Demonology Warlock DPS Easy Mode — The War Within (11.1.7)
On this page, we explain how to easily play Demonology Warlock in World of Warcraft — The War Within (11.1.7), using the simplest rotation, talent tree, stat priority, gear setup, etc., without sacrificing performance.
Foreword
This section is intended for players who are new to the game or class, have no intentions of raiding Mythic difficulty or simply want a more straightforward way to play their specialization without being overwhelmed by the numerous priorities and active abilities that need to be taken into consideration for optimal play.
The Basics of a Demonology Warlock
Demonology focuses on maintaining a small army of demons at all times, which will deal most of your damage. This specialization can be very effective, particularly on single targets and burst AoE.
In this section, we will be focusing on a setup that minimizes the amount of buttons, AddOns, and reactivity necessary without compromising overall damage output.
For newcomers, it is advisable to browse the Spell Summary page first in order to learn more about the abilities available and to familiarise yourself with.
Beginner's Guide to Demonology Warlock in The War Within
Beginner All-around Talents for Demonology Warlock
These choices are optimized for ease of use while offering a setup that works in any situation with no adjustments required. As a reminder, this is not the optimal choice in either single target or multitarget in terms of output, but one that can help players become familiar with the specialization at its core.
To import the build directly in-game, click on the export button at the bottom of the calculator
Beginner Demonology Warlock DPS Rotation
Single Target Rotation for Demonology Warlock
- Cast
Demonic Strength on cooldown.
- Cast
Call Dreadstalkers whenever available.
- Cast
Hand of Gul'dan if you have 4-5 Soul Shards.
- Cast
Demonbolt if you have 2+ stacks of
Demonic Core.
- Cast
Hand of Gul'dan with 3 Soul Shards.
- Cast
Shadow Bolt to generate Soul Shards.
Summon Demonic Tyrant should be cast on cooldown, making sure to
extend
Call Dreadstalkers and as many Wild Imps as possible
(aim for at least 2 sets or 6 in total).
Multiple Target Rotation for Demonology Warlock
Save Demonic Strength for when more targets
can be hit, but do not delay it by more than a few seconds. Otherwise, the
rotation is identical to a single target, as the vast majority of your damage
also cleaves around the main target.
Use Implosion every 2
Hand of Gul'dan when there are at
least 2 targets close.
For a more comprehensive explanation of the priority list, including openers, check out the rotation page.
Combat Assistant For Demonology Warlock
Introduced in Patch 11.1.7 the Combat Assistant is at the time of writing comprised of two main features:
- Assisted Highlight, which displays the next spell to be queued, in a adequately accurate rotation single target and limited capabilities in multitarget, best used to familiarise with the flow/cadence of the spec;
- Single Button Assistant enabling to use a single input to use multiple skills in the sequence prompted by the Assisted Highlight, at the expense of a longer base global cooldown (which accounts for an additional 5% to 10% dps loss).
It is worth pointing out that these tools are Accessibility features first and foremost and should not be considered a direct replacement to learn a spec, and the logic behind it.
The areas where the Combat Assistant struggle the most for Demonology Warlock are:
- Multitarget in general, due how it considers all targets stacked regardless of the situation;
- Cooldown usage, since it is either missing, or there is no preparation entering a given cooldown, Tyrant is entirely missing and setting it up correctly is a major part of Demonology overall dps;
Implosion is not supported
Tips for using the Combat Assistant as Demonology Warlock
- cooldown alignment has to be done manually, especially considering racials, potions and on-use equipment;
Doom spread has to be done manually as well in multitarget situations;
- In general try to maximise the amount of time spent casting, especially when using the Single Button Assistant, as downtime is one of the improvement areas at any stage of the game.
If you are looking to maximize your output as Demonology Warlock instead of simplicity and ease of use, you can find a more in-depth analysis and rationale on our talent page as follows:
Gearing an Demonology Warlock
Stat Priority for Demonology Warlock
Currently, you will want to prioritize secondary stats as follows:
- Haste
- Critical Strike
- Mastery ≅Versatility.
While stats priority is a general guideline, there might be situations where the lists differ. If you are interested in a detailed explanation of Stats with the effects and implications each one of those provides, head to the page below.
If you are interested in finding out about the specific best-in-slot items from the current tier or want more information on how to gear, we suggest reading the full gearing page below.
Changelog
- 15 Jun. 2025: Added a section for the Combat Assistant.
- 21 Apr. 2025: Reviewed for Patch 11.1.5.
- 24 Feb. 2025: Updated for Patch 11.1.0.
- 15 Dec. 2024: Updated for Patch 11.0.7.
- 21 Oct. 2024: Reviewed for Patch 11.0.5.
- 09 Sep. 2024: Reviewed for The War Within Season 1.
- 21 Aug. 2024: Updated sections to account for Hero Talents.
- 23 Jul. 2024: Updated for The War Within pre-patch.
- 07 May 2024: Reviewed for 10.2.7.
- 22 Apr. 2024: Reviewed for Season 4.
- 19 Mar. 2024: Reviewed for 10.2.6.
- 15 Jan. 2024: Reviewed for Patch 10.2.5.
- 06 Nov. 2023: Updated talents for Patch 10.2.
- 04 Sep. 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.1.7
- 10 Jul. 2023: Updated talents for Patch 10.1.5.
- 01 May 2023: Reviewed for patch 10.1.
- 20 Mar. 2023: Updated talents for Patch 10.0.7.
- 24 Jan. 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
- 23 Dec. 2022: Updated talent tree.
- 11 Dec. 2022: Reviewed for Dragonflight Season 1.
- 28 Nov. 2022: Updated for Dragonflight launch.
- 25 Oct. 2022: Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
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This guide has been written by Motoko, Warlock main since The Burning Crusade, co-admin in the Warlock Discord, and theorycrafter and contributor for LockOneStopShop.
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