New to warlock

[SlimRoberts 0]

People. I am sorry if you think this to low a question for you but I am new to warlocks and would appreciate a few pointers. I am very experienced with Mage’s and SPriests and would like to try and get good if not better with warlocks. All I have read is Destruction would be the best for me, and so far have found that to be the case. At the moment I only want to quest so DOT’s are not normally part of my rotation in any class as there should be no need. I would appreciate any comments you can give as to rotation. Please bear in mind I am an old git and so reflexes are slow. Not sure if there is any more info that would be of use.

Many thanks

Slim

[Vlad 411]

Warlocks don't generally work very well without DoTs.

You should basically just spam:

• Chaos Bolt
• Conflagrate
• Instant cast Soul Fire
• Shadowburn (on targets below 20% health)

Depending on the strength of the mobs, though, you can make use of DoTs as well.

I would argue that Destruction isn't clearly the best leveling spec. If you go with Affliction, you can pull multiple targets, DoT them all up and use Drain Life. You can go with Demonology and pull packs of mobs and AoE them with your Felguard and your own Shadowflame and Hellfire.

Sorry for the delay in getting back to you. Also, Zagam may be able to better answer you ;)

[Zagam 1,982]

Ah, I'm known now! Sorry for the very long delay in response...I just returned from a vacation week 1500 miles away. While I could have had the internet, I chose to stay away =)

Leveling a Warlock, in my opinion, is the worst thing ever. If my Warlock was deleted and I had to start over, I'd cry. A lot. Every other class has something that is very helpful for leveling, but I fear (pun intended) Warlocks require a bit of...finesse to level efficiently. Each has its pros and cons, and I'll go over each below...

Destruction (25 or 30% increased fire damage...don't remember which)

Ability gained: Conflagrate (requires Immolate to be on the target)

Levels 10-68: Conflagrate hits hard, but it requires you casting Immolate first. If you are leveling Destruction, take the Aftermath talent that dazes enemies when hit with Conflagrate. Your rotation will primarily be Immolate, Conflagrate, and Shadowbolt until you get Incinerate. The Imp is a terrible questing partner, and as such, I prefer the Voidwalker or Succubus for these levels. In dungeons, you will only compete with other classes on bosses by applying Immolate, Corruption, using Conflagrate on CD, and spamming Shadowbolt until you get Incinerate. Soul Harvest on a 30 second CD is Blizzard's gift to you as you level your Warlock. Abuse it and its Soul Shard regenerating effect.

Levels 69-85: Chaos Bolt returns health and mana, Conflagrate hits like a truck, and enemies have enough health to allow the use of Shadowburn to return your Soul Shards and be an effective execute. Single target should be Immolate, Conflagrate, Chaos Bolt, Incinerate spam. Use Shadowfury if things get close/hairy. For dungeons, make habitual use of Rain of Fire...other classes will have so much burst and AoE that you'll be left behind. Just Rain of Fire, Life Tap, and Soul Harvest your way through dungeons.

Demonology (15% increased Fire and Shadow damage)

Ability gained: Summon Felguard

Levels 10-68: You will do one thing and one thing only...spam Shadowbolt. Shadowbolt will hit harder in this spec than Destruction due to the fire and shadow specialization, but your true power won't come until the mid 50's (I think level 54) when your Felguard gets his signature Felstorm ability. While leveling in the earlier levels, keep your Felguard out at all times and just use Shadowbolt until things die. There are no signature talents aside from the healing you get from Fel Synergy and being able to ressurect your demon instantly should he perish (and believe me, he will). Pick the talent that allows you to root targets of your Hand of Guldan ability to make questing and leveling a bit easier. Once you hit level 54 and you acquire Felstorm, use it every time you fight something. It will die, and it will die quickly. Also, when things get tricky, use your Felguards Axe Toss ability to stun something for a short period of time. For dungeons, get into melee range, use Shadowflame, use Felstorm, and then Hellfire. If your healers whine about you taking damage at the cost of much higher DPS, just use Rain of Fire. However, once you've advanced to higher levels and you get the Cremation talents that buff your Hellfire and allow you to move while casting it, politely tell your healer to shut up and you'll heal yourself out of combat with Soul Harvest. Shadowflame + Felstorm + Hellfire will prove to be a very formidable force in dungeons.

