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

[Vooduspyce]

Thanks! I started a level 10 Drow Warlock yesterday, and had a lot of fun doing some low level quests for favor! I think I ended up starting with 16 on CON, INT, and CHA.

Looks like I need to find myself a good shield and a decent one-hand weapon! I rocked a Staff of Inner Sight yesterday. I wonder if I need to farm Invaders to pick up a Scepter of Healing?

Are scrolls available for Evard's Black Tentacles? I ended up choosing Dimension Door, since I didn't think scrolls were available for that one.

Thanks again!

No scrolls of Evards so just have to wait til you level up and get another spell or swap it at the trainer.

As for a heroic weapon... use a vorpal if you like to swing your weapon and kill stuff with it or use the weapon slot for spell casting stats if you need to. Whatever works for you. The Scepter of Healing is probably not worth the effort to get. Take a look at the Barovian/Morninglord's Sceptre and Macabre Sceptre.

[Dulcimerist]

No scrolls of Evards so just have to wait til you level up and get another spell or swap it at the trainer.

I just realized that Warlock doesn't have the Inscribe Scroll feat that I've become too accustomed to through playing Artificer. So the spells a Warlock chooses at each level are more like a Bard, where what you choose is what you're stuck with? It also appears as though Warlocks don't get the wide variety of spells like Bards, but only get to choose two from each spell level? If that's true, it would definitely make spell choices more critical.

It looks like I chose Protection from Elements instead of Evards at level 10, and I won't get to chose Evards until level 14. Will I probably want to swap the two so I have Evards right now at level 10?

[huey9187]

any updates to gear since the new stuff came out?

[Vooduspyce]

any updates to gear since the new stuff came out?

I'd like to get Dusk (raid battle axe) slotted with a meridian fragment and will make that my sentient weapon. Not sure what filigrees I'll add to it, but will be a mix of defense and spell stuff. I'd also like to get the Bell of Warding (raid trinket). The Coat of Van Richten (raid medium armor) is a possibility too. If I swap in these items I lose parrying and insightful con but opens the gloves slot, so will have to figure this out and would love some suggestions regarding Ravenloft loot. I will make notes in the op soon

Dusk, the Light Descends (Battle Axe)
Damage Dice: 5(1d6+3)
Crit Profile: 19-20/x2
Radiance +208
Radiance Lore +30%
Evocation Focus +8
Brazen Brilliance Attacks and offensive spells have a chance to blind enemies with Light damage. (Scales with spellpower if triggered by a spell.)
Orange Augment Slot
Red Augment Slot



Bell of Warding (trinket)
Resonance +202
Sonic Lore +30%
Magical Sheltering +52
Charisma +20
Yellow Augment Slot
Green Augment Slot



Coat of Van Richten (medium armor)
Deathblock
Ghostly
Physical Sheltering +52
Profane Well Rounded+2
Blue Augment Slot
Green Augment Slot

[Vooduspyce]

any updates to gear since the new stuff came out?

I've updated the op with non-raid gear suggestions for folks who don't raid.

While I'd hypothetically like to include Dusk, Bell of Warding and Coat of Van Richten, I would lose insightful constitution (my armor), parrying (my armor) and 100 healing amplification (LGS). The u37 items would give me marginal improvements to some stats, which I'd like to have but at this time I don't think I will make any changes to my gear set. In the mean time I plan on collecting those items and maybe u38 will introduce new items to help make things fit.

[bita1973]

Well guys I built one of these, not exactly same but all the same basics. I could not get that high a hit point but it was high enough 3K+. The build suited my play style and I just EE evrything solo when there was no groups for the fun of it. I did die 2-3 times altogether throughout (lv 1-30) but that was most to my silliness and screen freeze.

Thank you for the build it was a lot of fun! I'm using my character now to build up gear for LE as that is still really tough but at least I don't die easy any more.

