Warlock evil overlord dude

[DreadArtemis]

Had an idea.

I know that the thaumaturge doesnt provide caster levels for the warlock but had something silly that could hopefully be fun.
warlock 19/blackguard 3/ hellfire warlock 3/ Thaumaturge 5

Was thinking of going charisma based. I wanted thaumaturge so I could have another goon following me around which could be buffed and would last until I rested.
Lot of feats to mix in there. Not sure if it could work

For the prestige class requirements I would have to get : Power attack, cleave, Spell focus and greater spell focus.
That leave pre epic feats being: practiced invoker, experise and improved expertise.

Alternatively I could just go hellfire 3/blackguard 3/ warlock 24. I just really thought having another buffed up companion following me around would be decent. What do you guys think?
Also, I wanted to stay charisma based even though im sure a con based one might shake out better. I wanted to have an emphasis on the disable invocations as well as the summon from hellfire. I figured the other buffed up evil guy from a scroll that was a cohort would be decent. Is it worth it?

[DarnathS]

Thaumaturge 5 is actually a very good idea as it lets your epic gate feat spell last til death(if you take epic gate to begin with.....but then again why thaumaturge if NOT taking epic gate???)

And you could take the feat that makes your out of class levels still count for your blast

[Planehopper]

RP-wise it would be fun; the classes mix well in an dark-occulty way that would be fun to play... but unless Thaum can add blast dice to the warlock levels you'd probably be hurting for damage.

Which slot is a hellfire summon? Is it the summon slot or cohort? Thaum abilities work with scrolls, so that would be fine other than you would also need scrolls to buff the summons (and they need buffed in most cases).

I say play it. PVE is fairly simple here, the RP is where its at, and this combo would do great in that realm.

[metaquad4]

If you want to go for the whole evil summoner route, I'd suggest either:

Wizard 11/Blood Magus 9/Palemaster 10 with Spell Focus: Necromancy to boost up your undead.

Create Greater Undead got some nice variety, with the ability to pick summons and a few more summons. You might want to pick up Spell Focus: Conjuration, and get augment summoning as it effects undead as well. You can also pick up Beckon the Frozen on any of the below builds, to give summons an extra 1d6 cold damage.

Wizard 6/Blood Magus 9/Palemaster 10/Thaumaturge 5 with Spell Focus: Conjuration to boost up your planar bindings.

-- OR --

You could also do a Cleric, go Malar, go Moon and Animal domain, and pick up Thaumaturge too. Then pick up the Hellhound Companion, maybe pick of Hierophant and take the animal companion progression.

With Epic Animal Companion and Natural Bond, you'd have a near-perfect companion. You could also do Dragon Companion now, for a more powerful companion.

You'd have 3 summons, a pretty good minion master, though your buffs would not be as strong as the Wizard route. Moonblade allows you to have sustainability.

---

Warlock won't really offer much synergy with Thaumaturge. You don't get planar bindings or allies, and you can't buff your summons. Unbuffed, your summons don't exactly last long. Even PvE, it won't really be great. I'm not even sure Thaumaturge gives Warlock progression.

[DarnathS]

warlock can take epic spell gate as an epic feat....
warlock gets permanent team haste +2 bab +1 ac
with 1 feat you can have your 4 thaumaturge levels count towards your eldritch blast d6 progression...
you can get every class buffs as scrolls with use magic device...

so it can be done...

[DreadArtemis]

The concept would fit my RP perfectly!

Regarding another class type. I have already played an arcane minionmancer and a divine one and they are powerful and had a load of fun. Never played a warlock before just figured I would RCR my 17th level guy and get the ball rolling

I don't mind using scrolls and the like to buff. I'm sure there are many more effective ways to play this type of character but I think this is what I'm set on. My only other question is mechanically will this be too weak for me to level? I haven't played much content above level 18 so I have no idea. I have plenty of good gear but build wise will the charisma based disable and blaster be trash tier?

Thanks for all the responses! I can't wait to get home tomorrow and roll him up!

Also, does epic gate have to be taken on thaumaturge levels in epic? I tried making this guy in JEGS and didn't get an option for it. Could someone confirm if I can take epic gate being a warlock?

