WoW Insiderhttp://wow.joystiq.comWoW Insiderhttp://wow.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gifWoW Insiderhttp://wow.joystiq.comen-usCopyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only.Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/WoW Insider ShowEvery week, the WoW Insider Show brings you news and views from the World of Warcraft and the site that covers it all, WoW Insider. We introduce a panel of rotating guests, including bloggers from WoW Insider and other WoW blogs, and many popular personalities from around the WoW community. From the live listener chat and polls during the show, to the emails direct from listeners (reach us at theshow@wow.com), right on to the "meat" of the show -- in-depth discussion of the most popular news and posts on WoW Insider -- the WoW Insider Show is a terrific source of news and entertainment about what's going on with Blizzard and their World of Warcraft. Listen live every Saturday at 3:30 pm Eastern on our Ustream page (http://www.ustream.tv/channel/wow-insider-show) or subscribe to the feed and let us know what you think by reviewing the show right here in iTunes.Blood Pact: When beta taps the life out of afflictionhttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/14/blood-pact-when-beta-taps-the-life-out-of-affliction/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/14/blood-pact-when-beta-taps-the-life-out-of-affliction/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/14/blood-pact-when-beta-taps-the-life-out-of-affliction/#commentsFiled under: ,

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Every week, WoW Insider brings you Blood Pact for affliction, demonology, and destruction warlocks. This week, Megan O'Neill continues to pinch herself, hoping to wake up from the nightmare of dying to a training dummy in Stormwind.

I admit, destruction in Mists of Pandaria looks very cool. I've been leveling with it, and although a handful of buttons can get boring, I like the back-and-forth rhythm of Incinerates and Conflagrates. To top it off, Chaos Bolt looks totally badass, even if it still casts like slow fire.

But as I hit the level cap once more, I decided it was time to return to my roots: affliction. I've always loved the flow of affliction -- health is mana is health is mana is health.

To scare an affliction warlock, a master of fears, you can do something sneaky like spell reflect or spell stealing. Or you can just drain me of all my self-healing and expect me to continue tapping as normal -- that horrifies me just the same. I find myself fervently hoping that dried-up self-healing streams as affliction are just bugged.

Continue reading Blood Pact: When beta taps the life out of affliction

WoW InsiderBlood Pact: When beta taps the life out of affliction originally appeared on WoW Insider on Mon, 14 May 2012 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>drain lifeDrainLifefeaturedguide-to-locksguide-to-warlockshauntlife tapLifeTaplock-guidelock-infolock-talentsmana feedmana regenmana regenerationManaFeedManaRegenManaRegenerationnot-diablosiphon lifeSiphonLifewarlock-guidewarlock-infowarlock-talentswow-lockwow-lock-infowow-lockswow-warlockwow-warlock-infowow-warlocksMegan O'NeillMon, 14 May 2012 09:00:00 ESTBlood Pact: Those who are not afraid to wield powerhttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/07/blood-pact-those-who-are-not-afraid-to-wield-power/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/07/blood-pact-those-who-are-not-afraid-to-wield-power/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/07/blood-pact-those-who-are-not-afraid-to-wield-power/#commentsFiled under: ,

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Every week, WoW Insider brings you Blood Pact for affliction, demonology, and destruction warlocks. This week, Megan O'Neill wants you to take a look (it's in a book!) at what warlocks are all about.

We've snuffed out Old Gods. We've unseated the unruly undead. We've eradicated old empires. We've banished demonic eredar lords. We've slaughtered powerful dragons from Ultraxion to Onyxia, including the former Aspect of Magic himself. We've drowned lieutenants, purged second-in-commands, and dissolved elemental councils.

We've braved the deepest lairs, delved into the elemental planes, and pried the latest corruption off Azeroth limb by limb.

What should mortals do now?

Who cares about what we should be doing? You heard the Lifebinder -- the Age of Mortals is dawning! Power is for the taking!

Continue reading Blood Pact: Those who are not afraid to wield power

WoW InsiderBlood Pact: Those who are not afraid to wield power originally appeared on WoW Insider on Mon, 07 May 2012 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>council of six daggerscouncil of the black harvestCouncilOfSixDaggersCouncilOfTheBlackHarvestfeaturedguide-to-locksguide-to-warlockslegacy of the mastersLegacyOfTheMasterslock-guidelock-infolock-talentsmists-of-pandariamists-of-pandaria-betawarlock-guidewarlock-infowarlock-talentswow-lockwow-lock-infowow-lockswow-warlockwow-warlock-infowow-warlocksMegan O'NeillMon, 07 May 2012 09:00:00 ESTBlood Pact: Affliction struggles to burn soulfully on betahttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/30/blood-pact-affliction-struggles-to-burn-soulfully-on-beta/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/30/blood-pact-affliction-struggles-to-burn-soulfully-on-beta/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/30/blood-pact-affliction-struggles-to-burn-soulfully-on-beta/#commentsFiled under: ,

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Every week, WoW Insider brings you Blood Pact for affliction, demonology, and destruction warlocks. This week, Megan O'Neill finds DoTs no longer crash her client, so she sets about corrupting every soul she can find. Unfortunately, she finds her Abyssal Bag empty, and with frustration wishes that shards could be as plentiful as before.

