World of Warcraft: Forever Destruction Warlock Leveling Guide

Destruction is not a great choice for leveling, especially during the early levels. We highly recommend leveling as Affliction or Demonology instead, or at least waiting until Level 40 before switching to Destruction. The build feels much better once you have Shadow and Flame and Incinerate for your main damage rotation.

Destruction focuses on dealing Fire damage with Immolate, Conflagrate, and later Incinerate. Your talents improve your cast times and crits, while Shadow and Flame rewards you for using both Conflagrate and Shadowburn to increase your damage further.

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 in Destruction and focuses on improving your casts, adding Conflagrate and Shadowburn before Incinerate at Level 40. You then move into Affliction for Suppression, then Demonology for Demonic Sacrifice. The finished build has 34 points in Destruction, 11 in Demonology, and 6 in Affliction.

Your first five points go into Bane from Levels 10 to 14, reducing the cast time of Shadow Bolt, Immolate, and Incinerate by 0.5 seconds, and Soul Fire by two seconds. You spend much more time casting as Destruction, making this one of your most useful talents.

Take Aftermath from Levels 15 to 19, increasing the initial damage of Immolate by 50%. It also makes Conflagrate Daze its target once you learn it, slowing the enemy by 50% for five seconds. The extra opening damage is useful now, while the slow helps keep enemies away from you later.

Learn Shadowburn at Level 20. This is an instant Shadow damage spell that costs a Soul Shard. If a nontrivial enemy dies within eight seconds of being hit, you gain a Shard back, making it useful for finishing enemies.

Take Destructive Reach at Levels 21 and 22, increasing the range of your damaging spells by 20%. The extra range gives you more room to cast before an enemy reaches you.

Put two points into Ruin at Levels 23 and 24, increasing the Critical Strike damage bonus of your Destruction spells by 40%. This is fairly weak early on when you have very little Critical Strike Chance, but opens the next tier and becomes more valuable as your gear improves. We return to it at Levels 59 and 60.

Learn Conflagrate at Level 25. It instantly deals Fire damage to a target with your Immolate active, but consumes the DoT. Use it near the end of Immolate when possible so you don't lose most of its damage. Aftermath also makes it slow the target, giving you room to move.

Take Agonizing Flames from Levels 26 to 28, increasing the damage of all your Destruction spells by 10% and the Critical Strike Chance of Searing Pain by 10%. The damage increase is the big thing here, improving your main casts as well as Conflagrate and Shadowburn.

Take Intensity from Levels 29 to 31, giving your Destruction spells a 70% chance to avoid losing casting time when you take damage. This makes it much easier to finish casts when an enemy reaches you, but doesn't reduce the damage you are taking.

Put two points into Fire and Brimstone at Levels 32 and 33, giving Conflagrate 17% additional Critical Strike Chance. This works well with Ruin, making one of your main attacks crit more often. We finish this talent at Level 58.

Learn Bane of Havoc at Level 34. It causes one enemy to take 15% of the damage you deal to other targets. Put it on a durable enemy while attacking other mobs, letting you keep dealing damage to it throughout the pull. You can only have one Bane of Havoc active at a time.

Take Shadow and Flame from Levels 35 to 39. At five points, hitting with Conflagrate increases your Shadow damage by 10% for 20 seconds, while hitting with Shadowburn increases your Fire damage by 10% for 20 seconds. This is a huge part of your gameplay, making Shadowburn useful throughout a fight instead of only as a finishing attack.

At five points, Shadow and Flame gives Conflagrate a 100% chance to leave Immolate active and Shadowburn a 100% chance to immediately refund its Soul Shard. This allows you to use these spells on cooldown.

Learn Incinerate at Level 40. This becomes your main regular cast, dealing 25% more damage when your Immolate is on the target. Keep the DoT active and use Conflagrate and Shadowburn around your casts.

Move into Affliction and put four points into Suppression from Levels 41 to 44. This gives you 4% Hit chance and which Hit caps you against equal level enemies.

Move into Demonology and take Demonic Embrace from Levels 45 to 49, 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.

