Havoc Demon Hunter DPS Mythic+ Tips — The War Within (11.2)

Aldrachi Reaver remains a powerful spec in Season 3, benefitting significantly from the addition of the Tier Set. Wounded Quarry pulls a lot of weight, dealing extremely high funnel to priority targets affected by Reaver's Mark, while still dealing solid AoE in the process through Fury of the Aldrachi. The reliable damage setup, paired with a solid single-target toolkit for bosses, makes it a stand-out option in Mythic+.

Aldrachi Reaver has a couple of swap options to keep in mind:

• Movement Talents - both Tactical Retreat and Inertia (or Exergy) add significantly more complexity. These are not currently the recommended option, as the performance gain comes with much more risk, but can add additional burst. If you swap, trade out both Looks Can Kill and Serrated Glaive to pick up Tactical Retreat and Inertia or Exergy. Finally, switch out a point in Chaotic Disposition for Essence Break to lean into burst further.
• It can sometimes be a bit hectic to place Sigil of Flame, so picking up Precise Sigils in exchange for Imprison if you do not need it in the dungeon (though you should be using it for stops!) is an option.
• Erratic Felheart is nice for the comfort movement tools, but really should not be needed now that Fel Rush isn't used for damage. Spend these points on group tools like Darkness instead.
• Army Unto Oneself can be switched out for Incorruptible Spirit for some free absorb shields, which puts less pressure on timing Felblade for defense.

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Fel-Scarred is weaker in Season 3, especailly with the new Tier Set considered. While the effect is strong, the build has to sacrifice some core effects to build out its AoE, without having good options that are versatile enough for Mythic+. It still has strong 2-minute burst during Metamorphosis, with Cycle of Hatred covering frequent burst requirements, but Burning Blades can't carry single-target entirely on its back anymore.

Fel-Scarred has a couple of swap options to keep in mind:

• Movement Talents - both Tactical Retreat and Inertia (or Exergy) add significantly more complexity. These are not currently the recommended option, as the performance gain comes with much more risk, but can add additional burst. If you swap, trade out both Looks Can Kill and Serrated Glaive to pick up Tactical Retreat and Inertia or Exergy. Finally, switch out a point in Chaotic Disposition for Essence Break to lean into burst.
• It can sometimes be a bit hectic to place Sigil of Flame, so picking up Precise Sigils in exchange for Imprison if you do not need it in the dungeon (though you should be using it for stops!) is an option.
• Set Fire to the Pain can be switched to Improved Soul Rending if you are looking for more general sustain rather than a little bit of mitigation.

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Havoc has a variety of tools to stop enemy casts. Due to the large number of them, we hav broken them down into tools for single-target situations, and those better suited to AoE.

Disrupt is Havoc's interrupt, with a 15-second cooldown. It should be used aggressively to stop dangerous enemy casts (see our Disrupt macro on the Havoc Demon Hunter macro page).

Fel Eruption is a 4-second stun on a 30-second cooldown, at the cost of 10 Fury. This is a great single-target stop for priority casts, and due to being baseline, always provides an extra stopping tool.

Imprison is a 45-second cooldown hard crowd-control, but breaks on damage taken. This can be used either as a stop mid-combat, or can be used to lock a target down that you would rather skip. Imprison is unique in that enemies affected by this will not aggro as you or your party run past.

Chaos Nova is Havoc's AoE stun tool, stunning nearby targets for 2 seconds. This has a with a 45-second cooldown and a 25-Fury cost. This is great for disrupting large groups of enemies and, due to its instant activation, can be a strong AoE stop when multiple targets are casting at once. Aldrachi Reaver also gains damage from this via Chaos Fragments, generating souls to fuel Reaver's Glaive procs.

Sigil of Misery is an AoE disorient on a 2-minute cooldown (reduced to 1.5-minutes with Improved Sigil of Misery), that disorients targets within for 15 seconds after a 2 second delay. The effect is broken on damage taken, making it more of a stopping tool, but needs to be timed well to use as an AoE stop. This can also be used to skip, as affected enemies won't aggro party members (but will aggro you), but requires the use of Shadowmeld to drop combat after getting past.

Metamorphosis may be our major cooldown, but when cast it also stuns enemies within the impact zone for 3 seconds. This should not really be something you use it for, but if it's ready you can use it as an additional way to disrupt a group at the start of a pull.