[Vooduspyce]

Well guys I built one of these, not exactly same but all the same basics. I could not get that high a hit point but it was high enough 3K+. The build suited my play style and I just EE evrything solo when there was no groups for the fun of it. I did die 2-3 times altogether throughout (lv 1-30) but that was most to my silliness and screen freeze.

Thank you for the build it was a lot of fun! I'm using my character now to build up gear for LE as that is still really tough but at least I don't die easy any more.

I'm glad you enjoyed it and ty for saying

[BandVP]

Hey Ginger/Voodu!

I recently played this build and i am very happy with it. I was doing reaper 1/2 so im happy .

Level 1: Maximize Spell
Level 3: Empower Spell
Level 6: Force of Personality
Level 9: Quicken Spell
Level 12: Shield proficiency (general)
Level 15: Shield Mastery
Level 18: Improved Shield Mastery
Level 21: Epic Eldritch Blast
Level 24: Intensify Spell
Level 26: (Epic Destiny Feat): Epic Arcane Eldritch Blast*
Level 27: Epic Damage Reduction
Level 28: (Epic Destiny Feat): Toughness
Level 29: (Epic Destiny Feat): Deific Warding*
Level 30: Epic Toughness

above you can see the feats you tell us to take at what level, but from my experience i took shield proficiency at level 9 and quicken at 12. This meant i could be a little more tanky, as i had noticed i was quite squishy as i did not have the best of all items.

I feel like this build is better in late heroics as when under 13 i struggled a bit. Reaper 1 was do-able but higher than that became a slight nightmare!

However overall this build was very fun for my warlock past life, however i think i prefer a tainted schooler as thats a little easier. I am now working on racials, and i will be playing warlock as it is a very nice class, but once again will be a tainted schooler.
Thanks for posting this build it was still very fun!

[Amastris]

This truly is a great build. After coming back tho the game 5 months ago after a 2 year hiatus I finished up Completionist on my main toon and wanted to revisit raid tanking project that I had begun pre-warlock. I am systematically setting up my toon, Grevok the Maniacal (No relation to drevok in the hall of heroes or Patrick the maniacal in Foundation of discord. HE totally gives us Maniacs a bad name), to be the Beast of Ghallanda. He's just a first lifer with one arcane EPL and some but not all of your raid gear listings and I've attempted your Slave lords 3 ladder challenge myself and I have gotten up to R3. Once I get all my gear and some past lives I want to go for R7!!

I haven't fully done all my slavers gear so my Intimidate isn't as high as I need it so I have to work on that still for most raids. However, when I run old Baba's hut I usually will pull the Giant Scarecrows inside the hut in the puzzle rooms to the back and kite them while others do the puzzles but sometimes my group will start to DPS the stupid things before I can grab agro and lead them off to the back. So with something like a scarecrow which cant be Intimidated what is a good way to get initial agro?

Secondly I was wondering why you added blindness immunity to your LGS item instead of more will saves? was this personal preference or does it serve a purpose with the 3 piece set? blindness doesn't seem to be a big thing in most raids. So I would say that I am more curious to know if I can swap out blindness immunity for something else and still keep the LGS bonus? which looks uber nice btw.

[Vooduspyce]

Hey Ginger/Voodu!

I recently played this build and i am very happy with it. I was doing reaper 1/2 so im happy .

Level 1: Maximize Spell
Level 3: Empower Spell
Level 6: Force of Personality
Level 9: Quicken Spell
Level 12: Shield proficiency (general)
Level 15: Shield Mastery
Level 18: Improved Shield Mastery
Level 21: Epic Eldritch Blast
Level 24: Intensify Spell
Level 26: (Epic Destiny Feat): Epic Arcane Eldritch Blast*
Level 27: Epic Damage Reduction
Level 28: (Epic Destiny Feat): Toughness
Level 29: (Epic Destiny Feat): Deific Warding*
Level 30: Epic Toughness

above you can see the feats you tell us to take at what level, but from my experience i took shield proficiency at level 9 and quicken at 12. This meant i could be a little more tanky, as i had noticed i was quite squishy as i did not have the best of all items.

