Pure Casting Warlock DC Eld Blast Build

[KaladorUK]

This was my source although since this was the last Lamannia build it's possible they decided it was OP and nerfed it:

https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthrea...=1#post6043591

I haven't really been raiding since the gear will likely be obsolete by the time I get it.

Oh, yeah. That was changed to this: http://ddowiki.com/page/Item:The_Masque.

There are some goggles that give 19 charisma, though. They're pretty easy to plug and play.

[slarden]

Oh, yeah. That was changed to this: http://ddowiki.com/page/Item:The_Masque.

There are some goggles that give 19 charisma, though. They're pretty easy to plug and play.

My commentary on the item probably didn't help: https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthrea...=1#post6043647

As you said, the 19 charisma goggles are solid. I'll update my OP soon. Thanks for pointing out the item was changed!

[DrawingGuy]

So I've decided to finally update my Warlock's gear - it hasn't been updated since u29, and while I can still roll low level reapers no issue, if I ever want it to do more, it needed it. I'm also a pure casting/blast warlock, so looked at your gear set and wondered how I could improve it. Ultimately Slavers is inescapable for a DC caster; +4 artifact to DCs and +2 to your stat is just too good to give up, so 5 slots are locked. I tried to see if it was possible to squeeze in Adherent + Beacon + Slaver's... and while technically you could fit it using weapons that have the set bonus, it simply involved too much sacrifice. Beacon set would be a loss of 1 DC due to armor, an PRR/MRR hit. The Regalia is very nice for its universal power and crit chance along with its high fort, but unless your goal is absolute max Eldritch Blast damage, there are better options. However Legendary Coat of the Traveler (medium armor) or Legendary Mist-laden Vestment (light armor if you forgo the feat) gives 202 fort, Parrying 9, PRR 50, Profane Well Rounded. That is a significant saves boost, fort boost, PRR boost, and frees up your trinket slot for that 1 DC cost. I find that to be worth the cost.

Another major point is Burnscar or Silverthread belt. Burnscar gives stacking 202 spell power to Acid/Fire along with 29% crit chance. Silverthread gives stacking Devotion/Null. That is a nice bump in DPS for Fiend/Goo, and Silverthread still boosts self healing and party healing if you're Fey or need to fill that role. Either one of these belts is more than worth fitting in.

Going for the Adherent set means +20 PRR, +20 Heal amp, and +20 Universal Spell Power. As long as the tradeoffs to gain this bonus do not outweigh the losses, it is worth pursuing.

Now onto my own suggested gear plans! I know that you are set in your Slaver's gear and it would be tough to swap, so may not help you much. It also is coming at 1 DC and 1 CHA (on the non-fey setup) loss, so is no longer a "max DC" setup... but once again, the improvements in other areas I think make up for it.

For Fiend/Goo:
Goggles: Legendary Symphonic Lenses (Adherent of the Mists)
Helm: Legendary Hardened Hide (Slave Lords) - with Reaper bonus
Necklace: Slave Lords crafted - Sheltering 45/Impulse Lore 27/Spellsight 22/Quality Fortification 45
Trinket: Legendary Symbol of the Slave Lords (Slave Lords)
Cloak: Legendary Mantle of Fury (Adherent of the Mists)
Belt: Legendary Burnscar Sash
Gloves: Legendary Gauntlets of Innate Arcanum (Adherent of the Mists)
Boots: Legendary Softsole Slippers (Adherent of the Mists)
Bracers: Slave Lords crafted - Wisdom 17/Radiance Lore 27/Heal 22/Quality PRR 11
Ring 1: Legendary Spinneret (Slave Lords)
Ring 2: Legendary Cursebane Ring (Adherent of the Mists)
Armor: Legendary Coat of the Traveler (though I use Legendary Mist-laden Vestment as I don't take the med armor feat)
Weapon 1: Nightmother's Sceptre
Weapon 2: Morninglord's Sceptre
Weapon 2 swap: LGS trip heal amp (30/50/70) - swap to this when you need to self heal or trigger temp HP


This setup has the pros of higher CON due to fitting Insightful 8 and a 19 item, much higher fort (202 + 92 ins + 45 qual), 19% dodge, more SP, higher saves, 209 higher pact spell power and 2% more crit chance, and more alignment damage. If you swap to silverthread belt as well before a heal, you will further boost self healing. The extra high fort helps cover you in quests that have high CR rogue mobs, and allows for INT sp recovery Yugo pots.

This has the cons of needing to swap for the heal amp, 15 less heal amp even when swapped (unless you were not using the 50 equipment bonus, then it would be 35 higher), 1 less CHA, and 1 less universal DC.


WIS or DEX are interchangeable on the Slave Lords item - I went with WIS simply because it swaps easier to divine casters. If you need to fit in LGS, you can give up goggles and belt.


For Fey builds, I would make a few swaps:

Trinket: Bell of Warding (Adherent of the Mists)
Ring 2: Slave Lords crafted - False Life 68/Resistance 14/Concentration 22/Quality False Life 16

I'd also do DEX 17 instead of Sheltering 45 on the Slaver's necklace. The Insightful CON loss hurts, but the FL statted Slaver's ring and higher Resistance (as you would need to augment 8 in the other build set) makes up for it.

[slarden]

So I've decided to finally update my Warlock's gear - it hasn't been updated since u29, and while I can still roll low level reapers no issue, if I ever want it to do more, it needed it. I'm also a pure casting/blast warlock, so looked at your gear set and wondered how I could improve it. Ultimately Slavers is inescapable for a DC caster; +4 artifact to DCs and +2 to your stat is just too good to give up, so 5 slots are locked. I tried to see if it was possible to squeeze in Adherent + Beacon + Slaver's... and while technically you could fit it using weapons that have the set bonus, it simply involved too much sacrifice. Beacon set would be a loss of 1 DC due to armor, an PRR/MRR hit. The Regalia is very nice for its universal power and crit chance along with its high fort, but unless your goal is absolute max Eldritch Blast damage, there are better options. However Legendary Coat of the Traveler (medium armor) or Legendary Mist-laden Vestment (light armor if you forgo the feat) gives 202 fort, Parrying 9, PRR 50, Profane Well Rounded. That is a significant saves boost, fort boost, PRR boost, and frees up your trinket slot for that 1 DC cost. I find that to be worth the cost.

Another major point is Burnscar or Silverthread belt. Burnscar gives stacking 202 spell power to Acid/Fire along with 29% crit chance. Silverthread gives stacking Devotion/Null. That is a nice bump in DPS for Fiend/Goo, and Silverthread still boosts self healing and party healing if you're Fey or need to fill that role. Either one of these belts is more than worth fitting in.

Going for the Adherent set means +20 PRR, +20 Heal amp, and +20 Universal Spell Power. As long as the tradeoffs to gain this bonus do not outweigh the losses, it is worth pursuing.

Now onto my own suggested gear plans! I know that you are set in your Slaver's gear and it would be tough to swap, so may not help you much. It also is coming at 1 DC and 1 CHA (on the non-fey setup) loss, so is no longer a "max DC" setup... but once again, the improvements in other areas I think make up for it.

