So, who has played a Warlock?
- Thread starter Gnome
- Start date
Particle_Man
Explorer
I am playing a halfling warlock at 10th and having a blast (pun!).
I have gone the "good shooting, Tex!" route:
Feats: P-b Shot, Precise Shot, Craft Wondrous Item (to make the Chasuble of Fell Power right now, but at 12th...), homebrew feat "Still Spell-Like Ability (Flee the Scene only, 3x/day)". But the last feat you could have Sudden Still from Complete Arcane instead, 1x/day, I guess.
Invocations: Hideous Blow (mistake for a halfling. I am trading it out for Entropic Warding at 11th), Eldritch Spear, See the Unseen, Eldritch Chain, Fell Flight, Flee the Scene. At 11th will get either Chilling Tentacles of Vitriolic Blast, probably the latter to beat SR on most creatures (not those immune to acid, obviously).
Items: Chasuble of Fell Power is my pride and joy! Plus a 5th level Wand of Cure Light Wounds. (I maxed out Concentation and UMD)
Modus operandii. Stay flying at all times, in combat flee the scene out of meelee reach and blast things, using the chain to advantage if possible.
I am quite powerful on offense and the DR2/Cold Iron and Fiendish Resiliance help on defence. Grappling is nasty, but being able to Flee the Scene out of creatures' bellies is useful (Still Spell-like Ability is my friend, as is high Concentration). However, my party is not optimized (no single-classed Wizards or Druids, and the Wizard/Druid won't go for Mystic Theurge OR Arcane Heirophant!) so my relative power level is not surprising.
Outside of combat, Detect Magic, Detect Invisibility and Darkvision (The latter from See the Unseen) make me a good pair of eyes.
So I enjoy my Warlock a heck of a lot. But then I like the simple "blast anything that moves" strategy.
I have gone the "good shooting, Tex!" route:
Feats: P-b Shot, Precise Shot, Craft Wondrous Item (to make the Chasuble of Fell Power right now, but at 12th...), homebrew feat "Still Spell-Like Ability (Flee the Scene only, 3x/day)". But the last feat you could have Sudden Still from Complete Arcane instead, 1x/day, I guess.
Invocations: Hideous Blow (mistake for a halfling. I am trading it out for Entropic Warding at 11th), Eldritch Spear, See the Unseen, Eldritch Chain, Fell Flight, Flee the Scene. At 11th will get either Chilling Tentacles of Vitriolic Blast, probably the latter to beat SR on most creatures (not those immune to acid, obviously).
Items: Chasuble of Fell Power is my pride and joy! Plus a 5th level Wand of Cure Light Wounds. (I maxed out Concentation and UMD)
Modus operandii. Stay flying at all times, in combat flee the scene out of meelee reach and blast things, using the chain to advantage if possible.
I am quite powerful on offense and the DR2/Cold Iron and Fiendish Resiliance help on defence. Grappling is nasty, but being able to Flee the Scene out of creatures' bellies is useful (Still Spell-like Ability is my friend, as is high Concentration). However, my party is not optimized (no single-classed Wizards or Druids, and the Wizard/Druid won't go for Mystic Theurge OR Arcane Heirophant!) so my relative power level is not surprising.
Outside of combat, Detect Magic, Detect Invisibility and Darkvision (The latter from See the Unseen) make me a good pair of eyes.
So I enjoy my Warlock a heck of a lot. But then I like the simple "blast anything that moves" strategy.
Falling Icicle
Adventurer
Gnome said:How do they seem to do compared to other classes at low, mid and high levels? Any "must-have" feats? Power recommendations? Any other tips on building or playing one?
Thanks in advance for any advice!
I'm playing a 6th level Human Warlock right now. It's pretty fun. The feats I have are Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Craft Wondrous Item and Empower Spell-Like Ability (Eldritch Blast). The invocations I have are See the Unseen, Eldritch Spear, Beguiling Influence and Fell Flight. In case you're wondering why I got Craft Wondrous Item so early, I plan to make a Chausible of Fell Power, which Warlocks can make at level 6.
As for how I seem to do compared to other classes, I'd say that I do fairly well. Certainly far from overpowered. I do less damage than the party Ranger and Barbarian, but I make up for it alot of ways. For one, I have an easy time hitting things (touch attacks) and can do decent damage at range (the Ranger chose TWF for his combat style, so I'm the primary ranged support for the group). The fact that I have no daily limit on spells gives me alot of longevity and flexibility. I have a ring of sustenance so I usually stand watch while the other characters sleep. Since I don't need to rest to get my spells, this is not a problem. It's nice playing a character who is always ready to face challenges, unlike other casters that can run out of spells, need 8 hours of sleep + 1 hour of meditation, etc.
