Unless your DM is willing to bend a few requirement rules, the warlock does suffur from a lack of good PrCs.