Vengeance Demon Hunter Best Covenants, Soulbinds, and Conduits — Shadowlands 9.0.2

This page assumes that you are already familiar with Covenants, Soulbinds, and Conduits. If that is not the case, we have a number of pages that can help you get up to speed:

• Covenants Guide, which explains what Covenants are, what perks they bring, and how you can join one;
• Demon Hunter Covenant Abilities, which lists all the abilities that Demon Hunters gain by joining each Covenant;
• How To Change Covenant?, which tells you how you can switch Covenant (rejoining a former Covenant will require you to perform a number of tasks to regain their trusts);
• General Soulbind Guide, which explains what Soulbinds are and how you can pledge yourself to them to open up their Soulbind tree;
• Demon Hunter Conduits, which lists all of the Conduits available to Demon Hunters.

Focus	Covenant	Soulbind	Recommended Tree
Raiding Torghast	Kyrian	Kleia	Kleia Raiding Tree
Mythic+	Kyrian	Kleia	Kleia Tree

Kyrian is the strongest Covenant for Vengeance Demon Hunter with Venthyr being the second best choice. Night Fae has recently seen a nerf to the dot damage and Necrolord is a very niche. While all Covenants are viable for all content, not taking Kyrian will drastically lower your overall damage potential, which can cause threat issues.

For more information about Vengeance Demon Hunter Covenants, please read our Covenants and Soulbinds analysis section at the end of this page.

We are giving more detailed information on Conduits below. For a complete overview, you can visit our Demon Hunter Conduits list.

• Best Potency Conduits: The Covenant-specific Conduits ( Repeat Decree, Increased Scrutiny, Unnatural Malice, or Brooding Pool) are a must pick and Growing Inferno should be the second choice for any additional Potency slots.
• Best Endurance Conduits: Shattered Restoration provides a passive increase with soul healing and Viscous Ink provides amazing passive damage reduction. If playing the Fiery Brand build, then Fel Defender becomes mandatory and should replace one of the other two listed depending on the content.
• Best Finesse Conduits: The Conduits are niche to specific situations but the best generic Conduit is Felfire Haste. Ravenous Consumption is a decent choice in PvP or dungeons that require multiple purges.

Conduits provide the same benefit regardless of Covenant choice. They can only be used once per Soulbind but you are able to have them in every Soulbind. For instance, Viscous Ink can be used with Kleia and Pelagos at the same time. Potency and Endurance Conduits should be chosen over Finesse Conduits when there is a choice.

1. Repeat Decree is the best Conduit for Kyrian Covenant and should always be picked. Elysian Decree will echo the sigil after 1 second for an additional 25% damage.
2. Growing Inferno is our next best Conduit. Immolation Aura damage is increased by a percentage (starting at 10% at rank 1) by each additional tick.
3. Increased Scrutiny reduces the cooldown of Sinful Brand. Rank 1 starts at 5 seconds. Sinful Brand is a very strong damage cooldown for Venthyr Covenant.
4. Unnatural Malice increases the damage of the Night Fae ability The Hunt to the primary target by 25% at rank 1.
5. Brooding Pool increases the duration of the Necrolord's ability Fodder to the Flame by 1 second at rank 1. At max rank, 15 second increased duration turns Fodder to the Flame into a decent defensive cooldown.
6. Soul Furnace increases the next Soul Cleave damage by an additional 30% after consuming 10 souls. This Conduit is the worst Conduit for Potency and should only be used if there is no other choice. Soul cleave damage is really low so increasing it by 30% is not nearly enough to pick this Conduit.

1. Shattered Restoration provides additional healing for each soul fragment. This gives a passive healing increase which boosts survival rates.
2. Viscous Ink increases magic damage reduction additively with rank 1 being 6%. Vengeance has a based magic damage reduction of 15% and rank 1 Conduit pushes this to 21%. This is a very strong Conduit and makes Vengeance highly effective against high magic damage fights.
3. Fel Defender lowers the cooldown of Fiery Brand by 5 seconds at rank 1. This Conduit becomes mandatory for the Fiery Brand build where Mythic+ survival revolves around spreading Fiery Brand as much as possible.
4. Demon Muzzle lowers the magic damage received by 5% for 8 seconds at rank 1 by enemies that were affected by Sigil of Silence once the sigil wears off. This Conduit can be used well in Mythic+ but additional survivability but underperforms when compared to the above Conduits. Only use this Conduit if you are missing the other better Conduits.
5. Roaring Fire increases healing by up to 30% for rank 1 of Fel Devastation based on missing health. This Conduit is bad. The healing of Fel Devastation is already low and the Demonic talent should be used to trigger Metamorphosis, which makes this Conduit worse.