The Soulburn system of Cataclysm was a big bust for affliction, offering plenty of utility but lacking in role-buffing damage abilities. The biggest issue was that Soulburn didn't feel like a real resource. Soulburn largely felt like a complicated set of "oh, crap!" buttons.

In Mists of Pandaria, demonology and destruction are each departing from soul shards to gain new secondary resources. Soul shards will be affliction-only, so it's finally time to tailor shards to affliction purposes. Unfortunately, beta is where many things are broken or unfinished, including soul shards.

Continue reading Blood Pact: Affliction struggles to burn soulfully on beta

WoW InsiderBlood Pact: Affliction struggles to burn soulfully on beta originally appeared on WoW Insider on Mon, 30 Apr 2012 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>default ui problemsDefaultUiProblemsdrain soulDrainSoulfeaturedguide-to-locksguide-to-warlockshauntlock-guidelock-infolock-talentsmalefic graspMaleficGraspmists of pandariamists of pandaria betaMistsOfPandariaMistsOfPandariaBetanightfallsoul shardssoulburnSoulShardswarlock-guidewarlock-infowarlock-talentswow-lockwow-lock-infowow-lockswow-warlockwow-warlock-infowow-warlocksMegan O'NeillMon, 30 Apr 2012 14:00:00 ESTBlood Pact: 4 thoughts on destruction in Mists of Pandariahttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/23/blood-pact-4-thoughts-on-destruction-in-mists-of-pandaria/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/23/blood-pact-4-thoughts-on-destruction-in-mists-of-pandaria/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/23/blood-pact-4-thoughts-on-destruction-in-mists-of-pandaria/#commentsFiled under: ,

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Every week, WoW Insider brings you Blood Pact for affliction, demonology, and destruction warlocks. This week, Megan O'Neill finally dives into beta and found that she was having more fun flinging fire than draining souls.

I got into the beta a week ago (and with the last Annual Pass wave, a lot of the rest of you should be, too). So I went marching around Jade Forest and found myself continuously crashing to affliction spells triggering a fun little error. I'd heard things about moonkin and fire mages also having troubles, primarily when DoTs or debuffs were being cast. But errors are odd things, and I found I could cast Immolate all day long on my destruction spec.

So I did destro for a day of questing and flinging fire at the training dummy. Here are a few of the first thoughts I had.

Continue reading Blood Pact: 4 thoughts on destruction in Mists of Pandaria

WoW InsiderBlood Pact: 4 thoughts on destruction in Mists of Pandaria originally appeared on WoW Insider on Mon, 23 Apr 2012 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>autobetaburning embersBurningEmberscauterize masterCauterizeMasterdestructiondestructive influenceDestructiveInfluenceember tapEmberTapfeaturedfel flamefel impFelFlameFelImpguide-to-locksguide-to-warlockslock-guidelock-infolock-talentsmists of pandaria betamists-of-pandariaMistsOfPandariaBetasoul fireSoulFirewarlock-guidewarlock-infowarlock-talentswow-lockwow-lock-infowow-lockswow-warlockwow-warlock-infowow-warlocksMegan O'NeillMon, 23 Apr 2012 09:00:00 ESTBlood Pact: Newbie tips for demonologistshttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/16/blood-pact-newbie-tips-for-demonologists/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/16/blood-pact-newbie-tips-for-demonologists/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/16/blood-pact-newbie-tips-for-demonologists/#commentsFiled under: ,

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Every week, WoW Insider brings you Blood Pact for affliction, demonology, and destruction warlocks. Today, Megan O'Neill visits the last warlock spec for Cataclysm newbies and rerollers, before diving back into Mists of Pandaria speculation.

One torment ended as I finally received my beta invite. Then another started as I began to get error #132 over and over again. Whether it's my old toaster of a laptop's problem or maybe beta is just really unstable right now ... you and I are still stuck with old Cataclysm warlockery. So let's finish out the newbie tips for those who are reacquainting themselves with demonology before Mists of Pandaria.

As a class with all three specs dedicated to DPS, warlocks always have one spec that serves up first in simulations. In the standard Patchwerk-style, no-holds-barred contest, who's king of the lab? It's a question I've been asked recently by some dissatisfied moonkin in my guild who are considering turning to the dark side. (After all, everyone knows we have cookies!)

Continue reading Blood Pact: Newbie tips for demonologists

WoW InsiderBlood Pact: Newbie tips for demonologists originally appeared on WoW Insider on Mon, 16 Apr 2012 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>demon souldemonologyDemonSoulfeaturedfelguardfelhunterguide-to-locksguide-to-warlocksimmolation auraImmolationAuralock-guidelock-infolock-talentsmetamorphosiswarlock-guidewarlock-infowarlock-talentswow-lockwow-lock-infowow-lockswow-warlockwow-warlock-infowow-warlocksMegan O'NeillMon, 16 Apr 2012 13:00:00 ESTBlood Pact: Newbie tips for destruction warlockshttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/09/blood-pact-newbie-tips-for-destruction-warlocks/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/09/blood-pact-newbie-tips-for-destruction-warlocks/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/09/blood-pact-newbie-tips-for-destruction-warlocks/#commentsFiled under: ,

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Every week, WoW Insider brings you Blood Pact for affliction, demonology, and destruction warlocks. Today, Megan O'Neill is still breaking for beta, and in the meantime, brush-fires up on her flame-flinging techniques.

