Demonology Warlock DPS PVE Guide – WotLK

Welcome to the PVE Demonology Warlock DPS Guide for World of Warcraft Wrath of the Lich King!

This guide will teach you how to play an Demonology Warlock in a raid. It covers talents, glyphs, gems, enchantments, rotation, and gameplay tips.

This build will give a 5% crit chance on the target. Additional spell power bonus to the raid, which is a really nice amount. Considered to be the maximum DPS spec for Demonology Warlocks.

Major Glyphs

• Glyph of Quick Decay
• Glyph of Life Tap
• Glyph of Felguard

Gems are situational and depend on the build and equipment. They are used to reach the required stat caps.

• Meta: Chaotic Skyflare Diamond
• Red: Runed Cardinal Ruby
• Yellow: Reckless Ametrine
• Blue: Use Purified Dreadstone if the socket bonus is more than 7 Spell Power. Otherwise, fill with Red Gems.

• Head – Arcanum of Burning Mysteries
• Shoulder – Greater Inscription of the Storm
• Cloak – Enchant Cloak – Greater Speed
• Chest – Enchant Chest – Powerful Stats
• Bracers – Enchant Bracers – Superior Spellpower
• Gloves – Enchant Gloves – Exceptional Spellpower
• Waist – Eternal Belt Buckle
• Legs – Brilliant Spellthread
• Boots – Enchant Boots – Icewalker
• Weapons
  • Two-handed – Enchant Staff – Greater Spellpower
  • One-handed – Enchant Weapon – Mighty Spellpower or Enchant Weapon – Black Magic

Demonology Warlocks have a priority system, rather than a strict rotation of skills.

Primary Skills

• Life Tap – This spell triggers a buff of spell damage. It should be used all the time when the buff is about to wear off, or if you found yourself out of mana.
• Shadow Bolt – Is used when the target doesn’t have Improved Shadow Bolt on it or to fill the time between cooldowns.
• Immolate – Should be on the target all the time.
• Soul Fire – Use it when Molten Core and Decimation are active. If two procs won’t come up, use it with just Decimation.
• Corruption – Should be on the target all the time.
• Incinerate – If two procs won’t come up, use it with just Molten Core.

Curses

• Curse of Doom – Is your primary curse while you have an Unholy Death Knight or a Moonkin in your raid.
• Curse of the Elements – Used in every other situation.

Other

• Metamorphosis – Use as often as possible. It is advisable, that you have it prepared when the Execution phase starts (that’s when the target’s health is 35%).
• Immolation Aura – Use it only when Metamorphosis is active. Worth using when some additional monsters start spawnin
• It’s better to combine Trinket cooldown with Metamorphosis.
• Demonic Empowerment – Is used on cooldown. To make it easier, I suggest making macros for pet-spells that you use. The macros below will use Demonic Empowerment every time your pet casts a spell.

#showtooltip
/cast [@pettarget,exists]Demonic Empowerment
/cast SPELL NAME

Stat Priority

1. Hit Rating
2. Spell Power
3. Haste
4. Critical Strike Rating & Spirit

Spells require 17% to always hit the target. This number can be reduced by:

• Improved Faerie Fire (Moonkin) or Misery (Shadow Priest) – 3%
• Heroic Presence – 1%

With either a Balance Druid or Shadow Priest in your group, you will require 14% (367 hit rating). It’s safe to assume that you will have either of these classes in raids, where the hit requirements are the highest. [1% Hit = 26.23 Hit Rating]

Spell Power is the primary stat for the build as it improves the efficiency and damage output of all spells. It also converts partly into Attack Power and Spell Power of your pets.

Haste increases the number of spells you can cast in a certain period. Haste also reduces the tick intervals for Corruption with the help of Glyph of Quick Decay. The soft cap for Haste is 50% (1640 haste rating) with raid buffs, which reduces the Global Cooldown to 1 second.

Spirit is a valuable stat for the Demonology spec, as it converts into Spell Power for the whole raid via the Demonic Pact talent. Fel Armor provides 39% of Spirit as Spell Power with the Demonic Aegis talent, and Life Tap (with Glyph of Life Tap) adds another 20%. All of the above-mentioned is affected by raid buffs, such as Blessing of Kings, Divine Spirit, and the The Human Spirit.

Critical strike rating is a secondary stat that increases personal DPS. Transferring critical strike rating to your pet is possible only if you choose to spec into Improved Demonic Tactics.

Stack Haste and Crit if you want to increase your damage output. Consider stacking Spirit instead of Crits to maximize the Demonic Pact and bring maximum utility to the raid. The personal gains from stacking Crit are less than the value you can bring to your raid by maximizing on Demonic Pact.