Civilian

Warlock gear spreadsheet for WOTLK

zathrus — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 06:12:00 GMT

This post will be down and dirty as I have been swamped with everything from real life to gearing up my new orc warlock. Orc FTW!!!!

The Leulier Spreadsheet is currently not ready for prime time. So I do not recommend trusting it's values of anything.

With that being said, I have compiled a spreadsheet (within this ZIP file) with all the available loot in the game for your use. There are 2 columns that compute how many "points" or how much DPS each item will put out. One column includes the hit rating, the other column does not. The spreadsheet is pretty much self explanatory. The values at the bottom of the spreadsheet can be used to modify how many points are given to each attribute.

To make it on the list the gear must be:
- Blue or better
- Item level 187 or better
- Have 0 resilience (PVP gear will be added later)
- Have 0 mp5 (mp5 gear will be added later)
- Not be mage or priest only gear (I will add them later for those class's benefit)

With all the re-tooling of caster gear, even mages and priests can use this spreadsheet. There is all kinds of sorting you can do, and I even have some VBA code with buttons in mine. The one uploaded here has no VBA code so that people will not have any macro security questions.

When I have the time, I'll update this spreadsheet to include pvp, mp5, and other classes token gear. More to come later!

GET THE FILE HERE!

Tier 6 4-Piece Bonus, Which Pieces Are Best?

zathrus — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 09:28:00 GMT

While the 2-piece bonus for warlock Tier 6 gear (aka Malefic Raiment set) is relatively useless, the 4-piece bonus is extremely good. To find out how much, let's go back to our Leulier spreadsheet. If you have the T6 4-piece bonus, then cell B5 on the "Advanced infos" tab will say "TRUE". Write down your current DPS value, then change this cell to say "FALSE". Now write down your new DPS. The difference between these two numbers is the DPS increase because you have the 4-piece bonus. For me, this turns out to be 129.33 DPS. Be sure to not save you changes when doing this test, or you will lose the formula that is in cell B5.

So the question becomes which 4 pieces of T6 gear is the best combination. We need to compare each T6 piece to the highest DPS item for that slot. Therefore, we want to minimize the DPS loss by wearing 4 pieces of T6 instead of 4 higher DPS pieces; if we can't minimize the DPS loss to less than the 4-piece bonus, then we should not wear the 4-piece bonus.

So what are the 4 pieces that will minimize the DPS loss caused by not wearing better gear? To answer this, we will compare every T6 piece with the highest DPS piece for the slot. I will be using the following DPS values from my Leulier spreadsheet; I will also disregard any DPS from + spell hit because you can always get enough spell hit from other items and/or gems.

+1 stamina = +0 DPS
+1 intellect = +0.20 DPS
+1 spirit = +0.11 DPS
+1 spell damage = +1.10 DPS
~~+1 spell hit = +1.78 DPS~~
+1 spell crit = +0.84 DPS
+1 spell haste = +1.11 DPS
+1 MP5 = +0.30 DPS

Chest:

[Robe of the Malefic] - 116 DPS
[Fel Conquerer Raiments] - 193 DPS (+77 DPS)
[Sunfire Robe] - 218 DPS (+102 DPS)

Gloves:

[Gloves of the Malefic] - 88 DPS
[Sunfire Handwraps] - 126 DPS (+38 DPS)
[Gloves of Tyri's Power] - 128 DPS (+40 DPS)

Helm:

For the helm comparison, we will ignore the meta gem since they both have one.

[Hood of the Malefic] - 127 DPS
[Dark Conjuror's Collar] - 176 DPS (+49 DPS)

Legs:

[Leggings of the Malefic] - 130 DPS
[Leggings of Calamity] - 202 DPS (+72 DPS)

Shoulder:

[Mantle of the Malefic] - 92 DPS
[Amice of the Convoker] - 152 DPS (+60 DPS)

Boots, Belt, & Bracers:

Each of these T6 pieces drop from Sunwell Plateau. Even without the spell hit rating, each of these pieces are the best in slot pieces; there are no better pieces than these.

[Boots of the Malefic]
[Belt of the Malefic]
[Bracers of the Malefic]

Conclusion:

It is obvious that the T6 boots, belt, & bracers are certain choices to wear. So now we just have to determine the best choice for the fourth piece. Let's list the DPS loss for each of the T6 pieces we are considering for this spot:

T6 gloves: -40 DPS
T6 helm: -49 DPS
T6 shoulder: -60 DPS
T6 legs: -72 DPS
T6 chest: -77 DPS (or -102 DPS if you are a tailor)

A quick glance at the DPS losses above will show that only the gloves and helm are close to being the best choice. The chest, legs, and shoulder pieces can be replaced with better gear for a larger DPS increases than the gloves and helm can be. It should also be noted that both [Dark Conjuror's Collar] and [Gloves of Tyri's Power] are drops from Kil'jaeden, so it will likely be a very long time before those drops are even available to you. However, the 2nd best hand item, the [Sunfire Handwraps] are easily crafted at this level.

Theoretically, the best four pieces of T6 gear would be the T6 boots, belt, bracers, and the gloves. However, given that the best helm in the game is a drop off the last boss in the game, your best choice will likely be the T6 boots, belt, bracers, and helm with the [Sunfire Handwraps]. These 4 pieces have a loss of -49 DPS, but the 4-piece T6 bonus gives +129 DPS. The net bonus for me is +80 DPS. Assuming you are also a destruction warlock, your results are likely to be similar.

Best Professions for Warlocks

zathrus — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 01:37:00 GMT

Every since the release of World of Warcraft, you can select only 2 primary professions in addition to having all three secondary professions of fishing, cooking, and first aid. So what 2 professions would be best for your DPS?

Let look at the list of available professions. In all of the calculations below, I will use my personal spec and gear as the basis. This is tuned for high-end raiding destruction warlocks (destruction warlocks are proably 90% of the raiding warlocks out there). The following values will be used in the evaluation because they are my current Leulier spreadsheet DPS values:

+1 stamina = +0 DPS
+1 intellect = +0.20 DPS
+1 spirit = +0.11 DPS
+1 spell damage = +1.10 DPS
+1 spell hit = +1.78 DPS
+1 spell crit = +0.84 DPS
+1 spell haste = +1.11 DPS
+1 MP5 = +0.30 DPS

All spell hit ratings will be ignored becuase it should be easy enough to reach the spell hit cap through other gear and/or gems.

Skinning, Herbalism, and Mining:

These three gathering professions do not give any added benefit to your DPS. While it can be said that having a profession like herbalism will give you easier access to herbs for your alchemy, the same can be said for using gold to buy them off the Auction House. The only item in the game that requires Herbalism is [Fel Blossom], which is pretty useless since it shares a cooldown times with a [Master Healthstone].

Mining and Skinning are equally useless, and have nothing that is profession specific for them. Along with Herbalism, everything these three professions gather can be obtained from your alts, friends, or the Auction House. It is true that some raids needs a miner in certain instances, but let someone else who is not DPS focused like you are have that job.

Alchemy

A warlock can benefit from the Alchemy profession by wearing a [Sorcerer's Alchemist Stone] in a trinket slot. This is a relatively new trinket as it was added in Patch 2.4.0, and it requires being exalted with the Shattered Sun Offensive.

To evaluate the DPS of this trinket, we will have to assume we are chaining [Super Mana Potions] and determine how much of a benefit the 40% potion boost would be. We will also have to consider any DPS loss (if any) from not wearing a better trinket in that slot.

An average Super Mana Potion will restore 2400 mana and can be taken every 2 minutes. To convert this to overall MP5, we can do the math to determine that using Super Mana Potions gives an equivalent 100 mp5. However, with this trinket, the 100 MP5 becomes 140 MP5, so the benefit this trinket gives is +63 spell damage and +40 MP5. Now let's turn to our Leulier spreadsheet that tells us our DPS values for each point in these area. Using my Leulier values above, I receive a DPS boost of 81 DPS.

Now let's compare this to several other trinkets you might have put in the slot.

[Shifting Naaru Sliver]: 119 DPS
[Hex Shrunken Head]: 97 DPS
[The Skull of Gul'dan]: 93 DPS
[Darkmoon Card: Crusade]: 87 DPS
[Sorcerer's Alchemist Stone]: 81 DPS
[Sextant of Unstable Currents]: 78 DPS
[Icon of the Silver Crescent]: 76 DPS

As you can see, the alchemy trinket would not be the fifth best trinket in the game. So while this trinket might be easily obtainable and also uber for a lock just starting out, eventually for end-game raiding you will want to replace it. Getting the maximum DPS out of this trinket also requires you to be chaining Super Mana Potions which constricts your potion options.

Blacksmithing

There is no gear or consumable that can be used by a warlock.

Enchanting

The enchanter's only DPS increase is their ability to enchant their own two rings with Enchant Ring - Spellpower. This results in a total of +24 spell damage for 26.4 DPS. Only enchanters are able to enchant their rings. It must also be noted that you can drop enchanting after you enchant your rings and still keep the enchants! This seems to be almost a loophole of sorts, but it works.

Engineering

The engineering profession gives some very interesting gear choices for warlocks in all level of raiding; generally speaking Engineering provide profession specific head pieses. For end-game raiding, there is the [Schematic: Annihilator Holo-Gogs] that is a rare drop from Sunwell trash. Let's compare this helm to other end-game raiding helms; the DPS values below consider sockets, and the socket bonus, but not the meta gem itself.

[Dark Conjuror's Collar]: 175 DPS
[Annihilator Holo-Gogs]: 144 DPS
[Helm of Arcane Purity]: 135 DPS
[Cowl of the Illidari High Lord]: 128 DPS
[Cowl of the Grand Engineer]: 127 DPS
[Hood of Hexing]: 124 DPS
[Hood of the Malefic]: 114 DPS

Each of the alternatives has a meta gem socket, so they are equal in that respect. The Dark Conjuror's Collar and the Helm of Arcane Purity comes from Kil'jaeden, the very last boss in Sunwell Plateau. Therefore, we will not compar our engineering helm to those two pieces becasue you should really select gear based on what will help you kill the "last boss". So we will compare the engineering helm to the Cowl of the Illidari High Lord; therefore the engineering helm whould be counted as a 16 DPS increase while understandthing that there is a much better helm that drops from Kil'jaeden. There are of course other fun things that come with being an engineer, but they do not increase your DPS in end-game raiding.

Jewelcrafting

Jewelcrafting is another interesting option for end-game raiding. Basically, jewelcrafting will allow you to cut better epic gems that are BOP. Jewelcrafters are also able to craft profession specific neck pieces that are BOP. Again, there is a trash drop in Sunwell Plateau of the [Design: Pendant of Sunfire]. Once again we will compare this neck piece to other end-game raiding pieces.

[Pendant of Sunfire]: 103 DPS
[Amulet of Unfettered Magics]: 82 DPS
[Guardian's Pendant of Subjugation]: 74 DPS

It is very interesting to note that the #3 DPS neck piece in the game is from the honor PVP rewards. The #2 necklace is a drop from The Eredar Twins in Sunwell Plateau.

There are also two Unique-Equipped BOP gems that a jewelcrafter can cut. These are [Don Julio's Heart] for 15.40 DPS and the [Blood of Amber] for 10.08 DPS. The blood of Amber is less DPS than other epic gems, so we will disregard that gem. This leaves [Don Julio's Heart] to be compared to a [Runed Crimson Spinel] at 13.20 DPS.

Therefore, the DPS increase for the jewelcrafting profession is (103-82) + (15.40-13.20), which is 23.20 DPS.

Leatherworking

Leatherworking has taken on a life of its own for end-game raiding guilds; all because of this little consumable called [Drums of Battle]. It's not a trinket, so it doesn't take the place of any gear. It does use a global cooldown, but since your trinket does not, you can put it in a macro to use it at the same time as a trinket to combine their effects. This little item of uberness gives 80 haste (spell, melee, and ranged haste) not only to you, but your entire party for 30 seconds. For the purposes of any on-use item or trinket, we convert this to overall use by diving the buff over its cooldown. So this is equal to a 20 spell haste bonus for you. Using our Leulier spreadsheet, this provides a 22.2 DPS increase just for you. This would probably be fine if it stopped there, but it doesn't. Since it effects everyone in your party, the effect must be multiplied for your party members; let's assume:

You, warlock of uberness: 100% of your DPS
Another warlock, almost as good: 95% of your DPS
Shadow Priest: 58% of your DPS
Elemental Shaman: 80% of your DPS
Mage: 83% of your DPS

Doing this math results in a raid DPS increase of 92 DPS. This value is for 1 set of drums in the party. More party members that are also leatherworkers would be able to chain-use these Drums for an additional 92 raid DPS increase.

Tailoring

Almost every raiding warlock started out as a Shadoweave Tailor when TBC expansion was released because of the three Frozen Shadoweave pieces, for good reason too. Those pieces gave a huge head start when everyone started out raiding Karazahan. However, as they progressed, people eventually replaced all three of those pieces with better gear around the T5 level. There is one item left in the end-game that may breathe new life back into Tailoring. It is the [Pattern: Sunfire Robe] that drops off of trash in Sunwell Plateau. Let's compare this to other end-game chest pieces.

[Sunfire Robe]: 208 DPS
[Robes of Ghostly Hatred]: 184 DPS
[Fel Conquerer Raiments]: 183 DPS

It should be noted that the #2 and #3 items are extremely similar, and it is surprising even that they drop from the same boss in Sunwell, M'uru/Entropius. Given the different socket colors, for us at least the DPS for either item becomes indistinguishable.

