Recommendations for Past Life/Destiny for a Bladeforged Warlock

[Astral_Dominae]

Hello there!

I have a 1st life 20 Drow Cleric that I would like to reincarnate into a warlock (probably pure). The plan would be to play the char solo due to odd playing times.

I have a 20 heart, so I can pick any past life I desire. Moreover, this also means I can already pick a first destiny that would otherwise not be available for me soon.


What would your recommendations be? Which past life should I use, which destiny should I pick before TRing? I realize this might depend a bit on the warlock build, so I would like to apologize if this question is a bit open ended - I never played epics before.

Many thanks!

[MacRighteous]

Hello there!

I have a 1st life 20 Drow Cleric that I would like to reincarnate into a warlock (probably pure). The plan would be to play the char solo due to odd playing times.

I have a 20 heart, so I can pick any past life I desire. Moreover, this also means I can already pick a first destiny that would otherwise not be available for me soon.


What would your recommendations be? Which past life should I use, which destiny should I pick before TRing? I realize this might depend a bit on the warlock build, so I would like to apologize if this question is a bit open ended - I never played epics before.

Many thanks!

So you are saying that you have a level 20 cleric that you want to HTR into a warlock - but before you do, you want to lesser reincarnate with a +20 heart into a different class than your cleric to gain a "more useful" past life to your upcoming warlock? This PL choice needs to consider what Destiny Sphere your warlock will start in when it reaches 20? Or something like that?

Well a good general rule of thumb would be that caster toons should collect caster lifes first as those PL bonuses are most likely to have an immediate benefit to your current caster life - just as melee character should prolly focus on + to hit and +to damage PLs first. However there are a few "universal" pLs that can benefit all Builds - notably Paladin for the heal amp. So i don't think you could go to wrong with selecting ANY caster life (including a warlock PL) or A paladin PL...

As far as Destiny Spheres goes - If you went into epics with your current cleric it would start in the Divine Sphere - your upcoming warlock when it reaches 20 and enters Epics would start out in the Arcane Sphere - any caster (except Druid) will start out in the Arcane Sphere and Paladin in the Divine Sphere - So unless you were going to fill out a Destiny Sphere before you HTR'ed. I don't see how your +20 choice is going to affect your next life at all - but maybe I'm missing something incredibly obvious. which i'm sure will be pointed out by my fellow fourmites - anyways....

GL

[Astral_Dominae]

So you are saying that you have a level 20 cleric that you want to HTR into a warlock - but before you do, you want to lesser reincarnate with a +20 heart into a different class than your cleric to gain a "more useful" past life to your upcoming warlock? This PL choice needs to consider what Destiny Sphere your warlock will start in when it reaches 20? Or something like that?

Yes, something like that :-)

Well a good general rule of thumb would be that caster toons should collect caster lifes first as those PL bonuses are most likely to have an immediate benefit to your current caster life - just as melee character should prolly focus on + to hit and +to damage PLs first. However there are a few "universal" pLs that can benefit all Builds - notably Paladin for the heal amp. So i don't think you could go to wrong with selecting ANY caster life (including a warlock PL) or A paladin PL...

Interesting, thanks!

As far as Destiny Spheres goes - If you went into epics with your current cleric it would start in the Divine Sphere - your upcoming warlock when it reaches 20 and enters Epics would start out in the Arcane Sphere - any caster (except Druid) will start out in the Arcane Sphere and Paladin in the Divine Sphere - So unless you were going to fill out a Destiny Sphere before you HTR'ed. I don't see how your +20 choice is going to affect your next life at all - but maybe I'm missing something incredibly obvious. which i'm sure will be pointed out by my fellow fourmites - anyways....

Here is where I am not sure: For example, lets say I want (not that it makes sense): Legendary Dreadnought ( https://ddowiki.com/page/Epic_Destin...f_Epic_Destiny ). If I stay cleric and go warlock, I can't get it right away, right? I would need levels in monk/rogue/fighter or get through a lot of destinies first?

[MacRighteous]

So first of all when you use a +20 heart to change your class levels - you do not earn a Heroic PL - the benefit from a +20 Lesser heart is to fix mistakes on your current build - Deep mistakes or to change your class type before you do a True Reincarnate (A True Heart of Wood) which will earn you the past life of the class you TR'd - but your newly TR'd toon goes back to level 1 and has to reach 20 again to do Epics

Example - you use your +20 Heart and change your cleric to a warlock - so now you have a 20th level warlock. That's it - there is no other benefit from using a +20 Heart - you do not get a cleric PL or Warlock PL. To get a Heroic class PL - you would have to use a Heroic True Heart of Wood - which will set you back to level 1 - wipe out all you favor and flags - but you would get the PL Benefits from the warlock that you LTR'd to before you Heroic TR'd back into a warlock (which is now a 1st level warlock


