Demonology Warlock DPS Mythic+ Tips — The War Within (11.0.5)
In this guide, you will find tips and advice to tackle Mythic+ dungeons with your Demonology Warlock in World of Warcraft — The War Within (11.0.5).
Mythic+ Introduction for Demonology Warlock
Mythic+ has become a large part of the World of Warcraft endgame, but the sheer amount of different variables has left many players feeling overwhelmed. The group composition, weekly affixes, the item level of the group, the keystone level and the experience and comfort level of the group are just several of the factors that will influence how you approach each dungeon. The purpose of this page is to prepare you for the key differences that set Mythic+, apart from the typical World of Warcraft endgame experience, including talents and rotational anomalies that may not be obvious at first glance.
Demonology Warlocks have the potential to deal extremely high burst AoE damage after a proper setup while also offering multiple short cooldowns that suit well the average dungeon pull cadence. With multiple abilities having some form of cleave effect, Demonology's damage profile is well-suited for dungeons, with the only negative of being limited by specific setup periods, and a slightly longer interrupt that shares a stun. The spec still retains all the class baseline toolkit comprised of Healthstones, Soulstones, skip-enabling Demonic Gateway, AoE crowd control abilities such as Shadowfury and Howl of Terror, and uncapped AoE spells.
Demonology Warlock Mythic+ Rotation
While both single- and multi-target rotations do not differ substantially from the standard priority outlined in Rotation, Cooldowns, and Abilities page there are few points worth noting:
- Starting a new pull without resources means a relatively long period of a time when the damage will be low due to Shadow Bolt being the only resource generator outside of procs. This makes transitioning between pulls with Soul Shards/Demonic Cores/Wild Imps are extremely important to maintaining a higher DPS profile across the dungeon.
- While it may look tempting, it is generally better not to implode at the end of a dungeon pack, trying to spend all the Shards on additional Wild Imps, in order to regenerate 3 shards out of combat and being able to cast a massive Implosion or Tyrant at the next pack.
Demonology Warlock Utility
While damage is the bigger reason to bring a Demonology Warlock, the class itself offers a noticeable amount of crowd control and various supporting abilities:
- Recently reintroduced, the Curses can offer some advantage against specific dangerous enemies: Curse of Tongues can reduce the number of interrupts required by the group, while Curse of Weakness alleviates the incoming damage on the tank from auto attacks. Last but not least, Curse of Exhaustion can be used to slow targets in situations where kiting is required. While these effects can be noticeable, it is better to use curses on a few key targets, as the time spent to apply these effects is time not spent doing damage.
- Healthstones have a 1-minute cooldown and heal for 25% of max health, allowing for an emergency heal for each player.
- Soulstones offer a combat resurrection that can be used both reactively and preemptively in the case of a death run.
- Demonic Gateway offers the unique ability to skip certain parts of the map, depending on the dungeon in question, avoiding specific pulls.
- Shadowfury helps alleviate pressure on the tank during big pulls as it is a 3-second AoE stun.
- Fear and Banish are both spammable crowd control abilities that can be used to interrupt a cast in a pinch or to temporarily remove a target from combat.
Mythic+ Talents for Demonology Warlock
Below are the recommended talents for Mythic+. There is a certain degree of flexibility when progressing down the path, to accommodate for preferences or to meet specific requirements, as discussed further.
Dungeon Builds for Demonology Warlock
Mythic+ Talents for Demonology Warlock
The Diabolist setup offers more priority damage with Pact of the Ered'ruin and burst opportunities through both Ruination and Cloven Souls.
To import the build directly ingame, click on the export button at the bottom of the calculator
Soul Harvester Mythic+ Talents for Demonology Warlock
The Soul Harvester variant is centered around the idea of augmenting AoE and damage spikes frequency of Implosion while simultaneously offering on-death damage effects. It does sacrifice some 1-2 gcds burst opportunities, but more frequent and bigger Implosions can offset that. Antoran Armaments offer higher output above 5 targets compared to Pact of the Ered'ruin.
To import the build directly ingame, click on the export button at the bottom of the calculator
Flexible Talents
Utility / Defensive Flexible Talents
- Demonic Circle, Shadowfury, Banish and Amplify Curse should be considered flex slots in order to accommodate individual dungeon or affix mechanics;
- Ichor of Devils can be swapped with Frequent Donor if higher uptime on Dark Pact is desirable;
- Similarly, Dark Accord can be considered instead of Strength of Will
- Howl of Terror is another AoE crowd control that can be considered but is capped at 5 targets thus Mortal Coil is generally more beneficial
DPS Flexible Talents
- Pact of the Ered'ruin and Antoran Armaments are interchangeable depending on where the dps is needed most;
- Imp-erator over Annihilan Training can offer slightly better single target, but the opportunity cost is quite steep otherwise.
Dungeon Tips and Tricks for Demonology Warlock in The War Within
The following section contains Warlock-specific tips and tricks to help in specific dungeons' bosses and trash. Check out our dedicated page below for general guides regarding Dungeons or Mythic+ in general.
Mythic+ Tips for Demonology Warlock in The War Within Season 1
Bosses
- Demonic Circle and Soulburn: Demonic Gateway can both be used to dodge Anub'zekt Burrow Charge or the spikes afterwards.
