Destruction Warlock DPS Mythic+ Tips in Battle for Azeroth (BfA) 8.0.1

Table of Contents

• +Introduction
  • 1. Class Overview
  • 2. Patch 8.0.1 Changes for Destruction Warlock
  • 3. Destruction Warlock Strengths
  • 4. Destruction Warlock Weaknesses
  • 5. Destruction Warlock's Viability in the Current Patch
  • 6. Contents
  • 7. Changelog
• +Easy Mode
  • 1. Foreword
  • 2. The Basics of a Destruction Warlock
  • 3. Talent Choice for Destruction Warlock
  • 4. Stat Priority for Destruction Warlock
  • 5. Azerite Quick Reference for Destruction Warlock
    • 5.1. Single Target
    • 5.2. Cleave
  • 6. Single Target Rotation for Destruction Warlock
  • 7. Multiple Target Rotation for Destruction Warlock
  • 8. Changelog
• +Spell Summary
  • 1. Destruction Warlock Spell Summary
  • 2. Main Resources for Destruction Warlock
  • 3. Basic Abilities for Destruction Warlock
    • 3.1. Soul Shard Generating Abilities
    • 3.2. Soul Shard Consuming Abilities
  • 4. Cooldowns for Destruction Warlock
    • 4.1. Damage Cooldowns for Destruction Warlock
    • 4.2. Defensive Cooldowns and Tools for Destruction Warlock
• +Builds and Talents
  • 1. Talent Choices for Destruction Warlock
  • 2. Talent Cheat Sheets
    • 2.1. Single Target
    • 2.2. Two Targets
    • 2.3. Four Targets (Mythic+)
  • 3. Tier 1 (Level 15) Talents for Destruction Warlock
  • 4. Tier 2 (Level 30) Talents for Destruction Warlock
  • 5. Tier 3 (Level 45) Talents for Destruction Warlock
  • 6. Tier 4 (Level 60) Talents for Destruction Warlock
  • 7. Tier 5 (Level 75) Talents for Destruction Warlock
  • 8. Tier 6 (Level 90) Talents for Destruction Warlock
  • 9. Tier 7 (Level 100) Talents for Destruction Warlock
  • 10. PvP Talents (War Mode)
    • 10.1. Destruction Warlock War Mode Talents
      • 10.1.1. General PvP Talents
      • 10.1.2. Destruction Warlock PvP Talents
  • 11. Changelog
• +Azerite Traits and Armor
  • 1. General Azerite Gear Recommendation
  • 2. Choosing Azerite Gear as an Destruction Warlock
  • 3. Choosing Azerite Traits as an Destruction Warlock
    • 3.1. Outer Ring
    • 3.2. Middle Ring
    • 3.3. Inner Ring
  • 4. Azerite Simulation Rankings for Destruction Warlock
    • 4.1. Single Target
      • 4.1.1. Outer Ring
      • 4.1.2. Middle Ring
    • 4.2. Cleave/AoE
      • 4.2.1. Outer Ring
      • 4.2.2. Middle Ring
  • 5. Azerite Traits Rotation Changes and Details for Destruction Warlock
  • 6. Azerite Traits
    • 6.1. Generic Outer Ring Traits
    • 6.2. Destruction Warlock Specific Outer Ring Traits
  • 7. Find Azerite Armor By Trait/Power
  • 8. Changelog
• +Rotation, Cooldowns, and Abilities
  • 1. Ability Priority List for Destruction Warlock
    • 1.1. Single Target Priority for Destruction Warlock
    • 1.2. Cooldown Usage for Destruction Warlock
    • 1.3. Opening Sequence for Destruction Warlock
    • 1.4. Multiple Target Priority for Destruction Warlock
  • 2. Important Notes for Destruction Warlock
    • 2.1. Soul Shard Generation and Consumption
    • 2.2. Chaos Bolt
    • 2.3. Havoc Usage
    • 2.4. Movement Management
      • 2.4.1. Quiet Movement
  • 3. Changelog
• ×Mythic+ Tips
  • 1. Mythic+ Introduction for Destruction Warlock
  • 2. Affix List
    • 2.1. Tier One Affixes
    • 2.2. Tier Two Affixes
    • 2.3. Tier Three Affixes
    • 2.4. Seasonal Affix
  • 3. Mythic+ Talents for Destruction Warlock
    • 3.1. Talent Explanations
      • 3.1.1. Tier 1/Level 15
      • 3.1.2. Tier 2/Level 30
      • 3.1.3. Tier 3/Level 45
      • 3.1.4. Tier 4/Level 60
      • 3.1.5. Tier 5/Level 75
      • 3.1.6. Tier 6/Level 90
      • 3.1.7. Tier 7/Level 100
  • 4. Stat Priority for Destruction Warlock
  • 5. Pet Choice for Destruction Warlock
  • 6. Changelog
• +Common and Worst Mistakes
  • 1. Not Utilizing Grimoire of Supremacy
  • 2. Using Rain of Fire Too Liberally
  • 3. Dark Soul Usage
  • 4. Refreshing Immolate for Internal Combustion
  • 5. Havoc Preparation
  • 6. Cataclysm Usage
  • 7. Changelog
• +Frequently Asked Questions