For Fiend/Goo:
Goggles: Legendary Symphonic Lenses (Adherent of the Mists)
Helm: Legendary Hardened Hide (Slave Lords) - with Reaper bonus
Necklace: Slave Lords crafted - Sheltering 45/Impulse Lore 27/Spellsight 22/Quality Fortification 45
Trinket: Legendary Symbol of the Slave Lords (Slave Lords)
Cloak: Legendary Mantle of Fury (Adherent of the Mists)
Belt: Legendary Burnscar Sash
Gloves: Legendary Gauntlets of Innate Arcanum (Adherent of the Mists)
Boots: Legendary Softsole Slippers (Adherent of the Mists)
Bracers: Slave Lords crafted - Wisdom 17/Radiance Lore 27/Heal 22/Quality PRR 11
Ring 1: Legendary Spinneret (Slave Lords)
Ring 2: Legendary Cursebane Ring (Adherent of the Mists)
Armor: Legendary Coat of the Traveler (though I use Legendary Mist-laden Vestment as I don't take the med armor feat)
Weapon 1: Nightmother's Sceptre
Weapon 2: Morninglord's Sceptre
Weapon 2 swap: LGS trip heal amp (30/50/70) - swap to this when you need to self heal or trigger temp HP


This setup has the pros of higher CON due to fitting Insightful 8 and a 19 item, much higher fort (202 + 92 ins + 45 qual), 19% dodge, more SP, higher saves, 209 higher pact spell power and 2% more crit chance, and more alignment damage. If you swap to silverthread belt as well before a heal, you will further boost self healing. The extra high fort helps cover you in quests that have high CR rogue mobs, and allows for INT sp recovery Yugo pots.

This has the cons of needing to swap for the heal amp, 15 less heal amp even when swapped (unless you were not using the 50 equipment bonus, then it would be 35 higher), 1 less CHA, and 1 less universal DC.


WIS or DEX are interchangeable on the Slave Lords item - I went with WIS simply because it swaps easier to divine casters. If you need to fit in LGS, you can give up goggles and belt.


For Fey builds, I would make a few swaps:

Trinket: Bell of Warding (Adherent of the Mists)
Ring 2: Slave Lords crafted - False Life 68/Resistance 14/Concentration 22/Quality False Life 16

I'd also do DEX 17 instead of Sheltering 45 on the Slaver's necklace. The Insightful CON loss hurts, but the FL statted Slaver's ring and higher Resistance (as you would need to augment 8 in the other build set) makes up for it.

I really like your gear setup. My fleshy gear setup may change slightly when I am back to dragonborn, but I am currently running bladeforged lifes with adamantine plating using this linked gear setup at 30 which is completely different. As I mentioned in an earlier post I do want to fit in the belt on my fleshy gear set, but since I am running bladeforged right now I haven't focused on that. I plan to post my bladeforged variant soon which is more of a balanced dc/dps build.

https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthrea...=1#post6056599

On top of the 20 universal spell power from the mists set it gives another 20 exceptional spellpower (memory of fine regalia docent) and 50 exceptional spellpower (beacon of magic set). It also gives 10% stacking lore from the docent. I also have 22 spellsight, 11 insightful spellsight and decent int with phasecloak for a little more spellsight. On the bladeforged gear set I have a beacon of magic set, adherent of the mists set and 3 piece slavers set. I am over 400$% fort on this build.

20 PRR takes me from 37.04% damage taken to 34.48% damage taken. On the fleshy version I find the 1000 temp hp from lgs every minute is more helpful than 20 prr. I also really like the positive LGS material opposition piece as some enemies will keep attacking you when unconscious but most won't. I find the combination of those two really powerful when soloing reaper and giving me confidence to add skulls solo. I also like that when grouping higher skulls I can just swap out the 2 piece lgs set for 2 more DC with softsole slippers and legendary symphonic lenses and also armor for 1 profane bonus from TF armor. I find I don't need the extra hp in a group, even higher skull.

I'll revisit my fleshy gear set when I am back to dragonborn and appreciate your thoughts and ideas. I played very little from Feb-Nov due to fractured vertebrae and other issues, so I am also a bit behind on reaper points. I have 4 alts with 1 million each which I mostly got Nov-Feb. Working on getting 1 million on my other 2 alts. If I had 6 milllion or so on my warlock it would give me alot more gear flexibility with the extra 500 hp.

Bladeforged Gear Set:

Goggles: Legendary Symphonic Lenses (Cha 19, Adherent of the Mists)
Helm: Legendary Pansophic Circlet (Universal spellpower 131, Insightful Universal Spellpower 65, Spell Point reduction 10%)
Necklace: Slavers Con 17, Force Lore 27, Spellsight 22, Quality Con 4
Trinket: Cannith Crafed Resistance, Repair Amp, Ins Spellsight 11 (swap items for each element absorb in prefix)
Cloak: Legendary Phasecloak (Int 19, Qual Int 4, Spellsight 22, Adherent of the Mists)
Belt: Legendary Burnscar Sash (Acid/Fire Spellpower 202 and acid/fire Lore 29%, Beacon of Magic)
Ring 1: Legendary Spinneret (Quality Spellpower 32, Universal Lore 15%, Quality Spell Focus 2)
Gloves: Legendary Blurfingered Gloves (Beacon of Magic Set, not a fan of gloves but needed for set. Quick draw might help with scroll and weapon swaps - not sure I never took the feat - but in theory)
Boots: Softsole Slippers (Ins Cha 9, Ghostly, Adherent of the Mists)
Ring 2: Slavers False Life 68, Force Spellpower 185, Repair 22, Quality Cha 4
Bracers: Legendary Bracers of the Fallen Hero (Ins Con 9, Str 19, Quality PRR 12, Adherent of the Mists)
Armor: Legendary Memory of Fine Regalia (10% exceptional universal spell lore, 20 exceptional spellpower, Fortification 202%, Beacon of Magic)

Main Hand Weapon: Nightmother Sceptre (Universal Spell Focus 7, Insightful Universal Spell Focus 4, Spell Penetration 8, Insightful Spell Penetration 4)
Off Hand Shield: Legendary Warsword Shield (Sheltering 50, MRR+ PRR, Insightful MRR 24, Riposte 9, Adherent of the Mists)

Sentient Filigree

Otto's Charisma +1 Rare
Otto's Spell Failure Reduction -10% Rare
Otto's Spell Power Rare
Otto's PRR Rare
Charisma +1 any set Rare
Charisma +1 any set Rare
Charisma +1 any set Rare

Set Bonuses

Beacon of Magic Set Bonus
+50 artifact bonus to spellpower
+10 artifact bonus to MRR
+2 artifact bonus to spell DC
+5% artifact bonus to missle deflection

Adherent of the Mists Set Bonus
20 profane bonus to PRR
20 Profane bonus to Healing and Repair Amp
20 Profane bonus to Universal Spellpower

Slaver's Endurance Set Bonus (Rings + Necklace)
2 Artifact bonus to PRR
2 Artifact bonus to resistance
2 Artifact bonus to spell saves

Otto's Sentient Set Bonus
+5 MRR
+200 Spell Points
+2 to all DCs

Bladeforged spell failure: 35% for admantine plating + 5% for warsword shield = 40%

Blade Forged Spell Failure Reduction:
15% Racial
15% Augment
10% Otto's Spell Failure Reduction Filigree
Total Spell Failure Reduction: 40%

[DrawingGuy]

I treat the 1k temp HP like a buff - same as I would on my Monk as LGS does not hold a candle to Duality. Start your combat with it as you're casting your CC and instakills until it procs, then flip back to your spellpower weapon.

Also haven't tested - does the Beacon and Slaver's DCs stack? Thought both were typed artifact. The WF/BF does eliminate the main disadvantage of Beacon's Regalia as you don't lose the PRR bonus and MRR cap - it is definitely the superior DPS option, and if you're using the shield, you don't really need the defensive boosts of the other armor options. Of course a fleshy can take the hit survival hit and still use the Regalia for the DPS. This could very well be a solo/party decision, like LGS items are for you.

If Beacon and 3 Slavers DCs stacks, that might be a direction I'll go.