Levels 69-85: This is when Demonology becomes Demonology. You get your signature ability Metamorphosis, and from this endless opportunities arise that make leveling a joke. Metamorphosis makes you a tank...you get 600% armor, are unable to be crit by melee attacks, and you have a 50% snare and stun duration reduction. On top of that, you look awesome. Use this ability on cooldown, much like a Paladin would use his vastly inferior wings. For single target questing, use Hand of Guldan and Shadowbolt while using Felstorm religiously. In dungeons, no one should ever beat you in AoE again except those pesky Survival Hunters with their LAWLMULTISHOT instant AoE. On top of Shadowflame, Felstorm, and Hellfire, you also unlock a new ability under transformation called Immolation Aura. This is a much more powerful AoE ability than Hellfire that causes no damage to you. Make sure you use this every time you transform into a demon.

Affliction (30% increased Shadow damage)

Ability gained: Unstable Affliction

Levels 10-68: Spam Shadowbolt. Shadowbolt hits harder than anything else due to its 30% buff with shadow specialization. Enemies in Azeroth won't be alive long enough for anything else to be worth it. When you get your Felhunter, use him as an effective tank because Shadow Bite is amazing. When you get to higher levels, you can start multi-dotting, which is the phrase used for putting up multiple DoTs on more than one enemy to increase your overall output. Since you have Soul Harvest on a 30 second cooldown, you can put Corruption, Unstable Affliction, and Bane of Agony on 3 or more targets, let the DoTs kill them while you cast Drain Life on the enemy with the most health. Questing will be rather dull, and you will always be in last place in damage done in dungeons due to your lackluster AoE and slow ramp up time with DoTs. Drain Life provides a higher level of survivability, but Blizzard has made this game pretty easy to level, so you shouldn't feel pressured to level Affliction.

Levels 69-85: Cast Haunt, spam Shadowbolt or multidot when applicable. At these levels, Affliction will feel slow, especially compared to other classes. That's because it is. In dungeons, you can use a Soulburn: Seed of Corruption to do mediocre AoE if the rest of the group hasn't killed stuff yet. If you get into groups with bad players, you may be able to top meters, but don't even bother competing with Warriors, Hunters, Shadow Priests, Boomkins, Feral Druids, Rogues, Shamans, etc...you get the point. Warlocks have too many other decent options to try to level Affliction.

This would be my recommendation to level as painlessly as possible:

Start as Demonology...progress through the lower levels until you hit unstoppable status at level 54. Continue growing in power as you level Demonology. When you hit 69, enjoy your stay on top of the meters until you hit level 85. I suggest people level Demonology because it currently can be played to a very high level with a decently lower complexity than the other two specializations. At level 85, all 3 specs are very viable, but Demonology brings too much to the table to be passed up. If you have talent questions or other abilities to sprinkle in, let me know and I'll do my best to answer.

[SlimRoberts 0]

People. Many thanks for the reply will digest and take what you say and try it. I have already found that at 80 you must start using DOT's or you get a pasting

Again many thanks

Slim

[Vlad 411]

Thank you, Zagam. Clearly, you have far more expertise on the leveling aspects of a Warlock. Hope you had fun on your vacation :)

[Zagam 1,982]

Thank you, Zagam. Clearly, you have far more expertise on the leveling aspects of a Warlock. Hope you had fun on your vacation

Vlad, my vacation was terrible. Grand Cayman Island on 7 Mile Beach...eating my body's weight in 5 star food, and having to be stuck in a 5 star condo for a week with a 10 foot walk to the Carribean Ocean...ugh, I never want to go back. In all seriousness, read that statement assuming today is opposite day =D

[Stoove 347]

Glad (?) you had a... bad (?) holiday.

today is opposite day =D

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA *head explodes*

[Panzer 13]

Just a couple days ago i decided to level my alt warlock... finally i found here a great source of infos for leveling. Thanks a lot! You made my day!

