test content
Logo
What is the Arc Client?
Install Arc
[Guide] Lazalia's Full DPS build for SW Fury Mod 5
lazaroth666
Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 1,332 Arc User
Presentation
After playing for a long time with my GWF, I decided to play another class for new challenges and a completely different play style, I chose the Scourge Warlock aka SW (I named mine Lazaroth Dae'mon), which is very versatil: you can either play it as support healing your teammates while dpsing or you can go full DPS and literally destroy everything around you. This guide will be focused in the full DPS path, Fury.
Race
The best race for SW is Tiefling, +2 CON + 2 CHA and 5% more dmg against enemies below 50% HP (which is translated into 2.5% more DMG). Another good option is Human, you can get +2 CHA and use your extra 3 heroic feats points in Blood Pact of Carnia for a balanced build, finally the Dragonborn that allows you to get +2 points in CHA - CON, even though the racial bonuses aren't so good 3% power and 3% crit won't make any difference even at very high lvl.
Starting rolls
18 CHA - 18 CON - 12 INT, including racial bonuses +2 CHA +2 CON, each additional point will be added to CHA-CON.
CON: Mainly for damage bonus, the HP isn't really important for PvE but it's a very good additional bonus.
CHA: Because it gives you crit chance and a few of the most important features in a SW depends on your critical chance.
INT: Even though is listed as secondary AS, it is not really important unless you are going to be full PvP, this stat will give you resistance ignored but there are many ways to get the same stat so investing in this area isn't a good idea.
Which paragon: Hellbringer or Soulbinder?
Both paragon are clearly defined, hellbringer is much more ofensive than soulbinder whose class features are focused mainly in defensive functions. When comparing both paragons, most people tend to say that No
Pity No Mercy is irreplaceable because it grants combat advantage when we crit for a brief time and that's ok but mainly for solo play. During dungeons, HE, etc we are almost always with CA so what I would say is trully important in the Hellbringer paragon is Flames of Empowerment which represents a 17% increased damage but with the feat Gatekeeper's Empowerment, we will have always an extra 5% dmg even if we don't have 100% AP (Not Working as intended) so it is 5% always on + 12% which we will gain from 0% AP to 100% AP, Soulbinder only gives you 9% dmg with 30 soul sparks. A Fury warlock is all about DPS, there's no point playing Soulbinder unless you are looking for a balanced build between dmg and defense but in my case, I love high crits and melt everything, so it is hellbringer.
Powers
Focused in single target during Dungeons or farming Dragons:
At-Wills: Hand of Blight / Hellish Rebuke.
Class features: Flames of Empowerment / No pity No Mercy.
Encounters: Killing Flames / Dreadtheft / Warlock's Bargain.
Daily: Tyrannical Threat / Brood of Hadar.
AoE dmg / Clearing trash during dungeons:
At-Wills: Hand of Blight / Hellish Rebuke.
Class features: Flames of Empowerment / No pity No Mercy.
Encounters: Killing Flames / Dreadtheft / Fiery Bolt.
Daily: Tyrannical Threat / Brood of Hadar.
Mechanics
One of the most important things about a class is the mechanic which is the way how you play your character under specific situations.
You will hear from a lot of people that a SW is only about spamming Tyrannical Threat and Dreadtheft, that's a very wrong assumption. You can, of course, simply use your TT+DT and do some dmg but if you follow the right mechanic, you will do HIGH dmg and this is the difference between good and bad warlocks.
- There are a few things that you have to consider before using your TT, first check the enemies and how scattered they are, you have to focus your attacks on enemies who are closer to each other, check the floor around you it should be a flat zone without obstacles because you will need a lot of space when you start to move while casting dreadtheft, when you cast TT the next inmediate thing is use Sigil of the Devoted in order to increase your AP asap, therefore more DMG thanks to Flames of Empowerment, choose 3 enemies in this order (Bosses/Elites/trash) first cast Killing Flames in your main target, follow with a Fiery Bolt then Dreadtheft and start dancing and avoid red areas, once your DT is completed, you will have enough time to use again a KF and FB in any of the targets if they are still alive, choose carefully your targets because applying curse during TT takes longer than usual and every second that you lose means lower DPS. Some of the previous recommendations might seem stupidly basic but if you lose one of your attacks, specially DT, during TT you are losing your best daily, back to 0% AP = less dmg in every skill, personal dps and enemies will live longers which might be dangerous for your teammates, consider that using inappropriately your daily have too many negative points.
