Rank 6 of Drain Soul was used as an example to illustrate the fact that even at its highest rank, it's still a woefully inadequate spell to do damage with.

There are also some who insist that Green Fire is not an issue that "real, raiding" warlocks care about. Yes, I understand that raiding is serious business and endgame warlocks are supposed to be single-minded shadowbolt-spamming machines. To the real, raiding warlocks out there, I'll quote this from my favorite movie this summer: "Why so serious?"

Now that we've got that out of the way, some of you may have noticed that I didn't address the escape mechanism portion of the wishlist. I'd figured that this topic was intriguing enough to warrant its own article and a look at probably the most interesting ability - in terms of Warlock mechanics - that we'll get in the expansion: Demonic Circle.

Continue reading Blood Pact: Is Demonic Circle the Warlock answer to melee?

Filed under: Warlock, Analysis / Opinion, PvP, Expansions, (Warlock) Blood Pact, Wrath of the Lich King

Blood Pact: Is Demonic Circle the Warlock answer to melee? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sun, 03 Aug 2008 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Michael did an excellent analysis of the first beta patch notes for warlocks, and he'll be following that up with a look at the new talent trees and spells. At this stage of development, it's still too early to characterize the changes as an overall class buff or nerf, but one thing's for certain: Blizzard is shaking up our game.

The changes will break some cookie-cutter specs, namely those that relied on Demonic Sacrifice and Soul Link. Shaking up the so-called "best" builds that players have become dependent on, is always a good thing to keep things fresh and interesting.

Continue reading Blood Pact: The Warlock wishlist revisited

Filed under: Warlock, Analysis / Opinion, Expansions, (Warlock) Blood Pact, Wrath of the Lich King

Blood Pact: The Warlock wishlist revisited originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sun, 20 Jul 2008 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Much of the Warlock's group utility and versatility are defined by our access to these various effects. While some curses have wider applications than others, it is hardly a one-curse-fits-all situation. Knowing which curse to use in the right situation is key to maximizing your Warlock's potential.

Continue reading Blood Pact: Curses!

Filed under: Warlock, Analysis / Opinion, Raiding, Guides, (Warlock) Blood Pact

Blood Pact: Curses! originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sun, 29 Jun 2008 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We continue with our look at how to get your Warlock up to speed for Karazhan content and beyond. Note that the recommendations here are intentionally narrow. I'm focusing on the easiest and surest way of making progress in the gearing game, without relying too much on dungeon drops or grind-to-exalted rep items.

Yes, there are better pre-raid items out there in the various heroics - Magisters' Terrace is probably the best instance to get quality non-raid loot. Badge loot is also another good avenue for outstanding upgrades. Unfortunately, heroics may be challenging affairs for a fresh 70 lock, unless you have a group of geared friends or guildies who are willing to "carry" you through those runs.

Continue reading Blood Pact: Gearing a Lock for Karazhan, part 2

Filed under: Warlock, Tailoring, Items, Analysis / Opinion, Raiding, Guides, (Warlock) Blood Pact

Blood Pact: Gearing a Lock for Karazhan, part 2 originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sun, 15 Jun 2008 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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'Grats on your new 70 Warlock! You've just turned experience into gold (at least until WotLK lands) and unlocked the wonderful world of BC raiding and Arena PvP. What do you do now? Gear up, of course!

I've touched on some general gearing guidelines for the pre-Karazhan Warlock in "Locked and loaded", it's time now to drill down to the specific pieces, especially since the introduction of Battlegear with patch 2.4.

Continue reading Blood Pact: Gearing a Lock for Karazhan, part 1

Filed under: Warlock, Tailoring, Items, Analysis / Opinion, Raiding, Guides, (Warlock) Blood Pact

Blood Pact: Gearing a Lock for Karazhan, part 1 originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sun, 08 Jun 2008 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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In my last article, we looked at the Warlock in alpha: Atrocity, Metamorphosis (yay, demon form!), Decimate, and new synergies between our spells. All three top tier talents seem to have more utility in PvP and the Arenas, with Atrocity possibly having some amazing utility in some PvE situations. The synergy between DoTs and nukes is something to watch, particularly Eradication and Everlasting Affliction. New additions to the Destruction tree that seem to encourage cross-school casting turn out to be just minor improvements to the tree's PvP viability in their current form.

We turn our attention now to the other talents, and Blizzard definitely plans to make Spirit matter to warlocks.

