Warlock Guide for WoW Forever

Warlock Guide for WoW Forever Quick Overview:

• Warlock is currently one of the strongest classes in the game thanks to its overall damage output, utility, and sustain.
• The most important changes to the class in Forever include crits on DoT, pet scaling, introduction of Banes alongside Curses, Life Tap scaling with Spirit, and a more consistent Soul Shard gain.
• Warlock’s solo leveling potential is unmatched because of its self-sustaining nature and an option to use a pet as a tank.
• Orcs seem to be an S-tier race for Warlocks in Forever, but other races have a lot to offer as well.

Can’t wait to summon a Doomguard, but the game requires you to grind for hours before you’re allowed to do it? Skycoach’s WoW Forever Powerleveling service will save your time so that you can unravel your character’s full potential right away.

 

 

 

WoW Forever Warlock Changes

If you look through Warlock changes from the perspective of a veteran player, you will mostly take note of quality-of-life improvements and new interactions designed to make the class feel more fluid. The trade-offs are there, but they aren’t that significant — Warlock still feels like a top-tier class for sustain, utility, and DoT. In fact, it is more consistent than ever.

Let’s take a look at some of the most impactful Warlock changes in WoW Forever:

• Curse of Agony and Curse of Doom are changed into Banes (previously Curses), with only one Bane being allowed to be active per Warlock on a target. What that means is that you can now apply stuff like Curse of the Elements combined with something like Bane of Doom on a target, which is much more fluid than what we had before. It is also amazing for both your DPS and utility.
• Curse of the Elements now applies to all magic damage, and not just Fire and Frost. Needless to say, your utility and versatility are even greater than they were before.
• Curse of Shadows is removed entirely, so you cannot scale your shadow damage with it anymore.
• Firestone and Spellstone now both stack with other temporary enchantments like Wizard Oil. Firestone increases Fire damage and critical strike chance, while Spellstone offers increased Shadow damage and spell Haste.
• Life Tap now scales with Spirit, meaning that you care about this stat a lot more than you ever did. I imagine Warlock mains might have strong feelings about it, but the class is eating well in Forever, so it should be fine.
• Drain Soul now has a progressive chance per tick to grant a Soul Shard, and this chance increases each time it doesn't happen. Essentially, you are guaranteed to get your Soul Shards as long as you cast it in time, and there’s no need for it to get a killing blow. A very welcome QoL change.
• Your pets now scale from your stats, so they’re going to play a much bigger role in combat.
• Finally, DoTs can now crit, making Critical chance much more valuable for most (if not all) Warlock builds.

Warlock Pros and Cons in WoW Forever

When it comes to Warlock, it’s genuinely difficult to create a balanced table of pros and cons. For what it’s worth, I think it’s one of the best classes you can play at launch, as long as you’re fine with Warlock’s unique mechanics. Dealing with Soul Shards might be a bit tedious at times, and you’ll still have to actively use your pets even if you choose a build that isn’t supposed to rely on them this much.

But these are just minor annoyances at worst. What you get in return is arguably the best solo leveling class in the game that is also more than welcome in any party, deals a ton of damage, has its own tank if needed, can sustain itself endlessly, and even gets a free mount. In terms of pure efficiency and reliability, Warlock seems to be among the strongest options in the game so far.  

Pros	Cons
Amazing utility	Requires a lot of pet and resource management
Great burst of DoT damage between different specs	Lacks mobility in combat
Reliable mana sustain thanks to Life Tap
Easy leveling both solo and in party
Free mount at level 40

I am fully aware just how world-changing Warlock nerfs can be, but I wouldn’t worry too much about it — Forever devs seem chill at the moment, and I doubt they will make the class significantly weaker unless they find it utterly broken.

How to Play Warlock in WoW Forever

Warlocks have several distinct playstyles available to them, and some of these playstyles have gotten even more fleshed out in Forever.

Affliction Warlocks are a unique mix of DoT, curses, and sustain, shining in times when you want an entire room of enemies dealt with effectively, even if slowly choking them to death isn’t particularly cinematic. Demonology Warlocks rely on their Demons to do a lot of heavy lifting, with multiple ways to buff them while they’re at it. Finally, Destruction Warlocks are as straightforward as Warlocks get, dishing out raw damage in huge bursts.

