Warlock Best Soloable in-game??? HOW???

[Barney279]

SO i have been watching Strimtom's Beginner Basics (new to the game (been back for 3 weeks after about 4 years out - new account - VIP + all expacs just for reference)

https://youtu.be/qoxIxpSOSTU?list=PL...-6mIRSo&t=1227 (timestamp included) **yes i know he says **one of the best**

And he reckons they are the **BEST** solo-able class in the game???? What on earth am i doing wrong??? I die very easily... my *main* warlock is level 7 and squish as F

**as implied i AM a noob so any advice, UP TO DATE build etc would be very greatly appreciated**

Constraints to enhancements and other info you may need:

I only have the FDI Enhancement tree (having repped Feywild) and any included with the *Basic* versions of expansions (IOD is the only Collector Edition i own) and the VIP/Basic game Enhancements

I have no money or points to buy gear or ANYTHING else **UPDATE** I have used the Favor Runner Barbarian/fighter/wizard build on every server to get the bonus points (Up to harbor)

I am after a **From Creation** build that i can easily solo (even on Hardcore server)

and i have all Iconics apart from PDK/ML/Scoundrel

*I have also tried Strimtom's tank build and cant even survive a *carry party* (thanks for the assist anyway @Phloat) in catacombs on Reaper 1 (level 7) **reason i have no points/cash as i had to buy a tone of cakes on a single run**

Yes... i am literally asking for a FUN TO PLAY and NOOB PROOF solo build (pure Warlock - don't like to multi class as i have no idea how to focus on more than one)

Thank you very much for any advice and info

[C-Dog]

And he reckons they are the **BEST** solo-able class in the game???? What on earth am i doing wrong??? I die very easily... my *main* warlock is level 7 and squish as F

Warlocks do not have direct self-healing, but do have a spectrum of false hit points that can be refreshed as a buffer to prevent their actual HP to rarely be threatened. This requires active and vigilant maintenance, but should give more than enough of a safety net to keep them alive.

2 enhancements Warlocks need early:

1) 4 AP in Tainted Scholar tree with 3 of those in Feigned health, and a spell on a handy hotbar key to activate it. This gives an infinitely refreshed buffer of hit points = Charisma. A popular spell is Feather Fall (since that's a "party" buff as well; # Warlock Levels = # Targets), but Feigned Health is nice too (since that's "Self Only" and so doesn't need targeting).

(In practice, little in Level 1 quests offers enough threat to require all 3 AP, so those can be spread around before investing all 4 AP there.)

2) The moment you hit Warlock Level 6, 11 pts in TS get you Stanch, which gives a false hitpoint buff = 50% of your Hit Points. This is one reason some Warlock builds are Con-based instead of Charisma.

o https://ddowiki.com/page/Tainted_Sch...cements#Stanch


Beyond that, you should have the usual +Con/+Cha items, a Saving Throw item, be rocking Chainmail, have a decent Fortification item, and some source of PRR. Beyond that, everything is gravy - Korthos boots for +25% run speed clicky, Featherfall, MRR, and so on.

(And, of course, decent Caster sticks or rings/etc - Pact Element + Force/Impact if you are not yet using Utterdark, or Element + Light/Radiance once you are. Spellpower + Crit %. DPS = survival.)

[Barney279]

1) 4 AP in Tainted Scholar tree with 3 of those in Feigned health, and a spell on a handy hotbar key to activate it. This gives an infinitely refreshed buffer of hit points = Charisma. A popular spell is Feather Fall (since that's a "party" buff as well; # Warlock Levels = # Targets), but Feigned Health is nice too (since that's "Self Only" and so doesn't need targeting).

(And, of course, decent Caster sticks or rings/etc - Pact Element + Force/Impact if you are not yet using Utterdark, or Element + Light/Radiance once you are. Spellpower + Crit %. DPS = survival.)

I guess TS is VIP/FTP enhance? and whats sticks/rings would you suggest - as well as pact? (trying for huge DPS + survival)

Thank you very much

Oh yes, i see, you explain about the DPS + survival at the end lol, again, thank you

[C-Dog]

I guess TS is VIP/FTP enhance?

