Destruction Warlock DPS Gear, Legendaries, and Best in Slot (Legion 7.2.5)

Table of Contents

• +Introduction
  • 1. Class Overview
  • 2. Patch 7.2.5 Changes
  • 3. Patch 7.2 Changes
  • 4. Strengths
  • 5. Weaknesses
  • 6. Viability in the Current Patch
  • 7. Contents
  • 8. ChangeLog
• +Easy Mode
  • 1. The Basics
  • 2. Talent Choice
  • 3. Stat Choice
  • 4. Basic Rotation
  • 5. ChangeLog
• +Spell Summary
  • 1. Spell Summary
  • 2. Main Resources
  • 3. Basic Abilities
    • 3.1. Demonic Summons
  • 4. ChangeLog
• +Builds and Talents
  • 1. Talent Choices
  • 2. Talent Cheat Sheets
    • 2.1. Raid Encounters
      • 2.1.1. Single Target
      • 2.1.2. 2-3 Targets
      • 2.1.3. Heavy Cleave/AOE
    • 2.2. For General Use
  • 3. Tier 1 (Level 15) Talents
  • 4. Tier 2 (Level 30) Talents
  • 5. Tier 3 (Level 45) Talents
  • 6. Tier 4 (Level 60) Talents
  • 7. Tier 5 (Level 75) Talents
  • 8. Tier 6 (Level 90) Talents
  • 9. Tier 7 (Level 100) Talents
  • 10. ChangeLog
• +Artifact Traits and Relics
  • 1. Artifact Progression — First 35 Points
    • 1.1. Early Point Investment
    • 1.2. Second Golden Trait
    • 1.3. Final Point Investment
  • 2. Patch 7.2: 35+ Trait Path
  • 3. Relic Choice
  • 4. ChangeLog
• +Rotation, Cooldowns, and Abilities
  • 1. Ability Priority List
  • 2. Important Notes
    • 2.1. Roaring Blaze
    • 2.2. Chaos Bolt
    • 2.3. Dimensional Rift
    • 2.4. Soul Shard Generation and Consumption
    • 2.5. Wreak Havoc!
    • 2.6. Doomguard and Infernal
    • 2.7. Unending Resolve
    • 2.8. Pet Choice
    • 2.9. Cataclysm
  • 3. Core Concepts
    • 3.1. Soul Shard Management
    • 3.2. Havoc Usage
    • 3.3. Movement Management
      • 3.3.1. Quiet Movement
  • 4. Opening Sequence
    • 4.1. With Roaring Blaze
  • 5. ChangeLog
• +Boss by Boss Strategies
  • 1. The Nighthold
    • 1.1. Skorpyron
      • 1.1.1. Talents, Trinkets, and Legendaries
    • 1.2. Chronomatic Anomaly
      • 1.2.1. Talents, Trinkets, and Legendaries
    • 1.3. Trilliax
      • 1.3.1. Talents, Trinkets, and Legendaries
    • 1.4. Spellblade Aluriel
      • 1.4.1. Talents, Trinkets, and Legendaries
    • 1.5. Tichondrius
      • 1.5.1. Talents, Trinkets, and Legendaries
    • 1.6. Star Augur Etraeus
      • 1.6.1. Talents, Trinkets, and Legendaries
    • 1.7. Krosus
      • 1.7.1. Talents, Trinkets, and Legendaries
    • 1.8. High Botanist Tel'arn
      • 1.8.1. Talents, Trinkets, and Legendaries
    • 1.9. Grand Magistrix Elisande
      • 1.9.1. Talents, Trinkets, and Legendaries
    • 1.10. Gul'dan
      • 1.10.1. Talents, Trinkets, and Legendaries
  • 2. ChangeLog
• +Stat Priority
  • 1. Basics
    • 1.1. Without Tier 20 4-piece bonus
    • 1.2. With Tier 20 4-piece bonus
  • 2. Getting a Better Understanding
    • 2.1. Statistics Explanations
  • 3. ChangeLog
• +Gems, Enchants, and Consumables
  • 1. Gems
  • 2. Enchants
  • 3. Consumables
  • 4. ChangeLog
• +Macros and Addons
  • 1. Addons
    • 1.1. ElvUI
    • 1.2. Weak Auras
    • 1.3. Boss Mods
      • 1.3.1. BigWigs Bossmods
      • 1.3.2. Deadly Boss Mods
    • 1.4. Name Plates
      • 1.4.1. KUI Nameplates
      • 1.4.2. TidyPlates
    • 1.5. Damage Meters
      • 1.5.1. Skada
      • 1.5.2. Details
    • 1.6. Extra AddOns
      • 1.6.1. AffDots
      • 1.6.2. Mik's Scrolling Battle Text
      • 1.6.3. DeathNote
      • 1.6.4. Doom CooldownPulse
      • 1.6.5. Angry Assignments
  • 2. Macros
    • 2.1. Warlock Macros
      • 2.1.1. Pet Macros
      • 2.1.2. Soulstone Mouseover
      • 2.1.3. Demonic Circle
    • 2.2. Destruction Macros
      • 2.2.1. Havoc
      • 2.2.2. Cursor Rain of Fire
  • 3. ChangeLog
• ×Gear, Legendaries, and Best in Slot
  • 1. Tier 20 Set Bonuses
  • 2. Trinket Discussion
  • 3. Best in Slot List
    • 3.1. Trinket List
  • 4. Evaluating Upgrades Using Stat Weights
  • 5. Legendaries
    • 5.1. Single Target
    • 5.2. Two Targets
    • 5.3. Three Targets
    • 5.4. Descriptions
  • 6. Loot Competition
  • 7. ChangeLog

