Dec 07, 2014 My Favorite Warlock Builds by ricprimus » Fri Dec 05, 2014 5:18 pm Well, leveling I usually do with a generic mix of talents that concentrates on powering up the blueberry and getting extended reach for both affliction and destruction spells; at 60 the.

In-depth guide on becoming a DPS Warlock in WoW Classic

You can find all our Pocket Guides for other WoW Classic Classes builds right here: Best WoW Classic Builds

Summon Felhunter is the best World PvP pet for Warlocks - With high base spell resistances, Spell Lock and Devour Magic, the Felhunter is extremely nasty against casters. Rogues also have a hard time against Warlocks with Felhunters out, thanks to Paranoia increasing the Warlock's stealth detection.
Best warlock guide for Classic WoW Check out the best warlock guides for Vanilla / Classic WoW. Read our warlock guides for leveling 1-60, PVE or PVP guides and you will find a lot of tips to get the best warlock possible in Classic WoW.

If you have just started leveling your Warlock, you may want to check out our Warlock leveling Guide first

Overview

In WoW lore, Warlocks derive pleasure from cursing and hurting their enemies. They are masters of the Shadow and Destructive magic and can bind powerful demons to their will. In WoW Classic, they are versatile Damage Dealers who suffer a bit from limited debuff slots. Despite that limitation, they are still very popular as a Class thanks to their grim flavor, great utility spells, and the ability to humiliate inexperienced enemies in PvP. Their second main limitation - the fact that pets take 100% damage from AoE abilities, is countered by the most popular Warlock DPS build, that sacrifices a pet in exchange for increased Shadow Damage.

When in a Raid or a Dungeon group, Warlocks provide Soulstones that allow an in-Combat resurrection of a pre-designated party member, Healthstones that work like Health Potions, and the Ritual of Summoning that makes assembling a Raid much, much easier. Contrary to what their lore background might suggest, Warlocks are best friends of any Player that likes to run through any kind of group content. They also provide various powerful debuffs that come in handy in a multitude of situations. Moreover, they don't have any Sustain problems, thanks to their Life Tap ability which allows them to perform at the highest level even during long encounters.

Pros	Cons
Great Sustain	Below average mobility
Good Single-Target and AoE DPS (for a caster, at least)	Soul Shard mechanic forces you to grind more than other Classes have to.
Great Raid/Group Utility	Managing Threat as a Warlock is challenging
Strong Debuffs	Pets tend to die from AoE Damage during encounters (this will not matter if you pick a proper build, however)
Good survivability (that, however, is somewhat Build-dependant)	Competition for Cloth Caster Gear tends to be very high

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The Best Race Choice

Note: Here, we will point you only towards the best PvE DPS Warlock Race. If you'd like to know more about other race picks, please check our WoW Classic Beginners Guide, where we dive deep into all available Mage's race choices for both factions.

Alliance

Human racials do not boost Warlock's PvE capabilities at all. This makes Gnome the best choice if you want to capitalize on every minor advantage available. His Intellect Racial is very strong as it provides additional Mana and Spell Critical Strike Chance. Engineering Specialization is surprisingly valuable because Engi is a go-to PvE profession, and Escape Artist will allow you to escape death from AoE damage from time to time.

Horde

Both Horde Races that can choose the path of a Warlock are pretty much equally good for PvE, so the choice is purely up to one's preference. If you want to have some more utility in a form of Cannibalize and Will of the Forsaken, go for Undead. If you want to pursue DPS at all costs, Orc will be the best choice for you, thanks to his Pet Damage increasing Racial (this will not matter if you pick the DS/Ruin Build, however).

The Best Professions Choice

There are two professions that make a real impact in Raids and they are Engineering and Tailoring (Alchemy is also a decent option, but you can buy Flasks, Elixirs, and Potions from other players, which makes it much less impactful). Engineering gives you access to powerful explosives that increase your AoE and Single-Target DPS. Moreover, Engi gadgets come in handy in many back-to-the-wall situations. The fact that Engineering is also considered the best PvP profession is an added benefit to its power in PvE environment. Tailoring, a seemingly mediocre PvE profession, gives you access to a powerful Bind on Pickup Robe - Robe of the Void which is a pre-Raid BiS that is great during phase Phase 1 and stays competitive in Phase 2. Getting it will definitely raise the power level of your character during the first few Phases of Classic.

At the start, you should pick Mining to supplement your Engineering Skill, you should also stock up on Cloths instead of vendoring/selling them. After you max out Engi, you should switch Mining to Tailo, as it can be easily (and rather cheaply) leveled without a supporting profession.

Note: If you want to know more about all available professions and secondary skills, please check our detailed WoW Classic Professions Guide.

Statistics Priority

Spell Damage/Shadow Damage - Increases your Damage done with Spells. The damage bonus from Spell Damage is calculated differently for different Spells and their Ranks, but in general, this is the best statistic for Warlocks.
Spell Critical Chance - Gives you a chance to do additional (Critical) Damage with your offensive Spells. This statistic has a lot of value for Warlocks thanks to Talents, like Improved Shadow Bolt and Ruin, which are staples of competitive Warlock builds.
Spell Hit Chance - Increases your chance to hit with all your offensive Spells. You need a total of 16% Hit Rating. Getting Hit-Capped should be your one of your priorities while gearing up for Raids.
Spell Penetration - Allows your spells to bypass some of the Target's Spell Resistance. This statistic allows you to deal more damage against Shadow-resistant Bosses.
Intellect - Increases your total Mana Pool and provides you with additional Spell Critical Chance (59,5 Int = 1% Spell Critical Strike Chance).
Statistic Priority for a Warlock: Spell Damage/Shadow Damage⇒Spell Critical Chance ⇒Spell Hit Cap⇒Spell Penetration⇒Intellect Note: Because of the Life Tap ability and the Demonic Embrace Talent, Stamina is more valuable than Spirit, but these stats should not be prioritized.

The Best Talent Builds

Proper Talent allocation is essential for maximizing Damage output. Here, we will describe the most optimal spec and lead you through the Talent Trees level-by-level to explain some choices

Highest Dmg Spec Warlock Vanilla