Warlock overview
The warlock is a ranged caster that wears enemies down with curses and damage over time while a summoned demon fights beside it. It is one of the strongest solo classes and a key member of every raid.
At a glance
| Roles | Ranged magic damage |
| Resource | Mana, turned from health with Life Tap |
| Armor | Cloth |
| Difficulty | Medium, rewards planning |
| Talent calculator | Warlock talents |
Who can be a warlock
The Forever client lists Human and Gnome for the Alliance and Orc, Undead and Troll for the Horde. Troll warlocks are new compared with the original game.
How the class plays
Warlocks put several damage over time spells and a curse on the target and let them work, then finish with direct damage or a drain. Life Tap turns health into mana, and drains and healing from the demon turn it back, so a good warlock rarely stops to drink. Demons are summoned with soul shards, collected by draining a dying enemy: the Imp shoots fire, the Voidwalker tanks, the Succubus controls, the Felhunter stops casters. Warlocks also make healthstones for the group and summon players to them.
Talent trees
Affliction strengthens damage over time and drains, and is the usual leveling choice. 
Shadow Mastery near the bottom raises all Shadow damage.
Demonology makes your demons and you stronger together. 
Master Demonologist gives you and your demon a bonus that depends on which demon is out, and at the bottom are 
Soul Link, which moves part of the damage you take to your demon, and 
Improved Spellstone.
Destruction is the direct damage tree. It ends in 
Conflagrate, which consumes your Immolate for a burst of Fire damage, with 
Emberstorm for stronger Fire spells.
Leveling
Level as Affliction with the Voidwalker tanking. Apply your spells, let the demon hold the enemy, and Life Tap when mana runs low. You can often start on the next enemy while the last one is still dying. Keep five or more soul shards in a bag so you can resummon a demon after a death.
In a group
Your jobs are damage, the right curse on the boss (the raid leader will tell you which), healthstones for everyone, and summoning late players. Use Banish on demons and elementals and Fear only where it will not pull more enemies.
Strengths and weaknesses
- Strong: excellent solo leveling, little downtime, strong utility for groups, many tools in PvP.
- Weak: soul shards take bag space, cloth armor, damage over time is slow on enemies that die quickly.
Races and talents come from the Forever client files (build 1.60.1.70790); play advice follows the original game and will be checked against Forever’s changes.