Runes of Magic US / AU

I do not think there are any "bad" Warlock combinations.

Before release, Wl/M seemed to have the most potential as DPS, as well as Wl/R (which is think they broke their main skill?). Not sure about after release though, I think people just forgot about warlocks.

Warlock is still a relatively new class in the game. Most people don't see it as a real contender for end game content. It happens to be one of the best support/dps you can get in the game. I'm personally trying out Warlock/Warrior for support/dps role but I've seen people do some mean dps as Warlock/Champion. Warlocks use Focus as their main resource (Same as Scout Focus), with Psi as a secondary resource. Psi only is given through the use of 2 skills (More depending on elite skills): Psychic Arrows and Puzzlement. These two skills are pretty important in solo play, but do very little damage compared to mage skills. Ill Will is your primary damage booster, you probably should make sure this is maxed if you plan on doing damage. It doesn't really catch up to the mage damage masteries but it makes a lot of difference. Once you start getting farther into the game, you might be able to start entering the Willpower Blade and Willpower Construct states. These can only be entered when you have full, 6, Psi which as you'll find out is difficult to do if you can 2 hit mobs because it disappears outside of combat faster than Rage disappears. However, this is when your most powerful skills come into play. Shield of Solid Mind is a very powerful defense skill that you probably want to keep near max as you level up. Don't forget to use it, you only have a few real CC skills. Also, Heart Collection Strike is a must have for all Warlocks. It deals damage (Don't really bother with the over 70% hp for extra crit) and replenishes 50 Focus.

Warlock is primarily a Support role character with some additional DPS skills that can fill your time in boss fights and help out your party/raid members vastly. Secondary classes also mean a lot to these combos as they change dynamics greatly for some of them. Mostly, Warlocks rely on their Psi skills to deal a bulk of their damage. Warlock is a class that has no "bad" combos really but they each give different advantages to the player.

Note: I am not an expert on Warlocks. I am not end game, these are just my experiences playing my Warlock/Warrior for fun.

On my lvl 71 Wl/R I have never, not ever, used psi. Perhaps I am playing it wrong, or not up to it's potential, but the mechanics are so bad I found it not worth the trouble. For sure, you have plenty of skills to use that do not take psi that are effective. Studying the skill list for Wl/R though I only see one that appears to be worth it, but getting there again is the issue.

End of Thought 45 3 Soul Points Instant 15 seconds 200 Only usable under the state of Willpower Blade.

Inflicts 80.0 Dark Damage on target. If target's HP is less than 35%, the caster will earn 1 psi for every second. This can happen 4 times.
(This skill stat will increase and decrease based on equipment and target strength)

To get the 6 psi necessary to cast Willpower Blade, then this skill; well the mob or boss is usually dead by the time you can get there.

Quoted from "Auros;588823"

On my lvl 71 Wl/R I have never, not ever, used psi. Perhaps I am playing it wrong, or not up to it's potential, but the mechanics are so bad I found it not worth the trouble. For sure, you have plenty of skills to use that do not take psi that are effective. Studying the skill list for Wl/R though I only see one that appears to be worth it, but getting there again is the issue.

End of Thought 45 3 Soul Points Instant 15 seconds 200 Only usable under the state of Willpower Blade.

Inflicts 80.0 Dark Damage on target. If target's HP is less than 35%, the caster will earn 1 psi for every second. This can happen 4 times.
(This skill stat will increase and decrease based on equipment and target strength)

To get the 6 psi necessary to cast Willpower Blade, then this skill; well the mob or boss is usually dead by the time you can get there.

Unless you are on extended boss fights or long "in combat", PSI isn't ever really needed. PSI is really only good for non burn bosses, ie first in toshhm. Any solo'ing you do you won't ever need PSI or will be in combat long enough to build it up to use. I've never played the wl/r but as a wl/m the only time I ever got into a willpower state was in quick VN runs where you are almost always in combat because you're moving so fast and in Toshhm. In Tosh a wl is a great backup to the healers since we get the battle rez. It has come in handy a few times in there when the second healer dies, they just have to know and beware that they may get a battle rez. I never ran kbn above easy mode, but I could see potential in there for alot of the wl willpower skills.

Quoted from "Ziav;588924"

Unless you are on extended boss fights or long "in combat", PSI isn't ever really needed. PSI is really only good for non burn bosses, ie first in toshhm. Any solo'ing you do you won't ever need PSI or will be in combat long enough to build it up to use. I've never played the wl/r but as a wl/m the only time I ever got into a willpower state was in quick VN runs where you are almost always in combat because you're moving so fast and in Toshhm. In Tosh a wl is a great backup to the healers since we get the battle rez. It has come in handy a few times in there when the second healer dies, they just have to know and beware that they may get a battle rez. I never ran kbn above easy mode, but I could see potential in there for alot of the wl willpower skills.