Continue reading Blood Pact: The Warlock's way ahead, part 2

Filed under: Warlock, Analysis / Opinion, Expansions, Talents, (Warlock) Blood Pact, Wrath of the Lich King

Blood Pact: The Warlock's way ahead, part 2 originally appeared on WoW Insider on Fri, 30 May 2008 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Most of you would have already sneaked a peek at the leaked details of the Wrath of the Lich King alpha. It's really premature now to decide on your new leveling build or comment on the level 80 endgame, but the new info is a good indication of the direction of the Warlock class in terms of class design and role.

Is the new stuff PvP or PvE? Which tree is going to be the DPS king? Let's take a two-part look at some of our new, not-so-secret abilities, and whether some of our dark wishes are fulfilled.

Continue reading Blood Pact: The Warlock's way ahead, part 1

Filed under: Warlock, Analysis / Opinion, Expansions, Talents, (Warlock) Blood Pact, Wrath of the Lich King

Blood Pact: The Warlock's way ahead, part 1 originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sun, 25 May 2008 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apart from our traditional role of chuckling diabolically while we dispense death and destruction, warlocks are drafted into the tanking role in some raid encounters. The history of tanking warlocks is not new; drain-tanking is possibly the most mundane example of tanking due to our unique kill-you-to-heal-me mechanic. In pre-BC content, warlocks have been asked to tank Emperor Vek'lor in the Temple of Ahn'Qiraj. Now our PvE tanking portfolio has expanded to include Leotheras the Blind and Grand Astromancer Capernian in the Serpentshrine Caverns, Illidan himself in one of his phases, and most recently, Grand Warlock Alythess in the Eredar Twins encounter.

Why warlock tanks?

Continue reading Blood Pact: Tanking Leo

Filed under: Warlock, Analysis / Opinion, Raiding, Bosses, Guides, (Warlock) Blood Pact

Blood Pact: Tanking Leo originally appeared on WoW Insider on Thu, 24 Apr 2008 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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"I have five level 70s, therefore I'm good at the game!" This comment, or others that express a similar sentiment, is often heard in-game, on forums and here on WoW Insider.

Having multiple characters of different classes exposes you to many more facets of the game. An alt-o-holic, with multiple alts, enjoy a range of gameplay that is indisputably wider than someone who plays just one or two characters. While leveling content is largely the same, the classes are designed by Blizzard to be as different from each other as possible. Running through The Barrens on a Priest is a very different experience from running through the same zone with say, a Druid.

However, does sheer breadth of gameplay experience translate to a "better" player of WoW? Understanding how other classes work is definitely an advantage when you're playing in a group or raid, but is it fair to dismiss the "specialist" player who, through choice or simply lack of time, plays only a single toon?

In other words, does breadth of experience trump depth of knowledge as far as playing the game is concerned?

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Breakfast Topics, Classes, Alts

Breakfast Topic: Alt-o-holics better at WoW? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sun, 20 Apr 2008 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Raiding warlocks have a very specific role - dealing damage. As we progress further in the high end-raiding game, one thing becomes more and more apparent. Our much-envied range of playstyles diminishes and we seem to be shoehorned, like other classes, into pretty much a single cookie-cutter spec.

The spec in question is destruction or 0/21/40 specifically. This spec capitalizes on the wonderful scalability of shadow bolt and consistently outperforms affliction when good spell hit and crit gear becomes available. For a detailed look at the 0/21/40 build, check out my "A Warlock's descent into Destruction" article.

I've recently respecced back to an affliction spec (40/0/21) just to revisit the good ol' days of mobility (instant DoTs) and an "unending" mana pool (Dark Pact). I know we tend to look back on the past with rose-colored glasses, and true enough, my experience with affliction again was ... less than satisfying. Why the difference?

Continue reading Blood Pact: Destro the only way to go?

Filed under: Warlock, Analysis / Opinion, Raiding, Talents, (Warlock) Blood Pact

Blood Pact: Destro the only way to go? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Thu, 17 Apr 2008 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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With the accessibility of epics from badges and Arenas, the average level 70 character is now a far cry from a freshly-minted 70. The gear bar has certainly been raised among level 70s, compared to pre-BC 60s. This has led some to proclaim that "epics are the new blue."

Despite the proliferation of "welfare epics", there are still level 70 characters who are in their leveling blues and greens. They typically belong to alt-o-holics or really casual players who simply do not invest enough time to gear them up in pace with the general populace.

