D&D 5E (2014) Merric's Test Thread

[Bawylie]

If this shakes out right, I'm going to have to buy you a beer.

 

[MerricB]

Originally posted by DuelistDelSol:

Walk With Me in Hell: The Warlock's Guide

Since Malkonnen's guide has not been updated in a while, missing material from several Dragon magazines and, most importantly, the Essentials books, this guide is meant as a spiritual successor to The Power of the Dark Side: The Warlock's Handbook(x), and much credit will be given to him for its role in this guide's creation.


Credit will also be given to several others:
LordDuskblade for the handbook format that's now taken for granted here;
Zelink551 for the encouragement;
Malkonnen as mentioned above for the (excellent) original guide and the inspiration for this guide;
anyone here who posts with honest opinions. I need 'em.


 


 



As a Warlock, you belong in the realm of the Arcane Striker, a designation you share with your AOE-centric cousin, the Sorcerer. However, the two classes are monumentally different. You fit more along the lines of the Ranger, of which you share the same Player's Handbook: instead of focusing on AOE DPR, you go instead for single-target heavy damage, with a huge bent on Controller abilities. Indeed, you are second-to-none in this regard, acting as an excellent single-target Controller while putting down solid damage to honor your original intent.


How you work as a Striker is also rather unique. Your power grows as enemies fall to their deaths, giving you special abilities and boosts depending on the Pact you sign with. You also share the "Quarry" feature of the Ranger in the Warlock's Curse; however, the Curse is arguably much more powerful than Hunter's Quarry, as the damage bonus component can be boosted to absurd numbers, on top of several feats and items that can give you incredibly nice boosts, such as automatic combat advantage, defensive boosts in convenient equipment slots, and accuracy boosts.


Before I get into the Striker Traits, you may be seeing a lot of colors in this guide. On features, powers, feats and the like, you'll be seeing these colors, adopted and borrowed from LordDuskblade's handbooks:

Ratings
[sblock]Gold (near mandatory or jaw-droppingly good)
Light Blue (very good, or at least worth serious consideration)
Blue (good, though probably not excellent)
Black (middle-of-the-road, but not bad)
Purple (mediocre, or build specific)
Red (terrible or otherwise not recommended)

Green (no rating, shows emphasis)[/sblock]


So, to clarify how you compare with other Strikers:

Striker Traits
[sblock]

• Alpha Striking: Unfortunately, this kinda isn't your best suit. A common characteristic of 4e Strikers is multiple attacks in one round, out-of-turn attacks, or "zone abuse". While you're decent at the second and OK in the third, the first of this list is not something you really do. On top of which, your Curse only works once per turn, and your Encounters and Dailies do not do significant damage over your At-Wills, so that's regretable.
  
• Damage/Round (DPR): This is an area you're quite a bit better at, especially since Arcane Power and several trains of Dragon Magazines have come out. Prime Shot really helps here, since you ride more on accuracy than straight damage rolls, and starting at level 9 or thereabouts, whenever Shadow Warlock Armor comes into play, automatic combat advantage nearly every round is quite awesome.
  
• Debilitating Effects: Though again, you work more in the single-target range, what you can sling around in regards to Controller abilities is phenomenal. You run the gamut from teleportation, to daze, stun, immobilize, dominate, and even attack dissuasion - eliminating yourself from the board as a legitimate option to attack does help in several ways. Charisma-based Warlocks come close to gold in this field.
  
• Survivability: As the first of only two Constitution-primary (if you so choose) classes in the game, you can choose to be one of the healthiest Strikers in the business, with a solid stockade of hitpoints and healing surges. On-demand Concealment also tends to help you a lot, on top of the propensity to stay five to ten squares away from everything you want to hit (having a Defender blocking the enemy's path to your face tends to work quite well for you). Charisma'locks are a little worse, but can still pull some strings to keep themselves out of danger. Being stuck in Leather armor could be a little bit of an issue, especially if your race doesn't get a bonus to Intelligence, but you can manage, especially as a lot of neat enchantments are contained in Leather.
  
• Targeting Capacity: Another advantage of being a ranged combatant is the freedom of choice as to what you want to hit. And especially as you gain a bonus to defenses just for shimmying along in the battlefield, you can stray inwards a little bit to gain your Prime Shot bonus and ruin a monster's day. Several facets of the Warlock also rely on teleportation, which also helps a lot with mobility, but some Warlocks may not want to get too much in danger to force their Prime Shot to activate, especially with melee-focused allies.

[/sblock]


 

The Hexblade and Binder - I'll Cast a Shadow


Luckily, handbooks already exist for the two Essentials daughter classes. They may be slightly outdated, but barring suggestion for an updated version of either, I will present these guides, written by LordVentnor and Malisteen, respectively.

• HEXBLADE: Blades of Cursed Night(x)
  
• BINDER: Ties That Bind(x)

Originally posted by DuelistDelSol:

Stats and Proficiencies: The Bare-Bones Bargaining Chip

 


So, what exactly makes a Warlock tick? What makes them different from the Ranger, the Rogue, the Sorcerer, the Blackguard, the... everything else?


Several little things. But first, a bit of a look at the basics.


 


Hit-Points: 12 + Constitution score.

At the standard for your role. Better than the Assassin here (then again, so is every other Striker), but worse than the Avenger and Barbarian.

Healing Surges: 6 + Constitution modifier.  

A little problematic for Charisma'locks, but Con'locks will jump for joy at just how much in both this field and the field above they have in terms of elbow-room. Enjoy your Defender-level hitpoints, at least for a little while.

Proficiencies: Cloth, Leather.  Simple Weapons.  Rod, Wand implements.

The armor is less of a deal than you'd think, but there's some lost potential in terms of implements, as you don't get the two implements you'd probably most want: the Staff for damage and the Orb for debuff potentia;. Don't get me wrong, there are a ton of Rods built for Warlocks to swing with ease and efficiency, and you will actually want one at least in the off-hand for property's sake... but the fact of the matter is that Wands are not very impressive in the hands of a Warlock, and for the most part, nothing will compare to the Staff of Ruin when it comes to damage-buffing. This problem is very easy to fix, however - one feat, and you're good to go.

Defensive Bonuses: +1 Reflex, +1 Will.

Charisma'locks will enjoy a strong Will score, but Constitution'locks that aren't devoting themselves to Charisma as an off-score will probably not care as much. Still, two buffed defenses is nothing to sneeze at.


 


Class Features: Leafing the Pages of the Necronomicon


Eldritch Blast: Wizards of the Coast decided that Warlock at-wills must be chosen for them, one of them based on their pact... and this one. You'll certainly get chummy with your local Warlord, as this is a legitimate Ranged Basic Attack, and thus there's a lot of other ways to buff this power, but otherwise you're slinging around a Longbow with infinite ammunition.


Since PH Heroes: Series 1 however, you are allowed to take a melee weapon version of this: Eldritch Strike, which is a Constitution- or Charisma-based melee basic attack which slides the target 1 square as a hit. It's one of the most poached at-wills in the game, especially with the slide portion of the power opening itself up to so many tricks, and is a great alternative for Warlocks who either want to stay in the front lines (usually as a Con'lock), provide an escape option (Cha'lock), or go into the massive amount of charge support in the game.

Pact Boons: Every Warlock starts his or her career by choosing to sign with one of seven different Pacts: Infernal (PHB1), Star (PHB1), Fey (PHB1), Dark (FRPG), Vestige (AP), Sorcerer-King (Dark Sun), or Elemental (HoEC). From each pact, you get your second at-will power and a special effect that happens when an enemy subject to your Warlock's Curse falls to zero hitpoints, and not just because you killed them. In fights where enemies come in the dozens and your mobility is at its peak, this is a tremendously powerful addition to your repetroire; however, in solo fights this will go amiss, unless your DM likes throwing minions at you alongside and you get the first jump on them.

Prime Shot: While you're a little more fragile than the Ranger is and thus Prime Shot may not be as notable a feature for you as it is for them, it's still a great boost to accuracy that can be built around with plenty of support, and you're not exactly glass, especially Con'locks. Melee'locks especially will love this at Paragon.

Shadow Walk: On-demand Concealment is amazing, and quite a fantastic way to patch up your otherwise mediocre defenses. It's easy to trigger, too: just move 3 squares from your starting position! You gain a +2 bonus to defenses in partial concealment, which is what this feature grants; but that's not the only thing you get out of this. The aforementioned Shadow Warlock Armor gives you Combat Advantage against every Cursed enemy in sight. You also have a much easier time using your Stealth skill, as you require cover or concealment to keep any Hidden status you might obtain.

Warlock's Curse: Once per round as a minor action, you can subject the closest enemy to you that you can see to your Warlock's Curse, which lasts all encounter, and does not vanish on application on other enemies. What does this do? It allows you to deal extra dice of damage once per turn with any attack you inflict on them. There's a myriad of ways, both control-based and damage-based, to utilize this feature, the biggest of which revolves around the fact that it was changed to once per turn, so Immediate Action attacks are now worthwhile additions to your power card list.


 


 


Warlock Pacts: The Paths To Hell

 


 


As explained in the Pact Boon section, each Warlock must pick a Pact that best follows how they want to play their character and what powers they'd like to favor. Each of the seven, along with its designated at-will power, will be described below, both in regards to its At-Will power that it selects for you, as well as how well they represent the Warlock class in these specific categories:


 

• CONTROL: Propensity for debilitating effects, forced movement
• DAMAGE: DPR potential, whether ongoing or straight hits
• DEFENSE: Tenacity to remain standing in combat, ability to act as a quasi-Defender
• LEADERSHIP: Debuffs, buffs, heals
• SUPPORT: Availability of support for the pact, through feats/items/Paragon Path

 


INFERNAL PACT (Player's Handbook 1) / Control Damage Defense Leadership Support

Constitution-based, with a smattering of (good) Charisma-based powers. Contains one of the most abused at-wills in all of 4e D&D.



The Infernal Pact
[sblock]Pact Boon: Dark One's Blessing.

When an enemy cursed by you falls to zero hitpoints, you gain temporary hitpoints equal to your level. Now that's kinda spiffy: several of your powers, especially outside of PHB1, love to drain you of your hitpoints in exchange for a reroll, and this will help you with that sting. Defensive-based Warlocks will love this Boon, but keep in mind temporary hitpoints do not stack, so killing multiple enemies in one fell swoop, or killing enemies when your stock of temp hitpoints hasn't vanished yet, can make this boon wasteful. Ah well.

At-Will Powers: Hellish Rebuke, Gift to Avernus.
Hellish Rebuke (Constitution) is incredibly cool. Target takes some blasé fire damage, and if you're damaged by anything, they take even more damage! And that trigger point can be from anything - that enemy's attack, another enemy's attack, ongoing damage, a stray arrow, your own abilities, anything. There are a ton of builds centered around the abuse of this very power alone... though the rating drops if you don't really bother to get in the thick of things.


On the other hand, you're allowed to pick Gift to Avernus (Charisma). It's Eldritch Blast without the RBA addition or the Constitution-based option. Oh, but wait! If you miss with it, you can reroll it, with a very, very convenient cost: a dent to your hitpoints equal to your level.  Doesn't that sound kinda familiar? It should, as it perfectly overlaps with your pact boon. Unpenalized(ish) rerolls are incredibly nice for your DPR, and if you want to go down this path and favor Charisma, take this - you won't regret it.[/sblock]

STAR PACT (Player's Handbook 1) / Control Damage Defense Leadership Support

Can be effective as either a Con'lock or Cha'lock, and the riders on these powers are quite nice.

The Star Pact
[sblock]Pact Boon: Fate of the Void.

When an enemy cursed by you falls to zero hitpoints, you gain a cumulative +1 bonus to one attack roll, saving throw, skill check, or ability check you make - your choice to apply whenever any of these come up - until the end of your turn. Afterwards, the bonus is lost. A singular point to attack rolls is not going to make a large impact and does require fixing (via your core Pact feat option) to make it noticeable.

At-Will Powers: Dire Radiance.
Can be used as either a Charisma-based or Constitution-based power. The rating isn't such that the effect is weak - it's not exactly a hard trigger point - it's just that the effect is hard to trigger in the context of battle. Melee enemies will probably not move after it's locked onto your allies, and ranged enemies will probably not bother to move. The secondary damage triggers when they move closer to you, which is soft control (giving enemies a bad option and a good option); not a very positive slant. It is radiant damage, and that's open to a lot of tricks, but as it is it really needs a clever mind and a well-aligned battlefield to really pull out the meat of its power.[/sblock]

FEY PACT (Player's Handbook 1) / Control Damage Defense Leadership Support

Fully Charisma-based. The powers are very Control-heavy, sacrificing damage for stellar effects, but you can still be a good Striker without large numbers of dice to roll.

The Fey Pact
[sblock]Pact Boon: Misty Step.

When an enemy cursed by you falls to zero hitpoints, you teleport 3 squares as a free action. Unlike your Hexblade cousins, you're rather rarely in the thick of the action, so a teleport isn't going to have much strength in the heat of battle, especially when you can't always do it on your own terms.

At-Will Powers: Eyebite.

This is a very popular power for other classes to poach, especially Bards and Paladins, as an encounter power that granted invisibility was something really fancy to pull out to divert attention away. It doesn't work quite as well for you, but it's still not a bad power by any means.[/sblock]

DARK PACT (Forgotten Realms) / Control Damage Defense Leadership Support

Entirely Charisma-based. Heavy on DPR focus, with only one real facet of control without influence from other pacts; falls into the problem of emphasizing necrotic and poison damage, which is strange considering the anti-undead bent of this Pact. Still, though, a cool Pact to follow, though it has its problems.

The Dark Pact
[sblock]Pact Boon: Darkspiral Aura.

Mmm-mmm, Catch-22s. When an enemy cursed by you falls to zero hitpoints, you add one point to a special little bank called your Darkspiral Aura. Whenever an enemy targets you with a melee or ranged attack, you can drop your Aura as an immediate interrupt to deal xd6/xd8/xd10 damage to the target, X being the amount of points in your Aura. Like the Star and Fey Pacts, this encourages Cursing as fast as possible, and very large encounters to give yourself a humongously strong punishment for enemies attacking you. Recognize, however, that the scaling of this is suspect (never growing above 1d12 per point at 21st level with a feat) and in fights against solo creatures with a Defender doing his job, you might as well forget this exists, even if that solo has lackeys.

At-Will Powers: Spiteful Glamor.

d12 damage if the target is at full hitpoints, and d8 otherwise. No other effects. At least it attacks Will...[/sblock]

VESTIGE PACT (Arcane Power) / Control Damage Defense Leadership Support

Constitution-based. Still very Strikery, but actually trades in a bit of Control for being a quasi-Leader. And to be honest, the Vestige Pact does that very well; it's honestly my favorite pact out of all of them.

(NOTE: The ratings fluctuate depending on the Vestige Pact chosen.)


The Vestige Pact
[sblock]Pact Boon: Vestige of King Elidyr; Vestige of Zutwa; various.

This is much trickier: when an enemy cursed by you falls to zero hitpoints, you follow the Pact Boon of a specific ancient Vestige that you've signed your pact to. At the end of any rest, you select either of the two primary Vestiges to follow, King Elidyr or Zutwa. This determines not only your Pact Boon, but your special At-Will power's secondary effect. Whenever you use a Daily Warlock power that has Vestige in the name, you can choose to sign into that pact instead of your original one - at that point, your Boon and At-Will's secondary effect changes to incorporate the effects listed. It's book-keeping to the max, and unfortunately only the Vestige of Zutwa pact boon is of any worth by default, as on-demand Prime Shot (and the spike to the bonus as the pact boon) is going to be much more handy than the weak Leader-like abilities that King Elidyr contains.

At-Will Powers: Eyes of the Vestige.

This power is incredible; the ability to spread damage and Curses around to more important targets is fantastic, and the power would be just fine by itself, without the special Augments you get from your current Vestige. The damage you inflict is a tad low, but it's against Will, and can carry some monstrously good effects if you ally yourself with the right Vestiges. A fantastic extra At-Will for Human Con'locks.[/sblock]

SORCERER-KING PACT (Dark Sun) / Control Damage Defense Leadership Support

Every power for you guys is Constitution- or Charisma-based, with an attack range of Melee touch or Ranged 5. This is also very Leadery, and is incredibly versatile on every front, able to be slotted in to any build. A very popular candidate for Twofold Pact due to how wonderful its feats are.

The Sorcerer-King Pact
[sblock]Pact Boon: Fell Scorn.

Very simple: you start your encounters with a Fell Might as a King'lock, and whenever you use a Warlock power tied to the Sorcerer-King pact, you can spend it before rolling the attack roll to get a special rider on a hit. The Pact Boon simply refreshes the use of the Fell Might. You cannot get multiple uses of the Fell Might, which is kinda disappointing.

At-Will Powers: Hand of Blight.

Huh. Melee touch or Ranged 5, Constitution or Charisma; wicked. The at-will also services to introduce you to the Fell Might feature: if you spend it on this power and hit, you deal 1d8 extra damage, which is actually an excellent bonus, and one of the best ways to spend your Fell Might. Heck, it even allows the target to grant combat advantage to everyone, which is neat. The range is rather short, but hey, it works - and there are some strategies you can exploit from having this be a Melee range option.[/sblock]

ELEMENTAL PACT (Essentials: HOEC) / Control Damage Defense Leadership Support

Charisma-based, but since none of your new powers have Elemental Pact riders and your At-Will is awful, you could conceivably go with Constitution as your attack score. A striking similarity to the Sorcerer with this pact, and contains some extremely unique features and bonuses.  It also helps with one of the worst parts about, oddly enough, the Dark'lock powers in being able to switch around damage types. Awesome pact... except there's a little bit of a problem.
The Elemental Pact
[sblock]Elemental Affinity

As the only Pact with a fully-fledged feature, this does a rather neat little thing: it gives you a fragment of the Wild Sorcerer feature, in which you roll a d10 each time you rest to determine a damage type.  The result you get (which can be either acid, cold, fire, lightning, or thunder) replaces all instances of the psychic, necrotic, poison, or force damage type on your Warlock powers (this includes ongoing damage, Dark'locks) with your new Affinity's type. This Affinity can change to one of your choice when you spend your Second Wind. This meshes wonderfully with the Pact Boon...

Pact Boon: Accursed Affinity.

Whenever an enemy cursed by you drops to zero hitpoints... nothing happens. At least not yet.  Whenever you next Curse an enemy, that enemy gains Vulnerable 5/10/15 (by tier) to your Affinity's damage type for the rest of the encounter. Simply glorious DPR potential here, not just for you, and sickening with Bloodied Boon. 

At-Will Powers: Chromatic Bolt.

Another aspect of the Sorcerer comes into play, this time reflecting the Storm Sorcerer's favorite at-will choice: you deal a decent amount of psychic damage (which can be changed with your Elemental Affinity feature), and you deal some extra minion-poppin' psychic damage on another target within 5 squares equal to your Constitution modifier. Really, there's no reason for this: Intelligence is such an important aspect of the class as a whole that having a secondary damage option based on the other primary isn't good for anything other than just popping minions. And while that sounds like a smart plan, since you can curse a minion and then pop him with the secondary on this for instant Boon, that also means you missed out on extra damage on the primary target, which past Heroic will mean something. The CHA/CON split for armor isn't horrible if you're going in Chainmail but there's few enchantments you want on that.[/sblock]

 

 

[MerricB]

Originally posted by DuelistDelSol:

Walk With Me in Hell: The Warlock's Guide

Since Malkonnen's guide has not been updated in a while, missing material from several Dragon magazines and, most importantly, the Essentials books, this guide is meant as a spiritual successor to The Power of the Dark Side: The Warlock's Handbook(x), and much credit will be given to him for its role in this guide's creation.