I feel like this build is better in late heroics as when under 13 i struggled a bit. Reaper 1 was do-able but higher than that became a slight nightmare!

However overall this build was very fun for my warlock past life, however i think i prefer a tainted schooler as thats a little easier. I am now working on racials, and i will be playing warlock as it is a very nice class, but once again will be a tainted schooler.
Thanks for posting this build it was still very fun!

Hey BandVP, I'm glad you enjoyed the build, ty for saying!

Playing a warlock as a burster definitely starts out slow. Things start to turn a corner when you get t4 brilliance, which is awesome for survivability on a con-based Enlightened Spirit. Then I've found that things really start to come alive at level 12 with the second burst and Shining Through. Your experience of struggling a bit before this point doesn't surprise me.

[Vooduspyce]

This truly is a great build. After coming back tho the game 5 months ago after a 2 year hiatus I finished up Completionist on my main toon and wanted to revisit raid tanking project that I had begun pre-warlock. I am systematically setting up my toon, Grevok the Maniacal (No relation to drevok in the hall of heroes or Patrick the maniacal in Foundation of discord. HE totally gives us Maniacs a bad name), to be the Beast of Ghallanda. He's just a first lifer with one arcane EPL and some but not all of your raid gear listings and I've attempted your Slave lords 3 ladder challenge myself and I have gotten up to R3. Once I get all my gear and some past lives I want to go for R7!!

I haven't fully done all my slavers gear so my Intimidate isn't as high as I need it so I have to work on that still for most raids. However, when I run old Baba's hut I usually will pull the Giant Scarecrows inside the hut in the puzzle rooms to the back and kite them while others do the puzzles but sometimes my group will start to DPS the stupid things before I can grab agro and lead them off to the back. So with something like a scarecrow which cant be Intimidated what is a good way to get initial agro?

I'm glad you're having fun with your own version of Voodu Warlock!

Running in Sentinel with t1 Commanding Presence makes the bursts generate +150% threat, so it's pretty easy to use dps to establish and maintain aggro. With the Baba giant scarecrows, I have found that typically when I run in and throw my 2 bursts that they go right for me. Then I just pull them back into the previous room and stand there, literally doing nothing, not even blocking. If the group is slow with the puzzles, I sometimes have to turn the aura off in order to not kill the giant scarecrows. I have only done Baba on LH, however, so I have no experience with Voodu beyond that. If someone else has grabbed the giant scarecrow aggro and doesn't want it, just tell them to run back, not to dps them, while you run in and burst on them. This should turn their attention toward you.

Secondly I was wondering why you added blindness immunity to your LGS item instead of more will saves? was this personal preference or does it serve a purpose with the 3 piece set? blindness doesn't seem to be a big thing in most raids. So I would say that I am more curious to know if I can swap out blindness immunity for something else and still keep the LGS bonus? which looks uber nice btw.

I like to run with blindness immunity. Usually with an augment but at the time the LGS was a convenient place for it and there aren't a lot of options if I want to stick with a t1 opposition gem. You can put whatever works for you into this tier (note that an escalation or dominion gem will disrupt the opposition set bonus). I wanted an opposition gem, however, so my choices were limited. Here's the LGS t1 wiki article for reference (I tried to copy and paste but it didn't come out right) The save bonuses listed are resistance bonuses, so do not stack with a resistance item (I already have resistance +14 on the Five Rings), otherwise this would definitely be a nice option.

[Emerge2012]

Just wanted to pop in and say that I highly recommend running this type of build and that I don't see enough ES tanks out there. Pretty sure I've been the only one on Thelanis rolling with one as I haven't seen a single other one.

