Warlock tactics The warlock is a very fun and rewarding class to play , but it takes a lot of skill and finesse to play a warlock to its full potential . As a warlock , you will need to learn to use your pets , manage your threat , and collect Soul Shard s . As you grow in levels , your strategies will change slightly , you will have to learn to adapt to new situations and new spells . But however your strategy adjusts , it can usually be boiled down into a few basic concepts . The different approaches to combat really depend on the pet you are using . So let ' s look at the pets that a warlock can have , and in what situations we would use them . Before we do however , we should first explain a key concept of the warlock : the Soul Shard . Soul Shards are a unique Warlock resource displayed in the user interface beneath the player ' s health and mana bars similar to Death Knight Runes . The resource works in tandem with the Soulburn spell , to empower the next spell the player casts , granting it a special effect , such as increasing its damage or making it an instant cast . Warlocks have 3 Soul Shards that can be used during a fight and will not be able to gain additional shards during combat . Soul Shards are not required outside of combat , with the intent that warlocks make full use of the resource in every fight , though Blizzard may add a mechanic to regen shards in combat if it ' s found it ' s needed in order to handle variable combat length . Soulburn has no mana or health costs and is off the global cooldown , but has a 45 - second cooldown . Secondary effects are outlined here . Pet Strategies . Imp . Before level 10 , a warlock will only be able to summon the Imp , which is a pet that casts fireballs at enemies . It can gain access to a stamina buff called Blood Pact , as well as a damage shield called Fire Shield . The Imp is the only pet that requires no reagents to summon . ( edit : since the release of cataclysm , many changes have been made to warlocks , including removing the requirement of a reagent to summon any pet ) In general , the Imp represents the mage type of pet . Lots of damage output , but not a lot of hitpoints . They are best NOT taking damage alone ( if you can take some for the pet he ' ll live longer ) , and they are best suited for cases when you are in a group where someone else can tank . If you use the Imp alone , you are best suited using the pet to deliver the most amount of damage as it can , while you do the same . The key with the Imp is to kill the monster before it can do too much damage to either you or the Imp . Warlocks that have specced into Dark Pact use Imps often because of their high Spirit and Intellect . They can leave an Imp Phase Shifted and steal its mana , and the Imp will never take damage or draw aggro while it regenerates mana during the whole fight . The Imp is essentially a mana battery in these cases . The Blood Pact stamina bonus , when improved by talents , can be as effective as a in some cases . This also allows for quicker regeneration of mana since you have more health to fuel Life Tap . After level 10 , the Imp is generally not used for solo playing unless the warlock has run out of soul shards , since his utility for leveling is outstripped by the voidwalker and succubus . Though , some warlocks choose to " AoE " grind mobs like some mages do by casting all DoTs on one target , choose new target , DoT that one , and so on . For this the imp is useful as both a mana battery and for the stamina buff . In end - game raids the Imp is useful primarily for Blood Pact . The fact that phase shift prevents him from dying as long as he doesn ' t use firebolt is also a plus . The Blood Pact ability is regarded so high that there are guilds that require warlocks to always use the Imp . However , many players that request the presence of an Imp don ' t have a full understanding of Blood Pact ( which is limited to a 20 yard range ) . As warlocks are a ranged class , they will usually try to stay at a maximum range , which will be around 30 yards . That means that the melee class in the party may not get the benefits of the Blood Pact . In boss fights , a good warlock will step forward and request the Imp to stay at a position where most players are inside the 20 yard range , and then step back again to a safer distance . Voidwalker . At level 10 , after completing a quest , you will be able to summon the Voidwalker . This pet is a tank , meaning he can absorb a lot of damage , but is not very useful at dealing it . The key ability of the Voidwalker is Torment , an ability which acts as a taunt . What that means is that he can cause monsters to find him more threatening than you . That is a good thing , as letting the Voidwalker absorb damage will keep you from having to , and he has much better armor . And if it comes down to one of you being killed . . . well , better him than you . Later abilities of the Voidwalker include Sacrifice , which hurts the Voidwalker by a percentage of health to give you a stronger version of the priest spell , Suffering , which is an AoE taunt , and Consume Shadows , an out of combat pet self heal . Sacrifice can be particularly useful if your Voidwalker ' s health is low and he ' s about to die regardless . To summon a Voidwalker , you will need to use a Soul Shard . If you don ' t have any , you ' re stuck with the Imp until you get one . For this reason , it is best to always have a few Soul Shards handy in case your pet dies , and you need to replace him . Beginning with patch 1 . 