Havoc Demon Hunter DPS Spell List and Glossary — Season 4

Last updated on Apr 22, 2024 at 12:50 by Wordup 58 comments
General Information

On this page, we present you with all spells and procs that you need to understand as a Havoc Demon Hunter in World of Warcraft — Season 4.

1.

Spell Summary of Havoc Demon Hunter

Havoc is among the most recently added specializations but has had three expansions to settle into a playstyle that has remained consistent. This page covers the tools available, how they work, and their applications in combat. It will also cover synergies, cooldowns, and core concepts to get to grips with.

If you already have experience with Havoc, having access to some quick Macros and Addons to ease you into learning the spec is always helpful as well, which you can find on our dedicated page here:

2.

Havoc Demon Hunter's Main Resource

The primary resource for Havoc is Fury, which allows using your strongest baseline abilities. It is generated predominantly through the active ability Demon's Bite Icon Demon's Bite (or Demon Blades Icon Demon Blades / Felblade Icon Felblade if taken) and Immolation Aura Icon Immolation Aura. Fury is especially important because it dictates your rotation cycle, fueling powerful abilities such as Eye Beam Icon Eye Beam, Chaos Strike Icon Chaos Strike, and Blade Dance Icon Blade Dance. This makes maintaining a smooth flow of build/spend vital to success for Havoc gameplay.

3.

Unlocking Abilities

This page explains the nuance of each ability. It assumes you are playing at max level or are interested in the details. For information on when you will gain access to each tool, check out our dedicated leveling page here:

4.

Baseline Havoc Abilties

These are the core skills you will gain access to during the Havoc leveling process and form the core gameplay loop.

Ability Abbreviation Description/Effect
Demon's Bite Icon Demon's Bite DBite Your basic Fury generator, dealing light Physical damage to your target and generating 20 to 30 Fury.
Chaos Strike Icon Chaos Strike CS Core Fury Spender, dealing moderate Chaos damage to your target with the cost of 40 Fury. Has a 20% chance to refund 20 Fury.
Blade Dance Icon Blade Dance BD Strikes all nearby targets for Physical damage 4 times, dealing reduced damage above 5 targets. It has a 10-second cooldown and costs 35 Fury.
Immolation Aura Icon Immolation Aura Immo Deals instant Fire damage in an AoE around you and additional Fire damage every second for 10 seconds. Generates 20 Fury when cast, with a 30-second cooldown.
Throw Glaive Icon Throw Glaive TG Deals light Physical damage to your target and bounces to a nearby enemy. Free to cast, with a 9-second cooldown.
Blur Icon Blur - Reduces all incoming damage by 20% and grants an additional 50% chance to dodge melee swings and Physical hits. Has a 10-second duration and a 1-minute cooldown.
Disrupt Icon Disrupt Kick Interrupts your target and, if successful, locks them out of the interrupted spell school for 3 seconds. Has a 15-second cooldown.
Torment Icon Torment Taunt Taunts your target, forcing yourself to the top of their threat table and causing them to attack you. It has an 8-second cooldown and 30-yard range.
Spectral Sight Icon Spectral Sight - Allows you to see through walls, highlighting enemies, treasures, and similar things in bright colors for 10 seconds. You are slowed for the duration, and any damage taken will end the effect. It has a 30-second cooldown.
Metamorphosis Icon Metamorphosis Meta Leap up to 40 yards to your targeted area, dealing a small amount of Chaos damage, stunning any enemies for 3 seconds, and entering Metamorphosis for 20 seconds. During Metamorphosis you gain 20% Haste, and Chaos Strike Icon Chaos Strike and Blade Dance Icon Blade Dance are empowered, changing to Annihilation Icon Annihilation and Death Sweep Icon Death Sweep. 3-minute cooldown.
Fel Eruption Icon Fel Eruption FE Deals light Chaos damage to your target and stuns them for 4 seconds. Costs 10 Fury, has a 30-second cooldown and 20-yard range.
Fel Rush Icon Fel Rush FR Instantly charges you forward 15 yards with a 0.5-second Global Cooldown, dealing Chaos damage to targets in your path. It has a 10-second cooldown.
Sigil of Flame Icon Sigil of Flame SoF Places a sigil on the ground that instantly generates 30 Fury and detonates after 2 seconds. When it triggers, it deals moderate Fire damage to targets within it and additional Fire damage over 8 seconds. 30-second cooldown.
Double Jump Icon Double Jump - Allows you to double-tap your jump key to trigger a second jump while airborne.
Glide Icon Glide - Allows you to triple-tap your jump key (or use it while already airborne) to initiate a glide, slowing your fall rate and propelling you slowly forward. This can be used as a situational tool to generate forward momentum. Vengeful Retreat Icon Vengeful Retreat stops this from being activated for 1 second after a cast, so you cannot link them together on even ground.
Chaos Brand Icon Chaos Brand Brand Upon dealing damage to a target, applies a permanent 5% magic damage taken increase from all sources. This effect has a reduced 15-second duration in PvP combat.
Demonic Wards Icon Demonic Wards - Reduces all Magic damage taken by 10% passively.
Demonic Appetite Icon Demonic Appetite DA Grants Chaos Strike Icon Chaos Strike a 6 RPPM (scaling with Haste) chance to spawn a Lesser Soul Fragment nearby. Consuming any Soul Fragment also grants 20 Fury.
5.

