In WoW Classic the Warlock has a variety of unique gameplay aspects. Their pets are certainly one — unlike a Hunter, the Warlock summons rather than tames a pet. One of the more unique Warlock mechanics comes in the form of Soul Shard, which you gain from using Drain Soul on an enemy. These are used for a variety of reasons, with the main use being to craft Healthstones to heal your allies. They are also one of two classes to get a unique mount at levels 40 and 60, with the latter being part of a long and expensive quest chain.
The Warlock is a mix of the pets of the Hunter class and the spellcasting of the Mage, just with a slightly more shadowy intent. The Warlock has famously been one of World of Warcraft's best classes, almost always required for most aspects of the game due to their self-sustain via Drain Life and Healthstone, Soulstone and Ritual of Summoning.
Available to: Undead, Orc, Gnome, Human
Type: Ranged Damage Dealer
Standard Bars: Health/Mana
Available Armor: Cloth
Available Weapons: Dagger, Wands, Staff, One-Handed Swords
Destruction is the Warlock's answer to a Fire Mage, using huge amounts of burst damage to shred enemies. This is especially useful in PvP, where you can easily focus down a healer or key enemy and turn the tide of battle. The spec also has a lot of play in PvE content, alongside Affliction.
DoTs (Damage over Time) is what Affliction does best. In essence a magical bleed effect, Affliction is able to build damage on a target by smothering them in magical debuffs, which they can then ramp up for huge amounts of damage. This is especially useful when taking down a number of targets, something that can cause huge amounts of stress for those healing the enemy team. Affliction will get play in PvE content, but in large raids bosses can only have a limited number of debuffs — meaning Affliction may only take up a limited number of spots.
Demonology is by no means a weak spec, but when compared to the Warlock's other specs it just can't pull the relevant damage. The spec is probably the safest spec to level in, however, as the boost to your pets will allow you more control over enemy mobs. You'll also see some limited use as an off-tank in certain situations, making it a valuable third spec.
Best race for Warlock in Classic
|
Ranking |
Horde |
Racial Trait |
|---|---|---|
|
A |
 Orc |
Blood Fury |
|
S |
 Undead |
Cannibalize |
|
Ranking |
Alliance |
Racial Trait |
|---|---|---|
|
A |
 Human |
Perception |
|
S |
 Gnome |
Escape Artist |
Warlock Abilities in Classic
Main Abilities
Converts 420 health into 420 mana.
Not much can be said about Life Tap — only that it is important and healers will hate you using it. Just don't kill yourself.
Creates a Major Healthstone that can be used to instantly restore 1200 health.
Conjured items disappear if logged out for more than 15 minutes.
The reason you need all those Soul Shards: the Healthstone. If you plan to raid 40-player content at level 60, be prepared to spend a lot of time farming pre-raid so that you can make a lot of these. Also, hope you're not the only Warlock.
Drains the soul of the target, causing 155 Shadow damage over 15 sec. If the target dies while being drained, and yields experience or honor, the caster gains a Soul Shard. Soul Shards are required for other spells.
You'll become good friends with this spell — this is how you get Soul Shards, and you'll be using it a lot at level 60.
Strikes fear in the enemy, causing it to run in fear for up to 20 sec. Damage caused may interrupt the effect. Only 1 target can be feared at a time.
We'd hate to go around calling a spell "overpowered" in Classic, but we might just do that with Fear. The line "Damage caused may interrupt" should be taken with a pinch of salt here — most enemy players will be running around feared for a long time while you kill them.
Best Professions for Warlock in Classic
 |
 |
Best for gold |
 |
 |
Ideal for gearing |
Enchanting + Tailoring - This is the ideal combination for gearing, while also making a bit of money on the side. Tailoring will see you turn cloth from the world into cloth gear, which you can either use or disenchant with Enchanting to earn some gold by selling enchantments.
Alchemy + Herbalism - The best combination if you either want to make gold by selling potions and herbs, or just want to save some gold by making your own potions.
Warlock Trainer Location in Classic
