Neverwinter Nights 2 - Warlock Guide
Version 1.3
PrettyLumiere
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Table of Contents
-----------------
O. Revision History
I. Introduction
II. Caveats
III. Which race?
IV. Stats
V. Feats to get (non-epic spells)
VI. Feats to get (epic spells)
VII. How do invocations work?
VIII. Invocations (blast shapes and essences)
IX. Invocations (non-blast shape modifier)
X. Skills to get
XI. Should I get Spellcraft?
XII. Thoughts on multiclassing
XIII. Equipment
XIV. Final words
XV. Acknowledgments
O. Revision History
--------------------
1.3 - My final revision on whether Spellcraft is required
or not. (Yes, it's required.)
1.2 - Quick and minor changes, partially due to privacy
issues and some (constructive) bashing on the forums.
1.1 - Updated based on e-mail comments and for Mask of the
Betrayer expansion pack. I apologize for being so late on
this update, but I've had a very busy time at work.
1.0 - Initial release
I. Introduction
----------------
I'm going to start this by a big bashing of the warlock
class, and it's not going to be pretty.
The warlock class is not a particularly effective class
in any way, shape, or form, at least early on.
If you want a good analogy with other classes, take the
sorcerer, give him/her half the spells, but allow them to
cast the spells as many times as they want. However, now
make their spells deal less than half damage, and you have
a warlock. A warlock is in no way more resilient than the
sorcerer or the wizard, despite what the manual says (and
let's not forget the rampant errors in the manual). In
fact, in my experience, I've found that sorcerers and
wizards are a lot more resilient, at least in the beginning
of the game.
Basically, don't use your warlock to fight Lorne in the OC.
It simply does not work.
Now, for the good news. If you're patient enough to get
your warlock powerful enough to use the dark invocations,
you now have a character that will literally stay alive a
lot longer than any wizard or sorcerer out there, and allow
you to do a lot more damage than most fighters out there.
If you couple a warlock with a party full of melee units,
you will literally sail through battles with taking very
minimal damage.
Furthermore, if you continue playing as a pure warlock into
the epic levels in the expansion pack, you literally can
sail through the fights with almost no problems, and a lot
of the warlock abilities and invocations can erase the
negative effects of the spirit eater curse.
II. Caveats
------------
This guide assumes you are using the latest version of the
Mask of the Betrayer expansion pack. I also don't talk
about multiplayer because I don't play this multiplayer.
III. Which race?
-----------------
Since the invocations are Charisma-based, you will need to
have that as your primary stat. Basically, any race that
is good as a sorcerer is good for a warlock. Also, like a
monk, the true potential of a warlock is only realized when
you get close to all 20/30 levels, so a race that has a hefty
level adjustment is also not a good idea. Finally, any
race that has serious hits in Intelligence, Dexterity, or
Constitution is also not a good choice.
a. Humans: They are a good choice as a warlock, and the
extra feat, although not absolutely necessary, can be used
for a crafting feat if you want.
b. Planetouched: Both the aasimar and the tieflings make
good warlocks. An aasimar warlock seems a bit out of
character, but tiefling warlocks are quite in vogue (and in
character). The +1 level adjustment is not exactly a show-
stopper as you don't really need the last dark invocation.
If you do play as a tiefling warlock, watch out for the -2
Charisma modifier, although the +2 Dexterity helps.
c. Elves: These are kind of a mixed bag. Almost every
elf sub-race is playing with fire (if you'll pardon the
pun) with making a warlock, because you have to work around
a -2 Constitution modifier. Remember that having more hit
points is more important than how much dexterity you have.