So overall the tailoring profession will give you a 24 DPS increase over other Sunwell loot.

Conclusions

Sorting the results of the above, we find that:

Leatherworking: +92 raid DPS (but only +22.8 DPS for you)
Enchanting: +26 DPS
Tailoring: +24 DPS
Jewelcrafting: +23 DPS
Engineering: +16 DPS
Alchemy: A help for new locks, but there are other trinkets that are better and easily obtainable.
Blacksmithing, Herbalism, Mining, & Skinning: No DPS increase

Since the benefits of the Leatherworking profession go beyond just you and the raid DPS increase is significant. Therefore, the first choice profession for warlocks must be declared as Leatherworking.

The second choice profession is Enchanting; however, as we discussed previously you can enchant your rings and drop the profession to pickup another. So the strategy here is to level enchanting and get your final two PVE rings of choice, enchant the rings, then drop the profession for something else. For me, my final two rings are the [Ring of Omnipotence] which drops from Mu'ru/Entropius and the [Ring of Ancient Knowledge] from Black Temple trash. For me these, two ring give me the highest DPS excluding the spell hit rating given from other rings (I plan to reach the spell hit cap from other items).

So after you enchant your final two rings, then you can pickup Jewelcrafting or Tailoring becasue the DPS increase for either items is practicially the same. I would recommend not droping enchanting for tailoring or jewelcrafting until after you receive one of the patterns. If you don't wait, then you basically have a profession that does absolutely nothing for you while you wait on a CHANCE at receiving a very, very rare trash drop from an instance you probably do not have on farm status.

I would not recommend the engineering profession since it is the lowest DPS increase of the exisitng sunwell profession drops.

Summary

In summary, what I recommend for end-game raiding warlocks to do:

1. Pickup Leatherworking and level it to 350. You can use [Drums of Battle], even though you can't craft them.
2. Pickup Enchanting and level it to 360. You can enchant all your rings as you get better rings. You can also enchant your two PVP rings and keep the enchant effect in arenas.
3. Wait until you can optain one of the trash profession patterns from either tailoring or jewelcrafting. You do not need the profession to simply receive the pattern/design. When you receive either item, drop enchanting and level up your new tailoring or jewelcrafting profession.
4.a. If you receive [Design: Pendant of Sunfire], then drop enchanting and pickup Jewelcrafting and level it to 365 for the neck and gem.
4.b. If you receive [Pattern: Sunfire Robe], then drop enchanting and pickup Tailoring and level it to 365 and craft your robe.

It might seem a lot of work to drop enchanting to level jewelcrafting or tailoring, and you would be correct. To each his own, and your mileage may vary. Feel free to leave any questions or comments!

Contest Winner

Neckface — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 16:49:00 GMT

I should have posted this here earlier, but the Horde winner was Scientology of <ChineseFarmTeam>. We'll be running Black Temple with Scientology this Tuesday, and I'll post with the report (and loot list).

The DPS Spreadsheet - How To Properly Evaluate Gear For Your Warlock

zathrus — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 22:22:00 GMT

In order to evaluate how much better any piece of gear is over your current item, there must be a way to quantify how much of a DPS increase the piece of gear would give you taking into account your current spec and play style.

Every piece of gear that a warlock would be interested in, has various values in the following attributes:

Stamina
Intellect
Spirit
Spell hit rating
Spell critical strike rating
Spell haste rating
Damage done by spell (or shadow or fire spells)
Mana per 5

In the old days, I would assign a point value to every point in the above attributes; for example every point in spell hit could be worth 2.5 points in my system. Every piece of gear could be evaluated this way, and I developed a very large Excel spreadsheet listing every rare and epic piece of gear there was and has excel do all the math for me.

Today, there is even a better way. Let me introduce you to the Warlock DPS spreadsheet, aka the Leulier spreadsheet. Leulier has done the very thing that I always wished I had the time to do. He has developed a spreadsheet that can evaluate how much DPS you do can theoretically do considering all the raid buff, boss debuffs, and gear you currently have. In addition to this, he also provides a spreadsheet that lists every piece of epic gear in the game to help you quickly evaluate how much of a DPS increase a certain piece of gear would be.

I will not say that his spreadsheet is 100% accurate because there are too many variables in any particular boss fight. However, I will vouch for its ability to definitively and objectively compare individual pieces of gear. Every raiding warlock should be using an objective, mathematical system such as this to determine what gear aim for.

Here are some tips for using the Leulier spreadsheet:

1. Please realize that the XLS file uses a lot of VBA macros, and you will likely see a warning message about macros when you open the file. If you are concerned about macro viruses, then you should disable macros and examine the VBA code for yourself so that you are satisfied that it is clean. I've repeatedly used these spreadsheets without any problems, but that doesn't mean the site can't be hacked in the future. After opening the file, you should take notice that there are many tabs in the file (technically speaking each tab is a separate spreadsheet inside the file or "workbook").

2. The first tab is the Notes tab, ignore this for now as it has not been updated in a long time. As of this writing, the spreadsheet is version 2.6, but the change log in the Notes tab only goes up to version 1.20.

3. The second tab is the DPS tab. This is where you will setup the talents of your spec and select which spells you use in your spell rotation. For now, skip this and we will come back to it later.

4. The third tab is the Gear_Buffs tab. This is where we will start. You need to select every piece of gear you currently have from the various drop down boxes. The selections are coded to understand if an item has sockets, so be sure to indicate when gems you have in each socket, along with what enchant you currently have. Also towards the bottom of this spreadsheet, there are checkboxes you can select for your consumable and raid buffs. Under self buffs, be sure to check the Fel Armor box and select the type of flask, oil, and food you use. Under raid buffs, you should be able to check all the boxes except Judgement of Wisdom. Under Party Buffs, you should really leave those unchecked as you should not rely on being in a group with a shadow priest and/or a shaman; also change Vampiric Tough DPS to 0 unless you are certain you usually have a shadow priest in your group. If you are a leather worker be sure to enter 1 for Drums of Battle.

5. Now go to the DPS tab and enter all of the particulars of your talent build into the boxes at the top of the spreadsheet. There is also a template loader for some common specs that will fill in the talents with pre-set values. Be sure to check every talent to ensure it is correct. Leave the "Debufs", "Improved SB" and "Other options" at their default values for now; you can modify them later once you get more familiar with the spreadsheet. Under "Main options" be sure to select your filler spell; the filler spell is the spell the spreadsheet will assume you are using at all times when your other spells are not available for use. This is most likely your Shadow Bolt. Select CoS or CoE as your "Casted Curse", and select the type of pet you will either use or sacrifice.

6. In the spells table on the DPS tab, there is a column titled "used/option" next to all the spells we tend to use. Put a "1" in any box next to the spell name that you use. If you use a damaging pet such as a Felguard, then also put a "1" next to the pet; however, if you sacrifice your pet or if you pet does not fight (like an Imp), make sure it is set to "0" here. Leave "Life tap" set to "oom_time"; this will measure your DPS such that you run out of mana after a theoretical 10 minute boss fight (the length of time is set by the "OOM time" box under the "Custom LT/DP freq" seciton).

Now, finally you have your spreadsheet all set up with your gear, your talents, and the spells you use. The final answer you have been trying to get to will be calculated automatically for you next to the cell that says DPS (cell H33 on the DPS tab). You should take some time to try out "what if" scenarios. If you add or remove Immolate from your spell rotation, would that increase or decrease your DPS? Try the same with spells like Corruption; then what if you put 1 point in Improved Corruption, would that increase your DPS? It's this type of easy evaluation that makes Leulier's spreadsheet so valuable.

Below the spell section on the DPS tab you will notice a section called "The Next Stat". Taking into account all of your gear, talents, and spell usage, the spreadsheet has assigned a DPS value to every +1 point in the various attributes that is given to the gear we want. These values are the "final answer" that we need to know in order to properly evaluate potential gear upgrades.

Speaking of gear upgrades, now let's look at the Items tab. The Items tab lists every piece off epic gear available by slot. You first should press the button labeled "Sort Items"; this will sort all of the items by the DPS given by that item (including spell hit). A very nice touch to the spreadsheet is that the DPS difference (from the item in the list compared to your current item you selected in the Gear_Buffs tab) is color coded red or green and lists the actual DPS increase or decrease for you.

In some future post, I plan to go into more detail on some advanced options and features of the Leulier spreadsheet. For now I encourage you to use this. Start to investigate the details, the mathematics, and experiment with the options. There are other ways of achieving the same results as this spreadsheet, but this version by far is the best all-in-one spreadsheet I have ever seen. Leulier has truly made the spreadsheet I wish I had taken the time to make.

So after reading this, you have homework! Download the spreadsheet and enter in your gear and your talents. What is your DPS? Are there any spells that you should be adding to your rotation? Would a different spec give you better DPS? Check out the meta gems Ember Skyfire Diamond and Chaotic Skyfire Diamond; which of these would be better for you?

Feel free to leave any comments or questions! You can also visit the Elitist Jerk's thread on this spreadsheet to see more discussions on this.

How the raffle works

Neckface — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 22:43:00 GMT

I've gotten a lot of questions about exactly how this works, so let me give an example. Let's say only 3 people enter the contest:

Alpha does the quest on 5 different days and submits 5 screenshots all at once.
Beta does the quest twice on his main and once on his alt, and submits 3 screenshots.
Delta submits just one screenshot.

Since Alpha submitted 5 at once he gets one "freebie" for a total of 6. His 6 plus Beta's 3 plus Delta's 1 totals up to 10. So now the judge (Azurai from VM in this case) rolls 1-10: 1-6 Alpha is the winner, 7-9 Beta is the winner, and on a 10 Delta is the winner.

So even if you just enter once it's possible for you to win, but the more you enter the better your chances.

I hope that clarifies things.

The Destruction Warlock - How to top the damage meters with just 1 spell

zathrus — Tue, 06 May 2008 02:39:00 GMT

The destruction warlock… nothing is more deadly to more end-game bosses than then king of the personal DPS meters. A well geared destruction warlock will be able to top the damage meter no matter what the fight is like. It is almost unfortunate that the very best DPS spec there is, is also the absolute easiest to play. When I say easy, I mean an untrained monkey with a mental disability could play a destruction warlock well. Here is your cast sequence: Curse of choice, Shadow Bolt times infinity. There are no DOTs to manage other than your curse of choice.

As I have said previously, the highest Warlock DPS spec there is in a Felguard Demonolgy spec. However, there are many fights out there that are simply not pet friendly, and in those fights the demonology spec simply underperforms. This is also what makes most end-game raiding warlocks choose destruction. The DPS done is almost as high as what is possible with a Felguard spec, but the destruction spec can be used on any fight, anytime. There are several high end guilds out there where ALL warlocks raid as a destruction spec only.

Everything revolves around increasing the damage done by the Shadow Bolt. All of the talent choices, are solely focused on that spell. The base spec for the destruction warlock that I will detail is http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=IZcxczIbzZEx0xr0zGhi. This spec uses all 61 points, so there are no optional points left over. The only real “choice” in this spec is moving up to 2 points from Improved Imp to Improved Healthstone, depending of what size Healthstone you are expected to bring. As I have done previously for the Affliction Warlock and the Felguard Demonology Warlock, I will explain the talent choices for the destruction warlock.

Demonology Tier 1

Improved Healthstone: Take 0, 1, or 2 points here as assigned by your class leader. You can easily handle any size without hurting your DPS.

Improved Imp: The base spec above has 3 points here as a way to get you lower into the demonology tree because of a lack of good talents on the Tier 2 and 4 levels. An Improved Imp is just nice on a fight where your raid leader might require all warlocks to use Imp to raise their party’s health. However, if you need Improved Healthstone, take those points out of this talent.

Demonic Embrace: Taking 5 points increases your stamina significantly. While this does not directly add to your DPS, it does add to your survivability.

Demonology Tier 2

Improved Health Funnel: Skip this talent; you will not be using any pet.

Improved Voidwalker: Skip this talent; you will not be using any pet.

Fel Intellect: All 3 points should be spent here. This talent increases your mana pool. This effect is active even if you do not have a pet.

Demonology Tier 3

Improved Succubus: Skip this talent; you will not be using any pet.

Fel Stamina: All 3 points should be spent here. This talent increases your maximum health. This effect is active even if you do not have a pet.

Fel Domination: Take this talent. If you die during a boss fight for some reason, this talent will allow you to re-summon a Succubus for sacrificing very quickly. Assuming you also take the 2 points in Master Summoner, then you can call a new pet in 0.5 seconds with this ability. Keep in mind there is a lengthy cooldown on this ability, so you will only have it available once in a boss fight.

Demonic Aegis: All 3 points should be spent here. This talent increases your Fel Armor’s effectiveness by 30%. This means that your Fel Armor gives 130 spell damage (instead of just 100) and increases the amount of incoming heals.

Demonology Tier 4

Master Summoner: Spend 2 points here to reduce your summoning time by 4 seconds. You only care in reducing the summoning time in combat, but hopefully you won’t need it at all. However, you still need to spend points in mediocre talents such as this to get you lower in the tree.

Unholy Power: Skip this talent; you will not be using any pet.

Demonology Tier 5

Improved Enslave Demon: There is no reason to enslave a demon in a raid, so skip.

Demonic Sacrifice: This is the sole reason for spending so many points in the Demonology tree. Your 21st talent point is spent here. This allows you to sacrifice your Succubus pet which gives you a 15% increase in shadow damage for 30 minutes.

Master Conjuror: Worthless. No one ever uses a Firestone in or out of a raid.