Take Demonic Aegis at Levels 50 and 51, improving Demon Skin and Demon Armor by 30%. The extra Armor, Shadow Resistance, adn Health regeneration remain useful when you start fighting without an active pet. Take Fel Vitality from Levels 52 to 54, increasing your own max Mana by 15%.

Learn Demonic Sacrifice at Level 55. For dungeons, we recommend sacrificing a Succubus or Incubus for 15% increased Fire damage. For solo questing, sacrificing a Felhunter restores 3% of your max Health every four seconds, giving you constant healing to balance your Life Tap.

Return to Affliction and take Improved Life Tap at Levels 56 and 57, increasing the Mana gained from Life Tap by 20%. More Mana from each Tap means you need fewer uses to refill your bar, making your Health go further and giving you more time to deal damage.

Return to Destruction and finish Fire and Brimstone at Level 58, bringing its Conflagrate Critical Strike Chance bonus to 25%. Your last two points go into Ruin at Levels 59 and 60. You finish with four of its five points, increasing the Critical Strike damage bonus of your Destruction spells by 80%.

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.

Destruction focuses on keeping Immolate active and using Conflagrate, Shadowburn, and later Incinerate to deal damage. Your pet helps during the early levels, while Life Tap helps with the high Mana costs of Destruction spells. Keep your main damage buffs active from Shadow and Flame once you have it, and use your wand when another cast would waste Mana.

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. While using an active pet, send your Demon in as you begin attacking, giving it time to build threat when it is tanking for you. A Voidwalker can hold enemies while you cast, while a Succubus or Incubus gives you more melee damage and an Imp attacks from range.

From Level 55, prepare your Demonic Sacrifice buff before pulling when you plan to fight without a pet. Sacrifice a Succubus or Incubus for more Fire damage in dungeons, or a Felhunter for steady healing while questing. Keep an active Demon instead when you need its tanking or utility, as summoning one removes the buff.

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. While using a pet, start every fight by first sending your Demon in. You want it to reach the enemy first so it can generate some threat and tank for you. Find some keybinds that you are comfortable with to control your pet.
2. Use Curse of the Elements 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.
3. Shadow Bolt is used early on before you get Incinerate at Level 40. Cast Shadow Bolt at max range from your target, and immediately follow it up with Immolate. Because Shadow Bolt is a projectile with a travel time, you can essentially get a free cast by doing this.
4. Apply Immolate early. Keep it active on durable enemies, as it enables Conflagrate from Level 25 and increases Incinerate damage from Level 40.
5. 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.
6. Use Conflagrate after Level 25 when your Immolate is on the target. Before Level 39, you should use Conflagrate at the end of Immolates duration, or to finish an enemy, since it will consume Immolate. Once Shadow and Flame is finished at Level 39, use it on cooldown without fear of removing the DoT.
7. Use Shadowburn from Level 20 to finish enemies that will die within eight seconds, giving you a Soul Shard back. After Level 39, the refund is guaranteed, so use it during longer fights to keep the Fire damage bonus from Shadow and Flame active. It still costs Mana and needs a Shard available to use it.
8. Use Incinerate as your main regular cast after Level 40. Keep Immolate on the target for its 25% damage bonus and use Conflagrate and Shadowburn around it. Before Level 40, use Shadow Bolt for direct damage when you have Mana to spend. It also remains useful against Fire resistant enemies.
9. 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 and pet finish the enemy rather than paying for another spell that it won't survive.
10. Use Drain Life from Level 14 when you need healing. Your DoTs and active Demon continue dealing damage during the channel, letting you recover Health while still attacking. Use Health Funnel instead if your pet needs healing.
11. Use Life Tap when you have Health available to turn it into Mana. Fit Taps between casts or while moving, and don't spend so much Health that you can't safely take a hit.
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.

When questing, keep your Demon attacking one enemy while you apply DoTs to the others. From Level 34, Bane of Havoc lets you deal damage to one durable enemy while attacking the rest of the pull. Keep Immolate active on enemies you plan to hit with Conflagrate or Incinerate.