- Sigil of the Devoted is your best friend because it will help you to keep 100% AP as much as possible along with the cloak which grants you with AP gain each x second. Always use it after each daily since more AP = more DMG. This sigil also allow you to use Brood of Hadar in single target fights without worrying about losing DPS, cast your encounters then use brood of hadar followed by sigil of the devoted, use at-wills and your encounters should be ready to use with your AP very close to 100% again.
- The capstone in the fury tree is Creeping Death which is very nice! basically cursed enemies will receive double dmg when you cast necrotic spells, very useful for single target fights because we will have double dmg for our Warlock's Bargain and Dreadtheft, however, this isn't so good it looks during dungeons because our necrotic spells aren't so strong besides dreadtheft, using Fiery bolt properly will deal much more damage in long term than using a weak necrotic-based encounter + creeping death, also most mobs will be already dead before the 8 seconds.
- Don't forget that your encounters have a special effect when used on cursed enemies, like Never cast Fiery bolt without casting Warlock's Curse on your target first.
- When you feat Murdering Flames in the fury tree, killing flames becomes AoE, try to cast it always in the mob with lowest HP in order to increase the dmg received by the enemies around your target.
- There are many more, remember just don't smash buttons, be smart and youwill have success, one single encounter can make a difference for your group and you.
Stat points
- Aim for 3k crit, plus feats and CHA, you should have at least 40% critical chance.
- Our INT is low (14) and we receive only 4% resistance ignored, we will need to get our Armor Penetration up to 1.8k - 2k, depends i.e if you use potions of heroism, campfire bonus, etc, just aim for a max of 24% resistance ignored.
- Recovery will vary depending on the sets that we decide to use, it should be around 1.5k if you use Fabled Iliyanbruen and around 2.5k if you use Accursed Diabolist.
- Defense is going to be similar to recovery in the sense that will vary according to the set, close to 3k with FI and 2k using Accursed Diabolist.
- Life steal soft cap is 1.4k = 10%, anything between 1.2k and 1.4k is more than enough thanks to Endless Consumption. If you are above 1.4k, switch life steal boons to regen and apply Greater Regeneration Jewels in your accesories including Ioun Augment companion, regen isn't so bad in the SW considering his high HP pool for PvE.
- Combat Advantage 700 stat points = 7%.
- AoE resist 700 stat points = 7%.
- Run speed bonus is very useful, you will run fast when you sprint and helps you to avoid red areas with ease, at least 1187 points will grant you with 10% extra speed.
- Deflection's soft cap is 1.2k = 10% also considered as 5% damage resistance, it's a cheaper way to add some resistance to your character instead of adding more Defense.
- Power is the dump stat, just throw in everything there if you don't need anything else.
Offensive slots: Only Radiant enchantment.
Defensive slots: According to the previously mentioned stats you can use Azure, brutal and radiant enchantments, combine them.
Utility slots: Dark enchantment.
Gear
The Scourge Warlock has 2 very useful t2 sets, Accursed Diabolist is great for dungeon runs/clearing trash and Fabled Iliyanbruen or MC set (Malabog Castle) amazingly good vs enemies with large HP pools like Dragons.
Belt: Plated band of constitution, I prefer this belt over Sash of Charisma because I do get more benefit from +4 CON for 4% dmg than 458 power / 166 = 2.76% bonus dmg, extra HP is more useful than deflection and life steal isn't a problem for a SW since both t2 sets have this stat already. Even though CHA means more crit %, it would be better than CON only after 51% crit when we do much more crit than white hits, increasing our crit chance from 40% to 44% won't make any difference, also our base dmg is very high and gets much more benefit from dmg bonus.
Main hand: The SW doesn't have very good options among the Golden Dragon's weapons, IMO the best one is Golden Dragon's Hellbringer which increase our Hellish Rebuke At-Wills by 15%, stats Rec/Crit, I find it very good because it allow us to work our stats easier and it does increase our dmg, the other one is hand of blight but it is focused on debuff our target's dmg and we don't need this, we want more dmg!
Off-hand: Golden Dragon's Grimoire with the artifact class feature that upgrades our "No Pity No Mercy" lowering our target's damage resistance by 5%, tested and working fine.
Artifacts: Mainly Sigil of the Devoted, allow us to keep 100% AP as much as possible. Token of Chromatic Storm, so far it's the only artifact with Power and AoE resist, it's a very balanced artifact in his stats and also his active bonus is very useful too, I'm using it during Heralds so everyone gets benefit of the debuff -44% resistance to physical dmg (debuff bonus will vary according to your Power and other selfbuffs and seems to increase other abilities not based in physical dmg) and the when the meteors (usually 6) hits the dragons can do up to 45k each one so we are talking about 200k - 300k dmg done with this artifact. Last one is Heart of the Blue Dragon, very good stats for our
character: Combat Advantage plus our Offhand should take to our soft cap 700 or 7% CA / Crit and Recovery, just like our main hand weapon.
Accesories: Personalized Archmage's rings 250 Power / 250 ArPen with 1 Offensive slot + 1 Defensive slot, BIS rings atm. Imperial Dragon Cloak, try to get this item to legendary as soon as possible, this AP regen granted by this item is around 50% of your total AP regen during a battle.
Weapon and Armor enchantments: Vorpal enchantment but if you don't have enough AD, you can also use Terror which procs Creeping Death or even Lifedrinker, however, keep in mind that we are looking for DMG and vorpal is a must. For your armor, Soulforged but if you feel like you are not going to die then use Fireburst which can be around 2% of your total DPS.
Companions:
(Augment) Black Dragon Ioun Stone is the best one imo, not due to the active bonus which is lame but the fact that you equip 3 rings (personalized Archmage's Ring). Other good options Ioun Stone of Might/Radiance.
Epic Erinyes of Belial 10% critical Severity.
Epic Blink Dog will boost our dmg since we will be continuously with CA.
Fire Archon, increase your dmg 5% when you hit enemies below 30% HP, this can be translated to 1.5% more DMG and it has a good synergy with your racial bonus if you are Tiefling, also boosts our finisher encounter killing flames which deals more dmg if your target is close to die.
As 5th companion, you can either use Wild Hunt Rider (At green lvl it's about 1 proc per minute, giving 10% dmg to our encounters, it's a lot for Dreadtheft and Killing Flames) also Epic Dancing Blade (5% crit sev) works good too. You can make your own combination between Fire Archon / Wild Hunt Rider and Epic Dancing Blade.
My AP gain is very slow, what can I do?
The SW is one of the classes with the lowest AP gain per encounter in the game but this will change as soon as you get your Sigil of the Devoted and Legendary Imperial Dragon Cloak.
In our encounter feats, we have Energizing Curse after 5 points invested we will gain 30% more AP when attacking cursed targets with our At-Wills sounds great but unfortunately it isnt, consider that our AP gauge counts up to 1000 points, each one of our At-Wills will add in average 15 points to that gauge, 15+30% = 19.5%, so as you can see, it's barely noticeable, just like AP gain stat, works in the same way: i.e Warlock's Bargain, Killing Flames and Dreadtheft adds each one of them 75 points to the AP gauge which is 7.5%, if you have an extra 7% AP gain means 75+7%= 80.25% so if we try to fill our AP gauge with 75 points per encounter, it would take us 13.3 encounters, if we add 7% AP gain, it would take 12.46, not even 1 less. You can use AP gain as dump stat but never focus your character on it.
Feats / Boons
There's nothing really special about our heroic feats. Very important to get Devastating Critical 3/3 then last points to Blood Pact of Carnia, if you are human 5/5.
Fury path: Just avoid Daugther's Promises and Killing Curse, both are completely useless for this build.
Final stats:
Just like I finished my previous guide, I know It is not a very cheap build and this can take long time to accomplish but I really love the results. You have to work with what you have and try to get the best possible result, test everything by yourself and don't forget that this is only a guide, a few steps that will help you to develop your character, once you have gathered enough knowledge, you will be able to create a style that will fit better the way you play.
If you find any mistake, please feel free to send me a message, english isn't my main language and there must be some sentences poorly redacted, your help will be greatly appreciated.
▄▀▄▀ Check out my blog for more information and cool videos: NWO-Battleground ▀▄▀▄
Proud founder of the 'Primacy' alliance
Post edited by lazaroth666 on
0
This discussion has been closed.
Comments
We have some slight differences, but the general concept is the same... PEW PEW PEW!!! :cool:
WTB Class Reroll please
I was unsure about hellbringer/soulbinder. I wouldn't mind losing no pity no mercy for the same reasons as you, but empowerement would be a bigger loss (+I found 5% defense debuff as only viable choice). I found building soulsparks too long, only benefit from them is in long fights, but Boss fights are already easy with SW.
One question: I use intellect devourer and blink dog pets. Do they add, or I should use only one of them?