Talented Abilities for Havoc Demon Hunter

The abilities below are all gained from talents specifically; for more detailed information on builds that use these talents and what combinations to use, please look at our talent page.

5.1.

Class Tree Active Abilities

Ability Abbreviation Description/Effect
Vengeful Retreat Icon Vengeful Retreat VR Removes all snares when cast, vaults you back 15 yards, and deals a small amount of Physical damage around you. Has a 25-second cooldown.
Sigil of Misery Icon Sigil of Misery SoM Places a sigil on the ground that detonates after 2 seconds, disorienting any enemies hit for 20 seconds when it goes off. Any damage taken will end the effect, and has a 2-minute cooldown.
Imprison Icon Imprison - Incapacitates the targeted demon, beast, or humanoid for 1 minute. Limited to 1 imprisonment, and any damage taken cancels the effect. 45-second cooldown.
Chaos Nova Icon Chaos Nova Nova Deals light Chaos damage to nearby enemies in an AoE around you and stuns them for 2 seconds. It costs 25 Fury and has a 45-second cooldown.
Consume Magic Icon Consume Magic - Removes 1 beneficial magic effect from your target. It has a 30-yard range and 10-second cooldown.
Felblade Icon Felblade FB Deals moderate Fire damage to your target and generates 40 Fury. If you are out of melee range, this will charge you up to 15 yards toward them. It has a 15-second cooldown, and Demon's Bite Icon Demon's Bite casts / Demon Blades Icon Demon Blades hits have a chance to reset the cooldown. It also has a 0.5-second GCD.
Darkness Icon Darkness - Creates a pool of darkness at your feet for 8 seconds, causing any damage dealt to you or an ally stood within to have a 15% chance to miss. 8-yard radius and 5-minute cooldown. Chance to avoid damage increased by 100% when not in a raid group.
The Hunt Icon The Hunt Hunt Charges up to 50 yards to your target, dealing heavy Chaos damage to your primary target and applying a heavy Chaos damage DoT to your target and up to 5 enemies in your path. Also places a separate 20-second debuff on your primary target, causing you to heal for 10% of all damage you deal to them. 1.5-minute cooldown.
Elysian Decree Icon Elysian Decree ED Place a sigil on the ground within 30 yards that activates after 2 seconds. Upon detonation, deals heavy Chaos damage and shatters 3 Lesser Soul Fragments from enemies affected. Has a 1-minute cooldown.
5.2.

