How to enhance a Warlock at 11th level?

[Angellis_ater]

Hi!

One of my players wants to play a Warlock in a game with Avengers, Barbarians, Rangers & Rogues (we have about 12 players and a shifting schedule on who makes it to a game, where each game has about 5-6 players present) and my first quick overview is telling me that the class, as a striker, is kinda weak.

This is my first attempt at helping the player "optimize" to make the character better.

+3 Vicious Rod (for making those d6's into d8's)
Dual Implement Spellcaster (add in another +2 rod, perhaps the one which allows re-rolls on 1's for the Curse Damage?)
Gloves of Arcane Admixture (for changing up Curse Damage AND adding a little extra boost)

Pact-wise, the player is interested in Vestige Pacts and I guided her to picking Dailies such as Pact of Xandor (which increases their at-will damage by +1d8, making it 1d6+1d8+Con) as well as taking feats such as Twofold Curse and the Hexer Paragon Path.

I'd love any and all suggestions on how to increase damage output for this character would be nice. She is playing a Human, using her +2 in Con for maxing damage output and she is at a steady Con 20 right now. I've suggested Arcane Reserves (I think that is the feat, +2 damage with At-Wills when Encounter powers are expended) and Empowering Shadows (+1 damage when concealed).

At this stage her "best" damage output with an at-will is 1d6+3d8+11 (including curse-damage and a daily) or 1d10+2d8+11 (without the daily), and with an encounter power - 4d8+15 (adding in Int to damage).

 

[Lord Ernie]

Hrm... mind you, I haven't played a Warlock at that level, but your choice of feats and PP sound a little off when you're going for a max-damage build.

For one, the Hexer PP might be good at cursing lots of enemies, but since Warlocks can only damage one cursed enemy each turn, this feature is really not all that useful. Worse, the Vestige pact is already very good at cursing enemies quickly (their at-will takes care of that), so it's really not that great a path.

For two, Empowering Shadows might be a flat-out +1 to damage, but well, that's it. There are much better feats out there.

Thirdly, Arcane Reserves is only really good at low levels. At level 12, you're packing 4 encounter attack powers, which means it'll be useless for at least the first 4 rounds of combat.

Fourth, Two-Fold Curse is a very good feat, but with the Vestige Pact's ability to spread the curse around with ease, I don't think it's all that useful in a Vestige Build.

Here's some of my suggestions:
Considering he's playing a human character, why not Reckless Curse (from AP)? A +1 to attack vs. cursed enemies is awesome, and the effective -1 on defenses is an acceptable loss, especially with a CON-lock.

Second, why hasn't he got Two-Fold pact (unless it's not allowed, of course)? Two-Fold pact opens up a lot of options, potentially gives him a useful pact boon for when the ones granted by his vestige powers aren't that great, and dramatically increases his versatility.

Really, I'd strongly consider taking Two-Fold pact (Infernal Pact), and multi-classing into Wizard (he should have a decent Int, right?) to take the Bloodmage PP. Take some of the Push powers of the Infernal Pact, combine with Blood Pulse, and he can hand out some serious pain, with possible AP usage for extra nova potential.

Also, if they are allowed, consider some of the White Lotus feats for some extra defense and/or punch.

I've made the following build in the Character Builder, as an example:

====== Created Using Wizards of the Coast D&DI Character Builder ======
level 12
Human, Warlock, Blood Mage
Eldritch Blast: Eldritch Blast Constitution
Eldritch Pact: Vestige Pact
Twofold Pact: Infernal Pact

FINAL ABILITY SCORES
Str 11, Con 21, Dex 13, Int 19, Wis 9, Cha 13.

STARTING ABILITY SCORES
Str 10, Con 16, Dex 12, Int 16, Wis 8, Cha 12.


AC: 24 Fort: 24 Reflex: 24 Will: 21
HP: 88 Surges: 11 Surge Value: 22

TRAINED SKILLS
Religion +15, Streetwise +12, Thievery +12, History +15, Bluff +12, Arcana +15

UNTRAINED SKILLS
Acrobatics +7, Diplomacy +7, Dungeoneering +5, Endurance +11, Heal +5, Insight +5, Intimidate +7, Nature +5, Perception +5, Stealth +7, Athletics +6

FEATS
Human: Reckless Curse
Level 1: Action Surge
Level 2: Arcane Initiate
Level 4: White Lotus Riposte
Level 6: Distant Advantage
Level 8: Implement Expertise (rod)
Level 10: Arcane Familiar (retrained to Dual Implement Spellcaster at Level 11)
Level 11: Twofold Pact
Level 12: White Lotus Master Riposte

POWERS
Arcane Initiate: Phantom Bolt
Bonus At-Will Power: Dire Radiance
Warlock daily 1: Vestige of Mount Vaelis
Warlock daily 5: Vestige of Xandor
Warlock daily 9: Vestige of Shax
Warlock encounter 1: Diabolic Grasp
Warlock encounter 3: Fiery Bolt
Warlock encounter 7: Howl of Doom
Warlock utility 10: Curse of Nessus
Warlock utility 2: Fey Bargain
Warlock utility 6: Fey Switch

ITEMS
Vicious Rod +3, Staff of Ruin +2, Bloodcut Leather Armor +2, Periapt of Cascading Health +2
====== Created Using Wizards of the Coast D&DI Character Builder ======

Note that, by RAW, the Staff of Ruin adds its bonus to damage, even if wielded off-hand (though this is still a topic of debate every time it comes up).

