Baseline Mechanics: The Power Within

HP, Surges, and Proficiencies

Hit Points - 12 + Con score at 1st level; 5 at each level thereafter. Standard faire for strikers, but Infernal, Vestige and dual stat Star Pact Warlocks will find that their Con focus makes them Blue as you get about the same benefit as the Toughness feat for free.

Healing Surges - 6 + Con modifier. Again standard faire for strikers, although Con focus counts even more here than for HPs, making them Sky Blue as they get the equivalent of the Durable feat several times over.

Proficiencies - You don't get anything fancy for weapons, but most of you will never need to swing a weapon anyway. As for armor, Leather may not seem particularly impressive, but talk to your arcane striker cousin, the Sorceror, and he'll be glad to tell you how lucky you are to have it.

Defense Bonuses +1 Ref and Will is pretty good given that you'll mostly be at range and so Fort will probably be your least targetted defense.

Class Features

Eldritch Blast - Kind of sad that having one of your at-wills chosen for you is a 'feature' per WotC, but at least it's a decent power considering that Basic Attacks are pretty easy to buff and you work well with Warlords or anyone else who gives out free basic attacks. Update: as of the November errata, you now do actually get a choice here, between Eldritch Blast and Eldritch Strike.  The latter is pure gold for melee builds, but pretty worthless for everyone else so it's a rather easy decision to make either way.

Pact Boons - Sadly this is a flavorful, but mechanically weak feature. You get stronger as your cursed enemies fall (regardless of who deals the death blow!), but that means that the smaller the encounter the less benefit you gain to the point where with very few exceptions you get ZERO benefit from this in Solo fights. For the specific ratings of Pact Boons see below.

Prime Shot - This is your striker accuracy booster. It probably more effective for you than for an archery ranger since Shadow Walk encourages you to be mobile so you can afford to dash in for a quick shot every once in a while.

Shadow Walk - This may not look very impressive (since the errata'ed Stealth rules prevent you from using it to hide for the most part), but you have to remember that concealment is like a free +2 to all defenses all for the bargain basement price of moving at least 3 squares a turn.  And as of the release of Adventurer's Vault 2, with the right armor, this can also get you Combat Advantage all day, everyday. :D

Warlock's Curse - Unfortunately you do have one of the weakest (if most flavorful) Striker damage booster abilities. It works just like Hunter's Quarry but you aren't limited to just 1 active curse at a time, however for some reason WotC has denied you the d6 to d8 upgrade that Rangers and Rogues enjoy (barring a specific Rod enhancement and a tiefling only feat).

Eldritch Pacts

Dark Pact (FRPG) - Charisma based, boasts good DPR powers, but tends towards the very easy-to-resist damage types of poison and necrotic so you need someway of dealing with that limitation.

• At-Will spell: Spiteful Glamor - the power wouldn't be that bad if it weren't for the fact that you have to take Eldritch Blast with it. The bad news is a conditional upgrade from d10 to d12 over Eldritch Blast is almost worthless. The good news is it does at least target will and deal psychic damage opening it up to the Psychic Lock feat upgrade and making it rarely subject to resistance.
• Pact Boon: Darkspiral Aura - Here's the best part about being Dark Pact, you get an anti-mark like ability where you can punish enemies for attacking you. At low levels it's kind of weak but remember it's automatic damage so in DPR terms it's roughly worth an attack that deals twice as much damage and either way it can act as immunity to minions. At high levels when you can regularly cross that 12 point threshold it really begins to shine. Warning: Alphastream1 was kind enough to post his experiences playing a Dark'lock from 1st-10th in LFR. He found that most DMs went out of their way not to trigger his Darkspiral Aura. To me this says, that for those of you in games with a consistent DM, once you find out how he or she reacts to your Aura I would adjust accordingly. If you find your aura dissuades your DM from attacking you for the most part, don't waste feats buffing it and in fact you can probably afford to skip some feats buffing your defenses if the threat of the Aura is enough to keep you safe. Also you can taunt your DM if you want when your aura gets really high by intentionally provoking OAs to see if he will still ignore you. If your DM isn't fazed by your Aura and triggers it then I recommend buffing it as much as you can to get as much DPR out of it as you can, and try to end the fight that much sooner. As Alphastream1 mentions, you may even want to consider skipping a Short Rest occasionally when you haven't used many encounter powers and have built up quite an Aura level because the damage spike (and guarantee of passing that 12 damage threshold) will be well worth the loss of an encounter power or two. I strongly recommend the Shared Pact feat to give the Aura to the defender to create a lose-lose situation for the enemy and force them to trigger your aura.

Fey Pact (PHB) - Charisma based, very control focused even to the point of being hard to call a true striker, fortunately you heavily tend towards targetting will (the lowest defense on average) and tend towards hard-to-resist and easy-to-buff psychic damage

• At-Will spell: Eyebite - a great defensive spell, and a heck of a lot of fun to use, but it is the weakest damage wise of all of the at-wills.
• Pact Boon: Misty Step - Free teleports are a lot of fun and can be very powerful, but unfortunately you really don't get to control when you use this so it's hard to rate very high. Essentially you can use it as a means of escape when surrounded but if and only if you or one of your allies can kill one of your cursed targets. Basically as a player you have to force yourself not to count on it, but to try and take advantage of it when it comes up. Oh, and don't forget if it goes off during your turn the 3 square teleport triggers Shadow Walk. I like this much better when you have another boon as a back up, so you get something out of your boon when the teleport is worthless.

Infernal Pact (PHB) - Constitution based, the downsides are you tend towards targetting fortitude (the highest defense on average) and tend towards easy-to-resist fire damage, but the upside is your powers are generally very Striker (i.e. DPR) oriented, and you are ridiculously tough especially for a Striker.

• At-Will spell: Hellish Rebuke - Another defensive spell as it can discourage enemies from attacking you, (Warning: it only triggers with damage so status-only powers and misses don't count). But what makes this power good is that at later levels, there are several ways of forcing the trigger, effectively doubling the damage of this spell, which is crazy good.
• Pact Boon: Dark One's Blessing - This would be awesome if it was actual healing rather than THPs, or if Pact Boons didn't tend to trigger towards the end of combats, or if multiple boons triggering weren't completely useless since THP can't stack, or if you weren't already so tough. Alas, these THPs from this tend to end up at least partially wasted, since they can't carry over to the next fight or as overkill (and on top of that without Improved Dark One's Blessing it grants a pitiful number of HP at low levels!). The best thing to do with these is to be more daring if you get them early--go ahead and move into flank with the fighter and use your Ranged attacks; you can afford that OA! Now for Tanks and Gishes it's different since you are much more likely to use the THPs since you are in the thick of things, though you still suffer from wasted boons if multiple boons trigger simultaneously. I really like this with another boon as a back up, so you get something out of your boon when the THP would be worthless.

Star Pact (PHB) - Unique in that this is both Constitution and Charisma based so you have to decide to either sacrifice your Intelligence (and thus AC, Reflex, and many rider effects) or sacrifice the diversity of your power selection. Fortunately with AP and the Dragon article out the power selection is pretty robust, and you ultimately have the widest range of effects you can pull off with your spells--some control, some damage.

• At-Will spell: Dire Radiance - A very similar power to Hellish Rebuke, with a couple things in its favor: radiant damage, a potentially more common trigger, but also a couple things against it: you target Fort, and most importantly, it's much harder to force the trigger.  At low levels it makes for a good combat opener, as that is when it is most likely you can force the target to trigger the extra damage. But be careful about who you target as the melee only foes often have high Fort defenses, and ranged foes are already within 10 squares when you attack (so move afterwards!). Perhaps the worst part of this power though, is that WotC didn't think to give you the choice of basing this on Charisma instead of Constitution, so for those of you who opted to ditch Con in favor of a Cha-and-Int-based Star'lock, this power is dead weight.
• Pact Boon: Fate of the Void - This is my personal favorite pact boon, as it is the most versatile and often the most potent. Cumulative bonuses to an attack roll or saving throw are incredibly powerful, and for those unusual circumstances you can even use it for a skill/ability check. The only down side is that it is only usable on your next turn, so you can't use it right away, and you better hope you can next turn.

Vestige Pact (AP) - Finally another fully Con based Pact! This is a slightly unusual path with it's variable pact boons and the At-Will buff from Dailies. Oddly enough it also includes some of the most Leader-like Warlock spells.

• At-Will spell: Eyes of the Vestige - A very useful spell! Getting everyone cursed ASAP is one of your primary motivations as a Warlock as your power increases as every cursed foe dies, so being able to curse an extra target (who doesn't have to be the closest enemy to you!) is very potent. And being able to damage an already-cursed target is your kill-a-minion-for-the-juicy-power-up-without-wasting-your-standard-action power (rolls right off the tongue, doesn't it?). In addition, you get to target Will and deal psychic damage, and get a variable upgrade on top of that! The default free save to an ally is pretty crappy since it requires that ally to hit that same target in order to trigger it (so it effectively requires 2 successful attack rolls to trigger). But the default automatic Prime Shot is pretty good, unfortunately as written it doesn't apply to your current attack only subsequent ones (though it does work well with Action Points!). The only down side here is the low actual damage. The no-brainer choice for a third at-will if Con based.
• Pact Boon: King Elidyr/Zutwa - Once again the Leader-like effect is unimpressive for your role, but the boost of an extra +2 from Prime Shot is solid. Combine with the Eyes of the Vestige rider for extra fun! Not as potent or versatile as Fate of the Void, but your pact-specific daily spells upgrade this.

Races: The Corruptible

Races - PHB

• Dragonborn - +2 Charisma is gold for half of the pacts. +2 Strength is mostly wasted but you can use it to easily qualify for Hide Proficiency. Dragonbreath and the the bloodied attack bonus are both great on a Striker--but be warned that your breath weapon becomes obsolete at high levels for anyone but Con-locks. The bonus to surges lets Cha-locks stretch their low Con since it's doing double duty, and it's enough to make Dual Stat Star'lock a passable option. Possibly sky blue due to the incredibly powerful Draconic Spellcaster feat combined with the now diverse selection of powers, the Arcane Admixture feat, and of course the Rod of the Dragonborn.
• Dwarf - The +2 Wisdom is a waste, but the Con is gold for half of the pacts, and all of the other features make you one tough-ass striker. Another passable candidate for a Dual Stat Star'lock as you don't mind upgrading to heavy armor to compensate for your low Int.
• Eladrin - +2 Dex isn't bad as it helps your initiative and helps you easily qualify for Dual Implement Spellcaster. +2 Int is good for your rider effects. The extra class skill is great (I recommend Stealth!), and the teleport is handy, but as a Warlock you have access to more teleporting powers than any other class to my knowledge. Ultimately it's the lack of a bonus to Con or Cha that keeps you from being in the top tiers.
• Elf - The stats are in the wrong places and the reroll can only go so far. Tread lightly.
• Half-Elf - The ideal candidate for Dual Stat Star'locks, and top tier for any other pact. Just remember to consider implements when selecting your Dilettante power!
• Halfling - +2 Dex isn't bad as it helps your initiative and helps you easily qualify for Dual Implement Spellcaster. The racial powers will make you a very difficult target. Stick to the Charisma based pacts and you'll go far, kid.
• Human - A very nice choice. +1 to all defenses and the bonus feat are awesome. The extra skill helps, and you have access to great racial feats. Thanks to AP and FRPG you have some good options for the bonus at-will. As always a great pick.
• Tiefling - Ironically they are more optimal as Dark'locks, Fey'locks and Star'locks rather than Hell'locks, but they can do well in any pact. The features are all Striker boosters and they have some great feats. Remember if you do go Con based to grab the Hellfire Blood feat!

Races - PHB 2

• Deva - The Wis is mostly useless, the +2 Int is great for riders, and you have Memory of a 1000 Life Times to make up for the lack of a Primary stat boost. Passable.
• Gnome - Like Tieflings they have the perfect stats for Charisma based pacts and fluff-wise they are obvious picks for the Fey Pact. I highly recommend picking a background that lets you take Stealth as a class skill to get the most out of your racials though.
• Goliath - Better than Dwarves in a few ways as the Strength is probably more useful than Wisdom (armor/shield proficiencies). Can pull off Dual Stat Star'lock, but you're probably best sticking to Con based pacts.
• Half-Orc - The +2 Dex helping initiative and Dual Implement Spellcaster qualification, and Striker boosting features are the only thing sparing these guys from a red rating.
• Shifter, Longtooth - My first red rating! Strength can help with armor feats, but the Wisdom is worthless and their great racial power just isn't enough to save the race. Pass.
• Shifter, Razorclaw - Trading the Str for Dex is better, but the racial is less helpful so the rating stays red.

Races - Forgotten Realms Player's Guide

• Drow (FRPG) - They may not have "perfect" stats but the Dex is no waste, and their features and feats are all Striker focused and let's face it Dark Pact was based around them!
• Genasi (FRPG) - +2 Str can help with armor proficiencies, and +2 Int is great for the riders as always, but it's the feats and racial powers (especially Promise of Storm) that saves them from a poor rating.

Races - Eberron Player's Guide

• Changeling - Apparently the 'official' Doppelganger stats (since they have disappeared from the Compendium...), these guys get an extra +1 to Will, and a combat application of their shapeshifting and can choose to gain +2 Dex instead of Int, but of course you're gonna want Int. Sadly they are the least supported official race, with only two feats at the moment, keeping them from the top tier.
• Kalashtar - You get +2 to Cha, which is great for Cha'locks but the +Wis is a total waste (correction: it does help Dark'locks qualify for Dark Fury, and they are one of the few that are actually consistent enough with their damage types that the feat is worth it), and you don't get a racial defense bonus, so your defenses will be on the low side. The floating skill bonus is nice, telepathy means language isn't a barrier, and between Dual Soul and Bastion of Mental Clarity you are damn hard to hit with the worst status effects (except stun for some reason).
• Warforged - Yet another Str/Con race. Faster than dwarves, and can be just as tough.

Races - Dragon Magazine

• Gnoll (D 367) - Good stats for a Con'lock, and the 7 speed can't hurt. Unfortunately the racial is all but useless (I recommend Reaper's Touch), and almost all the feats, while Striker-focused, are for melee/charging so I can't give it a top rating.
• Minotaur (D 369) - Like Gnolls, they'd be better if all of their feats and features weren't so heavily melee/charge focused. Note: it looks like these guys are going to get a full write up in the upcoming PHB 3, which could really make them a contender.
• Revenant (D376) - Perfect flavor, and near-perfect stats for a Con'lock since the dex will help qualify for DIS and help out Initiative. Plus the ability to using another race's feats, etc. is chock full of potential.
• Shadar-Kai (D 372) - Thanks to Dragon 372 they are actually better than Eladrin for Warlocks. But without a primary stat boost or anything boosting their accuracy, they're still not enough for a blue rating in my book.
• Githzerai (PHB3) - Even with the upgrades the PHB3 preview and Dragon article offered, their stats and powers are just not very well suited for Warlocks.

Races - Other

• Bladeling (MOTP) - Like elves but with worse feat selection.
• Bugbear (MM) - Oversized does you no good, so they are basically Half-orcs without the racial feats. Pass.
• Bullywug (MM2) - The stats are good for a Con'lock, but the only power they have is their aura which penalizes enemies for spending a healing surge--how often have you noticed a monster spend a surge? Yeah...
• Doppelganger (MM) - Apparently they have been replaced by Changeling as of the EPG release, so see above.
• Duergar (MM2) - Same stats as Dwarves but they trade their goodies for a high damage, but very inaccurate racial power, darkvision, and an extra language (and extra speed but they lose the heavy armor affinity). Personally I'd stick with the Dwarf unless they give the racial power an extra +2 to hit like Minotaur's or change it to target Reflex.
• Githyanki (MM) - Perfect stats for a Con based Warlock and great features, but without racial feats they miss out on the top rating. Note: it looks like these guys are going to get a full write up in the upcoming PHB 3, which could really make them a contender.
• Goblin (MM) - These little guys are pretty good. A great racial and good stats. If they get a Dragon article they could be Sky Blue.
• Hobgoblin (MM) - Another race that is just a Dragon article away from being top tier.
• Kenku (MM2) - Good stats for a Cha'lock, but that's about it since you're not gonna be flanking or aiding another much. Their power is completely up to the DM as to what you can get away with.
• Kobold (MM) - Small Gnolls. Their racial power is certainly much more useful, but they don't have any racial feats yet. Expect them to jump to Sky Blue if/when Dragon gets to them.
• Orc (MM) - Yet another Str/Con race, and this one has no racial feats and the racial power is Strength based. The bonus to a primary stat is the only thing keeping them from a red rating.

