U74 Preview 2: Iconic Dhampir Dark Bargainer Warlock

[erethizon1]

Probably not something that can be done, but it would be nifty if we could use the new pact on AotS with the iconic too; like if someone burns a LR or uses an ER to swap to AotS if we had the choice between fiend and The Dark Powers.

This would be a great time to allow an iconic to start with either the regular class version or the archetype for any iconic. They are both warlocks so there is no harm in allow people to choose which type at character creation even for an iconic.

 

[Ratatoskr_Mikew]

I playtested this, the undead form toggle being removed when you die is a huge problem!

That being said, this Iconic is also too Squishy! This is why I said to take some stuff from the Shadar-kai tree!

 

[erethizon1]

People often assume it's complicated when they don't really know if it is. It could be as simple as making the iconic race a regular race (with its new tree) and giving it 15 experience levels. Wow, that doesn't seem that complicated.

I think it was complicated to remove the other 14 pre-set levels when they modified the original iconic race. But making it a regular race? I don't believe it.

And just as importantly, even if it is complicated to go back and fix the past iconic races doesn't mean this one needs to be ruined too. They can create new iconics without the locked in first level of class.

 

[lppmor]

Why base this around a fog spell, fog spells are slow, and they obscure vision?

• This one casts faster than most other Fog spells, and if you have both the Pact Spell and the SLA you can get a few out at a time. The FX is low to the ground, should not interfere with visibility at all. And the effects of Dread Mist only hit enemies. We'd encourage you to try it on Lamannia for yourself before giving feedback on it.

Hey @SteelStar
If you know the Fog spells are slow, why not a quick update on their speed now? Seems it's the right time.

 

[Lotoc]

Hey @SteelStar
If you know the Fog spells are slow, why not a quick update on their speed now? Seems it's the right time.

because then I'll start snapshotting a bunch of different effects onto cloud spells and stack them on one spot because it's suddenly convenient.

 

[Ratatoskr_Mikew]

My findings on my Iconic Dhampir testing:

1-Greater death aura was not granted

2-Master Of The Dead is not working to increase the maximum casting level of the death auras or negative energy burst granted by this pact.

3-The embrace death toggle needing to be reapplied after you die and resurrect is very problematic and will increase chances of you dying again shortly after resurrection. This needs to be fixed!

4-Dhampirs should get a silver type damage reduction that scales with level, giving them this might level out the squishiness issue I am seeing.

 

[Tilomere]

Completely disappointing. What are abilities scaling with melee power doing on a warlock?

They should actually be the best thing about this, as melee power spells should proc and carry along spell power draconic mantle, allowing warlocks to have high single target damage akin to ki bolt builds. Test it out.

Melee powered spells are the bees knees. Don't nerf those. Feel free to nerf everything else but those... Bite a reaper, neg level it 7x and put a 500k point dot on it...

 

[Shall]

This required an alt account to test. Test Character was level 20 with -100 pos amp and +100 neg amp.

Results:

• While not in a Undead form, character was immune to the casting (like if you cast magic fang out of animal form).
• Heal (level 15, 12 positive sp) cured 39hp in undead form. Same stats with Life Salve: 118 (should be 167 with 0 pos amp)
• Harm (level 15, 12 negative sp) cured 290hp in undead form. Out of Undead form with Death Salve: 290 (so the same)

So not entirely sure what is happening behind the scenes here but it did help with the positive healing numbers.

By any chance was it the same alchemist that healed you, and did they have both the apothecary t5 that uncaps their cure admixtures caster levels and the feat that gives an extra caster level to yellow spells? I think that would make sense, casting the heal at caster level 21 for 210*1.12 for 235.2 that got cut in half for 117.6. Then that means life salve changed it from getting ~16.6 percent of the heal to ~50. To me it looks like it added 100 healing amp, then the racial undead modifier is applied after for a final 50 percent modifier, but I'm just guessing since it doesn't sound right for it to apply after life salve.

Unless it's doing something really weird like treating the dark gift as a racial modifier, overriding it to force positive vulnerability to 100 like an immunity strip and then applying the racial undead mod after from some weird order of operations issue of having two racial typed modifiers on a single character.

I guess that would also mean the life salve benefit would get overpowered as you gain more character levels and more negative heal amp from the dark gift. I suppose a capped character with over 100 penalty to healing amplification would be needed to test it to be sure that is how it's working.

Edit Nevermind, if heal was being cast at level 21 it would be casting harm at that level too for much more than 290 with 100 neg amp, so I don't know what's actually happening there.