Destruction Tier 1

Improved Shadow Bolt: The full 5 points should be spent here. This is a mob debuff that effects all shadow users and hence directly increases your DPS and the DPS of all other warlocks and shadow priests.

Cataclysm: In other specs, you would skip this talent, but in this spec it is a good idea to spend all 5 points here as a way to get deeper into the destruction tree.

Destruction Tier 2

Bane: Spending the full 5 points in this talent will make your 3-second cast Shadow Bolt into a 2.5-second cast Shadow Bolt, directly increasing your DPS. Obvious choice since it directly increases your DPS.

Aftermath: No one cares about dazing your target in PVE.

Destruction Tier 3

Improved Firebolt: Skip this talent; you will not be using any pet.

Improved Lash of Pain: Skip this talent; you will not be using any pet.

Devastation: This directly increases your DPS from Shadow Bolts. Therefore, the full 5 points should be spent here.

Shadowburn: It is not practical to use this a lot in a boss fight because you do not have an endless supply of Soul Shards, therefore skip.

Destruction Tier 4

Intensity: Spend 2 points here to reduce your spell push-back chance. There are several boss fights where push-back is a real issue.

Destructive Reach: The reason for putting 2 points here really is for the threat reduction, which you will definitely need. Increasing your range has a side-effect of having a mismatch on the range of your Curse. You’ll just have to work is so that you get in range when it comes time for you to cast your Curse again.

Improved Searing Pain: You won’t be using this on boss fights, skip.

Destruction Tier 5

Pyroclasm: Skip this talent, worthless.

Improved Immolate: Skip this talent. You won’t be casting Immolate because the DPSC is still less than the average Shadow Bolt.

Ruin: Obviously a must-have talent for the destruction warlock. This doubles the damage bonus from a spell critical strikes.

Destruction Tier 6

Nether Protection: Spend all 3 points here. This does not directly add to your DPS, but you still need to spend points on this to get you to Tier 7. This talent will certainly decrease the damage you take. Interestingly enough, this talent has proved to be pure gold in the Sunwell Plateau instance, and I wonder if that was on purpose.

Emberstorm: Unfortunately there is no place else to spend talent points that would increase your DPS. So spend 2 points here to get you to Tier 7. There are enough times that you might want to toss a 1.5 second cast DOT up before you have to move or go attack something else. Spending point here gives a higher DPSC than spending the points in Improved Immolate.

Destruction Tier 7

Backlash: Spend all 3 points here to give you 3% more spell crit with your Shadow Bolt.

Soul Leech: You will only be able to spend 2 of the 3 points here because you need the next 5 points fors Shadow and Flame. This is a great talent to help heal yourself. There are several boss fights in which you will be taking constant damage over time.

Destruction Tier 8

Shadow and Flame: Spend the full 5 points here to increase the damage done by your Shadow Bolt.

Destruction Tier 9

Shadowfury: Spending 21 points in the Demonology tree won’t allow you you take this talent. But since this talent is strictly a PVP focused talent, we’re just fine with that.

Destruction Warlock FAQ

Q: What spells do you use?

A: My untrained monkey with a mental disability says he uses 2 spells: Curse of whatever and Shadow Bolt. Oftentimes he gets put in a group with a shadow priest and therefore rarely even has to use Life Tap. Not to mention the elementlal shaman he gets to further increase his DPS. I hate that monkey…

Q: What not put 1 point in Shadowburn instead of Emberstorm?

A: Sure I’d have no problem with that. Neither talent will give any noticeable increase in DPS for boss fights, so it’s just personally preference and how do you want to use your shards.

Q: How many Soul Shards do I need to bring to a raid?

A: There is no question that this spec uses a LOT of Soul Shards. You need to make a 28-slot soul bag such as the Ebon Shadowbag or the retro Core Felcloth Bag. You will need plenty of shards to Summon people, Summon Soulwells, and summon multiple Succubus (Succubusi?) to sacrifice. You will also want to continue to keep getting shards from trash. Even some adds in certain boss fights will give shards, but not all.

Q: What about a fire spec destruction warlock?

A: In Patch 2.4.0 they reduced the cast time of Incinerate with the Emberstorm talent. This certainly did make a fire build more feasible, but it is still out DPSed by a pure Shadow Bolt spec, so their buff was not enough for PVE raiding. Also, that spec does not gain additional benefits of multiple warlocks keeping up Shadow Vulnerability from the Improved Shadow Bolt talent. Most people think this change was more PVP driven, and I believe them. So don’t bother investigating fire destruction specs for PVE raiding unless you just want to educate yourself further.

Q: Is there any special gear that I need to get?

A: Not really, any normal “warlock gear” will be fine. However, since shadow damage is the only damage type you will be doing (unlike demonology and affliction specs which also use Immolate), you will usually find that any gear that has only plus shadow damage will be more beneficial than gear that has damage to all spell types (for equal item levels).

Q: How should I gem: hit, crit, haste, or damage?

A: The most important stat is still hit, so gem for hit up to 201 points. I recommend never gemming for crit, the crit values on the gems are simply too low when compare to the other gem type benefits. Haste and spell damage gems are both very good gems. I would recommend evaluating the socket bonuses when deciding which is best. In some cases, a yellow pure haste is best. And in other cases an orange haste/damage in a red socket would be best. There really isn’t a “bad” answer unless you use crit gems or unless you missed a nice socket bonus that would have pushed your DPS higher.

Q: What about my meta gem, what is the best option?

A: There are only 2 real choices these days, either a Chaotic Skyfire Diamond or an Ember Skyfire Diamond. The ESD has a very easy gem requirement. The CSD has very good synergy with our Ruin talent and increased spell critical strike talents, but the gem requirements of at least 2 blue gems represents a DPS loss over other gem selections. So some math will be needed to determine which is better. In the end, both will be close. A few high DPS pieces even have a blue socket bonus to offset the lower DPS of the blue gem, such as the Cowl of the Illidari High Lord. Most destruction warlocks choose the CSD because they can’t get over the OMG MORE CRIT properties.

If you have any Destruction Warlock questions, feel free to leave a comment below and I will have my untrained monkey with a mental disability answer them as best he can.

The Demonology Warlock - Raiding with a Felguard

zathrus — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 09:06:00 GMT

Raiding as a demonology warlock is, by far, my personal favorite spec. Nothing is more fun to me than killing bosses with my Felguard. The various abilities provided by the demonology talent tree and the various pet available have made this type of spec vary versatile for many different types of fights.
- In a threat sensitive fight such as Void Walker or Gurtog Bloodboil? No problem! Just pull out an Imp and have 20% additional threat reduction.
- In a magic resistance fight? No problem! Pull out the Felhunter for +70 resist and leave on more DPS gear
- Need a magic damage tank with major threat power? No problem! Use your Soul Link to divert some of your damage to your Felguard or Felhunter and spam Searing Pain.

Best of all, the demonology spec is the highest DPS spec there is (with all other factors being equal), even higher than a pure destruction spec. However, not every fight is well suited to using a Felguard. Some fights, as will be discussed later, are impractical for using your Felguard.

The demonology spec doesn’t have as many DOTs to manage as an affliction spec, but it is just as challenging in terms of managing your pets position and health. Unlike the hunters, we do not have a HOT we can cast on our pet. On AOE fights, this spec can be very dependant on having a shadow priest in your group to help heal your pet. If you pet is taking magic damage, then having a [Void Star Talisman] helps immensely. The healers in your raid will likely not be looking at pet’s health; often times the only heals your Felguard will receive is from a shaman’s Chain Heal cast on some other melee. With practice and experience, you will learn which fights you need to take extra precautions and/or ask for extra heals and/or beg for a shadow priest. For now, don’t let the healing issue deter you from trying this spec.

The base spec for the demonology warlock that I will detail is http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=IzZMxczIizzxstxx0x. This spec has 4 points left over; I will recommend talents for these extra points further below. As I did previously for affliction warlocks, I will detail the selection of talents.

Demonology Tier 1

Improved Healthstone: Take 0, 1, or 2 points here as assigned by your class leader. You can easily handle any size without hurting your DPS.

Improved Imp: The base spec above has 2 points here as a way to get you lower into the demonology tree because of a lack of good talents on the Tier 2 level. An Improved Imp is just nice on those fights where it is impractical to keep a Felguard alive. However, if you need Improved Healthstone, take those points out of this talent.

Demonic Embrace: Taking 5 points increases your stamina significantly. While this does not directly add to your DPS, it does add to your survivability of both you and your pet.

Demonology Tier 2

Improved Health Funnel: Skip this talent. Using a channeled heal on your pet is too much of a DPS-loss for you in a raid. You need to rely on other means of healing your pet.

Improved Voidwalker: Skip this talent. You will never use a Voidwalker in a raid.

Fel Intellect: All 3 points should be spent here. This talent increases your mana pool for both you and your pet. This effect is active even if you do not have a pet.

Demonology Tier 3

Improved Succubus: Skip this talent. You will never use a Succubus in a raid.

Fel Stamina: All 3 points should be spent here. This talent increases the hit points for both you and your pet. This effect is active even if you do not have a pet.

Fel Domination: Take this talent; if your pet dies in combat, you can use this spell to summon a new pet quickly. Assuming you also take the 2 points in Master Summoner, then you can call a new pet in 0.5 seconds with this ability. Keep in mind there is a lengthy cooldown on this ability, so you will only have it available once in a boss fight.

Demonology Tier 4

Master Summoner: Spend 2 points here to reduce your summoning time by 4 seconds. You only care in reducing the summoning time in combat, but hopefully you pet isn’t dieing that often. However, you still need to spend points in mediocre talents such as this to get you lower in the tree.

Unholy Power: Definitely spend all 5 points here to increase the DPS of your pet (who’s DPS is significant all on his own). This is also a prerequisite for the Master Demonologist talent.

Demonology Tier 5

Improved Enslave Demon: There is no reason to enslave a demon in a raid, so skip.

Demonic Sacrifice: As a demonology warlock, you will very rarely want to sacrifice your pet. However, this is a prerequisite for the Soul Link talent, so definitely get this.

Master Conjuror: Worthless. No one ever uses a Firestone in or out of a raid.

Demonology Tier 6

Mana Feed: It is very important to have 1 point, and only 1 point, in this talent to give you pet a way to gain mana. Otherwise he will run out after 5 minutes or so. More than 1 point is a waste as you will be Life Tapping more than enough to always keep your pet with mana. If you have a shadow priest in your group, you won’t really need this talent, but you should not rely on always having a shadow priest in your group.

Master Demonologist: This talent is a cornerstone of your spec; put the full 5 points here. This is also what makes your spec so versatile. The Felguard will be your most common pet; you may use the Imp for threat sensitive fights, and you can use the Felhunter on magic resist fights. You will rarely, if ever, want to use the Voidwalker or Succubus in a raid.

Demonology Tier 7

Demonic Resilience: The net effect of this talent is lowering the damage done to your pet by 5/10/15%. Spending a few points here is very valuable to keeping your pet alive, I recommend 2 of your extra points be spent here.

Soul Link: Another cornerstone of your spec. This gives you 5% more damage across the board for only 1 point. Plus 20% of your damage is taken by the pet instead. Definitely take this talent.

Demonic Knowledge: Three points in this talent increases your spell damage by 12% of your pet’s stamina plus intellect values. For me, with full raid buff, this is worth about 160 spell damage, so it is very significant to spend all 3 points here.

Demonology Tier 8

Demonic Tactics: Spend all 5 points here to increase your spell crit chance by 5%.

Demonology Tier 9

Summon Felguard: This is what it’s all about. The Felguard is the highest DPS pet you have, and can put out 400+ DPS all on his own.

The base spec includes 1 point in Improved Corruption in order to lower its cast time to 1.6 seconds (0.1 seconds more than the global cooldown). Some people disagree on the usefulness of 1 point in Improved Corruption. But without the Ruin talent (which is not possible in this build), every math I do says that a 1.6 second cast time Corruption is more DPSC than the average Shadow Bolt.

The base spec also includes 15 points in the Destruction tree. I won’t discuss each talent there in detail, but you can read my previous post on The Affliction Warlock if you would like to see the specifics for the first 3 Destruction Tiers (it’s just the usual Improved Shadow Bolt x5, Bane x5, and Devastation x5).

The base spec now has 4 points left over. I recommend putting the other 2 points in Intensity to increase your pushback resistance of your Immolate and Shadow Bolt spells. I also recommend 2 points in Demonic Resilience to reduce the damage taken by your pet.

Don’t spend those points in Improved Healthstone. If you need that, then move 1-2 points there from Improved Imp.

Demonology Warlock FAQ

Q: What spec do you raid with as a demonology warlock?

A: I am assigned 0/2 Healthstones and I don’t seem to need additional threat reduction from Destructive Reach, so I use http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=IzZMxczIizzgstxx0xb.

Q: What spells do you use?

A: I use my assigned Curse, Corruption, Immolate, and then spam Shadow Bolt at all other times. However, if it is a fight with a lot of pushback, then I won’t use Corruption.

Q: Why do you not have any points in Destructive Reach?

A: The range increase is not useful because then your curse would be out of range. So the only reason to put points here is for threat reduction. By using a Felguard, a signifigant portion of your DPS will be cause by your pet and not by you. Your pet’s threat level is separate from your threat. Therefore, you really should not have any threat issues that you can’t take care of with Soulshatter. Your milage may vary, and in the end if you feel you need more threat reduction, then it’s okay to spend one of your extra talent points here.

Q: How should I use my Felguard on boss fights?

