This guide covers everything you need to level an Affliction Warlock from 1 to 70 in The Burning Crusade Classic. You'll find talent builds, ability training priorities, gear suggestions, rotations, and practical tips aimed at casual and midcore players.
Warlocks are incredibly versatile while leveling. The class supports multiple paths to Level 70, so you can pick the approach that fits your playstyle and gear situation. Solo questing, solo dungeon runs, group dungeon cleaves, Felguard builds, multi-DoT strategies, Hellfire spam in dungeons, all of it works. Pick what suits you.
Once you hit 70, Affliction transitions into endgame content where stat priorities, raid rotations, and Best-in-Slot gear take over.
Why Level as Affliction?
What Affliction Does Well
Affliction builds shine in solo content through DoT stacking. The core gameplay loop involves applying multiple damage-over-time effects and managing them efficiently. Affliction scales better with gear than other Warlock specs, which means you get noticeably stronger as quest rewards improve your spell power.
The spec demands more from you than Demonology does. You'll need to kite mobs and manage your Global Cooldowns carefully. If you like staying engaged and active, Affliction rewards that playstyle.
- Handles solo content exceptionally well
- DoT damage combined with self-healing through Drain Life and Siphon Life
- Fight for extended periods without stopping
- Several instant-cast damage spells for mobility
- Strong group utility: Ritual of Summoning, Create Soulstone, Create Master Healthstone
- Lacks solid AoE until Level 70 when you get Seed of Corruption
- Depends on gear more than other Warlock builds
- Early leveling feels slower with poor equipment
- DoT-based damage suffers in group content when enemies die quickly
Talent Builds
Two main Affliction builds work well for leveling. Both focus on applying DoTs to multiple mobs and kiting them until they die.
Build 1: Unstable Affliction / Demonic Aegis (42/13/0)
Required Level: 64
Point Distribution: 42 Affliction, 13 Demonology, 0 Destruction
How to Level This Build: Put all your points into Affliction first. Only start investing in Demonology after you learn Unstable Affliction at level 50.
- Suppression: 0/5 (you don't need spell hit against mobs at or below your level)
- Improved Corruption: 5/5 (makes Corruption instant-cast)
- Improved Drain Soul: 2/2 (returns 15% of your total mana when you kill something while Drain Soul is active)
- Improved Life Tap: 2/2 (20% more mana from Life Tap)
- Soul Siphon: 2/2 (Drain Life heals 4% more per Affliction effect on the target, stacking up to 60% bonus healing)
- Improved Curse of Agony: 2/2 (10% more Curse of Agony damage)
- Fel Concentration: 5/5 (70% chance to avoid pushback while channeling Drain Life, Drain Mana, or Drain Soul)
- Amplify Curse: 1/1 (boosts your next Curse of Doom or Curse of Agony by 50%, or Curse of Exhaustion by 20%)
- Grim Reach: 2/2 (20% more range on Affliction spells)
- Nightfall: 1/2 (2% chance for Corruption and Drain Life to make your next Shadow Bolt instant)
- Empowered Corruption: 3/3 (Corruption gains 36% of your spell power)
- Shadow Embrace: 1/5 (applies a 1% physical damage reduction debuff; also counts as an Affliction effect for Soul Siphon)
- Siphon Life: 1/1 (drains 63 health every 3 seconds for 30 seconds)
- Curse of Exhaustion: 1/1 (slows target by 30% for 12 seconds; great for kiting)
- Shadow Mastery: 5/5 (10% more shadow spell damage)
- Contagion: 5/5 (5% more damage from Curse of Agony, Corruption, and Seed of Corruption; also reduces resist chance by 10%)
- Dark Pact: 1/1 (drains 700 mana from your demon and gives it to you)
- Improved Howl of Terror: 2/2 (makes Howl of Terror instant-cast)
- Unstable Affliction: 1/1 (shadow DoT over 18 seconds; if dispelled, deals 1575 damage and silences the dispeller for 5 seconds)
- Improved Healthstone: 2/2 (Healthstones heal 20% more)
- Demonic Embrace: 5/5 (15% more Stamina)
- Fel Intellect: 3/3 (15% more mana for your Imp, Succubus, Voidwalker, and Felhunter)
- Demonic Aegis: 3/3 (Demon Armor and Fel Armor are 30% more effective; Fel Armor gives 130 spell power instead of 100, and 26% healing boost instead of 20%)
What This Build Does: This is the tankier Affliction option. Demonic Aegis plus Fel Armor significantly increases how much you heal from Drain Life and Siphon Life. The Demonic Embrace investment also fattens your health pool.
