Class Guide: Warlocks - Guide for World of Warcraft

*******************************************************************************

   WW    WW  OOOOOOOO  RRRRRRR   LL        DDDDDD         OOOOOOOO  FFFFFFFF
   WW    WW  OOOOOOOO  RRRRRRRR  LL        DDDDDDDD       OOOOOOOO  FFFFFFFF
   WW    WW  OO    OO  RR    RR  LL        DD    DD       OO    OO  FF
   WW    WW  OO    OO  RRRRRRR   LL        DD    DD       OO    OO  FFFFFF
   WW WW WW  OO    OO  RRRRRR    LL        DD    DD       OO    OO  FFFFFF
   WWWWWWWW  OO    OO  RR  RR    LL        DD    DD       OO    OO  FF
   WWW  WWW  OOOOOOOO  RR   RR   LLLLLLLL  DDDDDDDD       OOOOOOOO  FF
   WW    WW  OOOOOOOO  RR    RR  LLLLLLLL  DDDDDD         OOOOOOOO  FF

WW    WW     AA     RRRRRRR   CCCCCCCC  RRRRRRR      AA     FFFFFFFF  TTTTTTTT
WW    WW    AAAA    RRRRRRRR  CCCCCCCC  RRRRRRRR    AAAA    FFFFFFFF  TTTTTTTT
WW    WW   AA  AA   RR    RR  CC        RR    RR   AA  AA   FF           TT
WW    WW  AA    AA  RRRRRRR   CC        RRRRRRR   AA    AA  FFFFFF       TT
WW WW WW  AAAAAAAA  RRRRRR    CC        RRRRRR    AAAAAAAA  FFFFFF       TT
WWWWWWWW  AAAAAAAA  RR  RR    CC        RR  RR    AAAAAAAA  FF           TT
WWW  WWW  AA    AA  RR   RR   CCCCCCCC  RR   RR   AA    AA  FF           TT
WW    WW  AA    AA  RR    RR  CCCCCCCC  RR    RR  AA    AA  FF           TT

*******************************************************************************

World of Warcraft: Warlock Guide
Version 1.50  (4/18/10)
Written by Travis Stauffer

Version 1.50 (4/18/10)  - Added PvP section 6 and Patch 3.3.3 updates
Version 1.20 (9/23/09)  - Added minion details and glossary
Version 1.01 (8/19/09)  – Patch 3.2.0 updates
Version 1.00 (7/22/09)  – General Guide

*****************
Table of Contents
*****************

1. Foreword
2. Class Details
3. Soul Shards
4. Minions
5. PvE Basic Strategy
6. PvP Basic Strategy
7. Spell List
8. Talents
9. Glossary
10. Legal


1. ***FOREWORD***

I wanted to write this guide because there aren’t too many Warlock guides out
there.  The ones that I did find were outdated.  It seems that Blizz likes to
change things up frequently.
This started out a as a basic guide but I have continued to add more detail.  I
have tried to include things that will be useful to rookies and those just
starting with the Warlock class.
This guide was originally written from a PvE perspective only.  I have added
a section to deal with PvP specifically and have sprinkled tips throughout.


2. ***CLASS DETAILS***

Warlocks have a couple of characteristics that distinguish them from the other
classes.  First is the ability to summon and control minions.  The various
minions that you are able to summon allow for flexibility in play style.  The
second distinguishing characteristic is hard hitting spells with a large mana
pool.  This allows Locks to keeping dishing out the pain for a relatively long
time.

A disadvantage is definitely the lack of anything but cloth armor.  If a group
of enemies starts beating on you, you are going to be visiting the graveyard in
a hurry.  This makes leveling a bit difficult at the beginning.  If you can
find a group to help you with questing when first starting out, by all means do
so.

Choosing between the different races for your toon won’t make any difference in
the long run.  The base stats only vary slightly and by level 80 won’t amount
to anything.  So choose the race that you like the best!

Stamina is all important for a leveling Warlock.  More stamina means more
health, and the Life Tap ability can be used to convert health into mana. While
leveling, look for items that give + stamina.  Secondarily, look for items that
give + intellect.  Intellect translates directly into mana.  A larger mana pool
means continued spell casting for a longer period of time.

The Warlock receives a free mount at level 20 after paying for riding
training.  The epic mount can be obtained for free at level 40 although you
still have to pay for the riding training.  There is an optional quest chain
that can be done at level 60 to obtain the epic mount.  This was originally
designed as a way to get your mount a little bit early at level 60, before
Blizzard lowered the riding level requirements.  It is expensive and very time
consuming.  Unless you are feeling nostalgic, don't bother with the quest.


3. ***SOUL SHARDS***

Soul shards are unique to the Warlock class.  They are required to cast many of
the powerful spells and to summon minions.  They take up one space each in your
inventory, are soulbound, and don’t stack.  Soul shards are collected by using
the Drain Soul spell.  I usually try to keep at least three soul shards with me
at all times.  In case of death, you will need a few to get your minion,
Healthstone, and Soulstone back.


