Warlock Warlocks are magical practitioners that seek to understand darker , fel - based magics , including destructive spells . While many warlocks willingly follow the Burning Legion , there are those who work against it , using their magic to fight against evil . Warlocks have proven themselves to be powerful allies - as well as powerful foes . Warlocks are renowned for their damage over time ( DoT ) spells , sinister shadow magic , summoning demonic minions , and their ability to wreak havoc with destructive fire spells . Warlocks can specialize in any of these areas : warlocks are the masters of damage over time , draining their targets ' health with an array of powerful debuffs ; warlocks summon improved demon s to do their bidding , drawing power from their minions and bolstering their strength ; warlocks call down a rain of fire upon their enemies , specializing in potent burst damage and fire spells . Warlocks are often maligned and mistrusted due to the nature of their powers . Overview . Warlocks can ignite distant enemies in searing flame , send them fleeing in terror and pain , or afflict them with corrupting diseases and curses that steal the victim ' s vitality . These practitioners of the profane are feared across Azeroth , and many who have felt their wrath now prefer to fight alongside a warlock than against one . Warlocks burn and destroy weakened foes with a combination of crippling illnesses and dark magic . While their demon pets protect and enhance them , warlocks strike at their enemies from a distance . As physically weak spellcasters bereft of heavy armor , cunning warlocks allow their minions to take the brunt of enemy attacks in order to save their own skin . Warcraft I description . If the energies of this world can be used for destruction , then the energies of the underworld could destroy Azeroth . It is this destructive power that the orc ish warlocks use in their incantations and rituals . As the most powerful of the orcish sects , these dark brethren of Hades go where none others dare in search of ultimate power . Their Towers hold the keys to unleashing the very essence of evil upon those they see as a threat to their devious plans . Spells that channel the fire and brimstone of hell through their bodies , or can summon forth great creatures - even daemons - are theirs to use . History . The eredar of the Burning Legion are credited as the original warlocks and wielders of dark magics , corrupted from the powerful and magically attuned eredar of Argus . In most societies warlocks live on the fringe of civilization , tolerated but not trusted . Human warlocks meet in secret in the basement of a bar in Stormwind . Within the Horde , Thrall expressed discomfort with the warlocks ; understanding their utility , he allowed them to work within the Cleft of Shadow . Conventional spell casters often see the warlock ' s magic as a vain attempt at increasing their own power . Although many that consort with demon s fall to darkness , warlocks of the Horde and Alliance advocate bending demonic forces to one ' s will without succumbing to complete corruption . These spell casters can summon demons to serve them and they can cast many painful spells that slowly eat at the life of their enemies . Warlocks are physically weak compared to other classes , but they compensate with their potent array of spells and their demonic minion s . Compared to other spell casters , warlocks are among the strongest and often depend on the sacrifice of their own blood to fuel their magical powers . Races . < tabber > Playable races = The warlock class can be played by the following races : TCG images = < / tabber > Resources . Warlocks use both Soul Shards and mana . Warlocks typically start with all five of their shard slots empty ; once filled , they degenerate slowly . Certain abilities will generate shards , while certain other abilities - such as summoning demons - cost shards . Conjured items . Another powerful ability of the warlock is to create healthstone s and soulstone s . These conjured items are used from the inventory and only one each can be created and held at one time . Healthstones and soulstones will disappear if the player logs off from the warlock character for more than 15 minutes . A warlock is by no means a healer . However , healthstones can be given to party members and soulstones can be cast on party members . To heal others ( or themselves ) , warlocks can create a healthstone and hand it to another friendly player via Trade . Create Soulwell creates a Soul Well from which healthstones can be extracted by members of the party or raid group . Warlocks may use a soulstone on a friendly player ( or themselves ) before they die , allowing them to resurrect on death without having to use a Graveyard . If a warlock uses a soulstone on another member of their party and the warlock or that member leaves the party , the buff is dismissed . Escaping melee . When an opponent gets within melee range , the warlock ' s best bet is to use disabling spells to get away or try to distract opponents with minions . If acquiring range is not possible , a warlock is by no means helpless . Defensively , warlocks can to heal while doing minor damage , absorb damage with , reduce damage with , sometimes scare away enemies with , and Demonology warlocks can share damage taken with their minions via . End - game expectations . Warlocks are taken to raids for their incredible DPS and their raid utility . Warlocks ' abilities can bring a lot of support to parties and they are usually the biggest source of ranged DPS . Seed of Corruption , when properly used , makes a warlock extremely effective AOE DPS without putting the raid at risk . Using summon in order to teleport latecomers , conjuring soulstone s for raid recovery , and distributing healthstone s are extremely beneficial . Warlocks are also well - known for their unique CC abilities such as Fear , Banish , Enslave Demon , Shadowfury , and Howl of Terror . " The Burning Crusade " brought more utility to warlocks . The addition of the soul well made distributing healthstone s a much simpler and convenient process . With Patch 2 . 4 , warlocks finally were able to summon through instance barriers . This made replacing players in a mid - raid scenario significantly more convenient . Wrath of the Lich King changes . Warlocks deal impressive damage through the careful combination of damage spells , dots , and pets , and their new talents and abilities reflected this role . In many cases abilities had their damage increased or their mana cost reduced , making them more efficient for the warlock to use . Talents were consolidated and moved in the tree to give access to some important talents earlier on . In addition , summoning a dreadsteed or felsteed no longer cost any mana and does not affect the global cooldown so that mounts work just like everyone else ' s . The most significant change to the warlock was the way pets were handled . All of the demon master trainers were removed ; instead , all demon abilities and spells were automatically learned as pets gained levels . There were some changes to the demon abilities . For example , they automatically learn avoidance at level 10 . Blood pact works for the entire raid , making it unnecessary to stick a warlock in a particular group . Consume Shadows greatly increases nearby allies ' stealth detection . Some abilities were removed completely and new ones put in their place , like Fel Intelligence and Shadow Bite replacing Paranoia and Tainted Blood on felhunters . Overall , pets received the same love given to the other classes in the game , making them better , stronger and more fearsome .