Welcome to you great mages!

I hope you will find in this guide if not answer to all your questions, at least even more questions.
You will not find here documented solutions to all your problems but rather the path to these solutions. I have collected thoughts and impressions from all across the Warlock community to help you in this quest, in the hope they will help you think about the stuff that matters.

Please feel free to contribute and leave your comments, and enjoy your read.
Oh and just imagine this is Sean Connery reading the whole thing of course :)

You have researched a new spell my lord!

PS: I'm not a native speaker so forgive me if I don't make sense here and there..

Or the difference between SP and MP.

If you've ever only played Warlock in Single Player (SP) you will soon realise that MP in Warlock works quite differently. So differently in fact that it may feel like a brand new game! This is very exciting news, but it is also a daunting prospect as you will undoubtedly step in the unknown. You will discover the joys of being trapped, outwitted or overpowered. But for all of this you may have no fear... There will come a time when you find yourself on the giving end of the stick and all your bruises and hardships will feel like distant memories. UNTIL YOU FACE ME.

It is such a different experience that even when I go back to MP after a while playing against the AI I usually find that I have grown careless and tend to make easy mistakes. Making mistakes is a good thing if you can see why they are mistakes, and make sure they don't happen again. As it is in chess, the player that loses is usually the last one to make a mistake. As is the case with everything you may find yourself making a lot of mistakes at the beginning, but do not despair for I may have a few tricks for you.

The first think you will need to start a multiplayer game in Warlock is another player. Do not laugh, this may sound trivial, it is not. While any odd player would allow you to start a game, not all of them will follow through and less even make it fun in between.

- Hunting grounds
Beggars can't be choosers, if you don't know anyone, you'll need to start looking. The obvious choice to start hunting for players is in the multiplayer lobby room. While you might get lucky and find another lost soul wandering there, this may not be the best approach, unless on a Friday or Saturday evening. Most of the player base is located in the US and EU, so paying attention to timezones might help you in that regard (when people get back from work/school etc...). The other choice is to look around in the steam and paradox[forum.paradoxplaza.com] forums for other people willing to play or even tournaments or other online events. If you don't see anything advertised, don't be afraid to put yourself out there and make yourself known, this is a great way into the community.

- Considerations
A game of Warlock can take anything from 30 minutes to 30 hours or more. Chances are you won't finish in one go, if you do finish. While it is advisable to take breaks regularly while performing such heavy wizardry, it is also important that you be upfront as to whether or not you can commit to finish a game at a later date. I would personally recommend that you add the other players to your steam friends list so that you can easily catch up again and also in case there is a problem in the middle of a game (disconnect, crash, etc...). Note that if anything was to happen you can always reload a multiplayer game from the autosave. When playing with someone new, you may also want to start on smaller maps to gauge the level of your opponent. No point finding out 50 turns in the game that you don't stand a chance vs UberWizard because you started out on an XL map.

Now before we begin your formal Warlock education, let me introduce you to a bit of background and terminology on the type of situations you will soon be facing:

- Duel
Only you vs one opponent. There will most likely be no diplomacy involved, you can consider yourself at war from turn 1. These games tend to be quite short on small and medium maps as both players tend to commit all their resources in one big fight. Rushing strategies dominate here. Consider medium or even large maps if you want to allow yourselves time to grow into a full fledged empire before going at war.

- FFA (free for all)
You and any number or humans and possibly AI opponents. Diplomacy may play an important role here as you're trying to secure allies or plotting to attack an opponent. Alliances may come and go or you could all end up in a big brawl, all the more fun :) You may want to enforce some rules such as perma-war or no diplomacy with AI, depending on your preferences.

- 2v2
This is more of a house rule that we came up with while playing Warlock 1. You can either decide of alliances before the game and stick to them, or decide that the first two players who meet become allies and play vs the two other players, or even let fate decide for you.

- Coop
In this mode you will be allied with another human player vs a number of AIs. There is now an option in the game launcher that will allow you to enforce this setting from the start. You will not be able to break your alliance, nor will you be able to trade or make peace with the other AI players.

Well, now that you have found some willing soul to share your burden, there are a few other matters that you need dealing with before seeing some action:

[WIP] Game options:

- Exiled vs sandbox
- Sandbox: maps (type, size, flat, donut, etc..)
- Exiled: the shard lottery
- Difficulty
- 1st player advantage
- restart

Define a strategy
Economy vs Military
Long term vs Short term
Going divine
Synergy
Individual perks review (?)
Inidividual race guide (?)

[WIP] Considerations:

- starting resources
- terrain type
- game mode
- strategy (perks + race)
- production
- buildings

Tips and tricks

Warlock isn't much about diplomacy. Even if you're playing with 3 other players, you're better off assuming somebody will backstab you at some point. Unlike the AI, most people tend to hit hard before saying they will (think Pearl Harbor). It's usually a good idea to not leave your borders completely undefended. Better safe than sorry anyway.

Do not let your settlers unprotected. All it takes is an enemy scout with 3 tiles vision and a fireball for you to lose a settler (that hurts). In fact, until you have mastered teleport or unless you're ramping up a major invasion at the same time, it will be very dangerous to try and settle near the frontline.

In war deception is everything. Do not hesitate to sacrifice scouts to see how many troops your opponent can count upon. Similarly you shouldn't allow enemy scouts to roam your territory if you can avoid it. Beware of baits. Know when to engage. Know when to withdraw.

Remember that you can see how much gold and mana your opponents have and what spell they are casting via the diplomacy tab!

Beware of spell combos. The AI doesn't usually use them but experienced player will.

[WIP] The gentleman Werewolf (courtesy 101)