But, I don't think you need to got that far to hit consistently as a caster. If you have an at-will vs WILL (The Warlock's Eyebite is vs WILL, isn't it?), you're never going to have much trouble hitting. While many monsters have either FORT or REF pretty close to thier AC, very few have equally good WILL. If you cover both FORT and REF, you'll rarely be out of luck, either, as high FORT monsters, like Brutes tend to have poor REF, and high-REF monsters tend to have low FORT. A wizard with Magic Missle and Ray of Frost will generally be in good shape; one with Scorching Burst and Thunderwave just has to worry about not hitting his own party.
Agreed. Wizards are pretty cool. They get to go after multiple defenses and while they do not do huge amounts of damage to an individual target they usually can finagle a way to hit at least two with the combined damage being respectable. They also get to choose their powers. Warlocks don't. They only choose a pact and the rest is decided for them. Eyebite is not a bad power per se, but it is not what some people assume it to be. It target's will which is good. Will defense often lags a bit behind for monsters, although it does not always lag behind. At least a feylock has eldritch blast. Look at the damage on Eyebite though. 1d6. Even with a curse you only do 2d6+Cha. Compare that to a range ranger with a basic attack doing 1d10+1d8+Dex. Leaving the stats out as they ought to be about the same that means the warlock does 7 on average while the ranger weighs in at 10 on average. That is a basic attack versus an at will. Aren't at wills supposed to be better? Yep Eyebite makes you invisible to your target when you hit. So what? Some times that is cool. Other times it just means that the monsters attack some one else. Say the defender on the ropes or your wizard. A warlock should be able to help distribute the heat some. Eyebite works counter to that.
One of the best features of 4th is the way it makes the party play like a team. You have to aid your buddies to win. Very few warlock powers synergizes well with what the other players are doing. At least until you get the high level powers that make monsters lose a turn. I thought we were done with sucking at low level.
I'm not so sure about that. In 3e, consistency favored the players, because they generally overmatched the monsters in a standard encounter. 4e monsters are often tougher than PCs (until you figure in healing and action points), and pulling out the occassional big hit (Crit, Daily, etc) against them can make a real difference. Even more important is coming up with some teamwork to boost eachother. That potentially benefits anyone or everyone, and can lead to casters as well as melee types hitting a lot more. Melee types get to flank for eachother, for instance, but casters can bestow conditions, or flat-out bonuses.
True the warlock bestows conditions (apart from Eldritch blast), but the at will conditions he can bestow don't help the other characters do anything. They are all ME ME ME ME ME! powers. Move closer to you, you are invisible to them, if you get hurt. Which is not cool. It means a non-stupid DM still has lots of options. It is not like he lacks for other targets (your buddies) to whack. Dire radiance is probably the best of the bunch as at least you can control where you stand so you can keep the monster away from something or someone. But right it targets Fort. The crappiest one of the bunch. So even that one has a poison pill.
And monsters consistently have non-AC defenses lower than AC. WILL almost always, and either FORT or REF most of the time, too. An encounter power can have a major impact, and a daily can swing a whole encounter - casters have lots of those that target weak defenses. Melee types, not so much.
Then again, the warlock does more than damage, and his curse does more for him than just the same extra damage as Hunter's Quary, too. All the Warlock at-wills have some advantages, too - Eldritch Blast counts as a basic attack, and all the others have a somewhat defensive aspect, on top of doing damage.
Eldritch blast is crap. Plain and simple. It is an at will you are forced to take and it sucks. It is a crappy long bow that doesn't require you to spend 1 gold every 30 shots. A long bow can be had for a feat and a tiny upkeep cost. Warlocks must waste an at will on an inferior version. It gets marginally more useful at higher levels as Reflex begins to fall behind AC. At least with the long bow you can fire at some one who isn't in charge range.
The at wills are so situational. Yes when the situation occurs they are decent. Decent not awesome. That is their downfall. Hellish rebuke does decent damage if you get hurt. Wait I need to get hurt? So I have to suffer to get an average of 7.5 more damage? I just took that much and the bad guys have more hit points then me! And if they don't even bother to attack my low damage dealing self I get nothing? Which makes the crappy eldritch blast better. Dire radiance is in the same boat. If they don't move closer or worse stand and shoot you get nothing. As a striker you are supposed to be going after lurkers, controllers and artillery. All of whom are happy to shoot you.
While it's the defender's job to keep monsters from eating the squishies, strikers do not have to just cower in the back, even if they're primarily ranged like an Archer-ranger or warlock. Strikers are sneaky and mobile as well as hard-hitting. They should often be getting in Prime Shot (or similar bonuses, IIRC, all three have them), in surprise rounds or when slipping past soldiers to attack leader, archer, and controller monsters. Once they've done so, thier usually able to get away again if they need to, also.
Strikers should not cower in the back. Heck the rogue who deals the best damage of any one is right in the thick of things. But you don't want to be in melee and most of the monsters and other players do. Melee usually means adjacent and adjacent means you are farther away. Getting a +1 to hit on the first round is still a whoopty-do. Rogues get friggin sneak attack & combat advantage on the first round. I'll trade prime shot for that any day. Shadow walk means I want to move around which is neat. It also means I might have to move away from the guy I want to hit or move into terrain I don't want to be in. Still Shadow walk manages to be more useful then not. Warlocks are not sneaky without a feat anyway. As I already mentioned avoiding attacks outright is of limited utility. It is better to be attacked and missed. It is a team game now and pulling attention away from your friends and distributing the pain can help a lot. After all second win is an encounter power.