Credit will also be given to several others:
LordDuskblade for the handbook format that's now taken for granted here;
Zelink551 for the encouragement;
Malkonnen as mentioned above for the (excellent) original guide and the inspiration for this guide;
anyone here who posts with honest opinions. I need 'em.


 


 



As a Warlock, you belong in the realm of the Arcane Striker, a designation you share with your AOE-centric cousin, the Sorcerer. However, the two classes are monumentally different. You fit more along the lines of the Ranger, of which you share the same Player's Handbook: instead of focusing on AOE DPR, you go instead for single-target heavy damage, with a huge bent on Controller abilities. Indeed, you are second-to-none in this regard, acting as an excellent single-target Controller while putting down solid damage to honor your original intent.


How you work as a Striker is also rather unique. Your power grows as enemies fall to their deaths, giving you special abilities and boosts depending on the Pact you sign with. You also share the "Quarry" feature of the Ranger in the Warlock's Curse; however, the Curse is arguably much more powerful than Hunter's Quarry, as the damage bonus component can be boosted to absurd numbers, on top of several feats and items that can give you incredibly nice boosts, such as automatic combat advantage, defensive boosts in convenient equipment slots, and accuracy boosts.


Before I get into the Striker Traits, you may be seeing a lot of colors in this guide. On features, powers, feats and the like, you'll be seeing these colors, adopted and borrowed from LordDuskblade's handbooks:

Ratings
[sblock]Gold (near mandatory or jaw-droppingly good)
Light Blue (very good, or at least worth serious consideration)
Blue (good, though probably not excellent)
Black (middle-of-the-road, but not bad)
Purple (mediocre, or build specific)
Red (terrible or otherwise not recommended)

Green (no rating, shows emphasis)[/sblock]


So, to clarify how you compare with other Strikers:

Striker Traits
[sblock]

• Alpha Striking: Unfortunately, this kinda isn't your best suit. A common characteristic of 4e Strikers is multiple attacks in one round, out-of-turn attacks, or "zone abuse". While you're decent at the second and OK in the third, the first of this list is not something you really do. On top of which, your Curse only works once per turn, and your Encounters and Dailies do not do significant damage over your At-Wills, so that's regretable.
  
• Damage/Round (DPR): This is an area you're quite a bit better at, especially since Arcane Power and several trains of Dragon Magazines have come out. Prime Shot really helps here, since you ride more on accuracy than straight damage rolls, and starting at level 9 or thereabouts, whenever Shadow Warlock Armor comes into play, automatic combat advantage nearly every round is quite awesome.
  
• Debilitating Effects: Though again, you work more in the single-target range, what you can sling around in regards to Controller abilities is phenomenal. You run the gamut from teleportation, to daze, stun, immobilize, dominate, and even attack dissuasion - eliminating yourself from the board as a legitimate option to attack does help in several ways. Charisma-based Warlocks come close to gold in this field.
  
• Survivability: As the first of only two Constitution-primary (if you so choose) classes in the game, you can choose to be one of the healthiest Strikers in the business, with a solid stockade of hitpoints and healing surges. On-demand Concealment also tends to help you a lot, on top of the propensity to stay five to ten squares away from everything you want to hit (having a Defender blocking the enemy's path to your face tends to work quite well for you). Charisma'locks are a little worse, but can still pull some strings to keep themselves out of danger. Being stuck in Leather armor could be a little bit of an issue, especially if your race doesn't get a bonus to Intelligence, but you can manage, especially as a lot of neat enchantments are contained in Leather.
  
• Targeting Capacity: Another advantage of being a ranged combatant is the freedom of choice as to what you want to hit. And especially as you gain a bonus to defenses just for shimmying along in the battlefield, you can stray inwards a little bit to gain your Prime Shot bonus and ruin a monster's day. Several facets of the Warlock also rely on teleportation, which also helps a lot with mobility, but some Warlocks may not want to get too much in danger to force their Prime Shot to activate, especially with melee-focused allies.

[/sblock]


 

The Hexblade and Binder - I'll Cast a Shadow


Luckily, handbooks already exist for the two Essentials daughter classes. They may be slightly outdated, but barring suggestion for an updated version of either, I will present these guides, written by LordVentnor and Malisteen, respectively.

• HEXBLADE: Blades of Cursed Night(x)
  
• BINDER: Ties That Bind(x)

Originally posted by DuelistDelSol:

Stats and Proficiencies: The Bare-Bones Bargaining Chip

 


So, what exactly makes a Warlock tick? What makes them different from the Ranger, the Rogue, the Sorcerer, the Blackguard, the... everything else?


Several little things. But first, a bit of a look at the basics.


 


Hit-Points: 12 + Constitution score.

At the standard for your role. Better than the Assassin here (then again, so is every other Striker), but worse than the Avenger and Barbarian.

Healing Surges: 6 + Constitution modifier.  

A little problematic for Charisma'locks, but Con'locks will jump for joy at just how much in both this field and the field above they have in terms of elbow-room. Enjoy your Defender-level hitpoints, at least for a little while.

Proficiencies: Cloth, Leather.  Simple Weapons.  Rod, Wand implements.

The armor is less of a deal than you'd think, but there's some lost potential in terms of implements, as you don't get the two implements you'd probably most want: the Staff for damage and the Orb for debuff potentia;. Don't get me wrong, there are a ton of Rods built for Warlocks to swing with ease and efficiency, and you will actually want one at least in the off-hand for property's sake... but the fact of the matter is that Wands are not very impressive in the hands of a Warlock, and for the most part, nothing will compare to the Staff of Ruin when it comes to damage-buffing. This problem is very easy to fix, however - one feat, and you're good to go.

Defensive Bonuses: +1 Reflex, +1 Will.

Charisma'locks will enjoy a strong Will score, but Constitution'locks that aren't devoting themselves to Charisma as an off-score will probably not care as much. Still, two buffed defenses is nothing to sneeze at.


 


Class Features: Leafing the Pages of the Necronomicon


Eldritch Blast: Wizards of the Coast decided that Warlock at-wills must be chosen for them, one of them based on their pact... and this one. You'll certainly get chummy with your local Warlord, as this is a legitimate Ranged Basic Attack, and thus there's a lot of other ways to buff this power, but otherwise you're slinging around a Longbow with infinite ammunition.


Since PH Heroes: Series 1 however, you are allowed to take a melee weapon version of this: Eldritch Strike, which is a Constitution- or Charisma-based melee basic attack which slides the target 1 square as a hit. It's one of the most poached at-wills in the game, especially with the slide portion of the power opening itself up to so many tricks, and is a great alternative for Warlocks who either want to stay in the front lines (usually as a Con'lock), provide an escape option (Cha'lock), or go into the massive amount of charge support in the game.

Pact Boons: Every Warlock starts his or her career by choosing to sign with one of seven different Pacts: Infernal (PHB1), Star (PHB1), Fey (PHB1), Dark (FRPG), Vestige (AP), Sorcerer-King (Dark Sun), or Elemental (HoEC). From each pact, you get your second at-will power and a special effect that happens when an enemy subject to your Warlock's Curse falls to zero hitpoints, and not just because you killed them. In fights where enemies come in the dozens and your mobility is at its peak, this is a tremendously powerful addition to your repetroire; however, in solo fights this will go amiss, unless your DM likes throwing minions at you alongside and you get the first jump on them.

Prime Shot: While you're a little more fragile than the Ranger is and thus Prime Shot may not be as notable a feature for you as it is for them, it's still a great boost to accuracy that can be built around with plenty of support, and you're not exactly glass, especially Con'locks. Melee'locks especially will love this at Paragon.

Shadow Walk: On-demand Concealment is amazing, and quite a fantastic way to patch up your otherwise mediocre defenses. It's easy to trigger, too: just move 3 squares from your starting position! You gain a +2 bonus to defenses in partial concealment, which is what this feature grants; but that's not the only thing you get out of this. The aforementioned Shadow Warlock Armor gives you Combat Advantage against every Cursed enemy in sight. You also have a much easier time using your Stealth skill, as you require cover or concealment to keep any Hidden status you might obtain.

Warlock's Curse: Once per round as a minor action, you can subject the closest enemy to you that you can see to your Warlock's Curse, which lasts all encounter, and does not vanish on application on other enemies. What does this do? It allows you to deal extra dice of damage once per turn with any attack you inflict on them. There's a myriad of ways, both control-based and damage-based, to utilize this feature, the biggest of which revolves around the fact that it was changed to once per turn, so Immediate Action attacks are now worthwhile additions to your power card list.


 


 


Warlock Pacts: The Paths To Hell

 


 


As explained in the Pact Boon section, each Warlock must pick a Pact that best follows how they want to play their character and what powers they'd like to favor. Each of the seven, along with its designated at-will power, will be described below, both in regards to its At-Will power that it selects for you, as well as how well they represent the Warlock class in these specific categories:


 

• CONTROL: Propensity for debilitating effects, forced movement
• DAMAGE: DPR potential, whether ongoing or straight hits
• DEFENSE: Tenacity to remain standing in combat, ability to act as a quasi-Defender
• LEADERSHIP: Debuffs, buffs, heals
• SUPPORT: Availability of support for the pact, through feats/items/Paragon Path

 


INFERNAL PACT (Player's Handbook 1) / Control Damage Defense Leadership Support

Constitution-based, with a smattering of (good) Charisma-based powers. Contains one of the most abused at-wills in all of 4e D&D.



The Infernal Pact
[sblock]Pact Boon: Dark One's Blessing.

When an enemy cursed by you falls to zero hitpoints, you gain temporary hitpoints equal to your level. Now that's kinda spiffy: several of your powers, especially outside of PHB1, love to drain you of your hitpoints in exchange for a reroll, and this will help you with that sting. Defensive-based Warlocks will love this Boon, but keep in mind temporary hitpoints do not stack, so killing multiple enemies in one fell swoop, or killing enemies when your stock of temp hitpoints hasn't vanished yet, can make this boon wasteful. Ah well.

At-Will Powers: Hellish Rebuke, Gift to Avernus.
Hellish Rebuke (Constitution) is incredibly cool. Target takes some blasé fire damage, and if you're damaged by anything, they take even more damage! And that trigger point can be from anything - that enemy's attack, another enemy's attack, ongoing damage, a stray arrow, your own abilities, anything. There are a ton of builds centered around the abuse of this very power alone... though the rating drops if you don't really bother to get in the thick of things.


On the other hand, you're allowed to pick Gift to Avernus (Charisma). It's Eldritch Blast without the RBA addition or the Constitution-based option. Oh, but wait! If you miss with it, you can reroll it, with a very, very convenient cost: a dent to your hitpoints equal to your level.  Doesn't that sound kinda familiar? It should, as it perfectly overlaps with your pact boon. Unpenalized(ish) rerolls are incredibly nice for your DPR, and if you want to go down this path and favor Charisma, take this - you won't regret it.[/sblock]

STAR PACT (Player's Handbook 1) / Control Damage Defense Leadership Support

Can be effective as either a Con'lock or Cha'lock, and the riders on these powers are quite nice.

The Star Pact
[sblock]Pact Boon: Fate of the Void.

When an enemy cursed by you falls to zero hitpoints, you gain a cumulative +1 bonus to one attack roll, saving throw, skill check, or ability check you make - your choice to apply whenever any of these come up - until the end of your turn. Afterwards, the bonus is lost. A singular point to attack rolls is not going to make a large impact and does require fixing (via your core Pact feat option) to make it noticeable.

At-Will Powers: Dire Radiance.
Can be used as either a Charisma-based or Constitution-based power. The rating isn't such that the effect is weak - it's not exactly a hard trigger point - it's just that the effect is hard to trigger in the context of battle. Melee enemies will probably not move after it's locked onto your allies, and ranged enemies will probably not bother to move. The secondary damage triggers when they move closer to you, which is soft control (giving enemies a bad option and a good option); not a very positive slant. It is radiant damage, and that's open to a lot of tricks, but as it is it really needs a clever mind and a well-aligned battlefield to really pull out the meat of its power.[/sblock]

FEY PACT (Player's Handbook 1) / Control Damage Defense Leadership Support

Fully Charisma-based. The powers are very Control-heavy, sacrificing damage for stellar effects, but you can still be a good Striker without large numbers of dice to roll.

The Fey Pact
[sblock]Pact Boon: Misty Step.

When an enemy cursed by you falls to zero hitpoints, you teleport 3 squares as a free action. Unlike your Hexblade cousins, you're rather rarely in the thick of the action, so a teleport isn't going to have much strength in the heat of battle, especially when you can't always do it on your own terms.

At-Will Powers: Eyebite.

This is a very popular power for other classes to poach, especially Bards and Paladins, as an encounter power that granted invisibility was something really fancy to pull out to divert attention away. It doesn't work quite as well for you, but it's still not a bad power by any means.[/sblock]

DARK PACT (Forgotten Realms) / Control Damage Defense Leadership Support

Entirely Charisma-based. Heavy on DPR focus, with only one real facet of control without influence from other pacts; falls into the problem of emphasizing necrotic and poison damage, which is strange considering the anti-undead bent of this Pact. Still, though, a cool Pact to follow, though it has its problems.

The Dark Pact
[sblock]Pact Boon: Darkspiral Aura.

Mmm-mmm, Catch-22s. When an enemy cursed by you falls to zero hitpoints, you add one point to a special little bank called your Darkspiral Aura. Whenever an enemy targets you with a melee or ranged attack, you can drop your Aura as an immediate interrupt to deal xd6/xd8/xd10 damage to the target, X being the amount of points in your Aura. Like the Star and Fey Pacts, this encourages Cursing as fast as possible, and very large encounters to give yourself a humongously strong punishment for enemies attacking you. Recognize, however, that the scaling of this is suspect (never growing above 1d12 per point at 21st level with a feat) and in fights against solo creatures with a Defender doing his job, you might as well forget this exists, even if that solo has lackeys.

At-Will Powers: Spiteful Glamor.

d12 damage if the target is at full hitpoints, and d8 otherwise. No other effects. At least it attacks Will...[/sblock]

VESTIGE PACT (Arcane Power) / Control Damage Defense Leadership Support

Constitution-based. Still very Strikery, but actually trades in a bit of Control for being a quasi-Leader. And to be honest, the Vestige Pact does that very well; it's honestly my favorite pact out of all of them.

(NOTE: The ratings fluctuate depending on the Vestige Pact chosen.)


The Vestige Pact
[sblock]Pact Boon: Vestige of King Elidyr; Vestige of Zutwa; various.

This is much trickier: when an enemy cursed by you falls to zero hitpoints, you follow the Pact Boon of a specific ancient Vestige that you've signed your pact to. At the end of any rest, you select either of the two primary Vestiges to follow, King Elidyr or Zutwa. This determines not only your Pact Boon, but your special At-Will power's secondary effect. Whenever you use a Daily Warlock power that has Vestige in the name, you can choose to sign into that pact instead of your original one - at that point, your Boon and At-Will's secondary effect changes to incorporate the effects listed. It's book-keeping to the max, and unfortunately only the Vestige of Zutwa pact boon is of any worth by default, as on-demand Prime Shot (and the spike to the bonus as the pact boon) is going to be much more handy than the weak Leader-like abilities that King Elidyr contains.

At-Will Powers: Eyes of the Vestige.

This power is incredible; the ability to spread damage and Curses around to more important targets is fantastic, and the power would be just fine by itself, without the special Augments you get from your current Vestige. The damage you inflict is a tad low, but it's against Will, and can carry some monstrously good effects if you ally yourself with the right Vestiges. A fantastic extra At-Will for Human Con'locks.[/sblock]

SORCERER-KING PACT (Dark Sun) / Control Damage Defense Leadership Support

Every power for you guys is Constitution- or Charisma-based, with an attack range of Melee touch or Ranged 5. This is also very Leadery, and is incredibly versatile on every front, able to be slotted in to any build. A very popular candidate for Twofold Pact due to how wonderful its feats are.

The Sorcerer-King Pact
[sblock]Pact Boon: Fell Scorn.

Very simple: you start your encounters with a Fell Might as a King'lock, and whenever you use a Warlock power tied to the Sorcerer-King pact, you can spend it before rolling the attack roll to get a special rider on a hit. The Pact Boon simply refreshes the use of the Fell Might. You cannot get multiple uses of the Fell Might, which is kinda disappointing.

At-Will Powers: Hand of Blight.

Huh. Melee touch or Ranged 5, Constitution or Charisma; wicked. The at-will also services to introduce you to the Fell Might feature: if you spend it on this power and hit, you deal 1d8 extra damage, which is actually an excellent bonus, and one of the best ways to spend your Fell Might. Heck, it even allows the target to grant combat advantage to everyone, which is neat. The range is rather short, but hey, it works - and there are some strategies you can exploit from having this be a Melee range option.[/sblock]

ELEMENTAL PACT (Essentials: HOEC) / Control Damage Defense Leadership Support

Charisma-based, but since none of your new powers have Elemental Pact riders and your At-Will is awful, you could conceivably go with Constitution as your attack score. A striking similarity to the Sorcerer with this pact, and contains some extremely unique features and bonuses.  It also helps with one of the worst parts about, oddly enough, the Dark'lock powers in being able to switch around damage types. Awesome pact... except there's a little bit of a problem.
The Elemental Pact
[sblock]Elemental Affinity

As the only Pact with a fully-fledged feature, this does a rather neat little thing: it gives you a fragment of the Wild Sorcerer feature, in which you roll a d10 each time you rest to determine a damage type.  The result you get (which can be either acid, cold, fire, lightning, or thunder) replaces all instances of the psychic, necrotic, poison, or force damage type on your Warlock powers (this includes ongoing damage, Dark'locks) with your new Affinity's type. This Affinity can change to one of your choice when you spend your Second Wind. This meshes wonderfully with the Pact Boon...

Pact Boon: Accursed Affinity.

Whenever an enemy cursed by you drops to zero hitpoints... nothing happens. At least not yet.  Whenever you next Curse an enemy, that enemy gains Vulnerable 5/10/15 (by tier) to your Affinity's damage type for the rest of the encounter. Simply glorious DPR potential here, not just for you, and sickening with Bloodied Boon. 

At-Will Powers: Chromatic Bolt.

Another aspect of the Sorcerer comes into play, this time reflecting the Storm Sorcerer's favorite at-will choice: you deal a decent amount of psychic damage (which can be changed with your Elemental Affinity feature), and you deal some extra minion-poppin' psychic damage on another target within 5 squares equal to your Constitution modifier. Really, there's no reason for this: Intelligence is such an important aspect of the class as a whole that having a secondary damage option based on the other primary isn't good for anything other than just popping minions. And while that sounds like a smart plan, since you can curse a minion and then pop him with the secondary on this for instant Boon, that also means you missed out on extra damage on the primary target, which past Heroic will mean something. The CHA/CON split for armor isn't horrible if you're going in Chainmail but there's few enchantments you want on that.[/sblock]

 

 

[MerricB]

Originally posted by DuelistDelSol:

Walk With Me in Hell: The Warlock's Guide

Since Malkonnen's guide has not been updated in a while, missing material from several Dragon magazines and, most importantly, the Essentials books, this guide is meant as a spiritual successor to The Power of the Dark Side: The Warlock's Handbook(x), and much credit will be given to him for its role in this guide's creation.


Credit will also be given to several others:
LordDuskblade for the handbook format that's now taken for granted here;
Zelink551 for the encouragement;
Malkonnen as mentioned above for the (excellent) original guide and the inspiration for this guide;
anyone here who posts with honest opinions. I need 'em.


