------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Latest Changelog]
-Increases Upheaval’s cooldown from 20 seconds to 65 seconds.

[Latest Revision]
-Still missing some major parts.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Feel free to contribute in my guide. Any helpful comment, suggestion or query with sufficient justifications and truth can be posted in the guide for more versatility. Such subject will be credited in the Credits Section of the guide.

Take note that this also goes for the FAQ section where common Warlock questions are answered in a simple and easy-to-find manner.

For an easy navigation, use the CTRL+F function in your keyboard. For example to search for [Hero Build-Ups] section, type "III" or "iii" to go directly there. Note that "" is NOT included when you search. In addition, when trying to go to sub-sections, simply type the ordered letter prior to them after the section number. Example, in order to go to [Warlock is a Supporter], type in "IIIA" or "iiia".

Still trying to learn how to make a link inside the text though so please bear with me.

I. Prologue

a. In-Game Background
b. PlayDotA Introduction
c. Archives

II. Hero Details

a. Pros and Cons
b. Hero Statistics
c. Skills Explanation

III. Hero Build-Ups

a. Warlock is a Supporter!
b. Warlock is a Pusher!
c. Warlock is a Warder!
d. Warlock is a Warlock!?

IV. Hero-to-Hero Affiliation

a. Good Allies
b. Bad Enemies

V. Extras

a. Speeches
b. Doodles
c. Screenies
d. Music
e. Videos
f. Replays
g. Spoofs
h. Hall of fame

VI. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

VII. Credits

VIII. Epilogue

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[I. Prologue]
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

----------------------
[a.In-Game Background][IA]
----------------------

Former cultist of the Blacksun, Lannik was among the first of many orcs enslaved by the wretched demons when the Legion's taint befell the lands of Kalimdor - a dire affliction that grew stronger over the years. Mannoroth's sudden and unexpected demise severed this Warlock's ties to demonology, and the absence of its corrupting influenced caused his body to wither onto the verge of death. In exchange for life beyond the grave, he bound a pact with the Lich King. A master of demons and destructive spell work, this warlock delights in tormenting creatures of the Light, extinguishing them like candles until none are alive.

-------------------------
[b.PlayDotA Introduction][IB]
-------------------------

-----------------
[c.Hero Archives][IC]
-----------------

Under construction…

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[II. Hero Details]
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-----------------
[a.Pros and Cons][IIA]
-----------------

Pros:

• Instant attack animation and has good base damage
• High STR gain – lets you tank more and stay intact on lane
• High INT gain – gives you more mana to use Shadow Word efficiently
• Great lane control – can solo due to the effectiveness of Shadow Word to heal constantly
• Item Independent –all skills don’t needed item to work well
• Skills Synergy – 3 skills perfectly synergizes with each other and 1 skill to inflict more damage or aid them
• Has lots of roles possible – he can be a pusher, supporter, warder and/or initiator
• Underrated escape mechanism – I haven’t really seen someone uses Upheaval as means of escape and so I will explain later how imba this skill can be.
• AOE Skills – who will not fear a hero with AOE damage amplifier, AOE super slow and AOE 1-second stun summoning Potatoman with excess cooking oils that pulverizes your skin?

Cons:

• More than ½ of the ultimate’s purpose can be easily countered by 1 charge of Diffusal Blade
• Low AGI Base and Gain stats – this makes you vulnerable to most physical attacks yet countered by high STR gain
• Low CD Skills – all skills do have long cool down and cannot be spammed during a clash. So some pubs and/or occasionally in CG, you will someone walking with Refresher.
• Weak Lategame – his biggest asset is RoC and whenever the game reaches lategame, carries and even semi-carries can kill it easily without taking too much damage. Teamwork is a must during this period to fully utilize his potential.
• Not a newbie friendly. All skills are active and require average microing.

Summary:
Most of his cons are countered with his pros so basically he is an average hero and already balanced. Warlock is usually used in competitive match as an overall contender since he was first discovered. But during this Ages of Agility Heroes (current metagame), his popularity drops suddenly that you will barely see Warlock users even in pubs except when a team goes to a push strategy.

-------------------
[b.Hero Statistics][IIB]
-------------------


Affiliation: INT Scourge
Tavern Location: Midnight Tavern
Matrix Location: 3x3 (column x row)
Base HP: 492
Base Mana: 312
Damage: 46 – 56
Armor: 2.4
Move Speed: 295
Attack Range: 600
Attack Animation: 0.3
Casting Animation: 0.5
Base Attack Time: 1.7
Missile Speed: 1200
Sight Range: 1800/800 (Day/Night)

----------------------
[c.Skills Explanation][IIC]
----------------------

[FATAL BONDS]

Bonds up to 5 enemy units together, causing damage dealt to any of them to be partially felt by the others.

