Welcome to our Gearing Page for Havoc Demon Hunter, where we cover everything you need to know about your character's gearing process.

Havoc generally aims for the highest item level pieces available, aiming for as much Critical Strike as possible and Mastery, with some deviations depending on build. The only items that tend not to follow the item level rule is Jewelry, as these have no Agility. Thus power is weighted more toward ideal secondary stats. Visit our Stats page for more details.

With the number of variables in the game, a universal "BiS" list is no longer realistic to produce. The amount of things that impact whether an item is good in different situations is too vast. As such, here we will just be recommending key items that are unique in their power and are difficult (if not impossible) to replace.

For simple gear decisions and item comparisons, we recommend using Raidbots to generate bespoke simulations for your character. If you are unfamiliar with using the tool or need some additional information, you can use our Raidbots Guide to get started.

While we heavily recommend simming your character, we also have a Simulations page for more general questions provided by Bloodmallet.

If you have a new piece of gear containing prismatic sockets or are eligible to be enchanted, you can find everything you need to pick the best one for the job on our dedicated enchants page below.

Patch 10.0.7 introduces the Onyx Annulet, which can be socketed with up to 3 Primordial Gemstones that provide unique effects.

The patch has seen a number of hotfixes applied in the days following its launch, raising it up to the strongest avialable ring. Currently for Havoc, it is the ideal option in both single-target and AoE situations, beating out alternative rings with secondary stats. This pairs well with Seal of Diurna's Chosen for the ideal jewelry setup.

Also note, if you have access to Seal of Filial Duty you do lose access to the absorb shield if you want to make the Annulet strong enough to compete, which can make it less desirable due to the loss of defense.

For more information on the best Primordial Gemstones to put in your Onyx Annulet, check out our Enchants and Gems page below.

To find out how to obtain the Onyx Annulet, and the Primordial Gemstones to use with it, check out our dedicated guide for it below.

In Season 1, Valor Points are a unique currency that allows you to upgrade gear from Mythic+ dungeons. For more information on the system, check our Valor page.

Generally, you should use Valor to bring up weaker items to a reasonable level, prioritizing high-impact slots such as Weapons and Trinkets that you do not expect to replace soon. To figure out your most significant upgrades, we recommend using the Raidbots Droptimizer to pick out things to target. The priority in upgrades, however, usually follows these rules:

• Weapons are often the most important thing to bring to the highest possible item level, as Weapon DPS provides the most amount of power.
• Trinkets will usually be second, especially those with effects that are considered unique or irreplaceable with alternatives.
• Following this, you should upgrade items you expect to be used for a long period - those with Crit/Mastery. The highest budget pieces are Helms, Chest, and Legs, but Tier pieces will likely replace these, so take that into account. Jewelry is also often a good source of upgrades for a low cost.

Provided below is a chart of some of the highest-performing trinkets currently available, but we will discuss specific options underneath:

Unlike many other gear pieces, Trinkets are often more unique and come with effects that are significantly more impactful than a simple stat upgrade. While we still recommend simulating your character, these are some high-value Trinkets to be on the lookout for:

1. Whispering Incarnate Icon - Incredibly powerful, especially if other members of your raid are wearing this, as it is effectively a Crit stat stick with an additional proc. Unfortunately, it is a rarer drop, so it might not be easy to get hold of.
2. Manic Grieftorch - huge burst damage that gets more powerful if players are dying, giving it unique bonus power in certain situations. Excellent in single-target and holds up in AoE because of the sheer damage it does, with its only real downside being the required channel to fire it.
3. Storm-Eater's Boon - This does excellent AoE damage; however, the cooldown is awkward, and the root (paired with not being able to cancel it) can cause unnecessary deaths. If you can plan around this the payoff is massive on and is certainly worth it, but do not use this if you are not confident.

Other Trinkets from Vault of the Incarnates have downsides that are usually enough to make them not worth equipping:

1. Controlled Current Technique - While Havoc does have some auto-attack-related procs, this is not a particularly strong option and is outclassed by other trinkets in the raid.
2. Spiteful Storm - While this can do excellent single-target damage in extended encounters (assuming you have full uptime on a target), it is too specialized without payoff compared to alternatives.

