[PC][GUIDE][BUILD: Crack the Whip] HellBringer Temptation is back! (From hell...)

duckntroll

!!! WARNING!!! HEAVY SENS OF IRONY, PATHETIC, TROLLING AND HUMOR IS REQUIRED!!!


### INTRODUCTION ###

If you aren't in subjects like testing methods, goals, history you can go directly to BUILDS sections (to not understand a damn thing as the stupid lazy pig you are).

ABREVIATIONS
English is an easy (and ugly) language, but not easy enough for everyone to understand abbreviation …

• PvE = Player versus Environnent
  
• PvP = Players versus Players
  
• dps = damage per second
  
• CC = Crowd Control ~ mean to prevent foe(s) action(s) (generally movements and/or attacks)
  
• aoe = area of effect ~ zone powers
  
• DoT = Damage over Time
  
• IL = Item Level
  
• BiS = Best in Score (relative to IL but not only as many things aren't added to IL) ~ 1337=leet
  
• SW = (class) Scourge Warlock
  
• HE = (event) Heroic Encounter
  
• IWD = (zone) Ice Wind Dale
  
• LS = (statistic) Life Steal
  
• ArPen = AP = (statistic) Armor Penetration, main source or Resistance Ignored
  
• RI = RI% = (statistic) Resistance Ignored
  
• buff = something increasing you and/or allies performances
  
• debuff = something decreasing enemies performances
  

GOAL
My wonderful goal here is to provide a global analysis of Scourge Warlock (SW) Hellbringer Temptation (for short HellTemplock) at mid to low level (I consider it roughly between ~1800 to ~2800 item level (IL)) after MOD 10 release.

WHY
I bothered to do that as THERE ISN'T ANY GUID/SUPPORT/INTEREST FOR THE VAST MAJORITY OF PLAYERS (low & mid) FOR THE MOST COMMON GAMETYPE (solo PvE) (sorry @bloodyspammer who released his build recently). In fact you can only see BiS players builds, aiming for a maximum efficiency = maximum dps so you don't have time to die. For low & mid players, those builds aren't practical, sometimes not survivable and generally not fun to play.
(Why care for PvP? A game type having a total of 4 maps and completely & constantly unfair ? That's just heavy trolling.
Remark: It doesn't mean that I think PvE is in a GOOD shape, it's just relatively way better than PvP. I'll stop saying any more on these pathetic subjects here.)

HOW
These analyses have been done by testing various builds and strategies through real solo PvE:
I've been wandering through Ice Wind Dale (IWD) Heroic Encounters (HE). "Auril Totem" was my main testing ground as it's a tough, tricky but possible HE (for healing I've used a bit of Merchant and for ultimate survivability one group of MotherLorde that is hitting really really hard).
That way I'm able to see if a build is possible (survivability), practical (timing and nerves breaking) and it's efficiency (through combat logs analysis). For CombatLog analysis I'm using Excel Pivot Tables (I don't bother and I've no faith in the common tool used by most of players, I too do not have much faith in combatlog itself but I can't hack the game in a realistic timeframe).
I also did a bit of low level testing without anything except 1.9k gear, and nearly managed to solo "Auril Totem" with my favorite build "Crack the Whip". Remark: I've absolute confidence it's possible to clear it, if you don't stack mistakes, lag and bad luck as it did for me. I'll probably do more of low level testing as I can guess no one other than me will ever bother to (but I'll take my time).


WHAT
So what to do with what I'll be providing you here?
TEST IT BY YOUR LAZY, COWARD SELVES IF IT MATCHES YOUR UGLY TASTE! --> For things to change in the good way people need to learn.
Here is the page for copying characters to the preview server:
http://www.arcgames.com/fr/my/character/copy/nw

All that said, I can start.

duckntroll

### HISTORY OVERVIEW ###

For new comers (don't come to neverwinter, leave as you still can!) curious about neverwinter history around SW life through all the mods.

Mod 6

• HELL did enter neverwinter by destroying classes, self healing, common sense for HAMSTER HP HELL campaign named "ElementEvil" (EE) campaign, etc. (I did rage quit neverwinter for ~ a year with my HellTemplock at level 69, one level from release but the rage was too much to continue.)
  

Mod 10

• Destroyed main source of SW competitive damage, those are called "bug" after living for YEARS.
  
• Actually made Hellbringer path for Scourge Warlocks decent (if your goal is not top dps, and it's good for temptation).
  