4. ***MINIONS***

Many summoned demons are available to the Warlock.  They all have different
abilities that play well in certain scenarios.  This section includes general
information followed by specifics.

Every minion has controllable functions that are similar to those of the pets
for Hunters.  You can click the commands with your cursor or use CTRL + (# key)
to issue the commands.

The first set of buttons give direct commands to the minion.
Attack - The minion will attack your target.
Follow - The minion will stay by your side.  It will leave your side to attack
 based on the attitude setting.  This is the setting I typically use.
Stay - The minion will drop anchor and stay put.

The next set of buttons to the right will control the minion’s special
abilities.  These abilities are unique for each minion and will be discussed in
detail in the following minion specific sections.
Your minion’s special abilities are normally set to automatic.  This means that
the special abilities will automatically execute when they are available.  You
will notice that these special abilities have cool down timers in the same way
that your own abilities have.  It is possible to manually control the minion
abilities instead.  Right-clicking on the ability icon will remove the auto-
execution.  You will notice that the yellow, dancing border on the outside of
the icon stops, meaning that auto-execute is off.  It is then possible to click
the icon or use a hot key to use the ability manually.
Personally, I normally leave the minion special abilities on auto-execute.
Trying to control the abilities manually is usually way too much
micromanagement.  However, there will be times when this type of in-depth
manual control is needed.

The group of functions to the far right of the toolbar control the minion’s
attitude.
Aggressive - The minion will attack anything that it can when you walk by.  I
 like to use this setting when I am escorting lowbies to help them quest.
 Be aware that if your minion gets the kill, and you put no damage on the mob,
 you will not be able to loot the corpse.
Defensive – The minion will only attack if you are attacked or if you initiate
 a fight.  This is my standard setting.
Passive – The minion will do nothing.  Useful when you want to pull a mob to
 you without having the minion meet them and stop them before they get to you.
 Also useful for getting the minion to return to you and pull mobs with them.

As a final note, keep in mind that if you run too far away from your minion it
will despawn.  A soulshard will be returned to you if appropriate.  This can
happen sometimes if you are getting pounded and have to run away from the
fight, leaving the minion behind.

Imp-This is your first summoned demon; a cute little guy that helps by dealing
 damage with its fireballs.  It has a decent mana pool but can’t take very much
 punishment.  It does not require a soul shard to cast, so you’ll use it
 exclusively at the beginning of your career and possibly again as you approach
 level 80, depending on your talent build.
Blood Pact - Increase party and raid members' health.
Firebolt - Shoots fire balls at target.
Phase Shift - Makes the Imp invisible and unattackable.
Fire Shield - Increase fire resistance of party member and deals fire damage to
 any attacker.

Voidwalker-Your second demon has a lot more endurance.  It is able to tank for
 you.  This goes a long way in helping you to get through fights.  The
 disadvantage of this minion is the lack of attack power.  This thing hits with
 the strength of kitten farts.  However, you may find yourself using this demon
 for quite a while.  I found that the combination of my attack power with its
 damage absorption made a great team.
Taunt - Keeps aggro on the minion.
Sacrifice - Sacrifices some minion health to give you a 30 second shield.
Consume Shadows - Recovers minion health and increases stealth detection of
 party.
Suffering - Keeps aggro on the minion and reduces enemy chance to hit.

Succubus-The third minion has decent attack power but is not very tough.  Her
 strength is her Seduction ability which allows her to stun a target for
 several seconds.  She is fun and useful for a short while when you first
 acquire the ability to cast her, but her usefulness will soon fade as you
 progress through the game.
Soothing Kiss - Lowers minion aggro and reduces enemy melee attack speed.
Lash of Pain - Shadow damage attack.
Seduction - Stuns humanoid target.
Lesser Invisibility - Uh,.. not as good as regular invisibility?

Felhunter-This demon has some unique abilities that are ideal for fighting
 casters.  The special abilities of this minion can wipe effects from enemies
 and party members.  This is a very specialized minion that won’t be used very
 often.
Devour Magic - Removes a harmful spell from a friendly target or removes a
 helpful spell from an enemy target; also heals the minion.
Spell Lock - Blocks an enemy spell cast attempt and prevents that spell school
 from being used for 6 seconds.
Fel Intelligence - Increases party intellect and spirit.
Shadow Bite - Shadow damage to the enemy.

Feguard-This minion is summoned through a talent learned in the demonology 
 tree.  I love this demon for solo questing.  He hits hard and is able to take
lots of punishment.  He is able to hold aggro in most situations.  The drawback
is a small mana pool.
Intercept - The minion will rush out to meet the target. This will also stun
 the target for a couple of seconds.
Cleave - A sweeping attack that damages the target and another target nearby.
 I would say to turn this off if the minion is only fighting one mob to save
 mana.
Taunt - Keeps aggro on the minion.

Infernal-He hits hard, usually holds aggro, and can take a beating.  The
 drawbacks are that it requires a special infernal stone to cast and only lasts
 one minute.  The infernal stones can be purchased from certain vendors.  Good
 to use if you are in long fight and your minion goes down.

