#0 - July 27, 2007, 2:01 p.m.
I have updated some of the post, and if you have any comments and such, just post below. = )
This Warlock FAQ is designed for players who know the basic concepts of the class (ie Soul Shard system, what Warlocks can wear, etc). It is not made to be a "beginner's guide" to the Warlock, more like a "reference guide" to those who have questions about the class.
Please feel free to add any links, information, questions, and feedback to this FAQ post. This is meant to represent the opinions and ideas of the Warlock community, not just myself.
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Warlock FAQ (8/29/06)
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Table of Contents
A. Creating a Warlock
B. Leveling a Warlock
C. Speccing a Warlock
D. Gearing a Warlock
E. Other issues
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Section A: Basics
Q: What is the best race of Warlock?
Short answer: For PvP, Gnome, Orc, or Undead. For PvE, Human, Orc, or Undead.
Long answer: First of all I will state that the stat differences between the races are pretty much negligible at level 70. Thus the factors in choosing your race for your Warlock are in its appearance and the racial abilities. I also want to state that it is probably a bad idea to base your choice of race by a specific talent spec, as you WILL respec eventually and the difference isn't really THAT big.
For PvP, the Gnome's Escape Artist is an incredible racial. One of the primary weaknesses of the Warlock class is its vulnerability to Hamstring, Crippling Poison, and other snares. Escape Artist, combined with other tools, will help a Warlock escape the clutches of an attacking melee. The Orc's stun resistance helps cover another primary weakness of Warlocks, and helps mostly against the same classes - however, it is not reliable. Blood Fury gives about 150 damage at level 70 and is pretty good if you don't have a healer on your team. Will of the Forsaken is another good racial that helps counter Priests and Warlocks.
Perception is decent, but doesn't provide a large enough bonus to cover the loss of any of the above racials, even when combined with Paranoia. Arcane Torrent is decent for cutting off a Paladin heal or disrupting an incoming Mage, but the other racials are generally preferred.
For PvE, Humans have Diplomacy which is an incredible talent because of the numerous reputation grinds a player has at the end game. However, the Human racials provide little in-battle ability. Orc's Blood Fury works like a "trinket" that is on a separate cooldown from other trinkets - helpful for DPS. Undead have Cannibalize, which cuts down some downtimes and helps a little during certain boss fights. The Blood Elf and Gnome racials generally aren't that great, because +int isn't very important and we already have Life Tap to cover mana issues.
Q: Warlock or Mage?
Short answer: Try them both out and see which one fancies you better.
Long answer: As of the current patch, Warlocks deal more raid DPS and are significantly more successful in the high end 2v2 and 3v3 arena than Mages. However, Mages much more common in the 5v5 arena. Both do sufficiently well in BG's.
However, these imbalances are not what you should base your decision upon. PvE damage rankings between classes change often throughout the course of patches. For example, Warlocks were among the highest DPSers during the early raiding days of WoW, but eventually became the worst as other classes obtained better threat management and sustained DPS. Thanks to synergies with the (now practical) Shadow Priests, larger debuff limits, and other factors, Warlocks are now among the highest raid DPSers in the game - this will probably change eventually in the future.
Warlocks are seen often in 2v2 and 3v3 due to their strength in small battles. We're actually a very versatile class in terms of teammates - we have the talent options for different strategies in the arena, such as an "outlasting" spec with a healer or a "DoT DPS" spec with a Shadow Priest. However, Warlocks have less representation in 5v5 due to the lack of survival options and damage mitigation.
Remember that your role in arena will often be CC and healer disruption, rather than DPS as a Warlock. Mages, Rogues, and Warriors are generally better for actual DPS unless you plan on running a team for DoT DPS.
Q: I like to deal shadow damage. Warlock or Shadow Priest?
Short Answer: Warlock
Long Answer: In terms of PvE, Shadow Priests are taken mostly because of the health/mana regeneration they provide through their damage, and for their synergy with Warlocks. In terms of raw, personal DPS, equally geared Warlocks generally beat Shadow Priests.
For the arena, Priests are extremely vulnerable targets, but are very popular healers due to their instant options and buffs in as Disc/Holy, and their synergy with Warlocks as Shadow.
Q: Can you tell me what each of the pets are good for?
A: I'll be brief:
Imp - Used in groups for Blood Pact, an aura with a large stamina bonus. Also used by Warlocks with Dark Pact, due to his incredible mana regeneration rate and immunity to AoE damage when Firebolt is turned off. Sometimes used for DPS, though the Improved Fire Bolt talent was severely nerfed in the patch and the Imp's damage no longer scales well with gear. Not often used in PvP.
