Warlock Leveling Guide 1-120 Battle for Azeroth (BfA) 8.1
Table of Contents
1. General Battle for Azeroth Leveling Tips
Welcome! While this leveling guide is specifically made for the class and specialization(s) listed, we also have a general Battle for Azeroth leveling guide that focuses on the specific features of the Battle for Azeroth expansion including preparation of your mission table that will be used to unlock new areas, progressing on your faction's War Effort to save time at Level 120, and a reminder to keep ALL of the gear you find for the Scrap-o-Matic 1000 or Shred-Master Mk1, which will greatly increase your resource generating capabilities. Please visit our 110 to 120 leveling guide for this information and more (including Heirloom and War Mode advice that also applies to players who are not yet Level 110.
2. Best Specialization for Leveling
To start things off, all 3 specializations are good for leveling quickly, with Affliction and Demonology edging out by a tiny bit; that said, if you play to each spec's strength, the difference in speed is minimal and you should instead pick what you like the most or is more in line with your playstyle.
3. Leveling 1-120 as an Affliction Warlock
3.1. Gear Options
When leveling up, you should always choose the piece of loot with the highest item level. If the item levels are equal, you should choose the piece with stats that are most favorable to your specialization. If your current item is an Heirloom, it should not be replaced.
3.2. Level by Level Rotation and Talents
Move the slider below to make the guide update to your level!
3.2.1. Talents to Level Up as an Affliction Warlock
Your first talent row unlocks at Level 15.
Your talent set up should be as follows.
- Level 15:
Deathbolt - Level 30:
Absolute Corruption - Level 45:
Burning Rush - Level 60:
Phantom Singularity - Level 75:
Mortal Coil - Level 90:
Haunt - Level 100:
Creeping Death
3.2.2. Rotation to Level Up as an Affliction Warlock
Starting at Level 1, you only have one main attack
ability: 
Shadow Bolt.
- Cast
Unstable Affliction whenever you have
4-5 Soul Shards. It does high damage and you should avoid wasting Soul Shards
by letting them hit maximum. - Phantom Singularity should be cast whenever available. The healing and multi-target damage it
provides is great for leveling.
- Apply
Agony to targets to generate Soul
Shards and deal damage. Agony is instant cast, so you can deal with multiple
targets while on the move. - Cast
Seed of Corruption when multiple targets
are stacked together to apply 
Corruption. - Apply Corruption to targets to deal damage.
Corruption is instant cast, so you can deal with multiple targets while on the
move.
- Cast
Summon Darkglare when you have DoTs
applied to quickly burn down tougher opponents. - Haunt increases
the damage we deal to a target. Haunt deals good burst damage and resets with
each kill, and should be used as a nuke while leveling.
- Cast
Drain Life when you need to heal. - Deathbolt is our Level 15 Talent, and
should be cast once you have your DoTs applied for burst damage.
- Cast
Health Funnel when you need to heal
your Demon. - Cast Unstable Affliction to spend Soul
Shards.
- Cast
Shadow Bolt to deal damage.
3.2.3. Summary of Unlocked Abilities for Affliction Warlock
You unlock your first ability of interest at Level 3.
- Corruption unlocks at Level 3. Corruption
can be applied to enemies and deals Shadow damage periodically for 14 seconds.
- At Level 5 you acquire your first pet,
Summon Imp. This summons a demon that casts spells and persists until
you dismiss it or it dies. - Soul Shards, your main resource, unlock at Level 10.
Soul Shards are generated randomly by Agony damage.
- Agony also unlocks at Level 10, and deals Shadow damage periodically for 18 seconds. The damage increases over time, until it reaches a maximum number of stacks. The stacks can be preserved by recasting Agony before the effect expires. It also has a chance to generate a Soul Shard when dealing damage.
- Drain Life is available at Level 13, and is
your first channeled spell. Drain Life does low damage, but restores a modest
amount of health with each tick.
- Unstable Affliction unlocks at Level 14,
allowing you to spend Soul Shards. Unstable Affliction increases the damage you
deal to targets by 10% and deals strong damage over a short period of time.
Fear is unlocked at Level 16, and is a
"Crowd Control" spell. Fear makes a target run in random directions for 20
seconds, but the effect can be broken by damage.- At Level 18, you can cast
Create Healthstone.
Healthstones can be used to quickly restore Health to your character, which can
be lifesaving. 
Summon Voidwalker is available at Level 20.
The Voidwalker is a "Tank"-style pet that is good for using while leveling.- Health Funnel, available at Level 22, is a
channeled spell that siphons 25% of your maximum health over several seconds in
return for your Demon to heal for twice as much during that time.
- At Level 24, you can summon an
Eye of Kilrogg
to temporarily control. Your character viewpoint shifts to the Eye, which moves
quickly and can be used to scout. 
Unending Breath unlocks at Level 24,
allowing you to breathe underwater indefinitely while you have the buff, as
well as increasing swim speed by 20%.- At Level 26, you unlock Unstable Affliction's
second rank. Unstable Affliction will now refund a Soul Shard if the target dies
while the effect is active.
