WoW Classic Destruction Warlock Leveling Talent Build from 1 to 60

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Your first talent unlocks at Level 10.

Unlike some classes, Warlock has several viable leveling builds that will give you different strengths while leveling. This Destruction build is all about one thing: Dungeons. If you are planning to level using a spell cleave group that AoE's its way through dungeons, this is the build that you will want to run. As a warning, while it is possible to solo level and quest with this build, it will be far worse than Demonology or Affliction.

1. Levels 10 to 14 — 5 points in Cataclysm
2. Levels 15 to 19 — 5 points in Aftermath

As stated above, this build is primarily for if you plan to level through AoEing dungeons down. Thus, the primary goal of this build is to buff your Hellfire as much as possible since it will be the vast majority of damage in dungeons. Cataclysm reduces your Destruction Mana costs while Aftermath causes your damaged targets to sometimes get dazed. Controlling the enemies that you are AoEing is one of the most important things in dungeons groups, which makes talents like Aftermath quite valuable in a group setting.

1. Level 20 — 1 point in Shadowburn
2. Levels 21 to 24 — 4 points in Devastation
3. Levels 25 & 26 — 2 points in Intensity
4. Level 27 — 1 point in Devastation
5. Levels 28 & 29 — 2 points in Destructive Reach

Shadowburn is a great spell for finishing off low enemies and is worth taking as soon as possible. Devastation is a solid damage increase, but Intensity is perhaps the most important talent in this whole build since it will potentially gain you many ticks of Hellfire that you would otherwise lose to push back. Destructive Reach is just a nice quality of life talent that extends your range. Some people like to take Improved Firebolt for your Imp instead, but your Imp is limited by Mana, not by cast time, making this only a minor damage increase for your Imp, which will not help you much in dungeons.

1. Level 30 — 1 point in Ruin
2. Levels 31 & 32 — 2 points in Pyroclasm
3. Levels 33 & 34 — 2 points in Improved Immolate
4. Levels 35 to 39 — 5 points in Emberstorm

Ruin is one of the best damage talents that you will get, especially for only a single point. Pyroclasm is an amazing control talent, and will end up stunning the majority of targets that you hit with your Hellfire, which will help your spell cleaves ability to control groups quite a bit. The next 2 points should go into Improved Immolate to work towards Conflagrate, and will help to unlock Emberstorm which is a straight damage increase.

1. Levels 40 to 42 — 3 points in Improved Immolate
2. Level 43 — 1 points in Conflagrate
3. Levels 44 to 48 — 5 points in Improved Corruption
4. Level 49 — 1 point in Improved Life Tap

This is the point where the remainder of your talents can really go wherever you would like. Generally Conflagrate is worth taking for the burst and PvP potential, so finishing of the Destruction tree is recommended. After that you should go to Affliction and start taking the standard talents here that are good for every spec, starting with Improved Corruption and Improved Life Tap.

1. Level 50 — 1 point in Improved Life Tap
2. Levels 51 & 52 — 2 points in Improved Drain Soul
3. Levels 53 & 54 — 2 points in Suppression
4. Level 55 — 1 point in Amplify Curse
5. Levels 56 to 58 — 3 points in Improved Curse of Agony
6. Levels 59 & 60 — 2 points in Nightfall

These remaining points can be used to fill out the generic setup that most builds will take using the beginning Affliction talents. Improved Life Tap and Improved Drain Soul offer excellent Mana regeneration, while Suppression, Amplify Curse, Improved Curse of Agony, and Nightfall offer excellent damage options.

Your goal should be to get your Imp and Immolate immediately, which will give you the highest damage output in the game prior to level 10. Eventually you will pick up your Succubus, but with both the Imp and Succubus you should continue with the basic practice of using your DoTs on the target then finishing them off with your wand. Use Life Tap as needed for Mana regeneration to try and limit downtime. You should immediately start using your wand as a filler in place of Shadow Bolt once you get one, which will most likely be anywhere from levels 5 to 14 depending on if you can invest in a Lesser Magic Wand from the Auction House.

1. Command your pet to attack the target;
2. Immolate;
3. Curse of Agony;
4. Corruption;
5. Shadow Bolt until you get your wand.
6. Shoot with your wand;
7. Conflagrate at the end of your Immolate;
8. Shadowburn when the enemy is going to die within a few seconds;
9. Drain Soul to kill the enemy if you need the Mana from Improved Drain Soul (once you get the talent) or if you need the Soul Shard.

Warlocks have one of the strongest starts in the game. Immolate is available for purchase for 10 copper from level 1, meaning you should sell your water and food to get it as soon as possible. From there you can do the Warlock quest from your trainer to get your Imp, which you can easily get by level 2 or 3. With your Imp and Immolate, you should have no trouble wreaking havoc on anything in your path for a few levels.

Do your class quest to get your Voidwalker. You will not be using your Voidwalker for normal leveling in this build, but it is a relatively easy quest and you might as well get it for later. Voidwalkers are also great in PvP due to Sacrifice, which makes it worth having just in case.

As stated above, this build is primarily for dungeon leveling. You should focus on putting up Immolate, Corruption, and Curse of Agony on multiple targets, but your main damage is going to come once you get Rain of Fire and Hellfire. Hellfire does more damage, but Rain of Fire is much safer to use. During heavy AoE pulls you will exclusively use these abilities for high damage output, preferably using Hellfire whenever possible.

To guide you in the class-specific quests you can do while leveling up, please follow the guide linked below.

Leveling Information

Warrior Quests

Check out how to gain access to powerful upgrades for your Warrior by completing their class-specific questline!

Go to Guide

All Warlock specs benefit from upgrading the same skills, so our list of skills to buy from trainers is the same, regardless of the spec. For this reason, you will find that list in our general Warlock leveling page.

Endgame Information

Warlock Guides

Finished Leveling? Check out the rest of our Warlock Guide to learn how to maximize your gameplay!

Warlock Endgame Guides

Abide

Guide Author

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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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