 

[Exolus]

This was not working at all and completely broke any actions I could take. Just making it noted if not already so it won't get pushed to live broken.
Call on the Mists:
Enemies in a small area who are currently affected by Dread Mist must make a saving throw (DC 15 + highest of INT or CHA mod + Necromancy Bonuses) or die, being consumed by the mists. 20 Spell Points, 25 second cooldown.

 

[ChickenMobile]

By any chance was it the same alchemist that healed you, and did they have both the apothecary t5 that uncaps their cure admixtures caster levels and the feat that gives an extra caster level to yellow spells? I think that would make sense, casting the heal at caster level 21 for 210*1.12 for 235.2 that got cut in half for 117.6. Then that means life salve changed it from getting ~16.6 percent of the heal to ~50. To me it looks like it added 100 healing amp, then the racial undead modifier is applied after for a final 50 percent modifier, but I'm just guessing since it doesn't sound right for it to apply after life salve.

Alchemist was level 17 but only took enhancements up to Life Salve and didn't take any extra Caster Level feats as to make things easier. Heal was definitely capped at 15 (so 150 base healing).
Did make a mistake though: Heal only benefits from 50% positive sp, so it should add +6% instead of +12% to the healing. (should heal for 159 with 0 pos amp).

Not sure if this helps at all.

 

[Artrea]

::Wishlist::
1. Let the Embrace Death form stack with the Celestial Spirit form from the Enlightened Spirit tree.
2. Allow for Vampiric Blast to work with all Eldritch blast shapes.
3. Allow a Dread Mist upgrade that changes it to an Aura around your character.
4. Please add negative immunity stripping! Adding immunity stripping into Chaosmancer was a real win and I would LOVE to see this iconic be at least on par.

Warlocks aren't in the best spot when compared to other casters, and I'd really love to see this class shine.

 

[Elisser]

Play tested on 15Wlk/5DL SWF Male DDB at lvl15, 26, and 34 and 20Wlk Caster Female DDB. Both with Dark Powers Pact. Most visuals and general movement/actions seemed ok.

DDB Errors/Anomalies: (mostly confirming what others already said)

Lvl9 - Pact Spell - Feat says Ray of Exhaustion.
Gives Negative Energy Burst.

Lvl10 - Resistance of the Dark Powers - 5 Sonic Resistance (Undocumented in original post by Dev)

Dread Mist Spell Icon - same image and colour as Evards - bit confusing on hotbars.

Dust to Dust icon druid's icewolf bite?

Improved Dodge - Iconic Enhancement - generic stub image.

Embrace Death toggle doesn't embrace death, it turns off on death. Also on logoff/on needs to be reactivated.

Call on Mists - locks up - can be fixed by tumbling backwards. Unless unable to tumble (eg.slowed by reaper aura - then run away!)

Yet to test the new DP feats...

Edit next day update -
Iconic TR = Regular Wlk feat and Eladrin Chaosmancer on Lam.

Iconic starting stats max Cha and Int only 19. 20 not possible. WAI given only +1 Cha and Int racial bonus?

 

[Smokewolf]

Questions:

With the undead Warlock Iconic racial, whats to become of the Abyss pact for warlocks, being that both the Racial and the Pact have undead forms?

Will the undead form be compatible with ES Form? (Assuming not)

Can the Blast velocity be increased so that mobs can not simply outrun shots?

 

[Smokewolf]

This would make a for a very interesting Paladin build. Undead form pally with Death Auras... I'd totally go for this.

 

[Lotoc]

A suggestion to help support Dark Bargainer (and by extension Dark Apostate) in epic/legendary levels
Could Magus of the Eclipse get evil spellpower in its cores and Scion of the Shadowfell get evil spellpower and evil spell crit damage? Honestly an evil focused caster going into Scion of Celestia and Exalted Angel as their only real options is just kind of silly.
And as an aside, Scion of Limbo could probably constantly give chaos spellpower/ spell crit damage on top of the random effects.

 

[Epicsoul]

I’m a big fan of the Warlock class, so I really want to see it done justice. I hope that future updates to the base class will be considered alongside the introduction of the Dark Bargainer. In the meantime, I’ve shared my thoughts and suggestions on the Iconic below in red.

• Starts with one level of Warlock
• +2 Charisma
• Can breathe underwater
• Feat: Vampiric Bite
  • Single Target Action: You bite target creature at touch range, dealing 1d4 Piercing Damage per Character Level. This scales with 100% negative or evil spell power (though is not a weapon attack and cannot crit). If that creature is a living and corporeal creature, you heal for 20 + (Total Character Level x Constitution Modifier) number of Hit Points from Positive energy. (15 second cooldown).
• Dark Gift Feat: Dark Bargainers are planned to have a Feat Slot at level 1 to take one Dark Gift Feat. This isn't working in the current Preview, though you can take one with a general feat slot in this Preview.