12 , a soul shard is refunded to the caster any time a summoned pet despawns rather than dies ( for example , if you move too far from your pet ) . The tactics used with the Voidwalker are usually centered around letting him take the damage , while you hurt the monster in a controlled manner . After ordering the Voidwalker to attack your selected target , most experienced Warlocks start out with Curse of Agony . Using Curse of Weakness is not normally effective when soloing because while it decreases the amount of damage the target does per hit , the lack of damage from not using a Curse of Agony means the battle will take longer and the monster will get in more of those hits . The net result is a longer battle with the same or more total damage done to your Voidwalker . Curse of Agony is applied before the other DoT s because it takes the longest to complete its full duration ( 24 seconds ) . After Curse of Agony comes Corruption ( 18 second duration at most ranks ) , and then Immolate ( 15 seconds for full damage ) . This DoT order has several advantages . First , it ensures that full damage from all the DoTs is done in the shortest amount of time . Second , it does the least amount of damage in the beginning . Neither Curse of Agony nor Corruption do any damage for 3 seconds after you cast them , and Curse of Agony starts off slow . This allows your Voidwalker to get a taunt in before you start really pissing off the monster . Third , it allows you the most flexibility . It ' s not uncommon for your Voidwalker to have his taunt resisted , but since the damage you ' ve done is so low in the beginning , the monster might not turn to attack you . Even if it does , it won ' t be hard for the Voidwalker to get aggro back . If you see your Voidwalker being resisted , you can always hold off on Immolate until after he ' s built up more threat . The strategy of finishing off the monster after this depends on the talent spec of the Warlock . Affliction Warlocks will use a combination of Life Tap and Drain Life to do additional damage while restoring health and mana . Destruction Warlocks will use a combination of Shadow Bolt , Conflagrate , and Immolate to finish the monster off a good deal faster , but without the replenishment . In longer fights , you may need to use Health Funnel to give your pet some needed life , but be aware that those heals will raise your threat level a good amount , and may result in the monster going after you . Succubus . At level 20 , you will get the rogue pet , the Succubus . Besides having a ' distinct ' look , the Succubus is capable of dealing out damage . While it is contended by users , the Succubus is intended to deal out more damage faster than the Imp , but be less able to absorb damage than the Voidwalker . Basically the succubus is a middle ground pet . It is important to remember that she will also need to be summoned with a Soul Shard , so you need one ready to call her . The Succubus starts with an ability called Lash of Pain . This is basically an instant - cast direct damage ability that deals about 30 damage ( rank 1 ) to the target . Later the Succubus will gain Seduction which is a charming ability . This is useful against humanoid encounters , and can help you deal with multiple monsters at once . The tactics around the Succubus are similar to the Imp : deal damage fast and share the pain between you . Approach the combat in the same way as the Voidwalker : open with a curse , DoT , follow up with DD , but in this case , do not hold back on the damage being dealt , even if it puts the monster on you . The damage absorption of the Succubus will only help slightly , so you ' d rather just dish out the pain . The Succubus is the best pet with which to practice a soloing technique called " drain tanking . " Attack with the pet and apply DoTs of your choice . Eventually the aggro generated by your spells will pull the mob onto you , at which point begin spamming Drain Life to offset the damage you ' re taking from the mob , as well as Life Tap ping to replenish your mana . Meanwhile , your Succubus should be ideally positioned to apply Lash of Pain to the mob ' s back . Drain tanking is only feasible as a play style if you take some key talents in the Affliction tree , but if done well you can take down mobs surprisingly fast and come out with only a small net loss of health / mana . Succubi also seem to be very useful in a group where a tank is already present . Having the ability to dish out more damage , and even the occasional charm is definitely worth using . She also tends to create some oohs and ahhs because of her scantily clad appearance . The distinctive look of the Succubus will also make it clear what to target , and her reduced size compared to the Voidwalker makes fighting at close quarters easier . Despite her lack of taunting , the Succubus can generate some hate on herself with her damage output ( mainly when you have talents that increase her DPS : Unholy Power , Improved Succubus , Improved Lash of Pain ) . To keep your somewhat fragile pretty alive , Soothing Kiss will reduce the aggro toward her ( similar to the rogue ' s Feint ability ) and keep her dealing out damage without risk of dying . Always have Soothing Kiss on autocast when in a group , and never when playing solo . An alternative strategy for using the Succubus is this : If timed perfectly , the mob will start running towards you in the end but spend some time running . If you share the damage with the Succubus , you minimize recovery time as you both regain lost hp at the same time . This strategy takes into account that the Succubus can ' t take much damage , and so using DoTs is too slow . Using the talents Improved Succubus and Improved Lash of Pain really makes this strategy shine . Felhunter . At level 30 you get the Felhunter . The Felhunter is very useful against other casters , using spell lock , which interrupts an enemy caster ' s spell , and - - for six seconds - - prevents the caster from casting any spell from the same class of magic . The felhunter ' s " Devour Magic " ability removes negative magic on you ( or positive magic on an enemy ) and heals the felhunter every time he performs it . Careful threat management can make fighting with the Felhunter smooth and painless . Send the Felhunter in to attack , and watch the mob ' s health bar . As soon as the Felhunter hits the enemy for the first time , cast Curse of Weakness - - this will not cause enough threat to draw