If you are planning on joining the World of Warcraft Classic adventure make sure to check out our other related Guides below:

• World of Warcraft Classic Beginner's guide
• Best Gold Farming locations in WoW Classic
• Most Profitable Professions in Wow Classic guide

And Starter builds/Leveling Guides for all other character classes:

Odealo is a player-to-player marketplace for World of Warcraft Classic Gold, Items, and Power Leveling. 

1. Spell Damage - Increases Damage Done by your Spells (you will want Spell Damage or Shadow Damage as a Warlock). This statistic is quite hard to get early, but Shadow Damage items start to appear in the early to middle '20s and some can be crafted by Tailors. This statistic will improve your kill times by a lot and increase your Damage to Mana efficiency which will minimize downtimes and allow you to use Life Tap less often, which will preserve Health.

2. Stamina - Improves survivability by increasing the character's total Health pool. This is a very important statistic for Warlock because it provides him with Health and Health can be exchanged for Mana via the Life Tap ability. In fact, Life Tap is so strong, that Stamina should be prioritized over Intellect.

3. Spirit - Increases Mana and Health regeneration in and out of Combat. Stacking Spirit allows Warlock to benefit from the 5-second rule more and further reduces his downtimes.

4. Intellect - Increases total mana pool and raises Spell Critical Hit chance. It also increases the rate at which a character learns Weapon Skills. Intellect loses some of its value for Warlocks because of how strong and efficient the Life Tap can be. It is still a good statistic, but it shouldn't be prioritized over Stamina.

5. Agility -  Increases Armor, provides additional Dodge chance and a Weapon Critical Strike chance. Agility will improve your defenses by a little bit, which means that it is not as useless as Strength, but it should be avoided if possible, nevertheless. 

6. Strength - Increases Melee Attack Power and the amount of Damage that an Off-Hand Shield can block. Warlocks can't use Off-Hand Shields and they do not rely on bashing mob's heads with their Staves or slicing them with their Swords or Daggers (outside very early levels), so this statistic is literally useless to them. 

Leveling stat priority:

Spell Damage ⇒ Stamina ⇒ Spirit ⇒/=  Intellect  ⇒ ⇒ Agility ⇒ ⇒ Strength

Note:  Items with "of Shadow Wrath" Suffix are ideal for Warlocks, as they provide Shadow Spell Damage. "Of the Eagle" (Stamina and Intellect) and "Of the Whale" (Stamina and Spirit) are strong second choices and you should Need on those, while in a group, as well. "Of the Owl" items are of a little less value for Warlocks, but they are still perfectly usable.

Gnome's Escape Artist Racial can be used after Fearing a target which almost ensures gaining a lot of distance on an enemy. This, combined with the Intellect bonus makes Gnome a better choice for PvP than Human. Moreover, Human's strongest PvP Racial - Perception has a lower value for Warlock, because of Felhound's Paranoia ability which already dramatically increases Stealth detection. Human's Spirit bonus is nice, but it's not better than Gnome's Intellect and its importance is reduced because of Life Tap.

Recommended choice: Gnome

Second choice: Human

Gnome comes out on top for PvE as well. His Intellect Racial is very strong as it provides additional Mana and Spell Critical Strike Chance. Escape Artist finds surprisingly many uses in PvE and can be a potential life-saver (just imagine being caught in a fire while slowed/rooted without this Talent...). Human's Racials do not boost Warlock's PvE capabilities at all. As mentioned before, Spirit Racial is made redundant by the Life Tap ability, Weapon Specializations are useless for Casters and Perception will not find any use in group content.

Recommended choice: Gnome

Second choice: Human

Unlike Alliance's, both Horde Races that can choose the path of a Warlock are pretty much equally strong and bring some strong race-specific tools to the table. Undead's Will of the Forsaken makes him ideal for dealing with Alliance Warlocks and Priests, but it has rather long 2-minute Cooldown. Cannibalize comes in handy in some situations, but it's not that strong. Orc's built-in 25% Stun Resistance can take enemies by surprise and is a real game changer that provides Orc Warlock with a constant PvP advantage against all Classes capable of Stuns, making him a bit better than his Undead counterpart overall. Horde Warlock Race choice is largely preference-based - if you want to have an advantage against other Warlocks and Priests - pick Undead, if you want to make melee Classes hate you - pick an Ork.

Recommended choice: Orc and Undead are almost equally strong

If you want to pursue DPS at all cost, Orc will be the best choice for you, thanks to his Pet Damage increasing Racial. If you want to have some more utility in a form of Cannibalize and Will of the Forsaken, go for Undead. All in all, both Races are pretty much equally good for PvE, just like they are in PvP, so the choice should depend on your preference.