1. Felfire Haste is the best generic Finesse Conduit. Infernal Strike increases movement speed by 5% at rank 1 for 8 seconds. This provides a small improvement to mobility in all situations.
2. Ravenous Consumption has a 15% chance at rank 1 for Consume Magic to remove a second Magic effect from the target. This is a great Conduit for PvP or content that requires constant purges. The only downside is the low chance of the second purge triggering.
3. Lost in Darkness allows for Spectral Sight to last an additional 3 seconds at rank 1 if disrupted by attacking or taking damage. This Conduit can be used in PvP to detect rogues, druids, or mages in stealth/invisibility despite taking damage.
4. Demonic Parole reduces the speed of enemies by 50% after leaving Imprison by 5 seconds at rank 1 up to 20 seconds at max rank. This Conduit is very niche. It can be used well in PvP or in PvE content where a single enemy needs to be kited for a long period of time.

All Covenants are viable for all content but the damage from Elysian Decree and the utility from Phial of Serenity provides more benefit than every other Covenant. Unfortunately, it will be viewed as a detrimental to any Vengeance that does not take Kyrian. Venthyr is not too far behind and is a smart choice for players who constantly swap between Havoc and Vengeance but Kyrian is needed for min/maxing. Night Fae and Necrolord is not recommended in most situations.

• Kyrian provides Elysian Decree as the Covenant ability that places a Kyrian Sigil on the ground that detonates for arcane damage after 2 seconds spawning 3 souls. Elysian Decree will hit a second time after 1 second if the Repeat Decree Conduit is being used. This ability provides a large amount of damage. It is soft capped at 5 targets with fall off damage to any enemies over 5. Additionally, Summon Steward will summon a NPC with various menu options but most important provides a Phial of Serenity. Phial restores 20% health and removes all diseases, poisons, curses and bleeds on a 3 minute cooldown.
• Venthyr provides Sinful Brand as the Covenant ability, which marks an enemy inflicting shadow damage over 8 seconds and reducing the enemy's cast and melee speeds by 30%. Activating Metamorphosis will apply Sinful Brand to all targets. Note that the Demonic talent does not trigger this AoE spread, which means the AoE portion is on a 3-minute cooldown. The defensive portion of Sinful Brand is negligible. It will prevent 1 cast or 1 melee swing during the duration at most. Additionally, Venthyr has the Door of Shadows ability that will travel to a location within 35 yards on a 1-minute cooldown. Door of Shadows has a 1.5 second cast time. Vengeance has high mobility with Infernal Strike that is off the GCD and instant so Door of Shadows is a niche ability that would not see much use.
• Necrolord provides the Fodder to the Flame ability, which calls forth a demon that spawns an Empowered Demon Soul upon death. Consuming the soul will provide a buff that increases all damage done by 30% and reduces all damage by 15% for 20 seconds. The demon can only be hit by the Demon Hunter and must be killed in 25 seconds or it will escape. Throw Glaive does considerably more damage to the demon. With a 2-minute cooldown, this ability is not very good because the base damage of Vengeance Demon Hunter is too low so buffing the damage by 30% is not significant enough to make up not using Elysian Decree or Sinful Brand. There may be niche situations for a turtle build to use this as another defensive cooldown on a 2 minute timer especially paired with Brooding Pool. Additionally, Necrolord provides Fleshcraft that is a 4-second channel for a shield for 20% of the players maximum health for 2 minutes on a 2 minute cooldown. Channeling near a corpse will increase the shield by an additional 50% maximum health. This is, again, a very niche ability for Vengeance because while channeling, Demon Hunters cannot parry so this would need to be used between pulls in Mythic+ or while not actively tanking in raids.
• Night Fae provides the The Hunt ability that will charge an enemy, causing Nature damage, rooting them in place, and dealing additional nature damage over 6 seconds up to 5 targets in the path of the charge. The Hunt is kind of a mix between a charge and a leap ability. The player will charge the target selected but the hit box is like a leap reticle on determining what enemies to damage. This means that if the targets are moving slightly as the charge happens, then they may move out of the damage area and receive no damage. The coding for this ability is hit or miss. If the hit area is recoded in a future patch, this ability would work well in PvP on targets trying to run away. Additionally, Night Fae provides the Soulshape ability, which turns the player into a Vulpin for 12 seconds, teleporting them forward 15 yards, and increasing movement speed by 50%. Reactivating Soulshape every few seconds will teleport the player 15 yards. This lasts indefinitely in rested areas. Vengeance with Infernal Strike does not need more mobility in most situations. This is a niche ability at best.

