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Dr. Mindbender, Warlock/Divine Oracle (optimizing the "roll 2x vs. Will")
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<blockquote data-quote="Zaruthustran" data-source="post: 4292341" data-attributes="member: 1457"><p>The Divine Oracle is a great paragon path for many classes, but it’s particularly good for the Warlock since that class has more "vs. Will" attacks than anyone else. This build turns the Warlock from a blaster into more of a controller... an extremely accurate controller. Take this build if don't like to miss. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /></p><p></p><p>This build utilizes a tiefling (masquerading as a satyr) at its core, for the bonuses to Int and Cha. However, any + Cha race would work, or human. The build leverages class features and power choices, not race features or feats, so feel free to flavor your feats, equipment, and race as you wish.</p><p></p><p>I took this guy to 16th level; after that it reaches its full potential and the rest is just incrementing on the core idea of combining “lots of vs. Will attacks” and “always get to roll twice (and take the highest!) when making vs. Will attacks.”</p><p></p><p>Dr. Mindbender</p><p>Tiefling Warlock/Divine Oracle</p><p></p><p>1st level stats</p><p>Str 8</p><p>Con 10</p><p>Dex 11</p><p>Int 18</p><p>Wis 13</p><p>Cha 18</p><p></p><p>The 13 Wis is so that you qualify for Initiate of the Faith right off the bat, no stat bump needed. 18 Charisma powers your attacks, and 18 Int delivers big bang for the Fey pact’s numerous secondary effects. </p><p></p><p>16th level stats</p><p>Str 9</p><p>Con 11</p><p>Dex 12</p><p>Int 23</p><p>Wis 14</p><p>Cha 23</p><p></p><p>No surprises here. Pump Int and Cha; rinse and repeat. Optionally, take some of the love away from Int and boost Con to at least 13, what for to qualify for Dark Fury--you’ll be doing lots of psychic damage. Which is good, because exactly one creature in the MM resists Psychic, and nothing is immune. </p><p></p><p>Skills</p><p>Arcana</p><p>Bluff</p><p>Intimidate</p><p>Thievery</p><p>(Stealth, from skill training feat)</p><p>(Religion, from Cleric multiclass)</p><p></p><p>This guy is a smooth operator, and can fill in as backup thief in a pinch. I can picture him as a merry and sinister prankster, traveling about in a full priest's raiment, delighting in the destruction of his enemies while lamenting the fact that <strong>he can never again know the joy of being pleasantly surprised</strong>. </p><p></p><p>Optionally, you can drop Arcana for Insight. Or ditch the thief angle and drop thievery for History, and swap the skill training feat for Ritual Caster.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Feats</p><p>At tenth level, I’d suggest this assortment (picked up in order):</p><p>1. Improved Initiative</p><p>2. Ferocious Rebuke</p><p>4. Toughness</p><p>6. Initiate of the Faith</p><p>8. Skill Training: Stealth</p><p>10. Hellfire Blood</p><p></p><p>At 11th level, retrain Hellfire Blood into Secret Stride. Huzzah! Now you can move more than 2 squares (triggering Shadow Walk and gaining concealment) and still have a decent chance at Hiding. Keep the other Heroic feats.</p><p></p><p>From there, take these feats:</p><p>11. Twofold Curse</p><p>12. Psychic Lock</p><p>14. Point Blank Shot</p><p>16. Blood Thirst</p><p></p><p>Alternative to Blood Thirst is Combat Anticipation (you’ll be in the back ranks, so you’ll rarely be targeted by melee) </p><p></p><p>Okay, and now for the fun stuff: the powers. I’ll include keywords (except “arcane” and “implement”, attribute vs. defense, and a shorthand note on what it does. AOE = area of effect, B = buff, DB = debuff, DOT = damage over time, CC = crowd control (can refer to single target), T = teleport. I didn’t include a note for direct damage since most every warlock power is direct damage. I’ll include parenthetical notes if warranted.</p><p></p><p>At Will</p><p>Eldritch Blast: Cha vs. Reflex </p><p>Eyebite: Charm, Psychic | Cha vs. Will | DB</p><p></p><p>Encounter</p><p>3. Otherwind Stride: Teleportatoin | Cha vs. Fort | AOE (close burst 1), T (self-teleport 5 + Int squares)</p><p>7. Mire the Mind: Illusion, Psychic | Cha vs. Will | B (gain + Int to stealth checks for rest of encounter), DB (all allies become invisible to target)</p><p>13. Bewitching Whispers: Charm | Cha vs. Will | CC (target must take OAs against enemies, gaining + Cha on attack rolls)</p><p>P: Prophecy of Doom (You or ally who hits creature can choose to make hit a crit. Lasts until end of turn or until used. No roll needed; this power just works.)</p><p></p><p>Utility</p><p>2. Beguiling Tongue (+5 to social skills is a big deal in skill challenges!)