Warlock

Warlocks are a rare breed, having the lowest overall representation of any class in Hard Chores. They have group utility with banish, summoning, curses, and DPS. Fear can be good for solo but can be dangerous if fearing into social mobs. Due to their rareness, they tend to get geared much more quickly than other players, but also tend to peak sooner, and have lower overall DPS than mages and rogues. They are a relatively safe class to play for a new hardcore 60 as well.

### Notes for Hardcore mode

* always carry a stack of limited invulnerability potions and swiftness potions
* keybind mouse wheel up to pet attack and mouse wheel down to pet follow.

### Guide to Raiding:

* at level 60, get the max rank of Curse of Recklessness
	+ CoR is often the best curse when raid contains lots of melee classes and hunters, due to armor reduction.
	+ Curse of Elements is usually the 2nd best curse
	+ Curse of Shadows can be used in molten core
	+ CoA should be used by the best geared warlock and as last priority.
* Banish targets are purple diamond and square?
	+ use Banish rank 1 for packs of 3 or less
	+ Use Banish rank 2 for packs of 4 or more
	+ We typically do not re-banish due to fights being short.
* The most important mobs to banish are:
	+ Lower Karazhan Halls - Channelers. Have mana drain and holy fire.
	+ Molten Core - (Annihilators?). Can instantly cast two fireballs with enough damage to one-shot a player with low health or without a fire protection potion.
	+ Blackrock Depths - Fireguard Destroyer. Can hit multiple players with fireballs
* Banish can have unexpected consequences in some raid encounters such as:
	+ Garr - the banished mob's position will still count for effects such as separation anxiety.
	+ Son of Flame in Ragnaros fight - if the last ones are banished, Ragnaros will re-emerge.
* In your first molten core raid, some warlocks opt for "Demonic Embrace" over Shadow Mastery as a safeguard against the Lava Packs. Only do this if you are undergeared and do not have enough stam. Also bring a Lungjuice cocktail if you are doing this. By the end of the first run, you can get rid of Demonic Embrace.
* The Bloodvine set has been nerfed on Turtle-WoW; as an important BiS item, this is a major loss.

### Leveling Notes:

* if you have Improved Imp, Improved Firebolt, and not Improved Drain Life, the imp can fully tank regular mobs while you drain life. This provides an alternative to Fel Concentration that you can use in any talent tree to drain tank, including destruction builds.
* when leveling, spell damage gear is typically BIS because it allows you to melt mobs without being touched. For example you have enough spell damage, it is like casting spells a rank up with less mana, allowing you to be far more powerful than your level, and meaning fights end faster. Ending fights faster has negative ramifications for spells like Curse of Agony and Corruption which do more damage and are more efficient if the fight is longer; the affliction tree tends to suffer as a result, compared to other talent trees.
* Destruction talents such as conflagorate and shadowburn offer the highest possible DPS for a warlock, especially for short fights. They are excellent for melting opponents.
* Until Death Coil and Howl Of Terror in the 40s, the only way Warlocks can escape from packs are 1) Voidwalker Sacrifice, 2) Swiftness/Swim Speed Potions, 3) having distance on their side. Pulling packs or patrols accidentally is the main way that warlocks die in hardcore while leveling, therefore only start fights when you have a guaranteed means of escape OR a guaranteed way to win.
* The best classes to level with are
	+ Priest. Has heal, and their win condition aligns with yours. Psychic scream can be great for dealing with packs, but can lead to chaotic fights and chain pulls, so be careful.
	+ Mages. They have frost bolt and/or blizzard and kite with you.
	+ Rogues. Their crippling poison is great for curse-and-run playstyle. Make sure to keep threat off them with searing pain. This combo works for 1-2 mobs at a time playstyles.
* Fear cannot be used against:
	+ Devilsaurs
	+ Undead
	+ Bosses