Some alt-o-holics even put their characters, mains or otherwise, into cold storage as soon as they ding 70 and move on to leveling a new alt. No Arenas, no heroics and certainly no raids for them. There's nothing wrong with avoiding the "endgame" really, but the gear level of their toons will be unavoidably lower than someone who chooses to focus on just one or two characters. Of course, there are alt-o-holics who do a good job of gearing up multiple 70s; if you're one of them, more power to you.

If Blizzard tunes the difficulty of the inital WotLK game to the "average" 70 with epics, will undergeared 70s and alt-o-holics be left in the dust?

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Breakfast Topics, Expansions, Leveling, Alts

Breakfast Topic: Alt-o-holism bad for WotLK? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Thu, 17 Apr 2008 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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V'Ming has freed himself from the duct tape and still thinks that gnome warlocks need to be KOSed. He shares thoughts and ideas on becoming deadlier at the Arenas and dabbles in the dark arts in Blood Pact.

WoW players are ravenous. The dust of patch 2.4 has barely settled and we are already looking forward to the next thing on the WoW calendar before the expansion lands - Arena Season 4. If Blizzard thinks we'd ever be content with their content rollouts, they are seriously underestimating the appetite of 10 million subscribers.

After Kalgan killed expectations of Season 4 coming with patch 2.4, the big question on the minds of many players, whether they're saving honor for S2 gear or waiting to replace their Vengefuls with Brutals, is: when is Season 4?

Continue reading Blood Sport: Arena Season 4 in early June?

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Events, Blizzard, PvP, Contests, Raiding, Blood Sport (Arena PvP), Arena

Blood Sport: Arena Season 4 in early June? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 12 Apr 2008 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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After accumulating a bunch of epics with varying stats, most of us have moved beyond the "one outfit for everything" situation. In fact, I'd say we're spoilt for choice now and can afford to use the right gear for the right situation.

Continue reading Blood Pact: Dressing for the occasion

Filed under: Warlock, Items, Analysis / Opinion, Raiding, Guides, (Warlock) Blood Pact

Blood Pact: Dressing for the occasion originally appeared on WoW Insider on Thu, 10 Apr 2008 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This is old news really: we all know that there are 10 million of us playing Blizzard's MMORPG juggernaut. In MMOGChart's latest report however, there appears to be a little growth spurt in the early part of this year.

This is surprising when we consider the fact that WoW is three years old. In the video and computer game business, three years is considered "old", even for a game that is constantly updated. Other games would usually see a tapering off in terms of population growth at this stage. Not only is market-dominating WoW bucking the trend, it's actually enjoying a surge in its population!

Is this growth spike the result of anticipation for Wrath of the Lich King? Probably so, according to MMOGChart: "There appears to be a slight acceleration of growth a month or two before the release of an expansion, which then continues for approximately 3-6 months afterwards." With the unprecedented size of WoW's playerbase, we can probably expect the hype to be built up a lot sooner than "a month or two".

The report has gone on to break down WoW's existing 10 million subscribers by territory:

• North America: 2.5 million
• Europe: 2 million
• Asia: 5.5 million (primarily China)

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Odds and ends, Blizzard, Expansions

Latest MMO pop report shows a WoW growth spurt originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 09 Apr 2008 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Twice a week, our writers will tell you more about themselves, and let you get to know them and the characters they play a little better. Click here to read more About the Bloggers.

I'm the columnist for both Blood Pact and Blood Sport. Coincidence?

What's your main right now?

My main is an orc Warlock - currently destro - in gear from Karazhan, Gruul's Lair and the Arenas.

For the Horde or Glory to the Alliance?

For the Horde!! I did dabble a little on The Other Side, but decided that Horde (on my server at least) was a little friendlier. I also can't stand being surrounded by short people, having the irrepressible urge to punt a certain dimunitive race ...

Continue reading About the Bloggers: V'Ming Chew

Filed under: About the Bloggers

About the Bloggers: V'Ming Chew originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 08 Apr 2008 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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• Incremental upgrade vs existing gear, keeping set bonuses in mind: Duh.
• Future progression: Will I be replacing this piece one week from now with drops, PvP gear or other loot?
• Cost: Can I get two cheaper pieces to get a greater upgrade than a single expensive piece? The cost of enchanting and gemming the new pieces should also be taken into account.
• Last but not least, looks! How will the new piece fit in with the rest of my wardrobe?

