Warlock advice

[bganon]

I'm playing a star-pact warlock (Tiefling, BTW) focused on Cha and Int. Since she's Cha-based, she fairly often takes Fey-pact powers, but I've found that it's pretty easy to "reflavor" them so that they fit in with the Star pact. She actually has Curse of the Dark Dream as her daily, but it's pretty easy to imagine the nightmare images coming from the Far Realm rather than the Feywild. She took Otherwind Stride at 3rd level, but again, it's not too hard to think of ways of describing teleporting 25 ft in a burst of pure power that fit in fine with the Star pact. I think you can roleplay the heck of the Star pact without actually taking every Star power.

 

[GuJiaXian]

I'm playing a star-pact warlock (Tiefling, BTW) focused on Cha and Int. Since she's Cha-based, she fairly often takes Fey-pact powers, but I've found that it's pretty easy to "reflavor" them so that they fit in with the Star pact. She actually has Curse of the Dark Dream as her daily, but it's pretty easy to imagine the nightmare images coming from the Far Realm rather than the Feywild. She took Otherwind Stride at 3rd level, but again, it's not too hard to think of ways of describing teleporting 25 ft in a burst of pure power that fit in fine with the Star pact. I think you can roleplay the heck of the Star pact without actually taking every Star power.

I really appreciate everyone's responses. bganon, I was thinking the same thing: ignore the text in the PHB and "repurpose" powers from other pacts to fit the star pact flavor.

Okay, it's decided then: star pact warlock, with a stat emphasis on intelligence and charisma. Given that, what races work well? I'm fairly open, though half-elves just don't appeal. Tieflings almost seem like the obvious choice: +2 to both Int and Cha, plus that racial feat that gives +1 to hit and damage with fear effects.

Then again, there's just something...appealing...about roleplaying a halfling that's obsessed with the Far Realm. It's like something out of a bad horror movie.

 

[DracoSuave]

Powers that Star Pact have that use Constitution but have the Fear or Fire keywords:

Dire Radiance (At-Will Level 1)
Frigid Darkness (Encounter Level 3)
Thirteen Baleful Stars (Daily Level 25)
Banish to the Void (Encounter Level 27)
Doom of Dhelben (Daily Level 29)

Those that do not use those keywords but are Constitution-based:

Hunger of Hadar (Daily 5)
Summons of Khirad (Daily 9)
Coldfire Vortex (Encounter 13)
Tendrils of Thuben (Daily 15)



Basicly, only four of the powers on the Starlock's list are Constitution based but not affected by Hellfire Blood, and two of them have other Starlock options at those level, The other two are higher level and need not be taken to replace a lower-level.

You can therefore go Tiefling, take Hellfire Blood as your starting feat, and with the stats:

Str 10
Con 16
Dex 10
Int 15
Wis 8
Cha 18

You'll be a more than capable Starlock, your defenses will be evenly distributed out of the gate, and you'll have the +4 in most of your attacks thru most of your career, and with most of your attacks. +2 From Int is more than enough to milk for your Int-based stuff, and you'll be pretty durable to boot. With Improved Fate of the Void and your tiefling racial abilities you'll be hitting often, and be -extremely- accurate with your powers.

 

[Keenath]

I really appreciate everyone's responses. bganon, I was thinking the same thing: ignore the text in the PHB and "repurpose" powers from other pacts to fit the star pact flavor.

Don't be afraid to take some Con powers too if you have a decent con. I think people too often get tangled up in not wanting to use a given attack because they have "only" a 14 instead of a 16 in that stat. A +1 isn't a big deal.

I'd make sure my at-wills are using the best stat, but if there's an encounter power you like that uses a strong secondary score, why not take it?

Okay, it's decided then: star pact warlock, with a stat emphasis on intelligence and charisma. Given that, what races work well?

Pretty much anything works for that. Eladrin pump your int, Dragonborn and Halflings your charisma. Humans are good for any class, with that floating stat bonus that can go wherever it's most needed. Tieflings boost both of your primary stats, but the tiefling warlock is a bit obvious (if that bothers you).