No matter which path you choose, you’re going to remain a sickly little occultist with no mobility tools and a bunch of curses and debuffs everyone demands you apply off-cooldown. Remember to always stay out of trouble and keep your distance.

You will also be expected to provide several unique resources to your party, so there’s a lot of responsibility bearing down on your shoulders. On the bright side, you can ditch most of this burden during your solo leveling adventures, since the class is traditionally great at it.

I have to note that Forever made Demons far more important than they were in previous iterations of the game, so I’ll have to make a quick stop here to speak about them all — after all, you’re very likely to use them for more than just sacrifices no matter the build.

Demon	Level	Description
Imp	1	Deals Fire damage from range
Voidwalker	10	Tanks, Taunts, and protects the Warlock in general
Succubus/Incubus	20	Best consistent DPS option
Felhunter	30	Deals good damage, provides anti-caster utility through Silence and Dispel
Infernal	50	Deals AoE damage, but can break free from your control
Doomguard	60	Currently unknown

How to Play Affliction Warlock

Affliction Warlock is designed around applying multiple DoT effects, then making them even more devastating through some Drain spells. Most of what you’ll find yourself doing will revolve around managing all of your DoTs and applying them to as many targets as you can before draining the priority target afflicted with multiple debuffs.

Soul Siphon makes this approach particularly strong, and the fact that DoT effects can now crit increases your build’s potential exponentially. Now add stuff like Wrack into the mix, and you’ll see just how much sustained and reliable damage you can dish out without much effort. All of that makes Affliction Warlock surprisingly newbie-friendly, although I’d still consider a different class if I was playing WoW for the first time.

How to Play Demonology Warlock

Demonology Warlock in Forever focuses a lot more on Demons instead of using them as just another tool in the DPS kit. If you want to take full advantage of this specialization, you’ll need to build your entire playstyle around your Imp, Voidwalker, Succubus/Incubus, or Felhunter.

Aside from the obvious impact of pet scaling, Demonic Pact is a major contributor to this playstyle, since you can now Demonic Sacrifice one chosen pet and summon another based on your preference or situation at hand. You also get tools that make it generally easier to level and perform any task — Soul Link and Master Demonologist empower both you and your pet and don’t ask for anything in return.

With all that in mind, it’s not like you don’t get to have fun yourself — massive boosts to Shadow and/or Fire damage enable you to Shadow Bolt and Soul Fire very effectively.

How to Play Destruction Warlock

If messing with DoTs or Demons is not your kind of fun and you’re simply looking to deal some stupid burst damage, Warlock is still one of the go-to choices. As a Destruction connoisseur, you’ll have to weave Shadow and Fire together effectively, but there’s really nothing difficult about that.

Immolate is going to be the foundation of your rotation, while Conflagrate and Shadowburn are your left and right hooks. Shadow and Flame addresses all of your resource concerns, since it ensures that Immolate keeps burning and Soul Shards are consistently refunded. Incinerate also finds great use in the build, and of course you’ll still rely on your Curses and Banes to deliver even more damage.

Best Warlock Race in WoW Forever (WIP)

WoW Forever adds Trolls to the mix of Warlock races, increasing your options to five overall: three for the Horde, and two for the Alliance.

Race	Faction	Best Spec
Human	Alliance	Any
Gnome	Alliance	Any
Orc	Horde	Any
Troll	Horde	Destruction
Undead	Horde	Any

​Let’s start with the Alliance. Considering multiple Warlock changes, Human genuinely fits the class like a glove. You get a 10% Spirit increase to make your Life Tap better, and the critical chance bonus is also nice considering that your DoTs can now crit. Finally, Will to Survive is a good protective tool that Warlocks will actually find useful.

Gnomes are up there with humans, and they are honestly very similar in concept. You don’t get a stronger Life Tap, but your Expansive Mind increases your mana pool by 5%. You don’t get increased crit chance, but Eureka is here to help you deal more direct damage. Finally, you aren’t able to remove stuns from yourself, but Escape Artist allows you to get rid of any mobility-impairing effects, which is incredible on a class infamous for its lack of mobility.

As for the Horde, Orcs offer a truly astonishing set of features, with Blood Fury increasing Spell Power, an additional 5% increase to your Demon’s damage output, Hardiness being a generally nice thing to have on a squishy class, and Shatter Curse automatically solving PvP against other Warlocks.

