World of Warcraft Warlock Guide
Part 1 – Choosing Your Race
World of Warcraft is a MMORPG of epic proportions. There are millions of subscribers across the globe that fight for the glory of the Alliance, or defend the honor of the Horde. One of the most intricate classes to master is that of the warlock. This is a multi-section guide which will focus choosing a racial class, talents, casting guides and macros, gear, pvp strategies, and of course, demons.
A warlock is basically a mage who dived a bit too deep in the magic of demonology. Forgoing such schools of magic such as arcane, frost, and nature, the warlock focuses his or her power on the magic of shadow and fire. Most importantly, warlocks have the ability to summon mystical demons which will defend, fight, and add attributes to the warlock master.
The first step towards creating a warlock is to determine which racial class is right for you. All warlocks are able to use daggers, wands, swords (with training), and staves (with training). Warlocks are only allowed to wear cloth armor which renders them highly susceptible to melee damage. Keep these facts in mind when choosing a race for your warlock.
The races available to warlocks are undead, orc, and blood elf for the Horde. The Alliance are allowed to choose from humans or gnomes.
Racial Class – Horde
Because the warlock is essentially a caster, it is important to choose a race wisely. There are three races available to the Horde warlock: undead, orc, and blood elf. The Alliance can have human or gnome warlocks. Each class has their advantages and disadvantages both with stats and racial abilities. This portion of the guide will review the attributes of each race as well as certain key abilities which are essential to a warlock’s survival.
Undead warlocks start with a balanced total of stamina (22) and intellect (20). This balance is very attractive as it allows the undead warlock to evenly cast spells with adequate health points. An undead warlock has two racial abilities which are key to a warlock’s survival. Will of the Forsaken is an instant cast ability which allows the warlock to break fear effects. This is a tremendous advantage especially during pvp fights. In addition, undead warlocks can use Cannibalize to eat a humanoid corpse to gain health. Because warlocks use Lifetap (converts x amount of health into mana) on a consistent basis, it’s handy to have another means to regenerate health.
Orc warlocks stats are tilted slightly more towards stamina (23) than intellect (19). This makes for an interesting situation as orcs can use Lifetap more liberally thus gaining mana easily. Orc warlocks also benefit from their racial trait called Hardiness. This ability gives orcs a 15% bonus resistance to stun and knockdown effects. This is key for a caster as a stunned, or knockdowned caster cannot cast spells. Since warlocks can only wear cloth armor, this equates to a very quick death.
Blood elf warlocks start with the most intellect (26) amongst all Horde classes which equates to the most mana. Their stamina is low however (19) which makes for a slightly more fragile warlock. Blood elves have a racial ability called Mana Tap and Arcane Torrent.Mana Tap reduces target’s mana by 51 and charges you with Arcane energy for 10 min. When combined with Arcane Torrent it will silence all enemies within 8 yards for 2 sec also, you gain 5 + 1/Level mana restored per Mana Tap charge. Basically this equates to another source of mana. Although this ability is a plus, the fact that warlocks can Lifetap make this ability underpowered.
Racial Class – Alliance
The Alliance gets to choose from two racial classes for their warlocks: humans and gnomes. Like the Horde classes, each race has their advantages and disadvantages.
Human, like the undead, offer the most balanced stats. With 21 stamina and 20 intellect, humans can easily bounce back and forth from health to mana with the use of Lifetap. Perhaps the most limiting factor of human warlocks is that their racial abilities do not directly help with combat. Humans do get Perception which will increase stealth detection. However, warlocks also get Detect Invisibility which essentially does the same thing. The only useful racial trait humans get is The Human Spirit which increases spirit by 10%. However, most warlocks do not concentrate on spirit stats as Lifetap can supply mana faster than spirit regeneration.
Gnome warlocks are intellect heavy (26) while low on stamina (20). Interestingly enough, gnomes start with 200 mana which is the highest compared to the other races. In addition, gnomes have two racial abilities which are important to the survival of a warlock. Escape Artist allows a gnome warlock to break out of a root or snare effect. This is similar to the undead version Will of the Forsaken, however allows gnome to break out of immobilization effects thus taking the gnome out of melee range. In addition, gnomes get Expansive Mind. This handy little racial trait increases intellect by 5%, thud decreasing the need for Lifetap.
In summary, each class has its advantages and disadvantages. If you decide to play a warlock, look carefully at your playstyle to determine what class will suit your needs. All classes offer benefits as well as disadvantages. Also keep in mind that there is no limit as to how many characters you can have in World of Warcraft. If you make an undead warlock and do not like it, you can easily replace it with a human warlock. Good luck and happy casting!
