Three warlock trees at level 60: what each loop looks like, which talents anchor it, and where Forever departs from 1.12. Every build is replay-verified point by point by the site's talent engine and loads into the planner in one click.

Which one first

  • Demonology for leveling and solo: Demonic Pact solves the classic 1.12 dilemma — sacrificing your pet for the buff meant running petless — in Forever the buff and the pet coexist, which makes it the friendliest spec to learn the class on.
  • Affliction or Destruction for raids: Affliction spreads damage over time with the Wrack window, Destruction runs a tighter Conflagrate/Incinerate loop; beta simulations put them close.
  • Destruction has a hard rule worth knowing up front: the capstone Incinerate requires Bane of Havoc (1 point, making the target share 15% of your damage with its allies) — skip it and Incinerate stays locked forever.

Full builds live in the library: Warlock builds.

Affliction (41/10)

Improved Corruption (instant), Malediction (5) and Suppression (5, hit) open. The core chain: Nightfall must be maxed at 2 before both Soul Siphon and the capstone Wrack unlock — Wrack deals shadow damage over 6 seconds and amplifies your other shadow damage on the target, a Haunt-style window. Pandemic (3) gives DoTs a chance to burst onto nearby enemies; Siphon Life sustains. The Demonology subtree takes Improved Imp, Demonic Embrace and Fel Vitality.

Demonology (42/9)

Unholy Power and Demonic Embrace (5 each) open, Fel Vitality and Demonic Energies pad the profile. Demonic Sacrifice (1) → Soul Link → Demonic Pact is the spine: the Pact keeps the sacrifice buff active when you summon another demon — the imp grants 15% shadow damage, the succubus 15% fire damage (120-minute buffs) — while your pet stays on the field. Master Demonologist (5) scales with the active pet; Decimation adds execute damage. The Affliction subtree takes Improved Life Tap, Suppression and Improved Corruption.

Destruction (40/11)

Improved Shadow Bolt and Bane (cast speed) open; Aftermath and Ruin (5, crit damage) max out the profile. Bane of Havoc (1) is the hard prerequisite of Incinerate, which hits 25% harder on an Immolated target and pairs with Conflagrate (consume Immolate for an instant blast); Fire and Brimstone — gated behind Conflagrate — is the AoE must-take. Intensity and Agonizing Flames round it out. The Affliction subtree takes Improved Life Tap, Suppression and Improved Drains.

Leveling order

Every build page lists 15 / 30 / 40 / 51 point milestones (for example Demonology leveling). General advice: take Improved Life Tap and Suppression early while leveling — mana is the leveling resource; the first capstone lands at 30 points.

Key differences from 1.12

  • Demonic Pact (sacrifice + pet coexistence) is the biggest mechanical change warlocks got in Forever; the old sacrifice-vs-pet tradeoff is gone.
  • All three capstones (Wrack / Demonic Pact / Incinerate) are new in 1.12 terms — copying an old guide's final rows will waste points.
  • Prereqs are stricter: Incinerate ← Bane of Havoc, Wrack ← maxed Nightfall. Verify in the planner first.