In this guide we will take a look at the current state of one of the most brutal and canonical Damage dealers in World of Warcraft – Warlock. This guide is divided into chapters for your convenience.
Disclaimer: This guide is unfinished due to in-game circumstances. We think it is very important to provide our readers with the most up-to-date and relevant information, and that’s why we ask you to wait a while. Keep in touch, and come back later to learn about the rest of the Warlock gameplay secrets.
5.0Dragonflight Warlock Overview
Warlock has always been a strong damage dealer throughout the entire history of WoW due to 3 damage dealing specs. One way or another, Warlock has always been at the top of damage-dealing tiers. Now let’s go through every spec and find out which one is the best to main in WoW Dragonflight.
| Demonology | Affliction | Destruction | |
| Strengths |
|
|
|
| Weaknesses |
|
|
|
Dragonflight Warlock Changes
Warlock has undergone a lot of minor changes and a few significant ones. Here is some of them:
- Dark Pact now shields you for 200% of health sacrificed (was 250%);
- Dark Pact‘s additional shield amount has been reduced by 50%;
- Spell Lock has been removed from the talent tree and returned to the Felhunter;
- Shadow Bolt and Incinerate base damage has been increased.
Dragonflight Warlock Talents
Demonology Warlock
In Dragonflight, the Demonology Warlock has undergone some gameplay changes, especially with the new talent tree
The talent tree is very versatile and can be set up to your needs and wishes. Just be sure that you have most of the key talents for the list: Fel Domination, Burning Rush, Demonic Embrace, Demonic Inspiration, Wrathful Minion, Demonic Fortitude, Demonic Gateway, Grimoire of Synergy, Soul Conduit, Soulburn, Fel Synergy and Soul Link. Other talents can be chosen however you want, read them carefully and choose wisely. However, if you don’t want to choose, here are the ready-to-play talent trees for different PvE content.
Demonology Warlock Standard Raid Talent Build: This is the basic raid talent tree with focusing on the solo target damage. However, it still does some AoE damage with Hand of Gul’dan cleave.
If you need more direct AoE damage, which is mostly needed in open world and dungeons, check the Demonology Warlock Standard Mythic+ Talent Build: For this type of Warlock, the key talents are absolutely the same. And again, the talent tree can vary from dungeon to dungeon and depends on your wishes.
Affliction Warlock
The Warlock class tree can be the most versatile talent tree out of all. For Affliction, the key talents are Wrathful Minion, Demonic Inspiration, Grimoire of Synergy, Soul Conduit and Inquisitor’s Gaze, Shadowfury, Amplify Curse, Banish bring, Dark Pact, Sweet Souls, Soul Link, and Fel Synergy. These talents provide you great damage, a lot of utility, and tons of survivability, making you the most tanky caster in the game. Usually, you will have some extra talent points for choosing some extra talents besides the key talents mentioned. However, if you don’t want to choose, here are the ready-to-play talent trees for different PvE content:
Destruction Warlock
For Destruction Warlock, the number of key talents is still not that big, so it’s still a highly versatile tree that can be customized however you wish. The key talents are Fel Domination, Burning Rush, Demonic Embrace, Demonic Inspiration, Wrathful Minion, Demonic Fortitude, Demonic Gateway, Grimoire of Synergy, Soul Conduit, Soulburn, Fel Synergy, and Soul Link. These key talents provide you with a lot of damage, utility, and tankiness. The remaining talents can be picked depending on your wishes and situation.
Destruction Raid Talent Build: This talent setup provides very solid solo damage but has a lack of mobility. However, we have a good burst with Summon Infernal cooldown and have solid survivability.
Destruction Mythic+ Talent Build: The Mythic+ variation is a bit more mobile because the key talent here is the Rain of Fire which is being cast instantly.
