Hey dude, i got now my lev. 90 Warlock wit all Q-Skillpoints etc.

Got a basic gear with:

- Insigt
- Lore
- Spirit Monarch
- Smoke Armor
- Venom Grip (for life leach and Poison res)
- Sling ring
- Res Ring
- Res belt
- Res Boots (Got Goreriders, but i think Res > then 15% DS here if i not have the other gear yet...)
- +2 Demon skills Amu
- And some Charms in inventory to get my res up

Stats:

- 5% life leach per hit + 5 life after each kill + 0 Mana after each kill
- 79% FCR
- 39% MF
- Full res

But to my question...

U say the "best/good" Skill combo is this one:

- 20 Echoing Strike
- 20 Warp
- 20 Mirrored

then,

- 1 In siphon (for the greate life and Manaleach, i always use this Hex)
- 1 Sigil of lethargy (-50 attackspeed + -50% movement speed of the enemy, + 23% more dmg to the enemy + -36% defence (got 4 Points from gear in it)

but, why u say first, enough to get 20 in "demonic masterys" instead of consume?

I mean, with 20 demonic masterys u got better stats for your demons, sure + u can use 3 instead of like 2 demons with 10 points invested.

But, is it not better to just put 10 points in demonic masterys, so you can bind 1 demon (Hephasto etc.) and summon one goatman to consume and then summon an Defiler?
So u got your Merc, a Deamon and a defiler.

And then the rest from your points into consume to max out DMG + x% to max life + x% to frw.
Because consume is also a synergy to Hex Bane and u need it for the physical immune...


so finally,... "consume" is the top tier of budget build, or not?
Better spend the rest of your skillpoints in consume instead of demon masterys, or not?

Can u please explane, why first 20 to demon masterys and THEN all in consume?

I think the effect you'll get from a free 1 point defiler is still bigger than the extra 5-10 points into consume
If its a full enigma/torch/anni/cta build you probably only need ~5 points into demonic mastery which would be uh, levels 67-71 you moved a couple points and 90 you've maxed consume and have points to waste on whatever else
Its more of an issue for lower +skills builds in new ladder for sure. Say you need 10 points invested, you're weighing 50% ed / 10% max life / some small % frw / duration against a defiler.
Defiler should easily win.

how much dmg does hex bane add?

hmm ok,

But I still don't quite understand the benefit of a Defiler.
It curses enemies, thus splitting the damage.
Why are two Defilers better than putting the remaining skill points into Consume?

so, 2 defiler > then more max dmg for me with the consume + more max% life and x%frw for the demons?


My Base dmg is right now 8,7K without any consume/demons/auras etc.... (I build my SCL Char in offline with Hero editor to test)

with my base skilllevel of 4 on consume, i got 8,8K after i consume my goatman

but if i spend the rest of my points into consume, then i got 12K dmg.
So, i got like + 3,3K dmg+ up if I spend the rest of it in consume.

but ok, let us say, I going up to 20 demon masterys, and I got now 6 Points left and put it in consume...then i got 10 Skillpoints total in cosume (4 base + the 6 rest)
Now i got 11K with 20 points in demon mastery AND i got an extra demon (defiler)

Is a exta defiler rly so essential/better, then just have 1 and spend the rest in consume to push more dmg + the other deaomns life/frw?

Ah man i think i know now why 20 into demon mastery...

Tested something now...

so, I summon a goatmen, consum him, get the DMG + life etc. buffs... then i summon 3 defiler again (dont have a Demon bound for the test)
Then i saw, that my dmg AND my life is going down again after is summon 3 defiler (3 demons)

This means, when i want to KEEP the benefits like more dmg, more life etc. after i consume a goatman, I have to "let him be dead" so i still got the buffs.

this means, when i got a Hephasto Demon + 1 Defiler + the 3th "slot" for Demons, i can cosume 1 gotman, got and KEEP his buff AND can still use Hephasto + summon a Defiler, without loosing my buffs of the consume.

Jesus this is like math

//EDIT

so the only "problem is then" u have to NOT summon a 3th Defiler by "mistake", because then your buff is gone and u have to geconsume the goatman again...
U have to keep an eye of your demons and be safe, that only 2 Defiler are alive

This post was edited by Syles on Feb 26 2026 08:45pm

A defiler is basically giving you a ~50% splash damage hit on some of your attacks to hit +4 targets. Depending on skill level, maybe 45% for +3 targets.
And since echoing strikes has overkill damage, it often means you hit 1 enemy and 3 others simply drop dead at a distance, which helps cover the somewhat janky aoe of echoing strikes and pick off some stray enemies. Other times its just a steroid skill basically giving you 3x overall damage on some hits that gets spread around, which is a gigantic boost

You don't have 2 defilers out, you'll have 1 goatman consumed, 1 bound demon and 1 defiler. If you don't reach 20 mastery all you get is 1 bound demon + goatman consumed.
You can only have 1 demon bound and 1 demon consumed at a time, so what you're really weighing is the marginal impact of extra points into consume (+5% ed, +1% max life per skill point, some %frw overall) vs reaching the defiler that gives the soulbind. Or else having no defiler at all.

when you have 2 demons max its still going to be better to consume a goatman and have a bound demon than to drop either of those for a defiler. Getting direct +%ed, a big chunk of +max life and frw is worth more than the less reliable and erratic steroid that only applies to some % of hits

In regards to 2x defiler,.. you'll have monsters(many die without you even touching them). It's especially apparent when you enter WSK when you farming mobs there. It's an addicting sight to see and does not require much points to blow everything up on screen. This is just 1 layer of 2x defiler usage . There's more to warlock-ing

ya i know, it was just for offline testing...sure i got a bound demon + defiler + consumed goatmen.

it just was for the education how this system works.

See my //EDIT

I Got it now...so with 20 points in demon mastery, I can have my Hephasto + Defiler + my consumen goatmen (Somewhere in the afterlife)
I thought that after consuming Goatmen, I would receive the buff and then simply fill the "free slot" with a Defiler.
But as soon as I summon an extra demon, I lose the buff.

I didn't know that at first, which is why I was confused.

This post was edited by Syles on Feb 26 2026 08:57pm

Yes the consumed is count for 1 demon