Is Sectarus just bad? Warlock Curse Build

[gos_jim]

So now that the Forcemaster has sated my hunger for a great solo mage build, I'm revisiting my Warlock book. And with Sectarus available it seems like a perfect time to try to put together a build utilizing it.

However, the problem I quickly discovered was that, typically, by the time I'm in melee with creatures or the opposing mage, all I care about is dealing as much damage as possible to the mage. And curses aren't really conducive to that kind of play style.

There are currently 9 (unless I'm missing one...) curses in the game. 6 of them are what I would call "slow-burn" curses, which have a better effect the longer they are on the target. The penalty builds up over time, and there's not really many ways to IMMEDIATELY take advantage of the curse to turn the tables. The slow-burn curses are:

Chains of Agony
Magebane
Agony
Ghoul Rot
Death Link
Marked for Death (could arguably be used for a giant swarm surprise)

Then there are 3 curses that have an immediate constant effect on the target, but only 2 of these are possible to reliably exploit to press for a win. These are:

Enfeeble (mage has to decide between moving and taking an action, allowing you to beat on him)
Poisoned Blood (mage is unable to throw down a critical heal in the final rounds, allowing you to finish him)

Maim Wings is the other "immediate constant effect" curse, but Mages can't (currently) fly, and you can't hit a flyer with Sectarus anyway so it's irrelevant.

The thing about Sectarus is the Warlock is an aggressive character. He wants to get up in the enemy mage's face and beat on him, probably with help from a few creatures. You want to use your curses to soften up the mage and keep his creatures off your back and ineffective while you take down the mage. All of the slow-burn curses are going to be best when put on the enemy as SOON AS POSSIBLE. This means as soon as they're in range you want to try to drop a curse on them, and if you're going curse heavy you want to get as many out as you can so the effects can start piling up.

Sectarus doesn't really do this for you. By the time you are in melee range of the enemy mage, you want to be piling on damage with big attacks. If you're in melee and the enemy mage is also a melee build, whoever hits hardest fastest wins. If you're in melee and the enemy mage is evasive (maybe a Wizard or Priestess), they're going to try to get away. If they do get away then you're either left with their creatures and you get beat on while they stay away, or you beat up their creatures and get back to them and do it all over. Either way, big damage fast helps end the situation sooner. I know this doesn't describe EVERY situation in Mage Wars, but these are how things pretty typically seem to play out.

It's this reason that I'm having trouble finding room for Sectarus in my build. If I go curse heavy then that usually means I'm playing a slower game, letting my curses work a bit and soften the enemy mage. If I go aggro, I want to go with Lash, Fireshaper Ring, Bear Strength and Battle Fury to get as much damage and burn on the enemy mage as soon as possible.

I can see a couple of the curse helping in melee, primarily Enfeeble to keep the enemy from getting away, and Agony to keep them from hitting back as hard. Token mention of Marked for Death, which could be good if you had a swarm. But I usually leave the swarms to the Beastmaster because he just does it better.

Add to that the fact that if someone guards all of a sudden you may not be able to put the curse on the creature you wanted to. In general, it's VERY easy to have your target not be where you need it to be.

So that's basically it. Am I missing something? I would love it if somebody would open my eyes as to why this is worth it to include. I just can't think of a situation in the game where I would RELIABLY want to have Sectarus over the Lash. Curses are nice, but damage wins games. As it stands, I would have much rather preferred a creature familiar like Fellella that casts curses so they can drop them from range and put them on who I want. And if they draw fire from the enemy mage or creatures, then even better because those are attacks not going at me.

[sIKE]

The main advantage of the LOH is the Reach trait which you give up with Sectarus. It currently is the only melee weapon that can hit flying creatures. Having suffred under burns and curses, I find that I really really dislike the burns. Curses cost mana so they dont rain down like burns. I've had three burns put on me in one round after a double strike attack of the LOH.

[Koy]

Actually sIKE, the underrated Mage Staff has Reach too.  I can't think of any others besides those too, however.

@gos_jim, I haven't played with Sectarus yet, but I simply dont see it replacing the Lash for my Warlock book.  There is too much synergy in the fire damage and the delicious burn stacks to pass up.  And as sIKE mentioned, the reach trait is a key advantage.

I'm not sure Sectarus is bad, though.  I suspect the Lash is just that good.

[Tacullu64]

The main advantage of the LOH is the Reach trait which you give up with Sectarus. It currently is the only melee weapon that can hit flying creatures. Having suffred under burns and curses, I find that I really really dislike the burns. Curses cost mana so they dont rain down like burns. I've had three burns put on me in one round after a double strike attack of the LOH.

The Mage staff has reach too but I think that's the only other.

The Elemental Cloak and Dragonscale Hauberk offer more protection against LoH than Sectarus and both are fairly frequently used.

I'm not a warlock guy but I'm going to give him a try with Sectarus. Sectarus will get better as more curses are released.

[piousflea]

I've had the opposite experience: Sectarus rocks. +1 piercing is CLUTCH against anything with nonzero armor, and free action curses + curseweaving is amazing.

The action advantage of Sectarus is absolutely incredible. Even if your opponent has enough dispels to get rid of the curses, he winds up losing an action, while the Sectarus is getting curses off for free. More frequently, he doesn't have enough actions to dispel your curses. Ghoul Rot, Agony and Enfeeble are amazingly powerful in a melee-range battle. Even Marked for Death is pretty good.

Sectarus curses absolutely destroy Nullify and Reverse Magic. Note that you CANNOT reverse a curse against Sectarus, because the sword casts the spell, and equipment cannot be the target of a curse. Just by having Sectarus out, you greatly increase the chances that you'll be able to land incantations like Force Push on your opponent.

Against nonflying creatures, the main difference between Lash and Sectarus is that instead of getting a % chance to Burn, you get a guaranteed chance to put curses down. Curses are infinitely more versatile, they soak Nullifies, and they stay on until dispelled unlike a burn which can randomly fall off. I prefer Sectarus over LoH in every scenario except against flying.

[gos_jim]

That is quite the glowing review. I have not played with Sectarus yet, I was looking at my cards trying to mash a book together when I wrote that post. It sounds like maybe it is better in practice than I thought it would be.

I will give it a shot, may post my book later tonight if I finish it.