Blood pact: The birth of a warlock, page 1

I was afflicted with some kind of corruption of my own last week, not sure if a warrior spell reflected it or what but it had me out of action either way. I don't know how much attention you pay to spell icons but it took me a little while to realize just how nasty the icon for Corruption really is -- nasty enough for China to censor it, in fact. It speaks well of how I was feeling, but hopefully the articles on the PTR changes kept you topped off with warlock goodness in Blood Pact's absence.
This week we're looking at starting a new warlock. This could be for someone new to the game, or rolling an alt. Either way, now is a great time to start leveling as a lot of the world you'll be passing through will be changing with the advent of Cataclysm. So if you've never played a warlock, or even if you have, then get onto that character selection screen and stare blankly at the screen for half an hour while you try to think of that perfect warlock name.
What is a warlock?

In choosing to be a spell caster you have pushed aside the pursuit of physical development. Others can mould their mortal flesh into something that can run up to their enemies and poke them with sharp objects. This is not for you -- you are smarter than that. It is with the power of your mind that you gain dominion over your foes.
In choosing to be a warlock you have realized that real power requires sacrifice, sometimes personal, preferably of others. There are those casters that commune with nature for their power, but nature is fickle and they don't call her a mother for nothing. There are, of course, those who turn to the arcane for their power but they end up being mages, and you don't want to be called a "mage" now, do you? Of course not, you have some dignity.
Choosing a race for your warlock.
Other than choosing your class (warlock, by the way), the race you select is the next most character-defining choice you are likely to make. While it has little impact on how you will play and the spells you will cast, it sets what faction you will be a part of and moulds your character's outlook on Azeroth. Your character's race has always been an immutable choice as well, though this is becoming less true recently with faction changes and (soon) race changes available for a fee. Even with that available, I advise caution -- pick your race carefully.
Many will look at the racial abilities to help them in their selection; this isn't a bad idea as plenty of the races do have abilities that compliment the warlock. Be warned however, racial abilities are going to be dramatically overhauled in Cataclysm, so what you get now may well go before too long. I personally don't think the impact of racials is significant enough for me to solely use them in picking a race but I'll run through a few of the more important ones so you know what they are.
Each race has its own home city, mount and starting location but all of these are pretty inconsequential -- especially the mount as you'll be able to summon one of your own. I'll detail them but don't worry about them if you're making up your mind on your race. As mentioned above, you do want to bear in mind which faction you are going to join. If you have friends on the Horde or Alliance side that you wish to play with, then you will want to pick a race on that same side. Even if you don't plan to play this character with anyone you already know, then your choice of faction is still relevant. Have a look to see what the balance of faction populations is like on the server you select. If you are going to play on a PvP server then joining a heavily outnumbered faction is going to be harder work.

- Faction: Horde
- Staring area: Eversong Forest
- Home City: Silvermoon City
- Racial Mount: Hawkstrider
They have a resistance to magic, which doesn't mean they are better or worse at casting it, but will protect them a little against others casting it at them -- this can help in PvP. They also have a very cool little spell called Arcane Torrent which will gain you a little mana and silence those nearby. It can be handy for levelling and in PvP but is not considered a great racial.
Being one of the Burning Crusade races it currently has a more 'friendly' starting area than the others. All the NPCs you need are to hand, the quests are well centerd on your starting location and you are given bags during your questing. Bags are great for leveling. The more bag space you have the longer you can stay out before coming back to sell all the junk you collected (or the less junk you have to throw away). Selling junk is how you get to be able to afford all those lovely new spells when you start out, so try not to throw things away. You'll gain (and need) a few levels before you can complete your imp quest, but it's quite a fun one.
Imp quests are being removed in patch 3.3 so enjoy them while they last. If you're reading this after 3.3 has gone live (it was the one where Icecrown Citadel opened up for raiding) then you can just go and ask the warlock trainer to tell you how to summon your imp.

- Faction: Alliance
- Staring area: Dun Morogh
- Home City: Ironforge
- Racial Mount: Mechanostrider
The gnomes have it a bit hard for the starting area -- their imp quest is the hardest of the lot, so you'll be leveling alone for a while (pre patch 3.3). Coldridge Valley quests involve a lot of running about too. The speed of leveling up to 10 is hardly important in the scheme of things but I found this area the slowest to level through. To make it worse, when you get to level 10 they send you off to Stormwind, as there's nobody about who can show you how to summon a voidwalker in Ironforge. These are minor gripes though, so don't let them stop you if you fancy a gnome lock.
The Expansive Mind racial is very nice for warlocks and while you may think that a bonus to intellect will come in handy with the way stats are going to change in Cataclysm, then be wary; there's a good chance this racial will change or be removed altogether. Escape Artist is handy as well, especially for PvP.

