Starting a warlock

So, you're thinking of playing a Warlock? This page is intended to give a short overview of what to do over the first 10 levels or so, just to get you started on the right path. If you're looking for more of an overview of the class's abilities, see the main Warlock page. For more advanced topics, see the Warlock Tactics.

For even more info on Warlocks, see Category:Warlocks.

For an in-depth guide on leveling a Warlock, see Leveling a Warlock.

For a more general overview on starting out playing WoW, see the Newbie Guide

Race selection
If you're a power-player, you'll want to consider the various Racial Traits when choosing what race to play. You might also consider the racial Attributes, but after the first 20 levels or so these become largely irrelevant, as the items you've gained will outstrip any racial bonuses.


 * Alliance

It all comes down to Escape Artist vs Every Man for Himself. Bear in mind that Escape Artist does not share a cooldown with Medallion of the Alliance (level 80) while Every Man for Himself does.


 * Gnomes
 * A good overall choice for any caster. Expansive Mind directly increases your mana pool and chance to critically hit slightly, Escape Artist provides a quite useful PvP tool as almost every class has a way to slow/ensnare you. Arcane Resistance its just a minor benefit, and Engineering Specialization gives gnome characters a leg up on what is considered the best utility (and fun) profession in the game. There is another factor to consider on gnomes: size. While mounted you're as easily spotted as anyone else, however while on the ground it is much easier to hide using the environment than any other race, bushes that may barely reach the chest of a human or night elf will completely cover you including your name over your head, and although you can still be targeted by other means other than directly clicking on you, that doesn't mean the enemy will be facing the right direction to attack you, this fact however it's just icing on the cake.


 * Humans
 * Humans have some decent racials for warlocks. Diplomacy, while generally useful to save time, does not directly improve your effectiveness, and Sword Specialization offers little to a pure caster. Mace Specialization is useless since warlocks cannot wield maces. The Human Spirit improves the effectiveness of Fel Armor, but the benefit its so small it is almost negligible. Perception grants a greater chance of detecting Rogues and Druids Prowling in Cat Form which may give you an edge on PvP if you react quickly. Every Man for Himself is considered the single most powerful PvP racial and it still has plenty of use on PvE.


 * Horde


 * Undead
 * Undead, or The Forsaken, are a good choice for a warlock. Cannibalize reduces downtime while leveling mostly, and synergizes with Life Tap very well. Will of the Forsaken was considered one of the best racials in the game for PvP until it's recent nerf in patch 3.3, it now shares a 45 sec cooldown with Medallion of the Horde, however it is still helpful against Warriors, Warlocks and Priests. Shadow Resistance, its an overall minor boost. Underwater Breathing has no particular use to Forsaken warlocks, who can cast Unending Breath on themselves.


 * Orc
 * Orc racials are very powerful for any warlock, and have a bit better synergy with the Demonology tree. Blood Fury provides a good amount of additional damage, considering that, aside from the 51 points demonology talent Metamorphosis, warlocks have no cooldowns to pop during certain dps boost phases this racial comes extremely handy. Hardiness is a very good racial. Although you will find yourself stunned sometimes in PvE its main use it's PvP oriented. Command is more of a minor racial, though it is more useful for Demonology spec warlocks, who benefit from pet damage more than other warlocks. Since warlocks can not use axes, Axe Specialization does nothing for warlocks.


 * Blood Elf
 * Blood Elves are a decent choice. Arcane Torrent gives extra mana and it's the only way a warlock can Interrupt aside from having a Felhunter ready. Magic Resistance it's a minor benefit, and Arcane Affinity will aid you in leveling one of the most difficult professions.

For more casual gamers, there's really no major difference between the races - choose the race that you want to play, whether for its looks, its voice, or because its simply good fun!

Early leveling
The easiest way to progress through the early levels is to simply do any and all quests you can find. Not only will you breeze through the first 5 to 10 levels, but you'll get useful gear and precious money.

Make sure you get all the spells you can from your trainer, tt's important to keep up with your spell training. Most importantly, Summon Imp, can be acquired at level 1. After the imp is acquired, any quests that involved killing things become a breeze.

Have your Demon Skin active; it will help offset the damage you will be sustaining. Pick a mob at maximum range and cast Immolate on it. Set your imp to attack it. If attacking multiple mobs, immediately switch targets and cast immolate again. It is possible to grind down as many as 6-7 mobs in rapid succession this way, although you're more likely to run out of nearby mobs than to run out of life or mana. By the time you have entered another suitably crowded zone, both you and your imp should be reasonably prepared for another killing spree. Around level three, you may need to supplement your Immolate with a single Shadow Bolt. At level four, Instead of casting Shadow Bolt, cast Corruption. This costs an extra 10 mana over Shadow Bolt, but does more damage and is a 'fire-and-forget' spell. This method of pulling and killing multiple mobs will suffice until well after you leave your starting zone.

Soloing
The best way to solo is to send in voidwalker pet (often abbreviated as VW) and give it a couple of seconds to build aggro then DoT (damage over time, these include Immolate, Corruption, and Curse of Agony). Wait for mob to die then repeat. If you get aggro simply cast shadow bolt until it dies.