Now let's look at the shiny purples!

Continue reading Blood Pact: Badge loot shopping!

Filed under: Warlock, Patches, Items, Analysis / Opinion, Raiding, Guides, (Warlock) Blood Pact

Blood Pact: Badge loot shopping! originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 25 Mar 2008 09:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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V'Ming - who thinks that gnome warlocks are travesties of nature and need to be KOSed - shares thoughts and ideas on becoming deadlier at the Arenas. He also dabbles in the dark arts in Blood Pact.

Continue reading Blood Sport: Hitting the brick wall of 1800

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, PvP, Guides, Blood Sport (Arena PvP), Arena

Blood Sport: Hitting the brick wall of 1800 originally appeared on WoW Insider on Fri, 21 Mar 2008 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Patches, News items, Screenshots, The Burning Crusade, Bosses, NPCs, Rumors

Kil'jaeden makes first appearance in screenshot? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Thu, 20 Mar 2008 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Between Arenas, V'Ming spends his time as a lock laughing ominously in AV, tanking Olm with his own minions and pondering troll fashion from Zul'Aman. He's recently started to plumb the depths of SSC with his 0/21/40 build and bragging about 8k shadow bolts.

The internet is a beautiful thing. It gives everybody a voice and an easily accessible goldmine of human ingenuity and intelligence. (It is also a repository of human scum and stupidity, but we're not going there today.) As a warlock player, there are TONS of resources out there that you can use to improve your game. Unfortunately many of these resources are scattered far and wide - and it takes a certain deftness with search engines to separate the wheat from the chaff, or simply to find what fits your playstyle.

So, for the benefit of the newly initiated and the time-challenged, I'll start and maintain this list of tried and tested Warlock tips, from the frivolous to the essential. I will not claim credit for these tips, but humbly serve as the chronicler of community content in this case, and will give due credit wherever possible. If you have pet tips that you swear by as a Warlock, please feel free to share them - and I'll add it to this list after the jump.

Continue reading Blood Pact: Warlock tips and tricks

Filed under: Warlock, Tips, Tricks, Cheats, PvP, Add-Ons, (Warlock) Blood Pact

Blood Pact: Warlock tips and tricks originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 19 Mar 2008 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Between Arenas, V'Ming spends his time as a lock laughing ominously in AV, tanking Olm with his own minions and pondering troll fashion from Zul'Aman. He's recently started to plumb the depths of SSC with his 0/21/40 build and bragging about 8k shadow bolts.

One of the most enduring and fiercest rivalries in WoW is the bitterness between mages and warlocks. I'll like to characterize my relationship with Mage friends to be one of friendly, respectful rivalry. In fact, Christian Belt - our Mage columnist - will be my guest here today to offer his side of the story in beautiful italics.

By now, many mage players would have dabbled in at least a little warlocky DoT-slinging, and the converse is probably true. If you haven't, go on - roll a Mage or a Warlock, I'll wait.

So there really isn't any grounds for misconceptions when it comes to the abilities of both classes, and we should all live in contented peace. Or is there?

Continue reading Blood Pact: Warlocks are red, mages are blue

Filed under: Mage, Warlock, Analysis / Opinion, PvP, Raiding, (Warlock) Blood Pact

Blood Pact: Warlocks are red, mages are blue originally appeared on WoW Insider on Fri, 14 Mar 2008 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Between Arenas, V'Ming spends his time as a lock laughing ominously in AV, tanking Olm with his own minions and pondering troll fashion from Zul'Aman. He's recently started to plumb the depths of SSC with his 0/21/40 build and bragging about 8k shadow bolts.

This progressive patch is a roller coaster ride; is Blizzard toying with our emotions? I can imagine the folks at Irvine playing WoW as a grand social experiment: "Let's put in this class-changing nerf and see how they respond, muahahahaha!" The Warlock community certainly responded, and the mood is somewhat settled, now that the Life Tap change has been rolled back and Kalgan has confirmed that "No other Warlock nerfs are planned for 2.4."

I do not see this as a "victory" for warlocks, as the change was uncalled for to start off with. A PvP-driven change to a class-defining mechanic that affects PvE more than PvP simply defies logic - although some insisted that it was a storm in a teacup. Without arguing (again) how BIG this Life Tap change was really going to be, this episode brought one aspect of the WoW community into clear relief for me.