- At Level 28, you an unlock the ability to cast
Summon Succubus. The Succubus pet is generally most effective for
Player vs. Player combat, as it possesses good Crowd Control abilities against
Humanoids. 
Banish unlocks at Level 32, and is a
powerful Crowd Control ability against certain monster types. Banish is
only effective against Demons, Aberrations, and Elementals, and lasts 30
seconds.- At Level 34 your
Soul Leech passive is
available. This grants a passive absorption shield to your character based
on the single target damage you deal, and can accrue up to 10 of your maximum
health in damage protection. - At Level 36, you unlock
Summon Felhunter.
The Felhunter has the ability to interrupt enemy spellcasts, which makes it a
useful pet for dungeons and Player vs. Player. - At Level 38, you unlock an additional pet ability
which can be activated by the
Command Demon ability. The ability
you unlock depends on your pet. - Seed of Corruption also unlocks at Level 38,
is a debuff that can be applied to a target. Doing enough damage to the debuffed
target triggers the Seed to explode, dealing damage to everything and spreading
Corruption to affected targets. This spell is designed to help you
deal with multiple targets more efficiently.
Ritual of Summoning can be cast at Level 42,
but it requires 2 additional players to complete. This will create a Summoning
Portal, which lasts 5 minutes and can be used (with the help of an ally) to
summon party and raid members to your location.- At Level 44 you can apply
Soulstone to
yourself or your allies. Soulstone lasts 10 minutes, and has a 10 minute
cooldown, allowing the beneficiary to resurrect immediately upon death. - At Level 52, your Agony spell is upgraded,
and may now ramp up to 10 stacks.
- At Level 54,
Unending Resolve unlocks. This
is your primary defensive ability, reducing all damage you take by 40% for 8
seconds, as well as granting immunity to silence and interrupt effects for the
duration. 
Enslave Demon can be cast at Level 56,
which allows you to force a Demon NPC to become your Pet for 5 minutes.- Summon Darkglare unlocks at Level 58, and
this is your main DPS cooldown. Darkglare lasts 20 seconds, extends currently
active DoT effects, and does increased damage based on your active number of
DoTs.
- At Level 60,
Shadowfury becomes available.
This allows you to stun a group of monsters within a radius. - At Level 66, you can cast
Create Soulwell,
allowing your entire party or raid to acquire Healthstones for themselves. - At Level 70, Soulstone is upgraded so it
may be used to instantly resurrect a dead target.
Mastery: Potent Afflictions unlocks at Level 78,
which quickly becomes your best stat. It directly increases the damage of your
DoT abilities.- At Level 80,
Demonic Gateway finally unlocks.
The Gateway connects two points, and interacting with either end causes players
to be quickly transported to the other side. Players can only use a Demonic Gate
once every 90 seconds, but it can be very useful for quick movement.
3.3. Affliction Warlock War Mode Talents for Leveling
In this section we will rank the PvP talents best for leveling and doing solo / small group PvE content. Below is a ranking of both General PvP Talents and Affliction Warlock-specific PvE talents.
3.3.1. General PvP Talents
Relentless is a passive ability but it does not
automatically remove crowd control abilities, but instead reduces the
duration.
Gladiator's Medallion is an on-use ability that removes all
movement impairing effects and all loss of control effects.
Adaptation automatically removes any loss of control effects
that last 5+ seconds, a maximum of once per minute.
Adaptation is recommended for most players,
as it is automatic and on a relatively short cooldown. This makes it the overall
best choice with PvE in mind.
3.3.2. Affliction Warlock PvP Talents for Leveling
Rot and Decay can be very useful in situations with high
sustained damage intake. Combining this with 
Essence Drain greatly
increases your survivability and sustainability and opens a lot of doors for
soloing difficult content.- Essence Drain stacks a damage reduction effect on enemies that
are damaged by your Drain Life. You can reduce their damage by up
to 25%, which is a large increase to your ability to survive and sustain.
Curse of Shadows causes damage over time effects to strike an
additional time for 20% of their original damage while active. This offers
a little bit of extra burst damage on a short cooldown.
Curse of Fragility can be a helpful curse for reducing the health
of elite and dangerous mobs.
Curse of Tongues, 
Curse of Weakness,
and 
Nether Ward can be situationally useful, but are not recommended
as general purpose choices.
Endless Affliction can be helpful for certain
situations, but is generally not recommended for leveling as it reduces the burst
of your Unstable Affliction.
Demon Armor substantially increases your survivability, allowing you
to tank much more physical damage, should you choose to do so.
Soulshatter can also be situationally useful,
particularly if you are leveling in a group, but requires you to properly play
around the cooldown.
3.4. Legendary Options
If you are just coming out of Level 110, you will probably have a number of different Legendary items to choose from. Your Legendaries' special effects will stop working at Level 116, but until then they can be a very powerful addition to help you level up quickly. These are our Legendary recommendations for leveling as an Affliction Warlock in Battle for Azeroth:
Sephuz's Secret is by far the best choice, giving you a ton of
movement speed and damage that can be regularly procced. This will noticeably
speed up your leveling and should be considered a must-have if you can get it.