The drow also has the +2 Charisma modifier, but the +2
level adjustment offsets any advantage.
d. Dwarves: Shield dwarves have -2 Charisma, so they're
out. Gold dwarves have a -2 Dexterity, but the +2
Constitution makes up for it, so it's a passable. As for
the duergar, the -4 Charisma and the +2 level adjustment
don't make for a good warlock (or at the least, a warlock
that is unable to cast the needed dark invocations).
e. Half-elves: Treat as a human without the extra feat,
which makes them acceptable.
f. Gnomes: Rock gnomes have +2 Constitution, but -2
Strength, plus the fact that they can't carry as much
weight. If you do choose this subrace, buy lots of magic
bags to hold stuff. Svirfneblins are not acceptable for
the same reason as duergars are (-4 Charisma, +3 level
adjustment).
g. Halflings: Both halfling subclasses make acceptable
warlocks like rock gnomes, but they do suffer from the same
problem of not being able to carry lots of stuff. Again,
buy lots of magic bags.
h. Half-orcs: The Ð2 Charisma AND Intelligence hurts a
lot. You need a lot of the skills that are available to a
warlock, or else it's not going to be very fun.
IV. Stats
----------
As I mentioned previously, Charisma is your main stat and
most of your points should be there.
Strength: This stat is not really important because you do
not need a high attack bonus to hit an enemy with the
eldritch blasts that are ranged touch attacks. However, it
does get annoying when you pick up some nice armor and all
of a sudden you can't run. I suggest keeping this stat at
10 or 11, and just leave it there.
Dexterity: This is the second most important stat. Since
you will be wearing light armor (NOT medium armor unless if
you're multiclassing, which I will explain later why),
having a high Dexterity score will boost your AC even
higher. Having a high AC is good for a warlock as you will
often be casting your invocations at pretty close range. I
suggest keeping this stat at around 13-14. You should
probably not add to this stat when you get the chance to
during level up; you should instead find items that boost
this.
Erik Jonker mentioned to me that DEX modifier also affects
the modifier used to determine when a ranged touch attack
does hit. This is important in the earlier stages of the
game, as it would allow you to make more hits. Later on,
this becomes a less of a concern as you'll be using
Eldritch Cone/Eldritch Doom/Chilling Tentacles/Wall of
Perilous Flame, which do not use a ranged attack to hit.
If you play a halfling, you have a slight advantage in this
department, without suffering from the stupid -2 CON that
the elves have to go through.
Constitution: Yes, you have a d6 hit point die. No, it
does not make a whit of difference compared to a sorcerer
or a wizard. This score, however, does make a difference.
I suggest leaving this at 12 at character creation. If you
leave it lower, be prepared to die a lot. (This also makes
elves very unattractive warlocks.)
I've had people disagree with me on the amount of
Constitution placed in here. I've had people suggest that
I put 14 or 16 in this stat and take it out of Charisma.
The good thing about the OC is that there's plenty of +CON
items which can accomplish the same thing.
Intelligence: Set this score to about 12 as well.
Warlocks have a lot of nice skills that will need plenty of
points. If you want crafting skills, set this to 14.
Wisdom: Set this stat to anywhere from 8-10. You don't
need this stat for anything useful.
Charisma: Get this as high as you can. I prefer starting
out with about 18 Charisma base, and just keep adding to it
during levelups when I can add them.
Most of the criticisms I've gotten so far with this have to
do with my sorcerer playing roots. Do note that you can
have the lowest amount of CHA and still cast dark
invocations. However, it does limit the usefulness of your
invocations.
In the expansion pack, having only 14 CHA will get you into
serious trouble, especially if you use eldritch essences.
In particular, all the essences are subject to a Fortitude
and Reflex save check by the enemy. From my experience
with a high CHA character, the enemies are still making
about half of the saves. By having only 14 CHA, you are
literally hamstringing yourself. Yes, you can avoid the
problem by only using a pure eldritch blast, but that's not
always practical.
V. Feats to get (non-epic levels)
-----------------------------------
As a warlock, there are not a lot of feats that you don't
get by default that you can really use. The ones that are
the most important are:
a. Combat Casting Ð Remember that it is not practical to
expect a warlock to always cast invocations far away from
enemies. This helps considerably in not having your
invocations being interrupted. Remember that you must have
defensive casting mode on in order to use this.
b. Spell Penetration Ð Invocations are subject to spell
resistance checks. You don't want your Wall of Perilous
Flame or Noxious Blast to not work when you really need it,
right?
c. Greater Spell Penetration Ð I rather not gamble with my
chances of invocations being resisted.
d. Toughness Ð Extra hit points makes for a happy warlock.
e. Skill Focus (Concentration) Ð Again, we are talking
about practical issues here. Never expect to be
uninterrupted while casting. This will help considerably.
