World of Warcraft: Forever Affliction Warlock Leveling Guide

Affliction focuses on Shadow Damage-over-Time (DoT) and Drain spells, using Corruption and Bane of Agony to keep dealing damage while you cast or move. Siphon Life at Level 30 adds another DoT and more healing, while Nightfall gives you instant Shadow Bolt casts from your periodic damage.

This build takes Demonic Sacrifice at Level 41, letting you trade your active Demon for a powerful damage or resource buff. You then return to the Affliction tree for more Shadow damage and Wrack at Level 51. Life Tap and your healing spells keep your resources full, allowing you to spend more time fighting and less time recovering between mobs.

Use the level sliders below to follow the talent build and find zones and dungeons for your current level. If you find an area you enjoy or a group you want to keep playing with, spend some extra time there! There are plenty of ways to reach Level 60, and you don't need to follow the same route every time.

This build starts by improving your DoTs, adding instant Corruption, Nightfall procs, and Siphon Life. After Level 30, you spend eleven points in Demonology to reach Demonic Sacrifice at Level 41, then return to Affliction for Wrack and then improve all of your Drain talents. The finished build has 40 points in Affliction and 11 in Demonology.

Your first four points go into Suppression from Levels 10 to 13, giving you 4% Hit chance. Landing your spells is the highest damage increase you can get, and getting 4% Hit chance means you will never miss a spell against an equal or lower level enemy. This is worth grabbing early on and delaying your next talent by a few levels.

Take Improved Corruption from Levels 14 to 18. At five points, Corruption becomes instant and deals 10% more damage. Corruption is Afflictions primary DoT, and this talent is one of your biggest early game improvements, letting you cast the spell while moving.

Put one point into Grim Reach at Level 19 for more range on your Affliction spells. Take both points in Improved Bane of Agony at Levels 20 and 21, increasing Bane of Agony damage by 10%, then finish Grim Reach at Level 22 for a total 20% range increase. The extra range gives you more room to apply DoTs before a mob reaches you, and Bane of Agony is another main DoT that Affliction uses.

Take Improved Life Tap at Levels 23 and 24, increasing the Mana gained from Life Tap by 20%. More Mana from each Tap means you need fewer uses to refill your bar, making the Health you recover through drains and Siphon Life go further. This talent will gain in value as you continue leveling up, so while it may not be needed very early, you will be thankful you have it later on.

Take Nightfall at Levels 25 and 26. At two points, damage from Corruption, Drain Soul, Drain Life, and later Wrack has a 4% chance to make your next Shadow Bolt instant cast. This adds a hard hitting cast to your arsenal without making you stand still for its normally long cast time. When fighting multiple enemies, use these procs on the ones with the most health rather than wasting it on a mob that will already die to DoTs.

Take Pandemic from Levels 27 to 29. It increases the Critical Strike damage bonus of your main Shadow DoTs and Drains by 100%. This makes their critical hits much stronger and gives you a good reason to look for Critical Strike on your gear. This is not great early on as you will have very little crit chance, but scales up throughout the levels and fits our early level playstyle much better than the other choices.

Learn Siphon Life at Level 30. This is another instant Shadow DoT that heals you as it deals damage over 30 seconds. The extra healing supports Life Tap while your other DoTs and drains keep dealing damage, making it a major improvement to your sustain. This is fairly weak when you first grab it, and you should only use it on enemies who will survive all of your DoTs for most of Siphon Lifes duration.

Move into Demonology and take Demonic Embrace from Levels 31 to 35, increasing your total Stamina by 15%. The extra Health gives you more to work with while fighting and more to spend through Life Tap. These points begin your path toward Demonic Sacrifice, a huge quality of life to solo play.

Take Demonic Aegis at Levels 36 and 37, improving Demon Skin and Demon Armor by 30%. The extra Armor, Shadow Resistance, and Health regeneration from Demon Armor remain useful once you start fighting without an active pet.

Take Fel Vitality from Levels 38 to 40. It increases your Demon's maximum Health and Mana by 15% and your own maximum Mana by 15%. Your Mana bonus still applies when you aren't using an active Demon, so these points continue helping even after the next talent.

