Destruction Warlock DPS Mythic+ Tips — Battle for Azeroth (BfA) 8.2

1. Mythic+ Introduction for Destruction Warlock

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.

2. Affix List

2.1. Tier One Affixes

• Fortified increases the Health pool of all non-boss enemies by 20% and damage dealt by 30%.
• Tyrannical increases the Health pool of boss enemies by 40% and their damage dealt by 15%.

Fortified and Tyrannical are two affixes, one of which is always present on all Mythic+ Keystones, regardless of level. These affixes shift the focus of dungeons from boss damage to trash damage depending on the current affix. Destruction isn't particularly well suited to either affix, but does perform adequately.

2.2. Tier Two Affixes

• Raging increases the damage dealt by enemies below 30% by 100% until they die.
• Teeming adds additional trash mobs to certain packs throughout each dungeon.
• Bolstering buffs remaining enemies Health pools and damage dealt by 20% when an enemy dies nearby. To counter this affix, DPS all mobs down evenly and focus your casts into high Health mobs if there are any.
• Sanguine places a pool of blood on the ground when a mob is slain. This pool will heal remaining enemies who stay inside the zone and also damage players.
• Bursting forces enemy mobs to detonate when slain, afflicting the group with a stacking debuff that causes players to suffer 10% of their max Health in damage every four seconds..

2.3. Tier Three Affixes

• Volcanic spawns volcanic plumes underneath and around players when in combat with any enemy. When damaged by Volcanic, players suffer 50% of their maximum Health pool in damage. The more enemies you are in combat with, the more Volcanic that will spawn.
• Grievous afflicts players with a stacking DoT when they fall below 90%.
• Quaking will periodically attempt to interrupt casters by creating a damaging zone around each player. About 3 seconds after the zone forms, it will deal 20% maximum Health in damage to each player caught in the zone as well as interrupting any hard casts being finished during the shockwave.
• Explosive will occasionally spawn Explosive Orbs that need to be targeted and burned down within a short period of time or they will deal significant damage to the party.
• Necrotic debuffs the target of enemy melee swings with stacking healing reduction and minor DoT.
• Skittish reduces the amount of threat generated by tanks throughout the dungeon.

Movement should be filled with instant casts whenever possible.

2.4. Seasonal Affix

These Emissaries each have a different "decree", based on their type. Enchanted Emissary, the arcane-themed, has a passive aura Queen's Decree: Blowback and the passive ability Enchanted. Use ranged attacks to knock the Emissary away until its energy depletes and it teleports away. Make sure to not use powerful attacks while inside the bubble, if you are not ranged, since you will suffer 150% of the damage you deal.

Void-Touched Emissary is the second type, easily recognizable by the purple shade and swirling bolts around it, reminiscent of a Shadow Priest's abilities. This Emissary comes with a passive aura Void Sight, granting it True Sight in a frontal cone. Once engaged, it will keep casting an AoE in a 60-yard radius, doing 50% of the target's health in Shadow Damage and triggering Queen's Decree: Hide, making following hits much harder. The strategy to deal with this target is to either break the Line of Sight on every cast or allow 1 hit, then hide to let the Queen's Decree: Hide debuff fade. Once the Emissary reaches 1 HP, it will stop any cast and instead teleport away, removing itself from the dungeon.

Emissary of the Tides is the third and last type, characterized by a white/light blue shade. The Emissary has a passive aura, Queen's Decree: Unstoppable, which makes every nearby ally immune to any crowd-control effect. Depending on the pull, it may become the primary focus, and once it reaches 1 HP, it will teleport away.

3. Mythic+ Talents for Destruction Warlock

Level	Choices
15	✓ Flashover	? Eradication	✗ Soul Fire
30	✓ Reverse Entropy	? Internal Combustion	✗ Shadowburn
45	✗ Demon Skin	✓ Burning Rush	✓ Dark Pact
60	✗ Inferno	? Fire and Brimstone	✓ Cataclysm
75	? Darkfury	? Mortal Coil	✓ Demonic Circle
90	✓ Roaring Blaze	✓ Grimoire of Supremacy	✗ Grimoire of Sacrifice
100	✗ Soul Conduit	? Channel Demonfire	✓ Dark Soul: Instability

3.1. Talent Explanations

Most of our explanations are geared towards keystones that challenge the current item level of your group. If you are doing keystones that are well below the current power level of the group, you should default to our build recommended above, as you will likely be able to do pulls much larger than intended, which skews the talent choices towards AoE and burst focused choices rather than builds that support sustained damage.

