Voodu Warlock: A Pure Warlock Enlightened Spirit Tank Project companion thread

[Vooduspyce]

I am currently working on updating the build post for U57

I am currently working on the Voodu Warlock 2023 video series for YouTube and I play this build regularly on my Twitch channel Vooduspyce, where I welcome you to stop by if you have questions about the build or anything DDO

This is post was originally the companion thread to my 2015 video series: Voodu Warlock: A Pure Warlock Enlightened Spirit Tank Project but I would refer you to the Voodu Warlock 2023 video series for contemporary build information.

This build is good for new players, warlock past lives, Hard Core, mid skull reaper quest tanking and non-reaper raid tanking and for melee players who don't like casters but want to get warlock past lives. It's efficacy can be pushed with past lives and reaper points. With gobs of past lives and reaper points I enjoy playing Voodu in legendary R8-10 questing.

The high survivability will carry new players through moments where they might otherwise perish. It can serve as a confidence booster and bridge for those who are struggling to perform in higher difficulty play. It is not meant to solo but can do so up to about R3, past lives and reaper points will affect performance. This is not a high dps build, so soloing can sometimes be slow, especially during boss beat downs, with its biggest drawback being low single target dps.

In each episode of both video series I discuss gear, enhancement, feats, etc. and I also offer tips and advice largely geared for newer players.

I originally called this a "project" because in 2015 I was still learning warlock and I was trying things along the way that were new for me. Warlock was very new at the time and the 2015 series included my first experiences of warlock in epic levels.

I do not recommend this build for high skull end game content unless it is backed with past lives and reaper points. Regarding tanking, this build is only good for low-end raid tanking like legendary hard and epic R1. I have not tried to tank some raids beyond hard, including Skeletons, Hunt, MA, LOB, Dryad and THTH beyond normal. others like Strahd and Baba up to R1 and I have pushed older raids like Deathwyrm and Thunder Peak a bit further. With an abundance of past lives and max reaper points I am comfortable tanking most R10 legendary quests but often just do R8's.

Video series episodes are below and I monitor and update this thread as I make changes. I also welcome you to ask questions in real time during my live streams M-F 9am-3pm ET at Twitch channel Vooduspyce.

CLASS: pure warlock (the capstone is very nice! see note on multiclassing below)
RACE: Shifter (Beasthide) is now my recommended race. Most race choices are fine but I would not recommend half orc. More note about Shifter below.
PACT: Fey (most pacts will work with this build but I would not recommend Abyss, more notes below)
ALIGNMENT: Any for Fey or Carceri Storm, Fiend and Abyss cannot be good, Great Old One cannot be lawful, Celestial cannot be chaotic

Multiclassing: The Enlightened Spirit capstone is very valuable, most significantly giving +20% competence bonus to hp, but also gives +2 con, +2 cha, +10 Universal Spell Power and +20 Light Spell Power, so consider carefully before choosing to multiclass.

ABILITY SCORES

Starting Shifter 32 point build: Str 8 ~ Dex 10 ~ Con 18 ~ Int 12 ~ Wis 8 ~ Cha 16. Increase constitution when leveling.
For other races or point builds just start with max con, high charisma and some points in intelligence for skill points.

As a tank, this is a constitution build, not a charisma build. As an Enlightened Spirit, constitution is extra valuable, not only because the added hit points increase survivability, which compliments the close-quarters playstyle of a bursting warlock, but because high constitution improves the effectiveness of Shining Through and Brilliance, both of which are highly prized Enlightened Spirit enhancements. It also benefits from Stanch in the Tainted Scholar tree, which this build also makes use of. Charisma shouldn't be forgotten, but is not as important on this tanky burster compared to other types of warlocks which are more DC-based. This is not a DC or max spell power build, it's primary role is tank.

IMPORTANT: I do not recommend playing as an Enlightened Spirit prior to getting Eldritch Burst at level 3. Up to that point you can play as a blaster, getting chain shape from the Tainted Scholar tree as soon as possible. For reaper I prefer to wait until at least level 9 with 34 action points (rank 44) to respec to Enlightened Spirit, which is when I can spend 23 points in ES to get important tier 4 abilities medium armor proficiency and Brilliance and also have 11 points in Tainted Scholar to get Utterdark Blast and Stanch. Many prefer, as I often do, to wait until level 12 when you can get tier 5 Spirit Blast (the second burst) because ES is not very fun to play with just one burst. Up to this point you can play either as a Soul Eater cone shape blaster or Tainted Scholar chain shape blaster, whichever you prefer. While cone shape is more powerful, I prefer chain shape for low levels, which allows me to pick up some very useful Tainted Scholar enhancements like Stanch and Wand and Scroll Mastery. Alternatively, you can play as an Enlightened Spirit with support from the Feydark Illusionist tree for early levels.


HARDCORE

Hardcore season 5 was the first time I played the build on Hardcore and the first time I played it as a first lifer. I did the 5k run but did not do any reaper goals. I was very pleased with the performance. I played it as a human for the extra feat and skills, used Don't Count Me Out for extra unconscious range but nothing else from human except core stats if needed to keep stats even. I played as a chain shape blaster until level 12 then I respec'd to my Enlightened Spirit bursting build. I prioritized the Shield Proficiency and Mastery feats for survivability and postponed Maximize and Empower until level 12 and 15. After HC5 I streamed a retrospective of my experience with the build on Hardcore, show stats and minor adjustments I made to the build for Hardcore and discussed quests I did and quests I skipped during my heroic 5k run. You can watch the video on my YouTube channel at HC5 Voodu Warlock 5k Retrospective.

I placed 16th in the Hardcore season 6 favor leaderboard. For Hardcore season 6 I chose the Celestial pact for buffs. It was the first time I went past level 20 on Hardcore and I was very pleased with performance, though I stopped at level 27. The entire life was livestreamed but unfortunately much of it was lost. You can check the HC6 livestreams that I managed to highlight (14 videos on Twitch) and some HC6 raid tanking will be featured in the Voodu Warlock 2023 YouTube series.


SKILLS

Max Intimidate, Spellcraft, Balance, Concentration and enough points in Jump to have a standing 40 by end game, at which point I swap the Jump spell for Nightsheild (notes on this below). 1 rank in Tumble and UMD. Remaining points in Perform (if Fey Pact) and Heal. For reaper heroic leveling: Max UMD for heroics in order to use healing wands and scrolls as soon and as effective as possible, which are very important in reaper questing. UMD will be plenty high enough once you reach epic levels, so when epic reincarnating you can change out the UMD skill points to perform or other more relevant skills for epic levels. You can also max Jump if you are going to take You've Got My Back from Feydark Illusionist, because using the Shield and Nightshield spells will give you an additional +10 PRR and MRR.

FEATS

Level 1: Quicken Spell
Level 3: Force of Personality
Level 6: Maximize Spell
Level 9: Empower Spell
Level 12: Shield proficiency (general)
Level 15: Shield Mastery
Level 18: Improved Shield Mastery
Level 21: Epic Eldritch Blast
Level 22: (Epic Destiny Feat): Epic Pact Dice
Level 24: Greater Shield Mastery
Level 25: (Epic Destiny Feat): Elusive Target
Level 27: Epic Damage Reduction
Level 28: (Epic Destiny Feat): Perfect Shield Mastery
Level 30: Epic Reflexes
Level 30: Scion of Celestia
Level 31: (Epic Destiny Feat): Legendary Toughness


Numbers below are self buffed with Shield and Nightshield, Tensers, raged, Elite Spider Cult Mask, no metas, boosts, pots, etc. at level 30 outside of reaper but includes innate tier 2-6 Grim Barricade and Dire Thaumaturge, which are always on. Reaper numbers are with all reaper trees maxed. Gearset below. Numbers were during a Shifter life (Beasthide).

Stats are from U53 at level 30. I will update with U57 level 32 stats soon.

HP: 3964 (Reaper 5425)
Max Temp HP: 7043 (Reaper 9169) (fully buffed with Shining Through, Stanch, Yugoloth and remnant con potions)
SP: 2500
AC: 282
PRR: 367 (Reaper 388)
MRR: 255 (Reaper 255)
Dodge: 17% (Reaper 18%)
Saves: 95/70/87 (Reaper 101/86/89)
Heal amp: 262
Fortification: 330%
Intimidate: 127
Light spell power: 471


ENHANCEMENTS



I just finished trying the build with all races and find that Beasthide Shifter is a great choice for the added tanky stats that come with Beasthide Shifter, which include standing +3 constitution, 30 healing amplification, +3 intimidate, +6 natural armor and while raging (100% uptime) you have an additional +7 constitution, +22 PRR, +5% quality hit points, +4 AC and +20% threat generation.

Note that Beasthide Shifter cannot cast while raging within the enhancement tree, so raging isn't used until epics when Draconic Incarnation tier 2 Draconic Rage is taken, so if you are just doing a heroic 1-20 then I do not recommend Beasthide Shifter.

If you do not have the extra racial action points to spend, you can omit the points spent in Feydark Illusionist, provided that you get magic missile immunity either from tier 2 Enlightened Spirit or cast the Shield or Nightshield spell. When not playing shifter, I would spend 12 points in Falconry for tier 3 Conditioned which gives +5% quality hit points, however this is redundant with Beasthide Shifter giving +5% quality hit points in tier 4 Threatening Shift.

For Reaper heroic leveling I highly recommend Wand and Scroll Mastery enhancement in Tainted Scholar, which is very nice to boost healing from wands and scrolls on self and others, which helps to mitigate some of the self-healing penalties in reaper mode.


HEROIC PAST LIVES

Sorc past lives are nice for bonuses to evocation DC for pact damage and Arcane Tempest. Cleric Past lives are nice for bonuses to conjuration DC (Evard's Black Tentacles and Web are Conjuration). Wizard and Favored Soul past lives are nice for up to a +9 bonus to spell penetration (Evard's has a spell pen. check). Fighter past lives are good for up to +3 bonus to stun DC's, which benefits Throw the Boom from Unyielding Sentinel. My current heroic past lives are 3 sorc, 3 wiz, 3 fvs, 3 wlk, 3 pal, 3 cleric, 3 barbarian, 3 bard, 3 Alchemist and 1 each of the remaining classes for heroic completionist. For past life prioritization tips, see my video How to Prioritize Past Lives.


EPIC PAST LIVES

4 stances: At end game I use Fast Healing, Ancient Knowledge, Brace and Skill Mastery. Focus on getting 3 each of these EPL's first. After you get these, focus on additional Divine, Primal and Martial EPL's for bonuses to PRR, HPs and AC. Voodu has all 52 epic past lives. During heroic leveling, where higher defense isn't as important, I use Colors of the Queen and Energy Criticals instead of Fast Healing and Ancient Knowledge.


ICONIC PAST LIVES

Stance: Shadar-Kai for the auto incorporeality, which is another layer of defense. If you don't have then use Morninglord for +10 light and alignment spell power per stack up to +30. PDK past lives give PRR, so great for adding to defensiveness for any toon. Shardar-Kai past lives give dodge. My current iconic past lives are 3 Deep Gnome, 3 Morninglord, 3 PDK, 3 Shadar-kai, 3 Bladeforged and 3 Tiefling Scoundrel.


RACIAL PAST LIVES

As a constitution build I prioritized 3 each of Warforged and Dwarf, followed by charisma races Tiefling, Half-elf and Dragonborn. Voodu has all racial past lives for Racial Completionist.


EPIC DESTINY



I am primarily focused in Unyielding Sentinel for tankyness. My support destinies are Exalted Angel for Healing Pillar and Mass Cure Moderate Wounds SLA and Draconic Incarnation for the ability to cast while raging as a Beasthide Shifter.


PACT

This build is workable with any pact. I Chose Fey pact originally because I really like abundant step-like abilities, so Misty Escape was perfect for me. I regularly use wings from Exalted Angel however with my tanky playstyle, Misty Escape allows me to move through and directly into the middle of a group of mobs and start bursting from within. Misty Escape is also a nice way to escape when you're trapped, as it allows you to move through mobs. I also really like that Fey pact has Otto's Irresistible Dance, which is great to use on champions and reapers. Fey pact also includes Dark Delirium, which is a nice no-save stun to use on a mob that you don't want to deal with for a bit.

I played through the 3 new pacts: Carceri Storm, Celestial and Abyss. See this post later in this thread to a summary of my thoughts about these pacts.


GEAR (end game)

Goggles: Legendary Lenses of the Orator Augment: Charisma +14
Head: Legendary Crown of Snow Augment: Diamond of Strength +12
Neck: Legendary Standard Issue Sigil (mythic +1) Augment: Sapphire of Armored Agility +2
Trinket: Icon of the Bitterwind Augment: Sapphire of Stunning +16 and Topaz of Greater Conjuration
Cloak: Legendary Cloak of Winter (mythic +1) Augment: Sapphire of Dodge +12%
Belt: Legendary Direbear Belt Augment: Sapphire of Defense +36
Ring1: Legendary Nocturne Ring Augment: Sapphire of Spell Agility 15%
Ring2: Legendary Ring of Summer's Heat (mythic +3, reaper +3 PRR) Augment: Sapphire of Crushing Wave Guard
Hands: The Prince's Gauntlet Augments: Essence of the Masque, Legendary Demonheart Emerald and Essence of the Epic Litany of the Dead
Bracers: Legendary Cold Iron Bracers Augment: Globe of True Imperial Blood
Boots: Legendary Deepsnow Boots (mythic +1, reaper +3 MRR) Augment: Diamond of Dexterity +12
Armor: Legendary Hardened Hide Armor (mythic +4) Augment: Good Luck +3
Shield: Legendary Alchemical Large Shield (T1: Devotion+Healing Lore, T2: Alchemical Con +2, T3: Resistance +11) Augments: Legendary Coalescent Ruby and Legendary Undying Sapphire
Weapon: The Bitter Edge Augment: Meridian Fragment and Diamond of Balance +19
Quiver: Quiver of Alacrity

This gearset uses 7-piece Eminence of Winter and 2-piece Eminence of Summer set bonuses.