Destruction has evolved a lot since the one-button Shadow Bolt days of The Burning Crusade. Now in Cataclysm, destro has a convoluted cast rotation, still retains shadow DoTs despite being the master of fire, and has a clunky buff mechanic to boot. While skilled warlocks can pull off amazing numbers with their fantastical weaving of spells, the clunkiness of the spec is still present for beginners.

Continue reading Blood Pact: Newbie tips for destruction warlocks

WoW InsiderBlood Pact: Newbie tips for destruction warlocks originally appeared on WoW Insider on Mon, 09 Apr 2012 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>conflagratefeaturedguide-to-locksguide-to-warlocksimmolateimproved soul fireImprovedSoulFireincineratelock-guidelock-infolock-talentsrain of fireRainOfFiresoul fireSoulFirewarlock-guidewarlock-infowarlock-talentswow-lockwow-lock-infowow-lockswow-warlockwow-warlock-infowow-warlocksMegan O'NeillMon, 09 Apr 2012 13:00:00 ESTBlood Pact: Some advice for newbie affliction warlockshttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/02/blood-pact-some-advice-for-newbie-affliction-warlocks/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/02/blood-pact-some-advice-for-newbie-affliction-warlocks/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/02/blood-pact-some-advice-for-newbie-affliction-warlocks/#commentsFiled under: ,

Every week, WoW Insider brings you Blood Pact for affliction, demonology, and destruction warlocks. Today, Megan O'Neill is taking a break from beta, instead offering some Pointilism 102 advice.

My friends, Blizzard is trying to torture me. The large number of drastic changes to the warlock class makes for cool columns. I have no beta access yet (c'mon, late Burning Crusade wave!). The greater likelihood of people playing through beta on weekends rather than on weekdays means those with beta access update information threads on the weekends. I write most of my columns before the weekends. The timing of new information contrary to my writings has had me wanting to drain my own soul out for a couple of weeks here.

... OK, you got me. The real reason I don't want to talk about Mists this week is because Wryxian broke my heart with the no green fire trickery. Don't worry, though! I got my evil groove back by proving my preparedness and fast reactions to my guild. I gloriously dropped a QQ train during a heroic Ultraxion attempt when my raid leader jokingly called for it.

Sadly, the next night, many guildmates brought train-wreckers to raid. What are you saying? A Heroism filled with choo-choo yells and fist pumps isn't the best DPS buff ever? Blasphemy!

Continue reading Blood Pact: Some advice for newbie affliction warlocks

WoW InsiderBlood Pact: Some advice for newbie affliction warlocks originally appeared on WoW Insider on Mon, 02 Apr 2012 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>afflictionbane of agonybane of doomBaneOfAgonyBaneOfDoomdoomguardfeaturedguide-to-locksguide-to-warlockslock-guidelock-infolock-talentsseed of corruptionSeedOfCorruptionshadow embraceShadowEmbracewarlock-guidewarlock-infowarlock-talentswow-lockwow-lock-infowow-lockswow-warlockwow-warlock-infowow-warlocksMegan O'NeillMon, 02 Apr 2012 09:00:00 ESTBlood Pact: Don't sell your soul for a warlock tanking spec quite yethttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/03/26/blood-pact-dont-sell-your-soul-for-a-warlock-tanking-spec-quit/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/03/26/blood-pact-dont-sell-your-soul-for-a-warlock-tanking-spec-quit/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/03/26/blood-pact-dont-sell-your-soul-for-a-warlock-tanking-spec-quit/#commentsFiled under: ,

Every week, WoW Insider brings you Blood Pact for affliction, demonology, and destruction warlocks. Today, Megan O'Neill is your host, and she wants to remind Matticus that warlock fire cannot be rainbow-colored in Mists of Pandaria, else we'd kill all our wild imps that we summon.

Everyone's excited about the warlock tanking glyph for demonology. I'm cautiously excited. It's one of those things we warlocks always put on our wish lists, alongside green fire and warlock flying mounts.

While we still wait on the flying mount, EU CM Wryxian noted that green fire might be in the works! As soon as I saw the glyphs that change cosmetic things like the felguard's weapon or the color of a bear's fur, I went hunting in the datamines for green fire. I didn't see one, but Wryxian says there's "hope" that we'll get a quest for green fire. I do hope it involves Gorzeeki Wildeyes or Mor'zul Bloodbringer as a throwback to the old Dreadsteed epic mount quest chain.

I'm also aware that this is beta, and betas are for testing things, not for setting things in stone. Like Wryxian's statement about fel fire coloring, things can and will change. I want to be realistic about demo tanking. I don't want the hype surrounding warlock-style tanking to lead to disappointment. Looking at some of warlock and tanking mechanical history, I have some major caveats that Blizzard would need to address if warlocks are to become tanks.

