Skip to content
STILL SIXTY

Menu

All guidesEvery guide, filterable and sortable.

Tools

Class guide

Demonology Warlock Guide for WoW Forever

How to play Demonology Warlock in WoW Forever, with Voidwalker leveling, Demonic Pact for raids, a solo build and which demon to summon.

WarlockDemonologyLevelingPvERaidsDungeonsSoloDPS

By stillsixty staffUpdated

On this page

Variants

Overview

Demonology is the spec that gets to have it both ways. In Classic you chose between your demon and the buff from sacrificing it. In WoW Forever, Demonic Sacrifice sits at 10 points, lasts 2 hours, and Demonic Pact at the bottom of the tree stops a new summon from cancelling it. You sacrifice your Imp for +15% Shadow damage, summon a second demon, and fight with both the buff and the pet.

Everything else in the tree pays off for keeping that pet out. Demonic Knowledge adds Spell Power equal to your level while a demon is summoned. Master Demonologist gives you and the demon +10% Shadow damage with a Sayaad, 10% less physical damage with a Voidwalker, +10% Fire damage with an Imp or 10% less magic damage with a Felhunter. Soul Link sends 30% of your damage taken to the demon, and both of you deal 3% more.

At 30 you level behind a Voidwalker that holds threat with Demonic Brand. At 60 you raid with an Imp sacrifice and a Succubus or Incubus, or you solo anything in the world behind a Voidwalker and Soul Link.

Strengths

  • Safe at every level. Your demon tanks, Soul Link takes 30% of your damage from 40, and Demonic Embrace adds 15% Stamina.
  • Two damage buffs at once from 41: the sacrifice and Master Demonologist stack.
  • Flexible. Swap demons for the fight in front of you without losing your sacrifice.
  • Strong Shadow Bolt damage in raids, with free Soul Fires in the execute phase from Decimation.
  • Very little downtime. Demonic Energies heals your demon with your damage and hands it the mana from your Life Taps.

Weaknesses

  • Weak until 41. Demonic Pact is the capstone, and before it the sacrifice costs you your pet.
  • A dead demon costs you Soul Link, Demonic Knowledge and Master Demonologist at once.
  • Resummoning is a 10-second cast that costs a Soul Shard. Plan for it before the pull.
  • Your raid damage is mostly one spell, Shadow Bolt, so Hit and crit gear matter a lot.
  • Sacrificing the Imp removes Blood Pact from your group.

What's new in Forever

New in Forever
  • Demonic Sacrifice moved to tier 3 (10 points) and lasts 2 hours. The buffs swapped: Imp now gives +15% Shadow damage, Succubus or Incubus +15% Fire damage, Voidwalker 2% of your mana every 4 seconds, and Felhunter 3% of your health every 4 seconds.
  • Demonic Pact (tier 7): summoning a different demon no longer cancels your sacrifice. Resummoning the demon you sacrificed still does.
  • Soul Link moved to tier 5. You can cast it from level 40.
  • Demonic Knowledge (tier 5): +100% of your level as spell damage for you and your demon while a demon is out, which is +60 at level 60.
  • Master Demonologist gives the bonus to both you and the demon: +10% Fire (Imp), 10% less physical damage (Voidwalker), +10% Shadow (Succubus or Incubus) or 10% less magic damage (Felhunter).
  • Demonic Aegis (tier 2): Demon Skin and Demon Armor are 30% stronger. Demonic Energies (tier 2): your demon heals for 15% of your spell damage and gets the mana from your Life Taps.
  • Fel Vitality now also raises your own maximum mana by 15%. Unholy Power boosts all damage from the Imp, Voidwalker, Succubus, Incubus and Felhunter by 10%.
  • Improved Sayaad boosts the Succubus and Incubus: Lash of Pain and Soothing Kiss are 30% stronger, and Seduction and Lesser Invisibility last 30% longer. You summon both from level 20.
  • Decimation (tier 4): Soul Fire's cooldown drops by 90%, and Shadow Bolt or Searing Pain on a target below 35% health makes Soul Fire 40% faster and free of Soul Shards for 10 seconds.
  • Demonic Brand (tier 4): Searing Pain makes 50% less threat and brands the target for 10 seconds, and your demon's next 3 attacks on it generate high threat and deal bonus Fire or Shadow damage.
  • Improved Felhunter (tier 5): Tainted Blood, Devour Magic and Paranoia are 30% stronger, and Spell Lock comes back 6 seconds sooner.
  • Enslave Demon is now Subjugate Demon. Curses of Agony and Doom are now Banes, and a Bane and a Curse fit on the same target.