I strongly disagree. I have been playing my 77 lock/mage full time now putting the R/S on the backburner and the more tp I dump into the class the better it is performing. At first I had the same thoughts as you guys that it is support only not a dps class. I have made many posts on the forums saying as much. After dumping tp into this class it has gotten very strong. Now this class combo requires 190m tp +. There is no reason a Lock/Mage should not be using PSY moves. It takes 4.5 sec to enter Psy stage just using 3 skills however if you are like me you want to put your debuffs/buffs/ticks on the boss first before you start FHS/soul branding the bosses face off. ALWAYS start your fight off with Spirit water/ any speed buffs you can find. With speed casting buffs you should rip through a rotation faster and be in psy mode before any newer instance boss is dead. My warlock is reaching 51k int and 175k mattck in instances thanks to all the int multipliers a warlock/mage has. Now I can't beat a R/S burn... but I am now keeping up with the mages in party. Lock/mage is a good class but your going to need to put in the time and work to reach the end result.

Quoted from "Mrpushpop;589000"

I strongly disagree. I have been playing my 77 lock/mage full time now putting the R/S on the backburner and the more tp I dump into the class the better it is performing. At first I had the same thoughts as you guys that it is support only not a dps class. I have made many posts on the forums saying as much. After dumping tp into this class it has gotten very strong. Now this class combo requires 190m tp +. There is no reason a Lock/Mage should not be using PSY moves. It takes 4.5 sec to enter Psy stage just using 3 skills however if you are like me you want to put your debuffs/buffs/ticks on the boss first before you start FHS/soul branding the bosses face off. ALWAYS start your fight off with Spirit water/ any speed buffs you can find. With speed casting buffs you should rip through a rotation faster and be in psy mode before any newer instance boss is dead. My warlock is reaching 51k int and 175k mattck in instances thanks to all the int multipliers a warlock/mage has. Now I can't beat a R/S burn... but I am now keeping up with the mages in party. Lock/mage is a good class but your going to need to put in the time and work to reach the end result.

or put the exact same gear on a warrior/mage and do triple the dps.

Interesting, you start your screed with the statement that you "strongly disagree" then proceed to agree with us. The only difference I see in what you say from what was said before was the statement that "there is no reason a Lock/Mage should not be using psy moves." then go into how you get there in fighting bosses; whereas we were saying that about the only time you could use psy was in a boss fight, but in my case, the boss is dead before I get there and in Ziav's case, only with certain bosses that are extended fights.

Tell me, do you use your psi skills say when farming crystal beetles for dailies? Assuming anyone does that, I just had to come up with an example.

Oh, and Borella...isn't that just like hitting the snooze button on your alarm clock? and about just as interesting?

Quoted from "Auros;589009"

Interesting, you start your screed with the statement that you "strongly disagree" then proceed to agree with us. The only difference I see in what you say from what was said before was the statement that "there is no reason a Lock/Mage should not be using psy moves." then go into how you get there in fighting bosses; whereas we were saying that about the only time you could use psy was in a boss fight, but in my case, the boss is dead before I get there and in Ziav's case, only with certain bosses that are extended fights.

Tell me, do you use your psi skills say when farming crystal beetles for dailies? Assuming anyone does that, I just had to come up with an example.

Oh, and Borella...isn't that just like hitting the snooze button on your alarm clock? and about just as interesting?

Auros you are right about farming mobs, I misread that. No a warlock should not need psy for questing or mobs since we have lots of skills that do not require psy. I do more raiding than questing/farming but if you can build psy on a mob then you need to gear up more. Puzzle,warpcharge,FHS,flame etc... no mob should live past 1 or 2 hits with those skills. My point is warlocks can hold there own on DPS and support everyone else. R/S or even an OP warrior/mage just got boring after a year. Warlock gives you options and different rotations. Build up your psy.. make a choice.. Do i want to DPS, Support, Battle Rez. Every fight is different and it put the fun back into playing for me. I personally like the way Warlocks are built. Would I complain if they gave us faster building psy.. nope, but its still fine the way it is.

I would like to see warlock mind states be on a shorter cooldown than 18 seconds, because I often find myself wasting time until the state wears off before proceeding to build psy again.

If we could cycle through our state faster, means we can choose the paths more often: dps, support, battle rez.

I have a lvl 77 wl/r on govinda, still trying to get rogue side to lvl 70 for the elite. I do have to say tho that I run some endgame content although it can be hard at times to keep up in dps being as im not uber geared. However all the support stuff that can be used along with the dps I am able to put out helps every party Ive been in. Once i get my lvl 70/70 elites tho my dps should increase dramatically because then I can enter willpower blade in a matter of seconds and then rinse repeat causing massive dmg every time i hit willpower esp with Crime and Punishment after all my dots are on the boss. Just getting secondary to 70 without a ton of daily resets is a pain lol

But the point is that you can keep up with the end game dpsers right? It might be tough but the dps is good and the support is best. The 70 elite for WL/R looks crazy for getting into the states. I'm still working on my WL/W for dps, since the damage on Psychic Arrow is astoundingly higher than the other Warlocks and Berserk is an insane boost to both Matk and casting speed.