Note that going Aasimar instead of Dragonborn might be a solid choice, especially if you have a ton of racial PLs. A Protector bond has +1 CHA + 3 CHA while clicky is active (4 minutes worth per rest) + 2 from cores. They also have Heal Amp and Arcanum options. If you can afford it, the Ascendant Bond is 10% HP + 10 prr/mrr. Add in their racial Lays, and you have a race that will give you more survivability with only 1 lower CHA (but 2 higher during clicky).

I'm definitely impressed by your earning 1m reaper xp on 4 toons -- and your ambition to do it on more. That effort on a single toon would indeed be a large boost along with reaper wings. I don't think very many people have earned even 4m worth of cumulative XP. Myself I haven't even reach 1m on a single toon yet, though I only recently came back from a break and don't have time to play much.

[slarden]

Also haven't tested - does the Beacon and Slaver's DCs stack? Thought both were typed artifact. .

They don't stack, on the BF build I use the beacon of magic set with 3 piece slavers set for PRR and save bonus, not much but I might as well take those since the caster bonus gives nothing.

Note that going Aasimar instead of Dragonborn might be a solid choice, especially if you have a ton of racial PLs. A Protector bond has +1 CHA + 3 CHA while clicky is active (4 minutes worth per rest) + 2 from cores. They also have Heal Amp and Arcanum options. If you can afford it, the Ascendant Bond is 10% HP + 10 prr/mrr. Add in their racial Lays, and you have a race that will give you more survivability with only 1 lower CHA (but 2 higher during clicky).

I really like Aasimar, but my understanding is the bond is mutually exclusive with warlock pact. It's still not bad even without the bond, but if the bond and pact both worked I would definitely try that. If anyone has info to the contrary please share, because I would be interested in trying Aasimar warlock.

[DrawingGuy]

Fair point - forgot about that. Aasimar would still be nice for the heal amp, arcanum, and lays along with the CHA cores. It comes to the question if lays and heal amp is worth the loss of breath/evo.

Beacon set still does give nice Artifact spellpower along with Deflection and MRR. The armor really does favor people that want to mainly blast. With it, it is possible to have over 50% crit chance. It would destroy HP LGS bonus options, but you could also roll LGS 35% crit damage (though Fey misses out on this due to no sonic) + 60% Tainted (though 30% of that requires capstone) for nearly triple damage on crits. There is the night revels clicky and wellspring to further boost for up to 3.4x crits, though those are temporary. I've played a pure DPS warlock, and never felt the need for instakills as the DPS is just silly (and Ruins do fun numbers). Though higher reaper requires CC, and the efforts it takes for effective CC brings your instakills basically in line anyways.

[KaladorUK]

I'm using this build but wasn't really sold on the gear myself. I made my own set, which looks similar to the one posted above. I think we should compare and see if we can't find a "best" set.


Trinket: Legendary Symbol of the Slave Lords w/ Slave Lord's Sorcery (Alchemy Ritual) (Greater Conjuration and Globe of Imperial True Blood)
Head: Legendary Hardened Hide w/ Slave Lord's Sorcery (False Life 40)
Neck: Slave Lords Five Chains (Sheltering 45 / Impulse 185 / Spell Focus Mastery 6 / Quality Charisma 4) w/ Slave Lord's Sorcery (Vitality 20)
Goggles: Legendary Symphonic Lenses (Golem's Heart)
Bracers: Slave Lords Shackles ( Constitution 17 / Resistance 14 / Spellcraft 22 / Quality Spellcraft 5 ) w/ Slave Lord's Sorcery (Intelligence 8)
Body: Shadow Dragonhide Armor (Shadow Caster) (Striding 30 and Good Luck 2)
Cloak: Spell Saves 12 / Dodge 15 / Insightful Physical Sheltering 18 (Greater Illusion)
Ring: Slave Lords Five Rings (Dexterity 17 / Force Lore 29 / Heal 22 / Quality PRR 11) w/ Slave Lord's Sorcery (Insightful Intelligence 2)
Ring: Legendary Band of Insightful Commands (Greater Enchantment)
Boots: Legendary Softsole Slippers (Greater Necromancy)
Gloves: Devotion 159 / Healing Amplification 61 / Insightful Impulse 79 (Draconic Soul Gem)
Belt: Legendary Burnscar Sash (Greater Evocation)
Weapon: Nightmother's Sceptre (Radiance 138)
Weapon / Shield: Legendary Mutilator of Minds (Miridian Fragment)

[DrawingGuy]

You're missing equipment + insightful + quality spell power bonuses for your pact damage, and Insightful + quality for your consume/stricken. Legendary Spinneret is a very good item as it gives 15 universal lore for everything you can't fit (heals, null damage from failed fingers, color procs), +2 quality spell focus, and +32 universal. That leaves little point for Mutilator of Minds. By running that ring + Morninglord Scepter, I get 142 potency + 72 Insightful + 32 quality. This allows me to need to load only lores on my slavers, which I'm still unfortunately missing Devotion lore on my non-fey build (my Fey gear set has very nice healing due to silverthread 202 stacking spellpower and 30% crit -- I'm Fey now and play as a healer role along with DPS/CCing. My Cocoon has ticks for over 1k with people that have respectable heal amp along with my mass cure moderates being able to full heal everyone but myself on higher skulls).

Mantle of Fury counts for the adherent set, gives 19% dodge instead of 15, along with 19 CON. If you roll Fiend, rage potions, or Primal Scream, it also gives you +4 fort saves. I find it to fit very well into my gear plans. Phasecloak is also very nice with its 19 + 4 INT, 412 Wizardry, and +1 higher Evo DCs, but I prefer the defensive boosts from Mantle of Fury as it is the best place to fit Dodge.

Armor is where the decision comes, do you care more about defenses, max DCs, or more about Eldritch Blast DPS? Legendary Barovian Nobles' Regalia is stacking universal lore and spell power making it a solid boost to blast DPS. Legendary Coat of the Traveler/Legendary Mist-laden Vestment is large survival boost between 202 fort + 50 PRR + 9 parry. The 2 Profane Well Rounded also means that it has the same DC boost as Shadow Caster armor if you're not fitting well rounded elsewhere (which is the case for me). Shadow Caster, of course, is the only armor type to give Profane DCs and if you load Profane Well Rounded elsewhere, can be a pretty big deal, though it does come at a survival loss. If you are looking to go for max DCs, you have 4 slot options for Profane Well Rounded:

- Armor: Has great armor, but comes at the cost of not fitting Shadow Caster or Barovian DPS armors.
- Trinket: Litanty has been the staple for years, but there some strong trinkets out there. It is also the most flexible CC slot where you can easily fill in build gaps. Personally I like fitting Symbol of the Slave Lords for the CON + True Seeing + set bonus for goo/fiend, or Bell of Warding for Fey. As I currently play Fey, every ability of the trinket is perfect for my setup.
- Ring: As said, Spinneret is a perfect option, taking up one slot. Ring slots also compete with some strong Ravenloft options and crafted Slave Lords items, so it is pretty important.
- Gloves: This is probably where I'd fit them, though it would come at the cost of crafted heal amp, or Beacon set, or Gauntlets of Innate Arcanum. I like the gauntlets as it gives qual CHA, 412 SP, +1 Evo DCs, and makes goggles a flexible swap item for searching doors or LGS without losing SP or HP (especially if you're not a Fey with Bell). However Symphonic still gives you the CHA you need, 4 Qual can go on a slavers crafted, and you can live with a SP augment. Bluescale Guides will give you your Profane Well Rounded along with nice SP savings... though good luck getting a party for that raid.

