Arcane Wonders Forum
Mage Wars => Spellbook Design and Construction => Topic started by: Koz on October 30, 2012, 11:21:45 AM
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The Warlock is often talked about as being very powerful (one poster on BGG went as far as to say they were afraid he was broken) and in fact, some people have boasted that they have never lost with the Warlock. As a means of getting a good conversation regarding "deck construction" going, I'm hoping people will post their Warlock builds so we can talk about some particulars.
Obviously play styles matter, so please include any "key strategies" that make the build work...well, other than "run at them and bash them in the face with Lash of Hellfire" :P
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lord of fire 2
Vampirism
Enfeeble
Magebane
Death link 2
Firestorm 3
Ring of fire4
Stone wall 2
Mama crystal 2
Deadlock
Mordoks obelisk
Suppression orb
Battle forge
Dragonscale hauberk 2
Regrowth belt
elemental cloak
F ring
ElementAl wand
L of hellfire 4
Mage wand
Helm of fear 4
Battle fury 6
Drain life
Teleport 4
Explode 2
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I use teleport to get to there mage faster . I was going agaist the priestess and won when she was at max life at 90 with a lot of guys out. I run alot of copies of cards that r key for me to sin . I have not lost with him play 15 games
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It seems like you have 4 MW sets?
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It seems like you have 4 MW sets?
Four sets would be even more than me. Goofy may have got singles some place.
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I use teleport to get to there mage faster . I was going agaist the priestess and won when she was at max life at 90 with a lot of guys out. I run alot of copies of cards that r key for me to sin . I have not lost with him play 15 games
I'll give it a run and see how it plays, but I don't think this build would be difficult to beat TBH. No offense intended, but I don't see how this could be undefeated. You aren't running any real defensive cards like Nullify or Reverse Magic. Seems to me you'd spend the whole game getting Dazed/Stunned and/or Pushed all over the place. How do you deal with that?
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It seems like you have 4 MW sets?
Four sets would be even more than me goofy may have got singles some place.
He might be running proxies
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That is what I recommend when testing new build and not having enough cards
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i should comment that the priestess life was 50 not 90 must have been a typo.
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One weakness I can spot with goofy's WL build is that if someone has lots of Reverse Attacks/Magic, Blocks, Nullify, and Jinxes then that would effectively stop all those curses, and LoHF's attack too.
Though I'd be slightly scared going up against ALoF. He hits hard no joke :pinch:
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Koz, I think it's important to remember that when you Know exactly what someone has in their spellbook, of course their weaknesses will be obvious. goofy can still put down an enchantment on a creature (that he's put a Death Link on as well, say), not flip it over right away, and bluff a Nullify. In a game you won't know if he has one or not.
That said, I do agree that having a Nullify or two (and a Dispel or two) in your Warlock spellbook is a very good plan. It's much cheaper to have the Nullify than to re-cast the Lash of Hellfire over and over again. And what if you're up against another Warlock, who drops an Agony on you?
I guess I could post my list.
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Fireball
Firestorm
Flameblast
Ring of Fire
Battle Forge
Deathlock
Gate to Hell
Idol of Pestilence
Mana Crystal
Mana Flower
Pentagram
2 Wall of Fire
Adramelech, Lord of Fire
2 Dark Pack Slayer
Darkfenne Bat
Firebrand Imp
Flaming Hellion
Goran, Werewolf Pet
Malacoda
Necropian Vampiress
2 Skeletal Sentry
Agony
Bear Strength
Chains of Agony
Death Link
Enfeeble
Force Sword
Ghoul Rot
Hellfire Trap
Magebane
Maim Wings
Marked for Death
Nullify
Poisoned Blood
Vampirism
Demonhide Armor
Elemental Wand
Fireshaper Ring
Gauntlets of Strength
Helm of Fear
Lash of Hellfire
Moloch's Torment
Ring of Curses
Battle Fury
Charge
Dispel
Drain Life
2 Explode
Force Push
Seeking Dispel
Teleport
Vampiric Strike
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Keep in mind I only have the base set. Once I have a few more copies of Battle Fury, Bear Strength and Nullify I may change this list a bit.
Basically the idea is that I have many angles of attack and a wide array of counters. And I use the spells that seem appropriate for the opponent in question.
Priestess gets Deathlock.
Swarmy Beastmaster gets Idol of Pestilence, maybe a few Skeletons, maybe Ring of Fire when I'm really surrounded, maybe Adramelech + sweep. Not really sure what's best there. But Idol + Blood Reaper seems really good.
Wizard gets punched repeatedly in the face, and his Voltaric Shield worn down by bats and imps. And then I have a Teleport to bring him back if he tries to run away, or maybe to Teleport away his Hydra.
Not sure what you do against another Warlock. Maybe put up Force Sword? Maybe Agony them or Vampirism yourself and win the damage race?
Pentagram comes out if they have early summons, stays in the book if they don't.
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Koz, I think it's important to remember that when you Know exactly what someone has in their spellbook, of course their weaknesses will be obvious. goofy can still put down an enchantment on a creature (that he's put a Death Link on as well, say), not flip it over right away, and bluff a Nullify. In a game you won't know if he has one or not.
That said, I do agree that having a Nullify or two (and a Dispel or two) in your Warlock spellbook is a very good plan. It's much cheaper to have the Nullify than to re-cast the Lash of Hellfire over and over again. And what if you're up against another Warlock, who drops an Agony on you?
I guess I could post my list.
Sure, you can bluff things like Nullify, but it will become quickly apparent that they are doing that becasuse you're going to be targeting them regardless. The problem with Goofy's build is that he's going to get Sunned/Dazed and Pushed all over the place. He has no Perfect Strikes, so Defense dice will really hinder him as well, as will creatures on guard (he has no Mongoose Agility either). My Priestess build would exploit the hell out of his build by Dazing/Stunning him with various effects while using Defense dice (backed by the Temple of the Dawnbringer) and guards to absorb all of his attacks (with a few Reverse Attacks if I feel like he might actually get one through). I would be surprised if he was able to hit my Priestess very often, if at all (being Dazed plus me having multiple Defense dice is a lot of miss chances).
I won't comment on your build because you admit to only haveing one set and that is a major drawback. I do think your build is too unfocused and will result in you not being able to really do any one thing particularly well.
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A first of all u dont know how I play it . Second I got two copies and my friend has two copies . I am also a very good player . I pick up the came in a couple of hours I play a play tester and beat him . His name was shadow . At gen con . sorry if that songs mean but it ture. I been playing since gen con 6 to 8 maybe more game a week . I posted a list out . And most poeple run 2 and 3 dispel they will run out . If I run they I only run 2 . Thank u sorry if u take this wrong
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Think I'll toss my hat in here for some help with my own Warlock build. By no means is it perfect (and I suspect its a lot worse than I'm thinking. :p ) but I thought it was worth posting for some constructive criticism.
