Warlocks are the 2nd of the support dps classes. Warlocks have great crowd control and silences, like Mages, and also have the ability to put out great dps, also like Mages. Warlocks also have more hp than Mages and also have a 20% healing bonus that they self apply. The difference between a Warlock and a Mage, though, is that Warlocks do not have the kiting abilities and survivability of a Mage. Most of a Warlocks dps comes from various dots (damage over time) which they can apply to one person or a whole team. The great thing about this is they can be damaging various players and then able to control healers or dps other targets at the same time. The downside to dots is that they can be removed by a cleanse or dispel (Priest or Paladin). Warlocks also have two very powerful curses which are the following: Curse of Tongues, which makes all casting 100% longer, and Curse Of Agony, a powerful dot. That being said Warlocks also bring great chemistry to teams, especially ones with Shadow Priests on them. Warlocks have two separate fears (which is considered one of the best abilities in the Arena) and have a silence with one of their pets. Warlocks also have a wide variety of specs that are viable in arena: Felguard spec (Deep Demonology tree), UA spec (Deep Affliction Tree), and Soul Link Hybrid (Part Demo/Affl).
Felguard Warlocks are known for their ability to survive better than other Warlock specs. The reason Felguard Warlocks are called, well , Felguard locks is because they get an insane pet called the Felguard. The Felguard is known for putting out huge dps and constantly harassing the target. The pet also has an ability to intercept players for 3 seconds, a great tool for shutting down healers. The Felguard Warlock also gets higher spell damage through talents in their spec and also get 20% damage done rerouted to their felguard, allowing them to survive longer. With the Felguard combined with the Warlocks standard spells gives Felguard Warlocks deceptively great burst dps, which, combined with their great crowd control and survivability make them a great asset to any teams.
UA spec Warlocks are known for their ability to make all of their dots unable to be removed, and this is through Unstable Affliction. Unstable Affliction is a dot that also will silence the dispeller for 5 seconds and do 3000 damage to him. This makes removing dots a huge risk for someone to remove. The downside is that this spec does not have soul link, and removes their ability to survive for long periods of time. Because of this most UA Warlocks play on 4 dps lineups, which as I said earlier try to burst down an opponent very quickly. UA Warlocks also have huge chemistry with Shadow Priests as Unstable Affliction protects their dots as well. These Warlocks usually use their Felguard (silence) pet to contain the other team’s healers.
Soul Link Hybrid locks are the most popular build for Warlocks as it brings great dps from Affliction and also has the Survivability of Demonology. This build is used by almost all top 5v5 Warlocks. These Warlocks can drain life (giving hp back to themselves) without interruption, and using this to maintaining their survivability. These Warlocks have less burst dps than the other two specs but their long term dps is the same, if not better.
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