I play mainly against the Priestess, so here's my spin on it...

While it's true that you can zone attack the temple and the clerics, the Priestess has the spells to deal with zone attacks.  

Sacred Ground is a very efficient way to deal with them, for example; for only 6 mana (5 with her ring) you give Aegis 1 to living creatures in the targetted zone, reducing the total number of dice by a good bit.  

Temple of the Dawnbreaker also helps too, letting you reroll lethal dice or high effect rolls (very, very annoying when I roll 11s and 12s for 2x burn...).  

Holy attack spells are also the most efficient mana-wise in the entire game for dazing your opponent; with her Dawnbreaker Ring, her Pillar of Light has an 80%+ chance (still a 75% chance without the ring) to daze for a mere 5 mana.  With how expensive zone attack spells are, being upwards of 9+ mana, you really do not want a 50% chance to waste you mana.  

She also has Group Heal, even if you do successfully cast your zone attack spell.  

The way I see it, the Priestess is similar to the Wizard in how she wants to gain advantage.  A lot of her spells are geared towards gaining a large mid/late game mana/combat advantage, which is when she is strongest with her assortment of temples and high-powered angels (one of which punishes you for slaying clerics).  The Wizard and Priestess, imo, are the two control mages in the base game while the Warlock and Beastmaster are the two aggro mages.  

Sure, you could opt for an early-game slugfest against the opposing mage (being on the receiving end, it's actually more effective than you'd think if you're not prepared), but I don't think the Priestess or Wizard does that as well as the other two.  Arcane and Holy creatures lack the piercing needed to bypass early armor (Brogan as a notable exception) and arcane creatures in particular usually have the slow trait, so they're not good at attacking outside of their range/initial zone anyway.  Besides, those Knight of Westlock are probably the best guards in the game, so I don't see the reason to go aggro with the Priestess early on.

Granted, I nearly got the crap beaten out of me against two Knights, but when push comes to shove, Slayers and other demons are better attackers.

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.

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.

Oh.  Well theres the reason I've never thought of putting it on my mage...you can't, lol.  Maybe there's a forcemaster spell for it? Dunno.

He probably means the Eagle Wings enchantment.  Though I'm not sure how that would render the knights useless...the warlock will lose flying after he goes to attack.  I guess the warlock could pass creature activations until most of the priestess' creatures are done activating, but a smart priestess will just guard with a knight.  I could see a combination Evade/Eagle Wings with lots of passing of activations working though.

Hey all.  New to the forums.

I play against my brother mostly, who rocks the Priestess while I play Warlock.  We haven't been playing too long, so grain of salt and all that, but I have noticed that the Priestess can't simply summon cleric after cleric early on successfully with the temple, or theyll just get slaughtered.  A better idea is definitely what Pixel hinted at, which is setting up some defensive units early on, and maybe a wall too.  

A Knight of Westlock and the Priestess with her staff and/or Deflection Bracers guarding the zone is pretty potent and relatively efficient...both have a good defense that protects against range attacks, and both punish attacks within their zone heavily; the Knight with his defense and 5 dice counterstrike and the Priestess with her ability to Daze a unit into its NEXT action phase (I believe that's how it works if a unit gets dazed AFTER activating), and swing back for 4 dice.

This goes doubly if the Knight is still on guard for the next action phase...he can effectively put TEN dice on a unit that is dumb enough to attack in his zone.  Pretty much means I have to take him down at range and hope for crits, since his armor is pretty high, or feed him an imp so my bloodreaper Dark Pact Slayer can do some real damage to him.  There's other ways to deal with it, like Knockdown or Force Push-ing him out of the zone, but that's one less attack or spell I have towards killing the valuable targets in the zone, so he's already achieved his goal...and then still swings for a ton.  

Yet another reason why I like the Fire school in combination with demons.  All fire spells except Fireball are unavoidable, so defenses won't help, and demon's fire immunity/resistance helps keep the pressure up in a particular zone without the need to retreat them.  Still a tough fight, but very balanced.