Warlock Is Now Available in Marvel Contest of Champions

No, we don’t mean Adam Warlock, and definitely not The Magus. Self, the shapeshifting jokester, known as Warlock has joined Marvel’s Contest of Champions.

“Self is referred to as Warlock. Self is capable of many wondrous feats, including changing shape and making jokes! Transmode virus, also used to transfer lifeglow from Opponents, Self will not harm any Champion in The Contest! Hilarious falsehood! Much harm will come to any who attempt to harm Self or SelfFriends!”

Warlock’s Mechanics

Warlock builds up Infection Charges by making contact with the Opponent (either attacking or defending). Once enough Charges are built up, they convert to a full-on Techno-Organic Virus Infection which Heal Blocks the Opponent and drains their Power when they try to heal.

Warlock can then use the Infection to Power Drain, Shock, and/or Armor Break the Opponent. His Signature Ability deals damage to the Opponent whenever they are Power Drained, and his infection even works on Opponents who are immune to Debuffs.

Base Stats & Abilities

*All stats based on 4-Star, Rank 5, Level 50, Signature Level 99

HEALTH: 15508 ATTACK: 1148
MAX PI:
WITH SIGNATURE (99): 4841
WITHOUT SIGNATURE: 3879

*All stats based on 5-Star, Rank 5, Level 65, Signature Level 200

HEALTH: 31093 ATTACK: 2301
MAX PI:
WITH SIGNATURE (200): 10620
WITHOUT SIGNATURE: 7811

Character Class: Tech

Basic Abilities: Armor, Virus Infection, Power Drain, Power Burn

Warlock: Strengths

• Anti-Healing
  • Warlock has excellent anti-healing abilities. His Infection Passive Heal Blocks the Opponent, and since it’s Passive it’ll work even when the Opponent is immune to Debuffs. On top of that, every time the Opponent tries to heal while infected, they’ll drain some of their Power, and take damage if Warlock has his Signature ability.

• Power Control
  • Even against Opponents who don’t heal, Warlock is good at controlling the Opponent’s Power. After stacking up an Infection or two, his Special Attack 1 drains a solid chunk of the Opponent’s Power, and his Special Attack 3 drains all of it, in addition to burning it and dealing damage via his Signature ability.

Warlock: Weaknesses

• Armor Break
  • Warlock activates a permanent Armor Up buff at the start of the fight, which is the main source of his durability. If the Opponent removes it using an Armor Break, he’ll lose that durability and be a lot more susceptible to attacks.

• Buff Diversity
  • By default, Warlock’s Infection Passive lasts for 20 seconds, but this duration is reduced by 6 seconds for each unique Buff on the Opponent when it triggers. So Champions that can access a wide array of Buffs, like Venom or Heimdall, can potentially reduce the Infection duration to the point where it doesn’t last for much time at all.

Passive:

• Immune to Bleed, Poison, Coldsnap, and Frostbite.
• His durable Technarch form grants Warlock a permanent Armor Up Buff, increasing Armor Rating by +666.67. If this Buff is removed for any reason, it will refresh itself after 10 second(s).
• While this Buff is active, Opponent’s Special Attacks cannot be Critical.

Developer’s Note: If a hit from a Special attack removes Warlock’s Armor Up buff, that hit can also be Critical.

Contact:

• The Opponent gains a charge of Techno-Organic Transmode Virus. The Virus is not affected by Ability Accuracy.
• Once the Opponent has 20 charges, they are removed and replaced with one Infection Passive that lasts for 20 second(s). The duration is decreased by 6 second(s) for each unique Buff on the Opponent when it activates.

Developer’s Note: Charges build up from any form of contact, whether Warlock is attacking or blocking. The Infection duration is set when the 20th charge is placed. So when attacking Warlock, one way to decrease the duration is to make sure the Precision buff from Dexterity is active when you trigger the 20th charge.

Techno-Organic Transmode Virus Infection – Passive:

• The Opponent is Heal Blocked. If the Salve Mastery is active, the Mastery is removed.
• The Opponent has -30% Offensive Ability Accuracy.
• Whenever the Opponent would gain Health while infected, they Drain 5% of their current Power over 0.50 second(s).

Developer’s Note: The Techno-Organic Transmode Infection can stack multiple times. If an Opponent has multiple Infections, the Ability Accuracy reduction will increase (potentially past 100%), and the Power Drain triggers multiple times when the Opponent tries to heal. Also, it’s important to note that while Salve is removed by the Infection, Willpower is not.

Blocking:

• If the Block was Well-Timed, the Opponent gains 3 Virus charges.
• If the hit was a non-contact Basic Attack, the Opponent instantly Drains 10% of their current Power.

Developer’s Note: Some Champions with non-contact Basic Attacks include Havok, Domino, and Ebony Maw.

Heavy Attacks:

• Lacerate opponents, inflicting 1090.6 Bleed damage over 5 second(s).

Developer’s Note: Warlock may have figured out this move by watching another Champion in The Contest…

Special 1 – Mega Buster:

• The last hit Shocks the Opponent, dealing 1722 energy damage over 10 second(s). If they are Infected, this also triggers when the Attack is activated, but lasts half as long.
• The first hit removes all Infections to Passively Drain 25% of the Opponent’s Max Power over 5.50 second(s) for each Infection removed.

Developer’s Note: If the Opponent is Infected, Warlock places two Shocks on them: one on activation, and a second one on the final hit. The one triggered on activation deals half as much damage, since it lasts half as long. The Power Drain removes Infections right after the first Shock activates.

Special 2 – Pinwheel + Pummel:

• The last hit places two Armor Break Debuffs on Opponent, each reducing Armor Rating by 2000 for 10 second(s). If they are Infected, the Debuffs also trigger when the Attack is activated, but lasts half as long.
• The last hit refreshes one Infection.

Developer’s Note: Like with the Shock, this attack places two Armor Breaks on the Opponent if they’re Infected. Armor Break isn’t as threatening as a Shock, but it can still trigger the Willpower mastery, which will cause the Opponent to drain Power if they’re Infected. This attack also has 10 contact hits, so it’s a great way to quickly build up lots of Infection Charges.

Special 3 – Dine & Smash

• Inflict a Passive Power Burn on the Opponent, draining 100% of their current Power over 5.50 second(s) and dealing damage proportionate to the amount lost.
• Regenerate 620.32 Health for each Infection the Opponent has.

Developer’s Note: The Power Burn includes any Power the Opponent gains from being hit by the attack. But since the Power Burn is over time, the Opponent still has a chance to activate Special Attacks while their Power is draining.

Signature Ability – Child of Kvch:

• When Opponent’s Power is Drained or Burned:
  • Degenerate the Opponent, dealing 287.03 direct damage over 2 second(s).

Developer’s Note: Warlock can trigger this via his SP1, SP3, when Blocking a non-contact Basic Attack, and when the Opponent tries to heal. If the Power Drain/Burn is longer than 2 seconds, this ability will trigger multiple times.

Warlock: Synergy Bonuses:

• SELFFRIENDS – Unique – 2* and up
  • With Magik, Sunspot
  • Warlock: Special Attacks generate -70% less Power in Opponents.
  • Magik: Attack Rating is increased by 50% while in Limbo.
  • Sunspot: Incinerates have 25% increased duration.

• GOING VIRAL – Unique – 3* and up
  • With Cable
  • Warlock: Whenever the Opponent would gain one or more Virus charges, 50% chance for them to gain an additional charge.
  • Cable: The Ability Accuracy of Cable’s Regeneration effect is increased by 10%.

• ROBOT UPRISING – Unique – 4* and up
  • With Vision, Vision (Age of Ultron), Ultron, Ultron (Age of Ultron)
  • Whenever any teammate would receive a Debuff they are immune to, they gain a Fury Buff, increasing Attack Rating by 60% for 6 seconds.

Developer’s Note: This synergy applies to your whole team. So for example, if your team contained Warlock, Vision, and Medusa, Medusa would gain this Fury Buff when her immunity prevents a Poison from triggering.

• MUTANT AGENDA – 2* and up
  • With Domino, Magneto, Magneto (MARVEL NOW)
  • Mutants landed strikes during Special Attacks gain +{0}% Attack rating.

Warlock: Recommended Masteries:

• Double Edge and Liquid Courage
  • As a Robot, Warlock is immune to Bleed and Poison. So he’s immune to the negative effects of the Double Edge and Liquid Courage masteries, but still gains increased Attack Rating from them.

• Collar Tech
  • Warlock is already pretty good at controlling the Opponent’s Power using his SP1. If you add the Collar Tech mastery on top of that (and maybe also the synergy with Magik), the Opponent will have a very hard time getting enough Power to use any Special Attacks at all.