Class Tree Passive Abilities

Ability Abbreviation Description/Effect
Blazing Path Icon Blazing Path - Grants Fel Rush Icon Fel Rush an additional charge.
Vengeful Bonds Icon Vengeful Bonds - Causes Vengeful Retreat Icon Vengeful Retreat to also reduce the movement speed of all enemies hit by 70% for 3 seconds.
Unrestrained Fury Icon Unrestrained Fury - Increases your maximum Fury by 20.
Shattered Restoration Icon Shattered Restoration - Increases the healing of Shattered Souls by 5/10%.
Improved Sigil of Misery Icon Improved Sigil of Misery - Reduces the cooldown of Sigil of Misery Icon Sigil of Misery by 30 seconds.
Bouncing Glaives Icon Bouncing Glaives - Causes Throw Glaive Icon Throw Glaive to ricochet to an additional target.
Charred Warblades Icon Charred Warblades - You heal for 3% of all Fire damage you deal. This also applies to Chaos damage.
Improved Disrupt Icon Improved Disrupt - Increases the range of Disrupt Icon Disrupt to 15 yards.
Aldrachi Design Icon Aldrachi Design - Increases your parry chance by 3%.
Chaos Fragments Icon Chaos Fragments - Each enemy stunned by Chaos Nova Icon Chaos Nova has a 30% chance to generate a lesser Soul Fragment.
Master of the Glaive Icon Master of the Glaive MotG Grants Throw Glaive Icon Throw Glaive a second charge and cause targets hit by the ability to be slowed by 50% for 6 seconds.
Champion of the Glaive Icon Champion of the Glaive CotG Grants Throw Glaive Icon Throw Glaive a second charge increases its range by 10 yards.
Disrupting Fury Icon Disrupting Fury - Successfully interrupting a target with Disrupt Icon Disrupt now generates 30 Fury.
Swallowed Anger Icon Swallowed Anger - Successfully removing a beneficial Magic effect from a target with Consume Magic Icon Consume Magic generates 20 Fury.
Aura of Pain Icon Aura of Pain - Increases the Critical Strike chance of Immolation Aura Icon Immolation Aura by 6%.
Live by the Glaive Icon Live by the Glaive LbtG When you parry an attack or have one of your own parried, restore 4% of your maximum health and generate 10 Fury. This effect has a 5-second internal cooldown.
Pursuit Icon Pursuit - Causes your Mastery also to increase your Movement speed based on rating.
Soul Rending Icon Soul Rending SR Grants 5/10% Leech, increased to 10/20% while in Metamorphosis Icon Metamorphosis.
Infernal Armor Icon Infernal Armor - Immolation Aura Icon Immolation Aura also increases your Armour by 10/20%, and causes melee attackers to take light Fire damage when striking you.
Lost in Darkness Icon Lost in Darkness - Spectral Sight Icon Spectral Sight lasts an additional 6 seconds and is no longer canceled when taking damage.
Illidari Knowledge Icon Illidari Knowledge - Reduces Magic damage taken by an additional 5%.
Felfire Haste Icon Felfire Haste - Casting Fel Rush Icon Fel Rush also increases your movement speed by 10% for 8 seconds.
Demonic Icon Demonic - Casting Eye Beam Icon Eye Beam grants 6 seconds of the Metamorphosis Icon Metamorphosis effect.
Will of the Illidari Icon Will of the Illidari - Increases your maximum health by 5%.
Precise Sigils Icon Precise Sigils - All of your Sigil casts are now cast at your target's location.
Internal Struggle Icon Internal Struggle - Increases your Mastery by 3.6%.
Soul Sigils Icon Soul Sigils - Afflicting an enemy with any sigil generates 1 Lesser Soul Fragment
Quickened Sigils Icon Quickened Sigils - All sigils activate 1 second faster.
Erratic Felheart Icon Erratic Felheart - Reduces the cooldown of Fel Rush Icon Fel Rush by 10/20%.
Long Night Icon Long Night - Increase the duration of Darkness Icon Darkness by 3 seconds.
Pitch Black Icon Pitch Black - Reduces the cooldown of Darkness Icon Darkness by 2 minutes.
Rush of Chaos Icon Rush of Chaos - Reduces the cooldown of Metamorphosis Icon Metamorphosis by 30/60 seconds.
Demon Muzzle Icon Demon Muzzle - Afflicting an enemy with any sigil causes them to deal 8% reduced magic damage to you for 8 seconds.
Flames of Fury Icon Flames of Fury - Increases the damage of Sigil of Flame Icon Sigil of Flame by 35/70% and causes it to generate 1/2 additional Fury per target hit.
Collective Anguish Icon Collective Anguish CA When you cast Eye Beam Icon Eye Beam, an allied Demon Hunter appears to cast Fel Devastation Icon Fel Devastation. This deals full damage and heals you over its duration.
5.3.