[metaquad4]

warlock can take epic spell gate as an epic feat....
warlock gets permanent team haste +2 bab +1 ac
with 1 feat you can have your 4 thaumaturge levels count towards your eldritch blast d6 progression...
you can get every class buffs as scrolls with use magic device...

so it can be done...

UMD is easily dispelled in the epic areas. And many epic mobs do carry dispels. That is very unreliable to use, and gets pretty expensive too. You'd need to be grinding a lot to use it reliably. Not very user friendly.

Epic Gate is one spell, and it lasts 8 minutes. A typical rest cycle lasts for 15-20 minutes. You'll have a lot of downtime with it, assuming it is kept alive for its full duration. Unbuffed the angels are ok (not great but ok), but the devils and demons need some buffs put into them to make them work ok.

Haste is good, but the wizard alternative gets it as well and can maintain it for a full rest cycle easily enough. You'll lack things like heal (you can get the skill off other arcane classes or by dipping into something else depending on your build), stoneskin, displacement, and AC buffs that work to keep your summons alive.

You'll only have one summon. That summon, you'll get in the epics. The Dead Walk and Call Shadow Demons are both rather incompetent. The Hellfire Warlock summon is ok, but it doesn't last very long either.

Yes, it theoretically can be done. But you could make a commoner combat build as well, that is possible too.

It is a bad matchup, and it won't be very user-friendly. It "can" be done. But plenty of things "can" be done. It just won't be very effective and it'll be a chore to play.

My only other question is mechanically will this be too weak for me to level? I haven't played much content above level 18 so I have no idea. I have plenty of good gear but build wise will the charisma based disable and blaster be trash tier?

It'll be mostly your blasting carrying you, your summons will be either too weak or too short-lived to be of much use for nominal grinding (most PvE). A warlock can take reasonably far though, but it definitely won't be the summons doing most of the heavy lifting. That'll be your blasting. You should be ok, it won't be as good as a dedicated CHA-lock but it'll be ok as long as you target saves the mobs are weak to. Mostly reflex, though the nagas tend to have higher reflex. As long as your DCs are around 35-40, you should be firmly in "ok" territory for a CHA-lock.

I'd use repelling blast for most mobs, and eldrich chain+noxious blast for mobs with high reflex.

Also, does epic gate have to be taken on thaumaturge levels in epic? I tried making this guy in JEGS and didn't get an option for it. Could someone confirm if I can take epic gate being a warlock?

IIRC, both Thaum and Warlock should be able to take Epic Gate unless that was changed or it is bugged.

[DreadArtemis]

You can select the thaumaturge class, when the progression shows up there is nothing on the left hand side as well as the right. Blank on both sides, but it still lets you continue. Just doesn't add warlock progression which is sad

Hopefully it isn't gimped too much to play. I will have to leave some feedback

[Deathgrowl]

Thaumaturge 5 is actually a very good idea as it lets your epic gate feat spell last til death(if you take epic gate to begin with.....but then again why thaumaturge if NOT taking epic gate???)

And you could take the feat that makes your out of class levels still count for your blast

80 rounds. Not till death. Unless that was changed recently. That would seem very OP though.

[metaquad4]

Thaumaturge 5 is actually a very good idea as it lets your epic gate feat spell last til death(if you take epic gate to begin with.....but then again why thaumaturge if NOT taking epic gate???)

And you could take the feat that makes your out of class levels still count for your blast

80 rounds. Not till death. Unless that was changed recently. That would seem very OP though.

Once it dies, it is dead. That was changed when summoning was changed.

IIRC, the OC version only summoned 2 anyway.

[Deathgrowl]

Thaumaturge 5 is actually a very good idea as it lets your epic gate feat spell last til death(if you take epic gate to begin with.....but then again why thaumaturge if NOT taking epic gate???)

And you could take the feat that makes your out of class levels still count for your blast

80 rounds. Not till death. Unless that was changed recently. That would seem very OP though.

Once it dies, it is dead. That was changed when summoning was changed.

IIRC, the OC version only summoned 2 anyway.

Right, but it doesn't last forever until dead, right?

[metaquad4]

Right, but it doesn't last forever until dead, right?

Right! Yeah, it lasts for 4 minutes (8 with Thaum) or until it dies. Just like the other summons. Sorry, I misread your original comment ^..^