  • 1. Frequently Asked Questions for Destruction Warlock
    • 1.1. Should I Aim for 100% Eradication Uptime?
    • 1.2. What Pets/Demons Should I Use?
    • 1.3. How Does Havoc Work?
    • 1.4. When Should I Use Dark Soul?
    • 1.5. How Does Channel Demonfire Work?
    • 1.6. What Piece is Better, X or Y?
    • 1.7. How Much of X Stat Should I Have?
  • 2. Changelog
• +Boss by Boss Strategies
  • 1. Introduction for Destruction Warlock Boss Advice in Uldir
    • 1.1. Talent Cheatsheet for Destruction Warlock
  • 2. Taloc
  • 3. M.O.T.H.E.R.
  • 4. Fetid Devourer
  • 5. Zek'voz, Herald of N'Zoth
  • 6. Vectis
  • 7. Zul, Reborn
  • 8. Mythrax the Unraveler
  • 9. G'huun
  • 10. Changelog
• +Stat Priority
  • 1. The Basics of Stats for Destruction Warlock
  • 2. Statistics Explanations for Destruction Warlock
  • 3. Changelog
• +Gems, Enchants, and Consumables
  • 1. Gems for Destruction Warlock
  • 2. Enchants for Destruction Warlock
  • 3. Consumables for Destruction Warlock
  • 4. Changelog
• +Macros and Addons
  • 1. Addons for Destruction Warlock
    • 1.1. ElvUI
    • 1.2. Weak Auras
    • 1.3. Boss Mods
      • 1.3.1. BigWigs Bossmods
      • 1.3.2. Deadly Boss Mods
    • 1.4. Name Plates
      • 1.4.1. KUI Nameplates
      • 1.4.2. TidyPlates
      • 1.4.3. Plater
    • 1.5. Damage Meters
      • 1.5.1. Skada
      • 1.5.2. Details!
    • 1.6. Extra AddOns
      • 1.6.1. Mik's Scrolling Battle Text
      • 1.6.2. xCT+ Combat Text
      • 1.6.3. DeathNote
      • 1.6.4. Doom CooldownPulse
      • 1.6.5. Angry Assignments
      • 1.6.6. Exorsus Raid Tools
  • 2. Macros for Destruction Warlock
    • 2.1. Havoc
    • 2.2. Cursor Rain of Fire
    • 2.3. Pet Macros
      • 2.3.1. Dot Mouseover
      • 2.3.2. Banish Focus
      • 2.3.3. Soulstone Mouseover
      • 2.3.4. Demonic Circle
      • 2.3.5. Tier 5 talents
  • 3. Changelog
• +Gear and Best in Slot
  • 1. How To Effectively Compare Upgrades as an Destruction Warlock
  • 2. Best in Slot Items for Destruction Warlock
  • 3. Azerite Gear for Destruction Warlock
  • 4. Trinkets for Destruction Warlock
    • 4.1. Trinket Simulations for Destruction Warlock
      • 4.1.1. Single Target
      • 4.1.2. Cleave
  • 5. Changelog
• +Simulations
  • 1. Disclaimer Page
  • 2. Destruction Warlock Racial Bonus Simulation
  • 3. Changelog

General Information

On this page, you will various tips and pieces of advice for clearing high Mythic+ content with your Destruction Warlock.

The other pages of our Destruction Warlock guide can be accessed from the table of contents on the right.

About Our Author

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.

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

Infested is the seasonal affix for the launch of Battle for Azeroth. Enemies afflicted with the Infested debuff will be scattered throughout each dungeon once you reach key level ten. These mobs will heal enemies around them and when slain, will spawn two Spawn of G'huun that will attempt to infest remaining enemies.

There are several ways to handle Infested mobs depending on pack size, which mob is infested, and group composition. The first way to handle an Infested enemy is to burn down the infested target and the subsequently spawning Spawn of G'huun while either crowd controlling or ignoring the other mobs in the pack. The second way is to crowd control the Infested mob and burn down all the other enemies.

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 2-target damage, however falls behind in all other categories.

3.1.2. Tier 2/Level 30

Reverse Entropy is the best talent for virtually all scenarios.

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. Stat Priority for Destruction Warlock

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

5. 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.

6. Changelog

• 09 Nov. 2018: Updated talent choices.
• 04 Sep. 2018: Updated for Battle for Azeroth.
• 13 Aug. 2018: Page added.

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