Destruction Warlock Raid Guide

Last Updated: September 9, 2024

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11.0.2 - The War Within

Welcome to the Destruction Warlock Raid guide for the World of Warcraft patch 11.0! This guide covers everything you need to know to understand your character! Are you starting out and leveling up from 70? Check out the leveling guide!

Overview

Patch 11.0.2 - The War Within
Destruction Warlock
Destruction WarlockRaid
Single-Target
Average
AoE
Average
Utility
Average
Survivability
Excellent
Mobility
Weak
Destruction Warlock Raid Best in Slot

Hero Talents

Patch 11.0.2 - The War Within
Destruction Warlock
  • Hellcaller and Diabolist perform similary in pure single-target, with Hellcaller being slightly ahead. Hellcaller excells in spread out cleave through Wither while Diabolist has a lot of passive AoE due to Diabolic Rituals.
Diabolist
Hellcaller
  • Spending a Soul Shard starts a cycle of one of 3 different Diabolic Rituals.
    1. Diabolic Ritual: Overlord
    2. Diabolic Ritual: Mother of Chaos
    3. Diabolic Ritual: Pit Lord
    4. Starts on 1. again.
  • Only 1 Diabolic Ritual can be up at a time and each turns into their respective Demonic Art after it expires which is triggered after you spend your next Soul Shard:
    • Demonic Art: Overlord
      • A Fel Lord jumps at your target and applies Cloven Soul for 15 seconds.
    • Demonic Art:Mother of Chaos
      • Deals damage to your target and turns your next Incinerate into Infernal Bolt which generates 2 Soul Shards.
    • Demonic Art: Pit Lord
      • Summons a Pit Lord that attacks your target with Felseeker and turns your next Chaos Bolt into Ruination which deals a large amount of AoE damage.
  • Additionally, whenever a Demonic Art is active, your Soul Shard spending abilities benefit from Touch of Rancora.
  • The duration of Diabolic Rituals is by 1 additional second per Soul Shard spent while Summon Infernal is up due to Infernal Machine.
  • Your Summon Infernal is further empowered through Abyssal Dominion.
  • Your Immolate is turned into Wither.
  • Wither has no cast time or FACING requirement.
  • You have access to a 1 minute cooldown called Malevolence.
  • Wither can stack up and has multiple neat interactions with different talents which can increase its stack count or have other benefits.
    • Spending Soul Shards on damaging spells increases the stacks of Wither by 1 and has a chance to gain an additional stack due to Blackened Soul and Bleakheart Tactics.
    • Casting Malevolence increases all active Wither stacks by 3 while each Chaos Bolt adds 1 additional stack during its duration.
    • Mark of Peroth'arn gives Wither the chance to add a stack whenever it crits.
    • Whenever Blackened Soul deals damage you have a chance to gain Flashpoint stacks through Seeds of Their Demise even if you are not currently talented into Flashpoint.
  • Wither has a built-in mechanic which consumes its' accumulated stacks one after another for more damage. This mechanic is called Corrupted.
    • The Corrupted state of Wither is triggered by the following:
      • Chance whenever Wither gains a stack.
      • If Wither reaches 8 stacks.
      • If the target Wither is on reaches 20% or is below 20% already.
      • When Malevolence is up.

Talents

Patch 11.0.2 - The War Within
Destruction Warlock
Diabolist Single-Target
Hellcaller Single-Target
Diabolist Multi-Target
Hellcaller Multi-Target
Diabolist AoE
Hellcaller AoE
Diabolist Destruction Warlock Single-Target talents in Raids

When to use this Spec

Use this spec if want to do primarily Single-Target damage. You can use the same spec-specific talents with Hellcaller as well.

Gameplay Altering Talents

Discover all talents that significantly alter your gameplay within the Spec and Class Talent trees. This section gives a concise overview of these talents and their applications but for a more detailed look check out the Rotation and Deep Dive sections below.

Spec Tree

  • Shadowburn
    • Very strong 1 Soul Shard cost spender, especially if your target is below 30% health.
  • Roaring Blaze
    • It is crucial to keep this buff active as much as possible through proper Conflagrate usage.
  • Cataclysm
    • Another way of dealing upfront damage and refreshing Immolate at the same time.
  • Soul Fire
    • A hard hitting spell which is amplified by Roaring Blaze, it is also further enhanced by Decimation.
  • Ritual of Ruin
    • Passively nets you free Chaos Bolt casts and also spawns an Overfiend that generates more Soul Shards.
  • Summon Infernal
    • Your main cooldown for burst windows, this is enhanced by Rain of Chaos.