</p><p>6. Dark One’s Own Luck (reroll)</p><p>10. Shielding Shades (reduce one attack to 0 damage)</p><p>16. Infuriating Elusiveness (teleport + invis)</p><p>P: Good Omens (+5 to attacks for you and all < 10, but no crits)</p><p></p><p></p><p>Daily</p><p>5. Crown of Madness: Charm, Psychic | Cha vs. Will | CC (target must make basic attack against its ally, save ends)</p><p>9. Thief of Five Fates: Cha vs. Will | DB (see note below)</p><p>13. Curse of the Golden Mist: Charm | Cha vs. Will | DB (see note below)</p><p></p><p>Thief of Five Fates deserves special mention. If it hits, whenever the target makes an attack or save you also roll a d20. You compare your d20 roll to theirs--no modifiers allowed. If you win, attack misses or save fails. Best part? You can sustain as a minor, by making another Cha vs. Will attack. </p><p></p><p>Same goes for Curse of the Golden Mist. If you hit, target loses it’s standard action. You can sustain as a Standard, and just keep doing this--so long as you hit Cha vs. Will. </p><p></p><p>These two spells just shut down BBEGs. They have to stand there while your friends beat on them. They can’t strike back, so long as you attack vs. Will and hit.</p><p></p><p>And with Divine Oracle, you’ll hit. In addition to Will being a notoriously low defense, as a 16th level Divine Oracle you get to roll twice on each and every “vs. Will” attack, and keep the higher result. This means you not only have twice the chance to hit, but twice the chance to <em>crit</em>. And as you can see, virtually all of your attacks are vs. Will. Ouch!</p><p></p><p>Divine Oracle features</p><p>11. Foresight (you and party can’t be surprised; roll twice for init and choose which result)</p><p>11. Prophetic Action (when spend AP, get extra move action to use whenever you wish)</p><p>16. Terrifying Insight (Whenever attack vs. Will, roll twice, keep higher result. If you miss, you’re dazed--not too big a deal since you’ll be in back rank). </p><p></p><p>The Oracle's level 20 Daily, Hammer of Fate, is a big 5d10 damage spell. It’s vs. Will, which is good, but it’s based on Wis, which is bad. But not <em>that</em> bad: you have two chances to succeed on that roll. And if you miss, the power says that you “rewind” until the moment before the attack, the power isn’t expended, and you choose a different standard action--meaning you’ve still got this Daily and are not even dazed. Awesome. Bust this thing out all the time; with such a low Wis you’ll either crit for 50 damage, or you’ll miss and just do something else. Or you can use Prophecy of Doom, spend an action point, and auto-crit with this bad boy.</p><p></p><p>That’s pretty much it; I hope you enjoyed this build, and I welcome comments.</p><p></p><p>-z</p><p></p><p>PS: this build's glaring weakness is that it's extremely focused on a single defense. I think that's overcome by your two chances to beat that defense. And if all else fails, you can Eldritch Blast. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Zaruthustran, post: 4292341, member: 1457"] The Divine Oracle is a great paragon path for many classes, but it’s particularly good for the Warlock since that class has more "vs. Will" attacks than anyone else. This build turns the Warlock from a blaster into more of a controller... an extremely accurate controller. Take this build if don't like to miss. :) This build utilizes a tiefling (masquerading as a satyr) at its core, for the bonuses to Int and Cha. However, any + Cha race would work, or human. The build leverages class features and power choices, not race features or feats, so feel free to flavor your feats, equipment, and race as you wish. I took this guy to 16th level; after that it reaches its full potential and the rest is just incrementing on the core idea of combining “lots of vs. Will attacks” and “always get to roll twice (and take the highest!) when making vs. Will attacks.” Dr. Mindbender Tiefling Warlock/Divine Oracle 1st level stats Str 8 Con 10 Dex 11 Int 18 Wis 13 Cha 18 The 13 Wis is so that you qualify for Initiate of the Faith right off the bat, no stat bump needed. 18 Charisma powers your attacks, and 18 Int delivers big bang for the Fey pact’s numerous secondary effects. 