Sacrolash's Dark Strike should be your second choice. The stats
from the ring are nice, and the permanent slow is great utility for leveling.
The Corruption damage bonus has great synergy with our leveling
Talent of choice, Absolute Corruption.
3.5. Pet Choice for Affliction Warlock Leveling
Summon Imp is your first available demon,
but is best suited to Raid Environments. This pet is not particularly useful
for leveling, but you have no choice for the early levels.
If you are leveling alone, 
Summon Voidwalker
can be a helpful choice while leveling up, as it takes a lot of the pressure
off you. Avoiding casting pushback can also increase leveling speed.
Summon Felhunter can be a good choice if
you are leveling in a group, or venturing into dungeons. The extra interrupt
is helpful for dealing with troublesome caster mobs.
3.6. Quest Rewards
You should equip new quest rewards when their item level starts beating out your previous set of gear. If you are currently wearing Tier 21 gear, it is best to let the quest rewards significantly beat your existing item level before using them. With that said, you will unlock Azerite pieces early on, which are worth using over Tier gear in most circumstances.
If possible, we recommend holding on to all Quest Rewards you do not use. They can be scrapped at Level 120 for material resources for profession crafting.
3.7. Consumables
There are several consumable items that can be purchased that will help you with your leveling speed.
Skystep Potion increases your movement speed by 150% (more than
a mount!) for 8 seconds. It has a 1-minute cooldown. This is extremely
useful and should be used often and aggressively for any
travel that is more than ~100 yards long.
Gunshoes are an Engineering item that increase your movement
speed by 200% for 25 seconds. These will make you almost as fast as a Flying
mount. We recommend having a lot of these, and using them whenever you are
traveling more than ~250 yards.
Goblin Glider Kit is very useful for covering long distances from
high places.
3.7.1. Gunshoes Macro
The Gunshoes will not let you stop moving for as long as they are active. Using this macro twice will click the buff off and allow you to stop.
- #showtooltip
- /use Gunshoes
- /cancelaura Gunshoes
3.8. Congratulations!
Congratulations on reaching Level 120! Now that you have hit Level 120 we recommend looking at our Easy mode page and Talents section to learn how to play at maximum level. To get yourself prepared for the end-game content ahead, we strongly recommend this Battle for Azeroth Raiding Lexicon/Spreadsheet by Medivh. It is a gold trove of information that will help you when gearing up in Battle for Azeroth and more.
4. Leveling 1-120 as an Demonology Warlock
4.1. Gear Options
When leveling up, you should always choose the piece of loot with the highest item level. If the item levels are equal, you should choose the piece with stats that are most favorable to your specialization. If your current item is an Heirloom, it should not be replaced.
4.2. Level by Level Rotation and Talents
Move the slider below to make the guide update to your level!
4.2.1. Talents to Level Up as an Demonology Warlock
Your first talent row unlocks at Level 15.
Your talent set up should be as follows.
- Level 15: Dreadlash
- Level 30:
Demonic Calling - Level 45: Burning Rush
- Level 60:
Soul Strike - Level 75: Mortal Coil
- Level 90:
Inner Demons - Level 100:
Sacrificed Souls
4.2.2. Rotation to Level Up as an Demonology Warlock
Starting at Level 1, you only have one main attack
ability: Shadow Bolt.
Summon Demonic Tyrant is the main cooldown of
Demonology.
It is not exceptionally strong by itself, unless you talent into
Demonic Consumption, however its strength lies in the 15% damage buff
to
any pets, on top of a 15-second extension to their active time. Make sure to
use it when you have 
Call Dreadstalkers out and
at least 1 set of imps.- Cast Call Dreadstalkers whenever you have 2
shards. Dreadstalkers have
high single target damage for their cost and, with the talent you
unlock at Level 15, they provide AoE damage, on top of 2 Demonic Cores once you
reach Level 30.
- When there are at least 2 targets grouped up and
you have at least 6 imps out, cast
Implosion. - Cast
Hand of Gul'dan whenever you have
at least 3 Soul Shards. It does a fair amount of damage, especially when
hitting multiple targets
and spawns 1 imp for each Shard consumed. - Soul Strike should be cast whenever
available. It is a harder hitting,
instant-cast Shadow Bolt that makes your Felguard charge to your target.
- Use your Demonic Core procs to cast
Demonbolt whenever you have 3 or less shards. - Command Demon is a powerful tool while
leveling, allowing you to stun a single target every 30 seconds,
thus reducing the incoming damage you or your pet may suffer.
- Demonbolt is worth roughly 2 times the
damage of a Shadow Bolt for twice the cast time.
I would not consider casting it during leveling unless you get a
Demonic Core proc later once you reach Level 30.
- Cast Shadow Bolt to deal damage and to generate 1
Shard.
4.2.3. Summary of Unlocked Abilities for Demonology Warlock
You unlock your first ability of interest at Level 3.
