Struggling with my identity as an Alliance Warlock. I need help :(

[Potassiumgluconate]

TL;DR: How do you roleplay as an alliance warlock? How do you deal with being a 'good' warlock?

Longer version:

I began my warlock as a human a long time ago. Most quests back then had me just a random grunt, tackling the shitty jobs (sometimes literally). My warlock was an Arathi, specifically with close ties to Alterac. Before the first war he was an Alchemist with an affinity for the dark arts, but ultimately when the orcs invaded he was quick to use his dark skills to undermine the horde. Though approached by demons later with offers of betraying the human kingdoms, or the alliance, my warlock felt that he was more likely to avoid being given orders if he was his own agent.

Burning Crusade is out and my Warlock is loving it. Time to experiment on demons openly, experiment with nether energy, and void energy, and fel energy. Back then he was getting a lot of attention as a demonologist.

Northrend comes along, and now he's getting nervous. He's literally recruited, and gets to skip the line? Thankfully he's excited to explore the titan machines and finally begins experimenting with technology. He also really wants to help kill Kel'Thuzad for giving Hillsbrad warlocks a bad name.

Cataclysm was a low-point. He was caught in Hillsbrad when the forsaken invaded so he drank the blood of Crowley and was forever transformed. Now on top of being a warlock he's struggling with a violent tendency. During this time he really really dived into destruction magic, and got very good at snapping his fingers to get the attention of his enslaved demon.

Mists of Pandaria comes out and he's recruited again and being given all kinds of pats on the head in Lion's Landing for making a difference in the war. Thankfully he can pop off and loot a few Pandaren relics.

Now here is where I'm struggling: here I am in Draenor again, except now we're really seeing some evil demons doing some evil things. In-game I don't see any warlocks working for the alliance that I can take inspiration from. And not only that, I'm apparently a Commander now, and being put in charge of an entire military base/village. I'm struggling with how I can continue justifying being a warlock if I'm apparently some hot-shot alliance hero. Meanwhile my very class it at the crux of all the evil that is going on around me.

How do other warlocks roleplay their allegiance to the alliance? How do you imagine your character reacting to moments where Paladins and Priests are saluting you? Are there any good warlocks we can look up to?

[pharix]

yeah it does feel kind of weird fighting alongside draenei that are all like "FOR THE LIGHT!" while I have a Wrathguard next to me...
draenei death knights are even weirder ;x

[kendro1200]

Look up Hellblazer's Constantine. I've looked at him as a plausible reason why a warlock would be tolerated/accepted within the Alliance.
In the past you could generally get away with, "power hungry mage going dark" or the like, but with WoD and the interactions directly with the Draenei at their height, one really needs a solid reason as to why they don't gut you on the spot.

[Lynneiah]

-spec destruction
-spec Grimoire of Sacrifice
-Congratulations: You're now a 'fire mage' who secretly experiments with some very dangerous kinds of 'fire magic'.

[FeetFeast]

First of all let me just say your Warlock seems a tad Garry-sue, but that is totally off the point.

Anyways, as far as being a "Good" Warlock goes, all you have to do is play under the point of 'fighting fire with fire', that while you may not be totally in moral righteousness, you're harnessing the Legion's power against itself no matter what the self sacrifice is. In the lore, lots of people wouldn't be totally okay with that, but that's the thing you have to accept when it comes to being something like a Warlock.

[Karrosene]

Well in warcrimes Varian was saved by a warlock and her demon. So try to go off that but i honestly have no clue what to do in this situation.

[Aqueous]

TL;DR: How do you roleplay as an alliance warlock? How do you deal with being a 'good' warlock?

Longer version:

I began my warlock as a human a long time ago. Most quests back then had me just a random grunt, tackling the shitty jobs (sometimes literally). My warlock was an Arathi, specifically with close ties to Alterac. Before the first war he was an Alchemist with an affinity for the dark arts, but ultimately when the orcs invaded he was quick to use his dark skills to undermine the horde. Though approached by demons later with offers of betraying the human kingdoms, or the alliance, my warlock felt that he was more likely to avoid being given orders if he was his own agent.

Burning Crusade is out and my Warlock is loving it. Time to experiment on demons openly, experiment with nether energy, and void energy, and fel energy. Back then he was getting a lot of attention as a demonologist.

