Warlock/Guide

Support/Teamfight
Warlock is generally played as a position 3/4 support, due to his lack of nukes and the long cooldown on his ult. His main purpose is to counter-initiate with a --> --> combo, and to help push or split push with his golem. Support Warlock is a good and/or  carrier, due to his low mana pool and mechanism's ability to help both his team and his golem.

Ganker
In some games, Warlock can be a ganker capable of punishing enemy supports or even carries, with help from his team. His abilities can be utilized to prevent enemies from escaping from his golem and other team members assisting in the gank. Generally this is only possible when enemies do not have gap closing abilities or items. Players who go this route generally go -->, due to the long cooldown on the ult, and the need for mana.

Ability Builds

 * This build allows Warlock to attack enemy heroes on his own, though he helps less with damage in team fights due to the focus on upheaval instead of fatal bonds.
 * However, he does prevent enemies from escaping due to the high movement speed debuff Upheaval provides.


 * This build allows Warlock to help with early team fights.
 * However, this build does not provide his team any escape, and he can not prevent the enemy team from escaping.

General

 * When you play Warlock, awareness is key. He does not have a good escape, and can be easily caught by ganks if there is no vision.
 * Warlock can often turn the tide of teamfights due to his many teamfighting abilities, so always carry a and try to get to a team fight as soon as possible if you were not in it initially.


 * Fatal bonds can be cast from 1000 units away, so Warlock does not need to get close to use this.
 * Fatal bonds links enemies based upon the distance from the initial target, so aim near the center of a group of heroes.
 * The shared damage is not reduced by the armor or resistance of the hero that initially took the damage, so it can kill off the enemy team if a high physical damage carry focuses on a high hp/armor enemy hero.
 * The damage has no maximum range, so it prevents enemy heroes from escaping from a fight on low hp if they are linked to a hero still in the fight.
 * Fatal bonds can stack, so you can apply another stack of fatal bonds and have each unit take 50% of the damage that any one of them takes.


 * Shadow word is a heal/dmg over time that is effective in disabling items like or.
 * Offensive shadow words are less effective in the mid-late game, due to the relatively low help it provides the team in comparison to Warlock's other abilities.
 * Shadow word can help Warlock to stay in the lane longer and win the lane, by either casting offensive shadow words so that the enemy heroes are forced to stay back, or to allow Warlock to remain at high hp at all times.


 * Upheaval is not that powerful at level one, so it is not recommended to skill it first.
 * Upheaval gets stronger over time, so it can be used preemptively before a teamfight if you have a low level in it.
 * The main thing to watch out for with this spell is that enemy heroes can cancel the spell by either stunning you or forcing you to run by blinking in, so be aware of the location of the enemy heroes.


 * Be aware that Chaotic Offering has a very long cooldown, 165 seconds, so you may need to wait until a moment in a fight where an AoE stun is helpful.
 * Chaotic Offering can be used in conjunction with to both stun the enemy and prevent them from escaping afterwards. The stun also helps with upheaval by providing a little bit of time for it to grow stronger.
 * The golem has very high regen, so it can regenerate any damage it takes from heroes and be ready to help again if you take it out of the battle for a few seconds.
 * The regeneration can also be used to tank damage from towers, so if you are able to kill an enemy hero with the golem at level six, you can then immediately push the tower. A cast of shadow word can also add to the golem's already considerable hp regeneration.
 * When chasing enemy heroes, it is often best to not attack with the golem but just have it walk alongside the hero, since the golem's deals 30/40/50 dmg per second.
 * When used with and/or, Warlock can summon multiple golems.  is not reduced by the scepter, so ensure that the golems are near as many heroes as possible.
 * also is not reduced by the scepter, and it also does damage in a 300 radius.
 * The golem(s) can also be used to prevent escape in some places, like the stairs south of Roshan or inside the treeline.

Items
Starting items:
 * Healing Salve is generally required in most starting item builds, in order to allow players to stay in lane despite harass damage from the enemy. can replace the utility of  during the laning stage for replenishing small amounts of HP.
 * Clarity is recommended in order to take advantage of Warlock's powerful utility spells when they are needed. A Clarity can guarantee at least one more additional cast of Shadow Word or any of your other spells.
 * Ring of Protection is helpful for protecting Warlock against enemy harass damage, and allows you to build a Ring of Basilius from the Side Lane Shop.
 * Iron Branches should be used to fill out the rest of your inventory, as they are cheap and the attributes they provide can be very useful in the early game. They can be used to complete a Magic Wand, or build Mekansm components.

