Warlock - Equip Build

[Shad0w]

Well, I tried a creatureless warlock "equip build" last night and it went well.  My forge spit out all but one piece of equipment in my book (demon armor) before my opponent finally destroyed it.  He did dissolve my hellfire whip though, so to anyone wanting to play this kind of deck, i'd recomend proxying an extra. Even without it though, I was still rolling 7 attack dice for melee.  In the future I might try to include at least one creature to create a blood reaper, both for healing, support and extra flame tokens.  

Other than that, I spammed fireballs on him until my melee was built up, then used a teleport wand + cheetah speed on myself to keep him from running away and pummeled him.  I really like this type of aggressive playstyle.  

...Still interested to see what kind of equip deck your playtester came up with though.

Well as far as his build goes I have not heard from him in a few weeks.

You are correct this is a very aggressive build. You have to be careful of the forge placement because of the range on the equip spells. So you need to find the optimal place for it.

[paradox22]

Agreed.  Didn't think about forge placement until about 2 rounds into the game.  Luckily he was sending creatures over to harass my crystals, so I stayed close to kill them off...meanwhile blasting him with fireballs.  

I think one key thing that helps this build is teleport.  Being able to get to your target to utilize melee can be difficult, especially with all the guarding and move hindering spells.  A teleport wand allowed me to get where I needed to get or put my opponent where i needed him.  Expensive item?  Yes, but IMO well worth it.  When combined with cheetah speed and elusive...  The enemy doesn't have the option of retreat.

[Rumsey]

Want to know how to beat a solo Warlock build?

Taunt with the ferret.  Use some enchants on it to keep it alive longer, and it'll take up all but the quickcasts.  The Warlock is locked into trying to get through the hefty defense of the ferret almost every turn.

[Shad0w]

Knock down = dead ferret.  

I want Guardian to post his build. When I talked to him on Sunday he said he would get around to it maybe this week.  :unsure: I told him stop being lazy :lol:

[piousflea]

Solo warlocks are practically guaranteed to have multiple Perfect Strike quickcasts for neutralizing Defenses. At least my solo warlock does, and I can't imagine why you wouldn't.

Taunt him with a ferret and he'll easily Perfect Strike it to death.

[paradox22]

Indeed, many ways for melee to deal w/ a good defense.  Unavoiadable fire attacks or damage barriers (demon armor) work well too.

[Intangible0]

As far as the teleport wand goes I don't think it's necessary.  Instead give yourself cheetah speed and mongoose agility.  Now you're elusive and fast.  You can chase around another mage all day and not only are you not hindered now but you can attack the enemy mage straight through guards.  This also frees up your shield slot so you can just use an elemental wand and shoot extra damage at them every turn.  Yeah teleport wand can move the enemies around too but why sac the extra damage for something so trivial when they're looking down the face of at least 4 armor and Helm of fear/Deflection bracers?
Last time I played this build I watched the priestess go through most of her tricks before the player just conceded from a lack of ability to do anything about the one man army.

[paradox22]

I use both.  Teleport wand and cheetah speed + mongoose agility.  The opponent will usually dispell/dissolve one or the other.  Either way you choose, mobility is the key to this build. If you can't get to your opponent, you can't melee him to death.

[Koz]

As far as the teleport wand goes I don't think it's necessary.  Instead give yourself cheetah speed and mongoose agility.  Now you're elusive and fast.  You can chase around another mage all day and not only are you not hindered now but you can attack the enemy mage straight through guards.  This also frees up your shield slot so you can just use an elemental wand and shoot extra damage at them every turn.  Yeah teleport wand can move the enemies around too but why sac the extra damage for something so trivial when they're looking down the face of at least 4 armor and Helm of fear/Deflection bracers?
Last time I played this build I watched the priestess go through most of her tricks before the player just conceded from a lack of ability to do anything about the one man army.

Lack of anything to do... really?  Care to post your build in the "post your best Warlock build" thread?  Lots of talk of invincible Warlocks, but I have yet to see a build that can convince me of it.

[paradox22]

Lots of talk of invincible Warlocks, but I have yet to see a build that can convince me of it.

I'm by no means claiming to have an "invincible" warlock build.  I don't think any build in Mage wars is "invincible".  The better player who executes his strategy/tactics will usually win regardless of build.  I'm just discussing how to make a warlock equip build as optimal as possible.  

I'll try to post my latest warlock equip build in your thread later tonight.  Feel free to critique it and give advice/opinion.

[Intangible0]

You took the words right out of my mouth Paradox.  I too will eventually get around to posting my build, Koz, since you're itching to rip it apart that badly :-P

On a counter note I really don't think you need to worry about losing either mongoose agility or cheetah speed to a dispel.  With enchantments like Bear Strength, Rhino Hide and Vampirism to say a few I think the opponent would have much more to worry about.  It also saves an action and 3 to 6 mana a turn.

[paradox22]

You took the words right out of my mouth Paradox.  I too will eventually get around to posting my build, Koz, since you're itching to rip it apart that badly :-P

On a counter note I really don't think you need to worry about losing either mongoose agility or cheetah speed to a dispel.  With enchantments like Bear Strength, Rhino Hide and Vampirism to say a few I think the opponent would have much more to worry about.  It also saves an action and 3 to 6 mana a turn.

Once you start getting 3+ buff enchantments running  on your mage, I've found that my opponent will simply use a purge magic (hope thats the name, can't remeber), and wipe them all out at once,.  If/when that happens, I'd still have my teleport wand and extra copies of cheetah speed to enhance mobility.  We can agree, however, that mobility is key to an equip melee build.  You have to either put the enemy where you want him, or get to him in order to win.

[Intangible0]

agreed.  Purge magic could be pretty destructive so it's always good to have backups.
I saw a game where a wizard just kept running away from the warlock... kinda hilarious.  Also i feel Purify is a must have.  Gorgon Archers can completely ruin your day otherwise.  This has made me wonder if a Priestess might actually be a better equipment build.

[Klaxas]

i actually tested out a priestess equipment build just a few days ago.  12+ dice in melee is pretty sick..... especially with a battle fury

[paradox22]

i actually tested out a priestess equipment build just a few days ago.  12+ dice in melee is pretty sick..... especially with a battle fury

Sounds amazing.  Do tell, how did you get her melee up to 12?  multiple hands of bim shalla?