A: Make sure that your Felguard’s Anguish ability is off. In fact, it should always be off. Otherwise your pet will taunt and be killed instantly. Always have your Felguard on passive; you want to control when it attacks. Positioning your Felguard is much easier now thanks to Patch 2.3.0 where all pets now automatically attack from the side or behind the target. Because of this change, you pet is not likely to ever get cleaved or take damage from frontal cone attacks. This means you can usually just have your pet Intercept in after the tank gains a little threat and let him auto-attack and cleave away.

Q: The mages are complaining that the Felguard is breaking their sheep when fighting trash.

A: It is best to just turn off your pet’s Cleave ability in those situations. The Cleave damage will break any crowd-control method except a Banish.

Q: Is the Felguard spec really more DPS than a destruction spec?

A: People’s opinions to this will vary, but I am convinced that it is. When comparing the two, it is only a valid comparrison if both warlocks are equal in terms of gear AND abilities (including Blood Lust or a shadow priest in the group). So don’t compare someone like Chaosbane who gets a shadow priest and 2 Blood Lusts to a Felguard Warlock who doesn’t.

Q: What fights are not good for Felguard Warlocks?

A: Unfortunaetly, there are some fights where you will not be able to keep your Felguard alive if it were on the boss. These fights usually are very heavy in AOE damage. Off the top of my head, I can think of High Warlord Naj’entus and the Illidari Council in Black Temple and also Archimode in Hyjal Summit as two fights where it is next to impossible to use your Felguard effectively. In these fights, it is best to just call an Imp to raise your party’s stamina.

Q: What fights can I use my demonology spec as a warlock tank?

A: There are several fights that are tuned such that a demonology warlock is needed to get and keep agro on a target while taking magical massive damage. Warlocks are very suited to this because of our double-threat Searing Pain spell, and out Soul Link to move 20% of our damage to our pet. In Serpentshrine Cavern, you will be asked to tank the demon form of Leotheras the Blind while wearing fire resist gear. In The Eye, you will be asked to tank Capernian in fire resist gear during the Thaladred fight. In The Black Temple, you will be asked to tank the demon form of Illidan Stormrage in shadow resist gear. In each of these fights, you will need either your Felguard or a Felhunter, depending on how much additional magic resist you need.

Q: What kind of buffs should I have put on my Felguard?

A: Your Felguard will receive all of the party-buffs that are cast on you. If your party wipes, you need to re-summon your Felguard ASAP to avoid asking for pet buffs directly. Paladin buffs are treated differently if you have a Felguard out versus any other pet. Felguards will receive paladin buffs based on being in the “warrior” class. All of your other pets will receive paladin buffs based on being the “warlock” class. This way, your Felguard will receive a Greater Blessing of Might. You can also use Kibler’s Bits and a Scroll of Agility V to buff your Felguard’s DPS.

Q: Is there any way to keep the buffs on my pet if he dies?

A: If you or your pet dies, then your pet will lose ALL buffs. If your pet is about to die, you can dismiss him and upon re-summoning, your pet will be at full health, retain all buffs he previously had, and will be free of any debuff. It is best to have a macro setup on your toolbar to do this quickly. The macro is:
/script PetDismiss()
/cast Summon Felguard

Q: How do I cancel Soul Link?

A: The only way to turn Soul Link off is to have the pet (or you) die and summon a new pet. Demonic Sacrifice works best, and then just summon a new one. Dismissing the pet or going out of range is not sufficient to remove Soul Link. Having your pet go out of range from you and summoning a different pet are treated as having dismissed your original pet.

If you have any Demonology questions, feel free to leave a comment below and I will answer as best I can.

The Affliction Warlock

zathrus — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 07:06:00 GMT

In World of Warcraft, the affliction warlock has long been the bane of all warlock haters. It has become the most popular raiding spec in The Burning Crusade expansion. This post will teach you how to be the best affliction warlock possible in a raid environment. There are many other guides out there, but most are poorly written and tend to be too broad, open-ended, and lacking in a clear answer. Here, I will be very specific as to why something is the right choice and why something is the wrong choice for PVE raiding.

There are two main reasons why an affliction spec would be your best option:

1. Because your hit rating is not high enough, and you need the benefit of the Suppression talent, and any other spec would be a lower DPS because of the lack of spell hit.

2. Because your raid needs at least 1 warlock with the Shadow Embrace talent.

Being an affliction warlock is by far the hardest spec to play well. If you can master how to play an affliction warlock, then you will easily master any other warlock spec. This, in addition to the benefit of the Suppression talent, is why I think all starting warlocks should learn to play as an affliction warlock for a very long time before they venture on to higher DPS specs.

First, let's go over what I will call the "base" affliction warlock spec http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=IVMrm0ftVtcoZxx0x. This spec also has 5 points left over for use in talents that would not directly cause an increase in your DPS. We will discuss these optional talents later.

First, let's discuss each Affliction tree talents and explain why they are (or are not) in the base spec.

Tier 1

Suppression: This talent acts exactly like + spell hit gear. For any boss fight, you need +16% spell hit in order to be “hit capped”. Mathematically, the 16% translates into 201.6 spell hit rating. Therefore, you should never go above 201 hit rating, otherwise you are wasting that extra hit rating. If your hit rating is below (say) 175, then you should put points in this area (take the points from Fel Concentration instead of using some of extra points in the above the base spec). The number of points you should put in Suppression is equal to the following formula: (201.6 – your spell hit rating) / 25.2. Take the whole number and drop the remainder. Another way to look at this is that every point in this talent gives you +25.2 spell hit rating on your affliction spells. Remember, that this does not affect your Shadow Bolt spell because that is a destruction spell.

Improved Corruption: Taking 5 points in this talent makes your Corruption an instant cast spell, also enabling to be cast while moving. For any affliction warlock, the full 5 points is a must.

Tier 2

Improved Curse of Weakness: Skip this talent, unless you have 4 warlocks in your raid you will be using CoS, CoE and/or CoR. Even if you were the fourth warlock, I would recommend CoA or CoD over this curse. For a more detailed discussion, see the FAQ below.

Improved Drain Soul: 2 points here to reduce the threat of your affliction spells. Some people might consider this unnecessary, and they might be right in certain cases, but what else are you going to spend points in?

Improved Life Tap: An obvious choice to get you further down the tree. Return more mana for the same health cost, and scales with spell damage gear.

Soul Siphon: I highly recommend 2 points here. Firstly becsaue you will need to spend some points on mediocre talents to get further down the tree. Secondly, because if you are so low on health that you need to Drain Life to live, you might as well make each tick as large as possible.

Tier 3

Improved Curse of Agony: In a raid environment, you will need to be using either CoS, CoE, or CoR. Believe it or not, you will never use this unless you actually have 4 warlocks in your 25-man riad (pretty rare). Therefore, don’t spend any points here.

Fel Concentration: Only spend enough points here to get you down to the next tree level. Admittedly, it is nice to have some points here becasue when you do channel Drain Life, you probably need the health and would want the reduction in puch-back chance.

Amplify Curse: Again, unless you have 4 warlocks in your raid, you won’t be using CoD, CoA, or CoEx. Therefore, don’t put any points here.

Tier 4

Grim Reach: Nice to have, you could spend some of your extra points here. Just be sure to spend the same points in this talent as you do in Destructive Reach (destruction talent), so that all of your Shadow Bolts will have the same range as your affliction spells.

Nightfall: Gives you an instant cast Shadow Bolt. This therefore directly effects your DPS, so spend the 2 points here.

Empowered Corruption: Increase the damage of your Corruption spell, directly affecting your DPS. Therefore spend the full 3 points here.

Tier 5

Shadow Embrace: Spending 5 points here causes the mob to do 5% less physical damage to the tank. This is an very decent damage reduction for the cost of one warlock using 5 points. If you are going to spec affliction, then do it right and get the full 5 points in this talent, unless you will NEVER be the lone affliction warlock in your raid (in which unrealistic case only 1 person should have this and the rest should spend no points here).

Siphon Life: A definite talent choice, 1 point for an instant dot/hot that direct affects your DPS.

Curse of Exhaustion: There is only 1 boss fight in the entire game where this may be beneficial. That is the SSC Lady Vashj fight to slow the striders. Hopefully there will be an elemental shaman using frost shock to slow them down enough. I am not a fan of basing talent choices based on 1 fight without an elemental shaman; therefore skip.

Tier 6

Shadow Mastery: Directly increases your DPS with shadow spells. Obvious place to spend the full 5 points.

Tier 7

Contagion: Directly increases your Corruption spells damage and therefore your DPS. Also it’s a required pre-requisite for Unstable Affliction. Obvious place for the full 6 points.

Dark Pact: As an affliction warlock, you will also be using your Imp. Since the Imp remains phase-shifted, he will regenerate mana based on being out of combat. Using Dark Pact return more mana than Life Tap will. For 1 point, it’s an easy decision.

Tier 8

Improved Howl of Terror: This produces no additional DPS, and there are no boss fights that require anyone to have an instant area fear. Therefore, there is no reason to spend points in this talent for raid purposes.

Malediction: Again, if you are speccing to be an affliction warlock, then spec correctly by having the full 3 points in this talent. This will cause the raid’s DPS to increase by 3% for that school of magic. Unless you have a lack of spell casters, the 3% increase raid damage for those 2 school of magic of CoS or CoE will always be greater than the damage you would have caused if you were using CoA or CoD.

Tier 9

Unstable Affliction: UA has become the definition of the affliction warlock. But in a raid setting, it’s just another DOT directly increasing your DPS.

The base spec also includes 3 tiers of destruction talents, so let’s cover just those talents quickly:

Destruction Tier 1

Improved Shadow Bolt: The full 5 points should be spent here. This is a mob debuff that effects all shadow users and hence directly increases your DPS.

Cataclysm: Warlocks have no need to reduce the mana cost of destruction spells by up to a meager 5%. Dark Pact or Life Tap instead if you need mana.

Destruction Tier 2

Aftermath: No one cares about dazing your target in PVE.

Destruction Tier 3

Improved Firebolt: No need for this because it would put your Imp in Combat, lowering its mana regeneration available for Dark Pact and also likely get it killed.

Improved Lash of Pain: You won’t be using your succubus in raids.

Devastation: This directly increases your DPS from Shadow Bolts. Therefore, the full 5 points should be spent here.

Shadowburn: It is not practical to use this a lot in boss fights because you do not have an endless supply of Soul Shards, therefore skip.

In our base specabove, there were 5 points left over. They could really be put anywehre you feel appropriate, but here are some recommended places to put them.
1. Up to 2 points can be spent in Improved Healthstone. You should coordinate with the other raiding warlocks to reduce the number of warlocks with the same size Healthstone.
2. I would recommend 1 point be spent in Grim Reach and 1 point in Destructive Reach. This will give all your spells the same 10% increased range amount, and also decrease the threat caused by your Shadow Bolts.
3. I would recommend 1 point be spent in Intensity to give you a 35% chance to resist a Shadow Bolt “push-back” from taking damage. On a fight where this is a real issue (such as the Black Temple Reliquary of Souls fight), hopefully you will have a Paladin in your group that will be using a Concentration Aura which gives an additional 35% (or an additional 50% if they have the Improved Concentration Aura talent).
4. If you took only 1 point in Improved Healthstone, then I would recommend your last extra point in Demonic Embrace just to increase your stamina a bit.
5. If you took 0 points in Improved Healthstone, then I would recommend spending 1 more point in both Grim Reach and Destructive Reach. This will allow you to have max casting range (40 yards) for all spells.

Affliction Warlock FAQ

Q: Since you are the coolest Warlock EVAH!!! What spec do you raid with?

A: Because I am hit capped from gear, I don’t have any points in Suppression. I also have 0/2 points in Improved Healthstone. Therefore, my affliction spec is http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=IVMrmMftVtcoZxx0xR.

Q: Looking at your spec, couldn’t I move 2 points in Fel Concentration to Improved Curse of Agony?

A: Sure you could if you want, but you will never use CoA over CoS or CoE in a boss fight. In addition, if you are actually channeling Drain Life in a boss fight, then that means you have already used your Healthstone(s), your potions are on cool down, your bandage is on cool down, and you are about to die if you don’t do something. That’s not the best time get push-back from any level of damage.

Q: How do I know which curse is the right one to cast?

A: The best answer depends on your raid make-up. Since you have 3 points in Malediction, you would be best suited to use either CoS or CoE, depending on which type of casters you have more DPS from: shadow & arcane users versus fire & frost users. A non-affliction warlock should be on CoR duty since there is no talent to boost that curse. If you want to get technical, you should evaluate your typical raid’s WWS report and do the math to determine what is your raids typical DPS benefit for the schools of magic affected by CoS and CoE, and cast the appropriate curse that would give the raid a higher DPS. If you have 2 affliction warlocks, then the discussion is moot and you each take 1 curse. If you have a third warlock of any type, then they can take CoR.

If there are only 2 warlocks, I am not a fan of using CoR because it has a side-effect of increasing the damage done by the boss. Conversely, if you have a lot of high damaging melee in your raid, then the benefit to their DPS may outweigh the increased damage done. You’ll just have to play that one by ear (and experience), but always use CoR if the raid leader calls for it.

Q: Are there any fights where Curse of Recklessness is a bad idea?

A: Absolutely. You should never use CoR anytime the mob has some ability that can do a substantial amount of damage to your tank (such as a Mortal Strike ability or after a certain number of Gruul’s grows) or if your tank is wearing magic resist gear instead of normal tank gear. With experience, you will learn when it is okay to put CoR on an otherwise hard hitting mob.

