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Warlock leveling guide

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A leveling build for Affliction, Demonology and Destruction, point by point from level 10 to 60, and what changed for the class.

On this page7 sections

Recommended leveling builds

At a glanceOur pickOpinion, not confirmed by BlizzardOne build per tree, read from the beta talent text.

Our pick is Affliction: Improved Corruption, Improved Drains and Siphon Life let you damage enemies and take health back at the same time.

Suggested build
Affliction, 49/2/0 at 60
16-point milestone
Curse of Exhaustion, level 25
Last Affliction talent
Drain Hope, level 40
Races
5, new: Troll

Affliction leveling buildSuggested tree

49/2/0 at level 60Curse of Exhaustion at level 25

Damage over time while you drain. Improved Corruption comes first, and Improved Drains and Fel Concentration make Drain Life stronger and harder to interrupt. Siphon Life at 30 adds a second way to take health from the target, and Drain Hope arrives at 40.

Open in the calculatorHow Affliction plays Share

Key decisions

  • Improved Corruption comes first: each point shortens Corruption's cast and raises its damage.
  • Amplify Curse at 20 opens Curse of Exhaustion at 25.
  • Fel Concentration at 21 to 23 keeps Drain Life running while you are being hit.
  • Siphon Life at 30: Drain Hope requires it.
  • Soul Siphon makes drains deal damage faster but lowers Drain Life's healing. Leave it out if you want the healing.

Every point, level by level

  1. 10–14Improved Corruption5/5
  2. 15–16Improved Life Tap2/2
  3. 17–19Improved Drains3/3
  4. 20Amplify Curse1/1
  5. 21–23Fel Concentration3/3
  6. 24Improved Bane of Agony1/2
  7. 25Curse of ExhaustionMilestone1/1
  8. 26–27Nightfall2/2
Show all 51 points · levels 28–60
  1. 28–29Soul Harvesting2/2
  2. 30Siphon Life1/1
  3. 31–33Soul Siphon3/3
  4. 34Improved Bane of Agony2/2
  5. 35–39Shadow Mastery5/5
  6. 40Drain Hope1/1
  7. 41–45Malediction5/5
  8. 46–50Suppression5/5
  9. 51–55Malevolence5/5
  10. 56–58Pandemic3/3
  11. 59–60Demonic EmbraceDemonology2/5

Demonology leveling build

17/34/0 at level 60Fel Domination at level 25

You and your demon both get tougher. Demonic Embrace and Improved Voidwalker come first, Fel Domination gives a fast resummon, and Soul Link at 31 moves part of the damage you take onto the demon. Master Demonologist and Demonic Pact at 40 finish the tree.

Open in the calculatorHow Demonology playsGear for Demonology Share

Key decisions

  • Master Summoner at 20 and 21: Fel Domination needs both points.
  • Demonic Sacrifice at 22 is taken for what it opens: Soul Link requires it.
  • Unholy Power fills levels 26 to 30 with pet damage and opens row 5.
  • Demonic Knowledge at 32 to 34 only works while a demon is out, which Soul Link wants anyway.

Every point, level by level

  1. 10–14Demonic Embrace5/5
  2. 15–17Improved Voidwalker3/3
  3. 18–19Fel Vitality2/3
  4. 20–21Master Summoner2/2
  5. 22Demonic Sacrifice1/1
  6. 23Fel Vitality3/3
  7. 24Improved Health Funnel1/2
  8. 25Fel DominationMilestone1/1
Show all 51 points · levels 26–60
  1. 26–30Unholy Power5/5
  2. 31Soul Link1/1
  3. 32–34Demonic Knowledge3/3
  4. 35–39Master Demonologist5/5
  5. 40Demonic Pact1/1
  6. 41–42Demonic Energies2/2
  7. 43Improved Health Funnel2/2
  8. 44–48Improved CorruptionAffliction5/5
  9. 49–50Improved Life TapAffliction2/2
  10. 51–53Improved DrainsAffliction3/3
  11. 54–56Fel ConcentrationAffliction3/3
  12. 57Amplify CurseAffliction1/1
  13. 58Improved Bane of AgonyAffliction1/2
  14. 59–60NightfallAffliction2/2

Destruction leveling build

0/5/46 at level 60Conflagrate at level 25

Direct damage. Improved Shadow Bolt and Bane come first, so Shadow Bolt casts faster by level 19, and Shadowburn at 20 is an instant blast. Ruin raises critical strike damage, and Incinerate arrives at 40. In our view it heals itself less than Affliction.

