TYWA Warlock

[bigdmag]

Anyone see any glaring problems here?

I gave up the Shield Mastery line for the SWF line ( Orb in one hand..D axes in the other). I figure with the amount of HP's Ill have its a reasonable trade-off to gain better single target melee damage. Im part of a static group and Im looking to be a respectable end boss beater. Figure I can get con into the 60's fairly easy, giving me loads of HP's and a nice boost to my TYWA damage. Tried a pew pew life and didnt want to spend another life kiting..looking to stand and bang this time around :)




Con Warlock
Warlock 20
Neutral Good Dwarf


Stats
. . . . . . . .36pt . . Tome . . Level Up
. . . . . . . .---- . . ---- . . --------
Strength. . . . 11. . . .+7. . . .4: CON
Dexterity . . . .9. . . .+7. . . .8: CON
Constitution. . 20. . . .+7. . . 12: CON
Intelligence. . 11. . . .+7. . . 16: CON
Wisdom. . . . . .8. . . .+7. . . 20: CON
Charisma. . . . 15. . . .+7. . . 24: CON
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28: CON

Skills
. . . . . 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
. . . . .------------------------------------------------------------
Spellcr . 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 2. 1. 1. 1. 1. 2. 1. 1. 1. 1. 2. 1. 23
Intim . . 1. . . . . .1 . . 1. . . . . .2 .2 .3 .1 .3 .1 .2 .2 .3 .1 .23
UMD . . . 1. . .1 .1 . . 1. . .1 . . 1. . .1 . . 1. . .2 .1 .1 . . 3. 15
Balance . 2. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Tumble. . ½. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ½
. . . . .------------------------------------------------------------
. . . . . 8. 2. 3. 3. 3. 3. 3. 3. 3. 3. 4. 4. 4. 4. 4. 4. 4. 4. 5. 5


Feats

.1. . . . : Single Weapon Fighting
.1 Warlock: Pact: Great Old One
.3. . . . : Maximize Spell
.6. . . . : Empower Spell
.9. . . . : Quicken Spell
12. . . . : Improved Single Weapon Fighting
15. . . . : Extend Spell
18. . . . : Greater Single Weapon Fighting
21 Epic . : Wellspring of Power
24 Epic . : Intensify Spell
26 Destiny: Epic Arcane Eldritch Blast
27 Epic . : Epic Eldritch Blast
28 Destiny: Epic Spell Power: Light
29 Destiny: Arcane Warrior
30 Epic . : Epic Damage Reduction
30 Legend : Scion of: Plane of Earth


Enhancements (80 AP)

Enlightened Spirit (41 AP)
Eldritch Aura, Aura of Courage, Shape Vestments, Aura of Menace, Celestial Spirit, Ultimate Enlightenment
Resilience of Body II, Resilience of Soul III, Brute Fighting III, Rewards of Tribute III
Power of Enlightenment III, Shield
Eldritch Burst III, Power of Enlightenment III, Constitution
Medium Armor Proficiency, Constitution
Spirit Blast III, Beacon, Shining Through

Dwarf (22 AP)
Dwarven Toughness, Dwarven Constitution, Dwarven Toughness II, Dwarven Constitution II, Dwarven Toughness III
Axe Training
Child of the Mountain III, Axe Training
Axe Training
Axe Training, Throw Your Weight Around

Tainted Scholar (13 AP)
Tainted Spellcasting, Tainted Lore, Stanch
Strong Pact, Eldritch Focus II
Utterdark Blast, Strong Pact
Strong Pact

Soul Eater (4 AP)
Inhuman Understanding
Hungry for Destruction III

[ccd1977]