Even though Warlocks are technically arcane magic users, they actually play alot more like rogues or archers. I have the best social skills in the group, so I am usually the "face." Use Magic Device greatly increases my versatility. Comapred to Wizards or Sorcerers, Warlocks have pros and cons. Sorcerers have 3-4x as many spells at their disposal, and with all their spells per day, they don't run out often. They can also do alot more damage in alot less time than a Warlock can (and to alot more creatures at once). Does this mean that Warlocks suck? Hardly. Warlocks have more HP, a better BAB, damage reduction, and can use their powers indefinately. Being able to take 10 on UMD checks also greatly expands your options.
It's hard to say whether the Warlock class is right for you. I wasn't sure if I was going to like it either, since I usually prefer to play Wizards (I enjoy the challenge and strategy in their spell selection). My main concern was that Warlocks would be boring and repetitive. But that hasn't really been the case. As I said before, think of them more like an archer with lots of cool abilities rather than a really limited spellcaster. I've also enjoyed using more social skills (Beguiling Influence is awesome). Being the "dark hero" has been really fun from a roleplaying aspect.
If you want to find out if you'll enjoy playing a Warlock, my advice would be to do what I did - try it out and see for yourself.
My warlock hit 6th last night, and im rather enjoying him so far. Theres nothing quite like unleashing my nightmares of being eaten alive by a swarm on unsuspecting dolts, and then slowly shuffeling away from combat...
My gm is letting us take advantage of the respec rules in PHB2. I took the PB/ Precise Shot combo at first and Supernatural Transformation (from Savage Species) at third, which bascialy lets me transform a spell-like ability into a supernatural one (Blast). Im wondering what benifits im going to get from keeping ST, or should I just swap it out? I still provoke AoO with the blast for useing a ranged attack in melee even though the actual invocation dosnt cause them anymore (hummm Hideous Blow might work well with this), and it does remove any Sr issues that may crop up in later levels. But besides that im completly in the dark about the diference between spell-like and supernatural, particularly in regard to eldritch blast.
I just dont know enough to make an informed decision especialy where my limited feats are concerned so any advice would be gratefuly recieved. I dont remember mention of the Chasuble of Fell Power either, must read class description again.
Im at player levels of rules comprehension so chimp simple explanitions would be apreciated
My gm is letting us take advantage of the respec rules in PHB2. I took the PB/ Precise Shot combo at first and Supernatural Transformation (from Savage Species) at third, which bascialy lets me transform a spell-like ability into a supernatural one (Blast). Im wondering what benifits im going to get from keeping ST, or should I just swap it out? I still provoke AoO with the blast for useing a ranged attack in melee even though the actual invocation dosnt cause them anymore (hummm Hideous Blow might work well with this), and it does remove any Sr issues that may crop up in later levels. But besides that im completly in the dark about the diference between spell-like and supernatural, particularly in regard to eldritch blast.
I just dont know enough to make an informed decision especialy where my limited feats are concerned so any advice would be gratefuly recieved. I dont remember mention of the Chasuble of Fell Power either, must read class description again.
Im at player levels of rules comprehension so chimp simple explanitions would be apreciated
Ranger5
First Post
Well I just recently finished playing a FR game that ended with us at 22nd level. I played a Warlock fo rmost of it and had a boat load of fun.
Now I did go the "blaster" route with him. With my invocations and feat selections I always felt like I could do something in combat as well as outside of combat I was able to do a lot of diplomacy type of things with my decently high Charisma.
Anyway, here are the feats I took per level as well as the invocations I took as a human warlock.
Feats:
1st - Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot
3rd - Arcane Mastery
6th - Improved Flight
9th - Maximize Spell-like Ability (Eldritch Blast)
12th - Quicken Spell-like Ability (Eldritch Blast)
15th - Spell Penetration
18th - Greater Spell Penetration
21st - Empower Spell-like Ability (Eldritch Blast)
IN:
1st - See the Unseen
2nd - Eldritch Spear
4th - Baleful Utterance
6th - Fell Flight
8th - Walk Unseen
10th - Eldritch Chain
11th - Vitriolic Blast
13th - Devour Magic
15th - Wall of Perilous Flame
16th - Retributive Invisibility
(Swap out Walk Unseen for Flee the Scene)
18th - Dark Foresight
20th - Eldritch Doom
And like I said, I had a lot of fun. In fact I will probably play another one as well next time I play.
