Master Warlock

Master Warlock
Tier	4
Total Rice	180
Total Water	150
Total Training Time	130
Hitpoints	500
Melee	Cutting
Missile/Ranged	Explosive
Strengths	Cutting (-75%), Piercing (-50%), Explosive (-50%)
Weaknesses	Fire (+50%)
Prerequisite	Two Warlocks enter the Warlock's Tower and one Master Warlock leaves.
Passive	Floater: The Master Warlock floats and never runs, enjoying height advantage even when fighting on level ground.

I am Death.

— Master Warlock

The Master Warlock is a unit of the Lotus Clan.

Overview

The end of the Forbidden Path is a mystery unknown to humankind, save for those who have tasted its fruits. The Final test of a Lotus magician's skill, wisdom and strength takes place in the Master Warlocks' Tower, an enchanted fortress of such evil that none but a full fledged warlock can set foot within its walls and hope to survive.

When two warlocks declare that they have attained perfect understanding of the Tree of Corruption, they enter the tower together. Nobody knows what terrible wisdom is imparted there, what dread specters arise from the past, or what fantastic duels take place. Only one Warlock emerges from the Tower however, and with him he carries the polished, grinning skull of his opponent. Thereafter he is a near-immortal terror on the battlefield, commanding wizardry beyond imagination, swinging the skull with the force of a giant's hammer.

Though it is speculation, some guess that the true winner of the Warlock's Duel is actually the gleaming skull, for the skull is beyond pain and death, and forever whispers the black, unknowable secrets of the grave in his captive owner's ear.

Battle Gear

Battle Gear can acquired from
Brother Lythis			Brother Tausil			Brother Sekh
	Soul Thresher	Stamina: 15%		Unlife	Stamina: 70%		Ephemeral Corridor	Stamina: 60%
At the Blade Brother's building the Master Warlocks's energy blasts can be tuned to cleave not just the body, but the soul itself, making the Master Warlock's attacks inflict more damage.			Though the branches are cut, the trunk may live; Tausil can teach his greatest disciples to raise his allies from the dead.			Amid the dappled shadows of the forest, distances can be illusory. Sehk can grant the Warlock insight into the art of teleportation.

Gallery

Official Wallpaper, featuring a Master Warlock on the right in the background.

Battle Realms beta screenshot, showing the 'healthy' Warlock (center above), the 'sickly' skull-swinging Master Warlock (center below), & the Samurai's old Gear Missile Reflection, displaced by Yang Blade.

Beta screenshot, featuring the Master Warlock (lower left) and his old Gear Soul Chill

Usage

While hard to obtain, Master Warlocks excel both in range combat and melee duels due to their high Health, high-damage melee and missile weapons, excellent resistance (25%) against the common melee Cutting damage and decent resistances against ranged Piercing and Explosive damage (50%), normal resistance to Blunt & Magic (100%) and a somewhat large weakness to Fire (150%), yet Fire weapons often deal low damage (excluding the Dragon Warrior's Flaming Sword, which deals high damage, but the Dragon Warrior is weak to the Master Warlock's cutting melee weapon, and strikes with Flaming Sword on enemy units cost Dragon Warrior's stamina).

• Sekh's Ephemeral Corridor is the easiest to get (Brother Sekh can safely drain enemies' stamina from afar to spend and grant the Master Warlock this Gear) and is very useful for both offensive (albeit of limited effectiveness) and evasive purposes: Players can instantly teleport a Master Warlock, who by default attacks from afar right into the enemy front-line to soak up damage for the fragile Warlocks and Unclean ones (especially if s/he decides to train only ranged Lotus units), yet the Diseased Ones, whose Health can be increased twice, fulfill this role as front-line tanks much better, so it's best that players use Ephemeral Corridor to spirit the dying Master Warlock in a pinch to safety.

• Tausil's Unlife and Lythis's Soul Thresher are harder to get because Brother Tausil and Lythis must risk coming into melee range, taking damage, and even dying to drain stamina to grant these BGs to the Master Warlock (if the brother died trying, then the player shall've to waste Yin points to revive them), but this problem can be solved when the Lotus player effectively uses the Lotus melee units (Blade Acolytes, Staff Adepts, Diseased Ones) to distract enemies while the Brothers drain stamina.
• Once obtained, these gears are really game-changing:
  • Soul Thresher passes through enemies and buildings, allowing the Lotus players to devastate groups of tightly-packed enemies. Soul Thresher changes Master Warlock's missile from Siege Lightning (30 Explosive damage) to Soul Thresher (52 Magical damage) — which has a lower speed but deals enormous magical damage & is able to take down even the most magic-resistant units. However, this gear cannot be toggled off while the Master Warlock is attacking.
  • Unlife brings dead allies back to life instantly at half health and stamina, as long as dead allies' corpses still lie around. This is an effective way of catching hostile players off-guard. This Battle Gear does not work on Warlocks and Master Warlocks, who leave no corpses.

​Notes

• The Master Warlock can engage in melee combat but only by moving very near the target unit (despite his model's long arms), much nearer than the distance most other rangers need to do so (except the Leaf Disciple and Brother Sehk, who always use their missile weapons).

Counters

Master Warlocks are best countered by units that deal blunt and magical damage, and resistant to the Master Warlocks' explosive missiles. These units include:

• Kabuki Warriors (Dragon Clan) are resistant to explosive missiles, have good resistance to cutting (the Master Warlock's melee attack), and deal magic damage in both melee and missile (100% to Master Warlocks).
• Hurlers (Wolf Clan) deal blunt damage.
• Cannoneers (Serpent Clan) deal blunt damage.
• Unclean Ones (Lotus Clan) deal magic missile damage.

Trivia

• The Master Warlock model is composed of two Warlocks: one is the four-armed skeleton, the other is the glowing spirit inside the skeleton's rib-cage. When the Master Warlock dies, the skeleton Warlock whirls into nothingness as the spirit Warlock resumes his "human-shape", ascends, and dissipates (the ascending & dissipating human-shaped spirit is very hard to be seen unless the player pays close attention).
• Originally in the game's beta version, the Master Warlock's was merely a reskinned version of the Warlock, although sicklier and wielding a skull flail. He also possessed the gear Soul Chill (possibly granted by Sehk). This is reflected in the lore mentioning the Master Warlock carrying and swinging a skull that no longer exist.

Quotes (Move)

• "I am complete!"
• "I seek....the enemy!"
• "I am power!"
• "I am ready...."
• "I....prepare...."
• "I am the master!"

Quotes (Attack)

• "Venom unleashed!"
• "THEY'RE MINE!"
• "I'll take their heads!"
• "My power unfolds"
• "Their souls are mine!"
• "DESTROY!"
• "There is no escape!"

Quotes (When engaging in melee combat)

• "Enough!"

Quotes (Kill)

• "No mercy!"
• "I am the master!"
• "Feeble child!"
• "Your life is mine!"

Quotes (Heal)

• "I... am full!"
• "Replenishment!"