Warlock specs and lore

[Cyanu]

It's no secret that back in the day blizzard had never really thought about the nature of magic, the cosmic forces it draws upon and many other lore oriented things

we passed years settling with guesses about such stuff or simply accepting them because they were there since beta, for example what is a shadow priest and how is it different than affliction warlock, or how is destruction warlock different than a fire mage

Legion brought an end to this,we now have things charted: we are users of Fel magic, which represents chaos and entropy, so far so good

but after this retcon does affliction even make sense anymore? i used to thing that destruction was the outlier, why do we even have a mage spec? but after seeing how Fel is literally all about destruction and chaos, now destruction has become the 'default' warlock spec with demo a close second

how does affliction fits into this anymore? why would disciples of the most chaotic and destructive cosmic force end up using almost exclusively shadow magic, slowly corrupting their victims much like a void wielder would do?

affliction spells are supposed to still be fel powered masquaraded as shadow but that makes about as little sense as having affliction throwing around beams of light with small glints of fel taint in it

some will say that affliction dots are more physical in flavour compared to shadow priest dots which are more mental, but isn't fear a mind affecting spell?


is there any lore basis to suport affliction anymore? if so i'd love to hear it

[Gaidax]

The whole specs thing is just a gameplay construction.

Warlocks were always about getting whatever power they could grab their hands on, that did not change one bit.

Fel, shadow, souls, patrons giving weird powers and even necromancy - all fair game, as long as you can master it.

There is so many shadowy, dark power going on, that you can do just about whatever.

[OokOok]

Warlock makes me sad, it's always had so much class lore potential and they wasted it, especially during legion. The very first cinematic warlock was an undead commanding an army of infernals. WC3? warlocks were also all about infernals and summoning undead.
Then we get to WoW where infernal was a useless summon you never used. 17 years later the only spec who uses them is destro of all specs, not demo.. .destro and even then it's a 3min CD.
From a lore perspective Demo is what I imagine a warlock based off Wc3. From a wow perspective it's destro

[Count Zero]

I don't think any lore in Legion or whatever has really erased all the lore from the RTS games -> WoD (and til now). Lots of lore in the green fire chain in MoP also really expanded a lot about the class lore.

Like - from the RTS games until now, the defining element of Warlocks is they seek esoteric knowledge to increase their personal power.

[Selastan]

Disease and curses have always been an aspect of Warlocks. It was the Burning Legion who created the Plague of Undeath that created the Scourge. They used a plague on Draenor that created the Broken Draenei and led to the Red Pox in orcs. Not to mention Fel is entropic by nature, and led to the death of many a planet by its mere use. If anything, Affliction is the most in-flavor warlock spec.

[Albert the fish]

Lorewise we aren't users of fel magic.
We are users of any magic everybody else is too skittish to delve into. That includes void magic but other than that yes, affliction are void locks, destro are fel locks, and demo are mostly shadowflame locks.

[Vimpe]

"Affliction
Affliction warlocks are masters of shadow-touched powers, but unlike shadow priests—deadliest when pushed to the brink of insanity—these warlocks delight in using fel forces to cause intense pain and suffering in others. They revel in corrupting minds and agonizing souls, leaving enemies in a state of torment that would see them undone in due time. Even the most battle-hardened warriors can be deceived, landing blow after blow against the warlock, only to succumb to their suffering as their very vitality is siphoned away by the dark spellcaster."

taken from 'Legion Class preview'

[Aleksej89]

Warlocks do 3 things: shadow, fire and demons.
They do all that by using fel energy which is demonic in origin.
There are many demons that use subtle shadowy magics instead of the raw destruction of the typical fel fire.
For example the Dreadlords were the ones that invented the Necromancy type of magic we see on azeroth (introduced through scourge).

There is a BIG difference between Shadow Priest type of shadow and the Affliction Warlock type of shadow.
Priests get their power from their faith in a powerful being (naaru, old gods etc).
Warlocks get their fel power either through bargains with demons or by forcefully taking it from demons.
Affliction warlocks have nothing to do with Void/Old Gods just like Shadow priests have nothing to do with fel/demonic.

[enigma77]

The way I understand it is the 'shadow' spells of Affliction are basically purple Fel.

[eScar95]

Warlocks do 3 things: shadow, fire and demons.
They do all that by using fel energy which is demonic in origin.
There are many demons that use subtle shadowy magics instead of the raw destruction of the typical fel fire.
For example the Dreadlords were the ones that invented the Necromancy type of magic we see on azeroth (introduced through scourge).

There is a BIG difference between Shadow Priest type of shadow and the Affliction Warlock type of shadow.
Priests get their power from their faith in a powerful being (naaru, old gods etc).
Warlocks get their fel power either through bargains with demons or by forcefully taking it from demons.
Affliction warlocks have nothing to do with Void/Old Gods just like Shadow priests have nothing to do with fel/demonic.

I agree with this reply the most. The Warlock "archetype" in other games, such as D&D, are always making bargains and pacts with usually demonic or eldritch beings. They're not ones to usually practice a form of magic that takes a long time to master. They want power by any meas possible and the specs we have right now, thematically, reflect that really well.

[Shedaar]

Legion brought an end to this,we now have things charted: we are users of Fel magic, which represents chaos and entropy, so far so good

But we aren't EXCLUSIVELY limited to fel?
Demons use shadow magic. Heck, they even use some kind of necromancy.
While fel is the most alluring element for Destruction warlocks you misinterpret the premise of Warlocks - which is growing your power by any means possible - be it enslaving demons, tapping to fel OR using shadow magic.
It's just we don't channel shadow magic by believing in the Naaru or Void lords or w/e, I assume we forcefully take it and manipulate it.

Let me put it like this - if we suddenly found a new magic power source of great potential Warlocks would be the first there trying to use it for their power gain.

[Th3Scourge]

The whole specs thing is just a gameplay construction.

Warlocks were always about getting whatever power they could grab their hands on, that did not change one bit.

Fel, shadow, souls, patrons giving weird powers and even necromancy - all fair game, as long as you can master it.

There is so many shadowy, dark power going on, that you can do just about whatever.

This post here is pretty much where the conversation should end.

Warlock has always been the 'power at any cost' archetype, hence the lifetapping n such (which should come back and give a soul shard for life imo)