After you get past the imp, you can send your minion to tank for you. (Your imp is simply another caster to help you in the beginning.) The voidwalker, succubus, felhunter, felguard, and any special minions, such as the infernal, can all be sent to take on a mob while you sit back and cast.

This saves you from damage, as the warlock is a physically weak class since locks wear cloth. You should always get any new spells that you can, especially those that do damage over time, since you can cast these to help your minion while they are tanking for you. Each different minion will have special powers, spells, and abilities that can help you in each different situation.

Learn which minion is best in different situations. For example, in the beginning, your voidwalker will help to draw the mobs and their fire from you with torment. Or, with humanoid mobs, your succubus can use her soothing kiss to distract them and allow you to do great damage with your spells. Your felhunter can be used as a tank, although it can't keep the mobs off of you if you are in the aggro range. But, the felhunter does provide “paranoia” which helps you as well.

To gain your felguard, you will have to use your talent points in demonology. With any other talent spec, you won't get your felguard, and you will be losing a powerful minion in the process. By the time that you get your felguard, you will also be high enough to be eligible for a special minion that does even more damage than the felguard.

The higher level you get, the better your minions get. And, you should use each minion until you have a set path that you take each time you fight a mob, such as you send them in, cast spells in a certain order, and win. The more you practice with each minion, the better you will become at using them to tank for you, and having your own personal tank is priceless.

Once you have mastered your minions, you can start to run instances with them. When you are looking for a group to join, you will almost always get picked up quickly because you have your own tank.

Using your minion as a tank in an instance can be a great perk for any group and some will even fight to get you into their midst.

When you are running an instance, you should have the group leader mark the most powerful target for you to send your minion in to fight. This will also mark which mob is the most powerful for you, so you can cast all the DOT (damage over time) spells on it to help bring it down sooner. By using your minion as the tank for your group, you can allow other casters in the group to throw their best at the mob and keep all the damage on your minion.

One thing that you will need to watch for is your minion's health when you are in battle. If you don't keep an eye on their health, your minion can be killed at a crucial time in battle and can cost you a fight if you aren't vigilant. You can use your life tap to give your minion health and allow them to keep fighting for you, and then restore your health when the fight is over.

No matter which minion you are partial to, one thing is certain, a warlock can't survive in the World of Warcraft without them. So you should learn how to tank with them and use them to your advantage throughout your time in the game.

If you play a WoW warlock and have a guide that you have written and you would like to see it on this website please feel free to drop me an e-mail to get it listed on this site.