Warlock

"Harnessing dark magics, the Warlock is a medium-ranged caster that relies on empowered Talismans—floating supernatural writings that can be consumed or unleashed to great effect—to protect or attack. Through their Talismans they primarily focus on summoning visceral and nefarious restraints and weapons, like spikes and chains.

While the Warlock can be considered a glass cannon, they have a number of ways to keep their enemies at bay, not the least of which is their ability to summon a giant demonic Thrall to finish off their enemies. By keeping enemies at a distance, marking them with limited-time debuffs, and mastering their lengthy ability cooldowns, a Warlock can be a difficult—but rewarding—martial art to master.

Their flamboyant attitude is matched only by their deadly cunning, but catch a Warlock off guard and their cocky expression could be wiped from their face; just keep an eye out for the giant demon."

- Official Class Description

Warlock is the eighth class to be added to Blade and Soul.

The Warlock (Shaman) class is designed for mid-range combat, as they use talismans that they infuse with magic to use as projectiles, spells, or summoning.

As of the most recent update to this page, the Warlock class is available on Korean, Chinese, North America, Europe and Japanese servers for Blade and Soul. As seen in the trailer for the Warlock class, the Warlocks also have binding abilities which surround enemies and do damage in pulses.

There are also some abilities that are reminiscent of lightning.

The final main feature of the Warlock class is that they are able to summon apparitions that will deal most of the physical damage for a Warlock, and serve as a distraction to the bosses and mobs, thus minimizing damage to the Warlock or teammates.

At first glance, this will feel as though it takes a cue from World of Warcraft, and there are some similarities, but Blade and Soul maintains a unique playing style separate from other MMOs. The Warlock class is available to Jin and Lyn characters.

The main weapon for the Warlock is a Razor; however, they are more often seen using spell tags that float around them during combat.

Suggested Skill Rotation
The basis of all Warlock skill rotations is to maintain an even stream of the skill conventionally bound to key "4". This is Dragoncall for Distortion (Ice) warlocks and Dragon Helix for Scourge (Shadow) warlocks. All other skills can be considered support skills for maintaining this damage output. As a matter of fact, you will notice that the skill that deals the most damage is not the Awakened form (i.e. Soulburn form) of either "4" skill, but rather the non-awakened form. Keep this in mind, as Soulburn can be important but it is even more important to maintain your rotation. Any interruption can mean a slow climb back up to your former 'damage per second' (DPS).

Distortion (Ice)
For Ice, there are two distinct sub-rotations in the main rotation. The first is the damage-dealing rotation centered on Dragoncall ("4"). This rotation will contribute almost up to 70% of your damage. The second is the life-stealing rotation centered on Wingstorm ("V"), which is useful for transitioning the warlock class from "glass cannon" into something more normal and largely allows warlocks to rapidly regain HP from attacks where most other classes would struggle to recover from(i.e. at lower levels, Koldrak's flame sweeping skill, at higher levels Iron Conqueror's dance and conduction combo).

The first and foremost benefit to an ice warlock's DPS is simply outputting as many Dragoncalls as possible. In the skill text, it states that on a critical hit a new Dragoncall will become available for usage. As you can imagine, this has a magnifying effect, as a previously cast Dragoncall will sustain itself in the rotation so long as you continuously critical hit with it. That is to say, a Dragoncall that becomes available from a critical Dragoncall does not disrupt the underlying cooldown of an additional Dragoncall. This can cause the skill to be almost continously cast-able as new Dragoncalls become available for casting when the underlying cooldown resets. Note that the Wingstorm rotation is of secondary priority. If the cooldowns for the Dragoncall rotation do not allow for any of the skills in the Wingstorm rotation to be easily used, then do not worry about missing out on any skill procs from the Wingstorm rotation.

If there is a Warden or Warlock in the party and soulburn is immediately used, begin with the following:

Dragoncall ("4") -> Soul Shackle ("2") -> Wingstorm ("V") -> Imprison ("3") -> Wingstorm ("V") -> To Mid-Combat Rotation

There is no need to Leech or proc the Siphon effect, as Soulburn is simply a stronger version of Siphon and the duration of all the accessory procs should not be wasted on the animation-locked Leech skill. Soul Shackle is used to proc the bracelet buff, which will greatly enhance the damage output of Dragoncall. Imprison will reset the cooldown for Wingstorm, allowing for a double-usage.

If there is a Warden or Warlock in the party and soulburn is not immediately used, begin with the following:

Soul Shackle -> Leech -> Dragoncall -> Wingstorm -> Imprison -> Wingstorm -> To Mid-Combat Rotation

As soulburn has not been started yet, it is important to begin some form of sustainable Dragoncall loop, so Leech will do until Soulburn is used.

Scourge (Shadow)
To Be Filled

Distortion (Ice)
For the two distinct rotations, use each skill when cooldowns reset. When the time or situation permits, utilize Sanctum ("C"). (Note that healing Sanctum can negate quite a few party CC skills of various bosses and cooldown Sanctum can boost your Dragoncall rotation!)

Dragoncall Rotation: Bombardment ("RMB") -> Dragoncall ("4") -> Loop

When available, use Soul Shackle ("2") to maintain the bracelet buff. When outside of Soulburn, use Leech to continue the Dragoncall loop.

Wingstorm Rotation: Wingstorm ("V") -> Imprison ("3") -> Wingstorm ("3") -> Loop

In general, it is possible to fit two or three Wingstorms between each usage of Imprison. Keep in mind that this rotation is of secondary priority to the Dragoncall rotation.

When the rotations permit, fit in any party buffs as possible (i.e. Soulburn or Time Distort).

Scourge (Shadow)
To Be Filled

Soulburn and Time Distortion (TD)
If there is a warden in the party, do not Soulburn. Wardens receive an additional buff on top of soulburn specific only to their class, whereas warlocks are less affected. To maximize DPS in a party, always allow the warden to Soulburn. If you are a Distortion warlock, switch to Time Distortion, as this will not have a major effect on your rotation. However, if you are a Scourge warlock, this will negatively impact your Spectral Orb generation and will greatly decrease your DPS, so do not use TD.

When using Time Distortion, prioritize placing them over Wind Summoners, Blade Dancers, Blade Masters, and Gunslingers, as all of these classes are fast attackers and will greatly benefit from cooldown resets.

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* A big thanks to the BnS Academy Discord server, particularly those who manage the pins.