My gear plans I feel only have one main issue: not having passive heal amp gear. But playing a little more actively with flipping to a LGS for procs and when I need heals means I can have my heal amp when I need it while still going for max power.


I consider what I posted previously as a great "all around" option as it balances DPS, DCs, and survival. I did come up with a few other gear plans:

Max deeps:
For Fiend/Goo:
Goggles: LGS triple crit (20/10/5) of appropriate Pact (Fire/Acid)
Helm: Legendary Pansophic Circlet - with Reaper bonus
Necklace: Legendary Kindred Pendant (Adherent of the Mists) -- You can switch necklace for LGS and wear Symphonic Lenses if you prefer the Mobility bonus over augment summoning and +1 enchantment DCs
Trinket: Hands of the Dawn Healer (Adherent of the Mists)
Cloak: Legendary Mantle of Fury (Adherent of the Mists)
Belt: Legendary Burnscar Sash (Beacon of Magic)
Gloves: Legendary Blurfingered Gloves (Beacon of Magic)
Boots: Legendary Softsole Slippers (Adherent of the Mists)
Bracers: Legendary Lore-Fueled Packbanner (Adherent of the Mists)
Ring 1: Legendary Spinneret (Slave Lords)
Ring 2: Slave Lords crafted - DEX 17 / Impulse Lore 27 / Spellsight 22 / Qual CHA 4
Armor: Legendary Barovian Nobles' Regalia (Beacon of Magic)
Weapon 1: Nightmother's Sceptre
Weapon 2: Dusk, the Light Descends
Weapon 2 swap: LGS trip heal amp (30/50/70) - swap to this when you need to self heal or trigger temp HP

This gives 131 equipment + 65 Insightful + 32 Quality + 20 Profane + 50 Artifact + 20 Exceptional = 318 universal spellpower just from equipment.

Pact damage gets an additional 202 Enhancement, while healing and Radiance an additional 71+. It also gives top tier lore to all the most important types: Pact/Impulse/Radiance/Healing. Unfortunately couldn't really fit an Impulse equipment or pact damage equipment as those only really come in weapon form (and impulse is a two hander), and Radiance needed that the most. Utterdark stance would use the Radiance boost nicely.

This set goes for high spell powers while trying to not give up too much on DCs. It is down 5: 4 CHA (2 well rounded + 2 artifact) and 3 DCs (2 artifact + 1 profane).


For Fey:
Goggles: Legendary Greensteel Material/Opposition Triple Negative (Blindness Immunity/Fear Immunity/Deathblock/Negative Resistance)
Helm: Legendary Pansophic Circlet - with Reaper bonus
Necklace: Fleetfoot Necklace (Adherent of the Mists)
Necklace Swap: LGS Material/Opposition Triple Positive (Unconscious Range 128/64/32, Positive Healing per 10s 16/8/4)
Trinket: Bell of Warding (Adherent of the Mists)
Cloak: Legendary Mantle of Fury (Adherent of the Mists)
Belt: Legendary Silverthread Belt (Beacon of Magic)
Gloves: Legendary Blurfingered Gloves (Beacon of Magic)
Boots: Legendary Softsole Slippers (Adherent of the Mists)
Bracers: Legendary Lore-Fueled Packbanner (Adherent of the Mists)
Ring 1: Legendary Spinneret (Slave Lords)
Ring 2: Slave Lords crafted - DEX 17 / Impulse Lore 27 / Spellsight 22 / Qual CHA 4
Armor: Legendary Barovian Nobles' Regalia (Beacon of Magic)
Weapon 1: Nightmother's Sceptre
Weapon 2: Dusk, the Light Descends
Weapon 2 swap: LGS trip heal amp (30/50/70) - swap to this when you need to self heal or trigger temp HP

The biggest choice here is deciding between the HP bonus and the set bonus with Fleetfoot. Fleetfoot giving higher Will saves, higher AC, and auto-knockdowns adds its own survival bonus along with the 20 spell + 20 PRR + 20 hamp is not bad, though the LGS set bonus is likely better for survival... though of course that goes against "max deeps". Admittedly I'm stuck with the Fleetfoot until I've ground out enough Legendary Shrouds to get a cleanse (been concentrating too much on TRs).

------

Max DCs:
For Fiend/Goo:
Goggles: Legendary Symphonic Lenses (Adherent of the Mists)
Helm: Legendary Pansophic Circlet - with Reaper bonus
Necklace: Slave Lords crafted - Dexterity 17/Impulse Lore 27/Spellsight 22/Quality CHA 4
Trinket: Legendary Symbol of the Slave Lords (Slave Lords)
Cloak: Legendary Mantle of Fury (Adherent of the Mists)
Belt: Legendary Burnscar Sash
Gloves: Bluescale Guides
Boots: Legendary Softsole Slippers (Adherent of the Mists)
Bracers: Slave Lords crafted - Wisdom 17/Radiance Lore 27/Heal 22/Quality CON 4
Ring 1: Legendary Spinneret (Slave Lords)
Ring 2: Slave Lords crafted - False Life 68 (or INT 17, though that's 5 spellpower vs 28 HP)/Heal Lore 27/Concentration 22/Quality PRR 11
Armor: Shadow Caster armor of your choice (for the +1 Profane)
Weapon 1: Nightmother's Sceptre
Weapon 2: Legendary Warsword Shield (Adherent of the Mists)
Weapon 2 swap: LGS trip heal amp (30/50/70) - swap to this when you need to self heal or trigger temp HP

Warsword Shield is for the defensive boost, and allows for the option of exchanging your gloves for Legendary Gauntlets of Innate Arcanum if Adherent set bonus and more SP outweighs +1 DC (though I'd also change the armor to Legendary Coat of the Traveler or Legendary Mist-laden Vestment). Qual CHA on the slave lords crafted could then be Qual MRR or whatever. Fitting in LGS set bonus would require you to shuffle CON over to one of the Slaver's gear and losing Dodge so you can put LGS into Cloak. The second LGS would need to eat a 1 DC loss, the best slot being gloves. Armor again should be swapped from Shadow Caster to Coat of the Traveler or Mist-laden as +2 to all stats with 202% fort outweighs +1 Profane DC with 130% fort.

For Fey:
Goggles: Discerning Gaze
Helm: Legendary Hardened Hide (Slave Lords) - with Reaper bonus
Necklace: Slave Lords crafted - Sheltering 45/Impulse Lore 27/Spellsight 22/Quality CHA 4
Trinket: Bell of Warding (Adherent of the Mists)
Cloak: Legendary Phasecloak (Adherent of the Mists)
Belt: Legendary Silverthread Belt (Beacon of Magic)
Gloves: Bluescale Guides
Boots: Legendary Softsole Slippers (Adherent of the Mists)
Bracers: Slave Lords crafted - CON 17/Radiance Lore 27/Heal 22/Quality MRR 11
Ring 1: Legendary Spinneret (Slave Lords)
Ring 2: Slave Lords crafted - False Life 68/Resistance 14/Concentration 22/Quality PRR 11
Armor: Shadow Caster armor of your choice (for the +1 Profane)
Weapon 1: Nightmother's Sceptre
Weapon 2: Morninglord's Sceptre
Weapon 2 swap: LGS trip heal amp (30/50/70) - swap to this when you need to self heal or trigger temp HP

This one shuffles some items around to keep Slaver's bonus and take advantage of Phasecloak while not losing out on Dodge. It actually ends up with 1 higher CHA and 1% more dodge, though it does take a hit on saves (~8 each) and PRR/MRR compared to other setups. For Fey I'd rather give up the +1 DC from armor follow a balanced set (what I listed previously, but adjusted for Fey):