We are very passionate about the classes we play, and react strongly to all changes - good AND bad. While many non-warlock players saw the implications of the Life Tap change, others simply gloated and cheered that their most hated PvP opponents were nerfed. Understandably, players engage in different aspects of the game, and even PvE players have varying degrees of experience playing with warlocks. However, there's been a plethora of rational discussion, from warlocks and non-warlocks alike, on why the LT nerf was uncalled for. There shouldn't really any grounds for hating (the class, hopefully not the players) out of sheer ignorance.

So why does the class trigger such a negative emotional response with some players?

Continue reading Blood Pact: Why people hate warlocks

Filed under: Warlock, Analysis / Opinion, PvP, Classes, (Warlock) Blood Pact, Arena

Blood Pact: Why people hate warlocks originally appeared on WoW Insider on Fri, 07 Mar 2008 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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V'Ming - who thinks that gnome warlocks are travesties of nature and need to be KOSed - shares thoughts and ideas on becoming deadlier at the Arenas. He also dabbles in the dark arts in Blood Pact.

Continue reading Blood Sport: 2.4, Arena patch

Filed under: Druid, Mage, Shaman, Warlock, Patches, Analysis / Opinion, Classes, Blood Sport (Arena PvP), Arena

Blood Sport: 2.4, Arena patch originally appeared on WoW Insider on Fri, 29 Feb 2008 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Between Arenas, V'Ming spends his time as a lock laughing ominously in AV, tanking Olm with his own minions and pondering troll fashion from Zul'Aman. He's recently started to plumb the depths of SSC with his 0/21/40 build and bragging about 8k shadow bolts.

Continue reading Blood Pact: Locks tapped out

Filed under: Warlock, Patches, Analysis / Opinion, PvP, Raiding, (Warlock) Blood Pact, Arena

Blood Pact: Locks tapped out originally appeared on WoW Insider on Mon, 25 Feb 2008 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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V'Ming - who thinks that gnome warlocks are travesties of nature and need to be KOSed - shares thoughts and ideas on becoming deadlier at the Arenas. He also dabbles in the dark arts in Blood Pact.

Looking at some of the upcoming class changes in patch 2.4, I can't help but feel that many of them are driven by PvP - particularly Arena - issues. Blizzard is undoubtedly trying to level the playing field for the classes before the 3v3 Arena Tournament, tentatively set to begin in April. That's a very short time to iron out problems and further imbalances that the patch will bring.

A design philosophy that Blizzard has insisted on from the beginning is that each class should play similarly in both PvP and PvP. Tom Chilton (Lead Designer, or Kalgan) said at last year's Blizzcon that the game "shouldn't have significantly different rules for spells in PvP vs PvE."

"Slower" water in Arenas is the latest change that depart from this philosophy, in addition to PvP-only diminishing returns, and PvP-oriented stats like Resilience and Spell Penetration. However, since many class changes apply to both PvP and PvE, PvE players seem to be "dragged" along by changes meant to tune their classes' PvP performance. Shamans and druids seem to be most affected this patch with changes to Nature's Swiftness, Elemental Mastery, Call of Thunder for shamans, and Lifebloom for druids.

Continue reading Blood Sport: Is WoW turning into a PvP game?

Filed under: Patches, Analysis / Opinion, PvP, Classes, Blood Sport (Arena PvP), Arena

Blood Sport: Is WoW turning into a PvP game? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Fri, 22 Feb 2008 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Continue reading Blood Pact: Why we Lock

Filed under: Warlock, Analysis / Opinion, WoW Rookie, (Warlock) Blood Pact

Blood Pact: Why we Lock originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 20 Feb 2008 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Between Arenas, V'Ming spends his time as a lock laughing ominously in AV, tanking Olm with his own minions and pondering troll fashion from Zul'Aman. He's recently started to plumb the depths of SSC with his 0/21/40 build and bragging about 8k shadow bolts.

Continue reading Blood Pact: Warlocks buffed in 2.4

Filed under: Warlock, Patches, Analysis / Opinion, (Warlock) Blood Pact

Blood Pact: Warlocks buffed in 2.4 originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 13 Feb 2008 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Continue reading Blood Sport: Predictions for the Year of the Rat

Filed under: Events, Humor, Blood Sport (Arena PvP)

Blood Sport: Predictions for the Year of the Rat originally appeared on WoW Insider on Fri, 08 Feb 2008 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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• 2006 - The Lunar New Year was on Jan 29; WoW's Lunar Festival was held Jan 27 to Feb 14.
• 2007 - The Lunar New Year was on Feb 18; WoW's Lunar Festival was held Feb 16 to Mar 8.
• 2008 - The Lunar New Year is on Feb 7; WoW's Lunar Festival started yesterday and will continue till February 23rd.

