Broken Bits: Binder (IV)

Broken Bits: Binder
1-Introduction - 2-General Powers - 3-Gloom Pact - 4-Star Pact

For the last article in this series, we have the Star Pact Binder. This one is actually the “strong” binder build, with enough area attacks to make a decent blasting controller impression, and an spectacular, though extremely hard to trigger, pact boon. However, this pact still shows the weaknesses of the class design: even at its best, the binder fails to beat a regular warlock playing its own game. Virtually every star pact binder can be made stronger by rebuilding it as a warlock that picks binder powers – though admittedly, some of these powers are good enough for warlocks to bother taking, which is more than could be said about most of the gloom pact encounters.

Again, I suggest a whole lot of power updates, boosting the binder versions and weakening what normal warlocks get. The Mind Shadows at-will has been changed so that it’s still situational, but it grants a great effect when you manage to trigger it – as written before, an enemy could turn off the effect by walking toward your allies. As for the Hidden Lore boon, I found out I couldn’t loosen the triggering condition as much as I’d like, because the effect is so damn good. As a compromise, I decided that a binder would need to stay dangerously close (within 2 squares) to an enemy to activate the boon, without actively forcing a purely ranged character to move adjacent to enemies.

Mind Shadows - At-Will Warlock Attack 1
Replace Hit line with: (…) damage. Choose any number of allies who are 3 or more squares away from the target. Until the end of your next turn, the chosen allies are invisible to the target.

Hidden Lore - At-Will Warlock Utility
Replace trigger with: You reduce a creature to 0 hit points, or an enemy within 2 squares of you drops to 0 hit points

Shadow Tentacles - Encounter Warlock Attack 1
Replace Hit line with: (…)damage.
Replace Hit(Binder) line with: The target is slowed until the end of your next turn.
Add Effect: The burst creates a zone that lasts until the end of your next turn. The zone is difficult terrain for your enemies.

Cyst of Darkness - Encounter Warlock Attack 7
Remove Hit(Binder) line.
Add Effect (Binder):  At the start of your next turn, you slide the target 3 squares. The target and each creature adjacent to it at the end of the slide take cold and necrotic damage equal to 5+ your Intelligence modifier.

Soul Eater – Binder’s Ally 9
Replace Standard Action line with: (…) you gain 5 temporary hit point and gain a +5 power bonus to your next damage roll.
Add Opportunity Action: At-Will; Trigger: An enemy adjacent to the soul eater takes an action that provokes opportunity attacks. Effect: The soul eater makes its standard action attack against the triggering enemy.

Banish to Darkness - Encounter Master Binder Attack 11
Remove Hit(Binder) line.
Add Effect (Binder): Until the end of the target's next turn, when it makes an attack, choose one creature within range at random, other than itself. The attack must include that creature.

Devouring Dark - Encounter Warlock Attack 13
Replace Effect(Binder) line with: The targets are slowed until the end of your next turn. Any enemy that ends its turn in the zone takes 5 cold and necrotic damage.

Greater Void Burst - Encounter Warlock Attack 17
Replace Effect line with: The burst creates a zone that lasts until the end of your next turn. The zone is heavily obscured and blocks line of sight. Any creature other than you that ends its turn in the zone takes psychic damage equal to 3 + your Intelligence modifier.
Remove Effect (Binder) line.

Inner Void - Encounter Warlock Attack 23
Remove Hit(Binder) line.
Add Effect (Binder):  When you hit or miss the target, and at the start of your next turn, you slide the target 3 squares. The target and each enemy within 2 squares of it at the end of the slide take necrotic damage equal to your Intelligence modifier.

Doom Hulk – Binder’s Ally 25
Replace Standard Action line with: (…) you gain 10 temporary hit point and gain a +5 power bonus to your next damage roll.
Add Opportunity Action: At-Will; Trigger: An enemy adjacent to the doom hulk takes an action that provokes opportunity attacks. Effect: The doom hulk makes its standard action attack against the triggering enemy.

Hungry Void - Encounter Warlock Attack 27
Replace Hit(Binder) line with Effect (Binder): You pull each target 1 square toward the center of the burst. The burst creates a zone that lasts until the end of your next turn. Any enemy that ends its turn in the zone takes 10 cold and necrotic damage, or 20 cold and necrotic damage if it ends its turn in the square at the center of the zone.

1-Introduction - 2-General Powers - 3-Gloom Pact - 4-Star Pact