 


 



As a Warlock, you belong in the realm of the Arcane Striker, a designation you share with your AOE-centric cousin, the Sorcerer. However, the two classes are monumentally different. You fit more along the lines of the Ranger, of which you share the same Player's Handbook: instead of focusing on AOE DPR, you go instead for single-target heavy damage, with a huge bent on Controller abilities. Indeed, you are second-to-none in this regard, acting as an excellent single-target Controller while putting down solid damage to honor your original intent.


How you work as a Striker is also rather unique. Your power grows as enemies fall to their deaths, giving you special abilities and boosts depending on the Pact you sign with. You also share the "Quarry" feature of the Ranger in the Warlock's Curse; however, the Curse is arguably much more powerful than Hunter's Quarry, as the damage bonus component can be boosted to absurd numbers, on top of several feats and items that can give you incredibly nice boosts, such as automatic combat advantage, defensive boosts in convenient equipment slots, and accuracy boosts.


Before I get into the Striker Traits, you may be seeing a lot of colors in this guide. On features, powers, feats and the like, you'll be seeing these colors, adopted and borrowed from LordDuskblade's handbooks:

Ratings
[sblock]Gold (near mandatory or jaw-droppingly good)
Light Blue (very good, or at least worth serious consideration)
Blue (good, though probably not excellent)
Black (middle-of-the-road, but not bad)
Purple (mediocre, or build specific)
Red (terrible or otherwise not recommended)

Green (no rating, shows emphasis)[/sblock]


So, to clarify how you compare with other Strikers:

Striker Traits
[sblock]

• Alpha Striking: Unfortunately, this kinda isn't your best suit. A common characteristic of 4e Strikers is multiple attacks in one round, out-of-turn attacks, or "zone abuse". While you're decent at the second and OK in the third, the first of this list is not something you really do. On top of which, your Curse only works once per turn, and your Encounters and Dailies do not do significant damage over your At-Wills, so that's regretable.
  
• Damage/Round (DPR): This is an area you're quite a bit better at, especially since Arcane Power and several trains of Dragon Magazines have come out. Prime Shot really helps here, since you ride more on accuracy than straight damage rolls, and starting at level 9 or thereabouts, whenever Shadow Warlock Armor comes into play, automatic combat advantage nearly every round is quite awesome.
  
• Debilitating Effects: Though again, you work more in the single-target range, what you can sling around in regards to Controller abilities is phenomenal. You run the gamut from teleportation, to daze, stun, immobilize, dominate, and even attack dissuasion - eliminating yourself from the board as a legitimate option to attack does help in several ways. Charisma-based Warlocks come close to gold in this field.
  
• Survivability: As the first of only two Constitution-primary (if you so choose) classes in the game, you can choose to be one of the healthiest Strikers in the business, with a solid stockade of hitpoints and healing surges. On-demand Concealment also tends to help you a lot, on top of the propensity to stay five to ten squares away from everything you want to hit (having a Defender blocking the enemy's path to your face tends to work quite well for you). Charisma'locks are a little worse, but can still pull some strings to keep themselves out of danger. Being stuck in Leather armor could be a little bit of an issue, especially if your race doesn't get a bonus to Intelligence, but you can manage, especially as a lot of neat enchantments are contained in Leather.
  
• Targeting Capacity: Another advantage of being a ranged combatant is the freedom of choice as to what you want to hit. And especially as you gain a bonus to defenses just for shimmying along in the battlefield, you can stray inwards a little bit to gain your Prime Shot bonus and ruin a monster's day. Several facets of the Warlock also rely on teleportation, which also helps a lot with mobility, but some Warlocks may not want to get too much in danger to force their Prime Shot to activate, especially with melee-focused allies.

[/sblock]


 

The Hexblade and Binder - I'll Cast a Shadow


Luckily, handbooks already exist for the two Essentials daughter classes. They may be slightly outdated, but barring suggestion for an updated version of either, I will present these guides, written by LordVentnor and Malisteen, respectively.

• HEXBLADE: Blades of Cursed Night(x)
  
• BINDER: Ties That Bind(x)

Originally posted by DuelistDelSol:

Stats and Proficiencies: The Bare-Bones Bargaining Chip

 


So, what exactly makes a Warlock tick? What makes them different from the Ranger, the Rogue, the Sorcerer, the Blackguard, the... everything else?


Several little things. But first, a bit of a look at the basics.


 


Hit-Points: 12 + Constitution score.

At the standard for your role. Better than the Assassin here (then again, so is every other Striker), but worse than the Avenger and Barbarian.

Healing Surges: 6 + Constitution modifier.  

A little problematic for Charisma'locks, but Con'locks will jump for joy at just how much in both this field and the field above they have in terms of elbow-room. Enjoy your Defender-level hitpoints, at least for a little while.

Proficiencies: Cloth, Leather.  Simple Weapons.  Rod, Wand implements.

The armor is less of a deal than you'd think, but there's some lost potential in terms of implements, as you don't get the two implements you'd probably most want: the Staff for damage and the Orb for debuff potentia;. Don't get me wrong, there are a ton of Rods built for Warlocks to swing with ease and efficiency, and you will actually want one at least in the off-hand for property's sake... but the fact of the matter is that Wands are not very impressive in the hands of a Warlock, and for the most part, nothing will compare to the Staff of Ruin when it comes to damage-buffing. This problem is very easy to fix, however - one feat, and you're good to go.

Defensive Bonuses: +1 Reflex, +1 Will.

Charisma'locks will enjoy a strong Will score, but Constitution'locks that aren't devoting themselves to Charisma as an off-score will probably not care as much. Still, two buffed defenses is nothing to sneeze at.


 


Class Features: Leafing the Pages of the Necronomicon


Eldritch Blast: Wizards of the Coast decided that Warlock at-wills must be chosen for them, one of them based on their pact... and this one. You'll certainly get chummy with your local Warlord, as this is a legitimate Ranged Basic Attack, and thus there's a lot of other ways to buff this power, but otherwise you're slinging around a Longbow with infinite ammunition.


Since PH Heroes: Series 1 however, you are allowed to take a melee weapon version of this: Eldritch Strike, which is a Constitution- or Charisma-based melee basic attack which slides the target 1 square as a hit. It's one of the most poached at-wills in the game, especially with the slide portion of the power opening itself up to so many tricks, and is a great alternative for Warlocks who either want to stay in the front lines (usually as a Con'lock), provide an escape option (Cha'lock), or go into the massive amount of charge support in the game.

Pact Boons: Every Warlock starts his or her career by choosing to sign with one of seven different Pacts: Infernal (PHB1), Star (PHB1), Fey (PHB1), Dark (FRPG), Vestige (AP), Sorcerer-King (Dark Sun), or Elemental (HoEC). From each pact, you get your second at-will power and a special effect that happens when an enemy subject to your Warlock's Curse falls to zero hitpoints, and not just because you killed them. In fights where enemies come in the dozens and your mobility is at its peak, this is a tremendously powerful addition to your repetroire; however, in solo fights this will go amiss, unless your DM likes throwing minions at you alongside and you get the first jump on them.

Prime Shot: While you're a little more fragile than the Ranger is and thus Prime Shot may not be as notable a feature for you as it is for them, it's still a great boost to accuracy that can be built around with plenty of support, and you're not exactly glass, especially Con'locks. Melee'locks especially will love this at Paragon.

Shadow Walk: On-demand Concealment is amazing, and quite a fantastic way to patch up your otherwise mediocre defenses. It's easy to trigger, too: just move 3 squares from your starting position! You gain a +2 bonus to defenses in partial concealment, which is what this feature grants; but that's not the only thing you get out of this. The aforementioned Shadow Warlock Armor gives you Combat Advantage against every Cursed enemy in sight. You also have a much easier time using your Stealth skill, as you require cover or concealment to keep any Hidden status you might obtain.

Warlock's Curse: Once per round as a minor action, you can subject the closest enemy to you that you can see to your Warlock's Curse, which lasts all encounter, and does not vanish on application on other enemies. What does this do? It allows you to deal extra dice of damage once per turn with any attack you inflict on them. There's a myriad of ways, both control-based and damage-based, to utilize this feature, the biggest of which revolves around the fact that it was changed to once per turn, so Immediate Action attacks are now worthwhile additions to your power card list.


 


 


Warlock Pacts: The Paths To Hell

 


 


As explained in the Pact Boon section, each Warlock must pick a Pact that best follows how they want to play their character and what powers they'd like to favor. Each of the seven, along with its designated at-will power, will be described below, both in regards to its At-Will power that it selects for you, as well as how well they represent the Warlock class in these specific categories:


 

• CONTROL: Propensity for debilitating effects, forced movement
• DAMAGE: DPR potential, whether ongoing or straight hits
• DEFENSE: Tenacity to remain standing in combat, ability to act as a quasi-Defender
• LEADERSHIP: Debuffs, buffs, heals
• SUPPORT: Availability of support for the pact, through feats/items/Paragon Path

 


INFERNAL PACT (Player's Handbook 1) / Control Damage Defense Leadership Support

Constitution-based, with a smattering of (good) Charisma-based powers. Contains one of the most abused at-wills in all of 4e D&D.



The Infernal Pact
[sblock]Pact Boon: Dark One's Blessing.

When an enemy cursed by you falls to zero hitpoints, you gain temporary hitpoints equal to your level. Now that's kinda spiffy: several of your powers, especially outside of PHB1, love to drain you of your hitpoints in exchange for a reroll, and this will help you with that sting. Defensive-based Warlocks will love this Boon, but keep in mind temporary hitpoints do not stack, so killing multiple enemies in one fell swoop, or killing enemies when your stock of temp hitpoints hasn't vanished yet, can make this boon wasteful. Ah well.

At-Will Powers: Hellish Rebuke, Gift to Avernus.
Hellish Rebuke (Constitution) is incredibly cool. Target takes some blasé fire damage, and if you're damaged by anything, they take even more damage! And that trigger point can be from anything - that enemy's attack, another enemy's attack, ongoing damage, a stray arrow, your own abilities, anything. There are a ton of builds centered around the abuse of this very power alone... though the rating drops if you don't really bother to get in the thick of things.


On the other hand, you're allowed to pick Gift to Avernus (Charisma). It's Eldritch Blast without the RBA addition or the Constitution-based option. Oh, but wait! If you miss with it, you can reroll it, with a very, very convenient cost: a dent to your hitpoints equal to your level.  Doesn't that sound kinda familiar? It should, as it perfectly overlaps with your pact boon. Unpenalized(ish) rerolls are incredibly nice for your DPR, and if you want to go down this path and favor Charisma, take this - you won't regret it.[/sblock]

STAR PACT (Player's Handbook 1) / Control Damage Defense Leadership Support

Can be effective as either a Con'lock or Cha'lock, and the riders on these powers are quite nice.

The Star Pact
[sblock]Pact Boon: Fate of the Void.

When an enemy cursed by you falls to zero hitpoints, you gain a cumulative +1 bonus to one attack roll, saving throw, skill check, or ability check you make - your choice to apply whenever any of these come up - until the end of your turn. Afterwards, the bonus is lost. A singular point to attack rolls is not going to make a large impact and does require fixing (via your core Pact feat option) to make it noticeable.

At-Will Powers: Dire Radiance.
Can be used as either a Charisma-based or Constitution-based power. The rating isn't such that the effect is weak - it's not exactly a hard trigger point - it's just that the effect is hard to trigger in the context of battle. Melee enemies will probably not move after it's locked onto your allies, and ranged enemies will probably not bother to move. The secondary damage triggers when they move closer to you, which is soft control (giving enemies a bad option and a good option); not a very positive slant. It is radiant damage, and that's open to a lot of tricks, but as it is it really needs a clever mind and a well-aligned battlefield to really pull out the meat of its power.[/sblock]

FEY PACT (Player's Handbook 1) / Control Damage Defense Leadership Support

Fully Charisma-based. The powers are very Control-heavy, sacrificing damage for stellar effects, but you can still be a good Striker without large numbers of dice to roll.

The Fey Pact
[sblock]Pact Boon: Misty Step.

When an enemy cursed by you falls to zero hitpoints, you teleport 3 squares as a free action. Unlike your Hexblade cousins, you're rather rarely in the thick of the action, so a teleport isn't going to have much strength in the heat of battle, especially when you can't always do it on your own terms.

At-Will Powers: Eyebite.

This is a very popular power for other classes to poach, especially Bards and Paladins, as an encounter power that granted invisibility was something really fancy to pull out to divert attention away. It doesn't work quite as well for you, but it's still not a bad power by any means.[/sblock]

DARK PACT (Forgotten Realms) / Control Damage Defense Leadership Support

Entirely Charisma-based. Heavy on DPR focus, with only one real facet of control without influence from other pacts; falls into the problem of emphasizing necrotic and poison damage, which is strange considering the anti-undead bent of this Pact. Still, though, a cool Pact to follow, though it has its problems.

The Dark Pact
[sblock]Pact Boon: Darkspiral Aura.

Mmm-mmm, Catch-22s. When an enemy cursed by you falls to zero hitpoints, you add one point to a special little bank called your Darkspiral Aura. Whenever an enemy targets you with a melee or ranged attack, you can drop your Aura as an immediate interrupt to deal xd6/xd8/xd10 damage to the target, X being the amount of points in your Aura. Like the Star and Fey Pacts, this encourages Cursing as fast as possible, and very large encounters to give yourself a humongously strong punishment for enemies attacking you. Recognize, however, that the scaling of this is suspect (never growing above 1d12 per point at 21st level with a feat) and in fights against solo creatures with a Defender doing his job, you might as well forget this exists, even if that solo has lackeys.

At-Will Powers: Spiteful Glamor.

d12 damage if the target is at full hitpoints, and d8 otherwise. No other effects. At least it attacks Will...[/sblock]

VESTIGE PACT (Arcane Power) / Control Damage Defense Leadership Support

Constitution-based. Still very Strikery, but actually trades in a bit of Control for being a quasi-Leader. And to be honest, the Vestige Pact does that very well; it's honestly my favorite pact out of all of them.

(NOTE: The ratings fluctuate depending on the Vestige Pact chosen.)


The Vestige Pact
[sblock]Pact Boon: Vestige of King Elidyr; Vestige of Zutwa; various.

This is much trickier: when an enemy cursed by you falls to zero hitpoints, you follow the Pact Boon of a specific ancient Vestige that you've signed your pact to. At the end of any rest, you select either of the two primary Vestiges to follow, King Elidyr or Zutwa. This determines not only your Pact Boon, but your special At-Will power's secondary effect. Whenever you use a Daily Warlock power that has Vestige in the name, you can choose to sign into that pact instead of your original one - at that point, your Boon and At-Will's secondary effect changes to incorporate the effects listed. It's book-keeping to the max, and unfortunately only the Vestige of Zutwa pact boon is of any worth by default, as on-demand Prime Shot (and the spike to the bonus as the pact boon) is going to be much more handy than the weak Leader-like abilities that King Elidyr contains.

At-Will Powers: Eyes of the Vestige.

This power is incredible; the ability to spread damage and Curses around to more important targets is fantastic, and the power would be just fine by itself, without the special Augments you get from your current Vestige. The damage you inflict is a tad low, but it's against Will, and can carry some monstrously good effects if you ally yourself with the right Vestiges. A fantastic extra At-Will for Human Con'locks.[/sblock]

SORCERER-KING PACT (Dark Sun) / Control Damage Defense Leadership Support

Every power for you guys is Constitution- or Charisma-based, with an attack range of Melee touch or Ranged 5. This is also very Leadery, and is incredibly versatile on every front, able to be slotted in to any build. A very popular candidate for Twofold Pact due to how wonderful its feats are.

The Sorcerer-King Pact
[sblock]Pact Boon: Fell Scorn.

Very simple: you start your encounters with a Fell Might as a King'lock, and whenever you use a Warlock power tied to the Sorcerer-King pact, you can spend it before rolling the attack roll to get a special rider on a hit. The Pact Boon simply refreshes the use of the Fell Might. You cannot get multiple uses of the Fell Might, which is kinda disappointing.

At-Will Powers: Hand of Blight.

Huh. Melee touch or Ranged 5, Constitution or Charisma; wicked. The at-will also services to introduce you to the Fell Might feature: if you spend it on this power and hit, you deal 1d8 extra damage, which is actually an excellent bonus, and one of the best ways to spend your Fell Might. Heck, it even allows the target to grant combat advantage to everyone, which is neat. The range is rather short, but hey, it works - and there are some strategies you can exploit from having this be a Melee range option.[/sblock]

ELEMENTAL PACT (Essentials: HOEC) / Control Damage Defense Leadership Support

Charisma-based, but since none of your new powers have Elemental Pact riders and your At-Will is awful, you could conceivably go with Constitution as your attack score. A striking similarity to the Sorcerer with this pact, and contains some extremely unique features and bonuses.  It also helps with one of the worst parts about, oddly enough, the Dark'lock powers in being able to switch around damage types. Awesome pact... except there's a little bit of a problem.
The Elemental Pact
[sblock]Elemental Affinity

As the only Pact with a fully-fledged feature, this does a rather neat little thing: it gives you a fragment of the Wild Sorcerer feature, in which you roll a d10 each time you rest to determine a damage type.  The result you get (which can be either acid, cold, fire, lightning, or thunder) replaces all instances of the psychic, necrotic, poison, or force damage type on your Warlock powers (this includes ongoing damage, Dark'locks) with your new Affinity's type. This Affinity can change to one of your choice when you spend your Second Wind. This meshes wonderfully with the Pact Boon...

Pact Boon: Accursed Affinity.

Whenever an enemy cursed by you drops to zero hitpoints... nothing happens. At least not yet.  Whenever you next Curse an enemy, that enemy gains Vulnerable 5/10/15 (by tier) to your Affinity's damage type for the rest of the encounter. Simply glorious DPR potential here, not just for you, and sickening with Bloodied Boon. 

At-Will Powers: Chromatic Bolt.

Another aspect of the Sorcerer comes into play, this time reflecting the Storm Sorcerer's favorite at-will choice: you deal a decent amount of psychic damage (which can be changed with your Elemental Affinity feature), and you deal some extra minion-poppin' psychic damage on another target within 5 squares equal to your Constitution modifier. Really, there's no reason for this: Intelligence is such an important aspect of the class as a whole that having a secondary damage option based on the other primary isn't good for anything other than just popping minions. And while that sounds like a smart plan, since you can curse a minion and then pop him with the secondary on this for instant Boon, that also means you missed out on extra damage on the primary target, which past Heroic will mean something. The CHA/CON split for armor isn't horrible if you're going in Chainmail but there's few enchantments you want on that.[/sblock]

 

 

[MerricB]

Originally posted by DuelistDelSol:

Walk With Me in Hell: The Warlock's Guide

Since Malkonnen's guide has not been updated in a while, missing material from several Dragon magazines and, most importantly, the Essentials books, this guide is meant as a spiritual successor toThe Power of the Dark Side: The Warlock's Handbook(x), and much credit will be given to him for its role in this guide's creation.

Credit will also be given to several others:
LordDuskbladefor the handbook format that's now taken for granted here;
Zelink551for the encouragement;
Malkonnenas mentioned above for the (excellent) original guide and the inspiration for this guide;
anyone herewho posts with honest opinions. I need 'em.

As a Warlock, you belong in the realm of theArcane Striker, a designation you share with your AOE-centric cousin, the Sorcerer. However, the two classes are monumentally different. You fit more along the lines of the Ranger, of which you share the same Player's Handbook: instead of focusing on AOE DPR, you go instead for single-target heavy damage, with a huge bent on Controller abilities. Indeed, you are second-to-none in this regard, acting as an excellent single-target Controller while putting down solid damage to honor your original intent.

How you work as a Striker is also rather unique. Your power grows as enemies fall to their deaths, giving you special abilities and boosts depending on the Pact you sign with. You also share the "Quarry" feature of the Ranger in theWarlock's Curse; however, theCurseis arguably much more powerful thanHunter's Quarry, as the damage bonus component can be boosted to absurd numbers, on top of several feats and items that can give you incredibly nice boosts, such as automatic combat advantage, defensive boosts in convenient equipment slots, and accuracy boosts.

