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Hi guys. Here's something I thought I'd share: a nice use for a multi-class feat and some good Paragon Path synergy. It uses a Dwarf Warlock to quickly make a passable melee 2nd at Heroic tier, and at Paragon level able to hold his own against a Fighter in melee without sacrificing much as a Warlock.

Update:
- StarKiller_'s Hexforged -- a solid Warforged variant that kicks much posterior.
- The integral components: Build Skeleton.
- Hexhealer variant by MwaO.
- Accounted for July's rules update; added equipment section.

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Original Build (through Paragon tier):

Stumpy MacHexhammer -- Dwarf Warlock (infernal pact)
Str: 16
Con: 18 (16 +2)
Dex: 10
Int: 12
Wis: 14 (12 +2)
Cha: 8

Level 1:
At-Will: Infernal pact = Eldritch Blast + Hellish Rebuke. No choices there.
Encounter: Vampiric Embrace is nice. It's a Will attack, and gives us 5+Int temporary HP.
Daily: Armor of Agathys. 10+Int temporary HP, and for the rest of the encounter, all enemies who start adjacent to us take 1d6+Con cold damage (or 2d6+Con with curse).
Feat: Chainmail Proficiency, so we can survive enemies starting adjacent to us.

Level 2:
Feat: Toughness, so we're slightly less squishy.
Utility power: Ethereal Stride. We're still kinda squishy.

Level 3:
Encounter: Fiery Bolt. It's a nice, fast way to clear minions away from a primary target, so you can curse the BBEG quickly.

Level 4: Con +1, Str +1
Feat: Dwarven Weapon Training (+2 damage with your warhammer). We could have taken this at 2nd level, but I'm a chicken.

Level 5:
Daily: Hunger of Hadar. "Sustain minor" is unappealing, but we are pretty sturdy by now, and not afraid of a charge attack, nor of being mobbed by minions (thanks to Armor of Agathys) -- thus, we can afford to regularly spend our Move action on a Curse.

Level 6:
Feat: Fighter multi-class feat (which is mostly useless in itself). We'll take the one-handed attack version, since we'll want our other hand free for an implement.
Utility power: Shroud of Black Steel seems most fitting. Gish buff! (However, note that Fey Switch is downright dirty if you've got your Armor of Agathys active, and your ally was surrounded by minions. Consider Fey Switch if you have a squishy Rogue who tends to get into trouble.)

Level 7:
Encounter: Howl of Doom! Our first Close power. Yay! This power is sweet if used in conjunction with a Wizard-made "zone of nastiness", and unlike the Wizard, you're tough enough to deliver it in person.

Level 8: +1 Str (-> 18), +1 Con (-> 20)
Free feat. Don't pay much attention to it, we're retraining this one at 11th level.

Level 9:
Daily: Summons of Khirad. I'd previously been in favor of the Iron Spike of Dis, because it deals half damage on a miss (and half + curse is still decent), but the ability to move a foe adjacent to you while you have your Armor of Agathys up is juicy. Unlike most Warlocks, you often enjoy standing toe-to-toe with a foe, so the opportunity to smack someone with your hammer is appealing too.

Level 10:
Feat: Wintertouched.
Utility power: Shielding Shades or Warlock's Leap. Both are good.
Retrain: [s]Fiery Bolt[/s] (attack 3) -> Frigid Darkness (attack 3)

Level 11:
Feat: Hammer Rhythm (deal Con damage on a miss).
Enter Iron Vanguard paragon path (heal Con damage when we drop a foe; interrupt to spend an Action Point to act if we are dropped to zero).
Paragon Encounter: Frontline Surge. Str vs. AC, 2[w]+Str, and push the bugger one square, and we can Shift into into his old square, and if we do then our allies can shift as well.
Retrain: our 8th level Heroic feat into Lasting Frost*.
Equipment: You must now buy a Frost Warhammer. You should already own a Rod of Corruption.

Level 12:
Feat: Dwarven Durability (+2 healing surges; surges give you +5 healing).
Utility: Inexorable Shift. We can shift into any adjacent square, and if there was a critter there, we get to push him (no attack or save).
Retrain: [s]Dwarven Weapon Training[/s] -> Scale Armor Proficency**.