Warlock
Mana Crystal *3
Battle Forge
Suppression Orb
Idol of Pestilence
Mordok's Obelisk
Deathlock
Wall of Fire *2
Flaming Hellion *2
Elemental Wand *2
Regrowth Belt
Moonglow Amulet
Lash of Hellfire
Fireshaper Ring
Elemental Cloak
Gauntlets of Strength
Helm of Fear
Demonhide Armor
Ghoul Rot *2
Cheetah Speed
Rhino Hide
Bear Strength
Vampirism
Regrowth
Cobra Reflexes
Mongoose Agility
Agony *3
Magebane
Maim Wings
Nullify *5
Force Push
Dissolve *3
Explode *2
Dispel *2
Seeking Dispel *2
Fireball *3
Firestorm
Chain Lightning
The idea is to shut out the opponents creatures with Suppression Orb, Idol, Obelisk, and Deathlock, and attack them directly as quickly as possible using the Warlocks powerful equipment and enchantments to keep the pressure high. If the game goes long, then cast the Orb, Idol, etc., while using the Hellions to draw attention away from yourself. Dispels are insanely important in protecting the all important Flail in this deck, as well as the wands if need be for a ranged attack. I tend to cast the first Wand as Dissolve/Explode bait, then cast the second later for its primary purpose.
My openings fall in two ways. If I get initiative, placing the mana crystals/forge is a pretty standard opening.
If my opponent gets initiative and moves even a single zone, I cast Cheetah Speed then Ghoul Rot them. The next round I follow up with a quick rush attack for some opening damage, and start to judge the situation as it comes.
I'm considering including Reverse Magic, Death Link, and Moloch's Torment into the deck, but can't decide on what to remove. One or two copies of Agony seem like prime candidates, but I can't decide on the other 5/6 points. Any suggestions?
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- Equipments:
Demonhide Armor
Fire shaper ring
Lash of fire
Elemental wand
Moloch's Tourment
Helm of Fear
Ring of Curses
-Attacks:
4x Fireball
2x Firestorm
-Enchantments:
2x Ghoul Rot
2x Agony
2x Marked for Death
2x Chains of Agony
3x Hellfire Trap
Death Link
2x Poisoned Blood
2x Nullify
3x Block
-Creatures:
2x Flaming Hellion
2x Dark Pact Slayer
Lord of Fire
Goran, Werewolf Pet
Malacoda
-Conjuration:
Pentagram
Idol of Pestilence
Gate to Hell
Sacrificial Alter
-Incantation:
3x Drain Life
3x Explode
3x Wall of Fire
Wall of Stone
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I am a big fan of damage over time and so my Warlock book reflects as much...
Helm of fear x2 - obvious benefit of limiting attacks against me
Moloch's Torment x2-free damage at limitless range once a critter is cursed this will thin down a horde
Ring of Curses x2
Regrowth Belt
Mage wand - ideally with a drain life bound for finishing off critters that get too close.
Mana crystal x2
Idol of Pestilence - held in reserve for tiny critter floods
Mordoks's Obelisk - also useful in limiting a creature flood.
Wall of Firex2- as mentioned before I am a fan of walls for blocking los and limiting approaches
Fireballx2 - really just for some immediate damage if needed
[strike]Skeletal Sentry x3 - Cheap, nonliving, fodder gaurds [/strike] replaced with imps x2
Flaming Hellion x2 - burn goes along with DoT and again just for some defense
[strike]Darkfenne Batx2- Rot is like DoT and flight is useful[/strike]. replaced with pact keepers x2
Vampiric Strikex2- useful with deathlink
Drain Life x3 - In my mind the best DoT is the kind that also heals you!
Shift enchangement x3 - for moving my curses about
Dispel x3- for weakening those power house critters or nasty enchants.
Seeking Dispel x2
THE BREAD AND BUTTA
Ghoul Rot x3
Death Link x2
Chains of Agony x2
Agony x2
Marked for Death x2
Poisoned Blood x2
Magebane x2
Vampirism - again to support deathlink
Decoyx3
Nullify x 2
Bearstrength x2
Reverse attack x2
Reverse Magic x2
So my strategy here would be move in early dropping mana crystals along the way and equiping Ring of Curses. Hit my opponent with a couple of early DoTs and then pull back (if they allow) and either get out my defensive critters or recurse them or drop a decoy or reverse magic on me.
Staying just out of range of thier mage until I need to reapply curses or deal with critters. The idea would be to keep them taking damage from curses every turn while using deathlink, regrowth belt, and blood reaper to keep myself healed.
Thoughts?
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I am a big fan of damage over time and so my Warlock book reflects as much...
Helm of fear x2 - obvious benefit of limiting attacks against me
Moloch's Torment x2-free damage at limitless range once a critter is cursed this will thin down a horde
Ring of Curses x2
Regrowth Belt
Mage wand - ideally with a drain life bound for finishing off critters that get too close.
Mana crystal x2
Idol of Pestilence - held in reserve for tiny critter floods
Mordoks's Obelisk - also useful in limiting a creature flood.
Wall of Firex2- as mentioned before I am a fan of walls for blocking los and limiting approaches
Fireballx2 - really just for some immediate damage if needed
[strike]Skeletal Sentry x3 - Cheap, nonliving, fodder gaurds [/strike] replaced with imps x2
Flaming Hellion x2 - burn goes along with DoT and again just for some defense
[strike]Darkfenne Batx2- Rot is like DoT and flight is useful[/strike]. replaced with pact keepers x2
Vampiric Strikex2- useful with deathlink
Drain Life x3 - In my mind the best DoT is the kind that also heals you!
Shift enchangement x3 - for moving my curses about
Dispel x3- for weakening those power house critters or nasty enchants.
Seeking Dispel x2
THE BREAD AND BUTTA
Ghoul Rot x3
Death Link x2
Chains of Agony x2
Agony x2
Marked for Death x2
Poisoned Blood x2
Magebane x2
Vampirism - again to support deathlink
Decoyx3
Nullify x 2
Bearstrength x2
Reverse attack x2
Reverse Magic x2
So my strategy here would be move in early dropping mana crystals along the way and equiping Ring of Curses. Hit my opponent with a couple of early DoTs and then pull back (if they allow) and either get out my defensive critters or recurse them or drop a decoy or reverse magic on me.
Staying just out of range of thier mage until I need to reapply curses or deal with critters. The idea would be to keep them taking damage from curses every turn while using deathlink, regrowth belt, and blood reaper to keep myself healed.
Thoughts?
My Warlock build is similar (I feel its really the only build they can do that another mage can't do better). I think you need more mobility. Cheetah's Speed and Teleports seem essential for this kind of "kiting" build.
I've considered the Shift Enchantments but haven't put them in yet. I can see the use behind them, but I'm not sold on how effective they will be (seems like there would always be better things to spend your action on). I should give it a shot and see how they play out, but I'm not thinking they are worth it.
