Warlock Class Guide

This guide is a basic guide to the warlock. It should get you started and give you a general idea of how to operate the game and play the class.

Now, as far as race goes there isn't any real difference besides the amount of mana and life you start out with so chose any race you wish. I think undead look awesome but they are on the low end of the mana chain only starting out with One-hundred and ten. If you want to be a short Gnome then you are going to start with a whopping two-hundred! Either way you go they are pretty close to the same.

Now, go, create, dress up, and for gods sake get a nice hair cut! Done creating your character? Watched the story movie thing? Super, let’s get you on the road to becoming that warlock of doom everyone is always talking about. First off get familiar with moving around in the world, arrow keys make you move or you can click down both mouse buttons and hold. You can look all about by holding the right mouse button down and rolling your mouse around, you get the picture. If you are looking for an auto run, the push numlock, this will be handy for when you want to eat and run away from a monster at the same time.

Next look around for some guy with an exclamation point above his head, you are going to see a lot of those. These fellows can give you quests, which we want lots of, so talk to everyone of these you see, they are all about. Some of the missions will appear later and some of the exclamation points will be a stone gray color, meaning they will have a mission for you soon, like next level or so. You will find missions everywhere, in homes, Inn's, caves, Mountain passes, so keep your eyes pealed.

Missions are a very fast way to level in World of Warcraft, probably better at lower levels then higher, but I haven't reached the top yet. So after gathering your missions take a look at the bottom of your screen. Here you will see all sorts of buttons and what not, don't be afraid, they are only here to help. First look to the far bottom left of your screen. Here you will see a weapon icon, a dagger for you but the same goes for every class, a hammer for Paladins, sword for Warrior and so on.

This is pretty basic, just press 1 on your number row and you perform the skill, same goes for the rest of the icons on the left all the way up to 0. This is pretty basic and standard for most MMORPG's. Now on the right of the hot keys, those being the 1-10 buttons on the bottom of the left had screen, you will see another row of buttons, these are in game help and other things like quest log and character info. Try each one out and remember what they do. The character info, Quest key and Map button will probably be your most used buttons so make note of them. To the right of these lay some empty slots and a backpack icon. Right click the back pack to open it up and check out what you have, some healing gear, maybe some ammo not a whole lot at the moment, but that's alright, you'll get stuff fast. The one key thing in your pack though is the Hearthstone, this, when used, will return you to whatever Inn you last rested at, very nice for saving yourself a long run after finishing a Quest.

Now, as you go along you will get little bags to stick in the empty slots next to your backpack, these are great finds and not hard to get made if you know what kind of creatures to kill. But enough about the games little things, you want to bash some heads in, break some bones, sear some flesh right? Great, because I want you to, head out of your little starting area and look to the left or right for some creatures to kill.

The targeting system is basic, just press tab while close to a monster and you will select it, unfortunately its range is super limited and it might just be easier to left click on the said target. So, select something, look to the bottom left, make sure your icons number are white, as that means you are within range to attack and then start casting! Now you are going to see a bar appear as you cast, when this bar fills you will cast the spell, if you move it will cancel, if you get hit it will lose some of its percentage complete. As soon as the spell is cast you can cast it again, roll out those shadow bolts and drop your first creature!

That was easy wasn't it? Now, check out your life and mana bar on the top left, you will see you lost some life, most likely and a lot of mana. Don't worry about it, press 3 and you will cast demon skin which will increase your regain rate and your armor so you take less damage. You will notice that health and mana return quickly, this is rather nice but may change as it makes leveling a bit easy as you never seem to need to sit and heal, at least not if you are a warlock. Now, as far as loot goes you will see the monster you have killed is glowing, no, that is not its soul going to heaven and neither is it made of gold but it does mean you can loot it. Simply put your mouse of the corpse and right click and loot up. I advise at lower levels that you only grab things that stack which is anything other then armor it seems. Reason for this is you can carry lots of them and the low armor doesn't sell for as much as a stack of them, but do pick up some armor and try to equip it, for a warlock you can only wear cloth pretty much, and a flimsy chain mail cloak, just check them out as you go.

Now kill your way to happiness, as you do the quests you will move farther and farther out from your home town, make sure to learn your skills and doing your pet quest, which can be done a level 1 if you are human warlock, level 4 or so for gnome. As you reach a new town talk to the Inn keeper and tell him you want to rest so that you can return there using your stone any time you want. Now, for skills, here is what we have and what you should get as you go on.

• Shadow Bolt- This is your basic Direct Damage spell. You already have this at level one when you start the game and will want to continue to level it up as you go.

• Immolate- This is A Damage Over Time or DOT as they are called. This is a very nice spell to use to open you battle up with since it does its damage over time.-level this up as you go.

• Corruption- This is another nice DOT and once you get it you should use this before Immolate as it takes longer to cast. This would be another nice one to level up.

• Life Tap- This spell converts some of your life into mana, as it is you may not be concerned really with mana at the moment, but as you go along keep this spell in mind, there are times where I wish I had more, but more life is also nice.

• Curse of Weakness- This at first level Isn't a great spell, it reduces the damage of the monster for 2 minutes by 3, that's not amazing or anything because it's not really a lot of damage to be concerned about and you will have the monster dead in ten seconds or less anyway. However, at higher levels and for longer battles this spell will be great to help you, or your pet live that extra few seconds.

• Fear- Causes the enemy to run away for a short time. Very nice spell for taking on groups of two or three, but it can also get you into trouble because the monster you feared can bring back friends. Use wisely.

• Curse of Agony- Another nice DOT and is best used after the first two since you need the extra space between you and the monster to get the other spells off unhindered. You can only have one curse active on a monster at a time though, so curse of weakness needs to take a back seat sometimes.

• Drain soul- This spell you can get at level ten and is a good spell to a point. It is a DOT, but a DOT that keeps you casting until the end of its duration, this spell is best used only if you need the Soul Shard the monster will yield at death as an effect of this spell. Soul Shards are used to summon your pets after the Imp pet and can be used to create healthstones which heal you for 100 instantly. Very nice to have!

• Create Healthstone- This spell will change one Soul shard into a healthstone, sounds awesome, and it is, to an extent. The down side is you can only have one healthstone at a time because they are unique. So, it’s a nice spell to have so you can have that extra 100 point heal when you need it, so get it, they may change the amount you can have after launch.

• Health Funnel- This spell would be best used in a group. It allows you to heal your pet but in return you are losing life yourself, so you don't want to use it on pets that can't hold aggro or tank. It's still a nice spell to have around.

As you get higher you will attain new DOTs and life transfer spells, but everything else is basic, you should be able to get an understanding of the spell by reading its description and decide if you want it or not. When you hit level ten you will get talents, these will boost your current skill powers even more, look for the talents box just after the character info Icon, it's that new red one. And one last thing, the best way as a warlock to solo is to send you pet in first, which you can make attack by selecting a creature and pressing Ctrl+1, and then, while it starts to attack open with your DOT's and pull aggro from your pet with your shadow bolt spell. Make sure to buy the upgrades for your pets. One more thing about quests they are always where they say they are, so far, the directions given are great, just ask someone if you aren't sure. To speak into Gen Channel type /1 and then what you wish to say and to party select someone and right click on there picture. To speak to party type /p and there you go! Enjoy the game and check back here for more guides and in-depth coverage later on.
Good luck

QUICK WARLOCK FAQ

Q: Does Warlock require any reagents for their incantations?
A: Warlocks use Soul Shards for many spells. Soul Shards are gained by casting Drain Soul on
monsters as they die. If the monster yields experience, you gain a Shard. Soulshards are used to
for the following spells:
Create Healthstone
Create Soulstone (2 Shards)
Create Firestone
Create Spellstone
Enslave Demon
Ritual of Summoning
Shadowburn
Soulburn
Summon Voidwalker
Summon Succubus
Summon Felhunter

Q : What are curses and how do they work?
A: Curses are debuffs that warlocks can cast upon their enemies. All curses are instant cast spells and can be resisted with shadow resistance. A warlock can cast different curses on multiple targets, but they are restricted to one curse per target. If a warlock tries to cast a different curse on a target he already cursed, the new curse will overwrite the old one. Unlike DOTs, curses of the same type do not stack. Multiple warlocks cannot cast the same curse on the same target (i.e. two Curses of Agony). It is possible for multiple warlocks to cast different curses on the same target (i.e. Curse of Weakness and Curse of Agony).
Curse of Agony - Damage over time curse.
Curse of Doom - Deals 3200 damage to its target after 60 seconds. If this damage kills the target
there is a chance that a doomguard will appear.
Curse of Elements - Reduces the target's fire and frost resistance.
Curse of Exhaustion - Slows the target's movement speed.
Curse of Recklessness - Lowers the target's armor and slightly increases its attack power. Makes the target immune to fear as well, both all fear-spells and the automatic running off with 15% health, very useful in dungeons.
Curse of Shadows - Lowers the target's arcane and shadow resistance.
Curse of Tongues - Increases the casting time of the target's spells.
Curse of Weakness - Decreases the amount of damage the target deals in combat.