Before I get into the Striker Traits, you may be seeing a lot of colors in this guide. On features, powers, feats and the like, you'll be seeing these colors, adopted and borrowed from LordDuskblade's handbooks:

Ratings
[sblock]Gold(near mandatory or jaw-droppingly good)
Light Blue(very good, or at least worth serious consideration)
Blue(good, though probably not excellent)
Black(middle-of-the-road, but not bad)
Purple(mediocre, or build specific)
Red(terrible or otherwise not recommended)

Green(no rating, shows emphasis)[/sblock]

So, to clarify how you compare with other Strikers:

Striker Traits
[sblock]

• Alpha Striking:Unfortunately, this kinda isn't your best suit. A common characteristic of 4e Strikers is multiple attacks in one round, out-of-turn attacks, or "zone abuse". While you're decent at the second and OK in the third, the first of this list is not something you really do. On top of which, your Curse only works once per turn, and your Encounters and Dailies do not do significant damage over your At-Wills, so that's regretable.
• Damage/Round (DPR):This is an area you're quite a bit better at, especially since Arcane Power and several trains of Dragon Magazines have come out. Prime Shot really helps here, since you ride more on accuracy than straight damage rolls, and starting at level 9 or thereabouts, wheneverShadow Warlock Armorcomes into play, automatic combat advantage nearly every round is quite awesome.
• Debilitating Effects:Though again, you work more in the single-target range, what you can sling around in regards to Controller abilities is phenomenal. You run the gamut from teleportation, to daze, stun, immobilize, dominate, and even attack dissuasion - eliminating yourself from the board as a legitimate option to attack does help in several ways. Charisma-based Warlocks comeclose to goldin this field.
• Survivability:As the first of only two Constitution-primary (if you so choose) classes in the game, you can choose to be one of the healthiest Strikers in the business, with a solid stockade of hitpoints and healing surges. On-demand Concealment also tends to help you a lot, on top of the propensity to stay five to ten squares away from everything you want to hit (having a Defender blocking the enemy's path to your face tends to work quite well for you). Charisma'locks are a little worse, but can still pull some strings to keep themselves out of danger. Being stuck in Leather armor could be a little bit of an issue, especially if your race doesn't get a bonus to Intelligence, but you can manage, especially as alotof neat enchantments are contained in Leather.
• Targeting Capacity:Another advantage of being a ranged combatant is the freedom of choice as to what you want to hit. And especially as you gain a bonus to defenses just for shimmying along in the battlefield, you can stray inwards a little bit to gain yourPrime Shotbonus and ruin a monster's day. Several facets of the Warlock also rely on teleportation, which also helps a lot with mobility, but some Warlocks may not want to get too much in danger to force theirPrime Shotto activate, especially with melee-focused allies.

[/sblock]The Hexblade and Binder - I'll Cast a Shadow
Luckily, handbooks already exist for the two Essentials daughter classes. They may be slightly outdated, but barring suggestion for an updated version of either, I will present these guides, written byLordVentnorandMalisteen, respectively.

• HEXBLADE:Blades of Cursed Night(x)
• BINDER:Ties That Bind(x)

Originally posted by DuelistDelSol:

Stats and Proficiencies: The Bare-Bones Bargaining Chip
So, what exactly makes a Warlock tick? What makes them different from the Ranger, the Rogue, the Sorcerer, the Blackguard, the... everything else?

Several little things. But first, a bit of a look at the basics.

Hit-Points:12 + Constitution score.
At the standard for your role. Better than the Assassin here (then again, so is every other Striker), but worse than the Avenger and Barbarian.

Healing Surges:6 + Constitution modifier.
A little problematic for Charisma'locks, but Con'locks will jump for joy at just how much in both this field and the field above they have in terms of elbow-room. Enjoy your Defender-level hitpoints, at least for a little while.

Proficiencies:Cloth, Leather.  Simple Weapons.  Rod, Wand implements.
The armor is less of a deal than you'd think, but there's some lost potential in terms of implements, as you don't get the two implements you'd probably most want: the Staff for damage and the Orb for debuff potentia;. Don't get me wrong, there are a ton of Rods built for Warlocks to swing with ease and efficiency, and you will actually want one at least in the off-hand for property's sake... but the fact of the matter is that Wands are not very impressive in the hands of a Warlock, and for the most part, nothing will compare to theStaff of Ruinwhen it comes to damage-buffing. This problem is very easy to fix, however - one feat, and you're good to go.

Defensive Bonuses:+1 Reflex, +1 Will.
Charisma'locks will enjoy a strong Will score, but Constitution'locks that aren't devoting themselves to Charisma as an off-score will probably not care as much. Still, two buffed defenses is nothing to sneeze at.

Class Features: Leafing the Pages of the Necronomicon
Eldritch Blast:Wizards of the Coast decided that Warlock at-wills must be chosen for them, one of them based on their pact... and this one. You'll certainly get chummy with your local Warlord, as this is a legitimate Ranged Basic Attack, and thus there's a lot of other ways to buff this power, but otherwise you're slinging around a Longbow with infinite ammunition.

SincePH Heroes: Series 1however, you are allowed to take a melee weapon version of this:Eldritch Strike, which is a Constitution- or Charisma-based melee basic attack which slides the target 1 square as a hit. It's one of the most poached at-wills in the game, especially with the slide portion of the power opening itself up to so many tricks, and is a great alternative for Warlocks who either want to stay in the front lines (usually as a Con'lock), provide an escape option (Cha'lock), or go into the massive amount of charge support in the game.

Pact Boons:Every Warlock starts his or her career by choosing to sign with one of seven different Pacts:Infernal (PHB1), Star(PHB1), Fey(PHB1), Dark (FRPG), Vestige (AP),Sorcerer-King (Dark Sun), orElemental (HoEC).From each pact, you get your second at-will power and a special effect that happens when an enemy subject to your Warlock's Curse falls to zero hitpoints, and not just because you killed them. In fights where enemies come in the dozens and your mobility is at its peak, this is a tremendously powerful addition to your repetroire; however, in solo fights this will go amiss, unless your DM likes throwing minions at you alongside and you get the first jump on them.

Prime Shot:While you're a little more fragile than the Ranger is and thus Prime Shot may not be as notable a feature for you as it is for them, it's still a great boost to accuracy that can be built around with plenty of support, and you're not exactly glass, especially Con'locks. Melee'locks especially will love this at Paragon.

Shadow Walk:On-demand Concealment is amazing, and quite a fantastic way to patch up your otherwise mediocre defenses. It's easy to trigger, too: just move 3 squares from your starting position! You gain a +2 bonus to defenses in partial concealment, which is what this feature grants; but that's not the only thing you get out of this. The aforementionedShadow Warlock Armorgives you Combat Advantage against every Cursed enemy in sight. You also have a much easier time using your Stealth skill, as you require cover or concealment to keep any Hidden status you might obtain.

Warlock's Curse:Once per round as a minor action, you can subject the closest enemy to you that you can see to your Warlock's Curse, which lasts all encounter, and does not vanish on application on other enemies. What does this do? It allows you to deal extra dice of damage once per turn with any attack you inflict on them. There's a myriad of ways, both control-based and damage-based, to utilize this feature, the biggest of which revolves around the fact that it was changed to once per turn, so Immediate Action attacks are now worthwhile additions to your power card list.

Warlock Pacts: The Paths To Hell

As explained in the Pact Boon section, each Warlock must pick a Pact that best follows how they want to play their character and what powers they'd like to favor. Each of the seven, along with its designated at-will power, will be described below, both in regards to its At-Will power that it selects for you, as well as how well they represent the Warlock class in these specific categories:

• CONTROL: Propensity for debilitating effects, forced movement
• DAMAGE: DPR potential, whether ongoing or straight hits
• DEFENSE: Tenacity to remain standing in combat, ability to act as a quasi-Defender
• LEADERSHIP: Debuffs, buffs, heals
• SUPPORT: Availability of support for the pact, through feats/items/Paragon Path

INFERNAL PACT (Player's Handbook 1) /ControlDamageDefenseLeadershipSupport
Constitution-based, with a smattering of (good) Charisma-based powers. Contains one of the most abused at-wills in all of 4e D&D.
The Infernal Pact
[sblock]Pact Boon: Dark One's Blessing.When an enemy cursed by you falls to zero hitpoints, you gain temporary hitpoints equal to your level. Now that's kinda spiffy: several of your powers, especially outside of PHB1, love to drain you of your hitpoints in exchange for a reroll, and this will help you with that sting. Defensive-based Warlocks will love this Boon, but keep in mind temporary hitpoints do not stack, so killing multiple enemies in one fell swoop, or killing enemies when your stock of temp hitpoints hasn't vanished yet, can make this boon wasteful. Ah well.

At-WillPowers:Hellish Rebuke,Gift to Avernus.
Hellish Rebuke(Constitution) is incredibly cool. Target takes some blasé fire damage, and if you're damaged by anything, they take even more damage! And that trigger point can be from anything - that enemy's attack, another enemy's attack, ongoing damage, a stray arrow, your own abilities,anything. There are a ton of builds centered around the abuse of this very power alone... though the ratingdropsif you don't really bother to get in the thick of things.

On the other hand, you're allowed to pickGift to Avernus(Charisma).It's Eldritch Blast without the RBA addition or the Constitution-based option. Oh, but wait! If you miss with it, you can reroll it, with a very,veryconvenient cost: a dent to your hitpoints equal to your level.  Doesn't that sound kinda familiar? It should, as it perfectly overlaps with your pact boon. Unpenalized(ish) rerolls are incredibly nice for your DPR, and if you want to go down this path and favor Charisma, take this - you won't regret it.[/sblock]

STAR PACT (Player's Handbook 1) /ControlDamageDefenseLeadershipSupport
Can be effective as either a Con'lock or Cha'lock, and the riders on these powers are quite nice.The Star Pact
[sblock]Pact Boon:Fate of the Void.When an enemy cursed by you falls to zero hitpoints, you gain a cumulative +1 bonus to one attack roll, saving throw, skill check, or ability check you make - your choice to apply whenever any of these come up - until the end of your turn. Afterwards, the bonus is lost. A singular point to attack rolls is not going to make a large impact and does require fixing (via your core Pact feat option) to make it noticeable.

At-Will Powers:Dire Radiance.
Can be used as either a Charisma-based or Constitution-based power. The rating isn't such that the effect is weak - it's not exactly a hard trigger point - it's just that the effect is hard to trigger in the context of battle. Melee enemies will probably not move after it's locked onto your allies, and ranged enemies will probably not bother to move. The secondary damage triggers when they move closer to you, which is soft control (giving enemies a bad option and a good option); not a very positive slant. It is radiant damage, and that's open to a lot of tricks, but as it is it really needs a clever mind and a well-aligned battlefield to really pull out the meat of its power.[/sblock]

FEY PACT (Player's Handbook 1) /ControlDamageDefenseLeadership Support
Fully Charisma-based. The powers are very Control-heavy, sacrificing damage for stellar effects, but you can still be a good Striker without large numbers of dice to roll.The Fey Pact
[sblock]Pact Boon: Misty Step.When an enemy cursed by you falls to zero hitpoints, you teleport 3 squares as a free action. Unlike your Hexblade cousins, you're rather rarely in the thick of the action, so a teleport isn't going to have much strength in the heat of battle, especially when you can't always do it on your own terms.

At-Will Powers:Eyebite.
This is a very popular power for other classes to poach, especially Bards and Paladins, as an encounter power that granted invisibility was something really fancy to pull out to divert attention away. It doesn't work quite as well for you, but it's still not a bad power by any means.[/sblock]

DARK PACT (Forgotten Realms) /ControlDamageDefense LeadershipSupport
Entirely Charisma-based. Heavy on DPR focus, with only one real facet of control without influence from other pacts; falls into the problem of emphasizing necrotic and poison damage, which is strange considering the anti-undead bent of this Pact. Still, though, a cool Pact to follow, though it has its problems.The Dark Pact
[sblock]PactBoon:DarkspiralAura.Mmm-mmm, Catch-22s. When an enemy cursed by you falls to zero hitpoints, you add one point to a special little bank called your Darkspiral Aura. Whenever an enemy targets you with a melee or ranged attack, you can drop your Aura as an immediate interrupt to deal xd6/xd8/xd10 damage to the target, X being the amount of points in your Aura. Like the Star and Fey Pacts, this encourages Cursing as fast as possible, and very large encounters to give yourself a humongously strong punishment for enemies attacking you. Recognize, however, that the scaling of this is suspect (never growing above 1d12 per point at 21st level with a feat) and in fights against solo creatures with a Defender doing his job, you might as well forget this exists, even if that solo has lackeys.

At-Will Powers:Spiteful Glamor.
d12 damage if the target is at full hitpoints, and d8 otherwise. No other effects. At least it attacks Will...[/sblock]

VESTIGE PACT (Arcane Power) /Control Damage Defense LeadershipSupport
Constitution-based. Still very Strikery, but actually trades in a bit of Control for being a quasi-Leader. And to be honest, the Vestige Pact does that very well; it's honestly my favorite pact out of all of them.(NOTE: The ratings fluctuate depending on the Vestige Pact chosen.)
The Vestige Pact
[sblock]Pact Boon:Vestige of King Elidyr; Vestige of Zutwa; various.
This is much trickier: when an enemy cursed by you falls to zero hitpoints, you follow the Pact Boon of a specific ancient Vestige that you've signed your pact to. At the end of any rest, you select either of the two primary Vestiges to follow, King Elidyr or Zutwa. This determines not only your Pact Boon, but your special At-Will power's secondary effect. Whenever you use a Daily Warlock power that has Vestige in the name, you can choose to sign into that pact instead of your original one - at that point, your Boon and At-Will's secondary effect changes to incorporate the effects listed. It's book-keeping to the max, and unfortunately onlythe Vestige of Zutwa pact boonis of any worth by default, as on-demand Prime Shot (and the spike to the bonus as the pact boon) is going to be much more handy than the weak Leader-like abilities thatKing Elidyrcontains.

At-Will Powers:Eyes of the Vestige.
This power is incredible; the ability to spread damage and Curses around to more important targets is fantastic, and the power would be just fine by itself, without the special Augments you get from your current Vestige. The damage you inflict is a tad low, but it's against Will, and can carry some monstrously good effects if you ally yourself with the right Vestiges. A fantastic extra At-Will for Human Con'locks.[/sblock]

SORCERER-KING PACT (Dark Sun) /ControlDamageDefenseLeadershipSupport
Every power for you guys is Constitution- or Charisma-based, with an attack range of Melee touch or Ranged 5. This is also very Leadery, and is incredibly versatile on every front, able to be slotted in to any build. A very popular candidate for Twofold Pact due to how wonderful its feats are.The Sorcerer-King Pact
[sblock]Pact Boon:Fell Scorn.Very simple: you start your encounters with a Fell Might as a King'lock, and whenever you use a Warlock power tied to the Sorcerer-King pact, you can spend it before rolling the attack roll to get a special rider on a hit. The Pact Boon simply refreshes the use of the Fell Might. You cannot get multiple uses of the Fell Might, which is kinda disappointing.

At-Will Powers:Hand of Blight.
Huh. Melee touch or Ranged 5, Constitution or Charisma; wicked. The at-will also services to introduce you to the Fell Might feature: if you spend it on this power and hit, you deal 1d8 extra damage, which is actually an excellent bonus, and one of the best ways to spend your Fell Might. Heck, it even allows the target to grant combat advantage to everyone, which is neat. The range is rather short, but hey, it works - and there are some strategies you can exploit from having this be a Melee range option.[/sblock]

ELEMENTAL PACT (Essentials: HOEC) /ControlDamageDefenseLeadershipSupport
Charisma-based, but since none of your new powers have Elemental Pact riders and your At-Will is awful, you could conceivably go with Constitution as your attack score. A striking similarity to the Sorcerer with this pact, and contains some extremely unique features and bonuses.  It also helps with one of the worst parts about, oddly enough, the Dark'lock powers in being able to switch around damage types. Awesome pact... except there's a little bit of a problem.
The Elemental Pact
[sblock]Elemental Affinity
As the only Pact with a fully-fledged feature, this does a rather neat little thing: it gives you a fragment of the Wild Sorcerer feature, in which you roll a d10 each time you rest to determine a damage type.  The result you get (which can be either acid, cold, fire, lightning, or thunder) replacesallinstances of the psychic, necrotic, poison, or force damage type on your Warlock powers (this includes ongoing damage, Dark'locks) with your new Affinity's type. This Affinity can change to one of your choice when you spend your Second Wind. This meshes wonderfully with the Pact Boon...

Pact Boon: AccursedAffinity.
Whenever an enemy cursed by you drops to zero hitpoints... nothing happens. At least not yet.  Whenever you next Curse an enemy, that enemy gains Vulnerable 5/10/15 (by tier) to your Affinity's damage type for the rest of the encounter. Simply glorious DPR potential here, not just for you, and sickening withBloodied Boon.

At-Will Powers: Chromatic Bolt.
Another aspect of the Sorcerer comes into play, this time reflecting the Storm Sorcerer's favorite at-will choice: you deal a decent amount of psychic damage (which can be changed with your Elemental Affinity feature), and you deal some extra minion-poppin' psychic damage on another target within 5 squares equal to your Constitution modifier. Really, there's no reason for this: Intelligence is such an important aspect of the class as a whole that having a secondary damage option based on the other primary isn't good for anything other than just popping minions. And while that sounds like a smart plan, since you can curse a minion and then pop him with the secondary on this for instant Boon, that also means you missed out on extra damage on the primary target, which past Heroic will mean something. The CHA/CON split for armor isn't horrible if you're going in Chainmail but there's few enchantments you want on that.[/sblock]

 

[MerricB]

Originally posted by Litigation:

Cruel Lullabies:

The Bard Handbook

 

 ​

So, you want to be a Bard, huh? Think it's all about charming the ladies, prancing around, or earning lots and lots of coin? Think again. You're here to lead people into battle, and I don't mean going all Pied Piper and marching kids into a war zone (although some of you might think that's fun). In fact, you might want to make sure you're as good with that blade as you are with your lute. Celts and Vikings are more our model here.

So why play a Bard?​

Clerics close wounds fast and Warlords make things die fast, so what is special about you besides the fact you can sing? Well, quite a bit:

* You are the master of positioning. You have a knack for making sure your allies are in the right place at the right time. After all, it doesn't matter how good your party's nova potential is if they're not in a position to unleash it, and you can get a party into position more consistently and expediently than any other Leader can. And not only do you get your allies into the right place, but you also tend to force enemies there.

* You tend to cripple the enemy as much as you help your allies. With your natural secondary role as Controller, this isn't really a surprise. You like to jinx the enemies' attacks, strip their defenses, inflict status effects, and generally do a lot of nasty things to their survival chances. You're still a team player, but you can't help but get some satisfaction yourself as your powers have more of a direct effect than those of other Leaders. There's something about dominating a foe and making him do your bidding that just sounds really cool.

* You are extremely versatile. Want to lead from the front with a shiny blade in hand? You got it. From the back? You got it. With a conductor's baton? You got it. With a bow? You got it. Strumming a lute? You got it. And it doesn't stop there. You are free to dabble in as many other classes' abilities as you'd like to tailor your arsenal as you see fit. Want more healing? You got it. Want things to die faster? You got it. Need more control? You got it.

* You are a master of skills. In fact, only three of the skills in the entire game aren't on your class skill list. Moreover, you start with the second-most number of trained skills after the Rogue. Because you're charismatic, you excel in conversational skill challenges involving skills like Diplomacy and Bluff. And to top it all off, you have the ability to make the skills you didn't train almost as good as the ones you did train.

