Demonology Warlock DPS Rotation, Cooldowns, and Abilities — The War Within Pre-Patch
On this page, you will learn how to optimize the rotation of your Demonology Warlock in both single-target and multiple-target situations. We also have advanced sections about cooldowns, procs, etc. in order to minmax your DPS. All our content is updated for World of Warcraft — The War Within Pre-Patch.
If you were looking for WotLK Classic content, please refer to our WotLK Classic Demonology Warlock rotation.
Playstyle for Demonology Warlock
Welcome to our Rotation page for Demonology Warlocks. On this page, you will find everything you need to know about actually playing the spec in Raiding and Mythic+ scenarios.
Easy Mode
If the rotations below seem overwhelming to you, you might benefit from visiting our Easy Mode page, which outlines a close-to-optimal rotation with a much greater ease of use.
PvP
Since the content on this page is only relevant for PvE, we recommend the PvP page below in case you want specific PvP rotation information.
Demonology Warlock revolves around a system of generating demonic forces.
The more active demons you have, the more damage you will deal.
In addition to straight damage, you will also receive more procs of
Demonic Core, which feeds back into more Soul Shard generation
and, by extension, more demons.
Select Your Talents and Essences
By selecting talents and essences below, the rotations in this guide will update accordingly.
- Talents
- With the
Demonic Strength talent selected.
-
With the
Bilescourge Bombers talent selected.
- With the
Power Siphon talent selected.
- With the
Inner Demons talent selected.
- With the
Summon Vilefiend talent selected.
- With the
Grimoire: Felguard talent selected.
- With
the
Summon Demonic Tyrant talent selected.
- With the
Implosion talent selected.
- With the
Guillotine talent selected.
- With
the
Warlock Demonology 10.2 Class Set 2pc equipped and active.
- With the
Single Target Priority for Demonology Warlock
- 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.
Cooldown Usage for Demonology Warlock
Summon Demonic Tyrant is our main cooldown. The Demonic Tyrant lasts
15 seconds and extend the lifespan of all your existing demons during its
uptime and freezes the energy consumption of up to 10 Wild Imps
(15 with
Reign of Tyranny). It also sports an aura that increases
all of your demons' damage by 15% for the duration.
Summon Demonic Tyrant should not be used thoughtlessly. Setting up
for the Demonic Tyrant is an important part of playing the specialization
properly. Here is a list of tips before using each Demonic Tyrant:
- Ensure Summon Demonic Tyrant will occur while your Dreadstalkers are active.
Guillotine
In its current implementation, Guillotine can be a little
unintuitive to maximize. Below are the rules that define the spell
behavior:
Guillotine can NOT be cast while Felguard is performing
Demonic Strength;
- During
Guillotine Felguard will NOT cast
Felstorm or
Legion Strike, but can perform
Soul Strike if talented.
Because of said rules, one sequence is easy to learn and does not require any
addon tracking is the following
(assuming Demonic Strength talented):
- Start the engagement, allowing the Felguard to charge and start casting
their
Felstorm;
- Try to cast
Demonic Strength which will only trigger when the Felguard has finished
Felstorm;
- likewise try to cast
Guillotine which will only succeed once the Felguard has finished
Demonic Strength.
Alternatively, there are plenty of WeakAuras that can track Felguard actions.
Opening Sequence for Demonology Warlock
- Cast
Call Dreadstalkers.
Multiple Target Priority for Demonology Warlock
Demonology has little variation in playstyle when multiple targets are
present. Implosion is the only ability that is not a part
of the single target rotation, which we must take note of. When dealing with
multiple stacked targets, we will often use
Implosion for
additional damage. This also enables more
Demonic Core procs
in the short term, which we can use for more resources to fuel Hand of
Gul'dan.
- Cast
Call Dreadstalkers whenever available.
- Cast
Hand of Gul'dan if you have 4-5 Soul Shards.
- Cast
Demonbolt if you have 3+ stacks of
Demonic Core.
- Cast
Power Siphon to generate
Demonic Core.
- Cast
Shadow Bolt to generate Soul Shards.
If there are a large number of targets and no damage priorities, such as
during dungeon trash, and the Tyrant is on cooldown, you should no longer
cast
Summon Vilefiend (without
Fel Invocation), instead opting to
use your Soul Shards on more
Hand of Gul'dan casts and more frequent
Implosions. Always
cast
Call Dreadstalkers even in AoE, since you will gain
Demonic Core procs.
If you have talented heavily into additional AoE, such as the talent
Bilescourge Bombers, you should use such abilities more or less on
cooldown, or when you judge you will get the maximum benefit out of them.
Implosion Usage
It is most efficient to use Implosion every 2 casts
of
Hand of Gul'dan without any
Demonic Core (or 3 with at least
2
Demonic Core procs) for 2 reasons mainly.
- The Imps will deal a respectable amount of damage during their lifespan,
but still generate
Implosion damage before despawning.
- Every cast of
Implosion has the opportunity cost of 0.75 shards (where you could cast
Shadow Bolt instead), meaning the optimal scenario is being able to implode every Imps with the the least amount of casts, without them fading away.
When The Houndmaster's Stratagem is talented, make sure to hit 2
Implosions each cycle, and to do so, get to 5 shards with 2 Imp sets
out before casting
Call Dreadstalkers followed by the first
Implosion.
Imp Gang Boss in its current iteration does not
influence
Implosion rotation.
Mythic+ Rotation
We have a dedicated Mythic+ page if you want specific information about the best M+ Demonology Warlock rotation.
