1-60 Warlock Leveling Guide by Kargoz
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1-60 Warlock Leveling Guide
Class Overview, Talents, Rotation, Wand Progression, Tips & Tricks!
A World of Warcraft 1.13 Guide by KargozVideo
Introduction
Greetings prospective Warlocks, my name is Kargoz and I’ve been playing World of Warcraft for a long time. Starting my journey in 2004, I’ve since leveled multiple classes to 60 on various Vanilla realms, including Nostalrius, Anathema, Zeth’kur, Lightbringer, and most recently on Northdale.
I’ve learned through the years that leveling is probably my favorite aspect of the game, particularly speed leveling as I find it sort of therapeutic. The awesome thing about Classic is that leveling is a huge part of the overall experience!
In order to make this guide as accurate as possible I contacted multiple reputable Warlocks including Goth, Azu, Markymark, Snack, Xn, Zephan and more. I can’t express how thankful I am to these players as they were so kind and their masterful understanding of the class proved invaluable. I am thrilled to present for your viewing pleasure this Comprehensive Warlock Leveling Guide for World of Warcraft 1.12 !Warlock Leveling
Pros
Tier 1 Leveling Speed
High Damage
High Sustain
High Utility
Self-Reliant
Multi-Target Excellence
Low Gear Dependance
Strong Open World PvP
Free level 40 MountCons
Low Mobility
Reduced Inventory Space (Soul Shards)
Pet Training Cost (Grimoires)Class Overview
Warlocks are strong, self reliant, tier 1 levelers with nearly every leveling amenity imaginable. High sustain, high survivability, high damage, gear independence, multi target proficiency, world pvp strength, group utility through multiple crowd control options, summons, soulstones, healthstones, and not to mention a free mount at 40 allowing them to invest gold earlier without penalty.
The only significant drawback from a leveling perspective is their low mobility possessing neither movement boosting abilities or talents. However, this lack of speed is made up for by Warlocks’ unparalleled ability to sustain combat against multiple enemies at once with virtually 0 downtime.
This is achieved in part through their tanky voidwalker and imp drain soul, by mainly because warlocks are the only class in the game that are able to utilize health and mana as interchangeable resources through life tap and drain life. Their ability to turn a couple global cooldowns into hyper efficient damage over time spells that will have impact for 20+ seconds allows them to utilize natural mana regeneration per the 5 second rule earlier than almost every other class.My favorite aspect of Warlock leveling, and this is a sentiment echoed by every Warlock I spoke with is that class is highly flexible and lends itself to your playstyle. There is no cookie cutter build you have to follow and there are many viable ways to level a Warlock efficiently.
With that said, take everything in this guide with a grain of salt and let’s begin!Warlock Specific Tips
Lifetap does not prevent natural mana regeneration per the 5 second rule since you are using health as the resource to fund it not mana. This means you don’t need to front load lifetaps into your rotation cycle like many guides suggest.
Immolate is your least damage to mana efficient spell until siphon life. If you are having mana issues you can always remove this from your rotation and rely heavier on your wand, although if this is the case you are likely mismanaging your hp / mana.
Consider leveling First Aid so you can bandage both yourself and your pet. Health funnel is kinda trash.
At stages of the game your wand will potentially do more damage than your abilities. Sometimes it is appropriate to prioritize wand damage over dots, especially because you don’t have to wait for a GCD to finish when using instants before starting to wand.
Macros
Standalone Pet Send Macro
/script if GetUnitName("target")==nil then TargetNearestEnemy() end
/script CastPetAction(2);
/script PetAttack(target)Simple Drain Macro (Use Pre lvl 20)
In order for Drain Soul effect to proc you need to land the killing blow on mob.