Warlock is now F2P; all 3 warlock enhancement trees (TS, SE, ES) come with that.

o https://ddowiki.com/page/Warlock#Enhancement_Trees

and whats sticks/rings would you suggest ... (trying for huge DPS + survival)

You can usually find something decent on the AH for not too much coin. You want to be as close to max as possible (as defined by CC values). Sticks/1-hand weapons are fine (and all serve identically) unless you are going w/ a Shield build (and those require Crafting, as few shields have what you're looking for).

o https://ddowiki.com/page/Cannith_Crafting/table_3b (looking at "Spellpower" and "Lore (one type)" rows)

If you have access to Keep on the Borderland, you can swap Arcane Ingots for ML 2 Caster sticks there, which are solid to get you started. After that, the spectrum of Named sources of spellpower are too vast to list, LOTS out there.

(The Anniversary Event is coming up - nice ML 5/10/15/20/25/30 stick there, and they come in (most) all flavors!)

o https://ddowiki.com/page/Item:Flamin...Post_(level_5)

This is nice too, and not a tough farm (with a trapper): https://ddowiki.com/page/Item:Runic_Trinket

- as well as pact?

For your 1st 'lock, I'd suggest GOO/acid. Other good ones are Tiefling Fiend/fire and any race w Fey/sonic, but those are a bit more complex to run effectively.

o https://ddowiki.com/page/Warlock#Pact_Choices

GOO gives you Entangle out of the gate, which is a great lowbie Crowd-Control spell to spam before you get Web, and +25% Fort which is helpful for 1st-life that doesn't have great gear yet. Later you get Knock, which opens (most) all those locked doors/chests.

Here are some recent comments on diff Pacts (w links to more) (note this is a MELEE warlock thread - not recommended for 1st-time):
o https://forums.ddo.com/forums/showth...=1#post6561971
o https://forums.ddo.com/forums/showth...=1#post6561988

[C-Dog]

Game Play:

You'll want to get a full 3 AP in Feigned Health asap-ish and possibly 1-2 Strong Pact bumps. (Some specialized builds ignore AP in ES ("strong pact"), abandoning Pact damage and relying on the core Impact/Radiance damage of the non-pact part of your blasts; this is more typical of Aura builds.) But Strong Pact should be swapped out later once some of the better enhancements (described below) are within reach, and then filled in again after. Targets can save for half-damage vs Pact damage (the "elemental" part), but the base blast damage (impact/radiance) gets no save.

You're going to want to get to Chain (TS) by Level 2-3 or so. This lets you automatically target 3 at once, your choice + the 2 nearest that one. It even targets stuff behind you that you didn't see. (With Chain, I'll target the biggest threat (or the target w the most HP) and trust that all other kills are gravy.)

But chain does a little less damage/target than the single-target blast, so put both single-target and AoE blasts on a side Hotbar and swap to single-target when you are facing a boss. (Remember to swap back!)

(Some builds start with Maximize and Empower feats. With those builds, you can start with Soul Eater, grabbing Consume and then Stricken for 8 AP. The first is an incredibly powerful (but a little slow) DoT attack, and the 2nd very OP at level. Both of these can one-shot targets in early heroics, but do have a cooldown; if you're running Reaper, save those for your PANIC buttons, for when you meet Reapers/Champs/Bosses/etc.

In HC I'll take these before Chain or Strong Pact, as insurance against casters and other threats that can quickly kill - I can always run away from the ankle-biters.

If your build starts with +Evocation or other feats, don't worry about these, as they need Max+Emp to get the job done.)

About Level 5-7 or so (depending) you'll (probably) want to respec from Chain to Cone (12 pts in SE tree) - it does more damage than Chain and covers all targets in its AoE. (It has a slightly shorter range, but that's usually not an issue.) You don't want to spend the AP for both, just pick your favorite.


Free spells include Web, which is your Crowd Control (with +Conjuration DC boost). Combat will work something like this: Cast spell for Feigned Life, and Stanch (if you have it) to buff up HP's; then start with Entangle and/or Web to slow down before you aggro anything, Consume a fat target to start the festivities (DoT will take a bit), blast (chain or cone), use Stricken if you have another big threat, blast some more, maybe refresh Web and finish everything off (if it takes that long), spamming that "X-spell for Cha-worth of Feigned Health" key on yourself as needed.

You'll need to master kiting backwards while strafing, which means holding down either s+a or s+d keys, and steering w/ the mouse, running backward circles around your CC and the group of Entangled/Webbed mobs.

Oh yes, i see, you explain about the DPS + survival at the end lol, again, thank you

In the current game, DPS is king. If you can kill your enemies fast enough, they can't hurt you. Just that simple, and not tough to achieve on a 'lock.