Spec Tree Active Abilities

Ability Abbreviation Description/Effect
Eye Beam Icon Eye Beam Beam Deals heavy Chaos damage to all enemies 20 yards in front of you in a line, dealing reduced damage above 5 targets. Costs 30 Fury, has a 2-second channel and a 40-second channel.
Netherwalk Icon Netherwalk NW Increases your movement speed by 100%, and gives you reduces all damage you take by 100% for 6 seconds but are unable to attack. 3-minute cooldown.
Glaive Tempest Icon Glaive Tempest GT Drops stationary spinning glaives at your feet, dealing heavy Chaos damage to any enemies within over 3 seconds, dealing reduced damage above 8 targets. Costs 30 Fury with a 20-second cooldown, reduced by Haste.
Essence Break Icon Essence Break Essb Slashes all enemies in a cone in front of you for heavy Chaos damage, and increases the damage Chaos Strike Icon Chaos Strike and Blade Dance Icon Blade Dance deals to affected enemies by 80% for 4 seconds. Has a 40-second cooldown.
Fel Barrage Icon Fel Barrage Fbarr Rapidly drains Fury to deal heavy Chaos damage to all enemies within 12 yards, dealing reduced damage above 5 targets. Lasts a maximum of 8 seconds or until all Fury is drained with a 1.5-minute cooldown.
5.4.

