Do away with the Soul Shards!!!!

One of the biggest changes to warlocks int he upcoming Cataclysm expansion is the soul shard overhaul. Mages think that they have it bad being vending machines, but their pain is nothing compared to the warlock. Pre BC i can understand, cause they had to individually make enough food for an entire 40 man raid. But now all they need is a reagent and bam, we got food for everyone. I think its time we get our bag space back.

Warlocks caught a slight break with having to only use one soul shard for a summoning portal and soul well as opposed to needing one per back in the day. But it is still mandatory for us to waste bag space on them because of the amount of spells and ability's that need them, not to mention some warlocks get a soul bag and that wastes a whole bag by itself. With the new overhaul to soul shards, warlocks will not have this problem any more. We will have three shards to use in a fight and they are a UI item instead of a bag slot item. Their will be no use for them outside of combat, but instead will be used with the soul burn ability to grant other ability's different effects. The following are the different combination's:

• Summon Demon + Soul Burn = summon the demon instantly. 
• Drain Life + Soul Burn = Reduces cast speed by 60%. 
• Demonic Circle + Soul Burn = Increases movement speed by 50% for 8 seconds after teleporting. 
• Unstable Affliction + Soul Burn = Instantly deals damage equal to 30% of its effect. 
• Soul Fire + Soul Burn = Instant cast. 
• Healthstone + Soul Burn = Increases total health by 20% for 8 seconds. 
• Searing Pain + Soul Burn = Increases the crit chance of Searing Pain by 100%, and subsequent Searing Pain spells by 50% for 6 seconds.

Personally i don't feel like any of these effects will be useful for me, but who knows how much they are gonna change our mechanics. The best 2 in my opinion are the instant summon demon and the increased run speed after teleporting. Nothing else would fit into my current spell rotation. Of course, there are other specs that will benefit from these a little more. Not to mention, raid strategies may depend on these in the future. I'm just happy i wont have to worry about coming to raids without any soul shards and having someone ask for a healthstone just for me to turn them down. All in all, the future of playing a warlock is looking very bright.

New Cataclysm Abilities

With a new expansion on the way, there comes new levels, and with new levels come new spells/abilities. Warlocks will be gaining three new spells with the upcoming Cataclysm expansion. Those spells are Fel Flame (level 81), Dark Intent (level 83), and Demon Soul (level 85). Each move provides something new and exciting for all warlocks that will help boost dps and allow for a new game play style.

Fel Flame

This ability is an instant cast spell that does shadowfire damage and also refreshes your immolate and unstable affliction. Depending on its cooldown, this ability could be a very nice addition to destruction warlocks spell rotation. Keeping immolate up on the target is huge for a destruction warlock because of the extra damage it gives your incinerate spell, not to mention the extra dot damage it gives off. Having an instant cast ability as opposed to timed ability's can save a lot of time that can be used to boost damage. Being a destruction warlock myself, i am very much looking forward to this new ability. Did i mention the flame is green?

Dark Intent

This seems to be like the warrior vigilence ability or the mage focus magic ability. You can throw it on any player that is in your party and depending on what that player does, you gain a benefit while they gain a buff. This ability will increase the critical effect with periodic damage or healing spells by 3% on the target. If the character with the buff lands a crit, the warlock will get a buff to their damage that can stack up to three times for ten seconds. This will be another one of the many ways that warlocks will be able to add more dps to the dps meters.

Demon Soul

There isn't much information on the Demon Soul ability, but there is enough to think about. Demon soul fuses the warlock and their demon to provide a self-burst cooldown. The self burst last for a certain amount of charges or 20 seconds. The thing that we don't know is what kind of burst we will get because it is based on what demon you are using. Most warlocks stick to using a certain pet, based on what they are speced into. Hopefully the differences between all the different variations allow each pet to actually be useful with this spell. I wonder if this spell will be anything like the Metamorphosis?


Warlocks are getting much more done to them including a soul shard overhaul, changes in dot mechanics, aoe mechanics, and much more that other classes will also have the pleasure of experiencing. With the expansion hopefully right on the horizon, we need to be prepared for these major and minor changes. With that said, my next post will be very soon with an in depth explanation to the changes to soul shards.

Introduction

Warlocks, dark and mysterious, are one of the most feared classes to ever hit the DPS meters. Having high expectations in PVP and in PVE, they are a class that can overcome many obstacles. Here, I shall tell about the different experiences of being a warlock and all the ups/downs that follow those experience. Prepare your mind to be fear bombed with all you will need to know about upcoming patch releases and an in depth break down at what to expect. With the upcoming Cataclysm expansion, warlocks are being revamped for an all new game play style and i want all warlocks to be prepared for these changes ahead of time. Coming straight from Riddlebox on the Kael'thas server, prepare to be incinerated with knowledge!