Learn Demonic Sacrifice at Level 41. With this spell you can sacrifice one of your demons for a unique buff, depending on which on you choose. For solo gameplay we recommend sacrificing a Felhunter to gain a buff that restores 3% of your maximum Health every four seconds. This buff is absolutely incredible when farming and questing, and essentially removes the need for you to ever recover health via eating or bandages.

The Demonic Sacrifice buff lasts two hours and is removed when you summon any Demon. You can still summon a pet for its utility, but you will need to sacrifice a Demon again to regain the buff afterward.

Return to Affliction and put four points into Malevolence from Levels 42 to 45. This gives your Shadow spells 4% additional Critical Strike Chance, working well with the increased critical damage from Pandemic. We'll finish this off later.

Take Shadow Mastery from Levels 46 to 50, increasing the damage dealt or Health drained by your Shadow spells by 10%. Nearly all of your main damage spells benefit, including your DoTs, drains, and Shadow Bolt procs.

Learn Wrack at Level 51. It channels Shadow damage every second for six seconds and increases damage from your other Shadow DoTs by 10% while active. It gets more value when Corruption, Bane of Agony, and Siphon Life are already ticking. Wrack deals damage but doesn't heal you, so you will still use Drain Life if you need healing.

Finish Malevolence at Level 52, bringing its Shadow Critical Strike Chance bonus to 5%.

Take Soul Siphon from Levels 53 to 55. At three points, Drain Life, Drain Soul, and Wrack gain 12% more damage or healing for each of your other Affliction effects on the target, up to 36%. Corruption, Bane of Agony, and Siphon Life provide the three effects needed for the full bonus.

Take Improved Drains from Levels 56 to 58, increasing the damage or Health drained by Drain Life, Drain Soul, and Wrack by another 20%. These are the spells you spend much of your time channeling, making this a strong final damage increase. We grab these drain talents late as enemies get much higher health the closer you get to level 60, especially if you find yourself doing elite quests.

Your last two points go into Fel Concentration at Levels 59 and 60. This gives Drain Life, Drain Mana, Drain Soul, and Wrack a 47% chance to avoid losing channel time when you take damage. You finish with two of its three points, helping you get more of each channel when mobs are hitting you.

Your Demon quests are worth doing as soon as you can. Each one adds another pet and its abilities, giving you more options for both questing and dungeons. The main quests become available at the levels below.

Starting area: Summon Imp. Complete the Warlock quest offered in your starting area as soon as you can. Humans receive The Stolen Tome from Drusilla La Salle in Northshire, Gnomes receive Beginnings from Alamar Grimm in Anvilmar, and Undead receive Piercing the Veil from Venya Marthand in Deathknell. Orcs and Trolls should follow Ruzan's Vile Familiars in the Valley of Trials.

Your Level 10 class quest unlocks Summon Voidwalker. Alliance players should check with Gakin the Darkbinder at the Slaughtered Lamb in Stormwind, and Horde players can follow the route offered by Gan'rul Bloodeye in Orgrimmar or Carendin Halgar in Undercity depending on race. Complete the chain and its final The Binding (Stormwind), The Binding (Orgrimmar), or The Binding (Undercity) encounter to learn the summon. This is your first tanking pet and is a massive help when questing alone early on.

At Level 20 you can begin the quests for Summon Succubus or Summon Incubus. Check with Gakin the Darkbinder in Stormwind, Gan'rul Bloodeye in Orgrimmar, or Carendin Halgar in Undercity for your available chain depending on your race. The two Demons have the same abilities, including Seduction once trained at Level 26, so simply choose which one you want based on the look. These quests involve travel, so grab the quest before leaving town and keep this quest in mind while you are out.

Your Level 30 class quest unlocks Summon Felhunter. Follow your trainer's intructions to find Strahad Farsan near Ratchet in The Barrens, then complete the Tome of the Cabal (Alliance) or Tome of the Cabal (Horde) chain, followed by The Binding. The book research sends Alliance players to Krom Stoutarm in Ironforge and Horde players to Jorah Annison in Undercity. Your new Demon gives you Devour Magic, while the Grimoire for Spell Lock becomes available at Level 36, adding an interrupt to its abilities.

Affliction focuses on applying several DoTs, then using the time it takes for them to kill their targets to restore Health or recover Mana. Only apply DoTs to targets that will live for most of its duration and let your existing DoTs finish low Health enemies, or use your wand to finish them instead of spending Mana on unnecessary spells.

