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Soloing as a warlock is an oxymoron. Kind of like an honest politician,
a jumbo shrimp, or an unbiased opinion. We warlocks are never alone. We
have our minions and we can control...
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Soloing as a warlock is an oxymoron. Kind of like an honest politician,
a jumbo shrimp, or an unbiased opinion. We warlocks are never alone. We
have our minions and we can control everything they do. We have no one
to help or to blame. That is why knowing how to pull, which spells to
use and which minion to use is so important. Each fight is going to
present different opportunities to use different rotations. There are
some definite tried and true methods to get the most out of every pull.
As warlocks, we have an advantage of having demons. Use them, abuse
them, that is what they are there for. There are many spells, dots,
abilities, and curses and every talent school adds to our options.
Let’s look at some base abilities and review rotations that
will help us on our trek from start to forty.



Single
Mob Pull




It doesn’t matter the type of mob for these
types of fights. The strategy is basically the same. The beauty of
demons is that they don’t suffer repair bills and hardly
complain. I say hardly as you may have noticed the smart remarks when
you summon them will eventually go in one ear and out the other, except
maybe the imp, who still yaps a bit much for my liking. Start each
single pull by sending your minion to attack first. Be sure to do this
from a distance. This will make the enemy focus on your demon first and
buy you some valuable time. Voidwalkers are the best tanks and will
usually be the one you are using during solo play. They will hold the
mobs hate longer and have an ability to taunt if it is lost. They can
also hold the attention of multiple mobs much easier than the other
minions. Use the time your minion is travelling to begin a spell cast
that has a cast time. I use href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/classes/warlock/spells1-40#Immolate"
target="_blank">Immolate because it will do some
initial damage and continue to damage over time. Although there are
several instant cast spells available, they can be quickly added once
your longer spells are active. Now is a good time for href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/classes/warlock/spells1-40#Curse_of_Agony_"
target="_blank">Curse of Agony. Remember, Curse of
Agony does more damage the longer it is active. Get this up early so
you get the most damage out of it. This is one DOT that is never good
to refresh early. Quickly follow it up with href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/classes/warlock/spells1-40#Corruption"
target="_blank">Corruption. Once you have all your
DOTs active you can begin more direct damage attacks, such as drain
life, and your enemy will be half dead at this point and a heavy shot
or life drain should do it in. If not, the distance you began with will
mean the mob has to travel to you. During the time the mob is
traveling, you use your more direct damage spells. The important part
of this is to keep your DOTs up!


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1) Send Minion - 2) Immolate - 3) Curse of Agony - 4) Corruption - 5)
Drain Life


style="font-weight: bold;"> style="font-style: italic;">Multiple Mob Pull



So here we stand, face to face with about 4 mobs. No way
to sneak through, no way to grab and run. We are going to have to fight
them. Have no fear. Wait! Scratch that. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/classes/warlock/spells1-40#Fear"
target="_blank">Fear is just what we need. Use the
same initial pull as a single mob pull and get your first target dotted
up. Then tab to your second target and repeat the rotation. The main
difference is we are going to watch for any mob that changes focus from
our minion. Once a mob has more hate for you and begins to approach,
hit it with fear and keep the dots up. Watch for the opportunity to use
any crowd control abilities such as href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/classes/warlock/spells1-40#Banish"
target="_blank">Banish or Charm.


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1) Send Minion - 2) Immoloate - 3) Curse of Agony - 4) Corruption - 5)
Drain Life

6) If necessary, fear approaching mobs, re-apply DOT and move to next
target


style="font-style: italic;"> style="font-weight: bold;"> style="width: 116px; height: 480px; float: left;" alt=""
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/63256"> style="font-style: italic;"> style="font-weight: bold;">Optional Lifetap



No other class in the game can replenish mana
as easily and often as Warlocks can. Anytime you have health
replenishing ability in your rotation such as drain life or siphon
life, be sure to include your lifetap ability just before you replace
health. Part of being able to solo is also keeping yourself
active with as much uptime as possible. By replacing mana used
immediately, then instantaneously replacing the life used by lifetap,
you will never need to break for drinking and/or eating. This
accomplishes much more than it seems. It will also put a
DPS break into your rotation allowing your pet to regain or
build on aggro making the mob less likely to attack you.



Special
Pulls


Runners



Have you ever pulled a mob only to have it run into a pack
before it dies? Suddenly it’s like you are poking at a bee
hive. Mobs start running everywhere and you have no time to plan. You
have to pull every trick in the book just to survive. I have. There are
better ways than to sacrifice your voidwalker and run like hell. The
bubble and run rotation works to keep you alive but doesn’t
help you kill mobs. It can be kind of painful on the ego also. Next
time, substitute the Curse of Agony with a href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/classes/warlock/spells1-40#Curse_of_Recklessness"
target="_blank">Curse of Recklessness. Curse of
Recklessness will modify your opponents attack power and armor but more
importantly will cause your opponent to not flee. Just be sure to have
the curse active before they attempt to flee.



