Making a Warlock

[haydox]

I played a wizard in NWN 1, and loveed it, except the spell book bit, where i had to plan ahead!

So i am going to try a warlock in NWN2, however being a self confssed D&D Dunse i dont know what and of this 'DC', 'Saving Throws' etc. stuff means, and as i borrowed the game off a mate i dont have the manual to read!

Basically, i want to play a warlock who mainly uses magic, but can fall back on melee weapon if needed (hopefully i wont need to though).

So, which class is the best for this, and which Ability Scores should i focus on (ive read in a few places that Charisma and Dex are good...)?

Also, i know skills and feats are really up to the player, but are there any you can strongly recommend to make my (mainly magic) warlock less like target practice to my many enemies?!

Thanks

Haydox

[kyle]

Just my two cents here:

Don't choose a race for your warlock that receives an XP penalty (Drow, Aasimar, etc.); getting to 20th level gives some cool bonuses to Warlocks.

Dexterity is more important than Charisma; Warlocks have some powers that don't allow for saves, so the bonus Difficutly Class from Charisma isn't always even applied. Against enemies with weak saving throws, cast area effect (DC-based) attacks; against enemies with high saving throws, or evasion (like Rogues), use touch attacks.

Pick up the Acid-based attack (can't remember the name); it ignores enemy Spell Resistance if I recall correctly.

If you want to make your warlock less a target, choose the armored casting feats and Medium armor proficiency, then make Mithril Plate Mail (counts as medium armor) to get a high armor class; until you can do all of that, there's a decent 1st level warlock spell that causes 20% of all ranged attacks to automatically miss.

Hope some of that is useful.

[haydox]

Cool, thanks. So i need to focus on dex mainly, then cha.

[Tricky]

That's the ticket. If you want an alternative build, here is something I tried. I created a build that relied solely on shapeshifting. I discussed it on the first page of this thread: http://www.gamebanshee.com/forums/ne...rlock+creation

It is hard to get there (you are weak the first half of the game), but once you gain the shapeshift ability you suddenly become unstoppable. Add those three final monk levels and you become your standard one person army. Getting there is a real kick.

[Snipercon]

Originally Posted by kyle

Dexterity is more important than Charisma

If you want to make your warlock less a target, choose the armored casting feats and Medium armor proficiency, then make Mithril Plate Mail (counts as medium armor) to get a high armor class;

Alot of good advice from Kyle. Just though I'd introduce an alternative solution for armor class. Since Dexterity is the most important stat anyway, boost that to at least 20 with a +5 bonus. Then you can get away with a Mithril breast plate (light armor) and loose only 1AC vs the full plate. Plus you get to use the two saved feats (armored casting, medium armor proficiency) for other things. Perhaps two elemental resistances that you didn't pick as a warlock.

[Magrus]

You want a warlock that can handle melee? There are a few builds I may suggest with this in mind...

Dwarf Fighter 2/Warlock 18: Provides you a solid base if you take the fighter levels first with an easier chance to hit early in the game, better HP, and bonus feats. If you pump Str, Dex, and Con, take the the Hideous Blow invocation as a warlock, and use a 2-handed weapon, you will be set. Warlocks take a chance of casting failure with shields, so getting a high strength and using 2 weapons is key with this. Using Hideous blow when entering combat will allow you to channel your Eldritch blast damage into your next strike when hitting a target in melee. By the end of the game, you will end up with 3 attacks in a full attack action, with a +8d6 magic damage to the first attack if you take a round to use hideous blow and move towards the target, then attack the next. You would be smart to take the Improved Initiative feat as one of your Fighter Bonus feats with this one. Hitting before the enemy helps to keep you alive. Even if you do not kill them in the first round, you may in the second before they get to hit you a second time. Taking Battle Caster will allow you to use Medium armor.

Half-Orc Barbarian 2/Warlock: More Hit Points, Faster Movement, Uncanny Dodge (keep your Dexterity Bonus to AC in most conditions excepting rogues attacking), and Rage (+2 to Str and Con,-2 AC temporary) with warlock abilities. What you can't kill long range with your blast will be torn apart with a 2-handed weapon like a greataxe and rage with hideous blow. Battle Caster feat lets you use medium armor, and you can still use your fast movement in medium armor.

Drow Rogue 1/ Warlock: Taking Rogue 1st level lets you have a ton of skill points right off. Spreading these out will make it easy on you in various situations in the beginning of the game (disable device, open lock, appraise, diplimacy, hide, move silently, Tumble, Use Magic Device). Sneak attack won't seem as important later in the game, but early on, it will help you if you move behind a target that one of your other party members is fighting. You will deal extra damage, and if you move within 30ft (hard to judge in game, but stay close) you SHOULD still get sneak attack damage with your eldritch blast. The Drow Race provides a number of bonuses, most notably a bonus to Dex, Int and Cha, all useful in your build. As well as Darkvision and Spell Resistance. You WILL level more slowly, but enemy spellcasters will be unlikely to harm you. If they do, they will be lucky, making your only threats being from melee or ranged combat. Keep your Dex high, and get a Mithril Breastplate or Chainmail as soon as you can. Keeping Use Magic Device high will allow you to use healing and offensive scrolls/wands/staves you find. As well as most other magic items you find. Use them if the rest of your party can't use them better. Especially if you have a high Wis and you find monk only items and can use them. That monk only bonus to AC is highly useful when you find monk only items.

