Havoc Demon Hunter DPS Guide (Legion 7.3.5)

Welcome to our Havoc Demon Hunter DPS guide for World of Warcraft Legion 7.3.5. Here, you will learn everything you need to know about playing a Havoc Demon Hunter in a raid environment and in Mythic+ dungeons.

About Our Author

This guide has been reviewed and approved by Kib, a lead theorycrafter for Havoc Demon Hunters, alongside playing in Strawberry Puppy Kisses in the world top 40. You can watch his stream on Twitch or follow him on Twitter.

1. Class Overview

Havoc, the DPS spec of the newly introduced Demon Hunter class in Legion is a resource based melee specialization with a focus on Global Cooldown locked gameplay with a builder spender style. It's balanced around your ability to make the most out of your Fury pool and reacting to unpredictable gains whilst using situation specific abilities to push it further. On top of that, it has a number of mobility tools turning it into versatile spec with multiple ways of capitalizing on them.

2. What has changed for Havoc Demon Hunter with 7.3.2 Antorus launch?

Havoc remains similar to previous patches, with the addition of new items from Antorus and the Tier 21 set bonuses, alongside the new legendary ring Insignia of the Grand Army Icon Insignia of the Grand Army. It is however seeing a build shift over to Demonic Icon Demonic primarily, which is covered in the Talents section.

3. What has changed for Havoc Demon Hunter with patch 7.3?

Havoc has received no significant changes moving into Patch 7.3 other than the introduction of the new Netherlight Crucible system.

4. What has changed for Havoc Demon Hunter with patch 7.2.5?

Chaos Blades no longer scales with Mastery, and instead provides a flat 30% damage increase. Duration has been raised to 18 seconds to compensate.
Fel Barrage no longer uses a charge system, and instead has cooldown reduction tied to other attacks.
Prepared now generates 100 Fury over 10 seconds, instead of 40 over 5.
Mo'arg Bionic Stabilizers have been reduced to 25% increased damage, from 50%.
Tier 19 4-piece bonus has been reduced to 8% Critical Strike bonus on Chaos Strike, down from 10%.
Achor, the Eternal Hunger has had its bonus effect reworked, focusing on healing from Vengeful Retreat casts instead of Blur.

5. Havoc Demon Hunter's Strengths

Powerful burst single target damage.
Flexible mobility allowing for great positioning control in encounters.
Can switch targets without any downsides, and can pool resources for instant burst.
Powerful, versatile cooldowns for different situations.

6. Havoc Demon Hunter's Weaknesses

Can be reliant on Critical Strike to fuel burst DPS which can be inconsistent.
AoE is tied to cooldowns, which hurts sustained damage.

7. Viability of Havoc Demon Hunter in the Current Patch

Havocs damage profile with the new set bonus provided in Antorus, alongside a shift to Demonic due to high scaling, should definitely improve its strengths after Tomb of Sargeras. Its toolkit is even more versatile, with more frequent, short burst windows and its mobility and survival remain strengths. It also should continue to be a fantastic addition to Mythic+ groups due to its ability to adapt to weekly affixes fluidly with those different survival tools.

8. Contents

To make it easy to navigate the guide, we have split it into 11 pages:

Easy Mode: TL;DR to own without reading much;
Spell Summary: see a summary of all your useful spells;
Builds and Talents: learn how to choose your talents;
Artifact Traits and Relics: discover how to level up your Artifact;
Netherlight Crucible Relic Paths: choose the right paths on your Netherlight Crucible;
Rotation, Cooldowns, and Abilities: master your rotation and your cooldowns;
Stat Priority: read up on the respective values of your statistics;
Gems, Enchants, and Consumables: choose the best gems, enchantments, etc.;
Macros and Addons: step up your game with useful macros and addons;
Gear, Legendaries, and Best in Slot: find the best gear you can wear;
Battle for Azeroth: learn how to play your class in Battle for Azeroth.