Most Warlock spells cost Mana, but Life Tap lets you use your Health to pay for more casts. You will also collect Soul Shards, which are needed for several Warlock spell such as demonic summonings and utility spells.

The following priorities cover both solo questing and dealing damage in dungeons. For short fights, focus on spells that will deal their damage before the enemy dies rather than applying DoTs that will not fully tick. Against elites and bosses, you have more time to benefit from your full set of DoTs and damage increasing debuffs.

Keep Demon Skin active, replacing it with Demon Armor after Level 20. Before Level 41, send your Demon in as you begin attacking. A Voidwalker can hold enemies while you cast, while a Succubus or Incubus provides additional damage in melee range, and an imp attacks from ranged.

At lower levels you want to find a balance of kill speed and Mana cost efficiency; using too few spells to kill an enemy results in you taking far too much damage and needing to heal up afterwards, too many spells and you overkill the mob, wasting DoTs and not utilizing your wand at all. Trial and error is the best way to approach this; try to find that sweet spot where things are dying right around the same time that your DoTs are falling off.

1. During the early levels, use Shadow Bolt as an opening cast or for direct damage between DoT applications. Usually this is no longer worth hard casting once you obtain a wand, as you can simply shoot that rather than wasting Mana and Health.
2. Immolate can be useful on the pull, as you can precast it from range before applying your instant DoTs. This gets its initial damage in early and lets it keep ticking while you apply your other spells, but may not be needed depending on how strong the mobs you are fighting are.
3. Use Curse of the Elements from Level 20 against durable enemies to increase their Magic damage taken. It is especially useful on dungeon bosses where other casters also benefit. Use Curse of Weakness instead when reducing melee damage is more useful; you can keep either Curse active alongside Bane of Agony.
4. Apply Bane of Agony when the enemy will survive enough of its duration. Its damage increases toward the end, so let it finish before reapplying it. Refreshing it early loses its strongest ticks and starts the weaker part of the spell again.
5. Apply Corruption early. It becomes instant at Level 18 with Improved Corruption, letting you apply it while moving. From Level 25, its damage can also trigger Nightfall. Reapply it after it expires if the enemy will survive long enough.
6. Add Siphon Life from Level 30 when the enemy will live long enough for its damage and healing to mostly pay for its high Mana cost. The healing helps replace Health spent through Life Tap, allowing you to keep fighting without stopping as often.
7. Use Nightfall procs for instant Shadow Bolt casts from Level 25 onward. Use the proc before it expires, fitting the cast between DoT applications and channels when possible. The cast is instant, but still costs Mana.
8. Use Drain Life from Level 14 when you need healing. Your DoTs continue dealing damage during the channel, letting you recover Health while still attacking. This works well after Life Tap, since the Health you restore can pay for more spells.
9. Use Wrack from Level 51 when you want damage rather than healing. Apply your Shadow DoTs first, since the channel increases their damage on that enemy. Use Drain Life instead if you need Health, as Wrack does not heal you and is purely for damage.
10. Use your wand to finish enemies without spending Mana, especially during the early levels when a strong wand will carry a large portion of your damage. Let your DoTs keep ticking while you shoot instead of adding another DoT to an enemy that is almost dead, saving you Mana and Health.
11. Use Life Tap when you have Health available to turn into Mana. Fit it between DoT applications or while moving so your existing DoTs continue dealing damage during the global cooldown. You don't need to wait until your Mana bar is empty before using it. Don't over due it though, only use it once or twice at a time before healing back up; you can use it more between combat followed up by a quick bandage or similar healing.
12. Use Drain Soul when you need Soul Shards. Its ticks can generate Shards from eligible enemies before they die, and channeling as one dies also gives you a Shard. Keep your supply up as you quest rather than waiting until you need to summon or create a stone and have none left.

Spreading Shadow DoTs is your main way of fighting several quest enemies together. Apply them to one enemy, move to the next, then use a Drain spell while the DoTs keep ticking. As weaker enemies die, you can begin applying DoTs to another target without waiting for every enemy from the previous pull to be finished.

In dungeons, adjust to how quickly the group kills each pack. Durable enemies give your DoTs time to work, while large packs that die quickly can make your Fire AoE spells more useful.

