Make the character
The Warlock has two bars to watch: Wrath, the pink one, which Basic skills build and most spells spend, and Dominance, the purple one, which pays for your big demons and refills slowly. It is the slowest class in the game, so use your mount and value movement speed.
- Pick Warlock.
- Tick Seasonal Realm — that's where Season 15 content, the seasonal questline and the good loot are.
- Difficulty: start on Normal, or Hard if you've played before. Either way the rule is the same: go up when packs die quickly, and come back down if fights get noticeably longer.
The plan in one line
You're building toward a demon form with Blazing Scream and Terror Swarm circling you, so you kill by running through enemies. Levels 2 to 14 are a plain build-and-spend caster. Level 15 is a small respec and the class quest, and that's where the real build starts.
Your first skill bar
There is more than one way to level Blazing Scream. This page follows one bar all the way, because it comes with a clear level-by-level order. This is that bar from level 15 on. Before 15, Molten Bomb sits in the first slot as your Wrath generator, and Terror Swarm, Summon Abodian and Dark Prison aren't there yet. The other way is to keep Command Fallen as a generator all the way and use the Skull Splitter variant rather than Orbital Scream.
Your damage, from level 3. At 15 it becomes Orbital Scream, a skull that circles you. Its hits extend your Demonform timer.
Main damageFrom level 19. With Searing Infestation at level 40 it becomes a second thing circling you.
Keep it upGranted by the Vanguard Shard at 15, so it costs no skill points. Summon him, then Command Abodian to enter Demonform.
DemonformFrom level 31. Press it whenever it's ready for survivability. Its Fortify upgrade keeps you Fortified nearly all the time.
Press — on cooldownFrom level 4. Your movement skill, on the slowest class in the game.
MovementFrom level 8. Single-target damage early on, and extra damage later. Drop it on anything tough.
Tough targetsHow you actually play
Before 15: Molten Bomb to build Wrath, spend it on Blazing Scream into the pack, Profane Sentinel on single tough targets, Nether Step to the next pack. Fill your Wrath and then fire as many skulls as you can, bouncing them off walls, because a faster bounce-back doubles or triples the damage. After 15: summon Abodian, Command Abodian to enter Demonform, cast Orbital Scream and Terror Swarm so both circle you, then run through enemies. Dark Prison whenever it's off cooldown, Profane Sentinel for extra damage, Nether Step to move. If Demonform drops, start again from the summon.
Where your skill points go
Spend them top to bottom — finish one line before starting the next. Don't spread them around.
| Order | Skill | Why | Target |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Blazing Scream | Level 3, then Damage at 6 and Impact Velocity at 9. At 15 take Orbital Scream and move the four Molten Bomb points in. It is maxed between 25 and 30. Any spare point before your next unlock goes here. | Rank 15 |
| 2nd | Terror Swarm | First point at 19, Vulnerable at 22, Pull at 24. Rank 6 by 39, Searing Infestation at 40, then max it from 41 to 49. | Rank 15 |
| 3rd | Profane Sentinel | Level 8, with Single Target Damage at 12, Narrow Blast at 17 and Focused Glare at 20. You max it from 50 to 63. | Rank 15 |
| 4th | Nether Step | Level 4, with Extra Charge at 7, Damage Reduction at 11 and Gloomwalker at 16. Rank 7 by level 70, and the last points finish it. | Rank 15 |
| 5th | Dark Prison | Levels 31 to 34: the skill, then Fortify, Cooldown Reduction and Chain Aura. Your last spare points take it to rank 8. | Rank 8 |
| 6th | Molten Bomb | Levels 2, 5, 10 and 14: the skill, Wrath, Area Bonus and Brimstone Mortar. All four points come back out at level 15. | Refund at 15 |
| 7th | Summon Abodian | The Vanguard Shard gives you this skill. You don't spend points on it. | Free |
Made a mess of it?
Respeccing is cheap at low level. Open the skill tree, refund the lot, and spend again in this order. It costs a few gold, not a new character.
