Forever Demonology Warlock Ranged DPS Guide

Demonology is for players who want a powerful demon fighting at their side. Your pet hits harder, has more Health and Mana, and becomes a major part of how you get through difficult pulls. You still bring the Warlock's damage over time (DoT) spells and drains, but your talents make keeping that demon in the fight much easier.

WoW Forever gives Demonology some very exciting changes. With Demonic Energies, your spell damage heals your demon and Life Tap restores its Mana alongside yours. This gives you a strong connection between dealing damage, keeping your pet healthy, and making sure it has the Mana to keep using its abilities. These tools are already available during the opening Level 20 beta.

Beta information: This page covers the opening Level 20 cap using our BlizzCon demo testing, recorded trainer information, and the current talent calculator. The recommendations will be updated as we test Demonology further and the Beta level caps rise.

Send your demon into the enemy first, then begin applying your damage spells. Giving the pet time to establish threat lets you spend more of the fight casting without an enemy hitting you. Start with one target, watch how quickly it dies, and get comfortable with how much damage your pet can take before adding another.

Your demon's Health and Mana bars should be easy to see. Once you have Demonic Energies, dealing spell damage helps keep it healthy, and Life Tap helps refill its Mana. This makes a big difference over a series of pulls, especially since your demon is regularly using abilities that cost Mana.

This build puts all its talent points into Demonology. However Your Corruption keeps its cast time. You can choose to put points into Improved Corruption if you want the instant cast Corruption. Your resource management comes from Life Tap, drains, supplies, and the support you give your demon.

• Keep your spells trained! — Visit your trainer regularly as you level. New ranks of Shadow Bolt, Immolate, and your other spells make a big difference. Check your action bars after training.
• Complete your demon quests. — Unlock your Summon Imp at Level 2, Summon Voidwalker at Level 10, and Summon Succubus at Level 20. Your demon is a major part of this build, so these quests are worth making time for.
• Keep your armor buff active. — Use Demon Skin early on, then switch to Demon Armor at Level 20. These buffs do not stack.
• Use a wand. — Lesser Magic Wand and Greater Magic Wand are useful early options. Let your demon and existing DoTs keep dealing damage while you finish an enemy without spending more Mana.
• Watch both Mana bars. — Your demon needs Mana for its abilities. With Demonic Energies, a well timed Life Tap can help both of you keep going.
• Keep a few Soul Shards. — You will need them for demon summons and important utility. Refill your supply with Drain Soul before heading into a dungeon or a difficult quest area.
• Keep your demon alive. — Use Health Funnel when your normal damage is not healing it quickly enough. Recovering the pet you already have is usually easier than finishing the fight alone and summoning another.
• Let your damage finish the job. — If your demon and DoTs will kill the enemy, save your Mana. Another cast only helps if it improves the pull enough to justify what you spend.
• Bring food and water. — You still need to recover your own Health and Mana. Stop and recover when necessary instead of beginning the next fight with both bars nearly empty.

Tailoring and Enchanting are a useful starting pair for a Warlock. Tailoring turns the cloth you collect into armor and bags, while Enchanting lets you turn unwanted equipment into materials for enchants. Enchanting can also provide Lesser Magic Wand and Greater Magic Wand, which are very helpful while leveling. Check the Beta recipes and material costs before spending too much gold on a crafting plan.

First Aid is worth picking up as a secondary profession. Bandages give you another way to recover Health, which is especially useful after spending Health on Life Tap or Health Funnel. Find a safe moment to use them so incoming damage does not interrupt the heal.

Cooking is another useful secondary profession. Keep food available for recovery and use the Well Fed buff for its 5% experience bonus while leveling. Your professions should help you keep moving through quests, so do not spend all your training money chasing an upgrade you do not need yet.

Alliance: Gnome. — Expansive Mind increases your maximum Mana, and Escape Artist gets you out of movement impairing effects. Eureka reduces the Mana cost of your next three damaging abilities by 50% and increases their damage by 10%. That gives you useful tools for both dealing damage and managing your resources.