Recommended choice: Orc and Undead are almost equally strong

Talent allocation for a leveling Warlock (10-59)

1. Levels 10-14 ⇒ 5/5 Improved Corruption - With 5/5 points allocated to this Talent, your Corruption becomes an instant cast spell.
2. Levels 15-16 ⇒ 2/2 Improved Drain Soul - This Talent provides you with your main Sustain tool. You should Drain Target's Soul while your DoTs kill it to get the benefit (this won't trigger if your Pet deals a killing blow - you might want to make a Cancel Pet Attack macro for this reason).
3. Levels 17-19 ⇒ 3/5 Suppression - This provides you with a Spell Hit Cap for Affliction Spells against enemies 2 Levels higher than you.
4. Levels 20-21 ⇒ 2/2 Improved Life Tap.
5. Levels 22-24 ⇒ 3/3 Improved Curse of Agony.
6. Levels 25-26 ⇒ 2/2 Nightfall.
7. Levels 27-28 ⇒ 2/2 Grim Reach.
8. Level 29 ⇒ 1/1 Amplify Curse.
9. Level 30 ⇒ 1/1 Siphon Life.
10. Level 31 ⇒ 1/1 Curse of Exhaustion - You can also take Curse of Exhaustion and Siphon Life Talents in the reversed order.
11. Levels 32-34 ⇒ 3/4 Improved Curse of Exhaustion - This makes your Curse of Exhaustion much better in PvP and allows you to kite enemies more reliably. If you are playing on a PvE server, you might consider allocating this 3 Talent points into Improved Drain Life instead.
12. Levels 35-39 ⇒ 5/5 Shadow Mastery.

At this point, you will want to switch to the Demonology Tree (Dark Pact is bad and not worth a Talent Point - you already have Life Tap that does almost the same thing):

13. Levels 40-44 ⇒ 5/5 Demonic Embrace.
14. Levels 45-47 ⇒ 3/3 Improved Voidwalker.
15. Levels 48-49 ⇒ 2/5 Fel Intellect.
16. Level 50 ⇒ 1/1 Fel Domination.
17. Levels 51-53 ⇒ 5/5 Fel Intellect.
18. Level 54 ⇒ 1/5 Fel Stamina.
19. Levels 55-59 ⇒ 5/5 Unholy Power.

Alternative Talent allocation for early levels

With this route, you will start in the Affliction Tree, shift to the Demonology Tree to grab the Improved Voidwalker Talent (like shown on the screenshot):

1. Levels 10-14 ⇒ 5/5 Improved Corruption.
2. Levels 15-16 ⇒ 2/2 Improved Drain Soul.

Now, it is time to grab the Improved Voidwalker Talent from the Demonology Tree:

3. Levels 17-21 ⇒ 5/5 Demonic Embrace.
4. Levels 22-24 ⇒ 3/3 Improved Voidwalker - This Talent basically makes your Voidwalker 30% more effective at what he does.

Go back to the Affliction Tree:

5. Levels 25-27 ⇒ 3/5 Suppression
6. Levels 28-29 ⇒ 2/2 Improved Life Tap.
7. Levels 30-32 ⇒ 3/3 Improved Curse of Agony.
8. Levels 33-34 ⇒ 2/2 Nightfall.
9. Levels 35-36 ⇒ 2/2 Grim Reach.
10. Level 37 ⇒ 1/1 Amplify Curse.
11. Level 38 ⇒ 1/1 Siphon Life.
12. Level 39 ⇒ 1/1 Curse of Exhaustion - You can also take Curse of Exhaustion and Siphon Life Talents in the reversed order.
13. Levels 40-42 ⇒ 3/4 Improved Curse of Exhaustion - This makes your Curse of Exhaustion much better in PvP and allows you to kite enemies more reliably. If you are playing on a PvE server, you might consider allocating this 3 Talent points into Improved Drain Life instead.
14. Levels 43-47 ⇒ 5/5 Shadow Mastery.

At this point, you will want to switch to the Demonology Tree again (skip that Dark Pact):

15. Levels 48-49 ⇒ 2/5 Fel Intellect.
16. Level 50 ⇒ 1/1 Fel Domination.
17. Levels 51-53 ⇒ 5/5 Fel Intellect.
18. Level 54 ⇒ 1/5 Fel Stamina.
19. Levels 55-59 ⇒ 5/5 Unholy Power.

Note: At this point, you pretty much are done leveling; you can allocate your last Talent Point into the Demonic Sacrifice Talent or just switch to the Raiding Spec immediately.

• Factions:  
• Source: Enchanting (Requires Skill-Level 10 to create). 
• Level Required: 5
• Wand Stats: Speed 1.50, 12-22 Damage, 11.3 DPS
• Damage Type: Arcane. 

