Beating warlocksFollow

First off, Im a noob. I've searched this forum for info on this subject but it seems like there is no answer.

My friend is an affliction warlock, Im frost Mage, both undead. I started with a worrior and thought his warlock looked like more fun so decided to roll a spellcaster but didn't want to have the same class as he had so chose a Mage. We lvled together. Im at 45 he is at 43, we've just done PVE so far. Is there any real way to beat him in a duel? I believe he is using fear and /or deathcoil and I can do little to nothing about it. I can IB and use WOTF to get out of it a couple times but what then? Doesn't seem like counterspell helps any, can I counterspell him? I can sheep him if I get the jump and get a hit or two but before I know it I'm running around like an idiot again.

What about any other locks I encounter, say I go PVP, am I supposed to just bow down to them? This is seriously ticking me off. I thought the classes were supposed to be even? Is there any hope of this ever changing (like blizzard giving us a way to have a decent chance)? Are there any other classes that are owned this severely by another class. I feel like I should just delete the lvl 45 I put so much time and effort into and start another class! Seriously disgusted by how easy everything comes for him. As if they NEED a freaking minion when they are as powerful as us to begin with and that's not all, oh no he got his mount for free at lvl 40 while I had to come up with 90 gold that he could spend on better gear ect. Wish I had known when we started that Warlocks have every advantage handed to them.

Where is the fairness in this and will anything ever be done about it?

I had trouble counterspelling fear as well, then I made a macro to help. Try this:

/stopcasting
/cast Counterspell

This will interrupt whatever you are doing and go right into the counterspell. After the counterspell, he'll be locked out of the shadow tree for eight seconds.

Don't forget your fire ward either. Be sure to remove curse of tongues if it drops that on you.

As far as the actual battle, go in with the fire ward up (if possible), and cast instants at him. You are looking for him to cast fear so you can counter in, then you'll have the upper hand for a short amount of time. Use WotF to break the fear if he does get you.

It's very hard to run away if you're grabbing your ankles.

Or, so I'd assume.

OK thanks for the tips. I was a little upset when I posted that :). I'll keep my mage cause I think he is way cooler than a lock, except head to head he isn't given much of a chance for some reason. I just can't understand why they have 1-2 spells that over-ride anything I can do.

Is there a class I can build starting over from scratch specifically to kill every warlock I see for fun :)?

Edited, Dec 19th 2007 8:40am by busterderbin

So... their health bar goes: 100% -> sheep -> Frostbolt (85%) -> Sheep (100%) -> Frostbolt (85%) -> Deathcoild (90%) -> Fear (91%) -> Sheep (100%) -> Frostbolt (85%) -> Counterspell fear -> Sheep (100%) -> Frostbolt (85%)

So, at the end, they are around 85% health or so, and you have about 1/2 mana... The only bad thing about sheep is it heals up the other dude quickly (even 1 tick is a lot). I suppose this also assumes they don't have a fel hunter out and sick it on you so that you cannot cast, or a succy out so that you are charmed whilst dotted?

To beat warlocks, I engage them in BGs around my rogue friends. ;-)

Oh, I certainly do the running part. Not so much the ankle grabbing part. Hence why I'd have to assume it's hard to run with your hands on your ankles.

Rogues are the bane of typical warlocks. But as a mage, I think three things are key to beating a warlock 1-on-1:
a. First strike. If a warlock engages you before you spot him, understand that he has you figured out and that you'll be dead in no time. By starting the fight first, it gives you the advantage of surprise, which can have the warlock dead before he realizes where you are.
b. Arcane tree. I like this talent tree because it has some pretty useful stuff in it for combating stupid warlocks. Improved Counterspell is great; not only do you silence his shadow spells for 8 seconds, but he can't cast anything for 4. This gives you time to put at least one nuke in. On the note of Counterspell, you should probably save it for Fear or direct damage spells.
c. Have no fear of DoTs. Yes, they kill you in the long run, but it's better to down the warlock and then die from STDs than have him nuke you down. If he's Afflicting you with a whole bunch of crap, he can't interrupt your spells. Hence, you nuke and nuke and nuke. Then make sure you eat (although 8/10 times the STDs get to you first).

Warlocks are probably the most overpowered class in the game. They have just about no weaknesses, 'cept they can only wear cloth. Just deal with it, make yourself stronger. I don't believe the class determines how good a player is, it's how smart the player is that determines skill.

Yes, there is never good amount of tips how to kill a lock with a mage. Please note that WoW is balanced and aimed for lvl 70 so all this applies only for that lvl. Here is the summary from my experience:

1. Get to know your enemies.. I recomend rolling a lock play him and get the feel.

2. duel a ton of warlocks.. helps to give more confidence, to "relax you" your worst enemy is yourself when you start to panic and shout omg dots!!! You lost the match at this point.

3. take frost specc imo the best for PvP mage until 2.4.XX.. you dont have imp cs. but on the other hand you have a ton of ulitilty not only against warlock. With iceblock you can brake his lolcoil + wipe all his dots with one button.. I say thats priceless.

4. allways keep ice barrier up.. it scales with your +dmg gear and eats the dots.. also it has low recast time.

5. allways have all buffs on you, this includes arcane intelect, mage armor, dampen magic, in case he has fellpuppy out he has to "eat" through more buffs on you which takes his cooldown and triggers pet's GCD. Also mage armor is for the magic resistances + dampen magic too..

6. learn to time your cs.. interrupt only his shadow spells. Keep fire ward on you all the time. About the interrupt.. it is critical to learn this rule.. cs all the shadow spells early.. exept shadow bolt. When he does the mistake that he decides cast one, punish him.. cast ice lance for him to lose casting time.. squeeze in one scorch and then hit cs.

7. ppl saying that this game is about the player.. which is not entirely true ofc. you can be a skilled ninja but wont do **** if you have 6k HP 0 resilence. So get the glad S1 gear for beginning.. well you cant really expect to kill an s2 warlock in green/blues when you ding 70.

It will be hard fight but not impossible. I think you will start to like the fights just because they are so complicated.. to 3 shot someone like "ninja rogues" have tendencies to do is no skill.

err, water elemental...BAM BAM BAM water bolt, frost bolt once=OWned

damn right we are! =P

You're an idiot. "No weaknesses". Try fighting a good warrior or any half decent rogue. We get raped just as hard by rogues as you do by warlocks. Suck it up and take it imo.

Not only rogues are good vs locks, but warriors pwn them pretty bad too since war can become immune to fear. Add in the armor and health to survive the pet's attacks while interupting the lock.

Anyway, I did a LOT of pvp while lvling my mage (65 atm). In the 19 and 29 bg, warlocks are tough and nigh on unbeatable. At 39 and 49, they were very tough but if I got lucky with counterspell and used iceblock I could beat them... occasionally. Now, warlocks are still my toughest fights, just above hunters, but with the water elemental it is a much closer fight. Few locks fear the elemental, which would completely negate it, and instead focus on you while you wait for them to burn all their DoTs which you ice block out of and stand there invulnerable while the elemental continues to pound on him. I do find that warlocks with a lot of hp are much harder to kill. Its not so much about the damage he can do, its about frontloading damage yourself to kill him before all the DoTs start ticking your life away.

Like others have said, rush him and hit him with your instants. Shatter works with fireblast and arcane explosion as well as cone of cold, use those.

Edited, Dec 23rd 2007 3:59am by Zeynothix