Every week Elizabeth Harper contributes Blood Pact, where she tries to share the joy of the Warlock class with her fellow players, Warlock or not.


If you asked me, I'd say that pets are an integral part of the Warlock class. But I may be biased -- I do play a Demonology Warlock, which means my pets are more powerful and give me special buffs whenever I have them out. But even if you prefer Affliction or Destruction, you have to admit that pets are a useful asset: they add to our DPS, they can tank, they can buff us, they can crowd control.

But our pets are hardly perfect. In raids, they're fragile enough to often die (except for the Imp, which can Phase Shift and stay out of trouble -- but while it's Phase Shifted, it can't really do anything useful besides provide its Blood Pact buff). And our upper-level pets, the Infernal and Doomguard, are impossible to control for more than a few minutes at a time. In fact, after level 40, the pet aspect of the class significantly tapers off -- we have four (or, for a Demonology Warlock, five) pets that each fill different purposes, but there's nothing new to come, and no exciting skills or abilities to help you on the road to level 70.

So where should Warlock pets go in the future? Read on to hear about their problems and their possible solutions.