Goggles: Symphonic Lenses for Mobility or Garstone's Lenses for 71 more Devotion. Auto-repair would have future usefulness with Arty buff as well. (Adherent of the Mists)
Helm: Legendary Hardened Hide (Slave Lords) - with Reaper bonus
Necklace: Slave Lords crafted - Dexterity 17/Impulse Lore 27/Spellsight 22/Quality Fortification 45
Trinket: Bell of Warding (Adherent of the Mists)
Cloak: Legendary Mantle of Fury (Adherent of the Mists)
Belt: Legendary Silverthread Belt (Beacon of Magic)
Gloves: Legendary Gauntlets of Innate Arcanum (Adherent of the Mists)
Boots: Legendary Softsole Slippers (Adherent of the Mists)
Bracers: Slave Lords crafted - Wisdom 17/Radiance Lore 27/Heal 22/Quality PRR 11
Ring 1: Legendary Spinneret (Slave Lords)
Ring 2: Slave Lords Crafted - False Life 68/Resistance 14/Concentration 22/Quality CHA (to allow for LGS swap)
Armor: Legendary Coat of the Traveler/Legendary Mist-laden Vestment
Weapon 1: Nightmother's Sceptre
Weapon 2: Morninglord's Sceptre
Weapon 2 swap: LGS trip heal amp (30/50/70) - swap to this when you need to self heal or trigger temp HP

This setup has the second advantage of being a lot easier to fit in LGS gear as goggles are more of a filler for set bonus and having the CHA 4 doubled up on Slavers allows LGS in gloves slot (though that would cost some SP and 1 evo DC as well).

[slarden]

I'm using this build but wasn't really sold on the gear myself. I made my own set, which looks similar to the one posted above. I think we should compare and see if we can't find a "best" set.


Trinket: Legendary Symbol of the Slave Lords w/ Slave Lord's Sorcery (Alchemy Ritual) (Greater Conjuration and Globe of Imperial True Blood)
Head: Legendary Hardened Hide w/ Slave Lord's Sorcery (False Life 40)
Neck: Slave Lords Five Chains (Sheltering 45 / Impulse 185 / Spell Focus Mastery 6 / Quality Charisma 4) w/ Slave Lord's Sorcery (Vitality 20)
Goggles: Legendary Symphonic Lenses (Golem's Heart)
Bracers: Slave Lords Shackles ( Constitution 17 / Resistance 14 / Spellcraft 22 / Quality Spellcraft 5 ) w/ Slave Lord's Sorcery (Intelligence 8)
Body: Shadow Dragonhide Armor (Shadow Caster) (Striding 30 and Good Luck 2)
Cloak: Spell Saves 12 / Dodge 15 / Insightful Physical Sheltering 18 (Greater Illusion)
Ring: Slave Lords Five Rings (Dexterity 17 / Force Lore 29 / Heal 22 / Quality PRR 11) w/ Slave Lord's Sorcery (Insightful Intelligence 2)
Ring: Legendary Band of Insightful Commands (Greater Enchantment)
Boots: Legendary Softsole Slippers (Greater Necromancy)
Gloves: Devotion 159 / Healing Amplification 61 / Insightful Impulse 79 (Draconic Soul Gem)
Belt: Legendary Burnscar Sash (Greater Evocation)
Weapon: Nightmother's Sceptre (Radiance 138)
Weapon / Shield: Legendary Mutilator of Minds (Miridian Fragment)

I like the idea, and I appreciate you posting yoru gear set - hope others will share their optimal gear set. I will take a closer look at it tonight.

I've been noodling on an updated fleshy gear set while I've been working on bladeforged lifes. Slavers is the only must. Beyond that I strongly favor triple positive lgs stick, mysterious cloak, burnscar sash, littany and legendary spinneret. But I probably can't have all.

Initial thought is:

Goggles: LGS Triple Acid Crit Damage
Helm: Legendary Pansophic Circlet
Necklace: Slavers
Trinket: Slavers
Cloak: Mysterious Cloak
Belt: Burnscar Sash
Ring: Slavers
Ring: Legendary Spinneret
Gloves: Legendary Gauntlets of the Innate Arcanum
Boots: Softsole Slippers
Bracers: Slavers
Armor: Legendary Coat of the Traveller
Weapon 1: Nightmother (4 piece otto, 4 charisma total)
Weapon 2: LGS Triple Positive Healing Amp, Ins Con +7, Exc Charisma +2
Quiver: Epic Quiver of Alacrity

Or if I value hamp more than the acid crit damage legendary symphonic goggles and cannith crafted gloves with hamp. I am curious to see what others come up with!

[DrawingGuy]

Admittedly a lot of my thought for dodge comes from not wearing Medium armor - by going that route, 9% from Reaper and 3% from PLs would cap your 12%, so you wouldn't need a dodge item. You also don't need Litany beyond possibly a quick swap for clickies as the armor covers you along with providing +9 saves and 72% more fort and 5 more PRR.

I only have a few comments on your setup:
- You no longer need 7 ins CON on your LGS stick if you are using Slave Lords trinket, which gives 8. Use a remover tool and replace it with 50 HAMP. This will put you close to your old HAMP levels without a hamp gear piece. If CHA is uneven, you could do 70 instead of +2 exceptional, though that is a lot tougher to replace... but I consider 1 CHA for 70 HAMP a better argument than 35% acid crit damage + 162 sp + 1 evo DC + whatever you give up on slavers for 4 CHA to get 61 hamp and only 28/14 spellpower on a single type.
- While Epic Quiver of Alacrity gives you lowered spell casting threat along with the striding, the -50 Concentration can make it impossible to cast res scrolls during combat. I'd suggest to go to a standard upgraded Quiver of Alacrity.


Those are the only two bits I'd really change for someone that wants to perma-run an LGS stick. As for what to run on the Slavers gear, this is what I'd go for:

CON 17/Radiance Lore 27/Concentration 22/Quality CON 4
Sheltering 45/Impulse Lore 27/Spellsight 22/Quality PRR 11
DEX 17/Resists 14/Heal 22/Quality Fort 45

Factors for choosing Slave Lords crafted abilities: (in order of priority - I go down the line if it is capped in some way or covered by other gear)
- Prefix: CHA 17 > CON 17 > Sheltering 45 > DEX 17 > WIS 17 > False Life 68
- Suffix (assuming a universal spellpower item with pansophic or morninglord): Impulse Lore 27 > Pact appropriate Lore 27 > Radiance Lore 27 > Resists 14 > Healing Lore 27 > Impulse Spell Power 185 > Pact appropriate Spell power 185 > Radiance Spell Power 185
- Extra (assuming Nightmother stick): Spellsight 22 > Heal 22 > Concentration 22 (for scroll usage) > Balance 22 > UMD 7
- Bonus: CHA 4 > CON 4 > Quality Fort 45 > PRR 11 > MRR 11 > DEX 4 > WIS 4 > Quality False Life 16

[slarden]

Admittedly a lot of my thought for dodge comes from not wearing Medium armor - by going that route, 9% from Reaper and 3% from PLs would cap your 12%, so you wouldn't need a dodge item. You also don't need Litany beyond possibly a quick swap for clickies as the armor covers you along with providing +9 saves and 72% more fort and 5 more PRR.