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. While using an active pet, keep your Demon attacking, and move it out of dangerous effects quickly rather than leaving it to die.

1. From Level 34, put Bane of Havoc on one durable enemy and deal damage to the others. It copies 15% of the damage you deal to other targets onto that enemy. Don't overwrite it with Bane of Agony, as you can only have one Bane on each target.
2. Use Shadowburn to keep the Shadow and Flame Fire damage bonus active as the bonus also increases Rain of Fire and Hellfire damage.
3. Apply Immolate to enemies that will survive enough of its duration. Conflagrate any low health mobs, especially ones running into other groups of enemies.
4. 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.
5. 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 from a safer range without spending several casts applying DoTs to each enemy.
6. Put Bane of Agony on enemies that will live for most of the duration. You don't need to fully DoT every weak mob in a dungeon pack that your group is already killing quickly. Keep Bane of Agony off the enemy with your Bane of Havoc.
7. Use Incinerate from Level 40 when focusing one enemy, with Immolate active for the damage bonus. Channel Drain Life when you need healing instead.

Your main damage comes from Immolate, Conflagrate, Shadowburn, and later Incinerate. Your talents improve these throughout leveling, while your Drain spells still help recover Health and collect Soul Shards.

• Immolate: Available from Level 1. An initial Fire hit followed by a Fire DoT. You can precast it on the pull while your Demon moves in, then apply your other spells while it keeps ticking. It enables Conflagrate and improves Incinerate damage once learned.
• Conflagrate: Taken at Level 25. Instantly damages a target with your Immolate active. It can consume the DoT until Shadow and Flame guarantees otherwise at Level 39, so use it near the end of the DoT before then. Aftermath also makes it slow the enemy.
• Shadowburn: Taken at Level 20 with this build. Instant Shadow damage that costs a Soul Shard and gives one back if a nontrivial enemy dies within eight seconds of being hit. Shadow and Flame guarantees an immediate refund at Level 39 and makes it increase your Fire damage.
• Incinerate: The final talent in the Destruction tree. Your main Fire cast, dealing 25% more damage when your Immolate is on the target. Keep the DoT active before using it.
• Bane of Havoc: Taken at Level 34 with this build. Makes one enemy take 15% of the damage you deal to other targets. It replaces Bane of Agony on that enemy, and you can only have one Bane of Havoc active.
• Corruption: Learned at Level 4. A Shadow DoT that keeps its cast time with this build. Use it when the enemy will survive enough of its duration.
• 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. It can stay active alongside a utility Curse.
• Searing Pain: Learned at Level 18. A short Fire damage cast that generates high threat. Agonizing Flames increases its Critical Strike Chance, making it useful when you need a quick cast to finish an enemy, but watch your threat in dungeons.
• 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.
• Drain Life: Learned at Level 14. Channels damage into an enemy while restoring your Health. Your DoTs and active Demon continue attacking during the channel, making it useful after Life Tap or when a mob is hitting you.
• Drain Soul: Learned at Level 10. Channels Shadow damage and generates Soul Shards.
• Shadow Bolt: Your main direct cast before Incinerate at Level 40, and an option against Fire resistant enemies afterward. Bane reduces its cast time and Ruin improves its critical hits.
• 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.

Keep an active Demon while leveling toward Demonic Sacrifice at Level 55. A Voidwalker can tank quest mobs, while a Succubus or Incubus is useful when you want more damage. After Level 55, choose between an active Demon and your sacrifice buff. Summoning any pet removes the buff, so use the pet when its tanking or utility is more useful.

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 throughout leveling. After Level 55, focus on the Grimoires you still need if you are normally using Demonic Sacrifice instead of an active pet.

• 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 51.
• 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.
• Health Funnel: Learned at Level 12. Channels your Health into your Demon to heal it. You can't deal your normal damage while channeling, so use it when the extra healing is needed.
• 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 of Terror, 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 55 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, a Voidwalker restores 2% maximum Mana every four seconds, and a Succubus or Incubus gives 15% Fire damage. We recommend the Fire damage for dungeons or Felhunter healing for solo questing. Summoning any Demon removes the buff.