Class Tree

  • Soulburn
    • Enhances multiple utility spells, mainly used together with Demonic Circle: Teleport, Healthstone, Demonic Gateway and Drain Life.
  • Sweet Souls
    • Only works if other people use the Healthstones that you created.
  • Soul Conduit
    • Sometimes alters your cast sequence by refunding Soul Shards.
  • Pact of Gluttony
    • Massive for survivability since it alters your Demonic Healthstone to be useable multiple times per combat.
    • Combo this together with Lifeblood for extra leech upon use.

Hero Talents

  • Soul-Etched Circles
    • Your default pick since you rarely use Howl of Terror.
  • Infernal Machine
    • Outperforms Cruelty of Kerxan.
  • Infernal Bulwark
    • An additional absorb is usually better in most scenarios.
    • Good to pair with Dark Accord and Resolute Barrier for more frequent uses.
Hellcaller Destruction Warlock Single-Target talents in Raids

Talent Adjustments

Listing all the changes within the Class and Spec tree compared to the default build.

Hero Talents

Changed Diabolist to Hellcaller for more info visit the Hero Talent section above.

  • Curse of the Satyr
    • Combines your Curse of Weakness and Curse of Tongues.
  • Bleakheart Tactics
    • Outperforms Hatefury Rituals.
  • Illhoof's Design
    • Additional passive absorb at a cost of your maximum health.
Diabolist Destruction Warlock Multi-Target talents in Raids

When to use this Spec

Use this spec if you're fighting 2-3 enemies for an extended period of the fight. If the fight has a decent amount of adds spawning that die rather quickly you can also spec Hellcaller with the same talents.

Talent Adjustments

Listing all the changes within the Class and Spec tree compared to the default build.

Spec Tree

  • Added
    • Havoc
      • This serves as one of your strongest tools to damage two targets at once or generate additional Soul Shards in AoE situations.
  • Removed
    • Explosive Potential removed for Havoc.
Hellcaller Destruction Warlock Multi-Target talents in Raids

When to use this Spec

Use this spec if you're fighting 2-3 enemies for an extended period of the fight. If the fight has a decent amount of adds spawning that die rather quickly you can also spec Diabolist with the same talents.

Talent Adjustments

Listing all the changes within the Class and Spec tree compared to the default build.

Spec Tree

  • Added
    • Havoc
      • This serves as one of your strongest tools to damage two targets at once or generate additional Soul Shards in AoE situations.
  • Removed
    • Explosive Potential removed for Havoc.

Hero Talents

Changed Diabolist to Hellcaller for more info visit the Hero Talent section above.

  • Curse of the Satyr
    • Combines your Curse of Weakness and Curse of Tongues.
  • Bleakheart Tactics
    • Outperforms Hatefury Rituals.
  • Illhoof's Design
    • Additional passive absorb at a cost of your maximum health.
Diabolist Destruction Warlock AoE talents in Raids

When to use this Spec

Use this spec if you're fighting 4 or more enemies for an extended period of the fight.

Talent Adjustments

Listing all the changes within the Class and Spec tree compared to the default build.

Spec Tree

  • Added
    • Inferno
      • Greatly increases Inferno output.
    • Pyrogenics
      • Increases fire damage done to enemies affected by Rain of Fire.
    • Havoc
      • This serves as one of your strongest tools to damage two targets at once or generate additional Soul Shards in AoE situations.
  • Removed
    • Backlash removed for Havoc.
    • Explosive Potential removed for Pyrogenics.
    • Cataclysm changed to Inferno.
Hellcaller Destruction Warlock AoE talents in Raids

When to use this Spec

Use this spec if you're fighting 4 or more enemies for an extended period of the fight.

Talent Adjustments

Listing all the changes within the Class and Spec tree compared to the default build.

Spec Tree

  • Added
    • Inferno
      • Greatly increases Inferno output.
    • Pyrogenics
      • Increases fire damage done to enemies affected by Rain of Fire.
    • Havoc
      • This serves as one of your strongest tools to damage two targets at once or generate additional Soul Shards in AoE situations.
  • Removed
    • Backlash removed for Havoc.
    • Explosive Potential removed for Pyrogenics.
    • Cataclysm changed to Inferno.