Important Notes for Demonology Warlock
Soul Shards
All Warlocks use Soul Shards as their primary resource. Properly managing
your Shards is crucially important to success, as they control the size of
your demon horde. Incorrectly dumping Soul Shards at the wrong time can have
domino effects that reduce your damage output, particularly
around the time Summon Demonic Tyrant is coming off of cooldown.
Keep a careful eye on your Call Dreadstalkers cooldown, as
you will always want to have a pair of Soul Shards ready. One important change
from Legion is the Soul Shard cost of
Hand of Gul'dan; this spell
now costs a maximum of 3 Soul Shards. The important takeaway of this is that
with maximum Soul Shards, we can now cast Hand of Gul'dan and Call
Dreadstalkers back to back.
If you are talented into additional summons, such as
Summon Vilefiend or
Grimoire: Felguard, be sure to take
their Soul Shard cost into account when approaching a
Summon Demonic Tyrant cast. Typically, you want to get these summons
out fairly early, squeeze in a
Call Dreadstalkers cast as well as
2-3 casts of
Hand of Gul'dan, then activate your Demonic Tyrant.
Demonic Core management, along with your use of
Power Siphon is the crucial variable that determines how many
demons you can make ready for this powerful cooldown.
Managing Demonic Core
Demonic Core is our main proc and almost a secondary resource
of the specialization. If you played Demonology in Warlords of Draenor or
earlier, you will notice Demonic Core and Demonbolt are almost exactly the same
as Molten Core and Soul Fire. Demonic Core enables the use of
Demonbolt, which, in other words, enables us to generate a lot of
Soul Shards quickly. Demonic Core has a maximum of 4 stacks, which makes proper
management of this ability a necessity for skillful play.
Each time you are approaching a Summon Demonic Tyrant usage,
you will want to have at least 2 stacks of
Demonic Core. This will
allow you to quickly generate Soul Shards to pump out as many summons as
possible leading up to Demonic Tyrant. If you are using
Power Siphon,
you should use it to add an extra pair of
Demonbolts to put
towards a few extra
Hand of Gul'dan casts.
If you are in a situation where you are making frequent use of
Implosion, you can be a lot more liberal with your use of
Demonic Core stacks. Your damage will benefit a lot more from
the increased Wild Imps you can fling at the adds rather than having a
maximum power Tyrant. You will still want to ensure your Tyrant is powering
up a few waves of un-detonated Imps, but you should not feel like you have to
save stacks of Demonic Core that you could be using for cleave.
In general, you do not want to pool more than 2 charges
of Demonic Core, else you risk losing potential stacks; however,
whenever you need a burst or a quick switch, do not hesitate to plan ahead
and hold more charges.
Demon Choice
Always use a Felguard, your Demonology-specific demon. Your
Command Demon ability is now
Axe Toss, which should only be
used if you need a stun. It is recommended that you leave the
Felstorm,
Legion Strike and
Soul Strike abilities on
auto-cast. If you want to optimize cleave and AoE, however, Felstorm can
be separately keybound and used tactically for a larger-than-average number
of targets.
Remember to turn off your Felguard's Threatening Presence
when in party or raid environments.
Movement Management
While it is difficult to describe the best ways to position and move during
a dungeon or raid encounter, it is essential to your success as a Demonology
Warlock. Demonic Gateway can be highly effective in many encounters
and is under-appreciated by many players and raid groups. Think of
Demonic Gateway as a raid cooldown that can instantly teleport your
entire raid group 40 yards, and the potential this ability holds quickly
becomes clear. Ask your group if they want
Demonic Gateway anywhere
specific; if not used for your strategy, use it instead as a personal cooldown.
Demonbolt can be used strategically to cover movement, as it
is the only instant cast we have access to. You can mitigate the need to
move by positioning in locations central to fight movement. For instance, if a
boss is being kited in a circle, you should stay on the inside of the kite
path to ensure minimal movement. You should also determine how your
Demonic Circle can make a fight easier for you. There are many
boss mechanics that can be trivialized with a clever portal, which can free
you up to deal a lot more damage.
Soulburn used in conjunction with
Demonic Gateway
offers a quick way to cover large distances and can be used in a rush when
the need to reposition is immediate.
Quiet Movement
Many players will unconsciously move during fights, despite it being unnecessary. For example, sometimes the boss or adds will be moved by the tank a couple of yards, and though you are still in range to cast, you subconsciously mirror that movement, costing you global cooldowns. Consciously work to "quiet" your movement, and reduce unnecessary movement to a minimum. The best way to see this in action is to take a video of your raid and then watch yourself play. Most players will be surprised by the amount of wasted movement they commit. When you are forced to move, make your path as direct and decisive as possible.
Changelog
- 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: Updated for Patch 10.2.5.
- 06 Nov. 2023: Updated for Patch 10.2.
- 04 Sep. 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.1.7
- 10 Jul. 2023: Updated for Patch 10.1.5.
- 01 May 2023: Updated for Patch 10.1.
- 20 Mar. 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.0.7.
- 24 Jan. 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
- 11 Dec. 2022: Updated selectors for the openers and priority lists.
- 28 Nov. 2022: Updated for Dragonflight launch.
- 25 Oct. 2022: Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
More Warlock Guides
Guides from Other Classes
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.
- World First Mythic Garrosh Solo in MoP Remix
- Druid Changes in the War Within Beta Build 55789
- Alysrazor Bugged in the War Within Pre-Patch
- The War Within Pre-Patch Early Mythic+ DPS, Tank and Healer Log Rankings
- The War Within and Season of Discovery Hotfixes, July 25th
- Game Time Incoming for Players on North American Realms
- Demon Hunter Changes in the War Within Beta Build 55789
- Molten Core Trash Mob Immunity Hotfix