Doomguard-A very special minion.  There are two ways to summon this demon.  You
 must have the Curse of Doom or Ritual of Doom spell.  Curse of Doom will
 summon the Doomguard if you are fighting an enemy that is a high enough level
 to grant XP and if the curse runs through its 1 minute cycle to deliver the
 killing blow.  Once summoned this minion will be very agitated and will want
 to kill something.  He will probably come after you first!  Be prepared with
 Curse of Elements to help the enslave stick and follow up with Enslave Demon.
 Be aware that this minion can break the enslave and begin beating the tar out
 of you again.  Also note that repeating the Enslave Demon procedure will cause
 the enslave period to become shorter each time.  Overall, fun to try once but
 not very useful.  Despawns after 5 minutes.
 Ritual of Doom requires a special demonic figurine as a regent and a group of
 4 other party members to help summon.  Summoning in this way will result in a
 friendly minion.  Lasts 15 minutes before despawn.
 This minion is a punisher.  He deals big damage and has decent hp.  The most
 powerful minion.
 The Ritual of Doom spell may be acquired in two different ways.  You can kill
 Doomguard Commanders and Dreadlords in southwest Blasted Lands for the
 Grimoire of Doom item.  This is a rare drop and is BOP, but will teach you the
 spell.
 I believe that the faster way to acquire this spell is to perform the three
 step quest chain that begins with Daio the Decrepit in western Blasted Lands.
 He will give three quests that involve killing level 61 and 62 elites.  Help
 for this quest chain is nice but not required if you are Demonology spec.
Rain of Fire - Similar to your own spell, an AOE that damages nearby enemies.
Dispel - Like the Felhunter's Devour Magic in that it either removes a harmful
 spell from a friendly target or one beneficial spell from an enemy.
Cripple - Slows enemy movement and increase time between enemy melee and ranged
 attacks.
War Stomp - Stuns and damages nearby enemies.


5. ***PVE BASIC STRATEGY***

A Warlock’s advantage lies in the ability to dish out massive amounts of
punishment.  I like to start a typical fight with Immolate.  It normally has a
few seconds casting time, so best to use this one first and at a distance
before the enemy starts dealing damage to you.  I follow with an instant cast
Corruption.  I then follow up with a scenario specific curse: Curse of Weakness
if you are low level and have nothing else, Curse of Tongues against a caster,
Curse of Agony for DPS, or Curse of Elements.  Remember that you can only have
one active curse on a target at a time.  

I have found wands to be the best weapons for Locks.  You are able to deal
damage from a distance which helps to avoid enemy AOEs.  Locks can also use
daggers, staves, and one-hand swords.  If you find a weapon with stat boosts
that you are able to use, by all means hold onto it, even though you probably
won’t use it for fighting.

When first starting out, it can be difficult to quest by yourself.  One on one
fights are hard enough, and a group of 2 or 3 enemies can mean a visit to the
graveyard angel.  Some quests will require that you take on a group, however.
I found myself in situations where I was outmatched often early on.  An
effective, but not at all glamorous strategy is to concentrate all of your
attacks on one enemy, as opposed to using AOEs or casting spells on each enemy.
This way, you can hopefully take down at least one baddie, resurrect, and get
back to fight another before they start to respawn.  Like I said, not
glamorous, but effective.
The better strategy is to try and pull just one enemy out of the group.  Set
your minion on passive if needed, and find the maximum distance that you can
stand from the enemy while still being able to cast a spell.  Cast the spell,
wait for the enemy to approach, and then set the minion to defensive.  If you
accidentally draw the whole crowd, refer back to strategy one.

Once you are able to summon the Voidwalker, I would recommend using it full
time for a while as you level up.  It can tank for you, which makes things
much, much easier.  It recovers health rather quickly, and can handle a mob
smacking it around for quite a while.  This can be your go to minion for most
of the game.
As you progress, you may find that your play style is better complimented by
another minion.  I eventually moved to a demonology spec for solo questing.
The Felguard is great for this.  He burns mana quickly, but you can give him
more with Life Tap if you have the Mana Feed talent.  A couple of Life Taps,
8 seconds of first aid bandaging, and you’re back in the fight.  When you
eventually acquire Fel Armor, you virtually become a zero downtime grinding
machine.

I toyed with the Succubus and Felhunter.  I like the Succubus’ Seduction
ability, but she doesn’t last very long in a fight and can’t hold aggro like
the Voidwalker.  The Felhunter is ideal if you are fighting a caster, but it is
very specialized.

You will probably be best served by an affliction or destruction talent spec as
you start your career.  When you reach level 51 and can go all the way through
the demonology tree to get the Felguard, I would recommend paying the 1 gold to
reset your talent points and switch to a demonology spec.  Solo questing
becomes much easier.
You can take on equal or higher level elites by yourself with the demonology
spec.  You will laugh at quests that say, "Suggested number of players [#]."
Turn off the Felguard's Cleave ability to save mana.  Make sure your Felarmor
is up.  Drop a couple of spells like Immolate, Corruption, and a curse.  Then
just hit Health Funnel.  Rinse, reapeat.  It takes a little bit of time, but it
is almost too easy.  I have used this strategy to take down 95% of the world
elite mobs solo.  There are exceptions, but by and large you can do it all by
yourself.

