Warlock

Demnok Lannik the Warlock is a ranged intelligence hero who possesses many powerful teamfight spells capable of inflicting chaos upon the enemy team. Shadow Word is a highly versatile spell, as it allows him to support allies by healing them or harass enemies by dealing damage over time, giving him strong lane presence. Beyond the early game, Warlock can turn any teamfight in his team's favor as his other spells are strong when unleashed against multiple enemies. Fatal Bonds causes all enemies linked together to take bonus damage when one of their number takes damage, magnifying the strength of area-of-effect spells, while Upheaval can allow him to greatly slow any enemies caught in the radius of the spell, making it harder for them to maneuver in fights or escape. His ultimate, Chaotic Offering, summons a Golem after stunning all enemies in a wide area, allowing him to throw them into disarray. While unassuming and weak by himself, Warlock is a dangerous threat in any teamfight as his spells allow him to turn the enemies' numbers against them and sow chaos amongst their ranks.

Tips

 * Warlock is renowned as a strong teamfight hero whose spells can shift the tide of engagements against multiple foes. While he does not possess any immediate single-target hard disables or instant-damage nukes, his spells provide powerful area disable and crowd control, making him a dangerous foe in teamfights.
 * Despite being an intelligence caster, Warlock has very respectable strength growth, giving him strong survivability against magic and pure damage nukes. However, he also suffers from extremely poor base agility and agility growth, making him vulnerable to physical damage.
 * Because he relies mostly on casting spells in order to be effective, Warlock should build items that provide him with more mana, mana regen, and mobility. Having a sustainable source of mana allows Warlock to remain active on the map to support his team, and mobility allows Warlock to more easily position to cast his spells. Once he meets his minimum requirements, he can focus on building utility items to help his team, and survivability items to ensure that he does not die before getting his spells off.
 * Keep in mind that Warlock has a very long cast animation, 0.5 seconds on all but Fatal Bonds. This means that positioning and planning ahead are key to using the hero effectively, as his spells take more time to cast than most other heroes.
 * In general, Warlock should be played as a safe lane support hero rather than as a core farmer. Although he can scale better than most other supports due to the nature of his spells, he is more dependent on levels than on gold, so foregoing farm in favor of supporting can still allow him to contribute to his team.
 * is a unit-targeted debuff that allows Warlock to link multiple enemies together to deal bonus damage to each one when one of their allies takes damage.
 * Fatal Bonds is a very powerful teamfight ability, as it can cause area-of-effect spells that hit all bonded units to deal more than twice its listed damage to each foe. While it should not be the first spell that you max out, it should still be a priority spell to level up, and cast as early as possible in a teamfight.
 * Because of its extremely long cast range and short cast animation, Fatal Bonds should be the first spell cast in a teamfight. However, be mindful that it will only bond enemies that are currently visible, so make sure to wait for the right moment in order to catch the maximum number of enemy heroes.
 * Fatal Bonds selects which units to bond based on proximity to the target. Keep this in mind when selecting an enemy to cast the spell on, and try to target it on an enemy in the center of a group of other enemy heroes to maximize the chances of bonding heroes rather than creeps.
 * When deciding at what time to skill Fatal Bonds, gauge how active your team will be in engaging the foe in major teamfights. If you do not expect to encounter 5-vs-5 teamfights early on, then it is safe to level up your other abilities first. However, if the enemy team is employing an early pushing strategy, threatening them with large amounts of shared damage that is magnified by area-of-effect nukes can give them pause.
 * Keep in mind that Fatal Bonds damage is reduced by each individual target's resistances, so dealing reduced damage to an enemy with high armor or magic resistance will not propagate that reduction to other shackled units. However, the reverse also applies, as dealing large amounts of damage to an enemy with little armor or magic resistance will not amplify the damage shared by an enemy that is more resilient.
 * is Warlock's most flexible spell, capable of healing allies or damaging enemies.
 * Shadow Word should be the first spell to max out in most situations, as it can serve as a powerful nuke or a life-saving heal at any point in a match.