Casters



Time for your felhunter to shine! I know, it
doesn’t happen often, but when it does, there is no better
way to combat a caster than to sic your felhunter on it. Most casters
have either big heavy hits or a nasty de-buff. No problems with our
little fel puppy friend. The buff we get from it is nice, but its
ability to silence casters and remove de-buffs is unparalleled. Take
the time to change minions. Use the same rotations but substitute your
Curse of Agony with curse of tongues. Another nice trick is to throw in
a drain mana and your only worry will be some puny squishy trying to
give you the beat down with a stick. The health you lose will be
minimal and can be quickly replaced with a Siphon Life or Life Drain.
This works well with healers as well. If they are lucky enough to avoid
the silence, you are hitting them with an increased cast time on their
heal spell, which will only be in vain.



Demons &
Elementals



We Warlocks have more flexibility when engaging demons and elementals
starting at level twenty eight. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/classes/warlock/spells1-40#Banish"
target="_blank">Banish is one of the best crowd
control methods as we solo because there is no chance of breaking early
and cannot be broken with a damaging spell. This will give you a lot of
flexibility when dealing with these mobs. I tend to use it
with multiple creature pulls only but this can be a lifesaver when used
correctly. This is also a great time to begin to learn how to use
macros and some advanced commands in the game. It’s just you
and your minion out there, use every advantage you can. As you face
that group of demons, target one of them and type /focus in your chat
window. You will notice the creature now shows up as a static target
allowing you to monitor your “focus” while
targeting and fighting other mobs. If you combine that trick with a
small macro like /cast banish [target=focus] you will be able to not
only monitor that extra mob but will be able to banish it without
actually clicking on it. If the banish expires, all you have to do is
hit that macro button again to re-banish it! No targeting it, no
fumbling around, nice easy control. More on that later.



PvP



There is a big difference between rotations and abilities
you will use for PvP versus PvE. Many of our crowd control techniques
early on are not useable against other players. We simply cannot banish
other players. We also cannot force them to focus on our minions. They
will knowingly avoid them. Your best bet is fear. Fear first and fear
often. This will incapacitate them immediately and allow you to get
your dots up. If you’re lucky, it will also send them into
some mobs. After you “lol” keep a few things in
mind. Fear can be broken with damage. Avoid casting a shadowbolt
directly after getting the fear off. This may break the fear and waste
a valuable opportunity. Use your first fear to get DOTs loaded. Also
remember fear has diminishing returns so make the best of it. For your
curse, stick with a damaging curse for melee and possibly a curse of
tongues against casters. If you see your opponent cleanse the curse,
strike back with another fear. The trick is to not get caught off guard
here. Using the voidwalker is going to be the least effective minion
for pvp battle. Have an imp, succubus or felhound ready and let them
attack first if possible. The only time the void is going to help, is
if your sacrifice it. If you are stuck with this minion out, save it
for when they are out of fear and threaten to get some offence against
you.



I could go
on forever about each spell in our arsenal. The rotation will change as
you reach different stages and acquire different talents. The concept
stays the same. The above rotations utilize your pet first, regardless
of type, then optimizes your de-buffs whether damaging or utility and
finally allows for uptime by replenishing your man/health. Grinding
your quests can be tedious and time consuming. Make the most out of
every pull and come out alive.



Warlock
Quests



We have more class specific quests then most any other
class. Almost every minion requires a quest be completed to be able to
summon your minions. Check in often with the warlocks trainers and be
sure to complete the quests. The starting quest will be different based
on your race and/or location but you will receive them at the
appropriate level.

style="font-weight: bold;">

cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2">
style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255); background-color: rgb(67, 63, 80); text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;"> style="font-weight: bold;">Level style="background-color: rgb(67, 63, 80); text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"
colspan="1" rowspan="1"> style="font-weight: bold;">Minion style="background-color: rgb(67, 63, 80); text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"
colspan="1" rowspan="1"> style="font-weight: bold;">Starting Quest

(Race/Location Variant) style="background-color: rgb(97, 93, 110); text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;"> style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">10 Voidwalker Halgar's
Summons

Gakin's Summons

Gan'rul's Summons

Return to Talionia style="background-color: rgb(97, 93, 110); text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;"> style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">20 Succubus Devourer
of Souls

Gakin's Summons

Carendin Summons style="background-color: rgb(97, 93, 110); text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;"> style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">30 Felhunter The
Binding



In addition to your minion quests, there is one titled “In
Search of Menara Voidrender” that is obtainable at level 31.
You will be offered this by your warlock trainer. This will begin a
quest line that will last mostly until level 40. It is completely
solo-able and offers a reward that will be useable for a long time, the
enchanted gold bloodrobe.