Continue reading Blood Pact: Don't sell your soul for a warlock tanking spec quite yet

WoW InsiderBlood Pact: Don't sell your soul for a warlock tanking spec quite yet originally appeared on WoW Insider on Mon, 26 Mar 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>featuredfel fireFelFireglyph of demon huntingGlyphOfDemonHuntinggreen fireGreenFireguide-to-locksguide-to-warlockslock-guidelock-infolock-talentsmetamorphosismists of pandariaMistsOfPandariatankingwarlock tankwarlock-guidewarlock-infowarlock-talentsWarlockTankwow-lockwow-lock-infowow-lockswow-warlockwow-warlock-infowow-warlocksMegan O'NeillMon, 26 Mar 2012 18:00:00 ESTBlood Pact: A tale full of cheering and demonic furyhttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/03/20/blood-pact-a-tale-full-of-cheering-and-demonic-fury/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/03/20/blood-pact-a-tale-full-of-cheering-and-demonic-fury/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/03/20/blood-pact-a-tale-full-of-cheering-and-demonic-fury/#commentsFiled under: ,

Every week, WoW Insider brings you Blood Pact for affliction, demonology, and destruction warlocks. Today, Megan O'Neill is your host, and she's hopefully not an idiot, though as this post goes live with the Mists of Pandaria press release news, this could very well signify nothing.

You could argue that an affliction warlock is like a shadow priest with a demon. Or that a destruction 'lock is like a fire mage with a demon. But it's hard to argue demonology as anything but warlock, especially when a demo 'lock is often a demon with a demon.

And yet for a long time, demonology had been the lesser of the three specs. In Wrath, it was popular opinion that demo 'locks were only there for the raid buff, despite the fact that well-played demo could be competitive and even beat the then-reigning affliction spec. The other popular use of demo was to farm either old dungeon fun or honorable kills as the nigh-unkillable, hybrid affliction, SL/SL-specced drain tank.

In Cataclysm, demo took a change for the better in its DPS output. It rose every tier and finally overtook affliction and destruction in Dragon Soul. But its ascent wasn't -- and still isn't -- without problems.

Continue reading Blood Pact: A tale full of cheering and demonic fury

WoW InsiderBlood Pact: A tale full of cheering and demonic fury originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 20 Mar 2012 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>demonic furyDemonicFurydemonologydemonology-warlockdoomguardfeaturedguide-to-locksguide-to-warlockslock-guidelock-infolock-talentsmetamorphosismists-of-pandariamists-of-pandaria-speculationnether platingNetherPlatingwarlock-guidewarlock-infowarlock-talentswow-lockwow-lock-infowow-lockswow-warlockwow-warlock-infowow-warlocksMegan O'NeillTue, 20 Mar 2012 19:00:00 ESTBlood Pact: Soul sticks and soul carrotshttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/03/12/blood-pact-soul-sticks-and-soul-carrots/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/03/12/blood-pact-soul-sticks-and-soul-carrots/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/03/12/blood-pact-soul-sticks-and-soul-carrots/#commentsFiled under: ,

Every week, WoW Insider brings you Blood Pact for affliction, demonology, and destruction warlocks. When she's not bribing the priest to life grip the mage through Hagara's Ice Wall, Megan O'Neill paints her damage done bar like Seurat -- that is, with lots of DoTs.

Soul shards -- the special resource that has been iconic for warlocks since the beginnings of World of Warcraft. Once nonstackable in-game items that there were special bags for, soul shards now in Cataclysm are part of the unit frame as a secondary resource. Soul shards are particularly a great flavor match for affliction and will stay as affliction-only in Mists of Pandaria.

The only problem is that the Soulburn mechanic doesn't jibe well with affliction. Sometimes the stick is too long for us to care about the crunchy, delicious carrot at the end. Sometimes the carrot isn't big enough for the properly balanced stick. Whatever the problem is, our soul carrots don't match our soul sticks.

Continue reading Blood Pact: Soul sticks and soul carrots

WoW InsiderBlood Pact: Soul sticks and soul carrots originally appeared on WoW Insider on Mon, 12 Mar 2012 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>afflictionaffliction warlockAfflictionWarlockdrain lifedrain soulDrainLifeDrainSoulfeaturedguide-to-locksguide-to-warlockslock-guidelock-infolock-talentsmists of pandariaMistsOfPandariasoul harvestsoul shardssoulburnsoulburn healthstonesoulburn seed of corruptionSoulburnHealthstoneSoulburnSeedOfCorruptionSoulHarvestSoulShardswarlock-guidewarlock-infowarlock-talentswow-lockwow-lock-infowow-lockswow-warlockwow-warlock-infowow-warlocksMegan O'NeillMon, 12 Mar 2012 13:00:00 ESTBlood Pact: MoP talent calculator spells out more changes for warlockshttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/03/05/blood-pact-mop-talent-calculator-spells-out-more-changes-for-wa/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/03/05/blood-pact-mop-talent-calculator-spells-out-more-changes-for-wa/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/03/05/blood-pact-mop-talent-calculator-spells-out-more-changes-for-wa/#commentsFiled under: ,

Every week, WoW Insider brings you Blood Pact for affliction, demonology, and destruction warlocks. This Monday, Poneria of Fel Concentration finishes zoning into the Defense Against the Dark Arts post. That must be a mage's name for the coolest class column around, because who needs defense when you can gleefully wield the Dark Arts?

Greetings, my fellow masters of minions! Warlocks continue the trend of small talent calculator changes followed by intriguing snatches of development clarified by community managers. Set your pets to passive for now as I go over what's changed. In the coming weeks, we can delve into more specific topics and theories.