With the latest patch updates, Affliction has become the clear choice for max
DPS.  The Felhunter is now the pet of choice to pair with this spec. Basically,
spirit has been made into a valuable stat again.  Through the Affliction talent
tree, you are able to convert spirit into spell power.  The Felhunter’s Fel
Intelligence ability boosts spirit.

In a group setting, the Warlock role is typically going to be straight DPS.  An
ideal group usually has at least one tank.  If you are in a small group without
a tank, your minion can serve as a tank.  The Voidwalker and Felguard are great
for this.  If your group does have a tank, you may want to turn off your
minion’s taunt abilities, if applicable, to prevent the minion from pulling
aggro off of the tank.
Warlocks are able to deliver mass damage in a short period of time.  Sometimes
this can cause too much threat and pull the mobs from the tank to you.  If this
happens, don’t panic!  The worst thing you can do is run away.  Stay put, stop
casting, and let the tank pull the mob back.  If the tank somehow doesn’t
notice or can’t come to you, run to the tank and tell them, “aggro.”
I have mixed opinions about using CC.  There are times when you will be asked
to Fear mobs.  But for the most part, you should not be using CC unless
required.  Don’t use CC to get a mob off of you who is not on the tank.
Instead, refer to the section above.
You may want to use your soulstone on someone other than yourself.  It may be a
good idea to use it on someone in your group who has rez abilities.  This way,
you have a better chance of keeping alive the one person in your group who can
bring you and everyone else back to life.
Minion choice may vary depending on your group makeup.  The Imp provides a
health boost while the Felhunter gives an intellect and spirit boost.


6. **PVP BASIC STRATEGY**

Warlocks have a lot of utility spells that make them a useful addition to a PvP
situation.  The most useful of these functions is CC.  In most situations your
responsibility will be CC.

Let’s get some of the obvious things out of the way first.  Locks wear cloth
“armor.”  You’d almost be better running around naked.  At least that way you
might buy some extra time by confusing the enemy.  The armor value of cloth is
very low compared to other armor types even with rare armor items.  Be
concerned with the bonus stats when choosing armor and do not concern yourself
with the armor values.  This being said, you will not win a straight up toe-to-
toe fight against anyone.
Your strongest advantages in PvP rely on spells that you don’t commonly use in
PvE.  CC spells and teleport are basically worthless in PvE.  However in PvP,
these will move to the top of your list.
Always have a healthstone ready.
Always have your best armor spell up.
Always watch your back!  Everyone loves to pick on cloth wearers, especially
Warlocks.  Look behind yourself every chance you get.

The general rule for every fight is that Fear is your best friend.  A Fear
spell will last until a certain amount of time has elapsed or until a certain
amount of damage is done.  Fear can be used three times in a row against an
enemy before they become immune.  The duration of Fear becomes shorter with
each use.
When fighting one-on-one, you will want to keep the enemy feared for as long
as possible while laying down DOTs.  Don’t bother with you wand or staff.
Break out you hardest hitting spells and spam them to oblivion.
When fighting with a group, you should keep as many targets feared for as
long as you possibly can.  Rotate your Fear spells between enemies and watch
the durations for each.  Try to re-apply as soon as the effect wears off.
DOTs are an afterthought here.  Keep the targets feared and let you allies do
the damage.
Howl of Terror is a second to last resort or can be used when multiple enemies
are nearby.  The normal 30 second cooldown on this spell could mean that it
won’t be ready again when you need it.  There is a glyph available that can
shorten this cooldown.
Death Coil is your ace in the hole.  Perfect for those situations when you can
actually see a rogue coming or when you just need to regain the upper hand.
The long cooldown on this spell is the thing to watch.  I would recommend that
it is saved until necessary.  

The spec that you choose for PvP is really dependent on your personal style.
All specs are viable for PvP.  The Demonology Soul Link is quite useful for the
damage absorbtion.  Affliction and Destruction can bring the pain in a hurry.
In short, there is no “best spec” for PvP.
Your minion choice is largely open as well.  The only minion that should be
avoided is the Imp.  He has no business being out for PvP.  All others provide
abilities that are viable.  Highlights include the Voidwalker Sacrifice and the
Felguard Intercept.
Dropping the Infernal has its use as well.  It has a short life span, but
hurling it into a large group of combatants in a battleground can turn the
tide.  If it distracts enough enemies for a few seconds then it is mission
accomplished!

Always be on the move!  A stationary Lock is a dead Lock.  Certain spells of
course do require that you stay still to cast or channel.  As soon as this is
done you need to start moving again.

