Warlock builds?

[eschu101]

Hi, i finished my first run POTD run with my vanilla wizard and now i'm looking for a second gameplay with warlock (barbarian/wizard) and i have a few questions.

I'm between a melee warlock that deals insane AoE damage with carnage and uses aoe melee spells like torrent of flame and repulsive visage, also i'd rather be using a two handed weapon or axes. Is it optimal picking Berserker as subclass? What is it current state? Should i pick any other barbarian subclass?
 

Second option could be a gunslinger with evoker specialization for shooting missiles. Does skills like Barbaric blow work with ranged? Is this a optimal build? It looks cool on paper.

If i  run a group with less members (i.e party with 3 characters), is there any considerable exp gain from doing that or should i stick to solo or full party?

 

Any tips are much well appreaciated. I have some experience with wizard but I never played Barbarian, so i dont have much knowledge about the class. I couldnt find any Warlock guide anywhere, and it looks a very interesting mix. 

Thanks in advance!

Edited July 26, 2018 by eschu101

[arkane83]

I have been toying around with a warlock build.

 

If you want to go melee you really need berserker. This also pushes you in a few directions:

 

Infuse with vital gives smart which counteracts berserker confuse. This also drains you of level 2 spellcasts since the con inspiration you also get from frenzy.

 

The next option comes fairly early, Modwyr. Her intellect affliction immunity will be great, but gets overwritten when you conjure weapons. Not the end of the world, but kinda sucks if you want to use conjured weapons.

 

Devil of Caroc breastplate is great, but you need a fairly later game component (vithrak brain) to make yourself intellect affliction immune.

 

You could also use other characters or consumables to overcome the confuse.

 

Thing is, you really want that tenacious inspiration on your zerker, but confuse really sucks for being a hybrid caster. So many things with area and duration ..

 

 

I would dual wield modwyr and magrans and run a zerker evoker or base wizard. Evoker keeps enchanting and illusion which have a ton of 0s recovery buffs. Transmuter may also work, but losing enchanting sucks. The ogre thing is really cool, but not being able to cast in that form was a deal killer for me.

[Haplok]

Vithrak brains are not a late game component. They are randomly spawned at the Periki Overlook herbalist shop, so can be gotten immediately after arrival in Neketaka (shops restock daily).

Edited July 26, 2018 by Haplok

[gkathellar]

Infuse w/Vital Essence will dispel Confusion, so while the DoC breastplate and Modwyr are pretty good for a warlock, they're non-essential.

 

Vithrak brains are not a late game component. They are randomly spawned at the Periki Overlook herbalist shop, so can be gotten immediately after arrival in Neketaka (shops restock daily).

 

Not actually necessarily helpful, though, since it's not reliable.

[Dorftek]

A berserker is better with melee because 1. The hit to crit conversion from berserker frenzy work only for melee and 2. Carnage works only with melee.

 

Barbaric blow does work with ranged.

 

With enchanted squids grasp (20% action speed when facing 3+ enemies and also immunity to flanked) together with frenzy and bloodlust makes for a pretty quick caster. And also when u get higher lvl Bloodthirst is just amazing on a caster with good AoE nukes.

Edited July 26, 2018 by Dorftek

[Haplok]

Infuse w/Vital Essence will dispel Confusion, so while the DoC breastplate and Modwyr are pretty good for a warlock, they're non-essential.

 

Vithrak brains are not a late game component. They are randomly spawned at the Periki Overlook herbalist shop, so can be gotten immediately after arrival in Neketaka (shops restock daily).

 

Not actually necessarily helpful, though, since it's not reliable.

 

It is reliable if you're willing to camp in the shop for a few days forcing a few daily re-stocks.

[Boeroer]

Berserker for Warlock is quite nice because you can remove Confused very easily and early with Infuse with Vital Essence.

 

I'm playing a Warlock atm (will post a build when I'm done) and I'm using a Corpse Eater. That's because it very much fits the build theme and I only use Rage for buffs and not for offensive abilites like Barbaric Blow - so the higher costs don't hurt as much while the healing now and then is nice. With Frenzy and Blood Thirst it also doesn't take too long to "cast" Flesch Communion. I also had problems (for the first time) with the raw damage and the concealed health of the Berserker so  I switched to Corspe Eater.

I toyed around with Mage Slayer/Wizard as well - and if you use offensive spells mostly and no self buffs it's actually pretty nice: you can stack a good amount of spell resistance with items and abilites with a Mage Slayer. Then it's no problem if you nuke yourself: a lot of times you'll just shrug off the effect/damage and nothing happens. 

 

The goal with a Warlock is of course to get Blood Thirst and then eliminate recovery between nuke casts, but even with Frenzy + Bloodlust + Fast Casting you are pretty fast with your casting. 

Edited July 26, 2018 by Boeroer

[dbarbarian14]

Shaman plays a little like Warlock, Barbarian/Priest and you can go Wael ( think or scane or something like that) and it does a nice mix of priesty-roguish abilities combined with barbarian heavy damage.