General Information

This page is a gear reference for Destruction Warlocks. It lists your best items and Legendaries, gives you gearing advice, and shows you how you will be competing for loot with other classes.

The other pages of our Destruction Warlock guide can be accessed from the table of contents on the right.

About Our Author and Reviewer

This guide has been written by Furty, who has an illustrious history in the World of Warcraft raiding scene and race for World First. He has been a member of guilds such as Serenity, Midwinter, and many more, and is currently raiding in Future. He plays most classes at the highest level. You can follow him on Twitter and watch him play on Twitch.

This guide has been reviewed and approved by Bangerz, a top raider who plays in Method; you can his stream on Twitch and follow him on Twitter.

1. Tier 20 Set Bonuses

The Tier 20 set bonuses offer additional Soul Shard Fragment generation from your filler and a huge boost to your Chaos Bolt damage. Once this set bonus is acquired the stat priority shifts heavily, so be wary of this.

• 2-piece bonus: Incinerate has a 100% chance to generate 1 additional Soul Shard Fragment.
• 4-piece bonus: Chaos Bolt always gains maximum benefit from your Mastery: Chaotic Energies.

The 2-piece bonus is an okay boost to Soul Shard generation, but the 4-piece is where the T20 set really shines. Once the 4-piece bonus is obtained you are well and truly unlocked to deal massive nuke damage constantly, resulting in a significant increase to single-target and cleave damage as well as greatly increasing your instant pressure on high priority adds.

The 4-set bonus is so potent it is often worth investing in lower item level pieces over non-set items with higher item levels. The rough benchmark for whether or not a full 4-set is an upgrade over higher item level non-set pieces is one full tier of difficulty (e.g. it is worth using a Heroic 4-piece bonus over Mythic off-pieces). You should not bother downgrading gear for the 2-piece bonus alone.

2. Trinket Discussion

Tarnished Sentinel Medallion is currently the best available trinket for Destruction currently. The Mastery passive pairs perfectly with our The Mastery passive pairs perfectly with our Tier 20 4-piece bonus, and the active does a very potent amount of damage in and of itself.

Whispers in the Dark remains the go-to in our second slot due to its amazing proc, letting us pump out a ton of damage for very little penalty. Pick up a high item level version from Nighthold if possible, as it remains one of the strongest choices in the Tomb of Sargeras.

Unstable Arcanocrystal remains an extremely strong choice, but only if you can obtain a very high item level titanforged version. Since most players will not be lucky enough to achieve this, it will be a rarity amongst Affliction warlocks this tier, though it does bear mentioning. Arcanocrystal is better than any other trinket it the game at equal item level due to the sheer amount of stats it provides.

Erratic Metronome is a stable trinket with a strong passive and proc. While not quite as strong as the aforementioned options, it beats out any of the other Tomb of Sargeras trinkets providing you have a decent item level version of it. Equally strong on single and multi-target.

3. Best in Slot List

With the existence of Titanforged and Mythic+ dungeons, there is no such thing as a hard Best in Slot anymore. This is more of a guideline for the best pieces to keep an eye out for in your raid or dungeon (if applicable). Be smart, and if you find higher item level pieces with valuable stat combinations do not hesitate to upgrade to them.

