Warlock • Demonology • PVE
Demonology Warlock (PVE)
A demon-focused spec that delivers consistent damage through powerful pets and strong survivability.
Overview
Demonology is the movement-friendly Warlock spec—when you’re forced to run, get interrupted, or are briefly unable to cast, your Felguard keeps pumping damage. In TBC, Felguard takes 50% reduced damage from boss AoE, positions behind targets for better uptime, and scales with your stats, making it far more reliable and impactful than in Classic. Demonology shines on encounters with heavy movement, crowd control, or downtime where your personal casting is limited (such as early Phase 1 fights like Magtheridon and Gruul). The tradeoff is that your DPS becomes heavily dependent on keeping your pet alive—if Felguard dies, your damage drops hard until it’s resummoned.
Strengths
Great DPS During Movement & Downtime
When you can’t cast due to movement, interrupts, or encounter mechanics, your Felguard continues dealing damage, keeping your overall output stable on awkward fights.
Stronger Pet Value in TBC
Felguard takes 50% reduced damage from boss AoE and positions behind targets for better uptime. Pets also scale with your stats in TBC, making Demonology far more consistent and rewarding.
Never Runs Out of Mana
Life Tap gives you effectively unlimited mana, letting you maintain pressure and sustain long fights without relying heavily on external mana support.
Tankier with Strong Self-Sustain
Demonology has strong sustain through Drain Life and Siphon Life, and tends to feel sturdier than most ranged DPS when mistakes happen or healers are stressed.
Excellent Utility & Crowd Control
Warlocks bring curses, Healthstones, Soulstones, and strong CC through Fear and Banish, making Demonology valuable even when raw DPS isn’t the only concern.
Craftable Gear Access Early
Demonology often leans into powerful crafted pieces in Tier 4–5, giving you a clear gearing path and reducing reliance on rare early raid drops.
Weaknesses
Pet-Dependent Damage
If your Felguard dies, your DPS drops significantly until you resummon and stabilize. Good pet management and awareness are mandatory.
Severe Threat Issues
Warlocks struggle with threat in TBC and Demonology is no exception. You must manage your opener, track threat closely, and use Soulshatter intelligently.
Low Mobility
Warlocks have no movement speed increases, and you still rely heavily on hard casts. Movement-heavy mechanics can be punishing if you don’t plan your globals.
Expensive to Start Gearing
Many early best-in-slot options come from crafted sets and tailoring-related pieces, which can be expensive due to high demand and material costs.
Soul Shard Management
Soul Shards must be farmed and maintained for utility and pet management, adding preparation overhead compared to other DPS classes.
Low-Button Rotation
Gameplay can feel repetitive for players who want a high APM or complex damage loop, since much of the value comes from consistency and pet uptime.
Races
Alliance
Gnome
BiSExpansive Mind increases Intellect for more mana and crit, and Escape Artist adds strong utility. The best overall Alliance choice for min-maxing.
Horde
Orc
Blood Fury is a powerful spell power cooldown, Command boosts pet damage (especially valuable for Demonology), and Hardiness is excellent in PvP.
Gnome — Best Alliance Choice
Expansive Mind provides a small but real PvE benefit through higher Intellect (mana + crit). Escape Artist is outstanding utility and also makes Gnome the best Alliance PvP option. Best for: Min-max DPS + utility
Human
Humans offer little direct PvE value for Warlocks. Diplomacy speeds up reputation farming and Perception is useful in PvP, but combat racials do not meaningfully improve Warlock DPS. Best for: Convenience + PvP utility
Orc — Best Horde Choice
Blood Fury is a strong on-use spell power cooldown, Command is especially valuable for Demonology pet damage, and Hardiness is excellent for PvP. Best for: Highest overall value (PvE + PvP)
Undead
Will of the Forsaken is a huge PvP tool for breaking Fear, Sleep, and Charm effects. PvE value is smaller than Orc, but Undead is a strong choice for PvP-focused players. Best for: PvP-focused play
Blood Elf
Blood Elf offers limited PvE benefit for Warlocks. Arcane Torrent can be useful in PvP for silencing and utility, but overall it is weaker than Orc for PvE damage. Best for: Situational PvP utility