[Nyxxiana 28]

<-----------is jealous of Zagam 's vacation...... but now i also want to create a warlock for the first time in my own history...........and im going to use this page to help me do it! Thanks! <3

[Zagam 1,982]

Just a couple days ago i decided to level my alt warlock... finally i found here a great source of infos for leveling. Thanks a lot! You made my day!

You're not the real Panzer, are you? Or does she spell it Panser? Can't keep up with all these gamer girl fads. Anyways, glad I could help you out! I'll try to be a good source of information for Icy-Veins' Warlock page. Keep the questions coming!

<-----------is jealous of Zagam 's vacation...... but now i also want to create a warlock for the first time in my own history...........and im going to use this page to help me do it! Thanks! <3

My vacation was an engagement present from the bride-to-be's mother...she definitely spoiled the crap out of us. Anyways, if you're about to create your Warlock, I greatly encourage you to not approach it like other classes...just like our class is played with ramp up DoTs, the class levels that way as well. Don't get discouraged in dungeons and don't give up at level 30. Playing a Warlock is one of my favorite things about WoW just because it's got a level of complexity that keeps you on your toes. Since I have an 85 of every class above a 390 ilvl, I feel I can be a fair judge in the complexity of each class, and I'll flat out say that Warlocks won't receive any pats on the back for performing to 95% capacity, but you will feel good knowing you have nearly mastered one of the more difficult classes. I also believe because I played a Warlock first, I was well-prepared to play other classes...kinda like taking college calculus prepares you for simple equations in Excel at work that blow your 50 year old bosses' minds! =D

[Panzer 13]

You're not the real Panzer, are you? Or does she spell it Panser? Can't keep up with all these gamer girl fads. Anyways, glad I could help you out! I'll try to be a good source of information for Icy-Veins' Warlock page. Keep the questions coming!

Ahem... dunno, i'm not a real german WWII tank, actually :D Panzer is only my nickname, dunno if you know me !

Anyhow, i'm gonna test demo in leveling right know... i'll let you know if it rocks! Thanks again!

[Vlad 411]

Vlad, my vacation was terrible. Grand Cayman Island on 7 Mile Beach...eating my body's weight in 5 star food, and having to be stuck in a 5 star condo for a week with a 10 foot walk to the Carribean Ocean...ugh, I never want to go back. In all seriousness, read that statement assuming today is opposite day =D

Your vacation was lovely. Small Cayman Mainland on 7 Mile Beach. You ate your pinky finger's weight in 1 star food, were forced to roam the crummy streets for a day with a 10 km drive to the Carribean Ocean. You can't wait to get back?

Am I doing it right?

[Energy 0]

hey guys, I am new to play with lock too. Have got lvl 76 , demonology spec and as I understood... better way to use Whratguard in dungeons right...that 's I am doing but sometimes some tanks or healers telling me to turn off my pet aggro.

Please, warlock is not my main char and I don't know what they are talking about. What can I see is assist-defensive-passive - is there something what I have to change or something on pet bar?

and sry about my language, english is not my mother language.

[Zagam 1,982]

hey guys, I am new to play with lock too. Have got lvl 76 , demonology spec and as I understood... better way to use Whratguard in dungeons right...that 's I am doing but sometimes some tanks or healers telling me to turn off my pet aggro.

Please, warlock is not my main char and I don't know what they are talking about. What can I see is assist-defensive-passive - is there something what I have to change or something on pet bar?

and sry about my language, english is not my mother language.

You're English is fine =) There is an ability in your Warlock's Pet's spell ability bar called "Threatening Presence." Turn that off of auto cast while you are in dungeons, and your pet should no longer pull aggro.

[Energy 0]

You're English is fine =) There is an ability in your Warlock's Pet's spell ability bar called "Threatening Presence." Turn that off of auto cast while you are in dungeons, and your pet should no longer pull aggro.

Ty :D I found it