Trolls are a new addition to the class, but I wouldn’t call them as impressive as some other races. Berserking increases your spellcasting speed, which is usually hard to get on Warlock. That said, many of your spells aren't affected by it at all, so it’s mostly relevant for stuff like Shadow Bolt. Beast Slaying is going to help with leveling, sure, but it’s not something that Warlock is super happy about. Finally, Rapid Regeneration and Regeneration are both nice tools to have on a class that spams Life Tap — however, Warlock is able to heal through other means if necessary.

As for the Undead, Cannibalize is probably the strongest part of the kit, especially since it also restores mana now. Touch of the Grave is a nice sustain/damage addition as well, and you don’t even have to think about it to benefit from it. Will of the Forsaken is probably best used in PvP. Unfortunately, Underwater Breathing is a waste of a racial ability, since Warlocks have Unending Breath anyway.

If I had to pick the best race, right now I’d go with Orc for Horde. Both Human and Gnome feel decent for Alliance, and it’s hard to say which one will end on top.

Warlock Stat Priority in WoW Forever (WIP)

It’s really difficult to give a solid justification for any stat priority so far. It is clear that Warlock might have to rely on Spirit more than before, but it's impossible to tell how much investment will be optimal without seeing a fully functional meta build in action.

I tried my best to make some predictions here based on previous stat priorities as well as some new additions exclusive to Forever, but I ended up with basically the same priority set for all specs, so take my word with a grain of salt — I am willing to reconsider everything once we get more data.

Spec	Stat Priority
Affliction	Spell Power → Crit Chance → Hit Chance → Haste → Spell Pierce → Intellect → Spirit
Demonology	Spell Power → Hit Chance → Crit Chance → Haste → Spell Pierce → Intellect → Spirit
Destruction	Spell Power → Crit Chance → Hit Chance → Haste → Spell Pierce → Intellect → Spirit

Best Warlock Builds in WoW Forever (WIP)

Since no one yet has had the opportunity to get to level 60, defining the best builds is not feasible at the moment. I will provide you with some considerations based on the talents that look strong so far, but you’ll have to wait for some time before the WoW Forever endgame meta is properly established. Once it happens, I’ll update the article with the proper spec trees.

Build	Core Talents	Goal
Affliction	Suppression, Improved Life Tap, Improved Corruption, Amplify Curse, Pandemic, Malevolence, Siphon Life, Shadow Mastery, Nightfall, Improved Shadow Bolt, Bane, Cataclysm, Ruin, Agonizing Flames	Mass DoT spam and solid sustain paired with Curses and Banes
Demonology	Unholy Power, Fel Vitality, Demonic Energies, Improved Sayaad, Demonic Sacrifice, Master Summoner, Decimation, Demonic Brand, Soul Link, Demonic Knowledge, Master Demonologist, Demonic Pact, Improved Shadow Bolt, Bane, Ruin, Agonizing Flames	Mixed damage between DoTs, Demon usage, and direct spellcasting
Destruction	Suppression, Improved Life Tap, Amplify Curse, Pandemic, bane, Cataclysm, Aftermath, Shadowburn, Conflagrate, Agonizing Flames, Bane of Havoc, Fire and Brimstone, Shadow and Flame, Incinerate	Great single target burst damage

 

 

Warlock Leveling Guide in WoW Forever (WIP)

As I’ve mentioned earlier, Warlock is incredibly good at leveling, and you should have no problems with your journey to level 60 if you pick this class. All of your specs are valid, although Affliction and Demonology are safer and quicker in general.

A free mount at level 40 makes it much easier to get to places. Your overall impact in combat is huge. If that wasn’t enough: unlike most magic DPS classes, you don’t have to rely on anyone to tank for you thanks to Voidwalker.  

Spec	Solo Leveling	Dungeon Leveling	Summary
Affliction	Excellent	Excellent	Kill everything with DoTs and sustain yourself through Drains.
Demonology	Excellent	Excellent	Use your summons to safely cast your debuffs, curses, and direct damage spells
Destruction	Great	Excellent	Deal with enemies before they can hurt you too much

At first, you’ll have a good time thanks to essentially infinite mana and health sustain from Life Tap, Drain Life, and Drain Soul. Later on, you get more specialized, deciding whether to focus on your Demons — which is by far the most chill and convenient leveling option for Warlock — or on your Affliction DoTs. In both cases, you will still be using pets to draw attention from you and tank/deal extra damage.