I ran a human variation for a couple months and the build was absolutely dominant up to R3 (solo) in any content and still very effective up to R7-8. Led a lot of kill counts on R8 due to being able to dish out consistent DPS even it's average DPS. Didn't bother with any of the LGS or Slavers gear (nice but too much work) and managed to put together a great toon anyways. Running Strahd/Baba was a thing of beauty as it's almost impossible to die. I solo healed and tanked both on Hard many times. Even Baba on Elite was exceptionally easy with a second healer keeping the rest of the party up so I could focus on tanking and self heals. Side note here, on Elite her spells really hurt so it's great to intim her and then strafe back a forth a little as it makes a lot of her spells miss.

Gonna post my variation so these builds can get a little more visibility and I had already written it out for guildies previously.

Human Warlock 20 (I have +7 tomes)

Str 8
Dex 10
Con 18 level-ups here
Wis 8
Int 10
Cha 18
Assuming 36pt build. If 34 drop the dex to 8, if 32 drop dex to 9 and Cha to 17

SKills - with Int tomes you'll have leftover points to throw at Heal or Search or whatever seems fitting
Intimidate
Spellcraft
Perform
UMD
1 in Tumble because rolling is better than looking like a football player. You'll be blocking a lot anyways.

Jump spell is +30 and you get +10 to all skills by lvl 30 so it's maxed with no points invested.

I chose Fey Pact for the bonus to reflex saves, Misty Escape, and Dark Delirium. The others would be okay also but gearing for fire or acid damage without cannith crafing might be an issue. Great sonic trinket can be had from Cannith Challenges easily. Alignment only really matters for Fiend and Great Old One. Hurl from Fiend would probably still be usable even with the focus on constitution. In fact Hurl is highly desirable in a lot of legendary content.

Feats by level
1 - Maximize Spell, Empower Spell
3 - Quicken Spell
6 - Extend Spell
9 - Force of Personality
12 - Shield Proficiency General (large shields with no penalty)
15 - Shield Mastery (nice PRR bumps for this and Mastery)
18 - Improved Shield Mastery
21 - Epic Eldritch Blast
24 - Intensify Spell
26 - Epic Arcane Eldritch Blast
27 - Epic Reputation (+3 to intimidate/perform)
28 - Elusive Target (5% miss chance against physical damage)
29 - Deific Warding
30 - Epic Damage Reduction, Scion of Celestia

Elusive Target requires 2 Martial destinies to have been capped and Deific Warding requires all 3 Divine destinies to be capped out.

Spells by level
1 - Jump, pick 1
2 - Invisibility, pick 1 (I usually took Blur for other people)
3 - Dimension Door, Dark Discorporation (Displacement until SLA from tier 5 ES)
4 - Evard's Testicles, Teleport
5 - Protection from Elements Mass, pick one
6 - Wail, pick one (Wail won't have great DC's but the neg levels are great)

Dark Discorporation is a fantastic "Oh ****!" tanking spell. It gives you 25% incorporeal miss chance and reduces damage taken by 50% for like 20 seconds. If you attack it breaks the spell but if you just stand there and block your aura damage ticks won't interrupt it. Aura ticks won't interrupt Invisibility either.

Enhancements

Enlightened Spirit (51pts)

tier 1
1 core 1
3 resilience of body
3 spiritual defense
3 resilience of soul

tier 2
1 core 2
3 spiritual bastion
3 power of enlightenment
2 shield

tier 3
1 core 3
3 eldritch burst
3 spiritual ward
3 power of enlightenment
2 constitution

tier 4
1 core 4
2 medium armor proficiency
3 spiritual retribution
1 brilliance
2 constitution

tier 5
1 core 5
3 spirit blast
2 beacon
2 shining through
2 displacement
1 core 6 (taken at level 20)

Tainted Scholar (24pts)

tier 1
1 core 1
3 feigned health
2 strong pact
1 planar power

tier 2
1 core 2
2 utterdark blast
2 strong pact

tier 3
1 core 3
3 confusion
2 strong pact
2 charisma

tier 4
1 core 4
3 bewitching blast

Human
1 core 1 (pick a boost, doesn't matter much)
2 core 2 (constitution)
2 improved recovery (20% heal amp)


Destiny - Unyielding Sentinel

tier 1
3 shield prowess
2 constitution
1 block energy (only 1 rank)

tier 2
3 legendary shield mastery
2 constitution

tier 3
3 renewal (EXCELLENT heal, 5sp with 3 sec cooldown, can raid heal with this and Cocoon)
2 constitution

tier 4
nothing

tier 5
3 hardened
3 strength of vitality (another stacking 20% hp)

tier 6
2 Undying Vanguard (10,000 temp hp buff. I never used this but should have)

Run in Vigor of Battle stance for the HP bonus and temp HP buff when damaged

Twists
1 - tier 4 - Energy Burst from Draconic (any will work fairly well, not needed at all, just helps AOE if available)
2 - tier 3 - Empyrean Magic from Divine Crusader (important twist, adds 10% spell crit chance and 20 spellpower)
3 - tier 1 - Rejuvenation Cocoon (great emergency heal for party, self as well)
4 - tier 1 - Radaint Power (30 light spellpower from Exalted Angel, not super important)

Empyrean is a giant DPS boost but has no effect on tanking ability. Same for Energy Burst. Cocoon is the one that's needed most.

Build is set up to use medium armor and heavy shields, which allows for solid dexterity AC bonus and most importantly Dodge. Heavy shields do have a 15% arcane spell failure penalty on them but this is mitigated by slotting a 15% reduction augment (lvl 20 augment from Gianthold traded for relics) into your gear set somewhere. Gearing is pretty important but luckily the build itself is really good at running higher diffulty quests to get it. Heavy shields are important because when you take elemental or magic damage the game automatically doubles your MRR if wearing one - aka your character sheet says 75 MRR but when hit with those attacks (or traps) the game considers you to have 150 MRR instead. Light shields and bucklers give no bonus and tower shields take away your dodge and dex AC. Heavy shields for the win on any tank.

My gear that I was wearing. Optimized to the hilt but not all necessary.

Armor - Legendary Scales of Malice ins con 8, vitality 60, PRR 45, parrying 8, slotted with Sapphire of Armored Agility +2
Weapon - Nightmother's Sceptre +11 to all spell DC's, +12 spell penetration, slotted with any spellpower augment for implement
Shield - Cannith Crafted heavy shield 159% fort, +22 intimidate, +11 ins intimidate
Belt - Legendary Silverthread enhanced devotion 202, heal lore 29, slot (this gave about 600 positive spellpower for heals)
Boots - Legendary Softsole Slippers ghostly, perform 22, Ins charisma 9, slotted with 30% striding
Cloak - Legendary Scarlet Scale spellsight 22, quality con 4, blue slot
Gloves - Cannith Crafted dex 15, heal amp 61, ins dex 7 slotted with Sapphire of Good Luck +2
Helm - Legendary Pansophic Circlet potency 131, ins potency 65, quality potency 15, -10% spell costs, slotted with deathblock
Bracers - Cannith Crafted spell saves 12, dodge 15, ins spellsight 11 slotted with str 8 augment
Goggles - Legendary Symphonic Lenses charisma 19, perform 22, mobility (gives +2 max dex bonus and +2 dodge)
Necklace - Legendary Ward-Inscribed Pendant constitution 19, natural armor 19, slotted with Draconic Soul Gem
Ring 1 - Cannith Crafted radiance lore 23%, protection 12, ins MRR 18 slotted resistance 8 augment
Ring 2 - Cannith Crafted ice lore 23% (energy burst), false life 57, ins PRR 18
Trinket - Cannith Crafted sonic lore 23%, resonance 159, ins resonance 79

I don't think the gearset could be better other than the one trinket from Strahd. Other shields are certianly usable but that was the only place I could get intimidate plus fit everything else like stats and dodge.

