Dorigon
Alpha and Omega
Foreword
Warlocks are completely viable within the 15-19 bracket, as long as one plays within the limitations of the class. The purpose of this guide is to show those limits and give the prospective Warlock a nudge in the right direction.
Last updated 4.3
A Note on Gear
You can look for BiS gear at http://www.twinkinfo.com/15-19-bracket/32979-not-19-armory-library.html or http://www.twinkinfo.com/15-19-bracket/30988-19-armory-library.html , but keep in mind that my stat priority does not always coincide with theirs. I instead offer more general guidelines, first ranking stats as I see them from best to worst, then mentioning some specific gear.
1a) Resilience: This is a very nice stat for us. Trinket, staff, and shoulders together add up to just below 10% damage reduction. Take advantage of this, if you wish.
1b) Stamina: You should be prioritizing your stamina without going completely crazy on it. I view ~1300hp unbuffed as a minimum, though I myself usually run around 1400 unbuffed.
2a) Haste: This is a very underrated stat. On a one-to-one basis, it's better than intellect or crit, as it affects all of our spells and not just those that are damage-related. For example, a minimal amount of haste will bring fear down to a 1.6 second cast.
2b) Intellect/Spellpower: It is important to have a good amount of spellpower to give your spells at least a little bit of oomph (that is oomph for a Warlock, mind you). Do not neglect it, but do not prioritize it to the extent that your survivability suffers.
3) Crit: I am not big on this stat, since it only affects damaging spells and will not give as consistent gains as spellpower.
Let me clarify the above prioritization a little bit. First, you want enough sta/resil that you feel comfortable. Next, load up on the haste and int/sp. If any crit gets added in along the way (and some will), good, but there is no need to specifically gear for it. If you are going destro spec, then you can justify some more crit, and I would rank it coequal with haste and int/sp.
Yes, you want AGM very badly as a Warlock. You should be using it every game at a critical point. You also want a battle standard. Last, as alliance, get a Keeshan's Bandana for those games full of hunters and arcane mages.
I would recommend making a survivability set and a more balanced set. Wear each depending on the presence (or lack thereof) of healers and the frequency of which you are being attacked.
A Note on Profs
Herbalism is going to be your best bet. Lifeblood is an amazing tool, but unfortunately, most warlocks use it defensively. It should be used offensively, especially in several situations. If several rogues open on your FC at once, pop lifeblood and tab fear them. If you are about to get in to a huge mid fight, pop lifeblood and start tab dotting. Lifeblood will increase the total damage of a full set of dots by a good 500+. After herbalism, skinning and to a lesser extent mining are the most popular professions. Choosing like these is much like gearing yourself - if you feel comfortable with your survivability, run with skinning, otherwise the stamina from mining is nice. Engineering has potential as well since you can do some nifty stuff with bomb stuns, and I would definitely recommend it if you will consistently use the bombs. Always take Herbalism, though - it will make huge changes in your play if utilized correctly.
A Note on Specs
I am a huge believer in the Affliction spec at 19. My viewpoint is that being able to dot multiple people is important because it is where we get the vast majority of our damage from, and the Aff spec caters to that. Its dots hit much harder than those of other specs. Demo does alright damage on single targets with an imp out (super low cast time), and the extra little chunk of hp is nice and all, but it falls way behind when you are fighting more than one opponent. Destro can theoretically do fine with its increased single-target damage, but this feels like such a waste to me. We are defined by our dots at 19, not our single-target damage. If you want to attack single targets, make a Mage and do much better burst while simultaneously having better CC and mobility. The good player should be able to make any spec work, so do some experimentation.
Note for horde warlocks: Due to the glut of Draenei and especially Worgen these days, destro is a very solid choice due to not getting all those icky shadow resists.