 * Shadow Word costs 90 mana to heal/damage 165 HP at level 1, and will consume almost a third of your mana pool to do so. Therefore, it is wise to avoid casting the spell at level 1 if at all possible, as it becomes much more efficient with additional levels.
 * Beware that although Shadow Word can heal a single ally by almost 500 HP, it takes time to do so. Therefore, it should be cast as early as possible when a situation arises, so that your ally is not put in a situation where they might not have enough HP to survive long enough to benefit from the healing buff.
 * Unlike certain healing spells, Shadow Word can be cast on spell immune allies. If an ally has activated their Black King Bar, Warlock can still target them with Shadow Word to heal them if they run into trouble.
 * is a very large area slow with a very long cast range, capable of inflicting an increasingly powerful slow from up to 1850 range away.
 * Despite its long cast range and wide radius of effect, Upheaval's slow takes time to build up, and ramps up very slowly at early levels. Try to avoid channeling the spell unless it is at least level 2 or 3, as it is otherwise a waste of mana.
 * Keep in mind, Upheaval becomes stronger based on how long it is channeled, not how long an enemy was standing in it, and that the slow sticks on the target up to 3 seconds after leaving the area. Because of this, it is more effective to preemptively channel Upheaval where the enemy wants to pass through to give it time to build up, rather than casting the whirlpool on top of a foe's current location, since they can simply walk out of the whirlpool before they can be slowed too much.
 * Upheaval can be used as a ganking disable once it has at least two points put into it, and combined with a leading stun to give the slow time to build up. Provided that Warlock's teammates have enough damage output, slowing the enemy down can be much more beneficial than attacking with right-clicks.
 * Be sure to take advantage of Upheaval's long cast range whenever possible. The enemy will be sure to attempt to disable you to interrupt the channeling, however you can make this much harder for them by forcing them to find you first. You can shield yourself behind teammates, from inside the treeline or on high ground, and even cast it from an unexpected direction so that they search in the wrong place.
 * Upheaval's primary use comes right after initiating or counter-initiating with Fatal Bonds and Chaotic Offering, as Warlock can use the slow to greatly hinder enemy heroes' ability to escape while the Golem attacks them. The enemy may choose to expend one of their disables to interrupt the channeling or choose to try to focus down Warlock while he is vulnerable, so make sure to position appropriately. Self-casting Shadow Word prior to channeling can also aid in survivability during Upheaval.
 * In a pinch, Upheaval can be used to cover retreats, or for area denial. Casting the spell on an area that the enemy wants to traverse can give them pause, as walking into an active Upheaval will slow them down much more than if it was cast on top of them. This can be useful for giving teammates space to run away, or for preventing the enemy from entering an area that they wish to go (such as pushing up high ground into your base, or into/out of Roshan's pit).
 * Beware, Upheaval is a percent-based movement speed slow, and as such can be ignored by certain abilities such as, , , and so on. Be sure that you know what abilities the enemy has that can ignore Upheaval's debuff, and plan accordingly.
 * is Warlock's most powerful teamfight spell, as it will stun all enemies in the impact area, through spell immunity, and summon a Golem to do his bidding.
 * Because of its wide area and long cast range, Chaotic Offering is best cast when the enemy is grouped up and trying to deal with Warlock's teammates. Interrupting the enemy's actions will give allies an opportunity to land further nukes and disables.
 * Fatal Bonds is a strong complement to Chaotic Offering, as both spells have similar cast ranges. Inflicting the enemy with Fatal Bonds can magnify the amount of damage the Golem deals with Permanent Immolation and Flaming Fists due to the area-of-effect nature of both abilities.
 * It can be useful at times to cast Shadow Word on the Golem, in order to heal it and prolong its lifespan. The longer the Golem is alive, the more damage it can deal.
 * When chasing fleeing heroes with your Golem, do not stop to attack them. Instead, keep it moving with them, so that the Permanent Immolation can do its damage.
 * Do not let the Golem die needlessly to the enemy, since its gold bounty is quite high. If it is the last remaining unit for your team in a fight, have it flee unless you can ensure a kill. Having it die against creeps or towers is better than allowing an enemy hero to last-hit it.
 * Warlock's flexible nature allows him to build a variety of items as his team needs.
