Antimagic
Gain 20% magical damage reduction except against divine magic.
Discover the best Dark and Darker Warlock builds. Browse the 12 perks, 6 skills and 13 spells available to the Warlock, then theorycraft your own loadout with the build calculator.
The Warlock is a dark-magic caster built around curses, damage-over-time effects, and life leech. It wins fights through attrition rather than burst, slowly draining enemies while sustaining itself, and it can hold its own in melee when the situation calls for it. The catch is that much of its power is paid for with its own health, so survival is a constant balancing act.
The Warlock excels at sustained damage and self-healing. Stacking curses and damage-over-time effects lets you grind down even tanky opponents, while life leech keeps you topped up through long fights and lets you fight on after taking hits. It is also flexible, able to threaten at range and trade blows up close. Its weakness is tempo. Damage ramps over time instead of bursting, so you struggle against opponents who can end a fight quickly or simply walk away. Paying health for power leaves you fragile if a trade goes wrong, and being caught low on sustain can be lethal.
Play for attrition and the long game. Apply your curses and damage-over-time effects early, then stay mobile and let them tick while your leech refills your health bar. Avoid all-or-nothing exchanges against burst classes and instead drag fights out, using corners, doorways, and space to reset and recover. Manage your health carefully when spending it for power, and never tap into your sustain so hard that a surprise leaves you with nothing left. Pick fights you can outlast, disengage from ones you cannot, and treat your health pool as a resource you cycle rather than simply protect.
Warlock builds usually lean into one of a few identities, with plenty of room to mix. - Curse and damage-over-time caster: stack ranged afflictions and kite while they tick, ideal for wearing down groups and tanks. - Life-leech bruiser: pair sustain with melee or hybrid spell damage to brawl in close and heal through trades. - Summoner-leaning hybrid: lean on a pet or minion to apply pressure and soak attention while you support from behind. Most setups blend caster sustain with some melee safety net, and your gear should reinforce whichever role you choose. Once you have a direction in mind, plan stats, gear, and skills with the build calculator to see how everything fits together before committing in a raid.
Prioritise perks and skills that reinforce your core loop: anything that boosts curse or damage-over-time output, strengthens life leech, or improves your survivability while you spend health for power. Mobility and utility options are valuable too, since outlasting enemies depends on staying alive long enough for your damage to add up. Skills that let you reapply pressure or convert leech into staying power tend to pull the most weight. Effects vary by patch, so treat these as directions rather than fixed picks, check the full up-to-date perk and skill list below, and compare notes with the community to see what is working right now.
Warlock · riotriotriot
Agility · Strength · Dexterity
Health 158 · Move Speed 321 · Additional Physical Damage 4 · Action Speed 36% · Physical Power Bonus 27% · Magic Power Bonus 25% · Luck 60 · Physical Damage Reduction 37% · Magical Damage Reduction 38%
Warlock · aswd
Vigor · Will · Knowledge
Health 148 · Move Speed 298 · Additional Magical Damage 5 · Magic Power Bonus 42% · Spell Casting Speed 28% · Action Speed 5% · Memory Capacity 22 · Physical Damage Reduction 28% · Magical Damage Reduction 35%
Warlock · RezKills👑
Strength · Vigor · Knowledge
Health 129 · Move Speed 279 · Physical Damage Reduction 42% · Magical Damage Reduction 14%
Warlock · RGH👑
Vigor · Knowledge · Agility
Health 157 · Move Speed 308 · Magical Healing 24 · Additional Magical Damage 6 · Magic Power Bonus 39% · Spell Casting Speed 39% · Action Speed 13% · Physical Damage Reduction 28% · Magical Damage Reduction 37%
Warlock · Rurs
Will · Agility · Dexterity
Health 127 · Move Speed 303 · Magical Healing 22 · Magic Power Bonus 41% · Spell Casting Speed 50% · Action Speed 13% · Luck 120 · Physical Damage Reduction 29% · Magical Damage Reduction 34%
Warlock · ryze
Will · Vigor · Agility
Health 151 · Move Speed 309 · Additional Magical Damage 5 · Magic Power Bonus 41% · Spell Casting Speed 32% · Action Speed 14% · Magic Penetration 15% · Luck 60 · Physical Damage Reduction 24% · Magical Damage Reduction 44%
Gain 20% magical damage reduction except against divine magic.
Gain 30% duration towards all curses you cast.
Gain 20% Dark Magical Damage Bonus towards dark magic spells.
While active, reflect 15 Dark Magical Damage to the melee attacker. Does not reflect while on cooldown.