Thanks a lot! Blink Dog is working 100% sure, however, recent tests showed that Intellect Devourer isn't working in the same way or at least how we expect. I would take another companion.
I would go and test this but i do not own a Terror enchant and so I am unable to do so.
Great guide by the way
We are searching for slave labor, will pay with food from our farm!
Yes, it works now, was fixed in some patch close to the arrival of Tiamat iirc. I never post anything without testing it before. :P
Thank you very much.
Have you tried lightfoot thief?
.
WTB Class Reroll please
I haven't tried it yet with the SW, the only lightfoot thiefs that I have are bound to my GWF, however, due to the extremely low dmg done by the active bonus even with a lot of crit I highly doubt that is going to be a good companion, well we already know that is only expensive because is rare not due to his usefulness.
Tabatha
Tabatha@rotters // Scourge Warlock // Co Leader // Civil Anarchy
We are looking for non elitist guilds to join our alliance.
Any PvP experience so far on your SW?
WTB Class Reroll please
It really depends on the situation, first we have to keep in mind that we can use TT as burst dmg or DoT dmg, in that case if we hit 3 enemies very close to each other Fiery Bolt will work as Burst and it's going to be much more dmg in less seconds in comparison to WB which will be better for DoT including Creeping Death dmg, now depends on your teammates, if you are usually running with people that deals a lot of dmg and clear trash in a couple of seconds FB is much more useful but if you have to carry people and you are usually casting TT for almost everything WB is a very good choice. Let's not forget that TT is not our only source of damage and we don't use it 100% during a dungeon run, FB is great for clearing trash and in the overall dmg, if we don't use TT at all, it does contribute much more to our dmg than WB. Regarding to the crit, if the first tick is crit, the other will be crit too, checking with ACT there's nothing different with WB, the crit % is usually as shown in the character sheet.
Well, it's easy to find in the AH lol but is stupid expensive for his usefulness lol mostly like 2% dmg which you can easily get with another companion.
Not really much, I haven't tried yet because my SW have been PvE 100% since the beginning, when I go to PvP I like to go with my character full PvP not just a change in a couple of items like most PvE players do, IMO there's no point playing it at 50% or 60% of his full potential, a few changes in the feats and enchantments can make a lot of difference.
23:29] [Combat (Self)] Your Tyranical Threat deals 1463418 (1062542) Necrotic Damage to Dragonsoul Veshal
I now hit like a mother trucker, this was Killing flames whilst in TT. Vershal fell over.
Tabatha
Tabatha@rotters // Scourge Warlock // Co Leader // Civil Anarchy
We are looking for non elitist guilds to join our alliance.
Haha that's great! For hits like that is the reason that I suggested a different mechanic since most people usually goes for TT+DT inmediately, they were losing tons of dmg for that. I've been able to get 3.2m using TT+KF just like you did it.
ur saying this on cloak
Imperial Dragon Cloak, try to get this item to legendary as soon as possible, this AP regen granted by this item is around 50% of your total AP regen during a battle.
how u get it to legendary? clarify this plz ?
You can make it with about 6 months farming. Or you can leave it blue or purple, which is still much better than the other available equipment
so still confused ? so u get a blue one put it on and just kill creeps and creeps and it will become purple ?
or u need to feed it something? what exactly is the process to get it up?
Safe travels,
Archmage Zebular of Mystryl
PWE Community Moderator
[ Support Center • Rules & Policies and Guidelines • ARC ToS • Guild Recruitment Guidelines | FR DM Since 1993 ]
As all other artifact equipment, you need to feed it with refiment stones. Peridot, resonance stones etc. You either buy it for millions of ad in the AH or farm it with dragon hoard enchantment for a looooong time.
Unfortunately, gaining refining points is something that needs some attention from devs, because currently it's not solved.
Excellent read though, you took some time to explain some things which are important for SW< since there are so many ways to make a good SW.
You should also include some alternatives for people, those who cannot afford the more expensive artifacts etc.
I know you dont seem to like it, but BoVA has great synergy with Creeping Death, so for the large # of mobs i like Dreadtheft, Fiery Bolt and BoVA for lazy brainless trash clearing
Also, I assume this is primarily a PvE build, how much HP you generally have in PvE (not including buffs/tiamat buff) ?
Hi, thank you for passing by and I would like to take the opportunity to say I'm sorry for my behavior towards you before, it was stupid, I know.