The Successful Warlock's Mindset
This may sound weird after mentioning the limits of the Warlock class at 19, but to be successful, one must be bold. If you are running around the rear of the battle lines in midfield, happily tab dotting away, you are doing it wrong. Squishy as we are, the successful Warlock's place is at the front of the lines. If there are healers around, that is great (and it is a basic expectation of mine that healers will typically be around in a 10v10 PvP match), but they are not necessary for us to fulfill our role. Your job is to disrupt the enemy. Usually this takes the form of fearing healers, but it also encompasses dotting dpsers up and fearing them off your own healers and casters. In order to do this properly, you can not be afraid to take damage and sometimes even die. The same goes when playing on defense - you better be there at the front casting Rain of Fire, though be sure to make use of LoS once all those nasty hunters and arcane mages turn the corner and you're standing there like a sitting duck. Expose your teammates to your boldness and competence and they will support you.
At the same time, I do not mean that one should be hopelessly reckless. Get out of danger's way when it is necessary. Be bold insofar as it is safe to do so, and sometimes, sacrifice yourself for the team if it serves a purpose.
On Fearbotting
We may not have the same burst damage as a hunter or arcane mage, but stack shadowbolts or soulburnt scorches on top of three dots and it is not awful, either. While fearing is fine and dandy, always keep in mind that one of the main purposes of fear is to force kills. It is important to push as hard as you can on the dpsing side of things while also staying cognizant of your fears. That said, I often do not see new locks fear enough. Just be SUPER careful about who you dot, as even a single dot on someone will go a distance toward negating the usefulness of fearing them.
The Warlock as a Defensive Tool
Warlocks are super amazing on defense. While they work on offense as well, mobile defenses and their own squishiness tend to work against them. As such, unless it is a static D and you have heals on O, I recommend defense as a Warlock's prime habitat.
We are the only class at 19 that has a spammable AoE spell - in our case, Rain of Fire, or RoF for short. Use RoF to your advantage constantly. It is super duper amazing at catching stealthers, especially once you get good at figuring out where they hide. If you get low on mana, just tap once between RoF casts. This spell will seriously screw with people once you get good at it. There are certain spots that I tend to hit with RoF on alliance side, but they will probably be somewhat different on horde. Stealthers like to hide behind corners - keep that in mind.
Fear is another amazing spell on defense, for a couple of reasons. For one, peeling rogues and stuff off your FC. For two, fearing the enemy healer while you exterminate the rest of the inc.
Use line of sight to your advantage on defense. Dot the enemy up, run behind the big thing in the middle of roof, poke out and dot again, etc. This is especially effective if their offense lacks healers. If it doesn't lack healers, try to bait the dps around the big roof pillar while you get around the other side to fear their healer and force a kill or two.
As I said earlier, remember that you are a dps. Keep those fears going, but concentrate on getting people killed at the same time.
The Warlock as an Offensive Tool
I will openly admit that offense is not my forte as a Warlock. In most games, depending on comp and who is present, I feel like a Warlock's tools are more valuable on defense. The main issue on O is kiting defenses. Fear only has a 30 yard range and requires LoS, so it can be difficult to get it off on people who are running away and are cognizant that you are trying to screw with them. For two, our mobile dps is pitiful, consisting only of Corruption and Bane of Agony. Against stationary defenses, however, we do fine. We can position ourselves for focus fear rotations and generally screw with the other team. Destro can also be better-suited to offense due to the 50% chance to daze on conflagarate. Obviously it is up to you as the individual, but I find myself in preference of D in most cases.
All About Imps
These little critters are almost always our most useful pet at 19. Even then, they have their drawbacks. Sadly, a single Imp bolt can break one of your fears, so you will want to make macros of some sort to keep your imp off of feared targets. Here is my recommendation: for each of your offensive damaging spells, macro '/cast [target=target] !Fireball' in to it so that the imp attacks your current target. Macro '/petfollow' in to Fear so that your imp always stops casting when you cast fear. This backfires rarely if a firebolt is in the air, but using these macros will let your pet get a lot of casting uptime rather than just standing around as a sta buff.
Our Spells and How to Use Them
Corruption: This is our bread and butter dot. Apply it on the move, apply it standing around, apply it often. It hits hard (for a Warlock dot) and has no cast time, what is not to love?