/cast Drain Soul(Rank 1)
/script CastPetAction(2)Pet Attack + Cast Spell
/script PetAttack(target)
/cast (Put Spell Here)
Pet Recall Macro (Put Pet Follow on Slot 2)/script CastPetAction(2)
20+ Drain Macro
Copy Paste this Macro:/cast Drain Soul(Rank 1)
/run local a=GetBagName(4); if a=="Core Felcloth Bag" or a=="Felcloth Bag" or a=="Soul Pouch" or a=="Box of Souls" or a=="Small Soul Pouch" then PickupContainerItem(4,GetContainerNumSlots(4)) DeleteCursorItem() else endLevel 20+ Drain Soul Macro
This is the macro you will use when you start having mana issues in place of the simpler macro. This will delete the soul shard out of the bottom right corner of your left most bag which should be your soul shard bag. If the bag isn’t full nothing will be deleted.
Pet Ability Macros
Place your Voidwalker’s Skills on the action bar slots that reflect these Pet Action Macros
Torment (Taunt) Macro:
/script CastPetAction(4)
Sacrifice (Shield) Macro:
/script CastPetAction(5)
Consume Shadows (Pet Heal)
/script CastPetAction(6)
Suffering (AOE Taunt)
/script CastPetAction(7)Life 1-10
Strongest levelers in the game 1-10.
Once you get your Imp, start Triangle Trapping your mobs:
Send your Imp to engage a target.
Strafe left or right forming a Triangle Formation between the target, your Imp, and yourself.
Let the imp build threat with firebolts then rip threat away from your imp with shadowbolt. The travel time between your imp and you should be more than enough to kill the mob without taking any damage.
Dots are situationally useful in this bracket but I don’t usually bother applying them as Shadowbolt is more efficient at dealing on damage damage and threat.
Talent Progression
5 Imp Corruption -> 2 Imp Drain Soul -> 3 Suppresion -> Life Tap -> 3 Imp. Agony -> 2 Nightfall -> 2 Grim Reach -> 1 Amplify Curse -> 1 Curse of Exhaustion -> 1 Siphon Life -> 3 Imp Drain Life -> 5 Shadow Mastery
Proceed into Demo:
5 Demonic Embrace -> 3 Imp. Voidwalker -> 2 Fel Intellect -> 1 Fel Domination -> 3 Fel Intellect -> 1 Fel Stamina -> 5 Unholy Power -> 1 Demonic Sacrifice
Life 10-20
Get your Voidwalker ASAP so you can start Fear Juggling. If you have instant cast Corruption engage mobs with the following rotation if you are multi target sustained grinding:
Send Voidwalker in while casting Immolate -> CoA -> Corruption -> Wand -> Drain Soul (Rank 1) right before death
With NO instant corruption: Send Voidwalker while casting Corruption -> CoA -> Wand -> Drain Soul right before death
Send Voidwalker at Target 1 and dot it, Fear Target 2 then apply dots, send voidwalker at Target 3 and dot it. Rinse and repeat, there should be no downtime if you manage resources well. Life tap if you have excess health, Drain Soul when a mob is about to die.
Get Grimoire of Sacrifice for your Voidwalker at level 16.
Get Grimoire of Consume Shadows for your Voidwalker and level 18
Your survivability is through Healthstones and Soul Stones, keep these on you 100%
Skip Training Curse of Recklessness, Searing Pain, Rain of Fire
Don’t train anything past Drain Soul (Rank 1).
Life 20-30
Skip Training Eye of Kilrogg, Sense Demons, Detect Lesser Invisibility, Banish, Firestone, Enslave Demon.
Buy Grimoire of Suffering (AOE Taunt) for your Voidwalker at level 24.
From level 25 onwards your priority of dots change. You now have nightfall online so apply Corruption before CoA for increased proc chances.
If you have heavy mana issues where things are feeling inefficient you can remove Immolate from your rotation as it’s your least efficient mana to damage spell.
Starting at level 37 start attempting to have a Shadoweave Set crafted for you (Gloves, Mask, Pants, Robe, Shoulders). This is an amazing foundation for gear going into raids.
Get Free level 40 mount!
Starting at 31 when you get Siphon Life you can start using it to get more damage on juggled fear mobs. But warning it is not very mana efficient and causes healing aggro!
On secondary / tertiary feared mobs siphon is higher priority than immolate since it has no cast time.
Life 30-40
Starting at level 37 start attempting to have a Shadoweave Set crafted for you (Gloves, Mask, Pants, Robe, Shoulders). This is an amazing foundation for gear going into raids.
Get Free level 40 mount!
Starting at 31 when you get Siphon Life you can start using it to get more damage on juggled fear mobs. But warning it is not very mana efficient and causes healing aggro!
On secondary / tertiary feared mobs siphon is higher priority than immolate since it has no cast time.
Life 40+
Skip Training Curse of Shadow, Soul Fire
Use Howl of Terror (AOE fear) to your advantage to push your combat efficiency further.
Use Death Coil on CD on juggled mobs. Once you get it at 42 Imp. Lifetap has 0 downside. The HP you gain from DC is more than the cost of tap.
Mobs start to become tankier and more resilient to your dots. Consider using Siphon more if it will be more efficient.
Do level 50 Class Quest “An Imp’s Request” for amazing trinket.
Stat Priority
Stamina -> Intellect -> Spirit -> Agi -> Strength
Strength = Improves attack power with melee weaponsAgility = Increases attack power with ranged weapons. Improves chance to score critical hit with all weapons, Increases Armor and Chance to dodge.
Intellect = Increases Mana Points by 15 per 1 point and chance to score a critical strike with spells. Improves rate weapon skills level.
Stamina = Increases HP by 10 per 1 point.
Spirit = Increases out of combat HP and Mana regeneration
Alliance Wand Progression
Lesser Magic Wand - 11.3 DPS - Requires lvl 5 Crafted Green from Enchanting
Spark of the People’s Militia - 12.8 DPS - Quest Reward “The People’s Militia” Westfall
Greater Magic Wand - 17.5 DPS - Requires lvl 13 Crafted Green from Enchanting
Dusk Wand - 17.6 DPS - Wand Vendor sells this white wand in all capital cities
Spellcrafter Wand - 20.3 DPS - Quest Reward “Retrieval for Mauren” in Stonetalon Mountains
Cookie’s Stirring Rod - 22.3 DPS - Drops off Cookie in Deadmines 35%
Consecrated Wand - 24.2 DPS - Quest Reward “Worgen in the Woods” Duskwood
Excavation Rod - 24.2 DPS - Quest Reward “Ormer’s Revenge” Wetlands
Gravestone Sceptre - 29.0 DPS - Quest Reward “Blackfathom Villainy” Blackfathom Deeps
Rod of Sorrow - 31.8 DPS - Quest Reward “Wanted Otto and Falconcrest” Arathi Highlands
Burning Sliver - 32.7 DPS - Quest Reward “Crushridge Warmongers” Alterac Mountains
Blackbone Wand - 35.3 DPS - Wand Vendor sells this white wand in all capital cities
Cairnstone Silver - 41.4 DPS - Quest Reward “The Morrow Stone” Feralas
Noxious Shooter - 50.0 DPS - Drops from Noxxion in Maraudon at 20%
Smokey’s Fireshooter - 53.2 DPS - Quest Reward “When Smokey Sings, I get Violent” EPL
Rod of Corrosion - 55.0 DPS - Drops from Shade of Eranikus in Sunken Temple 32%
Mana Channeling Wand - 60.9 DPS - Drops from Cho’Rush the Observer in Dire Maul 25%Horde Wand Progression
Lesser Magic Wand - 11.3 DPS - Requires lvl 5 Crafted Green from Enchanting
Smoldering Wand - 13.4 DPS - Wand Vendor sells this white wand in all capital cities
Greater Magic Wand - 17.5 DPS - Requires lvl 13 Crafted Green from Enchanting
Dusk Wand - 17.6 DPS - Wand Vendor sells this white wand in all capital cities
Excavation Rod - 24.2 DPS - Quest Reward “Ormer’s Revenge” Wetlands
Gravestone Sceptre - 29.0 DPS - Quest Reward “Blackfathom Villainy” Blackfathom Deeps
Gnomish Zapper - 32.7 DPS - Quest Reward “Sunken Treasure” Arathi Highlands
Dancing Flame - 32.9 DPS - Quest Reward “Final Passage” Thousand Needles
Blackbone Wand - 35.3 DPS - Wand Vendor sells this white wand in all capital cities
Cairnstone Silver - 41.4 DPS - Quest Reward “The Morrow Stone” Feralas
Noxious Shooter - 50.0 DPS - Drops from Noxxion in Maraudon at 20%
Smokey’s Fireshooter - 53.2 DPS - Quest Reward “When Smokey Sings, I get Violent” EPL
Rod of Corrosion - 55.0 DPS - Drops from Shade of Eranikus in Sunken Temple 32%
Mana Channeling Wand - 60.9 DPS - Drops from Cho’Rush the Observer in Dire Maul 25%Class Quests
Do Imp Quest
Do level 10 Voidwalker Quest
Skip level 30 Felhunter Quest
Do level 35 Orb of Orahill Quest. Gives you amazing off hand!