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Koz,
I understand your point with the teleports, but my goal for this (admittedly only marginally tested) deck was to really focus on the primary means of damage, being the curses and in order to lay them "hot and heavy" i need to have plenty to replace. However, after a few more test runs, I may have to adapt!
Thanks, for the feedback.
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Well, after some more playthrough with my little toy, I found the weak spots. It works great against a wave of weaker creatures, but one or two bigger creatures with any kind of healing backing them...less good.
Also the curse effect was fun, but without dissolve, belt of regen and a priestess casting holy incants was nearly a game breaker.
Anyway just some lessons learned!
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Well, after some more playthrough with my little toy, I found the weak spots. It works great against a wave of weaker creatures, but one or two bigger creatures with any kind of healing backing them...less good.
Also the curse effect was fun, but without dissolve, belt of regen and a priestess casting holy incants was nearly a game breaker.
Anyway just some lessons learned!
Yeah, Deathlock and/or Poisoned Blood are staples in a lot of builds. As for dealing with big creatures there are some things you can work in that help with that. I use a lot of lock down stuff like Tanglevine, Sleep and Force Hold to pin down larger creatures. You can also pile on the Drain Life, Ghoul Rot, Death Link, Chains of Agony and Moloch's Torment to wear them down quickly but I'm not a big fan of utilizing so many cards to take out a single creature.
The lock down cards work well in the build regardless since it relies on so much DOT. Try them out and see if that helps.
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My better Warlok runs have been around having an early game blood reaper Dark Pact Slayer and/or a Necropian Vampiress with a few hands of Bim Shalla at their back.
The Vampiress is good for its selective flight ability, and the fact that with a bear strength or a few Bim-Sha's she can reliably hit for 8-10 dice and heal off chunks of health at a time (especially with battle fury), for a higher damage focus the Reaping Pact Slayer has 2 piercing and 6 dice while blood thirsty, add in some bimshalla/bear strength there and he has strong cutting power, sometimes id suppliment him with vampiric strike to let him try to spike heal on his own attacks to keep him in the game longer.
I also like Drain Life because its direct damage, it heals, and its an incantaion, not an attack so you can use it while dazed without a fail chance so your damage never lets up and it cant be dodged. (I also like to use Explode if Im dazed to not lose any damage output that round.)
That said, I dont feel that the Warlock makes that deck better than any other archtype. I think he's kinda "meh" in a lot of ways. His main specialty is curses and slow trickle damage debuffs that arent worth the cost and time investment to set up in my opinion. By the time Ive inflicted ghoul rot, magebane, moloch torment and a pestilence idol for 5-7 or so damage a beastmasters pet souped up grizzly bear can have ripped 20 some odd health off of me, and most of those things can be pretty casually purged. Id rather just throw fireballs than worry about most of the damage debuffs. (though enfeeble and poison blood are pretty invaluable)
Im torn because I like the flavor Warlock more than the Warlock himself. I enjoy useing the demons and drain life and skeletons and fire and stuff, but i really find myself just immitating more succesful builds that other archtypes honestly do a little more efficently.
I wish Warlock had a way to access more mana at personal cost in a "sell your soul" kind of way to fit his flavor, since his lair is sorta meh and he doesnt have a familiar to help him out.
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My better Warlok runs have been around having an early game blood reaper Dark Pact Slayer and/or a Necropian Vampiress with a few hands of Bim Shalla at their back.
The Vampiress is good for its selective flight ability, and the fact that with a bear strength or a few Bim-Sha's she can reliably hit for 8-10 dice and heal off chunks of health at a time (especially with battle fury), for a higher damage focus the Reaping Pact Slayer has 2 piercing and 6 dice while blood thirsty, add in some bimshalla/bear strength there and he has strong cutting power, sometimes id suppliment him with vampiric strike to let him try to spike heal on his own attacks to keep him in the game longer.
I also like Drain Life because its direct damage, it heals, and its an incantaion, not an attack so you can use it while dazed without a fail chance so your damage never lets up and it cant be dodged. (I also like to use Explode if Im dazed to not lose any damage output that round.)
That said, I dont feel that the Warlock makes that deck better than any other archtype. I think he's kinda "meh" in a lot of ways. His main specialty is curses and slow trickle damage debuffs that arent worth the cost and time investment to set up in my opinion. By the time Ive inflicted ghoul rot, magebane, moloch torment and a pestilence idol for 5-7 or so damage a beastmasters pet souped up grizzly bear can have ripped 20 some odd health off of me, and most of those things can be pretty casually purged. Id rather just throw fireballs than worry about most of the damage debuffs. (though enfeeble and poison blood are pretty invaluable)
Im torn because I like the flavor Warlock more than the Warlock himself. I enjoy useing the demons and drain life and skeletons and fire and stuff, but i really find myself just immitating more succesful builds that other archtypes honestly do a little more efficently.
I wish Warlock had a way to access more mana at personal cost in a "sell your soul" kind of way to fit his flavor, since his lair is sorta meh and he doesnt have a familiar to help him out.
I pretty much agree with everything you've said. I like the flavor of the Warlock a lot, but every build I can think of I feel another mage can just do it better. That was the entire basis of my "Is the Warlock the Weakest of all Mages?" thread I started some time ago.
The only build I can find that I think he can do better than any other mage is the DOT build that was just discussed but, like you pointed out, it's really not that a good of a build. It's a big investment for very slow damage. It's more of a "fun" build. I also think that once the Warlock has access to more creatures with Bloodthirsty (or Enchantments/Conjurations that grant his creatures Bloodthirsty) then some more interesting builds might be possible.
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I wanted to tinker with Sacrificial Alter as a cornerstone on a deck, but really all it does is give a use to creatures who already spent their turn or were dazed/stunned/tangled and are about to die. If there was a way to pour out more creatures like a beastmaster can on his quick actions or some other way to buff little guys a sac-swarm might be possible, but right now its just kinda meh.
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KoZ
I agree, I play the warlock for "flavor" and DoTs are part of that flavor (fun). It's not the most effective build, but slowly rotting your opponent is fun, especially if you can lock them down.
Great topic and posts!
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I've got a question for all the Warlock players here. How often do you guys use the Blood Reaper ability? the loss of life is obviously bad, but do you find the bloodthirsty +2 useful or a bit of a wildcard? and in particular, I never hear anyone talking about the second part of this ability:
"The first time each round that [the Blood Reaper] attacks and damages a Living creature, the Warlock may heal 2 damage."
On the surface it appears great, but in practice is it not as great as it appears?
At best it could be the equal of a Regrowth Belt, but not a target for Dissolve. This seems to be the real strength of the Bloodreaper and almost worth the loss of life.
what are your preferred targets for this? I'm thinking that Dark Pact Slayer is a good one... it's level isn't too high (only costing 4 life) and it is strong enough to stick around to get use from the healing.
Do you like getting it out early? or wait until mid/late game when you can get the full use of healing?
