Are mages or warlocks more powerful?

Generally in terms of magical prowess, the lore is that warlocks are mages or shamans who have ascended to warlocks by making bargains and following the dark path for more power, so by that logic a warlock should be more powerful then a mage right?

Obviously some special character mages would be more powerful then an average warlock, but I am talking about non-lore specific characters.

I’d imagine it’s folly to try comparing classes in such a way as there are too few reliable means to come to a definitive conclusion. Personally, I’m secure in the idea that it’s more a matter of the individual than the tools they work with.

1 Like

Instead of one being more powerful than the other, perhaps it should be said that warlocks wield more destructive power than a equally powerful mage might.

In general, it seems that the two have slightly different aims from a lore standpoint.

From what I understand the difference is effort.
Warlockery is an easier path than the necessary study of magic.

So a warlock might reach levels of power in 4 years what a mage has to study ten years for.
A mage also wields far more in versatility than what a warlock does.
Remember mages can make portals yo. they can totally make a travel guide/vacation service for ye normal people and make a good side hustle out of it.

1 Like

Kiljaeden and archimonde>>>>>>>

Khadgar could wield three specialisations at once, he’s essentially walking artillery.

Gul’dan summoned every named demon of Warcraft history onto the same field at once.

Khad’gar wields power. Gul’dan summoned it.

1 Like

At first, I can see how people can make that assumption, and while it’s certainly true to an extent, demons are but a part of a warlocks’s arsenal, just as altering the flow of time is only part of a mage’s.

Though there is some back and forth on a source of a mage’s power (I’ve heard a shaman say that they are nothing more than Dark Shamans manipulating elemental powers by force), it seems more likely to me, as magecraft is shown to be more of a science, that such arcanists are using their connection with fundamental energies to alter their environment. For example, to make an ice bolt, the use their powers to remove the heat (slow down molecular energy?) from an area around them, gathering the ice condensate into a single blast, then flinging it at their opponents. Fire would work somewhat in reverse. Thereby, traditional arcanists use their life force, their mana, to alter their world. Perhaps even tapping into the powers of the Arcane plane to do so, assuming such a thing exists.

Warlocks can tap into similar energies, specializing obviously more so in fire, but they also reach into darker powers, perhaps even ripping energies from neighboring planes, specifically the planes of shadow/void and that of the Twisting Nether. In this way, perhaps it is Warlocks that are more akin to shamans. While you argue that Gul’dan “summoned” power, he would also reach out and wrest it from the dark places of the cosmos, or tapping into the very souls of his opponents to empower himself.

Mages on occasion used arcane based life to enhance their magic, the guardian ritual, illidan sacrificing his moonguard to enhance his arcane prowess.

Warlocks draw from a magic in a similar league of sacrifice, consistently.
That to me says a mage will always have a key to the biggest spell, but the warlock will be the one who uses large ones most often.

If you were to pluck an “Average” mage and warlock from the same sample pools, i think on average the Warlock would be more Destructively Powerful while the Mage could be said to be more All Around Powerful.

It’s easy as players looking at mechanics to decide things based of mechanics as both are cloth wearing Spellcasters, but when looking at lore you realize that comparing them is near pointless. If you wanted to apply an analogy to the classes I’d say that a Warlock is a Prybar and a Mage is Hatchet. They have similar skillsets but also have completely different applications elsewhere and should not always be compared

1 Like

My Fire Mage got into a one on one with an Affliction Warlock in Alterac Valley.

It was a drawn out battle, but I kept decursin myself while fiireballing him. It was no contest.

1 Like

Your mom!!

Actually if you read the lore surrounding the Warcraft universe the answer is the average Warlock is less powerful than a mage. In the Novel Tides of Darkness at the time of the Second War Antonidas explained to the Kings of the Eastern Kingdoms that warlocks were less powerful but more numerous in number and were better at working in unison with other warlocks as opposed to mages who are more independent and less willing to work in unison.

