I've been mulling over a way to try and make an "ETR touring" build that plays like a caster and wondering if maybe an imbue-heavy warlock might do it.

BTW, "ETR Touring" is not really in game parlance. It's just what I've been calling a build for running ITR+ER lives (1 ER + 1 ITR to gain 1 EPL 1 HPL 1 IPL), repeat to completionist. Due to Iconic and HPL constraints, I'd have at most 9~10 levels of ONE class of my choice available to support essentially the entire life. I have no desire to redo a full gearset for less than a full epic completionist cycle and certainly not for each iconic.

It's really easy to make a build like that for melee and for ranged; qstaff and inquisitive are my go-to picks for those styles. However, casters are so dependent on class-levels that I can't quite come up with something that leverages at most 9 levels of just ONE class and plays like a caster.

I'd go Acolyte of the Skin, but it punts the ES tree and thus has no imbue. My understanding is that ES T4 "Spiritual Retribution" is the ONLY imbue in game that works with Eldritch Blasts. If others work, AS wins for DPS and AP cost. If not, I'm pretty sure even 4 Warlock with 2d8+Id6 would beat AS's 8d8 by miles, but it does require T4 AP compared to AS's zero AP.

I'm a bit worried the DPS might be intolerably low with only 3d8 base blast. My own requirement for any ETR-Touring build is to have at least "INQ level" DPS, since that is so ridiculously easy to achieve and because I can steal my ranged DPS's sub-cap gear for it.

Guessing that with cone or chain being so much more reliable than IPS that Warlock trash DPS will be higher, but the single would probably be a fair bit less due to NIH.

Draconic would be the obvious DPS go-to, but also pondering Shiradi+Primal. Shiradi charm with it's double damage combined with primal's mantle share might be interesting assuming when it shares your mantle it doesn't also share your proc CDs, too. This leans into ES's hire/summons buffs; I've always wanted to find a use for those.

Has anyone tried something like this? Any various thoughts on the general idea? Sound good enough to run off and try it right away? (It doesn't to me, but it does feel like there might be something in the general idea)