Demonology Warlock DPS Spec, Builds, and Talents — Shadowlands 9.2.5
On this page, you will find out the best talents for each tier for your Demonology Warlock in World of Warcraft — Shadowlands 9.2.5. We also have default talent lists for various types of content, such as raiding or Mythic+. If you play with Warmode on, we have your PvP talents covered as well.
If you were looking for WoW Classic content, please refer to our TBC Classic Demonology Warlock talents.
- 1. Talent Choices for Demonology Warlock
- 2. Single Target Demonic Consumption Without Tier Set
- 3. Cleave Demonic Consumption Without Tier Set
- 4. Single Target and Cleave Build with Tier Set
- 5. Single Target Balespider Necrolord with Tier Set
- 6. Tier 1 (Level 15) Talents for Demonology Warlock
- 7. Tier 2 (Level 25) Talents for Demonology Warlock
Talent Choices for Demonology Warlock
Level | Choices | ||
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15 |
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25 |
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30 |
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35 |
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40 |
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45 |
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50 |
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Talents can be freely changed when out of combat and in a rested XP area
(such as an inn or a capital city). Moreover, Tome of the Still Mind and
Codex of the Still Mind can be used to temporarily allow players to change
talents anywhere, as long as they are out of combat.
Raiding
Do note that the builds suggested above do not account for specific fights in the current raid tier; that said, we do have a dedicated page that covers a boss-by-boss talent recommendations, which you can find linked below.
Mythic+
For specific Mythic+ advice, which typically involves having a set-up that can perform both in single-target and AoE situations, and this set-up can also be influenced by affixes and other things like party composition and pull layout. Check out our dedicated M+ page below.
How To Use Demonology Warlock Talents
Since several talent choices have an effect on your gameplay, we recommend reading our rotation page linked below to find out how to adapt your playstyle and priority based on your selected talents.
Single Target Demonic Consumption Without Tier Set
- Level 15:
Demonic Strength or
Bilescourge Bombers
- Level 25:
Demonic Calling
- Level 30: Player's Preference
- Level 35:
Summon Vilefiend
- Level 40:
Mortal Coil
- Level 45:
Grimoire: Felguard
- Level 50::
Demonic Consumption
Cleave Demonic Consumption Without Tier Set
- Level 15:
Demonic Strength or
Bilescourge Bombers
- Level 25:
Demonic Calling
- Level 30: Player's Preference
- Level 35:
Soul Strike
- Level 40:
Mortal Coil
- Level 45:
Grimoire: Felguard
- Level 50::
Demonic Consumption
Single Target and Cleave Build with Tier Set
- Level 15:
Dreadlash
- Level 25:
Demonic Calling
- Level 30: Player's Preference
- Level 35:
From the Shadows
- Level 40:
Mortal Coil
- Level 45:
Grimoire: Felguard
- Level 50::
Demonic Consumption
Single Target Balespider Necrolord with Tier Set
- Level 15:
Dreadlash
- Level 25:
Power Siphon
- Level 30: Player's Preference
- Level 35:
From the Shadows
- Level 40:
Mortal Coil
- Level 45:
Soul Conduit
- Level 50::
Sacrificed Souls
Tier 1 (Level 15) Talents for Demonology Warlock
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Dreadlash causes your
Call Dreadstalkers
Dreadbite to hit all targets with 8 yards, and deal 25% more damage.
Bilescourge Bombers opens a portal which will bombard a location over 6 seconds, dealing Shadow damage to targets within 8 yards. It has a 30-second cooldown.
Demonic Strength infuses your Felguard with demonic strength, commanding it to attack the current target and Felstorm for 400% increased damage, on a 60-second cooldown.
With the advent of the tier set and
specifically Demonology Warlock 2-Piece,
Dreadlash paired
with
Carnivorous Stalkers is the overall best choice in any
situation.
Before acquiring the set bonuses Bilescourge Bombers is tied
with
Demonic Strength for best single and 2-target damage, edging out
as more targets are involved.
The choice between Demonic Strength and
Bilescourge Bombers
is mostly player preference, but can be influenced by how frequent a given AoE
burst is required.
In terms of synergies, Demonic Strength pairs well with
Soul Strike and
Fel Commando, whereas
Dreadlash has
the strongest synergy with
Carnivorous Stalkers and
Grim Inquisitor's Dread Calling.
Tier 2 (Level 25) Talents for Demonology Warlock
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Demonic Calling causes
Shadow Bolt and
Demonbolt to have a 20% chance to make your next
Call Dreadstalkers cost 1 less Soul Shard and have no cast time.