Ability Scores: The Traits of the Corrupt

Strength - A common dumpstat. Redundant with Con for Fort, and HP/surges are a lot more valuable than a melee basic attack. The main thing going for it are armor/shield proficiency and a few other feats that require a small Str investment. (Recommended Starting Score: 8-13, before racial adjustments)

Constitution - Primary for Hell'locks, Vestige'locks, and half of Star'lock powers. Adds HP, healing surges, and boosts some of your Utilities so it's much better than Strength for Charisma based Warlocks. But remember you need both if you want the armor upgrades. (Recommended Starting Score: 12-16, before racial adjustments)

Dexterity - Redundant with Int for Reflex/AC, but it does add to Initiative and some good skills, but probably the most important thing these days is the 13 Dex requirement for Dual Implement Spellcaster. (Recommended Starting Score: 10-13, before racial adjustments)

Intelligence - Your Secondary stat regardless of your pact, as such it should be your second highest stat unless your going Dual Stat Star'lock (or have a specific multiclass build in mind, etc.) (Recommended Starting Score: 14-16, before racial adjustments)

Wisdom - A very common dumpstat. Redundant with Charisma for Will defense, and your probably not going to be counted on for any Wis based skills. The only thing it really has going for it are the Dark Fury, Burning Blizzard, and a few other feats that require a small Wis investment. (Recommended Starting Score: 8-12, before racial adjustments)

Charisma - Primary for Dark'locks, Fey'locks, and half of Star'lock powers. Boosts several of your skills, and boosts enough of your Utilities that even Con based locks will likely prefer this over Wisdom. (Recommended Starting Score: 12-16, before racial adjustments)

Skills: Hobbies You Can Corrupt

In Class Skills

• Arcana - Keys off your secondary and rather useful. Mandatory if you are the party's ritual caster.
• Bluff - A rare skill, keyed off your secondary and fits the flavor of the class perfectly.
• History - Keys off your secondary, but is a campaign-specific skill. Insight - A good skill, but your Wisdom is probably too low to be worth it.
• Intimidate - It keys off a primary stat and fits the flavor of the class perfectly.
• Religion - Keys off your secondary, so not a bad choice especially if you end up as the party's ritual caster!
• Streetwise - Keys off a Primary stat but, as is, it's the weakest of the Charisma skills.
• Thievery - A rare skill to have in class. If you had the Dex for this it'd be a no brainer. But odds are you have a 13 at best, so this is only a maybe.

Non-Class Skills of Note

• Diplomacy - The only Charisma skill you don't get, and it's the most versatile. Plus for those of you playing Half-elves it seems almost foolish not to pick this up.
• Endurance - Keys of a primary and helps in skill challenges and to stave off disease. Not a bad pick up.
• Nature - If you end up the party's ritual caster then you may want this but be warned your wisdom is not gonna be great so don't pick any rituals with tough DCs.
• Perception - the most commonly used skill, but it may be a lost cause for you depending on your dump stat.
• Stealth - IMO it was a mistake to leave this off Warlock's class list given their sneaky flavor. With a lot of feats/powers/items you can use this to hide in combat pretty effectively, but either way it is a solid skill. Sadly you don't have any stat synergy so it misses out on the highest rating.

Powers - Heroic Tier: Dawn of Corruption

Level 1, At-Will

• Dire Radiance (PHB) - A very similar power to Hellish Rebuke, with a couple things in its favor: radiant damage, a potentially more common trigger, but also a couple things against it: you target Fort, and most importantly, it's much harder to force the trigger.  At low levels it makes for a good combat opener, as that is when it is most likely you can force the target to trigger the extra damage. But be careful about who you target as the melee only foes often have high Fort defenses, and ranged foes are already within 10 squares when you attack (so move afterwards!). Perhaps the worst part of this power though, is that WotC didn't think to give you the choice of basing this on Charisma instead of Constitution, so for those of you who opted to ditch Con in favor of a Cha-and-Int-based Star'lock, this power is dead weight.
• Eldritch Blast (PHB) - Hey we finally get a choice with this! 1d10 damage is pretty good. Untyped damage means you don't have to worry about resistance. And counting as a Ranged Basic Attack means you work well with Warlords and can buff the hell out of this power with certain items and feats. Still this pales in comparison to Twin Strike and other DPR-focused at-wills that other strikers get, and it is ultimately just a tax to let you have a basic attack.
• Eldritch Strike (PHH 1) - Hey they finally fixed this so anyone can take it in place of Eldritch Blast!  While I still think that the Reaper's Touch feat is a valid alternative to this power for those that don't want to have to use a weapon-implement (or at least a high [W] one), this boasts significant control and potentially more damage making this a no-brainer for gishes.
• Eyes of the Vestige (AP) - A very useful spell! Getting everyone cursed ASAP is one of your primary motivations as a Warlock as your power increases as every cursed foe dies, so being able to curse an extra target (who doesn't have to be the closest enemy to you!) is very potent. And being able to damage an already-cursed target is your kill-a-minion-for-the-juicy-power-up-without-wasting-your-standard-action power (rolls right off the tongue, doesn't it?). In addition, you get to target Will and deal psychic damage, and get a variable upgrade on top of that! The default free save to an ally is pretty crappy since it requires that ally to hit that same target in order to trigger it (so it effectively requires 2 successful attack rolls to trigger). But the default automatic Prime Shot is pretty good, unfortunately as written it doesn't apply to your current attack only subsequent ones (though it does work well with Action Points!). The only down side here is the low actual damage. The no-brainer choice for a third at-will if Con based.
• Eyebite (PHB) - a great defensive spell, and a heck of a lot of fun to use, but it is the weakest damage wise of all of the at-wills. Still it targets will and deals psychic damage meaning resistance shouldn't be a problem and it can be buffed with Psychic Lock for a total -7 to hit you and -2 to hit anyone else. Hint: Use before an AP for CA with your big attack.
• Hellish Rebuke (PHB) - Another defensive spell as it can discourage enemies from attacking you, (Warning: it only triggers with damage so status-only powers and misses don't count). But what makes this power good is that at later levels, there are several ways of forcing the trigger, effectively doubling the damage of this spell, which is crazy good.
• Spiteful Glamor (FRPG) - the power wouldn't be that bad if it weren't for the fact that you have to take Eldritch Blast with it. A conditional upgrade from d10 to d12 over Eldritch Blast is almost worthless. The good news is it does at least target will and deal psychic damage opening it up to the Psychic Lock feat upgrade and making it rarely subject to resistance. Also, now you can opt to take Eldritch Strike with this, so it's less redundant!

Level 1, Encounter

• Con Based
  • Arms of Hadar (AP) - A party unfriendly close burst 2 for low damage, but decent control. At low levels this is too likely to hurt your allies to be a good choice. It is however a push effect that targets Reflex so it is likely to hit if you did end up surrounded by brutes (yikes!). At Paragon once you can pick up War Wizardry or Arcane Reach to make it more party-friendly and/or have a Paragon Path or feat that deals damage on a push this can make this much better, especially for Star'locks.
  • Chains of Levistus (AP) - A solid spell that makes the target choose between Immobilization and an extra 2d6+mods damage. And per the latest rules clarification (which have oddly disappeared from the Wizards site) forced moves trigger effects that require the creature to 'move,' so if you or an ally can follow up with a forced move, you do double damage! The only down side to this spell is it targets Fort which will be high on most melee-only types (the best targets), so either target ranged targets then move afterwards to get outside of their range or make sure you have a good attack bonus before you try it on brutes.
  • Clarion Call (AP) - A party unfriendly close blast 3 that offers decent (but not great) damage and a status effect that is most often going to be worthless. Only Vestige'locks should consider this spell and even then it's not great.
  • Diabolic Grasp (PHB) - Decent damage with a slide. It targets Fort but its range 10 and a slide lets you move them in any direction (best with a zone happy wizard), so it's not that much of a hindrance. Still only Hell'locks should really consider this, but Blood Mages will love it at least for a couple levels til they upgrade it to Harrowstorm.
  • Life Bind (AP) - Now here's a playable version of Glow of Ulban. Range 10, and it also prevents healing and even THP gain. However it does target Reflex instead of Will, and deals necrotic and it definitely only lasts 1 round. Still I think it's better for everyone but Star'locks and great for Vestige'locks.
  • Vampiric Embrace (PHB) - I really want to like this power since it's a rare con based power that targets Will and deals decent damage. Unfortunately it deals necrotic damage and the rider effect of extra THPs is mostly a waste on the durable Con based Warlocks. (Ironically this power is worst for Hell'locks as they probably have all the THPs they need from their pact boon and they don't stack!)
• Cha based
  • Cursebite (FRPG) - Now this is a nice striker power! Close burst 20 at level 1 is unheard of. Obviously the catch is that it only target's cursed enemies (also it targets Fort), but that makes it party friendly and gets better the later into the fight (and later in your career). Basically, if you are a tactical and patient player who can spread your curse around quickly this will be a very potent spell and stay with you a long time. Dark'locks get to add their Int to damage, so it is a good choice either way, but especially if the previous statement applies. 
  • Darkworm Feast (AP) - Slowing is solid control at this level, but 2d6+Cha is pitiful damage especially since it's necrotic. So only Dark'locks who get to add their Int to damage (though it is oddly delayed) should consider it (and they should take Cursebite, above, instead).
  • Dreadful Word (PHB) - 2d8+Cha is mediocre damage, and a -1 to Will is very unlikely to matter. Star'locks get to add their Int to the penalty which makes a huge difference, but I should warn that since this power targets Will, this is a catch-22.  Additionally, this is only ranged 5, which is very close to melee for a Cha'lock. 
  • Flickering Venom (FRPG) - 2d8+Cha is mediocre damage, but getting to add your Int to damage as long as you wait for CA (which isn't hard at Paragon thanks to SWA) is great. However the extra damage is poison, which is very easy to resist, and Ranged 5 is awfully close to melee for a Cha'lock, fortunately Dark'locks get ranged 10.
  • Glow of Ulban (DA09) - Dragon Annual cleaned up the language on this, making the rider for Star'locks only and it only gives -2 to a single save which is worthless especially at 1st level when save ends effects imposed on enemies is extremely rare.
  • Sprite War Call (AP) - Not wanting to miss out on the band wagon we have 1 more Charisma based Range 5 spell. It has the lowest damage of all the level 1 encounter powers, but it does boast 2 solid debuffs. Still, like the others it is a trap for anyone but Fey'locks who get the range upgrade.
  • Witchfire (PHB) - Decent damage and a decent debuff, but it deals fire damage so watch out for resistance. Tieflings with Hellfire Blood will like this, and Fey'locks will love it for the massive upgrade to the debuff.

Level 1, Daily

• Con based
  • Armor of Agathys (PHB) - The amount of THP this grants is weak for a Daily, and certainly not enough to encourage anyone to venture into melee who wasn't already built for it. The damage can add up, but be warned you don't get to add the enhancement bonus from your implement so it doesn't scale well. In the end, gish builds will love it for a few levels, but even they should retrain it by paragon since it scales terribly. EDPR: 7.5 AoE/round
  • Flames of Phlegethos (PHB) - 3d10+ongoing 5 is a lot of damage at first level, but just ongoing 5 on miss is weak especially since it is easy-to-resist fire damage, also this offers no control.  Overall you have a solid DPR power, but I highly recommend waiting for a nice accuracy (CA + prime shot ought to do it) bonus before firing this sucker. EDPR: 25.5 (vs Standard monster)
  • The Lash's Bite (D382) - This will be used most likely to help out your (and allies') necrotic, poison, and/or fire powers which is certainly nice but IMO not that valuable for the life of a level 1 Daily (1st thru 15th). Also I am not a huge fan of this new reliable variant. But it is solid damage, expecially for a Con vs Will power so even if you discount the rider effect it's still a solid pick.  Sadly, the Hell'lock upgrade is too weak to be worth a ratings bump. EDPR: 17.6 (22.4 on retry) + debuff
  • Tyranny of Flame (AP) - 3d6 is pretty weak damage for a hit, but you do at least to do 1/2 damage on a miss, and you get to target Will which is a rare treat for a Con'lock. On a hit you force them to stay prone, which is good control especially if you are a gish or have some melee buddies to capitalize on the combat advantage. On the other hand, if your party is ranged heavy, you actually just made it harder to hit the target. EDPR: 15.6 + control
  • Vestige of Khaeleth (AP) - This power is either crap or pure gold depending on how many allies you can reliable get adjacent to you when you cast the spell (and assuming you have a good Int mod). If its 0-1 don't even bother, 2 and it might be worth it if you like Leader like effects from your Vestige, 3 is solid, and 4+ is golden (but seriously how likely is it to get an entire 5-man party adjacent in the heat of combat?). I will say that it is an odd power in that it scales very well if you can manage the 3+ adjacent allies. Vestige'locks get a decent pact boon and an at-will upgrade that is good for Tanks. EDPR: 14.9
  • Vestige of Mount Vaelis (AP) - It does mediocre damage and has an unusual control effect as it essentially forces the target to shift for any movement (or fly, teleport, etc. but they probably won't apply at this level)--in effect it's a lot like slow.  Vestige'locks get a new pact boon and at-will upgrade, which synergize well. EDPR: 13.8 + control
  • Vestige of Thaxter (D383) - Mobility is nice, as is getting to do 1/2 damage on a miss, but 3d6 is rather underwhelming damage. Vestige'locks get a decent pact boon which lets them hand out +2 to hit for 1 ally, and get a mediocre at-will upgrade that basically lets you play Cunning Bard when you hit. All told I am not sure if it is any better than black for them compared to default vestiges. EDPR: 15.1 + mobility
  • Vile Brand (D382) - Just like Lash's Bite above except with the Fear keyword, double the range, and a much less impressive (though more universally useful) rider effect. Again, the Hell'lock upgrade isn't worth much. EDPR: 17.6 (22.4 on retry) + debuff
• Cha Based
  • Contagion (FRPG) - Yuck. Relying on ongoing damage is a bad idea; elites and solos get save bonuses, standard enemies probably won't last more than a couple rounds, and there's only a 45% chance that they will take damage more than once (and that's assuming they don't have any save granting or boosting abilities). Now relying on them to fail that save to get the secondary effect is just foolish. Oh and don't forget that since you don't roll anything for damage you don't get to add any static mods! Only those in a party that can reliably debuff saves should consider this. EDPR: 16.1 (vs Std monster) + 2.5 AoE (vs Std)
  • Crown of Stars (DA09) - This deals solid radiant damage and targets Reflex. The status effect is conditional and only last 1 round, but it's not hard to wait for a monster to be bloodied and blindness is a great condition for a level 1 daily. The surprising bonus is the minor action attack (vs Will!) you gain for the rest of the encounter. Charisma modifier damage doesn't seem like much (especially since you don't get to add static mods), but you'd be surprised how much it helps your DPR and it's great for taking out minions to trigger you pact boon. Just make sure you turn this on early in the encounter, to get the most out of the minor action attacks! EDPR: 14 + control + 2.8/round
  • Curse of the Dark Dream (PHB) - Decent damage and decent control from the initial attack. The sustain line can be confusing to many players (enough that they've stopped writing powers this way in new books). Basically it means that the target has a save ends condition that while active lets you slide him as a minor action. Unfortunately the short distance of the slides limits the usefulness. If your party has a zone-happy wizard then the recurring slide is more valuable. EDPR 15.4
  • Decree of Khirad (AP) - Holy crap we finally get a party-friendly AoE (ironically in this case it would have probably been stronger if you could target allies). Basically this is an AoE dominate-like effect with a consolation prize if the enemy misses with the forced attack, and you also get some control out of the Effect slide 2 to put them in position to kill each other. The downside is that it is a close blast cha'lock power, but once a day I think you can manage the risk. Also, technically you only damage the targets on misses (yours or the enemy's) so it's possible you could miss out on your Curse damage if your DM is a RAW stickler. EDPR: 11.4 AoE + control
  • Dread Star (PHB) - The daily upgrade for Dreadful Word. It also debuffs the defense it targets but this time it is an Effect so it works regardless (sadly it doesn't occur until after your attack). Otherwise it deals a moderate amount of radiant damage and immobilizes for a turn. You could certainly do worse, but I would make sure that your party has some Will targetting powers before you select this. EDPR: 13.1 + control + debuff
  • Fortune's Reversal (AP) - Our first Immediate action spell, unfortunately it is a reaction not an interrupt given it's effects (an interrupt would impose the -2 save penalty to the triggering save). It does kind of crappy damage for a Daily even as an immediate reaction., but ongoing 5 on a miss is rather good. The trigger could be a problem, crits are never a good thing to wait for and at first level your party probably doesn't have many save ends effects to impose, but once a day should be doable (just don't hold on to this too long and miss your window!). I like that it forces the target to take damage at least once and comes with a penalty.  Dark'locks get an extra -1 to the save, which ain't bad but not very likely to make a difference. Fey'locks get an extra debuff but it too won't make a huge difference. EDPR: 16.9 (Std monster)  / 17.8 (std monster, Dark pact) + debuff
  • Prophecy of Zhudun (DA09) - Decent damage considering it's one of the few spells this level that does damage on a miss. Save ends dazing is awesome for this level, and effectively adding -2 to all attacks on top of that is pure gravy! EDPR: 14.3 + control + debuff
  • Star Shackles (D374) - party friendly close burst 2 that deals pitiful damage and grabs. Sadly this could be a good power if it were only a Con'lock power, but you don't want to be stuck that close any more than your targets do. For a Cha'lock gish or Tank it is great control and potential damage. EDPR: 6.85 AoE + 6.85 AoE/round
  • Your Glorious Sacrifice (FRPG) - 3d8+mods with half damage on a miss is solid damage, but for the small price of dealing your Cha mod one time to one ally, you get to add your Cha mod as ongoing damage, and you get +2 to hit (which nicely offsets targetting Fort).  That is a very worthwhile trade! Only Dark'locks get the sky blue rating for their +Int to the ongoing rider though, since it deals easy-to-resist necrotic and poison damage. EDPR: 17.2 / 23.5 (w/ sacrifice) / 27.3 (w/ sacrifice + Dark)