I only have a few comments on your setup:
- You no longer need 7 ins CON on your LGS stick if you are using Slave Lords trinket, which gives 8. Use a remover tool and replace it with 50 HAMP. This will put you close to your old HAMP levels without a hamp gear piece. If CHA is uneven, you could do 70 instead of +2 exceptional, though that is a lot tougher to replace... but I consider 1 CHA for 70 HAMP a better argument than 35% acid crit damage + 162 sp + 1 evo DC + whatever you give up on slavers for 4 CHA to get 61 hamp and only 28/14 spellpower on a single type.
- While Epic Quiver of Alacrity gives you lowered spell casting threat along with the striding, the -50 Concentration can make it impossible to cast res scrolls during combat. I'd suggest to go to a standard upgraded Quiver of Alacrity.


Those are the only two bits I'd really change for someone that wants to perma-run an LGS stick. As for what to run on the Slavers gear, this is what I'd go for:

CON 17/Radiance Lore 27/Concentration 22/Quality CON 4
Sheltering 45/Impulse Lore 27/Spellsight 22/Quality PRR 11
DEX 17/Resists 14/Heal 22/Quality Fort 45

Factors for choosing Slave Lords crafted abilities: (in order of priority - I go down the line if it is capped in some way or covered by other gear)
- Prefix: CHA 17 > CON 17 > Sheltering 45 > DEX 17 > WIS 17 > False Life 68
- Suffix (assuming a universal spellpower item with pansophic or morninglord): Impulse Lore 27 > Pact appropriate Lore 27 > Radiance Lore 27 > Resists 14 > Healing Lore 27 > Impulse Spell Power 185 > Pact appropriate Spell power 185 > Radiance Spell Power 185
- Extra (assuming Nightmother stick): Spellsight 22 > Heal 22 > Concentration 22 (for scroll usage) > Balance 22 > UMD 7
- Bonus: CHA 4 > CON 4 > Quality Fort 45 > PRR 11 > MRR 11 > DEX 4 > WIS 4 > Quality False Life 16

I definitely appreciate the ideas and suggestions.

I will have to test it out when I am back to a fleshy or when I take a break getting racials on alts:

Goggles: Legendary Greensteel (20% Acid Crit Damage, 10% Acid Crit Damage, 5% Acid Crit Damage) / Swap Triple Positive for some fights
Helm: Legendary Pansophic Circlet (Greater Necromancy slotted)
Necklace: Slavers Dex 17, Resistance 14, Concentration 22, Quality Fortification 45 (Greater Conjuration Slotted)
Trinket: Cannith Crafted Spell Saves 12, Healing Amp 61, Ins Constitution 7
Cloak: Legendary Slavemaster's Cloak (Ins Resistance 6, Spearblock VIII, Protection 14, Ins False Life 33, Draconic Soul Gem Slotted
Belt: Legendary Burnscar Sash (29% fire acid lore 202 acid and fire stacking spellpower (Greater Enchantment Slotted)
Ring: Sheltering 45, Impulse 185, Heal 22, Quality MRR, Globe of Imperial Blood Slotted
Gloves: Legendary Gauntlets of of Innate Arcanum Charisma 19, Evocation Focus 8, Quality Charisma 4, Wizardry 412 (Greater Evocation Slotted)
Boots: Legendary Softsole Slippers Ghostly, Ins Charisma 9, Greater Illusion Slotted
Ring 2: Legendary Spinneret Spell Lore 15, Quality Potency 32, Quality Spell Focus 32, False Life 40 Slotted
Bracers: Slavers Con 17, Kinetic Lore 27%, Spellsight 22, Quality Con +4, Spell Agility -15 slotted
Armor: Coat of the Traveller medium armor Fort 202, Parrying 9, Phy Sheltering 50, Profane Well Rounded +2, Good Luck +2 Slotted

This gives me a 108 necro and 108 evocation DC.

I may be willing to give up 2 char going 17/4 charisma instead of Dex/Quality Fort on a slavers item allowing me to have a two piece LGS set for either 18% HP or Crits/18% SP with the second piece replacing gloves. Gonna wait until I get there to decide or do what I do now and keep both options open. No setup is perfect, but overall I like this one. 141 healing amp from items, +43 saves from items, solid acid spellpower, crit chance and crit damage for energy burst and pact damage.

Randomall is my warlock at the moment and he is my 4th main, also lacking a heroic quiver because I missed last year's anniversary event due to injury and he scarcely ran the old abbot raid (honestly I farmed it with a friend and my role was to jump somewhere and die to take advantage of some bug and they would raise me at end - I had no idea what I was doing). Randowl my main is working on racials - he has heroic quiver and will likely use it. I usually only play 1 warlock in my main 6, but might go with 2.

I am curious to see what other gear sets people came up with.

[DrawingGuy]

An interesting choice going for the Slave Master's Cloak. Though you will want to double check that you can apply a Slave Lord's bonus to it first, as last I checked, it was a pretty glitched up item... but if it works would let you sit with some nice spell saves and more HAMP and HP, though with some minor trade-offs. The biggest trade-off is the LGS HP combo you're looking for. By keeping it as a Slaver's Trinket, you can swap LGS crit goggles and Mysterious Cloak for LGS HP goggles and cloak. Cloak is also still a nice flexible slot for absorbs like trinket is, and for those that are rolling Light armor to save a feat or Regalia to DPS mode, can still fit in dodge either via crafting (Kalador's Spell Save/Dodge/Ins PRR is pretty perfect). So while I agree Slave Master's Cloak (as long as it can accept bonus) and a crafted trinket is technically better, I'd stick with the original gear plan if you want LGS HP flexibility. Personally I plan on loading 70 HAMP for my t3 LGS stick over 2 exc CHA. Actually going to TR my Fey into Goo sometime soon here as Burnscar sash and Triple Crit Acid is simply too big of a boost to ignore.

Going back to Slaver's crafted, I realize you may be set by whatever you already have crafted, but if you're not, I'd still consider Radiance Lore 27 over Impulse 185.
- Evil Damage is less often resisted than Piercing damage, so having it be able to hit as hard as possible with Utterdark stance is still important. I actually favor Utterdark because of that despite the 1d6 bonus Piercing gets for undead heavy content as almost all undead types resist piercing but still take full evil.
- Stricken and Consume both use Radiance/Alignment being Chaos based and do solid damage.

54 Spell Power is still a hit, especially on builds that run pulse + ruin + gruin, but I consider the general need of Alignment damage more important. Though this does bring something else I've been thinking about: Possibly dropping Greater Ruin and maybe even Ruin. That gives room for Intensify, which is 75 spellpower to all my casted spells -- all of which at no additional cost other than Evards, Pulse and Ruin (if I keep it). Dropping the other Ruin would give room for Epic Spell Pen (if you also dropped med armor), or Arcane Insight to ensure you can CC/Instakill any mean mob spawn situations.

[slarden]

An interesting choice going for the Slave Master's Cloak. Though you will want to double check that you can apply a Slave Lord's bonus to it first, as last I checked, it was a pretty glitched up item... but if it works would let you sit with some nice spell saves and more HAMP and HP, though with some minor trade-offs. The biggest trade-off is the LGS HP combo you're looking for. By keeping it as a Slaver's Trinket, you can swap LGS crit goggles and Mysterious Cloak for LGS HP goggles and cloak. Cloak is also still a nice flexible slot for absorbs like trinket is, and for those that are rolling Light armor to save a feat or Regalia to DPS mode, can still fit in dodge either via crafting (Kalador's Spell Save/Dodge/Ins PRR is pretty perfect). So while I agree Slave Master's Cloak (as long as it can accept bonus) and a crafted trinket is technically better, I'd stick with the original gear plan if you want LGS HP flexibility. Personally I plan on loading 70 HAMP for my t3 LGS stick over 2 exc CHA. Actually going to TR my Fey into Goo sometime soon here as Burnscar sash and Triple Crit Acid is simply too big of a boost to ignore.