Do level 31 “In Search of Menara Voidrender Quest” only if you can get help. The robe is amazing but the quest is very difficult similar to Whirlwind axe quest for warriors.
Do level 50 Class Quest “An Imp’s Request” for amazing trinket.
Closing Thoughts
Thank you so much for your time - I hope this guide was of some help!
If you have further questions you can contact me in our community discord:
About the Author
I am an entrepreneur, U.S. Army soldier, and lifelong gamer from NYC and currently living in San Francisco. I stream and make video content on YouTube primarily for WoW Classic. I hope to continue to build my channel and this project and to become a positive influence in the Classic WoW community. I hope that more people can enjoy the same life changing experience I had when I stepped into Azeroth for the first time at age 13.
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Thanks for the information, good job on the video
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In the 1 - 10 section you might want to add the option of vendoring the starter food and water to immediately obtain Immolate. I think I remember you mentioning that in the last stream.
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sry buddy. Dont funct. @ beta
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Nice guide. I use to pull with immolate, since it had the longest casting time of the spells. I do not remember using my wand as much as what the guides all are recommending. Also I always drained soul in combination with life taps and health stones for stay power or longevity purposes. Outside of dungeons, I never really relied on my soul stones other than it was always on myself for that ohh chit occasion. It all feels such a blur to me, but also I was able to keep pulling mobs and just send my vw to the newest mob being pulled and I remember using the heal pet spell to keep vw alive. Like I said though, it is a cloud now as I try to remember how I played. I never played with the intention of min maxing, but rather the challenge of how many could I pull and see if I could survive. The fearing I remember only using when one mob was elite or rare and it was in the mix of mobs I was killing. Also, my lock was an orc, so this have something to do with my ability to satay alive. The orc racial, I never really used until I was way past level 60. I was still very new/green in Wow until I started raiding. My dps was always the bottom of the charts, but this more or less my lack of self confidence with my class and to insure my staying alive, I had a very very high amount of stamina vs other locks in Vanilla. Looking back on it now, I will be switching from stocking up on stamina to intellect after level 60 in Classic. The warlock is very sturdy class and for a new comer to WOW who finds comfort in playing a caster/ranged class. It can hold someone back though later on as I just pointed out. The creativity cap with locks is very high and my fear in Classic is that unlike in Vanilla, in Classic people will be expected to be highly skilled with their locks. This creativity cap does not just come naturally to those who are handicapped with mental processing iniquities. Match this impairment with a lack of being able to multi process. I do not mean to scare people from the lock. This is what I experienced with me playing a lock, and being I am mentally impaired/challenged, I thought this good to know information. With even this though, know that while many other classes will outshine you in a dps challenge, I have on rare occasions needed help or a group to be successful outside instances.
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Awesome guide!!! But could you pls pls update the bit about races based on for example this wow classic warlock guide? Much thanks!
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I dont think this quest is in Classic WoW.
https://classic.wowhead.com/quest=2879/the-stave-of-equinex
this was added in 1.13 thus the below wand is unavailable
Cairnstone Silver - 41.4 DPS - Quest Reward “The Morrow Stone” Feralas