How You Play It: Apply DoTs to multiple mobs and kite them while the damage ticks. Instant-cast Howl of Terror gives you an emergency button when things get dangerous.
Best Pets: Imp or Felhunter. Both offer good utility and regenerate enough mana to support Dark Pact.
Build 2: Shadow Mastery / Demonic Sacrifice (30/21/0)
Required Level: 60
Point Distribution: 30 Affliction, 21 Demonology, 0 Destruction
- Suppression: 1/5 (2% spell hit for Affliction spells)
- Improved Corruption: 5/5 (instant-cast Corruption)
- Improved Drain Soul: 2/2 (15% mana return on kills with Drain Soul active)
- Improved Life Tap: 2/2 (20% more mana from Life Tap)
- Soul Siphon: 0/2 (skipped)
- Improved Curse of Agony: 2/2 (10% more CoA damage)
- Fel Concentration: 5/5 (70% reduced pushback on Drain spells)
- Amplify Curse: 1/1 (curse damage cooldown)
- Grim Reach: 2/2 (20% more Affliction range)
- Nightfall: 0/2 (skipped)
- Empowered Corruption: 3/3 (Corruption gains 36% spell power scaling)
- Shadow Embrace: 1/5 (1% physical damage reduction debuff)
- Siphon Life: 1/1 (healing DoT)
- Curse of Exhaustion: 0/1 (skipped)
- Shadow Mastery: 5/5 (10% shadow damage)
- Improved Healthstone: 2/2 (20% stronger Healthstones)
- Demonic Embrace: 5/5 (15% more Stamina)
- Fel Intellect: 3/3 (15% more pet mana)
- Fel Domination: 0/1 (skipped)
- Demonic Aegis: 3/3 (30% better Demon Armor and Fel Armor)
- Master Summoner: 2/2 (summons are 4 seconds faster and cost 40% less mana)
- Unholy Power: 5/5 (your Voidwalker, Succubus, Felguard, and Felhunter deal 20% more melee damage; Imp Firebolt also hits 20% harder)
- Demonic Sacrifice: 1/1 (sacrifice your demon for a powerful buff)
What This Build Does: Demonic Sacrifice gives you flexibility based on the situation. Demonic Aegis still improves your Fel Armor for better healing and spell power.
What You Give Up: Going deeper into Demonology means losing Unstable Affliction, Nightfall, Soul Siphon, Curse of Exhaustion, Dark Pact, Contagion, and instant Howl of Terror. You trade those for a bigger health pool and the Demonic Sacrifice buff.
- Succubus: 15% more shadow damage, a solid DPS boost
- Voidwalker: Restores 3% of your max health every 4 seconds, which slashes downtime between pulls
Ability Training
Here's what to train at each level. Abilities are split between mandatory (core to Affliction gameplay) and optional (useful but skippable if you're short on gold).
Mandatory Abilities
Train these immediately when you hit the required level.
