Warlock

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Dezarc
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Joined: Thu Apr 05, 2018 2:27 am

Warlock

Post by Dezarc » Thu Apr 12, 2018 10:21 am

So after a lot of thinking and lurking on the forums, I've decided to recycle an old character concept I never actually got any use out of in the setting I originally made it for, and it happens to fit a Warlock pretty well. I was leaning towards Fey pact, but it can work equally well with the other two with very minor adjustments, so I had a couple of questions:

- How are Feylocks doing right now in terms of balance? I've done some lurking on the forums to try to answer this myself, but haven't come up with a conclusive verdict. It doesn't matter too much to me, but I'd like my character to be playable at the least.

- How do you build a Feylock? Again, with a bit of lurking I've managed to find what seems to be the most straightforward build for a Fiend/Demon Warlock, but most of the suggestions I've seen in the builds forum don't mention Fey at all. Do they go full into Constitution like Fiends seem to, or do they focus more on Charisma since they're more reliant on disabling spells? What sort of feats am I looking to grab? I'm haven't actually played NWN in a few years, so any extra information and detail on building would be welcome.

- Less of a build question, but do Warlocks have a hard time finding groups? I've managed to convince a few friends to join the server with me, but they're not on very reliably (and they're all playing very good-aligned characters...). It seems like Warlocks are both distrusted and relatively easy to recognize between their limited spell selection, glowing eyes, and in the case of Fiend pact, having a demon summoned all the time. I've done a lot more research than I've done actually playing, though, so I'm not sure how this ends up being in practice rather than in theory.

Thanks for reading, and thanks in advance for any answers I get.

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Baron Saturday
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Joined: Mon Sep 08, 2014 4:34 am

Re: Warlock

Post by Baron Saturday » Thu Apr 12, 2018 3:00 pm

Warlocks are (unfortunately, in my opinion) all built pretty much the same: 16 charisma, stack constitution as high as you can and take EDR. DC-based spells are just not hugely reliable on Arelith, and warlock lacks access to the tools that can make them more reliable (9th circle spells/ESF), so generally when a disable works it's more of a cherry on top than the actual goal.

Feylocks were nerfed a little while back, so they're no longer god-tier, but they're still very, very playable.

For a fully detailed build, I will (shameless self-plug) suggest the one I laid out in the Unconventional Warlocks thread. If that doesn't tickle your fancy, Cortex's The Rock (Fey Pact) is still very relevant, dated or no. Though personally I might try to squeeze GSF Transmutation in there, since +1 on the zoo buffs (grace/splendor/etc.) is always nice, -teleport at level 21 is amazing, and I think that Slow is Feylock's best offensive spell, so that doesn't hurt either. Also you could make golems, I guess.
Rolled: Helene d'Arque, Sara Lyonall
Shelved: Kels Vetian, Cin ys'Andalis, Saul Haidt
Playing: Oshe Jordain

Miskol
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Re: Warlock

Post by Miskol » Thu Apr 12, 2018 3:00 pm

I would say Feylock is in a relatively bad state compared to their fiendish/abyssal counterparts. I believe the complaint with Feylock is most of your mind-affecting spells can be very ineffective when it comes to fighting epic level spawns that naturally has high will saves, immunities, and mind protection spells. In my personal opinion, your character will definitely be playable and effective, just not as much as other builds may be. Furthermore, I expect you'll likely need to party up with others who can draw aggressive spawns away from you since you don't have the benefit of a summon (unless you want to regularly buy summoning scrolls or rely on your haste to kite around).

I would personally build a Fey pact warlock much like an infernal or abyssal pact one. Generally speaking, I don't think it's worth it to sacrifice survivability for higher spell DCs (especially when you take into consideration what I said above about how effective mind-affecting spells are against higher level spawns). To put it simply, the Eldritch Blast is a very powerful ability. Since the ability is a ranged touch attack, it is rather difficult to avoid, and the moderate damage it does can be quite deadly if your opponent cannot bring you down (the CON build allows you to stay around longer, and hammer away at them with hard to dodge attacks longer). I really can't speak on feats, as I've never played a Feylock - but toughness and blind fight would generally be a good idea, and quicken spell can likely be skipped since you would have permanent haste buffs. Spell penetration may be worth taking to break enemy spell resistance, and spell focus and greater spell focus transmutation can be fun to have (free teleport per rest at level 21). Of course if you're looking for a charisma build to have higher DCs, enchantment foci would be the way to go.

Warlocks generally don't have a hard time finding a group in the Underdark, but you are correct in that surfacers who recognize your character as a warlock may shun or even hunt you. The advice here is to test the waters before you go around revealing your identity to others.

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Baron Saturday
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Re: Warlock

Post by Baron Saturday » Thu Apr 12, 2018 3:29 pm

Before I forget, TimeAdept wrote out some excellent advice for How To Feylock that I really really like. His build advice is also certainly worth considering, even if I don't necessarily agree with it.
Rolled: Helene d'Arque, Sara Lyonall
Shelved: Kels Vetian, Cin ys'Andalis, Saul Haidt
Playing: Oshe Jordain

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