Destruction Warlock DPS Rotation, Cooldowns, and Abilities 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. Single Target Rotation for Destruction Warlock
  • 6. Multiple Target Rotation for Destruction Warlock
  • 7. 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. Disclaimer
  • 2. Azerite Traits for Destruction Warlock
  • 3. Azerite Traits Rotation Changes and Details for Destruction Warlock
  • 4. Relative Strength of Azerite Traits for Destruction Warlock
  • 5. Azerite Trait Rankings for Destruction Warlock
    • 5.1. Single Target
      • 5.1.1. Outer Ring
      • 5.1.2. Middle Ring
    • 5.2. 3 Targets
      • 5.2.1. Outer Ring
      • 5.2.2. Middle Ring
  • 6. Find Azerite Armor By Trait/Power
  • 7. 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. Coming soon!
  • 2. 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
• +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
    • 1.5. 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. DeathNote
      • 1.6.3. Doom CooldownPulse
      • 1.6.4. Angry Assignments
  • 2. Macros for Destruction Warlock
    • 2.1. Havoc
    • 2.2. Cursor Rain of Fire
    • 2.3. Pet Macros
      • 2.3.1. Soulstone Mouseover
      • 2.3.2. Demonic Circle
  • 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. Trinkets for Destruction Warlock
    • 3.1. Trinket Simulations for Affliction Warlock
      • 3.1.1. Patchwerk
      • 3.1.2. Hectic Add Cleave
  • 4. ChangeLog
• +Simulations
  • 1. Disclaimer Page
  • 2. Destruction Warlock Racial Bonus Simulation
  • 3. ChangeLog

General Information

On this page, we list your Destruction Warlock core abilities and how they should be used together (rotation) in World of Warcraft Battle for Azeroth 8.0.1. We also explain when to use your various cooldowns. Then, we go deeper and present all the subtleties that you will need to know if you want to excel at playing a 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 Furty, who has an illustrious history in the World of Warcraft raiding scene and race for World First. He has been a member of guilds such as Serenity, Midwinter, and many more, and is currently raiding in Future. He plays most classes at the highest level. You can follow him on Twitter and watch him play on Twitch.

1. Ability Priority List for Destruction Warlock

The Destruction specialization revolves primarily around generating Soul Shards via your filler spells before unleashing them for a large burst of damage. This specialization does not follow a strict and consistent rotation, rather, the emphasis is on leveraging opportunities as they arise.

1.1. Single Target Priority for Destruction Warlock

1. Maintain Immolate at all times.
2. Cast Chaos Bolt if you have 5 Soul Shards.
3. Cast Conflagrate if you have 2 charges.
4. Cast Channel Demonfire whenever available.
5. Cast Chaos Bolt to keep the Eradication debuff applied.
6. Cast Cataclysm when available.
7. Cast Conflagrate to generate Soul Shards.
8. Cast Incinerate to generate Soul Shards.

1.2. Cooldown Usage for Destruction Warlock

Destruction's main cooldown, Summon Infernal, is relatively simple. The Infernal does AoE damage, and also deals damage and stuns when it impacts from the initial summon. Infernal will often be used on cooldown, however, if you can delay it for a little while in order to maximize cleave damage it can be a net gain.

If you are playing with Dark Soul: Instability, you should aim to use it on cooldown. In preparation for use, you should ensure your Immolate is freshly refreshed and you have a healthy supply of Soul Shards; 4+ is ideal. Your aim will be to unleash as many Chaos Bolts as possible during this time, and therefore, Shard generation is also important. Having Conflagrate charges ready to quickly supplement the Soul Shards consumed is also a big advantage.

When you are playing with Grimoire of Supremacy and Dark Soul: Instability, it is optimal to combine these cooldowns whenever possible. The length of the encounter at hand is the main determining factor for whether or not you should delay Dark Soul:

• If the encounter is ~190 seconds or shorter, use Dark Soul on cooldown.
• If the encounter is 190-250 seconds long, delay Dark Soul for your second Infernal use.
• If the encounter is 250-380 seconds long, delay Infernal for your third Dark Soul use.

The main objective is to maximize the number of uses for both cooldowns. The simple rule of thumb is that if using either cooldown immediately will result in a full extra usage during the fight, you should use the ability immediately.

1.3. Opening Sequence for Destruction Warlock

1. Use Battle Potion of Intellect.
2. Pre-cast Incinerate*.
3. Pre-cast Immolate.
4. Cast Summon Infernal.
5. Cast Conflagrate.
6. Cast Conflagrate.
7. Cast Chaos Bolt.
8. Cast Channel Demonfire.
9. Cast Chaos Bolt.
10. Cast Conflagrate.
11. Cast Chaos Bolt.

