Warlock Leveling Guide 1–60 for WoW Forever

The Warlock levels with a tank that never leaves. Your Voidwalker holds the mob, your damage over time effects kill it, and your drains and Life Tap keep your health and mana moving in a loop that rarely needs a drink. In WoW Forever, both leveling specs get stronger versions of that loop.

Affliction is the default. Improved Corruption makes Corruption instant from level 14, Improved Drains and Soul Harvesting turn your drains into heals and free mana, and Wrack at 40 gives you a cheap, channeled filler that makes every other effect on the target hit 10% harder.

Demonology is the pet-tank build. Demonic Sacrifice costs 1 point after 10 in Demonology, and Demonic Pact at 41 lets you keep the sacrifice while you summon a second demon. You sacrifice your Imp for +15% Shadow damage, bring out the Voidwalker, and Soul Link, Master Demonologist and Demonic Brand keep it tanking everything you pull.

What changed from Classic leveling

• Banes and Curses stack. Bane of Agony is a Bane now and doesn't compete with your Curse. Put Bane of Agony and Curse of Weakness on the same mob.
• Curse of the Elements is trained at 20 and covers every magic school.
• Drain Soul has a chance to give a Soul Shard on every tick, and a kill always gives one. You spend far less time farming shards.
• Life Tap scales with Spirit: every point of Spirit adds a point of mana to each tap.
• Enslave Demon is now Subjugate Demon, and Curse of Doom is Bane of Doom at 60.
• Wands no longer scale with Spell Power. Buy them on damage per second.

Train at every even level. The lists below cover your own spells and the demon abilities that change how you play.

Levels 1–10

• 1: Shadow Bolt, Immolate, Demon Skin, Summon Imp.
• 4: Corruption and Curse of Weakness. Your Imp gains Blood Pact.
• 6: Life Tap and Shadow Bolt rank 2.
• 8: Bane of Agony and Fear.
• 10: Drain Soul, Create Healthstone, Demon Skin rank 2 and Immolate rank 2. Summon Voidwalker is a class quest reward, not a trainer spell (see Class quests), and each summon costs a Soul Shard.

Levels 10–20

• 12: Shadow Bolt rank 3, Curse of Weakness rank 2, Health Funnel.
• 14: Corruption rank 2, Drain Life, Curse of Recklessness.
• 16: Life Tap rank 2, Unending Breath. Your Voidwalker learns Sacrifice.
• 18: Bane of Agony rank 2, Searing Pain, Create Soulstone. Your Voidwalker learns Consume Shadows.
• 20: Demon Armor, Curse of the Elements, Rain of Fire, Ritual of Summoning, Immolate rank 3, Shadow Bolt rank 4, Health Funnel rank 2. Summon Succubus and Summon Incubus are class quest rewards from 20, not trainer spells.

Skip Rain of Fire for now: it is a group spell at this level. Curse of Recklessness is for groups too.

Levels 20–30

• 22: Healthstone rank 2, Curse of Weakness rank 3, Drain Life rank 2, Eye of Kilrogg.
• 24: Corruption rank 3, Drain Soul rank 2, Drain Mana, Sense Demons. Your Voidwalker learns Suffering.
• 26: Life Tap rank 3, Searing Pain rank 2, Curse of Tongues, Detect Invisibility. Your Succubus learns Seduction.
• 28: Shadow Bolt rank 5, Bane of Agony rank 3, Banish, Create Firestone, Curse of Recklessness rank 2, Health Funnel rank 3.
• 30: Hellfire, Subjugate Demon, Immolate rank 4, Drain Life rank 3, Demon Armor rank 2, Soulstone rank 2, Curse of the Elements rank 2. Summon Felhunter is a class quest reward from 30, not a trainer spell.

Skip Drain Mana, Sense Demons and Detect Invisibility unless a quest needs them. Affliction skips Searing Pain ranks; Demonology keeps them for Demonic Brand.

Levels 30–40

• 32: Fear rank 2, Curse of Weakness rank 4, Shadow Ward.
• 34: Corruption rank 4, Rain of Fire rank 2, Searing Pain rank 3, Healthstone rank 3.
• 36: Shadow Bolt rank 6, Life Tap rank 4, Create Spellstone, Firestone rank 2, Health Funnel rank 4. Your Felhunter learns Spell Lock.
• 38: Bane of Agony rank 4, Drain Life rank 4, Drain Soul rank 3, Siphon Life rank 2.
• 40: Howl of Terror, Immolate rank 5, Demon Armor rank 3, Soulstone rank 3, Curse of the Elements rank 3.

Spellstone from 36 is your weapon enchant: Shadow damage and spell haste for one Soul Shard. Skip Firestone ranks.