Use Create Firestone from Level 28, with Create Spellstone adding another option at Level 36. Both create weapon imbues that can be applied alongside Wizard Oil.

Firestone is the recommended choice for this build, since it adds Fire damage and spell Critical Strike Chance, improving Immolate, Conflagrate, and later Incinerate. Spellstone adds Shadow damage and spell Haste, but the Shadow damage doesn't improve your main Fire spells. Reapply your enhancement when changing weapons or when the timer expires.

Look for Spell Power to improve your damage alongside your Demon. You use both Fire and Shadow spells, so general Spell Power is more flexible than damage limited to one school. Spirit, Intellect, and Stamina support your Health and Mana. Hit makes your casts miss less, and later in this build we will grab Suppression to take care of it while leveling.

• Spell Power
  • Directly increases your spells' damage. General Spell Power improves both your Fire and Shadow spells, while damage limited to Fire or Shadow only improves that school. Look for general Spell Power or Fire damage gear for this build, as most of your main attacks deal Fire damage.
• Hit
  • Makes spells more reliable. This build doesn't begin taking Suppression until Level 41, reaching 4% Hit at Level 44. Hit is useful when you can find it, especially against higher level enemies, but is uncommon on early gear.
• Critical Strike
  • Increases how often your spells critically strike, adding damage to your casts and DoTs. Ruin increases the critical damage bonus of your Destruction spells, while Fire and Brimstone gives Conflagrate additional Critical Strike Chance. This makes crit more valuable, but don't give up a large amount of Spell Power for a small amount of crit.
• Intellect & Stamina
  • Intellect increases maximum Mana and spell Critical Strike Chance, while Stamina increases maximum Health. Demonic Embrace improves your Stamina, while Fel Vitality improves your maximum Mana.
• Spirit
  • Increases the amount of Mana restored by Life Tap, along with its Health cost. Improved Life Tap improves the amount you gain later on. Spirit also helps your Mana regeneration, but prioritize offensive stats first.

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 new spell ranks, 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 pet abilities up to date for whichever pet you are using the most. After Level 55, focus on the utility abilities you still need if you normally use 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
12	Health Funnel unlocked
14	Drain Life and Curse of Recklessness unlocked
16	Sacrifice available from a Voidwalker Grimoire
18	Searing Pain unlocked
20	Summon Succubus and Summon Incubus class quests; Ritual of Summoning, Curse of the Elements, Demon Armor, and Rain of Fire unlocked; Shadowburn learned with this build
25	Conflagrate learned with this build
26	Curse of Tongues unlocked; Seduction available from a Grimoire
28	Banish and Create Firestone unlocked
30	Summon Felhunter class quest; Hellfire unlocked
34	Bane of Havoc learned with this build
36	Create Spellstone unlocked; Spell Lock available from a Felhunter Grimoire
39	Shadow and Flame maxed; Conflagrate no longer consumes Immolate, and Shadowburn immediately refunds its Shard
40	Summon Felsteed class quest; Howl of Terror unlocked; Incinerate learned with this build
42	Death Coil unlocked
44	4 points in Suppression; 4% Hit soft cap against equal level enemies
55	Demonic Sacrifice learned with this build
57	Improved Life Tap maxed with this build
58	Fire and Brimstone maxed with this build

The following are your main abilities that you will want to keep trained. New ranks of Immolate, Conflagrate, Shadow Bolt,and later Incinerate are some of your most important upgrades for damage spells. 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.

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	—	—
Conflagrate	25	32	40	48	54	60	—	—	—
Shadowburn	20	24	32	40	48	56	—	—	—
Incinerate	40	50	60	—	—	—	—	—	—
Bane of Agony	8	18	28	38	48	58	—	—	—
Searing Pain	18	26	34	42	50	58	—	—	—
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

Destruction Warlock Ranged DPS Guide Affliction Warlock Ranged DPS Guide Demonology Warlock Ranged DPS Leveling Demonology Warlock Ranged DPS Guide Affliction Warlock Ranged DPS Leveling

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