Anyone see any glaring problems here?I gave up the Shield Mastery line for the SWF line ( Orb in one hand..D axes in the other). I figure with the amount of HP's Ill have its a reasonable trade-off to gain better single target melee damage. Im part of a static group and Im looking to be a respectable end boss beater. Figure I can get con into the 60's fairly easy, giving me loads of HP's and a nice boost to my TYWA damage. Tried a pew pew life and didnt want to spend another life kiting..looking to stand and bang this time around :)Con WarlockWarlock 20Neutral Good DwarfStats. . . . . . . .36pt . . Tome . . Level Up. . . . . . . .---- . . ---- . . --------Strength. . . . 11. . . .+7. . . .4: CONDexterity . . . .9. . . .+7. . . .8: CONConstitution. . 20. . . .+7. . . 12: CONIntelligence. . 11. . . .+7. . . 16: CONWisdom. . . . . .8. . . .+7. . . 20: CONCharisma. . . . 15. . . .+7. . . 24: CON. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28: CONSkills. . . . . 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20. . . . .------------------------------------------------------------Spellcr . 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 2. 1. 1. 1. 1. 2. 1. 1. 1. 1. 2. 1. 23Intim . . 1. . . . . .1 . . 1. . . . . .2 .2 .3 .1 .3 .1 .2 .2 .3 .1 .23UMD . . . 1. . .1 .1 . . 1. . .1 . . 1. . .1 . . 1. . .2 .1 .1 . . 3. 15Balance . 2. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. ½. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7Tumble. . ½. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ½. . . . .------------------------------------------------------------. . . . . 8. 2. 3. 3. 3. 3. 3. 3. 3. 3. 4. 4. 4. 4. 4. 4. 4. 4. 5. 5Feats.1. . . . : Single Weapon Fighting.1 Warlock: Pact: Great Old One.3. . . . : Maximize Spell.6. . . . : Empower Spell.9. . . . : Quicken Spell12. . . . : Improved Single Weapon Fighting15. . . . : Extend Spell18. . . . : Greater Single Weapon Fighting21 Epic . : Wellspring of Power24 Epic . : Intensify Spell26 Destiny: Epic Arcane Eldritch Blast27 Epic . : Epic Eldritch Blast28 Destiny: Epic Spell Power: Light29 Destiny: Arcane Warrior30 Epic . : Epic Damage Reduction30 Legend : Scion of: Plane of EarthEnhancements (80 AP)Enlightened Spirit (41 AP)

Eldritch Aura, Aura of Courage, Shape Vestments, Aura of Menace, Celestial Spirit, Ultimate Enlightenment

Resilience of Body II, Resilience of Soul III, Brute Fighting III, Rewards of Tribute III
Power of Enlightenment III, Shield
Eldritch Burst III, Power of Enlightenment III, Constitution
Medium Armor Proficiency, Constitution
Spirit Blast III, Beacon, Shining Through


Dwarf (22 AP)

Dwarven Toughness, Dwarven Constitution, Dwarven Toughness II, Dwarven Constitution II, Dwarven Toughness III

Axe Training
Child of the Mountain III, Axe Training
Axe Training
Axe Training, Throw Your Weight Around


Tainted Scholar (13 AP)

Tainted Spellcasting, Tainted Lore, Stanch

Strong Pact, Eldritch Focus II
Utterdark Blast, Strong Pact
Strong Pact


Soul Eater (4 AP)

Inhuman Understanding

Hungry for Destruction III


I too would be interested in this build but I think you would be better posting in the custom build area. I hope someone gives some feedback.

[bigdmag]

Not much of an update, as I'm still in heroics :) But an update none the less. Sitting at 13 right now and I am destroying everything. Clears a room fast. Hitting shining through takes me to almost 900 HP's. There are 2 of us in our group with this type of build ( Con and ES build), and we are finishing quests in record time. Others in the group often cannot get a shot or attack off before everything is dead. Havent got a chance to really melee down on a mob yet as they die from bursts before I can even swing usually. Havent even dipped into the dwarf tree yet. However I do feel like once in epics I will be able to go toe to toe with end bosses while swinging and bursting, especially with the huge HP pool. Ill keep updating as I get closer to epics.

[ccd1977]

Not much of an update, as I'm still in heroics :) But an update none the less. Sitting at 13 right now and I am destroying everything. Clears a room fast. Hitting shining through takes me to almost 900 HP's. There are 2 of us in our group with this type of build ( Con and ES build), and we are finishing quests in record time. Others in the group often cannot get a shot or attack off before everything is dead. Havent got a chance to really melee down on a mob yet as they die from bursts before I can even swing usually. Havent even dipped into the dwarf tree yet. However I do feel like once in epics I will be able to go toe to toe with end bosses while swinging and bursting, especially with the huge HP pool. Ill keep updating as I get closer to epics.This sounds very promising. I look forward to this on my nextlife.

[ccd1977]

What does your gear look like?

[cru121]

What does your gear look like?

striding 30%

[bigdmag]

striding 30%

Really just using loot gen stuff at this point. Once in epics I will have lots of named things to use.

