In Diablo 2 Resurrected Season 13, Warlock stands as arguably the strongest class currently available, surpassing others in both playstyle and overall effectiveness. Presented here is a build that remains exceptionally potent in the endgame: Abyss Warlock.

This build excels in the later stages of the game due to the fact that magic-immune monsters are almost nonexistent throughout the entire game, with only a handful of exceptions. Let's go over the attribute allocation, skill setup, and gear choices you'll need.

Attribute Allocation

The principle for attribute allocation is simple: invest only as needed. Your goal is to bolster your survivability, relying on gear and charms to cover your resistances.

Points in Strength and Dexterity should only be allocated to meet the requirements of your equipment. Since some gear will grant additional attributes, the actual number of points you need to invest is relatively low. All remaining points should be poured into Vitality to significantly boost your health pool.

Abyss Warlock Skills

Chaos Skill Tree

This is the core damage source for this playstyle, with skill points primarily invested in the right-hand branch of the tree.

• Miasma Bolt: Primarily used for single targets, though its usage frequency is relatively low.
• Miasma Chain: One of the primary skills for clearing areas. In the current version, this skill benefits from a damage bonus bug, causing it to deal far more damage than intended, making it a skill you'll want to use frequently.
• Abyss: Another core damage skill, used in conjunction with Miasma Chain.
• Enhanced Entropy: A passive boost that increases overall damage.
• Sigil: Lethargy: Used when facing bosses to effectively slow their movements.
• Sigil: Death: When a monster's health drops below 13%, this triggers an explosion that deals AoE damage split evenly between physical and fire, swiftly clearing out any remaining foes.
• Sigil: Rancor: An infrequently used skill that can enrage monsters.

Demon Skill Tree

Point allocation in this branch is not fixed and should be adjusted based on your gear. You'll rely on "+skill level" bonuses from equipment to reach key thresholds where skills undergo significant improvements.

• Demonic Mastery: At level 20, this allows you to summon three demons simultaneously.
• Summon Defiler: At level 20, this maximizes the number of Bound Souls.
• Binding Demon: At level 20, this grants your demons access to their full range of affixes, along with an aura.

When equipped with top-tier, endgame gear, you should carefully control the points invested so that the three skills mentioned above each reach exactly level 20 with the bonuses from your equipment.

If your gear is less optimized, prioritize reaching level 20 in Demonic Mastery to secure the third demon. Next, focus on Binding Demon to unlock the aura benefit. Finally, allocate points to Summon Defiler. If points are limited, you can afford to invest less in the latter two skills.

All remaining skill points should be directed into Consume. This skill not only increases run/walk speed but also, when used to consume a Defiler, provides you with a temporary bonus to magic damage and reduces enemies' magic resistance, leading to a substantial damage increase.

Endgame Gear

The equipment listed below is highly valuable. To fully unlock its potential, you will also require Diablo 2 Resurrected Runes. If you're unable to acquire these rare items, alternative options are also suggested.

Weapon: Void Kris

This provides +2 to all skills, high Faster Cast Rate (FCR), magic skill damage, and a direct bonus to Abyss, making it the perfect weapon for this build. An alternative would be a high Faster Cast Rate weapon like Heart of the Oak.

Off-hand: Ars Dul'Mephistos Occult Tome

This grants Warlock skills, Faster Cast Rate, Faster Hit Recovery (FHR), and a substantial -22% to enemy magic resistance, significantly boosting your damage output. A Spirit runeword shield can serve as an alternative.

Helm: Harlequin Crest

Beyond the helm itself, you'll want to socket it with a jewel that reduces enemy magic resistance and increases skill damage. Harlequin Crest also provides a large amount of life, mana, and Magic Find (MF). An alternative helm could be Hellwarden's Will Death Mask, which offers skills, Faster Cast Rate, and resistance reduction.

Armor: Enigma

Enigma provides the unparalleled Teleport skill, vastly improving your mobility and farming efficiency. Chains of Honor is a viable alternative.

Gloves: Trang-Oul's Claws

Trang-Oul's Claws offer Faster Cast Rate and cold resistance. Magefist is another solid choice.

Rings: Sling Ring

Sling Ring provides excellent attributes such as reduced enemy magic resistance, Faster Cast Rate, and Magic Find. There are many other excellent ring options available, such as The Stone of Jordan, Bul-Kathos' Wedding Band, or Opalvein Ring.

Belt: Arachnid Mesh

Arachnid Mesh is the best choice, offering +1 to all skill levels and Faster Cast Rate. While options like Goldwrap or a Caster Crafted Belt are decent, the lack of +1 to all skill levels is a significant drawback.

Amulet: Mara's Kaleidoscope

Mara's Kaleidoscope provides +2 to all skills and resistance to all elements, helping to compensate for any resistance deficiencies from other gear. A well-rolled Caster Crafted Amulet is an equally excellent option and can potentially provide even greater damage if its affixes are optimal.

