Thread: [Demonology] A Guide (4.2)

Demonology 4.2.0 (PvE Guide)

Outside of Combat Preparations

1. Talents
Standard talent build: 00/31/10

Required talents:
Demonology:

• Dark Arts (Tier 1)
• Mana Feed (Tier 2)
• Impending Doom (Tier 3)
• Molten Core (Tier 4)
• Hand of Gul'dan (Tier 4)
• Ancient Grimoire (Tier 5)
• Inferno (Tier 5)
• Decimation (Tier 5)
• Cremation (Tier 6)
• Demonic Pact (Tier 6)
• Metamorphosis (Tier 7)

All other talents in the demonology tree are optional and can increase your effectiveness in various situations. Choose the ones that you like the most or that you think will be most useful to you.

Destruction:

• Bane (Tier 1)
• Shadow and Flame (Tier 1)
• Improved Immolate (Tier 1)
• Emberstorm (Tier 2)

Aftermath and Improved Searing Pain provide no damage increase for any spells we regularly use, so there is no value in taking them.

2. Glyphs
Prime Glyphs

• Glyph of Metamorphosis
• Glyph of Immolate
• Glyph of Corruption, Glyph of Lash of Pain or Glyph of Felguard depending on which minion will be active for the majority of the fight. If you are unsure stick with Glyph of Corruption.

Major Glyphs

• Glyph of Life Tap
• Glyph of Shadow Bolt
• Your choice.

Minor Glyphs

• Your choice.
• Your choice.
• Your choice.

3. Minions
Which minion is most effective can change from a fight to fight basis or even a role to role basis but the general rule is:
Single target = Felhunter (yes, Felhunter) with Glyph of Corruption.
3 or more targets (or AoE): Felguard (with Glyph of Felguard).
Single target where the boss has an air phase (and you need to still hit the boss): Succubus (with Glyph of Lash of Pain).

But what about the Imp?
The Imp was thought to be the new "Best single target minion" during the 4.0.6 PTR due to an existing bug with the Succubus' Lash of Pain spell not scaling correctly with crit rating. That bug was fixed, resulting in her remaining the best choice for single target when 4.0.6 went live. With the changes to Mana Feed and Shadow Bite in 4.1 she's now been replaced by the Felhunter.

But what about the Succubus?
The Succubus, when glyphed, was out best single target option in 4.0.6. In 4.1 the Felhunter got a huge single target damage buff, and he has a much better demon soul buff, so he's now our single target buddy if the fight does not have an air phase. If it does, the only pet we have that can hit the boss is our Succubi.

What about switching pets?
Currently it's a dps increase to switch pets before using metamorphosis and all your other cooldowns. If you want to do this the 'correct' order is:
1. Hard-cast summon your Felguard (yes, it sounds crazy, but stick with me).
2. Activate Moonwell Chalice if you have it (and any other trinkets), then Metamorphosis, then Demon Soul: Felguard.
3. Send him in and Felstorm.
4. When Felstorm ends, Soulburn summon your Felhunter and send him back in.

This only applies when you're not using the Felguard already. If you are then stick with him for the entire fight.

What about Guardians?
Single Target / Boss: Doomguard
Multi-Target / Trash / Summoned Adds: Infernal
Remember to have Bane of Doom or Bane of Agony on at least one target before summoning either of these guys, or they'll just stand around looking awesome instead of standing around killing stuff for you.

4. Consumables
Food: Severed Sagefish Head and Seafood Magnifique Feast each provide 90 Stamina and 90 Intellect. If, for some reason, you don't have access to these the next best choices are Pickled Guppy and Broiled Dragon Feast, each providing 60 Stamina and 60 Intellect.
Flask: Flask of the Draconic Mind.
Potion: Volcanic Potion. As you can only use 1 potion while in combat it's advisable to ask for a countdown on the pull and use one just before the fight starts for maximum benefit.
Other: Healthstone, Soulstone and a stack of Dust of Disappearance.

5. Stats
5.1 Stat Explanations
Intellect: Increases your spell power, critical strike chance and total mana pool.
Hit Rating: Increases the chance of your spells hitting your target. In order to guarantee that your spells will hit a Boss level target (Boss level targets are 3 levels higher than you) you will need 17% Hit chance, which is equal to 1742 Hit Rating. Additional hit rating after this point will not increase your damage in any way.
Haste Rating: Reduces the cast time of your spells and the time in between ticks of damage from our damage-over-time spells. For a more detailed explanation of how this affects us click this link.
Critical Strike Rating: Increases the chance of your spells to do increases damage.
Mastery Rating: Increases our benefit from Master Demonologist.
Spirit: Increases our mana generation and should be avoided if at all possible. We have Life Tap, we don't need this stat.