Q: How many points in Improved Healthstone should I get?

A: You will have to work this out among the other warlocks in your guild. However, I would recommend requesting you be allowed to have 0 points because you are a properly spec-ed Affliction Warlock. Your spec requirements do not have a lot of extra points that can be easily moved around. As opposed to demonology or destruction spec-ed warlocks that need to spend point in the Demonology tree to get to their respective tiersanyway.

Q: Why isn’t Improved Curse of Weakness worth it? Having 420 attack power reduction on a boss fight sounds really good?

A: The problem with this curse is that warriors have (and use) a Demoralizing Shout ability which applies a debuff that reduces the attack power of a mob by 300. This debuff does not stack with Curse of Weakness, so only the more powerful debuff would be active. So using CoW (untalented gives 350 reduction) at all would only give a 17% increase over what a warrior can do by himself. Putting 2 points in this talent causes only a 40% increased attack power reduction above what a warrior can do by himself (and that is assuming there is no warrior with the Improved Demoralizing Shout). It is therefore a marginal benefit, and the other 3 raid curses (CoS, CoE, & CoR) have substantially more benefit.

Q: Which spell should I be casting and in what order?

A: At any moment in time, you want to be casting whatever spell will give you the biggest DAMAGE PER SECONDS OF CAST TIME (aka DPSC). For all affliction warlocks, every one of your DOTs will do more damage (when divided by the cast time or global cool down) than a Shadow Bolt (divided by its cast time). That means the DPSC of your UA, Corruption, SL, and Immolate spells is greater than your DPSC of your average Shadow Bolt. In addition the DPSC of your Shadow Bolt will always be greater than the DPSC of any other non-DOT spell such as Incinerate or Drain Life. That means that your highest DPS will come from keeping every DOT up for its full duration and casting Shadow Bolt at all other times. The Shadow Bolt would be known as your “filler” spell.

Because the duration of all your DOTs and debuffs vary, there is no single correct cast order. However, there are some guidelines that will help you decide what order to cast:

1. Always start with your curse of choice: CoS, CoE, or CoR because it causes very little threat and allows the tank more time to gain initial threat.

2. Always use Corruption immediately after Unstable Affliction. Try to get used to casting these two DOTs as a pair because there durations are exactly 1.5 seconds apart due to UA having a cast time and Corruption not.

3. Never cast Immolate directly after your UA/Corruption combo because the Immolate will basically be ending at the same as UA does, which leads to what is known as lowered “DOT uptime”.

4. Start to recast UA when there is 1.5 seconds left on your current UA DOT. Same for Immolate. This will help to maximize your DOT uptime. Never reapply a DOT if your previous DOT will not have its full duration of damage. Use that time to cast another Shadow Bolt or Life Tap/Dark Pact if needed.

The order I prefer to start out with is: CoS, UA, Cor, Siphone Life, Immolate, then multiple Shadow Bolts. After that I just try must best to maximize my DOT uptime.

Q: What should I do with my Imp?

A: You will likely be placed in the main tank’s group in order to raise his stamina. You need to keep in mind the main purpose is to raise the tank’s stamina, not yours. So before the fight starts, position the Imp so that it is always in range or the tank, and you if possible. Since you have the Dark Pact talent, be sure your Imp gets the full raids buffs by taking him out of phase shift before buffs start. To do this, right click on his phase shift ability button to take it off of auto-cast. Then, left click his phase shift ability button to deactivate his phase shift. Only then can it receive raid buffs. The most important raid buffs are Arcane Brilliance and Blessing of Wisdom in order to increase its mana pool and mana regeneration, respectively. The more mana and mana regeneration the Imp has, the more often you can Dark Pact for its full value. When he is fully buffed, right click on his phase-shift ability button again to turn on auto-cast; he should then automatically phase shift and you are ready for the fight.

Q: I’m being told I should have 3 points in Improved Imp. What do I do?

A: The base amount of stamina increase from Blood Pact is 70. Having 3 points in this talent increases the stamina gained by 30%. In my opinion, the cost-to-benefit ratio is too low to justify spending 3 talent points. Again, a good affliction spec honestly does not have a lot of wiggle room, especially to take 3 points in a completely different tree. Resist this as much as possible by explaining that 3 points in this talent only gives an additional 21 stamina (and therefore around 250 health after buffs).

Q: Why do a lot of affliction warlocks put only 1 point in Shadow Embrace?

A: Some people put 1 point in Shadow Embrace because in doing so, it adds an affliction debuff to the mob for the purposes of raising their Drain Life values because of their Soul Siphon talent. I am completely against this idea because you are just wasting a debuff slot on the boss which could be put to better use. A mob can have a maximum of 40 debuffs on it; this limit is reachable in any boss fight, especially if you have multiple affliction warlocks. Either put 5 points in it like you should, or have 0 points in it if you always have another warlock with you that has it.

Q. Warlock X raids with an affliction/demonology spec instead of an affliction/destruction spec, why is that?

A. Because Warlock X is an idiot. He is relying on Drain Life as his “filler spell” and only casting Shadow Bolt when he procs Nightfall. There is no amount of bonus from the Soul Siphon talent that would make Drain Life have a higher DPSC than his average Shadow Bolt. The people that try to argue that Drain Life is better than spending 10 points on Improved Shadow Bolt and Bane are all inbred relatives of Warlock X.

Q. Assuming you were hit capped from gear, would moving 1 point from Unstable Affliction to Ruin be more DPS (aka the 40-0-21 spec)?

A: Short answer is no. never. The long answer is that it is theoretically possible only if your spell crit rating was incredibly high, higher than is even practical in any gear combination. If you really are spell hit capped and have crazy high spell crit rating, then you should probably be a destruction spec instead of affliction anyway.

If you have an Affliction question, feel free to leave it in a comment and I'll give you might l33t ubar expert opinion on the matter.

Beyond Spec & Gear: PvE Roguecraft 102

Neckface — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 23:57:00 GMT

It seems that 99% of the discussions and instructions on "how to rogue" are focused on 2 things: gear and spec. The implication is that if you stack enough +hit, choose the right talents, and memorize your cycle (3s,5r or whatever) you're done. I may eventually talk about talents and gear, but initially my objective is to talk about what you can do to maximize dps once you've got the right talents and gear.

Energy Optimization

The problem with relying on a "cycle" is that energy generation is never consistent. Some factors that can affect energy generation and thus your cycle:

Relentless Strikes always gives you 25 energy on a 5 point rupture, but if you use (for instance) 3 points on Slice & Dice, you only have a 60% chance of getting energy.
Likewise Ruthlessness always has a 60% chance of giving you a point, and you may have 4/5 T4 for a 15% chance of another.
Blade Flurry uses up 25 energy every 2 minutes.
If you have Riposte and for some reason in procs (i.e. you catch a cleave) that's 10 energy well spent but 10 energy nonetheless.
Of course Combat Potency is utterly unpredictable, further complicated by the fact that haste bonuses (DST, Bloodlust, Haste pots, Mongoose procs, Blade Flurry) increase its proc rate.
You may have something like Rod of the Sun King that occasionaly gives you energy

All of those factors (except riposte) can be modeled to determine your average energy gain per second in a sustained fight, but on a moment by moment basis "average" isn't very helpful. So in reality the process of optimizing energy usage is never as simple as "3s/5r". Instead you have to be able to think ahead a few seconds and plan out how long is left on slice & dice, how many combo points you have, how much energy you currently have, etc.

Here are some guidelines to try to follow:

You never want Slice and Dice to run out, but you also want to avoid overlapping it. Ideally you want to refresh Slice & Dice exactly as the last one expires. If you overlap by, say, 3 seconds you've wasted a portion of both the combo points and the energy you used.
Likewise neither do you want to overlap your Ruptures. Wait till one ends before starting the next one. (If you try to overlap and the previous one was applied while you had a temporary AP boost, say from a trinket or something, you will get the "A more powerful effect..." error message.)
Avoid spending 5 points on Slice & Dice. Because you get 9 seconds for 1 point and 3 additional seconds for each additional point, your "seconds per point" decreases with additional points. However, there is also an energy cost to Slice & Dice (25) so while a one point S&D may be very efficient from a point perspective, it is inefficient from an energy perspective. Rule of thumb is that 3 is optimal and that 2 or 4 are ok. The one exception is on your opener: get S&D going right away instead of being tempted to burn all your initial energy on big hits.
Never, ever, ever let your energy bar reach 100 for more than a nanosecond. If it's sitting at 100 you are wasting energy.
Conversely, try to avoid draining your energy bar to zero by spamming attacks unless you are doing so with an intentional plan to optimize energy. Example: 2 seconds left on S&D, 2 combo points up, 45 energy: you sinister strike (5 energy), wait for tick and for S&D to run out at the same time (25 energy), Slice & Dice. Another example is that you know you're about to go out of combat range (Illidan parasites, Archimonde's Air Burst or fear, etc.) so try to get your energy down to zero so as to waste as little as possible.

Again, the key is to look ahead and think about how much time is left on Rupture and S&D and how much energy you have and simply plan ahead a little bit. Don't adhere to strict cycles and focus instead on using energy efficiently

Coming up next: Positioning

Which Race Is The Best Warlock Race?

zathrus — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 12:00:00 GMT

So you want to be a warlock?... The very first thing you have to do is decide which race your warlock will be. You could read the Starting a Warlock page on wowwiki, but that page (as most of wowwiki) was written by idiots who know little about end-game raiding or high-level PVP, and then rarely updated as the game changes.

On the Horde side, warlocks can choose to be an Orc, an Undead (aka Forsaken), or a Blood Elf. On the Alliance side, warlocks can chose to be a Human or a Gnome.

All of the races vary in terms of base attributes (stamina, intellect, spirit, etc.) and also in terms of what racial abilities you have. So let’s run down the choices, evaluate their differences, and then choose the “best” warlock race.

Regardless of whether your choice is PVP or PVE, the only attributes that matter for a warlock are Stamina and Intellect. So let’s look at those values first for each of the possible warlock races.

Level 70 Warlock Attribute Values

Stam (Health) Int (Mana)

Undead 77 (4080) 131 (4300)

Orc 78 (4090) 130 (4285)

Blood Elf 74 (4050) 137 (4390)

Human 76 (4070) 133 (4330)

Gnome 75 (4060) 137 (4390)

All of the stamina and intellect values above are within a few points of each other. This shows that regardless of race, all warlocks will have very similar health and mana pools; so these values should not be a factor when deciding the best race.

Different races also speak different languages, but that has no bearing on the actual play experience of the game, so just disregard them.

The only factor left in determining the best race for warlocks are the individual racial abilities. So let’s give a concise rundown of each race’s racial abilities and then choose our winner.

Undead

Will of the Forsaken – A great racial ability in both PVP and PVE, it is just like having a third trinket to get out of a Fear (most common use) on a 2 minute cooldown.

Cannibalize – Nice to have, but don’t count it towards selecting a winner. You should always have food & water, Conjured Manna Biscuits, and/or your Everlasting Underspore Frond. The best part of this ability is to use it on the copse of an enemy player after killing him but before he releases.

Underwater Breathing – Useless since warlocks have a spell that does it better

Shadow Resistance – +10 shadow resistance in nice, but only marginally, don’t count this when choosing a winner.

Orc

Blood Fury – Increases spell damage & healing 143 (at level 70) for 15 seconds, on a 2 minute cooldown. This is a very nice ability but only in PVE; it’s like having an extra trinket (but a minor one), and it does not share a “use” cooldown with any other trinket or ability. Prior to the burning crusade expansion, this ability only gave a melee attack power buff. I would not recommend using this ability in PVP (assuming you have a healer) because of the 50% healing reduction debuff you get is the same thing as a mortal strike debuff for 15 seconds.

Hardiness – Very nice, but only in PVP. 15% is nothing to kid about. Prior to the burning Crusade Expansion, this was a 25% stun resist. Hardiness does stack with all other stun resist gear or abilities.

Command – Great, but only if you are a Felguard Demonology spec, which is actually the smallest percentage of level 70 raiding warlocks.

Axe Specialization – Useless for warlocks.

Blood Elf

Mana Tap – Takes away 120 mana (at level 70) from your target, 30 second cooldown. Useless in PVE and very situational in PVP.

Arcane Torrent – Area silence for 2 seconds with a 2 minute cooldown. Almost useless in PVE, but awesome in PVP, especially since warlocks do not have any other way to silence. This ability gives a warlock 4 modes of crowd control that do not share diminishing returns: Fear, Horror (from Death Coil), Charm (from a Succubus), and this Silence). If you bother spending 60 seconds building up 3 Mana Taps, then this will also transfer 225 mana from your target to you.

Magic Resistance – +5 resist to all magic schools. Nice, but don’t count when choosing a winner.

Human

Perception – Increases stealth diction by 50 points (+10 levels) for 20 seconds, 3 minute cooldown; useless in PVE and situational in PVP. In PVP, unless you are a Felguard Demonology spec, you will be using a Felhunter, so you will already have a Paranoia buff giving +30 points (+6 levels) of stealth detection.

The Human Spirit – 10% spirit increase, almost useless for warlocks. We have no spells or talents that rely on spirit (priests & druids do, and mages use to). I say almost because if you have a priest speced into 2 points of Improved Divine Spirit, then your spell damage would be raised by 10% of your spirit. For comparison, my T5/T6 level gear’s spirit would only give me 22 more spell damage in this best-case situation (not very much).

Diplomacy – Useless for endgame PVE and/or PVP.

Sword Specialization – Useless for warlocks.