If you don't have a voidwalker simply DoT and shadow bolt.

Pets
Each pet has its own special benefits to you, your party, and those around you. Some may be good for PvP, while some may be useful for PvE. You may need to complete a quest to obtain the creature. Warlock soloing equally about pet management as it is spell management.

Imp
Your first pet, the Imp, is great at dealing additional damage, but be prepared to take some hits in the early levels. An effective early tactic for soloing is to set your imp to attack while you cast your first Curse on the target. At this point, you can cast Fear on the enemy, and start blasting away with Shadow Bolt while it runs around. Be wary - Fearing the enemy may cause them to come back with friends. You should have almost no trouble at all soloing for your first ten levels. Always protect yourself by fearing additional enemies if the situation arises, and run! Don't worry if your Imp dies - you can resummon it at the cost of mana, and no Soul Shard.

You can also start casting a Shadow Bolt immediately after telling your Imp to attack (ctrl-1 by default) and then let off a Curse to get the most damage in before the mob gets within melee range. When the mob gets within melee range you can hit it with Immolate, Corruption or another Shadow Bolt.

Always make sure you have Demon Skin self-buff active before you go into combat, and it is also a good idea to obtain armor kits at the earliest opportunity and to upgrade them as you level.

Voidwalker
At level 10 you can get a quest from a Warlock trainer that allows you to summon a Voidwalker if you have a Soul Shard.

Human (Gnomes will be directed to Stormwind to learn from the warlock trainer there.) You can get these from your trainer. It requires you to kill a person in the pumpkin patch in east Elwynn Forest. You will most likely need a little help on this one. Take the road east of Goldshire. The pumpkin patch is about 3/4 of the way to the small river and a little bit south. In the southern house are 3 humans around level 10. Pull them out and kill them. Its rather simple but you probably will need some help to kill them all. Loot and turn in or you can do it the way i did it: slay everything in the way and when you reach Surena go all out on her if you die simply respawn near the corpse and "loot-'n-run"

One very effective way to use a Voidwalker when confronted with a grouping of mobs is to stand at a safe distance, select your desired mob, and send your Voidwalker out to make contact with it. If you then immediately recall your Voidwalker, the mob will follow. Allow your Voidwalker to bring your enemy within range of your Corruption or Shadow Bolt spells, then put him back on the offensive, keeping the enemy occupied while you drain it's life away from a safe distance.

One by one, you lure your enemies away and vanquish them. As you become more confident, you can also have your Voidwalker tag 2 or more enemies before recalling him and the enemies to within range of your destructive power.

Grouping
It's important to consider what you want your role in a party to be. Essentially, you can become a master of pets, and focus your group play on effective pet control. Alternatively, you can become a straight damage-dealer by nuking with your Shadow Bolt and other direct damage spells. In addition, it's important to apply the proper curse for a given situation, and other effective DoT spells. Corruption is very powerful and will help your party take down enemies quickly. As well as Curse of Agony, which provides additional damage over time.

Once you hit level 20 you obtain Ritual of Summoning, which summons another party member. While many instances have Meeting Stones that allow for party summons, a summon will often be requested for raids or hard-to-reach locations. This requires two other party members to help.

Be extremely careful with fear. If you decide it's absolutely necessary keep Curse of Recklessness on hand. This counters fear and will bring the target running back. This is useful in very limited situations. But they are there. 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.

At later levels you'll be required to banish. This is a form of Crowd Control that works on demons and elementals, making them invulnerable but unable to attack.

Soul Shards
Soul Shards are now a resource, much like the Death Knights Rune system, but without a recharge rate. The soul shards no longer take up space in your bag and you may now only carry 3 of them at a time. The only spell needing a soulshard is Soulburn. Using this triggers a buff that lets your spells do differant or more powerful things. For instance, making a pet have no cast-time, increasing your maximun health by 20% for 8 seconds or casting an instant Soul Fire. There are 3 current ways to gain soulshards. Using the spell Soul Harvest, using Drain Soul on an enemy whilst it dies or using Shadowburn on an enemy with less than 20% health (As long as that enemy then dies within 5 seconds of casting). All Shard Bags as of patch 4.0 have been converted into normal Bags.

Remember to use Soul Harvest often. The 30 second cooldown means it can be cast after almost every fight. And don't be afraid of using Soulburn either. The 45 second cooldown means that it can be used multiple times on many instance bosses and as an emergency way of regaining your minion if it dies.

Useful professions
The warlock can benefit directly and indirectly from many of the professions available.

Primary professions

 * Tailoring
 * Tailoring is directly useful to the warlock for crafting Cloth armor (the only subset of armor available to warlocks). You can equip yourself with spiffy new duds, or sell it to purchase other things you need. However, to skill up tailoring requires large amounts of cloth, which you may wish to consider if you also take first aid.
 * It should be noted that unlike most other crafting primary professions, Tailoring does not require a gathering profession, so you can take Skinning, Herbalism, or Mining and sell the materials to other players.