Level 2, Utility

• Beguiling Tongue (PHB) - This is quite effective out of combat (skill challenges, etc.) as the skills it buffs are quite common, but only Cha'locks can take advantage of its per encounter usage in combat, to buff an Intimidate check to force a surrender.
• Caiphon's Leap (AP) - A nice defensive power as it both reduces the damage of an attack and helps you get away, but for Con-locks don't have the Charisma for any significant damage reduction so it loses most of its value.
• Charm of Hearts (D382) -  +2 to all defenses and immunity to OAs for one encounter/day?Damn, this is really powerful for a level 2 utility! The only downside is that it eats up your minor action, and since you should be using your move action to trigger Shadowwalk (which itself effectively grants you +2 to all defenses), that means which you will have a hard time spreading that lovely curse of yours around while this is on.  So I recommend saving this for solo fights or other encounters where you can curse everyone quickly, then just turn this bad boy on and wade in there! Gishes will love this regardless since it lets them use their ranged powers in melee with impunity.
• Devil's Trade (AP) - Wow, I guess it figures that a Devil would make such a one-sided trade. Only the very worst conditions are worth giving yourself vulnerable 5 to all damage and you can't spend a minor action while affected by them! Avoid this like the plague.
• Ethereal Stride (PHB) - This power can do it all, mobility to get away from trouble, mobility to get into the perfect spot for a close burst, and the defense boost to survive either situation. Previously considered a no-brainer, now Caiphon's leap provides a more reactionary alternative for Cha-locks, so it depends on your play style.
• Eyes of the Spider Queen (AP) - If you already have Low-light (or even Darkvision for you Drow) half of the power is kind of useless. The point blank see invisibility is the equivalent of an Epic feat, but it's a feat that I don't recommend except for gishes, and at heroic invisible enemies are very rare.
• Fevered Certainty of Caiphon (DA09) - I pointed out above that the encounter usage of Beguiling Tongue was kind of a waste, but you should still get something more that just 2 turns per day of a moderate skill bonus. Sure this applies to all skill checks in that time but how many is that likely to be? So in the end I give it the same conditional rating as Beguiling Tongue.
• Fey Bargain (AP) - Now this is a trade worth making. You can usually tell half-way through a fight what kind of status effects (if any) the enemy can throw at you, so as long as they are stuff you can deal with for an extra round this is a good trade. Most fights you won't even get affected by any save ends effects so this becomes a freebie!
• Fiendish Resilience (PHB) - 5+Con is a pitiful amount of THP for a Daily. And I get the impression that WotC tends to forget that THP don't stack because this is worst for a Hell'lock since this won't stack with their pact boon. Do yourself a favor and tear this power out of the book; it's that bad.
• Ruinous Phrase (D382) - While I'm sure a lot of fun can be had with this, from a CharOp perspective, it's hard to justify a zero damage standard action for a Striker. Perhaps with a DM that really takes to heart the "learn to say yes" philosophy.
• Shadow Veil (PHB) - Skill bonus power #3, and this one is the most limited of the three. This might have been worth it before the Stealth rules errata that prevented Warlocks from running around hidden all of the time, but now it's worthless.
• Spider Scuttle (FRPG) - Wow, now this is a great utility! It makes the 6th level utility, Spider Climb, completely obsolete as it can offer 2 full turns of serious mobility or 1 turn that you can trigger in an emergency since it is a free action. 

Level 3, Encounter

• Con based
  • Cloud of Flies (AP) - Mediocre damage but you + your whole party getting +2 to hit the target for a round makes it a solid power, unfortunately it is outshined by Frigid Darkness which offers slightly more damage and a more popular damage type. However, Hell'locks and Vestige'locks get the combat advantage even on a miss, so they're better off with this unless they need that fear keyword or want the cold damage for frostcheeze.
  • Fiery Bolt (PHB) - Pure damage and an actual respectable amount for a striker! The only things keeping this from sky blue are the Hell'lock damage bonus applying only to the secondary targets rather than the primary target, the party unfriendly pseudo-area, and common damage type. As is, enjoy this rare pure striker power.
  • Fortune Binding (AP) - This spell boasts a truly tide-turning rider effect. Unfortunately, at low levels getting hit with a save ends effect will be a rare occurence (certainly not every encounter) so the effect is almost like rolling a crit--a really nice bonus, but nothing you should rely on. So take that away and you have a mediocre damage spell for anyone but Vestige'locks who can deal more damage with this than Fiery Bolt (targetting fort balances out with getting to deal psychic damage instead of fire IMO).
  • Frigid Darkness (PHB) - A very similar power to Cloud of Flies, it deals slightly more damage and has the fear keyword and cold instead of acid damage. In the end I have to give it a higher default rating for the small damage edge and feat options from cold damage. Star'locks get a rider that makes it a no brainer for setting up an ally's nova.
  • Vestige's Calamity (AP) - Nice, high damage especially if you are picking a power outside of your Pact as generally Int bonus damage is from the Pact rider. In this case Vestige'locks, get to do the Int damage to adjacent creatures as well as their bonus, which considering that it doesn't distinguish friend from foe it's a pretty crappy bonus. You will find that you'd rather not deal that extra damage fairly often since the target only has your allies adjacent to him. On the upside dealing 4 different damage types makes it all but unresistable, open to several feat upgrades and can even trigger a vulnerability from time to time.
• Cha based
  • Delban's Deadly Attention (AP) - Immediate Interrupt to deal a little damage, and make the enemy decide between extra damage or halving the damage of it's own attack. Solid for Cha'locks who need a little 'anti-marking' since they don't have the toughness of Con'locks. Star'locks get the Int mod to the extra damage.
  • Eldritch Rain (PHB) - A two target power with crappy damage and no control. Fey'locks get a damage boost that makes it decent, but still not great.
  • Hands of Ihbar (DA09) - Good damage, and it even targets Will and slows as well! Star'locks even get a save ends rider (very rare on an encounter power) to reduce any cold resistance the target might have, but that only helps if you and your party have cold attacks.
  • Otherwind Stride (PHB) - I would love this power if it were Con based and/or didn't target Fort. As is, this can be a real trap since a Cha'lock really does not want to get themselves surrounded. Still the teleport escape is an effect, so you can try to set this up with an Ethereal Stride into trouble, blast this and get the hell out of there. Just don't make your Leader hate you by thinking you are a frontline combatant; use it defensively. Fey'locks get to add their Int to the teleport distance which adds up to a VERY long teleport (enough that this can be used as a great out of combat utility!). Crimson Lancer did point out that combined with a damaging zone like Hunger of Hadar, you can guarantee an extra round of damage on the immobilized group of foes.
  • Pipes of Winter (AP) - This one has solid control (even more for a Fey'lock) with mediocre damage, but it's another short range Cha'lock power and it targets Fort so the melee monster that you could effectively stun with this is resistant.
  • Shared Agony (AP) - Another great power to make Con'locks jealous! This one boasts an extremely rare miss effect on an encounter power. The damage is great, it targets Will, it deals psychic damage and you can reroll if you need to! 10 damage is a lot for most Cha'locks at 3rd level but that diminishes with time and you don't have to reroll it. Dark'locks even get to reduce the cost of the reroll.
  • Upsetting Onslaught (FRPG) - Not too bad. Since the extra 2d8 is a separate effect your DM might rule that you get to add your mods to it again but since it is worded that the target may deal 2d8 to himself as a free action DMs can easily argue that you don't get to add your mods because the target is doing the damage not you.  The Dark'lock rider is a joke for the most part though, unless you know you're targetting a low fort, high will controller.
  • Your Delicious Weakness (FRPG) - This would be a much better power if vulnerabilities were more common. As is, they are a rare thing (maybe MM2 has more, I haven't gotten a look yet). So 4 times out of 5 this will just be a generic 2d6 to a single target spell, which is rather unimpressive. If someone in your party has the frostcheeze feats or if you're in a campaign where you know vulnerable enemies will be common (undead the most likely example) this gets much better. 

Level 5, Daily

• Con based
  • Avernian Eruption (PHB) - This mediocre power boasts decent (unfriendly) AoE damage on a hit, but nothing but ongoing 5 on a miss and no control whatsoever. It might be nice for a Sorceror to grab with a power swap since they can add their damage bonus to all of the targets, but Warlocks are most effective when focus firing.
  • Blistering Torrent (D382) - Party unfriendly, necrotic damage, vs. Fort, mediocre damage, laughable control, and nada on a miss? This is god awful. Even with Hell'locks getting a real rider effect I still can't recommend it.
  • Hellsworn Blessing (D382) - Spending a standard action on zero damage and a buff for someone else is NOT your job.
  • Tyrannical Threat (AP) - This spell is almost more of a utility spell than an attack spell. The damage is pitifully low, but getting to curse everyone within 3 squares and then getting to damage any cursed enemy that dares attack you for the rest of the encounter (hello minion immunity!) is very nice especially for gishes and tanks. Hell'locks even get to curse on a miss!
  • Vestige of Baatar (D383) - I was really unimpressed, until I got to  "First Failed Save: Unconscious (save ends)! So if you can debuff the save, then this is an awesome spell. Vestige'locks get a solid mobility denying pact boon that your Defenders will love, and an at-will upgrade that has a lot of potential but requires a cooperative party. 
  • Vestige of Ugar (AP) - An interesting alternative to Hunger of Hadar. This does less auto damage, but actually deals a little upfront damage, it's bigger, it has a slightly better damage type, and it doesn't require you to sustain it. But probably my favorite part is this spell doesn't block line of sight meaning your party can continue to shoot at enemies stuck in the zone. While they can also shoot back at you, this actually serves to lessen the motivation for them to get out of the zone ASAP, whereas with Hunger of Hadar they will do whatever it takes to get out of the zone since they are both taking damage and effectively blind. Again push-heavy parties get more mileage out of the zone by forcing enemies back in. But Vestige'locks have it best, as they gain the ability to move the zone as their new pact boon and get a conditionally useful at-will upgrade.
  • Vestige of Xandor (AP) - This spell is unfortunately ruined by the fact that the enemy gets to choose its fate. For one, it will always choose whichever affects it the least, and two, if it does choose to be dazed you lose half of the benefits for the first turn(gaining CA, can't make OAs or use immediate actions) because it doesn't become dazed until the start of its turn. The one perk is that it deals 2d6+Con on a hit or a miss and dazes on a miss, so it's not worthless, but I can only recommend it for Vestige'locks due to the fact that their pact boon and at-will upgrade are worth it almost by themselves. 
• Cha based
  • Crackling Fire (AP) - This probably would have been better if it were Con based; a close blast offensive spell is dangerous for a Cha'lock since you shouldn't be moving towards melee. Low damage, no control, and requires your party to follow up with fire or lightning attacks to get anything out of it. Con'locks have quite a bit of fire spells, but Cha'locks not so much, and neither have many lightning spells!
  • Crown of Madness (PHB) - Pitiful damage for a daily plus a pseudo-dominate sustain effect is fun and flavorful but mechanically terrible. Per the RAW you can't sustain a power on the round that you cast it, so you can't make the target attack until your next turn, which means there is a 55% (65% for elites, and 80% for solos who are the ones who might actually have powerful basic attacks to play with) chance that you never even get the chance since he can save before you can sustain it. And on top of that you still have to hope that he is adjacent to another enemy since you don't get to move him and a smart/cruel DM will make sure his allies stay away!
  • Curse of the Bloody Fangs (PHB) - An Implement power that targets AC?? *sigh* On the upside, sustain attack should let you apply your static mods, which makes for a very damaging friendly AoE. But the fact that it is a save ends sustain, makes it extremely unreliable (and confusing!).
  • Forceful Assault (FRPG) - Now we're talking! Solid damage and nice control! And even a solid damage type for a change from this Dark Pact power. Dark'locks even get a nice range bump.
  • Lure of Gibbeth (AP) - Another spell that would be better if it was Con based. It does mediocre damage with a decent size pull effect and the ability to keep pulling the target for the rest of the fight. The problem is that a ranged 10 pull effect isn't worth much on a Cha'lock. 95% of your spells are ranged 10, so you can't really use it to pull someone into range, and it's rare to have a zone between you and the enemies, so it is really only useful to help out a defender with stickiness problems or to deal with a flying enemy (assuming your DM allows vertical forced movement).
  • Twilight of the Soul (FRPG) - This spell gets a rare keyword for you: reliable. Reliable isn't bad for a striker as it means that you will get full effect out of the spell, just maybe not right when you want to. Unfortunately this one relies on ongoing damage (and its necrotic to boot!) to do the bulk of its damage which is hard to count on. Only worth it for Dark'locks who get to debuff the save.
  • Venomous Webs (AP) - The initial damage is weak, but acid is at least hard to resist and save ends combat advantage is a great boost to your party's offense. The effect actually provides decent control as you force them to choose between immobilization and ongoing damage, however immobilization is best used against melee foes who will have high Fort. Combine with zones for 'damned if you do, damned if you don't' fun.
  • Well of Death (D372) - 2d8 is crappy damage, but 4d8 is great damage, so this is only worth it if you get an ally to donate a surge and 95% of the time someone in the party has at least 1 surge to spare.  But be warned, this scales negatively with level as the HP in a surge increases while 2d8 stays the same. 
• Works for either
  • Fury of Gibbeth (DA09) - This potent spell features very bizarre mechanics. Its actually Int based (with a +2 bonus), so those of you with decent secondary scores can do well with this, and those of you with Int as a second primary stat will love the free accuracy boost. The control effect oddly requires an acrobatics check based on your Charisma. It seems to work out to about a 50/50 chance depending on the Dex of the monster, less if the monster happens to actually be trained in acrobatics (very rare).
  • Hunger of Hadar (PHB) - IMO the only choice at 5th in the PHB regardless of your Pact due to the utter crap that make up your other options. Thankfully the new source books have opened better options as this is a hard spell to use effectively. Basically automatic damage is very potent especially with the "enter or start their turn" language since you can potentially damage them multiple times per round, but this power sadly lacks any way of moving the zone and it blocks line of sight so you need ways to force enemies to move through the zone after the first round and those in the zone are invisible to you making it difficult to attack them. Basically if you are in a push-heavy party or if you have the Flitting Shadows feat, you will love this power! The sustain attack is gravy if you're Con based.

Level 6, Utility

• Dark One's Own Luck (PHB) - The most versatile reroll utility I am aware of. The only downside is the daily usage will have you constantly questioning "Do I use it now, or will I need it more later?"
• Fate's Frayed Thread (D382) - This is great for cursing that ranged artillery or leader that is hiding behind his allies, and it packs a nice little debuff too.  I will say that at high levels when you should be getting CA from Shadow Warlock armor, and cursing people easily with Rod of Corruption, Twofold Curse, etc. this loses a lot of its value.
• Fey Switch (PHB) - long range and can be used both defensively and offensively, but it is rather situational.
• Life Siphon (AP) - I prefer Dark One's Own Luck over this since this basically has a 10% chance of turning a miss into a hit, whereas Dark One's has generally a 50% chance and you use it when you absolutely need it. Hell'locks get THPs which makes it better, but still not as good since the THPs won't stack with their pact boon. Dark'locks however get actual free healing out of the deal, which makes it a decent alternative.
• Mercurial Form (AP) - Way too situational for my taste. Unless your DM is the type who would design encounter specifically to let you take advantage of this don't even look at it twice.
• Racing Fire of Ulban (AP) - Why is this level 6? It's comparable to (though still not as good as) Ethereal Stride.
• Red Leeches of Nihal (DA09) - A very powerful defensive power. It can be triggered by an ally or an enemy, scales wonderfully with level, and provides a significant amount of THP.
• Rending Fear of Khirad (DA09) - This is basically a ritual disguised as a utility power. Can be great in the right campaign, but too situational for most.
• Shadowslip (FRPG) - A nice defensive/mobility power with an easy trigger.
• Shroud of Black Steel (PHB) - Can be nice for Tanks, but most Warlocks aren't willing to accept the speed penalty for a small defense boost.
• Spider Climb (PHB) - see Spider Scuttle above instead.
• Spider Queen's Caress (AP) - Needing a save bonus for more than a round or two is very situational and you still don't have stealth in class! Dark'locks who've picked up the stealth skill can make it work for a ninja build.
• Unspeakable Bond (D382) - Glorious. Spreading damage around is very powerful. Adding a big (especially for Hell'locks) buff on top of that is just awesome.