Mace Specialization – Useless for warlocks.

Gnome

Escape Artist – Useless in PVE, mostly useless in PVP. If you get snared or rooted in PVP, it’s not the end of the world, it doesn’t stop you from casting.

Expansive Mind – 15% increase in intellect. Not bad at all, but mana is not usually a problem because we can Life Tap.

Arcane Resistance – +10 AR, mostly useless.

Engineering Specialist – Useless in terms of choosing a race.

So your BEST choice of race of course first depends on if you want to play Alliance or Horde. You do want to be Horde, right?....

For an Alliance Warlock, Gnome is the obvious winner for PVP and PVE. The Human race just does nothing for end-game raiding and in PVP the Perseption ability is not worth much especially when most PVPer will be using a Felhunter. The Gnome’s Expansive mind ability is really what makes being a Gnome Warlock the clear winner over a Human Warlock. But even Expansive Mind isn’t a big deal. Another way to look at it is that both Human Warlocks and Gnome Warlocks suck donkey balls, but Gnome Warlocks suck less because of the Expansive Mind racial ability.

For Horde Warlocks, the decision becomes much more interesting. Before the Burning Crusade expansion, there was no Blood Elf race, so the choice was between Undead and Orc. Back then, the clear winner was Undead because the Orc’s Blood Fury racial ability only affected melee damage, and Fear was a huge PVP issue back then (more of an issue than stuns) making the Undead’s Will of the Forsaken very valuable (there was no diminishing returns, and the Insignia of the Horde didn’t work on Fear effects back then).

Post Burning Crusade, however, the clear winner in the Orc Warlock. Blood Fury is a great ability in PVE, and Hardiness is great in PVP. You don’t have the Undead’s Will of the Forsaken, but that loss is lessened by the Insignia of the Horde or the Medallion of the Horde and by diminishing returns (in addition to a Tremor Totem or any class that can remove magic). You also won’t have the Blood Elf’s Arcane Torrent in PVP, but the Orc’s Blood Fury in PVE needs to be first priority and the Hardiness in PVP is definitely very useful.

The only exception to this would be a warlock who ONLY intended to do arena PVP and end-game raiding is not even a possibility. In this very limited situation, the Blood Elf is the choice to be because a well timed Arcane Torrent ability can easily mean the death of your opponents in your arena games. You will miss the 15% stun resist from being an Orc, but 15% isn’t high enough, in my opinion, to over take an area silence ability.

For those that feel they are in this arena-PVP-only category, I would still recommend choosing Orc instead of a Blood Elf. Because I would bet eventually you will want to do some high-end raiding, in which case the Orc is better suited while still having a good PVP racial ability.

I have to admit that Orcs are the clear winners for the Horde. Unfortunately for an elitist like me, that means that I might have to re-roll an Orc Warlock after the next expansion. Looking back and knowing what I know now, I wish I would have re-rolled an Orc Warlock for TBC expansion. On top of everything else, the Orc model is significantly larger than the Undead or Blood Elf models; this makes the end-game gear’s graphics look much cooler on Orcs than any other race.

So grats to my Orc Warlock colleagues, your day in the sun has arrived…

A Blog Is Born... Shadow Trance!

zathrus — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 07:00:00 GMT

Welcome to Shadow Trance, and welcome to its first post.... please excuse the dust as I remodel the place.... I'm pleased to be starting this blog, but first, I want to give you a history of myself and my gaming experience so you will hopefully have a better understanding of my experiences and my take on the game.

My first MMORPG was Ultima Online when I was in college. I had always been a fan of the Ultima Series, my first was Ultima IV on my Apple IIc. Thankfully I didn't great involved with UO until late 1998, after the bulk of my college career was finished. I had several characters, and that game had several FOTM type builds. I pretty much had 7x GM in everything at some point. UO is what really started the birth of the MMORPG market, ALL HAIL LORD BRITISH! After the disaster that was UO2, I finally canceled my accounts in 2002-ish and gave up citing that I had beaten the game, and PKed more than my fair share.

Then came Star Wars: Galaxies in 2002. Of course, I have always been a big fan of Sci-Fi and naturally the Star Wars films. I was accepted in the public beta of SWG. My main character was a rifleman, and I was okay... I joined a guild called Peace Keepers <PK> on the Bloodfin server. Eventually I took over the guild when the GM eventually stopped being active. Bloodfin was a very PVP-orientated server, and that's a good amount of what I did. I even had a second computer setup that I would log-in my Doctor and give free medical buffs 24x7 inside the Cantina; that was great! Through our PVP efforts, I made friends with a guild called <AXIS>, lead by Heat aka Assassin. When the holocron system was introduced and everyone, including myself, stopped playing and focused solely on grinding your Jedi professions, I knew the game was in trouble. I did get my Jedi and leveled him to uberness, but the game was irreversibly damaged. The only thing that would save the game, was a complete re-write. And that's what they did in 2005 with the release of the NGE. SWG had always been bug-ridden, and most of the <AXIS> people had decided to move to WOW. I followed them to WOW shortly after.

I started playing World of Warcraft sometime in 2005. I started as an Orc Warlock and leveled him to 50-something and then realized I made a huge mistake... Undead Warlocks were a better option than Orc Warlocks, DOH! So I deleted him and made an Undead Warlock and got some help (read: chinaman) leveling it to 60. I joined up with the people I knew in SWG and we started raiding Molten Core. I was still learning, but I did fairly well. We usually had 5 warlocks in our 40-man raiding team. We eventually cleared MC and BWL, and I eventually became the warlock class leader. Guild drama seemed to always follow our GM, Heat, and eventually the guild split up. A warrior in our guild, named Cremator, started his own guild after that, and I followed him because he had earned my respect as a main tank and as a raid leader. Our new guild eventually cleared BWL and AQ20. Our guild had almost cleared AQ40 and half of Naxxaramius when the Burning Crusade expansion hit.

Our guild eventually decided to transfer servers to Bonechewer, where there was larger population to recruit from. We formed a guild called Infamy and started recruiting. We were pretty successful with our core group of raiders. I'd say 10-12 of us were probably the very best players in our respective class. Unfortunately, the same could not be said for the bulk of our guild. Eventually, our GM stopped being as active, and the the tag-along he had as a "co" GM was a douche. I eventually parted ways from them and started looking into the the more senior guilds on the server. By this time, I had warlock-ing down a science. I felt I knew every aspect of the class and was likely in the top 1% of all warlocks in terms of skill. Now I just wish I had the gear to match.

I applied to Civilian; after a long application process :) , I was accepted. And so now I've been here ever since. The guild is solid and has stable leadership. It was awkward at first coming into a new guild where I knew only 1 person, but I have since found my footing.

Without blowing my horn too much... I am a very knowledgeable warlock. I hope to share some of my tips, tricks, and maybe a few secrets with those of you who choose to read this.

The Last Guardian (Medivh)

Inso — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 19:33:00 GMT

CHAPTER II : THE NEW WORLD

VIII - THE LAST GUARDIAN (MEDIVH)

(45 years before Warcraft I)

The Guardian Aegwynn grew powerful over the years and used the Tirisfal energies to greatly extend her life. Foolishly believing that she had defeated Sargeras for good, she continued to safeguard the world from the demon king's minions for nearly nine hundred years. However, the Council of Tirisfal finally decreed that her stewardship had come to an end. The Council ordered Aegwynn to return to Dalaran so that they could choose a new successor for the Guardian power. Yet Aegwynn, ever distrustful of the Council, decided to choose a successor on her own.

The proud Aegwynn planned to give birth to a son whom she would divest her power to. She had no intention of allowing the Order of Tirisfal to manipulate her successor as they had tried to manipulate her. Traveling to the southern nation of Azeroth, Aegwynn found the perfect man to father her son: a skilled human magician known as Nielas Aran. Aran was the court conjuror and advisor for Azeroth's king. Aegwynn seduced the magician and conceived a son by him. Nielas' natural affinity for magic would run deep within the unborn child and define the tragic steps the child would later take. The power of Tirisfal was also implanted in the child, yet it wasn't to awaken until he reached physical maturity.

Time passed, and Aegwynn gave birth to her son in a secluded grove. Naming the boy Medivh, which means "keeper of secrets" in the high elven tongue, Aegwynn believed that the boy would mature to become the next Guardian. Unfortunately the malignant spirit of Sargeras, which had been hiding inside her, had possessed the defenseless child while it was still in her womb. Aegwynn had no idea that the world's newest Guardian was already possessed by its greatest nemesis.

Certain that her baby was healthy and sound, Aegwynn delivered young Medivh to the court of Azeroth and left him there to be raised by his mortal father and his people. She then wandered into the wilderness and prepared to pass into whatever afterlife awaited her. Medivh grew to become a strong boy and had no idea of the potential power of his Tirisfalin birthright.

Sargeras bided his time until the youth's power manifested itself. By the time Medivh had reached his teenage years, he had become very popular in Azeroth for his magical prowess and often went off on adventures with his two friends: Llane, the prince of Azeroth (Remember who u kill in Chess Event!?) , and Anduin Lothar, one of the last descendents of the Arathi bloodline. The three boys constantly caused mischief around the kingdom, but they were well liked by the general citizenry.

When Medivh reached the age of fourteen, the cosmic power inside him awakened and clashed with the pervasive spirit of Sargeras that lurked within his soul. Medivh fell into a catatonic state which lasted for many years. When he awakened from his coma, he found that he had grown to adulthood, and his friends Llane and Anduin had become the regents of Azeroth. Though he wished to use his incredible newfound powers to protect the land he called home, the dark spirit of Sargeras twisted his thoughts and emotions towards an insidious end.

Sargeras reveled within the darkening heart of Medivh, for he knew that his plans for the second invasion of the world were nearing completion, and that the world's last Guardian would bring them all to fruition.

END OF CHAPTER II

War of the Three Hammers

Inso — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 19:28:00 GMT

CHAPTER II : THE NEW WORLD

VII - WAR OF THE THREE HAMMERS

(230 years before Warcraft I)

The Dwarves of Ironforge lived in peace for centuries under the rule of High King Modimus Anvilmar. However, as their society grew too large, 3 powerful factions arose.

The Bronzebeard Clan -- ruled by Thane Madoran Bronzebeard.
The Wildhammer Clan -- ruled by Thane Khardros Wildhammer.
The Dark Iron Clan -- ruled by the Sorcerer-Thane Thaurissan.

For a time the three factions kept a tenuous peace, but tensions erupted when High King Anvilmar passed away from old age. The three ruling clans went to war for control of Ironforge itself. The dwarf civil war raged under the earth for many years. Eventually the Bronzebeards, who had the largest standing army, banished the Dark Irons and Wildhammers from under the mountain.

Khardros and his Wildhammer warriors traveled north and they founded their own kingdom within the distant peak of Grim Batol. Thaurissan and his Dark Irons vowed revenge against Ironforge. Leading his people far to the south, Thaurissan founded a city (which he named after himself) within the Redridge Mountains...The passing of years did little to ease the Dark Iron's rancor toward their cousins. Thaurissan and his sorceress wife, Modgud, launched a two-pronged assault against both Ironforge and Grim Batol. The Dark Irons were intent on claiming all of Khaz Modan for their own.

The Dark Iron armies smashed against their cousins' strongholds and very nearly took both kingdoms. However, Madoran Bronzebeard ultimately led his clan to a decisive victory over Thaurissan's sorcerous army. Thaurissan and his servants fled back to the safety of their city, unaware of the events transpiring at Grim Batol, where Modgud's army would fare no better against Khardros and his Wildhammer warriors.

As she confronted the enemy warriors, Modgud used her powers to strike fear into their hearts. Shadows moved at her command, and dark things crawled up from the depths of the earth to stalk the Wildhammers in their own halls. Eventually Modgud broke through the gates and laid siege to the fortress itself. The Wildhammers fought desperately, Khardros himself wading through the roiling masses to slay the sorceress queen. With their queen lost, the Dark Irons fled before the fury of the Wildhammers. They raced south toward their king's stronghold, only to meet the armies of Ironforge, which had come to aid Grim Batol. Crushed between two armies, the remaining Dark Iron forces were utterly destroyed.

The combined armies of Ironforge and Grim Batol then turned south, intent on destroying Thaurissan and his Dark Irons once and for all. They had not gone far when Thaurissan's fury resulted in a spell of cataclysmic proportions. Seeking to summon a supernatural minion that would ensure his victory, Thaurissan called upon the ancient powers sleeping beneath the world. To his shock, and ultimately his doom, the creature that emerged was more terrible than any nightmare he could have imagined.

Ragnaros the Firelord had been banished by the Titans when the world was young. Now, freed by Thaurissan's call, Ragnaros erupted into being once again. Ragnaros' apocalyptic rebirth into Azeroth shattered the Redridge Mountains and created a raging volcano at the center of the devastation. The volcano, known as Blackrock Spire, was bordered by the Searing Gorge to the north and the Burning Steppes to the south. Though Thaurissan was killed by the forces he had unleashed, his surviving brethren were ultimately enslaved by Ragnaros and his elementals. They remain within the Spire to this day.

The Bronzebeards returned to Ironforge and rebuilt their glorious city. The Wildhammers also returned home to Grim Batol. However, the death of the Modgud had left an evil stain on the mountain fortress, and the Wildhammers found it uninhabitable. They were bitter in their hearts over the loss of their beloved home. King Bronzebeard offered the Wildhammers a place to live within the borders of Ironforge, but the Wildhammers steadfastly refused. Khardros took his people north towards the lands of Lordaeron. Settling within the lush forests of the Hinterlands, the Wildhammers crafted the city of Aerie Peak, where the Wildhammers grew closer to nature and even bonded with the mighty gryphons of the area.

