Warlock Class Overview

Warlock are one of the most powerful classes in the game. Warlock branches off into three specializations, all with a different playstyle, and all of them being strong in the current Wratch Classic patch. All three specs got a massive rework coming into this expansion, making them more interactive, engaging and very fun to play.

Affliction, widely considered one of the best leveling specs in the game, is the king of Damage over Time (DoT), with a plethora of powerful DoTs at your disposal and the best execute in the game with Drain Soul. Demonology brings the best Raid buff in teh game with Demonic Pact, making them a necessity in all group content. Destruction is the king of fire damage and crits, able to blast an enemy away with one of its many fire spells, including the new Chaos Bolt.

Warlock uses the resource Mana to cast their spells. Each spell they cast, costs a small amount of their base Mana. Mana is increased each level (base Mana), or by increasing the Intellect stat. Some enchants also provide Mana without providing Intellect, however they are mostly irrelevant in WotLK. Mana can be restored by drinking water, Mana potions, passive Mana regeneration from their Spirit stat, or by some raid buffs, such as Innervate or Replenishment. Warlock also has a unique resource called Soul Shards. These are used for many things, including casting some of your most powerful spells, summoning your Demon pets, making Healthstones, making Soulstones and among other things. Soul Shards are acquired from your Drain Soul, with a Glyph of Drain Soul allowing you the chance to obtain two. Soul Shards can also be obtained from the level appropriate Training Dummy in any major city.

All the Warlock talent trees are drastically different and play in their own way, leaving you a lot of variety when it comes to playing this class. These specializations are commonly also referred to as "specs", and they are summarized as follows.

• Affliction Warlock — The most popular and powerful of the three specs and also one of the strongest specs throughout the entirety of Wrath of the Lich King. Affliction has massive single target and superb AoE, while also being the best multi-dotter in the game. Focuses on keeping up a plethora of DoT abilities and relying on the strongest execute in the game in Drain Soul.
• Demonology Warlock — The Demon spec. Widely known for it's new Metamorphosis which turns you into a Demon and even gives you some new spells that can only be casted while in Metamorphosis (Meta). Demonology also brings the best raid buff in the game in Demonic Pact, which buffs the raid with 10% of your Spell Power when your Felguard crits. That buff alone is the reason every single raid requires atleast one Demonology Warlock in their group. While Demonology is not brought for their damage, they also have strong single target with a very powerful execute ability with the Decimation and Soul Fire combination. While it's not as strong as Affliction or Destruction on single target, Demonologys AoE is one of, if not the, best in the entire game due to Metamorphosis and Immolation Aura.
• Destruction Warlock — This spec is the king of Fire and big crits. Focused largely on all Fire talents and spells, like Incinerate, Conflagrate and Chaos Bolt and your Imp Demon, you will find yourself comfortably doing a ton of damage. Destructions single target and cleave is not as high as Affliction, since Affliction has the execute, but it's not too far behind. It also doesn't have as high of AoE as Demonology, but has much higher single target than Demonology. All in all this is an extremely fun spec that will do great in all content.

In terms of best spec of Warlock, it's objectively known that Affliction is not only the best Warlock spec, but one of the best specs in the game. However, not everyone enjoys DoT upkeep gameplay. The best part of Warlock is that if you don't like it, you can play Destruction or Demonology and still pull your weight in group content. Warlock is one of the only classes in the game with three completely viable and extremely strong specializations. Check out the links below for the talents on each specializations and have some fun.

All three Warlock specs are viable and you should choose which one fits your playstyle more. If you enjoy the DoT playstyle of watching your timers and getting those big Drain Soul executes, then Affliction Warlock is your pick. If you enjoy carrying the raid with your huge Demonic Pact buffs and having a big demon then Demonology Warlock is your pick. If you enjoy massive crits and throwing big fire spells out of your hands and watching huge numbers come up on your screen then Destruction Warlock is the play. It purely is a pick based upon your playstyle. Choose one and have fun.

It's worth mentioning that Affliction Warlock does the most damage for Warlocks and it's typically what guilds are looking for when it comes to finding a Warlock. You only need one Demonology Warlock in the raid, after that guilds usually tend to favor Affliction due to the massive spike in singly target thanks to their execute.

If you've chosen to go Alliance, playing as a Human will give you the most benefit due to the amount of Spirit you gain, as well as Will to Survive, which will get you out of countless mechanics during end game raids.

If you've chosen to go Horde, playing as an Orc is the optimal choice as they gain an additional 5% damage on your summoned Demons. Orcs also have access to Blood Fury, a powerful cooldown increasing your Attack Power for 15 seconds.

Warlock can only wear Cloth. For weapons, Warlock can use one handed swords, daggers, staves, off hands and a wand. Staves typically fall short in terms of best in slot in comparison to using a one hand and an offhand, but staves are usually not contested much, so they're perfect alternatives or catch up weapons.

Addons and Macros are a solid way to help improve your gameplay and experience throughout Wrath Classic, whether it be while leveling, doing dailies, dungeons, or raiding. Both of the pages below provide information and recommendations on some of the best addons you can use.

For those of you wishing to level a Warlock to Level 80, you can check out our spec-specific leveling guides below. Affliction Warlocks are one of the fastest open world levelers in the game. Thanks to the new and improved Siphon Life, you heal for 40% of all damage that Corruption does. This makes you virtually unkillable as you place DoTs on all your enemies.

Warlock Trainers can be found in every major city except Shattrath. Ask the guards of a city for a class trainer and they will show you the location on the in-game map.