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Warlock (World of Warcraft)

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File:World of Warcraft Human Female Warlock.jpg
Human Female Warlock with summoned Felhunter

In World of Warcraft, the Warlock is a magic-using class that wields some of their power by summoning demon servants (called "minions"). Warlocks can also harm enemies by cursing them as well as by casting spells that cause a certain amount of damage over a set amount of time. Warlocks are somewhat similar to the Necromancer Class in the game Diablo II (also published by Blizzard).

Information

The Burning Legion, an army of demons gathered together by the evil Sargeras, has tried to conquer the world of Azeroth for centuries. And now, the creatures of Azeroth have learned to summon these same demons and bind them to their will. These are the Warlocks. While the use of demonic magics is frowned upon, one cannot deny that the Warlocks command great power.

Warlocks are a comparible to a combination of the Mage and the Hunter class. In the magic department, no one is better at damage over time (DoT) spells then the Warlock. Unlike the mage, which focuses on large increments of damage in one casting, Warlocks uses curses that deal large amounts of damage over time and many of their curses stack which is very mana efficient. This allows the Warlock the freedom to curse one target and then move to the next.

Warlocks are the masters of Fear. One of the Warlocks most useful spells is Death Coil which damages the target, heals the caster, and makes the target flee for three seconds.

Talent Trees

  • Affliction The Affliction tree focuses on the supplementary aspects of the Warlock, as well as their Damage over Time and curse spells. Affliction Warlocks are generally more focused on DOT and status effects (debuffs) then their Destruction counterparts.
  • Demonology A warlock focused on the Demonology tree will have many talents that improve the effectiveness of their summoned demons. Also, maxing out this tree after the Burning Crusade expansion is released will enable the Warlock to summon a Fel Guard as an additional Minion.
  • Destruction This tree allows an upgrade to the warlock's damage for certain spells as well as reduce the casting time of many of their special abilities. This is considered the Warlock "direct damage" tree as its main purpose is in doing increased burst damage versus the improved damage over time effects of the Affliction tree.

Summons

Warlocks can learn to summon a number of different demons as they advance in level. Each demon has it's own unique abilities. Talents and upgrades can increases these abilities as the Warlock's level increases.

  • The Imp is a tiny demon with a very small amount of health but can do a fair amount of fire damage. It also can cast buffs on the Warlock and his party. It is the only demon that can be summoned without the use of a Soulshard.
  • The Void Walker has a large amount of hit points and acts as a tank by Taunting the Warlock's enemies. It is also the only Demon able to heal itself with "Consume Shadows." This ability can only be used while out of combat. Void Walkers can be summoned after a quest at level 10.
  • The Succubus has a modest amount of health and does a good deal of damage with her whip attacks. A Succubus can do an additional amount of Shadow-type damage with her "Lash of Pain." She can goad an enemy into attacking something else with her "Soothing Kiss" and can incapacitate enemies with her "Seduce" ability. Attacking the Succubus can break this snaring ability. Succubi are summonable after a quest that becomes available at level 20.
  • The Felhunter attacks quickly and has abilities designed to combat casters by damaging their mana. Other abilities include Counter spell and the ability to dispel from both friend and foe. The Felhunter (also known as Felhound or in the vernacular as "Zergling") is summonable at level 30.
  • The Felsteed is the Warlock's mount which is obtained as a quest without charge from a vendor at level 40. At level 60, the Warlock can undertake a quest to upgrade it to a Dreadsteed.
  • The Infernal is a powerful and destructive demon. The infernal will only remain under the Warlock's control for five minutes after which it turns and attacks the summoner. This is not considered one of the "main" Warlock summons as it is obtained through a special quest (at or after level 50) and is not affected by any Warlock talents. The Infernal along with the Doom Guard are considered "novelty" summons as they tend not to be worth the effort in summoning and binding them for the amount of damage or abilities they produce.
  • The Doom Guard is another powerful demon that combines a melee attack with some devastating spells. Summoning this creature, however, is only possible with spells such as Ritual of Doom (which requires a player sacrifice) and Curse of Doom (a DoT that has a small chance to summon the Doom Guard). Upon summoning, the Doom Guard will be hostile towards players and must be enslaved to come under the Warlock's control.
  • The Fel Guard is the new Warlock summon that was announced to be available for a 41 point talent for Demonologists in the Burning Crusade expansion. Blizzard announced this as of late August 2006 on their official webpage.

