Starting a Warlock WoW

The warlock will be expected to fill many different roles, depending on the situation and sometimes depending on individual fights within an instance. Warlocks are considered by many players to be one of the easier classes to play because of the minions available and crowd control abilities. A player may not necessarily need to master all aspects of the Warlock in order to succeed in the game, especially in PvE. However, a warlock played well can attain elite status and is a welcome addition to any party.

Warlock Class Best Race

Similar to the other cloth classes the Warlock Class Best Race for the Horde in our opinion is Undead but we think the Orc comes in at a very close second and both are strong choices. For the alliance, Gnomes are strong on any cloth wearing class thanks to their bonus 5% INT and ability to remove snares. The Human race is solid and either choice is good, but if you plan to play more PVP you may find the Human Stealth Detect to be rather useful for keeping Rogues and Feral Combat Druids at bay.

Grouping

Warlocks are powerful damage dealers, but that is not all. When playing in groups, warlocks can perform a number of useful roles:

  • Curses can be used to weaken foes, reducing their damage dealt or increasing their damage taken
  • Minions can perform a number of support roles, increasing the group's stamina, cc'ing additional mobs or removing harmful spells from party members
  • Warlocks can provide crowd control via the Succubus,  [Banish],  [Fear] (if glyphed) and even  [Howl of Terror] in emergencies
  • Warlocks can provide Healthstones and Soulstones, increasing group survivability and preventing wipes
  • Warlocks can use  [Ritual of Summoning] to summon party members

While Fear can be used quite regularly when soloing mobs, in dungeons it is rarely possible to do so (at least not until  [Glyph of Fear] becomes available at level 25), due to the likelihood of alerting other mobs. However there are certain situations in which Fear (and later Howl of Terror) can be very useful, potentially even saving the group. These include the following:

  • The healer is low on health and is getting pounded on. If your tank isn't getting aggro and you can't kill the enemy in time, go ahead and fear. Try and nuke it while it's feared so you will gain aggro, as a warlock has more stamina and is a less group-breaking loss than a main healer.
  • There is no chance to aggro any more enemies. These include event situations in which the mobs are already generated.
  • It's the only chance. If death is certain without use of fear, the risk is worth it.

As for all classes, dungeons should present a challenge in learning to play your warlock a little differently. Bosses present lengthier encounters against powerful opponents, while mobs will use abilities and group in ways that you haven't seen before. Aggro management becomes extremely important in order to stay alive, and also stay on the right side of your group. Do your best to produce competitive dps, but make sure you're not pulling too much aggro. A good tank should be able hold his own, but unlike when soloing, it is necessary to think of more than just dealing damage - causing too much damage too quickly can very easily cause your death. Be considerate to the rest of the party (especially the tank and the healer trying to keep you alive), allow the tank to pull, and try not to generate too much threat.

In dungeons, many aspects of the warlock's repertoire become more important. Against bosses, DoTs become far more worthwhile due to the length of the encounter, and should usually be maintained and re-applied, as should Curses.  [Life Tap] can be crucial to maintaining dps during long dungeon crawls without spending all your money on water. Use Life Tap to restore your mana, then  [Soul Harvest] to restore your health (and Soul Shards). Unlike many classes, warlocks are quite capable of self-healing between pulls, at no cost other than the cooldown on their Soul Harvest. Doing this can save the healer mana, reducing group downtime.

Although it may be tempting to focus exclusively on dps, try to make use of your utility abilities. Curses such as  [Curse of Weakness] can make a healer's life much easier, while using your Succubus'  [Seduction] can be helpful when dealing with too many mobs. While at low levels these may be optional, becoming skilled at employing these abilities will stand you in good stead for higher level dungeons and PvP.