WotLK Warlock Leveling

[ichirou]

Hi all! I just started to make a warlock, I've never played a caster dps before, and I'm planning to farm some emblems to get heirloom items for her. I was hoping to get some info from experienced warlocks on what heirloom items i should save for and get for my new caster dps. Would greatly appreciate the help thanks :). And if u guys would also want to level up with me it would be fun to play with a companion, name is dezlockqt see you around.

[Deepfearr]

i think staff would be the most usefull one. cos it is gona be painfull to the begning due to lack of spell power ... u feed ur tunes by ur weapon.
In fact leveling on icecrown kinda sucks due to exp. rate. farming emblem for heirlom hardier then making ur character 80 :)

[jadugar123]

well as an experienced lock. I can tell you it can be VERY easy to level a warlock(at-least based on blizz like server with normal drop rate). You should defiantly consider playing Affliction, that spec is unique to us warlocks. I have to mention that I'm experienced up to WotLK only and pvp only up to Pandoria.

Play the affliction class, learn to DOT, learn to relation with spell power, HASTE and watch the pew pew numbers go up. It's a bit difficult at first, but you'll soon get the hang of it.

[UnknownStranger]

well as an experienced lock. I can tell you it can be VERY easy to level a warlock(at-least based on blizz like server with normal drop rate). You should defiantly consider playing Affliction, that spec is unique to us warlocks. I have to mention that I'm experienced up to WotLK only and pvp only up to Pandoria.

Play the affliction class, learn to DOT, learn to relation with spell power, HASTE and watch the pew pew numbers go up. It's a bit difficult at first, but you'll soon get the hang of it.

As was said, affly is the best spec for leveling, you can basically 1v3 hordies when they gank you easily, you can kill 10 mobs at the same time np. Idk honestly why people say demo is the leveling spec.

[huntorz]

Affliction is the safest option up until about 64 when you get Incinerate. After that Destruction becomes really potent.

My Warlock is lvl 74 at the moment and the difference between Affliction and Destruction can be boiled down to these facts:

Affliction:
+Good self sustain through Soul Siphon and Drain Life(I recommend glyphing SS while leveling)
+Good at early PvP due to DoTs being instant
-Damage takes a while to ramp-up, even after Haunt
-No CC other than Fear unless you are willing to sacrifice Agony damage and willing to spend a talent point for a slow.
-No AoE other than Rain of Fire which is weak since you have nothing to boost its damage. Seed of Corr. is unlocked at such a late stage it can be forgotten about for 95% of the leveling process.

Destruction:
+Massive burst damage, can essentially one shot mobs through Chaos Bolt > Immolate > Conflagrate(Chaos bolt and Immolate land together, and Conf finished the mob off)
+Has an instant cast stun AoE which is helpful in setting up free cast Fear or free casting other spells
+Shadowburn is an excellent tool to finish off low health mobs
+Good AoE through Rain of Fire which gets buffed through most Destruction talents
-Not as good self sustain, you have to eat food to regain your health every 10-15 mobs due to life tapping. The less you get meleed by mobs, the more you can kill without stopping. So Offense is best defense.
-Harder to play in PvP situations in general because you have cast times on your abilities.


I would not recommend Demonology in any situation. It does nothing special and does not get any good spells that are used rotationally through talents. Only 2 CDs and a Pet, both which are fairly irrelevant while leveling. Most of the talents are also more suited towards sustained damaging of a boss through random procs or proccing at X% health.

[Panzercat]

WotLK Demonology levels just fine when you spec the pets correctly. In fact, it's a pseudo AoE build with a pimped out Voidwalker. Chain as many mobs as you know he can survive while you roll dots. It's assembly line murder for as long as your mana holds out. Take the Fel Vitality/Demonic Knowledge perks to boost your own spell power, while you can augment pet intellect externally through any number of ways outside the talent tree.

Probably the biggest reason Demo gets overlooked is that most of the buffs go to the pet, not you. You don't get Affliction's zomg dots or Destro's flashy procs. That, and it requires a significant investment to see the benefits past just leveling. Most people aren't willing to spend over 50 points to make it happen.

[huntorz]

WotLK Demonology levels just fine when you spec the pets correctly. In fact, it's a pseudo AoE build with a pimped out Voidwalker. Chain as many mobs as you know he can survive while you roll dots. It's assembly line murder for as long as your mana holds out. Take the Fel Vitality/Demonic Knowledge perks to boost your own spell power, while you can augment pet intellect externally through any number of ways outside the talent tree.

Probably the biggest reason Demo gets overlooked is that most of the buffs go to the pet, not you. You don't get Affliction's zomg dots or Destro's flashy procs. That, and it requires a significant investment to see the benefits past just leveling. Most people aren't willing to spend over 50 points to make it happen.

Voidwalker can't hold aggro for **** and can only attack 1 target.

As Destro Immolate hit + dot tick is enough to overaggro him for good.

[Panzercat]

Voidwalker can't hold aggro for **** and can only attack 1 target.

As Destro Immolate hit + dot tick is enough to overaggro him for good.

LOL? Did you bother to take 3/3 Demonic Brutality to +30% Torment/Suffering? Are you spamming Immolate as your opening? CoA->Corruption->Immolate and your VW will hold aggro just fine since you didn't nuke the mob straight out of the gate.

In fact, I'm going to say half this thread is a bit backwards if you're calling affliction the leveling spec. No, seriously-- What does it offer you before level 40? A handful of push-back talents for drain tanking to the face and some corruption love is your answer. At 30 you finally get get Siphon Life which starts to make the entire Life Tap for mana route worthwhile, and it takes level 40 to get to Dark Pact where the real leveling efficiency begins.

Conversely, Demonology gave you buffs to personal stamina, and mana, buffs to pet effectiveness, Soul Link, buffs to armor and Fel Dom if you wanted it. Real, tangible buffs that directly contribute to your survivability. Now if you want to switch over at 40 when Dark Pact comes into play, by all means. That's when Affliction comes into its own as a leveling spec. But before then? It's a really pale tree in terms of leveling benefits.

Level to 40 under Demo, then spend the gold to respec Affliction. Or Destro if that's your thing.