Dragonflight Warlock Rotation
Demonology Warlock
| Demonology Opener | Demonology Single Target Priority | Demonology Multi Target Priority |
|
|
|
Affliction Warlock
| Affliction Opener | Single Target Rotation | Multi Target Rotation |
|
|
|
Destruction Warlock
| Destruction Opener | Destruction Single Target Priority | Destruction Multi Target Priority |
|
|
|
Dragonflight Warlock Leveling
The best spec to level up is the Demonology Warlock: This specialization is the best for solo Warlock gameplay because of tanky demons that always can protect you and a decent amount of self-healing. If you are starting with level one, then go visit Chromie to go to the Warlords of Draenor and use the Azeroth Autopilot addon to pass through the fastest way possible.
Don’t hesitate to spend some gold on the following items, as they will ease your life drastically.
- Gunshoes – increase your movement speed on the ground;
- Goblin Glider Kit – having a few in your bags is always helpful;
- Light-Step Hoofplates & Comfortable Rider’s Barding – improve your ground mounts;
- Bear Tartare – killing monsters increases your speed;
- Drums of Deathly Ferocity – a Bloodlust effect;
- Spectral Flask of Power – The old flask will give you a pretty decent stat increase.
Dragonflight Warlock BiS Items
Pre-Season Best in Slot Gear for Warlock
Conventionally, the best items are the Mythic Dungeon items. However, you absolutely don’t need to look for all the items listed. First of all, focus on the items that provide you with the best item level and secondary stats, depending on your spec.
However, If you are a Mythic Dungeon player, you can find the BiS items for your class, so here is the list for Warlock. This list is identical for all the Warlock specs, as the stat priority is quite the same, which you will see in the next section of this guide.
Dragonflight Warlock Stats
- Intellect — increases Spell Power;
- Haste — reduces your Global Cooldown, increases the number of spells you can cast at a unit of time;
- Critical Strike — increases the chance to deal additional Damage;
- Versatility — decreases Damage taken, increases Damage dealt;
- Mastery — increases the effectiveness of damaging, healing, and absorption spells.
| Affliction | Demonology | Destruction |
|
|
|
Dragonflight Warlock Consumables
There are a lot of consumables that can help in all of the fights. Here is the list of the best consumables for PvE Warlock in World of Warcraft Dragonflight.
Warlock Phials in Dragonflight
In general, the top phial for Warlocks is Phial of Elemental Chaos. Thought the second variant is Iced Phial of Corrupting Rage which also can be helpful no matter the side effect of the phial. Another option for these phials is Phial of Static Empowerment, however, you need to stand steel in order to prolong the buff.
Warlock Combat Potions in Dragonflight
Also, potions are extremely important for any type of content. So for Warlocks, the best would be:
- Raiding: Elemental Potion of Ultimate Power
- Raiding: Elemental Potion of Power (Costs less)
- Mythic+: Elemental Potion of Ultimate Power
- Mythic+: Elemental Potion of Power (Costs less)
Warlock Health Potions in Dragonflight
The top healing potion for Warlocks is Refreshing Healing Potion. Remember to have a couple of Potion of Withering Vitality in difficult situations, but keep in mind its side effect.
For raid content, keeping Delicate Suspension of Spores and Residual Neural Channeling Agent in your inventory is very helpful to assist your group in hard situations and even avert death.
Warlock Best Enchants in Dragonflight
Warlock Weapon Buff in Dragonflight
For Warlock weapons, the must-have rune is Howling Rune.
Best Warlock Food in Dragonflight
- Feast: Grand Banquet of the Kalu’ak, Hoard of Draconic Delicacies or the cheaper variant Yusa’s Hearty Stew;
- Personal Food: Fated Fortune Cookie (best) or Timely Demise (cheaper)/ Sizzling Seafood Medley (the cheapest).
Best Warlock Gems in Dragonflight
- The best combo of gems is Keen Ysemerald and Keen Neltharite for Warlocks.
- For Primalist gem the top variant is to fill it with a Fierce Illimited Diamond.
Dragonflight Warlock Best Race
A lot of races can be Warlock, but there are races that suit the most.