Ratings system:

Red: AHHHH! My ears! A trap, or just plain garbage.
Purple: A rather sour note. Situational at best.
Black: Tolerable, an acquired taste even.
Blue: A fine selection, indeed.
Sky Blue: Bravissimo! Meaning, you definitely want this.
Gold:  Mandatory. Not just the best. Mandatory. A very rare rating.

This Handbook covers the following sources:

PHB - Player's Handbook
PHB2 - Player's Handbook 2
PHB3 - Player's Handbook 3
AP - Arcane Power
HotF - Heroes of the Feywild
E:HFL - Essentials: Heroes of the Fallen Lands
E:HFK - Essentials: Heroes of the Forgotten Kingdoms
FRPG - Forgotten Realms Player's Guide
MM - Monster Manual
MM2 - Monster Manual 2
MME - Mordenkainen's Magnificent Emporium
AV - Adventurer's Vault
AV2 - Adventurer's Vault 2
D XXX - Dragon Magazine, issue XXX
DA XX - Dragon Annual, year XX
MOTP - Manual of the Planes
NWCS - Neverwinter Campaign Setting
DSCS - Dark Sun Campaign Setting
PHBH - Player's Handbook Heroes
MP - Martial Power
DP - Divine Power
PP - Primal Power
EPG - Eberron Player's Guide
PHR:T - Player's Handbook Races: Tieflings
HoS - Heroes of Shadow

Glossary
[sblock]
AEDU - At-will, Encounter, Daily, Utility. Used to denote the power structure of all classes in 4e before PHB3 and (especially) Essentials. Both the original Bard and the Skald conform to this power structure.

AoE - Area of effect, often denotes a burst or blast attack.

AP - Action Point

Bard Taxi - A build concept written up by Thaldryn here(x), which involves the Bard's teleport feats Bardic Wayfarer and Walk Among the Fey and a multiclass to Warlock to take the paragon path Evermeet Warlock. The result is a hyper-teleport-focused build of Bard that exerts impressive control over ally and enemy positioning on any battlefield.

BBEG - Big Bad Evil Guy (typically a Solo or an Elite)

Charmer - A character who takes a preponderance of powers with the Charm keyword and optimizes their use. Bards are well predisposed toward being this type of character.

DPR - Damage per round

ED - Epic destiny

Fake Skald (or F-Skald) - An original Bard (typically melee-inclined) that takes the feat Skald Training and picks up a CHA- or INT-based MBA to emulate the defining characteristics of the Skald subclass while keeping the original Bard's features. Can be a powerful build, but it is also rather feat-intensive.

Feywalker - A Paragon Tier Bard who took the feat Walk Among the Fey to change all his sliding powers into 2D teleportation powers. Bard Taxis are an extreme example of this type.

MAD - Multiple-attribute dependency. Otherwise known as stretching your ability scores too thin. Typically a designator for a build needing three or more ability scores to function.

MBA - Melee basic attack

MID - Multiple-item dependency. Having to use both a weapon and an implement is a cause of this, eating up more of your allocation of finances, feats and other resources.

NAD - Non-AC Defense (Fortitude, Reflex or Will).

OA - Opportunity attack

O-Bard - The original Bard class from the PHB2, used when it is necessary to distinguish it from its subclass, the Skald. 

PP - Paragon path

RBA - Ranged basic attack

THP - Temporary hit points.

Wayfarer - A Bard who took the feat Bardic Wayfarer, generally with the intent to optimize around teleporting. Bard Taxis are an extreme example of this type.
[/sblock]

References
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Oh!  Blame not the bard(x) by JWT (The original Bard handbook)

The Bard Taxi - The Little Red Corvette(x) by Thaldryn
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Thanks to:

Everyone who posts and helps out.
Authors of other classes' handbooks, some of which REALLY helped for the multiclassing section.

*** 

NOTE: This handbook will cover both the original Bard from PHB2 and the Skald from HotF. Since both variants use the same AEDU power structure and have access to all the same powers one way or another and only differ in the class features, the Skald could conveniently be folded into this handbook.

 

[MerricB]

Originally posted by Litigation:

Our Profession's Details:

Power Source and Role​

Your power source is Arcane, and your role is Leader. You use your talents in the performing arts as a conduit for spells, and you use those spells to spur your allies into action, and to heal or bolster them when the chips are down. The Arcane power source seems to favor the Controller role, and sure enough, you do have a strong Controller element.

If you're a Skald, you are also Martial, in addition to Arcane. The biggest draw of the Skald's Martial designation is the feats that boost your basic attacks, which you'll be using a lot of if you're a Skald.

Buffing - Generally defined as the ability to affect your allies' rolls in a positive way. Generally, you'll be pretty good at this, as a fair number of your powers do confer strong benefits to attack or damage rolls, and a few of them even allow your allies to roll attacks twice. Prescient Bards are amazing at this, as are Valorous Bards once they take a certain PP.

Debuffing - The ability to disrupt the opponent, whether through attack penalties, defense penalties, status effects, or forced movement. This is definitely your realm of expertise; in fact, this is your modus operandi. Many of your powers do one or more of the above, in quite a few cases to multiple enemies. Out of all Leaders, only the Pacifist Cleric challenges you in this category.

Enabling - The ability to let your allies do what they normally couldn't do. This includes positioning, of which your class is the master among Leaders. Many of your powers and features excel at getting your allies into optimal attack position in very short order (and in some cases, forcing your enemies there). The reason you're only "good" at enabling overall, rather than great, is because, on the whole, you're not quite as good at generating extra attacks as the Warlord. (But who is?) That said, you have enough attack-enabling powers to take a respectable second place. And with the right party composition, certain builds, particularly Cunning Bards, can actually be flat-out great at it.

Healing - You're capable at it, but it's not your strong point. Depending on what phase of supplemental material support the Warlord is in compared to you, you're either second-to-last or dead-last among Leaders in this category.

Survivability - You're arguably the most important part of the party, so you want to be able to stay upright. Cunning and Valorous Bards will be decent at this; Cunning because of a good AC potential and Valorous because of the high number of healing surges they'll get. Prescient Bards are the worst in this category, but since they'll stay at range almost exclusively, it won't matter too much.

Secondary Roles
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Controller - Some argue that you could fill in for a full-time Controller completely. While I wouldn't go quite that far (not without at least some light multiclassing), you definitely excel here. Indeed, many of your powers and abilities seem to serve both Leader and Controller roles simultaneously. Much of what you do lies in the vicious status effects, forced movement and penalties you inflict, in some cases to multiple enemies at once. At later levels, you might start laying down serious saving throw penalties with your powers for even more effective battlefield control, both for yourself and even perhaps for a more "dedicated" Controller in the party.

Defender - Valorous Bards, with their high CON and number of healing surges, could fill in this role somewhat, particularly if they actually take a multiclass feat for a Defender class that gives some sort of marking mechanic to them. Cunning Bards and Prescient Bards aren't likely to step in this role, though.

Striker - With the advent of the Skald material and the powers that work off basic attacks (which means charging, a Striker's favorite at-will tactic), you're marginally better at this than you were before, but still not great at it unless you do some radical multiclassing. Your class still doesn't have enough self-damage boosts to be considered anything beyond mediocre here.
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Self-Styled: The Foundations of All Bards​

Baseline mechanics
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All Bards, Skalds included, start with the following statistics and proficiencies: 

Hit Points: 12 + CON score at 1st level, 5 gained per level. Standard figures for a Leader, which is adequate.

Healing Surges: 7 + CON mod. About average.

Proficiencies: Aside from all simple weapons, you're trained in the longsword, scimitar and shortsword. Decent, if a bit disappointing that the rapier isn't on that list. Also of note is training in all military ranged weapons; that's important for some of you. You're trained in all light armors as well as chainmail; that's just fine for some of you, while others of you might have wanted more. You're also proficient in light shields. Your implement proficiency is wands, which can be good, but isn't the best (i.e. weapon).

Defense Bonuses: +1 to Reflex and Will. Solid.

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Bard Class Features

What O-Bards and Skalds Have in Common
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Regardless of whether you're playing the original 4e Bard from the PHB2 or the Skald from HotF, you can count on having the following features:

Skill Versatility (PHB2): +1 to all untrained skills. Nice.

Song of Rest (PHB2): Charisma-mod healing bonus at the end of a short rest for healing surge use, giving your party more efficient use of resources.

Words of Friendship (PHB2): Per-encounter boost of a Diplomacy check. With your high Charisma, you're likely to be a party face (if not THE face), so this one's always good in skill challenges.

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O-Bard Features
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Bardic Training (PHB2): Ritual Caster for free and a book of rituals. Some of those Bard-specific rituals are pretty damn good. Moreover, you even get to cast a Bard ritual or two (or three) per day without any components.

Bardic Virtue: Basically your main build decision within the O-Bard chassis, and it can be a key advantage vis a vis the Skald.

Virtues
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Virtue of Cunning (PHB2): Once per round, slide an ally who got missed by an attack a square as a free action. The distance at which this works is based on your Intelligence. This one can help set up flanks, or just get an ally out of immediate danger. The trigger is likely to happen every single round in combat, especially if you inflict hit penalties on your enemies, easily making it the virtue that gets the most action in a fight. In Paragon Tier, this one can get even better for melee allies who took Agile Opportunist, granting them some immediate action attacks. While this Virtue does seem to be biased toward implement usage (and indeed, an implement-only Bard is almost always of this Virtue), there are also some predominantly weapon-attacking Bards who can rock this Virtue as well (Eladrin, in particular). A Cunning Bard will also make the best use of Bard rituals thanks to his/her Intelligence.

Virtue of Valor (PHB2): When an ally within 5 squares bloodies or kills an enemy, you can give him a decent amount of temporary hit points (1/3/5 + CON mod). The value of this varies from battle to battle; it's good in fights with several standard enemies or minions, but not so great in fights against Elites and Solos. You also can't really control who gets the benefit. Still, at least having Constitution as a secondary stat helps you live longer, and you do get access to an incredible PP. A Valorous Bard is most likely to mix it up in melee and is a prime candidate for a Fake Skald build.

Virtue of Prescience (AP): This Virtue works once per encounter, unlike the others that can happen every round. As an immediate interrupt, if an enemy hits your ally, you boost your ally's targeted defense by your Wisdom modifier, which can make the enemy miss that attack. Pretty solid benefit, and it does get good feat support, including a lovely offensive use of it in Paragon. Unfortunately, this virtue has the indirect shortcoming of requiring Wisdom to fully benefit. Since your main attack stat is Charisma, which also happens to govern Will defense, this means you're only going to have one good non-AC defense (NAD). A Prescient Bard is most likely to use a ranged weapon.
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Majestic Word (PHB2): Your version of the per-encounter healing ability that all Leaders get, and it's easily among the best of its kind. Aside from the healing figures, it slides the target (you or your ally) a square, helping setting up flanks easier, getting a vulnerable member of the party out of an enemy's melee range, getting allies out of grabs, and even triggering Agile Opportunist from a melee ally who took that. If you want, you also have an option (via a feat) to turn the slide from this into a teleport, which opens up its own avenue of optimization.

Multiclass Versatility (PHB2): You can multiclass with as many different classes as you want. Pretty obvious what the possibilities are here, and another big plus point when comparing to the Skald.

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Skald Features
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Deceptive Duelist (HotF): Fully Charisma-based MBAs (this means attack AND damage) when you're using a one-handed weapon (typically a shortsword, longsword or, if you spend a feat, rapier). Very convenient, and it saves you the need to splurge a feat on getting an MBA.

Master of Story and Song (HotF): Essentially, this works out to an extra Lv. 1 daily power that you get to keep for the rest of your career. And you don't have to switch daily powers out of your arsenal when you reach the levels that other characters have to (e.g. Lv. 15 and above). Pretty tame feature, if you ask me, but I imagine there might be a few cases where this can be convenient.

Skald's Aura (HotF): The signature feature of the Skald. This encounter aura 5, which you should pop at the start of every combat, works as the Skald's healing mechanic in place of Majestic Word, and it's one that is quite distinct from other Leader classes in 4e. Namely, it lets your allies (and you) heal themselves with their own minor actions if they're in your aura, freeing up your minor actions for other things over the course of a combat. It also lets your allies heal themselves if you are incapacitated (e.g. dazed, stunned, dominated, etc.). The tactical advantages of this are quite apparent. However, the key downside of this is that the aura is forever at 5; the range on this does not increase as the heals of other Leaders do. In addition to being the healing mechanic, Skald's Aura serves as the conduit for certain at-will and daily powers (originating with the Skald) that provide allies offensive boosts. NOTE: A feat called Skald Training (HotF) allows an O-Bard to trade in Majestic Word for this. The implications of this will be discussed below. 

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Skald: Real or Fake? 
When perusing the Skald's features above, you were tipped off to the fact that the Skald's two key features, the Charisma-based MBA and Skald's Aura, are indeed poachable by the O-Bard with a couple of feats. And indeed, combining the Skald's key features with the advantages of the O-Bard seems like having your cake and eating it, too, and it seems quite powerful. However, there are several other factors to consider before rushing to the conclusion that the Fake Skald is hands-down superior all the time. This sub-section will go over the plusses and minuses of the O-Bard "Fake Skald" and an actual Skald in detail for a convenient comparison.

Fake Skald, Plusses and Minuses
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(+) Rituals, including the Bard-specific ones, all for free.
(+) Multiclass Versatility, allowing you to multiclass with as many classes as you want.
(+) Bardic Virtue, including Cunning's many tricks and Valor's War Chanter PP.

(-) Down two feats in your build when comparing to the real Skald (Skald Training, an MBA feat).
(-) Related to above, only a couple of races can get full CHA-modifier on damage for their MBAs. Others are either stuck with Melee Training, which only grants half CHA-modifier to damage, or have to pump INT and get Swordmage MC and Intelligent Blademaster.
(-) Your secondary stat is locked into the one that corresponds with your Virtue.
(-) Related to above, your only option for a ranged Fake Skald is INT along with CHA, and using a Farbond Spellblade for RBAs. Not knocking the Farbond Spellblade, but I'm sure some of you would rather have had a Frost Dagger.
(-) Want MBA-boosting feats such as Deft Blade? You need to multiclass Martial, which isn't necessarily restrictive for you thanks to Multiclass Versatility, but it still costs yet another extra feat the real Skald doesn't have to pay.

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Real Skald, Plusses and Minuses
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(+) Up at least two feats on a Fake Skald (and in many cases, even more).
(+) Since you're Martial already, you have instant access to MBA-boosting feats like Deft Blade.
(+) Your MBA will always do full CHA-modifier damage.
(+) Your secondary stat can be pretty much whatever you want it to be. This is of particular importance to ranged Skalds (who want a high DEX). And in addition, it's possible to just not care about a true secondary stat, making a starting CHA 20 very much a viable option for a melee Skald (O-Bards, Fake Skalds included, need a strong secondary).

(-) No rituals without a feat, and even if you spend the feat on them, you won't ever be as good at them as the Fake Skald.
(-) No Virtues, no Cunning's tricks, no War Chanter.
(-) Can only multiclass with one other class.

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General and Slightly Random Conclusions
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- If you're looking for ranged-weapon Skald action, you (probably) want to be a real Skald.

- If you want to start with a natural 20 CHA for maximum attack rating, you're better off as a real Skald. 

- Half-Elves (via Versatile Master and Dilletante) and Tieflings (via Paladin MC and Wrath of the Crimson Legion) make the best Fake Skalds thanks to fully powered CHA-based MBAs.

- Despite its feat-intensiveness, a Half-Elf or Tiefling Valorous Fake Skald/War Chanter looks pretty damn sexy.

- A Cunning Fake Skald taking Swordmage MC and Intelligent Blademaster is also quite alluring, but even more feat-intensive than the Valorous build, since Virtue of Cunning has more must-take feats. Intelligent Blademaster works with RBAs from a Farbond Spellblade, so if you want a viable ranged Fake Skald, there you go.

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Natural Talents: Ability Scores​

Bards may have the wackiest ability score configurations in all of 4e. The value of their stats -- other than Charisma, of course -- are heavily build-dependent. One build's dump stat is another's secondary, or at the very least one that will qualify them for a multiclass feat that they'll want. You'll see that this list reflects the diversity among Bard builds in this respect. The arrival of the Skald has thrown this into even more chaos, since Skalds can literally pick any secondary stat they want, and several of their choices for such are very much viable.

Strength: Prescient and Valorous Bards may actually want to put a decent score in this to wear better heavy armor than chain (13 qualifies for scale). Most Cunning Bards, on the other hand, will rely on their wits for their armor class and can get away just fine with being girly men, multiclassing considerations notwithstanding.
(Recommended start: 8-13, before racial adjustments)

Constitution: The unquestioned secondary for a Valorous Bard. However, none of you want to ignore it completely. If you want an expanded crit range with implements in Epic Tier, you'll need to make sure you hit 15 in this by then. Even that aside, no one wants to take a penalty to starting hit points and healing surges, and many of you will want to be on the positive side of the ledger here if at all possible.
(Recommended start: 10-16, before racial adjustments)

Dexterity: This stat is LITERALLY all over the place. It ranges from a co-primary for some Skalds, namely those who want to use their powers with a ranged weapon, to about as close to a universal dump stat as an O-Bard can have. But even O-Bards may have a reason to have a decent score here for multiclass purposes, and even if that's not the case, an O-Bard should find another, more suitable dump stat if at all possible, as a penalty to initiative is just not fun.
(Recommended start: 8-13, before racial adjustments. Ranged weapon Skalds want this at 16 before racial adjustments.) 

Intelligence: The unquestioned secondary for a Cunning Bard (and for some builds, notably Resourceful Magicians and Cunning Fake Skalds, this might even be a co-primary). Even if you're not Cunning, you don't want to dump this completely. Many of your rituals use an Arcana check, which is governed by how learned you are. Ironically for Skalds, while their class description in HotF nominally lists Intelligence as their secondary stat, they have easily the least use for it and can actually get away with dumping this if it suits their build, since they won't be using rituals.
(Recommended start: 10-16, before racial adjustments. Skalds, however, can actually dump this at 8 if that suits them.)

Wisdom: The secondary stat for a Prescient Bard. For everyone else, this is typically a safe dump stat (again, multiclassing notwithstanding).
(Recommended start: 8-16, before racial adjustments). 

Charisma: This one is non-negotiable. Period. Quite simply, all of you, whether O-Bard or Skald, will make your living off of your good looks and olive oil voice. And by living, I mean all attack rolls most of you will ever make, as well as being the backbone of some of your class features and utility powers. (OK, some Skalds can technically use another main attack stat instead of Charisma, but such builds deprive themselves of many of the Bard's top-flight powers by doing so, so I don't recommend it.)
(Recommended start: 16-18, before racial adjustments).

 

Modes of Development: Ability Score Arrays​

16, 14, 14, 13, 10, 8: Known as the most well-rounded stat line. Charisma is your highest stat, and you have both a solid secondary and tertiary stat. Even your quaternary can help you qualify for a multiclass feat or other things at Heroic Tier. Like with all other classes, you can't go wrong with this array.

16, 16, 12, 12, 10, 8 (or 16, 16, 13, 11, 10, 8): Charisma and your relevant secondary stat get equal, intensive focus. A third and fourth stat may be good enough to qualify for some feats if you need to. The best array if you place a premium on your Virtue benefit and the riders on your powers. Also the array of choice for ranged Skalds (CHA/DEX).

18, 13, 13, 10, 10, 8: For those either going for the starting natural 20 in Charisma, or for those races with bonuses to a secondary and a tertiary stat. Either way, it's the array used for maximum attack bonus potential, so you can hit more often. This choice tends to be better for pure melee Skalds than for O-Bards, since such Skalds don't have any use for a real secondary stat.