1. Put Bane of Agony on enemies that will survive long enough. You don't need to fully DoT every weak mob in a dungeon pack that your group is already killing quickly. Siphon Life is not worth using here for example as most enemies will die too quickly and your heal will provide most of the healing you need.
2. Apply Corruption to each enemy you plan to damage. From Level 18, its instant cast makes spreading it much easier. Once you have Nightfall, having several copies ticking also gives you more chances to trigger an instant Shadow Bolt.
3. Use Hellfire from Level 30 against enemies grouped around you when you have healing to support it. Its self damage and melee range make it better suited to organized dungeon pulls than your normal solo questing rotation. Neither it or Rain of Fire benefit from the Shadow damage and Drain bonuses that this build offers.
4. Use Rain of Fire from Level 20 against enemies grouped together, especially in dungeons where a tank is holding the pack. It lets you damage the whole group without spending several casts applying DoTs to each enemy.
5. Channel Drain Life when you need healing, or Wrack from Level 51 when damage is the priority. Choose a durable target with your DoTs already active. The damage bonus from Wrack applies to the enemy you are channeling on, rather than every enemy you have DoTs on.
6. Use Nightfall procs for instant Shadow Bolt casts while your DoTs continue ticking. You can use these to finish one enemy or add damage to a healthier target without stopping for a normal cast.

Your main damage comes from Shadow DoTs and Drain spells. The talents above improve these throughout leveling, while Nightfall keeps Shadow Bolt useful after you move away from hard casting it.

• Corruption: Learned at Level 4. A Shadow DoT that becomes instant at Level 18 with Improved Corruption. Its damage can also trigger Nightfall from Level 25 onward.
• Bane of Agony: Learned at Level 8. Deals more Shadow damage toward the end of its duration, so refreshing it early cuts off its strongest ticks. Improved Bane of Agony increases its damage, and it can stay active alongside a utility Curse.
• Life Tap: Learned at Level 6. Converts Health into Mana, with Spirit increasing the amount converted. Improved Life Tap gives you 20% more Mana per use.
• Siphon Life: Taken at Level 30 with this build. An instant Shadow DoT that damages an enemy and heals you over 30 seconds. Its healing helps pay for Life Tap while you continue fighting.
• Drain Life: Learned at Level 14. Channels damage into an enemy while restoring your Health. Your later Drain talents improve both its damage and healing, making it valuable when you need to recover Health during combat.
• Drain Soul: Learned at Level 10. Channels Shadow damage and generates Soul Shards. It also benefits from your Drain talents and can trigger Nightfall.
• Wrack: Taken at Level 51 with this build. A six second Shadow damage channel that increases damage from your other Shadow DoTs by 10%. It benefits from Soul Siphon and Improved Drains later in the build, but doesn't heal you.
• Shadow Bolt: Your main direct cast early on. From Level 25, Nightfall procs let you cast it instantly, adding direct Shadow damage alongside your DoTs and drains.
• Immolate: Available from Level 1. An initial Fire hit followed by a Fire DoT, giving you another damage spell during the early levels. Your later Shadow damage talents don't improve it.
• Rain of Fire: Learned at Level 20. Channels Fire damage into a selected area, giving you an AoE option from range.
• Hellfire: Learned at Level 30. Channels Fire damage around you, damaging nearby enemies and yourself. Very high damage at the cost of your own Health, and puts you in a dangerous position to pull aggro from the mobs you are attacking.

Use an active Demon while leveling toward Demonic Sacrifice at Level 41. A Voidwalker can tank quest mobs, while a Succubus or Incubus adds melee damage and crowd control. After Level 41 you will be Sacrificing your pet, removing the ability to use a pet temporarily. Summoning a pet for its utility removes that buff, so decide which benefit you need for the fight.

Train your Demon's abilities. Unlike a class trainer, Demon Trainers sell Grimoires that teach new abilities as well as newer ranks of previous spells. Summon the appropriate Demon before using its book to teach it that particular spell; keep the main abilities you use trained up while leveling with an active pet. After Level 41, only buy the Grimoires you need for pet utility as you won't be using a pet normally.

• Summon Imp: A ranged Fire damage pet that provides extra Stamina and group support. Its ranged attacks let you keep it away from mobs that are being tanked by someone else.
  • Blood Pact: Available for your Imp from Level 4. Increases the Stamina of nearby party members. Keep your Imp in range so the group receives the buff.
  • Fire Shield: Available for your Imp from Level 14. Buffs a friendly target to deal Fire damage to melee attackers that hit it. Use it on someone who is taking regular melee hits.
• Summon Voidwalker: Your tanking pet. It generates high threat and holds mobs while you cast. Having it take melee hits reduces your damage taken and prevents those attacks from delaying your casts and channels.
  • Torment: Your Voidwalker's threat ability. Keep it on autocast when the pet is tanking for you. It generates threat, rather than forcing the mob to change targets like a taunt.
  • Sacrifice: Available for your Voidwalker from Level 16. Sacrifices the Demon to give you an absorb shield. While the shield holds, damage won't cause spell pushback. This gives you protection and time to finish a cast, but removes your pet from the fight.
  • Consume Shadows: Available for your Voidwalker from Level 18. Lets the pet channel a heal on itself out of combat. Use it between pulls while you are leveling with a Voidwalker.
• Summon Succubus and Summon Incubus: Melee damage pets with Humanoid crowd control. They have the same abilities, so choose whichever appearance you prefer. Their attacks deal high damage, making them strong pets early on.
  • Seduction: Available for your Succubus or Incubus from Level 26. Controls a Humanoid while your Demon channels the spell. Any damage breaks it, including DoT ticks, so use it on a mob you haven't already dotted. Leave your pet channeling until you are ready to fight that target.
• Summon Felhunter: A pet with an interrupt and a Magic dispel, making it useful against casters and enemies with strong Magic buffs or debuffs.
  • Devour Magic: Available for your Felhunter at Level 30. Removes a harmful Magic effect from an ally or a beneficial Magic effect from an enemy, healing the Felhunter when successful. Use it to clear a dangerous debuff or remove an enemy's Magic buff.
  • Spell Lock: Available for your Felhunter through a Grimoire at Level 36. Silences an enemy and interrupts its cast, locking that spell school if it interrupts successfully. Use it manually so it is ready for the spell you want to stop.

Use the "Move To" command. This command lets you send your Demon to a location within 100 yards. Use it to place your pet near an enemy caster, move it out of AoE, or keep it clear of mobs you are passing. Keep Attack and Follow easy to reach as well, so you can send your pet in and bring it back without clicking through its bar.

Control important abilities yourself. Put spells such as Spell Lock and Seduction on manual keybinds so you can choose when to use them. Using autocast on these spells will cause them to go off randomly, usually accomplishing nothing. Turn off Torment when a dungeon tank is holding the mobs, and use Passive mode when you want full control over which target your pet attacks by choosing when to send it in.

When changing Demons, your current pet is stunned for the summon cast duration; if you need to make a pet swap, try to do so before a fight. Dismiss your pet before jumping down a ledge if it would otherwise take a different route and pull mobs on the way, especially inside dungeons.

Warlocks bring Curses, stones, summons, and several ways to control mobs. Your pet adds more utility on top of that, including dispels and interrupts. Keep these abilities available alongside your damage spells; they are a large part of what you bring to a dungeon or group quest.

Click for Utility and Crowd Control Explanation

• Demon Skin: Your early Armor and Health regeneration buff. Keep it active until you replace it with Demon Armor.
• Demon Armor: Learned at Level 20. Increases Armor, Shadow Resistance, and Health regeneration. Keep it active and remember to refresh it after dying. Demonic Aegis improves its effects by 30% once finished at Level 37.
• Shadow Ward: Learned at Level 32. Absorbs Shadow damage. Use it before a Shadow spell lands to absorb part of the hit. If you are fighting enemies that you know deal Shadow damage, you can use this before entering combat, essentially giving yourself an absorption shield against them.
• Create Healthstone: Learned at Level 10. Uses a Soul Shard to create a Healthstone for an instant heal. Make one for yourself and offer them to your group before a dungeon; these are consumed when used.
• Create Soulstone: Learned at Level 18. Uses a Soul Shard to create a Soulstone. Apply it to yourself or an ally before death to let that player resurrect if they die while the buff is active. Keep it on yourself when questing alone, and in a dungeon using it on a healer can let them resurrect the party after a wipe.
• Ritual of Summoning: Learned at Level 20. Summons a party or raid member to your location. It costs a Soul Shard and needs two other group members to help. Have them click the portal while out of combat and remain still until the summon finishes. This is everyone's favorite Warlock spell.
• Unending Breath: Learned at Level 16. Gives a friendly target 10 minutes of underwater breathing. Buff your group before an underwater quest so everyone can stay submerged. Leveling areas often have underwater spots where players struggle with the short breath timers in WoW Forever.
• Detect Invisibility: First learned at Level 26. Lets you or a friendly player detect invisible enemies. This doesn't reveal enemies that are using Stealth. This has very niche uses, so don't worry about always buffing yourself with it while questing.
• Fear: Learned at Level 8. Makes one enemy flee while your DoTs can continue dealing damage. Damage can break the effect, and the mob can run into another pack. Use it where there is room for the enemy to move without pulling more mobs; certain creatures are immune to fear effects, such as Undead and Machines.
• Howl of Terror: Learned at Level 40, fears up to five mobs around you. It gives you room to move or recover if you get surrounded, but the fleeing mobs can pull more enemies just as they can with Fear Unless you planned to use Howl, this is typically a panic button you use before running away.
• Death Coil: Learned at Level 42. Instantly damages an enemy, heals you, and causes three seconds of Horror. Damage doesn't break the Horror, so your DoTs keep dealing damage throughout it. Great to interrupt a enemy casting or healing, or to simply get an enemy off you temporarily.
• Banish: Learned at Level 28. Takes a Demon or Elemental out of the fight, making it unable to act or take damage. Use it to control an extra mob while you deal with the others, then be ready to cast it again when the effect ends. Different ranks of this spell control the enemy for different durations.
• Subjugate Demon: Learned at Level 30. Uses a Soul Shard to control a suitable enemy Demon for up to five minutes. You can use that Demon's abilities while it replaces your normal pet. The control can break early, so be ready to deal with the Demon when it turns hostile.
• Curse of Weakness: Learned at Level 4. Reduces the Physical damage a mob deals, making it useful against elite melee enemies that hit you or your pet hard.
• Curse of Recklessness: Learned at Level 14. Reduces Armor and stops the target from fleeing, making it useful for melee groups and for keeping runners from reaching another pack. It also prevents Fear and Horror; replace it with another Curse before trying to fear that target. This is really useful when fighting enemies that flee when they reach low health, such as Humanoids or Murlocs.
• Curse of the Elements: Learned at Level 20. Reduces Magic resistances and increases Magic damage taken. It helps both your Fire and Shadow spells, along with any other casters in your group.
• Curse of Tongues: Learned at Level 26. Slows enemy casting, giving your group more time to interrupt a heal or dangerous spell. This is really useful against elite caster mobs, or enemies that have healing spells.
• Demonic Sacrifice: Taken at Level 41 with this build. Sacrifices your Demon for a two hour buff. An Imp gives 15% Shadow damage, a Felhunter restores 3% maximum Health every four seconds, and a Voidwalker restores 2% maximum Mana every four seconds. A Succubus or Incubus gives 15% Fire damage, which doesn't help your main Affliction spells. Summoning any Demon removes the buff.

Use Create Firestone from Level 28 until Create Spellstone becomes available at Level 36. Both create weapon imbues that can be applied alongside Wizard Oil.

Spellstone is the better fit for Affliction once available, since its Shadow damage bonus improves your main DoTs and drains. It also provides spell Haste, an extremely rare stat that reduces your cast time. Firestone adds Fire damage and spell Critical Strike Chance, but its Fire damage doesn't improve your main Shadow spells. Reapply your enhancements when changing weapons, or when the timer expires.

Look for Spell Power and Shadow damage to improve your main spells, with Critical Strike becoming more valuable as you gain Pandemic. Spirit, Intellect, and Stamina support your Health and Mana, letting you keep casting through Life Tap and your healing effects.

