Destruction Warlock

Overview

Talents and builds

Level 60 build

Loading

Load this buildSim this build

Raid build

The raid build moves 4 points from Grim Reach (2) and Soul Harvest (2) to Pandemic (2), Cataclysm (1) and Aftermath (1).

Loading

Load this buildSim this build

Key talents

• Bane5/5Up to 0.5 seconds off Shadow Bolt, Immolate, and Incinerate cast time, and up to 2 seconds off Soul Fire, at rank 5
• Ruin5/5Up to a 100% critical-strike-damage bonus at rank 5 on all Destruction spells, the tree's biggest single multiplier
• Conflagrate1/1An instant that ignites a target already afflicted by Immolate, dealing Fire damage and consuming the Immolate effect
• Shadowburn1/1An instant Shadow nuke that refunds a Soul Shard if the target dies within 8 seconds of being hit
• Shadow and Flame5/5Up to a 10% damage buff at rank 5 from landing Conflagrate or Shadowburn, plus a chance for Conflagrate not to consume Immolate
• Incinerate1/1The capstone: extra Fire damage that gains a further 25% if the target is afflicted by Immolate, Destruction's signature filler

Rotation and priority

Pop a mana potion at the start of the fight if your mana is already below its usual threshold. Open with Corruption and keep it up throughout: it’s cheap sustained damage, and adding it was the single biggest gain the search found. Keep Bane of Doom running behind it, recast the moment it fires; it edged out Bane of Agony in our simulator. In the last minute of the fight a new Doom would not fire before the end, so cast Bane of Agony instead. Immolate is the DoT this whole rotation is built around, since both Conflagrate and Incinerate depend on it being active; recast it when under 3 seconds remain so it never falls off. Conflagrate is only worth casting while Immolate is up, since it consumes the DoT for an instant burst of damage — cast it as soon as it’s off cooldown with Immolate running. Shadowburn is no longer saved for targets below 20% health: cast it on cooldown whenever its reagent cost is acceptable, because the burst is worth more than waiting for the execute window. Incinerate is now live in this site’s simulator and is the default filler for every other global once talented, dealing bonus damage while Immolate is active; for a build that hasn’t taken the Incinerate talent, Shadow Bolt fills that role instead. Life Tap keeps you casting once mana falls below about 10%. Wand only when you are out of mana: a wand shot cannot start during the global cooldown, so it never fits between spells. Your DoTs, Immolate included, can crit in Forever.

Stat priority

1. 1Spell power
2. 2Hit
3. 3Fire power
4. 4Critical strike
5. 5Shadow power
6. 6Intellect
7. 7Spell haste
8. 8Spell penetration

Best in slot

Enchants and consumables

Races

• Human
• Orc
• Undead
• Gnome (Recommended)
• Troll (Recommended)

Gnome is the Alliance pick: Escape Artist and Expansive Mind. Troll is the Horde pick: Berserking.

Professions

Tailoring and Enchanting is the standard caster pairing in Classic-era play: Tailoring’s crafted spellcaster gear fills early slots, and Enchanting lets you apply your own weapon and gear enchants instead of paying for them.

Leveling

Outlined: points added in this level range.

Affliction is generally the stronger leveling choice for Warlock; Destruction can level well too, since Shadowburn and Conflagrate give it solid burst against single targets, but it lacks Affliction’s DoT-and-move safety against multiple enemies.