Void Tank

Have a new mission in Warcraft: Void Tanking. They call it "Drain Tanking", which for a Warlock, is sending your Voidwalker out to draw aggro, and then you Health Funnel to keep him up then drain the life you lose from the bad guys. Takes a long time, but that's what you have DOT's for too.

I tried doing Stratholme at level 57 and no dice; just too many skeletons to keep aggro on. However, I just got out of one of the best instances I've ever been in at Blackrock Spire. I've never been there before so I have no idea where to go... and then 2 minutes in our Tank has to leave. BLECH! So, we re-queue and wait a few minutes... In this circumstance is usually when I say 'Ok, its Voidy time!' and go ahead and bring him out. I'm Demonology, so Voidy is pretty substantial, and we start going, with 3 DPS and a Healer; and we kick ass! DPS is letting Voidy (Helthang by name. Yes!) get a good head start (plus DPS consists of a DK and a Warrior, so they can take a hit if Voidy loses aggro) and Heals is just keeping Voidy up and spotting everyone.

We make steady progress just like we had a real tank, until we get to a boss... Some big Ogre guy, don't remember his name... and we Stomp him, no problem! No one dies or even comes close, we just manage things. Everyone is having a blast, and we just keep rolling... until the queue finally comes up (25 minutes! BLAH!). We get a DK tank, and I reel Voidy back in for my Imp.

At this point, we hit a stall... the DK has never DK'd before, and worse, has never Tanked before. I don't mind teaching a guy how if he comes out and says 'Hey, I'm new!'... but this is where the fun dropped off.

But not entirely. This guy is Bad, but a nice guy, so we roll. Its a good thing we had 3 Plate guys with us, because he just could not keep aggro. I waited 3 seconds to do ANYTHING, and I was pulling off of him with AOE spells. So, i spent the remainder of Blackrock (which is VERY LONG) protecting the healer, as we were the only two in the back. I died twice with this new tank, which we never died once with Voidy. Healer would draw aggro, i would Fear them... he would pull more than 2 or 3 and i would Howl of Terror. I saved us from a wipe with that spell when the tank pulled two large groups at once... HP was dropping fast all over, i threw my Soulstone on the healer just to be safe, than ran into the middle and Howled, sending everyone scattering and giving us a few seconds to draw breath... and we finished them off.

Later, the healer was getting aggro again and I howled them away, but then 4 more came for him and i had no howl for 2 minutes. If the healer dies, we all die i figure, so I throw myself at him and hit Hellfire. Drains my HP but does LOTS of damage to everyone around me, drawing all the aggro and letting the healer get back up some HP and get back to work. I, of course, got splattered.

The mobs were still up and fierce, the feared ones came back, and things turned for the worse again. Then, the healer dies. I'm dead, thinking Hell, its a wipe... and then the healer springs back up! At 75% health and mana! Turns out my soulstone was still active on him, and he is able to outlast the remaining horde. Whew!

After we finished the dungeon, I had to admit: As much as i've hated this character leveling up, this was the MOST fun i've had with him... Totally changed my mind about Warlocks.

Being a good player doesn't mean having gear or knowing the instances like the back of your hand: Its about knowing the capabilities of your character, and using them at the right time. I'll never be afraid to pull Voidy out again.

The Angry Man