Felhunter - Best Warlock Demon in the Game

[Madget]

Based on my observance, the Felhunter is by far the most under used and misused pet in the entire game by Warlocks.

This post, is my feeble attempt to convince all the warlocks out there to put your sick/perverted fetish aside with the succubus delete the summon imp hot key and start kicking *** with the best demon in our spellbook (keep Voidwalker for solo shard farming - ie as a 60 Warlock I farm for shards off level 48/49 mobs quick/painless and he is guaranteed to keep aggro).

Since I already stated that the Felhunter is the most under used and misused pet in the entire game, I guess I should qualify these remarks. As for under used, look around at Warlocks (level 30+), what pet do you see out? I rarely see the Felhunter. Most Warlocks tend to favor the Succubus (more than likely for her DPS). Aside from the succubus, Imps are probably the second most used pets...I would imagine this is more because of certain guild/raiding requirements by guild masters/raid leaders who have no clue how to play a warlock (they just want the 42 Stamina buff for the party). As for misused, challenge a warlock to a duel. Do they Spell Lock you? Do they Devour some of your magic buffs? In my experience...hardly ever.

So what are the pros to this fine demon?

First, Devour Magic. Devour Magic can purge a Harmful Magic spell that was cast on you (ie immolate, corruption, frostnova, frost trap (yes, the thing hunters do),etc,etc). In addition to this ability, they can purge beneficial magic on your opponent (ie powerword shield, intellect buffs, detect greater invisibility, etc, etc, etc). If either one of those occurs, your Felhunter will be healed! (FYI 8 sec cooldown)

Second, Spell Lock. (Please after reading this post take off auto-cast and create a macro/hot button - candidate to replace the summon imp hot key!) Spell Lock, when used against a caster can silence him for 3 seconds. More importantly, if used against a caster, while casting it will counter the enemy's spell preventing him from casting any spell from that school of magic for 8 seconds. Time it just right on a healer/mage or a Warlock using another silly demon and grats to you, as you just defeated that individual! (FYI 30 sec cooldown)

Third, Paranoia. Paranoia when combined with Detect Greater Invisibility increases your ability to detect stealth. If you PvP a lot, this is essential against those nasty rogues. A good rogue will cheap shot you, gouge you, than kidney shot you and have you dead before you ever had the chance to death coil...Paranoia simply increase your detection, thus increasing your survivability (and chance to get off an instant cast spell breaking their stealth). In addition, the Felhunter will be even more useful as Burning Crusades is released and those pesky mages get invisibility.

Lastly, Tainted Blood. Tainted Blood can be useful for both PvE and PvP, although the use is more geared towards PVE. Tainted Blood reduces melee attack power when an attacker strikes the Felhunter (Stacks up to 5). In PvE, simply send in the Felhunter let the mob attack him a few seconds, than start your DoTs/DPS. For PvP (really more 1v1) melee attackers may (not always) go for the pet just to rid us of SL.

In addition to these benefits, the build you choose may add additional benefits that some Warlocks again overlook.

For DarkPack Builds, the Felhunter is idea because of his large mana pool, that he rarely uses. In comparison with all the other pets, I have never seen my Felhunter out of mana.

For Demonology build, we have lots of benefits using this pet over any other.

First, Master Demonology. The Felhunter gives us 1 pt of resistance to all schools of magic per level (ie a level 60, fully vested in MD has +60 to all resistance).

Second, Demonic Sacrifice. Sacrificing your Felhunter yields a mana regen of 2%. (Regardless of what pet you have, Demonic Sacrifice is simply a good ability to have and there are good benefits to which ever pet you choose to use).

Lastly, Soul Link. Soul Link build Warlocks will enjoy the Health pool the Felhunter has. Granted it isn't as much as the VW, but other than PvE where Torment is actually useful, what benefit does he offer?)

I hope this helps you decide to choose this fine demon and use his buffs/spells/capabilities to the full extent possible.

[Magikhat]

I prefer succubus not only for the dps but when i have a mob on me and a rogue backstabs me he gets mezzed instantly and then i own him

[Fenrir]

best pet? i believe this is situational dependend... all the pve raiding warlocks will say Imp is the best pet. all the pvp'ers will say succubus is the best, all pvp'ers who rarely meet melee people will say felhunter is the best.

this is about as personal as a talent build.

now, something you're wrong about: Detect invisibility doesn't help seeing stealthed people. only Paranoia will help you. Detect Invis will only let you see invisibile succubi and those spirits in Dire Maul. nothing wrong with that, common misconception. in The Burning Crusade mages will get invisibility, paranoia will not help you with that.

it's ofcourse nice that you write a little statement that warlocks should reconsider the uses of felhunters. but do keep in mind not every warlock does the same in game

as for me, the felhunter is a favorite pet. as it offers me the most versatility than the other pets. too bad i mostly come in situations where the imp or the succubus will help me more then the puppy

[Warloch]

I appreciate the thread! As I am PvPing more now, these are things I need to know. I have used the VW all the way to level 59 and the imp in all instances and have been VERY successfull with it, but again I was a PVe player 99.8% of the time.

[Josh]

At level level 30, and continuing into the lower 30's, the felhunter is pretty useless.

At this stage, all it is able to do is purge magic from a friendly player. No spell locking, no paranoia.

The VW will hold aggro way better while having more HP, the Succubus has less HP but does more damage, and won't hold agro.

The felhunter does not have a place in PvP or PvE at these levels.

[Madget]

Originally Posted by Fenrir

now, something you're wrong about: Detect invisibility doesn't help seeing stealthed people. only Paranoia will help you. Detect Invis will only let you see invisibile succubi and those spirits in Dire Maul. nothing wrong with that, common misconception. in The Burning Crusade mages will get invisibility, paranoia will not help you with that.

Ok....so perhaps I wasn't clear on the stealth vs invisibility point...but in fact this spell can and does help with not only NPCs but players who use Invisibility Potion.

[iamhewhois]

You can't train Tainted Blood until 32 and Spell Lock isn't until 36. MD buff doesn't start until at least 35 (a whopping +7 to all resists) and you don't get the full effect until at least 39.

I think the Felpuppy doesn't really become a viable PvE pet until at least 40. I don't PvP much, so I can't talk about that aspect of the pet.

That said, at 60, I tend to use it more than others, but then, I farm a lot of caster type mobs so the resists make a big difference. Even on melee mobs, a Fel Hunter can hold aggro through applying DoTs. At max range, that gives me enough time to chuck a SBolt and maybe a Sburn before they even touch me, and that usually finishes them.

[vulturesrow]

I really would like to use the FelHunter more. But having the succy out while questing/grinding on a PvP server is crucial for me. I like having her crowd control ability available. I'll put it this way: There have been many more times that I have had a different pet and wish I had the succy out rather than the other way around. Yeah it would be nice to have the felhunter out for dealing with casters in world PvP but honestly I find that I can burn down casters pretty quick already. The only time I really wish for the Fel is when fighting a shadow priest. Beyond that, Id much rather have the additional crowd control.

[Magra]

Yep, I love my little FelPuppy. I like him over the rest because with my VoidWalker, He can barely Hold Aggro offa me, but barely damages the mob, while the FelPuppy does, I use little Ruutom more than my Void.

[Fenrir]

Originally Posted by Madget

Ok....so perhaps I wasn't clear on the stealth vs invisibility point...but in fact this spell can and does help with not only NPCs but players who use Invisibility Potion.

that is true, sure. but tell me some good situations where you need to detect invis, next to:
1, to find enemy succubi
2, in Dire Maul

ah well. Felhunter vs Rest...