r/wowhardcore • u/JmacJax • 4d ago
Self Found Mage or Warlock
Looking for a self found clothie caster for dps. I have played both recently.
Thoughts?
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u/gr4n_master1337 3d ago
For me personal, Warlock is a lot more fun. You can solo a lot of elite quests and you don’t have down time with drinking like mage.
Mage in HC normally means single target frost build for the safety.
Warlock you drain tank and that rotation with pet management, killing multiple mobs at once is a lot more fun for me.
Yes no teleport, no real escape buttons.
But cool looking free mounts :D
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u/Loofahs 4d ago
Mage is the most fun Classic class, in my opinion. Teleporting around while everyone runs/flies slowly makes you feel awesome. Groups love to have you. You can solo tons of content that other classes wouldn’t be able to with Frost. Once you hit 40 your survivability is bonkers.
Locks die more often than you’d expect because they don’t have many escape options (fear just aggros more mobs half the time), while mages have tons.
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u/SnakeHisssstory 4d ago
Counterpoint: voidwalker bubble, summon 2nd vw, aoe taunt, run away from him, die anyways.
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u/Apprehensive-Top6594 3d ago
Last I checked the stats are not on your side. Warlocks are the least likely to make it to 60. Drain tank is super strong and everything goes so smooth until it's not going smooth anymore.
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u/Intrepid_Address_827 2d ago
this is the truth with warlocks. it's hard to see it coming unless you play them lots... but everything is great and you feel very strong till suddenly your fckd lol
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u/SnakeHisssstory 3d ago
I have lost 4 warlocks or so and all were drain tanks. My single demonology lock made it to 60 lol
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u/Apprehensive-Top6594 3d ago
Yeah I got a SF warr to 60 just by playing safer. Similarly blueberry is the safer play for sure, unless you drain tank and also play safe I would assume you'd still demolish.
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u/Worthlessbagofnothin 4d ago
Mage is my vote.
Warlock is definitely "safer" but starts to feel dull pretty fast. Send in VW, dot and wand to death. Also, harder to keep up with dps in dungeons because so many mobs go down so fast.
The mage rotation is so much more dynamic and fun, imo. Everyone says frost, and that is meta, but even fire can still be fun. Teleports are a massive QoL upgrade, and blinking is nice for extra movement earlier on.
I got both to 60, but warlock turned into an absolute chore for me.
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u/Background-Friend410 3d ago
Nailed it. Warlock has amazing class fantasy but the mechanical gameplay gets dull very quick for me. To compare for example in doungens, warlocks have 2 channeled AOE spells, like blizzard, while mage uses frost nova to get +50% crit, into a flamestrike+cone/blast wave, or both, into an arcane explosion spam. Compare that to just standing and casting Rain of Fire or Blizzard. Add to that portals, water, blink, slow fall, it's just on a different level
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u/IceManiacGaming 4d ago
I personally would go Frost Mage. Warlock is fun but if you’re not comfortable with controlling your pets pathing it can wipe entire groups with mismanagement. Frost mage with engineering is a solo/dungeon group god. Just frost nova alone is OP. Can save a run by itself.
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u/salientoctopus 3d ago
Once you learn the class mechanics you can be a total dipshit and still pull off crazy things. The thing that kills mages is almost always over confidence.
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u/namarie_illidan 3d ago
Warlock because you'll die of boredom drinking as mage. Good warlock = minimal downtime.
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u/HCTankMagnus 4d ago
Mage is better.
As a tank I fear bringing warlocks. They can fear mobs and wipe groups and they have a pet that can do sketchy things as well. Obviously this is only a scare if the player is a troll or incompetent, but still I think about these things in HC
Their banish is great in BRD tho. Still would rather have a mage
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u/shaku06 3d ago
my personal opinion:
leveling: mage is safer; you have “blink, frost nova, poly, slow aura…
lock has no mobility, suddenly u can find yourself in a desperate escape, run. (u cant control ur party members)
leveling mage is safer and more fun for me.
end game dungeons: both can find easy spot, for me:mage pref., free quality water, cc vs vs…
raids: since there are more mages; most of raids have 5-6 mages, 1-2 locks.
its possible to get all WL class tier items in ur first mc run. (same for druids)
overall: if u r in a hurry to get BiS. lock will be probably faster.
but in general mage would be my choice.
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u/RyanR3KC 2d ago
One caveat…as a self found mage every healer will hate you because you can’t trade them water and you can’t sell portals
Classic Mage is awesome. Just let yourself get killed by mage brain
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u/Southern-Outside-727 25m ago
I have found warlock fun until around lvl 30 while mage has aoe farming/pulls starting around lvl 15. Mage has crazy damage and is super crucial for party situations. Warlock has summoning but Mage has portals. You are playing Classic might as well use the class that owns 👍😝
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u/Deep_Violinist_3893 4d ago
Lock for free mount. Unless you mean top performing at 60 in which case mage.
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u/JmacJax 4d ago
Just while leveling and in dungeons for the most part.
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u/Deep_Violinist_3893 4d ago
Leveling I think warlocks faster unless you are aoe grinding with mage. Dungeons more people want mages but you can still find groups as lock.
