I am simply opening a discussion about the class, and about certain features. I do not think this will lead to any changes to the class, and I'm okay with that. I am however very curious to know what people are thinking.
Saya's recently been changed to warlock. It's fun so far! Which is what I was after, so it's great. The powergamer in me however started to do number crunching, and I came to conclusions and realizations that there are some pretty deep flaws with the warlock class - of which some solutions might already be available and not needing of any scripting.
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Assuming Rambo, a character with 40 charisma for the calculations (which is very high and dedicated)
Spell DC:
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- Spell DC for status effects works as follows for warlock : 10 + charisma modifier + spell level (highest is 8 )
- Spell DC for reflex saves to avoid damage on Doom and Sphere shape is : 10 + cha mod + shape level (highest is also 8 )
* This means, Rambo will have status effects ranging from 31 to 38 DC.
* This means Rambo's targets need to beat reflex save of 31 to 38 DC if they want to take half damage (when using certain shapes).
* The warlock blast does not seem to trigger spellcraft (advantage)
* The warlock blast DC cannot be increased through spell focus feats (disadvantage)
* The warlock touch AB rolls do not work off charisma and use dexterity instead
* Unlike in Nwn2, you cannot take improved crit / weapon focuses feats in ranged touch attack
Assuming Jim, a character with 30 in all three saves for the calculations (which is not -that- high)
Jim will thus need to roll 8 to ignore all the potential status effects, IF he doesn't use immunities (mind blank, freedom, negative energy renders -all- the blasts' side effects void I believe).
The DC for the effect is decent, but requires a 40 charisma character against a character that doesn't have more than 30 in saves AND that doesn't run immunity effects such as freedom or negative energy protection or mind blank. Bards do not have acccess to epic spells, nor do they have that impressive spells to rely on. Warlocks cannot use curse song or bard song to close the gap; they rely on their blasts.
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Warlock Blast:
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Warlocks deal up to 15D6 dmg with their blasts. The enemy target however can roll spell resistance to void said damage, and can either roll a successive touch attack defensive roll to avoid the damage or roll reflex to void half of the damage (depends on the actual shape used).
A warlock can only ever use ONE blast per round. The acid one should ignore the spell resistance check.
Warlocks can deal consistent aoe damage, granted that they remain alive to cast the blasts. As such, Rambo will not have that high of an AC, but his damage dealing potential is fine. It is however not outstanding either, as it can miss.
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Warlock Class Features:
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Warlocks normally would get some class features upon leveling, including energy damage resist of 2 sources, as well as up to 7 physical damage resistance, an activated ability that gives high but temporary regen, and a craft item feat. However, on Amia, you can only get those by sacrificing item slots, OR by using a feat and request a replacement (I think).
My Observation:
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It seems to me like warlocks have a lot going against them, and very little advantage or boon to speak of. The DCs are only ever effective IF you go all out on the charisma side, and you do so at the cost of having a lower touch AB and AC (since that works off dexterity, not charisma), which can often be partly voided for half damage or just resisted through spell resistance.
Conclusion / Discussion:
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I am questioning the idea of limiting their class features. Normal warlocks would not have the bard spell book, but they would have invokations, some of which are actually quite powerful. However, as it stands, I do not see why the class features listed on the warlock information page are not given to warlocks -or at least partly given.
Here are some questions to potentially get the discussion started
1- Do you think it would be gamebreaking for a warlock to be allowed to request ONE of these class features for free? (given on an item, without counting as mythal potential)
e.g: Rambo gains Epic Damage Reduction II Or +6 / soak 5 maybe to represent that DR on his cloak of forti+5, cloak he never takes off. OR, he gains 10 fire / 10 cold resist on his cloak.
2- Do you think it would be gamebreaking for a warlock to receive all of those feats for free?
e.g: he gets equivalent feats / effects on one of his items (made untradable / unsellable), OR they are given a ioun stone with the defensive passives?
3- Do you think something else should be done to improve warlocks?