Minor artifact filigrees:

• Nystul's/Electrocution +10 MRR
• Blood Feast/Frozen Wanderer +10 PRR
• Blood Feast +10 heal amp rare +2 MRR (2-piece Blood Feast +1 constitution set bonus)

Sentient Weapon Filigrees:

• Purity/Touch of Grace: +20 Healing Amplification rare +4 MRR
• Snake Bite/Grandfather's Shield: +2 Constitution rare +4 PRR
• Grandfather's Shield: +10 Healing Amplification rare +2 MRR (2-piece Grandfather's +5 PRR)
• Grandfather's Shield: +1 Constitution rare +2 PRR (3-piece Grandfather's +5% AC)
• Soulweaver/Splendid Cacophony: +2 Constitution rare +4 PRR
• Bravery Throughout/Shattered Device +6 PRR rare +4 MRR
• Nystul's Mystical Defense: Constitution rare +2 PRR (2-piece Nystul's +5 MRR)
• Nystul's Mystical Defense: +3 MMR rare +2 PRR (3-piece Nystul's +1 to saves)
• Nystul's Mystical Defense: +5% electrical absorption rare +3 MRR (4-piece Nystul's +100 hp)
• Blood Feast +1 Constitution rare +2PRR for 3 piece +5 PRR set

Dual filigrees are purchasable with Threads of Fate


GEAR (end game non-raid suggestions for those who don't raid)

Goggles: Legendary Collective Sight, Legendary Symphonic Lenses, Legendary Summoner's Spectacles, Legendary Lenses of the Orator
Head: Legendary Crown of Snow, Legendary Arcsteel Brim, Legendary Compliance, Legendary Pansophic Circlet, Legendary Boundless, Legendary Hardened Hide, Legendary Standard Issue Faceplate
Neck: Legendary Standard Issue Sigil, Sigil of Regalport, Legendary Chains, Legendary Rose Quartz Sigil Stone, Legendary Ward-Inscribed Pendant
Trinket: Legendary Planar Compass, Legendary Five Rings, Legendary Empowered Dragonscale, Legendary Symbol of the Slave Lords, Broken Music Box, Magestar
Cloak: Legendary Cloak of Winter, Legendary Hallowed Trail, Legendary Cloak of Balance, Legendary Cloak of the City's Champion, Legendary Mantle of Fury, Legendary Scarlet Scale Cloak, Mysterious Cloak, EE Ghost-Waking Cloak, Legendary Slave Master's Cloak
Belt: Legendary Direbear Belt, Legendary Bronze Dragonscale Belt, Legendary Chains, Epic Belt of Thoughtful Remembrance, Epic Chord of Reprisals
Rings: Legendary Ring of Summer's Heat, Stolen Signet of ir'Wynarn, Legendary Band of Insightful Commands, Legendary Five Rings, Legendary Shattered Onyx, Legendary Spinneret, Lantern Ring, Legendary Brazenband
Hands: The Prince's Gauntlet, Gauntlet of the Iron Council, Legendary Dashing Gloves, Legendary Gauntlets of Innate Arcanum, Legendary Skin-tight Gloves, Iron Mitts
Bracers: Legendary Cold Iron Bracers, Legendary Hallowed Castigators, Legendary Bracers of Order and Chaos, Legendary Lore-Fueled Packbanner, Legendary Mystic Wrappings, Legendary Shackles, Epic Ethereal Bracers, Mysterious Bracers, Legendary Bracers of the Fallen Hero, Indomitable Wrappings (level 28)
Boots: Legendary Deepsnow Boots, Legendary Boots of the Devil Commander, Orcish Privateer's Boots, Legendary Flightfoot Greaves, Legendary Softsole Slippers
Armor: Cladding of Dead Leaves, Legendary Snowscale, Legendary Blessed Vestments, Legendary Scales of Malice, Legendary Coat of the Traveler, Epic Scales of Surety, Legendary Hardened Hide Armor
Shield: Legendary Crystalline Ward, Epic Shield of Tireless Aid, Legendary Giant's Platter, EE Skyvault Shield, Legendary Breaker of Bodies
Weapon: The Legendary Prince's Sceptre, The Legendary Queen's Sceptre, Morninglord's Sceptre, Nightmother's Sceptre, Legendary Lilting Song

Cannith crafted items also provide a lot of great gearing options.