- At Level 5, you acquire your first pet,
Summon Imp. This summons a demon that casts spells and persists until
you dismiss it or it dies.
- Soul Shards, your main resource, unlock at Level 10.
Soul Shards are generated with Shadow Bolt casts.
- Hand of Gul'dan unlocks at Level 10.
Hand of Gul'dan is your first and most-used shard spender; it does increasing damage
to any enemies within 8 yards of the impact zone and summons an imp for each shard used,
up to a maximum of 3.
- At Level 12, you unlock
Summon Felguard, the
signature pet of Demonology Warlocks,
which offers a noticeable upgrade in damage from the imp, while also being your
first "tank" pet. - Drain Life is available at Level 13, and is
your first channeled spell. Drain Life does low damage, but restores a modest
amount of health with each tick.
- Call Dreadstalkers unlocks at Level 14,
and represents your first summon with a cooldown.
Dreadstalkers hit much harder than imps and offer another body to keep enemies busy
while you cast your spells.
- Fear is unlocked at Level 16, and is a
"Crowd Control" spell. Fear makes a target run in random directions for 20
seconds, but the effect can be broken by damage.
- At Level 18, you can cast Create Healthstone.
Healthstones can be used to quickly restore Health to your character, which can
be lifesaving.
- Summon Voidwalker is available at Level 20.
The Voidwalker is a "Tank"-style pet that is good for use while leveling.
Trading damage for survivability, and an active taunt, can be considered over the Felguard
if you like to pull a sizeable amount of mobs while leveling.
- Health Funnel, available at Level 22, is a
channeled spell that siphons 25% of your maximum health over several seconds to
heal your demon for twice as much during that time.
- Demonbolt becomes available at Level 22, but is realistically
only used after Level 30 once you unlock Demonic Core. This is due to its extremely slow
cast time and not enough damage to justify it over Shadow Bolt.
- At Level 24, you can summon an Eye of Kilrogg
to temporarily control. Your character viewpoint shifts to the Eye, which moves
quickly and can be used to scout.
- Unending Breath unlocks at Level 24,
allowing you to breathe underwater indefinitely while you have the buff, as
well as increasing swim speed by 20%.
- At Level 28, you unlock the ability to cast
Summon Succubus. The Succubus pet is generally most effective for
Player vs. Player combat, as it possesses good Crowd Control abilities against
Humanoids.
- Demonic Core is unlocked once you reach Level 30.
When your imps expire, there is an individual 10% chance you will gain a Demonic Core stack, which
lets you instantly cast Demonbolt and generate 2 shards.
The buff lasts for 20 seconds and is refreshed every time you get a new stack, up to 4,
giving you plenty of freedom in how and when to use it.
- Banish unlocks at Level 32, and is a
powerful Crowd Control ability against certain monster types. Banish is
only effective against Demons, Aberrations, and Elementals, and lasts 30
seconds.
- At Level 34, your Soul Leech passive is
available. This grants a passive absorption shield to your character based
on the single target damage you deal, and can accrue up to 10% of your maximum
health in damage protection.
- At Level 36, you unlock Summon Felhunter.
The Felhunter has the ability to interrupt enemy spellcasts, which makes it a
useful pet for dungeons and Player vs. Player.
- At Level 38, you unlock an additional pet ability ,
which can be activated by the Command Demon ability. The ability
you unlock depends on your pet.
- Ritual of Summoning can be cast at Level 42,
but it requires 2 additional players to complete. This will create a Summoning
Portal, which lasts 5 minutes and can be used (with the help of an ally) to
summon party and raid members to your location.
- At Level 44, you can apply Soulstone to
yourself or your allies. Soulstone lasts 10 minutes, and has a 10 minute
cooldown, allowing the beneficiary to resurrect immediately upon death.
- Implosion is unlocked at Level 46, and is the
second AoE spell for Demonology outside of talents. It grabs all the active imps and hurls
them towards your target for a noticeable burst of damage. Imps that die this way
still retain a 10% chance each to grant you a Demonic Core stack.
- At Level 52, you unlock the passive
Soul Link,
which transfers 20% of the damage you take to your active pet. It also makes
Soul Leech heal you for 25% and your pet for 50% of the damage done. - At Level 54, Unending Resolve unlocks. This
is your primary defensive ability, reducing all damage you take by 40% for 8
seconds, as well as granting immunity to silence and interrupt effects for the
duration.
- Enslave Demon can be cast at Level 56,
which allows you to force a Demon NPC to become your Pet for 5 minutes.
- At Level 60, Shadowfury becomes available.
This allows you to stun a group of monsters within a radius.
- At Level 60, you unlock the passive
Demonic Embrace,
which increases your Stamina by 10%. - At Level 66, you can cast Create Soulwell,
allowing your entire party or raid to acquire Healthstones for themselves.
- At Level 70, Soulstone is upgraded so it
may be used to instantly resurrect a dead target.
Mastery: Master Demonologist unlocks at Level 78,
which quickly becomes your best stat. It directly increases the damage of your
summoned demons.- At Level 80, Demonic Gateway finally unlocks.