• Cores
  • Dark Past: +5 negative and evil spellpower for 15 seconds after using Vampiric Bite.
  • +1 CON/INT/CHA
  • Dark Present: When standing in a Dread Mist Zone, gain +15 negative and evil spellpower; +20 Negative Amplification.
  • +1 CON/INT/CHA
  • Dark Future: After successful killing a living target with Dark Descendant Bite, gain+20 universal spellpower for 60 seconds; +20 Negative Amplification.
• Tier 1
  • Draining Bite: Your Vampiric Bite now applies 1 Negative Level. This increases by 1 for every 5 Character Levels you have.
  • Manipulate the Mists: +1 Pact Die. When you hit a target who is inside a Dread Mist zone with Eldritch Blast, it gains one stack of Growing Dread. This effect does nothing on its own, can apply to each creature once per second, and can stack up to 30 times. If a creature is outside of Dread Mists for 10 seconds, it loses all stacks of Growing Dread.
  • Energy (Multiselector):
    • Drink in Life: +20 Positive Amplification
    • Drink in Death: +20 Negative Amplification
  • Tenuous Relationship With Death: Your range of unconsciousness extends by 5/10/20 hitpoints. Rank 3: You automatically stabilize when Unconscious (like Warforged do).
  • SLA: Dread Mist. 4 Spell Points. 12 second cooldown. (See below, in the Pact.)
• Tier 2
  • Lifeblood: When you successfully use your Vampiric Bite on a living target in corporeal form, you gain +1/2/3 to all Ability Scores for 60 seconds.
  • SLA: Prey on Fear: Target enemy at touch range takes 1d6+2 Evil Damage per Caster Level. Additionally, if the target is inside a Dread Mist zone it deals 1d4 Evil Damage for each stack of Growing Dread that creature has. Will save for half damage on each effect. 4 Spell Points. (Lv. 1 Necromancy). 6sec cooldown.
  • Embrace Death: Toggle: While Embrace Death is active, you gain 100% critical hit resistance and are able to be healed by Negative Energy. You take 50% healing from Positive, and double damage from Light. (This replaces your natural vulnerability to Light). You are considered Undead rather than your original type for the purposes of most effects. You gain +2 Intelligence, +2 Charisma, +2 Wisdom, and +3 Perform. Your melee attacks have a 10% chance to heal you for 1d3 with Negative Energy per Character level (max 20). This is a Major Form, and counts as a Shroud for the purpose of Pale Master.
  • Rush of Bats: Turn into a swarm of bats and rush to target foe's position. [36/24/12] second cooldown. (This shares a cooldown with similar rushes, such as Vanguard's Shield Rush).
  • Cloak of Undeath: +2/+4/+6 MRR. Rank 3: +6 MRR Cap.
• Tier 3
  • Fearsome Countenance: Target enemy must save or be Cowered (Will save vs. DC 19 + Highest of STR/CON/CHA Mod + Stunning bonuses + Enchantment DC Bonuses ) for 6 seconds. This is considered a Fear effect. On Save: -10% Movement and Attack Speed for 6 seconds. 12 second cooldown.
  • Vampiric Blast: Eldritch Essence Stance: +1 Eldritch Blast Die, +1 Pact Die. While using Focused Blast shape, your Eldritch Blasts heal you for 1d3 Hit Points in Positive Energy for every 10 character levels. If you have Deathly Bite, this is instead Negative Energy.
  • Deathly Bite: When you are considered Undead (via Embrace Death or any other source), your Vampiric Bite heals you for Negative energy instead of Positive.
  • Harrying Swarm: Enemies affected by your Rush of Bats have -5% Dodge and -5 Attack for 12 seconds.
  • Velvet Charm: +1/+3/+5 to Charisma-based skills.
• Tier 4
  • Dark Ascendant Bite: Your Vampiric Bite now applies 5 stacks of Vulnerability. If the target of your Vampiric Bite is Cowered, they take double the piercing damage and if the target is living and corporeal they must make a Fortitude Saving Throw (DC 16 + Highest of CON/INT/CHA Mod + Stunning Bonuses + Necromancy Bonuses) or die.
  • SLA: Crushing Dread: Target enemy at touch range takes 1d6+8 Evil Damage per Caster Level. Additionally, if the target is inside a Dread Mist zone it deals 1d20 Evil Damage for each stack of Growing Dread that creature has. Will save for half damage on each effect. (Lv. 4 Necromancy). 8 Spell Points, 15sec cooldown.
  • Form of the Lord Vampire: While you have Embrace Death toggled, you gain +1 Enchantment and Necromancy DC, +10 Negative and Force Spell Power, and +10 Spell Penetration.
  • SLA: Dark Discorporation: Select your Bat Form!
    