 * Enchanting
 * Enchanting is another profession which the warlock can personally benefit from. "Green" (uncommon) items are broken down into essences which you can then use to enchant your own equipment with various stat boosts. Enchanting is also a good source of early access to wands, although any enchanter can make these for you. Enchanting is a good companion profession for Tailoring. Tailoring provides abundant amounts of "green" items for disenchanting, which in turn provides the components for your own enchantments.


 * Herbalism & Alchemy
 * Herbalism and Alchemy are useful for the warlock, and are essentially two Primary Professions that go hand in hand. Herbalism allows the gathering of various herbs, and the Alchemy profession allows the creation of various potions for use.  Herbalism and Alchemy make for useful warlock professions because it's always handy to have plenty of health, mana, and stat-boosting potions in your arsenal for fighting. Given that several useful potions require fish, the fishing secondary profession (see below) is a wise choice for alchemists. As a further bonus, herbalism grants the Lifeblood ability, a heal-over-time, which works well with Life Tap.


 * Herbalism & Inscription
 * Inscription can be a good profession for a warlock. Not only does it offer a convenient source of glyphs and scrolls of intellect, it also offers some off-hand tomes and at high levels some shoulder enchants.


 * Engineering
 * Engineering is a fun way to complement a warlock's skillset. You can craft very quick AoE bombs, which go well with the warlocks otherwise slow spells, and the high Stamina on goggles allow for more health to Life Tap. The gimmick items, most importantly, Goblin Construction Hat and Goblin Dragon Gun, are fantastic to have, as the Hat will absorb the damage normally inflicted upon you by Hellfire. Goblin Engineering's specialty in explosives is incredibly handy, allowing you time to cast Fear against especially aggressive opponents. Comparatively, Gnomish Engineering far less useful to a Warlock.


 * Mining & Jewelcrafting
 * Jewelcrafting can be a good option. At low levels, it offers some useful rings and neckpieces that can be in short supply while leveling.  At the higher levels, the warlock can cut gems and make useful BoP trinkets.  However, the later levels of jewelcrafting are incredibly expensive with designs having low drop rates and high prices on the AH.  An enterprising warlock can sell mining bars for a considerable amount, and it's a good investment once you reach the end, but is a best choice for someone with a high level character to help fund it.


 * Two Gathering Professions
 * Depending on the economy of your chosen server, you can select two gathering professions and sell everything you collect to other players for hard (virtual) currency. Since Mining and Herbalism require the use of detection abilities to gain the full benefit of the profession, and since you can only have one detection active at a time, Mining/Skinning or Herbalism/Skinning are preferred combinations, though a player who knows how to switch between tracking and know when tracking ores (mainly near hills) and when to track herbs (everywhere else) mining/herbalism can make a lot more money then having one or the other as skinning on most servers. This is due to leather there is generally higher supply then demand making it lower priced while herbs and ores generally have a higher demand then supply making the price higher. Enchanting can also be a gathering profession to a certain extent, when chosen for the ability to harvest enchanting materials (via disenchant) from Bind on Pickup items that no one in the party has a particular use for.

Start your professions early! It's usually not too expensive, and you want to ensure that the gear you create with your skills is applicable to your warlock's level.

Secondary professions

 * Cooking
 * Fishing
 * First Aid

Any or all three of the secondary professions are good for the warlock. With cooking, you can create yourself (or party members) various tasty treats for quick healing and mana regeneration. Fishing is good for getting fish to use in your recipes, or for catching random gear you can sell to vendors. First Aid is good for making bandages for quick healing after battle to recover your HP faster. First Aid works especially well for warlocks due to the spell Life Tap. Bandages can be used in battle, which allows for fast healing that translates into health that can be life tapped; it's as effective as a mana potion in returning mana, but requires cast time for Life Tap. Life Tap can also be used to fill up your mana between fights, and then immediately bandage to restore the life you just converted to mana, reducing your downtime to a minimum.

Also, since cooking offers many more health-restoring foods than mana-restoring foods and drinks, Life Tap can be used to turn stacks of cooked fish and meats into a poor-warlock's drinks.

Long-term goals
Important long-term goals for the warlock include deciding how best to approach the soloing aspect to the game, your desired role in a party, and preparing yourself for late-game content (PvP, dungeons and instances, Battlegrounds, etc.)

Specs
What spec should you go? There are so many choices it can be hard to describe. You can see a high detail list at Warlock Talents. But you can get an overall idea right here.


 * Destruction focuses on direct damage spells (aka Nukes) what with Chaos Bolt and Conflagrate it provides the highest Burst Damage of the talent trees.


 * Demonology it's based around buffing you and your pet. Overall it provides higher survivability at the cost of Burst Damage. However as the fight goes on your damage output increases; with the likes of Decimation, your Felguard's Demonic Frenzy and Metamorphosis you can finish off weakened opponents quickly.


 * Affliction works around slowly crippling your opponent with DoTs while staying alive with the likes of Soul Siphon, Siphon Life and Death's Embrace until your target inevitably dies. This tree also enhances the signature move of a PvP warlock: Fear with Improved Fear.