Spells get streamlined for leveling

A level 1 ability called Demonic Tactics allows the Imp, Voidwalker, and Succubus to act more intelligently. I'm tempted to say it's a name for the guardian-like actions of the newly rolled warlock's pet, only to be replaced later by the pet bar with Control Demon. But traditionally, the pet bar comes at level 10 along with group features like Battlegrounds, while the Succubus isn't introduced until level 20. If, instead, Demonic Tactics is meant as a better artificial intelligence for pets overall, why isn't the other baseline pet, the Felhunter, included?

I'll wait for clarification. After Malefic Grasp was first revealed in the November Class Q&A to be not demonology as we all expected but affliction, I've learned to not assume anything anymore.

Continue reading Blood Pact: MoP talent calculator spells out more changes for warlocks

WoW InsiderBlood Pact: MoP talent calculator spells out more changes for warlocks originally appeared on WoW Insider on Mon, 05 Mar 2012 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>archimondes-vengeanceauto-wandburning-rushdark-bargaindark-souldemon-souldemonic-gatewaydemonic-portalDemonic-Tacticsember-tapguide-to-locksguide-to-warlockshand-of-guldanlock-guidelock-infolock-talentsmaladymannoroths-furymetamorphosismetamorphosis-nether-platingMists-of-Pandaira-Talent-Calculatormists-of-pandaria-talent-changesmists-of-pandaria-talentsnether-platingunbound-willwarlock-guidewarlock-infowarlock-talentswow-lockwow-lock-infowow-lockswow-warlockwow-warlock-infowow-warlocksMegan O'NeillMon, 05 Mar 2012 09:00:00 ESTWoW Insider is looking for a warlock columnisthttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/02/07/wow-insider-is-looking-for-a-warlock-columnist/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/02/07/wow-insider-is-looking-for-a-warlock-columnist/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/02/07/wow-insider-is-looking-for-a-warlock-columnist/#commentsFiled under: ,

WoW Insider's warlock columnist position has, over the years, developed a ... reputation. It's our Defense Against the Dark Arts. We've never managed to keep an instructor around for more than a year, and their reigns are often much shorter. Tragedy and misfortune tend to follow those who take up the warlock's quill. Unsurprisingly, we're in need of another brave soul to take up the position -- hopefully, someone who can overcome the adversity the position presents.

We're looking for someone truly passionate about World of Warcraft and the warlock class. Every other week, you will be dazzling our readers with your knowledge of the ins and outs of the class, covering everything from leveling guides to raid tactics, PvP strats, patch changes, and recommended addons for all specs and playstyles. We expect you to have a head for research and possess the ability to translate that research into well-written articles that are accessible to both casual and hardcore players alike.

Applicants often ask if they'll be allowed to contribute beyond their assigned class column. Yes, absolutely. As long as your column is meeting its deadline on a regular basis, you will be able to do more around the site.

If this sounds like the chance you've been waiting for, you'll find all the information you need to apply on our applications page. Be sure to submit everything that page requests. Being able to follow simple instructions is the most important part of the job. You have until end of day on Feb. 21 to submit your application.

WoW InsiderWoW Insider is looking for a warlock columnist originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 07 Feb 2012 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>lfmwarlock-columnwarlock-columnistAlex ZiebartTue, 07 Feb 2012 13:00:00 EST6 ways to increase your warlock's DPShttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/01/23/6-ways-to-increase-your-warlocks-dps/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/01/23/6-ways-to-increase-your-warlocks-dps/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/01/23/6-ways-to-increase-your-warlocks-dps/#commentsFiled under: ,

Every week, WoW Insider brings you Blood Pact for affliction, demonology and destruction warlocks. For those who disdain the watered-down arts that other cling to like a safety blanket ... for those willing to test their wills against the nether and claim the power that is their right ... Blood Pact welcomes you. Send questions, comments, or requests to tyler@wowinsider.com or via Twitter to @murmursofadruid.

As a warlock, I can name no fewer than six methods that the amateur demonologist can use in order to up his worth to a raid. Oh, while I could easily write out an entire Homer-esque adventure exclusively on what fledgling casters can do for their damage, brevity is oft the soul of wit -- so I will merely keep to the upped ante of six, to demonstrate that warlocks shall not have themselves outdone by trite magelings. After all, a mage really is useful for nothing more than a light snack and easy travel.

1. Know your spec. Unlike those wretched creatures that shall not be named, warlocks are blessed with multiple viable specs that they can use for raiding. I know that this is a topic I have blathered on about time and time again, but for a pure DPS class, it's rather important. Unlike my counterpart balance druid, there is no rigidity in spec choice. A balance druid will always be a balance druid, regardless of how strong their spec is in relation to feral or other DPS classes in the game. Warlocks and other pures are given that luxury.

Continue reading 6 ways to increase your warlock's DPS

WoW Insider6 ways to increase your warlock's DPS originally appeared on WoW Insider on Mon, 23 Jan 2012 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>blood-pactclass-helpfeaturedguideguide-to-locksguide-to-warlockslock-guidelock-infolock-talentstalenttalentswarlock-guidewarlock-infowarlock-talentsworld-of-warcraft-class-guideworld-of-warcraft-guidewow-class-guidewow-class-helpwow-guidewow-lockwow-lock-infowow-lockswow-talent-guidewow-warlockwow-warlock-infowow-warlocksTyler CarawayMon, 23 Jan 2012 19:00:00 ESTBlood Pact: How Mists of Pandaria will fix warlock PvPhttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/01/16/blood-pact-how-mists-of-pandaria-will-fix-warlock-pvp/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/01/16/blood-pact-how-mists-of-pandaria-will-fix-warlock-pvp/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/01/16/blood-pact-how-mists-of-pandaria-will-fix-warlock-pvp/#commentsFiled under: ,

Every week, WoW Insider brings you Blood Pact for affliction, demonology and destruction warlocks. For those who disdain the watered-down arts that other cling to like a safety blanket ... for those willing to test their wills against the nether and claim the power that is their right ... Blood Pact welcomes you. Send questions, comments, or requests to tyler@wowinsider.com or via Twitter to @murmursofadruid.