Using teleport effectively can be a great advantage.  It has a limited
horizontal range, so it is most useful in vertical situations.  Perfect
examples are towers and cliff edges.  One scenario involves dropping the
summoning circle at a high altitude to begin.  You will have the opportunity to
drop spells on the enemy as they work their way up to fight you.  When they get
to the top, drop down to the ground.  They will probably have to jump down to
follow.  When they do, teleport back to the top.  Now you start to understand
why everyone hates Warlocks.
In general, you will always want to drop a teleport circle when you reach a new
area.  You never know when you will need it!


7. ***SPELL LIST***

Below is a list of the different spell types and their functions.  Note that
there are multiple levels to most spells.  These added levels are not listed
below.  I simply note the level when the spell is first acquired.  Typically,
new spells can be learned at all even numbered levels.  Also note that talents
and glyphs can be used to augment the spells.

LEVEL 4
Corruption-The bread and butter spell.  Good mana to DPS ratio.  There is no
 reason not to cast this spell in almost every fight.
Curse of Weakness-Useful when you are first starting out and don’t have any
 other curses.  But it won’t be long before you do acquire new curses and this
 one is obsolete.

LEVEL 6
Life Tap-A unique feature of Warlocks is that they can tap into their HP pool
 and convert it to mana.  Useful for long fights when you run out of mana but
 still have plenty of HP.  A quick way to regenerate your HP and mana is to
 Life Tap a couple of times to refill your mana and then slap on a bandage to
 recover the HP.  A lot faster than sitting down to eat and drink.
Shadow Bolt-I have mixed feelings about this one.  It was very useful at the
 beginning when I had no decent wands and no other spells to supplement my
 regular attacks.  But toward the end, my particular build didn’t leave this
 spell as being very useful.  There are talents that can spec for Shadow and
 this spell in particular.  Unless you are using that build, this spell may
 become useless halfway up the leveling ladder. However, for a level 80
 Affliction DPS build, this spell becomes the go to spam button.

LEVEL 8
Curse of Agony-I use this in almost every fight.  This DOT deals less damage at
 the beginning and builds up for more DPS at the end.  So for weaker enemies it
 can be overkill and a waste of mana.
Fear-Your first crowd control spell.  It affects only one targeted enemy,
 causing them to flee the scene for a few seconds.  Beware that if they run
 into other mobs they will bring them back too, which can make things even
 worse.  Also note that if you attempt to use it repeatedly on the same enemy
 it will become less effective each time.  Useful if you are in PvP or in a no
 win fight as a last ditch effort.  But for the most part in PvE, I have seen
 this spell do more harm than good.
 In PvP, this spell is your number one best friend.  Use it always and often.

LEVEL 10
Drain Soul-This is the spell that gives you soul shards.  It is a channeled
 spell that randomly places soul shards in your inventory.  You will always
 receive a soul shard from an enemy if the enemy dies while the Drain Soul
 spell is active.  You can only receive soul shards from enemies that grant XP.
 So just going out to the woods and putting the spell on a bunny won’t work.
 With the right talents, this spell becomes another must use spell for a level
 80 Affliction DPS build.
Create Healthstone-Always have one of these with you.  It restores a chunk of
 your health instantly.  It requires a soul shard to generate.
Demon Skin-Your first armor spell.  It gives you a + armor bonus.  No reason
 not to have one of these spells on at all times.
Immolate-Another bread and butter spell.  It puts a large burst of Fire damage
 on the target at the beginning.  It then continues to deal Fire damage for a
 few more seconds.  Another spell that I use in almost every fight.
Summon Voidwalker-Requires a soul shard.

LEVEL 12
Health Funnel-Takes HP from you and channels it to the minion.  Can be used in
 or out of combat.

LEVEL 14
Drain Life-A channeled spell that takes HP from the target and gives it to you.
 For the amount of life that you gain versus the casting cost, I don’t like
 this spell.  Useful if you are going to try to drain tank.

LEVEL 16
Unending Breath-Lets you stay underwater without the need for air for 10
 minutes.  Can also be applied to friendly targets.

LEVEL 18
Create Soulstone-Requires a soul shard.  Can be applied to yourself or a
 friendly target.  Stores the target soul for resurrection.  Only one
 soulstone can be active at a time and there is a 15 minute cool down.  I keep
 one of these on at all times.  If you are with a group, you may consider
 putting the soulstone on one of the group members instead of yourself.
Searing Pain-Basically an Immolate spell that costs half the mana and does half
 the damage.  I just assume use Immolate.

LEVEL 20
Demon Armor-A beefed up version of Demon Skin.  Again, no reason not to have
 this on at all times.
Rain of Fire-A very useful AOE spell.  It allows you to focus damage to all
 enemies in a wide area.  It consumes a lot of mana though.  But when you need
 to take down a large group of enemies, this is the way to go.
Ritual of Summoning-Requires a soul shard.  Lets you open a portal that can
 summon other party members to your location.  The catch is that you must
 already have two other party members with you to complete the summon.  Useful
 for picking up the stragglers.
Summon Succubus-Requires a soul shard.

LEVEL 22
Eye of Kilrogg-Creates a giant green eyeball that you can use for scouting
 purposes.  Useful for seeing around corners and checking down long corridors
 past mobs that you don’t want to fight if you don’t have to.  I have also used
 this to lure enemies away from their posts allowing you to then sneak past
 without resistance.