the mob away . Wait until the mob ' s health bar has decreased visibly by a tick , then cast Corruption ( and Siphon Life if you have it ) . You may want to use Life Tap at this point to recoup the mana you have used . Wait until the mob ' s health has decreased a significant fraction - - experiment with different enemies and see how this varies . Then use further attacks , such as Immolate , Shadow Bolt , your wand if you have one , or perhaps even a direct melee weapon attack . You can also use Drain Life to restore the health you lost by using Life Tap . If the mob does turn away from your Felhunter to attack you , don ' t panic ; just cool it for a moment , stop attacking , and it ' ll go back . At this point some of your DoTs may be wearing off ; you can judge whether and when to put them back based on how easy it is to draw the threat back onto you . It takes finesse , but you can usually dispatch enemies your level and come out with almost full health and mana . Your Felhunter may be a little worse for the wear , but pets recover very quickly . Infernal . At level 50 you can get the Infernal . The infernal is not a pet you will be using frequently , seeing as it can only be summoned once per 10 minutes , it requires a reagent , and it disappears after 1 minute . The spell to summon the infernal has a 2 second cast time , and when the infernal lands it will deal a small amount of shadow damage to all enemies around it as well as stunning them for 2 seconds . The Reagent needed to summon one is called an " Infernal Stone " The infernal comes with a good chunk of health , fire immunity , fear immunity , and a permanent immolation aura that deals fire damage to every enemy around it every 3 seconds . It also hits pretty hard , and tanks well in PvE if you ever decide to use it for that . Its fear immunity makes it a useful tool against enemy priests . The infernal is useful for attracting attention in group PvP . If you send your infernal in to attack an enemy group , chances are they will focus their firepower on the infernal , giving your group members an easier time . The information in the paragraph below is obsolete post patch 3 . 0 . 3 . : Prior to a certain patch , the summoned Infernal would roam free . Now , he comes enslaved after summoning and will die after one minute . Before patching , the only way to get the ability to summon an Infernal was to find a Book in Lower Blackrock Spire ( LBRS ) . While the book is still available in LBRS , the spell can also be learned through a quest chain in Bloodvenom Falls , given by Niby The Almighty . After defeating Kroshius ( 55 non Elite Infernal ) and El Pollo Grande ( Niby ' s summoning , non Elite ) you will get the spell . Doomguard . At level 60 , you obtain the Curse of Doom spell , and can quest for the Ritual of Doom . Curse of Doom , when dealing the killing damage to any mob , has an estimated 100 % chance of summoning a Doomguard if the mob grants experience , but it must be enslaved in order to command him . Ritual of Doom , however , will always summon one , at the cost of the health of a party member ( no longer kills anyone ) , and come enslaved for 15 minutes then will despawn . The Doomguard is more frail than the Infernal , but has far more abilities . He attacks in melee , and has a devastating crippling attack ( a spell called " Cripple " ) which slows opponent ' s attacks and movement , and he can stun with War Stomp . The tactics for using Doomguard are similar to the Voidwalker , except that Doomguard does tremendous amounts of damage and may require some healing . In PvP , Doomguard will wreak havoc on the enemy with his stuns and cripples , unless one of those enemies is another warlock , in which case he can be banished immediately . Felguard . Warlocks can get this pet from investing 41 points in the Demonology tree . The Felguard ' s aggro - holding ability is significantly better than the voidwalker ' s . This goes for his melee damage as well , comparable to the succubus , and for this reason makes them both obsolete except for sacrifice , seduce , and the versatile Master Demonologist ' s buffs that these demons grant . His abilities include a Demonic Frenzy , taunt , cleave , and intercept ( which charges an enemy and stuns them for 3 seconds ) . He is great for PvP and soloing , and can even hold his own in a raid if kept healed . When facing an enemy warlock who has one , it is advisable to banish it , hence removing the buffs this demon gives him . An effective method of grinding mobs with a Felguard : Attack the first mob , DoT it two or three times while the Felguard builds some aggro , and then let the Felguard continue with the next mob before the first is dead . That way , the Demonic Frenzy will stay at + 50 % attack power . Curses . A warlock is allowed one curse per monster . Multiple warlocks can cast the same or different curses on a monster . However , most do not stack ( i . e . two Curse of Tongues will not delay casting time any more than one ) . Curse of Agony and Curse of Doom are the only curses that stack on a monster . The choice of curses to use depends on the situation . Get a feel for the duration of each curse or an addon that tracks spell duration on targets so you can recast a curse when one wears off ( namely Curse of Agony and Curse of Exhaustion ) . The following is a list of curses and their effects : When you do not want to aggro a monster too much it is best to use Curse of Weakness . Since you can ' t use Curse of Recklessness as of Patch 3 . 