The ones which you MIGHT want to get:
a. Battle Caster. Since you don't get Medium Armor
Proficiency for free as a warlock, this feat is kind of
useless. I rather spend my feats on things that help me in
other ways or on crafting feats. There is one exception to
this that will be mentioned later (in the multiclassing
section).
b. Medium Armor Proficiency. Don't get this unless if
fall under the one exception for Battle Caster.
c. Shield Proficiency. If you can find a shield with
a 0% arcane casting penalty, get this feat.
d. Dodge/Mobility. If you have the feats to spare and the
needed amount of DEX, go for them.
The ones you should NEVER get:
a. Any spell focus feat. My main problem is that you
cannot counterspell with warlocks, so those are only good
if you want to see what spells other spell casters are
casting.
b. Any weapon feat. You're not going to be using your
weapons to kill things. You're going to be using your
invocations to kill things. There are exceptions that can
be made if you are multiclassing with a fighter class or
one of the fighting-oriented prestige classes.
Besides from these, the remaining feat slots can be filled
with what suits you the best. You could probably use one
of the feat slots for the crafting feat of your choice.
VI. Feats to get (Epic levels)
-----------------------------------
It's nice to get some really powerful warlock specific
feats in the epic levels. If you chose to up your
Spellcraft, warlocks also have access to epic spells (with
reservations from me that I'll discuss later). Again,
here's a list of the feats you should definitely get:
a. Eldritch Master Ð 50% more damage from eldritch blasts
is nothing to pooh-pooh about. God, I love doing so much
damage with a nice well-placed Eldritch Doom with a 50%
damage boost.... You do need 24 Spellcraft for this feat,
though....
b. Epic Fiendish Resilliance Ð Although the resting
situation in the expansion pack kind of goes against it, 20
(not 25 in the manual) points per second of healing is,
again, not something to laugh at (and your boss fights
become much easier).
c. Epic Toughness Ð A live warlock is better than a dead
warlock. You only need to get it once or twice, though.
d. Epic Spell Penetration Ð In the expansion, you're
already having trouble making enemies fail checks; don't
hamstring yourself by not getting this.
On the "maybe" category, we have:
a. Armor Skin - +1 AC is nice, but I kind of wish it were
much larger than that. It's close to worthless.
b. Epic Energy Resistance (pick your element) Ð Since
these aren't free, don't get them unless you don't have
anything else to pick. You already get a free upgrade at
level 30 anyway.
c. Epic Eldritch Blast (1d6) Ð Adds another 1d6 to your
blast damage rolls. It can be taken multiple times, but
again, you will end up getting them for free anyway. Just
get this on occasion. You should have enough feats left
over to get this a few times.
d. Great Charisma Ð Luckily, you don't need THAT high of a
Charisma. Your Charisma needs to be relatively high, but
adding to Charisma during the levelups where you can add
stats will get you to a high enough level.
e. Epic Spell: (any) Ð If you got enough Spellcraft and
are willing to accept the limitations on these spell, get
whatever suits your fancy.
The ones I did not mention are usually of limited use or
you don't have the requirements to get them.
VII. How do invocations work?
-----------------------------
Let's set aside the "lore" of how a warlock gets
invocations and go down to the nitty-gritty on how an
invocation works.
An invocation has the following properties:
1. You may use them as many times as you want.
2. Invocations have either a somatic or verbal component,
or both. Therefore, if you are silenced, certain
invocations cannot be cast.
3. Invocations cannot be used with metamagic.
4. Certain invocations can be used alone, but others must
be used in conjunction with an eldritch blast. The blast
shape invocations and eldritch essence invocations must be
used with an eldritch blast.
The invocations that can be used alone are the low-damage,
status-affecting buffs and dispels that you will typically
use. For example, Retributive Invisibility, Beguiling
Influence, and Wall of Perilous Flame are examples of this
type of invocation.