Level 15: Soul Shards
At level 15 you get the Priority Quest Warlock: Disciple of the Forbidden. The quest giver is Hattar, at the Heretic's Sanctum in the Wayward Plains, Dry Steppes. It is a chain of demon fights that ends back at the Sanctum, and finishing it unlocks all four Soul Shards: Legion, Vanguard, Mastermind and Ritualist. You then make a pact with one demon, which gives you its summon skill and a passive bonus. The unlock carries over to future Warlock characters.
Take the Vanguard Shard — and respec four points
The Vanguard Shard grants Summon Abodian. Summoning him and pressing Command Abodian puts you in Demonform, which gives +20% Maximum Life and +30% Demonology skill damage. At the same level, take Blazing Scream: Orbital Scream, remove Molten Bomb and its three upgrades, and put those four points into Blazing Scream. Orbital Scream's hits extend the Demonform timer, so with the skull circling you, both stay up all the time. There is a second way to do this. If you level with Skull Splitter instead, take the Legion Shard: it gives attack speed and a free Rampage every few fights, but you never use the shard's demon. Take Vanguard if you are following this page.
Molten Bomb comes off the bar, because Orbital Scream costs very little Wrath to keep going. From here you summon, enter Demonform, get the skull circling and run through packs. At level 30 Fragments unlock. Take the Warden Fragment: more Hellfire Demonology damage in Demonform, and it slowly drains Dominance to keep your Hellfire summons alive, which is what keeps Terror Swarm's Searing Infestation up permanently. The drain is slow, so don't worry about it.
The road to 70
What changes, and when, from the character screen to level 70.
There are two ways to start. Hard is the smoothest and fastest if you have played before. Normal is safer, and you can try Hard somewhere between levels 15 and 24. Either way, only go higher when the game is far too easy. Seasonal characters have the mount from level 1 if you've finished the campaign once, so use it.
Molten Bomb at 2, Blazing Scream at 3, Nether Step at 4, Profane Sentinel at 8. No gear is required. Set up your War Plans and activate your mercenary, pet and Horadric Cube. Pick the Splinter of Destruction (Baal), which unlocks the Undercity War Plan.
Do Disciple of the Forbidden, take the Vanguard Shard, take Orbital Scream, and move the four Molten Bomb points into Blazing Scream. Follow the 1–15 skill path until now, not the 15–70 one, which assumes this respec.
First point in Terror Swarm at 19. Blazing Scream is maxed between 25 and 30. At 25, pick your main XP route: the Undercity or Helltides.
Take the Warden Fragment at 30. Dark Prison arrives at 31 with Fortify, Cooldown Reduction and Chain Aura by 34, which finishes the bar. The first Capstone Dungeon falls between 30 and 40.
Terror Swarm's Searing Infestation comes online, so a second skill now circles you. Max Terror Swarm from 41 to 49.
Max Profane Sentinel from 50 to 63. Do the second Capstone Dungeon and check Pit access through your Season Rank. Strongholds give a large first-clear XP boost scaled to your level, so save them for somewhere between 50 and 60.
Paragon starts. Clear Pit Tier 10 to unlock Torment 1 and refresh your gear with new tempers and imprints. Then carry straight on into the endgame Blazing Scream build. It uses the same skills and starts on this exact bar, so there is nothing to relearn. Apocalypse and the Ae'grom Summoner are the alternatives: Apocalypse is a full respec that leans on specific uniques, and the summoner is the option that needs no uniques at all.
Gear rules for beginners
No specific gear is required while levelling. These rules cover the rest.
- Don't chase uniques. Every unique is a luxury at this stage. Wear what drops.
- Upgrade your weapon first. Its damage is the base for every other damage calculation. Warlocks can use a two-handed sword, mace or axe, or a one-hander with a Focus, plus Flails. Any of them will do while levelling. The endgame Blazing Scream build ends up on a one-handed sword and a Focus.
- Look for, in this order: Movement Speed, Willpower, Maximum Life, Damage, Attack Speed, Cooldown Reduction, Critical Strike Chance. Resource Generation (your Wrath) only matters up to level 15.