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I've got a question for all the Warlock players here. How often do you guys use the Blood Reaper ability? the loss of life is obviously bad, but do you find the bloodthirsty +2 useful or a bit of a wildcard? and in particular, I never hear anyone talking about the second part of this ability:
"The first time each round that [the Blood Reaper] attacks and damages a Living creature, the Warlock may heal 2 damage."
On the surface it appears great, but in practice is it not as great as it appears?
At best it could be the equal of a Regrowth Belt, but not a target for Dissolve. This seems to be the real strength of the Bloodreaper and almost worth the loss of life.
what are your preferred targets for this? I'm thinking that Dark Pact Slayer is a good one... it's level isn't too high (only costing 4 life) and it is strong enough to stick around to get use from the healing.
Do you like getting it out early? or wait until mid/late game when you can get the full use of healing?
I use Blood Reaper pretty often, though almost exclusively on Dark Pact Slayers. At current theres only 3 options: Firebrand Imp, Flaming Hellion, and Dark Pact Slayer. Everything else is either legendary or not a demon. Its kinda fun to put on a Hellion because his ranged attacks heal you, but Pact Slayer's 2 pierce gets a lot of mileage out of the extra damage.
Blood Thirsty 2 turns him into a solid 6 damage +2 pierce monster, and if he starts to take damage i use vampiric strike+battle fury to push that to 3 pierce and lay 2 attacks that both heal him back up. I also like to use Hand's of Bim Shalla for heals and offense. Toss in a Bear Strength and his high attack and high piercing make him one of the best units you can muster up.
the 2 life heal from the reaper is nice, especially in decks where I run a Pestilence Idol to melt swarms and low health familiars (Pest Idol also makes sure everyone on the board is damaged, so that you get the boost and can attack any target you choose).
My current Deck Puts a Reap-Slayer and a Necropian Vampiress out on turns 2 and 3 and goes right to work with with supporting them. Its gotten the best results out of Warlock for me, but if I was a Beastmaster I could be doing basically the same thing with a pet and a spellbook that is tons cheaper since all the buffs would be trained, and Id have a Familiar to help cast them for me.
To me the Reaper is honestly good at any point in the game for me. I like him best early so that I can trade my 6 health for high damage and early pressure which hopefully delays the opponents strategy a bit. And I like him as sort of a coffin nail in a situation where my remaining forces are just starting to turn the tide of a battle to push them over and start healing me as we seal things.
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I use Blood Reaper pretty often, though almost exclusively on Dark Pact Slayers. At current theres only 3 options: Firebrand Imp, Flaming Hellion, and Dark Pact Slayer. Everything else is either legendary or not a demon. Its kinda fun to put on a Hellion because his ranged attacks heal you, but Pact Slayer's 2 pierce gets a lot of mileage out of the extra damage.
Blood Thirsty 2 turns him into a solid 6 damage +2 pierce monster, and if he starts to take damage i use vampiric strike+battle fury to push that to 3 pierce and lay 2 attacks that both heal him back up. I also like to use Hand's of Bim Shalla for heals and offense. Toss in a Bear Strength and his high attack and high piercing make him one of the best units you can muster up.
There is a slight problem with your usage of Vampiric Strike and Battle Fury.
The first attack will hit for 6 dice pierce 3 vampiric, but the second attack will hit for 4 dice pierce 3 without vampiric.
With Bear's Strength also the first attack will be 8 dice pierce 3 vampiric, with the second attack being 4 dice pierce 3.
Source, pages 40 and 44 (https://www.dropbox.com/s/7hyzuo3isqd48cd/Mage%20Wars%20-%20Final%20Rulebook%20V2.pdf)
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There is a slight problem with your usage of Vampiric Strike and Battle Fury.
The first attack will hit for 6 dice pierce 3 vampiric, but the second attack will hit for 4 dice pierce 3 without vampiric.
With Bear's Strength also the first attack will be 8 dice pierce 3 vampiric, with the second attack being 4 dice pierce 3.
Not true. The wording for "Bloodthirsty +X" and "Melee +X" both state that if the target makes Multiple Attacks it only gets the bonus once. Multiple Attacks is a keyword that refers to attacks like Doublestrike, Triplestrike, and Sweeping that take place during the 5. Additional Attacks step of an attack action.
On the other hand, Battle Fury grants the ability to perform an extra attack action. This is not a Multiple Attacks, it is an entirely new action that goes through all 8 steps of an attack. This means that it gets Bloodthirsty +X and Melee +X again.
However, Vampiric Strike specifically only works for one Attack Action, so the second strike does not gain Vampiric or Piercing.
I use Blood Reaper pretty often, though almost exclusively on Dark Pact Slayers.
I use blood reaper mostly on DPSlayer, but I also keep a single Firebrand Imp in my deck for emergency bloodreaperization. Because it is a level 1 spell, blood reaper only costs 2 Life, which means that it can heal off the damage in a single round. After that it is pure healing, which often makes my opponent try to kill the imp. That further decreases the amount of dice they are throwing on my Mage.
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There is a slight problem with your usage of Vampiric Strike and Battle Fury.
The first attack will hit for 6 dice pierce 3 vampiric, but the second attack will hit for 4 dice pierce 3 without vampiric.
With Bear's Strength also the first attack will be 8 dice pierce 3 vampiric, with the second attack being 4 dice pierce 3.
Not true. The wording for "Bloodthirsty +X" and "Melee +X" both state that if the target makes Multiple Attacks it only gets the bonus once. Multiple Attacks is a keyword that refers to attacks like Doublestrike, Triplestrike, and Sweeping that take place during the 5. Additional Attacks step of an attack action.
On the other hand, Battle Fury grants the ability to perform an extra attack action. This is not a Multiple Attacks, it is an entirely new action that goes through all 8 steps of an attack. This means that it gets Bloodthirsty +X and Melee +X again.
However, Vampiric Strike specifically only works for one Attack Action, so the second strike does not gain Vampiric or Piercing.
Ahh, my mistake.
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I use blood reaper mostly on DPSlayer, but I also keep a single Firebrand Imp in my deck for emergency bloodreaperization. Because it is a level 1 spell, blood reaper only costs 2 Life, which means that it can heal off the damage in a single round. After that it is pure healing, which often makes my opponent try to kill the imp. That further decreases the amount of dice they are throwing on my Mage.
What do you mean by heal off the damage in a single round? Blood reaper doesn't give you damage, but takes away from your maximum life. You cant get that back by healing. Maybe that's what you meant though, just wanted to point it out anyway.
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Remember with the Bloodreaper after a successfull attach the Warlock can heal up to 2 points of damage. As the Imp is only a Lvl 1 creature it only costs the Warlock 2 Life. But for each hit the Warlock can get heal up two points of damage. Just a couple of hits and it is well worth the 2 Life cost.