This gearset below is what I am currently using as I work through my racial lives. I post it here for reference and to give others ideas on how to gear up, it is not intended to indicate gear you must use. It was updated on 7/11/21 to include heroic Feywild leveling gear.





SHIELDS AND ARCANE SPELL FAILURE

I'm adding a special section for shields because one of the most frequent questions I get is about which shields to use and how to overcome arcane spell failure while using a shield on a warlock. At low levels, I use Ferrocrystal Shield along with Cannith crafted armor or other item with Lesser Arcane Spell Dexterity that gives -5% ASF. Similarly, you can use a large mithral shield, which will has 5% ASF that can also be overcome with Cannith Crafted Lesser Arcane Spell Dexterity. Lesser Arcane Spell Dexterity affects ASF from any source, regardless of the item that its crafted onto. You can also use a small mithral shield blank to craft on. A small mithral shield will have no ASF.

By the time you reach mid to upper heroic levels, you can use shields like Fanion and Skyvault Shield, which have zero ASF. You can also use a Sapphire of Spell Agility augment at levels 12/16/20 to overcome 5%/10%/15% ASF. A typical large shield has 15% ASF so by the time you reach level 20 you can use a Sapphire of Spell Agility 15% to overcome the ASF of any large shield, as I do with an Epic Shield of Tireless Aid at level 28 and Legendary Crystalline Ward at level 29. You can purchase a Sapphire of Spell Agility +15 from Lahar, the epic vendor in The Twelve for 20 Tokens of the Twelve. You can also use an Otto's Irrevocable Power: spell failure reduction or other sentient weapon filigrees for -10% ASF. Epic Skyvault Shield is also a nice choice for mid epic levels. Some people like to use Skyvault at endgame, however be aware that it has a max dex/dodge bonus of 4. For more about arcane spell failure, see the DDO wiki article here.


SELF HEALING

This build has many self healing abilities. During heroic questing, the high UMD skill allows you to use healing wands and scrolls very effectively to heal self and others.

Brilliance (tier 4 Enlightened Spirit enhancement) an always on buffer of temporary hp that ticks for about 180-200 temp hp every 2 seconds at level cap. Functions as a great source of preventative maintenance healing. Affects everyone in the aura so is very friendly to melees in your group!

Renewal (from Unyielding Sentinel) a very nice little heal over time SLA that I am constantly casting this on myself and others.

Healing Pillar (SLA from Exalted Angel) Nice for support healing. I use this constantly on myself and others.

Mass Cure Moderate Wounds (SLA from Exalted Angel) Nice for support healing. I use this constantly on myself and others.

Shining Through (tier 5 Enlightened Spirit enhancement) a burst of temporary hp. Temp hp is not affected by reaper healing debuffs, so just as effective in high skull play.

Stanch (tier 3 innate Tainted Scholar enhancement) gives a huge boost of temporary hp. Awesome but easy to overlook because it gives a stacking -3% penalty to max hp every time it is used so new players will often shy away from. But this is an outstanding emergency heal and better to use than dying! I use it without hesitation, often getting 3-5 stacks between rests, which is not a big deal. Stacks are removed after shrining. Temp hp is not affected by reaper healing debuffs, so just as effective in high skull play.

Undying Vanguard (tier 5 Unyielding Sentinel enhancement) gives a massive boost of 10,000 temporary hp to use as a last line of defense for emergencies.



SPELLS




At endgame I swap Jump for Nightshield because casting Nightshield gives +10 MRR with You've Got My Back from Feydark Illusionist.


REAPER

Can solo R1's comfortably. Soloing up to 3-4 skulls is doable but slow especially because of slow boss beatdowns due to lack of single target dps. I enjoy group play at endgame, typically doing R6-10 depending on the group. I do not recommend this build for high skull reaper without the backing of past lives and reaper points and I do not recommend reaper play for a new player/first lifer. Wand and Scroll Mastery from Tainted Scholar is nice to boost healing from wands and scrolls for self and others during heroic reaper questing and can swap out in epics.

Temporary hit points from effects like Shining Through, Brilliance and Stanch are very effective in reaper play because they are not affected by the self healing debuff. Things turn a corner once you get Brilliance, which should be top priority once you get to level 6. Things turn another major corner again at level 12 once you get Spirit Blast and Shining Through.

I invested my early reaper points in Grim Barricade for added survivability, with emphasis on PRR and con, with a couple points in dodge to max out my cap. I also spent points in UMD for heroics in order to use healing wands and scrolls, which are very important in reaper questing. UMD will be plenty high enough once you reach epic levels, so when epic reincarnating you can change out the UMD skill points to perform or other more relevant skills for epic levels.

At level cap, with maxed reaper trees (156 points) my self-sufficient tanking ability holds up well up to about 6-8 skulls, depending on the content. Beyond that I need healing support for sustained tanking. This is with a wealth of past lives and so without the past lives, tanking ability would be reduced. Here is a heroic R10 Crucible video from 2018 that I did with 49 reaper points in a full group.

While working through my racial lives, just going to 20, I found that after building up about 40-50 reaper points, I had enough added survivability from reaper trees that I didn't need all the extra constitution if I was just going to level 20. So I switched to doing a charisma based build for the lives where I was just going to level 20, which was fun and more powerful to be able to focus more on some of the DC based spells like charms and instakills. My heroic reaper leveling routine favors speed these days so I just zerg R1's until level 12 then zerg R4's until 20.



WHAT TO DO BETWEEN BURSTS

People who are newer to warlock often ask what to do between bursts while they are on cooldown. Here's what I am typically doing on Voodu between bursts...

1. Heal myself and others with Renewal
2. Heal myself and others with Healing Pillar
3. Heal myself and others with Mass Cure Moderate Wounds
4. Evard's Black Tentacles
5. Otto's Irresistible Dance a reaper, champion, caster or orange named
6. Reaper's Resistance for +30 PRR
7. Knights Challenge (Throw the Boom) to stun and grab aggro of mobs from a distance
8. Epic Strike from Sentinel or Fatesinger
9. Swing my weapon
10. Intimidate
11. Arcane Tempest
12. Refresh Displacement and Tensor's Transformation
13. Sleet Storm
14. Shining Through
15. Tainted Spellcasting
16. Dark Delirium
17. Wail of the Banshee
18. Drink a Potion of Greater Brilliance
19. Stanch as an emergency heal
20. Waves of Exhaustion
21. Cast Sigil of Warding from Legendary Green Steel augment
22. Use Hood of Unrest clickie for stacking +50% dodge if walking into a big fight; bosses, doom reapers, etc.
23. Use Undying Vanguard from Sentinel enhancements in critical situations
24. Sip my coffee

EPISODES

Below are episodes for Voodu Warlock 2023. The original 2015 series is here.

Trailer: Introducing Voodu Warlock 2023!!
Episode 1: Intro and Level 1
Episode 2: Level 2 - Starting Harbor 2's
Episode 3: Level 3 - Continuing Harbor 2's
Episode 4: Level 4 - Lost Gatekeepers
Episode 5: Level 5 - Saltmarsh
Episode 6: Level 6 - Sharn Syndicate
Episode 7: Level 7 - Feywild 5's
Episode 8: Level 8 - Solo Chronoscope
Episode 9: Level 9 - Isle of Dread: Tar Pits, King, Triceratops
Episode 10: Level 10 - VON 1-2
Episode 11: Level 11 - VON 3-4
Episode 12: Level 12 - Tempest's Spine
Episode 13: Level 13 - Sands walkups and Offering of Blood
Episode 14: Level 14 - Peril of the Planar Eyes
Episode 15: Level 15 - Gianthold walkups
Episode 16: Level 16 - Gianthold flaggers part 1
Episode 17: Level 16 - Gianthold flaggers part 2
Episode 18: Level 17 - Sharn Cogs part 1
Episode 19: Level 18 - Sharn Cogs part 2
Episode 20: Level 19 - Good Intentions

New episodes are uploaded 1-2 per week.


Some of my other videos and series:
Northwynd: The Druid True First Life Series
How to Choose your Warlock for Beginners
How to Craft a Heroic Green Steel Item and Use the Crafting Planner
How to Craft a Legendary Green Steel Item and Use the LGS Crafting Planner
Beginner's Guide to Cannith Crafting
The Basics of Reincarnating in DDO
How to Prioritize Past Lives

Over 1000 quest videos, raid guides, crafting tutorials and much more for new and experienced players alike at my Youtube channel and you can find me live streaming nearly every day on my Twitch channel vooduspyce.

[slarden]

I look forward to following this project.

What an exciting time to start a warlock project with the upcoming changes really changing the balance of the trees. I would take a really good look at eldritch wave which you can fit in with the enlightened spirit capstone - giving up tier 5 enlightened spirit though.

[Livmo]

I look forward to following this project.