5.2 Stat Priorities
As of 4.2.0 Elitist Jerks recommends the following stat priorities:

Int >>> Hit (to cap) > Mastery > Haste > Crit

However, it is much better to follow the tutorial in Andromalia's Howto SimulationCraft Thread to have SimCraft look at your character and calculate which stats it would be more valuable to priorotize for you.

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

5.4 Gemming
Meta gem: Burning Shadowspirit Diamond if available, otherwise Chaotic Shadowspirit Diamond.
Red gem: Brilliant Inferno Ruby.
Yellow gem: Artful Ember Topaz.
Blue gem: Veiled Demonseye.

The best way to work out if a socket bonus is worth gemming for is to use SimCraft to look at your stat values. In general though the socket bonus needs to be either 30 Rating (Hit, Haste, Crit or Mastery) or 20 Intellect for every Yellow or Blue socket; if not, stick a Brilliant Inferno Ruby in and move on to the next piece.

5.5 Reforging
Reforging should only be done after gemming and enchanting are finished to get the maximum benefit out of it.

Again, break out SimCraft and have a look at your values or use the Stat Priorities section of this post as a guide. Using the EJ suggested priorities as an example:
Best stat: Hit (up to 1742 rating)
Second stat: Mastery
Third stat: Haste
Forth stat: Crit
Fifth stat: Spirit
Sixth stat: Hit (over 1742 rating)

When reforging stats you want to reforge the lowest priority stat you can into the highest priority stat you can. Lets say I have Power Generator Hood:

Sixth stat: Hit. This item has no hit. If it did have hit I'd ignore it anyway because I have exactly 1742 rating and cry when I miss spells.
Fifth stat: Spirit. This item has no spirit.
Forth stat: Crit. This item has crit, so that's the stat I'll reforge into something better.

Best stat: Hit. I'm currently hit capped so I don't need to reforge into hit.
Second stat: Mastery. This item has mastery so I can't reforge to that.
Third stat: Haste. This item has no haste, so I'll reforge the crit into haste then.

If you ever end up at the point where you're reforging a stat into itself just move on to the next item.

6. Professions

Alchemy
Alchemy, once you reach the required 505 skill and learn how to create Flask of Draconic Mind, lets you gain an additional 80 Intellect from it thanks to Mixology.

Blacksmithing
Blacksmithing skill 400 allows you to add sockets to your Bracers and Gloves for an additional 2 Brilliant Inferno Ruby resulting in 80 Intellect.

Enchanting
Enchant Ring - Intellect on each ring for 80 Intellect requires 475 skill to apply yourself.

Engineering
The engineering-only Synapse Springs lets you increase your Intellect by 480 for 10 seconds with a 60 second cooldown, averaging out at 80 Intellect and can be applied once you reach 425 skill.

Herbalism
Lifeblood grants 480 haste for 20 seconds with a 2 minte cooldown, averaging out at 80 Haste. This spell levels itself up once you reach 525.

Inscription
500 Inscription skill allows you to replace your Greater Inscription of Charged Lodestone with Felfire Inscription for an extra 80 Intellect.

Jewelcrafting
3 Brilliant Chimera's Eye give you an additional 81 Intellect over 3 Brilliant Inferno Ruby in the same sockets. You need 475 Jewelcrafting skill to be able to do the daily quest for tokens and 500 skill to cut this gem.

Leatherworking
Replacing Enchant Bracer - Mightly Intellect with Draconic Embossment - Intellect gives you an extra 80 Intellect. You need 500 skill to apply this to your items.

Mining
Toughness gives you 120 stamina... erm...

Skinning
Master of Anatomy gives you 80 Crit Rating once you reach 525 skill.

Tailoring
Replacing Enchant Cloak - Greater Intellect with Lightweave Embroidery once you have 500 Tailoring gives you an average increase of 143 Intellect over the normal enchant.

List of top professions based on their in-combat benefits:
1. Tailoring (if you are lucky with the proc rate).
2. Jewelcrafting, Engineering (despite averaging out the same as Alchemy and others it allows for controlled burst, which can provide higher dps).
3. Alchemy, Blacksmithing, Enchanting, Inscription, Leatherworking.
4. Herbalism.
5. Skinning.
9. Mining.

7. Dark Intent
Dark Intent is our level 83 spell and allows us to buff our damage and healing in addition to that of another player in our party or raid. If you're grouped with multiple warlocks it's best to coordinate who buffs who so that the group as a whole gains the most benefit possible. For a more detailed explanation see Gherkin's Guide.