16th level stats Str 9 Con 11 Dex 12 Int 23 Wis 14 Cha 23 No surprises here. Pump Int and Cha; rinse and repeat. Optionally, take some of the love away from Int and boost Con to at least 13, what for to qualify for Dark Fury--you’ll be doing lots of psychic damage. Which is good, because exactly one creature in the MM resists Psychic, and nothing is immune. Skills Arcana Bluff Intimidate Thievery (Stealth, from skill training feat) (Religion, from Cleric multiclass) This guy is a smooth operator, and can fill in as backup thief in a pinch. I can picture him as a merry and sinister prankster, traveling about in a full priest's raiment, delighting in the destruction of his enemies while lamenting the fact that [b]he can never again know the joy of being pleasantly surprised[/b]. Optionally, you can drop Arcana for Insight. Or ditch the thief angle and drop thievery for History, and swap the skill training feat for Ritual Caster. Feats At tenth level, I’d suggest this assortment (picked up in order): 1. Improved Initiative 2. Ferocious Rebuke 4. Toughness 6. Initiate of the Faith 8. Skill Training: Stealth 10. Hellfire Blood At 11th level, retrain Hellfire Blood into Secret Stride. Huzzah! Now you can move more than 2 squares (triggering Shadow Walk and gaining concealment) and still have a decent chance at Hiding. Keep the other Heroic feats. From there, take these feats: 11. Twofold Curse 12. Psychic Lock 14. Point Blank Shot 16. Blood Thirst Alternative to Blood Thirst is Combat Anticipation (you’ll be in the back ranks, so you’ll rarely be targeted by melee) Okay, and now for the fun stuff: the powers. I’ll include keywords (except “arcane” and “implement”, attribute vs. defense, and a shorthand note on what it does. AOE = area of effect, B = buff, DB = debuff, DOT = damage over time, CC = crowd control (can refer to single target), T = teleport. I didn’t include a note for direct damage since most every warlock power is direct damage. I’ll include parenthetical notes if warranted. At Will Eldritch Blast: Cha vs. Reflex Eyebite: Charm, Psychic | Cha vs. Will | DB Encounter 3. Otherwind Stride: Teleportatoin | Cha vs. Fort | AOE (close burst 1), T (self-teleport 5 + Int squares) 7. Mire the Mind: Illusion, Psychic | Cha vs. Will | B (gain + Int to stealth checks for rest of encounter), DB (all allies become invisible to target) 13. Bewitching Whispers: Charm | Cha vs. Will | CC (target must take OAs against enemies, gaining + Cha on attack rolls) P: Prophecy of Doom (You or ally who hits creature can choose to make hit a crit. Lasts until end of turn or until used. No roll needed; this power just works.) Utility 2. Beguiling Tongue (+5 to social skills is a big deal in skill challenges!) 6. Dark One’s Own Luck (reroll) 10. Shielding Shades (reduce one attack to 0 damage) 16. Infuriating Elusiveness (teleport + invis) P: Good Omens (+5 to attacks for you and all < 10, but no crits) Daily 5. Crown of Madness: Charm, Psychic | Cha vs. Will | CC (target must make basic attack against its ally, save ends) 9. Thief of Five Fates: Cha vs. Will | DB (see note below) 13. Curse of the Golden Mist: Charm | Cha vs. Will | DB (see note below) Thief of Five Fates deserves special mention. If it hits, whenever the target makes an attack or save you also roll a d20. You compare your d20 roll to theirs--no modifiers allowed. If you win, attack misses or save fails. Best part? You can sustain as a minor, by making another Cha vs. Will attack. Same goes for Curse of the Golden Mist. If you hit, target loses it’s standard action. You can sustain as a Standard, and just keep doing this--so long as you hit Cha vs. Will. These two spells just shut down BBEGs. They have to stand there while your friends beat on them. They can’t strike back, so long as you attack vs. Will and hit. And with Divine Oracle, you’ll hit. In addition to Will being a notoriously low defense, as a 16th level Divine Oracle you get to roll twice on each and every “vs. Will” attack, and keep the higher result. This means you not only have twice the chance to hit, but twice the chance to [i]crit[/i]. And as you can see, virtually all of your attacks are vs. Will. Ouch! Divine Oracle features 11. Foresight (you and party can’t be surprised; roll twice for init and choose which result) 11. Prophetic Action (when spend AP, get extra move action to use whenever you wish) 16. Terrifying Insight (Whenever attack vs. Will, roll twice, keep higher result. If you miss, you’re dazed--not too big a deal since you’ll be in back rank). The Oracle's level 20 Daily, Hammer of Fate, is a big 5d10 damage spell. It’s vs. Will, which is good, but it’s based on Wis, which is bad. But not [i]that[/i] bad: you have two chances to succeed on that roll. And if you miss, the power says that you “rewind” until the moment before the attack, the power isn’t expended, and you choose a different standard action--meaning you’ve still got this Daily and are not even dazed. Awesome. Bust this thing out all the time; with such a low Wis you’ll either crit for 50 damage, or you’ll miss and just do something else. Or you can use Prophecy of Doom, spend an action point, and auto-crit with this bad boy. That’s pretty much it; I hope you enjoyed this build, and I welcome comments. -z PS: this build's glaring weakness is that it's extremely focused on a single defense. I think that's overcome by your two chances to beat that defense. And if all else fails, you can Eldritch Blast. :) [/QUOTE]
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