18, 12, 12, 12, 10, 8: Variant of above. To make this one work, you'll want to be a race who either has bonuses to Charisma and your chosen secondary stat, or to your designated secondary and tertiary stats.  Racial bonuses will help soften the blows to those stats, and you'll get an appreciable quaternary stat while still going for maximum attack bonus.

 

[MerricB]

Originally posted by Litigation:

Artists Born, not Made: Races​

Cliffs Notes version: You really can't go wrong with any race that has a Charisma bonus. Tieflings, Pixies and Satyrs, especially, are incredible for multiple Bard builds; Tieflings excel as Cunning Bards and Valorous Fake Skalds; Pixies are terrific Cunning Bards and ranged Skalds, and Satyrs also shine as ranged Skalds as well as Valorous Bards. Half-Elves are also tops among Valorous Bards, including the Fake Skald option. Dragonborn rock as especially durable Valorous Bards (but not so much Fake Skalds). Other prime Cunning Bard races are Eladrin and Gnomes, while Devas, Kalashtars and Hamadryads are the best Prescients. More superlative ranged Skalds can be found among the Halflings, Drow and Revenants.

PHB
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Dragonborn (PHB/E:HFK): Go with some extra Constitution to go with your natural Charisma and you'll make the most durable Valorous Bard out there, with your CON modifier adding to your healing surge value.

Dwarf (PHB/E:HFL): A marginal Prescient or Valorous Bard. Only the bonus to the relevant secondary stat and the minor-action second wind keep you from being completely hopeless. Don't even think about being Cunning.

Eladrin (PHB/E:HFL): Well, well, welcome to the club. Now that you can opt to be charismatic instead of quick, and still have all your smarts, you're as good a Cunning Bard as anyone. Fey Step is a huge mobility asset, Trance is awesome for adventuring, the extra Will defense and racial bonus to Arcana are always welcome, and you even get a non-class trained skill for free with that Education of yours. This race also easily makes the most of Swordmage multiclassing (a practical necessity among O-Bards) thanks to Eladrin Swordmage Advance; with that feat, an Eladrin taking Skald-type powers that trigger off his MBAs will make such powers scream like no other can. And finally, with the Sun Elf variant, you can even get proficiency in orbs and staffs for free, which can be quite a boost to pure implement-based Bards thanks to their awesome Expertise feats.

Elf (PHB/E:HFL): Elven Accuracy saves this race from being hopeless. And even then, an Elf should only consider being a Prescient or Cunning Bard.

Half-Elf (PHB/E:HFK): Second to none as a Valorous Bard, and just a damn good Bard race in general thanks to Dilletante. Versatile Master in Paragon Tier makes the Dilletante power a true at-will. Also note that the feat Combat Virtuoso lets you select a Dilletante power that uses ANY attack stat and use your Charisma for attack rolls (not damage, though) with it.

Recommended Dilletante Powers
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Astral Seal (Cleric) (DP): Implement attack vs. Reflex with a +2 bonus, and on hit it debuffs all  an enemy's defenses by -2 and grants CHA-based healing to the first ally who hits it. Amazing at-will that even manages to outclass a couple of Bard melee-at-wills in similar functions, but done at range. Perfect with Combat Virtuoso.

Demoralizing Strike (Ardent) (PHB3): In Heroic and Paragon, this is pretty much strictly better than your own Guiding Strike, since you debuff all defenses. It doesn't get the extra [W] of damage in Epic, but that's a small price to pay. A great setup power through and through.

Dragonfrost (Sorcerer) (PHB2): If you're looking for an implement-based ranged basic attack, this is the way to go. 10-square range, decent damage, and it can push the enemy a square if it hits.

Eldritch Strike (Warlock) (PHBH): If you're looking for a CHA-based melee basic attack, this is simply as good as it gets. Aspiring Fake Skalds, or anyone looking to use the basic attack-triggered powers like Dimensional Step or Flash of Distraction should look no further. It even slides the enemy a square if it hits. Perfect for outfitting an MBA with fun stuff like the White Lotus feat line (D 374), Quickened Spellcasting (AP), Arcane Admixture (AP) and all the goods that feat opens up, etc. Take the Melee Training feat to tide you over in Heroic Tier, then retrain that feat for Versatile Master when you hit Lv. 11.

Sword Burst (Swordmage) (PHB): Best abused by a Cunning Bard, who depending on build may not have to take Combat Virtuoso. It's one of the  best AoE at-wills in the game, and certain feat combinations can increase its power even further.
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Halfling (PHB/E:HFL): A little personality and some quickness make for a terrific ranged Skald and a decent O-Bard as well. The Second Chance power is quite nice.

Human (PHB/E:HFL): Train in one thing and one thing only: Charisma. Bonus feat is very nice if you plan on multiclassing, in particular, the bonus trained skill and defense bonuses are good, and the choice between a third at-will or a huge per-encounter bonus to an attack or save round it out. Makes for a solid, if not spectacular, Bard of any sort.

Tiefling (PHB/E:HFK): Along with the Gnome and Eladrin, a top Cunning Bard race. Double-stat synergy on top of some incredible feat support, particularly for Charmers, make this race hard to beat. For that matter, you can opt for Constitution instead of smarts to be a fine Valorous Bard; you're especially a grand choice for a Valorous Fake Skald/War Chanter if you MC Paladin and take Wrath of the Crimson Legion.
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PHB2
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Deva (PHB2): With a choice of Charisma in play, on top of innate Wisdom, you're all of a sudden arguably the best Prescient Bard out there. Memory of a Thousand Lifetimes is an amazing racial power, and level-scaling necrotic and radiant resistance and extra defense against bloodied enemies certainly don't hurt, either.

Gnome (PHB2): One of the best Cunning Bard races. Where to begin? Hits the books and can choose to win the friends. Fade Away. Racial bonus to Arcana. The total package here. Just take a multiclass feat that lets you train in Stealth and you'll be set for life.

Goliath (PHB2): You might be able to pass as a Valorous or Prescient Bard. Might being the operative word.

Half-Orc (PHB2/E:HFK): Yeah, you're so not cut out for this. Please don't hurt me.

Shifter, Longtooth (PHB2): Longtooth Shifting, with its extra damage and regeneration, keep you afloat, mostly as a Prescient Bard thanks to being wise.

Shifter, Razorclaw (PHB2): Quick and wise just like an Elf, but without anything else. Also worse for the job than your Longtooth counterpart.
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PHB3
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Githzerai (PHB3): A passable Prescient Bard if you decide to be smart in addition to your innate wisdom, much like the Deva. Iron Mind is a solid defensive power. You're not good for any other Virtue, though.

Minotaur (PHB3): Uh, no.

Shardmind (PHB3): Wait, crystals can sing? However they do it, this is another great Cunning Bard race, with the brains and the personality. Living Construct is a great set of adventuring benefits, Telepathy is neat and potentially useful, and Shard Swarm is a solid racial encounter power. Easily up there with the Gnome and the Tiefling.

Wilden (PHB3): You can pass as a Prescient or Valorous Bard with the relevant secondary stat for both and some pretty good racial powers. You're likely to favor Voyage of the Ancients for your Nature's Aspect.
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Other rulebooks/Dragon
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Changeling/Doppelganger (EPG): You're naturally charismatic, which means I like you already. You can pick up the extra smarts if you want to be Cunning, or extra reflexes if you want to be a ranged Skald. Changeling Disguise is a whole lot of fun (make sure you train Bluff).

Drow (FRPG/E:HFK): Amazing as a ranged Skald if you go for the personality on top of your quickness. Lolthtouched powers, Trance and Darkvision are all very solid benefits for all Bards.

Genasi (FRPG): Might fit in as a Cunning or Valorous Bard, but hardly spectacular at it.

Gnoll (D 367): Just no synergy at all.

Hamadryad (HotF): This female-only fey race's innate Wisdom and option for Charisma work out perfectly for Prescient Bards. Racial bonuses to saves against the three heavy hitters (daze, dominate, stun), a solid racial power that can be used to gain combat advantage or resist damage and a Trance-type feature round it out.

Kalashtar (EPG): Naturally charismatic, you've always been a prime candidate for the Virtue of Prescience with some extra wisdom on hand. You can also now choose to be smart, rather than wise, and be a fine Cunning Bard. The solid Bastion of Mental clarity, telepathy and the ability to save against dazed and dominated at the start of your turns are all very welcome abilities.

Pixie (HotF): It's almost unfair how godly a Cunning Bard this tiny little critter can be. It's no slouch as a ranged Skald, either, if you choose quickness over brains. You've got a fly speed, and did I mention that you can make an ally fly for a turn as well every encounter? One particular racial utility (at Lv. 10) even lets you make the whole party take to the skies for a round. A couple of its racial feats are also quite appealing.

Revenant (D 376): With some Charisma on top of your innate Dexterity, you're a prime choice for a ranged Skald, and a good choice for a Bard in general. The biggest sell is the ability to swipe another race's feat support, and even their racial powers via racial Soul feats, which can have some very interesting results. And then there's the insane survivability tricks of this race.

Satyr (HotF): This male-only fey race makes for a brilliant Valorous Bard (if choosing sturdiness) or ranged Skald (if sharpening those fast-twitch muscles). A racial power that slides an enemy you hit every encounter is quite nice for positional setups, and Pleasant Recovery is a neat thing to have when resting.

Shadar-Kai (D 372): Shadow Jaunt is a solid encounter power, and the choice of INT is good for a Cunning Bard, but other than that you don't have a whole lot to offer.

Shade (HoS): I don't care if you can have perfect stat bonuses for a Cunning Bard. The loss of a healing surge and the quite frankly wretched racial power are irreconcilable differences, plain and simple. Just a failure of a race through and through.

Vryloka (HoS): The penalty to healing surge value when bloodied is annoying in early Heroic Tier but almost inconsequential after. Makes you wonder why it's there in the first place. With that out of the way, there's a lot to like here. The Charisma bonus is naturally welcome, the speed 7 is sweet and you get a potent and versatile encounter racial utility that can give you extra mobility, a THP buffer or a boost to attack rolls. Solid choice, particularly for a ranged Skald.

Warforged (EPG): Might be able to pass as a Cunning Bard if you choose brains over brawn. Living Construct and Unsleeping Watcher at least help your case to stay alive.
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Monsters (at DM's Discretion)
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Bladeling (MOTP): Blech. Another poor-man's Elf.

Bugbear (MM): lol

Bullywug (MM2): Nope.

Duergar (MM2): A Dwarf with twisted morals, a crappy racial power, and none of the redeeming qualities.

Githyanki (MM): Sorry.

Goblin (MM): Goblin Tactics is awesome, and you've also got some personality. You'll do well.

Hobgoblin (MM): Just like a Half-Elf, you can win friends and you're durable. But you don't have Dilletante. Still, you're good enough.

Kenku (MM2): An interesting choice thanks to Mimicry. Personality helps you a lot.

Kobold (MM): At-will minor-action shifting is awesome. A passable Valorous Bard.

Orc (MM): No.
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Setting Your Story Straight:

Recommended Themes ​

Devil's Pawn (NWCS): Hellfire and Brimstone is a very handy encounter power for debuffing the attacks and the defenses of enemies within 2 squares of you. Fire resistance at Lv. 10 is nice, too.

Fey Beast Tamer (HotF): You get a level-scaling beast companion that has half your maximum hit points. And at Lv. 5 said companion grants combat advantage to enemies next to it automatically, flanking or not. A strong and flavorful theme.

Guardian (D 399): Guardian's Counter lets you play Defender once per encounter, taking a hit meant for an ally and responding with a basic attack (this can be melee or ranged) against the perpetrator. The basic attack part is of particular importance if you're packing the encounter powers that trigger off of those. Potentially enabling out of turn is truly a beautiful thing.

Harper Agent (NWCS): Gives you a Harper Pin with an encounter power letting use one of three blessings, all of which are pretty sweet (correcting a missed attack roll, reducing the damage of a hit against you by a nice level-scaling amount, or rerolling a failed save). You basically choose the order in which you get them for your first 10 levels.

Iliyanbruen Guardian (NWCS): For Eladrin only, this one lets you do nice things like take an ally with you when you Fey Step and, at Lv. 10, you can even do this as a minor action. Melee Cunning Bards who MC Swordmage, take Eladrin Swordmage Advance and load up on Dimensional Step powers will want to consider this one a lot more strongly.

Noble Adept (DSCS): Gain a psionic power point, which you can use on the awesome encounter power you get from this theme to provide a prodigious boost to your or an ally's attack, save or skill check. Perfect for a Leader such as yourself.

Order Adept (D399): The ability to take Wizard utilities freely can work out nicely. The +1 power bonus to Will at Lv. 10 is welcome, too.

Skill is Power: Skills​

You're automatically trained in Arcana. You should definitely reserve one of your trained choices for Perception. After that, you've got some leeway.

Class Skills
[sblock]
Arcana: This skill is a required part of the trade to learn, so it doesn't matter what I think of it (although it's obvious that, for Bards, I do think very highly of it). It's used in rituals and knowledge checks.

Acrobatics: Helps you escape grabs and restraints, balance, reduce fall damage. Very versatile skill.

Athletics : Also helps you escape grabs, as well as climb, jump and swim.

Bluff: Can be flat-out essential depending on your build or race, in which it helps certain powers function. Other than that it's great for conversations. You're guaranteed to be good at it because of your high Charisma.

Diplomacy: Between being eminently winsome, which you must be to be a Bard in the first place, and having a class feature power that works with this skill, you're likely to be the party face. So this one is kinda important.

Dungeoneering: Low on the totem pole in the grand scheme of things. Only consider it at all if you're Prescient.

Heal: You may or may not need this. If you're the only ritual caster in the party, you'll be more likely to need it. A Prescient Bard makes the best use of it.

History: Knowledge skill. Worth a look from a Cunning Bard.

Insight: Counters Bluff, which can save you. Especially good if you're Prescient, but worthy of training regardless.

Intimidate: The combat application is arguably broken. You'll definitely be good at it, and aside from that it's also used in conversations a lot.

Nature: Knowledge skill, used in some rituals. Best used by a Prescient Bard, or any Bard who fancies himself the Celtic sage of yore.

Perception : Counters Stealth, which is kinda important. Also just generally useful. Consider this one essential.

Religion: A Cunning Bard might learn the ways of the divine if no Divine characters travel with him. Counts as a knowledge skill and is used in a lot of rituals.

Streetwise: Often comes in handy in skill challenges, and you're naturally good at it.
[/sblock]

Other skills
[sblock]
Endurance: Helps you get over diseases and generally survive in a lot of adverse conditions. Easily picked up with a multiclassing feat of Fighter, Ranger, Warlord or Barbarian.

Stealth: Some of your invisibility powers affect you, so you may want to train this. Especially if you're a Gnome. Avenger, Ranger and Rogue all have multiclass feats that train this.

Thievery: Can come in handy.
[/sblock]
 

Instruments of Choice:

Weapons and Implements​

Weapons
[sblock]
Bards are very particular about their weapons. They prefer weapons that hit often, since they like to make sure their party-starting powers work in combat, and if they can somehow fold implement usage into them, even better.

Dagger: Perhaps THE best choice for a ranged Skald, and a fine choice for Prescients as well. +3 proficiency and a range of 5 (which perfectly coincides with the coverage of the Skald's Aura). As it's a light blade, it gets awesome feat support that helps it hit even more accurately, such as Nimble Blade and (for Skalds) Deft Blade. And finally, you can use this one as an implement if you take the Arcane Implement Proficiency feat or a Swordmage multiclass feat. Or if you're just that cheap for feats, Songblades are also available in dagger form.

Longbow/Shortbow: Prescients tend to default to this one. It's not optimal (+2 proficiency), but since Bards start automatically proficient with these, it's worth mentioning. Shortbows are for the small races; Longbows are for everyone else. Songbows, which can be used as implements for Bard class and Bard paragon path powers, come in this weapon type.

Longsword: A prime choice for a Valorous Bard, especially since you're not automatically proficient with the rapier. You get that all-important +3 proficiency bonus, important for your role as a Leader so you get the maximum party favors from your attack powers. Songblades come in this type of weapon, or you can easily use any one of these as a general implement with a Swordmage multiclass feat or Arcane Implement Proficiency. You're automatically proficient with the longsword. 

Shortsword: This is the best melee light blade with which you're automatically proficient, and as such it is, hands-down, the weapon of choice for a melee-focused Skald. You're only one die size down from the rapier, which you shouldn't sweat too much since you're not a primary Striker. The shortsword has a +3 proficiency like all good light blades do, and it benefits from the likes of Nimble Blade and Deft Blade. And, yes, it is open to AIP and Swordmage multiclassing for implement usage.

Superior Crossbow: If you're a Prescient or a ranged Skald who wants to spare the proficiency feat and the Speed Loader feat to use it, it's a damn good one for sure. +3 proficiency and as much range as a longbow (and in the Skald's case, they'll appreciate the large damage die vis a vis the dagger). Songbows also come in this weapon type.
[/sblock]

Implements
[sblock]
Dagger/Longsword/Shortsword: Skalds and Valorous Bards may want to pick up the occasional implement-based attack, and what better to use as their implement than their weapon? It reduces MID -- and your expenses -- to go this route. You can multiclass Swordmage or take AIP to use any blade for all implement powers. (Or, if you're cheap for feats, use a Songblade.) Really a good option for any Bard looking to use a variety of spells, both weapon- and implement-based.

Longbow/Shortbow/Superior Crossbow: Generally the choice of Prescients and a few ranged Skalds (through Songbows), but not without their limitations. Bows cannot be subject to AIP, thus making multiclassing more difficult for those Bards.

Musical Instrument: Musical instruments double as a focus for your rituals, so early on this helps reduce MID. The highest-level Bard rituals only require a 1,000 gp instrument (Lv. 5 item), however, so that reason falls off around late Heroic Tier. That said, some of the higher-level instruments have some pretty good daily powers that are enhanced by your Song of Rest, so it's not a total waste to stick to them.

Wand: We like to call them conductor batons in our trade. If you're looking to turn your implement-based attack powers up to fortissimo, this is as good as most of you will have by default. Battle Song Expertise works with wands, giving your forced movement powers from your class (and there are quite a few) an extra square. And only wands benefit from Bard Implement Expertise in Epic Tier for expanded crit range if you want that. If you're purely implement-based, you'll want to get an Accurate version as well.

Orb: Requires most of you to multiclass Wizard (a common MC). If you're an Eladrin (Sun Elf), congratulations, you get this for free, and it's an upgrade over wands thanks to its better Expertise feat, which adds an extra square of forced movement to ALL applicable attack powers (whether from your class or not). Like with wands, you'll also want to get an Accurate version.

Staff: Requires an MC feat, being a Sun Elf Eladrin or taking White Lotus Dueling Expertise. This one is another upgrade over the default wand thanks to its amazing Expertise feat, which prevents all enemy OAs for using your ranged and area powers in the thick of a melee. And if you want to pick up the odd melee power in your repertoire, congrats, your staff is also a reach weapon with the Expertise. Again, you'll want an Accurate version.
[/sblock]

 

[BoldItalic]

This is great It's working well, but seems to be making too many line breaks in some places in this sample

n.b. Need to remind people that images will need to be uploaded to ENWorld manually to preserve them

==========================================================

Originally posted by iserith:

I'd like to use this thread to create a depot for pre-generated D&D 5e characters so that DMs and players have a plethora of characters to grab and play as they need it. It's always handy to have extra characters on file for when an unexpected friend shows up to play, for conventions, or for when an existing PC buys the farm and you want to keep the player in the game.