However, your main source of damage comes from eldritch
blasts. By default, if you cast an eldritch essence
invocation, you would cast an eldritch blast that is
modified by the eldritch essence. The default eldritch
blast hits one enemy only.
You can modify the blast by adding a blast shape. A blast
shape invocation is an eldritch blast that has a different
shape/characteristic to it, which may allow you to hit more
targets. Since the blast shape is an eldritch blast, you
can modify blast shapes with eldritch essences.
VIII. Invocations (blast shapes and essences)
---------------------------------------------
For discussion of invocations, I'm going to split them up
between blast shape/eldritch essences (since they
intrinsically go together), and invocations not involving
blash shapes/essences.
Least Invocations (Blast Shapes): One of them is
worthless, and one of them is useful.
Hideous Blow Ð this blast shape is worthless. If you
didn't have to recast it every time you hit a melee attack,
this one might actually be useful. The trouble you incur
with this shape makes it not worth it for actual use.
Eldritch Spear Ð I recommend getting this as one of the
first invocations that you get. This extends the range of
an eldritch blast (to 250 feet according to the
description). It's not that impressive considering you
really can't tell how far is 250 feet in game, but if you
can nail someone from really far away several times before
they get into range of the other blast shapes, you make
your job a lot easier in the earlier stages of the OC.
However, this loses effectiveness as you get eldritch chain
later on.
Least Invocations (Essences): Another worthless one and
another good one.
Draining Blast Ð this is a good essence to use in the
beginning and it's probably the second invocation that I
get. What this does is if you hit, the monster must pass a
Fortitude check. If the check fails, the monster is
slowed. The slower the monster, the more blasts you can
throw out and the faster you can get to a more defensible
position.
Frightful Blast Ð I don't like this essence because it
isn't as useful. I rather not have to chase after monsters
because they're afraid (and risk running into a trap).
Lesser Invocations (Blast Shapes): The only new blast
shape you get with this level of invocation is probably the
one you'll use the most through the game.
Eldritch Chain Ð This blast shape starts out rather
modestly. It has the range of a regular eldritch blast,
but after it hits your intended target, it will randomly
blast a random being that is within 30 feet from you. It
means that you have the potential of hitting two enemies.
At warlock level 10, this is extended to three enemies,
four enemies at level 15, and five enemies at level 20. If
you miss any of the enemies, the chain stops. This isn't
as much of a trouble as you may think because by the time
you get to a higher level, you should rarely be missing
with your ranged touch attacks. Get this as soon as you
have access to the lesser invocations.
Lesser Invocations (Essences): These aren't
disappointments, but you won't be using one of them very
long.
Hellrime Blast(a.k.a. the ice blast) Ð This essence does
two things. One, it modifies your eldritch blast to do
cold damage. Two, it makes everyone you hit do a Fortitude
check or take a -4 penalty to Dexterity. It's
indispensable when you have to fight against a lot of
rogues (basically when you get into Neverwinter in the OC),
but after that, you'll rarely use it.
Brimstone Blast(a.k.a. the fire blast) Ð Take your eldritch
blast, make it do fire damage, AND make them burn with fire
afterwards. This will be the primary essence you'll use
until you get access to the greater invocations.
Beshadowed Blast Ð This is a nice blast to have under
certain circumstances. I don't use this blast because
putting opponents in darkness is not the way I play, but
there are potential uses for it.
Greater Invocations (Blast Shapes): The only new blast
shape you get with this level of invocation is useful...
until you get access to the dark invocations.
Eldritch Cone Ð This blast shape says what you think it
says. Your blast is now in the shape of a cone. It's okay
in certain situations, but it has been my experience that
enemies don't like attacking you in a way that you will be
using this very often. I would recommend getting this as
soon as you have access to it, but dropping it once you get
Eldritch Doom.
Greater Invocations (Essences): Again, we have a nice set
of essences; choose one depending on how you play.
Vitrolic Blast(a.k.a. the acid blast) Ð Take the Brimstone
Blast, but make it acid damage. In addition, make it
impossible to counter with spell resistance. Once you get
this, you will end up using this over the Brimstone Blast
in most cases. If you do play the expansion pack, do watch
out as enemies do get a Reflex and Fortitude save against
this.