+5 Strength/ +6 Con belt
30% striding boots
Deathblock/fort/+2 insightful strength Bracers

The rest is scattered with Deadly, Resistance,False Life and Light and Acid power

I am using a Fully upgraded +2 mythic Acid Heavy Pick from ToEE right now. Like I said I rarely get to swing on things at this point. I will switch to D axes here in a few levels. And a Golden Orb of Death in the off hand.

[RD2play]

Strimtom, did exactly this in his last build on Stramtam for the DDO stream, you might want to check it out.

[RangerOps]

How did you get proficiency with Dwarven Axes? Masters Touch?

[ccd1977]

How did you get proficiency with Dwarven Axes? Masters Touch?I could be wrong but I think that is a race inherited.

[Kwyjibo]

I could be wrong but I think that is a race inherited.
Dwarves do gain proficiency with dwarven axes as a racial trait.

[Eth]

Dwarves do gain proficiency with dwarven axes as a racial trait.

Almost. They gain daxe proficiency if they are proficient with martial weapons, which a 20 warlock would not be, afaik.
Master's Touch would do.

[cru121]

Aura of Menace: Toggle: You project a 15 meter Aura of Menace, decreasing the saving throws, attack, and armor class of nearby enemies by 2. Toggle cooldown: 2 seconds. Passive: Your Eldritch Aura now affects enemies every 3 seconds and you gain proficiency with all Martial weapons.

[bigdmag]

Aura of Menace: Toggle: You project a 15 meter Aura of Menace, decreasing the saving throws, attack, and armor class of nearby enemies by 2. Toggle cooldown: 2 seconds. Passive: Your Eldritch Aura now affects enemies every 3 seconds and you gain proficiency with all Martial weapons.

Yes..I was scrolling Masters Touch until I took level 12. To be honest, a weapon isnt even really necessary up to this point. I just grab the best Acid and Light spell power weapons, equip them and blast away. Just hit level 14 and have re-tooled inventory to start swinging. We 5 maned an elite Titan raid and I had no trouble at all staying alive. Myself and the other Warlock ran shards and was able to dispatch the warforged in the crystal room with 2 bursts and a swing or 2. With Shining through, I never even dipped into my main HP's, the temporary HP's absorbed all the damage. No deaths :)

So far Im loving this life. I know its heroic and not all that challenging for Warlocks, but I foresee it will be similar dominance in EE.

[Zerul]

So, I see someone else has had the same idea I did. :) This build is virtually identical to my first warlock build. It's definitely an underrated build.

That being said, you asked if anyone saw any glaring problems with it, so I'll share some of my experiences. As you've already seen, this thing is an absolute powerhouse in heroic levels - even by warlock standards. This dips down substantially in epic levels, but a proper choice of ED can mitigate this (I went with divine crusader).

My biggest criticism of a TYWA warlock is that you have to spend a lot of effort and resources to get your melee damage decent, but you have few opportunities to actually use it. As you've already noted, most enemies are dead before you even have a chance to swing your axe. This slows down in epic levels somewhat, but the emphasis on AoE instead of single-target damage means that your melee damage contributes very little to your overall dps, even in boss fights.

Since you have to spend 3 feats and 18 APs to get your melee damage to an acceptable level, this is a problem. You don't really start to feel the strain on your APs until higher levels, when you have all these great abilities in your other warlock trees that you can't access. And 3 feats are a lot for a class with no bonus feats.

That being said, the tanky, melee-bursting playstyle is very much viable. I don't want you to get discouraged because this build is definitely capable of pulling off some insane feats, especially once you throw in the self-healing abilities of Divine Crusader. My only concern is that this build may not be living up to this playstyle's potential. For a future life, I have been considering modifying this build after taking into consideration some of the things I've learned. I'm not sure if they'll work yet, but I'll write it down if you, or anyone else, is curious.