Horde: Undead. — Cannibalize restores Health and Mana from nearby Humanoid or Undead corpses, giving you a quick way to recover between pulls. Will of the Forsaken clears Charm, Fear, and Sleep effects, while Touch of the Grave adds another source of damage and healing. Having another way to recover your own Health is helpful when you are spending it to support both yourself and your demon.

These are our suggested starting choices for ease of leveling. If you prefer another race, choose it! You can learn the specialization and use this build without changing to one of these races.

This build puts all 11 talent points into Demonology. It takes five points in Unholy Power, three points in Fel Vitality, two points in Demonic Energies, and one point in Master Summoner. It focuses on keeping an active demon strong, healthy, and supplied with Mana while you both continue dealing damage.

Unholy Power increases all damage dealt by your listed demons by 10% at five points. This helps whichever demon you are using, so the points remain useful when you move from the Imp to the Summon Voidwalker or start using the Summon Succubus at Level 20.

Fel Vitality increases your demon's maximum Health and Mana by 15%, while also increasing your maximum Mana by 15%. Your pet can take more damage before needing help, and both of you have a larger Mana pool to work with. The talent increases your maximum Mana, not your maximum Health.

Demonic Energies is one of the biggest reasons to play this build. At two points, your pet is healed for 15% of the spell damage you deal. When Life Tap gives you Mana, your demon also gains Mana equal to 100% of the amount you gain. Your normal damage and resource management now help keep your pet ready for the next enemy.

The final point goes into Master Summoner. This simply allows you to summon another demon out faster whenever you need to. This point is optional and can be placed wherever you want. If you prefer using the Summon Voidwalker for harder solo quests, move that final point into Improved Voidwalker. It improves the effectiveness of its abilities and gives you a useful option while playing more defensively. Keep the rest of the build the same.

We leave Demonic Sacrifice out of this build because the talents above get their value from having your demon active. At Level 20, summoning another demon still removes the sacrifice buff. Demonic Pact changes that interaction later in the tree, but it is beyond this level cap.

Demonology starts by sending your demon into the target and letting it establish threat. Apply your DoT spells while it attacks, then use Shadow Bolt, Drain Life, or your wand depending on the enemy's Health and your own resources. Your pet and your DoTs should be working together throughout the fight.

The big interaction comes from Demonic Energies. Your spell damage helps heal your demon, so keeping useful DoTs active also helps keep your pet healthy. This allows you to spend more time dealing damage and less time stopping to heal it with Health Funnel.

You still need to pay attention to the pull. A pet taking too much damage will need help, and passive healing will not save it from every dangerous ground effect. Pull it out of danger or use Health Funnel before it dies.

Life Tap converts some of your Health into Mana. With two points in Demonic Energies, the Mana you gain also restores an equal amount to your active demon. For example, gaining 100 Mana from a Tap also gives your demon 100 Mana, up to its maximum. It receives that Mana in addition to yours.

Watch your own Health before Tapping. Drain Life can recover Health while dealing damage, and as mentioned, the damage you deal also contributes to the pet healing from Demonic Energies. The talent's healing goes to your demon, so you still need to recover your own Health through drains, supplies, or other healing.

Health Funnel also spends your Health, but directly heals your demon. Use it when the pet needs more healing than your damage is providing. If both of you are getting low, control the extra enemy or stop pulling until you recover. Keeping the demon alive should not leave you one hit away from dying.

1. Send your demon into the target first.
2. Apply Curse of the Elements or Curse of Recklessness on dungeon bosses and other durable targets when the group will benefit. Choose the Curse that supports the group's damage.
3. Cast Immolate when the enemy will live long enough for its direct hit and periodic damage to be useful.
4. Apply Corruption. It has a cast time in this build.
5. Apply Bane of Agony when the enemy will survive long enough for its later ticks to matter.
6. Use Drain Life when you need Health.
7. Use Shadow Bolt for direct damage, or your wand when you want to conserve Mana while your pet and DoTs finish the target.
8. Use Life Tap when you need Mana and have enough Health to spend safely. Check your demon's Mana bar at the same time.
9. Stop spending Mana when your existing damage will finish the enemy. Use Drain Soul near the end when you need Soul Shards.

You do not need every DoT on every enemy. Against a weak target, your demon, one damage spell, and a few wand attacks may be enough. Longer fights give you more value from applying the full set of DoTs and keeping them active.