To summarize, Kyrian is the best pick in all situations except for serious PvP. It provides the highest source of damage for Vengeance and massive utility with Phial. Venthyr can work well for players who are looking to play both Havoc and Vengeance regularly. Assuming The Hunt hit detection is improved, Night Fae is a decent choice for the PvP utility. Necrolord should only be picked for niche situations that requires the player to be as defensive as possible. This is not needed in most situations and is not recommended.

Renown is earned weekly from a set of quests and it is used to unlock tiers in the Soulbind trees. It is also used to unlock the third Soulbind for each covenant. These quests are extremely important to do every week. If a week is missed, there is a catch up mechanic in place to help the player get caught up to the current max rank.

Kleia is the best soulbind for Vengeance and she is a standard unlock, which does not require Renown. Mentorship is recommended at early levels of Renown to provide the early Potency Conduit Repeat Decree. After Renown 28, the final Conduits are unlocked allowing for Ascendant Phial as a viable choice by selecting the last Potency Conduit and Bearer's Pursuit.

Kleia is the best Soulbind for Vengeance due to Valiant Strikes providing decent healing, Ascendant Phial working as an immunity, Cleansing Rites providing a shield for each pull, and Bearer's Pursuit providing a slow for times where kiting is needed.

Pelagos is the second best Soulbind for Vengeance especially after the change of Let Go of the Past from versatility to magic damage reduction. He does allow a path that skips all Finesse Conduits.

Forgelite Prime Mikanikos is an interesting Soulbind due to Resilient Plumage providing a 20% damage reduction after receiving falling damage. If this can be reliably triggered in a dungeon or raid encounter, this can be used as another defensive cooldown. The following builds are suggestions and should be changed based on the current situation and content.

We suggest following this path:

We suggest following this path:

We suggest following this path:

Emeni's Lead by Example is the only reason to choose this Soulbind due to buffing your agility by 5% and your partys main stat by 2% for 10 seconds. This increases by an additional 2% for each party member affected.

Plague Deviser Marileth provides some survivability with Ooz's Frictionless Coating by gaining a 15% max health shield when health is reduced below 50%. As a tank, this should be triggering on cooldown.

Bonesmith Heirmir is not very good for Vengeance.

We suggest following this path:

We suggest following this path:

We suggest following this path:

Nadjia the Mistblade's Thrill Seeker gives a 20% haste buff every 80 seconds during a boss encounter or more often in Mythic+ or boss fights with adds based on enemies dying. Nothing else is very appealing and you are forced to take a Finesse Conduit.

Theotar the Mad Duke's Refined Palate is strong by increasing the duration of combat potions by 100% to 200%, which is fantastic in all sitations. This Soulbind also allows for 3 Endurance Conduits. Soothing Shade is unfortunately bad for Vengeance due to Mastery being a very weak stat.

General Draven's Service In Stone loses some of the power as a tank because if the tank dies in a raid or Mythic+, it normally results in a wipe. There are times where this could be useful in raids. Hold Your Ground is a nice passive buff to stamina and healing if you are able to stand still for at least 4 seconds.

We suggest following this path:

We suggest following this path:

We suggest following this path:

Dreamweaver's Podtender loses value as a tank since all threat is lost upon death and will normally result in a wipe in Mythic+. This could save a raid encounter if your co-tank is able to hold the enemies as you regenerate over 10 seconds. Social Butterfly is a nice passive versatility boost when doing party content. Lastly, Field of Blossoms provides a decent haste buff every 1.5 minutes after using The Hunt.

Niya's Grove Invigoration is weak for Vengeance due to Mastery being a weak stat. Run Without Tiring can provide niche healing in raid when the cotank taunts or in solo content. You are forced to take a Finesse Conduit.

Korayn is only unlocked at week 7 and is mostly good for solo content and to kill adds quickly.

We suggest following this path:

We suggest following this path:

We suggest following this path:

Kleia is the best Soulbind for Raiding and Mythic+ simply due to Valiant Strikes, Ascendant Phial, and Cleansing Rites. Pelagos loses because Combat Meditation provides Mastery which is the worst stat for Vengeance and the nerf of Let Go of the Past hurt the Soulbind. Mikanikos is only strong in encounters that can abuse Resilient Plumage.