Power Siphon instantly sacrifices (up to) 2 Wild Imps to generate 2 charges of Demonic Core and increase their damage by 30%.
Doom grants access to a DoT, dealing a large amount of damage after 30 seconds have elapsed. It generates a Soul Shard when damage is dealt.
Demonic Calling is a versatile option, less potent than
Doom in single-target, but offering ease of use, and increased
multi-target capabilities, while also offering better synergy
with
Wilfred's Sigil of Superior Summoning.
Power Siphon allows for a lot of on-demand resource generation,
Wild Imp creation, and burst. This talent is a great option for high movement
fights, or when you need to serve up a little more burst damage.
Doom is on paper the best choice for single-target output, but
does not scale well with additional targets due a higher gcd upkeep, the
delayed shard mechanic, quirks that impact how practical this choice can be
in a more busy iteration of Demonology in Shadowlands.
With the advent of double legendaries and the tier set Power Siphon
is the choice if you intend to play the Necrolord Balespider Sacrificed Souls
setup.
Tier 3 (Level 30) Talents for Demonology Warlock
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Demon Skin grants
Soul Leech a passive recharge rate of 0.5% of maximum health per second, and may now absorb 15% of maximum health.
Burning Rush grants 50% movement speed in exchange for 4% maximum health per second, and prevents you from being reduced below base movement speed.
Dark Pact grants a large shield on demand; 20% of your current health is sacrificed to shield you for 250% of the amount lost.
Burning Rush remains the most versatile option, as Warlocks have
little base mobility. Burning Rush functions both as a means to stay in range
and position aggressively, but also as a means of dodging mechanics. It is my
opinion that movement speed offers the greatest defensive benefit in most
situations, and you should default to this talent.
Dark Pact is a good option for encounters where you need to soak
a mechanic or survive a telegraphed amount of high damage. It is important to
note that the damage absorb is based on current health, rendering this ability
useless as a reactive cooldown. For Dark Pact to be effective, it needs to be used
while you are close to full health to mitigate a future amount of damage.
Demon Skin is a good choice for encounters with low movement and
consistent damage intake.
Tier 4 (Level 35) Talents for Demonology Warlock
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From the Shadows makes
Call Dreadstalkers's Dreadbite to cause the target to take 20% additional Shadowflame damage from you for 12 seconds.
Soul Strike commands your Felguard to deal Shadow damage and generate 1 Soul Shard.
Summon Vilefiend summons a demon to fight for you for 15 seconds, on a 45 second cooldown.
Summon Vilefiend is the default choice for single-target and
2-target situations, for
Demonic Consumption builds
until
Demonology Warlock 4-Piece is acquired.
Soul Strike is a versatile choice when more targets are present,
increasing Felguard mobility noticeably when swapping targets frequently.
Being an instant cast on a relatively short cooldown increases warlock
mobility, which is always a bonus.
From the Shadows is the best choice in any situation after acquiring
the tier set, due to the strong synergy with
both
Demonology Warlock 2-Piece and
Demonology Warlock 4-Piece.
Tier 5 (Level 40) Talents for Demonology Warlock
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Darkfury reduces the cooldown of
Shadowfury by 15 seconds.
Mortal Coil allows you to horrify an enemy and heal for 20% of your maximum health once every 45 seconds.
Howl of Terror causes the 5 nearest enemies within 10 yards to flee for up to 20 seconds on a 40-second cooldown. Damage may break the effect earlier.
With Demonic Circle becoming baseline
Mortal Coil is now the
default choice for most situations. It offers a noticeable heal on top of an
additional form of Crowd Control, which can prevent a wipe, especially in Mythic
dungeons.
Darkfury is an option for dungeons and Mythic+, allowing you to
Crowd Control groups of enemies far more often.
Howl of Terror is perhaps the more dungeon oriented option in the row,
allowing yet another form of AoE disruption on a relatively short cooldown.
Tier 6 (Level 45) Talents for Demonology Warlock
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Soul Conduit grants each Soul Shard spent a 15% chance to refund itself.
Inner Demons passively summons a Wild Imp for you every 10 seconds, and additionally has a 10% chance to summon an additional Demon to fight for you for 15 seconds.
Grimoire: Felguard summons a Felguard who attacks the target for 15 seconds and deals 50% increased damage, on a 2-minute cooldown.
Inner Demons provides some extra Imps with the chance at extra
demons, which is a consistent damage increase in any scenario but is
currently overshadowed by the other 2 options.