In Combat: Face-Burning and Face-Melting

1. Single Target Dps
The spell priority for demonology warlock single target dps is, roughly:

• Whiplash if your Succubus is out or Felstorm if your Felguard is out.
• Metamorphosis
• Demon Soul if your Felguard is out
• Demon Soul if your Imp is out
• Immolate
• Hand of Gul'dan
• Demon Soul if your Felhunter is out
• Bane of Doom
• Immolation Aura if in melee range
• Corruption
• Shadowflame if in melee range
• Instant Cast Shadow Bolt
• Incinerate if Molten Core is active
• Soulburn: Soul Fire if Decimation is active and you're not swapping pets every 2 minutes
• Soul Fire if Decimation is active
• Demon Soul if your Succubus is out
• Shadow Bolt

It's unlikely you'll be using your Imp or Succubus but I've included their Demon Souls in case you end up doing so.

The most important things to take away from this list are:
1. Keep Metamorphosis and Demon Soul on cooldown as much as possible.
2. Keep Immolate, Bane of Doom and Corruption up, and Hand of Gul'dan on cooldown.
3. If in melee keep Shadowflame and Immolation Aura on cooldown.
4. Filler: Incinerate (Molten Core Proc) > Soul Fire (Decimation) > Shadow Bolt.
5. Use Demon Soul before you start using (or refresh) the spell(s) that will benefit from it most.

4.2 Moonwell Chalice
I've been reluctant to include a section dedicated to this trinket purely because I haven't reached the point where I can get hold of it yet (my new warlock is currently level 60. QQ) but it's so amazing that I really need to in order for this to remain a sticky.
Q: Is it badass?
A: Yes!
Q: Do I want it?
A: Hell Yeah!
Having this trinket changes the way you use your cooldowns to rotate completely around using it before everything else. As of the moment you equip it you must never use Metamorphosis unless this trinket is off cooldown, and only after you activate it (and whichever Demon Soul you happen to have active, although the Felguard is recommended). Also, due to the Doomguard gaining more from your mastery than any other spell you want to use it directly after Meta if you can.

TL : DR - With your new trinket the single-target spell priority order becomes:

• Supreme Combo (if everything is ready):
  Summon Felguard > Moonwell Chalice > Demon Soul: Felguard > Metamorphosis > Summon Doomguard > Felstorm (Soulburn: Summon Felhunter when Felstorm ends)
• Immolate
• Hand of Gul'dan
• Bane of Doom
• Immolation Aura if in melee range
• Corruption
• Shadowflame if in melee range
• Instant Cast Shadow Bolt
• Incinerate if Molten Core is active
• Soul Fire if Decimation is active
• Shadow Bolt

2. Multi-Target Dps

• Felstorm if you have your Felguard out
• Immolation Aura if Metamorphosis is active
• Shadowflame
• Summon Infernal (if this is where you are intending to use it for the fight)
• Hellfire (you can choose to run in circles around the mobs while doing this; it won't make you lose dps)
• Laugh like a madman while holding your push to talk button.

As the numbers shrink you can keep using Shadowflame on the group and switch to single target dps to get them down quicker.
If you happen to be using your Succubus do not use Whiplash. The only thing you'll succeed at doing is spreading all the mobs out and annoying your group.

Other Useful Sections

1. Macros

Armor Dance Macro
#showtooltip
/castsequence Fel Armor, Demon Armor

Switch between our 2 armor spells at the touch of a button.

Mouseover Fear
#showtooltip Fear
/cast [target=mouseover, exists] Fear
/cast Fear

Saves switching targets and lets you keep a mob CC'd.

Hellfire Cancel
#showtooltip Hellfire
/cast [nochanneling] Hellfire
/cancelaura [channeling] Hellfire

Press once to start Hellfire. Press again to stop Hellfire.

Minion Controls
#showtooltip
/cast [pet:Imp] Flee; [pet:Felhunter] Devour Magic; [pet:Succubus] Whiplash; [pet:Felguard] Felstorm

#showtooltip
/cast [pet:Imp, target=mouseover] Singe Magic; [pet:Imp] Singe Magic; [pet:Felhunter, target=mouseover] Spell Lock; [pet:Felhunter] Spell Lock; [pet:Succubus, target=mouseover] Seduction; [pet:Succubus] Seduction; [pet:Felguard] Axe Toss

These two macros allow me to control my dps minion's special abilities with 2 buttons no matter which I have active. The spell's icon will change depending on the minion you have out.

Felhunter/Felguard Switch
#showtooltip
/cast [pet:Felhunter] Summon Felguard; [pet:Felguard] Summon Felhunter; Summon Felhunter

If you have your Felhunter out it summons your Felguard. If you have your Felguard out it summons your Felhunter. Great for if you're switching a lot and lacking free keybindings. Defaults to the Felhunter if you have no pet out.

Thank Yous

I take no credit for the information in this guide (except for the minion macros, those are mine), only the way in which it's been presented. The vast majority of this has been tweaked from Jmickey's EJ Demo Thread so full credit to him and the other contributors over at Elitist Jerks for gathering this information all in one place. Also thanks to Gherkin and Andromalia for their threads on Haste, Dark Intent and SimCrafting.