When you do Epic Levels (21 to 30) your dominate class determines what destiny sphere you start in - so say you didn't use your +20 heart and went into epic levels right now and your cleric will start out in the Divine Sphere with Divine Crusader unlocked. Each destiny tree has 5 levels that you fill out to reach the trees T5 abilities - each level of the tree you fill out will unlock a step towards the next tree in that sphere - to fill out the whole Sphere you have to cap all 3 trees to level 5 - this earns you 6 million karma which is one of the requirements to Epic Reincarnate (the other requirement is being level 30) - some Trees intersect with other Sphere Trees and as you level that tree, steps to the adjacent sphere will unlock and you can travel across the Destiny Spheres this way - even though the trees and spheres are geared towards certain class and play style - any class can level up any tree and destiny sphere - some of it is a grind - for example - leveling a THF melee in a tree geared for range or stealth is not very interesting and sometimes feels like its taking forever to level that tree - but that's just the nature of the beast - when you do get a Destiny Sphere filled out (6 million karma) and reach level 30 you can do an epic TR back to level 20 (you stay the same class as you just did al the epic levels in but have earned a Epic PL in the sphere you filled out - then you can do an Heroic TR and go back to level 1 in a entirely different class and earn the Past life of the class you were before you HTR'd - its called doubling down - because each 1 to 30 life you run can earn you a Epic PL and a Heroic PL - thrown in a Iconic and Racial TR - and your pushing the wheel


I know it all seems unintuitive at first - but you'll get it when you do it - and its a lot easier than you and I are making it seem.

So if I were you I wouldn't use my +20 heart now if I were going into epis - because if you LTR in to a warlock and then did epic levels you might not have enough skill to /warlock effectively in Epics - I would continue with the cleric to level 30 - fill out all the trees in he divine sphere - do a Epic TR at 30 and claim the divine Power of life and Death Epic past life and be set back to 20 (still a cleric) and then LTR into a different class that you want the past life from and then go back to level one (claiming that PL) and race to 30 again

[Astral_Dominae]

Thanks again for all the info :-) !

So lets say I would TR into a warlock. Should I keep the cleric past life? Or go with something else, using the 20 heart? E.g., sorc? wizard? I don't see myself reaching completionist, ever.

[Caarb]

Thanks again for all the info :-) !

So lets say I would TR into a warlock. Should I keep the cleric past life? Or go with something else, using the 20 heart? E.g., sorc? wizard? I don't see myself reaching completionist, ever.

Stay cleric take Exalted Angel destiny TR into warlock gain cleric past life which will help your evards and save your +20 heart for when/if you want a past life in a class you hate (recommend doing this on 3rd+ life)

[Enoach]

I would recommend holding on to the +20 Heart for later such as a tool that would allow you to run a 4th warlock life but allow you to change the class so you can get the benefit of a class you are not fond of playing.

The reason is that the Cleric PL grants Conjuration DC bonus and access to the Healing Word feat which can be helpful on later lives as an option for healing such as a wizard/sorcerer PL on a fleshy race.

As a Cleric when you reach 20 and pick your first ED it will be in the Divine Sphere. This is a good Sphere for the Warlock.

What I would recommend is that you spend your first 6 million XP to fill out all EDs in this sphere and then use the remainder of the XP needed to get to 30 to unlock access to the Primal and Arcane Spheres (This should put about 2 million karma into the Martial Sphere)

This will allow you in later lives to pick any sphere you want, get you a decent amount of twist points and twists to maximize your playstyle on that build.

[Greantun]

Here is where I am not sure: For example, lets say I want (not that it makes sense): Legendary Dreadnought ( https://ddowiki.com/page/Epic_Destin...f_Epic_Destiny ). If I stay cleric and go warlock, I can't get it right away, right? I would need levels in monk/rogue/fighter or get through a lot of destinies first?

You do not need levels in any other class. You can, in fact, completely get all epic destinies with your current cleric, as you can move from one to another without changing classes. This is called running in an "off destiny". While doing that may not give you much, it will allow you to level a destiny in a class you like playing.

Just activate a different destiny that is available. You can see how they all fit together on the Map UI. Here is an explanation of that UI: https://ddocompendium.com/w/Epic_Destinies#Map_View

[Hipparan]

Some things to keep in mind if you want to make a pure Warlock:

• Bladeforged starts as a level 1 Warlock, so you will need to use a +1 heart of wood after TRing if you want to make a pure Warlock.
  
  
• Bladeforged start as a Paladin meaning they have to start as a Lawful Good character. If you want to use the Great Old One or Fiend pacts, you will have to use an alignment changer after getting rid of your Paladin level. Fey Pact however can be any alignment.
  
  
• Bladeforged can't be TRed until they reach level 30 so keep that in mind if you aren't sure you'll like it.

As for the past life, I'd stick with Cleric instead of using your +20 heart. Like others have mentioned, Cleric past life will give you +1 to your Conjuration DCs which will improve certain Warlock spells such as Evard's Black Tentacles and Web.

