Diablo IVSanctuary guide

Class · Lord of Hatred

Warlock

Command demons and turn Hell against itself. Resource: Wrath and Dominance. Core stat: Willpower. Requires Lord of Hatred.

Lord of Hatred

Checked September 29, 2026 · patch 3.2.2 · Season 15

How the Warlock plays

The most complex class. Wrath fuels most skills and refills from basic attacks; Dominance is scarcer and powers summons and Command skills. A Soul Shard chosen at level 30 binds a demon and defines your style.

Soul Shards, Sigils and Demonform

Legion, Vanguard, Mastermind and Ritualist Soul Shards each change how you fight. Sigils, Command skills, Hex, Demonform, Shadowform and Volatility are the mechanics builds are assembled from.

Archetypes

The main ways this class is built today.

  • Hellfire Blazing Scream

    Bouncing hellfire skulls, often with Metamorphosis and Command Abodian.

  • Apocalypse

    Chain Whips build Apocalypse stacks that detonate as Annihilation.

  • Lunatic and summoners

    Command Fallen and other Command skills, with Cage of Madness for transformation.

  • Dread Claws and Hell Fracture

    Rated lower in Maxroll's current lists, but available.

Strengths

  • Warlock leads the top of Maxroll's push list (two S+ builds) and the Mobalytics Tower list.
  • Icy Veins reported a Pit 150 clear in 71 seconds one week into the season.
  • Blizzard says the class is performing well and wants to keep build diversity.

Trade-offs

  • Needs Lord of Hatred, and the two-resource system takes time to learn.
  • Top builds rely on Season 15 Soul Splinters and specific Uniques; Blizzard is trimming Metamorphosis stacking and Overwhelming Aspect scaling.

Season 15 and patch 3.2.1

Blizzard's own notes are marked Patch; community reports are marked Meta.

  • Patch Blizzard's note: Warlock is performing well; the changes maintain build diversity while pruning oppressive scalars. The Overwhelming Aspect was scaling too much, Metamorphosis interacted with several stacking mechanics in unintended ways, Ultimate skills were adjusted and some power was moved out of Demonform.
  • Meta Icy Veins reported a Warlock clearing Pit 150 in 71 seconds one week into the season; a single clear, not a ranking.

Legacy Uniques usable by the Warlock: Henri's Perquisition (focus), In-Geom, The Furnace and Messerschmidt's Reaver, plus the four every-class Uniques.

Uniques Blizzard changed in 3.2.1

Bindings of Attrition, Bridle of Tor'baalos, Cage of Madness, Cowl of Malefic Torment, Elegy, Footfalls of the Waning World, Gauntlets of Sheol, Hands of Apotheosis, Hands of the Worldbreaker, Hellbrand Signet, Hellhound's Sabatons, Infernal Homunculus, Lurid Pact, Morlu Fleshward, Nails of Gore-Crowned, Night Terror, Rictus of Terror, Sashes of the Wretched, Scepter of the Three, Sire of Sin, The Blade of Sight Aflame, The Eightfold Idol, The Hemat Stone, Thrice-Woven Nightmare. These are the Unique items listed for this class in the patch notes, not a ranking. Patch

Warlock builds we track

Each one shows where Maxroll, Mobalytics and Icy Veins place it.

Open these in the build list