Standing stats at level 30 with gear and a few notable past lives
HP 2599
SP 1750
AC 181
PRR 197
MRR 127 (strahd trinket would push this to 150ish)
Saves were all around 65-72 and another +12 vs spells
Intimidate 110, even 75ish without the shield was good enough for most places

My heroic past lives only gave me +2 spell pen, 1 evo dc, 20 spell points, and 1 damage per attack.

Epic past lives gave me 35hp, 15ac, 6prr, and an extra 9% chance to crit with sonic portion of blasts and energy burst. So while obviously useful to any build at any time they didn't make or break anything in the end.

Scales of Malice were chosen for the Max Dex Bonus of 16 (maybe 18..) with the goggles and augment. Having 16-18 dodge helped immensely.

Belt was a key part also as Renewal would tick 3 times for about 400 each, saw crits for well over 1000 often and heal crit % with stacks from Empyrean (always maxed easily) was a nice solid 44%. Even cast on others with no heal amp it would tick for 200 minimum. Cocoon was basically a guaranteed full heal for people with 1000 hp that I used for emergency heals as it ticks immediately where Renewal takes a second or 2. With the heal amp from enhancements/gear I could realiably keep myself above 75% hp even on R3 in Ravenloft in the middle of 6-10 mobs. In raids throwing heals on the purpose-built tanks and then stealing aggro so they didn't die was exceptionally satisfying. Keeping the party up with Renewal while tanking raids was also extremely satisfying, even moreso when they all thanked the lone cleric or fvs afterwards without knowing where the heals were actually coming from. I never told anyone :P

Sceptre is one of the more important pieces. The DC's and Spell Pen allowed Evard's to hit reliably even in mid-level legendary reaper quests. Another weapon (like the battleaxe from Baba) would greatly increase damage but the crowd control is much more important for things that can't be intimidated like scarecrows, undead, golems, and all that mindless stuff. There's always someone wanting to shoot the next mob before you can get to them.

Spellpoints were never a issue below R7 for anything. The only metamagic I used that actually cost anything was Quicken for Evards, never bothered to max/empower/intensify Evard's either as the damage wasn't worth the exorbitant cost. Did meta all the Bursts and SLA's though (energy burst, spirit blast, eldritch burst, renewal, cocoon, displacement)

For heroic leveling I didn't change over to the tank ES build till about level 18. Using cone with confusion enhancement was more than enough to get through everything.

And don't be discouraged by the gear lists here or in the OP. These types of builds are GREAT at farming out the items and will over-perform before you even get them. Once you have them you're a god.

[Vooduspyce]

Just wanted to pop in and say that I highly recommend running this type of build and that I don't see enough ES tanks out there. Pretty sure I've been the only one on Thelanis rolling with one as I haven't seen a single other one.

Thank you for the feedback and for posting your human variant. It is interesting to see what others are doing with gear and I hope others will find it helpful

[Kamode_Corebasher]

Thank you for the feedback and for posting your human variant. It is interesting to see what others are doing with gear and I hope others will find it helpful

This character is enjoyable, strong, fills a tank role well, and kills mobs fast (wonderful to not have need to target and spin to retarget...just burst away and intim when needed). It also gets a little boring, so having other characters to bounce to/from makes up for that :-)

You were wanting to see different gear layouts, and since I just re-geared... here's my list. I was going for the new 3 piece Knight of Shadows set, but the heavy armor w/ shield ASF was a real issue...so I ditched it.

Also, I have yet to create any LGS items, though I think I have enough ingredients to create a couple. Recommendations on what and where to slot those??

