Warlock

Leveling

Send your demon to the intended target and let ongoing damage effects work while choosing a safe filler. Wowhead’s October 26 Affliction guide discusses Life Tap and Drain Life as a health-and-mana trade. Leave enough health for an unexpected hit instead of tapping until nearly dead.

Fear may control another enemy but can send it into a new pack. Practice where there is room, learn to recall the demon and begin with a manageable single target. The guide starts with Improved Corruption and later drain talents; it predates launch, so inspect the present tree.

Training and ability milestones

Wowhead’s October 26 Affliction guide places demon quests at level 10 for the Voidwalker, 20 for the Sayaad and 30 for the Felhunter. Follow the current trainer and quest instructions, then check demon abilities and commands separately from your own action bar. Do not assume an old guide proves today’s quest availability.

Affliction playstyle

Affliction uses damage-over-time effects and draining. Blizzard’s Forever deep dive separates damaging Banes from utility Curses, allowing you to plan each category, while Wowhead describes Wrack as a deeper Affliction talent.

For a durable enemy, the Forever guide describes keeping suitable periodic effects and an assigned Curse while using a talented Wrack build. The same guide skips lengthy effects on enemies expected to die quickly. If a feared enemy heads toward another pack, react before it brings reinforcements; keep health for Life Tap and avoid assuming the guide’s pre-November-10 Wrack priority will survive planned tuning.

Demonology playstyle

Demonology chooses a demon for the task and keeps it alive, positioned and on the correct target. Wowhead describes Demonic Pact as a deep talent interacting with Demonic Sacrifice while a demon is active, and describes Move To as a pet-positioning command. In a dungeon disable the Voidwalker’s Torment when a tank needs control, and coordinate pet utility with the group.

For the Forever guide’s raid examples, keep the appropriate demon attacking the tank’s target and use the learned Fire or Shadow filler alongside relevant effects. A Demonic Pact build may retain a sacrifice benefit with a different demon, but resummoning the sacrificed demon cancels that benefit according to the guide. If the pet is about to enter a hazard or pull another pack, recall it rather than preserving an uninterrupted damage cycle.

Destruction playstyle

Destruction can combine Immolate, Incinerate and Conflagrate when learned, choosing casts for a target that will survive them. Wowhead describes Shadow and Flame as linking Conflagrate and Shadowburn to subsequent opposite-school damage; its guide also places Incinerate deep in the tree. Plan the talent and shard costs for your build, and let the tank establish control before committing a long cast. Do not assume every later-rank spell is available to a new character.

On a durable target, use Immolate with learned Fire attacks and plan Conflagrate around your actual Shadow and Flame talent; its interaction with Immolate varies by talent rank. Against short-lived enemies, long effects may not have time to pay off. If mana is low, Life Tap only with enough health and healing coverage, especially before incoming damage or while the healer is drinking.

Version notes

Blizzard’s November 6 hotfix increased Voidwalker base health and fixed Soul Siphon incorrectly letting Wrack increase its own damage. A separate November 10 durability and Affliction tuning plan had not yet been confirmed deployed on November 8.

Sources were reviewed on November 8, 2026. Guide observations are not independent live-game validation; later hotfixes and current tooltips take precedence.

Gear and professions

Tailoring can provide cloth gear; Herbalism and Alchemy can provide potions. Check recipe and material costs before deciding.

Choose Firestone or Spellstone according to the current imbue text and the spells used by your build; compare spell damage and hit with the health needed for Life Tap. Keep your demon alive and factor in the party’s ability to heal. The planned November 10 tuning makes exact pet durability and Affliction priority uncertain.

Forever First Aid also makes healing potions; check its recipes and materials when preparing supplies. The related profession guides link directly to crafting and gathering information.

Class tools

The class spell and class-only item collections below update with published records. The talent calculator, Ability Levels and Gear Planner links on this page retain your class. Check current in-game tooltips: the linked fan guides describe a changing version and some observations originate in beta.