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Welcome to a very long page about the main talent builds available to a Warlock. In this guide I aim to focus on how to fight with a build given the abilities that you get, the advantages and disadvantages and what the top talent does - why go for it. I've also included a hybrid build of Affliction and Destruction as an alternative to the main trees.
All the builds at based on talent points at level 60 (hybrid needs 62), I am sure there are many examples of builds with a few points spent here and there different to what I have here. I also dont take into account any armour items as they are wide and varied the main styles of fighting still apply. The information given here is based on my own experience of playing a Warlock for a year or so now. In that time I have played all the builds mentioned here, leveling to 60 with a Destruction build when Ruin was all the rage, changing to Affliction for PVP and finally going Demonology for The Burning Crusade. If you have other suggestion for builds then please post links to your setups/talents (using the link given on the WOW-Europe page) if there is a certain build that people rely on a lot then we will think about including it - but this lot of pages took long enough! If you don't agree strongly then I would tell you to go and write your own talent build guide, with out stealing others written material. Everything here is my opinion of the class - I may have gotten it totally wrong but its done me proud so far! Affliction Main idea is to DOT (damage over time) your opponents to death. Spells (mainly DOTs) that you will want to apply to a target with this build include:
Curse of Agony (instant cast), Corruption (instant cast), Siphon Life (instant cast), Unstable Affliction and Immolation (a given spell).
You can make the Curse of Agony more affective by using the Amplify Curse. Another bonus of this build is the Nightfall Talent - when this activates it enables you to cast a Shadow Bolt instantly - you may want to try and find a UI mod for this as it can be tricky to get the timings right. Curse of Exhaustion (instant cast) can be handy if you need a bit more time for spells probably an extra shadow bolt spell. Main fighting style: is to open with a shadow bolt or soul fire spell then apply as many DOTs as possible, then fear the opponent if you have space and your getting hurt too much - death coil is ideal here. If you raid a lot or party a lot it may be more useful to spend two points into the improved curse of weakness talent - this spell is low threat and will help out tanks in parties or raids. Advantage, is in big PVP fights you can DOT everyone! Siphon Life and improved Drain Soul will keep you alive longer, Instant Corruption, COA and then instant howl of terror will send opponents fleeing.
Downside, if opponents resist fear or its too risky - then its a race between your health and your opponents if they get on top of you so try and get a couple of shadow bolts spells of first if you can. Demon Options:
The imp is good with this style as it adds some instant damage to your DOTs.
If you find your Voidwalker can hold agro (which i doubt it can) then you can open with DOTS (Its always better to apply DOTS as early as possible then use bigger spells afterwards).
Succubus and Felhunter can also be used depending on what target you are going after - you may also be able to improve the Succubus if you have enough free talent points. Extra Talent Points: If you have spare talent points and are planning on using the imp then spend some points on the improved imp in Demonology. You can also spent 11 points in Destruction to get Soul Burn - which would give you another instant spell and a possible "finishing" spell View the tree here Demonology Main idea is to use your demon's talents to hold/fight your enemy while applying your afflictions and casting your destructive spells. Spells in this build are:
Fel Domination (instant cast) if you lose your demon I would cast this then re-summon your demon - running away as a Warlock is never guaranteed to work (any more) and you're better off getting your demon back and standing your ground even more so when using the Felguard.
Soul Link (instant cast) I'm not sure if this is as useful as other buffs, it passes damage from you to your summoned demon I don't recommend it if you using the Succubus because it increases damage taken by five percent - you maybe able to nullify the effect with Curse of Weakness.
Main fighting style: is to fight in unison with your demon, your DOTs create less agro so if you are using a tanking demon then consider getting your dots on as early as possible after the initial hit from your demon. Once the agro is fully on your demon you can then use draining spells, fear spells or a bigger hitting destruction spell. Imp
If you only planning on using the imp then you may want to think about one of the other builds as you can improve the imp at the top of the demon tree and will only need a few points (there's also an upgrade in the Destruction build). The imp has some good abilities for grouping, in particular the blood pact skill which will increase your parties stamina. Fire Shield can also be useful to cast on any melee fighters in your party. Voidwalker
If your going to use the Voidwalker you should sent it in to attack first (so that it can gain agro on your target) once engaged start using your spells, be careful big hits will take the agro from your demon to you. In my experience this demon isn't that good at tanking at high levels - should be ok to see you though the lower levels though. Succubus
Using the Succubus you should be able to crowd control an extra enemy you take one out well this demon seduces the other (if its three or more then it can be tricky to manage) using Seduce the Succubus can hold out an enemy until your ready to deal with it. Soothing Kiss can also low the Succubus's agro on a target if she is getting damaged too quickly. The Succubus can deal out damage pretty well with lash of pain, but she has low heath which can make her weak against strong heavy hitting opponents. Felhunter
Is very handy against spell casters it can cast spell lock against casting targets (note the target needs to be casting a spell for spell lock to be effective as like counter spell it stops a school of magic). There is also the Devour Magic spell that will lift any harmful effects from friendly targets, or remove helpful effects from enemy targets - if it is successful in casting Devour Magic the Felhunter will also heal itself. You may want to put all of the Felhunter's spells on manual and control this demon yourself - this should enable you to use the Felhunter as a makeshift tank by using its spells to cause agro. Infernal
Needs a regent to case and is not a reliable as a demon as it will turn on you after a time and is harder to re-enslave each time. Its all melee so has no mana and few skills. It tends to hold agro reletively well (on the few times I've used it), but it did turn on me mid-battle which wasn't very nice! Doomguard
Never used this demon, it takes a lucky roll with the curse of doom spell (that I hardly use as fights tend not to last more than a minute and a weakness curse is more useful when in a party) or a ritual to summon it - in which any on of your five party members will die! So not many people will be willing to try this roulette. Felguard
The new demon you can get through the this build and the is the last talent. The Felguard will tank a lot better than the Voidwalker. Once again you should let the demon attack first to build agro then cast all of your DOTs upon your target. Once all your DOTs are on the target you can either use a draining spell or hit your target with a Shadow Bolt.
