The arrival of the Warlock in Diablo 2 Resurrected: Reign of the Warlock (2026) has brought new excitement to both veterans and newcomers. This guide covers top leveling builds for the Warlock, providing skill setups, suggested runewords, gear options, and general strategies to fast-track your journey through Sanctuary.

D2R Warlock Leveling Build Guide

The Warlock is a versatile class, weaving dark fire, magic, summoning, and physical prowess using sinister pacts and arcane expertise. This class excels in both ranged and melee options, and stands out for summoning demonic minions or manipulating raw chaos. Unique mechanics have been introduced such as wielding 2-handed weapons in one hand alongside a shield, and using Warlock-exclusive "book" shields, which create a wide array of exciting build possibilities.

The Warlock presents a toolkit for all playstyles, from summoning armies to exploding mobs with magic or fire, and even cleaving through enemies as a melee combatant. Below, find breakdowns of the main skill trees and the best approaches for leveling builds.

D2R Warlock Skill Trees

Warlock skills are grouped into three trees, each offering a distinct path:

1. Eldritch Tree

• Theme: Weapon manipulation and melee or hybrid play.

• Key Skills: Cleave, Echoing Strike, Mirrored Blades, Hexes.

• Features: Move weapons via telekinesis, unleash weapon projections, apply hexes for added damage or utility (explosions, siphons, debuffs). The Eldritch tree provides choices for both physical and magical enhancement, with strong AoE and single-target capability.

2. Demon Tree

• Theme: Summoning and command of demons.

• Key Skills: Summon Goatman, Summon Tainted, Summon Defiler, Bind Demon, Blood Boil, Death Mark, Demonic Mastery.

• Features: Summon and bind various demons, each offering unique abilities. Bind almost any demon found in-game—some may follow between games like an Iron Golem. Active skills allow mass summoning, teleporting minions, causing minion explosions, and healing or buffing your summons.

3. Chaos Tree

• Theme: Elemental and magical devastation.

• Key Skills: Ring of Fire, Flame Wave, Apocalypse, Miasma Bolt, Miasma Chain, Abyss, Sigils.

• Features: Focuses primarily on fire and magic damage with large area-of-effect and damage-over-time effects. Sigils provide area control and additional effects, such as slowing or exploding enemies, while consuming summoned demons can further empower your damage.

D2R Warlock Runewords & Gear

When leveling, good gear and early runewords make all the difference. Warlocks benefit from classic caster and summoner gear, as well as powerful melee runewords. Here are standout choices for each playstyle:

Runewords

• Caster/Fire/Magic Warlock:

• Leaf (Tir + Ral) – Early staff runeword (+3 fire skills).

• Spirit (Tal + Thul + Ort + Amn) – Shield or sword for +skills, FCR, and mana.

• Insight (Ral + Tir + Tal + Sol) – Mercenary weapon for mana regeneration.

• Obsession (Zod + Ist + Lem + Lum + Io + Nef) – Staff for strong +skills and survivability.

• Heart of the Oak (Ko + Vex + Pul + Thul) – High-end +skills and resists for caster builds.

• Melee/Physical Warlock:

• Honor (Amn + El + Ith + Tir + Sol) – Early weapon option with life leech and AR.

• Breath of the Dying (Vex + Hel + El + Eld + Zod + Eth) – Top-tier for endgame melee.

• Grief (Eth + Tir + Lo + Mal + Ral) – Huge flat damage boost.

• Phoenix (Vex + Vex + Lo + Jah) or Exile (Vex + Ohm + Ist + Dol) – For shields, adding offense and resilience.

• Summon/Demon Warlock:

• Beast (Ber + Tir + Um + Mal + Lum) – For summoner builds, boosting minion damage with Fanaticism aura.

• Call to Arms (Amn + Ral + Mal + Ist + Ohm) – Weapon swap for Battle Orders.

Leveling Gear (By Build)

• Fire/Magic Warlock:

• +Skills, Faster Cast Rate (FCR), mana and life regeneration.

• Harlequin Crest, Magefist/Trang-Oul's Gloves, Arachnid Mesh Belt.

• Boots: Waterwalk or Sandstorm Trek.

• Mara's Kaleidoscope or +3 Warlock skills amulet.

• Summoner/Demon Warlock:

• +Skills, +to summon skills, resistances, life, Crushing Blow (for minions), and gear that buffs mercenary or demon minions.

• Beast or Obsession weapon, Spirit/Exile/Phoenix shield, Marrowwalk boots.

• Physical/Melee Warlock:

• +Skills, Increased Attack Speed (IAS), Attack Rating (AR), life leech, and Crushing Blow.

• Guillaume's Face helm, Gore Rider or Goblin Toe boots, Highlord's Wrath or Mara's amulet.

Tip: Warlocks can equip two-handed weapons with a shield—abuse this for wild combinations! Use Warlock-specific shield tomes/books whenever found.

D2R Warlock Best Leveling Build

Below are the most popular and recommended Warlock builds for leveling efficiently, including core skills and gear priorities. All stat allocations should focus on enough strength/dexterity to equip gear, with the rest into vitality.

