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So, I hit level 10 on my Warlock character, Wibbles.  Unlike the imp spell, in order to get the Voidwalker pet you need to complete a  quest. There was no clear indication of where you needed to go however, or even that you were required to complete a quest in order to get the Voidwalker.

I found out from reading various message boards, but it would have been far better if there were some in-game indication for such an integral part of the Warlock repertoire.

As a Gnome, the quest required me to travel to Stormwind to visit the Warlock Trainer there.  This trainer started me off on the first part of the quest into the surrounding countryside to kill an NPC and return an item to the warlock trainer. This was a difficult quest, as the hut in which the NPC was located was surrounded by several level 6 to 8 bandits.

The NPC herself was protected by two bodyguards, so the fight involved you somehow clearing the surrounding area of bandits so you would not get jumped, and then somehow defeating all three NPCs.  This wasn’t easy, and I almost gave up thinking that I needed a group. However, I had already run so darn far and cleared the surrounding bandits that I didn’t feel like waiting. So I persevered. Accompanied only by my pet Imp, Chomir, I cast several D.O.T.S on the primary NPC whom I had to kill, and then instructed Chomir to attack one of the advancing bodyguards. Meanwhile, I ran like crazy for a nearby river which was unfortunately crawling with hostile murlocs.

After I returned from the graveyard, which was itself a long trek, the primary quest NPC was still dead. I ran quickly to the body, which unfortunately had fallen close to the door of the hut and within aggro range of the two NPCs inside, and stared looting. This allowed me to recover the magical choker that was required. I now had to turn my attention to the two bodyguards that were attacking Chomir. A Fear, then a few damage over time spells such as Corruption and Immolate soon had them chasing after me. I made a desperate run for the river again, and managed to take them down…but unfortunately I drew the attention of several now respawning bandits.

The trip from the graveyard back to the NPC inside Stormwind was a shorter one. Once he got the Choker, he sent me on another quest to subdue a summoned Voidwalker. This second part of the voidwalker quest is a bit tricky since you need to go down some stairs behind the NPC, which I did not find readily apparent from the quest dialogue. Eventually after making your way through an unnecessary maze of rooms (how about a straight path to the summoning room!) you find yourself in a room with another acolyte and an odd pink symbol on the floor. Chomir and I managed to quickly dispatch the voidwalker, which clearly was not up to the regular strength of a summoned Voidwalker. I am certainly not complaining about this fact at all , though!

  At the end of the quest, I gained the ability to summon a VoidWalker. See my fearsome blue marshmellow : THANNOS!

I also got introduced to the idea of SoulShards. SoulShards take up a slot in your inventory, and you need them for summoning Voidwalkers, Succubi (another Rogue pet you get later) , healthstones and other Warlock goodies. They are quite easy to obtain. You cast Soul Drain on any creature that would give you XP, and if it dies while you are Soul Draining it , you get a soulshard in your inventory. This means that if you are ever in need of soulshards just go find something lower in level and easily kill it, and get a soulshard. You’re not required to face off against equal or even higher level opponents to obtain them. 

So how is playing with the Voidwalker? Quite different from the scrappy fights I used to have with Chomir, the imp. Thannos isn’t able to deal out much damage, but he has high armor that reduces the damage he receives by about 30%. A Warlock relies on spells that deal damage to opponents over a period of time, say 5 damage every second for 10 seconds or something similar. So the fact that Thannos can stand there and take hits and the attention of opponents from my fragile Warlock gives my D.O.T spells time to work and defeat whatever we’re fighting.Between my D.O.T spells and Thannos’ armor we can probably handle about two to three even level opponents at a time, with me making use of Fear to have one or more of the opponents flee in terror, further giving my D.O.T spells the time they need to work. My Warlock can also cast Shadow Bolt, which does damage immediately to an opponent, but takes nearly 3 seconds to cast.

All in all, the Voidwalker is a game changing addition to the Warlock’s repertoire. Before you give up on playing the class you need to get to Level 10 and experience the gameplay with the Voidwalker, as this will be your style of play for most of your Warlock’s gameplay. I suspect things will change again when you get your Succubus at level 20. I’ll report back soon on play with Wibbles in the future as the character progresses, but for the moment I would say that the Warlock is a solid choice for Solo play, however it requires some thought and maintenance in the form of Soulshards, use of Fear and understanding of Curses and Damage Over Time spells. It isn’t a totally hands free character class, but then neither is the Hunter.