Bane of Agony: A weaker version of Corruption, but it serves its purpose as well. The main thing I like about this spell is its long duration. If you get a rogue out of stealth but only have time to cast one spell before they jump off roof or get hopelessly out of LoS, this should be your one due to its 24 second base duration. This spell is very useful applied on the move like Corruption, but if you only have time to apply two dots, I would give it up in favor of UA if you are not being interrupted.
Unstable Affliction: Hits about as hard as Corruption, yet requires a cast time. As there are no dispels at 19, the anti-dispelling portion is pretty irrelevant. Use it as a good source of damage.
Immolate: You should not be using this as Aff, but it takes the place of UA for Demo and Destro, and fills the same role. Obviously, give it even higher priority as destro for conflag purposes. One can probably make a case for using it as Aff vs Undead and Worgens, but UA should still do more damage.
Curse of Weakness: This nifty little spell should see a lot of use against physical dps. It should be applied with dots whenever possible.
Drain Life: This is the first of our four filler spells. This one should be used when you need health, when interrupts are an imminent danger, and when people are running away.
Shadow Bolt: The second filler spell. This one is very handy when applied between fear casts to help burst someone down. Crits for 400 on occasion are not to be sneered at.
Searing Pain: Our third filler spell. Use in conjunction with Soul Burn when trying to burst someone down, or use in replacement of Shadow Bolt at all times against Undead, Draenei, and Worgen.
Drain Soul: Our last filler spell, and even then only technically one. This is a great spell for when someone is about to go out of LoS but not necessarily out of range. For example, use it when someone's entering a resto hut to prevent their getting the buff's benefit. Over its duration, it really does to a ton of damage, and gets great benefits from spellpower.
Soulstone: Use this on a healer, or maybe on a really good dpser if one is present who you feel can get flag returns.
Conflagarate: Even though I’m not a fan of Destro, maybe some people out there are. Use this to keep range on people with the daze, and use it when bursting people down between fears or when their healers are feared. Pretty self-explanatory.
Soul Burn: All possible uses for this ability are pretty good. I find myself mostly using it to summon Imps on the move and provide some quick health/damage with Drain Life. It's also quite useful for survivability in conjunction with a health stone and for burst when in conjunction with Searing Pain.
Healthstone: This only heals for about 100, so don't get your hopes up. There's times when the gcd spent using it won't even be worthwhile, but using it with Soul Burn gives it at least a bit of merit.
Soul Harvest: I mainly use this to get health back when healers aren't around. For example, the rare occasion that I have a healer-less D on roof.
Undying Breath: Put this on all your teammates before the game starts to give everyone imposing-looking buff bars and strike fear in to the enemy!
vs Other Classes
Warlock vs Druid: We actually do well against druids. Resto and Balance will probably run away, so just dot them up and fear etc. It is extremely difficult to get a kill on them if they don't want to fight. Against feral, fear them asap and load up the dots and weakness, then fear two more times for good measure and you should have the upper hand. If they get a good opener, just fear and run away.
Warlock vs Hunter: This is obviously a tough matchup. If the hunter gets the opening on you and blows a full focus bar before you can do anything, then you are probably going to be screwed unless it's someone who is majorly ungeared. However, this is not always the case. It is important to get a full set of dots plus weakness on the Hunter asap, and even before that in a situation where no one opens on the other, a fear. The hunter will probably scatter your first fear, so just cast it again. The trick from here on out is to drain life spam, and fear in between casts. Fear serves a double purpose in lowering their dps and disrupting their focus regen. Pull this off and you can defeat hunters, though that is easier said than done. A soulburnt healthstone and lifeblood will help your chances a bit, here.
Warlock vs Mage: Arcane mages counter you pretty hard. In open ground they can /lol while spamming arc bar from 40 or however many yards. It is also almost pointless to juke them, since the arcane cs still silences you for a hefty 4 seconds. Indoors, you want to LoS them while letting your dots do as much damage as possible. Frost mages are much the same, except juking them actually serves a purpose. Dot the frost elemental up as well as the mage, use los to your advantage, and you should win this one.