================================================== ==========

Goggles = Feargaze (part of the 3 piece Knight of the Shadows set) = from quest “Raven’s Bane”
• Linguistics 10%, Intimidate +22, Insightful Intimidate +11, Quality Incite +13, green augment

Head = Hardened hide = from quest Assault on the Aerie of the Slave Lords
• Insightful Fortification +92%, Quality Magical Sheltering +11, Natural Armor +17, Quality Constitution +4, green augment

Necklace = Slave Lords Crafting:
• False Life +68, Radiance Lore +27, Balance +22, Quality Intimidate +5, yellow augment

Trinket = Cannith Crafted
• Save: Will +12, Healing Amplification +61, Insightful PRR +18, yellow augment

Cloak = Mantle of Fury (part of the 5 piece Adherent of the Mist set) = from quest “Into The Mists”:
• Constitution +19, Raging Resilience, Doublestrike +22, Dodge +19, green augment

Belt = Legendary Rune-Sigiled Belt (part of the 3 piece Knight of the Shadows set) = from quest “Fresh Baked Dreams”:
• Fortitude +16, Quality Fortitude Save +3, Spell Save +16, Protection from Evil, blue augment

Ring = Cursebane Ring (part of the 5 piece Adherent of the Mist set) = from quest “Oath of Vengence”:
• Insightful Curse Resistance +7, Vitality +67, Quality MRR +12, Deathblock, green augment

Gloves = Gauntlets of Innate Arcanum (part of the 5 piece Adherent of the Mist set) = from quest “Sunrise”:
• Charisma +19, Evocation Focus +8, Quality Charisma +4, Wizardry +412, yellow augment

Boots = Flightfoot Greaves (part of the 5 piece Adherent of the Mist set) = from quest “Death House”:
• Freedom of Movement, Speed +30%, Natural Armor Bonus +19, Reflex Save +16, yellow augment

Ring = Cannith Crafted
• Sonic Lore +23, Protection +12, Insightful MRR +18, yellow augment

Bracers = Bracers of the Fallen Hero (part of the 5 piece Adherent of the Mist set) = from quest “A Raven at the Door”:
• Strength +19, Insightful Constitution +9, Stunning +22, Quality PRR +12, green augment

Armor = Scalemail of the Celestial Sage from quest “Legendary Tempest Spine”:
• Fortification +159%, Quality Reflex Save +2, Quality Potency +27, Sheltering +38, Parrying +7, Blurry, Deathblock IX, yellow augment, green augment

Shield = Large = Shield of Tireless Aid = from quest “The Devils Details”:
• Devotion +150, Healing Amplification +20 (equip bonus), healers Bounty (chance for a heal spell cast on me), Improved Demonic Shield (chance for 120 HP profane bonus), green augment

Weapon = Morninglords Scepter:
• Potency +145, Insightful Potency +72, Spellsight +22, Insightful Spellsight +11, green augment

================================================== ===============================
================================================== =================================

5 piece Adherent of the Mist set = Cool stuff :-)
• Profane Bonus to PRR +20, Profane Bonus to Positive & Negative & Repair Healing Amp +20, Profane Bonus to Melee and Ranged Power +10, Profane Bonus to Universal Spell Power +20

[Dulcimerist]

I'm running the Drow build on Orien, and am loving it! My character is only at level 11, but she might be the most fun character I've ever played! It's like the character has attitude. Dark Delirium tells an enemy to get up on outta her face. She can also just run past enemies, doing an Eldritch Burst on the way by to kill them. Those losers just aren't worth her time. If they survive and chase, her aura or another burst finishes them off. This character pretty much enters combat with both middle fingers a-blazin', flipping everyone off!

[bibimbap]

I was initially running this for the first couple levels? But I found it incredibly frustrating vs a blast build + web? Is it just me? Or are the first few levels really difficult? I ended up LRing into a max dc warlock (though I do prefer traditional casters) I have most of the gear you could want + arcane past lives.

Is there something I'm doing wrong? I'm going to give it another shot in a few days if my heroic ravenloft gear finally drops :P

PS I'm on Thelanis and my entire guild has one of these we've nicknamed it the easy mode button, so I'm usually the only one not floating when we do raids.

