Destruction PvE Guide!

[Deleted]

Destruction 101: PvE

The Spec:

If you're going for maximum damage through talents, then this tree is the way to go.

You're going to be getting:

Destruction Tree

Bane (3/3)
Shadow and Flame (3/3)
Improved Immolate (2/2)

Emberstorm (2/2)

Improved Soul Fire (2/2)
Backdraft (3/3)
Shadowburn (1/1)

Burning Embers (2/2)
Soul Leech (2/2)
Nether Ward (1/1)

Fire and Brimstone (3/3)
Shadowfury (1/1)
Nether Protection (2/2)

Empowered Imp (2/2)
Bane of Havoc (1/1)

Chaos Bolt (1/1)

Demonology Tree

Demonic Embrace (2/3)
Dark Arts (3/3)

Mana Feed (2/2)

Affliction Tree

Improved Corruption (3/3)

Bane of Havoc:

This handy little device appears to be a must in the new raid, Dragon Soul. While the Bane is on a target, it will receive 15% of all damage done to any other targets, so for an existing example, putting BoH on Beth'Tilac as she runs away upstairs so while you kill the spiders downstairs, she's receiving 15% of all that damage.

Be warned however that you can only put one bane on one target at a time, so don't forget to swap it for Agony or Doom when you're switching into that target.

Glyphs:

Prime Glyphs:

Glyph of Imp
Glyph of Immolate
Glyph of Conflagrate

Major Glyphs:

Glyph of Soul Link
Glyph of Life Tap
Glyph of Shadowflame - This Glyph spot is personal choice, I tend to stick with Shadowflame as a 70% slow can be very useful in some situations.

Minor Glyphs

XXX
XXX
XXX

All Minor Glyphs are personal choice, as they provide no damage/survival benefit.

The Rotation:

Destro is a lot like Subtlety PvE in the sense that it requires one certain buff to have 100% uptime (if possible), this buff is provided by Improved Soul Fire, and when active increases all Fire and Shadow damage done by 8% for 15 seconds after dealing damage with Soul Fire, this is going to be upped to 20 seconds in 4.3. Always apply DoTs when this buff is active, as it's a great boost and should never be forgotten.

So without further mention, the rotation (although it is more of a priority queue):

Improved Soul Fire > Immolate > Conflagrate > BoD > Corruption > Shadowflame > Shadowburn > Chaos Bolt > Incinerate

To summarise, Conflag should be on cooldown as much as possible, as it provides Backdraft which reduces the cast time of Chaos Bolt, Shadow Bolt and Incinerate by 30%. As Shadow Bolt isn't really used due to Incinerate's bonus damage while Immolate is on the target, Incinerate is our filler spell, to be used when we can't use anything else. Soul Fire when procced by Firebolt should be kept if movement will be required in the next few seconds, else Fel Flame will be used and Soulburn will then be on cooldown from using an instant SF.

Demon Soul: Imp should be used pretty much on cooldown, as it will increase the crit chance of all our Destruction spells by 30%, you should only delay this if you're going to get a BL/TW/Heroism in the next 30 seconds or so, and as such it'll be of more use there.

So a possible opening would be to:

Prepot/Trinkets > Improved Soul Fire > CoE (while SF is in mid-air) > Immolate > Corruption > BoD > Demon Soul: Imp > Conflagrate > Shadowflame (If in melee) Chaos Bolt > Incinerate. And then following the rotation above.

Stats:

Destro has been simmed to be very much alike to Affliction, and as such follows this rule:

Intellect > Hit (Until 17%) > Spell Power > Haste > Crit = Mastery

Haste is particularly important to warlocks, as it increases the amount of ticks we get from dots and decreases cast times and our GCD (Only to a minimum of 1.0s GCD however). As you'll be using 3 different DoTs (excluding Burning Embers), the thresholds at which you gain an extra tick are useful to know, as it gives you a Haste target to work towards.