Horde
The Orc racial bonus ( Hardiness) is good for lowering the time of control on you. This is, for sure, the top Horde racial skill to have if you are focused mostly on PvP. Also not only
Hardiness is a great skill, this race also has the Blood Fury racial ability. This is not in the global cooldown and mostly be used for burst damage with other burst abilities. Sometimes it’s comfortable to make macros instead of your regular burst ability make it *Burst ability + Blood fury* to make the rotation a bit easier.
Alliance
The Human racial ability( Will to Survive) is a good skill to get rid of annoying stuns. If you preparing to be the target of an enemy, focus against enemies with a lot of statuses, Humans race ability allows you to cast Relentless. This will raise your survivability generally. It is hard not to mention that this race also has The Human Spirit that boosts your secondary stats (Haste, Critical Strike, Mastery, Versatility). This is another huge plus for Human as the best race to play as a Warlock.
Dragonflight Warlock PvP
Affliction
In WoW Dragonflight, the Affliction warlock has lost its apex and is no longer the king of PvP specs. However, it’s still a very solid choice for PvP. Affliction has good survivability and huge solo target damage with a bit lack of burst damage. I’d say that’s a solid A-tier spec for 2v2 and 3v3 arena.
Destruction
Destruction has some important issues, such as lack of survivability and, more importantly, lack of mobility. The main problem is that Destruction faces difficulties with dealing damage on the move. However, the spec has huge burst damage and good focusing potential. That’s why it’s still playable B-tier spec.
Demonology
In WoW Dragonflight, Demonology has overcome some changes that buffed Demonology a lot. For the beginning of the expansion, it’s an absolute king of Warlock specs. Demonology has good mobility, the best survivability out of all three specs, good burst damage, and a lot of utility. This is why it’s obviously an S tier for PvP in WoW Dragonflight.
Dragonflight Warlock Best Professions
Some people say that Engineering is a must-have profession in PvP and PvE, but in fact, you can buy everything you need in an auction house. So we suggest you focus on making gold. The best combinations for professions are Mining + Herbalism or Tailoring + Skinning (these setups are for those who likes to grind and make money from it)
Other good combos are Enchanting + any crafting profession (Tailoring, Blacksmithing, Leatherworking, Jewelcrafting). With these combinations, you can make money on disenchanting items you craft.
Other profession combinations are any other profession + Mining, Herbalism, or Skinning (depending on the resources that you need for your first profession). For example, Inscription + Herbalism, Engineering + Mining, or Leatherworking + Skinning.
With the rework of the professions, it’s still to be decided which combination of professions is the best for gold making. However, Mining and Herbalism is a very safe choice, as these resources are always needed.
Dragonflight Warlock Macro
Macros are easy appliances that allow you to arrange different spells together, make customizable spells, use different spells depending on the target and much, much more. This tool is not so complicated and can be easily added to your gameplay. And trust me, you will enjoy it.
#showtooltip Soulstone
/cast [target=mouseover,exists] [] Soulstone
This macro casts Soulstone on a raid member, and you don’t need to click this member. Just hover the mouse over them. If your mouse is somewhere else but not on the raid member frame, you will cast the Soulstone on yourself.
#showtooltip Agony
/cast [target=mouseover] Agony
Quite the same thing as with Soulstone, but with DoT skill. It saves a lot of time, especially when you are fighting multiple enemies.
#showtooltip Soulburn
/cancelaura Soulburn
/cast Soulburn
This macro cancels your Soulburn aura and then casts the spell simultaneously.
Mostly used by the Demonology Warlocks, but it’s hard not to mention, as the Demonology Warlock seems to be the best Warlock spec for the very beginning of the Dragonflight expansion.
But as usual, play the spec you enjoy the most and the spec that is better for you specifically, and don’t try to chase the meta all the time.
Also, don’t forget to check our guide for Dragonflight Addons and Interface, which is also very useful for Warlocks
5.0So, that’s all we can tell right now about the Warlock class in Dragonflight, but stay tuned because we will update all class guides very soon. Good luck in your adventures, and don’t forget to rate our guide if it was helpful to you. Check out our leveling offers!
