Destruction Warlock
PvE Talent Guide & Calculator
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Affliction
0
Demonology
0
Destruction
0Destruction Warlocks are one of the absolute top DPS specs in The Burning Crusade, competing with BM Hunters for the #1 spot on meters throughout every raid tier. The 0/21/40 build sacrifices your Imp via Demonic Sacrifice for a flat 15% Fire damage increase, then leverages Ruin's doubled crit damage and Shadow and Flame's massive spell power scaling to obliterate bosses with Shadow Bolt and Incinerate.
Key Talents
Improved Shadow Bolt
Your Shadow Bolt crits apply a 20% Shadow damage debuff to the target. Core raid DPS multiplier.
Ruin
Doubles your Destruction spell crit damage. The single biggest DPS talent in the tree.
Shadow and Flame
Shadow Bolt and Incinerate gain 20% more benefit from spell damage. Massive scaling talent.
Demonic Sacrifice
Sacrifice your Imp for 15% increased Fire damage. The reason you go 21 into Demonology.
Stat Priority
- Hit Rating (until 16% cap / 202 rating)
- Spell Damage
- Spell Haste
- Spell Critical Strike
- Intellect
Destruction Warlock DPS centers on Shadow Bolt spam with curse uptime and Demonic Sacrifice (Succubus) for the 15% Shadow damage buff. Keep your curse active, weave in Immolate for Improved Shadow Bolt procs, and Life Tap to sustain mana.
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Curse of Doom / Curse of the Elements — Apply Curse of Doom on long fights (60s+ duration). Use Curse of the Elements if no other Warlock is covering it. -
Immolate — Keep up for Improved Shadow Bolt proc chances and extra damage. Refresh before it falls off. -
Shadow Bolt — Your primary nuke. Spam this between maintaining debuffs. Benefits from Shadow and Flame (+20% spell power scaling).
-
Incinerate — Alternative nuke when Immolate is on the target. Used in Fire Destruction builds or when Shadow resistance is present. -
Life Tap — Convert health to mana during downtime or when healers can top you off. Never let your mana fully deplete.
Best gear obtainable from heroic dungeons, crafting, reputation, and quests before entering Karazhan. Focus on reaching the spell hit cap first.
| Slot | Item | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Head | Spellstrike Hood | Tailoring (Crafted) |
| Neck | Brooch of Heightened Potential | Heroic Underbog — Ghaz'an |
| Shoulders | Mana-Etched Spaulders | Heroic Mechanar — Nethermancer Sepethrea |
| Back | Cloak of the Black Void | Tailoring (Crafted) |
| Chest | Frozen Shadoweave Robe | Tailoring (Crafted) |
| Wrists | Bracers of Havok | Tailoring (Crafted) |
| Hands | Gloves of Unseen Evil | Heroic Shadow Labyrinth — Murmur |
| Waist | Belt of Depravity | Heroic Shadow Labyrinth — Grandmaster Vorpil |
| Legs | Spellstrike Pants | Tailoring (Crafted) |
| Feet | Frozen Shadoweave Boots | