World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King Classic
- Platform:
- PC
- Developer:
- Blizzard
- Publisher:
- Activision
- Genre:
- MMORPG
- Multiplayer:
- Online Multiplayer
- ESRB:
- Teen
- Released:
- 2022-09-26
- Franchise:
- Warcraft
All Warlock Guides
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Destruction Warlock Basics
The Warlock is a ranged DPS user that specializes in Fire and Shadow damage. Players that roll a Warlock can choose between three specifications; Affliction, Demonology, or Destruction. Formerly a spec that was considered a waste of talent points in the old days of World of Warcraft, Destruction Warlocks in the Classic version of the game get more respect. Some new talents and skills that were introduced in The Wrath of the Lich King pre-patch make this build even more fearsome, and that applies to PvE, PvP, and raiding.
This guide is primarily focused on level 80 end-game content and will be updated with more information for the duration of the Wrath of the Lich King expansion.
There are a few options for how best to use them depending on the talents points, glyphs, and gems a player chooses. The Destruction Warlock relies less on the damage-over-time (DoT) talents of Affliction Warlocks and instead uses Immolate and related fire spells to do most of the damage.
Destruction Warlock Talent Trees
Destruction stands well on its own, with some interesting variations, but there are a few points in the other talents trees that can help boost the Destro Lock's power to a savage degree. Passive abilities lower in the Destruction Tree such as Shadow and Flame and Fire and Brimstone focus primarily on fire-based abilities.
Hybrid Destro-Demonology Build
(Talent calculator provided by eightyupgrades.com/)
It gets lonely at the top of that damage meter but the Destro Lock doesn't have to walk alone. The Imp and Succubus are the two demons that can help raise that spell damage output. Improved Imp is one option in the Demonology Tree, and Demonic Power boosts the casting time of both the Imp's Firebolt and the Succubus' Lash of Pain.
Pure Destruction Build
(Talent calculator provided by eightyupgrades.com/)
Mostly Destruction, anyway, since a couple of points in Suppression from the Affliction Tree to improve hit rating is an essential addition. Conflagrate, which requires 30 points in this tree, is one of the Destruction Warlock's signature abilities. It consumes Immolate, one of the basic Warlock DoTs to deal a large portion of that damage in an instant.
Best Glyphs For Destruction Warlocks
Major Glyphs
- Glyph of Incinerate. The Destruction Warlock's most common DoT now does more damage.
- Glyph of Conflagrate. The player can now use the Conflagrate ability without consuming Immolate.
- Glyph Of Life Tap. An individual choice depending on how often the player uses this ability.
Minor Glyphs
- Glyph of Drain Soul. Double the soul shards are twice as good.
- Glyph of Unending Breath. Situational but handy.
- Glyph of Curse of Exhaustion. A more common choice among Affliction warlocks, Destro 'locks who are called upon in raids for this curse also have the option.
Stat Priority For Destruction Warlocks
- Hit Rating. A spell can't do any damage if it misses. The hit cap has been raised to 289, which is good news for both Affliction and Destruction locks.
- Haste rating. A shorter casting time means more spells and more damage.
- Spell Power. This can be improved with Enchants and various consumables.
- Crit Rating. A critical hit means more damage with less casting time.
- Intellect. The higher the character's intellect the more powerful their spells are.
- Stamina. Warlocks generate a lot of aggro, but don't have many defense options, hence they need more Stamina and therefore more hit points than other casters.
- Spirit. Now scales with Intellect and helps with mana regeneration.
Skill Rotation For Destruction Warlocks
- Curse Priority. Use Curse of Agony on any target that won't be standing for more than a minute. Anything that will be on its feet for more than 60 seconds needs Curse of Doom.
- Fire. Follow up the Curse with Immolate and make sure it's on the target at all times. Incinerate as a filler spell during Immolate's cycle. Use Chaos Bolt when available.
- Burst. Finish the rotation with Conflagrate but make sure Immolate is always up if the character doesn't have the glyph. If Curse of Doom is consumed with less than a minute to go on the boss, follow up with Curse of Agony.
Profession Choices
Cooking
There are three secondary professions, and Warlocks should also max out their Fishing and First Aid, but the creation of consumables for both raids and PvE is essential. It's possible to buy ingredients for foods like Poached Bluefish on the Auction House, but players that have their Fishing skills maxed can save some gold and cook with their own catch.
Post Wrath of the Lich King, accomplished cooks can make Shoveltusk Steak and Imperial Manta Steak. Feasts, which allow an accomplished cook to make a meal for the whole party, are another addition that becomes available when Northrend
Herbalism
It used to be that herbs were only used for Alchemy, but now they're also used for Inscription and come with a useful ability, Lifeblood. This heals the character over a period of five seconds and can be used at virtually anytime, including in combat, stealthed out, or afflicted by a DoT. Since Warlocks have the Life Tap ability this can also be used to replenish some mana.
Tailoring
In The Burning Crusade, many of the Best-in-slot items for Warlocks were craftable and bind-on-pickup, which is why most Warlocks were tailors before Wrath of The Lich King. This evens out after the Wrath of the Lich King expansion, but the profession still has its advantages.
Some BiS items are still crafted in the WotLK, and there's also the new mount, the Magic Carpet, which can only be crafted and used by tailors. Another advantage of Tailoring is that its main resource, cloth, is a drop from enemies instead of collected through a gathering profession, giving the character an extra profession slot. A Warlock can combine Tailoring with Alchemy, Jewelcrafting, or Inscription.
Best In Slot Gear Pre-Raid For Destruction Warlock
- Warlock Pre-Raid BIS Guide
- Most of the warlock specs all use the same gear when it comes to the Best in Slot selections.
- Destruction & Affliction Phase 2 BiS Guide
- In Ulduar, both Affliction and Destruction share the same stat priority, so their loot is the same.