LEVEL 24
Drain Mana-Similar to drain life.  A channeled spell that returns mana to you
 from the targeted enemy.  For the casting cost and the amount of mana returned,
 I deem this spell to be worthless.
Sense Demons-Shows demons on the minimap just like you would use it to track
 other items.  Useful for finding demons to apply Enslave Demon.

LEVEL 26
Curse of Tongues-Slows the casting time of enemy casters.  Most times I like to
 use this curse when fighting an enemy caster.  It can slow them down just
 enough to keep them from healing themselves at the last second before you
 finish them.
Detect Invisibility-Allows you to see invisible enemies.  Does not allow you to
 see stealthed enemies.

LEVEL 28
Banish-Binds an enemy minion so that it can not attack.  The caveat is that you
 are unable to attack it either.  Useful when you are fighting an enemy caster
 sans minion.  Hit the minion with banish and take out the caster.  By the time
 that is accomplished, the banish spell will wear off and you can finish off
 the minion.  Always easier to fight one enemy at a time instead of two!
 This is also useful in PvP for banishing those pesky healing druids in tree
 form.  Apply again as soon as it breaks to keep them out of the way.
Create Firestone-Requires a soul shard.  Creates a 5 use stone that gives you a
 small spell buff.  Lasts one hour.  It is cool if you want to do this once to
 try it out, but it is totally worthless.  The Master Conjuror talent does add
 a bonus that makes this better, but still not worth it.

LEVEL 30
Enslave Demon-Requires a soul shard.  Allows you to take control of a demon
 and make it do your bidding.  Used to control the Doomguard when summoned via
 Curse of Doom.
Hellfire-Basically an AOE self-destruct spell that hurts you and does equal
 damage to all surrounding enemies.  I do not understand this spell at all.
 Unless you are fighting low level mobs and want to impress your friends, just
 stick with Rain of Fire.
Summon Felhunter-Requires a soul shard.

LEVEL 32
Curse of the Elements-Reduces the target’s resistances to elemental damage.
Shadow Ward-A buff that absorbs Shadow damage.  If you see a Shadow Priest in
 PvP, use this to help fend off some of the damage.

LEVEL 36
Create Spellstone-Requires a soul shard.  Similar to Firestone.  Adds haste.
 The Master Conjuror talent adds a bonus that makes this better.  However,
 this does add a small amount of haste and is useful once you hit level 80.
 Anything that can help you to cast more quickly can only help your DPS.

LEVEL 40
Howl of Terror-A more useful Fear spell that affects a group of enemies
 surrounding the caster.  This is great when you are getting pounded by a group
 of enemies and need a few seconds to regroup or cast.

LEVEL 42
Death Coil-Fears one enemy and deals damage to that enemy.  Like the Fear
 spell, be aware that the enemy may run into others and bring them back to you.
 However, mobs don't run as far away as they do with Fear.  This is a lifesaver
 in PvP.  As an instant cast, this will get someone away from you in a pinch.
 The long cooldown means you should save this for an emergency though.

LEVEL 48
Soulfire-Requires a soul shard.  Delivers a fireball that takes a chunk of one
 targeted enemy’s HP.  Has a long cast time.  This spell can be very powerful
 when augmented with talents and glyphs.

LEVEL 50
Inferno-Requires an infernal stone.  Summons the Infernal minion.

LEVEL 60
Curse of Doom-Puts a curse on one enemy.  After one minute, a heap of damage
 is unloaded on the target.  If the target is killed by the curse, the
 Doomguard will be summoned.  Cannot be used in PvP.
Ritual of Doom-Requires a demonic figurine and 4 additional party members to
 cast.  Summons the Doomguard.  A quest chain is required to obtain this spell.

LEVEL 62
Fel Armor-Surrounds you with fel energy that grants health regeneration and
 increases your spell power.  The benefit of the HP regen is great.  I
 recommend using this instead of Demon Armor once you get it.

LEVEL 64
Incinerate-Has a cast time of a couple seconds.  Lay this on an enemy who
 already has an Immolate spell applied for extra damage.

LEVEL 66
Soulshatter-Requires soul shard.  Reduces your threat to nearby enemies.

LEVEL 68
Ritual of Souls-Allows you to create a soul well that lets party members take
 healthstones.  Requires 2 other party members to cast.

LEVEL 70
Seed of Corruption-Inflicts Shadow damage to one target for up to 18 seconds,
 or until maximum spell damage is achieved.  When the timer expires, Shadow
 damage is inflicted on all nearby enemies.  This spell creates mass
 destruction.

LEVEL 75
Shadowflame-Instant cast that starts with shadow damage and then flame DOT,
 hence the name.  It hits enemies in front of you in a cone-shaped area,
 meaning that enemies behind or to the side will not be hit.

LEVEL 80
Demonic Circle-A two part spell: Summon and Teleport.  Basically a short range
 teleportation spell.  Useful against bosses to escape certain effects.  Many
 great PvP uses.