1 , you ' ll want to make sure you kill the mob you ' re fighting faster before it flees too far and brings more trouble . When you want to dish out damage , it is best to use Curse of Agony . The damage applied will start slow , and increase over the life of the curse . This means you may pull aggro onto yourself , so use with caution . Curse of Tongues is best used against spell casting mob s , as it will slow their spellcasting on you . Curse of the Elements is obviously useful to reduce a mob ' s ability to resist a particular class of spells . This is very useful when grouped with Mages , Shadow Priests , other Warlocks , and in Wrath of The Lich King , maybe Elemental Shamans and Death knights . Also , Curse of Elements is frequently used when a warlock is low on health . This curse will increase the amount of damage done , and thus health gained by spells like Siphon Life and Drain Life . All in all , it is best to suit the curse to your immediate needs and be ready to shift them as your needs shift . Changing curses in mid - fight , especially in PvP , is quite handy . Health and Mana Management . Warlocks are unique among mana - dependent classes in their ability to fuel their spells with their health , which they do by using Life Tap . They are also one of the two classes that can heal themselves by stealing health from enemies , via Drain Life , as well as Death Coil once every 2 minutes . ( Priest s can also drain health from enemies , with Devouring Plague . ) Furthermore , they can heal their pets like Hunters do , but unlike Hunters , Warlocks heal their pets by sending them their own health ( with Health Funnel ) . Because of these facts , Warlocks have a different relationship with their health and mana bars than other classes do - - health and mana are both resources that you can use , and there ' s even a conversion between the two , though it is one - way . For one thing , Warlocks don ' t need to carry drinks around - - a Warlock can just Life Tap until his / her health is low , then sit down and eat some food . A Warlock with Cooking can get along quite well . Also , a Warlock with First Aid can effectively turn found cloth into mana by Life Tapping and applying a bandage . Undead Warlocks can Cannibalize humanoid corpses nearby , which is very useful for soloing in areas where you ' re killing humanoids ( for instance , farming cloth ) . There ' s always the Healthstone , too . It is often a good idea to carry around a stack of drinks , though . For example , you ' ve just been in a rather long fight , you have used your Dark Pact ability to steal all of your pets mana , and you don ' t want to life tap any longer because the danger having a low life percentage presents . In this situation a bandage and then life tapping to about even health and mana , then sitting down to eat and drink , will save you a lot of time and effort . If you ' re playing a Warlock , you need to get used to going around with your health bar less than full . Your Demon Skin / Demon Armor no longer restores health ( only healing by 20 % ( 26 % with talents ) , so don ' t depend on it to refill your health . Of course , you ' ll ideally want both health / mana bars to be full , but when that ' s not possible , it ' s a good general rule to have approximately equal - length health and mana bars so you ' ll have as much as possible of both resources . If a helpful healer comes along and heals you , thank him / her , and then use Life Tap to even out your bars again , if needed . If they ' re confused , explain this . Naturally , if the situation demands more health or more mana , adjust your balancing act accordingly . Melee classes are known for doing sustainable damage - - that is , the damage they do doesn ' t directly deplete a limited resource . Spellcasters ' damage is usually limited by their mana , but Warlocks have ways around this . If a pet or some allies are keeping a mob from attacking the Warlock directly , the Warlock can do quite sustainable damage by alternately using Life Tap and casting Drain Life on an enemy , and you might even end up with more health and mana than you started with . The Improved Drain Life talent helps with this . If you have curses and / or DoTs on the mob at the same time , it can add up to a sizable contribution to the total damage done . You will typically have much more health than your pet , even the Voidwalker , so don ' t be afraid to heal it with Health Funnel if it gets low . The one thing to watch out for is that healing , even health donation like Health Funnel , can attract aggro . You can always Drain Life to recover the health that you gave your pet . The effectiveness of Drain Mana has long been debated . However , it is plain to see that a Warlock can , in fact , gain fairly significant amounts of mana using the spell . For example , the highest rank of the spell , Rank 4 , costs 310 mana and drains 136 mana every second for five seconds , resulting in a total gain of 370 mana ( 136 mana gained per second * 5 seconds - 310 mana cost ) . ( Lower ranks of the spell have a virtually identical cost / result ratio , although the overall mana gained is , of course , lower . ) Unlike Life Tap , which always costs life , this mana comes at no cost to you whatsoever , except that you will be dealing no direct damage to the mob for five seconds . However , since a significant percentage of a warlock ' s DPS comes from DoTs or his pet , especially for Affliction - based warlocks , this brief lapse in DPS should not prove too detrimental . There are two major difficulties that prevent the effective use of Drain Mana . The first is that many mobs in the World of Warcraft simply have no mana whatsoever , and others may not have enough mana to be efficient " reservoirs " from which you can replenish your own stores . The second difficulty is that Drain Mana is channeled , meaning that it is very easily disrupted by damaging the warlock . Of course , Drain Life also faces this exact same problem . Thus , while a Drain Life / Life Tap combo may be useful for dealing sustained damage to a mob with no or little overall change to your health and mana , Drain Mana can very quickly increase your mana , allowing you to jump back into the fray with whatever ability you choose . If you have Dark Pact , you can steal mana from your pet , which regenerates it quickly , and what ' s more , you can do this while you ' re running . This makes up for the fact that Life Tap is one - way , but you