Destruction Warlock PvE guide: level 60 Shadow and Flame, Ruin and Incinerate build

Overview

Level 60 · Destruction Warlock · DPS in dungeons and raids.

Destruction with an Imp sacrifice was the Classic raid warlock: Shadow Bolt spam with big Ruin crits. WoW Forever keeps that core and adds a reason to weave Fire spells. Shadow and Flame gives +10% Shadow damage for 100 sec after Conflagrate and +10% Fire damage after Shadowburn, and at 5/5 Conflagrate no longer consumes Immolate. Bane of Havoc copies 15% of your damage to a second target, and the capstone Incinerate hits harder on targets with Immolate. The small Affliction dip adds hit through Suppression.

Your job in the group

You are the raid’s heaviest Shadow Bolt caster, and your crits keep Improved Shadow Bolt’s damage taken bonus on the boss. Keep your Curse and the two Shadow and Flame buffs running, watch threat after a lucky streak of Ruin crits, and switch to the Fire path only when a boss resists Shadow. Outside of damage you cover Soulstones, Healthstones and summons, and Bane of Havoc lets you help on two-target fights without leaving the priority target.

Why play it

• High single-target damage from Shadow Bolt with Ruin, Improved Shadow Bolt and Demonic Sacrifice.
• Cleave through Bane of Havoc when a fight has two targets.
• Two damage schools: if a boss resists Shadow, the Fire path through Immolate, Conflagrate and Incinerate is already in the build.
• Burst on demand with Shadowburn and Conflagrate.

Weak points

• Threat: Ruin crits cause threat spikes early in a fight.
• Shadow-resistant bosses push you onto the weaker Fire path.
• Buff upkeep: letting the 100 sec Shadow and Flame buffs expire loses a lot of damage.
• Soul Shard supply is still a limit for Shadowburn if the refund does not happen every time.

Level 60 talent build

Affliction 9 / Demonology 11 / Destruction 31, all 51 points. The talent tree above shows the finished build.

Destruction (31)

• Destructive Reach 1/2 — 10% more range at 1/2, enough to stay out of many melee-range effects.
• Improved Shadow Bolt 5/5 — Shadow Bolt crits make the target take 20% more Shadow damage from you for 60 sec.
• Cataclysm 3/3 — 9% cheaper Destruction spells.
• Bane 5/5 — 0.5 sec faster Shadow Bolt, Immolate and Incinerate, and 2 sec faster Soul Fire.
• Ruin 5/5 — Doubles the crit damage bonus of Destruction spells: the core of the build.
• Shadowburn 1/1 — Instant Shadow damage that, with Shadow and Flame, grants +10% Fire damage for 100 sec and refunds its shard.
• Shadow and Flame 5/5 — Conflagrate grants +10% Shadow damage and Shadowburn +10% Fire damage for 100 sec; Conflagrate keeps Immolate.
• Conflagrate 1/1 — Fire burst on an Immolated target, and the trigger for the Shadow damage buff.
• Bane of Havoc 1/1 — 15% of your damage to other targets is copied to the Havoc target, for two-target fights.
• Agonizing Flames 3/3 — +9% damage on all Destruction spells.
• Incinerate 1/1 — Fire damage with 25% more against Immolated targets, the Fire filler when Shadow is resisted.

Affliction (9)

• Improved Life Tap 2/2 — 20% more mana from each Life Tap.
• Suppression 5/5 — +5% hit with all spells and less threat.
• Malediction 2/5 — +2% periodic damage for Immolate and Corruption.

Demonology (11)

• Demonic Embrace 5/5 — +15% Stamina for Life Tap.
• Demonic Aegis 2/2 — Stronger Demon Armor, and part of the path to Demonic Sacrifice.
• Fel Vitality 3/3 — +15% maximum mana.
• Demonic Sacrifice 1/1 — Imp sacrifice for +15% Shadow damage; a Succubus sacrifice gives +15% Fire damage instead.

Rotation and priority

1. Before the pull: summon the Imp and Demonic Sacrifice it for Shadow damage.
2. Apply your assigned Curse and Immolate, then Conflagrate to start the 100 sec Shadow damage buff; with Shadow and Flame, Immolate stays on the target.
3. Cast Shadowburn early if you want the Fire damage buff too, and again whenever the buff is about to fall off and a Soul Shard is available.
4. Cast Shadow Bolt as your filler. Improved Shadow Bolt crits keep a 20% Shadow damage taken bonus going.
5. Refresh Conflagrate before the Shadow damage buff runs out.
6. On two-target fights, put Bane of Havoc on the second target and keep attacking the priority one.
7. Use Eureka! on cooldown and Life Tap when mana runs low.

Resources

Mana comes from Life Tap, improved by Improved Life Tap, and Shadowburn refunds its Soul Shard through Shadow and Flame, so the build is lighter on shards than Classic Shadowburn use. Keep Healthstones for Life Tap-heavy fights. Eureka! gives three cheaper, stronger spells every 2 minutes.

Stat priority

Hit first, with Suppression covering part of it. Then Shadow spell damage (Fire damage only if a fight forces the Fire path), then spell crit, which Ruin and Improved Shadow Bolt reward strongly. Stamina for Life Tap, then Intellect.

Gear and set bonuses

Demonheart Raiment is the Tier 1 warlock set in the datamine: +1% hit at 2 pieces, a 1.5 sec faster Banish at 3, up to 21 spell damage against Demons at 4, and 20% more mana from Life Tap at no extra health cost at 5. The pieces themselves are withheld, so their slots and stats are not known yet. Destruction benefits from the 2-piece hit and the 5-piece Life Tap bonus, which fits a Shadow Bolt build that taps often.

Consumables and professions

• Shadow damage: Elixir of Shadow Power, Greater Arcane Elixir and Brilliant Wizard Oil.
• Fire fights: Elixir of Greater Firepower if you switch to the Fire path.
• Health and mana: Major Healing Potion, Healthstones and Major Mana Potions for long fights.
• Professions: Tailoring for gear and Engineering for sapper charges and bombs in raids.

Sources

Rotation, stat and matchup advice adapts these Classic 1.12 guides to the WoW Forever talent trees; talents, set bonuses and new abilities come from this site’s WoW Forever data.

• Icy Veins: Classic Warlock DPS Guide
• Icy Veins: Classic Warlock DPS Spec, Builds, and Talents
• Icy Veins: Classic Warlock DPS Rotation, Cooldowns, and Abilities
• Icy Veins: Classic Warlock DPS Stat Priority
• Icy Veins: Classic Warlock DPS Enchants and Consumables