 


Update 12/04/14: This page has been linked to the D&D Adventurers League Organizers site. Please doublecheck these characters to make sure they are legal for organized play. Indicate in your post if they are AL-legal or not.


 


Characters marked with a  

 are legal for organized play; however, due to changes to AL rules in 2015, the starting equipment might not be valid. Check the starting equipment before submitting the character to your DM for play. Characters marked with a 

 have been checked and found to have rules-legal starting equipment.


 


Pre-Generated Character Index:


 


Barbarian

• Brinan, 1st-level Human Barbarian (Hermit)(x)  
  
• 
  Komät the Swift, 1st-level Human Barbarian (Outlander)(x)  
  
  
  
  
• 
  Clawnan the Barbarian, 1st-level Dragonborn Barbarian (Outlander)(x) 
  
  
  
  
• 
  Siggledrix Mudcarver Ajax Morningsnore Dindlerung. 1st-level Gnome Barbarian (Outlander)(x)
  
  
• 
  Toruk Smells-blood, 1st-level Half-Orc Barbarian (Outlander)(x) 
  
  
  
  
• 
  Ghesh, 1st-level Dragonborn Barbarian (Sailor)(x)
  
  
• Tiny Mankind, 1st-Level Goliath Barbarian (Outlander)(x) 
  
• Urik Reinhardt, 1st-level Human Barbarian (Pirate)(x)
• Kruntch, 1st-level Half-Orc Barbarian (Gladiator)(x)
• Fenris, 1st-level Human Barbarian (Pirate)(x)
• 
  Krumden Kraw, 2nd-level Mountain Dwarf Barbarian (Criminal)(x)
  
  
• 
  Shadai'hulan, 4th-level Stout Halfing Barbarian (Outlander)(x)
  
  
• 
  Vostyg Stragov, 4th-level Mountain Dwarf Barbarian (Outlander)(x)
  
  
• 
  Odara, 10th-level Human Barbarian 6/Rogue 4 (Outlander)(x)
  
  

Bard

• Falsetto Jones, 1st-level Human Bard (Criminal)(x)  
  
• Ollum Hammersong, 1st-level Mountain Dwarf Bard (Entertainer)(x)
• Artun Felec, 1st-level Half-Elf Bard (Spy)(x)
• Kursh Lowtone, 1st-level Half-Orc Bard (Guild Artisan)(x)  
  
• Baird, 1st-level Half-Elf Bard (Charlatan)(x)
• Najiira Hal-Amsah, 1st-level Human Bard (Sage)(x)
• Wave Flute, 1st-Level Water Genasi Bard (Entertainer)(x) 
  
• 
  Tryggvi Lithyl, 2nd-level Human Bard (Sailor)(x)
  
  

Cleric

• Vadania Galanodel, 1st-level Wood Elf Cleric (Sage)(x)  
  
• Marshal Heeling, 1st-level Human Cleric (Soldier)(x)  
  
• Bree, 1st-level Stout Halfling Cleric (Acolyte)(x)  
  
• Ganhard Healshrine, 1st-level Human Cleric (Acolyte)(x) 
  
• Myles Stormgroom, 1st-level Human Cleric (Outlander)(x)
• Xia Wei, 1st-level Human Cleric (Acolyte)(x)  
  
• Doomguide Daulfgrund, 1st-level Human Cleric (Urchin)(x)
• Lilly Seraphis Calem IV, 1st-level Human Cleric (Noble)(x) 
  
• Nammu the First, 1st-Level Human Knowledge Cleric (Guild Artisan)(x) 
  
• Adrik Rumnaheim, (x)1st-Level Mountain Dwarf Cleric (Domain of Trickery) (Charlatan)(x) 
  
• Magdarosa, 3rd-level Human Cleric (Hermit)(x)
• Kyna, 3rd-level Half-Elf Cleric (Acolyte)(x)
• Torrind Drachmolik, Steadfast of Helm, 3rd-level Dragonborn Cleric (Soldier)(x)

Druid

• Chukwembe, 1st-level Human Druid (Outlander)(x)
• Alwyn Oakheart, 1st-level Rock Gnome Druid (Sailor)(x) 
  
• Rawrk, 1st-level Wood Elf Druid (Outlander)(x)
• Myrlin, 1st-level Half-elf Druid (Hermit)(x)

Fighter

• Leugren Torfaen, 1st-level Mountain Dwarf Fighter (Soldier)(x)  
  
• Corrin Underbough, 1st-level Halfling Fighter (Folk Hero)(x)  
  
• Alethra Bersk, 1st-level Human Fighter (Criminal)(x)  
  
• Darius Amateus Nero, 1st-level Human Fighter (Criminal)(x)  
  
• 
  Cadwallon ap Bliedd, 1st-level High Elf Fighter (Criminal)(x)
  
  
• 
  Narantuyaa Khaghun, 1st-level Human Fighter (Soldier)(x)
  
  
• 
  Mucho Cerveza, 1st-level Hill Dwarf Fighter (Folk Hero)(x)
  
  
• 
  Irἵtra Vadû, 1st-level Tiefling Fighter (Noble)(x)
  
  
• 
  Alethra Starag, 1st-level Human Fighter (Acolyte)(x)
  
  
• 
  Sergor Bersk, 1st-level Human Fighter (Criminal)(x)
  
  
• 
  Selviyel the Forest Shadow, 1st-level Wood Elf Fighter (Folk Hero)(x)  
  
  
  
  
• 
  Aromin Rainshield, 1st-level High Elf Fighter (Criminal)(x) 
  
  
  
  
• 
  Nihilius, 1st-level Human Fighter (Soldier)(x)
  
  
• 
  Jin Wei, 1st-level Human Fighter (Thug)(x)
  
  
• 
  Grimfun of Black Keep, 1st-level Mountain Dwarf Fighter (Noble)(x)
  
  
• 
  Grindax Battlehummer, 1st-level Gnome Fighter (Forestborn)(x)
  
  
• 
  Sir Kerian Désol, 1st-level Human Fighter (Noble)(x)  
  
  
  
  
• 
  Æther, 1st-level Human Fighter (Criminal)(x)
  
  
• 
  Imsh Il-Khan, 1st-level Half-Orc Fighter (Outlander)(x)
  
  
• 
  Gorik Ungart, 1st-level Half-Dwarf Fighter (Criminal)(x)
  
  
• 
  Brandle "Brand" Fizzwig, 1st-level Human Fighter (Minstrel)(x)
  
  
• 
  Blackeye, 1st-level Half-Orc Fighter (Criminal)(x)  
  
  
  
  
• 
  Polrianna Copefront, 1st-level Human Cleric (Soldier)(x) 
  
  
  
  
• 
  Flint Balderk, 1st-level Hill Dwarf Fighter (Soldier)(x) 
  
  
  
  
• 
  Hasied Jassan, 1st-level Half-Elf Fighter (Charlatan)(x)
  
  
• 
  Corporal Mara Steele of the Alliance, 2nd-level Human Fighter (Soldier)(x)
  
  
• 
  Lucida Blacletter, 3rd-level Human Fighter (Guild Artisan)(x)
  
  
• 
  Karlistigan Ignacius Lucien Montenue Artimen Del Gato IV, 3rd-level Human Fighter (Noble)(x)
  
  
• 
  Gro Smosh Blu-Smith, 3rd-level Half-Orc Fighter (Outlander)(x)
  
  
• 
  C-06, 3rd-level Warforged Fighter (Soldier)(x)
  
  
• 
  Sir Vilemar Uskevren, 4th-level Human Fighter (Noble)(x)
  
  
• 
  Cerrah Willforge, 5th-level Human Fighter (Folk Hero)(x)
  
  
• 
  Wynter, 7th-level Centaur Fighter (Outlander)(x)
  
  
• 
  Sir Harold of Maccuswell. 10th-level Human Fighter (Noble)(x)
  
  

Monk

• Kirin Ichiban, 1st-level Wood Elf Monk (Wanderer)(x)
• Nashrukk, 1st-level Dragonborn Monk (Outlander) - Reflavored to Hell Hound(x)
• Rekish, 1st-level Dragonborn Monk (Folk Hero)(x)  
  
• Ev'ryn Meliamne, 1st-level Wood Elf Monk (Outlander)(x)  
  
• Kyban, 1st-level Lightfoot Halfling Monk (Urchin)(x)
• Doctor Ivana Stavemof, 1st-level Human Monk (Hermit)(x)  
  
• Akazuma, 3rd-level Human Monk (Outlander)(x)
• Malik Shadowbreaker, 3rd-level Human Monk (Criminal)(x)
• Wrecan, Lizardman Monk 2/Paladin 1 (Sage)(x)
• Tailor Swift, 4th-level Wood Elf Monk (Guild Artisan)(x)
• 
  Erev’yn Meliamne, 5th-Level Wood Elf Monk4/Rogue1(x)
  
  

Paladin

• Evandarr Thane, 1st-level Human Paladin (Folk Hero)(x)  
  
• Syl "Glory" Moonwave, 1st-level Tiefling Paladin (Acolyte)(x) 
  
• Darden Stubblefoot, 1st-level Lightfoot Halfling Paladin (Criminal)(x)  
  
• Ravix, 1st-level Human Paladin (Soldier)(x)  
  
• Trey (Tredichee), 1st-level Human Paladin (Soldier)(x) 
  
• 
  Shautha Narg, 1st-Level Half-Orc Paladin (Urchin)(x) 
  
  
  
  
• 
  Stern Sentinel Draglarodarrgarthian, 3rd-level Gnome Paladin (Guild Artisan)(x)
  
  
• 
  Don Coyote, 3rd-Level Human Paladin (Noble)(x)
  
  
• 
  Rhogar "Tempest" Norixius, 3rd-level Paladin 2/Barbarian 1 (Acolyte)(x)
  
  
• 
  Sambert Heatherhome, 3rd-level Halfling Paladin (Soldier)(x)
  
  
• 
  Cranulf Crownshield, 4th-level Mountain Dwarf Paladin (Soldier)(x)
  
  

Ranger

• Saad Al'Amyr, 1st-level Human Ranger (Wanderer)(x)
• Brenelda Wanderdell, 1st-level Human Ranger (Folk Hero)(x) 
  
• Rindlaf Elmpath, 1st-level Human Ranger (Wanderer)(x) 
  
• Rette "Whirl" Renner, 1st-level Air Genasi Ranger (Outlander)(x) 
  
• Saelana Elanbow, 3rd-level Half-Elf Ranger (Folk Hero)(x)
• Yanni d'Ghallanda, 3rd-level Halfling Ranger (Outlander)(x)
• Red Creek Rufus, 3rd-level Human Ranger (Outlander)(x)
• 
  Ahnkuulnbaator, 3rd-level Stout Halfling Ranger (Outlander)(x)
  
  

Rogue

• Chuck Dagger, 1st-level Human Rogue (Criminal)(x)  
  
• Valemon, 1st-level Wood Elf Rogue (Criminal)(x)  
  
• Dravos, 1st-level Human Rogue (Criminal)(x)
• Handsome Dan, 1st-level Human Rogue (Folk Hero)(x)  
  
• Igner "The Driller" Greyflint, 1st-level Mountain Dwarf Rogue (Criminal)(x)
• Poliva Pursetaker, 1st-level Human Rogue (Folk Hero)(x) 
  
• Mily, 1st-level Halfling Rogue (Charlatan)(x)
• 
  Lady Magnolia (Mags) Montrésor, 1st-level Human Rogue (Charlatan)(x)
  
  
• 
  Tiguel Darago, 1st-level Halfling Rogue (Entertainer)(x)
  
  
• 
  Kezefiël, 1st-level Tiefling Rogue (Urchin)(x)
  
  
• 
  Welky Ungart, 1st-level Dwarf Rogue (Outlander)(x)
  
  
• 
  Swanky Hank MacArthur Esquire the IV, 1st-level Half-Elf Rogue (Charlatan)(x) 
  
  
  
  
• Hardwicke, ​1st-Level Half-Elf Rogue (Acolyte)(x) 
  
• 
  Rankin, (x)1st-Level Mountain Dwarf Rogue (Noble)(x) 
  
  
  
  
• 
  Parallel Reedstool, 1st-level Stout Halfling Rogue (Criminal)(x) 
  
  
  
  
• 
  Le'thael, the Pallid Ghost, 3rd-level Half-Elf Rogue-1/Monk-1/Warlock-1 (Acolyte)(x)
  
  
• 
  Dargefredthula Hobnail Cobbler, 8th-level Gnome Rogue (Sailor)(x)
  
  

Sorcerer

• Askith Tighn, 1st-level Human Sorcerer (Noble)(x)
• 
  Althaea Ilphelkiir, 1st-level Wood Elf Sorcerer (Hermit)(x)
  
  
• 
  Jeralia Merewyn, 1st-level Drow Sorcerer (Sage)(x) 
  
  
  
  
• Schnella Crystalfist, 1st-Level Deep Gnome Sorcerer (Entertainer)(x) 
  
• Lady Sparky of Gravewell, 1st-level Fire Genasi Sorcerer (Noble)(x) 
  
• Ahnric "Wet Feet" Delinn, 1st-level Water Genasi Sorcerer (Sailor)(x) 
  
• 
  Kaeniaf'yr Nurbonnis, 3rd-level Drow Sorcerer (Guild Artisan)(x)
  
  

Warlock

• Maes, 1st-level Human Warlock (Criminal)(x)
• Laznabog Krimm, 1st-level Tiefling Warlock (Charlatan)(x)  
  
• Hex Arcana, 1st-level Tiefling Warlock (Entertainer)(x)
• Diogeen "The Cliche" Callo, 1st-level Half-Elf Warlock (Criminal)(x)  
  
• Erene, 1st-level Half-Elf Warlock (Noble)(x)
• Shanks, 1st-level Human Warlock (Pirate)(x) 
  
• Charlotte "Shimmer" Moondew, 1st-level Half-Elf Warlock (Charlatan)(x) 
  
• Ezirel, A Librarian from Rashemen, 3rd-level Human Warlock (Criminal)(x)
• Kron'Gzesh, 3rd-level Dragonborn Warlock (Sage)(x)
• Droword, 5th-level Half-Elf Warlock (Guild Artisan)(x)

Wizard

• Tark Stonefire, 1st-level Mountain Dwarf Wizard (Soldier)(x)  
  
• Kreslin of the [Academy], 1st-level Human Wizard (Sage)(x)  
  
• Jagan Makarius, 1st-level Lightfoot Halfling Wizard (Sage)(x)  
  
• Vanciana Feyzalez, 1st-level High Elf Wizard (Acolyte)(x)
• Sardduk Magavario, 1st-level Tiefling Wizard (Noble)(x)
• Valerise Pengazer, 1st-level Human Wizard (Soldier)(x)
• 
  Thaddeus Brocc Mortimorticio Guiseppe Catgut Kinterzuul, 1st-level Rock Gnome Wizard (Sage)(x)  
  
  
  
  
• 
  Caulder Sunspire, 1st-level Mountain Dwarf Wizard(x)
  
  
• 
  Alice Lidell, 1st-level Human Wizard (Noble)(x) 
  
  
  
  
• 
  Sanasha, 1st-level Human Wizard (Acolyte)(x) 
  
  
  
  
• 
  Darthon Twice-Orphaned Thuliaga, 1st-level Goliath Wizard (Sage)(x) 
  
  
  
  
• 
  Attigus (Ferntwig) Xed, 1st-level Forest Gnome Wizard (Outlander)(x)
  
  
• 
  Ravengeld Mazeminder, 3rd-level Human Wizard (Sage)(x)
  
  
• 
  Nimil'hel Allynwyn, 3rd-level High Elf Wizard (Soldier)(x)
  
  
• 
  Ataway, 3rd-level Human Wizard (Hermit)(x)
  
  

I'd like to suggest some ground rules to keep the thread clean and useful:


 

• Include a character image and stats and "back story" more or less in the format I post below. Back story should be quick and to the point. If it's long, throw it in a spoiler block.
• Please indicate whether your character was built according to Adventurers League guidelines.
• This is a place to post characters, not to discuss them. Anything other than characters will be considered off-topic and should be reported to the moderators for deletion. If there's an error on somebody's sheet, feel free to PM them to discuss it.
• Whenever possible, a character sheet in PDF would be a nice addition to the post (optional).
• Characters can be of any level and with any options, but any options other than Basic should be noted in some fashion.
• I will update this post with links to keep things organized by class or level, depending on what works best given what has been posted.

Originally posted by Leugren:

 


Valemon


1st-level Wood Elf Rogue 

Medium Male Humanoid

Armor Class 15 (studded leather armor)
Hit Points 10 (1d8)
Speed 35 ft.
Senses Darkvision 60ft.    
Str 10 (+0)  Dex 16 (+3)  Con 14 (+2)
Int 10 (+0)  Wis 14 (+2)  Cha 12 (+1)
Alignment chaotic good
Languages common, elvish, thieves' cant


 


TRAITS

Background - Criminal


    Feature: Criminal Contact


    Criminal Specialty: Hired Killer


Proficiency (+2)

   Tools: Thieves’ Tools, Playing Cards, Poisoner’s Kit

   Saving Throws: Dexterity, Intelligence


Sneak Attack (+1d6)


Thieves' Cant


Darkvision


Keen Senses


Fey Ancestry


Trance


Elf Weapon Training


Fleet of Foot


Mask of the Wild

 


SKILLS 


Acrobatics +5, Athletics +2, Persuasion +3, Insight +4, Perception +6 (expertise), Sleight of Hand +5, Stealth +7 (expertise)

 


ACTIONS

Melee Attacks— Short Sword/Dagger: +5/+5 to hit (reach 5 ft.; one creature). 
Hit: 1d6+3/1d4 piercing damage
Ranged Attack—Dagger: +5 to hit (range 20/60 ft; one creature). 
Hit:  1d4+3 piercing damage 
Ranged Attack—Longbow: +5 to hit (range 150/600 ft; one creature). 
Hit:  1d8+3 piercing damage

 


EQUIPMENT


shortsword, longbow, 2 daggers, 40 arrows, studded leather armor, oil flask, crowbar, thieves’ tools, backpack, bedroll, mess kit, 50 feet of hempen rope, tinderbox, 10 torch, ration 10 days, waterskin, winter blanket, healer's kit, common clothes, locket containing a seedling, pouch 6 gp, 9 sp.


 


PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS


Appearance: I have rich, copper-colored skin, and hazel eyes.  I wear my black hair in a mass of thin braids that spill over my shoulders to the middle of my back.  I bear a Thayan slave brand tattooed across my forehead.


Traits: I always have a plan for what to do when things go wrong. I am incredibly slow to trust;  those who seem the fairest often have the most to hide.


Ideals: Freedom: Chains are meant to be broken, as are those who would forge them. (Chaotic)


Bond: Secreted within the locket that I wear around my neck, I bear a seedling of Fanhadon, the Great Tree from which my people took their name.  I will not rest until I have found a place to plant the seedling so that my tribe can be born anew.  I owe it to my ancestors. I will trust in my dream visions to guide the way.


Flaw: I am wanted in Thay for killing the nephew of a tharchion.  There is a considerable bounty on my head.


 


BACK STORY


Show
[sblock]

Nocking a black-hafted arrow and drawing it back against his cheek, he threaded his way through the trees with practiced grace, a silent apparition, his senses primed to detect the slightest movement or sound.  The faintest echo of a snapping twig brought him up short, pausing where the shadows pooled in the lee of an ancient oak, his brow furrowed in concentration, his upturned, hazel eyes drinking in the forested landscape, scanning the brush for the source of the sound.  And then, he spotted it— the flash of a russet haunch flickering through the boles of the trees some one hundred paces to his left.  With the suddenness of a saber cat, he exploded into motion, his green cloak swirling as he pivoted, loosing his shaft with the unerring eye of a huntsman born.  