[knownastherat]

"Stupid" build: https://forums.obsidian.net/topic/98670-a-magic-using-meele-class/?p=2026036

[mant2si]

I suggest you - don't planining your strategy around deflection, i.e don't play as melee barb if your subclass doesn't has super High HP regeneration (Druid), (Fighter), or alternative survive mechanic (Priest)

For range DPS/magic user you can combine barb with near any class

Berserker/Wizard is good nuker, +2 Pen and good Attack Speed bonuses 
If you like min/max game-play you can check my Shaman (https://forums.obsidian.net/topic/103905-build-harbinger-of-doom-dark-shaman-solopotdroleplay/) build, this build has higher Carnage DPS with fists and very high DPS with fire priest spells

Edited July 26, 2018 by mant2si

[eschu101]

How is Fire godlike for Warlock? The racial skill could act like a warning for HP when i get bloodied/near death with Frenzy on (cant see hp with berserk)?

I think Nature would be better, but my wizard was nature godlike and i want to try out something new. Also, is it ok dumping Res if i go melee build? Is it important maxing dexerity?

Edited July 26, 2018 by eschu101

[mant2si]

How is Fire godlike for Warlock? The racial skill could act like a warning for HP when i get bloodied/near death with Frenzy on (cant see hp with berserk)?

 

I think Nature would be better, but my wizard was nature godlike and i want to try out something new. Also, is it ok dumping Res for this melee build? Is it important maxing dexerity?

Flanked/Frenzied barb get -20 deflection + starts deflection is only 17

[arkane83]

Berserker for Warlock is quite nice because you can remove Confused very easily and early with Infuse with Vital Essence.

 

I'm playing a Warlock atm (will post a build when I'm done) and I'm using a Corpse Eater. That's because it very much fits the build theme and I only use Rage for buffs and not for offensive abilites like Barbaric Blow - so the higher costs don't hurt as much while the healing now and then is nice. With Frenzy and Blood Thirst it also doesn't take too long to "cast" Flesch Communion. I also had problems (for the first time) with the raw damage and the concealed health of the Berserker so  I switched to Corspe Eater.

 

I toyed around with Mage Slayer/Wizard as well - and if you use offensive spells mostly and no self buffs it's actually pretty nice: you can stack a good amount of spell resistance with items and abilites with a Mage Slayer. Then it's no problem if you nuke yourself: a lot of times you'll just shrug off the effect/damage and nothing happens. 

 

The goal with a Warlock is of course to get Blood Thirst and then eliminate recovery between nuke casts, but even with Frenzy + Bloodlust + Fast Casting you are pretty fast with your casting. 

 

Corpse Eater can also get +2 to power levels (not sure if it works with wizard PL when multi) from food you can craft. If the PL from flesh pies does apply to wizard, I could see some caster / ranged builds working really well using corpse eater. I think thematically, Corpse Eater fits the best for this MC. (Blood Soaked Grimoire anyone?).

[Boeroer]

Kith meat's +2 PL for Corspe Eater only applies to his barbarian abilites. Still nice, but not that gamechanging.

[arkane83]

Kith meat's +2 PL for Corspe Eater only applies to his barbarian abilites. Still nice, but not that gamechanging.

That is quite sad.

 

I really want a warlock that gains magical power from eating dead people. Perfect chaotic evil character....

 

Well, it may not be as thematic, but I think the berserker / wizard build is the way to go.

 

If the self damage is too much, no subclass is a great option too. The rage cost penalty on corpse eater is really bad. You want to be able to use a lot more of barbarian abilities. The added cost really stifles that... esp vs non kith enemies

Edited July 26, 2018 by arkane83

[Ophiuchus]

Berserker/Generalist Wizard is one of my favorite combos in Deadfire: it offers a fine degree of flexibility with grimoire swapping and Frenzy pares well with just about everything. The build can excel as an off-tank using Barbarian passives and defensive spells; can take advantage of elemental weaknesses from range; and with Leap and Fleet Feet, can easily move across the battlefield, adapting to different situations. I went human for synergy with Bloodied and the Death Runes helm (which effectively adds another on-kill effect to the build's arsenal) or the naga helm for its INT bonus.

 

Most of your core spells (Fleet Feet, Merciless Gaze, Infuse with Vital Essence, and defensive stuff) are available early on, which gives you more wiggle room when experimenting. I start my Warlock with Infuse -> Fleet Feet -> Merciless Gaze -> defensive spell (if needed) -> Frenzy to get optimal use out of Infuse's INT bonus. Since this build is buff heavy, make sure to prioritize casters that use Arcane Dampener (generally undead wizards); on the other end, Salvation of Time helps keep your momentum going.

For weapons, I like to go dual wielding with Magran's Favor, Sungrazer, Duskfall, Sun and Moon, etc.; Miscreant's Leathers for armor. With grimoires, I alternate between Spark and Flame and Ninagauth's Teachings.

 

Edited July 27, 2018 by Ophiuchus

[jazzthing]

After finishing my Solo-PotD run with a single class Troubadour I'm looking for a new class to start TCS. How good is the Warlock solo? I guess the limited spells will hurt early on.

[Boeroer]

The low deflection does hurt, too.