• Kicked Souldbinder path in its survivability nuts by bugging feature/passive Borrowed Time (only viable possibility to go through EE for low & free players) (I think you can pray that it come back anytime soon)
  

HISTORY CONCLUSION: ALL HAIL PIG DEV!

duckntroll

### TESTING RESULTS ###

MY SUBJECTIVE TEST RANKING RESULTS

I use a subjective ranking system, going from 0 to 100 in terms of global utility and efficiency.
Element ranked > 70 are nearly mandatory elements.
Element ranked < 60 are conditionals elements (in a given situation / for a given purpose).
Element ranked < 30 are nearly useless elements.



POWERS

<95> HR Hellish Reedbuck: just mandatory spam

• +main damage dealer power (an "at-will" power doing most of damage ~30% ... I find that strange, not you ?)
  
• +good feat interactions, Fury:GKE, Temptation:HC
  
• +good weapon power interaction, more damage for your main damage dealer power is just obvious
  
• -strange interaction of NPNM feature/passive breaking effect of feat GKE. You might just have to choose?
  

[90] PoP Pillar Of Power: just mandatory (it is sometimes called "DuckOnPlate")

• +good buff, good debuff and decent damage on foes standing enough time on it
  
• ~placing it is hard to optimize if you want to make foes AND allies step on it ...
  
• ~standing on it's area can be dangerous, but can be compensated with damnation feat P9H
  
• (actually PoP buff is given to every allies without P9H, but in future dev's can see that as a bug ...)
  
• ~the encounter slot taken makes encounter rotations harder
  
• !remark: without it, very knowledgeable and farming hungry party may throw you out for "uselessness"/"not enough effectiveness"
  

{75} GoH Gate of Hell: a big, bad burst of damage CCing, what else?

• +with feat Gatekeeper’s Empowerment killing foes nearly fill your AP
  
• ~at first not so easy to cast and not so easy to place (it's a piece of cake with a CC power such as AoH)
  

[70] AoH Arms of Hadar: a power good at everything from damage to CC

• +decent damage (3rd multi target damage encounter after FB & HS)
  
• +decent CC zone effect, providing a good survivability tool and debuff through prone effect
  
• ~animation with confusing visual (the arm appear 2 times), just have to practice a bit
  

{70} BoH Brood of Hadar: ugly brood doing disgusting things to your opponents

• +decent damage, easy to cast and some more damage over time
  
• +slowing opponents in bonus
  

[69] FB Fiery Bolt: practical power dealing good damage on multiple targets

• +spamming it on cursed target greatly improve it's efficiency, making it the best dps encounter for groups
  

[65] WB Warlock Bargain: decent damage, good healing interactions

• ~just be aware it hurt you (even aware of it, I still kill myself sometimes with it ...)
  

[60] HS Harrow Storm : unpractical but many effects for a single power

• +good damage in a swarm of foes
  
• +can be used as CC (if you have timing luck)
  
• +many hits provide a continuous/safe source of self healing against a swarm of foes
  
• +no cancelled if you are CCed
  
• -long and unpractical casting, need some practice to be able to cast it especially in periods of need/stress
  

[55] BoVA Blades of Vanquished Armies: survivability/face tanking for tank build or flood of foes survivability

• +increase tankiness through deflection and possibly debuff incoming damage with use of Darkness feat (tank build)
  
• ~lukewarm damage even in a swarm of close foes
  
• -cancelled if CCed
  
• -being in a swarm of foes doesn't look very natural for classes that aren't tanky
  

[50] CB Curse Bite: for curse build

• +decent damage
  
• -need curses, a lot, so ACC feature/passive is nearly mandatory
  

[50] DT Dread Thief: useful if buffing/debuffing is your main purpose and not dps

• ~it deals good damage in enemy packets but you can't cast anything else, in fact you loose dps by not spamming other powers
  
• ~decent buffing/debuffing, but need curse: 3 warlock curse are a pain to put, so lazy ones would go for the ACC feat
  
• -position headache to use PoP and DT, if you add a flood of opponent and party random moves ... Don't cry it's life.
  

[50] HG Hadar Grasp: single target CC and damage buffing (I'd advise to combine it with another single target power like KF or WB)
[50] VE : when in need of more healing or for temptation warlocks when there is a better healer

• ~temporary hit points are always welcome but don't forget to curse your target before
  
• -very weak damage
  

[50] KF Killing Flames: except for fury parangon (with Murderous Flame feat) keep it only for single target fights

• ~time it well and you can start to be dps competitive
  

{50} TC Tyranical Curse: unpractical randomly damaging aoe (I personally can't get myself to use it)

• +doing 10% to 20% more damage on a target and transfer 30% of that damage around
  
• -can't reapply this daily after target death
  
• -targets tend to die fast, especially taking +20% damage
  
• -boss (who can survive long enough) tend to have few to none useless mobs around them
  
• (its power perfect use case would be multiple bosses, but this game dev's aren't good enough to create that)
  

{50} AS Accursed Souls: slow panic button putting lesser curses everywhere, not bad for a curse build
{50} FoP : medium DoT for boss only

• +can provide healing for quite some time
  
• -being single target over long time, then the target can die before giving all it's damages
  

<50> DSA Dread Spiral Aura: fire it sometimes to enhance damage and AP gain
<50> HoB Hand of Blight: close range use only (not something one would expect of a ‘warlock’: to be close range ...)

• +to provide combat advantage (by attacking opponent rear with another ally in front. You can be in front but...)
  
• ~for debuff, but not really useful if you have temptation feat HC
  
• -weak in comparison of HR as it can't hit multiple targets
  

[05] WS Warlock Shadow: unpractical, confusing, weak dps and poorly CCing power

• ~can have a use if you need to invoke lot's of Soul Puppet (I can't even start to imagine why...)
  

[05] IS Infernal Sphere: insignificant damage, useless heal, inapplicable damage resistance but look cool
(before mod10 was used in PvP to discover hidden foes, it can't anymore)

duckntroll

FEATURES / PASSIVES

90> PoH Prince of Hell: just what every low/mid level players need as statistics: LS, ArPen and with weapon power some DR
55> SW Shadow Walk: everything for survivability: Speed, LS and Deflexion
55> FoE Flame of Empowerment: more damage coming from at-will abuse (HR is already the top dps power, it just reward you even more to spam it)
40> NPNM No Pity No Mercy: strange unpractical bargain

• +for BiS players getting rid of DoT can increase damage as foes are melting too fast for DoT
  
• +gain short combat advantage, roughly +15% damage for every power
  
• ~spamming HR before each encounter, not hard but not that practical
  
• -reduction of HR dps as it's DoT component disappear, very roughly -20%
  
• -no more HR DoT is dangerous for survivability especially during face tanking/CCed for low/mid level players
  

HEROIC FEATS

90> ER Empowered Rituals: damage, damage and damage!!!
80> T Toughness: more life is a good way to survive/mitigate heavy hits an improve life related powers
80> DCa Determined Casting: faster cast mean more powers: meaning more damage, protection, buff,...
75> DCr Devastating Critical: 15% critical severity is really a f***ing lot!
70> SR Soul Reaping: LS is one main statistic of templock
70> WM Weapon Mastery: more critical chance mean more damage
60> SF Shadow fold: running longer is good for squishy builds
50> SC Scornful Curse: for curse build, increased damage
40> EC Energizing Curse: for curse build, for more action Points (AP)
30> BPoC Blood Pact of Cania: if you aren't aiming for dps and haven't a really big score of constitution, just give up this feat
25> DR Desperate Restoration: desperate feat ...
20> B Battlewise: seriously useless.



PARANGON FEATS (for Temptation)

Temptation tree

100> SB Soul Bonding: Temptation has no meaning without it.
80> AoC Aura of Cruelty: more LS! For everyone!
70> HS Hope Stealer: more LS, more!
70> DR Dark Revelry: burst speed and power for everyone, is that open bar definition, no?
65> CS Compounded Soul: provide a better shield than Vampiric Embrace; moreover it's also given to allies.
60> VC Vengeful Curse: decent lesser curse generator
60> AoD Aura of Despair: a practical debuff to enemy damage
55> D Darkness: for tank builds
55> HC Hellish Condemnation: reducing enemy damage should be good, but games self heal suck enough it's not that important anymore
40> EM Eldritch Momentum: running longer, for squishy builds
05> SB Soul Breaker: useless.

