Even the newest adventurer to Worldof Warcraft can understand how powerful the Warlock can be. This class combines powerful magical abilities with a unique ability to control summoned demons. According to lore, warlocks have harnessed the power of magic and learned to use it for their own will.
 

Flavor

The biggest weapon in the Warlock's arsenal is their damage over time spells or DOTS as they are known and feared. Damage over time abilities are quickly casted, instantly in most cases. They do not hit as hard as the spells from other magical classes but linger on their opponent, slowly and surely sucking the life from them. A brief encounter with a Warlock will result in a steady loss of life and crippling loss of control. If you live to witness more, the Warlock may introduce you to their demon for more torture.

The Warlock class can be customized by several “flavors” by using the in game talents. These talent schools will allow you to tailor your strengths and weaknesses to your play style. While many combinations are possible, the talents are broken into three main categories: Affliction, Demonology and Destruction. While all schools enhance the damage and survivability, each one focuses on a different aspect of the Warlock. The Affliction talents improve on the power of the damage over time spells. The Demonology talents strengthen the demons the Warlock summons and the destruction talents improve and enhance the hard hitting shadow and fire spells. All of these “flavors” or specialties are capable of quick leveling, high group damage output and excellent damage and survivability in player versus player combat. The fun part is discovering your favorite.
 
Only certain races can be Warlocks. For Horde players you must be Undead, Orc, or Blood Elf. Alliance players much choose between Gnome and Human. You may only wear cloth armor but have several weapon choices including; Daggers, Swords, wands, Staves. Some of the weapons you will not know how to use without first visiting a “Weapon Trainer” available at major cities. Be sure to visit them so you may expand you choices as you receive new weapons.

Playing a Warlock can be a lot of fun. The nature of their spells and power they posses allows a warlock to easily handle the most difficult of tasks alone, making the warlock one of the faster leveling classes in game. Once able to summon a demon as early as level ten they have a great advantage to tackle what most classes cannot, which also contributes to the fact that most Warlock players tend to be loners. Don’t let that fool you into thinking they do not perform well in a group. It is quite the opposite; the Warlock brings many group benefits and specializes in group creation with their summoning ability.

In player versus player combat, their most feared spell is fear, ironically. Fear can be casts against enemies and will cause the enemy to flee for a short duration of time. During the fear, the enemy has no control over their actions and any damage over time spells applied by the Warlock will continue to harm the target. The combination of fear and damage overtime spells can destroy an enemy player before they are ever in range to counter attack making the warlock one of the most deadly players in the field of battle.

Warlock Strengths

• Can control powerful pets to assist in battle.
• High DPS.
• The Warlock is a fast-leveling class due to its ability to kill quickly.
• Excellent class for soloing and group play.
• The Fear ability is a powerful one in both PvE and PvP.

Warlock Weaknesses

• Can only wear cloth armor.
• Can die quickly.
• Very reliant on their pets, causing a need to understand each demon pet and its abilities.

Defining Abilities

The main utility of the Warlock is to provide damage when grouped. While grouped, the Warlock can also provide many more benefits. Most notable of these benefits is their ability to “summon” or bring other players directly to the location of the group. This comes in handy when a new member joins the group or a current member becomes separated. They can also create a soul well, which allows each group member to receive a health stone allowing the players to quickly restore health when needed. The main spells of the Warlock are shadow and fire and there is a demon for each occasion. The demon you summon will also contribute to any groups with an aura or “Buff” that will enhance the attributes of friendly group members near to you. When not grouped, there are also demons which will engage your enemies allowing you to fight from a distance. Much like a hunter and their pets, these demons can be powerful and contribute damage to the battle.