[Maelodic]

Soloing reaper without gear/past lives/tomes built up is really difficult. I'm sure there's builds that can do it, and I'll link to one in a bit, but ultimately if you're going solo you might consider just dropping to elite especially on a first life. It's the same amount of favor, and you can still play reaper in groups. I still do elite solo and reaper groups a large amount of time and I often play a good solo warlock build with proper gear. I only really start getting comfortable soloing reaper when I can park a hireling with raise at the entrance so I can teleport it to me if I need a res, and even then on harder content like Sharn I still don't solo reaper - I get a group.

That being said, a really good warlock solo build is Voodu's tank build here: https://forums.ddo.com/forums/showth...mpanion-thread
There's a lot of good information in that thread. Warlocks do a ton of damage without DCs during the leveling process and throughout epics - just starts to fall off when you start getting to like, r3 and up. Still will be super tanky for a group though.

[Barney279]

yes... that feigned life is really nice (only level 3 on this one - i know i can respec but i kind of gave up on my vet 7 (tank-lock) - not deleted - besides i find starting korthos with lock gives me those 6 levels to actually get used to it - also i went Tiefling, followed the DDO wiki for warlock started and got IR as creation feat and went GOO

Last time i went lighting Eldrich (cant remember name) or it was cold think the vet 7 is half-elf - Tainted takes a lot of getting used to, but i am using it for crowds ATM

Went SP to empower and Command for the free SLA and Depravity... went ER as first spell choice... 2 Tumble.. .haven't needed to use it yet as i am very nimble...

Where were you when i was suffering at 7? (TBH thats my fault as i didn't scream here at that point lol)

And i am having a BLAST currently (pun intended) - apart from Barb this *current build* is one of the most survivable i have experienced so far

I will figure everything else as i go (i understand the increased cost at later levels, but Respec is quite cheap currently)

[Barney279]

Soloing reaper without gear/past lives/tomes built up is really difficult. I'm sure there's builds that can do it, and I'll link to one in a bit, but ultimately if you're going solo you might consider just dropping to elite especially on a first life. It's the same amount of favor, and you can still play reaper in groups. I still do elite solo and reaper groups a large amount of time and I often play a good solo warlock build with proper gear. I only really start getting comfortable soloing reaper when I can park a hireling with raise at the entrance so I can teleport it to me if I need a res, and even then on harder content like Sharn I still don't solo reaper - I get a group.

That being said, a really good warlock solo build is Voodu's tank build here: https://forums.ddo.com/forums/showth...mpanion-thread
There's a lot of good information in that thread. Warlocks do a ton of damage without DCs during the leveling process and throughout epics - just starts to fall off when you start getting to like, r3 and up. Still will be super tanky for a group though.

That is my next go-to once i am higher level - Voodu is awesome thanks

[C-Dog]

Soloing reaper without gear/past lives/tomes built up is really difficult...

A Maximize+Empower (+ Quicken?) build that starts with Consume + Stricken can handle Reaper pretty easily to start with. But you can't spam those - the cool-down is too long, and you need to save them for when you are ambuscaded by a Reaper/etc. Shield probably becomes your temp-HP buff spell.

The trick is that you HAVE to have a big hammer to take them out fast. Consume/Stricken (separately or in tandem) do that nicely for low Heroics, and there are several Warlock ploys that can do it after that (Fey Delirium is a good one). But it's very doable.


Once you get ~4 RXP (the core defensive for a few more HP plus your full Reaper offense boost) things start to get easier, and it's not hard to get your first 4 RXP.

[inspiredunease]

This is a nice level by level guide: https://forums.ddo.com/forums/showth...ng-VIP-Premium I've run this a bunch of times and it lays down what you need to do at each level. There's a couple of missing graphics for later enhancement tree setups, but they are mirrored here:

https://imgur.com/KZKf3yO
https://imgur.com/cuvN0UQ

Honestly, Warlock really is one of the best solo classes in the game. Good luck.

[Michele]

in hardcore server I started to kill mobs quickly as soon as I had enough action points at level 3 to use cone shape eldritch blast in soul eater enhancement tree.

at the beginning get shield and false life spells, spam quickened false life spell every time you are damaged and self heal with cure serious wounds potions.

after getting cone shape eldritch blast you can focus in the tainted scholar enhanceemnt tree by getting Feigned Health, strong pact, etcetera and here you will spend 41 action points.

then spend 31 action points in feydark illusionist to get free enlarge spell feat.