If you pull threat in a dungeon, give the tank time to recover the enemy instead of adding another large cast. This build does not take Suppression, so you do not have its early threat reduction or additional Hit.

You can spread Corruption and Bane of Agony across multiple enemies while your demon attacks the main target. Remember that Corruption has a cast time here, so setting up several targets takes time. Start with a small pull and make sure your pet can handle the pressure before adding more enemies.

Your demon attacking one target does not automatically give it control of every enemy you damage. Watch which enemies are coming toward you when you spread DoTs. Move the pet to a loose enemy when necessary, or use crowd control if you have pulled more than you can comfortably handle.

Rain of Fire becomes available at Level 20 and gives you a dedicated AoE option. Use it on grouped enemies once the tank has established threat. If the enemies will live long enough, you can apply DoTs first and then channel Rain of Fire. If they are dying quickly, skip the long setup.

A DoT deals its damage over time. Reapplying it before it finishes can waste Mana and remaining damage, commonly called clipping your DoTs. Watch the duration and let the effect finish when possible. There is also no reason to refresh it on an enemy your demon is already about to kill.

Corruption deals Shadow damage over time. Bane of Agony ramps up over its duration, with its later ticks dealing more damage. Immolate deals an initial Fire hit and then continues dealing Fire damage over time. Use the target's remaining Health to decide how much of that setup is worth applying.

Bane of Agony no longer uses your Curse slot, so you can keep it active alongside Curse of the Elements or Curse of Recklessness. Elements supports magic damage, while Recklessness supports physical damage. Coordinate with another Warlock if your group has more than one, so you can provide different useful Curses.

At Level 20, your main choices are the Summon Imp, Summon Voidwalker, and Summon Succubus. The talents in this build improve all three, so pick the demon that helps with the content you are doing.

Summon Imp is your first demon and provides ranged damage with Firebolt. Its Mana was a problem during our demo testing, which makes Demonic Energies especially useful here. Your Life Tap helps refill its Mana so it can continue casting. The Imp is still fragile, so avoid treating it like a Voidwalker.

Summon Voidwalker is the comfortable choice when you want a pet to hold enemies while you cast. Fel Vitality gives it more Health, and your spell damage helps heal it through Demonic Energies. Send it in first and watch its threat. If you spread damage to additional enemies, make sure you have a plan for anything the Voidwalker is not holding.

Summon Succubus becomes available at Level 20 and is our recommended damage pet based on the massive amount of damage it can deal. Unholy Power improves its damage even more. Use it in dungeons and on solo pulls where you are comfortable without the Voidwalker's extra durability.

The Succubus benefits from your passive healing, but it can still die if you leave it standing in danger. Keep an eye on where it is attacking and call it back when necessary. A dead pet loses all of its damage and leaves several of your talents with nothing to support.

Warlocks also have Summon Felhunter but he is unlocked at level 30.

• Bind Pet Attack and Pet Follow. Mouse wheel up and down are useful options. You should be able to send your demon in or call it back immediately.
• Watch autocast abilities. Check which abilities your demon is using automatically. Turn off unwanted threat abilities in dungeons so your pet does not fight the tank for enemies.
• Use Move To. Position your pet away from nearby packs and dangerous AoE. The new command makes it much easier to put your demon somewhere useful before a pull.
• Watch the path your pet takes. Jumping down a ledge or running past enemies does not guarantee your demon follows the same route. Avoid letting it pull enemies on the way back to you.
• Keep the pet attacking. After changing targets or calling it back, make sure it starts attacking again when it is safe. Unholy Power cannot help a demon that is standing beside you doing nothing.
• Use Health Funnel when needed. Passive healing is useful, but sometimes the pet needs help immediately. Heal it before its Health becomes a problem.

Drain Soul becomes available at Level 10. Channel it near the end of a fight so it is active when an eligible enemy dies. Your demon and existing DoTs can help finish the target while you channel. Leave some bag space for the resulting Shards.

Soul Shards are used for several important spells, including demon summons, Create Healthstone, Create Soulstone, and Ritual of Summoning. Keep a few available so losing your demon or needing another stone does not force you to stop and farm them first.