The two kingdoms retained close ties for some years, but the Wildhammers were much changed by the horrors they witnessed at Grim Batol. They took to living above ground on the slopes of Aerie Peak, instead of carving a vast kingdom within the mountain. The ideological differences between the two remaining dwarven clans eventually led to their parting of ways.

Aegwynn and the Dragon Hunt

Inso — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 19:21:00 GMT

CHAPTER II : THE NEW WORLD

VI - AEGWYNN AND THE DRAGON HUNT

(823 years before Warcraft I)

There were many Guardians over the years, but only one ever held the magical powers of Tirisfal at any given time. One of the last Guardians of the age distinguished herself as a mighty warrior against the shadow. Aegwynn, a fiery human girl, won the approbation of the Order and was given the mantle of Guardianship. Aegwynn vigorously worked to hunt down and eradicate demons wherever she found them, but she often questioned the authority of the male-dominated Council of Tirisfal. She believed that the ancient elves and the elderly men who presided over the council were too rigid in their thinking and not farsighted enough to put a decisive end to the conflict against chaos. Impatient with lengthy discussion and debate, she yearned to prove herself worthy to her peers and superiors, and as a result frequently chose valor over wisdom in crucial situations.

Aegwynn became aware of a number of powerful demons that stalked the icy northern continent of Northrend. Traveling to the distant north, Aegwynn tracked the demons into the mountains. There, she found that the demons were hunting one of the last surviving dragonflights and draining the ancient creatures of their innate magic. The mighty dragons, who had fled from the ever-advancing march of mortal societies, found themselves too evenly matched against the dark magics of the Legion. Aegwynn confronted the demons, and with help from the noble dragons, eradicated them. Yet, as the last demon was banished from the mortal world, a great storm erupted throughout the north. An enormous dark visage appeared in the sky above Northrend. Sargeras, the demon king and lord of the Burning Legion, appeared before Aegwynn and bristled with hellish energy. He informed the young Guardian that the time of Tirisfal was about to come to an end and that the world would soon bow before the onslaught of the Legion.

The proud Aegwynn, believing herself to be a match for the menacing god, unleashed her powers against Sargeras' avatar. With disconcerting ease, Aegwynn battered the demonlord with her powers and succeeded in killing his physical shell. Fearing that Sargeras' spirit would linger on, the naive Aegwynn locked the ruined husk of his body within one of the ancient halls of Kalimdor that had been blasted to the bottom of the sea when the Well of Eternity collapsed. Aegwynn would never know that she had done exactly as Sargeras had planned. She had inadvertently sealed the fate of the mortal world, for Sargeras, at the time of his corporeal death, had transferred his spirit into Aegwynn's weakened body. Unbeknownst to the young Guardian, Sargeras would remain cloaked within the darkest recesses of her soul for many long years.

The Seven Kingdoms

Inso — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 19:18:00 GMT

CHAPTER II : THE NEW WORLD

V - THE SEVEN KINGDOMS

(1 200 years before Warcraft I)

As with Dalaran, many new city-states arose across the continent of Lordaeron. Gilneas, Alterac, and Kul Tiras were the first city-states to arise, and although they each had their own customs and commercial workings, they all held to the unifying authority of Strom.

Under the vigilant watch of the Order of Tirisfal, Dalaran became the chief center of learning for magicians throughout the land. The Magocrats who ruled Dalaran founded the Kirin Tor (The sect that Kel'thuzad was part of, before his exile), a specialized sect that was charged with cataloguing and researching every spell, artifact, and magic item known to mankind at the time.

Gilneas and Alterac became strong supporters of Strom, developping mighty armies that explored the southern lands of Khaz Modan, it is then that the Humans first met the Dwarves and visited their city of Ironforge. Kul Tiras flourished as well and built its economy on Fishing, eventually it had a big commercial fleet. Yet even as the economy of Arathor flourished, its strongest elements began to disintegrate.

In time, the lords of Strom sought to move their estates to the lush northlands of Lordaeron and leave the arid lands of the south. The heirs of King Thoradin, the last descendants of the Arathi bloodline, argued that Strom should not be abandoned and thus incurred the displeasure of the greater citizenry, who were likewise eager to leave. The lords of Strom, seeking to find purity and enlightenment in the untamed north, decided to leave their ancient city behind. Far to the north of Dalaran, the lords of Strom built a new city-state which they named Lordaeron. The entire continent would take its name from this city-state

The descendents of the Arathi, left within the crumbling walls of ancient Strom, decided to travel south past the rocky mountains of Khaz Modan. Their journey finally ended after many long seasons, and they settled in the northern region of the continent they would name Azeroth. In a fertile valley they founded the kingdom of Stormwind, which quickly became a self-sufficient power in its own right.

The few warriors still left in Strom decided to remain and guard the ancient walls of their city. Strom was no longer the center of the empire, but it developed into a new nation known as Stromgarde. Though each of the city-states became prosperous in its own right, the empire of Arathor had effectively disintegrated. As each nation developed its own customs and beliefs, they became increasingly segregated from one another. King Thoradin's vision of a unified humanity had faded at last.

Ironforge - The Awakening of the Dwarves

Inso — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 18:54:00 GMT

CHAPTER II : THE NEW WORLD

IV - IRONFORGE - THE AWAKENING OF THE DWARVES

(2 500 years before Warcraft I)

In the ancient times, after the Titans departed Azeroth, their children, known as the Earthen, continued to shape and guard the deep recesses of the world. The earthen were largely unconcerned with the affairs of the surface-dwelling races and longed only to plumb the dark depths of the earth.

When the world was sundered by the Well of Eternity's implosion, the Earthen were deeply affected. Reeling with the pain of the earth itself, the Earthen lost much of their identity and sealed themselves within the stone chambers where they were first created. Uldaman, Uldum, Ulduar... these were the names of the ancient Titan cities where the Earthen first took shape and form. Buried deep beneath the world, the Earthen rested in peace for nearly eight thousand years.

Though it is unclear what awakened them, the Earthen sealed within Uldaman eventually arose from their self-imposed slumber. These Earthen found that they had changed significantly during their hibernation. Their rocky hides had softened and became smooth skin, and their powers over stone and earth had waned. They had become mortal creatures.

Calling themselves Dwarves, the last of the Earthen left the halls of Uldaman and ventured out into the waking world. Still lulled by the safety and wonders of the deep places, they founded a vast kingdom under the highest mountain in the land. They named their land Khaz Modan, or "Mountain of Khaz", in honor of the Titan shaper, Khaz'goroth. Constructing an altar for their Titan father, the Dwarves crafted a mighty forge within the heart of the mountain. Thus, the city that grew around the forge would be called Ironforge ever after.

The Dwarves, by nature fascinated with shaping gems and stone, set out to mine the surrounding mountains for riches and precious minerals. Content with their labors under the world, the Dwarves remained isolated from the affairs of their surface-dwelling neighbors.

The Guardians of Tirisfal

Inso — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 18:35:00 GMT

CHAPTER II : THE NEW WORLD

III - THE GUARDIANS OF TIRISFAL

(2 700 years before Warcraft I)

With the Trolls' threat gone, the High Elves turned their efforts to rebuilding their new Homeland, as the human society of Arathor grew and prospered.

King Thoradin, fearful that his kingdom would splinter apart if it overextended itself, maintained that Strom was the center of the Arathorian empire. After many peaceful years, Thoradin died of old age, eaving Arathor's younger generation free to expand the empire beyond the lands of Strom.

The original hundred magi, who were tutored in the ways of magic by the elves, expanded their powers and studied the mystic disciplines of spell-weaving in much greater detail. These magi had always practiced their magic with care and responsibility; however, they passed their secrets onto a newer generation, who began to practice magic for personal gain rather than out of any responsibility towards their fellows. As their powers grew, the magicians became ever more conceited and isolated from the rest of society.

The second Arathorian city-state of Dalaran (The area you see Northwest of Tarren Mill, protected by a violet magical shield) was founded in the lands north of Strom. Many fledgling wizards left the restraining confines of Strom behind and traveled to Dalaran, where they hoped to use their new powers with greater freedom. These magicians used their skills to build up the enchanted spires of Dalaran and reveled in the pursuit of their studies. The citizens of Dalaran tolerated the magicians' endeavors and built up a bustling economy under the protection of their magic-using defenders. Yet, as more and more magicians practiced their arts, the fabric of reality around Dalaran began to weaken and tear.

The sinister agents of the Burning Legion, who had been banished when the Well of Eternity collapsed, were lured back into the world by the heedless spellcasting of the magicians of Dalaran. Though these relatively weak demons did not appear in force, they did sow considerable confusion and chaos within the streets of Dalaran. Most of these demonic encounters were isolated events, and the ruling Magocrats did what they could to keep such events hidden from the public. The most powerful magicians were sent to capture the elusive demons, but they often found themselves hopelessly outmatched by the lone agents of the mighty Legion.

After a few months the superstitious peasantry began to suspect that their sorcerous rulers were hiding something terrible from them. Rumors of revolution began to sweep through the streets of Dalaran as the paranoid citizenry questioned the motives and practices of the magicians they had once admired. The Magocrats, fearing that the peasants would revolt and that Strom would take action against them, turned to the only group they felt would understand their particular problem: the Elves.

Upon hearing the Magocrats' news of demonic activity in Dalaran, the elves quickly dispatched their mightiest wizards to the human lands. The elven wizards studied the energy currents in Dalaran and made detailed reports of all demonic activity that they beheld. They concluded that although there were only a few demons loose in the world, the Legion itself would remain a dire threat so long as humans continued to wield the forces of magic.

The Council of Silvermoon, which ruled over the elves of Quel'Thalas, entered into a secret pact with the Magocrat lords of Dalaran. The elves told the Magocrats about the history of ancient Kalimdor and of the Burning Legion, a history which still threatened the world. They informed the humans that so long as they used magic, they would need to protect their citizenry from the malicious agents of the Legion. The Magocrats proposed the notion of empowering a single mortal champion who would utilize their collective powers in order to fight a never-ending secret war against the Legion. It was stressed that the majority of mankind could never know about the Guardians or the threat of the Legion for fear that they would riot in fear and paranoia. The elves agreed to the proposal and founded a secret society that would watch over the selection of the Guardian and help to stem the rise of chaos in the world.

The society held its secret meetings in the shadowed Tirisfal Glades, where the high elves had first settled in Lordaeron. Thus, they named the secret sect the Guardians of Tirisfal. The mortal champions who were chosen to be Guardians were imbued with incredible powers of both elven and human magic. Though there would only ever be one Guardian at a time, they held such vast power that they could single-handedly fight back the Legion's agents wherever they were found in the world. The Guardian power was so great that only the Council of Tirisfal was allowed to choose potential successors to the mantle of Guardianship. Whenever a Guardian grew too old, or wearied of the secret war against chaos, the Council chose a new champion, and under controlled conditions, formally channeled the Guardian power into its new agent.

As the generations passed, Guardians defended the masses of humanity from the invisible threat of the Burning Legion throughout the lands of Arathor and Quel'Thalas. Arathor grew and prospered while the use of magic spread throughout the empire. Meanwhile, the Guardians kept careful watch for signs of demonic activity.

Arathor and the Troll Wars

Inso — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 18:26:00 GMT

CHAPTER II : THE NEW WORLD

II - ARATHOR AND THE TROLL WARS

(2 800 years before Warcraft I)

The tribes of early humanity raided each other's settlements with little heed for racial unification or honor. Yet one tribe, known as the Arathi, saw that the trolls were becoming too great a threat to ignore. The Arathi wished to bring all of the tribes under its rule so that they could provide a unified front against the troll warbands.

Over the course of six years, the cunning Arathi outmaneuvered and outfought the rival tribes. After every victory, the Arathi offered peace and equality to the conquered people; thus, they won the loyalty of those they had beaten. Confident that they could hold their own against the troll warbands or even the reclusive elves if need be, the Arathi warlords decided to construct a mighty fortress city in the southern regions of Lordaeron. The city-state, named Strom, became the capital of the Arathi nation, Arathor. As Arathor prospered, humans from all over the vast continent traveled south to the protection and safety of Strom.

United under one banner, the human tribes developed a strong, optimistic culture. Thoradin, the king of Arathor, knew that the mysterious elves in the northlands were under constant siege by the trolls, but refused to risk the safety of his people in defense of reclusive strangers. Many months passed as rumors of the elves' supposed defeat trickled down from the north. It was only when weary ambassadors from Quel'Thalas reached Strom that Thoradin realized how great the troll threat truly was.

The elves informed Thoradin that the troll armies were vast and that once the trolls had destroyed Quel'Thalas, they would move on to attack the southlands. The desperate elves, in dire need of military aid, hastily agreed to teach certain select humans to wield magic in exchange for their help against the warbands. Thoradin, distrustful of any magic, agreed to aid the elves out of necessity. Almost immediately, elven sorcerers arrived in Arathor and began to instruct a group of humans in the ways of magic.

The elves found that although humans were innately clumsy in their handling of magic, they possessed a startling natural affinity for it. One hundred men were taught the very basics of the elves' magical secrets: no more than was absolutely necessary to combat the trolls. Convinced that their human students were ready to aid in the struggle, the elves left Strom and traveled north alongside the mighty armies of King Thoradin.