The Gateway connects two points, and interacting with either end causes players
to be quickly transported to the other side. Players can only use a Demonic Gate
once every 90 seconds, but it can be very useful for quick movement.
- Summon Demonic Tyrant becomes available at Level 80.
The Tyrant itself does a respectable amount of damage and buffs the damage of every other
summoned pet by 15%, as well as extending their lifespan by 15 seconds.
4.3. Demonology Warlock War Mode Talents for Leveling
In this section, we will rank the best PvP talents for leveling and doing solo / small group PvE content. Below is a ranking of both General PvP Talents and Demonology Warlock-specific PvE talents.
4.3.1. General PvP Talents
- Relentless is a passive ability, but it does not
automatically remove crowd control abilities. Instead, it reduces the
duration.
- Gladiator's Medallion is an on-use ability that removes all
movement impairing effects and all loss of control effects.
- Adaptation automatically removes any loss of control effects
that last 5+ seconds, with this occurring a maximum of once per minute.
Adaptation is recommended for most players,
as it is automatic and on a relatively short cooldown. Overall, this makes it the
best choice with PvE in mind.
4.3.2. Demonology Warlock PvP Talents for Leveling
Call Fel Lord can be useful mostly when engaging with other players in PvP,
as it offers a moment of respite from melee that are focusing you.
Call Felhunter offers an interrupt every 24 seconds, provided your active
pet is not the Felhunter.
Call Observer summons a demon that will zap any enemy casting harmful spells
within 20 yards for 5% of their maximum health.- Curse of Fragility can be a helpful curse for reducing the Health
of elite and dangerous mobs.
Curse of Tongues, Curse of Weakness,
and Nether Ward can be situationally useful, but are not recommended
as general purpose choices.
Essence Drain stacks a damage reduction effect
on enemies that are damaged by your 
Drain Life. You can reduce their
damage by up to 25%, which is a large increase to your ability to survive and sustain.
Master Summoner makes your 
Call Dreadstalkers
instant cast, regardless if you have a 
Demonic Calling proc or not.
This is not really mandatory, especially if you run Demonic Calling.
Pleasure through Pain would actually be a solid choice, if it was not
for the fact that you have to run with Succubus, thus losing cleave/AoE damage compared to a Felguard.
Singe Magic offers a defensive dispel on a 15-second cooldown without
any downside, assuming you are not using Imp already.
4.4. Legendary Options
If you are just coming out of Level 110, you will probably have a number of different Legendary items to choose from. Your Legendaries' special effects will stop working at Level 116, but until then, they can be a very powerful addition to help you level up quickly. These are our Legendary recommendations for leveling as a Demonology Warlock in Battle for Azeroth:
- Sephuz's Secret is by far the best choice, giving you a ton of
movement speed and damage that can be regularly procced. This will noticeably
speed up your leveling and should be considered a must-have if you can get it.
Soul of the Netherlord is arguably your second best option.
It allows you to get 
Soul Conduit, increasing your shard generation and thus speeding
up your summoning cycle. This allows you to do damage faster while leveling.
Pillars of the Dark Portal offer you increased mobility, making your
Demonic Gateway essentially function like a blink.
As a general rule, you do not want to wear legendaries in the Azerite slots, and rings/wrists are the least impactful slots regarding Intellect loss from wearing lower item level legendaries.
4.5. Pet Choice for Demonology Warlock Leveling
Summon Imp is your first available demon.
This pet is not particularly useful for leveling, but you have no choice for the early levels.
Summon Felguard is your main demon for most of the
situations, offering a noticeable upgrade in terms of cleave damage while also being
the second most durable pet.
If you find your pet dying frequently, consider switching to 
Demon Skin and/or
Voidwalker.
If you are leveling alone, Summon Voidwalker
can be a helpful choice while leveling up, as it takes a lot of the pressure
off of you. Avoiding casting pushback can also increase leveling speed.
Summon Felhunter can be a good choice if
you are leveling in a group, or venturing into dungeons. The extra interrupt
is helpful for dealing with troublesome caster mobs.
4.6. Quest Rewards
You should equip new quest rewards when their item level starts beating out your previous set of gear. If you are currently wearing Tier 21 gear, it is best to let the quest rewards significantly beat your existing item level before using them. With that said, you will unlock Azerite pieces early on, which are worth using over Tier gear in most circumstances.
If possible, we recommend holding on to all Quest Rewards you do not use. They can be scrapped at Level 120 for material resources for profession crafting.
4.7. Consumables
There are several consumable items that can be purchased that will help you with your leveling speed.
- Skystep Potion increases your movement speed by 150% (more than
a mount!) for 8 seconds. It has a 1-minute cooldown. This is extremely
useful and should be used often and aggressively for any
travel that is more than ~100 yards long.
- Gunshoes are an Engineering item that increase your movement
speed by 200% for 25 seconds. These will make you almost as fast as a Flying
mount. We recommend having a lot of these, and using them whenever you are
traveling more than ~250 yards.
