Warlock Leveling Guide – Affliction Grinding Strategies

So you want to be an Affliction warlock, huh?  You probably thought it would be nice and easy, just toss a couple of damage over time spells up, watch the mob’s health tick down, collect your loot and go.  Imagine your surprise when your Voidwalker couldn’t hold aggro through your ridiculous damage, and when you tried to compensate by Fear-kiting, you spent as much time life-tapping and bandaging  as you did fighting.

So what’s the solution?  Well, there is no one-size-fits all solution for leveling as Affliction, especially since you’re constantly picking up new talents and spells, but what we can do is give you a few tips so that you’re better equipped to handle those sticky situations and maximize your time during normal grinding.  Note that this guide is geared towards players level 40 or higher, as that is when you really have the tools you need to begin the true affliction lock playstyle.

1.  Keep your Imp out, and make sure he’s phased out and on passive.  Regardless of how you’ve treated him up until now, your Imp’s sole job past level 40 is to buff you and be your mana battery.  You should only ever have to Life Tap in really tough situations.

2.  Curse of Agony and Corruption are your ”priority” spells.  Get Curse of Agony up first since it’s your longest running DoT and gets more powerful the closer it is to finishing, and Corruption is your best scaling DoT, so it should always be up.  Anything else is cake, as between those and Drain Life you should be fine for damage and healing.

3.  Got an add?  Fear, Curse of Agony, Corruption, and Siphon Life.  As a Warlock, juggling 2 mobs is not particularly difficult.  Drain tank one, and fear the other.  If it starts getting a little mana intensive,  Dark Pact.  Between Fear and your life drains, you shouldn’t have any issues with health.  If you feel genuinely concerned about your well being, fire off a Death Coil.

4.  In terms of gear priority, spell power over pretty much everything else, followed by stamina.  Reason being, you want to kill things as quickly as possible, and your Stamina is pretty much your mana reserve that you can easily refill in combat.

Affliction warlocks are one of the fastest leveling classes in the game.  Their ability to juggle multiple mobs, ridiculous damage, and lack of downtime makes them an ideal class for grinding.  If you implement these tips, you’ll be churning through mobs in no time.