• Spell Power
  • Direcctly increases your spells damage dealt. Shadow damage is especially useful for this build since it applies to your main DoTs, drains, and Shadow Bolt. Regular spell damage is preferable to boost all of your spells including Fire and Shadow, but you should simply use the best choice you can get.
• Critical Strike
  • Your DoTs and drains can critically strike; Pandemic increases their critical damage bonus, and later on you will get a 5% Shadow Critical Strike Chance increase from Malevolence. Together, these talents make crit a useful damage stat for Affliction.
• Spirit
  • Increases the amount of Mana restored by Life Tap, along with its Health cost. Improved Life Tap increases the Mana gained further, giving Spirit value during combat as well as between fights. Even a small bit of Spirit goes a long way, but priotize offensive stats first.
• Intellect & Stamina
  • Intellect increases maximum Mana and spell Critical Strike Chance, while Stamina increases maximum Health. Demonic Embrace improves your Stamina and Fel Vitality increases your max Mana. While these stats don't directly incerase your leveling speed, Warlocks treat both Mana and Health as a secondary resource, so increasing them makes gameplay feel smoother.
• Hit
  • Makes spells more reliable. This build gets 4% Hit from Suppression by Level 13, so you already gain what you need for leveling. If you happen to get additional Hit on gear later on, you can swap these talent points out if you wish.

Use the slider below to find questing zones and dungeons around your level. Finish nearby objectives together and collect dungeon quests before joining a run so you can complete several in one trip. Our Dungeon Hub lists the recommended levels and quests for each dungeon.

Be Efficient With Your Time

Warlock class quests can send you between continents. Pick up the chain before leaving town, collect flight paths along the way, and use your Hearthstone to cut down the return trip. Plan trainer visits around that travel so you can learn new spells and pet abilities without making a separate journey for each one.

• Zones to Quest in:
  • Loch Modan/Darkshore
  • The Barrens
• Available Dungeons:
  • Hall of Thanes
  • Ragefire Chasm

• Zones to Quest in:
  • Westfall/Darkshore
  • Silverpine Forest
• Available Dungeons:
  • Hall of Thanes
  • Ragefire Chasm and Ruins of Lordaeron

• Zones to Quest in:
  • Westfall/Redridge Mountains
  • The Barrens/Stonetalon Mountains
• Available Dungeons:
  • Hall of Thanes and The Deadmines
  • Wailing Caverns

• Zones to Quest in:
  • Redridge Mountains/Duskwood
  • Hillsbrad Foothills/Stonetalon Mountains
• Available Dungeons:
  • The Stockade and The Deadmines
  • Shadowfang Keep and Wailing Caverns

• Zones to Quest in:
  • Ashenvale/Duskwood
  • Ashenvale/Duskwood
• Available Dungeons:
  • Blackfathom Deeps and The Stockade
  • Blackfathom Deeps and Shadowfang Keep

• Zones to Quest in:
  • Wetlands/Ashenvale
  • Hillsbrad Foothills/Wetlands
• Available Dungeons:
  • Excavation Site: Wetlands and Blackfathom Deeps
  • Excavation Site: Wetlands and Blackfathom Deeps

• Zones to Quest in:
  • Wetlands/Ashenvale
  • Wetlands/Thousand Needles
• Available Dungeons:
  • Excavation Site: Wetlands and Gnomeregan, and City of Dalaran
  • Excavation Site: Wetlands and Razorfen Kraul, and City of Dalaran

Below are some items worth looking for as you level. There are options available for all different levels matching the slider above, with the item at the top of the list being the best choice for the current level, and a few options that are from quests included below. Gear options beyond level 35 are not entirely known at this time and will be filled out more thoroughly in the future once the game has fully released.

Gear coming soon!

With the WoW Forever Beta only reaching Level 30, we unfortunately are unable to provide more specific advice on which zones or gear to tackle beyond Level 30. Make sure to check back once WoW Forever has launched, as we will be updating this section of our Subtlety Rogue leveling guide soon after!

Get a wand early. A wand gives you damage without spending Mana, which is extremely helpful during the starting levels, and remains useful for the entire leveling journey. Crafted wands can be bought from other players even if you don't have Enchanting. You need to stand still briefly before shooting, and Spell Power doesn't increase your wand's damage.

Keep food, water, and bandages available. Your Health and Mana work together, so recover whichever resource you need before moving on. Bandages are useful after Life Tap, while eating and drinking together can refill both bars at once. Keep a Healthstone available for healing during a fight if you ever get low on health.

Keep up with your professions. Gather herbs, ore, or leather while questing instead of returning to low level zones later to catch up. Those materials help pay for spell ranks and Grimoires, and can be kept for a crafting profession if you plan to change professions later.

Plan your training visits. Check the rank table below and visit town when you have important upgrades available; remember that your spells and your Demon's abilities are trained separately. Keep Grimoires up to date while using an active pet, then focus on the utility abilities you still need after learning Demonic Sacrifice.