Levels 40–50

• 42: Death Coil, Hellfire rank 2, Searing Pain rank 4, Curse of Weakness rank 5, Shadow Ward rank 2.
• 44: Shadow Bolt rank 7, Corruption rank 5, Health Funnel rank 5, Subjugate Demon rank 2.
• 46: Life Tap rank 5, Drain Life rank 5, Healthstone rank 4, Rain of Fire rank 3.
• 48: Bane of Agony rank 5, Siphon Life rank 3, Soul Fire, Banish rank 2, Spellstone rank 2.
• 50: Inferno, Death Coil rank 2, Immolate rank 6, Curse of the Elements rank 4, Curse of Tongues rank 2, Demon Armor rank 4, Soulstone rank 4.

Levels 50–60

• 52: Shadow Bolt rank 8, Drain Soul rank 4, Curse of Weakness rank 6, Shadow Ward rank 3, Health Funnel rank 6.
• 54: Corruption rank 6, Drain Life rank 6, Howl of Terror rank 2, Hellfire rank 3.
• 56: Life Tap rank 6, Fear rank 3, Soul Fire rank 2, Curse of Recklessness rank 4.
• 58: Bane of Agony rank 6, Siphon Life rank 4, Death Coil rank 3, Healthstone rank 5, Searing Pain rank 6, Rain of Fire rank 4.
• 60: Shadow Bolt ranks 9 and 10, Immolate ranks 7 and 8, Corruption rank 7, Bane of Doom, Demon Armor rank 5, Soulstone rank 5, Spellstone rank 3, Shadow Ward rank 4, Health Funnel rank 7, Portal of Summoning and Ritual of Doom.

Horde: Troll or Undead. Troll Warlocks are new in Forever. Beast Slaying adds 5% damage against Beasts, a big share of what you kill while leveling, and Rapid Regeneration heals 50% of your health over 6 seconds between pulls. Undead get Cannibalize, which now restores 7% of your health and mana every 2 seconds from a Humanoid or Undead corpse, and Touch of the Grave, a 10% chance for your spells to drain health.

Horde endgame: Orc. If you plan to raid at 60, Blood Fury gives 10% Spell Power every 2 minutes and Shatter Curse protects you from Curses and Banes.

Alliance: Human. The Human Spirit gives 5% more Spirit, and every point of Spirit adds a point of mana to each Life Tap. Humans tap for more than Gnomes. Will to Survive breaks a stun every 3 minutes.

Alliance alternative: Gnome. Expansive Mind gives 5% more maximum mana, Eureka! makes three spells cheaper and 10% stronger every 2 minutes, and Escape Artist breaks roots and snares.

• Imp, levels 1–10. It is your only demon. Let it stand back and cast Firebolt while you open with Corruption. Its Blood Pact adds Stamina to you and your party.
• Voidwalker, 10–60. Your default for solo play in both builds. It holds a single mob with Torment, grabs everything within 10 yards with Suffering from 24, and turns into a shield with Sacrifice when a pull goes wrong. Summon it the moment you finish its quest.
• Succubus or Incubus, from 20. More damage and less health than the Voidwalker. Bring one when you kill Humanoids one at a time: Seduction from 26 locks a second Humanoid for up to 15 seconds while you finish the first. Damage breaks it, so never dot the seduced mob.
• Felhunter, from 30. Take it into areas full of casters. Spell Lock from 36 interrupts a heal or a nuke and locks that school, and Devour Magic strips a buff from an enemy or a debuff from you.
• Infernal, from 50. Inferno stuns everything in its impact area for 2 seconds and gives you an Infernal for 5 minutes. It needs an Infernal Stone, works only outdoors and has a 1-hour cooldown. Save it for a pull you would otherwise lose.

In the Demonology build from 41, the choice changes. Sacrifice the Imp first, then summon the Voidwalker for solo play or a Sayaad when you want Seduction. Demonic Pact keeps the Imp's +15% Shadow damage no matter which one you bring, as long as you never resummon the Imp itself.

• 10: the Voidwalker, Drain Soul and your first Healthstone. From here, your demon tanks and you stop taking melee hits.
• 14: Drain Life, and instant Corruption in the Affliction build. The Life Tap and Drain Life loop starts here.
• 20: Demon Armor and Curse of the Elements. Replace Demon Skin at once: Demon Armor gives far more armor and health regeneration.
• 26: Demonic Brand in the Demonology build, fed by Searing Pain rank 2. Every mob you hit with Searing Pain goes to the Voidwalker.
• 30: Siphon Life for Affliction and the Felhunter for everyone. Both builds have 21 talent points here.
• 40–41: Wrack at 40 for Affliction; Soul Link at 40 and Demonic Pact at 41 for Demonology. These are the capstones each build is planned around.
• 48: Soul Fire, a slow, heavy Fire nuke that costs a Soul Shard. Neither leveling build relies on it.
• 60: Bane of Doom and the last ranks of Shadow Bolt, Immolate and Corruption.