Immolate Extra Tick Thresholds: 9.9% - 30% - 49.9% - 70%

Corruption Extra Tick Thresholds: 8.3% - 25% - 41.7% - 58.4%

Bane of Agony Extra Tick Thresholds: 4.1% - 12.5% - 20.8% - 29.7% - 37.5% - 45.8% - 54.1%


However, the main thresholds you want to reach as Destruction are the Immolate Thresholds (above in bold), as these will give you higher immolate damage, thus increasing your Conflagration damage. 2589 Rating will give you a dps increase of around 1k, so hitting Immo Thresholds is the priority when looking at haste values. At a certain point (between 3100-3200 rating) haste loses a tonne of its value and mastery becomes king at this point, until around 3600-3700 Haste rating.

A full spreadsheet of the haste thresholds can be found here, thanks to Keldion on EJ

Reforging:

Easy way to figure out how to reforge for Destruction:

Am I hit capped?

If No: Reforge Mastery first, then Crit, to Hit.
If Yes: Reforge extra Hit to Haste

Does the item have Haste on it?

If Yes: Go to the next rule
If No: Reforge Mastery first, then crit, to haste

Reforge mastery to crit if the above has been done.

Any issues with this can be solved with two words... SIM IT!

Enchanting:

Head: Arcanum of Hyjal
Shoulders: Greater Inscription of Charged Lodestone
Back: Enchant Cloak - Greater Intellect
Chest: Enchant Chest - Peerless Stats
Wrists: Enchant Bracer - Mighty Intellect if available, otherwise Enchant Bracer - Precision
Hands: Enchant Gloves - Haste
Waist: Ebonsteel Belt Buckle
Legs: Powerful Enchanted Spellthread
Feet: Enchant Boots - Lavawalker or Enchant Boots - Precision or Enchant Boots - Haste
2-Handed Weapon or Main Hand Weapon: Enchant Weapon - Power Torrent
Off-hand: Enchant Off-Hand - Superior Intellect

Gems and Sockets:

Meta gem: Burning Shadowspirit Diamond
Red gem: Brilliant Inferno Ruby
Yellow gem: Reckless Ember Topaz
Blue gem: Veiled Demonseye

Gem Red. The only time you should deviate from this is either when:

1) The Socket bonus is 20+ Intellect
2) The Socket bonus is 30+ Haste/Crit

Else, you should stick to stacking red gems everywhere.

Professions:

Engineering: Synapse Springs provides 480 Int for 10 seconds with a 60 second CD. This averages to an 80 Int bonus. Tinkers stack with normal enchants.

Leatherworking: 130 Int to bracers in place of 50 Int, giving an estimated 80 Int bonus.

Jewelcrafting: 3 Brilliant Chimera's Eye in place of 3 Brilliant Inferno Ruby gives 81 Int.

Blacksmithing: Extra two sockets (Bracers/Belt) giving an estimated 80 Int bonus.

Alchemy: Mixology on top of Flask of the Draconic Mind will give an 80 Int bonus

Enchanting: two +40 Int enchants on rings, giving 80 Int Bonus.

Inscription: Felfire Inscription is an 80 Int bonus over the regular enchant.

Tailoring: Lightweave Embroidery provides 580 Int for 15 seconds on a 64 second ICD. This averages to 135.9 Int, which replaces the normal 50 Int enchant, providing only a 85.9 Int bonus. Tailoring currently gives the greatest DPS increase of all the professions.

Herbalism: Lifeblood is now a DPS cooldown providing 480 haste for 20 seconds on a 2 minute CD. This averages to an 80 haste bonus.

Skinning: 80 Crit rating.

Mining: Stam. Not useful in the slightest.