- Movement speed is damage here. Impact Velocity gives Blazing Scream damage and speed from your Movement Speed bonus. Temper Movement Speed onto boots and amulet. Use your other tempers on defences (Resistances, Life, Armour) to fill gaps.
- Aspects: all aspects are now random drops and can't be farmed from dungeons. Keep Edgemaster's (amulet, because your Wrath is near full at all times), Crushing (weapon, because Dark Prison keeps you Fortified), Hellbent Commander and Reanimation (rings, because Orbital Scream and Terror Swarm count as summons) and Demonic (gloves, because both are Demonology skills).
- Leoric's Crown: the seasonal questline gives you one very early, along with a Stone of Jordan. Socket the crown and put in a Splinter of Hellfire or a Splinter of the Black Soulstone. The endgame build keeps the crown.
- Stealth: craft it in the Horadric Cube from the questline's Tal and Eth runes and a normal-rarity chest piece, for movement and attack speed. You can wear two runewords at most. The other useful pairs are Cir + Gar for critical strike chance and Moni + Qua for movement speed.
- Splinters: Hellfire gives flat damage, Lies gives 25% more XP, and the Black Soulstone gives stacking damage. Hellfire effectively stops you landing critical strikes. Avoid the Splinter of Pain while levelling because it reduces movement speed.
- Talisman and gambling: use Practiced Technique set charms for more XP, and look for ranks to Demonology or Hellfire skills. Gamble gloves for offence, chest or pants for defence, boots for mobility and rings for Wrath.
Mercenary
There are two good pairings. Hire Subo for minimap information, Movement Speed and Critical Strike Damage, with Aldkin as reinforcement using Field of Languish on the Opportunity trigger, for 20% Damage Reduction. Or hire Varyana for stacking Attack Speed and Movement Speed, with Raheir reinforcing for his Bastion bubble and Unstoppable. Take Subo for speed, Raheir if you're dying.
Words the game doesn't explain
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| Wrath | The pink bar. Basic skills generate it, about 10 per cast, and most spells spend it. Core skills cost 30 to 35. |
| Dominance | The purple bar, spent on Greater Demon and Archfiend skills. It regenerates slowly and there are few ways to speed it up. |
| Soul Shards | The Warlock's class mechanic, from level 15: a pact with one Greater Demon, which grants its summon skill plus a passive bonus. You bind one shard at a time. |
| Fragments | A second pick under your shard that modifies it. Each shard has three, you bind one, and they unlock at level 30. |
| Greater Demon | The big named demon your shard summons: Abodian, Ae'grom, Laalish or Valloch. Its skills cost Dominance. |
| Lesser Demon | Small summoned demons, such as Fallen, that act as meat shields. |
| Demonform | A transformation, entered here by commanding Abodian. It gives +20% Maximum Life and +30% Demonology skill damage. |
| Archfiend skills | A category of demon summons paid for with Dominance: Infernal Breath, Profane Sentinel, Rampage and Tyrant's Grasp. |
| Hellfire | The fire-themed damage and skill tag. Blazing Scream and Terror Swarm both benefit from Hellfire bonuses. |
| War Plans | Unlocked by finishing the Lord of Hatred campaign. Prioritise their activities: Helltide, the Pit and the Undercity. |
Mistakes new Warlocks make
- Playing Expert for early uniques. The extra experience doesn't make up for slower kills, and tough enemies cost you the seasonal Killstreak bonus for chain-kills.
- Raising the difficulty too early. Quantity over quality. Move up only when Helltides are no longer a struggle.
- Ignoring the mount and movement speed. You're the slowest class, and movement speed is direct Blazing Scream damage through Impact Velocity.
- Following the 15–70 skill path before level 15. It assumes the four-point respec. Use the 1–15 path first.
- Keeping Molten Bomb after 15. Orbital Scream costs so little Wrath that the generator can come off the bar.
- Re-casting Blazing Scream on every pack after 15. Keep the orbiting skull alive and briefly channel to refresh it.
- Falling out of Demonform and not noticing. Re-summon Abodian, command him, and carry on.
At 70 you're done levelling — move across to an endgame build: Blazing Scream · Apocalypse · Ae'grom Summoner.