Advantage, at level 60 the Felguard is very good and can hold agro very well. The imp is also very handy as a backup caster.
Disadvantage, if you lose your demon then usually your toast with this spec - the demon is key to this setup. You may want to wait until you can get the Felguard before using this build (41 points needed - level 50). Demon Options:
Depends on the fighting style you are using - and your target (Mage type, Warrior type, etc)
Extra Talent Points:
- If you have spare talent points (above we have spent points in the Succubus and Voidwalker these are optional) then you may want to get improved corruption in Affliction (makes this spell an instant cast very hand DOT to keep re-applying). Mana tap can is also useful to improve as mana from this spell will give mana to your demon.
- You could also try to get Soul burn in Destruction again another instant cast spell - takes 11 points in this talent tree.
View the tree here Destruction Main idea is to use your fire spells, Immolation becomes the most powerful spell as it can be used inconjunction with Conflagurate once its been applied to a target. The top spell in the tree is Shadowfury which is a quick cast spell that should be used carefully as it stuns all targets in an eight yard area (so be careful not to snare more than one enermy). My experiance of using a Destructive spec is to cast two maybe three Shadowbolt spells, then apply Imolation and Curse of Agony. If the target is nearly dead after this then drain soul if not then drain life while your dots do the damage. Once near death you have a few options: Death Coil - if you need a health top up, Shadow burn to make a hard hit, or Conflagurate if Immolation is still going (you may want to use a combination of Immolation's and Conflagurate rather than draining spells) Spells in this build are: Conflagurate, Shadow Burn and Shadowfury - you dont get many spells as most of the talents are to buff what you have. Ruin is one of the main aspects of the build as it increases the critical bonus damage by 100%, what this means is if you crit your enermy with a spell the bonus will be one hundred times greater - I think they nerfed this when Warlocks were doing far more damage than planned!
Main fighting style: is to fight is to cast off Shadowbolt spells (2-3) or possible a Soul Fire spell if the target is partically difficult. After the intial big hit you can either use the Shadow fury to stun and then back off and cast more big spells (reminds me of a Mage using Frost Nova) or cast DOTs and take the ensuing damage.
Advantage, you do a lot of damage and with instant Conflagurate and Shadow Burn you should be able to finish opponents off quickly.
Disadvantage, threat can be high if your a hard hitting destruction spec, your tanking demons will probably not be able to hold agro and you dont have the Felguard, it also means in group you may have to back off some spells until the target is near death - or your tank has lots of agro.
Demon Options:
When using destruction I tend to go for the Imp as it provides extra damage to your own. Also if the target does get to you Fire Shield can be handy to deliver a bit of extra damage to the target - also its easy to upgrade the Imp in the Demonology tree and the Imp's Firebolt spell is upgraded in this tree.
I doubt the Voidwalker will be able to hold agro as the main idea is to use big spells - its as close to a fire Mage with a pet then a Pet with a Warlock.
If you can keep the agro on yourself then the Succubus will also work with this build - again you maybe able to upgrade her talents as they are near the top of the tree. Extra Talent Points: If you have spare talent points and are planning on using the Imp/Succubus then spend some points on the improved imp in Demonology. I would also opt for the Improved Corruption in Affliction if you have enough spare points. View the tree here Hybrid Main Idea: My idea for the hybrid option was to aim for two items, Siphon Life in Affliction (takes 21 points) and Conflaguration in Destruction (takes 31 points). As these two spells are highly useful my thinking here was to have both and have more options during fights. I have to say this build is a little untested it was fine in normal PVE but PVP is didnt have enough umpf to do big damage. Spells include: Instant Corruption, Instant Shadow Burn, Instant Conflaguration, Instant Siphon Life added to the Curse of Agony and Death Coil (more instant casts) my idea was to have five instant cast spells that could cause high damage to a target.
Main fighting style: is to cast Shadowbolt spells then hit your target with a barage of instant casts: Corruption, Siphon Life, COA, Immolation (to get Conflaguration to fire) then as in Destruction you can use drain spells or hit the target with a Shadow Burn or Death Coil - or both if you need too.
Advantage of this build is you get some of the key Warlock spells that should give you more options during fights
Disadvantage your pet will be week as you may need to boost all the destruction spells in order to make this build more effective. Also you dont get to the bottom of any of the trees and miss out on some of the bigger talents (although Conflaguration was the top item on Destruction). Demon Options:
With no talents spend in the Demonology tree the imp would be useful to add to your overall damage - espcially since you are using a mix of DOTs and big spells to kill your targets. Extra Talent Points: If you do have a few points left over (I'm think at level 70) you might want to spend some points in Demonology - imp and hearth stone would be useful Of course you can also spend talents boosting one of the hybrid trees. View the tree here |
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