An Affliction Warlock Leveling Build is a great method for leveling your Warlock in World of Warcraft. The use of Damage over Time spells with self healing makes this one of the top leveling specs out of all classes in WoW. However, if you don't follow the steps I'm about to outline, you may not unlock all the potential of an Affliction Warlock Leveling Build.
Why pick an Affliction Warlock Leveling Build?
Well, an Affliction spec allows you to chain pull several mobs with minimal downtime. In addition, almost all of your DoT spells are instant, so you can keep moving as you cast, while the damage just keeps pouring in. In addition, you have the best crowd control which greatly enhances your survivability. Curse of Weakness reduces the damage you take from melee mobs by 20%, but when you pick up Curse of Exhaustion to slow down mobs, you can practically eliminate Melee damage through avoidance. Chain Pulling while your DoT's wither down your targets makes an Affliction Warlock Leveling Build ideal over all the other specs for Cataclysm.
Glyphs for your Affliction Warlock Leveling Build
Glyphs should not be overlooked as they are an important modifier to some of your key spells, and while some of them seem nice, they may not favor the mass pulling Leveling Strategy. Prime Glyphs you will want to use are Unstable Affliction, Corruption, and Haunt. Pretty simply, these glyphs all provide a great boost to damage through lower cast times, instant shadowbolts, and a greater damage debuff. Major glyphs you will want to us are Healthstone, Soul Swap and Voidwalker. Healthstone and Voidwalker directly contribute to your survivability, while Soul Swap can greatly increase your chain pulling ability through instant DoT's. Finally, the Minor Glyphs, not to be ignored are Drain Soul, Health Funnel, and Curse of Exhaustion. These all contribute directly to your survivability and should not be overlooked for other prettier glyphs.
Gear for your Affliction Warlock Leveling Build
Well, you can only cloth gear, which is going to come pretty standard with Intellect and Stamina. You want to stack as much Intellect as possible since it contributes directly to Spell Power and Spell Crit. Stamina, obviously helps you stay alive. These two should be no brainers. The difficult part now, is deciding which secondary stats you want to focus on. Haste is a Warlock's best friend. Haste doesn't seem like much at first since all of your spells are instant cast. However, Haste will lower your Global cooldown, allowing you to cast more quickly, and will cause your DoT's to tick a little faster, and may even get you extra ticks if you have enough. Hit is also an important stat for the Affliction Leveler, since if you miss a DoT, you can throw off your rotation completely, especially if you don't notice it. Cap it out. You need 4%. It's pretty easy after Outland and Northrend when you can start gemming and re-forging. Critical Strike and Mastery are also great stats. They are a flat boost to your damage, and who doesn't like that?