Hero Talents

Changed Diabolist to Hellcaller for more info visit the Hero Talent section above.

  • Curse of the Satyr
    • Combines your Curse of Weakness and Curse of Tongues.
  • Bleakheart Tactics
    • Outperforms Hatefury Rituals.
  • Illhoof's Design
    • Additional passive absorb at a cost of your maximum health.

Rotation

Patch 11.0.2 - The War Within
Destruction Warlock

Tier Set

  • 2-Set: Incinerate critical strike chance increased by 20%. Conflagrate critical strike chance increased by 25%.
  • 4-Set: When Conflagrate critically strikes, your Fire damage is increased by 5% for 6 sec.

Single-Target

Diabolist
Hellcaller

Opener

  • Your goal is to spend as many Soul Shards as possible without wasting resources while also keeping relevant abilities on cooldown.
Diabolist Destruction Warlock single-target opener in Raids
  • Always cast Immolate unless it was already applied by either Soul Fire or Cataclysm.
  • Use your active trinkets, Tempered Potion and racials like Blood Fury or Berserking after using Summon Infernal.
  • You can min-max your opener by pre-cycling through Diabolic Ritual: Overlord and Diabolic Ritual: Mother of Chaos before the pull starts to get Demonic Art: Pit Lord as your first Diabolic Ritual on the pull which provides you with additional burst due to the sheer amount of damage Ruination does.

Priority List

This is a general priority you aim to maintain throughout the fight.

  1. Keep up Immolate on your target.
  2. Cast Ruination if Ruination is up.
  3. Cast Chaos Bolt if Demonic Art: Overlord, Demonic Art: Mother of Chaos or Demonic Art: Pit Lord is up.
  4. Cast Shadowburn if you are capping on Soul Shards or if you have 2 stacks.
  5. Cast Chaos Bolt if you are capping on Soul Shards.
  6. Cast Infernal Bolt if you are below 3 Soul Shards and Infernal Bolt is up.
  7. Cast Conflagrate to keep up Roaring Blaze, or if you have 2 stacks.
  8. Cast Soul Fire with Decimation up.
  9. Cast Shadowburn to keep up Eradication.
  10. Cast Chaos Bolt to keep up Eradication.
  11. CastSoul Fire if you're not overcapping on Soul Shards and have Backdraft up.
  12. Cast Conflagrate to generate Soul Shards.
  13. Cast Incinerate to generate Soul Shards.

Opener

  • Your goal is to spend as many Soul Shards as possible without wasting resources while also keeping relevant abilities on cooldown.
Hellcaller Destruction Warlock single-target opener in Raids
  • Always cast Wither unless it was already applied by either Soul Fire or Cataclysm.
  • Use your active trinkets, Tempered Potion and racials like Blood Fury or Berserking after using Summon Infernal.

Priority List

This is a general priority you aim to maintain throughout the fight.

  1. Keep up Wither on your target.
  2. Cast Shadowburn if you are capping on Soul Shards or if you have 2 stacks.
  3. Cast Chaos Bolt if you are capping on Soul Shards.
  4. Cast Conflagrate to keep up Roaring Blaze, or if you have 2 stacks.
  5. Cast Soul Fire with Decimation up.
  6. Cast Shadowburn to keep up Eradication.
  7. Cast Chaos Bolt to keep up Eradication.
  8. CastSoul Fire if you're not overcapping on Soul Shards and have Backdraft up.
  9. Cast Conflagrate to generate Soul Shards.
  10. Cast Incinerate to generate Soul Shards

Multi-Target

Diabolist
Hellcaller

Opener

  • Below, you see an example of how your opener looks like using the recommended Multi-Target talent spec and depending on the number of Soul Conduit procs, among other factors.
Diabolist Destruction Warlock 2-Target opener in Raids
  • Always cast Immolate, unless it was already applied by Soul Fire or Cataclysm.
  • Use your active trinkets, Tempered Potion, and racials like Blood Fury or Berserking after using Summon Infernal.
  • You can min-max your opener by pre-cycling through Diabolic Ritual: Overlord and Diabolic Ritual: Mother of Chaos before the pull starts to get Demonic Art: Pit Lord as your first Diabolic Ritual on the pull which provides you with additional burst due to the sheer amount of damage Ruination does.