Since you sacrifice so much for so little, I was considering dropping melee damage entirely, and shifting the build's primary focus on increasing the damage of my bursts and spells, and improving survivability as a secondary focus. At endgame, I'm planning on playing with a sword and a shield, but I won't be focusing quite so much on tanking as other similar warlock builds. I'll still go con-based for the temporary hitpoints, which are essential to this playstyle. If we're no longer using TYWA then racial options open up: I'm thinking either human for the feat, or drow for the cha/spell resistance. Those 18 APs that would be spend on TYWA would be reallocated to the other two warlock trees as appropriate. I'm still undecided about what to do with the feats that I'd save by not taking the SWF line - improved shield mastery seems like a high investment for little return on a build that isn't really trying to be the biggest, baddest tank around (I'm aiming more for dps/support while maintaining some standard of survivability). But the biggest change, I think, would be the choice of a different ED. I'm thinking that a con-based, ES warlock just screams Shiradi Champion. A con-based ES warlock will likely have terrible DCs, but with Shiradi it won't matter. Shiradi effects proc on all warlock bursts and aura ticks, which would add up tremendously. In addition to dealing greatly increased damage, there would be various status effects like ability drains and paralysis that would contribute greatly to this playstyle. Overall, the playstyle would be virtually identical to the TYWA build: you're still charging into melee, bursting left and right, swinging your weapon when you can, etc. The only difference is that you're leveraging your bursts more heavily, and the lack of melee damage means that you can afford some time between bursts to do other things, like casting spells as needed.

Well, I think I've rambled on enough. I don't mean to discourage you, you've stumbled on to a powerhouse of a build here. It's just that after playing it, I've found a few ways to make it even better (hopefully). I hope my post has helped in some small way :)

[bigdmag]

So, I see someone else has had the same idea I did. :) This build is virtually identical to my first warlock build. It's definitely an underrated build.

That being said, you asked if anyone saw any glaring problems with it, so I'll share some of my experiences. As you've already seen, this thing is an absolute powerhouse in heroic levels - even by warlock standards. This dips down substantially in epic levels, but a proper choice of ED can mitigate this (I went with divine crusader).

My biggest criticism of a TYWA warlock is that you have to spend a lot of effort and resources to get your melee damage decent, but you have few opportunities to actually use it. As you've already noted, most enemies are dead before you even have a chance to swing your axe. This slows down in epic levels somewhat, but the emphasis on AoE instead of single-target damage means that your melee damage contributes very little to your overall dps, even in boss fights.

Since you have to spend 3 feats and 18 APs to get your melee damage to an acceptable level, this is a problem. You don't really start to feel the strain on your APs until higher levels, when you have all these great abilities in your other warlock trees that you can't access. And 3 feats are a lot for a class with no bonus feats.

That being said, the tanky, melee-bursting playstyle is very much viable. I don't want you to get discouraged because this build is definitely capable of pulling off some insane feats, especially once you throw in the self-healing abilities of Divine Crusader. My only concern is that this build may not be living up to this playstyle's potential. For a future life, I have been considering modifying this build after taking into consideration some of the things I've learned. I'm not sure if they'll work yet, but I'll write it down if you, or anyone else, is curious.

Since you sacrifice so much for so little, I was considering dropping melee damage entirely, and shifting the build's primary focus on increasing the damage of my bursts and spells, and improving survivability as a secondary focus. At endgame, I'm planning on playing with a sword and a shield, but I won't be focusing quite so much on tanking as other similar warlock builds. I'll still go con-based for the temporary hitpoints, which are essential to this playstyle. If we're no longer using TYWA then racial options open up: I'm thinking either human for the feat, or drow for the cha/spell resistance. Those 18 APs that would be spend on TYWA would be reallocated to the other two warlock trees as appropriate. I'm still undecided about what to do with the feats that I'd save by not taking the SWF line - improved shield mastery seems like a high investment for little return on a build that isn't really trying to be the biggest, baddest tank around (I'm aiming more for dps/support while maintaining some standard of survivability). But the biggest change, I think, would be the choice of a different ED. I'm thinking that a con-based, ES warlock just screams Shiradi Champion. A con-based ES warlock will likely have terrible DCs, but with Shiradi it won't matter. Shiradi effects proc on all warlock bursts and aura ticks, which would add up tremendously. In addition to dealing greatly increased damage, there would be various status effects like ability drains and paralysis that would contribute greatly to this playstyle. Overall, the playstyle would be virtually identical to the TYWA build: you're still charging into melee, bursting left and right, swinging your weapon when you can, etc. The only difference is that you're leveraging your bursts more heavily, and the lack of melee damage means that you can afford some time between bursts to do other things, like casting spells as needed.

