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by Krigal Warlock Basics A warlock is a spellcaster that gets to keep a pet. Although in most PvP situations, a pet is simply an extra splash of damage here and there, each pet does have some special ability that makes it noteworthy. As far as casting goes, Warlocks have both damage over time and direct damage spells at their command, and will likely use a combination of both in combat. They also have a few channeled spells worth knowing about. Generally speaking, a Warlock's major weakness is inability to defend when at melee range. In addition to wearing only cloth armor, the Warlock's only really effective defensive spellcast is fear, which is NOT instant, making melee dmg and stuns a very effective counter strategy. Furthermore, because agro management doesn't work in PvP, pets can't be used to keep other players at a distance. Though it should be noted that when properly equipped a Warlock is far more dangerous in melee than other casters, they will certainly lose when toe-to-toe with melee classes. In general, the best way to combat a Warlock is to ignore or disable the pet, then interfere with spellcasting, possibly by charging forward to melee or using a strategic skill. Dueling Warlocks Something very important to note about warlocks is that they are almost always holding back in a duel. Warlocks can collect the souls of fallen enemies and use their energy to create stones, summon demons and inflict damage. The soul shards required to use several very effective abilities can ONLY be collected in the field by killing monsters that wield experience to the caster and stealing their souls. Furthermore, these souls take up an inordinate amount of inventory space, limiting the capacity of a warlock's collection substantially. Because of these factors, a warlock will likely refrain from using abilities requiring soul shards while dueling, handicapping him or herself. Being aware of this can better prepare you to battle horde warlocks, which will pull out all the stops to survive an attack or prevent you from escaping one. Abilities that require soul shards and are valuable in PvP combat are listed below - be sure to look over the corresponding information carefully to be aware of the potential hazards you will rarely encounter in a friendly dueling situation. Fear This is the most well-known and despise of Warlock skills. When active, you'll be unable to do anything while running around frantically with a big purple skull over your head. Once the spell takes effect, there is nothing you can do to reverse it (except for pallies), but using your mouse to maintain your bearings and prevent confusion will help you quickly recover once the effect wears off. Depending on the level of the warlock, the maximum duration of the spell will be either 7 or 15 seconds, which is reduced or broken by damage. Many people think fear is an unbalanced and unfair skill, but here I will try to put that to rest. First of all, fear is useless in melee combat. If you manage to close to melee range and start hacking away with a melee class, it's nearly impossible to get the fear cast off (1.5 sec cast, but constant melee damage together with flipkicks or shield bash makes casting it damn near impossible). Furthermore, fear is EASILY broken by damage. Although damage over time effects don't seem to break it very well, any sort of significant damage like a shadow bolt or pet attack is highly likely to break fear very quickly, so fearing somebody usually doesn't do anything but buy you enough time for one spellcast, which may fail because fear damn near always causes the target to run out of range. Plus warlocks don't get a neat defensive spell like frost nova, root, or snare, making them much more vulnerable to melee classes than other casters. Finally, all undead, any blacksmith at lvl 225, and warriors with berserker rage have the ability to make themselves totally immune to fear long enough to finish off a fight. Several other classes have other abilities that can beat fear - paladins have divine shielding, rogues have stealth and flipkick, mages have counterspell, hunters have melee pets, and priests have silence. So if you're whining about fear, quit being such a NEWB and do your homework, dammit! :D Warlock Pets In most cases, the pet a Warlock has out when combat begins will give some hint as to what strategy the Warlock will use, giving an experienced competitor an edge. Each pet is unique, and understanding the pet's abilities will help you to combat the Warlock more effectively. Imp The imp is the little short guy with green flame all over him. This is the weakest of all pets in terms of health, and is the ONLY pet you should consider actually combating directly. Any other pet takes too long to kill, giving the warlock time to throw out damage. The imp gives a hefty stamina bonus to his Warlock, provides him with a minor thorns-type damage shield, and tosses fireballs rather quickly at opponents. One thing particularly interesting about the imp is that it cannot be targetted until it attacks. Some Warlocks have especially strong imps that may do more damage, cast faster, or both. Voidwalker (Soul shard required) This is the hugeass blue pet with the little beady purple eyes. This pet's ability to do damage is SO gimp that he should be totally ignored unless you have some really easy way to disable him altogether (sap, banish). The one ability that this pet does have, however, is sacrifice. If the Warlock activates the sacrifice skill, he is surrounded by a white sphere that blocks all damage for THIRTY SECONDS. Wow. Although this shield can theoretically be broken, don't try if you're by yourself. The best way to combat this technique is to stun or otherwise interfere with the Warlock's casting until the shield fails. Succubus (Soul shard required) The succubus is the sexy devil chick with horns, hooves and wings. Yum! Of all the pets, this one dishes out the heaviest damage. In addition to doing the most damage in basic melee, she occasionally lashes out with her "lash of pain" to splash on some spell damage. She's pretty weak healthwise, but I wouldn't recommend fighting her unless you can buy yourself some time. The succubus can turn invisible outside of combat, so if you see a Warlock running around without a pet, think twice before dashing in there too confidently. Most noteworthy of the succubus' skills is seduction, her ability to stun an opponent for up to 18 seconds. Thankfully, although this skill lasts quite a long time with only a short cast time, it's very easily broken by even minor damage. For this reason, an experienced Warlock with a succubus at his side is more likely to pile on direct damage than DoTs. Even when you disable the Warlock, the succubus can disable you and vice-versa, making this a very dangerous combination when an experienced Warlock is involved. Some Warlocks have a stronger succubus capable of using the Lash of Pain more frequently and/or more effectively. Felhunter (Soul shard required) This is the dog-like demon that looks really badass. This is