Slot	Item	Source
Helm	Diabolic Helm	Demonic Inquisition
Neck	Locket of Splintered Souls	The Desolate Host
Shoulders	Diabolic Mantle	Fallen Avatar
Chest	Robe of Aqueous Command	Harjatan
Cloak	Diabolic Shroud	The Desolate Host
Wrists	Ravenous Devotee's Bracelets	Harjatan
Gloves	Diabolic Gloves	Harjatan
Belt	Strife-Riddled Cinch	Maiden of Vigilance
Legs	Diabolic Leggings	Mistress Sassz'ine
Boots	Emberscatter Treads	Goroth
Ring #1	Scaled Band of Servitude	Harjatan
Ring #2	Seal of the Second Duumvirate	Kil'jaeden
Trinket #1	Whispers in the Dark	Gul'dan
Trinket #2	Tarnished Sentinel Medallion	Sisters of the Moon

3.1. Trinket List

Due to the prevalence of high item level trinkets and titanforged rewarded from Mythic+ dungeon grinding there are a variety of suitable options when it comes to trinkets. Using the list below you should be able to extrapolate whether or not something is an upgrade for you. Trinkets at equal item level, in order of priority, are as follows:

1. Tarnished Sentinel Medallion
2. Brinewater Slime in a Bottle or any other stat stick (Mastery>Haste>Crit>Vers)
3. Unstable Arcanocrystal
4. Whispers in the Dark
5. Erratic Metronome
6. Tome of Unraveling Sanity
7. Charm of the Rising Tide
8. Stormsinger Fulmination Charge
9. Dreadstone of Endless Shadows

If you have questions about trinket specifics please feel free to ask in the comments.

4. Evaluating Upgrades Using Stat Weights

You can evaluate upgrades side by side using a simple napkin math formula:

For example, using the stat weights from our Stats page, a pair of boots with 380 Mastery, 1150 Haste, and 976 Intellect, we can calculate a DPS value of:

This does not give an exact DPS value, but can be used to calculate the relative value versus another piece. For example, if we have a second pair of boots with 450 Haste, 970 Versatility, and 976 Intellect, we can compute the DPS value for that second item using the same formula, before comparing the results:

We can clearly see that 2611.0 > 2096.6, and therefore, the first pair of boots are the stronger upgrade. This is the quickest, best, and most reliable way of determining whether or not you should use one upgrade or another, despite the fact that stats weights are very approximate and change with respect to fight type, fight length, and the values of your other stats (synergetic scaling).

5. Legendaries

The legendary items for Destruction Warlocks shift very heavily in value and priority based on the current number of available targets. We have included several lists below to help you evaluate the value of the available legendary items. Bear in mind, however, that these lists are approximate and the value of legendary items often shifts based on context. This list also values the hard damage value returned by sims, but certain defensive passives may bump up their real world value (e.g. Prydaz, Xavaric's Magnum Opus). Finally, lower tier legendaries (e.g. Pillars of the Dark Portal) that occupy a tier slot are bumped down a bit in real world scenarios as they are more difficult to gear around.

5.1. Single Target

Best Single Target Combination: Lessons of Space-Time + Feretory of Souls

1. Lessons of Space-Time
2. Feretory of Souls
3. Soul of the Netherlord
4. Sin'dorei Spite
5. Sephuz's Secret (if it can be procced reliably)
6. The Master Harvester
7. Prydaz, Xavaric's Magnum Opus
8. Pillars of the Dark Portal
9. Norgannon's Foresight
10. Odr, Shawl of the Ymirjar
11. Kil'jaeden's Burning Wish
12. Celumbra, the Night's Dichotomy
13. Alythess's Pyrogenics
14. Magistrike Restraints

5.2. Two Targets

Best 2-target Combination: Magistrike Restraints + Lessons of Space-Time

1. Magistrike Restraints
2. Lessons of Space-Time
3. The Master Harvester
4. Feretory of Souls
5. Prydaz, Xavaric's Magnum Opus
6. Sin'dorei Spite
7. Sephuz's Secret (if it can be procced reliably)
8. Odr, Shawl of the Ymirjar
9. Soul of the Netherlord
10. Pillars of the Dark Portal
11. Norgannon's Foresight
12. Alythess's Pyrogenics
13. Celumbra, the Night's Dichotomy
14. Kil'jaeden's Burning Wish

5.3. Three Targets

1. The Master Harvester
2. Feretory of Souls
3. Magistrike Restraints
4. Lessons of Space-Time
5. Prydaz, Xavaric's Magnum Opus
6. Odr, Shawl of the Ymirjar
7. Sin'dorei Spite
8. Soul of the Netherlord
9. Sephuz's Secret (if it can be procced reliably)
10. Pillars of the Dark Portal
11. Norgannon's Foresight
12. Kil'jaeden's Burning Wish
13. Alythess's Pyrogenics
14. Celumbra, the Night's Dichotomy

5.4. Descriptions

Lessons of Space-Time increases all of your damage by 10% while your Dimensional Rifts are active. Strongest overall legendary despite the fact it occupies a potential tier slot.

Feretory of Souls gives Fire spells a 6% chance to generate a Soul Shard. One of the strongest legendaries and occupies no tier slot, making it even more attractive.