When you posted your feats, you had full points in Blood Pact Of Carnia and none in Devastating Critical and obviously it was bad lol so taking your words looks like probably you posted it wrong. The good thing is that you are using the right feats, that's great.
I will post some alternatives as you mentioned, thanks for the suggestion.
It is true that BoVA has a great synergy with CP but only because it does procs a lot of CD stacks in the target, 11 hits in 5 seconds, 2 per second and 1 tick alone, so we are talking about 22 CD stacks in 5 seconds only using this encounter but the dmg per tick is really low and even though it is double dmg, it is still low, a whole round of BoVA + CD does less dmg than 1 KF in 1 second, we need burst dmg for clearing trash and unfortunately BoVA works a DoT. KF feated (Murderous Flames) is hitting as hard as a double KF and that's a ton of burst dmg, one of the few encounters that are really great for single target dmg and AoE.
Regarding to the HP, it is between 36k-38k, it could be a lot higher but I prefer to use Brutal/Silvery enchantments which grant me a better effective HP instead of going full HP.
Im not sure what it was that made me stop using KF in PvE but it has always been my finisher in PvP for obvious reasons
Gonna take your advice and drop my Lifesteal down a little bit, since i was lucky enough to get the offhand to purple, i think i have enough power to offset that loss but il have to keep my Defense up.
Were you able to confirm the final boons working? I keep hearing from different people , usually Zone chat that they were not working properly. I feel as though the incoming Healing bonus worked, but when I did the 3% life steal it wasn't a "noticeable" difference. That is to say, I guess the increase would have been too small to notice? Just wondering cus I was planing on doing a respec to fill in some holes that I no longer needed from the boons to0 better optimize.
Ive been using Flames of Empowerment Randomly and I have to agree with you, its out damaging Flames of Phlegethose and Brood even without the the Feat for the extra damage. So, I might actually contemplate finally dropping HopeStealer Feat for the first time. it currently gives me a 1% increase but I think I will just take the 3% from 6th boon, and extra damage from the Empowerment Feat.
Hard to find a balance I like for PvE and PvP lol
When you take the 6th and 7th ToD boons for Crit Sev, your character sheet will show wrong numbers, that's why the people keep mentioning that they aren't working properly, however, even if they were working fine, 3% crit sev won't be as good as more Life Seal and Incoming Healing, a dead character can't do dmg anyway. According to the character sheet, when we take the feat for life steal, it should be 3% but actually we are receiving 4%, probably they will fix it along with the Crit Sev bug.
5th boon i went incoming heal, 6th Lifesteal, and more than likely 7th will be crit cus I just have to agree the gains from doing one of each seems much better than 3 of one, or 1 + 2 of another etc.
For all those 2 press things and how annoying they are, there is a way to change this.
But you need to be a perfect shot 1st.
Select "On Release" and your encounter/daily is instantly applied (or only takes 3 presses instead of the usual 8 or 9)
ps - lov the guide Laz, and thanx
I use accursed set. the problem is my artifact weapon is arrogance and my belt is intelligence, i never went to constitution, because i didnt know that 1 month ago. I know now that HP is very important. And i have invested and reffined a lot in those artifacts that switching for constitution belt and the other thing will take a lot time. T_T
Thank you very much for posting this, indeed it's useful i.e with Gates of Hell Daily, I used to use this with my GWF and his encounter Mighty Leap. :P
Hi, thanks for passing by. The SW artifacts weapons aren't so good anyway, the most important stat is the weapon damage. Soulbinder weapon is the only one that provides a boost in dmg for an at-will based in Necrotic dmg but we are not interested in that one, I got the Hellbringer due to the good stats and the bonus for Hellish Rebuke isn't bad anyway, Arrogance have the same stats than Hellbringer but Eldritch Blast isn't an optimal at-will for a SW, Hand of Blight deals necrotic dmg but the weapon only boost his debuff so in summary, it's going to based in you playstyle, are you usually far from mobs? Keep the Arrogance, are you close to them? Use Hand of Blight. Hellbringer is good for both cases.
Regarding to the belt, depends on your gear, INT belt will become a problem for end-game gear because you will have tons of items that will give you ArPen (like the new BIS rings) but if you don't have them yet, you don't have to worry, you can focus in other stats meanwhile, the CON belt isn't used for the HP at all, it is due to the DMG bonus, we want as much DMG as possible. We don't know when it's going to be the next RPx2 event so my advice is gather as much RP as you can and come to thread again, we will see what we can improve in your character.