Skill Type: Active
Targeting Type: Unit
Damage Type: HP removal
Mana Cost: 120
Cooldown: 30 sec
Casting Range: 600
Area of Effect: 600
Duration: 25 sec
Allowed Targets: enemy units
Effects: .035/0.075/0.1125/.15 additional damage to linked units
Cosmetic: Purplish bones and cross above linked units, which resemble a pirate’s bone flag

Notes:

• Damage type is HP removal.
It means direct HP removal like Terror Blade’s Sunder and Axe’s Culling Blade. It cannot be reduced by anything so use it judiciously.
• Damage inflicted will not disable Kelen’s Dagger of Escape!
• Each bounces has its own 600 AOE from its preceding source.
Example, Warlock casts fatal bond on <Hero A> from a range of 600. From the position of <Hero A>, fatal bond looks for another target 600 AOE from <Hero A> and jumps to <Hero B>, if possible.
• Fatal bonds priorities heroes as targets.
All heroes will be linked, as long as you can see them all and casted it on a hero. If there are less than 5 heroes linked, FB would look for creeps as secondary targets. The cycle ends if there are no more targets to link with. You could also link creeps under some circumstances like defending and pushing large creeps.
• Fatal Bonds doesn’t link units hidden in fog or invisible.
• Glaive Thrower (Sentinel Siege) or Meat Wagon (Scourge Siege) cannot be linked.

Usage:

• Use to amplify damage taken by the opposite team.
• Use to guarantee damage (HP removal) among 5 linked targets.

[How it looks like]
*Insert image here*


[SHADOW WORD]

A single word causes powerful magic to envelop the target. Creates a healing mechanism on a friendly target or damages an unfriendly one. Does not dispel on attack.

Skill Type: Active
Targeting Type: Unit
Damage Type: magical
Mana Cost: 90/110/130/150
Cooldown: 24 sec
Casting Range: 500
Area of Effect: N/A
Duration: 8 sec
Allowed Targets: ally/enemy organic units
Effects: 10/20/30/40 hit points per second
Cosmetic: A yellowish/reddish aura that continually cloaks downward the unit’s body

Notes:
• Damage is over time (DOT).
• Heals 80/160/240/320 to allied organic units or nukes 60/120/180/240 (considering basic math) to enemy organic units.
• Blocked by Linken Sphere completely on enemies but still functions as usual to allies with it.
• Cannot be casted upon magic immune units.
• Can be negated by Diffusal Blade or Medusa’s Stone Gaze.
• Enemy taking Shadow Word can be denied if the hero’s HP is fewer than 25%.

Usage:

• Use to babysit carries and let them farm to the max.
• Use to nuke low hp hero. But be warned as any witty players could deny their dying ally to deny you exp, gold and another killing streak.
• Use in clashes to heal the one who’s taking a lot of damage.
• Useful against Lanaya. Removes her refraction because it’s DOT-based.

[How it looks like]
*Insert image here*


[UPHEAVAL]

Stirs up inert magic in a target area, channeling the force into a powerful slowing current that grows more powerful with every passing second it's channeled. Can channel up to 10 seconds and up to 84% slow.

Skill Type: Active (Channeling)
Targeting Type: Area
Damage Type: Slow
Mana Cost: 100/110/120/130
Cooldown: 20 sec
Casting Range: 700
Area of Effect: 650
Duration: 3 sec
Allowed Targets: enemy organic units
Effects: 7% /14% / 21% /40% slow
Cosmetic: A combination of yellow-brown anguish faces that ascends from the ground

Notes:

• It is channeling, therefore can be cancelled during cast time.
• The slow will only channel to an amount of 84% maximum and only up to 10 seconds. After that or after units moved out of the AOE, an additional 3 second slow kicks in with a slow equivalent on how much value you channeled when they’re still inside the circle.
Usage:
• Use to slow after landing your ultimate and fatal bond. Therefore, maximizing the effectiveness of the other two skills.
• Use to delay multiple enemies (even creeps/summoned units) either by ganking, supporting or juking!