Talents

The leveling build. Stamina and mana first, then a Voidwalker that heals off your damage, hits harder and holds threat through Demonic Brand. Demonic Sacrifice at 20 is the prerequisite for the bottom of the tree: you keep your Voidwalker out until Demonic Pact arrives at 41.

Split 0/21/0 · 21 points at level 30 · Open in calculator

Affliction

0 points

Demonology

21 points

Destruction

0 points

Talent order

  1. Levels 10–14: 5/5 Demonic Embrace. 15% more Stamina. More health means more Life Taps and more room for mistakes.
  2. Levels 15–17: 3/3 Fel Vitality. Your demon gets 15% more health and mana, and so do you: 15% more maximum mana.
  3. Levels 18–19: 2/2 Demonic Energies. Your Voidwalker heals for 15% of all your spell damage, and gets the mana from every Life Tap. It stops needing Health Funnel between pulls.
  4. Level 20: 1/1 Demonic Sacrifice. The key to Soul Link and Demonic Pact. Until 41, keep the Voidwalker out instead of sacrificing it.
  5. Levels 21–25: 5/5 Unholy Power. +10% damage for every demon you summon.
  6. Levels 26–28: 3/3 Demonic Brand. Your Searing Pain brands the target, and your demon's next 3 attacks on it make high threat and deal bonus damage. You have Searing Pain from 18; train rank 2 at 26 and use it to hand the mob to your Voidwalker.
  7. Levels 29–30: 2/3 Improved Voidwalker. Torment, Consume Shadows, Sacrifice and Suffering are 20% stronger.

Flexible points

  • If your Voidwalker already holds threat without help, take 2/2 Master Summoner and a point of Improved Voidwalker instead of Demonic Brand. Faster, cheaper summons save time after every death.

Races

Best races

Horde: Orc. Blood Fury gives 10% Spell Power for 15 seconds every 2 minutes. Shatter Curse removes and blocks Curses and Banes for 8 seconds and cuts magic damage taken by 15%. Hardiness shortens stuns by 20%.

Horde leveling: Troll. Troll Warlocks are new in Forever. Berserking gives 10% casting speed for 10 seconds every 3 minutes, Beast Slaying adds 5% damage against Beasts, and Rapid Regeneration heals 50% of your health over 6 seconds between pulls.

Alliance: Human. The Human Spirit raises your Spirit by 5%, and every point of Spirit adds a point of mana to each Life Tap. With Demonic Energies, your demon gets that mana too. Sword Specialization gives +2% critical strike chance with every spell while you hold a one-handed sword, and Will to Survive breaks a stun every 3 minutes.

Alliance alternative: Gnome. Expansive Mind gives 5% more maximum mana, and Eureka! makes your next three damaging spells cost 10% less mana and deal 10% more damage every 2 minutes. Escape Artist breaks roots and snares.

All playable races

  • Human: Sword Specialization, The Human Spirit, Will to Survive, Perception.
  • Gnome: Expansive Mind, Eureka!, Escape Artist, Engineering Specialization.
  • Orc: Blood Fury, Shatter Curse, Hardiness. Axe Specialization does nothing for you, since Warlocks can't equip axes.
  • Undead: Will of the Forsaken removes Charm, Fear and Sleep; Touch of the Grave gives your spells a 10% chance to drain health; Cannibalize restores health and mana from a corpse.
  • Troll (new for Warlocks): Berserking, Beast Slaying, Regeneration, Rapid Regeneration.

Rotation

Single pull

  1. Send the Summon Voidwalker in and let it land Torment.
  2. Searing Pain the target. Demonic Brand hands its threat to the Voidwalker, and the next 3 Voidwalker attacks hit harder.
  3. Corruption and Bane of Agony, plus Curse of Weakness on mobs that hit hard.
  4. Shadow Bolt until the mob is low, then wand it or finish it with Drain Soul for a Soul Shard.

Two or three mobs

Voidwalker takes the first. Searing Pain the second so Demonic Brand sends it to the Voidwalker too, and dot both. From 24, Suffering taunts everything within 10 yards on a 2-minute cooldown. Fear the third and kill the first two.

Mana and downtime

  • Life Tap freely. Demonic Energies gives the Voidwalker the same mana you gain, so it can keep casting Torment.
  • Demonic Energies heals the Voidwalker for 15% of your damage. Most of the time it ends a fight healthier than it started.
  • Keep Demon Armor up. Demonic Aegis isn't in this build, but Demon Armor still replaces Demon Skin from 20.
  • If the Voidwalker is about to die in a bad pull, cast Sacrifice: it gives you a shield, and while it holds, damage doesn't interrupt your casts.

Stat priority

Leveling

  1. Spell Power
  2. Stamina
  3. Intellect
  4. Spirit

Spell Power drives every Shadow Bolt and every tick. Stamina is your mana: Life Tap spends health, and Demonic Embrace multiplies every point by 1.15. Spirit adds a point of mana to each Life Tap.