Strengths

  • Summoning Demons - Throughout a Warlock's quest line, he gains four powerful Warlock Minions, as well as the ability to temporarily summon and enslave other demons. These four demons are the (in order obtained), Imp, Voidwalker, Succubus, and Felhunter. Two demons, the Infernal and Doom Guard, can be summoned, but are not permanent. These demons add a great deal to the combat power of the Warlock.
  • Fighting Demons - Warlocks are especially good at fighting demons and elementals due to several spells which only affect enemies of that type.
  • Summoning players - Warlocks can summon other members of their faction from anywhere in the world (except instance zoned players) with the help of two other group members and a Soulshard.
  • Stones - Warlocks can use Soulshards to summon four different types of stones. Soulstones can be used on players for resurrection. Spellstones, when equipped, provide a spell critical buff, and can be used to absorb magical damage. Firestones, when equipped, increases the fire and melee damage done by the Warlock. Healthstones can be consumed for healing. Healthstones are the only conjured stones that can be traded to other players.
  • Mounts - Warlocks do not need to purchase a mount, instead receiving one by completing a series of quests. The epic mount is attainable through a longer series of quests. The epic mount is far from free however; requiring a significant amount of gold as well as completing a chain of difficult quests.
  • Crowd Control - Warlocks have an ability called Fear. Fear causes the target to run, unable to act for up to 20 seconds, and can be recast on the same target at any time, as well as a Howl of Terror ability that AoE fears enemies for up to 15 secs. When used on other players, fear has diminishing returns and will eventually be resisted. Warlocks also have access to the ability "Curse of Recklessness", an ability that cancels fear effects (amongst other things) which has the benefit of preventing an Instance Pull and is very useful in instances such as the Stockades.
  • Survivability - Warlocks are the second most durable of the cloth wearing classes. With their preference for Stamina over Intellect as well as Talents such as Demonic Embrace and Soul Link, and spells that provide life-stealing, a warlock can survive damage that would normally kill a mage. Warlocks also have an added advantage with a spell called Demon Skin. Not only does this spell increase armor, but it also increases a Warlock's health regeneration. During advancement, this spell becomes Demon Armor which is more powerful. Warlocks should always keep this spell active.
  • Life Tap - Warlocks can use their Life Tap spell to convert health to mana. This is an effiecient way to recover mana in battle but has a major downside of forcing healing players to expend extra mana to keep the Warlock alive.

Weaknesses

  • Soul Shards - Warlocks must use up Soul Shards to summon demons, create Health Stones, Soul Stones, etc. Soul Shards only drop from enemies that would give the Warlock experience points and / or honor points and must be harvested with the Drain Soul spell. Soul Shards also take up inventory slots and cannot be stacked. There are unique bags made specifically to carry Soul Shards by those with the Tailoring skill but they are rare and expensive.
  • Difficult to Control Demons - Demons which are controlled using the Enslave Demon spell are difficult to control and will frequently turn on the warlock and attack. This does not apply to the four summoned Warlock minions.
  • Pet Aggro - Like hunters, Warlocks must be careful with their minion or it will draw unwanted monsters to attack.
  • Cloth Armor - Warlocks may only wear cloth armor. However, they may use armor kits and enchantments.
  • DoT Spells - Many of the Warlock's spells are DoT spells (damage over time) which do not have the same burst damage potential as those of a Mage. While not always a disadvantage, this is a concern in PvP combat. Plus, a priest, mage, or paladin can just remove them, whilst a warlock can not remove DOTs cast on itself unless it's through the use of a spellstone. Only mages and druids are capable of removing curses.
  • Avoiding Damage - Warlocks do not have the same crowd controlling abilities of the Mage to avoid damage (such as Frost Nova and Blink), so Warlocks are more dependent on their pets and their own ability to sustain damage to survive. When combined with the spell Life Tap, this is one of the reasons Warlocks prefer Stamina bonuses over Intellect bonuses in their gear.
  • Aggro Control - Warlocks have only one aggro reduction ability that is available only at a high level through the Master Demonologist talent. In a group or raid, this limits a Warlock's damage significantly, as a Warlock player must be careful in not drawing a monster's focus from a tanking character.

Template:World of Warcraft classes

See also

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