A level 70 Warlock in TBC Anniversary has 61 talent points, and each tree's capstone costs 41 of them. For raids, the strongest picks are a Destruction Shadow Bolt build (21 in Demonology for Demonic Sacrifice, 40 in Destruction for Ruin) or a 41+ point Affliction build with Unstable Affliction and Malediction. In PvP, most Warlocks play Soul Link or Shadowfury builds.
Quick facts: how Warlock talents work in TBC
- Points: you get your first point at level 10 and 61 in total at level 70.
- Tier unlocks: each tier asks for 5 more points spent in that tree, so tier 9 needs 40. The capstone is your 41st point there.
- Capstones: Unstable Affliction (Affliction), Summon Felguard (Demonology), Shadowfury (Destruction).
- Key raid talents: Ruin (+100% crit damage bonus on Destruction spells), Shadow and Flame (+20% spell power scaling on Shadow Bolt and Incinerate), Malediction (+3% to Curse of the Elements), Shadow Mastery (+10% Shadow damage).
| Build (our recommendation) | Split | Best for |
| Destruction / Demonic Sacrifice (DS/Ruin) | 0 / 21 / 40 | Raid DPS, simple rotation |
| Affliction (UA) | 41+ Affliction, the rest in Destruction or Demonology | Raid DPS, raids that want Curse of the Elements |
| Felguard Demonology | 0 / 41 / 20 | Solo play, leveling, steady pet damage |
| Soul Link (SL/SL) | About 20-30 Affliction, 31+ Demonology | Arena, world PvP, survival |
| Destruction PvP (Shadowfury) | 41 Destruction, 20 in another tree | Arena burst, battlegrounds |
What is the best destruction warlock TBC build for raids?
The standard raid build puts 21 points into Demonology to reach Demonic Sacrifice. It gives up your demon for a damage buff that lasts 30 minutes. The other 40 points go into Destruction for Improved Shadow Bolt, Bane, Devastation, Ruin and Shadow and Flame. You mostly cast Shadow Bolt, so the rotation is easy, and each of your Shadow Bolt crits raises Shadow damage on the target for the whole raid's Shadow casters.
Fire-focused players move points into Emberstorm and sacrifice the Imp, which gives +15% Fire damage. The Shadow version is still the usual choice.
What does an affliction warlock TBC build look like?
Spend at least 41 points in Affliction so you reach Unstable Affliction. Along the way, take Improved Corruption, Empowered Corruption, Shadow Mastery, Contagion and Malediction. Put the remaining points into Destruction (Bane, Devastation) or Demonology (Demonic Embrace, Fel Intellect). Raids often bring one Affliction Warlock to keep Curse of the Elements up with Malediction, which raises damage for every caster hitting that target.
Which Warlock talents work best for arena and PvP?
Soul Link builds take Siphon Life from Affliction and Soul Link from Demonology. Soul Link moves 20% of the damage you take onto your demon, which makes you very hard to kill in long fights. Destruction PvP builds aim for burst instead: Shadowfury for an area stun, Nether Protection, Backlash and Soul Leech. If someone dispels Unstable Affliction, the dispeller takes 990 damage and is silenced for 5 seconds, so it helps any Affliction-heavy setup against healers.
Is Felguard Demonology worth it in TBC?
Felguard is great for leveling, questing and solo farming because the pet does steady melee damage and takes hits for you. In raids it usually does less damage than the DS/Ruin and Affliction builds, but it works when your group wants a Warlock that can survive mistakes.
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