Warlock leveling in WoW Forever: staff and wand, spells by level, demons and rotation

The short answer

Level Affliction. It is the easiest spec to level, because your damage over time kills while your demon tanks, and it is the one our class page recommends for leveling. Demonology gets strong once you have the talent that brands your target, and Destruction is the burst spec with the weakest sustain, best for dungeons. You can respec later: at level 40 you get dual talent specialization.

Fear is your main crowd control, but do not hit a feared target with a big spell, because damage breaks it.

Weapons to level with

Warlocks use staves, daggers and one-handed swords, plus the wand they start with. A staff with an off-hand is the usual choice, because the staff supplies most of your spell damage, and the wand finishes enemies when you are low on mana. Warlocks cannot dual wield, and the melee part of the weapon does not matter.

Upgrade your staff and wand whenever you find a better one, in quests and dungeons; the dungeon guide shows what drops. Wands from Enchanting at levels 5 and 13 are good stopgaps.

Spells and demons by level

These levels come from the game data. 1: Shadow Bolt, Immolate and Summon Imp. 4: Corruption and Curse of Weakness. 6: Life Tap. 8: Bane of Agony and Fear. 10: Drain Soul, Summon Voidwalker and Create Healthstone. 14: Drain Life. 18: Create Soulstone and Searing Pain. 20: Summon Succubus, Demon Armor, Rain of Fire, Shadowburn and Ritual of Summoning.

25: Conflagrate, a talent. 30: Summon Felhunter and Siphon Life. 40: Incinerate, Howl of Terror and dual talent specialization. 42: Death Coil. The Imp is good early and in groups, the Voidwalker is your tank until level 20, the Succubus is the damage demon from 20, and the Felhunter brings Spell Lock; see the demons guide.

• Shadow Bolt
• Immolate
• Summon Imp
• Corruption
• Curse of Weakness
• Life Tap

Rotation and drain tanking

Affliction: pull with Bane of Agony, then Corruption, then Immolate on enemies with a lot of health, and fill with Shadow Bolt or the wand. Life Tap when your health is above your mana. From level 20 you can drain tank: put the damage over time on the target, let the Succubus fight, Drain Life to recover health, Life Tap for mana and drain again for the health the tap cost. It is recommended from level 30.

Destruction: Immolate, then Conflagrate on the burning target before it expires, Shadow Bolt as a filler and Shadowburn to finish. In Forever damage over time can crit, Curses are split into Banes (damage) and Curses (utility), and Drain Soul gives a shard on every tick. Meeting stones no longer summon players: only Ritual of Summoning does.

The full level 60 talent split is in the talents guide and on the Warlock page.

• Bane of Agony
• Corruption
• Immolate
• Shadow Bolt
• Life Tap
• Drain Life