Level 7, Encounter

• Con based
  • Acrid Decay (AP) - A double target ranged power that has double damage types which is always nice. Unfortunately the actual damage is weak and it targets Fort. Vestige'locks get to add a debuff which makes it decent.
  • Hero's Arrow (AP) - Healing other party members shouldn't be your role, so this is only for niche builds who want to be a secondary leader. Even for them the amount of healing is pretty low. Vestige'locks can heal more but only if you have several allies adjacent to the target.
  • Howl of Doom (PHB) - For most, this spell is kind of a trap as it seems like a great emergency spell to use when you get surrounded by a bunch of melee enemies. But the catch is that it targets Fort, which is likely to be their highest NAD. Still pusher builds and gishes will like this anyway and do what they can to buff their attack bonus. Hell'locks get extra push distance, which makes it outrageously good for Blood Mages.
  • Infernal Moon Curse (PHB) - This one has the distinction of having the highest single target damage for Con'locks, which is sad since it is only 2d8+Con+Int and that's only for Hell'locks. It does also offer some solid, if odd, control. But the easy-to-resist damage type and Fort targetting prevent me from recommending this.
  • Mordant Rains of Dis (AP) - Con-locks get Mire the Mind! Unfortunately this version has less damage, slightly weaker damage type and targets Reflex instead of Will, which earns it a lower rating. The enemy specific minor AoE damage that Hell'locks get does sweeten the deal a bit.
• Cha based
  • All the Sand, All the Stars (AP) - A party unfriendly close blast with low damage but very good control. Be warned this is another close Cha based power, meaning I would recommend using it defensively rather than offensively. Star'locks bump up the damage to moderate levels.
  • Deathboon (FRPG) - Another easy-to-resist necrotic power, but this one at least boasts an accuracy boost, which is very rare for implement powers. Be warned the rider will be a difficult thing to trigger unless your DM tells you exact HP totals of monsters or something, and the bonus is nice but not earth shaking. Dark'locks at least get a slightly higher chance of triggering the rider.
  • Death's Commands (FRPG) - The low necrotic damage kills this power. And undead specific rider effects don't help it any considering that they are the ones most likely to have necrotic resistance!
  • Far Realm Phantasm (DA09) - Another power with odd mechanics. This one does pitiful damage but makes the target waste its next standard action which is better control than dazing (although you lose out on the combat advantage daze grants). Star'locks also debuff their Will defense.
  • Influence of Acamar (DA09) - A very high damaging (sadly it's necrotic) spell for the level, with a potent control effect. Unfortunately the control is a pull effect on a Cha based spell again. The Star'lock rider tries to help by doubling the range, but the target line specifies "one enemy closest to you," so the range will likely only help in the first round of combat. Still you can always pull zero squares and you can't beat the damage for the level.
  • Lash of the Long Night (D374) - Low damage and targets Fort, but awesome control as save ends effects are very rare on encounter powers.  For Fey'locks a push plus save ends slow on a ranged attack is practically save ends stun to a melee foe!
  • Mire the Mind (PHB) - Low damage, but high control once again for the Fey power. You effectively blind the target, which means combat advantage vs. the target for the whole party for a round and you make it very hard for him to hit back. Sadly, the Fey'lock rider is too situational and build specific to be worth much to most players.
  • Nypacian Serpents (AP) - The other high damage spell this level, and again it's for Cha'locks. Normally I don't like powers that effectively require 2 successful hits to work, but this one effectively gives each member of the party a chance to trigger the extra damage making it much more likely to happen than those that require the very next attack to hit to activate. Fey'locks, enjoy your chance to finally deal some true Striker-level damage!
  • Shadow Strangler (AP) - A solid spell. Moderate damage with a nice debuff, that is even more powerful for a Dark'lock!
  • Sign of Ill Omen (PHB) - Comparable to Shadow Strangler, this trades a little damage for a better debuff. Star'locks basically get to make the target waste its next attack.

Level 9, Daily

• Con based
  • Brood of Hadar (DA09) - Another power with a built-in accuracy bonus (in this case basically just makes up for it targetting Fort), this offers decent (unfortunately necrotic) damage. It also has a rider effect of a secondary attack, but only if the primary attack kills the target (and it says specifically that the half damage from a miss can't trigger it), so I would consider this a crit bonus type of rider where it's nothing you can count on, but will be very nice when it happens.
  • Feast of Souls (AP) - A nice zone power. The initial attack is rather low on damage, but very high on control. But then you get a nice auto damaging zone that is also difficult terrain and doesn't hinder your attacks. But the best part is you can finally move it at-will, even if 2 squares is not far.
  • Infectious Curse (D382) - Crappy damage, vs. Fort, and a weird rider effect that either gives you the utility of spreading your curse or controls the enemy not to bunch up with his friends. I only recommend it for Hell'locks due to the long distance slide they add on. 
  • Iron Spike of Dis (PHB) - solid damage with decent control although you only get the immobilization on a hit. Nothing fancy, but nothing bad either.
  • Ooze Incarnate (D375) - A rather fun and flavorful power, this gives you a long shift that lets you move through enemies and in fact that is the whole point since you get to attack creatures whose spaces you shift through.  The damage isn't great since it does no damage on a miss, but it's not bad considering this is essentially an unusual AoE power--and it is essentially party friendly since you choose your path. You also  get to push each creature 1 square on a hit or miss, so pushers (especially Iron Vanguards) will like this. The one downside is it requires you to get in close, but for a Con'lock that's not a big deal and gishes will flat-out love it.
  • Summons of Khirad (PHB) - 2d10+mods w/ no damage on a miss is terrible for this level, but a repeatable attack teleports isn't bad now that the 1/19/10 errata clarified that you can teleport enemies up into the air and cause them to fall. However since they get to save against this it only works 45% of the time on regular enemies and less on elites and solos.  So if you can debuff their save or have a zone-happy wizard (or just like to gamble) this can be nice, otherwise I don't recommend it.
  • Vestige of Ilmeth (AP) - Crappy damage plus a decent anti-mark does not make a good power. As usual, only Vestige'locks should bother for the mediocre pact boon upgrade, and decent at-will upgrade.
  • Vestige of the Onyx Queen (D383) - Low poison damage vs Fort, but petrification (save ends) with immobilization (save ends) as an aftereffect the crazy good control, especially for an AoE. If you can debuff the save this can totally wreck the DM's day. Vestige'locks get a pact boon which is very conditional considering that it helps out powers that most players (rightly) avoid. They also get an at-will upgrade which drastically boost your DPR.
  • Vestige of Shax (AP) - Same damage as Ilmeth above but you get to affect a close blast 3 and knock prone as an effect. Unfortunately it is another close pushing power that targets Fort, so this is only really for pusher builds. Vestige'locks get a situational pact boon (remember you don't have to change it when you use the power), and a nice at-will upgrade especially for pusher builds.
• Cha based
  • Consuming Ray (D372) - A downgrade in my opinion from the 5th level predecessor, Well of Death.  You do 1d8 more damage, but now you have to supply the surge rather than an ally, and as a Cha'lock you may not have any to spare. Plus the bonus damage from the surge comes in the form of ongoing 5 necrotic which is extremely easy to resist. So in order for me to recommend this power to you, you need necrotic piercing and a healing surge to spare, and you need to debuff the save as well to make it good.
  • Curse of the Black Frost (PHB) - For most, this power is a trap, all of the damage comes from the sustain feature and like Crown of Madness, you have no guarantee you'll even get to sustain it once! Don't even consider this unless you can debuff the save.
  • Death's Fond Caress (FRPG) - The highest pure damage option for Cha'locks. It's another reliable power, which makes it powerful but risky timing-wise. Dark'locks finally get to unleash necrotic damage without consequences!
  • Horrifying Hatching (AP) - Here is another power that is only worth it if you are in a party that can reliably debuff saves. The Dark'lock trade of 2d10+Int to end the ongoing 10 is a safer bet unless you can debuff the save. The Fey'lock trade is a joke unless there is a nasty zone or cliff 3 squares away.
  • Ring of Pain (FRPG) - This does decent damage up front (though nothing on a miss), targets Will, and deals hard-to-resist psychic damage.  As usual, I will warn you not to rely on the rider effect of the ongoing damage spreading since it can only happen once and has only a 45% chance of doing so unless you can debuff the save.  Dark'locks get to add their Int to the ongoing damage(s).
  • Storm Countess's Kiss (AP) - The big brother of Infernal Moon Curse is all control. This spell actually moves the target outside of melee reach for most monsters and restrains him (which is a fabulous debuff). The initial damage is a joke, but at least it is something so you can add your curse damage (go WotC for figuring that one out!). And once the target saves you get to inflict 1d10 falling damage, knock him prone and slide him 2 squares. Be careful though, because the miss effect sucks and it targets Fort so the melee only foes will be the hardest to hit. Fey'locks get to move them up higher which means you can guarantee they'll be out of melee reach and the falling damage goes up.
  • Thief of Five Fates (PHB) - More of a utility power than an attack power since you never deal any damage (and thus can't use your curse damage!) with this power. Regarding the value of the debuff: when your target rolls low you will most likely outroll him, but if he rolled low he probably would have failed the roll anyway, when he rolls high you will most likely not outroll him and that's when he'll hit. If someone wants to run the math I'd be very interested in the results. 

Level 10, Utility

• Accursed Souls (D372) - Wow this is a great upgrade to your pact boon for an encounter, and can even cause a chain reaction among cursed minions!
• Ambassador Imp (PHB) - Another power which should have just been a ritual. Most wouldn't take this at 2nd level, let alone 10th.
• Bond of Brotherhood (AP) - Woot! Free healing! The trigger for this is easy: odds are if you're hurt so is someone else and this lets your leader get a 2-for-1. Even better if you can manage to mimic the defender's massive surge amount.
• Brimstone Caress (D382) - This is sheer utility and a lot of fun I think. Best if your allies resist fire though (since it doesn't have any language saying the damage can't be resisted). Hell'locks tack on a nice defense boost.
• Curse of Nessus (AP) - A nice consolation prize! And you're finally high enough level where a save debuff could actually be used every encounter!
• Darkest Mirror (FRPG) - Very situational power. Still since it's an encounter power that lasts the whole encounter but can be ended early with a minor action it's got a lot going for it. In the end it's campaign/adventure specific.
• Destiny Inversion (AP) - On average save ends effects last 1.5 rounds on a PC, so barring bad luck this is definitely a net gain. But I would strongly recommend this power for those in parties that can easily give out-of-turn saving throws, since they can possibly cheat the damage altogether. Be warned this only affects damage, you still get the full status effect of the attack.
• Ethereal Sidestep (PHH 1) - By default this is generally no better than shifting, but if you can boost the teleport distance (via the Arcane Wisp familiar, Eladrin boots, Ring of Retreat, etc.) your mobility goes through the roof. Feytouched and Evermeet Warlocks love this power regardless.
• Shadowform (PHB) - Nice defense but at the cost of basically all of your offense.
• Shielding Shades (PHB) - IMO made obsolete by Destiny Inversion above since getting to use it every encounter makes up for its partial effect. Others may prefer this as an unconsciousness delaying power. Either way remember it doesn't stop status effects.
• Transcendant Dance (AP) - Errata to the rescue again!  Now that this is based on Int instead of Dex, it actually has some use! I'm still not impressed though, since it is rare to need that much speed and/or save bonus on a ranged striker.
• Troublesome Aid of Caiphon (DA09) - a free surge every encounter is huge even if it does come with a scary trade off! The only thing holding this back from sky blue is the daredevil play style this requires since you have to be bloodied to get the full effect and of course someone that willing to get hurt in combat can really get screwed over by the death save headstart.
• My Warlock Guide
  http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75882/19648994/The_Power_of_the_Dark_Side:_The_Warlocks_Handbook?pg=1

Powers - Epic Tier: Corruption's Zenith

Level 22, Utility

• Acension of the Elder (AP) - I don't see the point of this power. It's just like Wings of the Fiend, except the speed is preset (which could be better or worse at this level), it requires you to sustain it (definitely worse), and of course the teleport. The teleport though, is only good if you are using this spell to run away or if you have plenty of ranged 20 spells. Otherwise you will have to waste 2 move actions (and thus a whole round) to get back into range for 90% of your spells.
• Entropic Ward (PHB) - The fact that you have to use this proactively really kills it for me, because there's no guarantee that they'll miss or even attack you.  Tanks are the exception as they should get plenty of mileage out of this. 
• Expedient Sacrifice (FRPG) - Another power that will make your party hate you--and for a bad trade. +4 speed without the trade off would still be a joke for a 22nd level utility.
• Raven's Glamor (PHB) - WotC, was the 3.5 spell, Mislead, really so powerful that you had to nerf it this hard in 4e? Sorry about that, this one really bothers me. Don't even look twice at this one.
• Ulban's Shining Cloak (DA09) - This can be very good especially if your DM tells you what he or she rolls. What holds this power back from top tier is the fact that the attacker rerolls against himself means it's probably only a 50/50 chance he hurts himself (and he is likely resistant to his own attacks), and then it is just a dodge spell which you can do once per encounter with Hero's Defense at level 16.
• Wakeman's Invocation (AP) - At first glance this power doesn't seem that great since +2 defenses vs. ranged attacks only is rather weak for level 22 (just look at Blur, the level 10 wizard utility). But teleporting a melee attacker who hits you as an immediate interrupt at-will is awesome, since you negate the hit (assuming you can teleport him out of reach). This also has some offensive potential thanks to the vertical teleport errata, but unless you can drastically debuff the save, I don't think the trade off is worth the gamble. As a defensive power Tanks get the most out of it.  
• Walk of the Kantakaran (AP) - Seriously? Giving up an entire round of offense in order to avoid being attacked for a round (when they can always just attack someone else in the party) is a god awful trade especially for level 22 (this is basically just a slightly upgraded version of Sanctuary, the level 2 cleric power).
• Wall of Inky Night (AP) - Another power that is way too weak for this level. I can only hope that moving it as a standard action was just a typo, because I can't think of a single other zone/wall power that costs a standard to just move it. And regardless blocking line of sight for both friend and foe alike is very unimpressive for this level (just look at Illusory Wall, the level 10 wizard power).
• Wings of the Fiend (PHB) - This would be sky blue if it let you hover, but even without hovering it is a great boost to your mobility and defense as a ranged attacker.  TIP: Against grounded melee foes fly just a few squares above them for easy Prime Shot bonuses.

Level 23, Encounter

• Con based
  • Arrow of Arcane Light (AP) - The crit bonus is kind of worthless since many of you will already have an expanded crit range by this level and for the rest of you the odds of rolling a 19 with this particular attack is only 5% so it adds very, very little. Still, getting to ignore any cover or concealment is pretty likely to come up at this level, the damage is pretty good, and radiant damage is a rare treat for a Con'lock. Vestige'locks get to add a little control.
  • Awaken the Dragon (AP) - A rare area burst encounter attack! The damage is low and necrotic, but you get to target will and you impose vulnerability 5 to all damage for a turn to everyone if they are cursed! Vestige'locks also gain a some THPs.
  • Spiteful Darts (PHB) - The big brother of Howl of Doom: you lose the fear and thunder keywords, but you get to target reflex (a big deal for a close pushing power!), affect a much bigger area, and push farther. The damage is also greatly upgraded, boasting the highest amount (tied with Starless Void below) for Con'locks this level! Hell'locks again get to drastically increase the push distance (making this the perfect Blood Mage power!).
  • Starless Void (DA09) - The other top damage spell for Con'locks. This one targets Fort, but is ranged and deals cold damage for the frostcheeze folks. Granting combat advantage to your allies is nice too, althought it sucks that you don't get it. Star'locks in a party with several weapon wielders can easily set up a massive nova.
• Cha based
  • Blades of Vanquished Armies (FRPG) - The initial damage on this is just pitiful (far weaker than your at wills at this level). The retaliation damage helps but it won't discourage anyone but minions from attacking you. Dark'locks get an offensive boost but it doesn't make any sense considering that it's only for ranged attacks and this power is one you'd use if you were surrounded.
  • Dark Transport (PHB) - A nice DPR power: Good damage plus it targets will (generic damage though). The teleport is just gravy, which is good because it's hard to really get much use out of it (unless you're flying and he's not ). Star'locks have a much easier time using the teleport since they have a lot more freedom with where they end up.
  • Dreadtheft (FRPG) - A long range double target spell, with a free accuracy bonus is rather nice, but the damage and especially the type aren't great. Having a chance to autorefresh this power is awesome even if the trigger is hard to pull off (target 1 minion and 1 real target if you can!). Dark'locks get an odd, but certainly useful rider as monsters have a tendency to attack with the damage type that they are resistant to, so if they have one you know it will actually help you.
  • Maddening Whispers (AP) - Low damage, and sadly kind of unimpressive control for the level. Still combat advantage is always welcome and immobilization plus a forced move (even if it is for some reason delayed) is almost always effective. Star'locks get to slide a little farther.
  • Swarm of Fangs (AP) - Mediocre damage, really poor control for the level, and targetting Fort make this a very underwhelming power. Only Fey'locks who want a party-friendly AoE should consider this.
  • Thorns of Venom (PHB) - Very similar to Maddening Whispers above. The pros and cons are: the initial damage is a little higher (small pro), the damage type is much worse (big con), you target Fort instead of Will (con), you don't get to slide the target (con), and the defense penalty only applies to 2 defenses (small con since they are the most commonly targetted ones and it stacks with combat advantage). Obviously the cons vastly outnumber the pros, so you should take Maddening Whispers instead. Only Fey'locks who get to drastically increase the defense penalty making it great for nova setups should consider this.  

