The popularity of Warlocks.

This is not the topic to encourage people to play a Warlock, I'm just interested why are there so little Warlocks around.


I just finished reading Icecrown Census, and there are 4% Warlocks on Ally side. On Lordaeron Census it's pretty much the same.

So... Why? I'v been playing a Warlock for a long time, and I found it really interesting class to play in both PvE and PvP.
Yes, I know that in PvE we are not that good, but I don't see any major problems in PvP. And yes, I know DK's can be a problem but we are not the only class who have hard time against them.

So, we are still a good class to play, we have interesting and unique gameplay, rich lore and class fantasy so what is the actual "problem" here ?

I noticed it as well. In every VoA that I went, there was only once a warlock with me. Same with ICC.

The reason? No idea. Warlocks are very, very good in PvP in all aspects(bg/arenas,etc) and PvE? I just think people find them hard to play. Affli & Demo are definitely much harder than Arcane / Fire mage / Boomkins, hunters, etc.

Same notice here aswell. Although being able to sneek into VoA at low gear because the leader doesn't have any other locks is nice ;)

I guess it's just an underestimated class. For PvE, a lot of people just look at what is doing most dps while still having some good utility. Locks sadly don't bring that many unique buffs. You basically only need one warlock for the demonic pact and maybe the curse of elements in a raid. ( this might also be part of the reason, people fearing for their raid spot). The Imp Stamina Buff is inferior to the Commanding Shout from any warrior, mages do more dps with the same intellect buff.

Me personally really liked the challenge of Demo / Affli Lock after coming from Boomkin.

Yay, another thread asking this question...

The answer is: because the class is overall much more complex than the other classes and is a [high effort - medium-to-high reward] class. This has been the case since vanilla, it's just the design of the class.

You're a DPS-only class, which has to manage demons, soul shards; is not at the top of Recount; is not at the top of arena ladder. So, logically, very few people pick it.

inb4 HURR DURR BUT I HAVE 2000000 RATE AND TOP RECOUNT!!!11 - in that case you're competing against bad players.

its because pple no longer pull 30k dps in ******ed hybrid spec

I wonder the same.. When I started I made a warlock because it sounded so badass, then I switched to DK like all the new players I guess.
Now I've recently made a warlock again because I still love the demonic feel to all of the specs: Demonology has the beautiful demon form, Destruction is like raining hell straight down on bosses and players and Affliction is just dropping so many curses that pretty much 6 debuffs on the boss are yours alone and I love dots for some reason.

Quick look at WOTLK PVP top 10 ladder shows:
Lordaeron - 2v2 - 1 warlock, 3v3 - 2 warlocks
Icecrown - 2v2 - 4 warlock, 3v3 - 3 warlocks
Blackrock - 2v2 - 1 at top, 3v3 - 3 warlocks again at top
You can easy see that warlocks are extremely good at pvp, but that don`t come easy. I`m sure if you ask any top PVP player that stills play here, he will tell you that warlocks are big pain in the ***.

For PVE point of view is the same you cant top every boss in ICC 25 hc as demonology or hybrid anymore, but you can top few and you end up in top 3-5 on the rest if you know what you are doing. As affliction you can fight for top on all bosses with mages, warriors and on some with dks. In the guild where im atm our top dpsers at the end of the fights are usually in the range 18-21k (and im not talking about DBS, BQ at all) as affliction you are fully capable of pulling that.

The way i see it there are 3 major problems why people run away from that class.

1. A lot of the players didn't play retail and they did not know that, here Decimation was not working correct which was making Soul Fire casting time to insane 1 sec. That was making demo and hybrid specs really good, you can basically do what ever you want till the boss hp is 35% and you will end up close to top or top with big numbers. Players loved that because you put close to no effort and you feel bad ***. After the new core big number of that bad *** players give up the class, and say its not op anymore.

2. Most of the classes in the game are 3 4 button ones warlock is not exception. But its one of the hardest class to master, and yes gear always helps, but if you play the spec bad you will not notice difference in dps. I saw a lot of warlocks bis or close to bis pulling low numbers demo a bit over the tank, affliction 13 - 15k. The sad thing is most of the players think that this is normal. "Oh wait hes demonology we don`t care about hes dps, he is here for the buff anyway" **** storm of excuses like this one.

3. Regardless the raid or spec you are about to play you have to know the fights good above the average. Bad demo form, bad taping, losing soul fire, losing corruption, not using immolate, cleave etc. all that makes really big difference.

When we combination all that, poor to no warlock and/or raid mechanics understanding we have class that is below the average in the raids, regardless the gear we have. Everyone will be sad and will hate it, but just few will give time and practice to improve.

Bottom line warlock is not for every one, you have to feel bond with the class to play it. For me i return several times in WOW just to play warlock, that is how much i enjoy it, and funny or not every time i try something new i learn something new.

As hunter, mage and warrior you will be one of the many that tops, but when you do it with warlock i can tell you that the feeling is like no other. Only warlock players can appreciate how much dedication you have to do it.

I don`t want to argue with no one, about how the class is just support, how is not pure dps, how bad is it compere to every other class in the game etc...
I`m just expressing my experience as warlock through the years which shows opposite side.

I agree with everything rc100 said. I like playing warlock as well and if you enjoy the class for the way it feels, then just play it. But if you don't want to bother with the effort for a class which can barely compete for top spots, then you'd do much better with mage.

Bottom line: if you like warlock, play warlock; if you want to top meters & ladders with less effort, play mage instead. Both are DPS-only cloth casters anyway.

You cleared some things here :)

In my case the complexity and class fantasy is the reason why i always had a lock for a main class. I tried to play all the classes through the years, and i still play some of them (DK Tank, Holy Priest), but no other class has been that interesting to play, and you can always improve yourself, regardless of how long you play or how good you are.

Thank you all for your replies. Take care guys :)