Warlock queries

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Roarthing
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Warlock queries

Post by Roarthing » Sat Jun 16, 2018 8:45 am

Hello!

I've been playing a Fey Pact Warlock (I know they seem really bad compared to the Devil Pact one :twisted: ) - and I'm enjoying, its really forcing some interesting playing experiences as their quite niche.

Anyway, the wiki is really great for lots of information, but I feel the Warlock entry isn't completely clear.

Ability Score wise - am I right to assume Warlocks require High DEX and CHA?

DEX for Ranged Touch Attacks and CHA for Spell DCs?

I'm also a little confused from the combat log. Does any Ability Scores affect Eldritch Blast? Or its a flat damage based on level?

Thanks a ton!

Roarthing

Hellscr3am
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Re: Warlock queries

Post by Hellscr3am » Sat Jun 16, 2018 12:53 pm

Hi there!

Have a look at this. Cortex made a really nice forum post regarding Warlocks. Some information is a bit old but from what I've heard it still holds pretty well.

viewtopic.php?f=14&t=9473#p77416

PinataPlethora
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Re: Warlock queries

Post by PinataPlethora » Sat Jun 16, 2018 2:59 pm

Extra CHA is useful if you really want to focus on your debuffs, especially Hold Monster, but it's not worth sacrificing other important stats, since you can just spam for a bad save roll. You'll want to have either bonus spell slot items or CHA boosting gear at lower levels, to give you access to your new spell levels as soon as possible.

You don't need a ton of DEX, because you're making ranged touch attacks which deny several armor sources. At low levels you'll miss a lot, but by epics, your BAB should be enough to reliably hit most things.

Blast damage is based on level.

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Wytchee
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Re: Warlock queries

Post by Wytchee » Sat Jun 16, 2018 3:01 pm

Dex is a dumpster stat for warlocks. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

Repeat: you do not need dexterity on a warlock.

Your BAB is high enough by mid teens to hit most things 95% of the time, I have found.

I took 8 dex on my feylock and had zero problems beyond level 12 or so.
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Baron Saturday
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Re: Warlock queries

Post by Baron Saturday » Sat Jun 16, 2018 4:04 pm

Warlock is a very forgiving class when it comes to builds, I find. A pure warlock of any flavor, with 21 base Con by level 20 (so you can start taking EDR 1-3 ASAP) and 16 base Cha, will do just fine. A 3-level blackguard dip also works for quite a nice boost to saves.

For warlock blast damage, it is only affected by warlock levels, not by metamagic or anything else (except enemy damage immunities and vulnerabilities, if you wanna get technical).

It's true that you don't really need Dex to hit things, but I don't recommend dumpstering it completely. While a warlock's AC is generally going to be pretty low, a feylock can still get it to reasonable levels through self-buffs. I like to be able to buff my Dex up to at least 18 in order to fill out the max Dex bonus on a chain shirt, which is the heaviest armor a warlock can wear without incurring arcane spell failure penalties. 12-14 starting Dex is perfectly reasonable and quite doable.
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TimeAdept
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Re: Warlock queries

Post by TimeAdept » Sat Jun 16, 2018 6:08 pm

6 dex warlock here: Ignore dex, completely dumpster it, you will be fine.

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Baron Saturday
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Re: Warlock queries

Post by Baron Saturday » Sat Jun 16, 2018 7:36 pm

As you can see, there are different schools of thought

(It's entirely possible that my school of thought is just me, but I stand by it!)
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Tourmaline
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Re: Warlock queries

Post by Tourmaline » Sat Jun 16, 2018 7:53 pm

Something I saw in passing in the forums- which maybe someone else can confirm since I don't play one- is that your weapon to-hit bonus does apply to your touch attack. So finding a cheap +4 weapon, or keeping a Greater Magic Weapon scroll enchanted basic weapon of any kind (I assume the lighter the better) in your weapon slot even though it won't be used would help a lot with low dex.

(If this is true of course)

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Re: Warlock queries

Post by Rwby » Sat Jun 16, 2018 9:12 pm

Tourmaline wrote:
Sat Jun 16, 2018 7:53 pm
Something I saw in passing in the forums- which maybe someone else can confirm since I don't play one- is that your weapon to-hit bonus does apply to your touch attack. So finding a cheap +4 weapon, or keeping a Greater Magic Weapon scroll enchanted basic weapon of any kind (I assume the lighter the better) in your weapon slot even though it won't be used would help a lot with low dex.

(If this is true of course)
That's a very interesting theory. Can someone test this?

TimeAdept
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Re: Warlock queries

Post by TimeAdept » Sat Jun 16, 2018 9:16 pm

It 100% works, just use one of those mundane +4 weapons you find in loot, since all you care about is the AB, doesn't matter that it's a +4 dagger.

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Commissar
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Re: Warlock queries

Post by Commissar » Sun Jun 17, 2018 4:04 am

Staves and two-handed weapons are also useful for that as the +2 AB from using a two handed weapon is also added to your touch attack.

Unless that's been changed. It's been a while since I warlock'd.
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Hunter548
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Re: Warlock queries

Post by Hunter548 » Sun Jun 17, 2018 6:03 am

Magic staves don't get the +2, but quarterstaves do.
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Opustus
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Re: Warlock queries

Post by Opustus » Sun Jun 17, 2018 9:06 am

Btw, how does Warlock metamagic work? I.e. if one played a level 12 Feylock, had CHA 16 and thus access to Bard level 4 spells, but couldn't cast any of then yet, would it still be possible to metamagic the Haste spell with Extend?
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Jagel
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Re: Warlock queries

Post by Jagel » Sun Jun 17, 2018 11:22 am

Opustus wrote:
Sun Jun 17, 2018 9:06 am
Btw, how does Warlock metamagic work? I.e. if one played a level 12 Feylock, had CHA 16 and thus access to Bard level 4 spells, but couldn't cast any of then yet, would it still be possible to metamagic the Haste spell with Extend?
So long as you have access to spell slots you should be able

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Opustus
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Re: Warlock queries

Post by Opustus » Sun Jun 17, 2018 11:46 am

What does that mean, exactly? That a level 12 feylock with no warlock spells above level 3 could extend them because she has bard levels and CHA that qualify, or that she couldn't because she'd need to have an extendable level 4 spell in the feylock spell list?

I understand extend uses +1 spell slot to cast but I don't understand how the bard spell barring on warlock works. If the spells are altogether removed, then I guess the extend would not work in the above situation. However, if the bard spells are just removed fron player options but still exist latently in the base bard class, then extend might be castable even without the 4 level spells from the list because the character qualifies for them and they are therefore somehow latent even if unaccessible for the player as such. Eh, I hope you understand.
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Jagel
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Re: Warlock queries

Post by Jagel » Sun Jun 17, 2018 12:09 pm

If your bard class lvl, cha modifier, gear or whatevs gives you a lvl 3 spell slot, you should be able to cast extended bull’s strength by using the metamagic option in the radial menu

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Opustus
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Re: Warlock queries

Post by Opustus » Sun Jun 17, 2018 12:35 pm

Got it, thanks!
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