Demonology Warlock Guide — Class Guides · WoW Classic

A stronger demon and a stronger warlock through it: pet damage and survivability.

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. More about the warlock

Class: Warlock
Roles: Damage
Used for: Player versus player
Top talent: Soul Link / Improved Spellstone
Popular builds: 1
Version: WoW Classic

How to play

Demonology strengthens your demon and you. Demonic Embrace adds Stamina, Master Demonologist gives a bonus that depends on your pet, Soul Link moves part of the damage you take onto your demon, and Demonic Sacrifice trades the pet for a strong lasting buff.

Soul Link and Fel Domination, combined with Affliction's Nightfall, make the Soul Link warlock one of the toughest players in Classic battlegrounds. In raids, Demonic Sacrifice is usually taken by Destruction warlocks instead.

For leveling, your Voidwalker tanks while you drain, and Fel Domination brings a new demon back almost instantly when the old one dies.

At a glance

Single-target damage
Damage to groups
Survivability
Utility for the group
Solo play and leveling
Ease of play

Rated 1 to 5 against the other specs in WoW Classic.

Rotation and priorities

1Keep your demon out and Soul Link on.
2Corruption and a curse, then Shadow Bolt; take Nightfall's instant Shadow Bolts.
3Fel Domination for an instant summon when your pet dies.
4Seduction or Spell Lock against healers and casters.
5Life Tap and Health Funnel to keep both of you up.

Strengths and weaknesses

Strengths

Extremely hard to kill with Soul Link and Demonic Embrace.
Strong demons for every situation.
Fel Domination re-summons quickly.

Weaknesses

Low damage in raids.
Depends on keeping your demon alive.
Slow kills.

Stats and gear

Stat priority

Most valuable first. Bars compare each stat with the best one; a cap in the note means the stat drops off once you reach it.

1
StaminaDemonic Embrace multiplies it
2
Spell damage
3
Hit
4
Intellect
5
Critical strike

What to look for

Stamina and spell damage: Demonology turns health into staying power.
Player-versus-player rank gear for battlegrounds.
A wand for finishing targets while leveling.

Builds

Each bar splits the build's talent points by tree.

Affliction
Demonology
Destruction

Soul Link Nightfall
DamagePvP
2031
20/31/0
The toughest warlock: Soul Link sends part of every hit to your demon, Master Demonologist adds more defense and Nightfall grants instant Shadow Bolts.
- Amplify Curse 1/1
- Fel Domination 1/1
- Demonic Sacrifice 1/1
- Master Demonologist 5/5
- Soul Link 1/1
Open in the talent calculator Theorycrafting Talent order by level

Key talents

Soul Link · top talent, up to 1
When active, 30% of all damage taken by the caster is taken by your Imp, Voidwalker, Succubus, Incubus, or Felhunter demon instead. In addition, both the demon and master will inflict 3% more damage. Lasts as long as the demon is active.
Improved Spellstone · top talent, up to 2
Increases the amount of damage absorbed by your Spellstone by 30%.
Improved Healthstone · tier 1, up to 2
Increases the amount of Health restored by your Healthstone by 20%.
Improved Imp · tier 1, up to 3
Increases the effect of your Imp's Firebolt, Fire Shield, and Blood Pact spells by 30%.
Improved Voidwalker · tier 2, up to 3
Increases the effectiveness of your Voidwalker's Torment, Consume Shadows, Sacrifice and Suffering spells by 30%.
Improved Sayaad · tier 3, up to 3
Increases the effect of your Succubus' and Incubus' Lash of Pain and Soothing Kiss spells by 30%, and increases the duration of your Succubus' and Incubus' Seduction and Lesser Invisibility spells by 30%.
Fel Domination · tier 3, up to 1
Your next Imp, Voidwalker, Succubus, Incubus, or Felhunter Summon spell has its casting time reduced by 5.5 sec and its Mana cost reduced by 50%.
Master Summoner · tier 4, up to 2
Reduces the casting time of your Imp, Voidwalker, Succubus, Incubus, and Felhunter Summoning spells by 4 sec and the Mana cost by 40%.
Unholy Power · tier 4, up to 5
Increases the damage done by your Voidwalker, Succubus, Incubus, and Felhunter's melee attacks by 20%.
Demonic Sacrifice · tier 5, up to 1
When activated, sacrifices your summoned demon to grant you an effect that lasts 30 min. The effect is canceled if any Demon is summoned. Imp: Increases your Fire damage by 15%. Voidwalker: Restores 3% of total Health every 4 sec. Succubus/Incubus: Increases your Shadow damage by 15%. Felhunter: Restores 2% of total Mana every 4 sec.
Master Demonologist · tier 6, up to 5
Grants both the Warlock and the summoned demon an effect as long as that demon is active. Imp - Reduces threat caused by 20%. Voidwalker - Reduces physical damage taken by 10%. Succubus/Incubus - Increases all damage caused by 10%. Felhunter - Increases all resistances by 1 per level.

Demonology abilities by level

When each ability arrives: trained abilities at the level a trainer first teaches them, talent abilities (gold frame) at the first level the talent can be taken.