have to go pretty deep into the Affliction tree to get to Dark Pact ( tier 7 ) . The Improved Drain Soul is an ideal ability for regaining mana . If you don ' t often rely on it other than for soul shards , it is a good strategy to cast Drain Soul on a mob right as it is about to die for a quick restoration of 15 % of total mana , which can take a considerable amount away from downtime after a fight . The downsides to this is that it needs to be channeled while the mob dies , meaning you need to rely on your pet or party members or a DoT to kill it ( something that must be considered if you are Destruction specced or dislike relying on DOTs ) , and that the spell takes up a considerable amount of mana to cast , which can be resolved by casting Drain Soul ( rank 1 ) which is a cost of a mere 55 points . Remember that you need to keep track of soul shards so as you do not get overwhelmed by extras . Beware of " playing your Warlock like a Mage " . This means casting spells until you run out of mana , sitting down to drink water , repeat . Mages can conjure water and mana stones to help themselves get mana back , and there are even Mage talents to help with mana recovery and conservation , but Warlocks can ' t do these things , because they ' re not meant to work this way . For information about what spells to use , see Warlock mana efficiency Gear preferences , by Morzath of Area 52 . Warlocks need different amounts of stats depending on what they do . Leveling warlocks should have plenty of Stamina and Intellect gear . Eagle gear has both , and should be gotten until level 60ish , where you can get sorcerer gear , which gives both that , and + spell damage . PvP warlocks should get heavy Stamina , Intellect , and Resilience gear . spell damage isn ' t as important here , as you need to be able to survive . Raiding warlocks need spell hit , spell crit , spell damage , and to a lesser extent , stamina and intellect . For some boss fights , switching to a more PvP - esque gear set ( primarily stamina ) will be very important , such as the shade of aran fight . Thinking of different speccings , Demonology Warlocks should get high stamina , as they can use it more efficiently , Destruction Warlocks should get spell damage and such , and Affliction Warlocks should be a fair mix . Spirit used to be a no - no in general , for we Warlocks can Life Tap to regenerate mana , and use healthstones to heal ourselves , but with the release of Patch 3 . 0 . 3 Spirit now improves your + spell power and is therefore now considered a secondary ( optional ) stat . Any melee - suited stat is no good for us . do not , I repeat , do NOT get gear that is fit for a different class , just because it has spell damage or stamina . ( I knew a warlock who had a tanking necklace , just because it had stamina , and a mage with a ret pally necklace , due to it having spell damage . . . embarrassing to raid with them actually . . . ) " ( With the release of 4 . 0 . 3a , spirit is now useless , as we lifetap to regain mana , and it no longer adds to our spell power . ) " When coming to the choice of weapons , always choose the one with the best stats for whatever type of Warlock you are . Staves and sword or dagger / offhand combinations are what most warlocks use . If you want to get the most bang for your buck , a good sword / dagger and offhand will often give you an increase to spell power that you would not be able to get from just a two handed staff alone . The DPS of the weapon is completely irrelevant , as the Warlock will only be able to do very little melee damage . A warlock may use his wand in farming situations , however , with proper preparation , life tap will get rid of the need to use a wand . My own wand , The Black Stalk , has yet to be used , as I use Life Tap and bandages or healthstones to get rid of the damage to my health . . . Plus , I ' m 0 / 21 / 40 , and I blast enemies for around 6x what they can do to me . ( hehe ) Gear with + Healing doesn ' t benefit spells that heal by draining life ( Drain Life , Siphon Life , etc . ) , but gear that has + shadow damage does . Of the gear that adds to damage for a specific school of magic , only Shadow and Fire are of any use to a Warlock . I suggest getting the Frozen Shadoweave set if you have tailoring as a profession , and if you are a demonologist , affliction , or shadow destruction warlock . How to Solo in PvE Against . . . . The general rule is that it is better to fight one mob at a time . Some classes can optimize by grouping several mobs at the same time , and then AoE , but that is generally not the case for a solo Warlock . Two Even Level Mob s . Strategy 1 . Send in your Voidwalker . Begin fighting mob # 1 as if mob # 2 wasn ' t even there . As long as you do nothing to aggro mob # 2 , he will beat on your Voidwalker for the simple reason that ' s who he saw first and he has no other aggro triggers . Having your Voidwalker taunt mob # 2 is not required until you finish with mob # 1 . Once mob # 1 is dead , proceed with killing mob # 2 like you normally would solo a single mob . Somewhere in this , you may need to use Health Funnel on your pet . Be aware that this will cause a high level of threat , which will bring the second mob to you if you have not yet turned your Voidwalker ' s attention to him . Strategy 2 . If you have both Amplify Curse and Siphon Life , you can implement another strategy which will kill them both more quickly . Send in your Voidwalker as with Strategy 1 . Hit mob # 1 with Siphon Life , an Amplified Curse of Agony , Corruption , and Immolate . These DoT s should be sufficient to kill the mob on their own . Turn your Voidwalker to attack mob # 2 , DoT ing him with the same DoTs ( you will not be able to Amplify Curse again for 3 minutes ) . Add a Shadow Bolt or two to ensure his death . Sometime during this process , the damage from the DoT s on mob # 1 will do enough to make him attack you . Don ' t let this divert your attention from mob # 2 , mob # 1 will drop dead on