- Goblin Glider Kit is very useful for covering long distances from
high places.
4.7.1. Gunshoes Macro
The Gunshoes will not let you stop moving for as long as they are active. Using this macro twice will click the buff off and allow you to stop.
- #showtooltip
- /use Gunshoes
- /cancelaura Gunshoes
4.8. Congratulations!
Congratulations on reaching Level 120! Now that you have hit Level 120 we recommend looking at our Easy mode page and Talents section to learn how to play at maximum level. To get yourself prepared for the end-game content ahead, we strongly recommend this Battle for Azeroth Raiding Lexicon/Spreadsheet by Medivh. It is a gold trove of information that will help you when gearing up in Battle for Azeroth and more.
5. Leveling 1-120 as an Destruction Warlock
5.1. Gear Options
When leveling up, you should always choose the piece of loot with the highest item level. If the item levels are equal, you should choose the piece with stats that are most favorable to your specialization. If your current item is an Heirloom, it should not be replaced.
5.2. Level by Level Rotation and Talents
Move the slider below to make the guide update to your level!
5.2.1. Talents to Level Up as an Destruction Warlock
Your first talent row unlocks at Level 15.
Your talent set up should be as follows.
This first build is a passive setup, centered around steady damage outcome.
- Level 15:
Flashover - Level 30:
Shadowburn - Level 45: Burning Rush
- Level 60:
Fire and Brimstone - Level 75: Mortal Coil
- Level 90:
Roaring Blaze - Level 100: Soul Conduit
This build is based around short cooldown rotations.
- Level 15:
Soul Fire - Level 30: Shadowburn
- Level 45: Burning Rush
- Level 60:
Cataclysm - Level 75: Mortal Coil
- Level 90: Roaring Blaze
- Level 100:
Channel Demonfire
5.2.2. Rotation to Level Up as an Destruction Warlock
Starting at Level 1, you only have one main attack
ability: Shadow Bolt.
- Cast
Summon Infernal on cooldown or whenever
you need either a big burst of damage or AoE stun. This will generate 3 shards
over its duration. - Cast
Chaos Bolt whenever you have at
least 2 shards. - Cast
Rain of Fire if there are at least 3
targets stacked for most of its duration. - Cast Cataclysm on cooldown to apply
Immolate on every target hit. - Maintain Immolate on targets to generate
a steady income of shard
fragments.
- Cast Channel Demonfire whenever you have
at
least 1 Immolate active.
- Cast
Havoc when a second target is
present so you can duplicate all your single target
spells for 60% their original value. - Cast Soul Fire on cooldown to generate
resources and deal high damage to a target.
- Cast
Conflagrate on cooldown to
speed up Chaos Bolt. - Cast Shadowburn on cooldown, but try to
save 1 stack for when targets are about to die
so you can get a reset.
- Cast
Incinerate to deal damage and
generate shard fragments.
5.2.3. Summary of Unlocked Abilities for Destruction Warlock
You unlock your first ability of interest at Level 3.
- At Level 5, you acquire your first pet,
Summon Imp. This summons a demon that casts spells and persists until
you dismiss it or it dies.
- At Level 10, you unlock Conflagrate, an instant cast, single-target spell
that hits for a fair amount and also generates half a shard, as well as giving you 1 stack of Backdraft.
- Immolate is also unlocked at Level 10, and its the signature dot of Destruction, giving
you good damage and shard generation together.
- Soul Shards, your main resource, unlock at Level 10.
Soul Shard fragments are generated with Immolate periodic ticks.
- Drain Life is available at Level 13, and is
your first channeled spell. Drain Life does low damage, but restores a modest
amount of health with each tick.
- Incinerate unlocks at Level 14, replacing
Shadow Bolt. It is your main shard generator with almost double the damage.
- At Level 14, you also unlock the passive Backdraft, reducing
the cast time of your next Incinerate or Chaos Bolt by 30% after casting Conflagrate.
- Fear is unlocked at Level 16, and is a
"Crowd Control" spell. Fear makes a target run in random directions for 20
seconds, but the effect can be broken by damage.
- At Level 18, you can cast Create Healthstone.
Healthstones can be used to quickly restore Health to your character, which can
be lifesaving.
- Summon Voidwalker is available at Level 20.
The Voidwalker is a "Tank"-style pet that is good for using while leveling.
Trading damage for survivability, and an active taunt, can be considered over a Felguard
if you like to pull a sizeable amount of mobs while leveling.
- Health Funnel, available at Level 22, is a
channeled spell that siphons 25% of your maximum health over several seconds and, in
return, heals your demon for twice as much during that time.
- At Level 24, you can summon an Eye of Kilrogg
to temporarily control. Your character viewpoint shifts to the Eye, which moves
quickly and can be used to scout.
- Unending Breath unlocks at Level 24,
allowing you to breathe underwater indefinitely while you have the buff, as
well as increasing swim speed by 20%.
- Rain of Fire becomes available at Level 26.
You should cast it whenever there are at least 3 targets that will be affected for its duration.
