WoW Forever Warlock PvP Guide: SM/Ruin, Pets, Matchups & Macros

The verdict: control creates the cast window

SM/Ruin remains a coherent PvP plan because its pieces solve one another's problems: instant Affliction pressure forces reactions, Fear or Seduction creates the room for a 2.5-second Shadow Bolt, and Ruin converts a crit into a genuine finish. The reference split is 30/0/21. It is not a claim about Drakedog's exact historical spec; “Drakedog-style” describes the recognizable Succubus/Felhunter control-and-burst style associated with early Warlock PvP videos. MODEL_ASSUMPTION

Forever changes the texture of the build. Shadow Mastery is back to 10% in the October 15 notes and build 70707; Improved Shadow Bolt is personal, lasts 12 seconds and has no charges; Molten Skin gives the build a defensive layer Classic SM/Ruin lacked. But the modeled max-rank Shadow Bolt base is much lower, so spell power carries more of the result. That makes the build gear-sensitive, not obsolete.

Quick decision flow

The exact 30/0/21 build

The listed rows total 30 Affliction, 0 Demonology and 21 Destruction. The tier gates also pass the stated five-points-per-row arithmetic. The current public build-70707 talent page confirms the named talents and ranks, but this review did not import a machine-readable prerequisite graph; treat individual edge prerequisites as requiring a final in-client click-through before launch.

The default recommendation is Molten Skin. A caster-duel variant can trade its five points for Intensity 3/3 + Agonizing Flames 2/3, exchanging general mitigation for pushback resistance and Destruction damage. That swap is an editorial option, not a solved meta.

Classic SM/Ruin versus Forever

At 600 SP, the supplied model produces a 2,065 Shadow Bolt crit under ISB and roughly 3.4k average damage in a six-second chain, with a near-6k all-crit ceiling. These are illustrative outputs before resistance, hit checks, absorption and target health—not promised live damage.

Pet choice: do not outsource the decision to habit

Keep the pet passive until you deliberately send it. The purpose is to preserve CC, not to win a pet DPS race. Improved Felhunter and Improved Sayaad are inaccessible at 0 Demonology, so Spell Lock remains modeled at 30 seconds and Seduction receives no build-specific extension.

Openers, sequencing and diminishing returns

Against a caster, start at maximum range with a pre-cast Shadow Bolt when the situation permits, then establish Corruption and Bane of Agony. Hold Spell Lock for the cast that changes the exchange—a heal, Polymorph or critical setup—not automatically for the first bar you see. Against melee, Exhaustion plus instant DoTs buys space; Seduction or Fear is the permission to cast, and Death Coil is the emergency reset or finish.

The supplied burst sequence is Shadow Bolt → Shadow Bolt → Shadowburn + Death Coil, with the first crit potentially enabling ISB. A Nightfall instant belongs near the finish, where denying reaction time matters more than padding an opener.

Forever's Fear/Seduction DR categories were not published in the reviewed material. Classic's 100% → 50% → 25% → immunity sequence with a 15-second reset is a planning baseline only. Treat Fear/Seduction sharing as an experiment: time the second effect, record its duration, and do not publish the result as universal until repeated. Death Coil is historically Horror rather than Fear DR, but that also deserves an in-client check. MODEL_ASSUMPTION

Matchup matrix

Races, gear and professions

Prioritize Stamina ≥ spell power > hit until the modeled +3% PvP requirement > crit > Intellect. The supplied progression runs from Shadow Wrath/Stamina greens through the blue and epic Honor sets, PvP trinket, then rank-14 weapons; names and acquisition details should be checked against the live vendor. Engineering is the expected PvP profession only if its Classic gadgets exist unchanged—this source does not prove that they do.

Duo and trio composition

All tiers above are pre-live editorial estimates. Improved Shadow Bolt is modeled as benefiting only the Warlock's own attacks, so the Rogue or Warrior does not inherit the old shared Shadow-vulnerability synergy.

Macros to test, not blindly import

The source assumes Classic Era-style conditionals. /focus, pet spell names, localized ranks and item names must be tested in the Forever client.

Seduction on focus

#showtooltip Seduction
/cast [@focus,harm,exists][] Seduction

Spell Lock: mouseover, then focus, then target

#showtooltip Spell Lock
/cast [@mouseover,harm,exists][@focus,harm,exists][] Spell Lock

Emergency Death Coil

#showtooltip Death Coil
/stopcasting
/cast Death Coil

Controlled pet engage and recall

/petattack

/petfollow
/petpassive

Evidence notes and open checks

• Confirmed: October 8 PvP crit fix; October 15 Shadow Mastery 10%; October 26 racial updates. CONFIRMED_FOREVER
• Observed in client/build sources: personal charge-free ISB, Malevolence, Molten Skin, pet spell values and many max-rank spell numbers. These show data, not necessarily active server behavior. CLIENT_BETA_HOTFIX
• Unresolved: Fear/Seduction DR, Curse plus Bane coexistence, macro conditionals, engineering items, low-rank coefficient penalty, exact Touch of the Grave proc, Shatter Curse 5% versus 15%. MODEL_ASSUMPTION
• Stylistic attribution: Drakedog is a historical Undead Warlock video reference; this article does not claim verification of his exact talents. MODEL_ASSUMPTION