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Now I'm sharing Miir's worries (which are likely just unclear language), but to be completely clear: When you assign Blood Reaper to your non legendary demon creature, you must pay 2 Life, not take 2 damage. The distinction is important as you permanently lose 2 maximum life. There is no way to heal this, it's gone forever.
Thus, if you had 38 life with no damage taken yet in game and made that Firebrand Imp your Blood Reaper, you now have 36 max life with no damage. No amount of Blood Reaping gets that two life back.
My apologies for the likely unnecessary pedantic fit, but there was enough unclear language I was worrying.
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you must pay 2 Life, not take 2 damage. The distinction is important as you permanently lose 2 maximum life. There is no way to heal this, it's gone forever.
That is correct. Sorry for my lack of clarity. The distinction between "lose life" and "take damage" can be important if you have a lot of healing.
For most Warlock situations it's a purely academic distinction. As far as I'm concerned, if i've taken 10 damage out of 38 max life, losing 2 Life and healing 2 Damage comes out to a wash.
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Warlock
I have the core set and 1 epic spell tome.
Equipment
Demonhide Armor
Dragonscale Hauberk
Elemental Wand
Fireshaper Ring
Helm of Fear
Lash of Hellfire
Moloch's Torment
Moonglow Amulet
Ring of Curses
Conjurations
Battleforge
Pentagram
X2 Wall of Fire
Attacks
X2 Flameblast
Fireball
Ring of Fire
Firestorm
Creatures
Adramelech, Lord of Fire
Malacoda
X2 Necropian Vampiress
Goran, Werewolf Pet
X3 Flaming Hellion
X3 Darkpact Slayer
X4 Firebrand Imp
Incantations
X3 Dispel
X2 Explode
Enchantments
X3 Agony
Death Link
X2 Decoy
X3 Ghoul Rot
X2 Harmonize
X2 Hawkeye
X3 Hellfire Trap
X2 Maim Wings
X3 Marked for Death
X3 Poisoned Blood
Burn. burns add up(that is if they don't get rolled off)
I'm concerned about mana. No mana crystals means a maximum of 12 channeling at the cost of 18 mana via both harmonizes and the moonglow amulet. The average casting cost for this build is ~7. When i switch up the moon glow amulet for moloch's torment( or if amulet gets dissolved), channeling will drop to 11,. Assuming my opponent dispels at least one of my harmonizes, leaves me at 10, if not 9(back where i started). Not a good spot to be in.
The only thing i can think of to make this work is pentagram to bring me my creatures. Casting pentagram and a bloodreaping firebrand imp turn 1 leaves me 0 mana. 9 next turn- harmonize on pent, another firebrand imp. then send those 2 imps to start hurting my opponent while gaining my pentagram mana. 0 mana again means 9 next turn- what to do... Battleforge. Start gearing up with the amulet, F ring and wand . Keeping in mind that early equipment casts are targets for dissolves, have the LOH, Moloch's, and curse ring for later.
Placing traps and decoys to bait out seeking dispels for cheap mana.
Then later in the game switching to cheap curses to make targets easier to bring down and bait out dispels. Eventually poison blood on enemy mage and ghoul rot, death link, marked for death. Boom. Dead.
Multiple copies of pretty much every enchantment means if i lose one or two to dispels i have one left for the mage. Tough to judge when to cast death link when going up against a deck with X6 Dispels/X5 Seeking Dispels. Never cast a curse unrevealed.
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Hi Sk8rD13,
A few thoughts, starting with some possible error corrections: you can't have both Harmonize enchantments on any one target at the same time (including your mage). Your maximum channel is 11 with that book, not 12. Also, you can't cast Death Link on a mage target (Target line is non-mage living creature).
I agree that you'll be rather mana starved, especially if you go against someone keen on mana denial. I can't ever recommend playing two spawnpoints, as it is simply a massive mana hole you fall into and likely won't catch up with.
Add to that the high casting cost of your giant pile of creatures, and I fear this might have a hard time against an aggressive enemy. It is so hard to compare how things work in different playgroups however, so take my opinion for exactly that.
Out of curiosity, is that a 120 point book? With no online deckbuilder to double check, all I can rely on is the "eye test' which suggests you are over on points. This is a near worthless "test" so take that with a giant salt lick. :)
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It's actually 116 points according to my calculations... yes I'm that bored.
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I'm concerned about mana. No mana crystals means a maximum of 12 channeling
I've won plenty of games without a single point of channeling (base 9), it's just a matter of playing aggressively and using lots of melee attacks (doesn't cost mana).
However, spending a total of 32 mana (pentagram + moonglow + harmonizes) on mana generation early on means that the other guy could have a creature/equipment advantage of 32 mana. An aggressive player will kill you before you can really get your build going.
Regarding your build: You don't have any incantations to help you win melee engagements. Without anything like battle fury, charge, perfect strike, evade, knockdown or teleport, your creatures and Mage will be totally outclassed in melee combat by any build that includes these. That is fine if you were a build that didn't really care about melee combat (for example, a hawkeye + fireshaper + fireball + flaming hellion build) but you have a creature and equipment selection that really needs to be able to melee.
Curses support melee attacks, they do not replace them.
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Thanks for you're insight and feedback. I'm still new at this. I've played a hand full of games now, stumbling upon rules each time. Never have secured a victory.
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Warlock
I have the core set and 1 epic spell tome.
Equipment
Demonhide Armor
Dragonscale Hauberk
Elemental Wand
Fireshaper Ring
Helm of Fear
Lash of Hellfire
Moloch's Torment
Moonglow Amulet
Ring of Curses
Conjurations
Battleforge
Pentagram
X2 Wall of Fire
Attacks
X2 Flameblast
Fireball
Ring of Fire
Firestorm
Creatures
Adramelech, Lord of Fire
Malacoda
X2 Necropian Vampiress
Goran, Werewolf Pet
X3 Flaming Hellion
X3 Darkpact Slayer
X4 Firebrand Imp
Incantations
X3 Dispel
X2 Explode
Enchantments
X3 Agony
Death Link
X2 Decoy
X3 Ghoul Rot
X2 Harmonize
X2 Hawkeye
X3 Hellfire Trap
X2 Maim Wings
X3 Marked for Death
X3 Poisoned Blood
Burn. burns add up(that is if they don't get rolled off)
I'm concerned about mana. No mana crystals means a maximum of 12 channeling at the cost of 18 mana via both harmonizes and the moonglow amulet. The average casting cost for this build is ~7. When i switch up the moon glow amulet for moloch's torment( or if amulet gets dissolved), channeling will drop to 11,. Assuming my opponent dispels at least one of my harmonizes, leaves me at 10, if not 9(back where i started). Not a good spot to be in.
The only thing i can think of to make this work is pentagram to bring me my creatures. Casting pentagram and a bloodreaping firebrand imp turn 1 leaves me 0 mana. 9 next turn- harmonize on pent, another firebrand imp. then send those 2 imps to start hurting my opponent while gaining my pentagram mana. 0 mana again means 9 next turn- what to do... Battleforge. Start gearing up with the amulet, F ring and wand . Keeping in mind that early equipment casts are targets for dissolves, have the LOH, Moloch's, and curse ring for later.