Noxious Blast Ð Take your eldritch blast, make it daze
people. I typically don't use this, but if you like being
support, this is a great one to use. Unfortunately, as you
play the expansion pack, if you want to make sure this
works, you better have a high enough Charisma and the spell
penetration feats to make sure that your enemies fail the
Reflex and Fortitude save.
Hindering Blast Ð 1 second of effect? Two thumbs down.
(stolen from Siskel and Ebert) I rather get Draining Blast
instead.
Dark Invocations (Blast Shapes): This is one good reason
why you want to be a pure warlock (or as close to it as you
can).
Eldritch Doom Ð This blast shape is simple. Target where
you want the blast to hit. Everything within a certain
radius is hit. The radius isn't as big as a Fireball or a
Chain Lightning spell, but it's more than adequate for your
needs. There is a reflex save, but you should have enough
to counter it by the time you get this.
Dark Invocations (Essences): This is a disappointment in
the OC, maybe not for multiplayer purposes.
Utterdark Blast Ð If you hit with this one, the target
takes negative energy damage and drains levels. It sounds
nice, but by the time you can get this in the OC, just
about every enemy uses this to heal. It probably works a
lot better in a multiplayer situation. You probably will
just use it once, then switch to another essence, as the
negative levels do not stack.
Binding Blast Ð 1 second of effect? Obsidian, Bioware,
Atari, Wizards of the Coast... please try to be a little
bit more.... creative next time, shall we?
IX. Invocations (non-blast shapes or essences)
------------------------------------------------
These function like your typical spell. As invocations,
you may cast these as many times as you wish. Most of
these are supporting spells that make your work a lot
easier.
Least Invocations: A really nice array of things to choose
from. Some of them aren't very useful; others make your
life so much easier.
Beguiling Influence Ð Get this one if you have points in
Intimidate (which is what I usually do). I like talking my
way out of situations, so this is a nice thing to get.
Even if you don't, this is useful for boosting Diplomacy
(good) and Bluff (kind of worthless).
Dark One's Own Luck Ð Useful in the beginning, not so
useful in the end. I usually either get this or Beguiling
Influence.
Darkness Ð Uhh, no thanks. This tends to be a frame-rate
killer.
Devil's Sight Ð This has limited usefulness, but if you
really wanted what this invocation gives you, play as an
Elf, but that's really not a good idea, eh?
Entropic Warding Ð I like this one. I usually replace
Draining Blast with this invocation later in the game, and
watch as the archers have trouble with you as you kill them
with an eldritch chain. It doesn't last that long, but
remember that you can recast it and it does last long
enough for you to do your business.
Leaps and Bounds Ð Don't get this even if you have put
points in Tumble. It's not a high enough boost that would
make it useful.
Seen the Unseen Ð I don't recommend this as you'll get
things in the OC that give True Seeing.
Otherworldly Whispers - +6 to Spellcraft and Lore checks.
This is a tossup. It doesn't hurt to have this, but it
doesn't hurt to not have this.
Lesser Invocations: Not as good of a selection, but a
couple of them are useful.
Charm Ð No thanks, I'm not out to convert people. I rather
summon my own skeletons.
Curse of Despair Ð Hmm... do those score reductions really
do THAT much over a battle? Skip this one.
The Dead Walk Ð In the OC, just let Ammon Jerro use it. If
you're not in the OC, this is an okay one to get; just drop
Brimstone Blast or Voracious Dispelling for this. It does
have rather low HD, so it's probably no better than cannon
fodder.
Voracious Dispelling Ð Get this one later on in the game.
It's a good dispelling invocation; the times which you need
to dispel things aren't that frequent, though. The damage
you do on the dispelled creatures doesn't hurt, anyway.
Walk Unseen Ð You're not a rogue. No thanks for me. There
are applications for this for those who are inclined to be
sneaky (and get free eldritch blasts on enemies), but to
me, it's not worth it.
Dread Seizure Ð I don't see any difference with enemies
affected by this versus regular enemies. Skip this one.
Greater Invocations: Now we're coming to the really
offensive invocations. You only need one of the offensive
ones, though.