Open in the calculatorHow Destruction plays Share

Key decisions

  • Bane at 15 to 19 takes cast time off Shadow Bolt and Immolate.
  • Four points of Ruin reach Conflagrate at 25. The fifth follows at 26.
  • Intensity at 27 to 29 brings the tree to 20 points and opens Pyroclasm if you want it later.
  • Bane of Havoc at 30: Incinerate requires it.
  • Conflagrate also opens Fire and Brimstone, taken at 46 to 48.

Every point, level by level

  1. 10–14Improved Shadow Bolt5/5
  2. 15–19Bane5/5
  3. 20Shadowburn1/1
  4. 21–24Ruin4/5
  5. 25ConflagrateMilestone1/1
  6. 26Ruin5/5
  7. 27–29Intensity3/3
  8. 30Bane of Havoc1/1
Show all 51 points · levels 31–60
  1. 31–34Shadow and Flame4/5
  2. 35–37Agonizing Flames3/3
  3. 38Shadow and Flame5/5
  4. 39Cataclysm1/3
  5. 40Incinerate1/1
  6. 41–45Aftermath5/5
  7. 46–48Fire and Brimstone3/3
  8. 49–50Cataclysm3/3
  9. 51–55Molten Skin5/5
  10. 56–60Demonic EmbraceDemonology5/5

Compare the picks

Two builds side by side at level 60, with every talent where they differ.

The 3 Warlock trees

Affliction, Demonology, Destruction: the one-rank talents and their levels.

The one-rank talents in each tree, and the earliest level you can take them.

What changed for Warlocks · 7

Changes from Classic, and what the beta showed.

  • Meeting stones do not summon, so your Ritual of Summoning is how a group skips the walk. It still needs two other party members standing with you.

  • A Warlock tank is not a launch role. Josh Greenfield called it "not quite yet, but never say never".

  • Pet numbers on the character sheet are unfinished in the beta. Your pets do not show Mana as a resource, or their scaling from you. Beta

  • Create Firestone ranks 3 and 4 do not show the conjured item's tooltip in the beta. Blizzard tagged it fixed in the next build. Beta

  • Wands fire sooner after you stop moving. You still stand still to fire, for much less time than in Classic. Beta

  • Caster weapons now carry spell damage and healing.

  • A new spell rank may not replace the old one on your action bar. Check your bars after each trainer visit: the spellbook hides lower ranks until you choose show all ranks.

Dungeons and the 1-60 route · 9

Levels 13 to 60, the same for every class.

The same for every class. Run each dungeon once with every quest in your log.

Open the 1-60 route

Changes that apply to every class· 2

  • All 27 talent trees are meant to be viable for all content. They are not equal, and none should be strong enough to stack a raid with.

  • Hit and crit are one stat each for melee, ranged and spells. Hover a stat on the character sheet and it explains itself.

Races that can be a Warlock · 5

Troll Warlock is new in Forever and needs no pack.

Troll Warlock is new in Forever and needs no pack.

Alliance

Horde

The race and class table

In the patch digest · 3

No new classes or Warlock tanks at launch

Keep reading

Sources and what isn't confirmed

Unconfirmed: reported, not confirmed by Blizzard

  • Another community list names Wrack as the last Affliction talent. This page follows the talent data

Not announced

  • A leveling talent order from Blizzard
  • Dual specialization
  • Respec prices
  • Warlock tanking: when, or whether, it arrives
  • Wand timing: the exact duration
  • Spell ranks on the action bar: which spells are worth keeping at a lower rank
  • Most new quest names
  • Experience amounts for dungeon quests
  • Level ranges for Shen'dralas and Mount Hyjal

Sources

  • Kotaku: Ritual of Summoning
  • Warcraft Tavern, 14 Sep 2026: Ritual of Summoning
  • GameSpot, 22 Sep 2026: Warlock tanking
  • Kaivax, 17 Sep 2026: Pet numbers on the character sheet; Create Firestone tooltip
  • Wowhead, 21 Sep 2026: Wand timing; Hit and crit
  • Deep Dive: Caster weapons
  • Wowhead, 22 Sep 2026: Spell ranks on the action bar
  • Tim Jones, Windows Central, 22 Sep 2026: Talent tree balance

Updated . Talent data: beta 1.60.1. Details can change in any later build or patch.