TBC Classic Destruction Warlock Guide

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.

Destruction Warlocks focus on casting heavy-hitting, Fire and Shadow damage spells, trading some survivability and utility for the highest sustained DPS possible. This spec scales very well throughout the expansion, and is often a contender for topping the damage meters.

Strengths

• 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.

Weaknesses

• 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.
• Shadow Destruction needs at least 3 Warlocks to maximize DPS.
• Fire Destruction requires a Fire Mage to maximize DPS.
• Has to hard cast as much as possible.
• Gameplay can be boring due to low-button rotation.

Destruction Warlock is the main specialization desired in raids during TBC. It deals great damage, while also continually scaling throughout the expansion as more gear is obtained, making it one of the best DPS specs in the game. Many raids will run at least 3 Destruction Warlocks, with some caster heavy raid comps bringing even more. Destruction Warlocks are always needed, and are typically one of the best classes to play to get a raid spot.

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...

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.

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: