Warlock Spells ~ Wrath of the Lich King
Wrath of the Lich King brings with itself a lot of changes for the Warlock Class. The most noticeable is the fact you get new abilities to avoid damage, similar to a Mage's Blink, no, not actual blinking, but the ability to jump to another place! On top of that, Warlocks finally get what they had been asking for, a followup spell so our Raids don't involve spamming "1" for Shadowbolt every minute of the way, in the way of the new spell "ShadowFlame". In this guide, we will cover these new abilities, how they work, when to use them, as well as a small preview of the new Talented abilities you may obtain!
New Abilities
As far as baseline abilities go, we only get 4 new ones - two spellstones, along with their new functionality, and the aforementioned skills. Let's go over them in detail now.
- Demonic Circle
Learned at level 80 (sorry lowbies, ganking will still be ongoing until 80!), Demonic Circle is the answer to the Warlock prayers for those people who were getting trounced in the Arena by those pesky Warriors or Rogues that didn't let us move. By spending 0.5 seconds and 15% of your Base Mana, you will draw a Demonic Circle in the floor that is quite shiny.
Once you do this, you may run off elsewhere and continue as normal, but if you find yourself in trouble, you can cast Demonic Circle teleport, and you will be right back at your Circle! Perfect for avoiding melee classes and bandaging yourself right back up, or charging up that much-needed fear against your foes. Unfortunately, you may only draw 1 Demonic Circle at a time, so you can't just move around laying them everywhere and playing Warlock-Pong with yourself (though that'd be cool).
- Shadow Flame
Shadow Flame is the Warlock's version of "Dragon's Breath" - if you have seen mages rush in and do Dragon's Breath on an enemy group, now you can do the same, as soon as you hit level 75! This ability targets a cone infront of you and does 615-671 damage to enemies in it, plus 644 more Fire damage over 6 seconds. A nice ability to complement your already phenomenal skill repertoire. Now you can followup those shadowbolts and spruce up your raiding life some! Also, use this to finish off enemies if they survived Shadowburn and your Shadowbolts.
- Grand Spellstone
Grand Spellstone is the newest in the Spellstone line of spells, increasing damage dealt from your periodic spells by 1% and increasing Spell Haste Rating by 60. Remember, you have to apply these now as if they were a poison to your weapon! This is a good option for Warlocks who want an extra boost during their groups!
- Grand Firestone
Normally, anyone would think this would increase Fire damage, no? Well, no! this Firestone adds 1% more damage to your direct damage spells (nukes like Shadowbolt and Incinerate), and increases your critical chance by 49. A nice alternative if you're in the Destruction type of school. Just be careful not to pull aggro!
New Talented Abilities
In addition, Wrath of the Lich King adds 3 new final abilities, one for each Tree of Specialization. Let's take a brief look at them!
- Destruction - Chaos Bolt
Chaos Bolt is the final talent for Destruction - it sends a powerful bolt that cannot be resisted and will pierce through resistances. One would think it's the be-all end-all of Bolts, and the new thing to spam, right? Well... not exactly. It has a HUGE mana cost, making it ideal only to deliver big spike damage or to deal with pesky PvPers in Arenas or what-have you. Still, a powerful nuke is a powerful nuke, and many Warlocks seem to favor it for now!
- Demonology - Metamorphosis
Deemed "Gimp Spec" for now, Metamorphosis isn't as powerful as you might believe. Sure you get new abilities and a few new tricks, but 30 seconds isn't nearly long enough to do anything, and the cooldown kills it. We best hope for a revamp of this skill before investing into it.
- Affliction - Haunt
Possibly the best new addition to this tree, this is both a mini-nuke and a life-replenisher, ontop of a damage enhancer. What more could you ask for? If you're Affliction, do get this Talent as soon as you can, it is perfect for both PvP and PvE!
Wrath of the Lich King brought a lot of things for Warlocks, the best will know how to use them to their maximum advantage. Good luck, and happy hunting!
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