Blur is Havoc's primary active defense tool, reducing damage taken by 20%, granting 50% Dodge chance, and lasting for 10 seconds on a 1-minute cooldown. Due to its low cooldown, this should be used aggressively in any dangerous situation, and is also great to buy some time if you get threat.

Deflecting Dance grants an absorb shield during Death Sweep / Blade Dance for 15% of your maximum health. This is active for a very brief period of time, but allows you to outplay some damage events by timing these casts during your rotation, providing a lot of survival.

Netherwalk grants full immunity to damage and 100% movement speed for 6 seconds, but you are unable to attack, on a 3-minute cooldown. This is the most potent defensive tool Havoc has access to and can get you out of some of the worst situations, but you are not immune to debuff applications during this, so be careful. Due to the long cooldown, this requires some planning to know when you absolutely need it to survive lethal mechanics.

Darkness grants a 15% chance (increased to 30% in dungeons) to avoid any damage event for you or party members stood within. This lasts 8 seconds, with a 5-minute cooldown. The duration can be increased to 11 seconds with Long Night, or the cooldown can be reduced to 3 minutes with Pitch Black. A helpful bonus for group survival, especially on repeat damage events such as DoTs, to help your Healer keep up. Due to its long cooldown, you should plan ahead of time when to deploy this to deal with high intensity pulls.

Army Unto Oneself, exclusive to Aldrachi Reaver, grants 10% damage reduction for 5 seconds following Felblade casts. This is a nice extra benefit that can also be timed to survive dangerous mechanics. Remember that you can also always force a proc if using Unhindered Assault.

Mortal Dance reduces enemy healing received by 50% for 6 seconds after being hit by your Blade Dance / Death Sweep. While niche, this can provide a lot of effective damage by cutting the amount of healing enemies take, alongside being easy to apply in AoE.

Chaos Brand is Havoc's strongest reason to be brought to raid, and in Mythic+, this is no different. Depending on the group composition, this can be extremely beneficial, as a large amount of classes in the game currently deal at least some magic damage for this to amplify. This usually ends up providing a significant amount of extra damage, on top of what you yourself do.

Consume Magic is Havoc's offensive dispel with a 10-second cooldown. This has the advantage of a 30-yard range and can be used to remove buffs from enemy targets. Its cooldown does mean you have to be picky with what to dispel though, especially if multiple enemies are buffed at once.

Vengeful Retreat, while niche, breaks snares when cast. This can be useful in certain dungeons.

Xalatath's Bargain: Ascendant will periodically spawn a number or orbs in waves that need to be crowd-controlled in some way, before they complete a cast. Each orb successfully stopped provides the group bonus Haste, so it is a high priority to deal with.

Havoc can and should make use of Chaos Nova and Sigil of Misery to stop a wave, and also has Disrupt and Fel Eruption to catch any strays if your group is struggling to clear them all.

Xalatath's Bargain: Voidbound will periodically summon a large Void Emissary that will begin to cast Dark Prayer. This enemy must be killed before the cast completes to stop it, otherwise it provides significant damage reduction to nearby enemies. If successfully stopped, the group is granted a large amount of Versatility and cooldown reduction.

This needs to be killed off quickly, so ideally, having short, bursty cooldowns like Eye Beam or The Hunt ready to go as it spawns is ideal. This is not always possible, however, due to them being key to your AoE rotation, so just be aware of it spawning and swap accordingly.

Xalatath's Bargain: Pulsar spawns an orb that orbits each player, which needs to be soaked by a separate player before they expire. Each orb will grant the party 4% Mastery and 2% Leech, stacking, with a 30-second duration. Unsoaked orbs will increase nearby enemies' damage done, and reduce their damage taken.

Havoc has no specific utility to deal with this, instead you need to be aware of your positioning, both to make sure other players can soak up the orb circling you, and so you can catch orbs from nearby players.

Xalatath's Bargain: Devour applies a debuff to each party member, that must be either dispelled or healed off (though bear in mind this does not absorb incoming heals). Each debuff dispelled provides the group with maximum health and Critical Strike, stacking, for 30 seconds. Any debuffs not cleared will heal nearby enemies a large amount.

Unfortunately, Havoc has no real way to assist your Healer when this occurs, so just be aware of the state of your health. Remember to use Healthstones or Healing Potions if you have any if the healer is falling behind.