Placing traps and decoys to bait out seeking dispels for cheap mana.
Then later in the game switching to cheap curses to make targets easier to bring down and bait out dispels. Eventually poison blood on enemy mage and ghoul rot, death link, marked for death. Boom. Dead.
Multiple copies of pretty much every enchantment means if i lose one or two to dispels i have one left for the mage. Tough to judge when to cast death link when going up against a deck with X6 Dispels/X5 Seeking Dispels. Never cast a curse unrevealed.
First, the average damage you will get out of a Burn token over the course of a game is 3 (assuming that your opponent doesn't remove it with Geyser or some other ability.
I would suggest the following changes:
I wouldn't suggest more than 6ish creatures for a Warlock. To that end, drop the Pentagram and ALL of the Firebrand Imps (they don't make good Blood Reapers and compare poorly to other level 1 creatures). The Darkfenne Bats are better (flying lets them survive longer and Rot is superior to Burn). Then drop some of the other creatures (I suggest dropping 1 Vampire, and down to 1 of each of the level 3 demons). The reason is that the Warlock scales poorly as the game progresses, yet begins the game with a lot of strength. So it is in your best interest to end the game sooner rather than later. As such, it is highly unlikely that you'll ever be able to cast more than a few creatures per game (since the good Dark creatures are all fairly expensive). You could honestly go down to 4 (my Warlock build only has Adramelech, Goran, Vampire, Dark Pact Slayer), though having more options isn't bad.
Additionally I would drop the Moonglow Amulet, the Dragonscale Hauberk, both Harmonizes, 1 Agony, 1 Poisoned Blood, 1 Marked for Death. Also I like Bear Strength over Hawkeye (you have more melee creatures and it is a +2 bonus instead of +1).
Now that you've dropped all those points, you can pick up several things that will fill holes in your deck.
To improve your mana, you can add 2 Mana Crystals (these cost less to cast than a Moonglow Amulet or a Harmonize on yourself, can't be removed with a dissolve/dispel/explode, and cost the same to put in your spellbook).
You really do want a few Nullify and Jinx cards. I personally like Nullify better; it prevents your opponent from casting NASTY things on you (I once stopped a Power Drain with this) and it is really cheap. Jinx is also really nice though. It costs you a quick action and three mana to deny your opponent a quick cast for one turn, so it's situational, but you can use it to prevent your opponent from casting dispel on your Bear Strength for a turn (allowing you to smack them with more dice) or casting a Teleport to escape, ect. It is a card that lets you keep winning once you already are, so I would recommend 1 or 2. Nullify is more useful, and I like 3-4 (though 2 is also fine if you need to save points).
For more Conjurations, a Deathlock and an Idol of Pestilence can really ruin some spellbooks. If you can defend an Idol you will utterly destroy a swarm deck, and Deathlock is a hardcounter to significant portions of a Priestess' power until it is destroyed. You probably won't use both every game, but they are so useful at ruining your opponent's day.
The Elemental Cloak is also a really nice thing to have; you can wear it at the same time as your armour and it gives you -2 to Flame, Frost, and Lightning in addition to +1 armour trait. The Leather Boots can also be nice; they cost 1 point to include in your book, cost 2 mana, and give you another +1 amour. This will give you a total of +4 armour, an unavoidable critical damage barrier (it ignores all armour - awesome!), -2 to the two scariest elements (also making it more unlikely you will get burned or dazed/stunned), and preventing melee attacks outright on a roll of 9+ with your helm. This will give swarm decks even more trouble (in addition to dealing with the Idol) and give you some decent protection against spellbooks that focus on 1 or 2 large creatures.
Then I would add in a Cheetah Speed, at least one Bear Strength, and some of the War Incantations (such as the one that allows a creature to make an extra quick melee attack after it makes a melee attack or the one that turns a melee attack into an unavoidable attack). Vampirism is also a very nice enchantment for large creatures, especially since it is in-school for you.
Very quickly in the game you will have to decide if you're going for an early-game victory or a mid-game victory (for example, against a Priestess you probably want her dead before she can take down Deathlock, but against a Beastmaster who is summoning tons of weak creatures a mid-game strategy is probably more appropriate since they will dominate in the early game but lose steam as the Idol keeps ticking away a 5th of their creatures' health each turn).
For a mid-game victory, the mana crystals and battleforge are a nice start, followed by some Hellfire Traps and Nullifies to protect yourself and your creatures. Goran is a nice mid-game creature (getting him out by turn 3 or 4 is doable with a 2x mana crystal + battleforge start).
On the other hand, for an early-game victory a quick Adramelech and Lash of Hellfire can wreck your opponent if they aren't prepared for an early-game bash. In this case, you can worry about casting the mana crystals and battleforge later if it looks like you won't be able to finish off your opponent.
An example would be something like this:
Turn 1 (19 mana) - move to the center zone closest to you and cast Hellfire Trap somewhere in your opponents space (either super-cheap damage for you or your opponent delays a turn hitting it with Seeking Dispel)
Turn 2 (26 mana) - cast Adramelech and put unrevealed Cheetah Speed on Adramelech if possible
Turn 3 (9 mana) - If opponent is in range, reveal Cheetah Speed and put on Bear Strength, run in and hit for 8 dice.
Turn 4 (9ish mana) - cast Lash of Hellfire and attempt to pummel your opponent's face
In subsequent turns just cast things that make you more scary, like a Bear Strength on yourself, Ring of Fireshaping, Cheetah Speed on yourself (if you have 2), Hellfire Traps/Walls of Fire in their way, ect until they're dead.
For a mid-game victory, you could try:
Turn 1 (19 mana) - Battleforge and Mana Crystal, move one space closer to center
Turn 2 (16 mana) - Hellfire trap in the center on their side, second mana crystal, move towards them.
Turn 3 (20 mana) - Cast Goran, Nullify on yourself
Turn 4 (13 mana) - Cast either Cheetah Speed or Bear Strength on Goran, get out your lash of Hellfire with the forge, try to hit your opponents with it
On subsequent turns, just try to keep the pressure on them. Goran isn't the same level of beast that Adramelech is, but he'll distract your opponent for a bit while you build up for Adramelech. Casting Vampirism on Goran will also give him a lot of staying power (with Bear Strength and in the same space as you his full action melee attack hits one target for 7 dice and then 3 dice).
Hope that helps.