It does stack.
- At Level 28, you unlock the ability to cast
Summon Succubus. The Succubus pet is generally most effective for
Player vs. Player combat, as it possesses good Crowd Control abilities against
Humanoids.
- Banish unlocks at Level 32, and is a
powerful Crowd Control ability against certain monster types. Banish is
only effective against Demons, Aberrations, and Elementals, and lasts 30
seconds.
- At Level 34, your Soul Leech passive is
available. This grants a passive absorption shield to your character based
on the single target damage you deal, and can accrue up to 10% of your maximum
health in damage protection.
- At Level 36, you unlock Summon Felhunter.
The Felhunter has the ability to interrupt enemy spellcasts, which makes it a
useful pet for dungeons and Player vs. Player.
- At Level 38, you unlock an additional pet ability,
which can be activated by the Command Demon ability. The ability
you unlock depends on your pet.
- The signature spell of Destruction, Havoc,
becomes available at Level 40, and allows you to duplicate your single target spells on
a designated enemy for 60% their original damage.
- Ritual of Summoning can be cast at Level 42,
but it requires 2 additional players to complete. This will create a Summoning
Portal, which lasts 5 minutes and can be used (with the help of an ally) to
summon party and raid members to your location.
- At Level 44, you can apply Soulstone to
yourself or your allies. Soulstone lasts 10 minutes, and has a 10 minute
cooldown, allowing the beneficiary to resurrect immediately upon death.
- Implosion is unlocked at Level 46, and is the
second AoE spell for Destruction outside talents. It grabs all the active imps and hurls
them towards your target for a noticeable burst of damage. Imps that die this way
still retain a 10% chance each to grant you a Demonic Core stack.
- At Level 52, you unlock the passive Soul Link,
which transfers 20% of the damage you take to your active pet. It also makes
Soul Leech heal you for 25% and your pet for 50% of the damage done.
- At Level 52, you also passively unlock a second charge of
Conflagrate, allowing you more flexibility in its usage.
- At Level 54, Unending Resolve unlocks. This
is your primary defensive ability, reducing all damage you take by 40% for 8
seconds, as well as granting immunity to silence and interrupt effects for the
duration.
- Enslave Demon can be cast at Level 56,
which allows you to force a Demon NPC to become your Pet for 5 minutes.
- Summon Infernal is available at Level 58.
Its a powerful cooldown that does an AoE stun, radiates damage for its duration
and generates 3 whole shards over 30 seconds.
- At Level 60, Shadowfury becomes available.
This allows you to stun a group of monsters within a radius.
- At Level 60, you unlock the passive Demonic Embrace
which increases your Stamina by 10%.
- At Level 66, you can cast Create Soulwell,
allowing your entire party or raid to acquire Healthstones for themselves.
- At Level 70, Soulstone is upgraded, so it
may be used to instantly resurrect a dead target.
Mastery: Chaotic Energies unlocks at Level 78,
which quickly becomes your best stat. It directly increases the damage of your
spells by a variable amount and also offers additional damage mitigation.- At Level 80, Demonic Gateway finally unlocks.
The Gateway connects two points, and interacting with either end causes players
to be quickly transported to the other side. Players can only use a Demonic Gate
once every 90 seconds, but it can be very useful for quick movement.
5.3. Destruction Warlock War Mode Talents for Leveling
In this section, we will rank the best PvP talents for leveling and doing solo / small group PvE content. Below is a ranking of both General PvP Talents and Destruction Warlock-specific PvE talents.
5.3.1. General PvP Talents
- Relentless is a passive ability, but it does not
automatically remove crowd control abilities. Instead, it reduces the
duration.
- Gladiator's Medallion is an on-use ability that removes all
movement impairing effects and all loss of control effects.
- Adaptation automatically removes any loss of control effects
that last 5+ seconds. This effect occurs a maximum of once per minute.
Adaptation is recommended for most players,
as it is automatic and on a relatively short cooldown. This makes it the
best choice overall with PvE in mind.
5.3.2. Destruction Warlock PvP Talents for Leveling
Bane of Havoc is an extremely powerful option during leveling, allowing you
to cast AoE Chaos Bolts or even AoE Mortal Coil for hilarious effects.
Remember that this has negative synergy with Focused Chaos and it is better paired with
Cataclysm over Fire and Brimstone.
Cremation is a powerful option that makes your Conflagrate
hit much harder if the target is Immolated. Use it with Flashover and 
Entrenched in Flame
for the best synergy.- Entrenched in Flame makes your Conflagrate root the target for 3 seconds and does not break
with damage. Works with Havoc and Bane of Havoc.
- Curse of Fragility can be a helpful curse for reducing the health
of elite and dangerous mobs.
Curse of Tongues, Curse of Weakness,
and Nether Ward can be situationally useful, but are not recommended
as general purpose choices.
Essence Drain stacks a damage reduction effect
on enemies that are damaged by your Drain Life. You can reduce their
damage by up to 25%, which is a large increase to your ability to survive and sustain.