The united elf and human armies clashed against the overwhelming troll warbands at the foot of the Alterac Mountains. The battle lasted for many days, but the armies of Arathor never tired or gave an inch of ground before the troll onslaught. The elven lords deemed that the time had come to release the powers of their magic upon the enemy. The hundred human magi and a multitude of elven sorcerers called down the fury of the heavens and set the troll armies ablaze. The elemental fires prevented the trolls from regenerating their wounds and burned their tortured forms from the inside out.

As the troll armies broke and attempted to flee, Thoradin's armies ran them down and slaughtered every last one of their soldiers. The trolls would never fully recover from their defeat, and history would never see the trolls rise as one nation again. Assured that Quel'Thalas was saved from destruction, the elves made a pledge of loyalty and friendship to the nation of Arathor and to the bloodline of its king, Thoradin. Humans and elves would nurture peaceful relations for ages to come.

The Founding of Quel'Thalas

Inso — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 17:58:00 GMT

CHAPTER II : THE NEW WORLD

I - THE FOUNDING OF QUEL'THALAS

(6 800 years before Warcraft I)

Led by Dath'remar, who had taken the name Sunstrider (He who walks the day), the High Elves' fleets wandered the wreckage of the world for long years, seeking out places of considerable ley power upon which to build their new Homeland.

They finally landed on the beaches of the Kingdom that men would later name Lordaeron. Forging inland, the High Elves founded a settlement within the tranquil Tirisfal Glades, but their stay was short there, after a few years many of them began to go mad. The theory was never proven true, but it was said that something evil slept beneath that part of the world.

They packed and moved northward, seeking another land rich with ley power.

Their journey became increasingly perilous... Being cut off from the energies of the Well of Eternity, many of them fell ill or died due to climate or from starvation, but the most discomferting change that happened to them was that they were no longer immortal or immune to the elements.

They also shrank somewhat in height, and their skin lost its characteristic violet hue. Despite their hardships, they encountered many wondrous creatures that had never been seen in Kalimdor. They also found tribes of primitive humans who hunted throughout the ancient forestlands. However, the direst threat they encountered were the voracious and cunning forest trolls of Zul'Aman.

These moss-skinned trolls could regenerate lost limbs and heal grievous physical injuries, but they proved to be a barbaric, evil race. The Amani empire stretched across most of northern Lordaeron, and the trolls fought hard to keep unwanted strangers from their borders. The elves killed the vicious trolls on sight whenever they were encountered.

After many long years, the High Elves founded the kingdom of Quel'thalas deep within the northern forests of Lordaeron. Unfortunately they soon learned that Quel'Thalas was founded upon an ancient troll city that the trolls still held to be sacred. Almost immediately, the trolls began to attack the elven settlements en masse.

The stubborn elves, unwilling to give up their new land, utilized the magics which they had gleaned from the Well of Eternity and kept the savage trolls at bay. Under Dath'Remar's leadership, they were able to defeat the Amani warbands that outnumbered them ten to one. Some elves, wary of the Kaldorei's ancient warnings, felt that their use of magic might possibly draw the attention of the banished Burning Legion. Therefore, they decided to mask their lands within a protective barrier which would still allow them to work their enchantments. They constructed a series of monolithic Runestones at various points around Quel'Thalas which marked the boundaries of the magic barrier. The Runestones not only masked the elves' magic from extra-dimensional threats, but helped to frighten away the superstitious troll warbands as well.

With time, Quel'Thalas became a shining monument to the high elves' efforts and magical prowess. Quel'Thalas had become the shining jewel that the elves had longed to create. The Convocation of Silvermoon was founded as the ruling power over Quel'Thalas, though the Sunstrider Dynasty maintained a modicum of political power. Comprised of seven of the greatest high elf lords, the Convocation worked to secure the safety of the elven lands and people. Surrounded by their protective barrier, the High Elves remained unmoved by the old warnings of the Kaldorei and continued to use magic flagrantly in almost all aspects of their lives.

For nearly four thousand years the high elves lived peacefully within the secluded safety of their kingdom. Nevertheless, the vindictive trolls were not so easily defeated. They plotted and schemed in the depths of the forests and waited for the numbers of their warbands to grow. Finally, a mighty troll army charged out from the shadowy forests and once again laid siege to the shining spires of Quel'Thalas.

The Sentinels & The Long Vigil

Inso — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 15:32:00 GMT

CHAPTER I: MYTHOS

XI – THE SENTINELS AND THE LONG VIGIL

The druids, sensing that their time of hibernation was drawing near, prepared to sleep and leave their loved ones and families behind. Tyrande, who had become the High Priestess of Elune, asked her love, Malfurion, not to leave her for Ysera's Emerald Dream. But Malfurion, honor bound to enter the changing Dreamways, bid the priestess farewell and swore that they would never be apart so long as they held true to their love.

Left alone to protect Kalimdor from the dangers of the new world, Tyrande assembled a powerful fighting force from amongst her night elf sisters. The fearless, highly trained warrior women became known as the Sentinels.

Cenarius remained nearby in the Moonglades of Mount Hyjal. His sons, known as the Keepers of the Grove, kept close watch on the night elves and regularly helped the Sentinels maintain peace in the land. Even Cenarius' shy daughters, the Dryads, appeared in the open with increasing frequency.

The task of policing Ashenvale kept Tyrande busy, but without Malfurion at her side, she knew little joy. As the long centuries passed while the druids slept, her fears of a second demonic invasion grew. She could not shake the unnerving feeling that the Burning Legion might still be out there, beyond the Great Dark of the sky, plotting its revenge upon the night elves and the world of Azeroth.

END OF CHAPTER I

Exile of The High Elves

Inso — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 15:26:00 GMT

CHAPTER I: MYTHOS

X – EXILE OF THE HIGH ELVES

(7 300 years before Warcraft I)

As the centuries passed, the night elves' new society grew strong and expanded throughout the budding forest that they came to call Ashenvale. Under the druids' benevolent leadership, the night elves enjoyed an era of unprecedented peace and tranquility under the stars.

However, many of the original Highborne survivors grew restless. Dath'Remar, the brash, leader of the Highborne, began to mock the druids publicly, calling them cowards for refusing to wield magic. Malfurion and the druids dismissed Dath'Remar's arguments and warned the Highborne that any use of magic would be punishable by death. In an insolent attempt to convince the druids to rescind their law, Dath'Remar and his followers unleashed a terrible magical storm upon Ashenvale.

The Druids decided to exile the reckless Highborne from their lands. Dath'Remar and his followers set sail upon the seas. The Quel'dorei would eventually set shore upon the eastern land men would call Lordaeron. They planned to build their own magical kingdom, Quel'Thalas, and reject the night elves' precepts of moon worship and nocturnal activity. Forever after, they would embrace the sun and be known only as the High Elves.

The World Tree & The Emerald Dream

Inso — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 15:07:00 GMT

CHAPTER I: MYTHOS

IX – THE WORLD TREE AND THE EMERALD DREAM

(9 000 years before Warcraft I)

For many years, the Night Elves worked to rebuild their homeland. In time, the dragons that had survived the war came forth from their secret abodes.

Alexstrasza the red, Ysera the green, and Nozdormu the bronze descended upon the druids' tranquil glades and surveyed the fruits of the night elves' labors. Malfurion, who had become an arch-druid of immense power, greeted the mighty dragons and told them about the creation of the new Well of Eternity. Though alarmed with this news, the dragons and Malfurion made a pact to keep the new Well safe. Alexstrasza, the Lifebinder, placed a single, enchanted acorn within the heart of the Well of Eternity. The acorn, activated by the potent, magical waters, sprung to life as a colossal tree.

The Night Elves gave their World Tree the new name “Nordrassil” (Crown of the Heavens).

Nozdormu, the Timeless, placed an enchantment upon the World Tree to ensure that as long as the colossal tree stood, the night elves would never age or fall prey to sickness or disease.

Ysera, the Dreamer, also placed an enchantment upon the World Tree by linking it to her own realm, the ethereal dimension known as the Emerald Dream. The Emerald Dream, a vast, ever-changing spirit world, existed outside the boundaries of the physical world. From the Dream, Ysera regulated the ebb and flow of nature and the evolutionary path of the world itself. The night elf druids, including Malfurion himself, were bound to the Dream through the World Tree. As part of the mystical pact, the druids agreed to sleep for centuries at a time so that their spirits could roam the infinite paths of Ysera's Dreamways. Though the druids were grieved at the prospect of losing so many years of their lives to hibernation, they selflessly agreed to uphold their bargain with Ysera.

Mount Hyjal & Illidan's Gift

Inso — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 15:05:00 GMT

CHAPTER I: MYTHOS

VIII – MOUNT HYJAL AND ILLIDAN’S GIFT

Among the few Night Elves that survived the explosion were Tyrande, Malfurion Stormrage and Cenarius. They lead the survivors to establish a new home for their people, going by sea on crudely made rafts. There were many Highborne among the survivors but Malfurion wasn’t worried for they could cause no mischief without the Well’s energies.

As the weary Night Elves landed upon the shores of the new land, they found that the holy mountain, Hyjal, had survived the catastrophe. They climbed the slopes of Hyjal and reached its summit. As they descended into the wooded bowl, they found a small, tranquil lake. To their horror, the lake’s waters had been fouled by magic.

Illidan had made it to Hyjal long before Malfurion and the rest, and in his mad desire for magic, he poured his vials (only 3 of them) into the waters of this new lake. The Well's potent energies quickly ignited and coalesced into a new Well of Eternity. Illidan believed that this new Well was a gift to the future generation and was surprised when Malfurion hunted him down.

Knowing full well where Illidan's ruthless schemes would eventually lead, Malfurion decided to deal with his power-crazed brother once and for all. With Cenarius' help, Malfurion sealed Illidan within a vast underground barrow prison, where he would remain chained and powerless until the end of time. To ensure his brother's containment, Malfurion empowered the young warden, Maiev Shadowsong, to be Illidan's personal jailor.

Concerned that destroying the new Well might bring about an even greater catastrophe, the night elves resolved to leave it be. Malfurion declared that they would never practice the arts of magic again, however, they began to study the ancient arts of druidism that would enable them to heal the ravaged earth and re-grow their beloved forests at the base of Mount Hyjal.

The Sundering of The World

Inso — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 15:01:00 GMT

CHAPTER I: MYTHOS

VII – THE SUNDERING OF THE WORLD

Knowing that the Well's destruction would prevent him from ever wielding magic again, Illidan selfishly abandoned the group and set out to warn the Highborne of Malfurion's plan. Due to the insanity brought on by his addiction and the stinging resentment towards his brother's affair with Tyrande, Illidan felt no remorse at betraying Malfurion and siding with Azshara and her ilk. Above all else, Illidan vowed to protect the Well's power by any means necessary.

Heartbroken by his brother's departure, Malfurion led his companions into the heart of Azshara's temple. Yet as they stormed into the main audience chamber, they found the Highborne in the midst of their final dark incantation. The communal spell created an unstable vortex of power within the Well's turbulent depths. As Sargeras' ominous shadow drew ever closer to the surface, Malfurion and his allies rushed to attack.

Azshara, having received Illidan's warning, was more than prepared for them. Nearly all of Malfurion's followers fell before the mad queen's powers. Tyrande, attempting to attack Azshara from behind, was caught off-guard by the queen's Highborne guardsmen. Though she vanquished the guardsmen, Tyrande suffered grievous wounds at their hands. When Malfurion saw his love fall, he went into a murderous rage and resolved to end Azshara's life.

As the battle raged inside and outside of the temple, Illidan appeared from the shadows near the shores of the great Well. Producing a set of specially crafted vials, Illidan knelt and filled each with the Well's shimmering waters. Convinced that the demons would crush the night elves' civilization, he planned to steal the sacred waters and keep their energies for himself.

***
Illidan filled a total of 7 vials with the Well’s magical water.

He used 3 vials to create the new Well of Eternity. But it was not known what happened to the other 4 until recently, it was revealed that Prince Kael’thas Sunstrider received one of the Vials, as did Lady Vashj.

***

The ensuing battle between Malfurion and Azshara threw the Highborne's carefully crafted spellwork into chaos. The unstable vortex within the Well's depths exploded and ignited a catastrophic chain of events that would sunder the world forever. The massive explosion rocked the temple to its foundations and sent massive quakes ripping through the tortured earth. As the horrific battle between the Legion and the night elves' allies raged around and above the ruined capital city, the surging Well of Eternity buckled in upon itself and collapsed.

The resultant catastrophic explosion shattered the earth and blotted out the skies.

As the aftershocks from the Well's implosion rattled the bones of the world, the seas rushed in to fill the gaping wound left in the earth. Nearly eighty percent of Kalimdor's landmass had been blasted apart, leaving only a handful of separate continents surrounding the new, raging sea. At the center of the new sea, where the Well of Eternity once stood, was a tumultuous storm of tidal fury and chaotic energies. This terrible scar, known as the Maelstrom, would never cease its furious spinning. It would remain a constant reminder of the terrible catastrophe... and the utopian era that had been lost forever.

Somehow, against all odds, Queen Azshara and her Highborne elite managed to survive the ordeal. Tortured and twisted by the powers they had released, Azshara and her followers were dragged down beneath the raging sea by the Well's implosion. Cursed - transformed - they took on new shapes and became the hateful serpentine Naga,Azshara herself expanded with hate and rage, becoming a massive monstrosity, reflecting the wickedness and malice that had always hidden within her core.

There, at the bottom of the Maelstrom, the naga built for themselves a new city, Nazjatar, from which they would rebuild their power. It would take over ten thousand years before the naga would reveal their existence to the surface world.