*) Previously I'd had Twofold Curse as our 11th level feat, and it remains excellent, but the idea of Armor of Agythis + Summons of Khirad + a Frost Warhammer... makes me feel warm inside. In place of Twofold Curse, you should own and be familiar with the use of a Rod of Corruption, my favorite Rod in the whole game. NOTE: Armor of Agythis isn't an attack, so it can't impose cold vulnerability. However, it can sure as Hell be used to exploit cold vulnerability.

**) I'm counting on our +2d6 Curse to make up the damage, though the Frost trick won't hurt either. We'll probably take Weapon Focus (hammers) near Epic, just to be sure.

At 11th level, our basic attack deals Con damage on a miss, which is equivalent to a Fighter at-will (since our Con is higher than our Str). We have one (or two with power swap) Str vs. AC encounter powers that deal multiple Warhammer dice. We have one Close encounter power for crowd control, and of course we have many Warlock ranged attacks.

With our Curse, we deal 1d10+2d6+Str on a melee hit, and on a miss we still deal Con damage. We can benefit from items like Bracers of Mighty Striking, since we're mostly going to be making melee basic attacks.

Moreover, whenever we drop a foe, we get 5 hit points healed, and if that foe was cursed, we also get 11 temporary hit points. With Twofold Curse and Howl of Doom, we could drop two enemies in one round easy for 10 hit points and 11 temporary. That's staying power. Basically, if there are minions around, we can harvest them and heal up.

There's even more Con synergy between Iron Vanguard and Infernal Warlock. The 16th level ability ("Deal Con damage when you push a foe or knock a foe prone") is gold alongside the Iron Vanguard's regular powers (all of which push), and it makes Bull Rush a useful tactic against high-AC, low-Fortitude foes (though there are fewer of those than you'd expect). Con damage on a push makes Howl of Doom competitive with high-level powers, making me want to keep it alongside Spiteful Darts at high level.

Anyway, we're now getting to the point where we have to replace old stuff to get new stuff.

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Level 12 Snapshot
Str: 19 (16 +3 level)
Con: 21 (16 +2 racial +3 level)
Dex: 11 (10 +1 level)
Int: 13 (12 +1 level)
Wis: 15 (12 +2 racial +1 level)
Cha: 9 (8 +1 level)

HP: 103 (12 +21 Con +60 level +10 feat); Bloodied 51; Surge 30 hp (25 +5 Con); Surges/Day: 13 (6 +5 Con +2 feat), plus one from Armor

Defenses:
- AC 26 (10 +6 level +10 armor)
- Fort 24 (10 +6 level +5 Con +3 item)
- Reflex 21 (10 +6 level +1 Int +3 item +1 class)
- Will 22 (10 +6 level +2 Wis +3 item +1 class)

Feats: Chainmail, Toughness, [s]Dwarven Weapon Training[/s] -> Scale Armor, Fighter multi-class feat, Wintertouched, [s](whatever)[/s] -> Lasting Frost, Hammer Rhythm, Dwarven Durability


Magic Items:
- Frost Hammer +2 (8th level)
- Amulet of Protection +3 (11th level)
- Dwarven Scale Armor +3 (12th level)
- Rod of Corruption +3 (13th level)

Attacks: +2d6 Curse damage
Basic:
Frost Warhammer +14 vs. AC (6 level +4 Str +2 prof +2 weapon), hit 1d10 +6; miss 5 damage
Eldritch Blast +14 vs. Reflex (6 level +5 Con +3 impl), hit 1d10 +8

At-Will:

Hellish Rebuke: +14 vs. Reflex, damage 1d6 +8 fire

Encounter:
L1 - Vampiric Embrace: +14 vs. Will, hit 2d8 +8 necrotic
L3 - Frigid Darkness: +14 vs. Fort, hit 2d8 +8 cold +combat advantage
L7 - Howl of Doom: +14 vs. Fort, hit 2d6 +8 thunder +push 2 squares
Paragon - Frontline Surge: +14 vs. AC, hit 2d10 +6 +push +shift (+allies shift)

Daily:
L1 - Armor of Agathys (special), damage 1d4+5
L5 - Hunger of Hadar: 1-burst Zone, hit 2d10 necrotic and LoS; sustain attack +14 vs. Fort, damage 1d6 +8 necrotic
L9 - Summons of Khirad: +14 vs. Will, hit 2d10 +8 psychic and teleport; sustain minor teleport