Soul Conduit is a jack of all trades talent, which pairs well
with
Borne of Blood to accelerate the shard flow. It is the default
choice if running
Sacrificed Souls but is still competitive in
multitarget with
Demonic Consumption.
Grimoire: Felguard deals a lot of burst damage, and is a
particularly powerful cooldown for cleave. Together with
Summon Vilefiend, it offers a noticeable bump in power for each tyrant
when
Demonic Consumption is talented.
Tier 7 (Level 50) Talents for Demonology Warlock
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Sacrificed Souls grant
Shadow Bolt and
Demonbolt 4% additional damage per demon you have currently summoned.
Demonic Consumption causes your Demonic Tyrant to absorb 15% of every other pet health to empower itself.
Nether Portal opens a rift for 15 seconds that summons additional demons each time you spend a Soul Shard.
Sacrificed Souls is a passive option that offers a steady damage
increase, but has a negative synergy with
Implosion and those
situations where it is frequently used. It is the numerically best pick
with Necrolord and
Balespider's Burning Core for a pure
single target build.
Nether Portal summons a variety of powerful demons that provide
high amounts of damage for their Soul Shard efficiency. The output and the
lack of any particular synergy with either tier set or the Unity legendary
makes this talent a subpar choice.
Demonic Consumption gives Demonology a stronger cooldown for burst
phases and offers the second best single target output but superior aoe
capabilities, making it the default choice.
PvP Talents (War Mode)
Under our Talents section, there is the option to enter "War Mode". Enabling War Mode provides the following benefits:
- PvP talents enabled in the outdoor world;
- 10% increase in World Quest rewards at maximum level;
- 10% more experience gained while leveling;
- Earn Conquest Points which can reward gear every week.
With the benefits of enabling War Mode for leveling and PvE content, it is recommended you enable the feature. In most situations, this will allow for the maximum returns despite the risks. You will make yourself available for open world PvP, and the possibility to be "ganked" while leveling or doing World Quests exists.
Demonology Warlock War Mode Talents
In this section we will rank the PvP talents best for leveling and doing solo / small group PvE content. Below is a ranking of both General PvP Talents and Demonology Warlock-specific PvE talents.
Warlock generic PvP Talents
Essence Drain stacks a damage reduction effect on enemies that are damaged by your
Drain Life. You can reduce their damage by up to 25%, which is a large increase to your ability to survive and sustain.
Amplify Curse empower your next curse effect.
Bane of Fragility reduces the target's maximum health by up to 10% by 15 seconds, which is very desirable when setting up bursts.
Casting Circle is a 1-minute cooldown ability that creates an area in which you are immune to silence and interrupts for 8 seconds. Removes silence/interrupt immunity from
Unending Resolve.
Gateway Mastery increase your gateway's range by 20 yards, and reduces the duration of the debuff placed on players using it by 15 seconds making it a good choice when increased mobility is needed.
Nether Ward summons a shield lasting 3 seconds and reflecting back all harmful spells targeted at you. Has a 45-second cooldown and it is extremely valuable when facing caster teams.
Demonology Warlock PvP Talents
Call Felhunter allows you to interrupt once every 24 seconds. This talent has exceptional and flexible use and feels really good in all situations.
Call Fel Lord guards a location for 15 seconds; any enemies that come within range take up to 5% of maximum Health as damage. This can be used very strategically in certain situations and is capable of dealing some nice burst damage.
Call Observer guards a location for 20 seconds; any enemies that cast spells in the radius will take up to 5% of maximum Health as damage. This has a lot more limited use, but can have absurd value in specific situations.
Master Summoner makes
Call Dreadstalkers an instant cast. Since we are often using
Demonic Calling, the quality of life of this talent is diminished. It can be used if you prefer the consistency, but there are generally better choices.
Pleasure through Pain increases your shadow damage by 15% when you have Succubus active a pet.
Singe Magic is an improved defensive dispel on a 15-second cooldown if Imp is the active demon.
Changelog
- 31 May 2022: Page reviewed for Patch 9.2.5.
- 22 Feb. 2022: Updated talent options for 9.2.
- 01 Nov. 2021: Reviewed and approved for Patch 9.1.5.
- 28 Jun. 2021: Updated for Patch 9.1.
- 09 Mar. 2021: Updated talent recommendation and reasoning in Tier 1 after Patch 9.0.5.
- 23 Feb. 2020: Added new build, updated talent recommendation and reasoning in Tier 2 and 4.
- 03 Dec. 2020: Updated talent choices, explanations and builds after further testing and simulations.
- 23 Nov. 2020: Updated for Shadowlands.
- 12 Oct. 2020: Page updated for the Shadowlands 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.
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