Spec Tree Passive Abilities

Ability Abbreviation Description/Effect
Critical Chaos Icon Critical Chaos - The chance that Chaos Strike Icon Chaos Strike refunds Fury is increased by 30% of your Critical Strike Chance.
Insatiable Hunger Icon Insatiable Hunger IH Demon's Bite Icon Demon's Bite deals 50% additional damage and generates 5-10 additional Fury.
Demon Blades Icon Demon Blades Dblades Causes your auto attacks to deal additional Shadow damage and generate 7-12 Fury each swing. Replaces Demon's Bite Icon Demon's Bite when taken.
Burning Hatred Icon Burning Hatred BH Immolation Aura Icon Immolation Aura generates an additional 40 Fury over 10 seconds after activation.
Improved Fel Rush Icon Improved Fel Rush - Increases the damage dealt by Fel Rush Icon Fel Rush by 20%.
Dash of Chaos Icon Dash of Chaos DoC After casting Fel Rush Icon Fel Rush, you can re-activate it within 2 seconds to dash back to your initial location. This counts as a regular Fel Rush cast.
Improved Chaos Strike Icon Improved Chaos Strike - Chaos Strike Icon Chaos Strike deals 10% increased damage.
First Blood Icon First Blood FB Converts the school of Blade Dance Icon Blade Dance and Death Sweep Icon Death Sweep to Chaos, and increases damage dealt to your primary target by 75%.
Accelerating Blade Icon Accelerating Blade AB Throw Glaive Icon Throw Glaive deals 60% additional damage to your target, reduced by 30% with each bounce.
Demon Hide Icon Demon Hide - Increases your Magical damage dealt by 3%, and reduces Physical damage taken by 5%.
Desperate Instincts Icon Desperate Instincts DI Blur Icon Blur reduces damage taken by an additional 10%. Also, whenever you drop below 35% health, Blur is automatically triggered at half duration, with a 50% reduced cooldown. This will only trigger if Blur is currently off cooldown.
Deflecting Dance Icon Deflecting Dance - While casting Blade Dance Icon Blade Dance, you absorb damage up damage up to 15% of your maximum health.
Mortal Dance Icon Mortal Dance - Enemies hit by Blade Dance Icon Blade Dance receive 50% less healing for 6 seconds.
Initiative Icon Initiative - Damaging an enemy before they damage you increases your Critical Strike Chance by 12% for 5 seconds. Casting Vengeful Retreat Icon Vengeful Retreat resets this effect, allowing you to trigger it again on any enemies it has previously triggered from.
Scars of Suffering Icon Scars of Suffering - Increases Versatility by 4% and reduces threat generated by 8%.
Chaotic Transformation Icon Chaotic Transformation CTr When you cast Metamorphosis Icon Metamorphosis the cooldowns of Blade Dance Icon Blade Dance and Eye Beam Icon Eye Beam are reset.
Furious Throws Icon Furious Throws FT Throw Glaive Icon Throw Glaive now costs 25 Fury and throws a second glaive at your target.
Trail of Ruin Icon Trail of Ruin ToR The final slash of Blade Dance Icon Blade Dance applies a DoT, dealing a moderate amount of Chaos damage over 4 seconds
Tactical Retreat Icon Tactical Retreat - The cooldown of Vengeful Retreat Icon Vengeful Retreat is reduced by 5 seconds, and causes it to generate 80 Fury over 10 seconds when cast.
Blind Fury Icon Blind Fury BF Your Eye Beam Icon Eye Beam damage and duration is increased by 10/20%, and also generates 20/40 Fury per second spent channeling.
Looks Can Kill Icon Looks Can Kill LCK Eye Beam Icon Eye Beam will now always critically strike.
Dancing with Fate Icon Dancing with Fate DWF The final strike caused by Blade Dance Icon Blade Dance deals 25/50% additional damage.
Growing Inferno Icon Growing Inferno GI Every time Immolation Aura Icon Immolation Aura deals damage it deals 5/10% increased damage until it expires.
Unbound Chaos Icon Unbound Chaos UBC When you cast Immolation Aura Icon Immolation Aura, your next Fel Rush Icon Fel Rush cast within 12 seconds deals 250% increased damage.
Isolated Prey Icon Isolated Prey IP Whenever you strike only a single target with the following abilities, they gain additional effects:
  • Chaos Nova Icon Chaos Nova stuns for an additional 2 seconds
  • Eye Beam Icon Eye Beam deals 30% increased damage.
  • Immolation Aura Icon Immolation Aura always critically strikes.
Furious Gaze Icon Furious Gaze FG Fully channeling Eye Beam Icon Eye Beam also grants 10% Haste for 10 seconds.
Serrated Glaive Icon Serrated Glaive - Hitting an enemy with Chaos Strike Icon Chaos Strike or Throw Glaive Icon Throw Glaive increases their damage taken by your Throw Glaive Icon Throw Glaive and Chaos Strike Icon Chaos Strike / Annihilation Icon Annihilation by 15% for 15 seconds.