Constructive Criticism Welcome. Thanks in Advance. I'll keep this uptodate whenever I can.

Updates

4.1

• Guardians: Changed Single Target from Infernal to Doomguard
• Multi-target Priority List: Added "Laugh like a madman while holding your push to talk button."
• Prime Glyphs and Minions sections updated based on the changes made by Jmickey to the EJ Guide.
• Dark Arts added to "Required Demonology Talents".
• Added an explanation for the single target pet change from 4.0.6 to 4.1
• Removed "Drain Life without breaking Drain Life" macro as it can now be clipped.

4.2

• Swapped Incinerate prime glyph for Corruption, as per EJ's recommendation.
• Few tweeks here and there to links to other websites.
• Added Instant Cast Shadow Bolt to the single target dps list.
• Added pet swap macro
• Updated minions and single target dps sections with information on pet swapping.
• Updated the Guardian section.

Stuff To Do

• Get to 85 and see if 00/31/10 is better than 00/31/10

Whiplash is an increase of up to 300 dps, but due to its targeting requirements, forces you to keybind it and click it during one of your own longer casts. Otherwise you lose personal dps that you can't track.

---------- Post added 2011-02-28 at 08:47 AM ----------

Priority = whenever its up, and you have a long cast such that you can press the keybind and click the ground properly while still casting your own spells.

Originally Posted by gherkin

Whiplash is an increase of up to 300 dps, but due to its targeting requirements, forces you to keybind it and click it during one of your own longer casts. Otherwise you lose personal dps that you can't track.

---------- Post added 2011-02-28 at 08:47 AM ----------

Priority = whenever its up, and you have a long cast such that you can press the keybind and click the ground properly while still casting your own spells.

Move Lash of Pain to just below Meta and Felstorm to above Meta. I'm currently not able to do any proper testing but, in the case that both are active, the potential dps gain from using LoP twice during Meta woul outweigh the dps loss from delaying casting it.

Meta doesn't affect Whiplash. It only boosts your personal dps. I think there was a misconception due to tooltip and mastery wording that people thought pet damage was boosted during Meta. To clarify, its pet damage 100% of the time, and personal damage during meta.

[22:00:51.100] Vilvina Lash of Pain Chimaeron 6070
[22:00:52.543] Vilvina casts Lash of Pain on Chimaeron
[22:00:52.722] Vilvina Lash of Pain Chimaeron 6085
[22:00:54.149] Vilvina casts Lash of Pain on Chimaeron
[22:00:54.282] Vilvina Lash of Pain Chimaeron *12143*
[22:00:55.760] Vilvina casts Lash of Pain on Chimaeron
[22:00:55.905] Vilvina Lash of Pain Chimaeron 6103
[22:00:56.953] Gherkin's Metamorphosis fades from Gherkin
[22:00:57.372] Vilvina casts Lash of Pain on Chimaeron
[22:00:57.605] Vilvina Lash of Pain Chimaeron 6087
[22:00:58.990] Vilvina casts Lash of Pain on Chimaeron
[22:00:59.214] Vilvina Lash of Pain Chimaeron 6061
[22:01:00.570] Vilvina casts Lash of Pain on Chimaeron
[22:01:00.834] Vilvina Lash of Pain Chimaeron 6055

Updated again. Thanks for the catch.

Added a note about the Infernal and Doomguard. Currently the Infernal is best for single target and multi-target as far as I know but hopefully that will change in 4.1

Originally Posted by TobiasX

I'm not certain (I'll have a look when I have time) but if you keep the Succubus out rather than switching to the Felguard I think it would be a dps increase to use Demon Soul: Succubus and switch to Shadow bolt spam for the duration. Any more experienced demo locks able to comment on this?

It's not. Using my gear, the DPET of Shadow Bolt with no Demon Soul 8k isn't sufficiently increased by the DS effect to beat out Soul Fire at 11.6k. In fact, fun fact - at my gear level Soul Fire looks like it marginally beats out Molten Core Incinerates at 11.3k.

---------- Post added 2011-03-07 at 03:30 PM ----------

On noting that higher DPET I ran some numbers and found using Incinerate during Decimation is only a 34DPS increase for me, so with that in mind I think there will come a point where Soul Fire's better scaling with Spellpower means it overtakes Incinerate in the priority queue. However, running the BiS profile for 372 gear Incinerate is much closer to Soul Fire, and so a bigger DPS increase. Any explaination for this?

@Jenerena: I'll have a look at the simcraft list. My list is mostly from EJ (a few spells like the different Demon Souls added) so I'm not sure why simcraft would be different.

@Nodata: I've tried soloing a TBC raid boss or 2 myself and would suggest removing 1 point from Grimoire and 1 point from Fel Synergy. I'd highly recommend picking up 2 pieces of T5 for additional pet healing.