Pet:

As Destro, you want to be using your imp. If you pick anything else you are doing it wrong. For the following reasons:

1) Imp's Firebolt procs the Burning Embers talent, leaving a DoT on the target.
2) Imp's Firebolt procs Empowered Imp

A useful point to note is to macro your Imp's Firebolt to most of your abilities. This will help with target switching fights, meaning you'll get to pick what targets your pet is attacking constantly. It also reduces the actual downtime of your imp, so instead of the Imp waiting for your latency to kick in to cast another spell, it'll cast spells when you do. An example of a macro could be:

#showtooltip SPELLNAME
/cast [@pettarget, exists] Firebolt
/cast SPELLNAME

Which means your Imp will start happily casting Firebolt on the last target you cast spell X onto.

Guardians:

As far as summoning Guardians go:

Boss/Single-Target: Summon Doomguard
Trash/Multi-Target: Summon Infernal

Make sure to have Bane of Agony/Doom up on a target to make sure these guys start attacking things the moment they've been summoned, else they'll stand around like lemons.

Consumables:

Potion: Volcanic Potion - If pre-potting, ask for a pull countdown and pop it 1-2 seconds before the pull, to ensure it starts the CD before combat starts. This will provide you with access to another potion during a nuke phase.
Flask: Flask of the Draconic Mind
Food: Severed Sagefish Head or Seafood Magnifique Feast

Make sure to pop Ritual of Souls before a fight to make sure everyone, including you, has a Healthstone. Also, remember to Create a Soulstone before a fight, as it can now be used as a combat res and shouldn't be wasted.

Useful Macros:

A few macros I find useful are:

Armorswap:

#showtooltip
/castsequence Fel Armor, Demon Armor

Preparation:

#showtooltip
/castsequence reset=combat Demon Armor, Soul Harvest, Fel Armor, Create Soulstone, Ritual of Souls

Any additional macros people suggest that are constructive and have a common use i'll throw in here aswell.



Thanks to: TobiasX, Diskon, Lillah, Dastey, Obsidian9, Kelthion@Elitist Jerks for getting me up in the air with this guide, and a shoutout to all those who've posted constructively in the thread to make sure it's as tip-top as it can be!

Any additional information can be left in the comments and i'll update this as-and-when I read through them

[Diskon]

improved corruption>demonic rebirth+demonic aegis by a long shot ESPECIALLY if you're some what decent and keep up the dot 24/7 like you should. Not using conflag before you apply dots is retarded since it's you're hardest hitting spell and you should always use it on cd. Real priority should be: CoE>ISF>immo>conflag>BoD>corr>chaos bolt>incinerate.

[Deleted]

improved corruption>demonic rebirth+demonic aegis by a long shot ESPECIALLY if you're some what decent and keep up the dot 24/7 like you should. Not using conflag before you apply dots is retarded since it's you're hardest hitting spell and you should always use it on cd. Real priority should be: CoE>ISF>immo>conflag>BoD>corr>chaos bolt>incinerate.

I don't have improved Corruption in my spec, but as this is a guide for the masses, i'll factor that in. Thanks

[Obsidian9]

---------- Post added 2011-11-08 at 07:14 AM ----------

improved corruption>demonic rebirth+demonic aegis by a long shot ESPECIALLY if you're some what decent and keep up the dot 24/7 like you should. Not using conflag before you apply dots is retarded since it's you're hardest hitting spell and you should always use it on cd. Real priority should be: CoE>ISF>immo>conflag>BoD>corr>chaos bolt>incinerate.

Damage per cast time of BoD is higher than Conflagrate so unless I am mistaken BoD would be before Conflagrate


That being said why would you take a DA and DR over imp corruption OP? DR is entirely useless... the imp doesn't die especially with 2 fel syn. DA provides negligible survival for a loss in dps. The Fire and Brimstone buff won't affect the mastery scaling since it will barely start to close the gap of incin/chaos bolt and corruption. The ISF buff increases quality of life and dps not mana conservation... we are warlocks not mages. We have the easiest mana regen in the game and soul leach which soul fire triggers.

