Each week Dominic Hobbs brings you Blood Pact. “Oh how I love the feel of it, the way it burns your skin and weaves evil thoughts through the mind…” ~ Impsy

With patch 3.3 looking evermore imminent and the changes to warlock talents and spells seeming to have settled down, it’s a good time to take a look at what we can expect from the next expansion. This isn’t going to be a review of the fights and encounters in Icecrown — though I’m sure we’ll get to that at some point — this is a look at how our various raiding builds have changed.

I’ve already reported on most of them as they hit the PTR in previous articles, so I’m not going to dwell on the changes themselves. You can read up on this detail here, here, here and here. I wouldn’t say that lock talents are broken at the moment but it certainly seems as if we’re left little option when it comes to raiding. You have destruction for damage and a demonology bi… err… buff spec. The overriding impression I have looking at the patch 3.3 changes is that there will be more choice to play the spec you like. Something we’ve not had for a very long time.

After the break I’ll list the changes from the patch notes for reference and then we’ll get down to how that shakes out.

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Each week Dominic Hobbs brings you Blood Pact. A journey into the shadowed side of your magical being, taking in all the sights from the dark heart to the withered soul. Where we learn the true price of power.

In the last ‘Meet the minions’ we looked at how to control your summoned demon and had a good look at the imp. This time we are showcasing the voidwalker and learning what threat is all about. Knowing how to make sure the enemy leaves you alone and hits someone (or something) else is a key ability in the game and the voidwalker is the ideal tool for learning it.

Your voidwalker is a tank. You usher him to the fore and while he keeps your target busy, you destroy them with shadow and flame. I tend to think that the image of a voidwalker is pretty bland, the other demons are much more evocative. Despite this the voidwalker is probably the most evil of minions to use on your enemies. It will reach into their minds and cause such anguish that they will desperately try to beat away this monster. This affords the warlock all the time he needs to safely curse and corrupt their bodies with exquisite slowness and care.

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