Well, I think I've rambled on enough. I don't mean to discourage you, you've stumbled on to a powerhouse of a build here. It's just that after playing it, I've found a few ways to make it even better (hopefully). I hope my post has helped in some small way :)

Awesome insights thanks :)

Im still at level 15 right now ( Static group that plays once a week ) but am looking forward to Epic. We usually head to cap then do an immediate Epic TR, so I will let this guy play out until cap. Then I will take the other route for the eTR. Then Ill have 1st hand knowledge of the pro's and con's ( no pun intended). You made some good points, thanks.

[bigdmag]

Well, its been slow going to 20. My static group had a few detours over the last month so we've slowed down a bit, but we picked it back up this week. We are at 18. I did notice a small drop off in "quickness to kill" but not much. Takes a few more bursts and a swing or 2 to kill stuff now. Before it was 1 or 2 burst and everything was dead. HP's are lifesaving in Heroics, Im sitting at about 1300- 1400 all buffed up, which is more than enough to absorb any and all damage that comes my way in heroics.

I happened to have a Deathnip so I am using that instead of a D Axe. I will switch to D Axe at some point. Decent attack speed with the SWF going on, 37 % attack speed. Average hits on mobs are between 60 - 90, not bad for a toon that isnt a "melee" class. Crits are almost 300 with the Deathnip. All the while the aura is ticking away. I soloed Devils Assault 1 level under with zero problems. I stood in the middle and bursted then swung the pick to finish them off, the mobs were dead within seconds of spawning.

I turned off all bursts and auras to beat down an elite Bastion in LoD. I pulled him by himself and fought him with no other mobs beating on me. On top of that he was a champion. With no aura ticking and no bursting it took me 30 seconds to beat him down, and I was never in danger of dying. Now I dont have any melee toons at this level to compare this too, but I think it was DPS'ing at a decent clip. Champion orange names can be nasty, so I consider this a good litmus test for the melee output of this build. If anyone has a geared up level 18 (or thereabouts) melee toon I would love to know your time for beating him down. Im sure it would be faster but Id like to know how much faster.

Obviously with the bursting and aura would have been faster, but I wanted to see if the melee aspect of this build is holding up. So far I think it is. Looking forward to Epic Elites, which will be coming up in a month or so.

With the exception of the Deathnip and the Golden Orb of Death, I am using all loot-gen items and some of it is level 8 and 9 gear.

Loving it so far :)

[bigdmag]

Wasnt thinking very clearly. Guess a better way to gauge the melee DPS is on the dummy ( not me, the one on the ship) :) If anyone has a level 18 melee type, auto attack the dummy on the ship and time it for me. I did it in 16- 17 seconds, no aura ticking, so thats just swinging the pick. Just curious where he lands with melee compared to actual melees. Thanks :)

Killed it in 8 to 10 seconds with aura on.

[voxson5]

Sorry for this possibly silly question - I am new to warlocks (and currently running a TYWA lock as well).I was under the impression that max/empower does not affect the bursts?I may need a feat juggle if they do work :)

[slarden]

Sorry for this possibly silly question - I am new to warlocks (and currently running a TYWA lock as well).I was under the impression that max/empower does not affect the bursts?I may need a feat juggle if they do work :)

They don't work on the basic eldritch blast including the various shapes, but it does work on any of the SLAs in the enhancement tree such as eldritch burst and spirit blast.

[bigdmag]

Sorry for this possibly silly question - I am new to warlocks (and currently running a TYWA lock as well).I was under the impression that max/empower does not affect the bursts?I may need a feat juggle if they do work :)


Yep, just as Slarden stated, it does work for your Eldritch Burst and Spirit burst. Also Consume and Stricken, should you choose to go that route. I consider them almost mandatory as there really is nothing else (feat wise) you could take that would give equal payback. The increase in DPS with your bursts is pretty significant. Some may make arguments for more defense and they may be justified depending on your goals with the build, but I think killing stuff faster equates to better defense. If its dead it cant damage you. Dont think there are any justifiable melee feats that you could take, as 2 melee feats could never make up for the DPS loss of a Max/Emp Burst. Did some very unscientific testing in Elite LoD. Non- Max/Emp were hitting mobs for aprox 200 to 300 (sometimes more, sometimes less depending on crits) and the Max/Emp were hitting for between 400- 700 ( sometimes more sometimes less, depending on crits). And thats an AOE that hits everything around you. Dont think any feats could make up for that amount of DPS. I know there are some builds that do not take Max and Emp, but I cannot see the upside. Its a lot of damage to give up.