2+ Target Priority List

  1. Keep up Immolate on both targets.
  2. Cast Ruination if Ruination is up.
  3. Cast Havoc on a secondary target.
  4. Cast Chaos Bolt if Demonic Art: Overlord, Demonic Art: Mother of Chaos or Demonic Art: Pit Lord is up.
  5. Cast Shadowburn if you are capping on Soul Shards or if you have 2 stacks.
  6. Cast Chaos Bolt if you are capping on Soul Shards.
  7. Cast Infernal Bolt if you are below 3 Soul Shards and Infernal Bolt is up.
  8. Cast Conflagrate to keep up Roaring Blaze, or if you have 2 stacks.
  9. Cast Soul Fire with Decimation up.
  10. Cast Shadowburn to keep up Eradication.
  11. Cast Chaos Bolt to keep up Eradication.
  12. CastSoul Fire if you're not overcapping on Soul Shards and have Backdraft up.
  13. Cast Conflagrate to generate Soul Shards.
  14. Cast Incinerate to generate Soul Shards.

Opener

Hellcaller Destruction Warlock multi-target opener in Raids
  • Always cast Wither unless it was already applied by either Soul Fire or Cataclysm.
  • Use your active trinkets, Tempered Potion and racials like Blood Fury or Berserking after using Summon Infernal.

Priority List

This is a general priority you aim to maintain throughout the fight.

  1. Keep up Wither on both targets.
  2. Cast Havoc on a secondary target.
  3. Cast Shadowburn if you are capping on Soul Shards or if you have 2 stacks.
  4. Cast Chaos Bolt if you are capping on Soul Shards.
  5. Cast Conflagrate to keep up Roaring Blaze, or if you have 2 stacks.
  6. Cast Soul Fire with Decimation up.
  7. Cast Shadowburn to keep up Eradication.
  8. Cast Chaos Bolt to keep up Eradication.
  9. CastSoul Fire if you're not overcapping on Soul Shards and have Backdraft up.
  10. Cast Conflagrate to generate Soul Shards.
  11. Cast Incinerate to generate Soul Shards

AoE

Diabolist
Hellcaller

Opener

  • This opener can vary by a lot depending on your Soul Shards generation. Below you see one variation of an opener on 4 targets assuming that you're playing the recommended Diabolist AoE talent spec.
Diabolist Destruction Warlock AoE opener in Raids
  • Always cast Immolate unless it was already applied by either Soul Fire or Cataclysm.
  • Use your active trinkets, Tempered Potion, and racials like Blood Fury or Berserking after using Summon Infernal.
  • You can min-max your opener by pre-cycling through Diabolic Ritual: Overlord and Diabolic Ritual: Mother of Chaos before the pull starts to get Demonic Art: Pit Lord as your first Diabolic Ritual on the pull which provides you with additional burst due to the sheer amount of damage Ruination does.

Priority List

  1. Keep up Immolate on targets that last over 9 seconds.
  2. Cast Havoc on a secondary target.
  3. Cast Chaos Bolt or Rain of Fire if you are about to cap on Soul Shards.
  4. Cast Cataclysm on cooldown if talented.
  5. Cast Conflagrate to keep up Roaring Blaze or if you have 2 stacks.
  6. Cast Soul Fire on cooldown especially with a Decimation proc.
  7. Cast Chaos Bolt to keep up Eradication or Rain of Fire.
  8. Cast Shadowburn if something is about to die within 5 seconds.
  9. Cast Conflagrate to generate Soul Shards.
  10. Cast Incinerate to generate Soul Shards

Opener

  • This opener can vary by a lot depending on your Soul Shards generation. Below you see one variation of an opener on 4 targets assuming that you're playing the recommended Hellcaller AoE talent spec.
Hellcaller Destruction Warlock AoE opener in Raids
  • Always cast Wither unless it was already applied by either Soul Fire or Cataclysm.
  • Use your active trinkets, Tempered Potion and racials like Blood Fury or Berserking after using Summon Infernal.