Level 25, Daily

• Con based
  • Infernal Chains (AP) - Now this is how a spell that grabs needs to be written! Decent damage, and very good control. Considering that the monster needs to make an Athletics/Acrobatics check vs. your Fort+4/Reflex+4, both of which should be pretty good for you as a Con'lock, this should easily last several rounds. WARNING: Because the easiest way to break a grab is with any forced movement on either you or the target (obviously your own secondary attack is exempt) or by teleporting away, all of which are very common options to epic monsters.
  • Tartarean Tomb (PHB) - Another sequestering spell. This one does solid damage and lets you maintain line of sight to the target, but unfortunately the target isn't stunned and can still affect itself so it can potentially buff and heal itself or at least take the all out defense action making it harder for you to hit it. Since you're going to want to use this on the biggest threat in the fight odds are it will be a solo or at least an elite, so you're going to want to have some way of debuffing saves so this lasts more than a round otherwise you should go with Thirteen Baleful Stars below instead.
  • Thirteen Baleful Stars (PHB) - Likely the better alternative to Tartarean Tomb for Con'locks. This targets Will and has nice upgrade potential via the fear, fire and psychic keywords. But my favorite advantage is that this truly stuns meaning combat advantage and open line of effect for you and all your allies, even if it is only for 1 turn. The miss effect is solid too as you still get combat advantage and solid control.
  • Vestige of Land's Soul (AP) - Slightly less damage than Thirteen Baleful Stars or Tartarean Tomb, and drastically less control, but you gain Regen 10 while the slow lasts. Regen 10 is powerful and helpful, but since it occurs at the start of your turn and it ends when the target saves it's possible for you never to see any benefit and as a Con'lock you're already damn tough for a Striker. To make this work you need to have some way to debuff saves and some way to manufacture high accuracy (since it targets Fort and you don't get the slow or the regen on a miss). Vestige'locks get a nice pact boon that deals small auto damage in an AoE that even heals you, and get to impose a massive vulnerability with their at-will upgrade, best if you can coordinate the damage type (acid, fire, lightning, or thunder) with your allies.
  • Vestige of the Queen of Namhar (AP) - This is a slightly higher damage option for Con'locks (assuming the ongoing damage triggers at least once), but you give up almost all of the control. If you have some way of debuffing saves, you can really hinder a target for a while thanks to the save ends aftereffect. Vestige'locks get to autodaze (save ends) with their pact boon, which is awesome, and get to weaken with their at-will upgrade.  
  • Vestige of Vykolad (D383) - Low damage, targets Fort, but weakened (save ends) is good control, and free HP is always helpful, especially for Tanks. Vestige'locks get to turn insubstantial with their pact boon, which is great defense. And their at-will upgrade imposes a damage penalty = twice their Con, which is flat-out huge for an at-will, but it's again all defense.  So basically this is a no-brainer for Vestige'lock Tanks. 
• Cha based
  • Curse of the Twin Princes (PHB) - Sadly I believe this power is ruined by bad writing/editing. The rider on a hit is very good, and if it were the Effect I would probably recommend the power. But instead the Effect portion is just the weird friendly fire effect which requires you to be in melee (something a Cha'lock is not wont to do) and it hurts you and your allies exactly as much as it hurts your enemies, is therefore hardly worth anything at all! Basically it falls into the category of if you can manufacture high accuracy it's worth it, otherwise avoid it like the plague.
  • Instruction in Darkness (AP) - Pure control as you sequester the target until he saves and then you still get to save ends blind him and any enemies unfortunate enough to be within 2 squares of him when he gets back. The downsides are low damage, the fact that you have to hit with the secondary attack for the secondary effect (and you have no control over who he's near at that point), and the weakness of the miss effect.
  • Invisible Death (FRPG) - This is a completely inferior version of Ring of Torment, unless dealing force damage instead of necrotic/psychic damage is vitally important. 
  • Ring of Torment (FRPG) - Wow this is just flat-out better than Invisible Death above in every way except for dealing necrotic with the initial damage. You get to target Will, you get to add your Cha to the damage, deal the ongoing hit or miss, and you are guaranteed to affect at least 1 extra target with ongoing 5. If the extra spreading had been aftereffects rather than first failed save effects it would have been awesome. As is, you'll want to have some way of debuffing saves if you want it to spread more than once. Dark'locks increase the ongoing by their Int mod on a hit or miss, which is a big boost to damage!
  • The Prince's Horde (AP) - Crappy initial damage, but (thanks to the static mods ruling) the effect deals 1d10+static mods ongoing damage! Warning: the AoE effect of the ongoing is just as deadly to your allies making this power dangerous to use, because it forces your (non-reach) melee allies to either not focus fire on your target, or take that hefty ongoing damage themselves, neither of which is a good use of resources. 
• Int based
  • Gibbeth's Embrace (DA09) - A very damaging spell, but be careful as this is a fully Intelligence based spell! So if you have an Int score as high as your primary score then you can lay down some serious hurt with this.

Level 27, Encounter

• Con based
  • Banish to the Void (PHB) - A terribly written power that is practically unplayable as written. It says that the target is transported to a 'starry realm' (just like Wrath of Acamar), but they left out the line stating that line of sight/effect is blocked. So by the RAW, the effect is meaningless (or at least completely up to your DM). It's probably a good thing anyway since it ends at the start of the target's next turn it would mostly have just prevented your allies from attacking the target. Then the target must make a melee basic attack against the nearest creature (and you don't have much control of who that might be) then threatens his enemies with OAs for a turn. Star'locks grant a bonus to these forced attacks, but I still can't recommend it as written.
  • Hellfire Curse (PHB) - Holy cow it's a true striker spell! With higher damage than most of the daily powers, this is the perfect candidate for the Trusted Spellcaster feat! The only downsides are targetting Fort and dealing fire damage (though Irresistable Flame is available at this level). Hell'locks get to do even more damage!
  • Manipulating Thunderbolt (AP) - A new slide power! This one gets to target reflex and has good damage types (though weak actual damage) and you immobilize after the slide. Unfortunately the slide is pitifully short. Hell'locks get to increase the slide distance as usual, but it's still shorter than even the level 1 power, Diabolic Grasp, so even Blood Mages should stick with Harrowstorm.
  • Shattering of the Sword (AP) - Warlocks finally get an encounter stun power, but sadly it is incredibly weak for the level (just look at the level 13 fighter power, Anvil of Doom, to see how far behind this is). Still, an encounter stun is an encounter stun and it does at least target Reflex and generic damage is hard to resist. Vestige'locks get to add their Int to damage which makes the damage very good for a stun power.
  • Zutwa's Incandescence (AP) - Another one with less damage than Eldritch Blast, but this one is a party friendly close burst 2 with good control and a good damage type. Vestige'locks get to add a small save debuff.
• Cha based
  • Curse of the Fey King (PHB) - Mediocre damage, with a rider that is a gamble especially if your DM won't tell you what the roll is since you could actually end up helping the target and hurting yourself. Fey'locks shift the odds heavily in their favor, pretty much guaranteeing that even if you can't make them miss at least you'll definitely hit.
  • Envoy of Nihal (DA09) - An oddly worded spell as a highly resistant monster could possibly rob you of the rider effect, but that's unlikely enough that you shouldn't have to worry about that (plus most DMs aren't that cruel). So basically it is a high damage spell that lets you self heal, which is rather helpful for cha-locks. Star'locks get a bunch of extra free healing.
  • Inevitable Undercut (FRPG) - Meh. The attack bonus is easy to get since by this level even artillery monsters have fewer HP than you, so just use this early in the fight and you're fine. The problem is that since it targets Fort, the bonus often just cancels out, and the damage is less than Envoy of Nihal (which has a very nice healing rider). Only Dark'locks should consider this for the increased attack bonus.
  • Soul of the Treant (AP) - Less damage than Eldritch Blast, but it does target will and it has party friendly AoE damage and control. Even so, how is this worthy of a 27th level encounter power slot??  This is comparable to Thunder Ram Assault (Warden 1) and Splinter the Formation (Avenger 7)! And only Fey'locks get to impose any control on the actual target. 

Level 29, Daily

• Con based
  • Doom of Delban (PHB) - Sadly this spell is one of those hurt by the ruling that you get to add static mods to secondary damage, because that drastically increases the cost to spam this power. Still, this is the ultimate capstone power as you get to do massive damage which keeps increasing for potentially the entire encounter; the only limits are running out of HP or getting stunned. Paired with Divine Regeneration from Demigod or something similar, this is an 'I win' button.
  • Forbiddance of the Ninth (AP) - More of a flamethrower than a wall IMO, as it has to remain adjacent to you, this a steady stream of damage for the entire encounter and it still leaves you your standard action every round to continue firing away with the rest of your arsenal. The only downside is the short range as you will find that enemies will get the hell away from you after a round or two, so this works best in smaller rooms (but be careful because it hurts allies too!).
  • Hurl through Hell (PHB) - This power combines very high initial damage with very good control. You sequester the target for 1-4 rounds, completely decided by you via minor action sustains, then you drop him back on the map, prone and stunned (save ends). This basically means you can remove the biggest threat for a fight long enough to deal with the mooks, then bring him back and you still have a round or more to unload on him before he can fight back. Sadly the downside of this spell is that all you get is half the damage and none of the control on a miss, so you need to have some way of manufacturing accuracy to avoid feeling really depressed when you miss.
  • Vestige of the Earthen Maker (D383) - Getting to ignore resistance/immunity on a generic damage spell is practically useless, and 3d10+ongoing 10 is a slight improvement over 5d10 assuming you target a normal monster and/or you can debuff the save but there are better options in those cases. Vestige'locks get resist all that can stack as a pact boon, but I think Vykolad's boon at 25th is more impressive defense at this level. The at-will upgrade however is excellent control considering how common flight is at this level.
  • Vestige of the Master of the Hidden Flame (AP) - An absolute joke for non-vestige'locks considering Doom of Delban and Hurl through Hell. Vestige'locks get to do AoE ongoing 5 fire as a pact boon as well as an at-will upgrade but the fact they can't stack, fire resistance 5+ is really common at epic, and conditional range on the boon hold this back from a good rating.
  • Vestige of Zuriel (AP) - WotC was not very creative with the baseline spells for Vestige'locks as this is identical (except for damage type) to Vestige of the Master of the Hidden Flame above. So again the only thing to look at are the pact boon and at-will upgrade and wow are they awful! They might have been good 10 levels ago, but at 29th level they are a joke.
• Cha based
  • Arrangement of Disorder (AP) - Now that the ruling on teleporting up into the air is final, this power becomes a total gamble.  Potentially you can do 3d8+2d10+mods +slide+knock prone, which is good damage for that big of an area, but the +2d10+knock prone+slide part of that is completely negated on a save, so 55% of the time by default. And you don't get to do anything to the enemies you miss, so you need to have some way of manufacturing high accuracy AND debuff the save to get the odds in your favor.
  • Caiphon's Abominable Melody (DA09) - This is a true all or nothing power, but wow is the "all" a lot. So make sure you have some way of manufacturing very high accuracy, so you can really wreck someone's day. You layer 3 different conditions on the target each requiring their own save; 2 of them are very weak for the level but it doesn't matter because as long as the target has at least one of them still going you get to do pseudo-ongoing damage of 1d6+mods and slide him [cha mod] squares. If that wasn't enough you also get to make saving throws against damage! That's right you have a flat 55% chance of negating any damage for the rest of the encounter. This has so much going for it, it's just sick but you get none of it on a miss, so make a deal with your local Taclord or invest in a bunch of potions of clarity!
  • Curse of the Dark Delirium (PHB) - This pure control power deals no damage so you lose out on curse damage. But you get to truly play puppeteer as you get to dictate all 3 of the target's actions. Unfortunately your choices with those actions are very limited since the power specifies no powers and no suicidal actions. Still that's enough to move him around while smacking/blasting his friends. And the power lasts as long as you keep repeating the attack and hitting, so it's fully effective on solos (assuming they are other enemies for them to smack). The only downside is he's not actually dominated so you don't get combat advantage, and the miss effect is a huge drop off (although as written you can sustain it if you miss with the initial attack, so you get a second chance!).
  • Eyes of the Victim (AP) - This is how the earlier 'contagion' line of spells should have been written! Very low necrotic damage, but in the right situation (enemies packed closely together and the target's initiative after the other enemies) you can really wreck your DMs day. Paired with long lasting save debuffs, this becomes an 'I win' button.
  • One Final Sacrifice (FRPG) - This is one spell that is debatably helped by the adding static mods ruling. I say debatably because the writing is not as clear as most spells of this type as to whether the extra dice increase the base damage or are separate damage rolls unto themselves, and DMs can easily rule either way. So if your DM lets you add static mods each additional die of damage from damaging allies, congratulations you have a power to rival Blade Cascade! If your DM lets you add static mods once to the additional dice of damage congratulations you have a double hitting power like rangers! If your DM doesn't let you add static mods to the additional damage, then this is a terrible trade. Dark'locks get to upgrade the bonus damage die size, but the increase it adds to damage is mostly insignificant either way.
  • Spread the Corrosion (FRPG) - If it only did half damage on a miss it would be an okay power (and a no-brainer if it let you multi-attack the same target). As is, it's low damage (considering the chance to miss) to 3 closely bunched targets plus a free move: just not capstone material. I wouldn't even recommend trying the whole 'manufacture high accuracy' bit with this one as the payoff just isn't worth it. Dark'locks can attack more targets but the odds of finding more than 3 targets along a 5 square path is really low, so it's hardly an upgrade at all.

Epic Destinies: Since The Soulless Need Immortality More Than Anyone

Warlock Epic Destinies

• Archspell (AP) - Not bad, but heavily back loaded so it's better if you are starting at higher level. 
  Breakdown Show
  
  L21 the feature is rather weak as +2 once a day and only when you use a specific spell is a hell of a lot weaker than +1 to hit and damage with all of your spells, but it gets better as you get the other features.
  L24 the bounce back feature isn't bad especially if you have already used your signature spell.
  L26 as written, this lets you gain Resist All 15 for the entire encounter, every encounter, as long as you make sure to use your Archspell before you use the utility. 
  L30 lets you convert your Signature Spell to an encounter power, which vastly improves the value of the L21 feature, but can actually weaken the utillity since you probably have Epic Resurgence and/or other ways to recover your Signature Spell and you are definitely going to want to use it again.
• Archlich (AP) - This is a very solid choice especially for those looking for some more defense. 
  Breakdown Show
     
  L21 let's see, thanks to the errata you basically get true immortality plus resistance to 2 of the most common types and +2 to Int.  That is huge!
  L24 You get a bounce back feature on top of the immortality above, which actually lets you get back in a fight but at a huge cost.
  L26 You better make sure you have a solid (preferably daily) fear or necrotic power to recycle, but assuming you do this is great!
  L30 Not as overpowered as Divine Miracle, but still awesome.
• Darklord (D372) - You don't get much upfront, but the later abilities are great and perfectly themed. 
  Breakdown Show
   
  L21 extremely situational/campaign dependent.
  L24 THE best bounce back feature available: a full health, complete resurrection with no side effects, and even concealment and phasing for the rest of the encounter!
  L26 rather nice, especially if you have good defenses to help you maintain that invisibility.
  L30 outrageously fun and powerful: you get your very own pet minion every time you score a kill (which should be pretty often as a Striker). Even with just a single action to make basic attacks, they can really add up especially from some monsters, but you can also use them as mobile flankers and mobile walls to clog up corridors! Life Stealers will officially be jealous of you.
• Deadly Trickster (PHB) - Cha 21, Acrobatics, Bluff, Stealth or Thievery - Not bad, but not great. Better if you won't make it to 30th since this has the absolute worst capstone IMO. 
  Breakdown Show
   
  L21 not very good compared to the other reroll options out there, the only advantage it has is being able to keep rerolling the same roll in desperate situations.
  L24 you get your key feature which lets you immediately recover encounter and daily powers with a 15% reliability; that's not bad but very unreliable. This is much better for Grave Callers, elves, or anyone else who is able to reroll a lot.
  L26 is the ultimate do over button effectively giving you an extended rest for a minor action once a day. The down side is you have to use it proactively and it's your only bounce back power so you will find yourself walking the razor's edge as to when to use it.
  L30 might sound like fun but once a day it's just a joke; cancelling a single attack or save is something you can do with many paragon level utilities which are usable once per encounter!
• Demigod/Chosen (PHB) - The gold standard of EDs.   
  Breakdown Show
   
  L21 THE benchmark for all EDs: +1 to hit, damage, 2 NADs, rider effects you name it
  L24 the one thing here losing a bit of luster compared to the new stuff coming out, but still damn good.
  L26 that much regen means you are pretty much immunity to damage for one encounter/day.
  L30 post errata this is still ripe for abuse, so many DMs will houserule it. Personally I don't think it needs houserules, just strict interpretation of the rules. That means that you have to actually use all of your encounter powers before you can start recovering one; at 30th level that is quite a lot of powers meaning it will be several rounds into the fight before it kicks in.
• Eternal Seeker (PHB) - Getting to cherry pick your epic powers (and WotC has confirmed that this doesn't let you retrain all of your powers retroactively, so it is only your EPIC powers) is nice especially since you have a few levels where you have no good options, but it's generally more effective to fill those gaps with single power swaps rather than sacrifice all the goodies the other EDs have to offer. So this is really just for specific niche builds that really want to combo powers from multiple classes.
• Feyliege (AP) - Requires Fey Pact, or have Fey origin, or be a Half-elf - The L21 feature is half as good as the Demigod benchmark, but that's still pretty good. The L24 feature however is one of the best bounce back powers in the game: instant full heal plus concealment for the entire encounter. The only downside is your 'real self' does actually die so you do need to get Resurrected if you want to get this safety net back. The utility is kind of weak for the level, but it's still damn good. Finally the capstone gives you dominate as a crit benefit! That's good enough to make you specialize in charm powers; Gnomes with Feyborn Charm and/or Entrancing Mystics couldn't ask for a better capstone.
• Harbinger of Doom (PHB2) - The L21 feature isn't bad, but not great. Just make sure to remind your DM a lot unless he rolls out in the open! The L24 feature is nice since it can trigger off of an enemy or an ally dropping (in fact as written your DM might let you use it when YOU drop!). The utility isn't very good for a predominantly ranged Striker like you, but Gish tank builds will love it. The capstone is a solid ability since a miss means the encounter is going to last at least 1 hit longer and thus a few extra THPs will help, but it's still not very impressive for an ability you waited 30 levels to get.
• Immanence (AP) - Variable Resist 20 is nice, but not enough to be the key feature of an ED, especially since you can't use it on generic damage (the most common type from monsters). Also you need some kind of offense, especially as a Striker, and the point blank damage while your bounce back power is in effect doesn't cut it. Basically, compared to Archspell above which offers Resist 15 All every encounter starting at L26, this path just doesn't hold up.
• Keybearer (D 372) - Way too specialized to be much use to a typical warlock. Lord of Fate (AP) - Requires Unaligned - The L21 feature is very powerful but also extremely situational. Basically, if you get a lot out of Monster Knowledge checks, both thanks to good skill bonuses as well as a DM who tells you monster role and/or power details, then this becomes very powerful, but you still need a monster who throws out save ends effects (that it isn't immune to!) or it's useless. The L24 feature is certainly very interesting; since monsters' HP at this level vastly outnumbers yours, you should usually get a fair amount of THP out of this. But since it's only THP the best it can do is prevent you from falling again this encounter--it doesn't really conserve resources. The Utility power is completely dependent on the accuracy of your side vs. their side: if you can all hit on a 10, and/or you know the enemies all miss on a 10, then by all means go for it! But odds are this will both help and hurt both sides on a case by case basis, so are going to want to combine this with some kind of long lasting buff to yourside and/or debuff to the enemy's side. The capstone is kind of worthless: the monsters with recharge powers are mostly elites and solos, who you generally can't afford to avoid attacking as the Striker.
• Magister (AP) - The L21 features are pretty good: +2 to an ability score is half as good as the Demigod benchmark, but getting +4 to a Defense (or even multiple Defenses sometimes) is pretty replacement for the other half. The L24 bounce back power is pretty good, it doesn't heal as much as most similar powers but the teleport and free saves can make up for it--if only the surge was free... The utility is completely dependent on the quality of your magic item powers, personally I tend towards items with properties or encounter powers as they usually seem like the better buy, but this makes Daily powers (at least the significant ones) very attractive. The capstone requires you to have the Ritual Caster feat, which usually isn't high on a Warlock's list, but with the right ritual this can be very strong. In the end, I have to give it a subpar rating because it doesn't work for the vast majority of Warlock builds.
• Planeshaper (D 372) - The L21 feature lets you double up on your favorite encounter power, and boosts your secondary stat. The L24 feature is okay, but not great: it boosts your control by adding a 1 round sequester effect to your crits. The Utility is the ultimate second wind as it sequesters the whole party for a round in which they can each spend a surge and recover an encounter power. That is very much worth the standard action, even for a Striker. Finally you get a true capstone worthy of the title: an aura with a variable effect that you can change at will for a mere minor action. As a striker you'll usually want the cold or fire damage, but the others certainly have their uses.
• Prince of Hell (D 372) - This would be just about perfect for Hell'locks if it boosted Con instead of Cha, and if it had an answer for Fire Immunity. As is, it's a very tempting pick for pyromaniacs. Prison of the Winds (D 371) - Another hidden gem for Con-locks. +2 to Con, Dex, and speed is awesome. The bounce back doesn't give much if any free healing, but you should have plenty of surges as a Con-lock anyway, and adding a close burst 5 push + prone effect that auto hits: pure win especially if you're also an Iron Vanguard. The Utility is awesome for gishes, but still pretty good for everyone else. The capstone offers tremendous staying power.
• Punisher of the Gods (DA) - Thematically very appropriate, but most of you won't crit often enough to make this worth it. Students of Caiphon, Daggermasters, and Grave Callers are the notable exceptions.
• Radiant One (DA) - Now that Dragon Annual cleaned this up a bit, this rivals even Demigod.
  Breakdown Show
  