- Crowd control effects such as Mortal Coil, Fear, Shadowfury and Howl of Terror can break the root from Grasping Blood.
Trash
- No Warlock specific tips.
Bosses
- Imp Singe Magic can dispel Orator Krix'vizk Shadows of Doubt.
- Soulburn: Demonic Circle can break Izo, the Grand Splicer Umbral Weave root.
Trash
- No Warlock specific tips.
Bosses
- Imp Singe Magic can dispel Speaker Shadowcrown Burning Shadows.
- Consider using a defensive during Anub'ikkaj Shadowy Decay.
- Set up Demonic Gateway in phase 1 of Rasha'nan in order to help the group reach bombs behind, while in phase 2 set it perpendicularly to help solving both the poison wave and the ground effect mechanics.
Trash
- No Warlock specific tips.
Bosses
- Demonic Gateway can help move across the lanes during General Umbriss encounter.
- Pre-place Demonic Circle to nullify Drahga Shadowburner Twilight Buffet knockback.
- Demonic Gateway can be used again during Erudax encounter to facilitate group movements.
Trash
- No Warlock specific tips.
Bosses
- Maintain Curse of Tongues on Ingra Maloch.
- A single Fear cast is enough to render Illusionary Vulpin harmless, but other crowd controls can also work.
- Demonic Circle can break instantly the tether during Tred'ova encounter.
Trash
- No Warlock specific tips.
Bosses
- Demonic Circle let you avoid Amarth Necrotic Breath.
- Maintain Curse of Tongues on Amarth
- Demonic Gateway towards Surgeon Stitchflesh can help repositioning in a pinch if starting from the back of the room when targeted by Meat Hook.
Trash
- No Warlock specific tips.
Bosses
- Demonic Circle and Demonic Gateway can help kite Chopper Redhook towards bombs when affected by Iron Gaze.
- Imp Singe Magic can dispel Viq'Goth Putrid Waters, but be mindful of the aoe knockback associated.
Trash
- Demonic Circle should be placed on every pull as it negates the pull-in frequently cast.
- Demonic Gateway can be used to quickly close the gap with the Ashvane firing lines before their reload, shaving off seconds before and after the second boss.
Bosses
- Consider using a defensive during E.D.N.A Refracting Beam.
- Demonic Circle and Demonic Gateway can be useful during Void Speaker Eirich encounter due to the heavy movement involved with each of its mechanics.
Trash
- No Warlock specific tips.
Affix Tips, Tricks and Management for Demonology Warlock in The War Within
The following section contains Warlock-specific tips for dealing with the various affixes of Mythic+. For general guides for each of our Dungeons or Mythic+ in general, check out our dedicated page below.
Affix Guide for Demonology Warlock in The War Within
Ascendant Affix Management for Demonology Warlock
Any crowd-control or interrupt spell will work:
- Shadowfury;
- Howl of Terror (capped to 5);
- Fear;
- Mortal Coil;
- Pet interrupts.
Voidbound Affix Management for Demonology Warlock
Target that has to be prioritised so no specific guidance required.
Oblivion Affix Management for Demonology Warlock
Be sure to pay attention to these orbs and intercept them before they reach mobs.
Devour Affix Management for Demonology Warlock
Healing abilities such as Mortal Coil and Healthstone can help removing the shields if no other means to dispel them are available.
Pet Choice for Demonology Warlock
You should be using your Felguard at all times as a Demonology Warlock.
Trinket Considerations for Demonology Warlock in Mythic+
When choosing your trinkets, we recommend simulating yourself on Raidbots using the Patchwerk option for raids and single-target, and Patchwerk with 4-5 targets or Hectic Add Cleave for an educated guess on multi-target performance in Dungeons. Usually, trinkets that proc stats are more versatile and better performers than single-target spell damage procs unless they are overtuned.
You can also get a quick overview of good Mythic+ Trinkets on our Gearing page, specifically the Simulation chart for multi-target scenarios.
Changelog
- 21 Oct. 2024: Updated for Patch 11.0.5.
- 19 Sep. 2024: Updated for Patch 11.0.5 and added a dungeon tooltip section.
- 09 Sep. 2024: Updated talent selection for Season 1 launch.
- 19 Jul. 2024: Updated for The War Within pre-patch.
- 07 May 2024: Reviewed for 10.2.7.
- 22 Apr. 2024: Reviewed for Season 4.
- 19 Mar. 2024: Reviewed for 10.2.6.
- 15 Jan. 2024: Updated Talents and Stats.
- 07 Nov. 2023: Updated Tyrannical Talents.
- 06 Nov. 2023: Updated for Patch 10.2 and Season 3.
- 04 Sep. 2023: Restructured Talent section.
- 10 Jul. 2023: Talents updated for Patch 10.1.5.
- 01 May 2023: Talents updated for Patch 10.1.
- 20 Mar. 2023: Talents updated for Patch 10.0.7.
- 24 Jan. 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
- 11 Dec. 2022: Updated recommended build.
- 28 Nov. 2022: Updated for Dragonflight launch.
- 25 Oct. 2022: Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
More Warlock Guides
Guides from Other Classes
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.
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