Priority List

  1. Keep up Wither on targets that last over 9 seconds.
  2. Cast Havoc on a secondary target.
  3. Cast Chaos Bolt or Rain of Fire if you are about to cap on Soul Shards.
  4. Cast Cataclysm on cooldown if talented.
  5. Cast Conflagrate to keep up Roaring Blaze or if you have 2 stacks.
  6. Cast Soul Fire on cooldown especially with a Decimation proc.
  7. Cast Chaos Bolt to keep up Eradication or Rain of Fire.
  8. Cast Shadowburn if something is about to die within 5 seconds.
  9. Cast Conflagrate to generate Soul Shards.
  10. Cast Incinerate to generate Soul Shards

Deep Dive

Patch 11.0.2 - The War Within
Destruction Warlock

Conflagrate, Backdraft and Roaring Blaze

  • Make sure to space out your Conflagrates to ensure a high uptime on Roaring Blaze.
  • Use your Backdraft charges on Soul Fire then Chaos Bolt and otherwise on Incinerate.
  • Don't cast Soul Fire or Channel Demonfire without Roaring Blaze present on your target.

Min-maxing Eradication

  • Your casted spell still gets the benefit from Eradication if it finishes before the previous Eradication fades from the target.
  • You aim to have a consistent uptime of Eradication to maximize your damage output.

Below, you find an example of how to correctly manage the Eradication timing assuming it takes the Chaos Bolt 2 seconds to reach its target.

Destruction Warlock Eradication min-max in Raids
  • Shadowburn also applies Eradication but doesn't have the added benefit of "travel time" since it's an instant cast spell.

Maximizing your Havoc

To maximize your damage while Havoc is active you need to spend as many casts on Chaos Bolt or Rain of Fire as possible. For this to happen you should enter the Havoc window with as many of the following conditions as possible:

  • A high amount of Soul Shards or Soul Shard income.
  • Conflagrate should be close to 2 stacks.
  • Refresh Immolates so they won't drop off during your Havoc window.
  • Pre-build Ritual of Ruin stacks.

Below is an example of what happens when you correctly manage your Havoc window.

Hellcaller Destruction Warlock Havoc window in Raid
  • This is not a fixed rotation; This is just one example of how to play during your Havoc window. Soul Conduit procs, critical hits and Soul Fire resets can increase your Soul Shard generation, allowing you to spend more Soul Shards on Chaos Bolt or Rain of Fire.

Using Rain of Fire vs. Chaos Bolt / Shadowburn

The way you spend Soul Shards varies based on the number of targets you're fighting, whether Havoc is active or not and some additional conditions. The table below should help you reach a decision quickly.

No Inferno
Inferno
ConditionIs Havoc active?Which spell do you use?
Fighting 1-3 enemiesNoChaos Bolt / Shadowburn
Fighting 2-6 enemiesYesChaos Bolt / Shadowburn
Fighting >=4 enemiesNoRain of Fire
Fighting >6 enemiesIrrelevantRain of Fire
Targets are movingIrrelevantChaos Bolt / Shadowburn
Deal priority damage?IrrelevantChaos Bolt / Shadowburn
While moving/disrupted and/or you are about to
overcap on Soul Shards.
IrrelevantShadowburn / Rain of Fire
Targets are dying?IrrelevantShadowburn
ConditionIs Havoc active?Which spell do you use?
Fighting 1-3 enemiesNoChaos Bolt / Shadowburn
Fighting 2-3 enemiesYesChaos Bolt / Shadowburn
Fighting >=3 enemiesNoRain of Fire
Fighting >4 enemiesIrrelevantRain of Fire
Targets are movingIrrelevantChaos Bolt / Shadowburn
Deal priority damage?IrrelevantChaos Bolt / Shadowburn
While moving/disrupted and/or you are about to
overcap on Soul Shards.
IrrelevantShadowburn / Rain of Fire
Targets are dying?IrrelevantShadowburn

Understanding Mechanics

Rotational min-maxing is just one aspect of mastering a specialization, but there are numerous other key mechanics that influence your performance. Use the following guides to improve them.

Nerub-ar Palace

Patch 11.0.2 - The War Within
Destruction Warlock

The following tips are mainly applicable to Heroic Bosses. Mythic tips are released after our progression concludes.