Northrend comes along, and now he's getting nervous. He's literally recruited, and gets to skip the line? Thankfully he's excited to explore the titan machines and finally begins experimenting with technology. He also really wants to help kill Kel'Thuzad for giving Hillsbrad warlocks a bad name.

Cataclysm was a low-point. He was caught in Hillsbrad when the forsaken invaded so he drank the blood of Crowley and was forever transformed. Now on top of being a warlock he's struggling with a violent tendency. During this time he really really dived into destruction magic, and got very good at snapping his fingers to get the attention of his enslaved demon.

Mists of Pandaria comes out and he's recruited again and being given all kinds of pats on the head in Lion's Landing for making a difference in the war. Thankfully he can pop off and loot a few Pandaren relics.

Now here is where I'm struggling: here I am in Draenor again, except now we're really seeing some evil demons doing some evil things. In-game I don't see any warlocks working for the alliance that I can take inspiration from. And not only that, I'm apparently a Commander now, and being put in charge of an entire military base/village. I'm struggling with how I can continue justifying being a warlock if I'm apparently some hot-shot alliance hero. Meanwhile my very class it at the crux of all the evil that is going on around me.

How do other warlocks roleplay their allegiance to the alliance? How do you imagine your character reacting to moments where Paladins and Priests are saluting you? Are there any good warlocks we can look up to?

Not that hard actually.

One of the previous posters alluded to it with "fighting fire with fire". Essentially, all that is important is HOW you are using your powers and what are their side-effects, not what those powers necessarily are.

If you've ever played Dragon Age, in that game there is a branch of magic called "Blood Magic" that claimed to be evil, bad, heresy etc. all this but ultimately all it does is allow one to use blood to power spells. There is nothing intrinsically insidious about it, it is simply how people TEND to use it that gives it a bad name.

A Warlock in WoW is similar. In essence, all you are doing is using a type of power, it's a tool essentially or a weapon just like a sword. It also includes binding members of an incredibly evil enemy faction to fight for you. That sounds to me, from a tactical point of view, like a win.

The question is how are you using that power? Are you using it maliciously or using it to fight evil? To help your comrades? And heck, even though it's not possible mechanically, from a lore/RP perspective you could even use it to heal Death Knights.

You can go two routes with your character. Either they are steadfast and confident that they're doing good deeds and using an evil power against evil. Or, that your character isn't quite so confident and sometimes questions himself, goes through crises of morality etc. That one is up to you.

Regardless, what matters are your actions. If your actions are good then you are good, even if not perfect. And if your character has been responsible for some significant good deeds then people around you would honour you. Perhaps some would be grudging at first because you're a Warlock but actions speak louder than anything.

[Albert the fish]

Lots of ways. Fighting fire with fire is basically the official reason for horde and alliance warlocks in general.
There are other ways to think about it though.
One way is a pure corrupted lock, you just put on a good happy face but in secret are REALLY into it. Another is the Baali path from WoD, and you believe in minor placations of demons to avoid major wrath.
These are just places to start, and there are many others.

[Deleted]

Warlocks are still in an odd place, lore wise. While they're accepted in the novels (Hell, in Warcrimes they are literally the first line of defence Varian calls on) the only ingame representation of them is that old vanilla quest where you murder someone for knowing where the warlock clubhouse is.

Also, you probably shouldn't take being a commander literally, its one of those instances when Blizz going "This would be cool" =/= Lore

That said, as other people mentioned, you can take the fire with fire approach, or you could take a scholarly approach, you're the expert on demons, etc.

Or if you really want to, you can take the "Go away paladin, at least none of my brothers have done an Arthas recently."

[Deleted]

Look up Hellblazer's Constantine. I've looked at him as a plausible reason why a warlock would be tolerated/accepted within the Alliance.
In the past you could generally get away with, "power hungry mage going dark" or the like, but with WoD and the interactions directly with the Draenei at their height, one really needs a solid reason as to why they don't gut you on the spot.

Maybe because the Alliance isn't a barbaric faction, but upholds justice and fair trial? Hell, they even put Garrosh on trial (and failed, but w/e).

Warlocks are as much part of the Alliance as paladins nowadays. It's true that WoD focuses on non-Warlock alternative for Draenor, but back on Azeroth, things are pretty much going as they always were...with the exception of a destroyed Nethergarde Keep.