Greetings, warlocks. I know that I have generally focused heavily on PvE instead of PvP, but this is more so due to the fact that PvP is a difficult subject to generalize. Strategies are specific to the composition that you run and what you're up against, and they are exceptionally difficult to define in rote patterns. That's the draw that PvP has over PvE -- it's always changing, always different, always unpredictable, at least in the good cases. Yet there is one thing I can say about PvP: Affliction is the spec of choice.

Then again, when are the few times where that hasn't been true? There might be small pockets here and there when demonology or destruction has some meager viability in the PvP world, but they've normally been rather short-lived. Affliction has generally been our default PvP spec, much as mages have relied on frost. No more! I know people are tied of hearing it, but Mists of Pandaria will fix it.

Continue reading Blood Pact: How Mists of Pandaria will fix warlock PvP

WoW InsiderBlood Pact: How Mists of Pandaria will fix warlock PvP originally appeared on WoW Insider on Mon, 16 Jan 2012 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>affliction-warlock-blood-pactclass-helpdemonology-warlock-blood-pactdestruction-warlock-blood-pactfeaturedguideguide-to-locksguide-to-warlockslock-guidelock-infolock-talentstalenttalentswarlock-affliction-blood-pactwarlock-demonology-blood-pactwarlock-destruction-blood-pactwarlock-guidewarlock-infowarlock-talentsworld-of-warcraft-class-guideworld-of-warcraft-guidewow-class-guidewow-class-helpwow-guidewow-lockwow-lock-infowow-lockswow-talent-guidewow-warlockwow-warlock-infowow-warlocksTyler CarawayMon, 16 Jan 2012 16:00:00 ESTBlood Pact: Dark Intent update and T13 gearinghttp://wow.joystiq.com/2011/12/19/warlock-t13-gearing/http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/12/19/warlock-t13-gearing/http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/12/19/warlock-t13-gearing/#commentsFiled under: ,

Every week, WoW Insider brings you Blood Pact for affliction, demonology and destruction warlocks. For those who disdain the watered-down arts that other cling to like a safety blanket ... for those willing to test their wills against the nether and claim the power that is their right ... Blood Pact welcomes you. Send questions, comments, or requests to tyler@wowinsider.com or via Twitter to @murmursofadruid.

Greeting again, darklings. It's that time of the week once more for us to talk about all that drives our purpose: bringing horrible pain to our enemies. There are multiple cogs in our wheel of destruction, but this week I want to focus in on two of those. To start, there's the small matter of the ever-constant debate on weaponry and trinkets, something that comes up with every new tier. Second, there's the issue of Dark Intent. While it's been relatively established on the priority of the buff, there are a few kinks to work out, as always. The prior settlements that were made were based upon data that was relevant back in tier 11. Although there isn't too much that has changed since this, Blizzard's adjustments and gearing does merit bringing up the issue once more.

There can be little doubt that shadow priests are the best recipients for Dark Intent. A significantly large portion of their damage come from DoTs; furthermore, Mind Flay has a unique interaction with the ability as well that results in an even higher return. As shadow priests gain gear, more of their damage does actually shift toward Mind Blast, plus their tier 13 increases more of their non-DoT based damage. Again, none of this changes that they are still the best target for Dark Intent, but it does slightly reduce the disparity between shadow priests and non-shadow priests when getting it.

Continue reading Blood Pact: Dark Intent update and T13 gearing

WoW InsiderBlood Pact: Dark Intent update and T13 gearing originally appeared on WoW Insider on Mon, 19 Dec 2011 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>blood-pactclass-helpdark-intentdragon-soulfeaturedguideguide-to-locksguide-to-warlockslock-guidelock-infolock-talentstalenttalentswarlock-dragon-soulwarlock-gearingwarlock-guidewarlock-infowarlock-talentsworld-of-warcraft-class-guideworld-of-warcraft-guidewow-class-guidewow-class-helpwow-guidewow-lockwow-lock-infowow-lockswow-talent-guidewow-warlockwow-warlock-infowow-warlocksTyler CarawayMon, 19 Dec 2011 17:00:00 ESTBlood Pact: Cataclysm-era leveling guide for warlockshttp://wow.joystiq.com/2011/12/13/cataclysm-warlock-leveling-guide/http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/12/13/cataclysm-warlock-leveling-guide/http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/12/13/cataclysm-warlock-leveling-guide/#commentsFiled under: ,

Every week, WoW Insider brings you Blood Pact for affliction, demonology and destruction warlocks. For those who disdain the watered-down arts that other cling to like a safety blanket ... for those willing to test their wills against the nether and claim the power that is their right ... Blood Pact welcomes you. Send questions, comments, or requests to tyler@wowinsider.com or via Twitter to @murmursofadruid.