| Level | Ability | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 62 | Fel Armor (Rank 1), Drain Life (Rank 7) | Main buff for spell power and healing; primary sustain |
| 65 | Corruption (Rank 8) | Core instant DoT |
| 66 | Soulshatter, Create Firestone (Rank 5), Create Spellstone (Rank 4) | Threat drop for groups; weapon buff options |
| 67 | Drain Soul (Rank 5), Health Funnel (Rank 8), Curse of Agony (Rank 7) | Shard generation; pet healing; core DoT |
| 68 | Ritual of Souls (Rank 1), Life Tap (Rank 7), Create Healthstone (Rank 6), Hellfire (Rank 4), Death Coil (Rank 4) | Group Healthstones; mana regen; AoE; emergency heal |
| 69 | Curse of the Elements (Rank 4), Shadow Bolt (Rank 11), Fel Armor (Rank 2), Drain Life (Rank 8), Immolate (Rank 9), Rain of Fire (Rank 5) | Group damage boost; filler damage; buff upgrade; sustain upgrade; additional DoT; AoE option |
| 70 | Shadowburn (Rank 8), Seed of Corruption (Rank 1), Create Soulstone (Rank 6) | Execute burst (if specced); main AoE at max level; combat res |
Optional Abilities
These have situational value. Skip them while leveling if you need to save gold.
| Level | Abilities |
|---|---|
| 61 | Curse of Weakness (Rank 7) |
| 63 | Drain Mana (Rank 5) |
| 64 | Soul Fire (Rank 3), Incinerate (Rank 1) |
| 65 | Searing Pain (Rank 7) |
| 69 | Curse of Weakness (Rank 8), Curse of Recklessness (Rank 5) |
| 70 | Soul Fire (Rank 4), Drain Mana (Rank 6), Demon Armor (Rank 6), Incinerate (Rank 2), Searing Pain (Rank 8), Curse of Doom (Rank 2) |
Rotation and Gameplay
Your rotation changes based on how many mobs you're fighting.
Single Target
- Unstable Affliction first. It has a cast time, so starting with it means you're dealing damage while you set up your instant-cast spells.
- Curse of Agony. Instant cast, ticks damage over its duration.
- Corruption. Another instant DoT stacking with your other effects.
- Drain Life once all DoTs are up. This deals damage and heals you simultaneously, cutting your downtime.
- Drain Soul just before the mob dies. Proper timing triggers Improved Drain Soul for mana regeneration.
High-Health Targets
Against tougher mobs or higher-level enemies, add these to your rotation:
- Immolate: Extra DoT that also counts toward Soul Siphon
- Siphon Life: Passive healing while dealing damage
Both Immolate and Shadow Embrace count as Affliction effects for Soul Siphon, so they boost your drain spell effectiveness.
Leveling Gear
These quest rewards give you meaningful power boosts while leveling.
| Level | Item | Quest / Zone |
|---|---|---|
| 63 | Terokkar Tablet of Vim (Trinket) | "Torgos!" - Terokkar Forest |
| 65 | Ogre Slayer's Cover | "Cho'war the Pillager" - Nagrand |
| 65 | Ethereal Sash | "Gava'xi" - Nagrand |
| 65 | Natasha's Ember Necklace | "The Hound-Master" - Blade's Edge Mountains |
| 67 | Kirin Tor Apprentice's Robes | "Destroy Naberius!" - Netherstorm |
| 67 | Heap Leggings | "It's a Fel Reaver, But with Heart" - Netherstorm |
| 67 | Manastorm Band | "Shutting Down Manaforge Ara" - Netherstorm |
| 67 | Evoker's Helmet of Second Sight | "Teron Gorefiend, I am..." - Shadowmoon Valley (Pre-BiS until Spellstrike Hood) |
| 67 | Earthmender's Bracer of Shattering | "Escape from Coilskar Cistern" - Shadowmoon Valley |
| 67 | Illidari Rod of Discipline | "Subdue the Subduer" - Shadowmoon Valley |
| 67 | Gloves of the High Magus | "News of Victory" - Shadowmoon Valley |
| 67 | Evoker's Mark of the Redemption | "Dissension Amongst the Ranks..." - Shadowmoon Valley |
| 68 | Ameer's Impulse Taser | "Nexus-King Salhadaar" - Netherstorm |
| 68 | Spaulders of the Torn-heart | "The Cipher of Damnation - The Third Fragment Recovered" - Shadowmoon Valley (Great Pre-BiS) |
| 68 | Boots of the Nexus Warden | "The Flesh Lies..." - Netherstorm |
| 68 | Starkiller's Bauble (Trinket) | "The Horrors of Pollution" - Netherstorm |
Terokkar Tablet of Vim and Starkiller's Bauble are especially powerful for Affliction because of how DoT damage works.