Demon Armor substantially increases your survivability, allowing you
to tank much more physical damage, should you choose to do so.
Fel Fissure makes your 
Chaos Bolt create a 5-yard eruption, which slows
the target by 50% and reduces their healing taken by 25%.
It is not particularly useful during leveling, but has its uses whenever coupled with 
Bane of Havoc to create a wide
slow area making targets take additional damage before they can escape the Bane of Havoc zone.
Focused Chaos takes the opposite approach of most of the PvP talents, making your Chaos Bolt
no longer affected by 
Havoc or Bane of Havoc, but increasing its damage by 65%.
If you prefer a more focused approach and to deal with 1-2 targets at a time, this is the best choice by far.
5.4. Legendary Options
If you are just coming out of Level 110, you will probably have a number of different Legendary items to choose from. Your Legendaries' special effects will stop working at Level 116, but until then they can be a very powerful addition to help you level up quickly. These are our Legendary recommendations for leveling as an Destruction Warlock in Battle for Azeroth:
- Sephuz's Secret is by far the best choice, giving you a ton of
movement speed and damage that can be regularly procced. This will noticeably
speed up your leveling and should be considered a must-have if you can get it.
Magistrike Restraints is arguably your second best option, if you plan on tackling
at least 2 targets at a time.- If you want to go with the Focused Chaos build, instead opt for
Feretory of Souls
as your second legendary item to pair with Sephuz's Secret. - Pillars of the Dark Portal offer you increased mobility, making your
Demonic Gateway essentially function like a blink.
As a general rule, you do not want to wear legendaries in the Azerite slots, and rings/wrists are the least impactful slots regarding Intellect loss from wearing lower item level legendaries.
5.5. Pet Choice for Destruction Warlock Leveling
Summon Imp is your first available demon.
This pet is not particularly useful for leveling, but you have no choice for the early levels.
If you are leveling alone, Summon Voidwalker
can be a helpful choice while leveling up, as it takes a lot of the pressure
off you. Avoiding casting pushback can also increase leveling speed.
Summon Felhunter can be a good choice if
you are leveling in a group, or venturing into dungeons. The extra interrupt
is helpful for dealing with troublesome caster mobs.
If you do not need a pet to tank many targets, you can also opt for a Succubus, since it does slightly more damage than Imp and is on par with Felhunter.
5.6. Quest Rewards
You should equip new quest rewards when their item level starts beating out your previous set of gear. If you are currently wearing Tier 21 gear, it is best to let the quest rewards significantly beat your existing item level before using them. With that said, you will unlock Azerite pieces early on, which are worth using over Tier gear in most circumstances.
If possible, we recommend holding on to all Quest Rewards you do not use. They can be scrapped at Level 120 for material resources for profession crafting.
5.7. Consumables
There are several consumable items that can be purchased that will help you with your leveling speed.
- Skystep Potion increases your movement speed by 150% (more than
a mount!) for 8 seconds. It has a 1-minute cooldown. This is extremely
useful and should be used often and aggressively for any
travel that is more than ~100 yards long.
- Gunshoes are an Engineering item that increase your movement
speed by 200% for 25 seconds. These will make you almost as fast as a Flying
mount. We recommend having a lot of these, and using them whenever you are
traveling more than ~250 yards.
- Goblin Glider Kit is very useful for covering long distances from
high places.
5.7.1. Gunshoes Macro
The Gunshoes will not let you stop moving for as long as they are active. Using this macro twice will click the buff off and allow you to stop.
- #showtooltip
- /use Gunshoes
- /cancelaura Gunshoes
5.8. Congratulations!
Congratulations on reaching Level 120! Now that you have hit Level 120 we recommend looking at our Easy mode page and Talents section to learn how to play at maximum level. To get yourself prepared for the end-game content ahead, we strongly recommend this Battle for Azeroth Raiding Lexicon/Spreadsheet by Medivh. It is a gold trove of information that will help you when gearing up in Battle for Azeroth and more.
6. Changelog
- 12 Mar. 2019: Reviewed Affliction and added Demonology and Destruction specializations.
- 10 Dec. 2018: This page has been reviewed for Patch 8.1 and no changes are necessary.
- 12 Aug. 2018: Revamped leveling page for BfA.
- Patch 8.1.5 Hotfixes: April 18th
- Vision of Perfection (the 8.2 Cooldown Essence) Changes Coming
- Icy Veins Podcast Episode #40
- WoW Classic Beta Coming Soon
- Limit to Stream Crucible of Storms M Progression
- Patch 8.2 Build 30080: Datamining
- Patch 8.1.5 Hotfixes: April 17th
- Patch 8.2: Azshara's Eternal Palace Raid Sets Preview
- Fire Mage 8.1
- Looking for some help/coaching
- Demo DPS improvement
- Balance Druid 8.1
- War Board
- Druid Leveling Guide
- Brawler's Guild - Stitches
- Outlaw Rogue 8.1
- Fire Mage 8.1
- War Board
- looking for a late night raiding guild
- Demo DPS improvement
- Looking for some help/coaching