• Factions: 
• Source: "The People's Militia" Quest available from level 9 from NPC Gryan Stoutmantle, Sentinel Hill, Westfall.
• Level Required: It is a level 17 Quest reward that can be acquired earlier easily, when in a group.
• Wand Stats: Speed 1.80, 16-30 Damage, 12.8 DPS
• Damage Type: Arcane. 

• Factions:  
• Source: Enchanting (Requires Skill-Level 70 to create). 
• Level Required: 13
• Wand Stats: Speed 1.80, 22-41 Damage, 17.5 DPS
• Damage Type: Arcane. 

• Factions:  
• Source: Wand Vendors in Capital Cities of both Factions. 
• Level Required: 15.
• Wand Stats: Speed 1.60, 15-28 Damage, 13.4 DPS
• Damage Type: Fire. 

• Factions: 
• Source: Dungeon Quest "Deviate Eradication", Wailing Caverns. NPC Ebru, Above the Wailing Caverns entrance. 
• Level Required: This is a reward from Level 21 Dungeon Quest that can be completed around Level 18.
• Wand Stats: Speed 1.70, 21-39 Damage, 17.6 DPS
• Damage Type: Fire. 

• Factions:  
• Source: Wand Vendors in Capital Cities of both Factions. 
• Level Required: 20.
• Wand Stats: Speed 1.70, 21-39 Damage, 17.6 DPS
• Damage Type: Shadow. 

• Factions: 
• Source: "Omer's Revenge" Quest available from level 22 from NPC Omer Ironbraid, above the Whelgar's Excavation Site, Wetlands.
• Level Required: This is a Level 29 Quest Reward that can be acquired around level 25, or earlier when in a group.
• Wand Stats: Speed 1.90, 32-60 Damage, 24.2 DPS
• Damage Type: Fire. 

• Factions:  
• Source: Dungeon Quest "Blackfathom Villainy", Wailing Caverns. NPC Argent Guard Thaelrid, near the Blackfathom Deeps entrance. 
• Level Required: It is a level 27 Dungeon Quest reward that can be acquired around level 23.
• Wand Stats: Speed 1.50, 30-57 Damage, 29.0 DPS
• Damage Type: Shadow.

• Factions:  
• Source: Wand Vendors in Capital Cities of both Factions. 
• Level Required: 41.
• Wand Stats: Speed 1.60, 39-74 Damage, 35.3 DPS
• Damage Type: Shadow. 

• Factions: 
• Source: "The Morrow Stone" Quest available from level 42 from NPC Equinex Monolith, located in the north-western part of Feralas.
• Level Required: This is a Level 50 Quest Reward that can be acquired quite easily around level 46.
• Wand Stats: Speed 1.80, 52-97 Damage, 41.4 DPS
• Damage Type: Arcane. 

• Factions: 
• Source: "Dark Vessels"  Group Quest available from level 46 from NPC Primal Torntusk, located in the south-eastern part of the Hinterlands - Revantusk Village.
• Level Required: This is a Level 50 Group Quest Reward that can be acquired quite easily at level 46 when in a strong group.
• Wand Stats: Speed 1.40, 40-75 Damage, 41.1 DPS
• Damage Type: Nature. 

• Factions:  
• Source: "When Smokey Sings, I Get Violent" Group Quest available from level 54 from NPC Smokey LaRue, Light's Hope Chapel, Eastern Plaguelands.
• Level Required: This is a Level 58 Group Quest Reward that can be acquired around level 55 with the help of a group. It is also soloable around level 58 with clever use of your Pet.
• Wand Stats: Speed 1.90, 70-132 Damage, 53.2 DPS
• Damage Type: Fire. 

• Factions:  
• Source: Shade of Eranikus Boss in the Sunken Temple. Entrance: Lake in the middle of Swamp of Sorrows. Drop Chance: ~31%.
• Level Required: Weapon requires level 51 to wield and the Boss is a level 55 Elite.
• Wand Stats: Speed 1.30, 50-93 Damage, 55.0 DPS
• Damage Type: Nature. 

At the beginning of your journey, your rotation will change rapidly as you will gain access to new abilities very quickly. You should try to implement every new ability to your rotation:

• At first, you will have Shadow Bolt, Immolate and the Demon Skin. You should maintain the Demon Skin buff, start combats with Immolate, and spam Shadow Bolts at enemies.
• At level 2 you get your Imp Class Quest, do it immediately.
• At level 4 you get Corruption. You should start all the fights with it (you can even skip Immolate for now, as it is cost ineffective)
• At level 6 you get Life Tap. Use it always when your Health is in good condition and your Mana isn't, in order to optimize your resources and minimize downtime.
• At level 8 you get Curse of Agony and Fear; use CoA to engage enemies and implement Fear when fighting against multiple Targets or one strong enemy.

