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Quick revision:

Warlocks only start with Leather Prof. So you're gonna have to slog through 1st level with a 14AC, and lose a feat for more Armor.

Since my DM ruled Wintertouched+Lasting Frost doesn't work, I can swap that one out in Heroic for the extra Armor Prof. Since I would want Plate pre-Paragon, this leaves the question of which 2 'optional' feats should I take?

Toughness seems a no-brainer. Improved Dark One's Own Luck also seems to be fairly nice as well, but I'm wondering if their are -any- feats that would also be helpful?

Awesome! Thanks for the update!

One thing: At level 18, you talk about Vorpal Tornado being worth losing Howl of Doom in the last sentence. It looks like you mean losing Warlock's Bargain.

Nifft wrote:

With our Curse, we deal 1d10+2d6+Str+2 on a melee hit, and on a miss we deal 2d6+Con damage. Our miss is as good as a Heroic fighter hitting with a maul, and that applies to all basic melee attacks, including Opportunity Attacks.

This is a really nifty build.

One question though: why do you expect to get your curse damage added when you miss? Hammer Rythm specifies that "this damage receives no modifiers or other beneifts you normally gain to weapon damage".

The Hexforged

This is the update based on the Nov 2009 errata and the EPG's removal of embedded leg components.

First here are my thoughts on key differences between a Hexhammer and a Hexforged:
1. As a warforged you don't get the dwarf's warhammer proficiency so you have a couple choices:
... 1a. use a mace which a warlock already knows how to use instead of spending a proficiency on a hammer weapon since Hammer Rhythm works with both maces and hammers;
... 1b. you can get Warhammer as a bonus proficiency if you use the Scales of War "Gritty Sergeant" background.
2. If you want to spend a feat on hammer proficiency:
... 2a. Theziner has pointed out the intense damage offered by the mordenkrad hammer and that is certainly the best 2-handed option;
... 2b. the craghammer is the 1-handed alternative. Note that if you have two vanguard weapons you get an extra 1d8 on a charge which is awesome but you will need to spend a feat on the Rakshasa Claw or Disembodied Hand familiar in order to be able to stow the weapon when you want to use your implement attack.
3. If you didn't spend that feat on a 2-handed hammer proficiency use it to grab a light shield proficiency and eventually make it to a heavy shield, this provides great utility as an attached component to a warforged and boosts your Reflex defense as well.
... 3a. You could stick with chainmail armor: the heavy shield makes up the difference between chain & plate and improves the Reflex defense which armor doesn't do; as an option not available to scale/plate you can get Eladrin Chain which is a boon to teleport spells.
4. No matter your weapon, have your implement embedded into an arm slot; the EPG removed our leg slots but you can still embed two implements (one per arm) and take the hand of whichever arm you want to use off your weapon to blast away. Thus, a two-handed weapon works quite well. If you go with the dual Vanguard weapons & Claw/Hand familiar then you familiar will basically hold the weapon while you blast with your embedded implement or swap weapon for non-embedded implement.

Thanks to being able to take Eldritch Strike instead of Eldritch Blast, this build becomes really good with a pre-racial 18 in Con as you no longer need to pump Str beyond enough to get chainmail.

Iron Vanguard is still a good PP but Warforged Juggernaught works well for charging since you can use Eldritch Strike as a melee basic.

Most of all, like the base Hexhammer, this build is fun: you get to do the striker role of Warlocks without the "glass cannon" feel.  Again, thanks to Nifft for coming up with the original Hexhammer build and to Theziner & others who have pitched in on the Hexforged build.

====== Created Using Wizards of the Coast D&D Character Builder ======
Sulfur, level 1
Warforged, Warlock
Eldritch Strike: Eldritch Strike Constitution
Eldritch Pact: Infernal Pact
Background: Windrise Ports (Windrise Ports Benefit)

FINAL ABILITY SCORES
Str 13, Con 20, Dex 10, Int 14, Wis 8, Cha 10.

STARTING ABILITY SCORES
Str 11, Con 18, Dex 10, Int 14, Wis 8, Cha 10.


AC: 16 Fort: 15 Reflex: 13 Will: 12
HP: 32 Surges: 11 Surge Value: 8

TRAINED SKILLS
Religion +7, History +7, Arcana +7, Intimidate +7

UNTRAINED SKILLS
Acrobatics -1, Bluff, Diplomacy, Dungeoneering -1, Endurance +6, Heal -1, Insight -1, Nature -1, Perception -1, Stealth -1, Streetwise, Thievery -1, Athletics

FEATS
Level 1: Armor Proficiency (Chainmail)

POWERS
Eldritch Blast: Eldritch Strike
Warlock encounter 1: Vampiric Embrace
Warlock daily 1: Armor of Agathys

ITEMS
Chainmail, Implement, Rod, Adventurer's Kit, Morningstar
====== Copy to Clipboard and Press the Import Button on the Summary Tab ======

Future Feats:
2: Wpn Prof: Mordenkrad
4: Imp Dark One's Blessing
6: Sacrifice to Caiphon
8: Wpn Expertise
10: Student of the Sword (if Iron Vanguard PP) or Warforged Tactics (if Warforged Juggernaught PP)

Personality: play him as being possessed by an infernal entity and laugh maniacally as you feast upon mortal souls!

Eladrin Chain has no speed or skill check penalties! Not planning for Toughness, will look at it in the future but your build gives us lots of temporary hit points so it may not be necessary...