Continue reading Blood Pact: The real Lunar Festival

Filed under: Events, (Warlock) Blood Pact

Blood Pact: The real Lunar Festival originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 06 Feb 2008 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Continue reading Blood Sport: Warrior-Druid overpowered?

Filed under: Druid, Warrior, Analysis / Opinion, PvP, Classes, Blood Sport (Arena PvP), Arena

Blood Sport: Warrior-Druid overpowered? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Thu, 31 Jan 2008 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Continue reading Blood Pact: A Warlock's descent into Destruction

Filed under: Warlock, Analysis / Opinion, Talents, (Warlock) Blood Pact

Blood Pact: A Warlock's descent into Destruction originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 30 Jan 2008 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Every Thursday, V'Ming - who thinks that gnome warlocks are travesties of nature and need to be KOSed - shares thoughts and ideas on becoming deadlier at the Arenas. He also dabbles in the dark arts in Blood Pact.

Like I mentioned in my Building an Arena team article, some PvPers scoff at PvP mods. For me, I like to think of addons as little "fixes" that address deficiencies in the default UI. It's not like they create a huge unfair advantage or anything, but addons, created by well-meaning individuals, simply make our collective gaming lives easier. Hey, if everyone else is using them, why not?

There are literally thousands of addons out there, and some of us quickly develop an almost unhealthy reliance on all the bells and whistles. I'm a firm follower of the minimalistic movement: if I hardly interact with a particular addon during a typical game session, it disappears from my AddOns folder, no matter how nice or "useful" it seems. I prefer quicker loading and response times, to conveniences that are situational at best, thank you.

I'm also a big Ace fan; who doesn't like updating all your addons with one click? Besides that, many of the most functional and bloat-free addons are emerging from the active Ace community. Hence, if there are multiple addons providing the same functionality, I'll tend to gravitate towards the Ace version. The easiest way to grab and manage Ace addons is to download the WoWAceUpdater application. With that, let's look at some addons I consider "essential" if you are a frequent or serious gladiator.

Continue reading Blood Sport: Essential Arena addons

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, PvP, Add-Ons, Blood Sport (Arena PvP), Arena

Blood Sport: Essential Arena addons originally appeared on WoW Insider on Thu, 24 Jan 2008 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Between Arenas, V'Ming spends his time as a lock laughing ominously in AV, tanking Olm with his own minions and pondering troll fashion from Zul'Aman. He's recently started to plumb the depths of SSC with his 0/21/40 build and bragging about 8k shadow bolts.

Sneaky, backstabbing rogues and warlocks seem to fit naturally into the evil mold - with the latter summoning demons from hell and all. Unlike rogues, who seem more like common thugs and hired hands, warlocks are more akin in flavor to evil masterminds, orchestrating doom behind the scenes and manipulating their minions to get the dirty job done. Incidentally, it was a warlock who got us into this Horde-Alliance mess.

Like Elizabeth, who wrote the rogues' version of "How to be evil", I'm not a mean, vicious or even evil person. In fact, if you met me in a dark alley, you'd probably invite me home to meet mom. So how do good people like you and me play this deliciously evil class to its full creative potential?

Continue reading Blood Pact: How to be evil, Warlock edition

Filed under: Warlock, Humor, RP, (Warlock) Blood Pact

Blood Pact: How to be evil, Warlock edition originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 23 Jan 2008 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Every Thursday, V'Ming - who thinks that gnome warlocks are travesties of nature and need to be KOSed - shares thoughts and ideas on becoming deadlier at the Arenas. He also dabbles in the dark arts in Blood Pact.

In Season 2, the top teams in all three brackets of the Bloodlust battlegroup all had one toon in common: Serennia, a female gnome warrior. The diminutive warrior quickly earned the nickname "best warrior in the world" and became the gnome to loathe (or love, for some) in bloodthirsty PvP circles.

Behind this pint-sized powerhouse is a 23-year-old who is working on his multimedia degree in Houston, Texas. SK Gaming's Gosey had an excellent interview with him recently. Serennia talked about team setups, warriors, his druid alt, warlocks and offered some PvP tips.