Of all the things that I am, for all of the multitude of alts that I have, one things that I've never been all that good at is writing leveling guides. I have a hard enough time as it is following said guides; writing out my chaotic leveling process is a chore and a half. That all being said, the one thing I do have enormous amounts of experience in leveling. I've nearly reached the full limit on the amount of characters that I'm allowed to have. Allow me, then, to impart some of what I know about bringing your fledgling warlock up to speed into the endgame. After all, while the journey might be half the fun, the destination is all so glorious. We do need someone to stomp on those pesky mages.

The first order of business is to know your spec going into the game. While all warlocks focus on damage (so we don't have quite the same complications as hybrid classes), which spec you choose to go with is still important. Affliction has long been touted as the prime warlock leveling spec, and that is still somewhat true. Affliction offers the best multi-target, fast-paced farming that can't be matched by any of the others. The downside to this is that mob farming has fallen the way of the dinosaurs in WoW leveling; instead, questing and running dungeons is far more efficient, and affliction doesn't have its strength there.

Continue reading Blood Pact: Cataclysm-era leveling guide for warlocks

WoW InsiderBlood Pact: Cataclysm-era leveling guide for warlocks originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 13 Dec 2011 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>blood-pactblood-pact-levelingblood-pact-leveling-guideclass-helpfeaturedguideguide-to-locksguide-to-warlockslock-guidelock-infolock-talentstalenttalentswarlock-blood-pactwarlock-guidewarlock-infowarlock-levelingwarlock-leveling-guidewarlock-talentsworld-of-warcraft-class-guideworld-of-warcraft-guidewow-class-guidewow-class-helpwow-guidewow-lockwow-lock-infowow-lockswow-talent-guidewow-warlockwow-warlock-infowow-warlocksTyler CarawayTue, 13 Dec 2011 16:00:00 ESTBlood Pact: Initial impressions of 4.3 raiding as a warlockhttp://wow.joystiq.com/2011/12/05/initial-impressions-of-4-3-raiding-as-a-warlock/http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/12/05/initial-impressions-of-4-3-raiding-as-a-warlock/http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/12/05/initial-impressions-of-4-3-raiding-as-a-warlock/#commentsFiled under: ,

Every week, WoW Insider brings you Blood Pact for affliction, demonology and destruction warlocks. For those who disdain the watered-down arts that other cling to like a safety blanket ... for those willing to test their wills against the nether and claim the power that is their right ... Blood Pact welcomes you. Send questions, comments, or requests to tyler@wowinsider.com or via Twitter to @murmursofadruid.

The first week of raiding after the release of patch 4.3 has more or less come and gone by this point, and while raiding isn't everything, it is the primary focus on this tier. Not only do we finally get to tackle with Deathwing himself, but Blizzard also introduced the Raid Finder tool in order to bring more players into the raiding game. Another part of this patch was an effort to bring destruction's damage up to par with that of our other two specs.

While there is still much more time needed in order to tell how exactly things are going to play out, for now it is time to lay down the initial impressions that raiding within this recent patch has left in my mouth. Some are good, some are bad, but the common denominator is that, hey -- at least we aren't mages.

Continue reading Blood Pact: Initial impressions of 4.3 raiding as a warlock

WoW InsiderBlood Pact: Initial impressions of 4.3 raiding as a warlock originally appeared on WoW Insider on Mon, 05 Dec 2011 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>blood-pactclass-helpdemonologydemonology-blood-pactdemonology-warlock-blood-pactdestructiondestruction-warlock-blood-pactfeaturedguideguide-to-locksguide-to-warlockslock-guidelock-infolock-talentspatch-4.3talenttalentswarlock-demonology-blood-pactwarlock-guidewarlock-infowarlock-talentsworld-of-warcraft-class-guideworld-of-warcraft-guideworld-of-warcraft-patch-4.3wow-class-guidewow-class-helpwow-guidewow-lockwow-lock-infowow-lockswow-patchwow-patch-4.3wow-patch-4.3-newswow-patch-newswow-talent-guidewow-warlockwow-warlock-infowow-warlocksTyler CarawayMon, 05 Dec 2011 19:00:00 ESTBlood Pact: Dungeon gearing for warlocks in patch 4.3http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/11/29/dungeon-gearing-for-warlocks-in-patch-4-3/http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/11/29/dungeon-gearing-for-warlocks-in-patch-4-3/http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/11/29/dungeon-gearing-for-warlocks-in-patch-4-3/#commentsFiled under: ,

Every week, WoW Insider brings you Blood Pact for affliction, demonology and destruction warlocks. For those who disdain the watered-down arts that other cling to like a safety blanket ... for those willing to test their wills against the nether and claim the power that is their right ... Blood Pact welcomes you. Send questions, comments, or requests to tyler@wowinsider.com or via Twitter to @murmursofadruid.

If I did not know any better, warlocks, I would think that the world was conspiring against me. Last week I had promised that I would be doing a gear list from the newest 5-mans to be released with patch 4.3, but I was deterred by not having access to Wowhead's marvelous PTR site. This week, it's Blizzard itself attempting to knock this train off the tracks by releasing the ability list and talent calculators for Mists of Pandaria. While the talents are important in their own right, nothing from said ability list was really all that shocking; indeed, a majority of it I had predicted rather well in last week's issue.

