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So I am looking for build advise for a friend who wants to play an arcane striker with some control.
He is looking into Warlock (any kind O or E class) and I wanted to help him optimize his PC and our team.

We will be 3 (with a possible 4th), already decided on the 2:

STR/DEX Half Orc Ranger
STR/INT or STR/CHA Warlord

So, I have never built a Warlock and would appreciate some basic info about which builds would best fit in this party.
If the info I provide is not enough to suggest one build over another please tell.
I am not asking for a complete build but rather the expert's advice on which 2-3 build choices we should consider so that we can then go do our homework.
Warlord build will be finalized depending on Warlock.

Feb 22, 2013 -- 4:00AM, Fardiz wrote:

Would he consider playing a sorcerer instead?

A warlock is in no way a striker, it's an arcane controller with a few self-damage buffs. 

That's not true. Warlocks won't reach the obscene amounts of damage Sorcerers deal, but basic curse optimization (Sorcerer-King pact, Mindbite Scorn, and Killing Curse or Vicious Rod) gets their damage up to benchmark. Or just Hellish Rebuke optimization, that works too. 

OP, if you guys never played a Warlock before, those two are the easiest O-Locks to optimize for damage.

Regarding whether the builds are suitable for the party, basically any Warlock works well with a Warlord since they all have good basic attacks. Keep in mind though that Warlords grant more MBA's than RBA's, so an Eldritch Strike build or a Hexblade might be preferable to a pure ranged Warlock. Added bonus is that the Warlock can then flank with the Ranger.

Feb 22, 2013 -- 4:53AM, Fardiz wrote:

they have few (or no, I haven't checked) minor action attacks.

Crown of Stars, Hunger of Hadar and Tendrils of Thuban would like a word with you.

Feb 22, 2013 -- 4:53AM, Fardiz wrote:

The clarification on hellish rebuke closed the door on hellish rebuke spam optimisation. The real issue that warlocks have no way of realiably inflicting multiple damage instance with their standard actions

That seems conflicting. Hitting with HR and then taking damage seems like a good way to inflict two damage instances for one standard action, so I'm not sure what you mean.

I'd go with a Cha/Int build Warlock of some sort, probably Sorcerer King. Maybe go Human for a Binder at-will early on, and switch to either Eldritch Blast or Heroic Effort later once you've picked up some tools to deal with minions. Pick Delban's Deadly Attention, and pick other encounter powers that have good control and/or some multi-targeting. I'd MC Bard for a backup heal and power swap for Blunder if I felt I needed more "damage now". Maybe go Elemental Initiate theme for another immediate attack, and solid skill to boost the small party's skill repertoire, and I'm sure you can do something fun with the Ki Focus like Rain of Hammers for a daily minor action attack.