A quote from Tides of Darkness novel

“Because the orc possess magic of their own,” Antonidas countered. “Potent magic. Most of their warlocks are weaker than our own wizards, at least from what my fellows reported, yet they have far greater numbers and can work in unison, something my own brethren have never found easy.” Khadgar was sure he heard some bitterness in the old archmage’s voice, and understood it well. If there was one thing every member of the Kirin Tor Valued, it was his independence. Getting even two wizards to work together was difficult enough — the thought of managing more than that was almost beyond imagining.

The power of a warlock is all dependent upon the demons they have in command.

In terms of raw magical power, id give it to mages.

As for killing power it’d be tie

Stronger? No. Quicker. Easier. More seductive.

2 Likes

Answering this question from a lore perspective(Still learning lore gradually btw) :

The answer here isn’t so cut and dry as it really depends on a
variety of factors including talent, power, accessibility, etc. But a way to think about is like this. For a mage, their skill in the arcane is earned and learned over time and can be considered quite powerful in its own right. Not to mention, a mage’s skillset can be more versatile than a warlock’s i.e. fire and ice magic, portals, teleportation, etc.

Warlocks are a bit of a different breed, however; both in the power they wield and how they use it. As a rule, warlocks use the fel, and the fel is an extremely destructive source of power, probably more so than a mage’s spells. And it can be more accessible than a mage’s mana reserves, as the only thing it requires to use is life, whether given or taken. From felfire to summoning demons, in terms of of pure destructive potential and access, I would most definitely say warlocks have the advantage.

However, that power is a double-edged sword. The fel, while powerful, is also volatile and addictive, extremely so. It alters, it corrupts, and it destroys not only its target, but its own practitioners. The fel is like poison, corroding anything in its path that it touches, and a warlock’s power is based solely on such power. The more they use it, the more it alters and destroys what’s around them, including themselves.

So, in terms of whether mages or warlocks are more powerful, it really depends on the practitioner and their skill. Characters like Jaina Proudmoore or Gul’dahn are both powerful users of arcane and fel magic respectively, and because of that they could no doubt beat the average mage or warlock. But answering from a pure viewpoint on their fonts of power, I would say the fel is most certainly more powerful, but volatile and too dangerous to use. Whereas with arcane magic, it is more reliable, powerful in its own right, more versatile, and say it with me, SAFER.

PS: There’s actually a video on how powerful warlocks and mages can be that I found from a Youtuber. Check it out if you guys want, as it helped me gain some perspective on the two classes.

The answer somewhat changes depending on what period of WoW one is referring to. Lore-wise its been upfront stated that mages were overshadowed by the power of warlocks when they first were used in war between the humans and the Old Horde.

I would say that currently the gap has begun to close and there is evidence to support this with the Black Harvest having been stated to be worried about mages growing ability to manipulate time. Warlock magics had to be advanced to keep up, and they were.

IMO. The power difference is not what it used to be, but warlocks are still ahead just by nature of their magic being more suited for destruction and death. However, mages still have the most versatility and there will be many problems that arcane spells can resolve that fel magic would struggle with.

1 Like

Luke: “Is the dark side stronger?”
Yoda: “No, no, no. Quicker, easier, more seductive.”

That pretty much sums up my opinion of warlocks.

Gul’dan through both manipulation of his personal power and his summonings killed the Alliance Kigh King, Varion, dealt a mortal blow to Vol’jin, knocked out Thrall, and sent Jaina, MekkaTorque, Genn, Sylvannas, packing and filled the plain with the named demons from almost every previous expansion.

Maybe he can’t fling the same kind of personal epeen that a Jaina and Khadgar could, but at the end of that day, he was the one on the field still standing.

1 Like

We’ve seen the ceiling for warlock power (sargeras) I don’t think we’ve seen it for magi yet (I say that because the guardian was just a few mages power transferred to one person, if every mage in existence did that we could see the true power of a single mage). So as of right now I’d say warlock is more powerful. But that’s just because we’ve seen a master of warlock magic face to face.