Q: When and how do Warlocks get the different pets?
A: Imp @ 1 - quest
Voidwalker @ 10 - quest
Succubus @ 20 - quest
Felhunter @ 30 - quest
Infernal @ 50 - drop (lower Blackrock Spire)
Doomguard @ 60 - drop or from Curse of Doom

Q: What classes duo well with the Warlock?
A: Generally, you'll want to play with hybrid healers (Shammies, Paladins and Druids), as their fight pattern resembles the Warlock's the most. A mage on the other hand, fights in an entirely different rhythm and usually doesn't do well with Warlock.

Q: What armors can Warlocks wear?
A: Warlocks can only wear Cloth armor.

Q: What weapons can Warlocks use?
A: We start out with Daggers, and can learn Staves and One-Handed Swords at trainers.

Q: How are Soul Shards stored?
A: They are stored in your backpack at a rate of one per slot. They do not stack.

Q: Can I gain Soul Shards from other players (PCs)?
A: No, currently you can only get Shards from monsters.

Q: Could you explain how the infernal summon currently works?
A: Currently, once you've found the Grimoire in Blackrock Spire, you can cast an Infernal once every 30 minutes, at the cost of one reagent, an Inferno Stone. The Infernal is under your control for 15 seconds, and then it breaks lose. You are able to use Enslave Demon to keep it after this.

Q: Where do Warlocks receive Demon books? What do these books do? What are some things
to keep in mind about these books and their usage?
A: Pet trainers sell these books. When you're at the appropriate level, using the book while the pet is out will teach him the skill. One-time usage. The pet learns the spell permanently. The book is consumed.

Q: Exactly how much PvE do you have to do to get the shards required for, say, an hour of PvP? A night?
A: Once you get rolling on easy mobs, it takes you about 30-40 minutes to get 10 minutes worth of shards.

Q: Do wands need ammunition? How do I use it?
A: You do not need ammunition. Open up your spell book and go to the general tab. You should see an action icon there that says shoot. That is the icon you want to click to fire your wand Smile

Q: What professions are actually useful to a Warlock?
A: Subjective answers:
Well, a lot of people (especially the pvp'ers) will tell you Mining/Engineering simply because it has a lot of GOOD stuff with Engineering requirements and you can buy everything else off other players, basically. If you're extremely wealthy (not gonna happen this patch, I know), Enchanting + Engineering is probably the best, but Mining + Engineering works too. As Soni said, Engineering is just gold in PvP because of the Net-o-Matic projector. Also the 34 stamina / 26stam/16 int cloth headpiece kicks ass.

Q: What is the Warlock damage dealing style / specialty?
A: DoT (Damage over time) stacking with contributed skills/damage from different pets.

Q: Will I need to learn horse back riding to ride the Felsteed?
A: You do not need to learn anything to ride the felsteed. The only requirement for obtaining the felsteed is the completion of a simple quest that becomes available at level 40. Currently the quest involves talking to a few NPC's, but the quest text hints that this might change in the future.

Q: Can you use Curse of Doom on a player in PVP?
A: No, 3200 damage in one blow is ALOT in PvP

Q: How do I use soulstones?
A: First you cast "Create Soulstone (your rank of choice), this will take 2 soul shards and create a Soulstone in your inventory. Then, you right-click on the soulstone you just made and target yourself or a party member. It'll do a short cast and then the person who was targetted will get the soulstone buff.

Q: How long does the Soulstone buff last/is there a cooldown?
A: The buff lasts 30 mins or until the person dies and gets rez'd by it, whichever comes first. There's a 30 minute cooldown regardless of how long the player has the buff, so you can only have one person safe at a time.

Q: Is there such thing as a Melee build for a warlock? If it even exists what would it look like? and would it be effective at all?
A: No, Warlocks have no melee-skills, and the Firestone we can make is very, very bad.

Q: What spells are affected by +shadow dmg items?
A:
Corruption
Death Coil
Drain Life
Drain Soul
Shadow Bolt
Shadowburn
Siphon Life

Q: Since we can summon a mount, can we also get the standard mounts for our races if we
choose to?
A. Yes, you can still buy the standard mounts.

Q: Where and at what level can horde warlocks train in Staves?
A: Horde warlocks can train in staves at Thunder Bluff. No level restriction, but it costs 10 silver.

Hope this guide helps.