  L21 You get resistance to one common and one uncommon damage type, which is solid. Plus you get to do double-typed extra damage whenever you hit with CA, which should be all the time thanks to SWA!
  L24 Still unclear whether this costs an immediate action, but either way this is an outrageously good bounce back power simply because auto-hitting damage equal to your surge value is VERY good.
  L26 The Utility offers near immunity for an encounter especially if you have a high Int, the only downside is it costs a standard action.
  L30 The capstone is like a super-action point, which is pure win for a Striker.

• Raven Consort (D 372) - Req Shadar-Kai, worship Raven Queen - The L21 feature is great for Con-locks making you even tougher. The L24 feature is a very good, if dangerous, bounce back power: it's not once a day, but it only kicks in when you make death saves, and you still only "pop up" on an adjusted 20+. The Utility is a nice auto save power since it's not an action you can use it even when stunned, but it's not as game-changing as some of the other Destiny powers around. The capstone is very similar to the Darklord's except your minions are always lich vestiges which means they do flat 10 damage, but get to weaken (save ends), but the biggest drawback is they get L26 stats which amounts to -4 to attacks and defenses.
• Reborn Champion (D 365) - Not bad. L21 only helps skill checks, L24 is pretty weak as bounce pack features go, but the utility is solid, and the capstone is great as long as you crit often.
• Redeemed Drow (D 367) - Req Drow - The L21 is way too situational, only demons will be likely monsters at this level. L24 is great, especially when combined with Master of Fire and Darkness! The utility is about on par with Demigod's. The capstone is a nice bounce back power; Cha-locks can use the toughness.
• Sage of Ages (AP) - L21 is pretty useless at first unless you happen to be the party's Ritual Caster. L24 is basically a weaker, but more versatile version of Avenger's Oath of Emnity. You essentially pre-roll the re-roll so you can know exactly when that die roll will help the most. Most Warlock powers are single target, so that means you on attacks this (roughly) cuts your miss chance in half and double your crit chance. On saves you can pick one to definitely save against. Utility power is the key feature: every encounter you get a random encounter long buff. The catch is it hinges on an Arcana check so you need as high a skill bonus as possible (thankfully the L21 feature helps and you can use the L24 roll replacement), but the payoffs for high rolls are huge. Finally the capstone is easily one of the best bounce back powers: instant full heal and you get to move up in the initiative order! I had kind of dismissed this one when I first read thru Arane Power, but this actually quite good as long as you build around it (buff the hell out of your Arcana check).
• Storm Sovereign (D 372) - A solid pick for Con-locks. There are a lot of great thunder buffing feats and there are a number of good thunder powers. And their utility? pure win. Winter Sovereign (D 372) - Req fey origin - The Destiny of choice for Wintercheeze fans. L21 makes it so Lasting Frost works even on Cold Resist foes, and makes ongoing cold damage powers VERY powerful. As written, L24 lets you make all of your daily powers deal cold damage as long as you never use more than 1 in an encounter, plus whnever you hit with any cold power (and lets face it if you took this ED they all are) you get to teleport as a minor action! The Utility is the weak link as it is easily worn down and only helps against AC-targetting and melee attacks. The capstone is fun and flavorful and combos well with the L21 feature--under very specific circumstances you get 1 instant kill per day. :D

Other Epic Destinies

• Adamantine Solder (MP) - Requires Fighter or Warlord, Heavy Armor, and high Con - Not a bad path for a Con-lock gish who really wants to be a Tank.
• Archmage (PHB) - Requires Wizard - L21 Getting to reuse a daily is awesome for a Striker. L24 bounce back power is one of the best: an instant full heal combined with insubstantial and phasing and as long as your body wasn't disintegrated or stolen or something, then you self resurrect cancelling the death. The trade off is that you can't use Daily or Item powers (or rituals), but that shouldn't hurt too much. Utility is another way to reuse a Daily, which again is very powerful in the hands of a Striker. Finally the capstone goes the next step, letting you convert a Daily power to an Encounter power!
• Dark Wanderer (MP) - Req Ranger or Rogue - Thematically very appropriate, but rather weak. L21 is nice in that it protects you from the weaker enemies in a fight, but it's the higher level enemies you really ought to worry about. L24 is fun, but mechanically almost useless since teleportation and such are readily available at this level. Utility is weak for its level, since it's restriced to only utility powers, but there are some good daily utilities out there that would be nice to use twice a day. Capstone is true immortality; as written you can never die permanently. That's really cool, but at 30th death is temporary anyway, all that matters is finishing that final quest, and your party may get annoyed at having to wait 24 hours to begin adventuring again after you fall.
• Glorious Spirit (PHB2) - Req any Primal class - L21 is basically an extra stackable curse which also cancels resistance and insubstantiality once per encounter (and you get to spend a surge when it dies!), which is great as a Striker. L24 isn't bad: a nice long range teleport that can be used offensively if you're a gish or want to use a close power or defensively to retreat next to one of your allies. Utility however is kind of redundant with the L24 feature and is only really useful to gishes since the rest of you generally want to avoid being adjacent to enemies. Capstone isn't bad since you have a lot of single target spells and getting to keep the miss effects almost makes you want to keep missing with some powers. :D
• Godhunter (MP) - Req Ranger or Rogue - L21 is pretty weak considering the other reroll abilities out there, but at least it is against those you are most likely to miss. L24 is rather weak considering it is limited to creatures of higher level than you, again it is nice that it hurts those that matter most, but crits and higher level monsters are rare enough that you may not even trigger this every day. Utility is rather nice mostly because it at least does something to monsters who aren't higher level and it even gets the upgrade for Solo monsters (If the L21 and 24 features had been written more like this I would like this ED a lot more). Capstone is basically an upgraded version of Deadly Trickster's, and I still don't think it's that great for a once a day power as a capstone.
• Mythic Sovereign (D 367) - Req Fighter, Paladin, Ranger, or Warlord - There is some good stuff here, but it's mostly conditional on one thing or another, so it's best for one-shots when you know the useless features are a non-issue.
• Parable (AP) - Req Wizard - L21 is incredibly weak for the level--this would be a decent L11 Paragon Path feature. L24 like the Mettle and Evasion feats just don't come up often enough to be worth much. Utility is nice in that it's a guaranteed dodge, but since the monster keeps the power, he's probably just gonna use it on you next round. Capstone is a great bounce back power, but it's still not enough to save this terrible destiny.
• Perfect Assassin (MP) - Req Rogue - L21 is decent, but not great. L24 is great as long as the DM rules that you 'normally' deal 5 dice worth of Sneak Attack damage via the feat that lets you use it once per encounter--if not then your Dex is probably too low for this to be worth much. Utility has got great flavor, but not much power: it's basically just a teleport plus autosaves against certain conditions. Capstone is nice since as written it basically lets you use Sneak Attack once more per encounter plus you target the lowest defense and don't need CA. Still, for a L30 power it's not that great.
• Primal Avatar (PHB2) - Req any Primal - L21 is nice for a ranged Striker like you. L24 is interesting in that it is practically the equivalent of +2 to a stat of your choice, but you can change it from day to day (except, at this point, which stat you attack with should be set in stone :rolleyes. Utility is pretty cool since it's a lot of buffs all rolled into 1 power. Capstone is your bounce back power and it's not terrible, but it's rather weak compared to some of the others that you have to wait til 30th for since you have to have the 2 surges and it doesn't kick in until after you die.
• Warmaster (MP) - Req Warlord - Very leader-oriented, but everything boosts party DPR, so I think it's a valid option. Best when combined with some way of gaining extra APs.

Equipment: Tools of Corruption

A quick primer for how this section is formatted Show

This section assumes you use the recommended wealth by level as stated in the DMG, which says a character should have a magic item at his level +1, one at his level, one at his level -1, and enough gold to buy a magic item at his level -1. Actually leveling up and gaining items randomly (though still using the DMG recommended treasure parcel system), is roughly equivalent to this just more, well, random in the level and item distribution. Either way your primary concern as a Striker should be upgrading your implement first, then your armor or your neck slot item second, then third should be whatever you didn't upgrade second. What's left over is what I would recommend spending on the other miscellaneous items as you will find with very few exceptions they provide a lot less bang for your buck. As such, primary equipment (implements, armor and neck slot items) list the levels at which the equipment becomes available ("13+" means that it is available at levels 13, 18, 23, and 28). Secondary equipment (everything else) lists the cost(s) in platinum pieces (i.e. hundreds of gold pieces).

Primary Equipment

Armor

• 02+ Armor of Resistance (AV) - Any - With a good choice like Poison, Fire or Necrotic, this is a great value. In themed campaigns where you know fire enemies, etc. are going to common it's down right awesome.
• 02+ Dwarven Armor (PHB) - any heavy - Bonus to a useful skill (that you can't train in by default) and a surge free heal, that you can use out of turn? no brainer.
• 02+ Mithral Plating (EPG) - Warforged, Plate - Plate without all of the penalties!
• 02+ Screaming Armor (AV) - Hide, Scale, Plate - A bonus to a useful class skill and a solid Encounter power. A real bargain!
• 02+ Veteran's Armor (AV) - any - After the errata, this only grants benefits on an AP and it doesn't scale, so it loses it's value at higher levels.
• 02+ Replusion Armor (AV) - Cloth, Leather - This bargain armor gives you breathing room for that one encounter per day when the DM sticks you in close quarters with melee monsters.
• 03+ Curseforged (PHB) - Chain, Scale - Sadly the aftereffect doesn't scale, but this is still a very effective daily debuff especially vs. a solo.
• 03+ Delver's (PHB) - Any - Another one that becomes less impressive at high levels.
• 03+ Divine Retribution (PHB2) - Chain - Unless you have a way to multi-attack the damage bonus is just too low to be worth it.
• 03+ Eladrin (PHB) - Chain - No speed or check penalties and +1 to all teleports as properties!? And it's cheap, too!
• 03+ Meliorating Armor (AV) - This depends on your DM and your party, but if you regularly have long days with more than 2 milestones, this gets really good. Great for delves, where the last fight is always the toughest!
• 03+ Runic (AV2) - Very potent for Dwarves, not bad for anyone who consistently uses their second wind.
• 03+ Sylvan Armor (PHB) - Any light - Bonuses to 2 useful out of class skills ain't bad. I'd recommend Shadowflow at Epic though.
• 03+ Skald's (PHB2) - Leather, Chain - A bonus to 2 useful skills and a really potent dodge ability.
• 04+ Armor of Durability (AV) - Hide, Chain, Scale, Plate - This is an unnamed bonus so it stacks with any other bonuses to your surge value, and believe me they really add up, helping you get back in the fight better as well as stretch your surges farther so you don't run out.
• 04+ Battle Harness (D 368) - Any Light - Personally I prefer Feytouched Armor instead, since it is cheaper, comes with an encounter invisibility power and you probably won't use this armor's quick draw feature much. This does boast a power bonus to initiative, meaning it stacks with Item bonuses such as from the Casque of Tactics or Helm of Battle. It won't however stack with most utility powers that boost initiative nor with the passive bonus that Warlords hand out.
• 04+ Black Iron (PHB) - Scale, Plate - Resistance to the two most common damage types.
• 04+ Bold Victory (PHB2) - Leather, Chain - A nice encounter AC buff, that you know will trigger every encounter even if sometimes you have to be selfless with it. Doesn't scale though.
• 04+ Dragonclaw (D365) - Leather, Hide - Grabs are a threat to you, and once a day is plenty often to be able to use this, but without anything going for it it's just not worth the price.
• 04+ Eldritch Serpent Armor (D366) - Scale - No speed penalty and a pretty good daily for an arcane striker.
• 04+ Frozen (AV) - Scale, Plate - Resistance to a common type plus a daily retaliation against a melee attack. solid.
• 04+ Reinforcing (AV) - Scale, Plate - getting a bonus to all defenses every time you get hit in melee is awesome, but it's an item bonus so it won't stack with Boots of Quickness, Circlet of Indomitability, etc.
• 04+ Time Link (AV2) - Chain - This offers a better initiative boost than the Casque of Tactics at higher levels, though a slightly worse power IMO. Sadly it is chain only.
• 05+ Deathcut (PHB) - Leather, Hide - After the nerf, this is a solid pick for the two common resists and once a day backlash at heroic, but it scales terribly, and it has to compete with Shadow Warlock Leather.
• 05+ Barkskin (PHB) - Hide, Scale - Not bad. One encounter a day you get an ablative bonus to AC.
• 05+ Piecemeal (D368) - Chain, Scale - An encounter interrupt that gives +2 AC vs. a hit is great as long as your DM tells you the exact roll so you know if the +2 will force a miss. Doesn't get any better at higher levels though.
• 05+ Tactician's (AV) - any heavy - Perfect for Dual Stat Star'locks who need to compensate for their low Int.
• 05+ Shared Suffering (AV) - Any - Ongoing damage is pretty common, but I still am unimpressed by imposing it on monsters.
• 06+ Summoned Armor (AV) - Any - A totally free upgrade, with a potent RP and skill challenge power to equip/unequip your armor as a minor action. 
• 07+ Irrefutable (AV) - Any - A conditional reroll with a bonus is a great bargain.
• 07+ Marauder's (AV2) - Leather, Hide - For charge-happy gishes only.
• 08+ Snakefang (AV) - Leather, Hide - Resistance to a very common type, and a decent melee retaliation power.
• 09+ Demonscale (AV2) - Scale - Resistance to 1 of 4 common to uncommon damage types as needed? hell yeah!
• 09+ Laughing Death (AV) - Any light - Resistance to the most common type plus a daily retaliation against a melee attack with a fort debuff as a bonus. 
• 09+ Inner Warmth (PHB2) - Hide - Resistance to 2 common types plus the ability to share them for 1 encounter/day. solid.
• 10+ Counterstrike armor (AV2) - Cloth, Leather, Hide - A pretty good retaliation power every encounter, but it's no match for Shadow Warlock armor.
• 10+ Lifeblood Armor (PHB 2) - Hide - This will really help you conserve your surges, but consider picking up the Eager Hero Tattoo instead so you can take Shadow Warlock armor.
• 10+ Shadow Warlock (AV2) - Leather - Wow.  The king of armors for warlocks! As long as you can manage to move at least 3 squares every other round (since Shadow Walk lasts until the end of your next turn), you get combat advantage all day long!
• 12+ Rimewrought (D365) - Scale, Plate - A free situational upgrade for Cold Resist armor--great if it applies for you.
• 12+ Feytouched Armor (MotP) - Leather, Hide - An Item bonus to Initiative which is great for your controller half. And it even has an encounter power to turn you invisible until the end of your next turn (sadly for a standard action). 
• 13+ of Essence Inviolate (AV2) - Deva - A nice upgrade to your racial power.
• 13+ Shadowflow (PHB) - Cloth, Leather - A bonus to stealth is nice, and at epic invisibility as a minor action once per encounter is awesome.
• 14+ Displacer (AV) - Statistically, this is the equivalent of +2 to +5 to all defenses for an entire encounter depending on how close to a 50/50 chance they have to hit you normally. (if they hit you 90% of the time, it only drops to 81%, and likewise if they hit you 20%, they'll still hit you 4% of the time.)
• 14+ Chaos Weave (AV) - Any - Variable resistance for 1 encounter per day, not bad. Epic Plate wearer's should upgrade to Demonwrought. 
• 14+ Feymind Armor (AV) - Cloth, Leather - Not for Con'locks, but an immediate interrupt that stuns (save ends) is outrageously good.
• 14+ Reflexive (AV) - Any heavy - If you're wearing heavy armor then odds are your Reflex is a lot worse than your AC; yet this only protects you for 1 round per day...
• 15+ Holy Radiance (AV2) - Chain - For those who are playing leader for their party, this has a game changing daily power.
• 15+ Trollskin Armor (PHB) - Regen (especially when not limited to only while bloodied) is great to have, but this takes a standard action and competes with Shadow Warlock armor.
• 19+ Bloodtheft (AV) - Leather - If you're a Con'lock that regularly gets bloodied, this isn't terrible.
• 19+ Soulforged Armor (PHB) - plate - For tanks only, but they can do a lot in one turn.
• 20+ Dawn Warrior (E1 module) - Any - Resistance to 4 common damage types and a nice damage shield against melee attacks for a round.
• 20+ Robe of the Archfiend (AV) - Cloth - Not for Con'locks. So good it's actually worth wearing cloth armor: sustain minor Dominate as a immediate reaction!
• 23+ Demonwrought (MotP) - Plate - Variable resistance 15 vs 2 elements for 1 encounter per day, hell yeah! The ongoing fire immunity is just gravy. 
• 23+ Tinkersuit (AV2) - I don't know why this is epic only, as it is very meh to me.