Warlock Best-in-Slot Gear in WoW Forever (WIP)

Currently, no one can truly say what BiS gear will look like for any of the classes — we simply don’t have enough information. Once the game is out and enough players can get to the endgame to form a stable enough meta, I’ll update this guide.

Best Warlock Rotations in WoW Forever

Affliction Warlock Rotation

Affliction Warlock’s rotation actually depends on how many enemies you’re dealing with and how threatening they are at the moment. Since most of your damage comes in the form of DoT, you have to learn to make good predictions and evaluations: how much time do you have, how long will that enemy last, and so on.

Your single target rotation should look somewhat like this:

1. You open with Bane of Doom or Bane of Agony — this choice is based purely on how long you expect the battle to last. Bane of Doom is obviously useless if the enemy is about to die soon, but is great if the opposite is true. Don’t forget that Amplify Curse is great with Bane of Agony.
2. Then you apply your Curse. Curse of the Elements is good for magic damage, while Curse of Recklessness is good for physical damage. If you have another Warlock in the party, just choose one each. If not, use the one that seems better with your party composition. If you’re playing solo, Curse of the Elements is probably going to be better for you.  
3. Apply Corruption as your basic DoT.
4. Follow up with Siphon Life and Immolate for extra damage and sustain.
5. Now you’re free to use Shadow Bolt.
6. Life Tap before reapplying your DoT effects. Don’t do it if you have enough mana to work with.

If you get surrounded, Hellfire might be your only viable way out. If you’re not, Rain of Fire is a much safer tool for AoE damage.

Demonology Warlock Rotation

As a Demonology Warlock, you will rely on Shadow Bolt and your Demon buffed with Soul Link, Demonic Pact, and Demonic Brand to deal most of the damage. Of course, your base DoT effects, as well as Curses and Banes, are still highly important parts of your kit.

1. Use Demonic Sacrifice on your Imp to get bonus Shadow damage, then summon Succubus.
2. As always, you open up with a Bane based on how long the fight will last. Bane of Doom for longer encounters, Bane of Agony when the time is almost up.
3. The Curse is chosen based on your party composition. Sometimes you’ll be assigned Curse of the Elements, other times it will be Curse of Recklessness. Do what’s best for your party.
4. Apply Searing Pain so that the Demonic Brand is up for your Succubus/Incubus. Reapply it when it runs out.
5. Use your DoTs: Immolate and Corruption.
6. Rely on Shadow Bolt and your Demon to deal the rest of the damage while DoTs are active.
7. Life Tap when needed.

Destruction Warlock Rotation

As I’ve mentioned earlier, Destruction Warlocks apply DoTs on the enemy and then cast Conflagrate and Shadowburn off-cooldown, adding Incinerate here and there for good measure. There isn’t much trickery involved here — as long as you have your Shadow and Flame maxed (meaning no worries about your Soul Shards or Immolate upkeep), the build becomes self-playing, really.

The rotation itself is as follows:

1. Start with the appropriate Bane — Bane of Doom if the fight will last over 1 minute, Amplify Curse + Bane of Agony if not.
2. Use Curse of the Elements to make your casts more powerful, or Curse of Recklessness if the party demands it.
3. Apply Immolate to enable your rotation and use Corruption for extra DoT.
4. Alternate between Conflagrate and Shadowburn as your primary sources of damage.
5. Weave in Incinerate occasionally.
6. Use Life Tap when needed.

Best Warlock Professions in WoW Forever (WIP)

Professions are also in murky waters at the moment, and saying anything with utter certainty is simply impossible. The devs changed quite a lot about this whole system in Forever, after all.

Based on what we know about Warlock, I’d imagine Tailoring, Enchanting, and Engineering make the most sense if you’re looking to increase your damage further or get an option to disenchant your stuff. However, I’d rather wait and see it for myself before giving any advice. I’ll update this section once I’ve learned enough.

Best Warlock Consumables in WoW Forever (WIP)

Once again, I’d rather wait and see what WoW Forever truly has to offer before making any judgments on its consumables and their utility for a Warlock class. As soon as I get my hands on the living pulse of the game, I’ll expand this section.

 

 

Read our other WoW Forever guides:

• New Zones
• Best Class Tier List
• Best Settings

F.A.Q.