Help me choose. Blood Mage or Warlock (BM/Furyshaper)

[peko]

It’s been some time since I last played the game so there are 2 DLCs I haven’t tried and the “new” subclasses are new to me. I’m trying to decide, well, as per the title. I will be playing veteran with a party so I realise I won’t need much in the way of min-maxing but it is my MC and I like it when they’re the most powerful guy in the party. Here’s a bit of how I’m thinking.

 

Blood Mage

Pros:

PL 8 and 9 and the possibility of throwing out several in a prolonged fight seems cool and powerful.

Higher PLs from single class and in the end Prestige, add some gear and Blood Sacrifices and I should be able to push quite high PLs (gear and Blood Sacrifice applies to the multiclass too of course).

 

Warlock

Pros:

Action speed with frenzy and the ward (do they stack btw, otherwise I might go with a Furyshaper companion) is nice.

Blooded should be up quite often so that’s some extra damage.

Robust from Savage Defiance would help with survivability.

Bloodlust is even more action speed.

Leap as an emergency get out of dodge.

 

Cons:

-15 Will does seem like a lot.

Potential loss of PL when a Ward is destroyed, haven’t tested to see how much of an issue that really is.

 

 

So there it is, there are more pros under the Warlock but the question is if they outweigh the pros of the single class. Any thoughts, opinions, things I haven't thought of, incoherent rants? All are welcome.

[Boeroer]

Frenzy Ward stacks with Frenzy and other speed buffs. Fear Ward is especially nice since you won't get attacked a lot.

 

Don't forget Blood Thirst. It's awesome with spells.

 

Also all damaging spells will stagger on hit if you use Spirit Frenzy. If hit with a weakening/sickening spell you can drop enemies' fortitude by 20 - and Brute Force can often target the lower fortitude then.

 

Both options are nice but the Warlock is a bit more interesting to play in my opinion. Can also use melee from time to time. Check out Citzal's Spirit Lance with Spirit Frenzy & Blood Thirst.

[peko]

Nice to know about the stacking. You're making a good case for the Warlock. I guess another plus for the Warlock is that with all those bonuses to action speed I can skimp a bit on dex and max con instead.

 

How is the -15 will? It's a lot and as I recall there are some pretty nasty cc and charm spells that target will.

 

I have to admit that I'm leaning towards the single class, I realised I've barely played with a high level pure wizard and I'm unlikely to bring another (well, it'd be Aloth) if I'm playing as a mostly spell slinging wizard.

[Ophiuchus]

Nice to know about the stacking. You're making a good case for the Warlock. I guess another plus for the Warlock is that with all those bonuses to action speed I can skimp a bit on dex and max con instead.

 

How is the -15 will? It's a lot and as I recall there are some pretty nasty cc and charm spells that target will.

 

I have to admit that I'm leaning towards the single class, I realised I've barely played with a high level pure wizard and I'm unlikely to bring another (well, it'd be Aloth) if I'm playing as a mostly spell slinging wizard.

You can also stack Fleet Feet with Frenzy and Frenzy Ward for more speed - DAOM's raw action speed bonus won't stack with Frenzy but the health degen may be useful for pushing your health to Bloodied.

 

The -15 Will penalty can be negated with the Bull's Will passive and Infuse with Vital Essence (or another INT inspiration like Brilliant) and/or gear with Will bonuses such Magnera's Chain.

 

As for the Furyshaper wards, you incur a universal PL penalty of 1 whenever one is destroyed: this effect stacks so it's important to keep an eye on it. Note that you can safely replace an active ward with a fresh one to avoid the penalty. Enemies generally don't aim for the totem but its highly susceptible to splash damage; it can also be affected by healing and protective abilities.

 

Edited March 22, 2019 by Ophiuchus

[peko]

You can also stack Fleet Feet with Frenzy and Frenzy Ward for more speed - DAOM's raw action speed bonus won't stack with Frenzy but the health degen may be useful for pushing your health to Bloodied.

To me that Frenzy and DAOM doesn't stack is sort of a strike against the Warlock (though a small one, it looks like there's a point in preserving HP for sacrifices). It means that I can still push my action speed quite a lot as the single class.

 

The -15 Will penalty can be negated with the Bull's Will passive and Infuse with Vital Essence (or another INT inspiration like Brilliant) and/or gear with Will bonuses such Magnera's Chain.

Yeah, but that's true for the single class as well, the multi will still be at least 15 behind. But I get what you're saying, playing around the 15 point malus isn't a big obstacle.

 

As for the Furyshaper wards, you incur a universal PL penalty of 1 whenever one is destroyed: this effect stacks so it's important to keep an eye on it. Note that you can safely replace an active ward with a fresh one to avoid the penalty. Enemies generally don't aim for the totem but its highly susceptible to splash damage; it can also be affected by healing and protective abilities.

Thanks for the tip.

 

I think I've decided on playing a pure class, mostly because I haven't really used high level pure Wizards a lot. I'm thinking about supplementing it with a Furyshaper/Lifegiver, any thoughts on that?

Edited March 22, 2019 by peko

[Ophiuchus]

 

You can also stack Fleet Feet with Frenzy and Frenzy Ward for more speed - DAOM's raw action speed bonus won't stack with Frenzy but the health degen may be useful for pushing your health to Bloodied.

To me that Frenzy and DAOM doesn't stack is sort of a strike against the Warlock (though a small one, it looks like there's a point in preserving HP for sacrifices). It means that I can still push my action speed quite a lot as the single class.

 

The -15 Will penalty can be negated with the Bull's Will passive and Infuse with Vital Essence (or another INT inspiration like Brilliant) and/or gear with Will bonuses such Magnera's Chain.

Yeah, but that's true for the single class as well, the multi will still be at least 15 behind. But I get what you're saying, playing around the 15 point malus isn't a big obstacle.

 

As for the Furyshaper wards, you incur a universal PL penalty of 1 whenever one is destroyed: this effect stacks so it's important to keep an eye on it. Note that you can safely replace an active ward with a fresh one to avoid the penalty. Enemies generally don't aim for the totem but its highly susceptible to splash damage; it can also be affected by healing and protective abilities.

Thanks for the tip.

 

I think I've decided on playing a pure class, mostly because I haven't really used high level pure Wizards a lot. I'm thinking about supplementing it with a Furyshaper/Lifegiver, any thoughts on that?

 

Here's a few thoughts on Furyshaper/Lifegiver.