by far the hardest pet to kill, so don't take the time to try. You'll surely regret it when you've got 4 DoTs and a shadow bolt on you. This pet is a nightmare to casters, because he can counterspell and do pretty good melee damage to boot. It also has the ability to remove debuffs (like root and stun) from his master OR remove buffs (shields, stamina bonuses) from opponents. Thankfully, the dog takes a lot of practice to use effectively (sort of like the succubus), but a mastered Felhunter is dangerous business. Direct Damage The Warlock has two direct damage spells, shadow bolt and searing pain. Shadow bolt has a longer cast time and much higher damage, and is more often used. However, searing pain may be used in the event of a flipkick or counterspell, or when the longer cast time for shadow bolt is unacceptable. Some warlocks inflict daze with either spell and possibly shadow vulnerability with shadow bolt. Additionally, some can inflict more damage with either spell and/or cast either slightly faster than other warlocks. Area of Effect Direct Damage Warlocks use two area effect spells, rain of fire and hellfire. Both are channelled, meaning that they are instant cast, but their duration may be reduced by damage or cancelled by movement. Each does damage over time to enemies within the field of effect. The difference between the two is that rain of fire is targettable, while hellfire is radial. Hellfire is more effective for dealing damage very quickly, but does equal damage to the caster as well. Some warlocks have a chance to stun with both of these spells. Damage Over Time Warlocks have two basic DoTs at their disposals, immolate and corruption. Immolate does direct damage on impact and fire damage over time, but has a shorter duration, while corruption deals shadow damage over time. These are commonly used in conjunction with fear to buy them time to work while the target is incapacitated. Note that a warlock with a succubus summoned probably plans to use seduction, and so will not employ DoTs. Although the initial impact of immolate almost always breaks fear, the over-time damage of both spells is unlikely to do so. Curse of agony and life drain also have DoT-like effects, and are covered in their respective sections. Beams Warlocks have an assortment of channeled beam-like spells which are quite useful and important to understand. The color of the beam indicates its effect. Since they are all channeled, remember that forcing the caster to move will cancel the cast, while any damage will reduce its duration. Life Drain (green beam) This spell siphons health from the target to the caster at a very high rate (relative to the caster's health). It has the potential to quickly turn the tide of battle and heal the caster. Combined with curse of weakness and a high damage pet, this can be used to effectively combat melee opponents. Some warlocks siphon health at an increased rate and may additionally be more difficult to interrupt with basic damage. Mana Drain (blue beam) This beam doesn't usually drain mana fast enough to be a serious threat to the common caster. However, a warlock may employ it as a last-ditch effort when his or her enemy is already low on mana. Even when bolstered by talent-spending, it's not very threatening to the large mana reserves of pure-caster combatants. Soul Drain (pink beam) Its very unlikely that you will see this in PvP, since life drain is by far more effective. It simply deals damage over time, returning none of that damage to the caster as health. It does however have an increased range and duration compared to life drain. Stones Healthstone (Soul shard required) Healthstones are potion-like stones that instantly restore a large portion of health (usually about half), and have a chance to critical. Fortunately, they have a cooldown time much like potions do, AND no character can carry more than one at a time. This makes it downright impossible to use more than one per fight. Some warlocks gain up to 20% more health from their healthstones. Soulstone (Ineffective in Duels) The soulstone makes warlocks a really creepy bunch. Essentially, using a spellstone on a friendly character (even the caster) gives that character the ability to leap back up instantly from death at the click of a button one time in the next half hour. Usage of a soulstone has a 30 min cooldown as well, so it's actually pretty well-balanced. Should you kill a warlock, NEVER assume he or she is really dead. Instead, pretend to leave and see if it doesn't hop back up before you actually leave. There have been so many times that I've been slain by a ganker and got away no problem simply because they assumed I was dead. Woo go warlocks! :D Spellstone (Soul shard required) Usage of a spellstone gives the caster a shield that last a full minute and blocks only magic damage. It's a bright green shield that pulses around the caster. Fortunately, despite its longevity, the shield is better broken than allowed to dissipate. Don't try to outlive the shield, just blast away at it or switch to basic damage. The spellstone MUST be held in the offhand and when equipped, has a cooldown of about thirty seconds. This means that unless the warlock goes into battle with it ready, he or she won't be able to use one. Also note that this means any warlock carrying a staff is incapable of using the spellstone ability. Curses All curses are instant-cast strategic moves, and you should expect a warlock to put one on you during any fight. There is a limit of one curse per target per warlock, and two warlocks can stack their curses together as long as the curses are different. Warlocks who specialize in afflictions have generally more powerful curses. Curse of Agony This curse is most common. It's a damage over time curse that lasts a whopping 30 seconds, which can be very annoying if the warlock tosses it on and runs. The damage is slight at first, but increases over time toward the end of the curse duration. Curse of Recklessness This is the most ridiculously useless skill warlocks have. It reduces the armor rating of the target, but increases its attack power and makes it immune to fear! Even in a group situation with a melee partner, this curse is debatably unwise. Personally, I don't even know what it looks like, because I haven't used it in my first 40 levels of experience. Curse of Tongues This doubles casting time for 30 seconds, the duration of the curse. Great versus casters, especially priests who often wait till the last minute to heal themselves. An amusing but useless side effect is that the target will also speak in demonic when using the /say channel while the curse is in effect. Curse of Weakness Reducing melee damage inflicted by an flat (not percentile) amount dictated by the level of the curse, this curse is most useful when melee combat is unavoidable, as when fighting a rogue or warrior. If you're driving such a toon, expect it. Curse of Exhaustion Useful against melee classes, this curse reduces movement speed by a percentage. Depending on specialization, this can reduce movement speed by anywhere from 10 to 60 percent. |