- Faction: Alliance
- Staring area: Elwynn Forest
- Home City: Stormwind
- Racial Mount: Horse
Perception and Every Man for Himself are excellent PvP abilities, Diplomacy is great for getting all those faction deals quicker and The Human Spirit is a nice (but small) buff to damage for warlocks. The weapon specializations mean nothing to us and are just for the muscle-heads.
Playing a human character really brings out a sense of empathy. It's much easier to immerse yourself in a character that more closely resembles yourself. Most of the warlock items look good on a human (though arguably, not as good as on an orc) and frankly if you're going to put all this effort into getting nice clothes you should at least look good afterwards.
Flip to page two for orcs, undead and the first ten levels.
Filed under: Warlock, Analysis / Opinion, Features, Leveling, Guides, Classes, (Warlock) Blood Pact
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
theory Oct 26th 2009 11:12AM
you must be an idiot. "I dont take racial into consideration when picking my class and race". you are ignorant. warlock's who plan on being Demo need to roll Orc for the pet damage increase, pvp warlocks should be undead for the WOTF or blood elf for the mana and silence....
manchester_fan01 Oct 26th 2009 11:17AM
If i had rolled a Orc warlock instead of my gnome, i dont think i would have leveled him to lvl 80, for me, the appearance is more important than racials....
Jordan Oct 26th 2009 11:22AM
Or he could be one of those people who like having fun... you might know then as "scrubs," I like to think of them as "people who realize it's a video game."
Al in SoCal Oct 26th 2009 11:26AM
How about if he wanted to stay alliance? Guess that's not an option in Theory's world of MUST DO.
Mordockk Oct 26th 2009 4:41PM
It's true, taking racials into consideration is a good idea if you are a serious pvper.
That doesn't make the person an idiot if they choose to play a different class/race. It's people like you who abuse racials that will eventually make blizzard make racials oboslete.
And BTW, you can lose any given Arena match no matter what race you are, be more pro and play any race/class you want instead of trying to pick the perfect 'racial'.
Doctor Giggles Oct 26th 2009 12:38PM
Theory you unsmiling, pompous theory-craft slave, you are the disease that is killing wow.
If we wanted to deal with number-crunching blowhards like you we would all go back to our respective office jobs.
You are no longer relevant, gtfo.
Rhabella Oct 26th 2009 2:08PM
Don’t you prove the point of not overanalyzing racials if you can come up with good reasons for all of them?
I mean they all have their strengths and weaknesses, and though some are better in very specific situations, none of them are exceptionally powerful in EVERY situation.
Congratulations, you called Hobbs an idiot, then proceeded to prove why he was right.
mtsadowski Oct 26th 2009 11:25AM
Well written article! I love the digs at the mages. Can we finally see a rivalry between the mage and warlock columnists? BRING IT!
/am a mage, but loves rivalries
//potentially bigger than Sox and Yankees!
Al in SoCal Oct 26th 2009 12:55PM
I'd like to see a video of a duel between the mage / lock columnists - anyone else?
Paultab Oct 26th 2009 1:08PM
Mage Pride!
Rhabella Oct 26th 2009 2:11PM
You can have your mage pride, and we will even give you your own day at Six Flags and a parade as well if you want.
Ostentaneous Oct 26th 2009 2:17PM
Get off my thread! Stupid mage doesn't even know where he is.
Jamie Oct 26th 2009 11:35AM
The blog title picture is total win.
However I'm pretty sure the intelligence (& to some the evil nature) of gnomes would put them higher up the warlock "evolution tree".
SunwellVialist Oct 26th 2009 11:39AM
I haven't touched my Warlock in a while, too busy with my mains, but this really makes me want to dust him off again and get him up to level 80.
Great article!
Seth Oct 26th 2009 11:43AM
Silly warlocks think they know about the secrets that lay within. But Shadow Priests... they are the secrets.
They ARE the darkness.
Ullaana Oct 26th 2009 11:44AM
Okay, as someone who has read many "real world" books on magic and magic users could someone please tell me why Blizzard made male witches (warlocks) have the powers of a necromancer?
Witches are at the low end of the magic using scale and the females are more powerful than the males, since most of their power comes from sexual energy and hence the covem orgies. Necromancers, Shaman, Druids, and "Priests" are next with Sorcerers sitting at the top of the power scale.
Yes, I know it's a game but they could have at least called you guys Sorcerers. Either way, I don't play a magic-user but have a lot of respect for those who do. It takes a lot of dedication.
Cyrus Oct 26th 2009 11:56AM
"Okay, as someone who has read many "real world" books on magic and magic users could someone please tell me why Blizzard made male witches (warlocks) have the powers of a necromancer?"
This is really dumb. Which "real world" magic-users throw fireballs? From which religion or belief system are you getting that hierarchy, and do different belief systems claim that there is a different hierarchy, or not? Do you even know? And do ligers really have magical powers?
Ullaana Oct 26th 2009 12:05PM
Cyrus, note the quotation marks? According to those same "real world" books of magic there are people who have these abilities.
Didn't say I believed them, just was wondering why, in all the so-called "factual" mythos Blizzard chose to name the class Warlock instead of something else.
And if you can't accept that there are "real World" books on the subject or have never read any, you might not want to be so snide less someone who takes it too seriously shows you what a "true" (ha) majiks user can do.
Hope you realize that I'm just picking back, and take it in the light-hearted manner it's meant.
Ballad Oct 26th 2009 6:03PM
Warcraft relies on many established RPG elements to build upon the game that we play.
You are referencing books, they are referencing RPGs such as Dungeons and Dragons.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warlock_(Dungeons_&_Dragons)
I dont see you complaining about the Engineer in TF2 using a shotgun and wielding a wrench rather than sitting in an office somewhere.
selport Oct 26th 2009 1:08PM
Except that warlocks are Oathbreakers and not "male witches".
Male witches are.... WITCHES. Funny how that works.