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Here's my current Warlock build, it's been working out ok so far:
Attacks:
2 Flameblast
3 Fireball
1 Ring of Fire
1 Firestorm
(mainly a bunch of unavoidable spells, exception being fireball. it's a solid way to get some damage on the enemy mage early in the game when he/she may not have a defense yet. Also has a good chance for a burn, and an early burn can be a very opportunity to close out the game in short order)
Creatures:
2 Darkfenne Bats (I hear good things about them, but I'd rather probably just summon an Imp as cannon fodder. The rot chance is lower and be healed more easily, not to mention they die if you look at them. Still testing them, but I don't think they'll make the cut with how aggressive my book is. I think they'd be better served in a Beastmaster build since they count as Animals)
3 Firebrand Imps (here to soak up guard counterstrikes, with the occasional burn. Basically just cannon fodder, and without piercing, I don't see them as good bloodreaper material)
2 Dark Pact Slayer (go to bloodreaper. should last you nearly the entire game if you time your Vampiric Strikes right. Certainly the most well-rounded Dark unit, good at killing conjurations or creatures and great as a meatshield due to its higher health than its cost)
1 Flaming Hellion (you sacrifice a lot of health for a ranged attack here, but sometimes it's what you need to break through a line of guards. Lets you out-attrition your opponent with the high burn chance. Lash is more efficient and better against flyers, but begs for a dissolve, and sometimes the initiative order isn't kind to just throwing the lash out there.)
1 Goran Werewolf Pet (linebreaker unit that I believe every Warlock needs. you need those extra dice for when you go in for a push against the enemy mage and Goran gets you there. He can slug it out for a bit, but it's better if you use him as the head of the spear of your push, and a Slayer and Imp as the beef)
1 Necropian Vampiress (haven't had a chance to test her yet, but she seems ok. I think I'll probably just stick with Goran since he usually rolls for more than the Vampiress and costs a tad less, but she's worth a try)
Conjurations:
1 Sacrificial Altar (back up plan for Vampiric Strikes if your lvl 3 bloodreaper is going to die early. make sure you have initiative and combine with Battle Fury for best results. It's usually enough to take out a Temple of Asyra or Gate to Voltari, or kill or nearly kill some heavily armored big creature)
2 Mana Crystal
1 Battleforge
1 Pentagram (don't understand the hate for this card...it's pretty useful. It doesn't come out every game, but it does come out. Battleforge comes out against builds that are less creature-based, like Wizard usually, penta against creature heavy builds like Priestess and Beastmaster. Has some good synergy with AOE spells too; a Ring of Fire or Firestorm can net you an automatic 2 mana just from one action. It really helps sustain a push into a particular area of the board and I don't have to waste actions summoning. It also tends to cut off key zones from other zone exclusive conjurations, without you worrying about it dying as fast as a mana crystal. Could be wrong, but I like it.)
Enchantments:
2 Poisoned Blood (wins games as long as you have initiative. I have a second in case the first gets immediately dispelled and I don't kill the enemy mage on the turn I cast it)
2 Nullify
2 Hellfire Trap (they're nice and cheap to set up with a Force Push. good chance to burn too. Or just make your opponent blow an early Seeking Dispel)
1 Force Orb (sometimes needed if your opponent goes multiple early Gorgon/Royal Archers. Weak/Cripple really, really sucks...you will lose if you don't react to it)
2 Vampirism (thinking seriously about just cutting them, since I already run Vampiric Strike and it's more efficient. Buffing enchantments are easier for my opponent to interact with too, which isn't something I want in an aggro book)
2 Marked for Death (unsure about these, but they're a very cheap way to get extra dice, especially with the Ring of Curses. I find it hard justifying the use of an action for one or two extra dice though...the Warlock is not hurting for lots of dice, that's for sure)
1 Cheetah Speed
1 Magebane (oftentimes functionally the same as another Ghoul Rot. And two ghoul rots on a creature is pretty punishing)
2 Agony (An easy counter to Bear Strength, which is a very popular enchant. Makes guys with lots of piercing but not too many dice like Brogan far less effective too)
2 Ghoul Rot (I don't find it to be the be-all-end-all to curses like some posters do...it's very good at it's role though, which is slaying high armor low life creatures. Brutal with Moloch's Torment)
2 Enfeeble (been loving these, very underrated. exceptional if you manage to separate the opponent's mage from his/her big creature)
1 Death Link
Equipment:
1 Ring of Curses
1 Elemental Wand (not sold on this just yet...I'm pretty aggressive so the 5 mana initial investment is kinda steep to do nothing at first, though it's better with a forge out. Helps me win harass wars with Wizards, who are hard to approach)
1 Moloch's Torment (important for activating bloodthirsty in some situations, otherwise you could lose some efficiency in your attack orders)
1 Gauntlets of Strength
1 Demonhide Armor (activates bloodthirsty, and everyone needs some armor)
1 Lash of Hellfire
1 Fireshaper Ring
Incantations:
2 Knockdown (deals with big bads well, especially flyers)
2 Charge (a must in the early early game. combine with Force Push to move 3 zones and you'll attacking the enemy mage on turn 2, if you have moved twice your first turn)
2 Battle Fury (quite good with the demons and Lash)
1 Rouse the Beast (hasty Goran is excellent, also helps the Pentagram get immediate value after deployment. Be sure to have initiative in the pentagram case.)
2 Vampiric Strike (so good for such a low cost...especially on a bloodreaper Slayer. +3 Piercing gets past most armor vaules in the game and the extra dice from being a bloodreaper synergize very well with the vampirism. Use this over minor heal any day for Warlock.)
1 Explode (considering a dissolve too, but I usually I play aggressively enough that the opposing mage doesn't get much of a chance to stock up on more than one or two equips. I also don't like having to sacrifice an attack. for a little more expense, explode both gets rid of an equip, attacks, yet doesn't trigger defenses)
1 Dispel
2 Force Push
1 Drain Life (should be in every Warlock build, it's that good. gets around defenses, voltaric shield, etc)
2 Perfect Strike (good for this book since I only run one equipment and enchantment removal and I need a way to get around extra enchant/equip defenses. Sometimes a fire spell just won't cut it and you need to get a hit in with your Lash)
2 Evade (a must in an aggressive build. especially good if the creature has the Fast trait, like off of cheetah speed or Charge. Sometimes you can't afford to wait a turn for an Imp to take the dive and need to roll on your target right now.)
So yeah, that's my book. It's not unbeatable, no book really is, but it's definitely solid in my experience. My initial start depends on whether I have initiative first or not.
If I do, I'll move once and place two mana crystals, then turn 2 I'll move twice and throw a fireball, unless I meet a turn 1 Gorgon Archer (in which case I have to opt for Force orb).
If I don't have initiative first, I'll move twice and then either Force Push myself to get within Charge range for next turn, or if my opponent has an turn 1 defense, place a mana crystal instead. Turn 2 I'll prep a fireball if there was no turn 1 defense (or either Explode or Dispel if there was) as a quickcast and a fireblast to get around the defense if one comes up during quickcast; that way, I get a shot at damage if I get dazed or stunned during quickcast, but can capitalize on damage if I don't.