At level 10, you gain access to Voidwalker Class Quest - do it immediately. With Voidwalker at your side, you can start to engage multiple Targets at once with great efficiency and you should take advantage of it.

Single Target Rotation:

Immolate + Pet Attack (Combine these two in a Macro) ⇒ Curse of Agony ⇒ Corruption ⇒ Wand Attack ⇒ Drain Soul when Target is about to die

Multi-Target Rotation:

Engage a Target with your Voidwalker ⇒ Immolate + Corruption + Curse of Agony ⇒ Engage a Second Target with your Wand and Fear it ⇒ Apply Immolate + Corruption + Curse of Agony to the Second Target ⇒ Engage next Target with your Void Walker (the first Target should be Dead by now) ⇒ Apply Immolate + Corruption + Curse of Agony on it ⇒ Repeat the whole cycle and use Drain Soul on heavily wounded Targets to benefit from the doubled Mana regen

Note: After getting 2/2 Nightfall from the Affliction Tree, you should apply your Corruption before Curse of Agony in order to get more chances of casting an instant Shadowbolt.

Your standard Rotation does not change much at higher levels, but you get access to some new, interesting tools:

• Siphon Life - Implement this Spell to your DoTing cycle (apply it last, because applying Corruption and Curse of Agony is more important - Corruption benefits from Nightfall, and CoA's Damage is rear-loaded).
  • Note: You can skip Siphon Life and/or Immolate in your Rotation if you have Mana management problems as these spells are cost-ineffective to use.
• Death Coil  - This should be used on Cooldown in a combination with your Life Tap (if you are on full Health, Tap first or you will lose Healing value of the Death Coil).
• Howl of Terror - This will allow you to engage multiple Targets at once with even higher efficiency; use it, when fighting multiple enemies, instead of a Fear.

As previously mentioned, Wands are essential for smooth level grinding experience and getting your first Wand early will enable you to take your leveling speed to the next level. This is why we recommend the Profession combination that will allow you to get a Wand as early as possible.

Tailoring will enable you to get some Uncommon Items for Disenchanting, and Enchanting will provide you with your first Wand at level 10 Enchanting skill (Lesser Magic Wand). Save all dropped Linen Cloths and craft some Brown/White Linen Robes out of them and then Disenchant. There is a 20% chance for a Lesser Cosmic Essence, so ~5 robes should be enough to get you mats for your first Wand (Essence can also be bought from a Vendor, but it is in limited supply, so don't count on it). Craft it, use it, and try to level Enchanting up to 70 to get your Greater Magic Wand. After that point, feel free to respec into your desired professions or stick to this combination for some future Cloth Armor/Wand/Enchanting-related benefits.

If you want to know more about all professions available in WoW Classic, please check out our WoW Classic Professions Guide.

1. Optimize your Rotation. Immolate and Siphon Life spells cost a lot of mana for what they do and can be skipped to streamline your chain-pulling if you are experiencing Mana problems.

2. Create Macros for your Pet's abilities and put them on Hotkeys. Doing this will allow you to control your Pet with increased precision.
   • Simple "/script CastPetAction(X)" should work; replace "X" with appropriate Pet Skill number - Pet Skills are numbered from left to right.

3. Preserve your Gold. Ideally, you should be able to progress through levels without any Auction House purchases (if you spot a great Gear upgrade, do not hesitate if it is cheap, however). When it comes to Skills - you should learn just the essentials from Class Trainers. As a Warlock, you get a free mount at level 40, but on the contrary to a common belief, your level 60 Mount is almost as expensive as every other Class's, which means that you'll need a hefty amount of cash when you reach level 60, so spending too much money on leveling gear might not be the best idea.

4. Imp can Tank for you at early Levels. Pull mobs with your Imp's Fireball and put some ground between him and yourself. After that, engage the mob that is currently busy fighting your Minion. The mob should drop Aggro of your Imp and start moving towards you - if you time everything right, it will be dead before it reaches you.

5. Life Tap does not affect your natural Mana Regeneration. You can use it without the fear of triggering the 5-second rule.

6. Keep your Wand up to Date. Try to follow the Wand Progression route and remember that a lot of your Damage comes directly from your Wand (better Wand = faster kill times = faster leveling).

Odealo is a secure marketplace for WoW Classic Gold and Items where trades are made by regular players with the use of real money.

END NOTE

Leveling process in the Classic World of Warcraft is different from leveling in the current game versions. This Guide should help you to prepare yourself for that legendary Vanilla Experience and allow you to progress through levels efficiently and with a good amount of fun.

We hope that you have found this Guide useful and informative.  If we have missed a piece of information that is important to you, please let us know! 

Please do note that this is an early version of our guide, and we will be happy to receive constructive criticism, that will help us improve it, so leave your suggestions in the comments section below.