Damnation tree

90> P9H Power of 9 Hells: 50% more buff from PoP and it's shared with allies, what else?
20> RS Relentless Curse: weak but better than parting blasphemy
10> PB Parting Blasphemy: seriously weak, it may still be bugged

Fury tree

60> GE Gatekeeper's Empowerment's: more damage from main daily and main at-will, would any dps build be dumb enough to say no?
55> IW Infernal Wrath: shared foes debuff, especially for curse builds
50> H Helltouched: more damage for tank builds
50> CP Critical Promise: not much damage, but why criticize?
10> DP Daughter's Promise: weak

duckntroll

### POWER BUILDS ###

DPS, MANY TARGETS

At-wills = HR + DSA
Encounters = PoP + FB + HS
Passives = FoE + NPNM
Dailies = GoH + BoH

DPS, FEW TARGETS

At-wills = HR + DSA / HoB
Encounters = PoP + KF / HG / WB
Passives = FoE + NPNM
Dailies = GoH + FoP


SUVIVABILITY, MULTY TARGETS, FEW BIG ATTACKS

At-wills = HR + HoB
Encounters = PoP + AoH + VE / WB / FB
Passives = SW + PoH
Dailies = GoH + AS

SUVIVABILITY, MULTY TARGETS, MANY WEAK ATTACKS ~ (face) TANKING

At-wills = HR + HoB
Encounters = PoP + BoVA + HS / AoH
Passives = SW + PoH
Dailies = GoH + AS

SUVIVABILITY, MULTY TARGETS, MANY BIG ATTACKS

You are dead anyway, why bother?


SUVIVABILITY, FEW TARGETS, FEW BIG ATTACKS

At-wills = HR + HoB
Encounters = PoP + AoH + WB / VE / HG / FB
Passives = SW + PoH / FoE
Dailies = GoH + BoH / AS

SUVIVABILITY, FEW TARGETS, MANY WEAK ATTACKS

At-wills = HR + HoB / DSA
Encounters = PoP + WB + AoH / FB
Passives = SW + PoH
Dailies = GoH + BoH / AS


HEALING PARTY

At-wills = HR + DSA
Encounters = PoP + WB + AoH / FB / VE(especially if another healer is present)
Passives = PoH + FoE / SW
Dailies = GoH + BoH

PROTECTING PARTY

At-wills = HR + HoB
Encounters = PoP + VE + AoH
Passives = PoH + SW
Dailies = GoH + BoH

BUFFING PARTY

At-wills = HR + HoB
Encounters = PoP + DT + HG / AoH
Passives = PoH + FoE / SW
Dailies = GoH + BoH


CURSE BUILD

At-wills = HR + DSA / HoB
Encounters = PoP + CB + DT (buff) / BoVA(survival) / FB(dps)
Passives = ACC + SW(survival) / FoE(dps) / PoH(healing)
Dailies = AS + GoH

duckntroll

### FEAT BUILDS ###

There isn't much choices for competitive/useful builds.

OFFENSIVE CURSE BUILD



DEFFENSIVE BUILD



OFFENSIVE & DEFFENSIVE

duckntroll

### CRACK THE WHIP # MY MULTIPURPOSE BUILD ###

I've constructed something I feel good with. -->That's the main point to get after understanding what you are doing.

I'm able to face evolving situations, from feeling pain to pain filling, with great if not optimal performances in all categories.


LOOKS

Looks are VERY important !
Today's hype is for a Harley Quinn cosplay as Suicide Squad film is just released.



BUILD

At-wills = HR + DSA
Encounters = PoP + AoH + FB (default dps) / KF (single target dps) / WB (heal) / VE (shield) / DT (buff)
Passives = PoH + FoE+1 / SW (survivability)
Dailies = GoH + BoH


FEAT BUILD




FIGHTING METHOD

Obvious, but it may maybe be useful to someone, who know?

• Start of fights= 1/ cursing 2/ PoP 3/ third encounter 4/ HR spam if foes are far otherwise AoH 5/...
  
• Panic= 1/ AoH (if available) 2/ run & walk further while HR spamming (to regain life through LS) 3/ PoP on the way...
  

PERFORMANCES

I'm making my cutie throw around 20k +/-3k dps juices without companion. With companion it adds ~3k dps.
With 30%/35% LS, she is able to feel good eating for 8k dps without any problem (she have wanderer gloves, all mounts powers, many boons and feat shield).
Healing will be around 2.5k, up to 4k per second.
Buffing/Debuffing rely on PoP(with P9H) and feats CS, AoC & DR.

dubladez

Test

duckntroll

Test