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[moseythepirate]

I've been playing around with Warlocks, and I've been getting torn to shreds by even small raiding parties. Any advice for surviving through the first few ambushes? In particular...how do I actually get my dudes to use the alleged Slade Boulder spell?

[Fairin]

a trio of ghoul military will fend off anything.

bloodsteel is very easy to aquire.

slade boulder spell - if it was fixed it would require a staff equiped, and really wouldn't rely on it too much =)

as for more questions - they like it when you keep it to the right threads so the main board doesn't get cluttered.

[Meph]

Make wraithsblades or mage staffs for your warlocks, and get some steel for the skeletons or ghouls.

I usually set up a chokepoint, let all invaders all, lock them in, and drop a soul wisp on them. BAM!, everyone stunned, dizzy, paralyzed... while I open the door/gate/bridge and my melee dudes wreck the place.

[misiekm]

I always build a wall around the entrance soon after embarking. When trouble shows up, I just lock up and wait them out. It's a pretty lame way to go about it, sure, but the good guys don't screw around, and even their early attacks are deadly (much more so than the old goblins). So I consider it fair enough :p

However, if they don't have any elite marksmen, I draft all skeletons and zombies, give them bows, bait the enemy close by opening and closing the gate, and then put my brave undead on the walls. A hail of wooden arrows, shot by inexperienced archers, tends to discourage small-to-medium squads fairly quickly. Then, when the wounded survivors start running, I send the Riders to mop up.

[Kara Brandeddiamond]

I usually set up a simplified sally port (http://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/DF2014:Sally_port) as the very first thing before securing other needs. It's easier to design for warlocks since there's no need to worry about trade depots. Two raising bridges to close the port. One retractable bridge over channels to drop the invaders into whatever other defense designs that strike my fancy.
I dislike killing enemies in the open because the undead would haul the entire weapon and armor bins outside to collect even a single piece and they tend to get interrupted halfway because of the bin issues of 0.34.

[misiekm]

I dislike killing enemies in the open because the undead would haul the entire weapon and armor bins outside to collect even a single piece and they tend to get interrupted halfway because of the bin issues of 0.34.

Have you tried using quantum stockpiles? I know some people feel they are cheat-ish, but I find the cut down on cancellation spam (especially with the seeds!) SO worth it!

[Lokked]

While some outdoor space is nice, as Warlocks, you don't need much (unless you're challenging yourself to stay away from underground operations). You need (but not really) enough space for a Butcher or 3, Tanner, and 2 sizable farms (6-8 x 6-8s, for Rope Reed and Bloated Tuber).

Build an Ethereal Gate and start summoning your favourite colour of Blocks. When you have enough Soul Phylacteries, build 2 more. Summon more blocks non-stop. Create 3 phylacteries and build a Necromancer's Shrine (the middle tiered one).

Build a Stonecutter and use some Ethereal Blocks to create the furniture necessary for the Overlord's Throne Room. Create an Overlord. He is a badass and will mow through almost everything (don't send him against Black Caimans, Creatures of the Night or Giant Jumping Spiders. It will end sadly). He should provide a constant source of meat for a while. You will need to set him as the Overlord position sparingly (just avoid him going to sleep as an Overlord) or he will become VERY unhappy, due to not having a good room.

As the Overlord murders things, craft Totems and use the Souls (no need to turn them into Phylacteries, if you can work fast enough) into Skeletons. Create about 6. Use them for Stonecutting, Mining (I use 3 skeletons and 1 warlock as miners, so the skeletons go AFK less), farming, masonry.

Use Ethereal Blocks to build a wall. As one of the entrances, extrude out from it a staging room that consists of a 5x5 room. Construct a rope in the middle and chain up a wisp. The enemy will enter, kill the wisp and then all that made it into the room will be knocked unconscious. Note that you will need a military to take care of the stragglers that didn't make it into the room.

Dig out some earth for 4 Graveyards. I think 4 is overkill, but it helps in the beginning. Use Ethereal Blocks. Put a Soul Siphon and a Craftsmen Shop beside them.

Designate a Warlock (us starting stat points) as a Gem Cutter and build a Jeweler's Shop. Have him non-stop cut stone into Cabochons. Build an Inscriptor. Use Souls from a nearby Butcher or Graveyard, or Soul Phylacteries combined with the Stone Cabochons to skill up a Skeleton to 18 Stonecutter. Use 1 Skeleton as a mason, turning Flux into Blocks (use linked stockpiles). Use the 18 Stonecutter skeleton to create masterwork furniture for your Overlord and Keeper of Knowledge using the Flux Blocks.

Use the rest of your bones, totems and souls to train 16 - 20 skeletons for Archery Military. Go from there. If you want to be really cheesy, spread Cage Traps everywhere and never have to worry about anything every again (they are overpowered...). (Ab)use inscriptor to level all worker skeletons up to Legendary +3. You don't need to spend any copper training Armor/Weaponsmiths, so you can turn it all into Arrows.