Introduction

Playing a Warlock can be a challenging task when you venture out into an instance. You will have a few more responsibilities than direct DPS dealers, tanks, or healers, but this is why you exist! We will discuss in full detail what's expected of you, and how you should go about accomplishing this in order to successfully clear the instance guide and be the most help to your group as you can.

Preparations

First of all, you must ensure that you have enough Soul Shards in order to summon everyone and hand out Healthstones to every party member in the group. In addition, you will need to also summon a pet (if necessary) and you will definitely want to Soulstone the Healer of the group. As you know, Soulstones prevent complete wipes and will save your group time should you be unfortunate enough to be all killed by the monsters inside the instance.

A good number of Soul Shards to have before an instance depends on your playstyle - if you use Shadowburn a lot to bump your damage output, the recommended amount to start with is between 15 to 20. You may gather more, and it is highly recommended you do so, but that will be enough if you don't have the time or patience. Remember, you may use a Soul Shard Bag (and you should!) as soon as possible to gather up as many Soul Shards as you can.

In the event someone is not able to be summoned due to Meeting Stones being low level, Opposite Faction camping, or the like, you may be needed to summon your party members by using the Ritual of Summoning. This will also consume 1 Soul Shard, so make sure everyone uses it well.

Instance Time

Whatever you do, the first thing you should determine is who is going to be Soul Stoned and you should cast it before the first pull of the dungeon - you never know what could happen and it's best to be prepared.

Many players do not like the other Warlock pets, so unless asked to, use an Imp in order to buff the party with extra Stamina - this is always appreciated by Tanks and Melee classes the most. Should the need arise to Crowd Control (CC) a pull, make sure it is Humanoid so your Succubus may use her Seduction spell on it and keep it out of combat for awhile.

Fear is one of your primary abilities outside the instance. We all love it, and it's often a reflex to use it against an attacking monster. Within instances, this is the last spell you should consider casting regardless of your abilities - Monsters within instances do not reset their aggro, you cannot run out of range from them, and they could bring more monsters to their aid which will cause trouble for your group. If you're being attacked, sit tight and hope for the Tank to pick it up, use your Health Stone, and if you're above level 66, use Soul Shatter to drop your aggro some.

During the Instance, you will most likely be asked many times for more Health Stones, as these act as free potions to the party. To avoid running out of Soul Shards, it is recommended you finish off any enemies you are fighting with Drain Soul, giving you a surplus of Soul Shards. If you need to loot an item and your bags are full, just discard a few Soul Shards and take your items. It's better to have more than necessary than to be lacking them before a big encounter.

Pay close attention to your healer and his Soul Stone timer, and refresh the Soul Stone as soon as it wears off. Nothing would be worse than finally arriving to a Boss Fight and wiping, only to find out your Soul Stone had expired 4 minutes ago. It is quite an embarrassing experience!

The best kind of Warlock is an Affliction Warlock, or at least someone who does not directly nuke monsters a lot during the instance run - save your Searing Pain, Soul Fire, and Shadowbolt Spams for the Battlegrounds, as within the Instances your primary job should be to allow the Tank to get enough Aggro first and foremost, then using your DoT spells on the monster, and perhaps nuking once or twice. Remember, Fire Spells net you a lot of Hate so avoid using them past Immolate.

Use Curse of Recklessness on monsters who run away a lot, especially Humanoids, this will make them fight your Tank until the bitter end, allowing you to avoid them getting more of their friends into an ongoing battle when they're running low on health. Also, if you spot anyone using Fear or if you absolutely must use it yourself, have your Curse of Recklessness spell ready to avoid them running too far and getting more enemies.

When using your Succubus, remove "Seduction" from Auto Cast, this will allow you to click it yourself on the mob you want seduced, otherwise your pet will pick a random target and seduce that instead. Likewise, do not send your Succubus in to do battle, although "Soothing Kiss" will help out with some monsters that have high attack speed, slowing them down a bit.

Use Life Tap sparingly, and try to upkeep your mana through other means. Remember the Affliction Warlock reccomendation? Dark Pact using an Imp is one of the best ways to keep your mana up without killing yourself in the process - some healers don't appreciate Warlocks Lifetapping a lot, although if they are alright with it, use it as best you can. Keep in mind many monsters have some AoE abilities so try to keep a 40%-50% buffer at all times. If you must regenerate your life, always use Drain Life.

If you're low on Health but don't want to Bandage or use a Healthstone or Potion, use Drain Life, it's very effective and will get you back your hitpoints without bothering the healers too much. If you have the Nightfall talent, this will also almost always make it proc, making it for an easy ShadowBolt!

Fights

Open up with your Curse of choice, most of the times it being Curse of Agony, then tag the monster with Corruption, and any other DoTs you may have - if you have Unstable Affliction and Siphon Life, cast them all before moving on to anything else.

Next, you should choose between Shadow Bolt or Drain Life, the first one for High HP mobs and the second one for sustained fights.

If you pull Aggro from the Tank and the monster is coming at you, don't cast any more spells or heal yourself - wait for the Tank to pick it back up by Taunt. If you're above level 66, use Soul Shatter, and be more careful with your spells next time.

A handful of Instances require you to use Banish or Enslave Demon - always ask which target you should use this on, and keep track of your target at all times. The monster being out of combat takes priority over any nukes you can get off on the opposing monsters.

Overall, exercise caution and courtesy toward healers and tanks in your group, keep the Soul Stone up, and don't use Fear, and you should be good to go!