← Scroll for more Bosses

Ulgrax
Bloodbound Horror
Sikran
Rasha'nan
Broodtwister
Nexus-Princess
Silken Court
Destruction Warlock Ulgarax talents in Raids

Offensive Cooldown Usage

Boss Tips

  • You can immune Stalker Netting on Heroic difficulty if you use Soulburn together with Demonic Circle: Teleport or are talented into Soul-Etched Circles.
  • Place a Demonic Gateway away from the boss to help your raid quickly escape when they are pulled towards the boss during Carnivorous Contest.
  • Additionally, a Demonic Gateway can be used during Ready to Feed to speed up the feeding process of the boss.
    • You can also utilize Burning Rush and Demonic Circle to feed the boss additional Chunky Visceras.
Destruction Warlock Bloodbound Horror talents in Raids

Offensive Cooldown Usage

If you're assigned to Group 1:

If you're assigned to Group 2:

  • Do note that the length of the fight impacts your cooldown usage heavily. If your fight lasts shorter than 6 minutes you use your Summon Infernal on pull followed by using it after every Goresplatter.

Defensive Cooldown Usage

If you're assigned to Group 1:

If you're assigned to Group 2:

Boss Tips

  • Use Demonic Circle to easily jump over the Spewing Hemorrhage geysers to save globals.
  • You can outplay Goresplatter easily by pre-placing a Demonic Circle and Demonic Gateway. Use the Demonic Gateway first to get away from the Boss and use Demonic Circle: Teleport to get back. This way you are not forced to run through the Black Blood and take unnecessary damage.
Destruction Warlock Sikran talents in Raids

Offensive Cooldown Usage

Boss Tips

  • Dark Pact whenever you are targeted by Decimate or Decimates are about to hit Cosmic Simulacrums.
Destruction Warlock Rasha'nan talents in Raids

Offensive Cooldown Usage

Boss Tips

  • Stun Infested Spawn with Shadowfury.
  • Move out with Spinneret's Strands and quickly teleport back with Demonic Circle: Teleport.
  • Put down a Demonic Gateway to help your raid keep up with the boss when he changes his position.
Destruction Warlock Broodtwister talents in Raids

Offensive Cooldown Usage

Defensive Cooldown Usage

Boss Tips

  • Use Demonic Circle: Teleport to quickly cleanse yourself from Unstable Web.
  • Be careful of your Demonic Circle placement since you're going to trigger a Web Eruption at your Demonic Circle's location.
  • Use Summon Felhunter on this boss to be able to interrupt Poison Burst with Spell Lock.
Destruction Warlock Nexus-Princess talents in Raids

Offensive Cooldown Usage

Defensive Cooldown Usage

Boss Tips

  • Use Unending Resolve as an emergency button. For example, if you get hit by multiple Twilight Massacres.
  • Multiple stacks of Queensbane can be quite dangerous. Consider using a defensive!
  • The main thing to keep an eye out for on this boss is the position of each Nether Rift. Their placement dictates how much you get pulled towards them. Try to position yourself in a way that each Nether Rift is at a similar distance to you.
Destruction Warlock Silken-Court talents in Raids

Offensive Cooldown Usage

Defensive Cooldown Usage

Boss Tips

  • Use Dark Pact at 8 seconds left on your pull timer to cover the first Venomous Rain while ensuring you have Dark Pact back ready for the second Venomous Rain as well.
  • Pre-place a Demonic Circle and teleport back instantly after getting pulled in by Web Vortex to save yourself some movement.
    • Alternatively, use Demonic Gateway to negate the pull in effect.
  • Try to get some good distance from the adds that spawn from Call of the Swarm since they fixate the closest target.

Stat Priority

Patch 11.0.2 - The War Within
Destruction Warlock

Understand your stat priority and the tertiary stats needed for optimal performance during Raid boss fights as a Destruction Warlock. For more detailed information, visit the Stats and Attributes guide.

Destruction Warlock Stat Priorities in Raid

Higher Item level items are better in most scenarios. For an accurate representation of what item to equip you should use Simcraft! A static "Stat Priority" is just a starting point and can easily shift depending on your individual gear.

  • All secondary stats are affected by diminishing returns. Click here to learn more!

Tertiary

  • Avoidance - Great stat to reduce the damage intake of "Area of Effect" abilities.
  • Leech - Provides additional healing through damage dealing. The damage of your pets does not heal you thus Leech is a great tertiary for you since most of your damage is coming from your own spells.
  • Speed - Niche tertiary that can be very useful and has been proven useful in the past. Makes playing certain mechanics a lot easier.