Chilling Tentacles: Get either this one or Wall of
Perilous Flame. Freezing tentacles are nice. I prefer
Wall of Perilous Flame myself, but this is a good choice
too. Unfortunately, as you go up in level, this attack
starts losing efficiency.
Devour Magic: This is an upgraded version of Voracious
Dispelling. You can get this; just drop Eldritch Cone. I
personally find Voracious Dispelling enough for my
purposes, though.
Tenacious Plague: This one tends to be a wildcard. Get it
if you want; you'll probably find uses for it that I
couldn't find.
Wall of Perilous Flame: One of my very favorites; this is
the 3rd greater invocation that I get. You can pretty much
single-handedly do the last part of the Crossroad Keep
siege with this and Eldritch Doom. What's even better, the
magical damage this does (not the fire damage portion)
cannot be resisted without spell resistance. The main
drawback is that as you play through the expansion pack,
this starts becoming more and more useless.
Dark Invocations: When they said warlocks were more
resilient than sorcerers or wizards, they must have been
talking about one of the invocations here.
Dark Foresight Ð Once you get access to dark invocations,
GET THIS FIRST. NO EXCEPTIONS. Have this hotkeyed at all
times. This gives 10/silver damage reduction (not
30/adamantine as in the manual in the OC or the confusing
statement they made in the expansion pack manual) with a
pool of 10 points per warlock level. This is basically the
Stoneskin spell, but you can cast this as many times as you
want, unlike sorcerers or wizards. This is what will allow
you to cast your eldritch blasts with impunity.
In the expansion pack, the pool is capped at 150 hit
points. This does water down the skill a bit, but it's
still vital.
Retributive Invisibility Ð Don't get this for the
retributive part. Get it for the invisibility (which isn't
broken by invocations or attacking). It only lasts 3
rounds, which is a handicap, but you just need to recast
this, anyway.
Word of Changing Ð I ended up using this a lot, especially
in the Mask of the Betrayer campaign after you have to deal
with spirit energy drop. Yes, it has a lot of melee
attacking power, but the 5 HP regeneration is what I use it
for. If you switch to this form, you no longer suffer the
health loss/damage vulnerabilities that having a stage 2 or
higher status has.
One last thing... as of this writing (11/19/07), there is a
bug in this skill that you can exploit. If you revert to
your original form while you are at a stage 2 or higher
status, every time you take damage because of the spirit
energy level, you regain 5 HP back.
The only thing that you can't do is casting invocations in
this form.
X. Skills to get
------------------
If you went with my suggestion of 12 INT, you should have 3
points to use per level. I used it on Concentration,
Intimidate, and Lore, plus one point in Use Magic Device.
Consider getting the following:
Concentration Ð This is a no-brainer. Don't blame me if
you fail to put points in it and have your invocations
interrupted.
Intimidate Ð I like talking my way out of battles.
Diplomacy would have worked better for my style of playing,
but it's a cross-class skill for warlocks, and this isn't.
Lore Ð I don't like having to go to shop to identify stuff,
and I rather not shuffle things around to someone who can
identify stuff.
Use Magic Device Ð Just get one point in this. This with
Deceive Item will allow you to use most things out there
for wizards and sorcerers. If you need more points in
this, take them out of Lore or Intimidate. In the
expansion pack, you may end up needing to put more points
in this.
Tumble Ð If you don't get Intimidate, consider putting it
into this cross-class skill. In that case, you'll end up
getting the Leaps and Bounds invocation as well.
XI. Should I get Spellcraft?
------------------------------
If you've read the previous versions of this guide, I
said to not to get Spellcraft. Well, you can throw that
out because Eldritch Master requires 24 Spellcraft, which
means that if you fail to get Spellcraft, you will not
have a good time trying to deal damage.
(okay, now, please stop the e-mails to me about it)
XII. Thoughts on multiclassing
-----------------------------
Let's talk about minor multiclassing. The warlock is
almost worthless as a minor multiclass character because
warlock levels don't count as arcane caster levels, and
simply said, warlocks aren't very powerful in the
beginning.
