Destruction Warlock guide for WoW Forever

The Destruction Warlock in WoW Forever sets things on fire and blows them up. You spread Immolate, detonate it with Conflagrate and fill the gaps with Shadow Bolt. Conflagrate now arrives at level 25 and Hellfire can crit. This guide covers the build, rotation, Hellfire, mana and stats.

Role	Ranged burst and area damage, strongest in dungeons
Build at level 30	21 points in Destruction and 5 in Affliction, with the 5 extra points from Talented
Key talents	Bane, Aftermath, Shadowburn, Conflagrate, Agonizing Flames, Suppression
Strength	Burst with Conflagrate and Shadowburn, Hellfire against packs
Weakness	Mana, threat, standing still
Leveling	Warlock leveling guide, Warlock level build
Other specs	Affliction Warlock, Demonology Warlock

What changes for Destruction

• Conflagrate at level 25. It sits higher in the tree, so you reach it 15 levels sooner than in Classic.
• Hellfire can crit. It arrives at level 30 and makes Destruction one of the strongest area specs of the bracket.
• Agonizing Flames does more. 10% more damage for all your Destruction spells at 3/3, and 10% more crit chance for Searing Pain.
• Bane of Havoc is new. It copies 15% of the damage you deal to other enemies onto its target, every Hellfire tick included.
• Aftermath does more. 50% more initial damage for Immolate at 5/5, and Conflagrate slows the target by 50% for 5 seconds.
• Banes are not Curses. Bane of Agony is now a Bane, so you can add Curse of the Elements or Curse of Weakness on the same target.

Strengths and weaknesses

Strengths	Weaknesses
Conflagrate and Shadowburn burst down priority targets	Shadow Bolt costs 160 mana, Immolate 155 and a full Hellfire 645
Immolate on a pack and Hellfire for strong area damage	A lot of instant threat from Immolate, Conflagrate and Hellfire
Soulstone, Healthstones and summons for the group	You stand still for most of each fight

The build at level 30

This build uses 26 points: the 21 points of level 30 plus 5 from Talented in the Legacy system. Take Bane, Aftermath, Shadowburn, Conflagrate and Agonizing Flames, then 3 points in Cataclysm and 2 in Destructive Reach, for 20% more range, to reach 20 points in Destruction. Five points in Suppression give hit and less threat, and the last point goes to Bane of Havoc for dungeons. Open the build in the talent calculator.

Talent	Points
Suppression	5/5
Destructive Reach	2/2
Bane	5/5
Cataclysm	3/3
Aftermath	5/5
Shadowburn	1/1
Agonizing Flames	3/3
Conflagrate	1/1
Bane of Havoc	1/1

Mostly solo? Take 3 points in Suppression, 2 in Improved Life Tap and 1 in Improved Corruption, and skip Bane of Havoc. Open the solo version.

After level 30, Fire and Brimstone, Shadow and Flame and Incinerate follow lower in the tree.

What the key talents do

Talent	What it does in Forever
Bane	Half a second off the cast of Shadow Bolt and Immolate at 5/5
Aftermath	50% more initial damage for Immolate, and Conflagrate slows the target
Shadowburn	An instant finisher that costs a Soul Shard and gives it back if the target dies within 8 seconds. The most valuable single point in the build
Conflagrate	Consumes your Immolate for instant Fire damage, on a 10 second cooldown
Agonizing Flames	10% more damage for all Destruction spells at 3/3
Suppression	1% hit per point and less threat
Cataclysm	10% lower mana cost for Destruction spells at 3/3
Bane of Havoc	15% of your damage on other enemies goes to its target. Worth it on packs of 4 or more with Hellfire

Ruin and Improved Shadow Bolt need more crit than you have at level 30. Fire and Brimstone adds only about 2 damage per second at this level, less than 3 points of Suppression.

Rotation

One enemy

1. Send your demon in.
2. Cast Corruption and Immolate. Add Bane of Agony only on enemies that live longer than 20 seconds, because it deals most of its damage at the end.
3. Cast Shadow Bolt as your filler while you have the mana.
4. Low on mana? Cast Life Tap if you have health to spare. Without a healer, or low on both, cast Drain Life instead. Shoot your wand if you cannot afford that either.
5. Cast Conflagrate just before Immolate runs out, then recast Immolate if the enemy lives long enough.
6. Cast Shadowburn as the killing blow.

Shadow Bolt is not very mana efficient. Solo, the drinking time after a pull can make Drain Life the better filler. If an enemy runs at you from range, open with Immolate and cast Bane of Agony once it reaches you, so your casts are not pushed back.

Two enemies. Put Immolate, Bane of Agony and Corruption on the second enemy and Fear it. With Bane of Havoc, use that instead of Bane of Agony. Send your demon to the first, kill it with Shadow Bolt, Conflagrate and Shadowburn, and Fear the second again when it comes back.