3.1.1. Tier 1/Level 15

Flashover is the best talent due to its flexibility, being a potent option for single target and cleave. Eradication does offer slightly higher single-target damage, however it falls behind in all other categories.

3.1.2. Tier 2/Level 30

Internal Combustion offers slightly better single-target damage, but for anything else Reverse Entropy is numerically better.

3.1.3. Tier 3/Level 45

Dark Pact is a great choice for challenging keystones, as the cooldown is often necessary to survive lethal boss abilities or the more difficult trash pulls.

Burning Rush is the best choice for any situation where you feel Dark Pact is unnecessary.

3.1.4. Tier 4/Level 60

Cataclysm should be the default choice, offering a good balance between cleave and single target output.

Fire and Brimstone should be considered if you really need damage on trash packs, but keep in mind your single target damage will suffer by not taking Cataclysm.

3.1.5. Tier 5/Level 75

Demonic Circle can be used creatively in some dungeons, such as to make certain bosses easier for yourself.

Darkfury can be used to provide more frequent access to AoE stuns. If you do not find yourself making use of Demonic Circle often in dungeons, take this talent and provide more Crowd Control.

Mortal Coil is a strong choice whenever you do not need the mobility given by Demonic Circle. It offers a noticeable heal on top of an additional form of Crowd Control, which can prevent a wipe, especially in Mythic dungeons.

3.1.6. Tier 6/Level 90

Grimoire of Supremacy is the best choice for Tyrannical weeks, due to the high single target damage it provides. This can also be an insane cooldown for certain trash packs, as the Soul Shard generation from Fire and Brimstone will fuel your damage.

Roaring Blaze is a passive option and offers slightly higher damage pack to pack, due to the long cooldown of Grimoire of Supremacy. It will not allow for the same heights, but if you feel that the damage cooldown is unnecessary then this is the talent to take.

The choice between Grimoire of Supremacy and Roaring Blaze is dictated by your cooldown usage, not just Tyrannical presence. If you use Summon Infernal on trash packs you want to use Roaring Blaze, however if you need it for bosses or some specific hard pulls during Fortified week, consider opting for Grimoire of Supremacy.

3.1.7. Tier 7/Level 100

Channel Demonfire offers good cleave and AoE, however it suffers greatly during high movement affix weeks.

Dark Soul: Instability provides great damage for bosses and has huge potential paired with Grimoire of Supremacy. If you know the dungeon layout, you can also use this to rip through difficult packs when necessary.

4. Essence Choices for Destruction Warlock

Essence of the Focusing Iris is an exceptionally strong choice for dungeons, substantially increasing Destruction output during trash pulls, as it provides a powerful AoE cooldown on 1.5-minute cooldown.

Vision of Perfection is another noteworthy choice, enabling higher Infernal uptime and reduced cooldowns, but lacking the control over when to proc the Essence Infernal. Overall, it is a solid choice.

Memory of Lucid Dreams is an interesting alternative that should be coupled with Strive for Perfection to get the maximum value out of it. What this combo does is essentially make Destruction a spec based around powerful cooldowns, stacking every 2 minutes and few seconds.

For the choice of Minor, if you need to bolster your AoE damage, consider taking Purification Protocol.

If you prefer single-target output, consider running Ancient Flame.

Lastly, for a balanced approach, take Lucid Dreams, Focused Energy, or Blood-Soaked.

5. Stat Priority for Destruction Warlock

1. Haste;
2. Mastery ≅ Critical Strike;
3. Versatility;
4. Intellect.

6. Pet Choice for Destruction Warlock

The Felhunter is typically the best choice, as it grants you an interrupt, which is a huge advantage in Mythic+; consider swapping to Imp if you need additional dispel.

7. Changelog