[banheegg]

Warlocks don't have a true niche in World of Warcraft. (We're not

alone in this.) Like in virtually any RPG that has been influenced

by D&D, there are four core classes. Warriors take the hits; Rogues

sneak & deal damage up close; Mages deal damage and nasty effects

from afar; Priests heal.

Like most RPGs, WoW also has its share of hybrid classes. Paladins

fit between a Priest and a Warrior. A Druid fits somewhere between a

Warrior, Rogue, and Priest. A Shaman fits somewhere between a

Warrior, Mage, and Priest. A Hunter fits in somewhere between a Mage

and Warrior.

Naturally, the Paladin, Druid, Shaman, and Hunter can't fill the

niche of their "base" classes as well as the base classes

themselves. Paladins don't have the combat prowess of Warriors or

the healing capability of Priests; they are good in these roles, but

not best. The same applies to the Druid, Shaman, and Hunter and the

classes they fit between.

To make up for this, they have their novelties and tricks to make

them unique; Paladins have the best buffs, Shamans have the best AoE

buffs and debuffs in the form of totems, Hunters have the best

support in the form of pets, Druids have the novelty of

Shapeshifting.

Warlocks are a bit of an odd breed, since we don't cleanly fit

between any of the four "base" classes. Instead, we're sort of

between a Hunter and a Mage, with a bit of a Priest in there as

well. Our pets aren't as good as a Hunter's, and we don't hit as

hard as a mage. We certainly don't heal as well as Priests. Our

"unique trick" is debuffs and DoTs, which is by no means a bad

trick.

But here's where the trouble begins. We're worse at surviving than a

hunter and worse at nuking than a mage. This is fine, because a

Hunter doesn't hit as hard as a mage or survive as well as a

warrior; a Shaman or Druid don't tank, deal damage, or heal as well

as their base classes; a Paladin doesn't fight as well as a Warrior

or heal as well as a Priest.

HOWEVER, the four other hybrid classes don't have Soul Shards,

either. They are sub-par in the roles they imitate. Warlocks are

sub-par in many of the roles they imitate, but they also have the

annoyance of Soul Shards.

Soul Shards are present for "balance" reasons. I would understand

this if Soul Shards made the abilities that required them about as

good as the abilities from other classes that they imitate. This is

not always the case. On a spell-by-spell basis:

Soulstone:
What it tries to imitate: Rebirth, Reincarnation, Ancestral Spirit,

Resurrection, Redemption.
Drawbacks: It has a long cooldown, it must be prepared ahead of time

and therefore can't be applied to a dead target.
Advantages: It can be activated in combat, which is shared only by

Reincarnation (which has a longer cooldown) and Rebirth (which has

the same cooldown). It heals for more than any other resurrection

spell, except for Rebirth. Only it and Reincarnation are useful for

preventing party wipes. Only it and Reincarnation are good for

soloing.
Conclusion: It's a hybrid of Reincarnation (usable on self, usable

in combat, wipe prevention) and Rebirth (usable in combat for a

large healing upon resurrection). These spells both have cooldowns

as long (or longer than) Soulstones, and both require reagents.

Thus, the Soul Shard cost may be justified.

Demons:
What it tries to imitate: Hunter Pets.
Drawbacks: Not nearly as powerful as hunter pets. Not as

customizable as hunter pets. Summoned slower than hunter pets.
Advantages: More diverse and situationally more powerful than hunter

pets (what pets counter spells, remove magic, help stealth

detection, seduce humanoids, can be sacrificed into a shield, or

provide a stamina buff for the whole party?) Don't need to be kept

happy, the skill management is simpler than a Hunter's, you don't

have to worry about stabling different creatures, leveling the

demons is simpler, reviving demons is no worse than reviving pets.
Conclusion: The raw power of Hunter pets is much better than the raw

power of Demons. Demons have some cool tricks of their own, however.

Demons require a reagent, but don't require food to be kept happy

and you save a lot of money Thus, the shard cost may be acceptable.

Ritual of Summoning:
What it tries to imitate: Portals.
Drawbacks: Requires the help of friends.
Advantages: Can bring someone anywhere in the world.
Conclusion: It's different than Portals. Portaling someone to

Ironforge isn't useful when you're trying to get a group together

for BWL. Likewise, summoning someone to BWL isn't useful when you

want training, buying/selling, or the auction house. While

different, they can perhaps be seen as "equivalent" in utility. Note

that Portals do require reagents; thus, it makes sense perhaps that

Ritual of Summoning requires a Soul Shard. However, portals don't

require two friends. It seems to me that the two friends should take

the place of a reagent, or vice versa.