Gear

Wands

In Forever, wands don't scale with Spell Power, so buy on damage per second alone. Enchanters craft four you want:

Armor

Cloth with Spell Power first, then Stamina. Your Voidwalker takes the hits, so you can skip Armor entirely.

Your demons

  • Imp (Summon Imp): Firebolt at range and Blood Pact for the party's Stamina. In the default Demonology builds at 60, it is the demon you sacrifice.
  • Voidwalker (Summon Voidwalker, level 10): your tank. Torment taunts one mob, Suffering taunts everything within 10 yards, and Sacrifice turns it into a shield for you.
  • Succubus and Incubus (Summon Succubus and Summon Incubus, level 20): the two Sayaad. Lash of Pain is their damage, Seduction holds a Humanoid for up to 15 seconds, and Soothing Kiss drops their threat. They are your raid demon.
  • Felhunter (Summon Felhunter, level 30): Spell Lock interrupts and locks a school, and Devour Magic removes a magic effect. Bring it against casters.
  • Infernal (Inferno, level 50): a meteor that stuns everything in the area for 2 seconds and leaves an Infernal under your control for 5 minutes. It needs an Infernal Stone, only works outdoors, and has a 1-hour cooldown.
  • Doomguard (Ritual of Doom, level 60): a ritual with four other players. It must be subjugated right away.

Professions

Tailoring and Enchanting is the Warlock pair. Tailoring makes your cloth from 1 to 60 and the Robe of the Void. Enchanting disenchants what you outgrow and makes the leveling wands.

For gold, the solo build farms open-world mobs safely and fast: Herbalism and Mining or Herbalism and Skinning while you level and farm. Switch at 60 once your gathering has paid for the materials.

Group play and dungeons

  • Curse of the Elements on the boss for 10% more magic damage taken. If another Warlock has it, use Curse of Recklessness.
  • Let the tank build threat. Your Sayaad and your Shadow Bolts both add up. Start with one target and Corruption, not a spread of damage over time effects.
  • Seduction is the Sayaad's crowd control on Humanoids. Damage breaks it, so seduce the mob furthest from your area damage.
  • Banish holds a Demon or Elemental: Banish, up to 30 seconds.
  • Healthstones, a Soulstone and summons. Make a Healthstone for everyone, Soulstone the healer, and use Ritual of Summoning or, at 60, Portal of Summoning to bring late players to the stone.
  • Imp or Sayaad in 5-player groups? Sayaad for damage, Imp if your group has no other Stamina buff and the tank needs the health.

Tips

Never resummon the sacrificed demon

Demonic Pact keeps your sacrifice when you summon a different demon. Resummoning the demon you sacrificed cancels it. If you sacrificed the Imp, don't summon an Imp for Blood Pact mid-raid.

Pact first, then pet

Sacrifice before every raid and every farming session, then summon your working demon. The buff lasts 2 hours, so one sacrifice covers a full raid night.

Soul Link from 40. The talent sits in tier 5, but you can't cast it before level 40. Soul Link is learned at 40 and Demonic Pact at 41; the Warlock leveling guide has the full order.

Recast Soul Link after every resummon. It lasts as long as the demon does, and a new demon starts without it.

Carry Soul Shards. Summons cost one. Drain Soul gives shards on kills and has a chance to give one on every tick. Keep at least five for resummons, Healthstones and a Soulstone.

Use Fel Vitality's mana. It raises your maximum mana by 15%, so start fights full and Life Tap early rather than late.

Macros

Wand macro that never cancels itself.

Wand
#showtooltip Shoot
/cast !Shoot

Send your demon in and open with Searing Pain for Demonic Brand in one press.

Pet attack and Brand
#showtooltip Searing Pain
/petattack
/cast Searing Pain

Seduction on your focus target, or your current target if you have no focus.

Focus Seduction
#showtooltip Seduction
/cast [@focus,harm,nodead][] Seduction

Voidwalker Suffering on a pack that breaks loose.

Suffering
#showtooltip Suffering
/cast Suffering

Send the Sayaad at your target and fire Lash of Pain in one press, so it starts on the boss and not on a loose add.

Sayaad attack
#showtooltip Lash of Pain
/petattack
/cast Lash of Pain

Changelog

  • Guide published with Level 30, Level 60 Raid and Level 60 Solo builds.
  • Corrected the Incubus, Soul Link and Demonic Pact details; linked the Warlock leveling guide.

Saved pages

Nothing saved yet. Press S on any page to save it.

Keyboard shortcuts

⌘K
Search anything
/
Search anything
S
Save this page
?
Show this list
Esc
Close