[Dulcimerist]

I was initially running this for the first couple levels? But I found it incredibly frustrating vs a blast build + web? Is it just me? Or are the first few levels really difficult? I ended up LRing into a max dc warlock (though I do prefer traditional casters) I have most of the gear you could want + arcane past lives.

Is there something I'm doing wrong? I'm going to give it another shot in a few days if my heroic ravenloft gear finally drops :P

PS I'm on Thelanis and my entire guild has one of these we've nicknamed it the easy mode button, so I'm usually the only one not floating when we do raids.

I started mine at level 10 during the Veteran 3 event, so I can't speak for the first few levels. I have no past lives, and had pretty much no decent gear.

Starting at level 10, this has been very easy to play. The majority of my DDO experience has been playing melee characters, which is the approach I took with this warlock. I'm pretty much playing this like my barbarian, but I'm bursting instead of cleaving. Staff of Inner Sight was my weapon of choice from level 10-15. Armor was the Snakeskin Vest (all I had) until I could wear the ML16 Cavalry Plate. I've rarely cast Web, and held off on Evard's until level 14. Protection from Elements was a higher priority to mitigate damage. Blur, Displacement, and keeping temporary HP up and running have been the big key for me. (Warlocks need to get their temporary HP before a battle, while barbarians get their temporary HP during battle with their enhancements.)

I think the bottom line is to play this build as if you're a barbarian. By level 10, it gets a lot easier. I'm at level 17 now, and it's starting to get slightly more challenging again; but not too bad.

[Vooduspyce]

I was initially running this for the first couple levels? But I found it incredibly frustrating vs a blast build + web? Is it just me? Or are the first few levels really difficult? I ended up LRing into a max dc warlock (though I do prefer traditional casters) I have most of the gear you could want + arcane past lives.

Is there something I'm doing wrong? I'm going to give it another shot in a few days if my heroic ravenloft gear finally drops :P

PS I'm on Thelanis and my entire guild has one of these we've nicknamed it the easy mode button, so I'm usually the only one not floating when we do raids.

Hi Bibimbap, you're not doing anything wrong. Enlightened Spirit definitely starts out slow. Most players will prefer to blast at least until they get Eldritch Burst at level 3. Some prefer to keep blasting until they get Spirit Blast (the second burst) at level 12.

Voodu is intended to be a high survivability, close-quarters tanky playstyle kind of toon that can tank not only hordes of mobs but raid bosses as well. DPS and kill count will be lower than a DC-based fiend pact double FOD cone shape blaster/hurler, for example, which is a ranged caster playstyle. So the decision comes down to function and playstyle preference. I enjoy playing tanky casters, so Voodu fits my own playstyle well and I do a lot of tanking in guild raids, so it lets me play caster, which I love, but also fill another role in our raids. But there is another important factor and that is dungeon difficulty. I think Voodu performs well and as-intended up to mid skull reaper content but once you get up to R8+, it is ranged dps and DC-based instakills and crowd control that seem to rule the day and I would not recommend Voodu for high skull reaper content; the tankability/survivability breaks down with higher skulls. If you've not played an Enlightened Spirit before, I would recommend giving it a try at least into teen levels before making a decision, but whether you enjoy ranged DC-casting or close-quarters tanky play is your own preference

[BEERMAN]

Voodu,

I have been watching your videos and they have helped me a lot! I have been playing since launch so I am not a new player but your videos have changed my play style. I used to use the mouse all the time but I am now using the keyboard more, i learned that you can right click on a spell and turn on metas just for that spell (what a great piece of info!) and much more. So thanks again and keep them coming!

[Vooduspyce]

Voodu,

I have been watching your videos and they have helped me a lot! I have been playing since launch so I am not a new player but your videos have changed my play style. I used to use the mouse all the time but I am now using the keyboard more, i learned that you can right click on a spell and turn on metas just for that spell (what a great piece of info!) and much more. So thanks again and keep them coming!

yvw, I'm glad you enjoy the videos and find them helpful, ty for saying