What an exciting time to start a warlock project with the upcoming changes really changing the balance of the trees. I would take a really good look at eldritch wave which you can fit in with the enlightened spirit capstone - giving up tier 5 enlightened spirit though.

Moar videos please and TY!

The intro is coo and like the music allot.

[Vooduspyce]

I look forward to following this project.

What an exciting time to start a warlock project with the upcoming changes really changing the balance of the trees. I would take a really good look at eldritch wave which you can fit in with the enlightened spirit capstone - giving up tier 5 enlightened spirit though.

I'm actually really far into the videos, so the changes will take place after much of it, but I may do another life or at least another epic life.

I can't afford to lose Spirit Blast and Shining Through so wave will not fit into what I'm doing

[Vooduspyce]

Moar videos please and TY!

The intro is coo and like the music allot.

The next video will be uploaded within the hour. The music is Angst by Nero which I recently realized is strikingly similar to Stress by Justice

[Jetrule]

How does the balance pass look to effect this build? Also i read some talk of subjecting eldritch blast to arcane spell failure. Is Voodu planed for heavy armor at cap since you want her tanky? Can she overcome spell failure and have heavy armor proficiency to maximize prr from the armor if she could overcome shield and heavy armor spell failure?

[zehnvhex]

Most pure warlocks go medium armor. After the coming balance changes the +MRR from the enhancement will probably more then make up for the PRR loss.

[Vooduspyce]

How does the balance pass look to effect this build? Also i read some talk of subjecting eldritch blast to arcane spell failure. Is Voodu planed for heavy armor at cap since you want her tanky? Can she overcome spell failure and have heavy armor proficiency to maximize prr from the armor if she could overcome shield and heavy armor spell failure?

Dps will be reduced for all Enlightened Spirits (and other trees too). I remember reading about ASF and warlock blast/burst, not sure where that's going to go. For now I am going to do heavy armor with only 4% ASF. Plans could change due to the upcoming armor changes, and I can't say it any better than Zehnvhex...

Most pure warlocks go medium armor. After the coming balance changes the +MRR from the enhancement will probably more then make up for the PRR loss.

So we'll see...

Episode 2 is up!

[PurpleTimb]

Congratulations on the solo Demon Queen. That's a pretty impressive feat. I really enjoyed watching the video.

[Vooduspyce]

Congratulations on the solo Demon Queen. That's a pretty impressive feat. I really enjoyed watching the video.

Ty Timb! It was fun learning to leverage the temporary hp abilities. The timing of using shining through was very important against Lailat, lol.

I was just responding on the channel, but it's worth mentioning here too that with the balance pass having scaled the burst from 120% spell power to 100% spell power, that means having to stand up against the DQ for a little bit longer during war, so temporary hp resources may be tight and will make soloing heroic DQ at level somewhat tougher to stay with her but I assume still possible. At this point I am quite a bit further along than the episodes would imply, and I am finding that even after the balance pass that the tankability is still strong.

[Clacker12]

heyo! i think i'm going to try your build.. i want to try something different..i tried your druid build a couple lives and liked it.

i have 2 characters i can tr into this...
1) 3 life cleric + the healing epic tr one..
2) 2 life druid 1 sorc and 1..druid epic tr one..the random one

which one should i use ya think?

[Vooduspyce]

heyo! i think i'm going to try your build.. i want to try something different..i tried your druid build a couple lives and liked it.

i have 2 characters i can tr into this...
1) 3 life cleric + the healing epic tr one..
2) 2 life druid 1 sorc and 1..druid epic tr one..the random one

which one should i use ya think?

Hey Clacker, probably the toon with 3 cleric past lives. This will give you +3 to the DC of your Evard's Black Tentacles, which is an awesome cc spell.

Alternatively the other toon would give you +1 to the dc of your blasts and bursts and make your charmed and confused mobs be tougher, so if you really like charming then you could consider this option instead.

I hope you have as much fun with it as I'm having. The series just has 3 episodes left to go and I will post more endgame details when the series is complete

[Sanjinn]

Your build intrigues me and looks like a lot of fun to play. My question is how viable is it for a starting character? I don't have the bells and whistles that you do nor the past lives. What would be your suggestions if I was going to try your build on a brand new character? I can boost to level 7...

I have a 20 Fighter (Dwarf), and a 18 Wizard/2 rogue (Human) necromancer (I loved this build) that I have played and enjoyed. I also have access to the Iconic s if they would be a good option (not sure they would as I would lose the pure Warlock) I have been away from the game for a little bit so any advice on your build would be helpful.

I have just started to watch your videos and have enjoyed them.