Warlock vs Paladin: Against holy and prot, you are not going to get solo kills unless they are complete nonfactors, so I won't discuss solo kills. When attacking in conjunction with others, use fear as an interrupt to their heals. If the other dps is competent and maybe actually uses their interrupts as well, this should be enough to down the beast. Against ret, they will eat you if you get close, so keep your distance. Fear early, move away, apply dots and a filler, rinse and repeat. They will probably run away once they have realized you are not easy prey like Warlocks are made out to be. This is where you pursue and try to force a kill.
Warlock vs Priest: Priests will laugh at your dps while shielding themselves and then unloading on you. Use the holy/prot paladin strat when with others, but just fear and run away in a 1v1 situation.
Warlock vs Rogue: This fight is not quite as hopeless as people make it out to be. Rogue is going to open on you, so you have to juke kick and actively turn away from them while casting fear to avoid gouge. Hopefully, your hp bar is not close to empty by the time this gets done. Give it some practice and you will get pretty good at it - some rogues can't even be depended on to kick. This is difficult for alliance Warlocks because of belf racial and undead shadow resist, and I imagine Worgen shadow resist and human 2min trinket are just as bad. Once the rogue is feared, you have a choice to make. You can either go for the kill or run away. If you go for the kill, be careful, since a timely shadowstep can still lead to your death quite easily. If they are oor, they will probably sprint away. If the rogue tries to hide in a resto or zerker hut, RoF them. It is also possible to bandage after fearing the rogue, thus resetting the fight in your favor, but I don't personally use bandages with any regularity.
Warlock vs Shaman: This is really one of our easier fights. Juke the shears while fearing and you should be able to dps them down regardless of spec. Resto will be hard to drop solo if you don't time your fears to interrupt heals correctly.
Warlock vs Warlock: Be bold and fear first. By the time you've feared them three times while applying other stuff in between, this fight is safely yours.
Warlock vs Warrior: Arms and prot warriors can be kited to hell 1v1, so I'll focus on fury. Basically, you want to dot them outside of charge range and they're screwed. If this is not possible and they get a charge+PH, then it is of vital importance to not dot them until they are feared away from you. Otherwise, fear will break within PH range, and they will proceed to /lol and reapply it. Get them oor before any damage is done and you should be fine.
The Warlock as Battlefield General (fearing addendum)
It is within your abilities to control a fight, so make use of that. At all times, you should have a target and a focus target. You should have a convenient keybind for switching foci, as well. During some situations, that focus should be changing often. Your job is to completely lock one person down at all times while still being active yourself. Put that focus frame in an easy-to-see spot. Download a DR addon that lets you know when you can re-apply fear on the pesky healer. Have no respect for whatever the enemies may do. Don’t dot healers if you think you will be fearing them, since this almost completely ruins the benefit of fearing. This is a huge problem I see among other locks. They apply dots indiscriminately, not thinking about what will happen once they use fear.
Useful Macros for the Warlock
#showtooltip
/stopcasting
/cast [modifier:shift, target=focus] SPELL; SPELL
This is a basic focus modifier macro. You can choose between shift, ctrl, and alt as your modifiers, and the spell name goes wherever 'SPELL' is. This gets heaviest use with fear, but is also useful with Corr, UA, Agony, Weakness, and whatever other spell. One favorite strat of mine is to focus a warrior who is getting ready to charge in to a melee, thus making them think I don't have them targeted, and spamming focus Corr to hit them before they charge.
#showtooltip
/cast [nochanneling: Drain Life] Drain Life
This macro prevents your drain lifes from clipping before you stop casting them while spamming the spell. Quite useful because one will often miss the last tick when manually recasting.
/#showtooltip healthstone
/cast soulburn
/use healthstone
This macro casts Soulburn and Healthstone in a single click. Pretty good for those 'OH SH*T' situations.
Final Word
Remember, have fun! Don’t get frustrated, either. Warlock is a very gratifying class to play well. You will probably get beat up early and often as a young Warlock, but keep at it and you should see your damage and kills rise, your deaths fall, and enemy healers cower in fear of your presence.
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