Utility Powers:
L2 - Ethereal Stride (encounter)
L6 - Shroud of Black Steel (daily)
L10 - Shielding Shades (daily)
Paragon - Inexorable Shift (encounter)

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Level 13:
Encounter: [s]Vampiric Embrace[/s] -> Coldfire Vortex (yay cold synergy)

Level 14: +1 Str (-> 20), +1 Con (-> 22)
Feat: Plate Armor Proficiency

Level 15:
Daily: [s]Hunger of Hadar[/s] -> Tendrils of Thuban (cold synergy, Zone immobilizes)

Level 16:
Paragon: Push or trip a foe = deal Con damage (6 points).
Feat: Plate Armor Specialization
Utility: Cloak of Shadow or Infuriating Elusiveness. Either way, nice mobility.

Level 17:
[s]Frigid Darkness[/s] -> Warlock's Bargain. At last, a way to spend our copious temporary HP! Sadly, we won't be keeping this power for long.

Level 18: +1 Str (-> 21), +1 Con (-> 23)
Feat: Encounter Power Swap ([s]Warlock's Bargain[/s] -> Vorpal Tornado). Now let me explain the awesome that is Vorpal Tornado. You get a Str vs. AC against all foes in a Close burst 1, and your hit deals 1[w]+Str +push +knockdown. Iron Vanguard deals Con damage on a push or a knockdown. So really, you're dealing 1[w] +Curse +Str +2Con, and your foes are prone and 1 square away from you. Together with Howl of Doom, we have two area Encounter powers that push. We can lay down a lot of damage when we're surrounded.

Level 19:
Daily: [s]Armor of Agathys[/s] -> Minions of Mlbolge. Anyone who enters a square adjacent to you is pushed 3 squares and takes 2d10 fire damage, +implement bonus (keyword), +Con bonus (Trample the Fallen). That's a minimum of 2d10 +10. You don't even have to sustain it! You just need to keep replenishing your reservoir of temporary hit points.

Level 20:
Feat: Twofold Curse
Paragon Daily: Indomitable Strength. Str vs. AC, 4[w] +Str damage +push +knockdown +dazed, AND you get to spend a healing surge.

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Equipment
Necessary:

• Rod of Corruption. This is my favorite magic item for a Warlock who plans to use his Pact Boon frequently.
  
• Armor: Duh. Get good armor. Preferably Dwarf armor, since extra Free action healing is tanky.
  
• Bracers of Mighty Striking: You're only going to be making melee basic attacks, so the extra damage is tasty.
  
• Weapon: Less important than your Armor & Rod. Can be up to 5 levels below you without impacting your awesomeness too much. Luckily Frost weapons are relatively cheap. (Compared to Flaming, for example -- why do they hate Tieflings? Oh well, not your problem.) If you are not taking the Lasting Frost route, look into a Relentless weapon (Dragon 365, Bazaar column) once you hit 16th level, and you'll probably have the most brutal critical hits possible before Vorpal at level 30.
  

Nice to Have:

• Winged Boots: If you're 15th level or higher, it's hard to find a better pair of boots, particularly since falling damage got so nasty.
  
• Cloak of Survival: Dwarves don't worry much about poison damage, so survival is superior to health IMHO.
  
• Belt of Vigor: You have a lot of healing surges. This is a good item for you.
  
• Rod of the Dragon's Heart: (Dragon 365, Bazaar column) Juicy, but highly situational. Since it's an Immediate power, you can't trigger it yourself, and it requires that your foes be clumped up. When it works, it can heal you a chunk of damage, but don't expect it to be useful every day.
  
• Flask of the Dragon's Breath: (Dragon 365, Bazaar column) Hey look, a cheap area attack. It appears the attack is either a Minor or a free action, but this may just be poor writing.
  

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For Epic Destiny, I'm thinking Eternal Seeker, so we can get a couple more Str vs. AC powers. There's nothing bad about Demigod, though.

What are your thoughts? I'm sure there's still room for improvement!