 


As far as I know, I am the last surviving member of my tribe.  We called ourselves the Fanhaen, and we were a peaceful folk, content to practice our woodcraft far from the prying eyes of men, living as one with the natural order of things deep within the heart of the Yuirwood.


 


Secreted within the locket that I wear around my neck, I bear a seedling of Fanhadon, the Great Tree from which we took our name.  The same tree that had sheltered us and given us life from time immemorial, burned to ash in a single night of horrors that will live on in my nightmares for as long as I walk the earth. It began as a night like any other. The Thayan war party crept up on us while we slept, slipping past our sentries undetected with the aid of their hell-spawned magic.  Like butchers, they set about their work, and the air was soon filled with the screams of the dying.  They slaughtered young and old alike, sparing a scant few of the children for transport to the Thayan slave pens. My older sister, Shaori, and I were among these few survivors. 


 


Our captors treated us worse than dogs, but I vowed to remain strong for the sake of my sister, for she had been born without the gift of sight and I had always served as her eyes. The man who bought us was a highborn devil named Yakovel, third in line to the Tharchion of Priador. His first act as our master was to press my gentle sister into service as a common harlot.  I myself was inducted into a brutal training program engineered to produce highly skilled infiltrators and assassins. Many of the boys who began the training with me did not survive.  I persevered for no other reason than that my sister depended on me.  


 


In the years that followed, I performed unspeakable acts in the name of our master.  I had numerous opportunities to escape, but I would not leave Shaori behind.  Perhaps she sensed that she was holding me back, or perhaps she finally lost the will to live.  Whatever the case, I stole into Shaori’s chambers one morning only to find her corpse cooling in the sun, an empty bottle of hemlock clutched in one hand, and this locket in the other.  


 


The rest of that day is a blur to me…  Waiting amidst the gardenias for my master to appear on his nightly stroll… Slipping past the body guards to bury my dagger in his chest… Hurtling over the wall and disappearing into the shadowy byways of the market district before the general hue and cry could be raised.  I should have felt anger, elation, or crushing despair.  Instead, I felt only emptiness.


 


I managed to steal aboard a trading vessel that was bound for Sembia the next day.  That night, as I sank into an exhausted trance amidst the crates and barrels littering the ship’s hold, I experienced the first of my dream visions.  Shaori appeared to me, garbed in the ceremonial gear and body paint of a Fanhaen warrior priestess.  She told me of the seedling secreted in the locket, and implored me to journey west that I might seek out a glade hidden from the prying eyes of men in which to plant the seed and reconstitute our tribe.  She promised to appear to me again with further guidance when the time was right. 


 


I made my way westward to Neverwinter, where I plied my trade as a freelance thief for a time before receiving an offer from a well-meaning old stump named Gundren Rockseeker.   He had caught me with my hand in his pocket, but instead of involving the local authorities, he offered me a chance at “rehabilitation”.  Somewhat amused, and lacking any brighter prospects at the time, I consented to his offer.



[/sblock]


 
<snip>

 

[MerricB]

Testing, testing...

Originally posted by iserith:

I'd like to use this thread to create a depot for pre-generated D&D 5e characters so that DMs and players have a plethora of characters to grab and play as they need it. It's always handy to have extra characters on file for when an unexpected friend shows up to play, for conventions, or for when an existing PC buys the farm and you want to keep the player in the game.


 


Update 12/04/14: This page has been linked to the D&D Adventurers League Organizers site. Please doublecheck these characters to make sure they are legal for organized play. Indicate in your post if they are AL-legal or not.


 


Characters marked with a  

 are legal for organized play; however, due to changes to AL rules in 2015, the starting equipment might not be valid. Check the starting equipment before submitting the character to your DM for play. Characters marked with a 

 have been checked and found to have rules-legal starting equipment.


 


Pre-Generated Character Index:


 


Barbarian

• Brinan, 1st-level Human Barbarian (Hermit)(x)  
  
• 
  Komät the Swift, 1st-level Human Barbarian (Outlander)(x)  
  
  
  
  
• 
  Clawnan the Barbarian, 1st-level Dragonborn Barbarian (Outlander)(x) 
  
  
  
  
• 
  Siggledrix Mudcarver Ajax Morningsnore Dindlerung. 1st-level Gnome Barbarian (Outlander)(x)
  
  
• 
  Toruk Smells-blood, 1st-level Half-Orc Barbarian (Outlander)(x) 
  
  
  
  
• 
  Ghesh, 1st-level Dragonborn Barbarian (Sailor)(x)
  
  
• Tiny Mankind, 1st-Level Goliath Barbarian (Outlander)(x) 
  
• Urik Reinhardt, 1st-level Human Barbarian (Pirate)(x)
• Kruntch, 1st-level Half-Orc Barbarian (Gladiator)(x)
• Fenris, 1st-level Human Barbarian (Pirate)(x)
• 
  Krumden Kraw, 2nd-level Mountain Dwarf Barbarian (Criminal)(x)
  
  
• 
  Shadai'hulan, 4th-level Stout Halfing Barbarian (Outlander)(x)
  
  
• 
  Vostyg Stragov, 4th-level Mountain Dwarf Barbarian (Outlander)(x)
  
  
• 
  Odara, 10th-level Human Barbarian 6/Rogue 4 (Outlander)(x)
  
  

Bard

• Falsetto Jones, 1st-level Human Bard (Criminal)(x)  
  
• Ollum Hammersong, 1st-level Mountain Dwarf Bard (Entertainer)(x)
• Artun Felec, 1st-level Half-Elf Bard (Spy)(x)
• Kursh Lowtone, 1st-level Half-Orc Bard (Guild Artisan)(x)  
  
• Baird, 1st-level Half-Elf Bard (Charlatan)(x)
• Najiira Hal-Amsah, 1st-level Human Bard (Sage)(x)
• Wave Flute, 1st-Level Water Genasi Bard (Entertainer)(x) 
  
• 
  Tryggvi Lithyl, 2nd-level Human Bard (Sailor)(x)
  
  

Cleric

• Vadania Galanodel, 1st-level Wood Elf Cleric (Sage)(x)  
  
• Marshal Heeling, 1st-level Human Cleric (Soldier)(x)  
  
• Bree, 1st-level Stout Halfling Cleric (Acolyte)(x)  
  
• Ganhard Healshrine, 1st-level Human Cleric (Acolyte)(x) 
  
• Myles Stormgroom, 1st-level Human Cleric (Outlander)(x)
• Xia Wei, 1st-level Human Cleric (Acolyte)(x)  
  
• Doomguide Daulfgrund, 1st-level Human Cleric (Urchin)(x)
• Lilly Seraphis Calem IV, 1st-level Human Cleric (Noble)(x) 
  
• Nammu the First, 1st-Level Human Knowledge Cleric (Guild Artisan)(x) 
  
• Adrik Rumnaheim, (x)1st-Level Mountain Dwarf Cleric (Domain of Trickery) (Charlatan)(x) 
  
• Magdarosa, 3rd-level Human Cleric (Hermit)(x)
• Kyna, 3rd-level Half-Elf Cleric (Acolyte)(x)
• Torrind Drachmolik, Steadfast of Helm, 3rd-level Dragonborn Cleric (Soldier)(x)

Druid

• Chukwembe, 1st-level Human Druid (Outlander)(x)
• Alwyn Oakheart, 1st-level Rock Gnome Druid (Sailor)(x) 
  
• Rawrk, 1st-level Wood Elf Druid (Outlander)(x)
• Myrlin, 1st-level Half-elf Druid (Hermit)(x)

Fighter

• Leugren Torfaen, 1st-level Mountain Dwarf Fighter (Soldier)(x)  
  
• Corrin Underbough, 1st-level Halfling Fighter (Folk Hero)(x)  
  
• Alethra Bersk, 1st-level Human Fighter (Criminal)(x)  
  
• Darius Amateus Nero, 1st-level Human Fighter (Criminal)(x)  
  
• 
  Cadwallon ap Bliedd, 1st-level High Elf Fighter (Criminal)(x)
  
  
• 
  Narantuyaa Khaghun, 1st-level Human Fighter (Soldier)(x)
  
  
• 
  Mucho Cerveza, 1st-level Hill Dwarf Fighter (Folk Hero)(x)
  
  
• 
  Irἵtra Vadû, 1st-level Tiefling Fighter (Noble)(x)
  
  
• 
  Alethra Starag, 1st-level Human Fighter (Acolyte)(x)
  
  
• 
  Sergor Bersk, 1st-level Human Fighter (Criminal)(x)
  
  
• 
  Selviyel the Forest Shadow, 1st-level Wood Elf Fighter (Folk Hero)(x)  
  
  
  
  
• 
  Aromin Rainshield, 1st-level High Elf Fighter (Criminal)(x) 
  
  
  
  
• 
  Nihilius, 1st-level Human Fighter (Soldier)(x)
  
  
• 
  Jin Wei, 1st-level Human Fighter (Thug)(x)
  
  
• 
  Grimfun of Black Keep, 1st-level Mountain Dwarf Fighter (Noble)(x)
  
  
• 
  Grindax Battlehummer, 1st-level Gnome Fighter (Forestborn)(x)
  
  
• 
  Sir Kerian Désol, 1st-level Human Fighter (Noble)(x)  
  
  
  
  
• 
  Æther, 1st-level Human Fighter (Criminal)(x)
  
  
• 
  Imsh Il-Khan, 1st-level Half-Orc Fighter (Outlander)(x)
  
  
• 
  Gorik Ungart, 1st-level Half-Dwarf Fighter (Criminal)(x)
  
  
• 
  Brandle "Brand" Fizzwig, 1st-level Human Fighter (Minstrel)(x)
  
  
• 
  Blackeye, 1st-level Half-Orc Fighter (Criminal)(x)  
  
  
  
  
• 
  Polrianna Copefront, 1st-level Human Cleric (Soldier)(x) 
  
  
  
  
• 
  Flint Balderk, 1st-level Hill Dwarf Fighter (Soldier)(x) 
  
  
  
  
• 
  Hasied Jassan, 1st-level Half-Elf Fighter (Charlatan)(x)
  
  
• 
  Corporal Mara Steele of the Alliance, 2nd-level Human Fighter (Soldier)(x)
  
  
• 
  Lucida Blacletter, 3rd-level Human Fighter (Guild Artisan)(x)
  
  
• 
  Karlistigan Ignacius Lucien Montenue Artimen Del Gato IV, 3rd-level Human Fighter (Noble)(x)
  
  
• 
  Gro Smosh Blu-Smith, 3rd-level Half-Orc Fighter (Outlander)(x)
  
  
• 
  C-06, 3rd-level Warforged Fighter (Soldier)(x)
  
  
• 
  Sir Vilemar Uskevren, 4th-level Human Fighter (Noble)(x)
  
  
• 
  Cerrah Willforge, 5th-level Human Fighter (Folk Hero)(x)
  
  
• 
  Wynter, 7th-level Centaur Fighter (Outlander)(x)
  
  
• 
  Sir Harold of Maccuswell. 10th-level Human Fighter (Noble)(x)
  
  

Monk

• Kirin Ichiban, 1st-level Wood Elf Monk (Wanderer)(x)
• Nashrukk, 1st-level Dragonborn Monk (Outlander) - Reflavored to Hell Hound(x)
• Rekish, 1st-level Dragonborn Monk (Folk Hero)(x)  
  
• Ev'ryn Meliamne, 1st-level Wood Elf Monk (Outlander)(x)  
  
• Kyban, 1st-level Lightfoot Halfling Monk (Urchin)(x)
• Doctor Ivana Stavemof, 1st-level Human Monk (Hermit)(x)  
  
• Akazuma, 3rd-level Human Monk (Outlander)(x)
• Malik Shadowbreaker, 3rd-level Human Monk (Criminal)(x)
• Wrecan, Lizardman Monk 2/Paladin 1 (Sage)(x)
• Tailor Swift, 4th-level Wood Elf Monk (Guild Artisan)(x)
• 
  Erev’yn Meliamne, 5th-Level Wood Elf Monk4/Rogue1(x)
  
  

Paladin

• Evandarr Thane, 1st-level Human Paladin (Folk Hero)(x)  
  
• Syl "Glory" Moonwave, 1st-level Tiefling Paladin (Acolyte)(x) 
  
• Darden Stubblefoot, 1st-level Lightfoot Halfling Paladin (Criminal)(x)  
  
• Ravix, 1st-level Human Paladin (Soldier)(x)  
  
• Trey (Tredichee), 1st-level Human Paladin (Soldier)(x) 
  
• 
  Shautha Narg, 1st-Level Half-Orc Paladin (Urchin)(x) 
  
  
  
  
• 
  Stern Sentinel Draglarodarrgarthian, 3rd-level Gnome Paladin (Guild Artisan)(x)
  
  
• 
  Don Coyote, 3rd-Level Human Paladin (Noble)(x)
  
  
• 
  Rhogar "Tempest" Norixius, 3rd-level Paladin 2/Barbarian 1 (Acolyte)(x)
  
  
• 
  Sambert Heatherhome, 3rd-level Halfling Paladin (Soldier)(x)
  
  
• 
  Cranulf Crownshield, 4th-level Mountain Dwarf Paladin (Soldier)(x)
  
  

Ranger

• Saad Al'Amyr, 1st-level Human Ranger (Wanderer)(x)
• Brenelda Wanderdell, 1st-level Human Ranger (Folk Hero)(x) 
  
• Rindlaf Elmpath, 1st-level Human Ranger (Wanderer)(x) 
  
• Rette "Whirl" Renner, 1st-level Air Genasi Ranger (Outlander)(x) 
  
• Saelana Elanbow, 3rd-level Half-Elf Ranger (Folk Hero)(x)
• Yanni d'Ghallanda, 3rd-level Halfling Ranger (Outlander)(x)
• Red Creek Rufus, 3rd-level Human Ranger (Outlander)(x)
• 
  Ahnkuulnbaator, 3rd-level Stout Halfling Ranger (Outlander)(x)
  
  

Rogue

• Chuck Dagger, 1st-level Human Rogue (Criminal)(x)  
  
• Valemon, 1st-level Wood Elf Rogue (Criminal)(x)  
  
• Dravos, 1st-level Human Rogue (Criminal)(x)
• Handsome Dan, 1st-level Human Rogue (Folk Hero)(x)  
  
• Igner "The Driller" Greyflint, 1st-level Mountain Dwarf Rogue (Criminal)(x)
• Poliva Pursetaker, 1st-level Human Rogue (Folk Hero)(x) 
  
• Mily, 1st-level Halfling Rogue (Charlatan)(x)
• 
  Lady Magnolia (Mags) Montrésor, 1st-level Human Rogue (Charlatan)(x)
  
  
• 
  Tiguel Darago, 1st-level Halfling Rogue (Entertainer)(x)
  
  
• 
  Kezefiël, 1st-level Tiefling Rogue (Urchin)(x)
  
  
• 
  Welky Ungart, 1st-level Dwarf Rogue (Outlander)(x)
  
  
• 
  Swanky Hank MacArthur Esquire the IV, 1st-level Half-Elf Rogue (Charlatan)(x) 
  
  
  
  
• Hardwicke, ​1st-Level Half-Elf Rogue (Acolyte)(x) 
  
• 
  Rankin, (x)1st-Level Mountain Dwarf Rogue (Noble)(x) 
  
  
  
  
• 
  Parallel Reedstool, 1st-level Stout Halfling Rogue (Criminal)(x) 
  
  
  
  
• 
  Le'thael, the Pallid Ghost, 3rd-level Half-Elf Rogue-1/Monk-1/Warlock-1 (Acolyte)(x)
  
  
• 
  Dargefredthula Hobnail Cobbler, 8th-level Gnome Rogue (Sailor)(x)
  
  

Sorcerer

• Askith Tighn, 1st-level Human Sorcerer (Noble)(x)
• 
  Althaea Ilphelkiir, 1st-level Wood Elf Sorcerer (Hermit)(x)
  
  
• 
  Jeralia Merewyn, 1st-level Drow Sorcerer (Sage)(x) 
  
  
  
  
• Schnella Crystalfist, 1st-Level Deep Gnome Sorcerer (Entertainer)(x) 
  
• Lady Sparky of Gravewell, 1st-level Fire Genasi Sorcerer (Noble)(x) 
  
• Ahnric "Wet Feet" Delinn, 1st-level Water Genasi Sorcerer (Sailor)(x) 
  
• 
  Kaeniaf'yr Nurbonnis, 3rd-level Drow Sorcerer (Guild Artisan)(x)
  
  

Warlock

• Maes, 1st-level Human Warlock (Criminal)(x)
• Laznabog Krimm, 1st-level Tiefling Warlock (Charlatan)(x)  
  
• Hex Arcana, 1st-level Tiefling Warlock (Entertainer)(x)
• Diogeen "The Cliche" Callo, 1st-level Half-Elf Warlock (Criminal)(x)  
  
• Erene, 1st-level Half-Elf Warlock (Noble)(x)
• Shanks, 1st-level Human Warlock (Pirate)(x) 
  
• Charlotte "Shimmer" Moondew, 1st-level Half-Elf Warlock (Charlatan)(x) 
  
• Ezirel, A Librarian from Rashemen, 3rd-level Human Warlock (Criminal)(x)
• Kron'Gzesh, 3rd-level Dragonborn Warlock (Sage)(x)
• Droword, 5th-level Half-Elf Warlock (Guild Artisan)(x)

Wizard

• Tark Stonefire, 1st-level Mountain Dwarf Wizard (Soldier)(x)  
  
• Kreslin of the [Academy], 1st-level Human Wizard (Sage)(x)  
  
• Jagan Makarius, 1st-level Lightfoot Halfling Wizard (Sage)(x)  
  
• Vanciana Feyzalez, 1st-level High Elf Wizard (Acolyte)(x)
• Sardduk Magavario, 1st-level Tiefling Wizard (Noble)(x)
• Valerise Pengazer, 1st-level Human Wizard (Soldier)(x)
• 
  Thaddeus Brocc Mortimorticio Guiseppe Catgut Kinterzuul, 1st-level Rock Gnome Wizard (Sage)(x)  
  
  
  
  
• 
  Caulder Sunspire, 1st-level Mountain Dwarf Wizard(x)
  
  
• 
  Alice Lidell, 1st-level Human Wizard (Noble)(x) 
  
  
  
  
• 
  Sanasha, 1st-level Human Wizard (Acolyte)(x) 
  
  
  
  
• 
  Darthon Twice-Orphaned Thuliaga, 1st-level Goliath Wizard (Sage)(x) 
  
  
  
  
• 
  Attigus (Ferntwig) Xed, 1st-level Forest Gnome Wizard (Outlander)(x)
  
  
• 
  Ravengeld Mazeminder, 3rd-level Human Wizard (Sage)(x)
  
  
• 
  Nimil'hel Allynwyn, 3rd-level High Elf Wizard (Soldier)(x)
  
  
• 
  Ataway, 3rd-level Human Wizard (Hermit)(x)
  
  

I'd like to suggest some ground rules to keep the thread clean and useful:


 

• Include a character image and stats and "back story" more or less in the format I post below. Back story should be quick and to the point. If it's long, throw it in a spoiler block.
• Please indicate whether your character was built according to Adventurers League guidelines.
• This is a place to post characters, not to discuss them. Anything other than characters will be considered off-topic and should be reported to the moderators for deletion. If there's an error on somebody's sheet, feel free to PM them to discuss it.
• Whenever possible, a character sheet in PDF would be a nice addition to the post (optional).
• Characters can be of any level and with any options, but any options other than Basic should be noted in some fashion.
• I will update this post with links to keep things organized by class or level, depending on what works best given what has been posted.