# Warlock, which pact is best?



## Wycen (Jul 27, 2008)

We gathered today to discuss character creation for one of my game groups and I was looking at the warlock pacts.  The star pact mentions Int being an important attribute.

However, when I looked at the 1st level powers, none of them referenced Int as their stat.  I only quicked skimmed through the 2nd level powers, but don't remember seeing any.

So what gives?  I know, "best" is a relative term but what are you opinions on which pact is best?


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## corwyn77 (Jul 27, 2008)

None of them reference int? Every single Warlock Encounter power has a secondary effect which benefits from high int, provided you are of the right pact.


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## Khime (Jul 27, 2008)

That's why it says that Intelligence provides special bonuses to many of your powers, rather than saying Intelligence is the most important attribute.  If you're a Deceptive build, your damage comes from Charisma.  If you're a Scourge build, your damage comes from Constitution.  In either case, Int isn't for damage, it's for special bonuses, like sliding the target further, increasing the Will/Attack roll penalty of an attack, or granting more temporary hit points, and that's all just in the 1st level powers.


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## firesnakearies (Jul 27, 2008)

I personally like Star Pact the most, but really, they're all pretty equally good.  Just choose the one that sounds the most fun to you.


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## robsenworldaccount (Jul 28, 2008)

The Warlock Pacts are more character vision than anything.

If you prefer mobility or charming the "best" than you might think Fey pact is the best.

If you prefer dealing big dmg and tanking targets, than you might like Infernal pact.

If you prefer fearing the crap outa people you might like Star pact.


Then again, it's quite probable you like the class for many number of reasons.  Their is no best one.  Their might be optimal ones, but that requires a vision first.


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## Shieldhaven (Jul 28, 2008)

I'm playing and really enjoying a Star Pact warlock right now. I'm only 2nd level, but my best strategy so far seems to be throwing out my curse on as many people as possible, biding my time and doing a bit of damage while they die, and then once they start dying, opening up with my encounter or daily powers. The reason I want to wait is that Improved Fate of the Void sets up a positive feedback loop of attack bonuses. This makes my life a heck of a lot easier.

Splitting stats between Constitution, Charisma, and Intelligence is a real PITA, though.

Haven


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## burntgerbil (Jul 28, 2008)

Haven - when I planned my starlock, I chose either Cha or Con and took only powers that related to those. You can take out-of pact powers for your prime stat with no penalty and often times, I found this was better than the split con/cha starlock I had in mind.


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## ac_noj (Jul 28, 2008)

Star Pact is the best one, Cthulu told me so.


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## Gloombunny (Jul 28, 2008)

burntgerbil said:


> Haven - when I planned my starlock, I chose either Cha or Con and took only powers that related to those. You can take out-of pact powers for your prime stat with no penalty and often times, I found this was better than the split con/cha starlock I had in mind.



You can take out-of-pact dailies at no penalty, but taking out-of-pact encounter powers means you don't get the extra Int-based benefit.  Which is sort of annoying since the point of investing in only one of Con or Cha is to have a higher Int... but it might be the best way anyway since you need that high Int for your AC.  I dunno.  MAD is annoying.


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## Krensus (Jul 28, 2008)

I love Star Pact.  Most of the powers are fear related, so as a Tiefling you can take Hellfire Blood and get +1 to hit/damage.  In addition, the +1 to hit per cursed mob killed is incredibly good.


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## Hammerhead (Jul 28, 2008)

I like the Half Elf Starlock.


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## Fallen Seraph (Jul 28, 2008)

I too adore the Star pact. I personally have taken a different route then the Cthulhu-esque one, and instead done it based all off fate, time, etc.


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## Saeviomagy (Jul 28, 2008)

The real differences between the pacts are
1. what at-will you get
2. what pact boon you get
3. what boosted secondary effects some of your powers may have

For the most part, ignoring the "(star pact)" or whatever line in favour of reading what the power actually does is highly beneficial.


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## Danceofmasks (Jul 28, 2008)

Yup, especially for dailies, that don't actually care what pact you're actually in .. i.e. no additional effects.


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## ac_noj (Jul 29, 2008)

Also your Paragon path is determined by your pact.


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## MarauderX (Jul 29, 2008)

You gotta respect the infernal for the HP maxing.  A higher starting HP than the other warlocks also means better healing surges & second wind.  Each round might mean more temporary HP, as even minions give your level in bonus HP.  Sure it doesn't stack, but that's why you can wade into melee to assist the warlord and others by soaking up damage.  With a decent Int the bonuses become better along with AC; Cha becomes a dump stat!


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## ShaggySpellsword (Jul 29, 2008)

I'm playing an Infernal Pact Warlock and I've really enjoyed it.

We are going through KotS and the Irontooth fight went fairly easily becaus eof my ability to run up to a group of enemies, kill all of the minions at the beginning of their turn, and lay down some hurt on the survivors.  (Armor of Agathys is NICE)

I had enough HP to take the hits I took and I actually kept my HP at bloodied the whole time on purpose because I am a gnoll, and that ups my damage.

That said, Fey Pact has amazing mobility and Star Pact has some good control.


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## tombowings (Jul 29, 2008)

I favor the fay pact. Although it doesn't deal as much damage as the other, mobility is great and you can act as a single-target controller at high levels.


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## Tonester (Jul 29, 2008)

Infernal - More damage.  Actually less survivability (imo) than Feylock
Star - Pretty balanced and unspecialized.
Fey - Least damage out of all of them, but most elusive and defensive and "tricksy" in my opinion.

After having played an Infernal, I moved to Feylock and I feel like God now.  Multi'd with Ranger and trained Stealth (although I rarely use it).  Tear through minions and being able to Stack Hunter's Quarry with Curse is a nice boost to damage.


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