8. *** TALENT TREES***

Like all classes, the Warlock class has three talent trees available.  It is
fun to play with different trees and build combinations.  I would say to not
worry too much about the talents at the beginning of the game.  Have fun and do
some experimentation.  It only costs 1 gold the first time to reset the talents
and start over.  As you approach level 80 you will probably want to invest the
1000 gold into dual talent specialization.  This will allow you to have one
spec for raiding and another for soloing.
The tree names are pretty much self explanatory.  Affliction focuses on DOTs
and curses.  Demonology focuses on augmenting minion powers.  Destruction
focuses on critical hits.
Affliction seems to be popular for end game raid builds.  I have used
Demonology and Destruction builds for my solo questing.  Destruction worked
well, but I prefer Demonology for solo.

Legend:
Talent-Max ranks  Description (Some of the talent names are self explanatory)

AFFLICTION
Tier 1
Improved Curse of Agony-2
Suppresion-3  Increases chance to hit with spells and lowers affliction casting
 cost.
Improved Corruption-5  Improves Corruption and increases critical strike chance
 of Seed of Corruption

Tier2
Improved Curse of Weakness-2
Improved Drain Soul-2  Returns mana if target is killed with Drain Soul and
 causes Affliction spells to generate less threat
Improved Life Tap-2
Soul Siphon-2  Improves Drain Life spell

Tier 3
Improved Fear-2  Causes Nightmare Effect that slows target’s movement speed.
Fel Concentration-3  Reduces pushback when casting Drain Life, Drain Mana,
 Drain Soul, Unstable Affliction, and Haunt
Amplify Curse-1  Reduces global cooldown of curses by .5 seconds


Tier 4
Grim Reach-2  Increases range of Affliction spells
Nightfall-2  Gives Corruption and Drain Life spells a chance to put you in a
 Shadow Trance that lets you cast an instant Shadow Bolt.
Empowered Corruption-3

Tier 5
Shadow Embrace-5  Haunt and Shadow Bolt spells increase target damage and
 reduce target healing
Siphon Life-1  Corruption, Seed of Corruption, and Unstable Affliction damage
 is increased and Corruption heals you for a percentage of the damage dealt
Curse of Exhaustion-1  Reduces target’s movement speed

Tier 6
Improved Felhunter-2  Regains its mana with Shadow Bite and increases Fel
 Intelligence
Shadow Mastery-5  Increases damage from your Shadow spells

Tier 7
Eradication-3  Hitting with Corruption gives you a chance to increase casting
 speed
Contagion-5  Increases damage of Corruption, Seed of Corruption, and Curse of
 Agony and reduces the chance of you Affliction spells being dispelled.
Dark Pact-1  Takes mana from your pet and gives it to you.

Tier 8
Improved Howl of Terror-2  Reduces cast time
Malediction-3  Improves damage and critical strike chance of Corruption and
 Unstable Affliction

Tier 9
Death’s Embrace-3  Improves Drain Life and Shadow spells
Unstable Affliction-1  Causes Shadow damage and will harm anyone who dispels
 it
Pandemic-1  Give Corruption, Haunt, and Unstable Affliction the ability to
 crit for 100% damage

Tier 10
Everlasting Affliction-5  Corruption and Unstable Affliction gain power and
 Drain Life and Haunt have a chance to reset the Corruption duration

Tier 11
Haunt-1  Shadow damage and weakens Shadow resistance of target and also heals
 you for the damage amount done to the target


DEMONOLOGY
Tier 1
Improved Healthstone-2
Improved Imp-2
Demonic Embrace-3  Increases your stamina
Fel Synergy-2  Heal your pet for a percent of damage caused to the enemy

Tier 2
Improved Health Funnel-2  Increases HP flow and lowers damage taken by minion
 during
Demonic Brutality-3  Improves Voidwalker and Felguard
Fel Vitality-3  Increases stamina of minion and improves your HP and mana

Tier 3
Improved Succubus-3
Soul Link-1  Transfers 20% of damage taken by caster to demon
Fel Domination-1  Reduces cast time and mana cost of next summoned minion
Demonic Aegis-3  Improves Demon Armor and Fel Armor

Tier 4
Unholy Power-5  Improves minion attack power
Master Summoner-2  Reduces cast time and mana cost of next summoned minion

Tier 5
Mana Feed-1  Drain Mana and Life Tap also give mana to minion
Master Conjuror-2  Improves Firestones and Spellstones

Tier 6
Master Demonologist-5  Different buffs given for each minion
Molten Core-3  Gives Shadow spells and DOTs a chance to increase damage from
 Fire spells

Tier 7
Demonic Resilience-3  Reduces chance of you being critically hit and reduces
 damage taken by minion
Demonic Empowerment-1  Grants a different temporary buff for each minion
Demonic Knowledge-  Increases your spell damage based on a percentage of your
 minion's Intellect and Stamina

Tier 8
Demonic Tactics-5  Increases melee and spell critical hit chance for you and
 your minion
Decimation-2  Shadowbolt or Incinerate on a target below 35% HP gives a 10
 second buff that reduces cast time of Soul Fire and the Soul Fire does not
 cost a soul shard

