TBC Classic Demonology Warlock Guide
Welcome to our Demonology Warlock guide for TBC Classic, tailored for PvE content. Here, you will learn how all you need to know to play Demonology Warlock proficiently. Click the links below to navigate the guide or read this page for a short introduction.
Introduction
Warlocks are the masters of demonic energy, able to summon demons and use
dark magic on their foes. Whether it is placing curses on
your enemies or shooting powerful bursts of shadow or fire magic, Warlocks are
exceptionally strong damage dealers with a large toolkit. Warlocks have a wide
variety of unique spells that give a strong sense of class identity while
giving you strong utility options. Spells like
Ritual of Summoning and
Create Soulstone allow you to do things that no one else can do, making you
vital to any group composition. You also have your demons, each with their own
set of abilities, many of which are incredibly powerful in both PvE and
PvP.
A Demonology Warlock embraces the darkest side of Fel magic, forging pacts with demonic beings and forcing them to obey their will. Demonology mainly focuses on a Warlocks summoned demons, where as other specs almost entirely ignore them. These demons have a wide variety of uses, with the Warlock being able to focus on providing support, or simply dealing as much damage as possible.
Strengths and Weaknesses
Never runs out of Mana due to
Life Tap.Limited in competition of gear due to craftable gear during Tier 4 and Tier 5.
Good self-sustain via
Drain Life and
Siphon Life.Tankier than the other ranged DPS.
Brings utility with Curses, Healthstones, and Soulstones.
Strong CC when using
Fear and
Banish.
Severe threat issues.
No movement speed increases to help with moving around.
Expensive to start gearing due to the high number of craftable pieces required.
Soul Shards need to be farmed.
Has to hard cast as much as possible.
Gameplay can be boring due to low-button rotation.
Demonology Warlock Viability in TBC Classic
Demonology Warlock is not as popular a choice among the Warlock specializations in TBC Classic beyond the initial push for gearing at Level 70. It does not have its own niche to compete in relative to Destruction or Affliction once gear is obtained, but it can still be an enjoyable specialization to play as a Warlock if you desire. It is primarily used for PvP, although it has a few encounters where it can perform well.
What Makes Warlocks Unique?
Warlocks can focus on a wide-variety of mostly Fel magic. Fel magic focuses on the forces of Life and Death itself, where the Warlock will often times draw power from the life-force of those nearby, often times including allies. Not all Warlocks focus entirely on Fel magic however, with some Warlocks delving into Demonic magics. These Warlocks will attempt to summon powerful demons to aid them in battle, if you can control them that is...
Soul Shards
Warlocks can capture the very souls of their enemies by using
Drain Soul
as their enemy dies. Doing so will capture their soul into a
Soul Shard
in the Warlocks bags, assuming you have enough room available.
Soul Shards
are used as a resource for many commonly used spells, requiring a Warlock to
frequently replinish their stock of
Soul Shards in preparation for
future fights.
Best Races for Demonology Warlock - The Burning Crusade
Gnome
Gnome is the ideal choice for PvE content, as
Expansive Mind offers 5% increased
Intellect, which is the only real PvE based racial available on Alliance. It is
also the best race for PvP options in TBC, as it offers
Escape Artist,
granting a way to escape roots.
Expansive Mind 5% increased Intellect, increasing your available
mana as well as spell crit chance.
Escape Artist is a 2-minute cooldown that lets you escape any root,
snare, or slow when used.
Engineering Specialization increases your Engineering skill by 15.
Arcane Resistance increases your arcane resistance by 10.
Orc
Blood Fury is a free trinket, making orcs an extremely
strong race for both PvE and PvP.
Hardiness is also very good in PvP
content against the numerous stuns you will face.
Blood Fury is a 2-minute cooldown that increases your Spell Power
for 15 seconds and reduces healing effects on you by 50%.
Command increases your pet damage dealt by 5%.
Hardiness increases your chance to resist stuns by 15%.
Undead
Undead is a strong choice for players focused on PvP content exclusively,
allowing you to escape fears via
Will of the Forsaken. Orc is recommended
overall, as it is much better in PvE scenarios, and there are tons of stuns in
PvP content as well.
Will of the Forsaken is a 2-minute cooldown that makes your immune
to all Fear, Sleep, and Charm effects for 5 seconds. This will also break you
out of any current effects.
Cannibalize is a 2-minute cooldown that lets you channel to
consume a nearby corpse, regenerating 7% of your total health every 2 seconds
for 10 seconds for a total of 35% health.
Shadow Resistance increases your shadow resistance by 10.
Best Professions For Demonology Warlock
Tailoring is a must-have profession as a Warlock as it offers you some massive gear, some of which can last you most of the entire expansion.
Enchanting will be your next-best profession, giving +24 Spell Damage total. Spell Damage being a Warlock's favored stat makes this a great stat boost.
If you would like to learn more about how your profession of choice can be used to supplement your goldmaking, along with a variety of other means to bolster your income, see our full goldmaking guide linked below:
Changelog
- 31 Dec. 2025 (pre-raid gear page): Reviewed for TBC Anniversary.
- 31 Dec. 2025 (gear page): Reviewed for TBC Anniversary.
- 31 Dec. 2025 (enchants page): Updated for TBC Anniversary.
- 31 Dec. 2025 (stats page): Reviewed for TBC Anniversary.
- 31 Dec. 2025 (rotation page): Reviewed for TBC Anniversary.
- 31 Dec. 2025 (talents page): Reviewed for TBC Anniversary.
- 31 Dec. 2025 (spells page): Reviewed for TBC Anniversary.
- 31 Dec. 2025 (this page): Reviewed for TBC Anniversary.
- 08 May 2022 (gear page): Updated for Phase 5.
- 21 Mar. 2022 (gear page): Updated for Phase 4.
- 14 Jan. 2022 (enchants page): Page updated for Phase 3.
- 14 Jan. 2022 (stats page): Guide updated for Phase 3.
- 09 Jan. 2022 (gear page): Updated for Phase 3; separated previous Phase 2 list into a new page.
- 06 Aug. 2021 (gear page): Page added.
- 01 Jun. 2021 (pre-raid gear page): Guide added.
- 01 Jun. 2021 (enchants page): Guide added.
- 01 Jun. 2021 (stats page): Guide added.
- 01 Jun. 2021 (rotation page): Guide added.
- 01 Jun. 2021 (talents page): Guide added.
- 01 Jun. 2021 (spells page): Guide added.
- 01 Jun. 2021 (this page): Guide added.
This guide has been written by Abide, TBC veteran for nearly a decade. Abide is a Warrior tank and multi-class expert currently playing on Faerlina as Horde. You can find him in the the Icy Veins Discord. You can also see him live on Twitch.
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