Weapon-Implements

• 02+ Vicious (PHB) - d12 crits are rather potent, so this is a good deal.
• 02+ Goblin Totem (FRPG) - For small characters, this is cheaper than the Staff of Ruin and it's a unnamed bonus.
• 02+ Mage's (AV) - Blades - For gishes or those who want a parrying dagger, with a nice power for martial multiclassers.
• 02+ Pact Hammer - Hammer, Dwarf - Post nerf, this is just a hammer-implement (and the only way to get one AFAIK) which isn't bad for gishes.
• 02+ Pact Sword - Longsword, Eladrin - Great if your DM lets you teleport foes vertically. 
• 02+ Quicksilver (AV2) - LBlade - A nice cheap initiative boost plus a decent power.
• 02+ Staggering (AV) - HBlade - A huge boost for Eldritch Strike users, but little else.
• 03+ Blood Fury (AV2) - Axe, HBlade - for Daredevils only.
• 03+ Inescapable (AV) - An accuracy boost whenever you find yourself struggling to hit. Solid.
• 03+ Pact Blade (PHB) - LBlade - A little obsolete now, but it's got a nice always on retaliation feature (minion immunity).
• 03+ Point Blank (AV) - Dagger - Helpful for those that find themselves provoking OAs a lot.
• 03+ Rhythm Blade (AV2) - LBlade - A solid defensive option for your off-hand implement.
• 03+ Subtle (AV) - Thanks to Shadow Warlock armor, this is an awesome choice to boost your DPR.
• 03+ Vanguard (AV) - For charge-happy gishes only.
• 04+ Battlecrazed (AV) - HBlade - For Daredevils only.
• 05+ Runic (AV2) - A solid defensive enhancement, but not recommended for Hell'locks due to THP overlap.
• 05+ Vengeful (AV) - melee - That's a big buff for a common trigger, every encounter. 
• 08+ Cunning (AV) - melee - The cheapest way to get save penalties.
• 08+ Dread (AV) - This is essentially +30% to your party's DPR on crits and on command once per day. 
• 08+ Mithrendain Steel (D366) - Blade - For teleport buffs.
• 08+ Controlling (AV) - Glaive - For gishes who want more control.
• 09+ Incisive (AV2) - Dagger - For teleport buffs, this is so good it's overpowered IMO.
• 10+ Berserker (PHB) - H blade - As long as you're backed up by your defender and/or leader, this is a major boost to one encounter per day, with solid crits.
• 10+ of Evil Undone (AV2) - For Devas only.
• 12+ Jagged (AV) - HBlade - The cheapest way to get an improved crit chance with all of your powers.
• 12+ Shadowrift (AV2) - LBlade - If you're a bit masochistic, with Shadow Warlock armor this can let you teleport almost every round as a free action.
• 13+ Bloodiron (AV) - You essentially get 2d10 crits, which is rather potent especially if you have a improved crit rate.
• 13+ Bloodthristy (AV) - melee - Finishing off the wounded quickly is your job, but be careful it's an item bonus.
• 13+ Bradaman's (AV2) - HBlade, Axe, Hammer - For Paladin multiclassers this is the cheapest 3-in-1 deal out there.
• 13+ Chaos Weave (AV) - helps you avoid variable resistance which is the bane of arcane casters.
• 14+ Soul Drinker (AV2) - melee - If you have the HP to spare for this gamble it is a significant amount of bonus damage every encounter.
• 15+ the Eldritch Knight (AV2) - HBlade - For gishes only.
• 17+ Avandra's Whisper (AV) - LBlade - For divine multiclassers, this is a 3-for-1 deal: holy symbol, implement and weapon. Plus a daily reroll at a cheaper price than the Luckblade!
• 19+ Bahamut (AV) - HBlade - For divine multiclassers, another 3-for-1 deal, this one with a leader-y close blast power.
• 19+ Tenacious (AV) - Have some of the Avenger's fun for 1 attack every encounter. 

Holy Symbol

• 08+ Star of Corellon (AV) - The go to choice for Divine Multiclassers.

Orbs

• 04+ Fickle Fate (AV) - An awesome double-whammy 1/day considering that the penalty makes it harder to get rid of itself!
• 06+ Mental Dominion (AV) - Daily save debuffer; this is dirt cheap but you give up crit dice.
• 08+ Crystaline Terror (AV) - A decent debuff 1/day.
• 12+ Augmented Stasis (AV) - A major upgrade for an Immobilization power 1/day.
• 13+ Drastic Resolutions (PHB) - Solid control.
• 14+ Crimson Commitment (AV) - For Con'locks with surges to spare.
• 18+ Unintended Solitude (AV) - A nice upgrade to a push power 1/day, plus d8 crits.
• 20+ Invasive Fortune (PHB) - A very nice reversal 1/day, plus d8 crits.
• 23+ of the Usurper (AV) - nice crits and 1/day you can dominate instead.

Rods

• 02+ Fickle Servant (AV2) - Can be helpful as another daily to let Vestige'locks change vestiges, but unless you have Vestige Mastery or some other way of gaining an upgraded primary vestige, this just isn't very significant.
• 02+ Quickcurse (AV) - Awesome utility for a bargain basement price!
• 03+ Corruption (PHB) - The ideal off-hand implement for most of you.
• 03+ Malign Conveyance (AV) - a nice crit boost if your DM allows vertical teleports.
• 03+ Vicious Rod (AV) - A solid DPR boost. Combine with Brutality in the off-hand for lots of fun. :D
• 04+ Bloodcurse (AV) - Doubles your chances to trigger your boons, but warning YOU have to actually do the bloodying.
• 04+ Darkspiral (AV2) - For Dark'locks this is a nice way to make sure your pact boon helps your DPR one way or the other.  However at Paragon and Epic this drops off in value since the property doesn't scale and you can do much better with the Staff of Ruin, etc.
• 04+ Pactbinder (AV2) - For vestige'locks who want to use an uber Vestige upgrade for an extra encounter.
• 05+ Reaving (PHB) - Post nerf, this can't even kill minions which removed it's whole purpose, since dealing your enhancement bonus as auto damage to each target you curse one time, is just not worth this price. 
• 06+ Mercurial (AV) - Not bad at low levels when crits are rare anyway, but this scales horribly.
• 07+ Stolen Starlight (AV2) - Great in an undead heavy campaign and/or for Dark'locks or anyone else with a bunch of poison/necrotic powers.
• 07+ Feythorns (AV) - A down-right necessity for poison specialists.
• 08+ First Blood (PHB) - This is a trap; it encourages you to attack full HP enemies rather than finish off the wounded (i.e. your job).
• 08+ the Hidden Star (AV) - For Starlocks only.
• 08+ the Infernal (AV) - For Hell'lock Tanks only.
• 08+ the Feywild (AV) - For Fey'locks who love to teleport only.
• 09+ Brutality (AV) - Awesome in the off-hand, but it's expensive.
• 10+ Devilry (AV2) - Great for Tieflings, good for everyone else.
• 10+ Mindbending/Starlight (AV) - Just too expensive for what you get IMO.
• 12+ the Dragonborn (AV) - Pure win for element specialists (wintercheeze).
• 13+ Spider (AV2) - For Dark'locks who focus on ongoing powers only.
• 14+ Harvest (PHB) - This can really help those of you with highly situational boons (Fey, Infernal, some Vestige).
• 15+ Silver Rain (AV2) - If you can spread your curse to a lot of foes quickly, this is a lot of auto damage for a minor action.
• 17+ the Bloodthorn (AV) - Awesome for Daredevils, solid for the rest. Ask your DM how he's gonna rule the oddly worded power though.
• 18+ Battle-Pact (AV2) - Decent crits and its property which lets you use Weapon Focus are nice, but to really make this worth it you have to be a Tank for the impressive Daily mark power.
• 18+ Fey/Hell/Star rods (AV) - A trap. If you have enough powers that the buff is worth it, then 1/Encounter is not enough.
• 22+ the Star Spawn (AV) - Why we have to wait 10 levels after the weapon wielders I don't know, but this is better than Jagged once it opens up.
• 25+ Ulban (AV2) - Finally a great high end Rod!  As long as someone in your party regularly uses Psychic powers this is great, but it gets crazy good if multiple members of your party regularly use psychic powers.
• 27+ Risen Dead (AV2) - At 27th level I would expect this to do more than give you 1 round per day to play necromancer.

Staffs

• 02+ Defensive (AV) - Great for the off-hand, but it's an item bonus so it won't stack with Boots of Quickness, etc.
• 03+ Ruin (AV) - The ultimate DPR implement especially if your DM lets it work in the off-hand.
• 05+ the Architect (AV) - For Zone Lovers only.
• 08+ Thunderwave (PHB) - Awesome for Bloodmages. 
• 19+ Power (PHB) - The chance to reuse a daily is awesome but crits are hard to count on, so use it the 1st chance you get to make sure you don't miss out. 

Wands

• 03+ [Encounter Power] - An encounter power once a day is worth it for only a few powers, so choose wisely.
• 03+ Flame/Force/Hellfire/Thunder/Psychic Ravaging (AV) - Now that the Staff of Ruin is available, these just don't make the grade.
• 03+ Master's Eyebite (AV) - A worthwhile upgrade, but of course the power is a waste.
• 03+ Scorching Burst (AV) - This is worth it for the power alone; the upgrade is just gravy.
• 14+ Assured Frostburn (AV) - A no-brainer at 14th, but it drops off in value.

Neck

• 02+ Berserker (AV2) - For charge-happy gishes only.
• 02+ Double Fortune (AV2) - At first I thought this wasn't bad for a cheap item, but then I realized the worst conditions are the ones that prevent you from attacking/hitting anything and thus triggering this power!
• 02+ Elegy (AV2) - A nice AoE save debuff for such a cheap item.
• 02+ Resolution (AV) - Nothing fancy, but a 2nd chance can save your life.
• 02+ Resistance (PHB) - Decent emergency defense.
• 03+ Health (PHB) - Resistance to one of the most common types.
• 03+ Altertness (AV) - Your perception could use a boost.
• 04+ Lucky Charm (AV2) - I don't think getting to use the Deva's racial power once a day should be this expensive.
• 04+ Proof Against Poison (AV2) - I don't think the daily power makes this worth the +1 increase over the Amulet of Health let alone Armor of Resistance.
• 04+ Recovery (AV) - IMO as of the release of AV2, the Amulet of Vigor has made this obsolete (other than at 4th level when Vigor isn't available yet).
• 04+ the Walking Wounded (AV) - For Dwarves or anyone who uses their second wind regularly.
• 04+ Distortion (AV) - Post errata, this is really only worth it at Paragon and Epic. Just remember it is an item bonus now.
• 07+ Deep Pocket (AV2) - Solid utility for this cheap item.
• 07+ Elven (PHB) - Shadowflow or Sylvan Armor are a better value.
• 07+ Terror (AV2) - Great for Doomsayers, but that's about it.
• 08+ Courtier's (AV2) - IME Charm and fear effects I think are just common enough to make this a decent choice.
• 08+ Eloquence (AV) - For the party face only.
• 08+ Steadfast (AV) - The reliability is what makes this great.
• 09+ Survival (PHB) - A bonus to a handy skill and resistance to 2 common types, solid.
• 09+ Translocation (AV2) - Pure gold for Teleport Buffs.
• 09+ Vigor (AV2) - Compared to the Collar of Recovery (and Armor of Durability), this actually boosts your surge value which makes a difference with certain powers, but the key is the potent daily power this offers.
• 13+ Seashimmer (AV2) - Campaign dependent, but at least the power is solid.
• 14+ Assassin's (AV2) - Great for Stealth Specialists.
• 14+ Chaos (AV2) - Elemental creatures are common enough for this to be nice, and the power is nice if hard to count on.
• 14+ Demon (AV2) - Wow so much worse than Demonscale and similar items.
• 14+ Timeless (AV2) - Better initiative is great and the power is practically an extra Action Point per day.
• 14+ Elusive Prey (AV) - Only 1 square more movement than Shadow Walk requires, nice. Careful it's an item bonus.
• 15+ Stormwalker's (AV) - Resist to 2 uncommon types and a single round of retaliation you have to use proactively?  Just not worth the price.
• 15+ Aranea (AV) - For Poison Specialists only.
• 15+ Burgeoning Shadow (AV2) - If you can manage to coordinate movements with your allies this can be quite a boon, but good luck trying to get your party to do a synconized swimming routine. :P
• 15+ Vitality (AV) - For Daredevils and Tanks only.
• 15+ Displacement (AV) - If it wasn't an item bonus it might be worth it.
• 15+ Fireballs (AV) - Wow an item with just a daily power that's actually worth it!
• 15+ Power Preservation (AV) - As a striker, this is perfect for you to recycle that one badass encounter power like Bloodpulse. :D
• 19+ Wyrmtouched (AV) - Dragonborn - Not bad if you breath fire or cold.
• 20+ Bloodgem (AV2) - The fact that this is an item bonus makes this worthless.  At this level you can get a +2 bonus that is always on!
• 23+ Invisibility (PHB) - This is a huge bonus for one combat per day, but half the bonus is the free CA and Shadow Warlock armor should have that covered for you...
• 24+ Soul Shard (AV2) - Considering the level of this item the amount of healing it provides once a day is pitiful. 
• 30 Phoenix (AV) - One hell of a reversal but be careful because this is gonna be your last fight of the day one way or the other.

Secondary Equipment

Arms

• Bracers 
  • 5.2 Enforced Regret (AV2) - Ranged Strikers don't get marked much, but gishes can get a lot of mileage out of this cheap item.
  • 5.2/130/3250 - Mighty Striking (PHB) - Very nice for Eldritch Strike fans, but it doesn't stack w/ the Staff of Ruin.
  • 6.8 - Action (RPGA Village of Hommlet) - Crazy good defense for the price!
  • 6.8/170/4250 - Perfect Shot (PHB) A nice cheap upgrade to Eldritch Blast, but it doesn't stack with the Staff of Ruin.
  • 18/450/11250 - Iron Armbands of Power (AV) - For gishes only.
  • 26/650/16250 - Skull (AV) - Incredibly weak compared to what your melee colleagues get, but it's still the best of your general offensive options until Ankhmon's.
  • 34 - Rejuvenation (AV) -  For Con'locks looking for something to do with their extra surges.
  • 42/1050/26250 - Diamond (AV) A lot of resistance for 1 encounter/day.
  • 42/1050/26250 - Zeal (AV2) - The heroic version is awesome for Hell'lock gishes, 
  • 90 - Warlock's (AV) - A no-brainer bargain until Ankhmon's becomes available.
  • 90 - Razordark (AV2) - Not bad for gishes who want to use their ranged powers in melee, or for those that want to get Prime Shot (and thus Called Shot) all the time.
  • 130 - Vigilance Eternal (AV2) - Once a day, you can make an immediate save vs. stun or daze, not bad. 
  • 170 - Bloodhound (AV2) - Pretty good for an ongoing specialist.
  • 170 - Radiant Storm (AV2) - Resist 5 to two uncommon types? meh.
  • 1050 - Ankhmon's (AV2) - Holy cow, combined with Shadow Warlock armor this is a HUGE boost! Take these and never look back.
  • 1050/26250 - Trollhide (AV) - The unrestricted regen these offer were a solid choice until Ankhmon's came out, since the healing it grants on top of the extra damage it deals makes it a MUCH better choice.
• Shields (for Tanks by default since these require shield proficiency)
  • 5.2 Darkleaf (AV) - Light - Not bad for such a cheap price.
  • 18/45/11250 - Flamedrinker (AV) - A common resistance and you can play defender/leader once a day.
  • 34 - Hammer (AV2) - If you use a Pact Hammer, this is awesome.
  • 34/850/21250 - Storm (AV2) - 2 uncommon resistances and a very nice retaliation power.
  • 42 - Recoil (AV) - A great power for gishes.
  • 90 - Force (AV2) - Heavy - I want to like this, but it only makes a difference 5% of the time.
  • 130/3250 - Deflection (AV2) - Great for Iron Cannons, not bad for gishes and melee tanks.
  • 250/6250 - Deathward (AV2) - If you want to play Defender, this ain't bad.
  • 450/11250 - Flameward (AV2) - Common resist plus resist for your friends once a day, very nice.
  • 450/11250 - Stormward (AV2) - Exactly like Flameward above except Lightning is a much less common damage type, and it offers less resistance for your friends! Unless you know you will face a lot of lightning wielding foes, this is just a bad value.
  • 450/11250 - Winterward (AV2) - Again like Flameward above, but slightly weaker, though it is much better than Stormward. WotC, why does fire get all the love?
  • 31250 - Ultimate Protection (AV2) - It is possible a truly defensive focused Tank might want this, but damn is it pricey.