All great points. The issue with Slave Master's cloak in theory (haven't checked yet) is that both Parrying and Insightful Resistance are typed the same so I may not get any bonus from the insightful resistance. At the moment I am getting 1 DC from the +2 exc charisma, but will revisit if I get a +8 cha tome or need to free up a twist. If I was going to give up a DC it would be by replacing the gloves with char 17 and quality cha 4 on the slavers item with dex and quality fort. This would allow me to have a 2nd LGS piece and I could really use the 18% hp. Triple positive and Triple negative both worked well for me in the past. Trading 1 DC for 18% hp is a harder choice than it was with my original gear set because I would also be losing the 35% acid crit damage.

The reality is that if you invest in 5 piece slaver set for 5 DC something will suffer besides DC. So our gear set differences basically revolve around our individual playstyle and what we find to be an acceptable sacrifice for the DC. I definitely took some ideas from the gear suggestions made, but I still really like my 1000 temp hp, exec +2 cha and hamp

Going back to Slaver's crafted, I realize you may be set by whatever you already have crafted, but if you're not, I'd still consider Radiance Lore 27 over Impulse 185.
- Evil Damage is less often resisted than Piercing damage, so having it be able to hit as hard as possible with Utterdark stance is still important. I actually favor Utterdark because of that despite the 1d6 bonus Piercing gets for undead heavy content as almost all undead types resist piercing but still take full evil.
- Stricken and Consume both use Radiance/Alignment being Chaos based and do solid damage.

My default damage type is force for the eld blast. It synergizes well with tentacles, arcane pulse, ruin and greater ruin. I only use light/alignment for consume/stricken/divine wrath and I am still getting the 15% lore from spinneret. Consume and Stricken are free and nice, but not a major source of direct damage. I feel I am getting alot of benefit out of the 54 spellpower with my everyday spells and in boss fights. I don't think your suggestion is wrong, but to me it's more of a toss up rather than an absolute best choice. I am optimizing around force because it's used more.

With my new gear set I am optimizing spellpower and crits around my big bursts and aoe (with the exception of divine wrath). So the combo of evard's, mass hold, energy burst, wave should be a little better and divine wrath won't be quite as good, but the dps was always lower on divine wrath anyhow and it's partially in there for some healing.

54 Spell Power is still a hit, especially on builds that run pulse + ruin + gruin, but I consider the general need of Alignment damage more important. Though this does bring something else I've been thinking about: Possibly dropping Greater Ruin and maybe even Ruin. That gives room for Intensify, which is 75 spellpower to all my casted spells -- all of which at no additional cost other than Evards, Pulse and Ruin (if I keep it). Dropping the other Ruin would give room for Epic Spell Pen (if you also dropped med armor), or Arcane Insight to ensure you can CC/Instakill any mean mob spawn situations.

If I was running in an r10 group I would optimize around spell pen and DC more than I do including possibly dropping ruin/greater ruin to get to the 110+ DC range. R10 pugs are usually cherry-picking exploitable quests and my friends prefer lower skulls - 3ish. When soloing I primarily run 3-4 skull, but have sampling 5s more even though none of my characters benefit from high reaper hp. In lower skulls ruin and greater ruin help alot against the iron golem bosses in ravenloft and speeding up boss fights in general. It's unfortunate that vulnerability doesn't benefit ruin/greater ruin, but even without that it's good.

If I ever got into a reaper raiding group or 10 skull group I would definitely change a few things, but many of the raiders I used to run with left the game or are on the TR train.

[DrawingGuy]

Personally I don't get choosing to give up 2 CHA as the better option over 1 CHA. If you give up that 1 CHA twist, you could instead take Draconic Presence to get +3 on your PKs. This would mean that you would have the same Evo, 2 higher PK (the only Illusion spell that DC matters on a non-gnome warlock), with the others taking the 1 hit (rather than just everything taking 1 hit)... all while having even higher heal amp and more SP. But I understand the decision is not easy.

As for Wrath, mine normally hits for 5-10k with Stricken and Consume hitting pretty solid as well. Your logic is sound, though, especially if you never use Utterdark. Personally I've been thinking about rolling Legendary Earthen Mantle. That would give the 185 Force spell power along with 2 more Will saves due to the WIS bonus. Trying to fit 5 Slavers really does come with sacrifice, but Nightmother stick has made "every DC" rather than one or two DC builds possible, so can't really complain. It was a silly powerful item to give casters.

And now for Ruin/Gruin -- there is absolutely no question that it has its uses. I also need to start thinking about doing Acid rather than Sonic damage as Sonic can DPS golems rather than heal eliminating the need for Ruins on them (though there is still stricken/consume/pulse/wrath). Not in the mood to try the math to see if 75 more spell power on casted spells outweighs the Ruin usage on bosses, but it certainly is more SP friendly due to half those being SLAs that would not be increased by Intensify. This decision would be purely playstyle based - I may try and see if I enjoy it or miss them too much.

[Heathir]

For Fiend/Goo:
Goggles: Legendary Symphonic Lenses (Adherent of the Mists)
Helm: Legendary Hardened Hide (Slave Lords) - with Reaper bonus
Necklace: Slave Lords crafted - Sheltering 45/Impulse Lore 27/Spellsight 22/Quality Fortification 45
Trinket: Legendary Symbol of the Slave Lords (Slave Lords)
Cloak: Legendary Mantle of Fury (Adherent of the Mists)
Belt: Legendary Burnscar Sash
Gloves: Legendary Gauntlets of Innate Arcanum (Adherent of the Mists)
Boots: Legendary Softsole Slippers (Adherent of the Mists)
Bracers: Slave Lords crafted - Wisdom 17/Radiance Lore 27/Heal 22/Quality PRR 11
Ring 1: Legendary Spinneret (Slave Lords)
Ring 2: Legendary Cursebane Ring (Adherent of the Mists)
Armor: Legendary Coat of the Traveler (though I use Legendary Mist-laden Vestment as I don't take the med armor feat)
Weapon 1: Nightmother's Sceptre
Weapon 2: Morninglord's Sceptre
Weapon 2 swap: LGS trip heal amp (30/50/70) - swap to this when you need to self heal or trigger temp HP


If you were to convert this to a heroic version what changes would you make?

I understand Barovian and Macabre Swap, Heroic versions vs Legendary Versions.

BUt the Symphonic lens seems redundant unless you using it for the Mobility. The guantles of Innate Arcanum give +6 Cha and so does the Symphonic. I would say swap in Blurfingered but then your losing Adherrent set. Maybe move a slavelords crafted there and pick up an adherrent elsewhere?

I am only asking since i am going to use a warlock framework to complete the rest of my racials and heroics. Figure i might as well do it in reaper 1. I have most or can get the heroic versions of the legendary you listed. I assume the results would be the same changing them from legendary to heroic. Basically just looking at a set up that comes in at lvl 8 to 10 and can run all the way to 20. Which ravenloft and slave lords last that long pretty well.

Side question: what would be a good layout at lvl 5? 1-4 I can zerg with a cleric hireling and a Carnifex

I intend to swap gear 2 times if possible, lvl 5 and level 10. Should be more than enough for Reaper 1.

[slarden]

Personally I don't get choosing to give up 2 CHA as the better option over 1 CHA. If you give up that 1 CHA twist, you could instead take Draconic Presence to get +3 on your PKs. This would mean that you would have the same Evo, 2 higher PK (the only Illusion spell that DC matters on a non-gnome warlock), with the others taking the 1 hit (rather than just everything taking 1 hit)... all while having even higher heal amp and more SP. But I understand the decision is not easy.