This build does not take Soul Harvesting, so finishing an enemy with Drain Soul does not provide that talent's Mana regeneration buff. Use it to maintain your Shard supply, then finish other enemies with the spells or wand attacks that make sense for the fight.

• Create Healthstone: — Creates a Healthstone for emergency healing. Keep one available while questing and offer stones to your group before a dungeon. Put the actual Healthstone somewhere easy to use.
• Create Soulstone: — Creates a Soulstone that can protect you or an ally with a resurrection after death. Apply it before the target dies. Protecting the healer can help your group recover from a wipe.
• Ritual of Summoning: — Lets you and two other party members summon another member of the group to your location. It becomes available at Level 20 and costs a Soul Shard per summon. Set up somewhere safe before asking the other players to help.
• Health Funnel: — Transfers your Health to your demon. Use it when the pet needs more healing than Demonic Energies is providing, and watch your own Health while channeling.
• Fear: — Sends an enemy running and can buy you time to deal with a difficult pull. Damage can break the effect. Keep your demon off a target you need controlled and check that it will not run into another pack.
• Unending Breath: — Lets the target breathe underwater. Keep it available for underwater quests and use it on your group when needed.
• Demon Skin and Demon Armor: — Keep your personal armor buff active. Demon Armor becomes available at Level 20 and replaces Demon Skin.
• Searing Pain: — A faster direct damage spell available at Level 18. Watch its threat when using it in a dungeon. The later Demonic Brand interaction is outside the Level 20 cap, so it does not make your pet generate extra threat in this build.

Gear recommendations are pending beta testing. WoW Forever has reworked itemization, so old Classic item lists cannot establish your best Level 20 equipment. We will add specific quest, crafting, and dungeon pieces after checking their current stats, effects, requirements, and availability.

For now, look for useful spell damage, enough Intellect to support your casting, and enough Stamina to survive while spending Health on Life Tap and Health Funnel. Keep your wand current as well. Its damage helps you finish enemies without spending more Mana.

Use the following as a starting priority while we test the available Level 20 gear. Your demon's stat scaling and the effects on individual items can change which upgrade is best.

• Spell Power: — Improves the damage of spells that scale with it. More spell damage also means more pet healing from Demonic Energies. Pay attention to whether an item gives general Spell Power or damage for one school, since Shadow damage will not increase your Fire spells.
• Hit: — Helps your spells connect. A missed DoT costs Mana and time, and it cannot deal damage or contribute pet healing until it lands. This build has no Hit from Suppression. The value of additional Hit depends on the enemies you fight and how much you already have.
• Haste: — Reduces normal spell cast times. That helps with Shadow Bolt, Immolate, and the cast time on Corruption in this build. Haste did not make DoTs or drain channels tick faster in the demo, so its exact value still needs Beta testing.
• Critical Strike: — Improves your chance to critically strike with eligible spells, including DoTs in WoW Forever. More spell damage also supports the healing from Demonic Energies. We will compare its value with Haste as the available gear is tested.
• Intellect: — Increases your maximum Mana, giving you more room to cast before recovering. Fel Vitality also increases your maximum Mana, but neither effect removes the need to use Life Tap and manage what you spend.
• Stamina: — Increases your maximum Health. This gives you more room to survive dangerous pulls and safely use Life Tap or Health Funnel. More maximum Health does not directly increase the Mana gained from each Tap.
• Spirit: — Helps your natural Health and Mana recovery. It can reduce downtime, although the main tools you actively manage are Life Tap, drains, and your recovery supplies. This build does not have the casting regeneration buff from Soul Harvesting.

Carry a Healthstone, food, water, and usable healing potions. You spend Health on both your own Mana and your demon's recovery, so keep an emergency heal available for a pull that goes wrong. Bandages are also useful when you have a safe opportunity to use them.

Named consumables are pending confirmation. We still need to verify which potions, elixirs, and scrolls are obtainable and usable at Level 20, along with their effects and buffs. We will add the exact items and sources after checking them in the Beta.

Do not plan around the Warlock weapon oils at this cap. The recorded trainer places Create Firestone at Level 28 and Create Spellstone at Level 36. Other oils and temporary weapon effects will be added here if suitable Level 20 options are confirmed.

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