Voidwalker (VW) - Used by Destruction and <lvl 50 Demonology Warlocks for solo grinding. Can tank mobs in solo like a Hunter pet, but unlike a Hunter pet, he puts out VERY weak DPS. Can also offtank instances early on. Otherwise, he's not used very often. In PvP, his only use is for the Sacrifice ability, which gives you a significant damage absorbing effect, but kills him in the process. This is generally only used in the preparation time in the arena.
Succubus - Used to crowd control humanoids with Seduction. Used by some Affliction Warlocks with Dark Pact (compared to the Imp, she has less mana regeneration but provides decent mana-less melee DPS). Not nearly as damaging as some early WoW guides have suggested. Very delicate. Seduce is also used in PvP by some Warlocks.
Felhunter - A PvP oriented pet, used for dispelling (Devour Magic) and counterspelling (Spell Lock) casters. Paranoia is also very useful for detecting Rogues. Rarely used outside of PvP.
Felguard - Demonology 41 point talent. In PvE, he basically replaces the Voidwalker as a tank; he has a taunt like the Voidwalker and also very good DPS. In PvP, he's like a Hunter pet - good DPS and pressure against cloth opponents, with enough toughness to survive basic AoE's. Intercept is incredible, when used properly.
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Section B: Warlock Leveling Guide
INTRODUCTION
Stop asking what the best spec for leveling is. AFFLICTION is the best grinding spec up to 50, no debate, but what about it after 50? Affliction is taken at these levels because it has the strongest early and later talents for providing solo DPS.
Demonology suffers because it obtains very little solo DPS talents until level the later levels, but even then it lacks versatility until Felguard gets all of his skills and you have more space for talents (ie around 55, when Felguard/instant Coruption become possable). Destruction suffers from poor management of mana and health.
Keep this in mind: Demonology and Destruction are VIABLE leveling talent builds, BUT they are LESS EFFICIENT than Affliction if you plan on soloing. Boredom causes you to check your myspace instead of leveling up your Warlock. If Affliction causes you to be bored to tears, you can try out Demonology or Destruction for grinding.
SPEC
A build like THIS is your immediate goal:
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=AVMrVRfkqtbo
Here is the order which you will place points if you want to level EFFICIENTLY.
5/5 Imp Corruption
2/2 Improved Drain Soul
2/2 Soul Siphon
1/2 Improved Life Tap
5/5 Fel Concentration
2/2 Grim Reach
2/2 Nightfall
2/2 Improved Life Tap
1/1 Siphon Life
1/1 Amplify Curse
3/3 Empowered Corruption
5/5 Shadow Mastery
1/1 Dark Pact
5/5 Contagion
2/2 Improved Howl of Terror
1/5 Shadow Embrace (ONLY ONE POINT! YOU ONLY WANT IT FOR THE ADDITIONAL DEBUFF TO HELP SOUL SIPHON AND ANTI-DISPELS)
1/1 Curse of Exhaustion
1/1 Unstable Affliction
After that point, it doesn't really matter where you put them. I recommend going for Bane asap to maximize instance DPS. You can also choose to get Demonic Embrace if you're paranoid, but it's better to increase DPS. Suppression is also a good idea, and Improved Curse of Agony if you refuse to move outside of Affliction.
Get lots of +shadow gear, but don't completely neglect your stamina stat. SPIRIT is WORTHLESS. Intellect is NOT VERY GOOD. Just mass +dmg and +sta.
PROCESS
For most of your Warlock's career after ~30 or 40, your Warlock will be leveling through a method called DRAIN TANKING.
HERE IS HOW YOU DRAIN TANK:
Use Succubus with all auto-casts off or Imp with Fire Bolt turned off. Imp if you have +dmg; Succubus if you have practically none, OR if you're on a PvP server grinding in a terrible place like STV.
-Locate mob
-Start Immolate/UA/Shadow Bolt, generally you'll only have time for one
-Apply instant DoT's
-Drain Tank until mob is dead, using Nightfall Shadow Bolt procs as they occur
-Mash Dark Pact as you confront your next mob
This is for single mob grinding. For multiple mobs, you will be applying your instant DoT's to all of them, and you will kite them by running. MAKE SURE YOU KEEP APPLYING DOTS ONCE IN A WHILE, OR THEY WILL DEAGRO. When they get close, Howl of Terror if you're in a safe area.
AFTER 50
After around level 50, the gap in leveling speed between the three specs shrinks considerab