As for major multiclasses with warlock as the dominant
class, remember that the warlock's power and resilience
comes by having access to the dark invocations. It's
usually best to go pure warlock, but if you're willing to
drop one dark invocation and the additional energy
resistance, you can go Warlock 19/Fighter 1 or Warlock
19/Barbarian 1 to get medium armor proficiency and martial
weapon proficiency for free. If you do this, be sure to
get the Battle Caster feat.
There are good multiclasses with Blackguard if you play an
evil Warlock, but I absolutely refuse to play an evil
character. I'll put them in the next version of the guide.
XIII. Equipment
--------------
There's a dearth of good warlock-only equipment in the OC.
As NWN2 relies on crafting skills for good armor and
equipment, I suggest focusing on your armor class when
choosing equipment. What I did was take the leather armor
that I got at the very beginning, and upgrading it to +5
enhancement, 30/- cold resistance, and 30/- fire
resistance.
As for weapons, use whatever weapon you feel is good for
you. I ended up using one of those nice crossbows that
gave +DEX (to boost my armor class).
If you did the Warlock 19/Fighter 1 or Warlock 19/Barbarian
1 multiclass, your choice of armor and weapons becomes a
lot better. However, warlocks aren't really designed for
melee combat.
Eng-Seng Teoh sent me this e-mail about equipment, which
shows how he did his equipment as a warlock.
-----
"Here's a couple of things I found when I played a
warlock which you may find
interesting/useful.
I wanted to say, spellcraft is useful for the bonus to
saving throws.
Maybe that's a new thing with the later patches, but
it's what I took it
for.
The other thing is that mage armor, bracers of armor,
and enhancement bonus
to armor are the same bonus in the game.
(This is not the same as D&D in general, as mage armor
& bracers of armor
are meant to be armor bonuses, not enhancement)
What this means is the highest of those bonuses will
stack with the base
armor value of your armor.
So I took medium armor proficiency and battle caster on
my warlock, and made
a suit of mithril full plate (8 AC, 3 max dex) to wear.
I then had it
enchanted with fortification.
This may also be a new patch thing (as I vaguely recall
it not being so),
but mithril heavy shields have no arcane spell failure
chance. So making a
+4 (more likely, since blue diamonds are so rare in OC)
or +5 version ups AC
tremendously.
In the endgame, my lightfoot halfling warlock was
wearing:
Mithril full plate + fortification
Bracers of Armor +8
Mithril Heay Shield +4
Gargoyle Boots (maybe there are better boots, but I
didn't look very hard)
Amulet of Natural Armor +4 (I put my +5 on another
character)
Dagger with (3 AC deflection) defending
Ring of Regeneration
Ring of Improved Evasion
The Regal (for resistances, but there are probably
better choices)
Cloak of Charisma +8
Since I took luck of heroes, that makes an AC of 46
(before such effects
like haste).
Err ... I didn't take dark foresight ... I just stood
around as my enemies
flailed feebly at me. :D
I also made Qara cast stoneskin on me a lot.
Hope this helps. Bye!"
-----
Once you get to the expansion pack, the crafting system is
a LOT different, and is something that I haven't been able
to figure out how to use properly. I believe there is a
FAQ on GameFAQs that describes the new crafting system in
detail.
XIV. Final Words
-----------------
The warlock class is a disappointment until you get to the
later levels, when it becomes almost unstoppable. Despite
all the flaws, it's become one of my favorite classes to
play, and I hope it becomes one of your favorite classes
too.
Once you get your warlock to the epic levels, you are
virtually unstoppable.
XV. Acknowledgements
--------------------
Thanks to:
- Jeremy Wilmot, for pointing out some glaring errors
- Eng-Seng Teoh, for his e-mail on crafting warlock
equipment
- Erik Jonker, for his insights on DEX, ranged touch
attacks, and halflings as warlocks
- borkborkbork, for his e-mail explaining how my minor
multiclass didn't work and his evil warlock/blackguard
multiclass, which I will include in the next revision
I probably missed a few people, but if I did, thanks to you
all as well.
~ The End ~
PrettyLumiere
November 19th, 2007