 

Where to Level



The starting zone for each race is different and for the
first few levels it is best to stay in the recommended zone. After
level 20 the zones will begin to support both factions. Warlocks tend
to travel more than most other classes for class specific quests. Be
sure to grab flight points as you will find yourself returning often.
If you get stuck traveling through a zone a little too high for you,
don’t fret on having to sacrifice your minion. Send your
minion to engage and distract any enemies while you go about your
business. If you get too far, you’ll get your shard back if
not you should be able to get plenty of distance so the mob will reset
before it catches up with you. Any new players will want to take a look
at locations before a journey to somewhere new, be sure you have an
accurate path to your destination and research flight points before you
go.


cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2">
colspan="4" rowspan="1"> style="font-weight: bold;">Eastern Kingdoms style="background-color: rgb(97, 93, 110); text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> style="font-weight: bold;">Zone style="text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; background-color: rgb(97, 93, 110); color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> style="font-weight: bold;">Level style="background-color: rgb(97, 93, 110); text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> style="font-weight: bold;">Faction style="background-color: rgb(97, 93, 110); text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> style="font-weight: bold;">Notes style="background-color: rgb(97, 93, 110); color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Elwynn
Forest 1-10 Alliance Human
starting area style="background-color: rgb(97, 93, 110); color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Eversong
Woods 1-10 Horde Blood
Elf starting area style="background-color: rgb(97, 93, 110); color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Dun
Morogh 1-12 Alliance Dwarf
and Gnome starting area style="background-color: rgb(97, 93, 110); color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Tirisfal
Glades 1-10 Horde Undead
starting area style="background-color: rgb(97, 93, 110); color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Ghostlands 10-20 Horde Geared
towards Blood Elf style="background-color: rgb(97, 93, 110); color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Loch
Modan 10-20 Alliance Geared
towards Dwarf and Gnome style="background-color: rgb(97, 93, 110); color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Silverpine
Forest 10-20 Horde Geared
towards Undead style="background-color: rgb(97, 93, 110); color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Westfall 10-20 Alliance Geared
towards Human style="background-color: rgb(97, 93, 110); color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Redridge
Mountains 15-25 Contested Geared
towards Alliance style="background-color: rgb(97, 93, 110); color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Duskwood 18-30 Contested Geared
towards Alliance style="background-color: rgb(97, 93, 110); color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Hillsbrad
Foothills 20-30 Contested style="background-color: rgb(97, 93, 110); color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Wetlands 20-30 Contested Geared
towards Alliance style="background-color: rgb(97, 93, 110); color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Alterac
Mountains 30-40 Contested style="background-color: rgb(97, 93, 110); color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Arathi
Highlands 30-40 Contested style="background-color: rgb(97, 93, 110); color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Stranglethorn
Vale 31-45 Contested style="background-color: rgb(97, 93, 110); color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Badlands 35-45 Contested style="background-color: rgb(97, 93, 110); color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Swamp
of Sorrows 35-45 Contested Geared
towards Horde


cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2">
colspan="4" rowspan="1"> style="font-weight: bold;">Kalimdor style="background-color: rgb(97, 93, 110); text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> style="font-weight: bold;">Zone style="text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; background-color: rgb(97, 93, 110); color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> style="font-weight: bold;">Level style="background-color: rgb(97, 93, 110); text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> style="font-weight: bold;">Faction style="background-color: rgb(97, 93, 110); text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> style="font-weight: bold;">Notes style="background-color: rgb(97, 93, 110); color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Azuremyst
Isle 1-10 Alliance Dranei
starting area style="background-color: rgb(97, 93, 110); color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Durotar 1-10 Horde Orc
and Troll starting area style="background-color: rgb(97, 93, 110); color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Mulgore 1-10 Horde Tauren
starting area style="background-color: rgb(97, 93, 110); color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Teldrassil 1-10 Alliance Night
Elf starting area style="background-color: rgb(97, 93, 110); color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Bloodmyst
Isle 10-20 Alliance Geared
towards Daenei style="background-color: rgb(97, 93, 110); color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Darkshore 10-20 Alliance Geared
towards Night Elf style="background-color: rgb(97, 93, 110); color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The
Barrens 10-25 Horde style="background-color: rgb(97, 93, 110); color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Stonetalon
Mountains 15-27 Contested Geared
towards Horde style="background-color: rgb(97, 93, 110); color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Ashenvale 18-30 Contested Geared
towards Alliance style="background-color: rgb(97, 93, 110); color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Thousand
Needles 25-35 Contested Geared
towards Horde style="background-color: rgb(97, 93, 110); color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Desolace 30-40 Contested Geared
towards Horde style="background-color: rgb(97, 93, 110); color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Dustwallow
Marsh 35-45 Contested



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Last Updated: Mar 13, 2016

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