The Exalted Angel ED is probably the best one for you to pick. Eventually you may want to grab some abilities from Draconic Incarnation or Magister which means you would have to get Exalted Angel to tier 3, Unyielding Sentinel to tier 4, Grandmaster of Flowers to tier 3, Shadowdancer to tier 4, and finally Fatesinger to tier 3. If you choose Unyielding Sentinel then you would get to skip leveling Exalted Angel to tier 3 but would still have to level the rest. IMO I would still start as Exalted Angel.

Here's an image of the Epic Destinies for a visual reference:

Edit: The one in Greantun's link has a nicer explanation of what things are.

[Astral_Dominae]

Thank you all for your detailed feedback, it really helps me a lot :-)

I think then I will save the +20 heart and pick Exalted Angel

[Astral_Dominae]

Just as a follow-up, the extra conjuration (e.g. for web) and the emergency/hireling healing via the PL-Cleric feat is nice (I went human for the extra feat)! Thanks again!

[slarden]

I have a bladeforged warlock as my main character on my dual box account, Randlen, which I have documented somewhere in the warlock thread in my sig (closer to the last page than the first by a sizable margin). First of all I think even with the loss of DC overall it's a stronger solo build for R5 level 30+ quests than just about any fleshy warlock build, but not as strong for R10 party runs obviously due to the DC deficit.

I run 3 piece beacon of magic set + adherent of the mists set for the bonuses with adamantine plating. I run goo and between tainted spellcasting and reaper's potency you get enough DC when you need it if you use those clickies right. Super defenses with bladeforged immunities and high prr/mrr and easy self-healing in mid skulls.

Just understand what you will need to do if you want to play any build other than fey. Fey looks super strong on the new tiefling iconic, but not so much on a bladeforged right now.

Step 1: +1 lesser heart
Step 2: alignment change to maybe true neutral
Step 3: lesser heart to switch from fey to goo or fiend

Aside from the TP issue and initial lesser tr hassles, it's a good build if you plan to stay at cap for a while.

As for past life I would go with wizard unless you want to use that heart for one of the lessers above. Cleric isn't all that bad and it's passive. Web and tentacles use conjuration and will be key cc against drow and other spell resistant mobs.

[Iriale]

So first of all when you use a +20 heart to change your class levels - you do not earn a Heroic PL - the benefit from a +20 Lesser heart is to fix mistakes on your current build - Deep mistakes or to change your class type before you do a True Reincarnate (A True Heart of Wood) which will earn you the past life of the class you TR'd - but your newly TR'd toon goes back to level 1 and has to reach 20 again to do Epics

Example - you use your +20 Heart and change your cleric to a warlock - so now you have a 20th level warlock. That's it - there is no other benefit from using a +20 Heart - you do not get a cleric PL or Warlock PL. To get a Heroic class PL - you would have to use a Heroic True Heart of Wood - which will set you back to level 1 - wipe out all you favor and flags - but you would get the PL Benefits from the warlock that you LTR'd to before you Heroic TR'd back into a warlock (which is now a 1st level warlock

op is talking about doing the lesser +20 first and doing TR immediately to get past life

---

OP: If you do not have three past lives as a cleric, I would not spend the heart +20. If you have them, I would recommend wizard or, if these lives are already done, fvs or sorc. At least one life of wizard gives very good return (+1 DC through the active feat and +2 spell passive penetration), fvs would give you penetration and sorc evo DC. Keep in mind however that it is easy to do wizard lives from the iconic gnome, without spending hearts. Pally lives are always usaful, but I would prioritize the caster lives

[Astral_Dominae]

@slarden Thank you for the pointers, that looks very interesting! Maybe for the next life :-)! Especially since it already starts at 15 and I would also have the warlock gear from the current life (except for docents ofc). Being stronger at solo is also cool.

OP: If you do not have three past lives as a cleric, I would not spend the heart +20. If you have them, I would recommend wizard or, if these lives are already done, fvs or sorc. At least one life of wizard gives very good return (+1 DC through the active feat and +2 spell passive penetration), fvs would give you penetration and sorc evo DC. Keep in mind however that it is easy to do wizard lives from the iconic gnome, without spending hearts. Pally lives are always usaful, but I would prioritize the caster lives

Thanks! Regarding the wizard life, how would it be easier - I would need to bring the char to level 30? Or is 15-30 easier than 1-20? I don't know, haven't played epics.

[Hjarki]

All else being equal, I'd prioritize them as:

1. Sorcerer. Evocation is the most generally applicable school in DDO (at least that you can buff via past lives).
2. Wizard. +2 Spell Penetration can come in handy and Wizard has the best active feat for spellcasters.
3. Cleric. Conjuration isn’t nearly as useful as Evocation, but it can still come in handy.
4. Paladin. Healing Amplification is almost universally applicable.

That being said, you're already a Cleric so I'd save the +20 heart of wood and just reincarnate as a Cleric. There's no reason to waste the heart when you're already in a good class for your purposes.