Early game:
 * Magic Stick is recommended for most heroes. In Warlock's case, his low base strength means that he is relatively easy to kill in the early game, so having the ability to instantly heal yourself for 150 HP is very helpful. The 150 MP also allows you to cast at least one more spell in a teamfight if your mana is low.
 * Boots of Speed are important on any support. In Warlock's case, the flexibility of Shadow Word means that positioning yourself quickly to cast it on an ally or enemy can help to secure a kill on the enemy or save an ally from death.
 * A Bracer provides additional attributes and bonus strength to bulk up Warlock's small base health pool, greatly increasing his survivability in fights.
 * Ring of Basilius is useful for providing armor and mana regen during the laning stage, which aids in survivability and replenishing mana for casting Shadow Word, as well as pushing a lane if needed by turning the aura on. It is best disassembled and the components recycled for use in other items, however, as Warlock's high base intelligence as well as growth ensure that a Sage's Mask is more effective early on due to its percentage-based regen bonus.

Core items:
 * A Magic Wand provides all the benefits of a Magic Stick, as well as additional stats to increase your survivability. Using stored charges can give Warlock enough mana to cast almost any spell in his arsenal, and can often be enough to cast your ultimate if you're low.
 * Arcane Boots are important in aiding Warlock's ability to support his team, on top of replenishing his own mana pool so that he can continue using his spells. As he can already heal his teammates with Shadow Word, replenishing their mana as well as Warlock's ensures that your team is ready to fight at any time, or that your carry can continue farming without having to return to base as often.
 * Aghanim's Scepter should be considered a luxury item if playing a hard support role, but it is also one of the most powerful items that Warlock can purchase, especially when given farm priority. The ability to summon two Golems with can inflict significantly more damage against the enemy as neither  or  have their effectiveness reduced.
 * Due to Warlock's flexible nature and powerful spells, a Town Portal Scroll should always be on hand should it be needed. Warlock's ability to heal teammates in emergency situations and disrupt the enemy formation with his spells should never be discounted.

Situational items:
 * Refresher Orb is a very powerful luxury item in that it allows Warlock to use his ultimate twice, whether it has been upgraded by Aghanim's Scepter or not, as well as double-stack Fatal Bonds since repeated casts will work independently rather than refresh its duration. While it provides immense mana regen to allow more frequent use of spells, priority should be given to increasing the size of Warlock's mana pool should this be purchased, as his ultimate and Refresher Orb's active can cost a total of up to 1175 mana, to say nothing of his other abilities.
 * Scythe of Vyse gives Warlock a much larger mana pool as well as regeneration, and shores up his other stats as well. Its Hex ability allows Warlock to instantly disable an enemy from range, greatly increasing his teamfight potential.
 * Shiva's Guard gives Warlock immense survivability against physical attacks, and increases his intelligence dramatically as well, providing a much larger mana pool and more base damage. The auras allow him to contribute more in teamfights by reducing enemy attack and movement speed, giving him more crowd control, reducing enemies' attack speed, and giving him an additional slow on top of, which does not have to be channeled and can help his Golems to chase opponents.
 * Necronomicon gives Warlock additional strength and intelligence, giving him HP and mana, as well as the ability to summon Necronomicon Warriors to a teamfight, synergizing well with Chaotic Offering. The minions greatly add to Warlock's teamfight contribution as they can be controlled while Warlock himself is channeling Upheaval.
 * Drum of Endurance can be easily upgraded from Bracer, and gives Warlock all-around additional stats. The aura gives Warlock more teamfight contribution, and the active can give his Golem more mobility and damage output.
 * Pipe of Insight is a powerful support item that gives Warlock another tool with which to protect his teammates. The item's active ability can shield allies from magical damage for a short period of time, enough to blunt their initial wave of magic nukes.
 * Mekansm is another powerful support item that synergizes well with Shadow Word, allowing Warlock to heal teammates and keep them in the fight. The all-around attributes and armor help make Warlock less squishy, and his high intelligence growth ensures that he can easily afford the mana cost of the active.
 * Veil of Discord is a useful utility item that boosts Warlock's stats across the board, gives him a large amount of bonus intelligence, and gives him more armor. As already amplifies the power of area-of-effect magic nukes that hit multiple targets, increasing that further by reducing enemies' magic resistance can greatly increase the amount of damage dealt.
 * Octarine Core can be very strong on Warlock in the late game, as it can reduce the cooldown time on his spammable spells and allow him to have his ultimate available on a more regular basis. As well, Warlock can lifesteal from Fatal Bonds damage and an offensively-casted Shadow Word, increasing his survivability in fights.
 * Guardian Greaves is a useful late-game upgrade to Mekansm and Arcane Boots, giving Warlock strong teamfight contribution as well as opening up an inventory slot. The self-dispel allows Warlock to remove debuffs from himself, such as silences that are preventing him from casting his spells.