Destruction 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 Destruction Warlock in World of Warcraft — The War Within (11.0.5).
Mythic+ Introduction for Destruction Warlock
Mythic+ has become a large part of the World of Warcraft endgame, but the The sheer number 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.
Destruction Warlocks offer some of the highest on-demand bursts and 2 target cleave potential across all DPS while having strong and short enough cooldowns that can be used frequently on each pull. The spec still retains all the class baseline toolkits comprised Healthstones, Soulstones, skip-enabling Demonic Gateway, AoE crowd control abilities such as Shadowfury and Howl of Terror, and uncapped AoE spells.
Destruction 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:
- While Rain of Fire is generally strong in terms of numbers, targets moving out of the radius due to kiting or repositioning can affect the overall efficacy of the spell. In situations where it would be hard to leverage heavy Rain of Fire usage, consider cleaving with Havoc Chaos Bolts instead.
- Destruction's toolkit is exceptional at bursting targets and funneling priority damage due to the insane shard generation multiple Immolates can provide, so keep that in mind during weeks when it is more important to focus on key targets over even AoE.
Destruction Warlock Utility
While damage is the bigger reason to bring a Destruction 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 Destruction 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 Destruction Warlock
Mythic+ Talents for Destruction Warlock
Diabolist setup is centered around the idea of using Fire and Brimstone to generate shard with critical hits and trigger Decimation procs, as such Immolate upkeep should cover up to 5 targets. Mayhem is in place of Havoc because does not take gcd to activate and can catch Decimation procs cast with how frequent both uptimes are.
To import the build directly ingame, click on the export button at the bottom of the calculator
Mythic+ Talents for Destruction Warlock
Setup using Shadowburn to increase shard cycling and have more focused cleave/priority damage. The choice between Cataclysm and Inferno should be dictated by how big the pulls are, meanwhile Mayhem is overall better outside of Siege of Boralus and The Stonevault.
To import the build directly ingame, click on the export button at the bottom of the calculator
Hellcaller Mythic+ Talents for Destruction Warlock
This variant opts for the Hellcaller tree in order to gain more overall damage at higher target count at the expense of single target and priority damage. Due to how important Wither uptime is, Cataclysm is preferred as it helps scale the build at higher target count. Low priority gcd should be spent mostly cycling Conflagrate charges and Shadowburn when not refreshing Wither or casting Rain of Fire, rather than casting Incinerate at all. Decimation procs still take priority for the amount of damage and shard generated.
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
First setup:
- Inferno can be swapped to Cataclysm when doing most pulls above 8 targets;
- Shadowburn can be swapped with Pyrogenics;
- Improved Chaos Bolt can be swapped for either Chaos Incarnate or Dimension Ripper, but both would be slightly worse numerically.
Second setup:
- Cataclysm can be swapped for Inferno when pulling for the most part, 5 or fewer targets at a time;
- Havoc can be swapped for Mayhem to try and duplicate a higher amount of Shadowburns at the expense of less agency;
- Fiendish Cruelty helps mostly in single target during bosses and so that can also be swapped around for Pyrogenics, or Improved Chaos Bolt.
Dungeon Tips and Tricks for Destruction 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 Destruction 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 Destruction 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 Destruction Warlock in The War Within
Ascendant Affix Management for Destruction 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 Destruction Warlock
Target that has to be prioritised so no specific guidance required.
Oblivion Affix Management for Destruction Warlock
Be sure to pay attention to these orbs and intercept them before they reach mobs.
Devour Affix Management for Destruction 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 Destruction Warlock
The Felhunter is typically the best choice, as it grants you an interrupt, which is a huge advantage in Mythic+; consider swapping to Imp if you need additional dispel.
Trinket Considerations for Destruction 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 for Patch 10.2.5.
- 03 Jan. 2024: Updated Talents and Stats.
- 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: Added an Inferno section, and updated the talent recommendation.
- 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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