Eldritch Blast damage on cursed target: 1d10+2d8+12 damage (BTW, I can't see your damage calculations, but I think you're off somewhere (3d8 curse damage, and that +11 seems high; +5+3+2 = +10, no)?, and you can boost Eyes of the Vestige with your daily's for 1d6+(1d6/1d8)+12.

Now, the real pain comes from Blood Pulsing someone, and then hitting them with followup pushing attacks. This should go somewhat like this: Blood Pulse hits for 2d6+2d8+12, and then followup with Diabolic Grasp for 2d8+12+5d6. If you hit several targets, combine with Howl of Doom for some serious damage to a bunch of targets.

 

[Ryujin]

Unless I missed something in your build, Staff of Ruin won't work. It's not a Warlock implement (wand/rod only). It could be used if the character had Arcane Implement Proficiency feat to add staff, but then again there are a lot of interesting things that could be done by adding a weapon group for Arcane Implement instead. Remember, the properties of the weapon also apply when it is used as an implement. For example a +3 Jagged Weapon would add an ongoing 10 damage on a critical hit, along with boosting critical threat range to 19-20.

 

[Lord Ernie]

Arcane Initiate gives proficiency for the staff. It's still not a warlock implement, but for our warlock powers we want to use the vicious rod, anyway. The Staff is there to act as an implement for wizard (read: bloodmage) powers, and to provide its +2 item bonus to damage to warlock powers.

And yes, Arcane Implement Proficiency allows you to pick up various weapon-based enhancement you wouldn't normally have access to, Jagged being one of the good ones there (as it maxes out curse damage, as well). I was first using it to get proficiency for the Staff, but Vicious Rod requires you to be actually wielding it, and this way you open up a couple of feats (which I spent on the White Lotus ones).

 

[Ryujin]

Ah, didn't catch Arcane Initiate in your post. Actually it would only apply when using a Wizard or Wizard Paragon Path power, so it's a less than idea choice.

*EDIT* I play a Feylock, so I've somewhat been down this road already. I found that multi-classing into Bard and then taking the Grave Caller PP works pretty well. You get damage even on a miss at 11th against one opponent per encounter (with encounter powers) and at 16th you get to roll twice for attacks on that opponent (with encounter or daily powers). Hitting more often raises your average encounter damage. Obviously this doesn't work very well for a CON based Warlock though.

 

[Lord Ernie]

Ah, didn't catch Arcane Initiate in your post. Actually it would only apply when using a Wizard or Wizard Paragon Path power, so it's a less than idea choice.

I'm not sure what you're referring to, here. Again, the idea is to use the rod for warlock powers; whether the staff can be used with warlock powers or not is irrelevant. The Wizard MC provides proficiency, and hence its properties are active - meaning, the +2 item bonus to damage rolls comes into play.

Another possible Wizard PP you could take is the Simbarch of Aglarond. Their level 11 encounter power (which is very accurate, due to int + 8 vs. Ref attack) gives you 1/2 level bonus to damage to the target on a hit until the end of the encounter. Their other stuff isn't that great, though, mostly providing increased survivability (which con-locks pack aplenty).

 

[Ryujin]

I'm not sure what you're referring to, here. Again, the idea is to use the rod for warlock powers; whether the staff can be used with warlock powers or not is irrelevant. The Wizard MC provides proficiency, and hence its properties are active - meaning, the +2 item bonus to damage rolls comes into play.

Another possible Wizard PP you could take is the Simbarch of Aglarond. Their level 11 encounter power (which is very accurate, due to int + 8 vs. Ref attack) gives you 1/2 level bonus to damage to the target on a hit until the end of the encounter. Their other stuff isn't that great, though, mostly providing increased survivability (which con-locks pack aplenty).

What I'm getting at is that the proficiency is conditional, and so won't apply when used with non-Wizard powers. That means no +2 damage on Warlock powers.

 

[Old Gumphrey]

Honestly, if your player wants straight damage, have her roll up a sorcerer. Also, lol @ your party of nothing but strikers. Finally, someone's doing it right. =)

 

[Mentat55]

I think it might be more fruitful to play to the warlock's other strengths. I would focus on mobility and wreaking havoc on the enemy's ability to do things. Teleportation, forced movement, status effects, things of this nature. The feylock in the paragon tier game I run can't match the damage output of the TWF ranger/stormwarden or the fighter/pit fighter, but he really interferes with the enemy.

 

[DracoSuave]

Needs more Sacrifices to Caiphon