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Destruction Warlock Guide — Class Guides · WoW Burning Crusade

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
Shadowfury
Popular builds
2
Version
WoW Burning Crusade

How to play

Destruction is the top warlock raid spec for much of The Burning Crusade: sacrifice the Succubus for more Shadow damage and cast Shadow Bolt with Ruin's big crits. Backlash adds crit and sometimes makes your next Shadow Bolt or Incinerate instant, Soul Leech heals you from your damage, and Shadow and Flame strengthens Shadow Bolt and Incinerate.

Some raids prefer a fire build: sacrifice the Imp instead, keep Immolate up and cast Incinerate.

In arenas, Shadowfury (an area stun), Conflagrate and Shadowburn give fast 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 Burning Crusade.

Rotation and priorities

  1. 1Sacrifice your Succubus (or Imp for a fire build) before the pull.
  2. 2Your raid curse.
  3. 3Shadow Bolt as your main spell, or Immolate and Incinerate for fire.
  4. 4Life Tap when mana runs low.
  5. 5Shadowburn as a finisher; Shadowfury against packs and players.
  6. 6Watch your threat: Destruction crits pull enemies fast.

Strengths and weaknesses

Strengths

  • The highest warlock raid damage for much of TBC.
  • Improved Shadow Bolt boosts every warlock.
  • Shadowfury stuns groups.

Weaknesses

  • High threat.
  • No pet once sacrificed.
  • Needs a lot of hit and spell damage.

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 damage

  2. 2

    Hitto 16%

  3. 3

    Critical strikeRuin

  4. 4

    Spell haste

  5. 5

    Intellect

  6. 6

    Stamina

What to look for

  • Spell damage and hit, then crit and haste.
  • Shadow damage gear for a shadow build, fire damage for a fire build.
  • Spell damage gems.

Items worth chasing

  • Icon of the Silver CrescentSpell damage, and more on use.
  • Quagmirran's EyeA spell haste proc.
  • Spellstrike HoodCrafted cloth helm with spell hit.

Builds

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

  • Affliction
  • Demonology
  • Destruction

  • Sacrificed Shadowbolter

    DamagePvE
    0/21/40

    Destruction for raids: sacrifice your demon for a lasting damage buff, then Shadow Bolt with Ruin and Shadow and Flame for big crits.

    • Demonic Sacrifice 1/1
    • Ruin 1/1
    • Backlash 3/3
    • Soul Leech 2/3
    • Shadow and Flame 5/5

    Open in the talent calculatorTheorycraftingTalent order by level

  • Shadowfury Destroyer

    DamagePvP
    0/17/44

    Arena Destruction: Shadowfury stuns a group, Conflagrate and Shadowburn deliver burst, and Nether Protection and Backlash help you survive and strike back.

    • Ruin 1/1
    • Backlash 3/3
    • Conflagrate 1/1
    • Shadow and Flame 5/5
    • Shadowfury 1/1

    Open in the talent calculatorTheorycrafting

Key talents

  • Shadowfury · top talent, up to 1

    Shadowfury is unleashed, causing 357 to 421 Shadow damage and stunning all enemies within 8 yds for 2 sec.

  • Intensity · tier 4, up to 2

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

  • Improved Immolate · tier 5, up to 5

    Increases the initial damage of your Immolate spell by 25%.

  • Ruin · tier 5, up to 1

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

  • Nether Protection · tier 6, up to 3

    After being hit with a Shadow or Fire spell, you have a 30% chance to become immune to Shadow and Fire spells for 4 sec.

  • Emberstorm · tier 6, up to 5

    Increases the damage done by your Fire spells by 10%, and reduces the cast time of your Incinerate spell by 10%.

  • Backlash · tier 7, up to 3

    Increases your critical strike chance with spells by an additional 3% and gives you a 25% chance when hit by a physical attack to reduce the cast time of your next Shadow Bolt or Incinerate spell by 100%. This effect lasts 8 sec and will not occur more than once every 8 seconds.

  • Conflagrate · tier 7, up to 1

    Ignites a target that is already afflicted by your Immolate, dealing 249 to 315 Fire damage and consuming the Immolate spell.

  • Soul Leech · tier 7, up to 3

    Gives your Shadow Bolt, Shadowburn, Soul Fire, Incinerate, Searing Pain and Conflagrate spells a 30% chance to return health equal to 20% of the damage caused.

  • Shadow and Flame · tier 8, up to 5

    Your Shadow Bolt and Incinerate spells gain an additional 20% of your bonus spell damage effects.

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.

Related

Other warlock specs: Affliction, Demonology