[Deleted]

Why would you pick up demonic aegis and demonic rebirth over imp corruption? Demonic Aegis doesn't exactly provide much benefit and with 2 Fel syn on the imp it is nearly impossible for it to die. Chaos Bolt is largely beneficial due to soul leach, the damage itself is barely higher than incinerate. A buff to F&B won't change this since it still won't get even close to corruption or conflagrate. This will have little to no effect on the scaling of mastery. Also last I heard the bonus damage on Incinerate received spell power scaling in 4.3 further closing the gap between Chaos Bolt and incinerate. Also conflagrate is worth considerably more than a Soul Fire proc.

And really ISF lasting for 20 sec instead of 15 is good for mana conservation... we are warlocks nearly the easiest mana return in the game and we have soul leach. Also really... Soul Fire triggers Soul Leach so it hardly is mana intensive. The ISF buff increases quality of life and dps by a bit.

I did edit the guide to say that my spec is more survival base, giving my demon more uptime to unsure that Soul Link stays up.

So essentially in 4.3 Incinerate will be higher priority than Chaos Bolt? Way to break a spec Blizz <3

Taken these into account, i'll get some more details from people on the PTR and i'll factor these in when I get home.

[Diskon]

I don't have improved Corruption in my spec, but as this is a guide for the masses, i'll factor that in. Thanks

yeah it'll be a dps increase, since you are using corruption in your rotation

[Obsidian9]

I did edit the guide to say that my spec is more survival base, giving my demon more uptime to unsure that Soul Link stays up.

So essentially in 4.3 Incinerate will be higher priority than Chaos Bolt? Way to break a spec Blizz <3

Taken these into account, i'll get some more details from people on the PTR and i'll factor these in when I get home.

Not higher but close. Also considering the level of survival as a lock let alone destruction a survival spec is grossly necessary

[Khadjid]

Soul Fire should be used as fast as possible with the proc from Imp's Firebolt

You actually want to wait with the proc for as long as possible without letting ISF drop off, not use it immediately.

[Dastey]

I can see the following things wrong with your so called "Guide"

- Your specc is wrong. This would be a more accurate specc

- Chaos Bolt in next patch will not be used during bloodlust while backdraft is up (3 incinerate casts after conflagrate you start to use it again)

- Your priority should look more like: Improved Soul Fire > Immolate > Conflagrate > BoD > Corruption > Shadowflame > Shadowburn > Chaos Bolt > Incinerate

- A good way to start a fight is precasting Soul Fire > Immolate > Corruption (0,5 sec before conflagrate activates) > Conflagrate > BoD (If all your CDs are popped now, if not wait a bit) > Shadowflame (If in melee) Chaos Bolt > Incinerate. After that the priority above

- Stat priority is something like Intellect > Hit (Until 17%) > Spell power > Haste > Crit = Mastery

- Boots enchant for max DPS would be 50 hit, and not lavawalker, on movement fights however (which most of DS seems to be) it might be a different story

- Meta gem would ALWAYS be burning, never chaotic

- I believe the chance to procc instant soul fire is only 4% and not 8%

- Also 1 thing you might wanna consider including in your "guide" would be Bane of Havoc. Its a pretty essential deal of destruction and widely used in Dragon Soul. Putting this up on any secondary target that stay alive for a good period of time will certainly provide a heavy DPS boost

[Lillah]

I'll reiterate that again. INSTANT SOULFIRE. Who even needs Soulburn?

I'm not sure if you're trying to suggest you'll be getting anywhere near enough procs to get away with not having to hardcast soul fire the majority of the time. Point is, you won't be getting that many procs.

Your guide also lacks some basic information such as haste thresholds, which are particularly important for destro.
Guide is also quite short and feels rushed.

Also probably shouldn't mention your own warlock isn't 85 yet (Kinda shows in some parts!)

(Pretty sure your priority list is wrong as well.... BoD is definetly not that far down. You also should at least mention shadowflame... even if it isn't always applicable.)