Easy Mode⋙

9. ChangeLog

21 Jun. 2018 (Battle for Azeroth page): Added note regarding Fury cap increase.
30 May 2018 (Battle for Azeroth page): Page added.
12 Dec. 2017 (gear page): Updated Trinket simulation image.
02 Dec. 2017 (rotation page): Added section for Tier 21/Demonic openers.
02 Dec. 2017 (enchants page): Added note about Prolonged Power and Demonic.
28 Nov. 2017 (talents page): Updated for Antorus release to indicate a shift to a Demonic playstyle.
28 Nov. 2017 (gear page): Updated for Antorus release with new trinket and Pantheon simulations.
28 Nov. 2017 (enchants page): Updated for Antorus release and rewrote consumable section.
28 Nov. 2017 (Netherlight Crucible page): Updated for Antorus release.
28 Nov. 2017 (stats page): Updated for Antorus release to show additional Demonic stat weights.
28 Nov. 2017 (rotation page): Updated for Antorus launch. Added Tier 21 section.
28 Nov. 2017 (this page): Updated for Antorus release.
10 Sep. 2017 (Netherlight Crucible page): Improved on the original version.
10 Sep. 2017 (enchants page): Updated to remove Saber's Eye due to new epic gem options.
08 Sep. 2017 (Netherlight Crucible page): Added initial introduction to the Netherlight Crucible in 7.3.
28 Aug. 2017 (stats page): No changes needed for Patch 7.3.
28 Aug. 2017 (rotation page): No changes needed for Patch 7.3.
28 Aug. 2017 (this page): Updated to indicate no new changes coming in 7.3.
28 Aug. 2017 (talents page): No changes needed for Patch 7.3.
28 Aug. 2017 (enchants page): Added Lightforged Augment Rune and new 7.3 epic gems.
03 Aug. 2017 (gear page): Added note regarding Delusions of Grandeur power in Tomb of Sargeras.
15 Jun. 2017 (talents page): Clarified Chaos Cleave's place vs. First Blood.
14 Jun. 2017 (gear page): Added note regarding Tier 19/20 2/4pc combinations.
12 Jun. 2017 (artifact page): Page reviewed and deemed updated for 7.2.5.
12 Jun. 2017 (enchants page): Page reviewed and deemed updated for 7.2.5.
12 Jun. 2017 (this page): Updated to document Patch 7.2.5 changes.
12 Jun. 2017 (rotation page): Updated for Patch 7.2.5 with Tier 20 set bonus information.
12 Jun. 2017 (stats page): Updated for 7.2.5 changes to indicate the drop in Mastery value.
12 Jun. 2017 (spells page): Page reviewed and deemed updated for 7.2.5.
12 Jun. 2017 (easy mode page): Updated for Patch 7.2.5 stat changes.
10 Jun. 2017 (gear page): Updated with Patch 7.2.5 Tier 20 gear choices and additional Legendary items.
10 Jun. 2017 (talents page): Updated for Patch 7.2.5 talent changes and choices following patch changes.
31 May 2017 (gear page): Removed note regarding Convergence/Delusions
27 May 2017 (rotation page): Added note regarding Overwhelming Power with Demonic.
18 May 2017 (talents page): Clarified talents regarding Bloodlet in conjunction with legendary bracers in single target.
13 May 2017 (artifact page): Updated for new Critical Chaos values.
09 May 2017 (rotation page): Added note regarding using Felblade for movement.
19 Apr. 2017 (rotation page): Tweaks to Fel Barrage notes.
28 Mar. 2017 (stats page): No changes needed for Patch 7.2.
28 Mar. 2017 (rotation page): No changes needed for Patch 7.2.
28 Mar. 2017 (this page): Added summary of Patch 7.2 changes.
28 Mar. 2017 (gear page): Updated 7.2 legendary changes.
28 Mar. 2017 (talents page): Added note for Bloodlet regarding legendary bracer change.
28 Mar. 2017 (enchants page): Changed food recommendation to Lavish Suramar Feast.
28 Mar. 2017 (artifact page): Updated for 7.2 with new trait paths.
07 Feb. 2017 (rotation page): Updated and clarified some notes regarding Fel Rush rotational usage.
04 Feb. 2017 (gear page): Large update with new trinket sims and specifics on Convergence/Delusions.
10 Jan. 2017 (rotation page): Updated for new information following Chaos Cleave change in 7.1.5, added Demonic section.
10 Jan. 2017 (artifact page): Updated for 7.1.5 for new Relic recommendations.
10 Jan. 2017 (talents page): Updated a large number of sections to reflect the changes in builds with the Chaos Cleave reduction to 10% and Demon Blades down to 60%. Added in Demonic recommendation.
10 Jan. 2017 (enchants page): Removed Versatility food, altered neck enchant to Mark of the Claw for 7.1.5.
10 Jan. 2017 (stats page): Altered priority to reflect nerfs to Chaos Cleave at 7.1.5 launch.
09 Jan. 2017 (rotation page): Patch 7.1.5 update.
09 Jan. 2017 (talents page): Rewrote most of the talent assessments following changes in Patch 7.1.5.
09 Jan. 2017 (stats page): Added different stat priorities, depending on talent choices.
09 Jan. 2017 (this page): Updated strengths and weaknesses for 7.1.5.
09 Jan. 2017 (gear page): Updated with 7.1.5 simulation results. Added Nighthold items and new Legendaries.
09 Jan. 2017 (easy mode page): Updated the page to be in sync with the rest of the guide.
09 Jan. 2017 (spells page): Changed a few spell descriptions following tooltip changes in 7.1.5.
26 Nov. 2016 (easy mode page): Added section for easier playstyle.
25 Oct. 2016 (talents page): Rewrote Level 100 talent explanations, following the change to Demon Blades in Patch 7.1.
25 Oct. 2016 (gear page): Updated BiS trinkets and added trinket simulations.
25 Oct. 2016 (rotation page): Several adjustments to account for the changes of Demon Blades in Patch 7.1.
25 Oct. 2016 (enchants page): Added a note about Potion of Prolonged Power.
28 Sep. 2016 (rotation page): Updated opener.
22 Sep. 2016 (artifact page): Updated Artifact path.
21 Sep. 2016 (enchants page): Made Potion of the Old War the potion of choice.
05 Sep. 2016 (rotation page): Simplified rotation by adding checkboxes to hide or reveal specific lines (cooldown, talents, AoE, etc.).
02 Sep. 2016 (rotation page): Moved Fel Barrage up in the multi-target rotation.
29 Aug. 2016 (gear page): Updated for Legion's launch.
29 Aug. 2016 (talents page): Updated for Legion's launch.
29 Aug. 2016 (rotation page): Updated for Legion's launch.
29 Aug. 2016 (artifact page): Added.
29 Aug. 2016 (enchants page): Updated for Legion's launch.
29 Aug. 2016 (this page): Updated for Legion's launch.
29 Aug. 2016 (stats page): Updated for Legion's launch.
09 Aug. 2016 (talents page): Rewrote Level 100 talent assessments following Demon Blades' nerf.
05 Aug. 2016 (rotation page): Added Throw Glaive to Demon Blades rotation.
01 Aug. 2016 (this page): Guide added.