his own like he had a heart attack soon enough . Strategy 3 . This strategy is similar to Strategy 1 ( admittedly I ' ve only used it at low levels - pre suffering - and it works well ) . You first send your pet in to tank the two mobs , put all your dots on the one that your VW is primarily tanking , and then put all your dots on the mob that your VW isn ' t tanking . This will cause it to aggro you , so you fear it . While it ' s feared the dots are ticking off and the first mob is probably close to dead , so shadowbolt or whatever to finish it off . Now you can turn to the feared mob and finish it off however you like . Once you hit level 24 and your VW learns suffering , you can probably extend this strategy to 2 or 3 or even 4 mobs , depending on how long your VW will last against the unfeared mobs . Three Even Level Mob s . Fear the highest - level ( or elite ) mob . Send your Voidwalker in to taunt the other two mob s , and then focus all of your and your Voidwalker ' s attention on the lowest - level ( or caster ) , taking it down as fast as possible . Meanwhile , be scanning around for the highest - level mob coming back at you , and re - Fear it . Now focus on taking down the mid - level mob . If your Voidwalker is low on health , cast Health Funnel - - or , if you have Fel Domination , cast Sacrifice and summon a new one . Keep that pesky highest - level mob Feared . Once the mid - level mob is down , turn your Voidwalker ' s attention to the highest - level mob and taunt until it gains aggro ( should be little trouble since you haven ' t done any damage to that mob ) . You may want to use First Aid or a Healthstone at this point if you ' ve taken a few hits . Take down the last mob at your leisure . If you are feeling daring , you can play around with DoT ting the first two mob s before control ling them . If anything goes awry and they gain too much aggro on you , you can always Sacrifice your Voidwalker and cast Howl of Terror . Four Even Level Mob s . Pull with a low cost curse ( preferably Curse of Elements ) Fear that mob ( 1 ) while sending your Voidwalker at ( 2 ) . Use Howl of Terror to fear the remaining mob s ( 3 ) and ( 4 ) . DoT up ( 3 ) and ( 2 ) ( in that order ) with everything you got : CoA , Corruption and Immolate and switch back to ( 3 ) . Shadow Bolt ' till it drops . If ( 3 ) breaks fear early , tank it while killing it as fast as possible . Send the Voidwalker to ( 4 ) when it breaks fear . Mob ( 1 ) should break fear now too , due to longer duration on single target fear . Re - cast Fear on it . Take ( 2 ) ' s remaining health with a Shadow Bolt or two . If you cant take its health away like that , tank it for a while ( you should have aggro from it ) and reapply DoT s . Now we only got ( 1 ) and ( 4 ) left , both effectively take out of the fight . Heal the pet ( or Sacrifice it and summon a new ) , and keep ( 1 ) Fear ed until you feel comfortable with taking it out . Take your time on the last two , its a breeze comparing to what you just managed . Micro - management at its finest . Five Even Level Mob s . Soloing 5 mobs is very difficult , and should only be attempted at the higher levels when more crowd and aggro control techniques are unlocked ( such as Howl of Terror ) . An affliction or demonology warlock will have an easier time due to stronger and more mana - efficient DoT s and / or an Improved Voidwalker for better aggro control and sacrifice . Send in your voidwalker and begin stacking DoTs ; Improved Corruption is a must , and Curse of Agony is probably the best curse to use . As the mobs begin to attack you , have your Voidwalker use his AoE taunt ( Suffering ) and lure them back to him . He will probably lose health rapidly , so quickly fear a high health or high DPS mob ( preferably a mage ) while re - applying DoTs . At this point , you should consider letting you voidwalker drop aggro on one mob as he will be starting to get to near - fatal HP levels by now , he ' ll be unable to match the aggro from your DoTs , and you ' re still on high HP yourself . Try and focus on DoTing the 3 mobs which the Voidwalker is tanking , and forget about the other 2 - the feared one won ' t cause any trouble and you can cope with being attacked by a single mob . Use some Destruction moves on 1 of the 3 mobs the voidwalker is tanking until it dies , and then move on to the second . Fear the last one on your Voidwalker before he dies and DoT / death coil the one that ' s attacking you . Get ready for the one that was feared first , because he ' ll be back at full health , but hopefully he ' s far away by now and has a long run to go . Get your Voidwalker to attack the returning mob , as you ' ll have a chance to heal him a little before the mob returns and your Voidwalker needs to start building aggro immediately . By now , the mob attacking you ought to be weak , so unleash a quick and devastating combo on it - e . g . immolate , conflagrate and shadowburn . A destruction warlock has an advantage here . DoT the remaining 2 mobs and prepare for the final struggle . At this point , you won ' t be on high health and your Voidwalker won ' t be either , assuming you haven ' t sacrificed him already . If he is still alive , then as soon as he aggroes one , get ready to sacrifice him because he ' ll die quickly and you can ' t afford to heal him . Once he ' s gone , chain fear the remaining mobs and let your DoTs kill them slowly . Using high DPS moves is risky here as they can break fear more easily and they ' re less mana efficient . Use your healthstone to heal a little , and finish them off with Shadowburn or Shadow Bolt . If one of the mobs starts to run , let him go because he ' ll run back by himself or when you apply Curse of Recklessness and will be easy to kill , assuming your DoTs have not done so already . Finish the last 1 off by whatever means necessary . Sit , eat , drink , and re - summon the pet of your choice . This is a very hard tactic that requires good aggro management and a decent amount of