[helheim]

dastey is pretty accurate on all points.

i will say that, while i await any sort of confirmation/denial on this, on the ptr right now i am getting significantly more empowered imp procs than i currently do on live. i am pretty sure that the proc rate is greater than 4%. this is just my experience via LFR and random pugs, as well as testing in the new 5 man heroics.

[Deleted]

I can see the following things wrong with your so called "Guide"

- Your specc is wrong. This would be a more accurate specc

- Chaos Bolt in next patch will not be used during bloodlust while backdraft is up (3 incinerate casts after conflagrate you start to use it again)

- Your priority should look more like: Improved Soul Fire > Immolate > Conflagrate > BoD > Corruption > Shadowflame > Shadowburn > Chaos Bolt > Incinerate

- A good way to start a fight is precasting Soul Fire > Immolate > Corruption (0,5 sec before conflagrate activates) > Conflagrate > BoD (If all your CDs are popped now, if not wait a bit) > Shadowflame (If in melee) Chaos Bolt > Incinerate. After that the priority above

- Stat priority is something like Intellect > Hit (Until 17%) > Spell power > Haste > Crit = Mastery

- Boots enchant for max DPS would be 50 hit, and not lavawalker, on movement fights however (which most of DS seems to be) it might be a different story

- Meta gem would ALWAYS be burning, never chaotic

- I believe the chance to procc instant soul fire is only 4% and not 8%

- Also 1 thing you might wanna consider including in your "guide" would be Bane of Havoc. Its a pretty essential deal of destruction and widely used in Dragon Soul. Putting this up on any secondary target that stay alive for a good period of time will certainly provide a heavy DPS boost

Well it's only a basic guide to start. I'll start throwing details now, but it's going to be changed when 4.3 comes out anyway.

I shall throw these points in anyhow, and all the others I've read so far.

[TheLovecraft]

Thanks for the helpful guide! I will definitely look forward to trying out my destro spec in the next patch.

[Deleted]

Editted to throw in all the comments since my original post, should be more accurate now!

[Clevix]

Destro is a lot like Subtlety PvE in the sense that it requires one certain buff to have 100% uptime (if possible), this buff is provided by Improved Soul Fire, and when active increases all Fire and Shadow damage done by 8% for 15 seconds after dealing damage with Soul Fire, this is going to be upped to 20 seconds in 4.3, which is going to help mana conservation a lot more. Always apply DoTs when this buff is active, as it's a great boost and should never be forgotten.

I really don't understand how casting Soul Fire less frequently is going to help you with mana conservation.., taking Soul Leech (as your and all other builds include) which restores mana and health when you use Shadowburn, SOUL FIRE and Chaos Bolt so... More Soul Fires = More mana to spend, it's going to help in other ways though with the duration of the buff being upped to 20 seconds.

[Deleted]

I really don't understand how casting Soul Fire less frequently is going to help you with mana conservation.., taking Soul Leech (as your and all other builds include) which restores mana and health when you use Shadowburn, SOUL FIRE and Chaos Bolt so... More Soul Fires = More mana to spend, it's going to help in other ways though with the duration of the buff being upped to 20 seconds.

Yea, I had my stupid head on while I was writing this, had a mate talking in my ear about his mage xD I'll fix this now.

[squee666]

what about fel synergy i think the healing on the imp in certain encounters especially with the 25% mitigation helps.

also no 50 haste on boots?

[Dastey]

what about fel synergy i think the healing on the imp in certain encounters especially with the 25% mitigation helps.

also no 50 haste on boots?

50 haste on boots is stupid.
More health on you is better than healing pet in 99% of the cases since aoe healing from healers usually heal your pet.

[Deleted]

50 haste on boots is stupid.
More health on you is better than healing pet in 99% of the cases since aoe healing from healers usually heal your pet.

Not sure if I changed the spec, but you're recommending moving the 2/2 from fel Synergy to 2/3 in demonic embrace?

[Dastey]

The specc in the main topic atm is the right. Survivability is much higher priority than having pet getting healed by dmg u deal