I'd go with that halfling idea. That sounds like a lot of fun, and Second Chance is a great racial power. Small size doesn't bother you much if you don't depend on weapons, and the bonus against fear kind of fits with the idea of a guy who's delving into Things Man Was Not Meant To Know. The bonus versus OAs probably won't come up much, but extra mobility is occasionally useful.

The downside is that the other stat bonus, dexterity, would be doubling up on Intelligence. I'd probably dump Dex to an 8, thus boosting it to an average 10 with the racial bonus. You don't need strength much, and if you're getting into star pact, a low wisdom probably sounds like a good idea.

Overall, I'd probably go ahead with a stat buy like this:

STR 11, CON 14, DEX 8, INT 15, WIS 10, CHA 16

That's before racials; afterward it'll leave you with dex 10 and cha 18.
You could push the int to 16 if you drop con to 13, but that's up to you.

 

[Stalker0]

True, but the difference between having a +1 vs +2, is the difference between having AC 13, and AC14, so your AC will be bad, or bad.

Thing about 4e is your never likely to fight monsters that can only hit you on a 20, and only miss you on a 1. Which means every +1 to AC is equally useful, its another 5% chance on that attack roll you will be missed.

Now in general frontliners will prize this +1 to AC much more simply because they get hit with more attacks, but any bonus to AC is a useful one, just like any bonus to attack is a useful one.

On to the question of stats, I think the question comes down whether you want to have more int and a slightly lower attack bonus but have a better AC, or have a better attack bonus and weaker secondary effects . Keep in mind also that a 13+ int qualifies you for jack of all trades...which to me is one of the best feats in the game.

I think on the boards right now the generic wisdom is to pump your primary attack as much as possible, and then leave a little for secondary effects. Personally, I would love to see what a character with lower attack rolls and bigger secondary effects could do. Sure you don't hit as often, but you make a bigger splash when you do.

 

[Kintara]

I'd consider Larrin's suggestions. Strength puts you into heavy armor and a shield, and if you let Int go you can keep Con/Cha high. Con is nice with Dragonborn because of Draconic Heritage. You might even want to multiclass into Warlord so you can burn some of those healing surges on your own. Play aggressively or those surges will go to waste.

Strength is also nice for scoring OAs with your pact blade, or at least threatening them with a little more force.

 

[Rechan]

Dilettante power for a Warlock?

Disregard this post. Meant to start another thread.

 

[Belbarid]

Dragonborn give a +2 to charisma, which helps. Half-elves (which, thematically, don't interest me at all) give a +2 to both constitution and charisma, but they just don't seem fun to me. So here's the dilemma: do I create a character that's more fun to roleplay but mechanically less effective (due to dilution with regards to ability scores), or should I play a slightly less fun-to-roleplay character that mechanically hits more often and deals more damage? Or is there a third option I'm just blanking on?

Keep in mind that this is all IMO, but I always go for "More Fun To Roleplay" To the point where I've been nicknamed "The Monkeywrench".

Now that being said, don't intentionally gimp yourself to the point where you're a liability to your party, but interesting characters have always been a bigger focus to me than more effective characters.

 

[satin]

Now that being said, don't intentionally gimp yourself to the point where you're a liability to your party, but interesting characters have always been a bigger focus to me than more effective characters.

Totally agree with this one. Which is why I'm checking out the very-interesting Warlocks in 4E instead of going for my usual favorite classes. Looks like it will take a while though before I learn how to use the Warlock effectively - it is not a straightforward class!

 

[GuJiaXian]

Well, I'm definitely doing a Cha-based starlock, and I'd pretty much decided to go the halfling route (still get the +2 to Cha, and the flavor of a mildly insane midget is just cool).

Then WotC put out that starlock Dragon article. I love the PP (going to take it), the epic destiny, and the powers (mostly Cha-based), but the (broken?) feats are all only usable by tieflings. Curse you, Bruce Cordell! If I was going the infernal route, tiefling makes perfect sense. But a slightly mad astrologer? It works, but the fluff just isn't as strong as I'd like.