Now I did go the "blaster" route with him. With my invocations and feat selections I always felt like I could do something in combat as well as outside of combat I was able to do a lot of diplomacy type of things with my decently high Charisma.
Anyway, here are the feats I took per level as well as the invocations I took as a human warlock.
Feats:
1st - Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot
3rd - Arcane Mastery
6th - Improved Flight
9th - Maximize Spell-like Ability (Eldritch Blast)
12th - Quicken Spell-like Ability (Eldritch Blast)
15th - Spell Penetration
18th - Greater Spell Penetration
21st - Empower Spell-like Ability (Eldritch Blast)
IN:
1st - See the Unseen
2nd - Eldritch Spear
4th - Baleful Utterance
6th - Fell Flight
8th - Walk Unseen
10th - Eldritch Chain
11th - Vitriolic Blast
13th - Devour Magic
15th - Wall of Perilous Flame
16th - Retributive Invisibility
(Swap out Walk Unseen for Flee the Scene)
18th - Dark Foresight
20th - Eldritch Doom
And like I said, I had a lot of fun. In fact I will probably play another one as well next time I play.
Particle_Man
Explorer
taferial said:
Chasubles of Fell Power add 1 or 2 dice to your Eldritch Blast damage.
Warlock's Rods do this too, but have a limited number of charges to do it with. On the up side, they also give you +2 to hit on ranged touch attacks (like Eldritch Blasts, for instance).
If you DM is nice, you might find these items. Otherwise, you will have to make them, and that requires feats like Craft Wondrous Item or Craft Rod.
Personally, I think the Chasuble is totally worth it. Not so much a fan of the Rod that I would burn a feat just to create one.
Bagpuss
Legend
Yeah don't be tempted to take Weapon Focus (Ray) as it's wasted with your average BAB and only needing to hit a touch AC.
1st Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot
3rd Ability Focus (Eldrich Blast) (only take this if you are planning on using the Blasts modifiers that have saves)
6th Maximise Spell Like Ability (Eldrich Blast)
I'm only 7th level. at the moment.
I've currently got
See the Unseen, Sickening Blast, Baleful Utterance and Voracious Dispelling.
Being able to detect magic and dispel magic at will is a handy combination, we haven't left any items behind or worried about magical traps. Baleful Utterance means you don't need to open locks just shatter them. Why have a rogue. See the Unseen means no one will sneak up invisible, and if they try it you just dispel it. I considered Fell Flight, but most of the adventures we had been on were in dungeons where it's of limited use.
1st Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot
3rd Ability Focus (Eldrich Blast) (only take this if you are planning on using the Blasts modifiers that have saves)
6th Maximise Spell Like Ability (Eldrich Blast)
I'm only 7th level. at the moment.
I've currently got
See the Unseen, Sickening Blast, Baleful Utterance and Voracious Dispelling.
Being able to detect magic and dispel magic at will is a handy combination, we haven't left any items behind or worried about magical traps. Baleful Utterance means you don't need to open locks just shatter them. Why have a rogue. See the Unseen means no one will sneak up invisible, and if they try it you just dispel it. I considered Fell Flight, but most of the adventures we had been on were in dungeons where it's of limited use.
Archimedes314
First Post
One tip, Baleful Utterance is amazing at low levels. The big bad half-orc barbarian has a greatsword? Not anymore. Oh, there's a door in my way? No problem. What's that Mr. DM, a stalactite above the enemies?
My current PC is a 10th-level human warlock. He's a lot of fun to play, even if there isn't much chance to vary his tactics.
Voracious dispelling is the most important invocation so far, IMO. Combat is much less dangerous when you can take most enemy buffs, harmful status effects, and battlefield control spells can be eliminated right after they're cast. Combined with at-will dispel magic, it also means that magic traps are very little threat.
See the Unseen has been fantastic too, but that may be our particular campaign. We're constantly wandering around in the dark and getting ambushed by invisible assassins, which of course brings that invocation into play more often.
Voracious dispelling is the most important invocation so far, IMO. Combat is much less dangerous when you can take most enemy buffs, harmful status effects, and battlefield control spells can be eliminated right after they're cast. Combined with at-will dispel magic, it also means that magic traps are very little threat.
See the Unseen has been fantastic too, but that may be our particular campaign. We're constantly wandering around in the dark and getting ambushed by invisible assassins, which of course brings that invocation into play more often.