    • Dark Discorporation - (as per the Warlock spell)
    • Reactive Discorporation - When your HP drops below 50% of your maximum, you automatically cast Dark Discorporation on yourself, turning into a swarm of dark fluttering bats for 20 seconds. This spell will still end if you attack as per the original version of the spell. This may only trigger once every 60 seconds.
  • (Intentionally Blank)

 

[Tarrith]

As a mainly undead player. I literally have no issue with this iconic other than the limited use bite. I mean seriously who has ever heard of a vampire that can only bite 5 times
Other than that, it's very cool.

I would ask, could Rush of Bats have the same animation as the classic vampire invisibility guard PLEASE?

 

[Pretty Good Old One]

A few possible bugs (some may already be reported):
Dread Mist Spell costs 30mp instead of 10mp

Dread mist seems to miss sometimes. Using it in the wilderness, sometimes (maybe on slopes) it caused no damage.

Dark Ascendant Bite - not seeming to kill. With the regular Dhampir, I got the skull icon sometimes. So far I have not been able to kill a cowered enemy and gotten the skull (though I have killed some - but likely due to outright damage). It could just be the DC is to low and I have been unlucky with the monster save rolls.

Biting Swarm - damage is not 1d12. I am seeing damage that is low (or bad luck) even for 1d6.

Vampiric Blast appears to be healing or 1d3/level, not a flat 1d3. Please keep!

Observations:
Other than the bugs, it is a lot of fun to play. The healing while blasting is fun. Can't say much about the Growing Dread feature. I did not have any luck noticing I was getting stacks of Growing Dread on monsters. They were dying to fast, and when I did use the finishing spells, the initial damage was always enough to kill. So if the Growing Dread feature is working as intended, and the damage is only 1 dice of damage per growing dread, it might be worth it to make them a little easier to build up - making the mist bigger, making the mist start a condition that lasts 20-30 seconds that causes you to acquire Growing Dread, or making it 2 Growing Dread per eldritch blast might make it more effective - or I might just not be doing it right...

Suggestion:
Enervating Blast in TS looks like such a perfect complement to the Bargainer. Any chance it could also work with Vampiric Blast? If not, how about making the Empty T4 for both Bargainer and base Dhampir - "Whenever you would drain a level from a target, you drain double the number of levels." It would help to make up for the lost healing, and it would make level drain items and spells a lot more dangerous (situationally) in the hands of dhampir. If double is too much in some instances (high level bite, Energy Drain), even just making the ability add +1 level drain would add some benefit in some situations.

 

[Svirfneblin]

Master of the Dead not working, not increasing max caster level.

Sounds like A Prime Opportunity to fix.

 

[Sarlona Raiding]

Well done on this iconic. On Lamannia the past life is the same as chaosmancer which I assume is just a placeholder.

The double light damage is very rough - the equivalent of 2-3+ skulls depending on the difficulty. It would be great if there was a way to reduce this damage as palemasters can do - even if only from +100% to +50%. I often avoid builds that would result in high spike damage, although I'll probably try this one out anyhow.

Vampiric blast turns off utterdark which turns damage type back to force from evil. Perhaps this is for balance reasons, but unless vampiric blast also changes the damage type to evil I am not as likely to use it.

I am not sure if the sneak damage is in there for martial builds or to synergize with shadowdancer. Shadowdancer is definitely thematic with vampire, but warlocks have a low dc potential compared to other casters so even with a max character I am skeptical the dc will be high enough to make the weird spell work well. On the other hand the sneak damage will be great for anyone wanting the iconic life wishing to play a martial build. 1 warlock provides arcane warrior so it's easy to make a 1 warlock splash work.

I would prefer +2 char/int and only +1 from embrace from death instead of the other way around because it opens up other pact builds that aren't centered around undead.

Thanks for not adding abilities that require me to tumble inside the mist.

If you want to get palemasters excited about this iconic change the intentionally blank area to an ability that strips negative energy immunity.

In addition to the iconic, a regular non-iconic dhampir should have access to this pact.