Feet

• 5.2 - Acrobat (PHB) - Can't beat the price and the power is helpful at all levels.
• 5.2 - Adept Charging (AV) - For charge-happy gishes only, helps with defense and can make charging every round possible without OAs.
• 6.8/170/4250 - Stealth (AV) - Not bad for ninja builds.
• 10 - Rapid Motion (AV2) For gishes, this offers solid mobiliy.
• 18 - Goblin Stompers (AV) - A very handy power for a bargain price, but I usually go for Fencing Master instead.
• 18/450/11250 - Precise Stepping (AV) - Bonuses to 3 helpful skills, unfortunately it scales terribly.
• 26 - Rushing Cleats (AV) - Great for Bloodmages, Awesome for Eldritch Strike users.
• 26 - Fencing Master (AV) - Awesome mobility and defense for an incredible price.
• 26 - Surging Speed (AV) - For dwarves this offers a 2-square shift as a minor action once per encounter.
• 34/850/21250 - Quickness (AV) - Helpful for keeping your 2nd most targetted defense up.
• 42 - Striding (PHB) - Speed is less useful for a ranged striker than most, but gishes can definitely use speed.
• 42 - Eagerness (AV) - As a true move action, this has a lot of uses: double shift, move/sustain zones, stand + move, etc.
• 42 - Furious Speed (AV) - A big cheap speed boost for daredevils.
• 50 - Sand and Sea (AV) - For only an extra 800gp over Striding, this is a decent upgrade.
• 90 - Dancing (AV) - A lot of bang for your buck.
• 130 - Battlestrider (PHB) - Tanks can probably use the speed.
• 130 - Dragonborn (AV) - Awesome for daredevils.
• 130 - Feystep (AV) - Short-range teleportation when you really need it, but your utility powers should have you covered. 
• 170 - Swimming (AV) - campaign dependent.
• 210 - Oceanstrider (AV) - Not much more expensive than battlestrider, and who knows if this might come in handy.
• 210 - Sandwalker (AV2) - campaign dependent.
• 450 - Eladrin (PHB) - Incredible for teleport buffs, but they are pricey.
• 450 - Survivor's (AV2) - Not bad for daredevils.
• 450 - Spark (AV2) - As long as you have a decent Charisma, this is near immunity to minions and dissuades other melee attackers.
• 650/16250 - Earthreaver (AV) - Maybe gishes will like these, but even my melee-only characters never take think they are worth the price.
• 850 - Dimensional Stride (AV) - You have better teleport options than this.
• 3250 - Speed (AV) - Compared to Eagerness, you get +2 speed all the time in exchange for the power costing minor action rather than a free action, and being daily rather than per encounter, not too mention over 320,000gp!
• 5250 - Fey Warrior's (AV2) - Great defense, especially for teleport buffers.
• 5250 - Caiphon (AV2) - A bonus to reflex and at-will mobility is nice for everyone, but Hell'locks will love this for the cheap, reliable method of triggering the double-hit for Hellish Rebuke. 
• 5250 - Zephyr (AV2) - Always on flight is crazy good for a ranged striker.
• 6250 - Avandra (AV) - Outrageously good mobiliy, but do you need it?
• 21250 - Teleportation (AV) - Just boost Ethereal Step instead and save all of this money.

Hands

• 3.6/130/450/4250 - Burglar/Rogue's/Dimensional Grasp/Guildmaster (PHB) - These can really help if you are your party's trapsmith.
• 6.8 - Piercing (PHB) - Almost essential for Poison specialists, for Necrotic specialists and for anyone else who specializes in a damage type.
• 8.4/210/5250 - Blood (AV2) - This untyped damage bonus is the perfect striker enhancement, but from experience I highly recommend some kind of reminder to yourself as this bonus is easy to forget!
• 8.4 - Blackleaf (AV2) - A pretty handy boost once an encounter. Fey'locks can even double teleport which is awesome for teleporting around corners or very long distances (per RAW teleport buffs should be added twice!).
• 10 - Parry (AV) - Only dwarves who use the second wind a lot.
• 18/450/11250 - Burning (AV) - For fire specialists only.
• 18/450/11250 - Caustic (AV) - Inferior to Gauntlets of Blood IMO.
• 34 - Ram (PHB) - A no-brainer for Bloodmages, solid for anyone else who pushes.
• 34/850/21250 - Eldritch Admixture (AV) - Damage type versatility is incredibly handy, but it scales terribly so I don't recommend the upgrades.
• 42 - Greenthumbs (AV) - Very handy control, but it doesn't scale.
• 50 - Antipathy (AV) - Prevents shifting next to you and sometimes even moving, but the power is practically useless by the time you should afford this.
• 50 - Strikebacks (AV) - A bonus encounter power for gishes.
• 90/2250 - Ice (AV2) - For wintercheeze users only.
• 170 - Missile Deflection (AV) - meh, not bad.
• 210 - Dimensional Repulsion (AV) - Great if your DM allows vertical teleportation.
• 450 - Accuracy (AV) - Completely DM dependent on whether ignoring cover is worth the price.
• 650 - Hero's (AV2) - This AP buffer is not bad.
• 1250 - Many fingered (AV2) - When you desperately need a third ring slot, but altogether this amounts to a lot of cash.
• 11250 - Hadar (AV2) - Very expensive, but very worth it along with the other members of the Warlock equipment trifecta: Shadow Warlock Armor & Ankhmon's Bracers.

Head

• 3.6 - Cannith (D365) - Now that they are updating Dragon stuff, I expect this to be nerfed, but until then this is the ultimate bargain.
• 3.6/90/2250 - Perception (AV) - At heroic, this is currently obsolete thanks to Cannith Goggles, but otherwise it is still a hell of a bargain.
• 5.2/130/3250 - Colloquy (AV) - Basically useless in combat, but awesome out of combat utility.
• 5.2/130/3250 - Eagle Eye (AV) - A great upgrade to Eldritch Blast, but I'm not convinced the upgrades are worth the price.
• 6.8 - Second Chances (AV) - A solid defensive option, but for the exact same price the arm slot item Phylactery of Action works every encounter instead!
• 8.4/210/5250 - Tactics (AV) - This is a great bargain item at low levels, but it's initiative bonus doesn't scale as well as similar items.
• 10/250/6250 - Skull Mask (AV) - Again at low levels, this is an incredible bargain, but it scales strangely.
• 18 - Cat's Eye (AV2) - Solid utility.
• 18/450/11250 - Horned (PHB) - The staple of charger builds everywhere.
• 26 - Authority (PHB) - For party faces.
• 26/650/16250 - Phrenic (AV) - Post nerf, this is still worth it if you focus on Will targetting save ends spells.
• 34/850/21250 - Indomitability (AV) - Very helpful for keeping up your Will defense.
• 34/850/21250 - Mindiron (AV) - The paragon version is the best value partially just because paragon tier is when daze and stun effects become common.
• 34 - Deception (AV) - A bonus to decent skills, and a bonus to saves against two fairly common keywords adds up to a pretty solid package.
• 34 - Fey-blessed (AV2) - For Cha'locks this a great way to increase your toughness! But consider the Eager Hero Tattoo as an alternative.
• 34 - Gadgeteer's (AV2) - For trapsmiths this is a godsend.
• 34 - Starlight (AV) - DM dependent since it's all about how often he or she uses dim light in combat.
• 50 - Intellect (AV) - For psychic specialists, this is pure gold.
• 50 - Laurel (AV) - For charm specialists, this is pure gold.
• 90 - Mental Onslaught (AV) - Not for Con'locks, but great for the rest of you.
• 130 - Charger's (AV2) - For charge-happy gishes, I prefer this over the more expensive Horned Helms.
• 210 - Night (PHB) - These are a trap, either the DM makes encounters where you absolutely need these, in which case they are a tax, otherwise they are only occasionally useful in which case they are a waste of money.
• 210 - Able Defense (AV2) - This will only matter 10% of the time, but the fact that it lasts until you are hit, is untyped, and affects all defenses makes it worth it in my book.
• 250 - Psychic Schism (AV) - A no-brainer trade off for almost everyone. Only tanks might want one of the alternatives that is user every encounter.
• 250 - Nature's Rebellion (AV) - Necrotic is common enough for this to be a solid choice.
• 2250 - Essence of the Wisp (AV2) - Getting to pull at will as an immediate reaction is awesome, but likely only for gishes.
• 3250 - Ghostly Defense (PHB) - Resistance to a very common type and 1/2 damage from at least 1 attack per encounter add up to a very good defensive item.
• 4250 - Luminary (AV2) - Truesight is very potent when it comes up, and I think this item does enough other things to make it worth the cost.
• 16250 - Iron of Spite (PHB) - A big bonus to 2 handy skills and always on retaliation is very tempting, but at this price it is only worth it for Tanks.
• 21250 - True Sight (PHB) - Very potent, but ultimately it is just too damn expensive.

Rings

• 210 - Dwarvish Lords (PHB) - Cha'locks can use the extra surge, and negating a forced move can save your life.
• 250 - Dragonborn Emperor (AV) - The perfect power for a striker, if you have many close powers the damage bonus is gravy.
• 250 - Premonition (AV) - 3 very helpful effects in one cheap ring.
• 250 - Sympathy (AV2) - Good for a party without a leader or otherwise has a hard time granting saves.
• 450 - Death Spiral (AV2) - good resist (though only 5 is low), plus a decent power.
• 450 - War (AV) - Only worth it for d12 crit implements/weapons of which you have access to very few.
• 650 - Protection (PHB) - the save bonus alone is worth it, the daily dodge is just gravy.
• 650 - Radiant Storm (AV2) - This nerf-bait is worth basing your character around. The set bonus is nice too.
• 650 - Retreat (AV) -  for Teleport Buffs.
• 650 - Stone (AV2) - Awesome for Tanks, not bad for everyone else.
• 650 - Stormcatcher (AV2) - Not bad, but would be much better if the power ignored resistance.
• 850 - Bone (AV) - Handy defense and it scales well.
• 850 - Fallen (AV2) - Great for Cha'locks especially those without a leader. Crazy good for Dwarf Tanks.
• 850 - Ramming (AV) - For push specialists (Bloodmages) only.
• 850 - Shadow Guard (AV) - 2 solid resists plus a decent aura power.
• 850 - Sorrows (AV2) - For a fear specialist (Doomsayer) only since the power sucks.
• 1050 - Preservation (AV) - A solid resist plus a daily counter for the worst attacks in the game.
• 1050 - Shadowfell Signet (AV2) - Not bad by default, but crazy good if you are in an undead heavy campaign.
• 1050 - True Seeing (PHB) - Can really help in the right encounter, but it's pricey.
• 1250 - Action Reversal (AV2) - Don't ever waste this potent power before a milestone.
• 1250 - Agile Thought/Unfettered Motion (AV2) - I can't recommend items that only have a chance at doing something once a day.
• 1250 - Enduring Earth (AV2) - A decent skill bonus, Fort defense that increases as your day gets harder, but it starts at +0, and a daily power to ignore common triggers make for a solid package.
• 1250 - Flight (PHB) - Way too expensive for what you get.
• 2250 - Tenacious Will (AV) - Instantly makes Cha'locks just as durable as Con'locks, plus a bounce back power as a bonus.
• 2250 - Wizardry - too expensive for what you get.
• 4250 - Greater Invisibility (AV2) - This crazy good ring actually has little use for you thanks to Shadowwalk giving you concealment already and SWA giving you CA.
• 5250 - Focus (AV2) - If you really love sustainable powers and like to use 2 at a time, this helps.
• 5250 - Regeneration (PHB) - That's a lot of healing in one package.
• 6250 - Sorrowsworn (AV) - Darkvision,  a bonus to intimidate, and a solid daily power make this a good pick.
• 16250 - Phoenix (AV) - Solid resist plus my favorite bounce back power.
• 26250 - Free Time (AV2) - For Tanks and/or those that desperately need an extra minor action, this is definitely worth a primary slot. For the rest of you, it still might.
• 26250 - Opal Remembrance (AV) - Worth the primary slot for heavy Int multiclassers (Bloodmages).
• 31250 - Dauntless Champion (AV2) - Just not worth the ultimate price tag.
• 31250 - Nullifying (AV) - Crazy good, but it'll cost you a primary slot.

Waist

• 5.2/130/3250 - Vigor (PHB) - Another awesome level 2 item, but the upgrades scale terribly.
• 8.4 - Viper (AV) - A hell of a bargain considering how common poison is.
• 34 - Centering (AV) - Probably better then Vim except for Tanks considering the frequency of vs Fort attacks against you as a ranged striker.
• 34/850/21250 - Vim (AV) - Very helpful to keep your Fort up, especially for Cha'locks.
• 50 - Blood (AV) - For Tanks only.
• 50/1250/31250 - Diamond (AV2) - For a little more than Vim, you can have the option of emergency healing.
• 50 - Shielding (AV) - Nice emergency defense.
• 90/2250 - Healer's Sash (AV) - Post errata, this is still a solid backup healing and party surge management. Plus now you selfish bastards can use it to heal yourself. :P
• 170 - Grappler (AV2) - Nerf bait. This is totally worth it if you have kept your attack bonus optimized. Just remember to turn it off in that level+5 solo fight. :P
• 250 - Umber Hulk (AV) - The ability to burrow for 1 encounter per day is surprisingly handy.
• 450 - Time (AV2) - could work for Divine Oracles/those with Danger Sense, but it's a hefty price for a gamble.
• 850 - Phoenix (AV2) - You effectively trade the 2nd plus from Vim for a solid bounce back power.
• 850 - Witch King - Nerf bait. For the same price as Vim+2 you get roughly a surge worth of free HP.
• 1050 - Breaching (AV2) - Not bad, but great if you have 1 more item from the Eldritch Panoply Set.
• 2250 - Valor (AV) - Not bad, but they are item bonuses so they may conflict with your other items.
• 4250 - Vitality (AV) - +2 Fort bonus and a very nice bounce back power? Wow.
• 21250 - Regeneration (AV2) - Very potent but ultimately just too expensive for a secondary item.

Tattoo

• 5.2/130/3250 - Pierced Heart (D380) - Not bad for dwarves.
• 6.8/170/4250 - Demonskin (AV2) - Variable resitance for an AP? what a bargain!
• 8.4/210/5250 - Fireheart (AV2) - This can add up to quite a bit of HP/day.
• 10/250/6250 - Vengeance (AV2) - Only tanks will be crit often enough for this to be worth the investment.
• 26/650/16250 - Wolverine (AV2) - A nice bonus, but the fact that it requires you to get bloodied makes it for daredevils and tanks only
• 34 - Curse Eye - A great AP boost since it lasts longer than most save ends since it debuffs its own save.
• 34/850/21250 - Strongheart (AV2) - This really stretches out your healing surges, and helps you bounce back at the end of a long, hard day.
• 34/85/21250 - Twining-Scorpion (D380) - Only tanks will be crit often enough for this to worth the investment but wow is this a great benefit.
• 42 - Backlash (AV2) - A free basic (ranged or melee) attack auto scales with level so it's a better bang for your buck that most of the higher level options. But again the fact that it triggers when you are bloodied makes it for daredevils and tanks only.\
• 42 - Strikeback (AV2) - Again only tanks will be crit often enough for this but it autoscales.
• 50 - Shared Vengeance (AV2) - You pretty much need to talk the whole party into taking this, but if you do you will find yourselves rooting for the DM to crit while your DM fudges rolls the other way. :P
• 50/1250/31250 - Eager Hero (AV2) - The longer/harder your day, the better this gets.
• 90 - Teamstrike (AV2) - Again you pretty much need the whole party to take this, but it's totally worth it.

Item Sets

• 02-04 - Zy Tormentor (AV2) - If you are your party's trapsmith, this ain't bad, but it's not great.
• 10-13 - Aspect of the Ram (AV2) - Getting the Charger's Headress and the Fleece of Renewal for the 2 item bonus is totally worth it for a Charge-happy gish.
• 13-17 - Gifts for the Queen (AV2) - Getting the Spark Slippers and the Ring of the Radiant Storm are totally worth it if you have a lot of Radiant powers. (hell it's worth making all of your powers radiant!)
• 11-15 - Raiment of Shadows (AV2) - Mediocre items plus mediocre set benefits make this set total garbage in my book.
• 23-27 - Points of the Constellation (AV2) - Three great items (and 2 crappy items), and good set benefits!
• 27-30 - Time Wizard Tools (AV2) - One great item, one good item, and a solid 2-piece benefit.

Group Sets

• 07-11 - Heirlooms of Masgorax (AV2) - Keicha's, Matrakk's, Rovikar's, Skaivani's, Gajz - You get bonuses to a lot of skills but the ability to swap around surges is really good.