Spell Power adds damage to every tick and every Shadow Bolt. Stamina is mana for a Warlock: Life Tap turns health into mana, and both builds take Demonic Embrace for 15% more Stamina. Spirit adds a point of mana to every Life Tap. Healing gear also gives spell damage equal to a third of its healing, so a healer's piece with nothing better around is still an upgrade.

Wands

In Forever, wands don't scale with Spell Power, so compare them on damage per second. Enchanters craft the four that carry you to 30:

• Lesser Magic Wand at level 5: 11.3 damage per second.
• Greater Magic Wand at level 13: 17.5 damage per second.
• Lesser Mystic Wand at level 26: 25.4 damage per second and +4 Intellect.
• Greater Mystic Wand at level 30: 29 damage per second and +5 Spell Power.

After 30, take any wand with higher damage per second from quests and dungeons.

Weapons

A staff with Spell Power, Stamina and Intellect, or a one-handed weapon and an off-hand with the same stats. Forever's caster weapons roll Spell Power, so a new weapon every few levels is a big upgrade. Humans want a one-handed sword for Sword Specialization once they start raiding.

Armor

Cloth with Spell Power first, then Stamina. Quest rewards beat vendor gear at every level. At 36, Create Spellstone puts Shadow damage and spell haste on your weapon for one Soul Shard.

Tailoring and Enchanting is the Warlock pair. Tailoring makes your cloth and bags from 1 to 60, and the Warlock-only Robe of the Void at the top of the skill. Enchanting disenchants what you outgrow and makes all four leveling wands.

For gold while you level, take Herbalism and Mining or Herbalism and Skinning instead. Both leveling builds kill safely and alone, so you gather more between fights. Switch to Tailoring and Enchanting at 60 once gathering has paid for the materials.

Here is every dungeon you can run while leveling, in level order, with the recommended level from our dungeon list.

• From 13: Hall of Thanes, beneath Ironforge, and Ragefire Chasm.
• From 15: Ruins of Lordaeron in Tirisfal Glades.
• From 17: The Deadmines and Wailing Caverns.
• From 22: Shadowfang Keep.
• From 24: Blackfathom Deeps and The Stockade.
• From 29: Gnomeregan and Razorfen Kraul.
• From 30: Scarlet Monastery.
• From 37: Razorfen Downs.
• From 41: Uldaman.
• From 44: Zul'Farrak.
• From 46: Maraudon.
• From 50: Sunken Temple, the Temple of Atal'Hakkar.
• From 52: Blackrock Depths.
• From 54: Dire Maul.
• From 55: Lower Blackrock Spire.
• From 58: Scholomance and Stratholme.
• From 59: Upper Blackrock Spire.

Three new dungeons are not open in the beta yet: Excavation Site: Wetlands (24–29), City of Dalaran (28–33) and The Drowned City (35–40). Krol'dok Stronghold, Alcaz Prison, Blackmaw Hold and Shaper's Terrace are announced for later, without dates.

In every dungeon, you bring Healthstones for the party, a Soulstone for the healer and Ritual of Summoning for anyone who's late. Banish Demons and Elementals, Fear only where the room is clear, and let the tank build threat before you dot a pack.

The Voidwalker, the Succubus and the Felhunter each come from a class quest chain that ends with The Binding: you summon the demon with a quest item and subdue it. After that, every summon of that demon costs a Soul Shard.

• Voidwalker (level 10 summon): The Binding (Voidwalker, Stormwind), The Binding (Voidwalker, Undercity) or The Binding (Voidwalker, Orgrimmar).
• Succubus (level 20 summon; the Incubus comes from the same chain): The Binding (Succubus, Stormwind) or The Binding (Succubus, Orgrimmar).
• Felhunter (level 30 summon): The Binding (Felhunter), handed in to Strahad Farsan in Ratchet.

Keep five Soul Shards. Summons, Healthstones, Soulstones and Ritual of Summoning all cost one. Drain Soul refills you quickly.

Life Tap before you drink. Tap to full mana, then eat or Drain Life the health back. Drain Life on the next mob costs you nothing but a global cooldown.

Soul Link needs level 40. The talent sits in tier 5, but it can't be learned before 40, so the Demonology order takes it at 40 and Demonic Pact at 41.

Train Siphon Life ranks in the Affliction build. The talent gives rank 1 at 30, and trainers teach ranks 2, 3 and 4 at 38, 48 and 58.

Sacrifice once, then play. In the Demonology build after 40, the Imp sacrifice lasts 2 hours. Cast it when you log in, and recast it whenever the buff is missing.

Wand macro that never cancels itself when you press it twice.

#showtooltip Shoot
/cast !Shoot

Send the demon in and cast Corruption in one press.

#showtooltip Corruption
/petattack
/cast Corruption

Mouseover Corruption for packs: dot the mob under your cursor without changing target.

#showtooltip Corruption
/cast [@mouseover,harm,nodead][] Corruption

Fear your focus target, or your current target if you have no focus.

#showtooltip Fear
/cast [@focus,harm,nodead][] Fear