Continue reading Blood Sport: "Locks OP as hell," says top Warrior

Filed under: Warrior, Analysis / Opinion, Virtual selves, PvP, Blood Sport (Arena PvP), Arena

Blood Sport: "Locks OP as hell," says top Warrior originally appeared on WoW Insider on Thu, 10 Jan 2008 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Continue reading Blood Sport: Arena nostalgia

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, PvP, Blood Sport (Arena PvP), Arena

Blood Sport: Arena nostalgia originally appeared on WoW Insider on Thu, 03 Jan 2008 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Continue reading Blood Pact: Looking back at Locks

Filed under: Warlock, Analysis / Opinion, (Warlock) Blood Pact

Blood Pact: Looking back at Locks originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 02 Jan 2008 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Every Thursday, V'Ming - who thinks that gnome warlocks are travesties of nature and need to be KOSed - shares thoughts and ideas on becoming deadlier at the Arenas. He also dabbles in the dark arts in Blood Pact.

Aye, it's that time of the year again, as one year draws to a close, and a brand new year beckons. Have you made your New Year's resolution? Granted, resolutions have a knack of getting forgotten by the second week of the new year but I guess they do set the tone for what you'll like to achieve, at the very least.

Here in Blood Sport, even seasoned gladiators make resolutions for the new year. After all, one of the most important things in any competitive endeavor is to set goals for yourself and your team. What is your goal for the new year? Get four pieces of the Vengeful Gladiator set? Hit 2000 in team rating? Shoot for the 'Vengeful Gladiator' title for Season 3?

Continue reading Blood Sport: What's your Arena resolution for 2008?

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, PvP, Blood Sport (Arena PvP), Arena

Blood Sport: What's your Arena resolution for 2008? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Thu, 27 Dec 2007 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Continue reading Blood Pact: The Warlock wishlist

Filed under: Warlock, Analysis / Opinion, Expansions, (Warlock) Blood Pact, Forums

Blood Pact: The Warlock wishlist originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 26 Dec 2007 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Every Thursday, V'Ming - who thinks that gnome warlocks are travesties of nature and need to be KOSed - shares thoughts and ideas on becoming deadlier at the Arenas. He also dabbles in the dark arts in Blood Pact.

Your team is randomly ported to any one of the three maps when a rated match or a practice skirmish starts. Given the frenetic brevity of Arena matches (other than this Shaman-Druid standoff), most players learn the lay of the land the hard way - through matches.

Of course, you can size up the terrain by visiting two of the arenas in Nagrand and Blade's Edge Mountains. Unfortunately, this is not an option for Ruins of Lordaeron, which does not have a 'real' world location and is only accessible through the Arena Battlemasters.

Each map has its unique terrain and tactical implications, and players quickly develop their likes and dislikes.

Continue reading Blood Sport: Knowing thy ground

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, PvP, Guides, Blood Sport (Arena PvP), Arena

Blood Sport: Knowing thy ground originally appeared on WoW Insider on Thu, 20 Dec 2007 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Tips, Tricks, How-tos, Odds and ends

Media Player boosts WoW performance originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 19 Dec 2007 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Between Arenas, V'Ming spends his time as a lock laughing ominously in AV, tanking Olm with his own minions and pondering troll fashion from Zul'Aman.

Sweet 70! Time to rest on your shadowy laurels, or press on into "endgame"? Stripping it down, WoW endgame is raiding and PvP. You may have reputations to grind, heroic instances to run and daily quests to complete, but raiding is truly the only way to experience content you haven't seen before, at least from the perspective of a Warlock. Similarly, PvP - with unpredictable opponents, ever-changing scenarios and the thrill of competition - is another way to keep things fresh and challenging.

Most players engage in a little bit of everything, and the choice really lies with you. Since The Burning Crusade, PvP has become a good alternative means of progression, with rewards that rival those from PvE. Many raiders also dip into PvP as a reliable source of gear upgrades to improve their raid performance.

Regardless of what you choose to focus on, the game at 70 definitely involves more group work. If you have soloed all the way to 70, your lone wolf days are over, if you wish to progress further. Let's look at some of endgame expectations for warlocks.

Continue reading Blood Pact: Locked and loaded

Filed under: Warlock, Guilds, Raiding, Guides, (Warlock) Blood Pact

Blood Pact: Locked and loaded originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 19 Dec 2007 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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