While these options are a little more difficult to come by at a higher item level (relying a lot on the weekly Great Vault), there are some powerful choices:

1. Algeth'ar Puzzle Box - On-demand Mastery that aligns with Metamorphosis makes for an extremely powerful burst trinket, especially in AoE situations. The only downside is the short cast time required to activate.
2. Windscar Whetstone - The downside of having no Agility is made up for with a large amount of on-demand damage and Mastery, alongside being easy to use, working both in AoE and single-target situations.
3. Hunger of the Pack - Simply a good stat stick that provides the stat we want - Critical Strike.

Havoc Demon Hunter Vault of the Incarnates Tier Set in Dragonflight Season 1

• Havoc Demon Hunter 2pc increases the Critical Strike chance of Blade Dance and Chaos Strike by 5%, and increases their Critical Strike damage by 10%.
• Havoc Demon Hunter 4pc grants Chaos Strike and Blade Dance a 20% chance to increase your damage by 8% for 6 seconds. Critical Strikes have double the chance of triggering this.

These bonuses are strong in all scenarios providing flat bonuses to rotational buttons. The 4-piece grants a simple bonus damage proc that has a very high uptime through regular gameplay thanks to it triggering from each damage event, making Blade Dance a consistent activator. Between them, the bonuses provide somewhere in the region of 10% of total damage. Due to its simplicity, it neither alters your gameplay in any meaningful way nor your talent selections.

The ideal piece to switch out in the set is the Chest, assuming you can use the Inspiration Catalyst on Raszageth legs. Ideally you should replace that with a crafted piece using Crit/Mastery (or an item from Mythic+) due to the Chest granting no Critical Strike or Mastery while also being a high-budget item. Remember though, prioritize the bonus over ideal pieces first and foremost.

Because Jewelry has no Agility, it is often much more specific which items we want - secondaries tend to reign supreme over item level here. There are also, importantly, several rings that have unique effects granting them additional strength that is not part of their budget.

Some powerful pieces to look out for are:

1. Onyx Annulet as mentioned in the above section, this has been added in Patch 10.0.7 and is the ideal ring in most situations. With the correct Primordial Stones equipped, this provides a strong and easy to acquire power boost for new and old characters alike.
2. Seal of Diurna's Chosen does come with Critical Strike, but low weighted, which hurts it. That said, the proc can consistently be activated by Havoc as Chaos damage will trigger it, and it more than makes up for the weaker stats, so it is worth using as the best ring to pair with the above.
3. Seal of Filial Duty, on the other hand, comes with heavily weighted Mastery and is a good alternative pickup, especially in AoE. The shield proc is also incredibly valuable, granting a lot of shielding over the course of an encounter, and is one of the best items within the entire raid.
4. Elemental Lariat is a necklace crafted by Jewelcrafting. Because the stats can be customized using Inscription missives, this can be made with perfect stats, and the proc is a good power gain. This is a recommended craft early one of your first two Sparks of Ingenuity.
5. Jeweled Signet of Melandrus from Court of Stars provides a minor bonus to your auto-attacks, and comes with Critical Strike, so while the stats are not perfect, it is worth considering if you can get hold of one.
6. Aside from this, the most important rule for Jewelry is to aim to have both Critical Strike and Mastery on them if possible.

Even more than any other slot, weapons care the most about item level, as the most important part, as weapon DPS is the most valuable stat available. We do not have unique weapon effects, so look for the best possible option.

The highest item level weapons available for us are either Infused Stormglaives from Dathea, or Fist of the Grand Summoner from Kurog Grimtotem within Vault of the Incarnates. Both of these weapons are relatively equal in value, and both are worth aiming for. While Stormslash exists with a bonus proc from Nokhud, it is quite low value, and the stats could be better. If you can get one from the vault, it is worth considering for pure single-target, but do not chase it.

This is a comprehensive list of dungeons that drop items that ideally have Critical Strike and Mastery for the slot. Slots that do not have any items that meet this criterion will have items that have at least one of these stats weighted highest. This list only includes those in the Mythic+ pool, as items of a regular Mythic value, are significantly weaker in comparison.