Turn 3 is usually around the time I decide whether the Battleforge or Pentagram comes out. If I see early creatures, I'll know I'll have to get out the Pentagram and prepare for a slugfest/push to counter the opposing mage's early creature investment. With less creatures I'll go for the Battleforge route, laying that down and probably another mana crystal to deny valuable zone exclusive real-estate.
Best case scenario, I seen no early creatures or defenses and my opponent does a heavy mana development build. At least, it's the easiest decision; Charge in and start beating face, with either a Dark Pact Slayer for killing mana crystals or a Flaming Hellion for killing mana flowers.
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Interesting choices Reddawn. I prefer Mongoose Agility over Evade, since it gives Elusive until my opponent does something about it, rather than just once.
Similarly, I prefer Vampirism over Vampiric Strike. Vampirism is a bit more expensive, but the advantage you can get out of it is much more impressive. Even if my opponent immediately removes it, I get to land 1 hit with Vampirism, and my opponent spent an action and a similar amount of mana to deal with it. If they don't do anything to deal with my enchantments, than I come out massively ahead compared to casting one shot incantations that did the same thing once for a bit cheaper. I'd say that Vampirism is significantly more efficient than Vampiric Strike, since it gives repeated benefit or forces your opponent to spend resources responding.
I'd also rather take a Falcon Precision than Perfect Strike. Sure, my opponent can Dispel it, but it forces them to respond to me or concede a long term advantage to me. Even if you're planning on ending the game in the first 6 turns, the cost of these cheap enchantments is low enough that the advantage of making my next 3 attacks unavoidable for 1 action is definitely worth it. Perfect Strike is only better than Falcon Precision on the Warlock if you are low on mana, and you will win the game if your attack gets through (or die if your attack fails to kill your opponent). It might be better to use a Perfect Strike than a Falcon Precision on a creature that you know is going to die before it gets to make a second attack, but that's not a good enough reason for me to include Perfect Strikes over Falcon Precision.
Necropian Vampiress is amazing against living creatures because she's so resilient. Overall I'd say she's a better creature than Goran against living creatures without defenses, since she'll last longer with less investment, but she's vulnerable to Mind Control, and Goran is better against creatures with one shot defenses. I'm planning on including both in my Warlock build, but opening with Necropian Vampiress in more matchups.
I much prefer Teleport to Charge for my Warlock build. Charge is fantastic for giving a slow creature the ability to move and attack (particularly Iron Golems), but Teleport is much more versatile for repositioning. If I want Fast, I'd rather invest in Cheetah Speed which costs the same number of points to include in a Warlock list and only costs 1 more mana for a persistent rather than a one shot effect (and if you have Enchanter's Ring out, they cost the same amount of mana). The 1 extra die isn't worth the loss of the persistent effect.
I see you include Cheetah Speed as well, but I'd rather run 2 Cheetah Speeds than 1 Cheetah Speed and 1 Charge. That way you can give a big creature like Necropian Vampiress, Goran, or a Dark Pact Slayer Blood Reaper Fast in addition to yourself.
I'm not sold on Sacrificial Alter, but I can see that it could potentially be good.
When I run Battleforge, I like to have many equipment options so that I don't run out quickly. Getting up to 4-5 armor makes your mage much more resilient. Running only a single Lash and no Bear Strengths means that you're melee plan is easily disrupted, and you won't have any strong melee follow up, aside from sacrificing big creatures to Sacrificial Alter.
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I see, for my particular book, more value in incantation buffs rather than enchant buffs. The largest reason is so that I can optimize my mana every turn, which enchantments don't really allow for unless you have the ring that reduces their cost...but at that point, I'd much rather use the Ring of Curses and use particularly powerful curses like Enfeeble and Ghoul Rot and Magebane. The Beastmaster does the buff route better anyway, especially with his familiar. I've found curses to be more effective with the Warlock, as they should be.
After a couple games today, I actually didn't like the Vampiress very much. Without piercing, she can be ignored fairly easily. She's very hard to kill, no doubt, but I'm looking for damage in my book, with survivability as more of an afterthought. Dark Pact Slayers fulfill the tank role better for their cost anyway, and a bloodreaper Slayer is simply more of a threat than the Vampiress--BR Slayers roll for more dice, have invaluable piercing +2, and heal my mage. I'm sure she's good in a more controlling book, but she becomes much less potent against a mage with armor or armored guards, and since I don't want to waste actions answering my opponent's equipment, I'd rather have creatures or spells that give my armor-piercing demons an easier time at attacking, which is what I need to be doing every round.
I think I'll try the elusive enchantment. I value the Elusive trait more than the Fast trait for my book, so a longer term investment could be worthwhile. Not sold on the Vampirisms, however; I think they'd be far better in a Beastmaster book where you have more synergy with the other "buffing" enchantments, like Bear Strength.
Also, I don't really tend to run out the Lash when I feel like it. I play against a lot of elemental resistance-based equipments, so usually I just settle for an initial Demonhide Armor and/or some Gauntlets. 5 dice is a lot every turn, plus the damage barrier crits...they really add up. The Lash is something I use to seal the deal when I've already Exploded whatever elemental resistance my opponent had.
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I haven't played a warlock yet, although I built my first warlock book this week. So take my advise with a grain of salt.
Have you considered Sectarus instead of the LoH? It has gotten a lot of bad press but don't believe it. It is a solid weapon that you'd be hitting for 6 dice with in your build (8 if you added bear strength) with +1 piercing. You would also get the added benefit of getting an action advantage when you stared laying curses with it.
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I keep hearing people say that Firebrand Imps are bad. They are not!!
An Imp has a 2 dice attack with a 1/3 burn chance. This is roughly equivalent (in damage) to a 3 dice attack. (An average burn token deals 3 damage over 2 rounds)
This means that the Imp has the same offensive power as a Fox, but instead of being Fast it has 1 extra HP and it is Fire Immune. Don't underestimate the tactical advantage of being able to Firestorm your own army, or lay down Fire Walls and walk straight through them. (This is an awesome way to counter a ranged attack heavy army)
Also, 6 health is a "sweet spot" where it is relatively difficult to kill in one hit. A 4-5 dice attack has a very significant chance of killing a 5 HP creature in one hit but will often leave a 6 HP creature with 1 HP.
Of course, the firebrand imp is 100% useless against anything fire resistant, but as a corollary it is really good against flowers and watchtowers and stuff.
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Agreed! I don't usually go the Fire Wall into attack route with my book, since walls are kinda expensive and I'm not good at managing them (been pushed through them too many times), but being able to cast a Ring of Fire and not have to worry about decimating my own army is extremely potent. Imps and Hellions simply don't care, and the Slayers have enough health either way, and probably won't get burned due to lowered effect die numbers.
I probably cast more Imps from my Pentagram than anything else. I know that many forum-goers seem to really dislike the Pentagram, but swarming with a couple/few imps is a good fall-back plan against defenses after my Perfect Strikes run out.