experience . Note : This has been written for a destruction warlock because Destruction is commonly considered the hardest talent specialization for solo PvE . Affliction warlocks have improved DoTs and demonology warlocks can re - summon the voidwalker and thusly their shield . Therefore , if you are not a destruction warlock , you should adapt the above to your style . Using the above with 2 or more mobs , if you can stay alive long enough to kill one , then you have made progress . If you are forced to run for your life , then wait until you are back to full mana and health , and there will be one less mob to kill . That should make it a lot easier . Elites at the same level . This is usually only possible if you can take them one at a time and avoid aggroing any nearby adds , even non - elite adds , and is also made progressively easier at lvls 60 + and with better + dmg , + stam , + int gear . There are several strategies you can use , depending on your build and the situation , but they all depend on the lock avoiding the heavy damage elites dish out . Heavy Affliction locks can dot and kite using Fear and / or Curse of Exhaustion , the idea being to use Fear effects and CoEx to keep the mob off you while your DoTs tick away its life . If you use CoEx , it helps to have passive and active Speed buffs and effects . Since you can cast DoTs and CoEx while running away from the mob , you ' re pretty much running all the time in this scenario with the mob following you ( hence the term ' kiting ' ) except when you need to stop to cast Fear or turn around to cast Death Coil . For an example of a lock dot kiting an elite , see this video of a 60 lock solo ' ing Scholomance instance bosses . Felguard Demo locks let their FG tank the elite , while they keep its health up with Health Funnel and Bandage , and mana up with Mana Feed . Certain curses like Weakness and Exhaustion help as well , though Recklessness will most likely do more harm than good since it buffs the elite ' s already high attack power and it has enough hp and armor to withstand the armor debuff . Also , Curse of Elements on the elite let you nuke it with Destro spells while your FG holds its aggro , just be careful not to pull its aggro from your FG though . A threat meter add - on is invaluable for maximizing your dps without pulling aggro from your FG . Destro locks use Fear nuking , basically Curse of Elements / Agony - > Fear - > chain nuke - > repeat as necessary . What destro locks lack in CC and buffed minions they make up for in the ability dish damage quickly , so they depend on keeping the mob away with Fear while nuking it down as quick as possible , then re - Fearing before it can get back into melee range . Curse of Elements can serve two purposes here - help your Fear stick longer and buff your Shadowbolts , Shadowburn , and Shadowfury . Bring along plenty of mana pots and anything that provides or buffs mana regen . The major caveat is if you use Fear , make sure there are no potential adds nearby . Even single non - elite adds can disrupt your strategy enough to cause you to die . Also , no matter what spec you are , keeping the mob ' s attention with a tanking minion ( Voidwalker or Felguard ) and keeping it alive with Health Funnel is your major priority should Fear not be an option . Tactic 1 . The strategy is dangerous if there is a risk that the mob will attract other of the same type . A Warlock using Demonic Sacrifice of the Voidwalker will regenerate health continuously , making the fight easier . ( Unfortunately , Demonic Sacrifice was removed in patch 3 . 1 ) It can be a good strategy to use Curse of Doom in this type of fights , as it will lessen the chance for damage to the mob , interrupting the Fear . If possible , stay close to a wall or cave to eliminate the risk of the mob running too far away . If a Voidwalker is available , it can be used get aggro in the beginning , giving enough time to apply some DoT s . However , it is important to take the aggro away quickly , as the Voidwalker usually can ' t survive elites more than a short time . When the Voidwalker lose aggro , set it on passive following . Sacrifice it if needed . You don ' t want it to run around , following the mob and maybe aggro other types of mobs . There is a variation of this strategy : This strategy will cost a Soul Shard . The strategy is fine if enough damage can be produced . If not , you will have an elite hitting on you and interrupting further spellcasting . As Fear isn ' t used , the risk of aggroing add s is much less , and the risk of the elite despawning because of running too far away is eliminated . Tactic 2 . This tactic works well in Outland where there are many demons wandering around , and is fun to boot ! Tactic 3 . This strategy is for Demonology specced warlocks who have the Felguard working for them . I suppose it could also be applied with the Voidwalker , but is much less effective because of it ' s weaker ability to hold aggro . A great addon for locks using this strategy is Omen 3 because it tells you when you are about to pull aggro from your pet ( or tank in other scenarios ) . Affliction Locks . With enough + damage gear , it is possible to kill several green or yellow mobs at a time , with Curse of Agony , Corruption , and Siphon Life . Before you are high enough to acquire the key talents for heavy Affliction grinding ( 5 / 5 Fel Concentration , Improved Howl of Terror , Dark Pact , Unstable Affliction ) , you will be running a Voidwalker : Once you ' ve spent 41 points into the Affliction tree and acquired Improved Howl of Terror , Dark Pact and Unstable Affliction , the method changes quite a bit . You no longer need , or want to run a Voidwalker . Instead , you will run an Imp , with all auto - casts besides Blood Pact and Phase Shift disabled . You want him to do nothing but provide free mana and a health buff . You will be taking the damage : This method is known as " Drain - tanking " and is largely considered the most efficient , and