Dungeon	"BiS" Items
Halls of Valor (Mythic+ Only)	Helm, Neck, Bracers, Gloves, Belt, Legs, Boots, Rings, and Trinket
Temple of the Jade Serpent (Mythic+ Only)	Neck, Cloak, Chest, Legs, Boots, and Ring
The Azure Vault	Shoulders, Cloak, Belt, Legs, Ring and Weapons
Court of Stars (Mythic+ Only)	Boots, Ring, and Trinket
Algeth'ar Academy	Weapon, Ring, and Trinket
The Nokhud Offensive	Chest, Legs, and Weapon
Shadowmoon Burial Grounds (Mythic+ Only)	Belt and Boots
Ruby Life Pools	Helm, Gloves

Currently, the most potent crafted items require a Spark of Ingenuity, which you are granted 5 of from completing the Level 70 Campaign, and then random drops from content after. Selecting which items you craft with these is more important, as you can empower them up to the Mythic item level. Your priorities are as follows:

1. A Main-hand weapon if you do not get one from Mythic+ or early raid kills, as this will always yield the highest performance gain.
2. The Elemental Lariat neck with Crit/Mastery on.
3. A ring with Crit/Mastery.
4. Your tier off-piece.
5. An off-hand if you already have a main hand.
6. Off-pieces such as Boots, Bracers, Belt, and Cloak.

The reason these are recommended in this order is due to them being the most contested items and also not always having access to well-itemized equivalents. Also, while traditionally, Helms, Chests, and Legs are the highest budget, they are extremely likely to be replaced by Tier pieces which effectively wastes the spark - the same goes for the lower budget items in Shoulders and Gloves. Because it is a finite resource, crafting to fill these gaps with such a valuable resource is not advised.

All of these should, whenever possible, use a Draconic Missive of the Peerless to guarantee Critical Strike and Mastery if you can find a crafter specialized in the armor type.

Another specialty item worth looking at, especially for Mythic+, is the Engineering pieces. The Head ( Peripheral Vision Projectors) requires Engineering as your profession, while the Bracers ( Needlessly Complex Wristguards) can be used by anyone and either allow you to use the Tinker: Arclight Vital Correctors giving you access to a Combat res, which can be game-changing.

These items also come entirely with one stat, meaning you should craft them with the Razor-Sharp Gear for Critical Strike. Non-engineers should also fit this with a Critical Failure Prevention Unit, while Engineers should use the Calibrated Safety Switch.

Very experienced crafters can attach optional Embellishment reagents to some items, adding a bonus effect with a limit of two. These are often minor optimizations but do add some power to your craft. Some are limited to which slot you can use them in, and if an item already has a unique effect (such as Elemental Lariat), it cannot have another.

Unique effects that are worth considering to fill up this budget are as follows:

1. Elemental Lariat - grants a proc based on your equipped gem element types, which for us will give either Critical Strike or Mastery depending on which element of gem you use.
2. Fang Adornments - (Weapon only) adds a small single-target damage proc. While the damage is nothing exciting, it is still a performance boost.
3. Bronzed Grip Wrappings - (Weapon only) adds a single-target damage proc from spells and is slightly weaker than Fang Adornments, but still decent.
4. Potion Absorption Inhibitor - adds 15 seconds to Potion uses. A minor gain but still useful for burn windows during Bloodlust.
5. Blue Silken Lining - grants roughly 2 and a half gem slots worth of Mastery so long as you remain above 90% Health. This is, in theory, the best option. Still, the uptime, in reality, can sometimes be so low that it is not generally recommended.
6. Flaring Cowl - this provides an additional damage source that works in AoE but is not exceptionally strong. The benefit of proccing Seal of Diurna's Chosen is optional for Havoc as it can already do it, alongside having no Critical Strike present.
7. Alchemical Flavor Pocket* - currently this does not require an Embellishment slot, and as such, it is worth using to avoid losing your Well Fed buff should you die.

No professions significantly boost your performance, so your decision should not rest on optimizing for number gains. There are, however, some minor benefits to being Alchemy, as this will extend the duration of expensive flasks and cause combat and healing potions to provide bonus healing/movement speed when consumed. While not game-breaking is a free benefit.

Engineering also comes with the added benefit of allowing you to specialize in reducing the chance for Tinker malfunctions. Using the Tinker: Arclight Vital Correctors in a crafted piece can be helpful in a pinch, as catastrophic malfunctions can be disastrous.

Other than this, your best option is picking a profession with a track that leads to gear you find desirable - Blacksmithing for weapons and Leatherworking for gear pieces are common choices. While they have no direct power gains, having the option to craft your gear is helpful and can save a lot of money in the long run.