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Destruction Warlock Guide — Class Guides · WoW Forever

Direct damage with Shadow Bolt and fire spells, crits and burst.

A cloth-wearing caster who curses enemies, drains their life and summons demons to fight beside them. Warlocks use Soul Shards, Life Tap and Healthstones. More about the warlock

Class
Warlock
Roles
Damage
Used for
Raids and dungeons, Player versus player
Top talent
Incinerate
Popular builds
2
Version
WoW Forever

How to play

Destruction in WoW Forever is fire built on Immolate: Incinerate hits harder on a target with Immolate, Conflagrate (with Fire and Brimstone's extra crit) no longer has to consume Immolate thanks to Shadow and Flame, and Agonizing Flames raises all Destruction damage. Shadow and Flame also lets Conflagrate boost your Shadow damage and Shadowburn boost your Fire damage.

Keep Immolate up, Conflagrate when ready and Incinerate to fill; put Bane of Havoc on a second target to copy part of your damage onto it.

In player-versus-player fights, Molten Skin cuts the damage you take, Pyroclasm can stun, and Conflagrate and Shadowburn give burst.

At a glance

Single-target damage
Damage to groups
Survivability
Utility for the group
Solo play and leveling
Ease of play

Rated 1 to 5 against the other specs in WoW Forever.

Rotation and priorities

  1. 1Bane of Havoc on a second target when there is one.
  2. 2Immolate kept up.
  3. 3Conflagrate whenever it is ready.
  4. 4Incinerate to fill.
  5. 5Shadowburn as a finisher.
  6. 6Life Tap for mana; watch your threat.

Strengths and weaknesses

Strengths

  • Strong burst with Conflagrate and Incinerate.
  • Bane of Havoc adds damage on a second target.
  • Molten Skin for survival against players.

Weaknesses

  • High threat.
  • Fire-immune enemies stop most of your damage.
  • Bane of Havoc only pays off with two targets.

Stats and gear

Stat priority

Most valuable first. Bars compare each stat with the best one; a cap in the note means the stat drops off once you reach it.

  1. 1

    Spell damagefire damage counts

  2. 2

    Hitto the cap against bosses

  3. 3

    Critical strikeFire and Brimstone

  4. 4

    Intellect

  5. 5

    StaminaLife Tap

  6. 6

    Spirit

What to look for

  • Fire or spell damage gear and hit.
  • Crit for Conflagrate and Incinerate.
  • An on-use trinket for burst.

Builds

Each bar splits the build's talent points by tree.

  • Affliction
  • Demonology
  • Destruction

  • Incinerate Firebrand

    DamagePvE
    5/11/35

    Fire Destruction fueled by Immolate: Conflagrate with Fire and Brimstone for big crits, Incinerate for bonus damage, and Shadow and Flame to boost both schools.

    • Conflagrate 1/1
    • Bane of Havoc 1/1
    • Fire and Brimstone 3/3
    • Shadow and Flame 5/5
    • Incinerate 1/1

    Open in the talent calculatorTheorycrafting

  • Molten Skin Destroyer

    DamagePvP
    0/13/38

    Destruction for PvP: Molten Skin reduces damage taken, Pyroclasm can stun, Conflagrate and Shadowburn deliver burst, and an improved Succubus seduces for longer.

    • Shadowburn 1/1
    • Conflagrate 1/1
    • Pyroclasm 2/2
    • Fire and Brimstone 3/3
    • Shadow and Flame 5/5

    Open in the talent calculatorTheorycrafting

Key talents

  • Incinerate · top talent, up to 1

    Deals 99 to 113 Fire damage to your target and an additional 25% damage if the target is afflicted by Immolate.

  • Ruin · tier 3, up to 5

    Increases the critical strike damage bonus of your Destruction spells by 100%.

  • Shadowburn · tier 3, up to 1

    Instantly blasts the target for 65 to 73 Shadow damage. If a non-trivial target dies within 8 sec of being hit with Shadowburn, the caster gains a Soul Shard.

  • Intensity · tier 4, up to 3

    Gives you a 70% chance to resist interruption caused by damage while casting or channeling any Destruction spell.

  • Agonizing Flames · tier 4, up to 3

    Increases the critical strike chance of your Searing Pain spell by 10% and the damage done by all your Destruction spells by 10%.

  • Conflagrate · tier 4, up to 1

    Ignites a target that is already afflicted by your Immolate spell, dealing 88 to 110 Fire damage and consuming your Immolate effect.

  • Pyroclasm · tier 5, up to 2

    Gives your Soul Fire spell a 26% chance to Stun the target for 3 sec, and your Rain of Fire and Hellfire spells a 26% chance over their duration to Stun targets they damage for 3 sec.

  • Bane of Havoc · tier 5, up to 1

    Afflicts the target for 5 min, causing 15% of all damage done by the Warlock to other targets to also be dealt to the cursed target. Bane of Havoc is limited to 1 target, and only one Bane per Warlock can be active on any one target.

  • Fire and Brimstone · tier 5, up to 3

    Increases the critical strike chance of your Conflagrate spell by 25%.

  • Shadow and Flame · tier 6, up to 5

    Hitting an enemy with Conflagrate increases all Shadow damage you deal by 10% for 20 sec, and hitting an enemy with Shadowburn increases all Fire damage you deal by 10% for 20 sec. In addition, Conflagrate has a 100% chance not to consume Immolate, and Shadowburn has a 100% chance to instantly refund a Soul Shard.

Destruction abilities by level

When each ability arrives: trained abilities at the level a trainer first teaches them, talent abilities (gold frame) at the first level the talent can be taken.

What WoW Forever changed

New talents in this tree

  • Molten SkinReduces all damage taken by 10%.
  • Agonizing FlamesIncreases the critical strike chance of your Searing Pain spell by 10% and the damage done by all your Destruction spells by 10%.
  • Bane of HavocAfflicts the target for 5 min, causing 15% of all damage done by the Warlock to other targets to also be dealt to the cursed target. Bane of Havoc is limited to 1 target, and only one Bane per Warlock can be active on any one target.
  • Fire and BrimstoneIncreases the critical strike chance of your Conflagrate spell by 25%.
  • Shadow and FlameHitting an enemy with Conflagrate increases all Shadow damage you deal by 10% for 20 sec, and hitting an enemy with Shadowburn increases all Fire damage you deal by 10% for 20 sec. In addition, Conflagrate has a 100% chance not to consume Immolate, and Shadowburn has a 100% chance to instantly refund a Soul Shard.
  • IncinerateDeals 99 to 113 Fire damage to your target and an additional 25% damage if the target is afflicted by Immolate.

Classic Era talents the class no longer has

  • Improved Firebolt
  • Improved Lash of Pain
  • Devastation
  • Improved Searing Pain
  • Improved Immolate
  • Emberstorm

Spells

New: Bane of Havoc, Incinerate. Changed: Immolate, Shadow Bolt, Searing Pain, Rain of Fire, Shadowburn, Conflagrate, Hellfire, Soul Fire.

Related

Other warlock specs: Affliction, Demonology