Sin'dorei Spite causes you and your minions to deal 15% increased damage for 25 seconds after casting Summon Doomguard or Summon Infernal. Can be very strong for bursting, especially on the opener when combined with Soul Harvest. Loses potential on sustained multi-target versus other options.

Odr, Shawl of the Ymirjar causes enemies marked by Havoc to take 15% increased damage from your single-target spells. At its best on 2-3 targets, however, not as strong as you might think. Most fights do not have a second target at all times and the damage buff only works on the target affected by Havoc, somewhat dampening this pickup.

Soul of the Netherlord grants you the Eradication talent while you are in the Destruction specialization. Good for single target, but average in any multi-target scenario relative to the other options.

The Master Harvester is a chest piece that has a 6% chance per Soul Shard spent to grant you Soul Harvest for 8 seconds. Reasonably strong choice on encounters where Soul Shard generation is very high, especially when you can take full advantage of Fire and Brimstone. Very strong as number of targets increases due to the increased generation of Soul Shards and, by extension, the increased expenditure.

Prydaz, Xavaric's Magnum Opus causes you to gain an absorb shield for 25% of your maximum health every 30 seconds, lasting 30 seconds. To some players' surprise, an above average legendary in all situations due to the sheer amount of stats it provides. The defensive passive is also very helpful for Mythic progression raiders.

Magistrike Restraints gives Chaos Bolt a 20% chance to strike an additional enemy within 30 yards. Best legendary by far for 2-targets, and reasonably strong even in full multi-target. A good pickup as it does not occupy a tier slot, making it easy to swap in for cleave fights.

Sephuz's Secret grants 10% movement speed and 2% Haste. Additionally, successfully applying a loss of control effect, dispelling an enemy, or interrupting a target grants 25% Haste and 70% movement speed for 12 seconds (30 second internal cooldown). Strong legendary if you can proc the active effect, and not bad even if you cannot due to the new passive.

Kil'jaeden's Burning Wish takes up a valuable trinket slot but sports a high amount of passive stats and a useful on use burst effect. Can be a good option if your trinkets are lacklustre.

Celumbra, the Night's Dichotomy reduces damage taken by 5% while within 12 yards of enemies. If no enemies are within 12 yards, you instead regenerate 1% of your maximum health every second. Not especially useful and only provides 2 secondary stats, though the 3 gem sockets almost make up for it. Good pickup for fresh characters as it is Bind-on-Equip, but otherwise worthless.

Pillars of the Dark Portal allows Demonic Gateway to be cast instantly, and you can use the portal twice before incurring the cooldown debuff. A weak legendary, but not the very worst as it does provide a large amount of passive stats. Unfortunately it occupies a tier slot.

Norgannon's Foresight allows you full movement casting for 4 seconds after you stand still for 6 seconds. Underwhelming, though the passive can be helpful for finishing long Chaos Bolt casts. The passive stats are nice, however, and it occupies no tier slot which bumps it up a little.

Alythess's Pyrogenics causes enemies affected by Rain of Fire to take 10% increased damage from Fire spells. Not a great legendary in any situation.

6. Loot Competition

Regarding the loot you will get from raid or dungeon bosses, you will compete with other classes in the following cases:

Item Type	Competing Classes
Tier Tokens	Demon Hunters, Paladins, Priests, and Affliction/Demonology Warlocks
Cloth Armor	Mages, Priests, and Affliction/Demonology Warlocks
Amulets Cloaks Rings	Everyone
Trinkets	Balance Druids, Mages, Shadow Priests, Elemental Shamans, and Affliction/Demonology Warlocks

7. ChangeLog

+ show all entries - show only 10 entries

• 15 Jun. 2017: Fully updated Legendary section and updated Trinket list.
• 15 Jun. 2017: Added Tier 20 set section, Tomb of Sargeras BiS list, and trinket discussion.
• 12 Jun. 2017: Added Soul of the Netherlord and The Master Harvester to the Legendary items section.
• 05 Apr. 2017: Corrected typo listing Sindorei Spite higher than it should be.
• 27 Mar. 2017: No changes needed for Patch 7.2.
• 13 Feb. 2017: Swapped Gul'dan boots for Trilliax boots in Raid BiS.
• 17 Jan. 2017: Updated legendaries, added new legendaries, added Nighthold BiS list.
• 12 Jan. 2017: Updated Legendaries (still need to add new Legendaries).
• 11 Dec. 2016: Added trinket list, Mythic+ BiS list, and updated Raid BiS list.
• 14 Oct. 2016: Added trinket from Withered J'im.
• 14 Sep. 2016: Legendary updates.
• 29 Aug. 2016: Updated for Legion's launch.
• 20 Jul. 2016: Removed trinket sims and added proper recommendations.
• 18 Jul. 2016: Updated for the Legion pre-patch.