Havoc Demon Hunter DPS Gear and Best in Slot — Battle for Azeroth (BfA) 8.1.5

1. How to Gear Before Raids in BfA

Gearing up to prepare to enter raids provides a lot of different options now that Battle for Azeroth has opened up the majority of different gear paths. You will ideally want to get yourself to a healthy item level before setting foot in either Uldir or Battle of Dazar'alor, and this can be done through a variety of different ways.

Remember to sim yourself a healthy amount when deciding on gear pieces to know what stats to aim for and which pieces to equip. The stats that you want to focus on will usually be decided by what build you are currently using (as defined by your Azerite), but Critical Strike and Versatility are both safe choices for most content types.

• World Quests will provide players with a variety of gear rewards for all slots, including Azerite. This will cap out at 340. Emissaries will also appear once a day and can potentially provide either an equipment piece or an Azerite piece, which will cap at item level 385 in season 2.
• Reputation gives out rewards based on your status with the faction. For most factions, Honored awards a 320 cloak, Revered a 335 item, and Exalted gives a 350 piece. Champions of Azeroth awards a 355 item level Azerite Chest with the Furious Gaze trait. Additionally, each reputation level grants additional item level boosts to your Heart of Azeroth.
• Mythic+ rewards gear based upon the keystone level you complete:
  • 2-3: 375
  • 4: 380
  • 5-6: 385
  • 7: 390
  • 8-9: 395
  • 10: 400
• World Bosses in Zandalar and Kul'Tiras spawn weekly, and killing this grants a once a week for a chance at a 355 item level piece of gear. There is also a cycling World Boss tied to each Warfront, with Arathi granting up to 370 item level gear, and Darkshore up to 400 item level.
• Leatherworking can craft 355 item level Boots and Legs, which can be upgraded using Sanguicells from Uldir up to 385 item level. Season 2 also adds new craftable versions of this item that require Breath of Bwonsamdi that can be raised to 415 item level.
• Engineering provides a craftable Azerite helm with unique traits, and can be upgraded in the same way as Leatherworking using Sanguicells and Breath of Bwonsamdi.
• Warfronts can be repeated as many times as you want, each rewarding a random piece of gear. Arathi will be set at 340, and Darkshore will be 355. Each time the Warfront becomes available, a one time quest will reward a higher item level piece, with Arathi being set at 370, and Darkshore at 400. These can only be done when your faction has the siege event open for each respective warfront.

1.1. Weekly Mythic+ Chest

Along these same lines, you should be completing at least one keystone at a high item level each week to make use of the weekly chest. Each week you will receive one piece of loot, and a fixed amount of Titan Residuum The highest keystone you complete (up to a maximum of 10) will determine the final reward (current residuum values are estimates):

1.2. Notable Trinkets and Weapons

Trinkets, Weapons, and Azerite Armor are the three largest DPS increases to any class in the game. Getting good pieces to fill these slots early allows you to perform incredibly well. They are also the hardest pieces to get.

1.2.1. Weapons

There are a number of strong weapons for Havoc Demon Hunters, and note that they can all be used in either hand. Ideally, you should be looking for weapons with a healthy mix of Versatility and Critical Strike, trying to avoid Mastery:

• Swarm's Edge from Temple of Sethraliss;
• Warglaive of the Sand Queen from Tol Dagor;
• Bloody Tideturner from Freehold.

There is also a unique proc effect Fist Weapon, Bile-Stained Crawg Tusks from The Underrot. This effect can be strong, but the loss of secondary stats and additional randomness makes it a sidegrade choice based on current simulations.

1.2.2. Trinkets

Thanks to Bloodmallet.com, a comprehensive list of available trinkets for Havoc are listed against each other below.

2. Azerite

You can check through the Havoc Azerite page to look through the values of different traits and target different items. A quick recommendation of ideal pieces to aim for in Battle for Dazar'Alor and which traits to select can be seen below:

Slot	Item	Trait 1	Trait 2	Trait 3
Helm	Tidemother's Cover	Furious Gaze	Revolving Blades	Overwhelming Power
Shoulder	Phantom Stalker Shoulders	Thirsting Blades	Furious Gaze	Overwhelming Power
Chest	Mekkatorque's Bomber Jacket	Chaotic Transformation	Treacherous Covenant	Heed My Call

2.1. Recommended Battle for Dazar'Alor Gear

Due to there only being one raid available at this point in Battle for Azeroth, this list will provide the ideal items available to you within it. This does not include items that are found outside of the raid, so this may be altered based on items you have available from outside sources. Note this also does not include trinkets as they are covered in the above chart.

Slot	Item	Source
Helm	Tidemother's Cover	Stormwall Blockade in Battle of Dazar'alor
Shoulder	Phantom Stalker Shoulders	King Rastakhan in Battle of Dazar'alor
Cloak	Loa Exultant's Shroud	Conclave of the Chosen in Battle of Dazar'alor
Chest	Mekkatorque's Bomber Jacket	High Tinker Mekkatorque in Battle of Dazar'alor
Wrists	Bracers of Regal Devotion	Champion of the Light in Battle of Dazar'alor
Gloves	Gloves of Spiritual Grace	Champion of the Light in Battle of Dazar'alor
Belt	Stretched Sinew Waistcord	Grong in Battle of Dazar'alor
Legs	Cranedancer Leggings	Jadefire Masters in Battle of Dazar'alor
Boots	Embossed Deckwalkers	Lady Jaina Proudmoore in Battle of Dazar'alor
Ring #1	Band of Multi-Sided Strikes	Jadefire Masters in Battle of Dazar'alor
Ring #2	Lord Admiral's Signet	Lady Jaina Proudmoore in Battle of Dazar'alor
Weapons	Daelin Proudmoore's Saber	Lady Jaina Proudmoore in Battle of Dazar'alor
Alternative	Bloodtooth, the Soulfeaster	Opulence in Battle of Dazar'alor

2.1.1. Ideal Bosses to Coin

You should ideally be spending your Seal of Wartorn Fate on a combination of Mekkatorque, Stormwall Blockade and Jaina. This is due to there being strong trinket options, Azerite and weapons available, and are the quickest, strongest upgrades available.

3. Changelog