I'm absolutely against enlightened spirit enhacement tree because it will not make you tank enough to survive high reaper and because you will lose a lot of DC and DPS making you very slow to kill stuff (and useless for the group).

With up to 3 cone shape eldritch blast hits you will kill anything in low/mid heroic and instant kill all mobs in inspired quarter if you max your charisma (while you will spend 10x more time in inspired quarter if you do one of those constitution based enlightened spirit boring builds).

In end game you can solo quickly finish quests at up to R4 difficulty just by spamming cone shape eldritch blasts (tested with sharn and feywild quests).

[erethizon]

I followed the advice of this thread many years ago:

https://forums.ddo.com/forums/showth...ng-VIP-Premium

and have run 30 or so lives with it since then. I group in R10's and can solo decently high reaper as well (though I almost never solo since I like people). It breaks down a lot of what you need to know very well.

[Seph1roth5]

Warlock beefiness is in enlightened spirit. Their aura is a bit too slow to use at lv 1, but by lv 12 it's a good 3-4 sec pulse of automatic damage. They're constantly refilling their temp hp (that stacks with feigned life) so unless you're completely ungeared, they're pretty bulky on elite/r1.

I love my es warlock for hunting stuff. I can totally be playing another game on my phone or eating with one hand while just moving him around with the other, OCCASIONALLY hitting the light damage bursts or opening a door.

[SilentRunning]

Seph1roth5
Warlock beefiness is in enlightened spirit. Their aura is a bit too slow to use at lv 1, but by lv 12 it's a good 3-4 sec pulse of automatic damage. They're constantly refilling their temp hp (that stacks with feigned life) so unless you're completely ungeared, they're pretty bulky on elite/r1.

I love my es warlock for hunting stuff. I can totally be playing another game on my phone or eating with one hand while just moving him around with the other, OCCASIONALLY hitting the light damage bursts or opening a door.

Here is a good example of multitasking lol.

But I agree the way the temp HP refills is nice.

[slarden]

Heroic levels:
- at lowest levels tainted scholar tier 1 feigned health + false life spell gives a temp hp boost + cure potions from guild potion vendor. Swap out false life at a higher level.
- damage reduction abilities are useful at lower heroic levels. Invulnerability is good at the lowest levels and then things like kobold admirals uniform are useful until about level 8 quests. On hardcore the combination of spear bane bracers from korthos and garrison's missing pack give me several levels of good protection.
- wand and scroll mastery with high umd and cure/heal scrolls depending on the level and I use this all the way to 20. If you find it awkward in combat try jump casting the scrolls.
- hirelings are reasonably effective at heroic levels even if just to use between fights to refill or to call in emergencies
- at level 12+ enlightened spirit brilliance + shining through combined with tainted scholar feigned health is one of the best reaper self-healing methods in the game but comes at the expense of lower dps
- I tend to slot cannith crafting absorbs during heroic levels as it stops some of the biggest spike damage at heroic levels

Epic levels (depends on spec):
- various healing abilities from enlightened avatar, primal avatar, unyielding sentinel - preferably at least 2
- enlightened spirit brilliance + shining through combined with tainted scholar feigned health is one of the best reaper self-healing methods, I find ES to be a good spec for epic leveling regardless of final level cap build

Level cap (depends on spec)
- various healing abilities from enlightened avatar, primal avatar, unyielding sentinel - preferably at least 2.
- Advanced method, use a dual box buffing bard parked at start of quest with a strong sustaining song combined with warlock high healing amp. This is good for pushing skulls as it's not debuffed by skull
- This is an expensive method - but going bladeforged and using lessers and possibly alignment change store options to respec as 20 warlock. Self-healing easy button
- High saves, prr/mrr and situationally absorb significantly lower incoming damage and makes self-healing easier. Going for a balanced build vs. max dps is generally better for soloing. Max dps on a soloing warlock isn't worth it in my opinion as there quite frankly many better dps builds if you are going for max dps
- Salt lgs in off-hand and good cc will really reduce incoming damage against non-bosses. For bosses I usually swap to a shield or a debuffer lgs depending on boss.

At all levels moving as you are casting specifically to lower incoming damage will really help. For example if you are casting while circling around mobs you will take a lot less damage compared to standing still.

Good self healing for soloing is really a combination of damage avoidance/reduction plus actual self-healing.