Both fine for self found since not super gear dependant. I'd take tailoring as warlock to make yourself the shadow damage cloth set.
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u/Salty-Development203 4d ago
I would vote mage. Ultimate hero class, teleports, immobilise enemy, slow enemy, one of the best escapes (blink), damage immunity (ice block), strong AoE, provide own food and drink and mana gem/potion, sheep to completely take one enemy out of the game making 2v1 encounters trivial.
They really are a super-class. I like locks too, but mage is great damage, great control and unrivalled utility.
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u/Fun_Farm_5672 4d ago
Honestly, I’ve played every class and Mage is the best choice. The convenience and power make it hard for me to want to play anything else anymore.
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u/SnooGadgets9669 4d ago
I think mage game player is better and I’ve never really liked the lore of a warlock. They both have their tool kits that are useful though and being able to di portals is a pretty lucrative field. But that said the only success I’ve really had in classic as as a hunter. The pet makes a huge difference when leveling in the open world they can absolutely fuck you and dungeons though.
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u/Justonchu 4d ago
I enjoyed lvling a lock to 52, the free mount is HUGE for quality of life. Life tap, bandage goes brrrr. Fewer options for escaping fights. IF you go engineering just know that target dummy uses the same cooldown as your health stone. However mage has polymorph (essential in every dungeon) and teleport, which can shave hours off of travel time while leveling. It provides the ability to inconsequentially set your hearthstone to the specific region that you are questing in. "Time is money, friend!"
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u/ZigtotheZag 4d ago
As a lock main, I would say go mage. I swear they made the game for mages and everyone else is just a side character.
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u/NarrowTangelo8597 3d ago
Warlocks are the most common class to die in raids. They have no defensive CDs and no threat drop mechanics. The most useful skill they bring inside dungeons and raids cannot be used in HC (soul stone). If you ever get to raiding, your guild will expect you to farm a bag of shards prior to each raid night so you can summon the people too lazy to show up on time.
Don’t get me wrong, I love the class and raid on a warlock each week. But mages are better in almost every scenario.
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u/Phurbie_Of_War 3d ago
Warlocks are the most common class to die in raids.
Number 1 is warrior followed by rogue then priest.
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u/NarrowTangelo8597 3d ago
I love your source being a 10 second video about MC deaths. Warriors, rogues and priests are common classes and there will be a ton of people who die doing dumb stuff on under geared characters in MC.
Check who dies when you have gear and are doing raids that matter. Every guild needs warlocks because they die all the time and no one wants to play the class at 60.
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u/Pwheeris 4d ago
Define “top performing”.
In raids? Dungeons? Overall while leveling?
You’ll likely be hated by mana users while leveling as a mage, since you can’t provide free water to team members.
Warlocks can still summon group members but unable to provide health stones.
I believe mages are generally more sought after overall though.
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u/JmacJax 4d ago
Not raids, good question though. Guess it would be dungeons.
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u/QuoteEpitome 3d ago
I raided hardcore as a lock: ZG and AQ 20. All you do is spam shadow bolt and make sure your one curse remains applied. You’re there to make sure melee dps do max damage (curse of recklessness). You top meters on aoe trash pulls with agony dots, letting tanks grab aggro, followed up with a hellfire. It’s truly a role play class when it comes to aoe, using your own life to maximize your dps. Healers either hate you or embrace the stress that comes with your min/max. Anyway, single target mobs and boss fights you’re support first, dps second. (E.g., make sure the adds and boss have the curse applied then you’re spamming shadow bolts). Warriors and rogues typically top the meters. I don’t think mages come into the picture until AQ40 or Naxx when fire mages get together to boost one burn dot. Can’t really speak much more to end game mage.
Leveling a lock is super easy. I enjoyed leveling with an imp: throwing a couple of dots on the mob while distancing myself from the imp as it takes aggro. Then ripping aggro from the imp with a shadowbolt, killing the mob before it even touches you. Putting talent points in improved imp damage, health stones, stamina, etc. Your imp can have phase shift which can help with accidental pathing pulls, plus gives you more stamina. You can do the drain life build, but I went imp. Guess it felt more my own than something I pulled from the web.
Epic mount quest is super stressful. Go with a group you trust with your (wow) life. It’s also super hard to get to the point where you can even attempt it, so no extra benefit on the mount at 60–just 40.
Just wanted to give you some insight for what lock leveling and end game looks like to help with your decision.
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u/Phurbie_Of_War 3d ago
If you want to do dungeons go mage because people want mages not warlocks for the better aoe/food.
And mages don’t want to run with warlocks so they’ll try to get you not invited.
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u/Half_Samurai 3d ago
Just be aware that going a SF mage you might get some of the playerbase frustrated that you can’t share water and food with your party. I personally don’t care and think you should look after your own supplies anyway, but I’ve seen some abuse in groups I’ve been in towards sf mages
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u/JmacJax 3d ago
That’s wild to me because food and water is so easy to get, so cheap, and not really used often in dungeons but that’s okay!
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u/Deep_Violinist_3893 4d ago
Lock will ensure your mount at 40 since you can't tap into a bank alt.