Therefore, despite all attempts to get me to focus otherwise, I will actually be keeping up my promise and providing you with a cleanly laid-out gearing list for the next patch (which should be coming out tomorrow, truth be told). To prevent you from wasting your days farming for an item that you might replace, valor point items will also be listed given that you can earn the currency through 5-man content. Let's be on with the show!

Continue reading Blood Pact: Dungeon gearing for warlocks in patch 4.3

WoW InsiderBlood Pact: Dungeon gearing for warlocks in patch 4.3 originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 29 Nov 2011 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>class-helpfeaturedguideguide-to-locksguide-to-warlockslock-guidelock-infolock-talentspatch-4.3talenttalentswarlock-guidewarlock-infowarlock-talentsworld-of-warcraft-class-guideworld-of-warcraft-guideworld-of-warcraft-patch-4.3wow-class-guidewow-class-helpwow-guidewow-lockwow-lock-infowow-lockswow-patchwow-patch-4.3wow-patch-4.3-newswow-patch-newswow-talent-guidewow-warlockwow-warlock-infowow-warlocksTyler CarawayTue, 29 Nov 2011 18:00:00 ESTBlood Pact: The cost of talent consolidation in Pandariahttp://wow.joystiq.com/2011/11/21/warlock-mists-of-pandaria-talent-preview-discussion/http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/11/21/warlock-mists-of-pandaria-talent-preview-discussion/http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/11/21/warlock-mists-of-pandaria-talent-preview-discussion/#commentsFiled under: ,

Every week, WoW Insider brings you Blood Pact for affliction, demonology and destruction warlocks. For those who disdain the watered-down arts that other cling to like a safety blanket ... for those willing to test their wills against the nether and claim the power that is their right ... Blood Pact welcomes you. Send questions, comments, or requests for something you'd like to see to tyler@wowinsider.com or via Twitter to @murmursofadruid.

Greetings, warlocks. It's that time of the week once again when we talk about all those dark arts and such that we do so love to practice. My original intention this week was to talk about many of the sweet items that you can pull out of the new dungeons coming out in 4.3. All of them are on the same ilevel as what you can get from regular Firelands, making them ideal for non-raiders or players who haven't gotten every drop that they've been looking for -- and in some cases, a few items are even better that what you could find from raiding. Alas, at the time of this writing, Wowhead's PTR servers aren't working for me and seem to be down -- a shame, but there's always next week!

In lieu of that, I'll take this opportunity to discuss a different matter that's be on my mind of late dealing with the changes coming in 5.0. Talents are undergoing a major overhaul, and we know that many of the current talents are going to be baked into the base class. While this works well for other classes, it's a bit awkward when it comes to warlocks. Join me as I show you and toss in a bit of speculation for affliction.

Continue reading Blood Pact: The cost of talent consolidation in Pandaria

WoW InsiderBlood Pact: The cost of talent consolidation in Pandaria originally appeared on WoW Insider on Mon, 21 Nov 2011 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>afflictionaffliction-blood-pactaffliction-warlockaffliction-warlock-blood-pactclass-helpfeaturedguideguide-to-locksguide-to-warlockslock-guidelock-infolock-talentstalenttalentswarlock-guidewarlock-infowarlock-talentsworld-of-warcraft-class-guideworld-of-warcraft-guidewow-class-guidewow-class-helpwow-guidewow-lockwow-lock-infowow-lockswow-talent-guidewow-warlockwow-warlock-infowow-warlocksTyler CarawayMon, 21 Nov 2011 19:00:00 ESTBlood Pact: Looking at the developer's Q&Ahttp://wow.joystiq.com/2011/11/13/blood-pact-looking-at-the-developers-qanda/http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/11/13/blood-pact-looking-at-the-developers-qanda/http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/11/13/blood-pact-looking-at-the-developers-qanda/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Every week, WoW Insider brings you Blood Pact for affliction, demonology and destruction warlocks. For those who disdain the watered-down arts that other cling to like a safety blanket ... for those willing to test their wills against the nether and claim the power that is their right ... Blood Pact welcomes you. Send questions, comments, or requests for something you'd like to see to tyler@wowinsider.com or via Twitter to @murmursofadruid.

All right, this past Wednesday, there was an extremely awesome Live Developer Q&A about class and system design that pretty much rocked house any way you look at it. While there were some good questions fielded about the next patch, a majority of it focused in on things to come in the next expansion; with the changes that we'll be seeing, this isn't surprising. In perfect form, Xelnath handled everything warlock like a beast. Respects, hats tipped, and similar jazz of the sort out to Blizzard.

Without wanting to waste much time, let's jump right into all of what we have learned from the chat. It's certainly worth waiting for.

Continue reading Blood Pact: Looking at the developer's Q&A

WoW InsiderBlood Pact: Looking at the developer's Q&A originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sun, 13 Nov 2011 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>class-helpfeaturedguideguide-to-locksguide-to-warlockslock-guidelock-infolock-talentstalenttalentswarlock-guidewarlock-infowarlock-talentsworld-of-warcraft-class-guideworld-of-warcraft-guidewow-class-guidewow-class-helpwow-guidewow-lockwow-lock-infowow-lockswow-talent-guidewow-warlockwow-warlock-infowow-warlocksTyler CarawaySun, 13 Nov 2011 17:00:00 EST