Warlock vs. Mage?Follow

Warlocks will lvl faster. Warlocks have more survivability. That I know of, mages and warlocks both have two CC abilities. Warlocks have seduce and fear, mages have sheep and that ice thingy (can't remember name but it lasts for 8 seconds I think). The fear is a powerful CC if you know when to use it (don't want to send that elite mob fleeing into six others).

As far as dps goes, mages are known for their large burst damage (fire mages). I think warlocks can come very close as destruction spec.

The biggest difference is that warlocks have a built-in tank at lvl 10 and mages don't. Of course I have seen mages at lvl 70 solo 8 lvl 70 mobs at once without taking a hit, where as a warlock the most I've ever handled was four.

It's really up to you, but warlock will be similar to hunter as far as leveling goes.

Edit: typos

Edited, Feb 5th 2008 4:32pm by Ailitardif

I originally made the same mistake in assuming similarities. Then I rolled both. I ended up liking lock a lot better, but mage is still fun and I still play it but not as much as my "new main." Now I am going to tell you this from a leveling perspective because my lock is 42 and my mage is 34, so still leveling.

As a fire mage, I do burst. Fireballs and a little bit of CC fill the most of my fights. I open with pyro, a 6 second HUGE damage fireball. I imediately go into casting my 3 second fireball. Mob gets to me at the end of the cast. I then fireblast (instant cas). If the mob is sitll alive, then I frost frost nova (freeze in place), blink 20 yards away, and depending in mana either fireball or wand. Basically, as a mage, I spam fire spells. A bit of downtime, but free food/water.

Now, as a destruction lock, I can see the similarities. Dest lock = Shadowmage (or so I see). I personally play Affliction. It's a completely different experience than when I play mage and to be honest, my pet has little to do with anything for the most part other than he can grab 2-3 mobs at a time while I take 1-2 other mobs. PvP and instances are different as I make less use of a pet. Solo leveling, however, my battles go like this: Send pet to grab mob. Curse, corruption, syphon life (all insta-cast dots). While pet handles that mob, I'll immolate (cast ime) a new mob, then DoT up and proceed to drain tank. I don't spam 3 second cast spells. Food/water is a waste of bag space because of virtually no downtime.

Once again, this is from a leveling point of view and I am an aff lock/fire mage. When I want to blow stuff up, I play mage. When I want to control the fate of others, I play lock.

ALSO: I find lock a lot of fun in PvP. I'm not a huge "ZOMG FEAR EVRYTHNG I C" lock though. My favorite part is that yeah, I'm going to get 1-shot ambushed by a rogue at some point, but I can still run by and DoT up half the opposing faction before anyone notices me :)

Great information and insight from both sections, thanks a lot! I'm leaning towards Mage, for the sole reason that honestly Locks seem like a more powerful class, and I enjoy a challenge. But I might roll a Lock when my Mage hits 30 or so, and get a taste for both before taking one to 70.

Thanks again!!