Cooldown: 15 seconds
Gain the ability to equip plate armor, but lose 10% Spell Casting Speed.
Casting spells will no longer take you below 1 health. When your health falls below 5%, gain 100% increased Magical Healing Bonus for 5 seconds.
Cooldown: 10 seconds
Reduces damage taken from Undead and Demons by 10%, and increases damage dealt to Undead and Demons by 15%.
Gain 15% Will Bonus.
Dealing physical damage to an enemy with a melee weapon deals 1 True Magical Damage and heals you for 2 Health.
When you deal the final blow to an enemy, one darkness shard is collected. Gain 1 All Attributes, 33% Dark Magical Damage Bonus for each shard collected, up to a maximum of 3 shards. When you deal dark magic damage, consume all collected shards.
All curses inflicted upon enemies restores 2 Recoverable Health to the caster with each instance of damage dealt. All Warlock spell costs are doubled when this perk is equipped.
Gain 20% Magical Healing Bonus.
Take the form of your contracted demon, gaining an additional 30 Max Health, 50 Armor Rating, and 50 Magic Resistance. Your entire body is covered in Abyssal Flame, taking 1% damage per second and dealing 2 Magical Damage per second to nearby characters. Once activated, the effect cannot be stopped until the contract is complete. Additionally, by consuming Darkness Shards, you gain 1 All Attributes, 25% Dark Magical Damage Bonus for each Darkness Shard consumed. When you become a demon your skills change to demon-only skills.
Left-Click: Use equipped item. If no item is equipped, then performs bare-handed attack. Perform up to 4 combo attacks using both hands.
Right-Click: Use equipped item. If no item is equipped, then fires a bolt of darkness.
Your next physical attack deals 12 Evil Magical Damage to the target and reduces their Incoming Physical Healing by 80% and Incoming Magical Healing by 80% for 12 seconds.
Cooldown: 24 seconds
Channel your mind, sacrificing 9% of your max health per second to gain 3% Magical Damage Bonus and 3% Physical Damage Bonus. This bonus lasts for 100 seconds.
Cooldown: 24 seconds
Phase through melee attacks and projectiles for 4 seconds. While active, gain 5% Move Speed Bonus and lose 50% Magical Damage Reduction. During this period you can only move and do not collide with other players or monsters.
Cooldown: 28 seconds
Gain the ability to memorize spells to use in the dungeon.
Gain the ability to memorize additional spells to use in the dungeon.
While active, the target gains 5 Weapon Damage for 20 seconds. When the target swings their weapon, they take 3 Evil Magical Damage. Self cast if no target is found.
Fires a bolt that deals 20 Dark Magical Damage to the target.
Deal 15 Evil Magical Damage to the target instantly. Additionally, deal 15 Evil Magical Damage distributed over 8 seconds.
Reduce the target All Attributes by 20%, Physical Damage Reduction by 15%, Magical Damage Reduction by 15% for 12 seconds.
Grants the target a shield that protects against 25 magical damage for 15 seconds. When the shield absorbs its maximum damage, gain 30% Dark Magical Damage Bonus and 50% Spell Casting Speed towards the next dark spell cast within 6 seconds.
Channel for 1 seconds and summon an evil eye that can be possessed by the caster for 30 seconds.
While active, gain the ability to leave a trail of Hellfire for 6 seconds. Each step leaves a trail that lasts for 4 seconds. Targets that enter the flame area will burn, taking 5 Fire Magical Damage per 0.2 second.
Cast eternal hellfire and blast it towards the targets. Deal 60 Fire Magical Damage per second to any target within the area of effect. The hellfire does not dissipate when it reaches a target.
Channel for 7.5 seconds, dealing 5 Evil Magical Damage to the target per second. Convert a portion of the damage dealt into health for the caster.
Deal 3 Evil Magical Damage per second to the target while increasing their Strength by 15 and Vigor by 15 for 12 seconds. Self casts if no target is found.
Channel a dark beam dealing 12 Dark Magical Damage per second to any target the beam touches. Moving and aiming are possible while channeling.
Consume up to all removable magical buffs from the enemy and gain 1 Darkness Shard per effect. Inflict 3 evil Magical Damage per effect.
Darkness Shard : Each Darkness Shard grants 1 All Attributes, 33% Dark Magical Damage Bonus and can store up to 3. This effect is consumed when casting a dark spell.
Summon a Hydra that spits fireballs dealing 10 Fire Magical Damage to enemy targets for 10 seconds. The hydra can also detect hidden targets.