Warlock Class Guide — Class Guides · WoW Classic
A cloth-wearing caster who curses enemies, drains their life and summons demons to fight beside them. Warlocks use Soul Shards, Life Tap and Healthstones.
- Roles
- Damage
- Specializations
- 3
- Popular builds
- 6
- Version
- WoW Classic
How the warlock plays
Warlocks are ranged casters with a demon at their side. Curses, Corruption and Immolate burn targets over time, Shadow Bolt is the big hit, Drain Life and Drain Soul take health and Soul Shards, and Fear and Howl of Terror send enemies running.
Life Tap turns health into mana, so warlocks rarely drink: they Life Tap and heal back with Drain Life, Health Funnel or a Healthstone. That makes leveling smooth and makes Stamina worth more to a warlock than to other casters.
Pets do real work: the Voidwalker tanks while you level, the Succubus seduces enemy players, the Felhunter eats magic and silences casters, and the Imp raises the group's Stamina. Soul Shards fuel summons, Healthstones and Soulstones, so collect them with Drain Soul.
Strengths and weaknesses
Strengths
- Very self-sufficient: Life Tap and Drain Life mean little downtime.
- Strong control: Fear, Howl of Terror, Death Coil, Seduction and Banish.
- Summons, Healthstones and Soulstones for the group.
- Curse of the Elements and Curse of Shadow raise the raid's magic damage.
Weaknesses
- Soul Shards take bag space and time to collect.
- Cloth armour, and slow casts when caught in melee.
- Fear can send enemies into extra packs if used carelessly.
Specializations
The specs compared
Each spec rated from 1 to 5 at what it does in WoW Classic. Single and several targets mean damage for damage specs, healing for healers and threat for tanks; a spec's own guide names its ratings for its role.
| Rating |  Affliction |  Demonology |  Destruction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single target | |||
| Several targets | |||
| Survivability | |||
| Utility | |||
| Solo and leveling | |||
| Ease of play |
- Affliction
Damage · 2 builds
Curses, damage over time and drains: the tree for long fights and leveling alone.
Top talent:
Affliction guide
Dark Pact - Demonology
Damage · 1 build
A stronger demon and a stronger warlock through it: pet damage and survivability.
Top talent:
Demonology guide
Soul Link
Improved Spellstone - Destruction
Damage · 3 builds
Direct damage with Shadow Bolt and fire spells, crits and burst.
Top talent:
Destruction guide
Conflagrate
Gear
- Cloth with spell damage, hit, Stamina and Intellect; shadow damage gear counts for Shadow Bolt and Corruption.
- A staff, or a dagger or sword with an off-hand, and a wand.
- Spell hit is worth 16% against raid bosses; Affliction's Suppression covers 10% for its own spells.
Each spec guide ranks its stats and says what to look for on its gear.
Warlock class quests
The quests that unlock class abilities, by the level each route starts at.