*If you are talented into Cataclysm, you should pre-cast this instead of Incinerate and Immolate.

1.4. Multiple Target Priority for Destruction Warlock

Destruction can thrive in environments with steady cleave, as we do it efficiently. In many cases, the presence of secondary targets actually enhances our single target output considerably.

1. Maintain Immolate on the main target.
2. Cast Rain of Fire if there are 6+ targets.
3. Cast Chaos Bolt if you have 5 Soul Shards.
4. Apply Havoc if a secondary target is present.
5. Cast Shadowburn (if talented) if the target will die within 5 seconds.
6. Cast Channel Demonfire when available.
7. Cast Chaos Bolt to spend Soul Shards.
8. Cast Conflagrate to generate Soul Shards and Backdraft stacks.
9. Cast Shadowburn to generate Soul Shards.
10. Cast Incinerate to generate Soul Shards.

2. Important Notes for Destruction Warlock

There are several important nuances that are not common knowledge.

2.1. Soul Shard Generation and Consumption

You start every fight with 3 Soul Shards/30 Soul Shard Fragments. During combat, Soul Shards are generated through the use of your core abilities.

• Conflagrate generates 5 Soul Shard Fragments on cast.
• Immolate generates 1 Soul Shard Fragment on normal ticks, and an additional 1 Soul Shard Fragment on critical ticks.
• Shadowburn (if talented) generates 3 Soul Shard Fragments on cast.
• Incinerate generates 2 Soul Shard Fragments on normal casts, and an additional 1 Soul Shard Fragment on criticals.
• Fire and Brimstone generates 1 Soul Shard Fragment per target hit.

Soul Shards will mostly be consumed with the following abilities.

• Chaos Bolt consumes 2 Soul Shards/20 Soul Shard Fragments.
• Rain of Fire consumes 3 Soul Shards/30 Soul Shard Fragments.
• Summon Imp, Summon Voidwalker, Summon Succubus, and Summon Felhunter consume 1 Soul Shard/10 Soul Shard Fragments per cast.

2.2. Chaos Bolt

Chaos Bolt costs 2 Soul Shards/20 Soul Shard Fragments to cast. Since we can only have a maximum of 5 Soul Shards/50 Fragments, this means that the maximum number of Chaos Bolts we will be able to reliably cast in a short window of time is Chaos Bolt → Chaos Bolt → Conflagrate → Chaos Bolt. For these reasons, casting Chaos Bolt during beneficial procs is less of a priority now, as we cannot fit anywhere near the same amount of casts into a small window of time.

Chaos Bolt should now primarily be used to maintain as high an uptime as possible on the Eradication debuff (if talented). This is will noticeably increase your Immolate damage as well as increasing the damage of your next Chaos Bolt. You should still look out for good windows to cast increased numbers of Chaos Bolts. This is your best spell for quickly bursting down high priority targets.

Using the Imp for its Blood Pact aura and Singe Magic ability is recommended, unless you require an interrupt or purge from the Felhunter.

2.3. Havoc Usage

Havoc is one of your most important spells. Havoc copies any of your direct spells, however, and it does affect the Soul Shard generation of your Soul Shard generating abilities (i.e. you generate double Soul Shards). The Soul Shard consuming abilities still cost the same amount, however, and only 60% of the total damage done will be copied.

In multi-target scenarios this should be used on cooldown, without exception. Now that Havoc copies all spells for a 10-second window without limit, it is a significantly more potent tool for cleaving that it ever was before.

It is best to use Havoc to duplicate spells that are limited by Soul Shards, due to the efficiency of expenditure. If possible, try to lead into your Havocs with several Soul Shards at the ready. Follow up by dumping Chaos Bolt casts to debuff each target with Eradication (if talented) and double your Shard efficiency.

Havoc is typically unaffected by range or line of sight requirements. Over time you will develop the knowledge and instinct to take full advantage of the ability. A good way to go about building this experience is by paying close attention to your boss timers. If you know that an add will be spawning in the next 10 seconds, you should hold on to your Soul Shards and Conflagrate charges for Havoc. If you have 4 Soul Shards ready, you can immediately cast Havoc as soon as the add spawns. Cast Immolate, then Conflagrate, dump 2 Chaos Bolts, Conflagrate again to generate a Soul Shard. This is very much a 'feel' ability! When in doubt, however, use Havoc on cooldown when a second target is present.

2.4. 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 Destruction Warlock. Demonic Gateway can be highly effective on 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.

Conflagrate can be used strategically to cover movement, as can Havoc. Shadowburn can also be a good choice on fights with high amounts of movement, as you gain 2 charges of a new instant cast ability for you to leverage. 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.

2.4.1. 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 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, 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.

3. ChangeLog

• 13 Aug. 2018: Updated for Battle for Azeroth launch.

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