Tier 9
Improved Demonic Tactics-3  Increases minions critical hit chance
Summon Felguard-1
Nemesis-3  Reduces cooldown of Demonic Empowerment, Metamorphosis, and Fel
 Domination

Tier 10
Demonic Pact-5  Minions critical hits give 12 second buff to party members that
 increases spell damage

Tier 11
Metamorphosis-1  Transform into a demon with increased armor and damage
 dealing, and reduces stun and snare effects.  You also get new abilities in
 this form: Immolation Aura damages all nearby enemies, Challenging Howl taunts
 all nearby enemies, Demon Charge dashes toward and stuns an enemy, and Shadow
 Cleave does melee damage to nearby enemies.


DESTRUCTION
Tier 1
Improved Shadow Bolt-5
Bane-5  Reduces cast time of Shadow Bolt, Chaos Bolt, Immolate, and Soul Fire

Tier 2
Aftermath-2  Increases damage from Immolate and gives Conflagrate a chance to
 stun
Molten Skin-3  Reduces all damage taken
Cataclysm-3  Reduces mana cost of destruction spells

Tier 3
Demonic Power-2  Improves Succubus and Imp
Shadowburn-1  Gives you a spell that hits with a burst of Shadow damage.  Costs
 a soul shard.  If the target dies within 5 seconds, you get the soul shard
 back.
Ruin-5  Increases critical strike chance of Destruction spells

Tier 4
Intensity-2  Reduces pushback while casting Destruction spells
Destructive Reach-2  Increases range and reduces threat of Destruction spells
Improved Searing Pain-3

Tier 5
Backlash-3  Increases spell critical strike chance and gives chance when hit
 with physical attack to reduce the cast time of next Shadow Bolt of Incinerate
 by 100%
Improved Immolate-3
Devastation-1  Increases critical strike chance of Destruction spells

Tier 6
Nether Protection-3  After being hit with spell, gives chance to reduce all
 damage from that spell class for 8 seconds.
Emberstorm-5  Increases Fire spell damage and reduces cast time of Incinerate

Tier 7
Conflagrate-1  Consumes an Immolate or Shadowflame effect to instantly deal
 damage
Soul Leech-3  Gives Shadow Bolt, Shadowburn, Soul Fire, Incinerate, Searing
 Pain, and Conflagrate a chance to return HP to you
Pyroclasm-2  A critical hit with Searing Pain or Conflagrate give Shadow and
 Fire spells a damage increase for 10 seconds.

Tier 8
Shadow and Flame-5  Bolsters Shadow Bolt and Incinerate
Improved Soul Leech-2  Soul Leech give mana to you and minion and has a chance
 to restore mana for all party members

Tier 9
Backdraft-3  Casting Conflagrate gives improved global cooldown to all
 Destruction spells for 15 seconds
Shadowfury-1  An AOE that causes Shadow damage and stuns enemies
Empowered Imp-3

Tier 10
Fire and Brimstone-5  Increased damage from Incinerate and Chaos Bolt on
 targets afflicted with Immolate

Tier 11
Chaos Bolt-1 Fire damage that can not be resisted


9. ***GLOSSARY***

Yes, we were all new to this game at some point.  So this section is
dedicated to helping new players with the terms used in this guide.

aggro - threat; aggression
AOE - Area Of Effect
Blizz - Blizzard, maker of the game.
BOE - Bind On Equip. These items are not soulbound until equipped.
BOP - Bind On Pickup. Becomes soulbound as soon as you loot it.
buff - A helpful spell applied to a character
caster - magic user
CC - Crowd Control; spells like Fear, Death Coil, and Howl of Terror.
cooldown, CD - A waiting period that prevents something from being used again
 right away.
critical strike - An attack will randomly do extra damage.
despawn - disappear
DOT - Damage Over Time
DPS - Damage Per Second
HP - Hit Points; Health Points
Lock - short for Warlock
lowbies - low level players
mana - Your magic points. The blue bar under your green health bar is your
 mana gauge
mob - enemy or monster
mount - The various rides that you are able to summon.
raid - A large group of up to 40 players that go into a dungeon together.
respawn - reappear
rez - ressurect
soulbound - A soulbound item can not be given to another player.  If an
 item is soulbound it will be noted in the item description.
stack - Some items can be placed in a single item slot multiple times.
 These items are considered stackable.  But other items, like soul shards,
 each take up one item slot.
talent - Starting at level 10, you get 1 talent point per level that you
 can use to augment your character's abilities.
tank/tanking - Typically in a group of players, you want to have one player
 that can stand in front of the enemy and take a beating.  For Warlocks
 rolling solo, this will be your minion.
toon - One of your playable characters.
XP - eXperience Points


10. ***LEGAL***

COPYRIGHT 2009-2010 TRAVIS STAUFFER

This may not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal, 
private use. It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed 
publicly without advance written permission. Use of this guide on any other 
web site or as a part of any public display is strictly prohibited, and a 
violation of copyright.