Burning Wound Icon Burning Wound BW Hitting an enemy with any of Demon's Bite Icon Demon's Bite, Demon Blades Icon Demon Blades or Throw Glaive Icon Throw Glaive applies a DoT dealing moderate Chaos damage over 15 seconds. Enemies take 40% additional damage from your Immolation Aura Icon Immolation Aura when affected by this, but can only be applied to a maximum of 3 targets at a time.
Momentum Icon Momentum - Casting Fel Rush Icon Fel Rush, The Hunt Icon The Hunt, and Vengeful Retreat Icon Vengeful Retreat increases your damage done by 6% for 6 seconds. This is extended up to 30 seconds with each additional cast.
Inertia Icon Inertia - Consuming the Unbound Chaos Icon Unbound Chaos effect with Fel Rush Icon Fel Rush increases your damage done by 18% for 5 seconds.
Chaos Theory Icon Chaos Theory CT Casting Blade Dance Icon Blade Dance causes your next Chaos Strike Icon Chaos Strike cast within 8 seconds to have a 14-30% increased chance to critically strike, and always trigger the 20 Fury refund.
Inner Demon Icon Inner Demon ID Entering the Metamorphosis Icon Metamorphosis effect via any means causes your next Chaos Strike Icon Chaos Strike to deal heavy Chaos damage to all nearby enemies.
Restless Hunter Icon Restless Hunter - Leaving your Metamorphosis Icon Metamorphosis effect (including when overwriting the effect via Metamorphosis Icon Metamorphosis) grants a charge of Fel Rush Icon Fel Rush and increases the damage of your next Blade Dance Icon Blade Dance cast by 50%.
Relentless Onslaught Icon Relentless Onslaught RO Chaos Strike Icon Chaos Strike has a 10% chance to trigger and additional Chaos Strike.
Soulscar Icon Soulscar - Throw Glaive Icon Throw Glaive also applies a Chaos DoT effect for 6 seconds, dealing 100% of the damage dealt by the glaive. Mastery improves this, but it cannot critically strike.
Ragefire Icon Ragefire RF When Immolation Aura Icon Immolation Aura critically strikes, 30% of the damage is stored up to a cap of 3 critical strikes per tick. When Immolation Aura expires, and you explode, dealing all the stored Ragefire damage to all nearby enemies.
Know Your Enemy Icon Know Your Enemy KYE Your Critical Strike Damage is increased by 40/80% of your Critical Strike Chance. Heavily increases the scaling potential of Critical Strike.
Cycle of Hatred Icon Cycle of Hatred CoH Casting Blade Dance Icon Blade Dance, Chaos Strike Icon Chaos Strike, or Glaive Tempest Icon Glaive Tempest reduces the cooldown of Eye Beam Icon Eye Beam by 0.5/1 second. With Furious Throws Icon Furious Throws talented, Throw Glaive Icon Throw Glaive also triggers this.
Chaotic Disposition Icon Chaotic Disposition - Whenever you deal Chaos damage, there is a 7.77% chance to duplicate up to 17% of the damage dealt to the target. This can repeat up to 3/7 times.
A Fire Inside Icon A Fire Inside AFI Grants Immolation Aura Icon Immolation Aura a secondary charge, with a 25% chance to refund a charge whenever cast. Also allows multiple Immolation Aura buffs to overlap and be active at the same time.
Shattered Destiny Icon Shattered Destiny SD The duration of your Metamorphosis Icon Metamorphosis effect is extended by 0.1 seconds per 12 Fury spent while it is active.
Any Means Necessary Icon Any Means Necessary AMN Mastery: Demonic Presence Icon Mastery: Demonic Presence now also causes any Arcane, Fire, Frost, Nature, or Shadow damage you deal to be converted to Chaos instead, granting 80% of your Mastery benefit to them.
6.

Further Reading

Since Havoc has a lot of synergistic effects within the tree, knowing how to manage your rotation in regular gameplay is essential. It can be overwhelming to be presented with the complete toolkit. Trying to work out each interaction and priority can be difficult. Now you are equipped with the knowledge of what each thing does; you can put it into practice using the details provided on the rotation page:

7.

Changelog

  • 22 Apr. 2024: Reviewed for Season 4.
  • 21 Mar. 2024: Reviewed for Patch 10.2.6.
  • 15 Jan. 2024: Updated to account for spell school changes in Patch 10.2.5.
  • 06 Nov. 2023: Updated for Patch 10.2 rework.
  • 04 Sep. 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.1.7, no changes necessary.
  • 10 Jul. 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.1.5, no changes necessary.
  • 01 May 2023: Updated for Patch 10.1 talent changes.
  • 20 Mar. 2023: Reviewed and cleaned up for Patch 10.0.7.
  • 24 Jan. 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
  • 11 Dec. 2022: Fixed Formatting and Hotfixes.
  • 28 Nov. 2022: Updated for Dragonflight launch.
  • 24 Oct. 2022: Updated for Dragonflight Pre-Patch.
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