Destruction Warlock DPS Spec, Builds, and Talents — 12.0.5

Over the course of the first Season of Midnight, Destruction talent selections have consolidated towards a specific playstyle, thanks to several tuning passes and weekly bugfixes. Whilst there might still be some nuanced options, below are the current recommendations:

• Single Target— Diabolist is the better single target option, remaining competitive when encounters feature any form of stacked cleave. Hellcaller is slightly worse in pure single target, but gains value as more targets are present.
• AoE— Hellcaller is the better choice at any key level, with Diabolist being an alternative at low key levels where targets dont last long and the stronger burst is more important.

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The builds listed above are popular recommendations, covering various different loadouts suited to each style of endgame content. Each Talent Build will have it's own rotation, and can also be manipulated further for specific types of content and to better benefit your group.

Combat Information

Rotations and Mythic+

Want to dive deeper? These guides will teach you how to utilize our Talent Builds in endgame content!

RotationMythic+

Available during the leveling in Midnight, these talents are separated from the rest of the spec tree and require subsequent points investment in order to unlock the later ranks.

1. Embers of Nihilam
2. Embers of Nihilam
3. Embers of Nihilam

These talents mostly provide background power and do not affect the rotation in itself broadly speaking, as any optimisation is overlapping with existing practices already.

Available at level 71 Hero talents are mutually exclusive trees you can choose to slightly alter gameplay and visuals. Destruction Warlocks can choose between Diabolist and Hellcaller.

Diabolist is themed around Demons and the cycle of Overlord, Mother of Chaos and Pit Lord summoned with Diabolic Ritual. The gameplay as a result is of predictable cadence with a higher degree of burst potential, tied with the Hero Tree summons and spell empowerments.

In terms of utility Soul-Etched Circles gives snare and root immunity on Demonic Circle: Teleport on top of 50% movement speed but on the other hand Annihilan's Bellow coupled with Oppressive Darkness enables 25s cooldown Howl of Terror that can affect up to 10 targets.

Hellcaller is themed around Shadowflame damage and harder hitting DoTs. Wither replaces Immolate and can generate a second Shadowflame DoT effect in Blackened Soul. The Hero tree offers a more methodical approach to shard expenditure with Malevolence bolstering burst windows every minute.

In terms of utility Curse of the Satyr offers a debuff that is relevant on both melee and caster enemies without the need to choose and is especially relevant with Foul Mouth being added in patch 12.0.

Under our Talents section, there is the option to enter "War Mode." Enabling War Mode provides the following benefits:

• PvP talents enabled in the outdoor world
• 10% increase in World Quest rewards at maximum level
• 10% more experience gained while leveling
• Earn Conquest Points, which can reward gear every week

With the benefits of enabling War Mode for leveling and PvE content, it is recommended you enable the feature. In most situations, this will allow for the maximum returns despite the risks. You will make yourself available for open-world PvP and the possibility to be "ganked" while leveling or doing World Quests exists.

In this section, we will rank the PvP talents best for leveling and doing solo / small group PvE content. Below is a ranking of both General PvP Talents and Destruction Warlock-specific PvE talents.

1. Bonds of Fel allows to burst targets by dragging them away from the marked location.
2. Gateway Mastery increases your gateway's range by 20 yards and reduces the duration of the debuff placed on players using it by 15 seconds, making it a good choice when increased mobility is needed.
3. Nether Ward summons a shield lasting 3 seconds and reflecting back all harmful spells targeted at you.
4. Call Observer is only relevant when dealing with a lot of casting mobs.

1. Fel Fissure causes Chaos Bolt to create a 5 yard Felfire pool under the target, reducing movement speed by 50% and reducing healing received on all enemies by 25%. This talent seems great in all situations, but particularly when you are dealing with multiple enemies at once.
2. Bane of Havoc causes Havoc to become a ground-targeted spell. Everything inside will be treated as it was debuffed by Havoc.

Motoko

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This guide has been written by Motoko, Warlock main since The Burning Crusade, co-admin in the Warlock Discord, and theorycrafter and contributor for LockOneStopShop.