Havoc Demon Hunter DPS Mythic+ Tips — The War Within (11.1.5)

Aldrachi Reaver saw an uplift in Season 2 specifically with the rework to Wounded Quarry, granting access to massive priority target damage and funnel in AoE pulls. It is a bit more target locked, needing an anchor target to make use of Reaver's Mark, but the payoff is worth it. In between that, it has Reaver's Glaive and for consistent damage buffs and the addition of Screaming Brutality makes playing Throw Glaive talents much more comfortbale.

On the plus side, it can set up burst very well and provides much better defense due to Army Unto Oneself, while also having the advantage of gaining damage as enemies die through collecting Soul Fragments.

Aldrachi Reaver has a couple of options in the middle of the tree to fill out its points, alongside some class tree options if you need them:

• 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 are an option if you're looking for more burst. Switch both Looks Can Kill and Serrated Glaive to pick these up, and also remove one point in Chaotic Disposition to fit in Essence Break to lean more into the burst profile.
• 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 a component of the damage toolkit.
• Army Unto Oneself can be switched out for Incorruptible Spirit for some free absorb shields, considering the amount of Souls you will be collecting.

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Fel-Scarred is slightly weaker in Season 2, with its main benefit being something much more broadly available between classes. It still brings strong up-front burst every 2-minutes with Metamorphosis, and the change to Cycle of Hatred reducing the burst cycle to 20 seconds is a welcome change as well. Its single-target relies heavily on Burning Blades, giving it something to fall back on during bosses.

For Mythic+, Fel-Scarred has a handful of options in the middle of the tree depending on how comfortable you are:

• Movement Talents - there's an optional swap to grab Tactical Retreat and Inertia to improve your Eye Beam cycles, though it raises the execution requirement. Exergy is also a solid pick for overall throughput, and both are roughly equal (or slightly higher) than the simpler alternatives. The talents to switch out are Serrated Glaive and Looks Can Kill. If doing so, you should also switch one point from Chaotic Disposition to Essence Break to further lean into the burst profile.
• 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, I have broken them down into single-target and AoE options.

Disrupt is Havoc's interrupt tool on a 15-second cooldown. It has the added advantage of an 18-yard range, and should be used aggressively on dangerous 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 targets, and due to being baseline, it always provides an extra tool for dangerous casts.

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

Chaos Nova is an AoE stun tool available to Havoc that stuns all nearby targets for 2 seconds on a 45-second cooldown with 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. Fel-Scarred also brings Wave of Debilitation that provides some follow-up damage reduction for your tank via the attack speed slow.

Sigil of Misery is an AoE disorient on a 2-second delay (1 with Quickened Sigils) from the cast, so it can be difficult to reactively utilize misery to stop casts. It can, however, be used pre-emptively if you know a target timer to stop dangerous effects. This also shares diminishing returns with very few other abilities, making it extra valuable despite its long cooldown.

Metamorphosis may be our major cooldown, but on cast, it also stuns enemies within the impact area for 3 seconds. This should not really be something you use it for, but it can be used to great effect if you are also planning to use cooldowns during a pull.

Blur is Havoc's primary active defense tool, reducing damage taken by 20% and granting 50% Dodge change 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 moments 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. Make sure to also plan around its very long cooldown for the most dangerous moments.

Darkness grants a 15% chance (increased to 30% in dungeons) to avoid any damage event for players standing within. This lasts 8 seconds on 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. This is strong for group survival, especially on repeat damage events such as DoTs to help your Healer keep up and should be planned around during high-intensity moments.

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 be timed with dangerous moments, and you can always force a proc if necessary using Unhindered Assault.

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

Chaos Brand is Havoc's strongest reason to be brought to raid, and in Mythic+, it also provides a lot depending on the group composition. In any situation where your fellow damage dealers are providing a large amount of Magic damage (which includes the majority of specs), this is a lot of extra damage on top of what Havoc already brings.

Vengeful Retreat, while very niche, also breaks snares when cast, which can be useful to counter some mechanics.

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.

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 grants 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 must be interrupted, as otherwise it will provide damage reduction to nearby enemies.

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, and coming into contact with one of these will grant 4% Mastery and 2% Leech for the group, stacking, with a 30-second duration. Unsoaked orbs will increase enemy damage done and reduce 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 will apply a debuff that must be either dispelled or healed off (though it will not absorb any incoming heals) to the entire group periodically throughout the dungeon.

Unfortunately, Havoc has no real way to assist your Healer when this occurs, so just be aware of the state of your health and the group and use Healthstones or Healing Potions if necessary.