Warlock 6/Rogue 14: This build centers on the warlock being support for your rogue skills. Imagine the killer that can fire a blast to render his target blind, then run forward to stab him and drop him dead. This is the build! Use the following:

Invocations necessary:
Least-
*Entropic Warding: Great For Rogues. Not a very long duration, but with 6 levels, it should work to get you into a place to sneak attack mages and the like with your hideous blast already set up before sneaking in. Provides protection from ranged attacks and bonuses to move silently in this game. Good stuff
*Leaps and Bounds: Best buff in the game for rogues. Bonus to Dex and Tumble for 24 hours? AWESOME stuff
*Hideous Blow (activate before firing blast to blind opponent)
Lesser:
*Beshadowed Blast (use with eldritch blast from a distance. If they fail their save [Charisma dependant save, keep Charisma high!] they are blinded for 1 round, which causes them to be flat-footed and you can make sneak attacks on them

Use these with weapon finesse on a High Dexterity character and a rapier, dagger, shortsword, etc and you will be right in business. Except against enemies like undead and constructs. Which will mean you will need that eldrictch blast and hideous blow to damage them, negating the standard rogue crippling that happens. Now, you can effect anything besides golems with your warlock levels! Happy day! It is slow going, but side from the speed factor with my sneaking around and stabbing everything from behind I had a lot of fun with this build until I stopped playing.

I never went far into the game though, haven't gotten past chapter 1 yet so far. Still, from what I have read, so long as you have either a cleric and wizard or fighter and cleric as your other party members you should do well playing intelligently with this build. Good stuff there.

Please excuse the messy run-on paragraphs. It is late, I worked a long day today.

[haydox]

Thanks for those builds, i imght try that Rogue Warlock one. For now i am doing a pure warlock, as i have never tried cross classes, beinh a D&D total noob!

So far i have got char and dex at abour 16 and 17, and i have that eldritch shield, hideous blast and the one which scares them (for some reason, their names just dont stick!). I also chose the medium armor feat as i often find myself surrounded! Also, i dont find running away an easy option as the view in this game is, to be honest, appaling! Still a great game, and i am used ot it now, but nothing like the original...

[andtalath@gmail]

First of all, I consider warlocks to be sub-par, except for in the end they are the singular weakest class.

However, if you like to push your eldritch blast button for 15 times each combat for the entire game this is the class for you, and the best build for a base class is simply a strongheart halfling.
The bonus feat is useful, getting +2 dex is useful (str isn't worth it, you are bad at hitting in the beginning, and later on you deal much better damage with templates) and you are also small so you get more AC and hit opponents more easily.
However, except for the daze effect, there was NOTHING worthwile with this class, except MAYBE the duration for the sub-par demonorm (the nightwalker crushes it by far, and druids can also cast spells while being it due to natural spell).

[haydox]

After playing a bit i actually agree with andtalath, a pure warlock is pretty samy! I may try a druid or another magic class, as the eldritch blast looses its 'coolness' after using it 3967 times in a large fight!

[De_Priester]

Might I suggest trying my Wizard build?

Might be the thing for you, and don't worry about the planning ahead bit, you can rest very often and you won't run out of spells quickly.

http://www.gamebanshee.com/forums/ne...ghlight=wizard

[Aquineas]

Noob abbreviation question here guys more related to AD&D but I need the answer to interpret this thread completely. What does the "DC" abbreviation mean? Thanks

Edit:

Nevermind, I found the answer. Thanks anyway.

[gannthedreams]

My warlock(suppress too much ,alignment change from chaotic good to lawful good...)(with screenshots)

[GoldDragon]

Latest patch actually removes the Alignment shift from using supress, so If you are still getting it, you might want to patrch it...

[potatoe]

Stealthlock:
Take 1st level rogue, max hide especially. Then take race of choice, and put a nice bonus on char & dex. Take able learner & combat casting as feat, use magic device, hide and concentration are the imporant skills.
Level six: walk unseen
Level 8 (I think): tenacious plague
Later: vitriolic blast (against casters)

What's the trick?
Cast walk unseen. Together with your hide skill you basically can't be detected. Spawn tenacious plague around enemies (without targeting them). You will remain invisible, while the plague eats away at opponents life. It also stacks with itself, which is nice.

Useful:
item that makes etherealness (when you are in any trouble)
spell penetration & greatern spell penetration (helps doing damage)
spell resistance (item or racial)
dispell thingy/spell (in case someone casts true seeing or has spell protection)
summon wand

Not useful:
improved initiative (you're permanently invisible, so you always have initiative)