Demonology Warlock DPS Mythic+ Tips — The War Within (11.1.5)

Mythic+ has become a large part of the World of Warcraft endgame, but the sheer amount of different variables has left many players feeling overwhelmed. The group composition, weekly affixes, the item level of the group, the keystone level and the experience and comfort level of the group are just several of the factors that will influence how you approach each dungeon. The purpose of this page is to prepare you for the key differences that set Mythic+, apart from the typical World of Warcraft endgame experience, including talents and rotational anomalies that may not be obvious at first glance.

Demonology Warlocks have the potential to deal extremely high burst AoE damage after a proper setup while also offering multiple short cooldowns that suit well the average dungeon pull cadence. With multiple abilities having some form of cleave effect, Demonology's damage profile is well-suited for dungeons, with the only negative of being limited by specific setup periods, and a slightly longer interrupt that shares a stun. The spec still retains all the class baseline toolkit comprised of Healthstones, Soulstones, skip-enabling Demonic Gateway, AoE crowd control abilities such as Shadowfury and Howl of Terror, and uncapped AoE spells.

While both single- and multi-target rotations do not differ substantially from the standard priority outlined in Rotation, Cooldowns, and Abilities page there are few points worth noting:

• Starting a new pull without resources means a relatively long period of a time when the damage will be low due to Shadow Bolt being the only resource generator outside of procs. This makes transitioning between pulls with Soul Shards/Demonic Cores/Wild Imps are extremely important to maintaining a higher DPS profile across the dungeon.
• While it may look tempting, it is generally better not to implode at the end of a dungeon pack, trying to spend all the Shards on additional Wild Imps, in order to regenerate 3 shards out of combat and being able to cast a massive Implosion or Tyrant at the next pack.

While damage is the bigger reason to bring a Demonology Warlock, the class itself offers a noticeable amount of crowd control and various supporting abilities:

• Recently reintroduced, the Curses can offer some advantage against specific dangerous enemies: Curse of Tongues can reduce the number of interrupts required by the group, while Curse of Weakness alleviates the incoming damage on the tank from auto attacks. Last but not least, Curse of Exhaustion can be used to slow targets in situations where kiting is required. While these effects can be noticeable, it is better to use curses on a few key targets, as the time spent to apply these effects is time not spent doing damage.
• Healthstones have a 1-minute cooldown and heal for 25% of max health, allowing for an emergency heal for each player.
• Soulstones offer a combat resurrection that can be used both reactively and preemptively in the case of a death run.
• Demonic Gateway offers the unique ability to skip certain parts of the map, depending on the dungeon in question, avoiding specific pulls.
• Shadowfury helps alleviate pressure on the tank during big pulls as it is a 3-second AoE stun.
• Fear and Banish are both spammable crowd control abilities that can be used to interrupt a cast in a pinch or to temporarily remove a target from combat.

Below are the recommended talents for Mythic+. There is a certain degree of flexibility when progressing down the path, to accommodate for preferences or to meet specific requirements, as discussed further.

• Demonic Circle, Shadowfury, Banish and Amplify Curse should be considered flex slots in order to accommodate individual dungeon or affix mechanics;
• Ichor of Devils can be swapped with Frequent Donor if higher uptime on Dark Pact is desirable;
• Similarly, Dark Accord can be considered instead of Strength of Will
• Howl of Terror is another AoE crowd control that can be considered but is capped at 5 targets thus Mortal Coil is generally more beneficial

• Pact of the Ered'ruin and Antoran Armaments are interchangeable depending on where the dps is needed most;
• Imp-erator over Annihilan Training can offer slightly better single target, but the opportunity cost is quite steep otherwise.

The following section contains Warlock-specific tips and tricks to help in specific dungeons' bosses and trash. Check out our dedicated page below for general guides regarding Dungeons or Mythic+ in general.

The following section contains Warlock-specific tips for dealing with the various affixes of Mythic+. For general guides for each of our Dungeons or Mythic+ in general, check out our dedicated page below.

6.

Affix Guide for Demonology Warlock in The War Within

Affix: Ascendant Affix: Voidbound Affix: Pulsar Affix: Devour

5.1.

Ascendant Affix Management for Demonology Warlock

Any crowd-control or interrupt spell will work:

• Shadowfury;
• Howl of Terror (capped to 5);
• Fear;
• Mortal Coil;
• Pet interrupts.

5.2.

Voidbound Affix Management for Demonology Warlock

Target that has to be prioritised so no specific guidance required.

5.3.

Pulsar Affix Management for Demonology Warlock

There no particular suggestion for this mechanic centered around just soaking those orbs, although the movement reduction can be offset by Burning Rush.

5.4.

Devour Affix Management for Demonology Warlock

Healing abilities such as Mortal Coil and Healthstone can help removing the shields if no other means to dispel them are available.

Summon Imp Singe Magic can dispel a single shield.

You should be using your Felguard at all times as a Demonology Warlock.

When choosing your trinkets, we recommend simulating yourself on Raidbots using the Patchwerk option for raids and single-target, and Patchwerk with 4-5 targets or Hectic Add Cleave for an educated guess on multi-target performance in Dungeons. Usually, trinkets that proc stats are more versatile and better performers than single-target spell damage procs unless they are overtuned.

You can also get a quick overview of good Mythic+ Trinkets on our Gearing page, specifically the Simulation chart for multi-target scenarios.