Thanks, -- N

I was looking for something similar (in case I would not go for Warlock with Wizard multiclass)

some differences:
Stats: Str 13, Con 18 816+2), Dex 8, Int 16, Wis 13 (11+2), Cha 12 for the time being
level 1: encounter: thinking to get Diabolic Grasp, moving enemies could be useful, but we will see in next months ... still don't know how temporal hp sould be applied ... are different spells and powers considered like different sources so they do not stack? in that case taking to much powers with temporal hps wouldn't work, right?
feat: Dwarven Weapon Training for hammers and throwing hammers (is it useful in any situation for warlock to use melee weapon or throwing weapons? melee sometimes, probably ... otherwise it's more fot fluff)

level 2: ethereal stride (same comments about temporal hps for fiendish resilience)
feat: Improved Initiative

next levels similar to yours ... I'm fan more to utility powers like Spider Climb than just buffing

Warning: I may say that Enduring Warrior is Con Score, it is Con Modifier.

I can't think of enough times where a thrown weapon is better for a Warlock than Eldritch Blast (since both would be Basic Ranged Attacks).

When a warlock is made they choose Cha or Con to use for Eldritch Blast.

I think Demigod might be better. Eventually you can stop using At-Wills almost (once you use up your encounters you can just select one of them to be readied again). Who needs new Con vs X powers when you already have a few? Also Demigod gives two +2 stat boosts. Potential Finishing Stats:
Str: 26
Con: 28
Dex: 14
Int: 12
Wis: 14
Cha: 12

Also, I am kind of leery of the 12 in Dex instead of Int. Int will help a few of your Warlock powers (the effects, not the attacks), Dexterity does nothing.

Then, as long as you have at least one Warlock Encounter Power that can push or knock prone, you can do Con Damage after the push (and as a Infernal Warlock power, it probably does Con damage on a hit anyway).

Unfortunately, Iron Vanguard explicitly requires PUSH or PRONE. Sliding will not count. Fortunately Howl of Doom and Spiteful Darts (Warlock Encounter 23) do push. And it pushes 3 + Int squares!

Edit: I just realized that Enduring Warrior makes no mention of a limitation of how many times this can go off in a round. This flies in the face of one of my tips in the primer, but perhaps the "Hexhammer Gish" should try to leave a few standing so that one well placed Close Blast could knock a bunch down to allow for multiple Constitution scores of healing to go off.

Edit 2: I would have to look through the Warlock powers, but the Infernal Pact Boon gives Temporary hit points when you drop a cursed foe. So That would effectively stack with the Enduring Warrior.

Also, Ferocious Reaction is amazing! You drop to 0, spend the action point for an extra action, use a Power that has Effect: You may spend a healing surge. So you retaliate on the guy that did it (assuming he is adjacent), heal a surge, and possibly knock him down with a 4[W] + Str + 1 push + Prone attack (oh look! + Con damage if you hit). On a miss it is still half damage (but no push or prone). So you might heal 1 Quarter HP + Con Modifier (Dwarven Durability) + Con Modifier (if you knock an adjacent enemy to 0) and then get your level in temporary hp if the thing that went down was Cursed by you!

WOW!

With a starting Con of 18 and level 20 (when you could do that), you could have a Daily that lets you leave like 41 for the surge (counts Dwarven Durability), then get another 7 for Enduring Warrior and get 20 temporary hit points! So you go from getting knocked to 0 (zero) to an effective 68 hit points! That is amazing. Granted you can only do it once per day (but with a different power you can try it once per encounter as long as you have an action point).

Too bad there aren't many Warlock powers that have Effect: Spend a Healing Surge.

I'm looking at something similar... but its a primary fighter that takes feats to multi into a Warlock (also infernal pact).

My big worry would be the slow dwarven speed on a Warlock (especially at the lower levels before you get the armor)

Nifft wrote:

Guys, I cannot figure out why I went for Dex over Int. Maybe I was trying for Astral Fire? Well, whatever: Dex sucks, and we all know it. Please consider it a clerical error.

Cheers, -- N

I found out just initiative as warlock's reason for Dex. And that's, may be, why I would spend a feat on Improve Initiative not to be caught off-guard all-the-time, but I saw you are more orientated to armor.
For me going for both armor and healing+tmp_hps is a little to bit too much defense orientated. May be in a very small groups but otherwise you shouldn't be a target of so many attacks that would leave you far behnid the rest of your group (speaking about hps), because of very good hit points, many tmp_hitpoints during encounters and huge resorvoire of healing surges.

So I would rather take feats for attacks (dwarven weapon training, dark fury and then take appropriate powers, ...) or utilities like improved initiative, ritual caster, jack of all trades ... I doubt warlock with multiclass feat to fighter is allowed to take feat like Potent Challange, but not sure.