Imp (warlock minion)



The Imp is the first demonic pet available to the warlock. The warlock begins the game with an imp.

Among the four regular warlock pets, the Imp has the most mana, but the least health.

Abilities
The imp possesses one offensive ability and three defensive abilities. Its only mode of attack is Firebolt, a ranged fire spell.

Its Demonic Empowerment effect heals the imp for 30% of his maximum health.

Acquiring
All Warlocks start out with an imp.

Originally, a quest chain was required to obtain an imp. After Patch 3.3.0, the imp became a trainable spell, purchasable at level 1 and requiring no quest chain. As of Patch 4.0.1, Warlocks will now start out with an imp minion.

Imp tips


A common mistake some warlocks make is to tell their Imp to attack when Firebolt isn't set to auto-cast. Since Firebolt is the Imp's only attack form, this gives it nothing to do; right-click on the Firebolt button to fix it. An Imp will also not attack if it is out of mana; it will also refuse to attack mobs that are immune to fire.

The stamina buff from Blood Pact makes it worthwhile to have the Imp out in a party even if you don't have it attack.

One of the talents that is very handy for the Imp is Mana Feed. This will give your Imp up to 60% of the mana the warlock gains from using Life Tap or Drain Mana, which can help sustain his damage output.

The talent Dark Arts reduces the cast time of the imp's Firebolt and is accesible for all talent specs.

Imp stats
Here is all the Imp stats through its levels, based on a human warlock. Level 60 stats are based off an undead warlock with Blood Pact also turned off. As of patch 2.0.1, you have to turn off all buffs and take off all items, because now pets stats get bonuses from player stats. Patch 2.0.5 pets don't have weapon skill and defense anymore.

NOTE: Some of the below values are known to be inaccurate (larger then actual). This has been confirmed in game. For an example, compare the listed spirit for levels 56, 60, and 70.

Strengths

 * Highest short term DPS of the four basic pets.
 * Highest short term DPS of all summonable pets with proper talents.
 * Able to remove debuffs off friendly targets.
 * Provides a substantial health buff to the party.

Weaknesses

 * Burns through his mana pool very quickly when allowed to use Firebolt.
 * Zero DPS once his mana pool is empty (consider getting the Mana Feed talent if you plan to rely on the Imp for DPS).
 * Low hit points — relatively easy to kill, although warlock gear can mitigate this to some extent.
 * Fire damage only — zero DPS against fire immune targets.

Trivia
Commonly known as "Pinky" when the demon name is too long/boring/hard to pronounce.

As with the other warlock pets, the Imp talks. When asked to attack, it will sometimes complain about it in Common or Orcish. At other times, it says something indecipherable in Demonic.


 * Before the patch that gave the Imp voices here are some of the phrases the Imp used to spam in the chat menu.
 * "What? You mean you can't kill this one by yourself?"
 * "Make yourself useful and help me out on this one!"
 * "Release me already, I've had enough!"
 * "Alright, I'm on it! Stop yelling!"
 * "No shi rakir no tiros kamil re lok ante refir shi rakir"
 * "Maz ruk X rikk xi laz enkil parn zila zilthuras karkun thorje kar x zennshi"


 * Imps have an idle animation of capering about, sometimes performing a front flip as well. They never seem to stand totally still and often fidget.
 * While swimming the Imp performs the doggy paddle.
 * Once an imp-type enemy holding a weapon dies (for example: Vile Familiar), you can see his thumb twitch.


 * The imp has no voice overs when summoned.


 * Voice overs when ordered to attack:
 * "Is this REALLY necessary?!"
 * "This was NOT in my contract!"
 * "Can't we all just get along?"
 * "Ohhhh sure, send the little guy!"


 * Voice overs when ordered to cast a spell:
 * "What's in it for me?"
 * "Do I have to?!"
 * "Ahh! Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay!"
 * "Yeah, I'll get right on it."


 * Voice overs when dismissed:
 * "You know, we've had a lot of fun together, it's been really special, but I think it's time I should start seeing other warlocks. Just a little on the side. No no no it's not you, it's not you, it's me. I just need my space, it's nobody's fault."
 * "Don't call on me, I'll call on you."
 * "Argh! I feel so used!"
 * "Goodbye. Thanks."
 * "*indistinct grumbling*...I wish...*indistinct grumbling*...wish you were DEAD."