Gear

Patch 11.0.2 - The War Within
Destruction Warlock
Best in Slot
Farmable Alternatives
SlotItemLocation
HeadHexflame Coven's All-Seeing EyeTier / Catalyst
NeckSureki Zealot's InsigniaSikran
ShoulderHexflame Coven's AltarTier / Catalyst
CloakWings of Shattered SorrowRasha'nan
ChestHexflame Coven's Ritual HarnessTier / Catalyst
WristSkeinspinner's Duplicitous CuffsSilken Court
GlovesHexflame Coven's SleevesTier / Catalyst
BeltBurrower's CinchAra-Kara, City of Echoes
LegsE.D.N.A. StabilizersThe Stonevault
BootsConsecrated SlippersCrafting
Ring 1Seal of the Poisoned PactQueen Ansurek
Ring 2Devout Zealot's RingThe Dawnbreaker
Trinket 1Spymaster's WebSilken Court
Trinket 2Mad Queen's MandateQueen Ansurek
WeaponSovereign's DisdainQueen Aurek
OffhandVagabond's TorchCrafting

Below you are presented with a good list of farmable alternatives that are obtainable outside of WoW’s weekly lockout system. While replaced in time as you progress, these offer immediate character power.

SlotItemLocation
HeadCrown of Enfeebled BodiesGrim Batol
Neck"Emergency Stop" KeychainThe Stonevault
ShoulderReanimator's MantleThe Necrotic Wake
CloakAnvilhide CapeThe Stonevault
ChestArachnofrost VestCity of Threads
WristVitriolic Veinwoven WrapsCity of Threads
GlovesTricksprite GlovesCity of Threads
BeltBurrower's CinchAra-Kara, City of Echoes
LegsE.D.N.A. StabilizersThe Stonevault
BootsMembranous SlippersThe Dawnbreaker
Ring 1Circle of BoneGrim Batol
Ring 2Devout Zealot's RingThe Dawnbreaker
Trinket 1Ara-Kara SacbroodAra-Kara, City of Echoes
Trinket 2Empowering Crystal of Anub'ikkajThe Dawnbreaker
WeaponMelodious Iron SongspireThe Stonevault

Trinkets

Below you can find active and passive alternatives to our recommended trinkets. Do note that some trinkets are better than others depending on the boss fight.

Every active trinket but Spymaster's Web this season is very weak compared to passive alternatives. So if you were unlucky with dropping Spymaster's Web in the raid then it's highly recommended to farm one of the passive alternatives from Mythic+, preferably Ara-Kara Sacbrood and Empowering Crystal of Anub'ikkaj or Gale of Shadows.

Active Trinket alternatives

  • Treacherous Transmitter
    • Can be a bit annoying to use if you get the wrong mini-games.

Passive Trinket alternatives

  • Empowering Crystal of Anub'ikkaj
    • Has about a 10% uptime on its Crit, Versatility, Mastery and Haste buff.
  • Gale of Shadows
    • Provides you with a decent amount of passive intellect.
  • Unbound Changeling
    • Great passive trinket with a high uptime.

Embellishments

  • 1x Darkmoon Sigil: Ascension
    • Only crafted on your main hand or off-hand weapon. Craft it on your main hand for more power early on or on your off-hand for long-term BiS.
  • 1x Writhing Armor Banding
    • The optimal slots to craft on are Wrists, Boots or Waist depending on your available gear.

or

  • 1-2x Elemental Focusing Lens
    • Deals a decent amount of damage in Single-Target.
    • The optimal slots to craft on are Wrists, Boots or Waist depending on your available gear.

or

  • 1-2x Dawnthread Lining
    • The optimal slots to craft on are Wrists, Boots or Waist depending on your available gear.

Remaining Sparks

  • Crafted items are 636 item level and regular items are 639 on max item level, therefore, it's not beneficial to equip crafted items outside of your 2x embellishments unless you don't have access to other high item level gear on that slot.

Simcraft

To find the best combination of gear available to you or identify the best possible upgrades, visit our Simcraft guide to learn how to utilize Simcraft easily and effectively.