Pk doesn't scale well as you go up skulls because instead of targeting the low save you are targeting the lowest 2 saves with random save bonuses. I find very few enemies to target and I don't think increasing the DC by 3 will help much. That is the main reason I don't consider twisting in Draconic Presence. I prefer using that twist to balance out an odd charisma or if I don't need it saves. In this case whether I give up 1 or cha it doesn't matter because I am at an even number - either way it's 1 DC.

Every gear decision has a cost. The reason I don't want to use triple positive LGS as a swap item isn't just the charisma, it isn't just the healing amp, it isn't just the temp hp it's all of the above. And if I used another important item in my off hand, every time I swapped on my lgs I would face a delay which could cost dps and I am losing whatever benefit I would be getting from the other item. In your case PRR and MRR. I use swap items for many things, but I don't like using swap items that are important in the middle of fights.

As for Wrath, mine normally hits for 5-10k with Stricken and Consume hitting pretty solid as well. Your logic is sound, though, especially if you never use Utterdark. Personally I've been thinking about rolling Legendary Earthen Mantle. That would give the 185 Force spell power along with 2 more Will saves due to the WIS bonus. Trying to fit 5 Slavers really does come with sacrifice, but Nightmother stick has made "every DC" rather than one or two DC builds possible, so can't really complain. It was a silly powerful item to give casters.

It's not that these things aren't good, it's that we are talking about a difference of 12% radiance lore vs. 54 impulse spellpower. Something is going to be weaker regardless of the choice.

In the case of mobs I might throw out a tentacles, maybe a mass hold maybe not, energy burst, divine wrath, wave, cone and then maybe some waves cones or even fingers/devours to finish off the mob if it's not already down. When factoring in that 12% extra lore on just the divine wrath, it's a tiny amount of dps on that burst rotation. Certainly not enough dps to lose sleep over.

In the case of bosses I might use consume, stricken, arcane pulse unmeta'd x4, arcane pulse metad, ruin, greater ruin, some single target eld blasts and more of the same. If I look at just the 12% lore for consume and stricken on the boss rotation, again it's very small and I get much more dps from force.

Even if you are right that the light lore 12% results in more damage than the 54 impulse, the difference is quite negligible. To me this boils down to a minor playstyle difference and not anything significant

And now for Ruin/Gruin -- there is absolutely no question that it has its uses. I also need to start thinking about doing Acid rather than Sonic damage as Sonic can DPS golems rather than heal eliminating the need for Ruins on them (though there is still stricken/consume/pulse/wrath). Not in the mood to try the math to see if 75 more spell power on casted spells outweighs the Ruin usage on bosses, but it certainly is more SP friendly due to half those being SLAs that would not be increased by Intensify. This decision would be purely playstyle based - I may try and see if I enjoy it or miss them too much.

I actually prefer fey, but being able to synergize my energy burst, pact damage and to a lesser extent dragon breath on 1 element is the reason I go with goo,. The other benefit is that will saves are generally easier to hit and not subject to evasion, but if I could take sonic dragon breath and sonic energy burst I would go fey for sure.

Ruin isn't just about bosses for me. On low to mid skulls it's my easy button way to deal with death immune reapers and champs. Again, not saying I am "right" as the only right answer is the one that works best for you. This is how I like to operate with my playstyle.

[slarden]

Side question: what would be a good layout at lvl 5? 1-4 I can zerg with a cleric hireling and a Carnifex

I intend to swap gear 2 times if possible, lvl 5 and level 10. Should be more than enough for Reaper 1.

This is what I use:

Level 1-9:

Gloves: Radiance of Healing Amp
Ring 1: Light Lore of Sheltering
Ring 2: Persuastion False Life
Trinket: Spell Saves Wizardry
Boots: Spellsight of Strength
Belt: Dodge Deathblock
Hat: Concentration, Spell Focus Mastery
Goggles: Intelligence, Spell Penetration
Bracers: Resistance, Fortification
Armor: Fearsome Invulnerability
Necklace: Constitution Charisma
Weapon 1: Impulse of Force Lore
Weapon 2: Corrosion of Acid Lore
Hat: Intelligence Spellsight (a little boost to universal spell power)

Although at low levels I use deadly, etc. with swords and then once I have cone switch to casting.

Level 10+:

Gloves: Impulse, Resistance, Insightful Impulse
Ring 1: Force Lore , False Life, Insightful Con
Ring 2: Acid Lore, Sheltering, Insightful PRR
Trinket: Light Lore, Spell Penetration, Insightful MRR
Boots: Spellsight, Strength, Ins Spellsight
Belt: Dodge, Deathblock, Ins Dodge
Weapon 1: Radiance, Insightful Radiance
Weapon 2: Corrosion, Insightful Corrosion
Hat: Intelligence, Spell Focus Mastery, Ins Intelligence (small boost to universal spellpower)
Necklace: Constitution, Charisma, Ins Charisma
Goggles: Conj focus, Ins Conj focus, Ins spell pen (I have also evocation, transmutation and necro versions). I use conj until higher heroic levels for the dps and switch to necro at higher levels.
Armor: Vitality, Healing Amp, Parrying
Cloak: Mysterious Cloak with master's gift and feather fall slotted

I came up with the above before heroic burnscar sash was avaialble and I haven't changed my gear set, but perhaps this setup with heroic burnscar sash for the extra 77 spellpower from level 10+

Level 10 with heroic burnscar sash+:

Gloves: Impulse, Resistance, Insightful Impulse
Ring 1: Force Lore , False Life, Insightful Con
Ring 2: Acid Lore, Sheltering, Insightful PRR
Trinket: Light Lore, Spell Penetration, Insightful MRR
Boots: Dodge Strength, Ins Dodge
Belt: Burnscar Sash
Weapon 1: Radiance, Insightful Radiance
Weapon 2: Corrosion, Insightful Corrosion
Hat: Intelligence, Spell Focus Mastery, Ins Spellsight
Necklace: Constitution, Charisma, Ins Charisma
Goggles: Conj focus, Ins Conj focus, Ins spell pen (I have also evocation and necro versions). I use conj until higher heroic levels for the dps.
Bracers: Spell Saves, Fortification, Ins fortification
Armor: Vitality, Healing Amp, Parrying
Cloak: Mysterious Cloak with master's gift and feather fall slotted

You lose spellsight but slot a +5 augment losing only 7 spellsight but gaining 77 acid spellpower.

[Heathir]

Thats alot of Cannith crafting. I don't have near that level of collectibles banked. And lets just agree that the auction house is horrible for buying collectibles. Rarely find much on their or its WAY overpriced. Its actually faster and easier to farm slavers and ravenloft then to farm collectibles.

Would the gear list be good using heroic versions of the legendaries he listed, or does cannith overpower ravenloft and slavelords?

[slarden]

Thats alot of Cannith crafting. I don't have near that level of collectibles banked. And lets just agree that the auction house is horrible for buying collectibles. Rarely find much on their or its WAY overpriced. Its actually faster and easier to farm slavers and ravenloft then to farm collectibles.

Would the gear list be good using heroic versions of the legendaries he listed, or does cannith overpower ravenloft and slavelords?

I would think a level 10 beacon of magic + adherent of the mists set would beat a level 10 canntih crafted set spellpower, crits and prr. You'd be behind on MRR with the 60 cap, but if you put reaper points to reflex saves that would probably offset it quite a bit since those reflex save bonuses are significant at heroic levels.

The only real advantage of cannith crafting is the 3 useful slots per item so you can essentially slot everything you want. With named gear you get better bonuses, but you might be making a few compromises to do so.

I completely agree, it will be easier to get a level 10 ravenloft set than to craft.