sometimes even the most fun farming strategy . With practice and some + spell damage , this becomes very easy . Raiding with a 0 / 21 / 40 Demonic Sacrifice / Shadow and Flame build by Vodkaboy . Raiding with this build is very easy , and despite information in the article below me , a well - geared 0 / 21 / 40 shadow warlock WILL be the highest damage dealer in nearly all instances and raids . When choosing talents , you need maximum points in anything that can boost Shadow Bolt damage ( Demonic Aegis , Improved Shadow Bolt , Bane , Cataclysm , Devastation , Destructive Reach , Intensity , Ruin , Backlash , Soul Leech ( This build only allows 2 / 3 in Soul Leech ) , and Shadow and Flame ) . Nether Protection is also popular for fights such as Terestian Illhoof in Karazhan . Before fights , summon a Succubus and sacrifice it ( the + 15 % shadow damage buff will last 30 minutes ) . Once the tank obtains aggro , place Curse of the Elements on the mob and just fire away with shadow bolts until it ' s dead , watching your aggro . If another warlock is doing Curse of the Elements , use Curse of Doom on bosses and Curse of Agony on trash mobs . No damage over time spells are necessary . With this build , there have been some reports of 10 , 000 shadow bolt crits , so DoTs that can ' t crit are virtually useless . Raiding As An Affliction / Destruction Warlock ( level 70 ) by Nezthulra - Anvilmar Server . NOTE : This speccing is now obsolete to being the best DPS Warlock Speccing , due to the 0 / 21 / 40 specc , and due to Blizzard nerfing the affliction talent tree . The following advice / information is based upon a 41 / 0 / 19 setup . With this setup you gain The Unstable Affliction talent from the Affliction tree , but you sacrifice the Ruin talent from the Destruction tree . Before we get started , I recommend that all Warlocks obtain the following Addons to help you maximize your damage while using this specc . In addition to the above addons , you should keep in mind the following : Lets get started by getting your buttons setup : Now lets take a look at your talents / spells and how to use them ( of course this is my setup , some talents require points to make casting times shorter ) Fear . Aside from demons , the Warlock also has another spell effective for Solo play : Fear . If put to good use , Fear can actually neglect the need of demons up to level 20 . A good Fear / PvP target works like this ; What are the upsides of this tactic ? Well , it can allow a lot of Soul saving for grouping . Also , when using this you technically don ' t have to worry about losing health , if timed right the mob won ' t be able to reach you . Downsides ? Well , you risk pulling more mobs , but that ' s cheap for a great PvE tactic , don ' t ya think ? Crowd Control Tactics . At the release of The Burning Crusade , Warlocks also began being a prime Crowd Control choice for 5 man instances . There are several tactics to effectively render an enemy out of combat until the DPS ( and you ) take it down . Fear . Fear causes one enemy to run around aimlessly for the duration of the spell , and has a chance to break on damage ( most commonly direct damage ) . Because of this the old tactic of Fear - Dotting in instances has some what lost it ' s value . Even with this slight detriment , fear is still a powerful means of removing an Enemy from combat in a mob free environment . The best way to Fear is to Searing Pain ( Max rank , more damage is more threat generated ) your target and immediately start casting Fear on it . Searing pain insures that when fear breaks , it comes back to you instead of taking out a healer . Once it is feared , maintain DPS on the main target until you see Fear break . When it breaks , recast fear unless it is that mobs time to be DPSed down . Fearing in Tight Areas . Sometimes it is required to fear in an area where mobs are still present . This is accomplished through use of Curse of Recklessness . Once the mobs are pulled , again Searing Pain your Fear Target , and immediately cast fear . This is where it begins to get difficult , you need to let the mob run a certain distance away , and cast Curse of Recklessness on it . Let it come back and just before it enters Melee range ( 5yrds ) you need to replace CoRecklessness with another curse ( generally Curse of Weakness ( rank1 } . Seducing with the Succubus . Using your Succubus pet is also a means of controlling an add , and is generally preferred because it limits the mob to one spot . Crowd controlling with a Succubus is a little less idiot - friendly than fearing , but powerful all the same . Seduce is broken by damage , so make sure you keep the mob further away to keep abilities like Thunder Clap , Cleave , and Swipe from breaking it . Obviously , to use this tactic , you need to have your succubus out . This works much like fearing in how you personally control it . The tank pulls , cast Searing Pain ( Max Rank ) on the seduce target and get your Succubus casting Seduce , this has a double sided effect . First , it keeps the mob off your Healer . Second , it keeps the mob off your Succubus , who is indeed rather squishy . After Seduce is cast , keep tabs on it while you DPS the first target . Seduce has a cast time , so it ' s prudent to hit Pet Follow and then Seduce again to make sure the mob is kept " entertained . " An additional ( yet more time consuming ) tactic is to Searing Pain , Seduce , and fear the mob while it ' s seduced . Seduce ' s duration ( 15seconds ) is shorter than Fear ' s 18 seconds , and can open up some distance to recast Seduce . This tactic should be used in an Add free environment to prevent getting more mobs and possibly wiping the group . Banishing Elementals or Demons . Banishing , for the most part , requires no special tricks or advanced control tactics . Depending on the kill order , use either Banish ( Rank 1 ) for mobs being killed soon after the primary target , or Banish ( Rank 2 ) for ones further along , or for higher health primary targets .