DoT damage gets calculated when you cast the spell. Pop your spell power trinket, apply your DoTs, and those DoTs keep dealing the boosted damage for their entire duration even after the trinket buff wears off. The bonus lasts until you refresh the DoT.
In practice: activate the trinket, apply all your DoTs, then continue your rotation normally. Your DoTs hit harder the whole fight without you needing to keep the buff active.
Professions
Tailoring (Highly Recommended)
A huge portion of Warlock Pre-BiS and BiS gear comes from Tailoring.
Key Sets:
- Spellstrike Infusion: Nearly every caster wants this
- Shadow's Embrace: Warlock-specific option
- Wrath of Spellfire: Alternative depending on your Tailoring specialization
These items either require a specific Tailoring specialization to equip, or require the Tailoring profession to get the set bonus.
Engineering (Strong Alternative)
Engineering brings useful utility for yourself and your group.
Group Tools:
- Field Repair Bot 110G: Repairs in the field
- Goblin Jumper Cables XL: Can res party members
Personal Perks:
- Rocket Boots Xtreme Lite: Movement speed to make up for Warlocks having no mobility spells
- Ultrasafe Transporter to Gadgetzan: Quality of life teleport
- Ultrasafe Transporter to Toshley's Station: Another handy teleport
Plenty of other gadgets help with both leveling and endgame.
Consumables
You don't need consumables to level, but they can speed things up and cut downtime if you have gold to spare.
Damage Boosts
- Flask of Supreme Power: Big spell power increase for longer sessions
- Brilliant Wizard Oil: Weapon buff for spell damage
Food
- Poached Bluefish: Stat buff from food
- Blackened Basilisk: Alternative food option
Emergency Items
- Super Mana Potion: Quick mana during combat
- Super Healing Potion: Emergency health
First Aid
Heavy Netherweave Bandage: Level your First Aid to use these. They give you extra sustain between pulls and reduce how much you need to Life Tap.
Leveling Tips
Managing Your Resources
This is the single most important skill for efficient Warlock leveling. Life Tap gives you two resource pools to work with, and using them properly cuts your downtime dramatically.
The basic loop: convert health to mana with Life Tap, then recover health with Drain Life and Siphon Life. Good resource management means keeping both health and mana close to full at the same time.
Watch both bars constantly. Tap frequently in small amounts instead of waiting until you're completely dry. Staying near 100% on both resources means Siphon Life and Drain Life work at maximum efficiency.
Dark Pact and Pet Mana
If you're using Dark Pact to convert your pet's mana into yours, you need to manage their mana pool.
Turn off auto-cast on your pet's mana-using abilities. This stops your demon from burning through mana on unnecessary casts. Manual control ensures they have mana available when you need to Dark Pact.
Buying Grimoires Early
You can buy pet ability grimoires ahead of time and keep them in your bags.
When you level up, you can train your pet's abilities immediately without running to a demon trainer. Figure out which pet abilities matter most for your build, buy those grimoires in advance, and use them the moment you hit the right level.
Soul Siphon Stacking
Knowing what counts toward Soul Siphon helps you get more out of your drain spells.
Immolate counts as an Affliction effect for Soul Siphon. So does Shadow Embrace. Against high-health targets, adding Immolate to your rotation boosts your damage and increases how much your drains heal you.
Conclusion
Affliction Warlocks offer a rewarding leveling experience if you enjoy active, management-heavy gameplay. The spec rewards better gear, smart resource management, and understanding DoT mechanics.
Pick your build based on what you value more: the 42/13/0 build gives you Unstable Affliction access with good survivability, while the 30/21/0 build trades some Affliction power for Demonic Sacrifice flexibility. Grab the recommended quest gear along the way, especially those on-use trinkets that synergize so well with DoT damage.
Get comfortable with the Life Tap and drain ability loop, and you'll find Affliction leveling efficient and fun.