Boots: Wraithstep Mirrored Boots

Wraithstep Mirrored Boots offer a high amount of Strength and Dexterity, helping you meet the requirements for equipping other gear. Horazon's Legacy Mirrored Boots are similar, though they provide slightly fewer attributes.

Charms: Caster Crafted Amulet 

Prioritize charms that grant levels to Chaos skills. Additionally, aim for charms that provide life or help fill any gaps in your resistances.

This build demonstrates remarkable strength in the endgame, proving highly efficient both for clearing groups of monsters and defeating bosses. It is an experience well worth pursuing for any Warlock player.

Almost all WoW TBC Classic Anniversary content that requires a group requires a team composition that includes all roles: DPS, healers, and tanks.

Even without explicit rules, you'll find that a complete role setup maximizes everyone's potential and increases the chances of winning dungeons or raids.

However, recently, with the upcoming new raids from Phase 2, you'll find it difficult to find tank players when randomly forming groups, sometimes waiting for over half an hour to form a complete team!

So what are the reasons for this phenomenon, and is it possible for it to change? We'll analyze it for you.

What is the role of a tank?

In a complete TBC Classic Anniversary raid team, DPS's responsibility is to deal damage, the healer's is to provide timely healing or special buffs to teammates, and the tank, which newcomers might simply understand as the team's shield.

The tank's primary responsibility is indeed to absorb damage and protect teammates from attacks. However, beyond this, tank players also need to master the optimal timing for defense and threat absorption, as well as techniques for quick clears.

Therefore, most of the time you'll find the tank as the leader and commander of the team. While other specializations can sometimes temporarily fill in as tanks, if the team doesn't have enough tanks, especially a main tank, victory is almost impossible.

Tank shortage is not a new problem

In fact, the tank shortage problem exists not only in WoW TBC Classic Anniversary but also in other new and old WoW servers, and in many MMORPGs, and it has become increasingly serious in recent years.

Excessive pressure

As we mentioned in the tank overview, because of the role-playing mechanics, tank players often bear the responsibility of commanding the entire team.

This requires you to be sufficiently familiar with dungeon or raid mechanics, have a deep understanding of specific combat points, and even some knowledge about other classes in order to better command your teammates.

This not only leads to excessive pressure in terms of knowledge reserves but also forces you to shoulder too much responsibility. Most people play games primarily to relax, not to change their work experience in a virtual world!

Unfriendly social interaction

Even if you love playing tank in TBC Classic Anniversary to the point of being tireless, you might still experience a lot of frustration and even quit the game due to annoying teammates.

Normally, if you're a tank leader, as long as you take your job seriously, failure isn't a big deal - it's just a game, after all.

But frustratingly, there are those who refuse to take responsibility for leadership but shamelessly criticize others' mistakes.

Furthermore, if you ask these teammates for help with certain mechanics, their response won't be friendly explanations but rather sarcastic remarks.

Unless you have a wide network of in-game contacts who can easily find new, reliable teammates, you'll have to endure this terrible team atmosphere at least until the current battle ends.

Perhaps there are hardcore gamers who don't care about others' opinions and only strive for their own goals. But most ordinary players would find it difficult to complete raids under such circumstances.

In fact, this was an occasional phenomenon a decade or so ago, but as more and younger players joined the game, the social atmosphere within the game noticeably worsened.

If you're playing a newer MMORPG, you might already be used to it, because it's always been this way. But for veteran players of established games like World of Warcraft, harsh teammates are like a new kind of virus.

Lack of inclusivity

You can see this factor as an extension of the poor social dynamics. It's not just the leaders; some self-proclaimed expert players also consistently lack patience and tolerance towards newcomers.

As a result, since tanks are more difficult to master than other roles, novice tanks are often forced to quit the game or switch roles before they even have a chance to develop their skills due to the unfriendly environment. Over time, this naturally leads to a decrease in the number of tanks.

How to change this problem?

From the above analysis, it's clear that the core issue causing the tank shortage isn't the game itself, but rather the player community. While individual efforts are limited, it's still possible to find ways to improve one's raid experience.

Join a strong guild

You might not want to join a guild due to time or energy constraints to meet the internal requirements, but it's truly the best way to quickly form teams and ensure reliable teammates.

Stronger guilds have more members and more comprehensive rules, quickly weeding out disruptive and unserious members. They also allow top players to mentor newcomers.

Even if you're not initially qualified for a guild's regular team, established guilds will have plenty of mentors. They'll not only teach you but also introduce you to other skilled guild members.

Alternatively, if you meet a good player in the game, and one of them isn't in a guild, you can invite them to join your own. This not only expands your network but also makes playing together easier in the future.

Switch teammates is possible

If you're already a skilled tank leader and happen to encounter the kind of mean players we mentioned, don't hesitate to kick them out of the team immediately!

Long queue times are due to a tank shortage, but you are the one in control! If you're skilled enough, in today's increasingly fast-paced game, finding a new DPS or healer can solve the problem in minutes.

We hope that before the new TBC Anniversary phases go live, more players will realize the tank shortage issue and its underlying causes, and work together to make changes and create a better gaming environment!