Dungeons. Give the tank about 5 seconds before your area damage. On trash, Immolate 2 enemies or more and skip Bane of Agony, Corruption and curses. On 3 or more grouped enemies, run in and channel Hellfire. With Bane of Havoc and 4 or more enemies, put it first on the enemy your group kills last. On bosses, cast Curse of the Elements in a group with many casters or Curse of Recklessness for mostly melee, then your DoTs and Shadow Bolt.

Immolate, Conflagrate and Shadowburn

Immolate is your most important spell. Rank 4 at level 30 costs 155 mana and deals about 60 Fire damage up front, 50% more with Aftermath, and about 95 more over 15 seconds.

Conflagrate consumes Immolate, so do not cast it as soon as it is ready. Let Immolate tick and cast Conflagrate before the last tick, unless the enemy is about to die anyway. Only from level 40, with Shadow and Flame at 5/5, does Conflagrate leave Immolate on the target.

Shadowburn deals about 150 damage with level 30 gear and costs 130 mana and a Soul Shard, which you get back if the target dies within 8 seconds. Cast it as the killing blow, or while you move. From level 28, put a Firestone from Create Firestone on your weapon for extra Fire damage and crit on Immolate, Conflagrate and Hellfire.

Hellfire and threat

Hellfire is a 15 second channel that deals about 83 Fire damage per second to every enemy around you, and the same to you. A full channel costs 645 mana and about 1,250 of your own health. It is your most mana efficient spell against packs, but your healer pays with you, so tell them before the pull.

Destruction makes a lot of instant threat. Put Immolate only on enemies the tank has already hit, expect Hellfire to be risky, and keep a Healthstone ready before every pull.

Demons

• Succubus or Incubus (Summon Succubus): the most damage and your default in dungeons. Solo it does not hold threat without Demonology talents. Seduction keeps a humanoid out of the fight.
• Voidwalker (Summon Voidwalker): a great tank while leveling. Torment holds threat much better than in Classic, and Sacrifice gives you a shield in an emergency.
• Felhunter (Summon Felhunter): almost the damage of the Succubus, and Devour Magic for dungeons with many debuffs. Spell Lock only arrives at level 36.
• Imp (Summon Imp): little damage, but Blood Pact gives the group Stamina.

The new Move command lets you place your demon anywhere. Bind Attack and Follow to keys you can press without thinking.

Health and mana

Life Tap now scales with Spirit. Rank 3 converts 140 health plus your Spirit into mana, plus 10% per point in Improved Life Tap. A full Hellfire costs more than 3 Life Taps, and Cataclysm cuts the cost of your Destruction spells by 10%. Three rules keep you casting:

• A lot more health than mana? Cast Life Tap.
• Low on both? Shoot your wand, or cast Drain Life and tap the drained health back into mana.
• After a pull, tap freely if your healer heals you. If not, tap down to half health, then eat and drink.

Stats and gear

Spell Power, Fire damage and Shadow damage first, then Intellect and Spirit, then Stamina. Fire damage helps Immolate, Conflagrate and Hellfire, Shadow damage helps Shadow Bolt and Shadowburn. Intellect matters more than for the other specs, because Destruction spends the most mana. With Suppression at 5/5 you no longer miss enemies of your level. Crit helps Destruction more than the other specs, but it is rare on gear at level 30.

• Tailoring has new soulbound Flame pieces that boost Immolate, Conflagrate and Hellfire, and Shadow pieces such as Shadow Gown. Only the tailor can wear them.
• Weapons. Your weapon is a stat stick, its Spell Power matters more than its damage. The Warlock quest for the Orb of Soran’ruk lets you choose between Staff of Soran’ruk and Orb of Soran’ruk.
• Wands. Gravestone Scepter from Blackfathom Deeps is the strongest wand before level 30. Use it when you are low on both mana and health.

Races and professions

Faction	Race	Why
Alliance	Human	Ruthless for 2% more critical strike chance, The Human Spirit for more Spirit. The best choice
Alliance	Gnome	Expansive Mind for more mana, Eureka! for stronger, cheaper spells
Horde	Undead	Touch of the Grave scales with Stamina, Cannibalize also restores mana, Will of the Forsaken breaks Fear. The best choice in most situations
Horde	Orc	Blood Fury: 10% more spell power for 15 seconds, Shatter Curse against curses
Horde	Troll	Rapid Regeneration heals 50% of your health over 6 seconds, Beast Slaying against beasts, and Berserking speeds up your casts

None of these is strong enough to skip a race you like more.

Professions. Tailoring makes Flame and Shadow gear at almost every level, and its camp buff gives Spirit. Enchanting pairs well with it. First Aid gives bandages and now also potions and cures for poison, disease and bleeds, which a Warlock cannot remove otherwise. Alchemy makes Lesser Arcane Elixir and Lesser Mageblood Elixir.