 * As noted earlier, Warlock should generally carry at least some of the support duties on his team. This means that, , , , and other support items such as and  should all take priority.
 * synergizes well with Shadow Word, as it performs many of the same roles and augments Warlock's flexibility further. It is a strong utility item to build if you do not intend on buying a Bracer, as the strength and mana regen benefit Warlock greatly.
 * , and its upgrade, have a myriad of uses for Warlock. As a ranged support he can use it to assist his carry from a distance either by placing the debuff on an enemy or by placing the buff on an ally. The same can be applied to the Golem, either to extend its survivability or weaken its target. Finally, it can be used on Roshan to help your team kill him faster.
 * is a good utility item on any support hero, and is no exception for Warlock. It can allow Warlock to get in position to cast his spells, and has utility in re-positioning teammates as well as displacing enemies, and can even be used on your Golem to help it to chase fleeing enemies.
 * can be helpful if Warlock is constantly being focused down by the enemy's physical right-clickers. Using Ghost Scepter's active can shield Warlock from physical damage for some seconds, allowing him to cast his spells as needed.
 * is a useful mid-game utility item that provides a strong teamfight aura. The aura gives Warlock and his allies additional armor and passive HP regen, as well as increased damage and lifesteal. These bonuses benefit the Golem as well, increasing its survivability to get more use out of your ultimate.
 * , built up from the Energy Booster component of Arcane Boots, greatly improves Warlock's ability to get off his spells in teamfights. The cast range increase further augments his already formidably long cast ranges, allowing him to cast his spells from complete safety behind his team, where the enemy will be unable to catch him.
 * can be useful to purchase if you intend on casting Upheaval frequently. As Warlock often has to channel the spell for at least a few seconds for it to reach full potency, hiding yourself from basic sight can increase your safety and keep the enemy guessing on your location, as the spell's cast range allows you to employ the spell from a fairly safe distance and an angle of your choosing.
 * Upgrading Shadow Amulet into a can give Warlock more utility at the cost of less effective cover while channeling Upheaval. As Warlock can channel Upheaval for up to 16 seconds, purchasing a Glimmer Cape prevents him from remaining invisible for the entire duration as it only lasts for 5 seconds. However, it provides utility in that it can be cast on allies to help them initiate, or protect an ally from magic nukes for a short period of time. It can also be cast on your Golem to increase its survivability against any magic nukes the enemy may use to try to kill it.
 * is a useful utility caster item that is also cheap to build. It improves Warlock's mobility via increased movement speed, allowing him to more easily position to cast his spells, and provides intelligence and mana regen to improve his ability to cast his spells. The active can give him a hard-disable to use against enemies, or can be used on himself to provide temporary invulnerability while removing debuffs (such as silences that are preventing him from casting his spells).
 * is a strong item to purchase on Warlock. The increased health pool gives him more survivability, while the increased intelligence gives him additional base damage and a larger mana pool to work with. The active synergizes with his ability to cast his spells at extremely long range, slowing enemies from long distances and making them easy prey for his Golem or pinning them down for Upheaval.
 * is a strong utility item that allows Warlock to use the enemies' targeted spells against them. The item provides HP and mana regen as well as armor, giving Warlock more survivability and keeping his HP and mana topped up. The active can be cast on Warlock himself, one of his team's carries, or his Golem, discouraging the enemy from using their targeted nukes and disables.

Trivia

 * In DotA, Warlock's ultimate is named Rain of Chaos and the summoned unit was called an Infernal, a hulking golem with green-colored flames. Both names were changed in the transition to Dota 2 to avoid copyright conflict.
 * Warlock is related to and, as he comes from the Oglodi tribe.
 * Warlock's response Warl death 11.mp3 "Just for that, I'm unfiending you." when killed is probably a play on "Unfriending you" an action in the popular social network Facebook where a person removes another from their friend list.
 * The response Warl respawn 11.mp3 "Bloodied but unbowed" when respawning is a reference to William Ernest Henley's poem "Invictus".
 * Fatal Bonds' sound effect is based on this Warl incant 24.mp3 otherwise unused voice line.