Consumables

Patch 11.0.2 - The War Within
Destruction Warlock
  • Phials
    • Flask of Alchemical Chaos -- maximum DPS.
    • Flask of Tempered Versatility -- less DPS but more survivability.
  • Food
    • Feast of the Divine Day
  • Combat Potion
    • Tempered Potion
  • Health Potion
    • Algari Healing Potion -- a big burst of healing
  • Weapon Oil
    • Algari Mana Oil -- default
    • Oil of Deep Toxins
  • Augment Rune
    • Crystallized Augment Rune
  • Sockets
    • Culminating Blasphemite -- Unique, as a Destruction Warlock you don't care about using other colored gems currently.
    • Masterful Sapphire
    • Deadly Emerald
    • Quick Ruby
    • Deadly Onyx

Enchantments

HeadNerubian Gemweaver
NeckMagnificent Jeweler's Setting 2x
CloakEnchant Cloak - Chant of Winged Grace
ChestEnchant Chest - Crystalline Radiance
WristEnchant Bracer - Chant of Armored Avoidance
Nerubian Gemweaver
WaistNerubian Gemweaver
LegsSunset Spellthread
BootsEnchant Boots - Scout's March
Ring 1Enchant Ring - Radiant Critical Strike
Magnificent Jeweler's Setting 2x
Ring 2Enchant Ring - Radiant Critical Strike
Magnificent Jeweler's Setting 2x
WeaponEnchant Weapon - Authority of the Depths
Destruction Warlock Enchantments in Raids

You buy Nerubian Gemweaver from the Great Vault Vendor to add sockets to your Helm, Wrists & Waist.

Races

Patch 11.0.2 - The War Within
Destruction Warlock

For min-maxing a Destruction Warlock in raiding, different racial traits can provide a tremendous benefit to your character. If this is not your top goal, picking a race that fits your style works just as well.

  • Stoneform -- Dwarf
    • Dispels Magic and Bleed debuffs. Has been useful in the past on some bosses with Bleeds.
  • Rocket Jump -- Goblin
    • Do a small jump in the direction your character is facing.
    • While you're in the Rocket Jump animation you are placed on a global cooldown until your character lands.
  • Berserking -- Troll
    • Strong DPS racial but lines up poorly with Summon Infernal.
    • Reduce the duration of movement-impairing effects by 20%. This was only useful once in the recent history of progression raiding but is still worth noting.
  • Blood Fury -- Orc
    • Strong racial for damage because of both Command and Blood Fury which lines up with Summon Infernal.
    • 20% reduced stun duration on you which can be useful in some situations.
  • Spatial Rift -- Void Elf
    • Spawn a shadow traveling into your facing direction, and activate it again to teleport to it.
    • Maximum range of 100 yards.
Destruction Warlock Race sims in Raid

Recommendation

In general, it's safe to say that if you care about min-maxing your DPS, you should go with the highest DPS racial. That being said, the story is a bit different if it's about progression raiding. Some help out massively to speed up the progression on certain bosses. Notably, Dwarf with their Stoneform helped out on Tindral Sageswift and Fyrakk the Blazing in the latest Race to World First by having easy access to dispelling yourself at crucial points of the fights mentioned.

Macros

Patch 11.0.2 - The War Within
Destruction Warlock

Discover recommended macros for Destruction Warlocks during Raid encounters and watch a quick video guide on creating simple macros for your character.

Macro Import Guide Video

Cursor Macros

Cataclysm -- Casts Cataclysm on your cursor without confirmation.

#showtooltip
/cast [@cursor] Cataclysm

Summon Infernal - Uses Summon Infernal on your cursor position without reticle. Can't be used while Channel Demonfire is being cast.

#showtooltip
/cast [@cursor, nochanneling: Channel Demonfire] Summon Infernal

Rain of Fire -- Casts Rain of Fire without confirmation click which can save you valuable time and increases your Rain of Fire casts per second.

#showtooltip
/cast [@cursor] Rain of Fire

Shadowfury -- Casts Shadowfury on your cursor without confirmation.

#showtooltip
/cast [@cursor] Shadowfury

Mouseover Macros

Pet Macros

Utility Macros

Addons

Patch 11.0.2 - The War Within
Destruction Warlock

Below, you see a screenshot of the author's User Interface for their Destruction Warlock, outlining which addons are used and how they are utilized in Raids to make your life easier.

Destruction Warlock Interface in Raids

Addons

WeakAuras

Changes this Patch

Patch 11.0.2 - The War Within
Destruction Warlock

Patch 11.0.2

Patch 11.0.1

FAQ

Patch 11.0.2 - The War Within
Destruction Warlock

Q: Why is my Eradication uptime low?

Credits

Written By: Xerwo

Reviewed By: Shodam

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