1. Fire Warlock (Chaos Tree, Fire Spec)

Skill Progression

• Max out Ring of Fire, then Flame Wave, then Apocalypse.

• Pick up a Sigil (Lethargy, Death) for extra AoE or slow.

• Take a point in Summon Tainted (for consume synergy to boost fire skills).

• Consume Tainted whenever available for bonus fire damage.

• Optional: Invest spare points in Chaos sigils or more utility in the Demon tree.

Gear Priority

• Fast Cast Rate (FCR), +Fire Skills, -Enemy Fire Resist.

• Early: Leaf runeword staff, then Spirit sword/shield.

• Progress to: Harlequin Crest, Magefist/Trang-Oul's gloves, Arachnid Mesh, Phoenix/Spirit shield, Enigma armor for mobility.

Leveling Tips

• Fire builds clear fast from Act 1 Normal to late Nightmare.

• Swap to hybrid or pick up a magic/demon option if fire immunes slow your run in Hell.

2. Magic Warlock (Chaos Tree, Magic Spec)

Skill Progression

• Max Miasma Bolt, Miasma Chain, and Abyss.

• Invest in Enhanced Entropy (passive for more magic damage).

• Consume Defiler for bonus magic damage or bind/consume other high-value demons as you find them.

• Focus points on Miasma Chain for group clearing, Abyss for powerful AoE on large packs.

Gear Priority

• FCR, +Skills (Magic or Chaos), -Enemy Magic Resist if possible.

• Early: Spirit, Obsession or Heart of the Oak staff.

• Standard caster items: Mara's, Arachnid Mesh, Harlequin Crest, Phoenix/Spirit shield.

Leveling Tips

• Magic builds perform well throughout all difficulties, with minimal threats from magic immunes.

• Warlock-exclusive charms and +Magic skills improve your experience further.

3. Demon Summoner Warlock (Demon Tree)

Skill Progression

• Max Summon Goatman, Summon Tainted, or Summon Defiler as preferred.

• Points into Demonic Mastery for more minions and better stats.

• Bind Demon any rare/unique demon you find for unique bonuses.

• Access Blood Boil for AoE via minion explosions and Death Mark for smarter minion targeting.

• Use Engorge for keeping your army healthy.

Gear Priority

• +Skills (all, Demon, Summon), survivability for yourself and mercenary.

• Early: Spirit/Insight on Merc, Obsession/Beast/Call to Arms.

• Later: Enigma, Marrowwalk, Mara's, +3 Warlock/Demon skills amulet.

Leveling Tips

• Summoner Warlocks perform best for new players, with strong safety and steady damage.

• Experiment with various demons, some have special unique bonuses when consumed or bound.

4. Cleave and Physical Warlock (Eldritch Tree: Cleave, Echoing Strike, Mirrored Blades)

Skill Progression

• Choose a primary attack: Cleave (best AoE), Echoing Strike (ranged), or Mirrored Blades (single target burst).

• Pair with Hex: Purge for enemy explosions or Hex: Bane for magic bonus.

• Psychic Ward provides a defensive edge.

• Levitation Mastery to equip big weapons early and boost offense.

• Invest in Blade Warp for mobility and Eldritch Blast for burst.

Gear Priority

• Upgrade weapons as soon as possible—even normal Honor, Butcher’s Pupil, or Obedience help until elite options can be used.

• For late game: Breath of the Dying, Grief, Reaper’s Toll, Phoenix/Exile shield.

Leveling Tips

• Physical builds may require more gear to maintain pace with casters but pay off in Hell and large-scale mob farming.

• Cain/act 2 mercenary with Insight or Reaper’s Toll is advised for better crowd control/damage.

Warlock Mercenary Suggestions

• Caster Builds: Act 2 Night. Defensive (Holy Freeze) for crowd control. Equip with Insight (mana regen) or Reaper's Toll (decrepify).

• Summoner Builds: Act 2 Offensive (Might aura) to boost your minion’s damage when focused on physical summons.

• Physical Warlock: Act 2 Offensive for damage, with Fortitude/Andariel's Visage, or Defensive for survivability.

Warlock Leveling: Stat Allocation & Breakpoints

• Attributes:

• Strength: Enough for gear.

• Dexterity: Enough for gear/block (as desired).

• Vitality: Everything else.

• Energy: Skip for most builds.

• Breakpoints:

• Faster Cast Rate (FCR): 48%, 75%, 125%—aim for these as caster.

• Faster Hit Recovery (FHR): 39%, 56%, 86%—helpful for all builds.

• Attack Rating & IAS: Focused on melee/ranged builds, dependent on weapon/gear.

The Warlock is a flexible and rewarding class to level in Diablo 2 Resurrected: Reign of the Warlock. The diverse tools from each skill tree let you try out several playstyles, whether you want to rain fire, conjure magic clouds, command demons, or hack away up close.

Take advantage of the Warlock’s unique ability to use two-handers with a shield, experiment with various demon consumption combos, and mix in sigils or hexes to suit your approach. Leveling is only the beginning, with flexible skills and gear, Warlocks are ready for any challenge Sanctuary throws your way!