Warlock builds Leveling to 80 . A comprehensive guide to leveling , including talent selection , can be found under Leveling a warlock . Affliction Builds . The DoT s Bane of Agony and Corruption are some of the most mana - effective and time effective spells available for the Warlock . The Affliction talent tree can improve on these even more . There is always the issue of the mob dying or getting killed before the full completion of a DoT . This is especially bad for Bane of Agony , that causes more of its damage in the last third of its duration . There are also some issues with using DoTs in parties and raids . In particular , many Crowd Control abilities break if the affected creature takes any damage . A mob affected by a DoT spell essentially becomes immune to a significant number of CC measures . This is a build that focuses on a great AoE and not letting you die in raids , with the , you will have almost instant Corruption in all nearby enemys and this combined with Siphon Life gives you a good health recovery , after that you keep casting Seed of Corruption on the mob that is in focus on all the party and you get a great AoE . Basic rotation for single enemies will be Haunt , Shadow Bolt , Corruption , Bane of Agony or Bane of Doom , Unstable Affliction and Haunt again . After the first rotation you have to keep casting Soul Fire which doesn ` t require soulshards anymore as the main damage dealer , casting Haunt whenever possible in order to reset Corruption and Shadow Bolt whenever the effect of Shadow and Flame goes off . Updated for 4 . 0 . 1 . This build places more emphasis on your own DPS . You can actually pick Glyph of Bane of Agony instead of Glyph of Unstable Affliction if you like to cast Bane of Agony instead of Bane of Doom . Always use either Bane of Doom / Curse of Agony combined with Curse of the Elements . Bane of Doom now have the advantage to have a 20 % chance of summoning a demon guardian . Glyph of Fear is now very usefull now when fear can be used as a cc , it ' s probably a good idea to stick with that , though Glyph of Soul Link can be changed to fit you better . The basic opening rotation : With no Unholy Death Knight , Boomkin , or warlock that ' s willing to cast Curse of the Elements : Bane of Doom ( Bane of Agony ) , Curse of the Elements , Shadow Bolt , Haunt , Corruption , Unstable Affliction , Shadow Bolt filler . Renew DoTs as needed . With an Unholy Death Knight , Boomkin , or another warlock willing to cast Curse of the Elements : ( Curse of Weakness , ) Shadow Bolt , Haunt , Corruption , Unstable Affliction , Bane of Agony , ( Bane of Doom , ) Shadow Bolt filler . Renew DoTs as needed . Under 25 % HP of the mob , Shadow Bolt is replaced by Drain Soul . The doomguards and infernals will benifit this build more than any other . Demonology Builds . Updated for 4 . 0 . 1 This build now provides both burst and sustained damage . Updated due to the new pre - cataclysm patch . This build provides high burst damage , high crit chance , and high rate of attack to further boost minion crit chance , which boosts coverage of . Single target rotation is + , , , , unless is active ( then ) , until DoTs / debuffs need need refreshing or cooldowns are up , or the target is under 35 % health . When target is sub - 35 % health , replace Shadow Bolt with . to refresh your immolate on the target , use when cd is out . Multi - target Metamorphosis + Demonic Empowerment , ( all while walking to the mobs ) , , tab , etc . And hope your tank has good AoE taunts going . Destruction Builds . This is the simulated best possible Warlock Destruction spec using the best in slot gear . This build is pure DPS . No raid support or survival talents . Minion of choice is the Imp due to Empowered Imp and is supported by Burning Embers and Dark Arts . You will have the imp on Defensive and will disable auto cast of Phase Shift so he will be buffed as well . Opening rotation with the expectation of Improved Shadowbolt being provided by someone else , as well as Curse of the Elements / Earth and Moon / Ebon Plague : Refresh according to the following priority : Bane of Havoc or Bane of Doom , ( Curse of the Elements ) , Soul Fire Improved Soul Fire , Immolate > Chaos Bolt > Conflagrate > Corruption > Incinerate filler . The above will suffice for most Warlocks . You may want to Simulate your character to decide which is the better DPCT . When Empowered Imp procs , cast Soul Fire only if Incinerate is the next in your priority list . Talents : Demonic Embrace can be changed to Fel Synergy ( as utility ) or to Doom and Gloom ( as a further improvement to the damage capabilities of this build ) if you like it more ; otherwise I suggest to stay with the glyph and talents , glyph of fear is excellent now when fear can be used as a cc on certain mobs . This destruction build gives a nice burst damage capability and some useful survivability skills . Notable talents : Shadowburn and Improved Searing Pain give a quick way to kill your opponents while they are under a certain percentage of HP . Eventual variations : Glyphs : This build provides short casting times , high instant cast Soul Fire proc rate and high survivability . Recommended ' rotation ' ( not a real rotation , since PvP is very flexible ) : Shadowfury > Fear > Immolate > Chaos Bolt > Conflagrate > Soul Burn + Soul Fire ( for Improved Soul Fire debuff ) > 3x Incinerate Notable talents : Glyphs :