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Destruction Warlock guide

Ranged DPSWarlock · WoW Forever

Beta guide, level 30. The WoW Forever beta stops at level 30, so this guide and its build cover levels 1 to 30. We update it for level 60 after launch on November 4.

Destruction is the burst Warlock: Immolate, Conflagrate, Shadowburn and big crits. In Forever, Conflagrate is reachable much earlier, Hellfire can crit, Bane of Havoc copies 15% of your damage on other targets onto one enemy, Molten Skin cuts damage taken, and Incinerate sits at the bottom of the tree. Forever changes: Banes (like Bane of Agony) are now separate from Curses, so you can run one of each; damage over time can crit; Life Tap scales with Spirit; and Ritual of Summoning is the only way to summon players now.

Strengths

  • The biggest Warlock burst: Immolate, Conflagrate, Shadowburn
  • Strong area damage with Hellfire on packs
  • Soulstones, Healthstones and summons for the group

Weaknesses

  • Mana hungry: lots of Life Tap
  • High threat from Immolate, Conflagrate and Hellfire
  • Mostly hard casts, so it's slow and static solo

Talent build (level 30) 0/0/21

Destruction 21 points

  • Destructive Reach2/2
  • Bane5/5
  • Cataclysm3/3
  • Aftermath5/5
  • Shadowburn1/1
  • Agonizing Flames3/3
  • Conflagrate1/1
  • Bane of Havoc1/1

21 points in Destruction: Bane for faster casts, Aftermath for a stronger Immolate, Cataclysm for mana, Destructive Reach, Shadowburn, Agonizing Flames, Conflagrate, and Bane of Havoc for dungeon packs. Ruin, Shadow and Flame and Incinerate come after launch.

Open this build in the talent calculator

Key talents

Conflagrate
Consumes your Immolate for instant fire damage.
Aftermath
+50% initial Immolate damage, and Conflagrate dazes.
Shadowburn
Instant finisher that refunds its Soul Shard if the target dies within 8 sec.
Bane of Havoc
New in Forever: 15% of your damage on other targets is copied onto the cursed one.
Bane
0.5 sec faster Shadow Bolt, Immolate and Incinerate.

New in Forever: Destruction talents

  • Molten SkinReduces all damage taken by 10%.
  • Bane of HavocAfflicts the target for 5 min, causing 15% of all damage done by the Warlock to other targets to also be dealt to the cursed target. Bane of Havoc is limited to 1 target, and only one Bane per Warlock can be active on any one target.
  • Fire and BrimstoneIncreases the critical strike chance of your Conflagrate spell by 25%.
  • Shadow and FlameHitting an enemy with Conflagrate increases all Shadow damage you deal by 10% for 20 sec, and hitting an enemy with Shadowburn increases all Fire damage you deal by 10% for 20 sec. In addition, Conflagrate has a 100% chance not to consume Immolate, and Shadowburn has a 100% chance to instantly refund a Soul Shard.
  • IncinerateDeals 99 to 113 Fire damage to your target and an additional 25% damage if the target is afflicted by Immolate.

Rotation

  1. Send your demon in.
  2. Corruption and Immolate (Bane of Agony only on targets that live over 20 sec).
  3. Shadow Bolt as your filler.
  4. Conflagrate just before Immolate runs out, then reapply Immolate if the target will live.
  5. Finish with Shadowburn.
  6. Life Tap with spare health.

Several enemies

  • Hellfire on 3 or more grouped enemies (it can crit in Forever).
  • Bane of Havoc on the enemy your group will kill last.
  • Immolate two or more enemies while the tank builds threat.

Cooldowns

Shadowburn
Execute low targets and keep your Soul Shards.
Fear
Take an add out of the fight.
Healthstone
Emergency heal.

Stats

Spell power first (look for gear with both fire and shadow damage), then Intellect and Spirit, then Stamina.

Best races

Alliance

Human
The Human Spirit (+10% Spirit, and Life Tap scales with Spirit now) and Ruthless (+1% crit).
Gnome
Expansive Mind (+5% mana) and Eureka! for cheaper, stronger direct spells like Shadow Bolt. It does nothing for damage over time, so it suits Destruction more than Affliction.

Horde

Undead
Touch of the Grave drains health on 30% of your spells, Cannibalize restores mana, Will of the Forsaken breaks fear.
Orc
Blood Fury: +10% Spell Power for 15 sec, and Command: +5% demon damage.
Troll
Berserking for faster casts and Rapid Regeneration to recover.

Professions

Tailoring for cloth with shadow and fire damage (new in Forever), with Enchanting. First Aid matters more now: it also makes cures for poisons, diseases and bleeds.

Leveling

Destruction hits hard but stops to Life Tap a lot. Use your Voidwalker as a tank while leveling and save the Succubus for dungeons.