[How it looks like]
*Insert image here*


[RAIN OF CHAOS]

Calls an Infernal down from the sky, dealing 100 damage and stunning nearby enemies for 1 second. The Infernal lasts 60 seconds, takes reduced damage from spells, has Permanent Immolation and a chance to Pulverize an area on attack.

Skill Type: Active
Targeting Type: Area
Damage Type: magical
Mana Cost: 200/250/300
Cooldown: 165 sec
Casting Range: 1200
Area of Effect: 600
Duration: 60 sec
Allowed Targets: enemy units
Effects: Summons an infernal with average attack/Summons an infernal with powerful attack/Summons infernal with deadly attack
Cosmetic: A golem made of rock releasing rare yellowish green gas from its joints

Notes:

• Magic immune units by any means will still get the 1 sec stun as it is considered an ultimate.
• The falling Infernal will destroy trees. Use it wisely!
• The damage from the fall wouldn’t affect Siege Units.
Usage:
• Use to initiate clash, to gank, to push raxes or to defend towers
• Max utility is obtained when used in major clashes, pushes and/or to defend towers.
• Can be used to block or corner enemies whether by means of chasing or fleeing.

[How it looks like]
*Insert image here*


[Infernal Statistics]

Type: hero/summoned/ancient
Hit Points: 900/1200/1500
HP Regen: 15/20/25
Armor: 5/7/10
Armor Type: Hero
Movement Speed: 320/330/340
Damage: 50-50/75-75/100-100
Attack Type: Chaos
Attack Range: Melee
Attack Speed: Fast
Base Attack Time: 1.35
Damage point/backswing: 0.26/0.74
Casting point/backswing: 0.3/0.51
Vision day/night: 1800/1800
Acquisition range: 500
Bounty: 100/150/200

[Flaming Fist]

Description: Gives Infernal 40% chance that an attack will deal bonus damage to nearby units.
Ability Type: passive
Area of Effect: 300(full-damage)/350(half-damage)
Damage Type: pure
Effects: 40% chance to deal 75/115/150 damage to all nearby enemy units
Effects: Yellowish-green flame around affected units

Notes:

• Unlike cleave, flaming fist splashes magical damage around 300 radii from Infernal’s position making it versatile early-mid game but starts to lose its quality from late mid-late game.
• There is an extra 50 AOE that deals only half the damage from the Infernal.

[Permanent Immolation]

Description: Burns Infernal’s nearby enemy units for a certain amount of damage per second.
Ability Type: passive
Area of Effect: 250
Damage Type: magical
Effects: Deals 20/30/40 damage

Notes:

• Immolation, where Radiance is based, would not affect buildings and siege units, including Ancients.
• It does not stack.

[Resistant Skin]

Description: Reduces the duration of negative spells and renders the Infernal immune to certain spells.
Ability Type: passive
Area of Effect: itself
Effects: Immune to certain spells

Notes:

• All auras in the game would affect the golem either a buff or debuff.
• Take note that "Immune to certain spells", meaning not all spells would be blocked. A common misconception as I've observed.

[List of Completely Blocked Abilities]

•Infest
•X Marks the Spot
•Inner Vitality
•Transmute
•Dominate
[List of Reduced Abilities]
•

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[III. Hero Build-Ups]
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This section pretty sums up what you're gonna build depending on what role you've chosen or what role-holes you're party is missing. Most likely Warlock best roles are support-type(babysitter), ward-type, or clash/push-type. There is an exception where people rush up *Refresher Orb* to cause double pain in a row and two roaming mustard giants.Depending on this roles, we could easily create a series of items most suitable to the job you've picked.

So basically here's the format:

--------------------
[*Insert role here*]
--------------------

[Skill Build]
*Insert LVL1-25 skill here*
*Insert justification here*

[Item Build]
*Insert core and luxury items here*
*Insert justification here*

[Hero Gameplay]
*Insert early-, mid-, and late-game gameplay here*
*Insert justification here*

--------------------
Viola! It's that easy! So let's get started and go to the main dish.


---------------------------
[a.Warlock is a Supporter!][IIIA]
---------------------------

------------------------
[c.Warlock is a Pusher!][IIIB]
------------------------

------------------------
[c.Warlock is a Warder!][IIIC]
------------------------

--------------------------
[b.Warlock is a Warlock!?][IIID]
--------------------------



------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[IV. Hero-Hero Affiliation]
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------





------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[V. Extras]
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------






------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
VI. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------





------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[VII. Credits]
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------






------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[VIII. Epilogue]
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------