Log out in rested areas. Finish a session at an inn or another rested area when possible, ideally using your Hearthstone to return after your last quest. Rested experience adds up over the journey to Level 60 and costs very little extra time when you plan around it.

Make friends. Warlocks bring a lot to a group beyond just damage. Offer health and soul stones, summon missing players, and use your pet's utility if it's needed. Add players you enjoy running with as having people to quest or run dungeons with saves a ton of time organizing groups and remains useful when you reach max level.

New Demons, utility spells, and stronger damage ranks become available throughout leveling. The tables below show when to complete your class quests and which levels offer new ranks of the spells you use.

The table below highlights your class quests, important spells, and major talent unlocks. Talent levels follow this build's point order, so they may differ if you spend your points differently.

Level	Important Unlock
Starting Area	Summon Imp Class Quest
6	Life Tap Unlocked
8	Fear and Bane of Agony Unlocked
10	Summon Voidwalker Class Quest; Drain Soul and Create Healthstone Unlocked
14	Drain Life and Curse of Recklessness Unlocked
16	Sacrifice Available from a Voidwalker Grimoire
20	Summon Succubus and Summon Incubus Class Quests; Ritual of Summoning, Curse of the Elements, Demon Armor, and Rain of Fire Unlocked
24	Improved Life Tap Maxed with this build
25	First Nightfall Point
26	Curse of Tongues Unlocked; Seduction Available from a Grimoire
28	Banish and Create Firestone Unlocked
29	Pandemic Maxed with this build
30	Summon Felhunter Class Quest; Hellfire Unlocked; Siphon Life Learned with this build
36	Create Spellstone Unlocked; Spell Lock Available from a Felhunter Grimoire
40	Summon Felsteed Class Quest; Howl of Terror Unlocked
41	Demonic Sacrifice Learned with this build
42	Death Coil Unlocked
51	Wrack Learned with this build
55	Soul Siphon Maxed with this build
58	Improved Drains Maxed with this build

The following are your main abilities that you will want to keep trained. New ranks of Corruption and Bane of Agony increase your DoT damage and are important upgrades throughout leveling. Visit a Demon Trainer for Grimoires as well, since your Demon's abilities are trained separately from your own spells. Plan your trainer visits around levels where you can pick up several spell ranks and pet upgrades at the same time. After learning Demonic Sacrifice, prioritize Grimoires for pets you still use for utility.

Ability	Rank 1	Rank 2	Rank 3	Rank 4	Rank 5	Rank 6	Rank 7	Rank 8	Rank 9
Shadow Bolt	1	6	12	20	28	36	44	52	60
Immolate	1	10	20	30	40	50	60	—	—
Corruption	4	14	24	34	44	54	—	—	—
Bane of Agony	8	18	28	38	48	58	—	—	—
Siphon Life	30	38	48	58	—	—	—	—	—
Drain Life	14	22	30	38	46	54	—	—	—
Drain Soul	10	24	38	52	—	—	—	—	—
Life Tap	6	16	26	36	46	56	—	—	—
Death Coil	42	50	58	—	—	—	—	—	—
Rain of Fire	20	34	46	58	—	—	—	—	—
Hellfire	30	42	54	—	—	—	—	—	—
Create Healthstone	10	22	34	46	58	—	—	—	—
Demon Armor	20	30	40	50	60	—	—	—	—

Tailoring gives Warlocks cloth armor and bags while leveling. It pairs well with Enchanting, since you can disenchant unwanted crafts for materials. Enchanting also provides early wands, although you can buy those from another player without taking the profession yourself.

Gathering professions are useful if you would rather earn gold as you quest. Skinning gives materials from mobs you are already killing, while Herbalism and Mining let you collect herbs and ore along your route. Herbalism also provides ingredients for Healing Potions made through First Aid.

Engineering pairs with Mining and gives you explosives and other gadgets. Choose it if you want extra damage and utility from these tools while leveling, running dungeons, or doing PvP.

Warlocks should pick up First Aid as well. Bandages give you another way to restore the Health spent on Life Tap, and First Aid also makes Healing Potions in WoW Forever. Cooking supplies food, while Fishing provides ingredients for many recipes. Leveling these two together is highly recommended, but can take up a large amount of time.These secondary professions don't take either primary profession slot.

More WoW Forever Warlock Guides

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