Warder and Spells Strategy (level 9)
By the time that lesser shades start to turn green, and skeletal hunters light blue, you should have reached level 9 and your warder. Your warder is summoned by casting the appropriate warder level buff spell (at 9, Spirit of Sharik).
As soon as you get your warder, return to your guild and put one training point in each of the magic skills (six of them), and purchase spells. You will want Spirit of Sharik, and Inner Fire; the others aren't essential at this level. Note that Flash of Light is not available in Shar Vahl from the spell vendors, you have to do the whisperling quest to get get it; the closest other point to obtain it is from the Cleric guild in Shadowhaven, which is not reachable without assistance until your mid-twenties. Flash of Light is the next spell to obtain, but not absolutely essential. The other spells are worth having, but not if you are short of money. Cure Disease is available at level 9, and doesn't show up on all spell lists - this is essential if you are going to Paludal to cure Creeping Crud from the fiends. Use the pet window, and learn the following commands effects: /pet attack, /pet guard here, /pet follow me and /pet back off. You may want to drag these off the panel to make hot buttons. I don't disable taunting with a beastlord pet (I do with shadow knight pets only), as their taunting can be valuable to help pull a mob off another group member at times. One command that is missing from the pet panel that you should put on a hot key is '/pet report health'. This tells you what buffs are active on your pet at any time, in case you miss the messages when buffs drop.
In Shadeweavers, all you will need do is cast your pet and buff it, then run around and let it assist you in any fights. You will find it hits for more damage if it hits from the back of a mob, so try to maneuvre round in any fights for best position. More advanced strategies will come into play in Paludal and Hollowshade, where there is less safe room to skirmish. Always cast Inner Fire on your pet, plus the proc buff Spirit of Lightning when you have it (at 15). I haven't noticed Strength making a difference on my warder. At this level, don't bother to practice your casting skills, as until you get meditate (at level 12), the process of training takes too long; you will not run short of mana at this point, so just treat it as a useful bonus when you remember to cast. Note that I didn't recommend collecting either healing spell (self or pet) as a priority - this is because Inner Fire has a better healing effect on you, and your pet regenerates very rapidly - and if your pet is that low in combat that healing is required, you are better off to step in and melee to take the hits yourself. Both Inner Fire and Minor Healing cost 10 mana to cast; Inner Fire is slower, but heals for 20 hit points, whereas Minor Healing only heals for 10.