[P for Pancetta]

First of all let me just say your Warlock seems a tad Garry-sue, but that is totally off the point.

There are different ways to role play. Most people think the only way to roleplay is to try to fit in with the game as a non-essential character, to create a comfortable and immersive environment for others to play with you. There are also people who roleplay the game itself. Playing the role the game gives you, these people tend to do role play solo or stick with small groups of friends.

[Haven]

Study demons to fight demons. Not knowing them and not utilizing their powers means giving up a whole dimension of battlefield to them. Duh.

[cloudkiller213]

Say if my blood elf paladin would have met you he would bow to such a powerful human, he would distrust you but if I was you I wouldn't let that grt into the way if your a herp and love your job then it doesn't matter you have to stay strong cause it only takes one less sholdier to lose a whole war

- - - Updated - - -

I understand I am I'm in a diffrent faction tecnically but my paladin only cares about ridding the world from the scourge

[Deleted]

If you've ever played Dragon Age, in that game there is a branch of magic called "Blood Magic" that claimed to be evil, bad, heresy etc. all this but ultimately all it does is allow one to use blood to power spells. There is nothing intrinsically insidious about it, it is simply how people TEND to use it that gives it a bad name.

Well, in dragon age is kind of different, first of all not everyone can be a mage but those who are can use any power, mages that use blood from themselves or others not only use blood but call demons with this magic. They get a bit of power for a while but they become vulnerable to possesion and with that it depends what type of demon got to control the mage, that why people fear mages in Dragon age becouse is very easy for this to happen.

On the other hand, in world of warcraft everyone can actually be a warlock but it requires to have a lot of knowledge of magic in general, there are only a few famous warlocks in wow becouse of how hard is to even summon a demon and to make him do what you want. In wow people are not really scare of this magic but know how powerful this can become and how it has been use many times to destroy and corrupt, though I personally think that many see that warlock can be powerfull allies.

[Halyon]

You go the road Will Graham from Manhunter. Someone who uses a skill for the better, even though he could easily use it for heinous deeds instead, constantly balancing on the knife's edge.

[Orloth]

Others above have covered the main points, but one sentence stood out for me:

"In-game I don't see any warlocks working for the alliance that I can take inspiration from."

This has been a constant problem for the Warlock class for most of the game. We got a few minor NPCs in the early class quests who really helped to show what being a Warlock was all about (knowing the Legion, using their power, but never bowing to them, and never becoming them), but we don't get a superhero NPC to really represent us (except Golden's white haired warlock). Every other class in the game has representation among the Azerothian Super Friends, except us (and maybe rogues, I can't think of a Rogue off the top of my head).

Our best class heros are (in my opinion) Illidan and Kanrethad. Illidan affinity for the darker aspects of Sorcery was well known before he deserted to join the Highborne and get his gift of power from Sargeras himself. However, he intended to double cross the Legion by using the Dragon Soul to close the Well of Eternity. In this he partially succeeded (he needed a bit of help as old gods were messing with his brain) and saved the day, but still was shunned and condemned for his original betrayal. He would later go on to create the second Well at Hyjal, be imprissoned for 10,000 years, become a demon, and go crazy.

Kanrethad had a similar arc. Looking at all the available material, he was a talented warlock who was known for his prodigious ability to summon and bind two demons at once. He was present for the death of Illidan and reverse engineered the metamorphosis spell for Demo locks to use. When the Council of the Black Harvest decided to start researching their fallen opponents in the hope of getting the leg up on them (as Warlocks do) he went to Outland with Jubeka to figure out how to Summon and Bind more powerful demons. This is where the story gets hard to track, but we can infer through dialogue that while there, the pair discovered some sort of Legion plot based on the destroyed world of Xerrath. Kanrethad absorbs fel power from (source unknown, possibly Xerrath) to thwart this threat, but is permenently transformed into a demon. When the player warlock summons him back to the Black Temple, he has gone completely insane and power mad and must be put down.

So I guess the answer is: our notable class heroes are the shining examples of what NOT to do as a Warlock. It's the ones that screw up that go down in infamy.

[RigidCannibal]

With my Warlock, I always viewed it as her more interested in controlling demons, not serving them, so it was more beneficial to remain with the Alliance than serve a demon of the legion.