[Vooduspyce]

Your build intrigues me and looks like a lot of fun to play. My question is how viable is it for a starting character? I don't have the bells and whistles that you do nor the past lives. What would be your suggestions if I was going to try your build on a brand new character? I can boost to level 7...

I have a 20 Fighter (Dwarf), and a 18 Wizard/2 rogue (Human) necromancer (I loved this build) that I have played and enjoyed. I also have access to the Iconic s if they would be a good option (not sure they would as I would lose the pure Warlock) I have been away from the game for a little bit so any advice on your build would be helpful.

I have just started to watch your videos and have enjoyed them.

Hi Sanjinn, I'm glad you're enjoying the videos!

If you're new to warlock, it is a very easy class to play and will probably be the easiest 1-20 life you ever did. Warlock has high dps built into it right out of the box, and all the bells and whistles just add gravy to it. Don't sweat not having a big toy box to play with on a warlock, you will do fine. I think this build will be even more valuable to someone that is recently coming back and doesn't have a lot of gear, because the added defense will keep you alive longer and make up for lack of past lives and gear.

My advice for now is to dive right in and have fun with it. If you are struggling at any point, you can check out one of the Voodu Warlock videos are the level you're doing to compare performance and notes. If you have questions along the way, I am happy to help!

[Vooduspyce]

The Voodu Warlock series is complete! Today I have posted the final video of the series, which is tanking the EE Fire on Thunder Peak dragons all the way through the Artifact Overdraw +400% damage buff. This was not easy for me to do and took some effort to build the warlock up a bit with past lives, but the video shows that it is possible. I stated that I wanted to be able to do this self-sufficiently, so as a matter of full disclosure, I noticed on editing that it appears that someone threw me a heal a couple times during the final phase. Nevertheless, I think the video clearly shows that it can be done by a pure warlock unassisted, and I have so many past lives left to do that it will only get easier!

And the fun isn't over! I am loving this toon once again, which used to be my main long before Gingerspyce lol, and I am continuing to work on Voodu's past lives and will continue to feature her in videos and update and monitor this build post.

Thank you so much for following along!

[Sanjinn]

Hi Sanjinn, I'm glad you're enjoying the videos!

If you're new to warlock, it is a very easy class to play and will probably be the easiest 1-20 life you ever did. Warlock has high dps built into it right out of the box, and all the bells and whistles just add gravy to it. Don't sweat not having a big toy box to play with on a warlock, you will do fine. I think this build will be even more valuable to someone that is recently coming back and doesn't have a lot of gear, because the added defense will keep you alive longer and make up for lack of past lives and gear.

My advice for now is to dive right in and have fun with it. If you are struggling at any point, you can check out one of the Voodu Warlock videos are the level you're doing to compare performance and notes. If you have questions along the way, I am happy to help!

Thank you for the reply and the information. I am looking forward to really digging into the Warlock and hope I have as much fun with it as I did with the Palemaster. I will defiantly refer to your videos to check my progress and understanding of the class.

I would be remiss if I did not compliment you once again on your videos. You have done very well with them and will say they are some of the best game play videos I have ever watched. You explain things very well and you have a very good and understandable speaking voice. I have watched many good videos but had to really struggle to understand the what the author was saying and it made it hard to learn from them. Keep up the awesome work.

[LargoKeyWest]

You mentioned several times about building up your HP buffer before you actually need it, to be working proactively rather then reactively. Is that thru a combination of Shining Through and Vigor of Battle?

[Vooduspyce]

You mentioned several times about building up your HP buffer before you actually need it, to be working proactively rather then reactively. Is that thru a combination of Shining Through and Vigor of Battle?

Shining Through and Stanch are the 2 big warlock things to use to build up a pool of temp hp.

Vigor of Battle is the stance I use in Sentinel, since I don't need the knockdown immunity from Stand Against the Tide and Vigor provides more "real" hp.

[LargoKeyWest]

Shining Through and Stanch are the 2 big warlock things to use to build up a pool of temp hp.

Vigor of Battle is the stance I use in Sentinel, since I don't need the knockdown immunity from Stand Against the Tide and Vigor provides more "real" hp.

What are the drawbacks to using Staunch? I'm assuming they (if any) only come into play in an extended fight?

[Vooduspyce]

What are the drawbacks to using Staunch? I'm assuming they (if any) only come into play in an extended fight?

Stanch: Activate for 7 Depravity: Gain temporary hitpoints equal to 50% of your maximum hitpoints. These last for 1 minute. You have -3% maximum hitpoints until you rest, which stacks up to 33 times.

The -3% max hp loss can start taking a toll if used a bunch between rests