As a Warlock player in Diablo 2 Resurrected, you may not want to use the most basic, tried-and-true build, and want something else to try instead. Thankfully, there are plenty of options! There’s almost no wrong way to play, but we’ll highlight a few of our personal favorites from experimenting, now that the Reign of the Warlock update is out, and available for everyone.
These aren’t in-depth guides, but suggestions for important skills, and things to know about a build that you ought to know before diving in. Remember, to really consider things, because you only get one respec per difficulty tier, so if you make a mistake, you are stuck with it unless you restart from scratch. Here are our favorite Diablo 2 Resurrected Warlock builds so far.
Warlock builds worth trying in Diablo 2 Resurrected
1) Summoner Warlock
Important skills
- Summon Goatman
- Summon Tainted
- Summon Defiler
- Bind Demon
- Demonic Mastery
Summoner Warlocks are interesting in Diablo 2 Resurrected, and while they’re slower going than a Necromancer, it’s still very feasible. The major downside to a Summoner Warlock, is if you want more than one demon to be in play at one time, you need 10 Ranks of Demonic Mastery. Each Demon fills a different role though, so it’s worth having at least one point in each of them.
You can make them more resilient with Blood Oath, and can command them to attack a target with Death Mark. Engorge heals your demons, and you can inflict damage them to create an AOE with Blood Boil. Perhaps the coolest part is Bind Demon, which lets you bind any demon in the game to your will, including powerful unique ones! It doesn’t clear AOE quite as great as some of the other builds, but it’s certainly satisfying.
2) Fire Warlock
Important Skills
- Ring of Fire
- Flame Wave
- Apocalypse
- Summon Tainted
- Consume
- Sigil: Death
- Sigil: Lethargy
Fire Warlock is an AOE machine, and floods the screen in pain and suffering. It’s also, conveniently enough, the best leveling build we recommend for a Warlock in Diablo 2 Resurrected. You really don’t get started until level 6, but once you do, and start pumping levels into Ring of Fire, you can shred groups of enemies in no time at all. Ring of Fire even has a knockback, so you can get ready to flash fire them again with the same skill, or something bigger like Flame Wave, or your boss-killer, Apocalypse.
It’s such a powerful build, and can really last you all the way up until Hell Difficulty. Once you start running into enemies that resist fire, there are problems, but at that point, you can just respec into something safer, and just as hard-hitting. You can also use the Tainted demon for extra fire damage, to really spice things up.
3) Cleave Warlock
Important Skills
- Cleave
- Mirrored Blades
- Levitation Mastery
- Eldritch Blast
- Psychic Ward
What’s the point of having the power to wield a two-hander in one hand, unless you put it to use? That’s where the Cleave Warlock comes in, as one of the better Diablo 2 Resurrected Warlock builds. It’s a melee build, so you’re going to need to be up-close-and-personal with your foes at all times.
There’s an obvious downside to that: It’s very gear dependent. You need Attack Power, good defenses, and of course, powerful Runewords to make your build fast and effective. This build uses Cleave to slice through groups, and Mirrored Blade for single-targets. Think of it like a Paladin’s Zeal. Levitation Mastery is a must for better stats, and Psychic Ward is a good defensive pick for this build.
4) Echoing Strike Warlock
Important Skills
- Echoing Strike
- Mirrored Blades
- Blade Warp
- Levitation Mastery
- Hex: Purge
- Psychic Ward
If you want to have a weapon-based build, but don’t want it to be quite as focused on having amazing gear, Echoing Strike Warlock isn’t a bad pick in Diablo 2 Resurrected. You do still need good Attack Rating, and decent gear, but it’s not quite as stressful. This is more like a Barbarian build, in that you’re basically throwing your weapon at your foes. Echoing Strike does exactly that.
You also want Hex: Purge for an AOE to your skillset. Levitation Mastery is a must for these types of builds, too. Then you pick up a few skills for synergy purposes like Mirrored Blades, and Blade Warp, and you’ll shred enemies to pieces in no time at all.
5) Magic Warlock
Important Skills
- Miasma Bolt
- Miasma Chain
- Enhanced Entropy
- Abyss
- Levitation Mastery
- Summon Defiler
At the core, Warlocks are still spellcasters in Diablo 2 Resurrected, so why not go with a more traditional spellcasting build? The Magic Warlock is also a Chaos Build like Fire, but doesn’t have to stress about being hit with Fire Resistance enemies in the late game. It uses Miasma Bolt to blast enemies, Miasma Chain to do a damage share, and Abyss to pull enemies in and obliterate them with magic.
You also run Enhanced Entropy to increase the Radius and Duration of your Miasma spells, and increase the radius of Abyss, to boot. It’s easy to use, incredibly powerful, and has none of the drawbacks that the other ranged build offers up. It’s easily one of the best builds you could go with in Diablo 2 Resurrected as a Warlock.
Check out our other Diablo guides and features
Edited by Jason Parker
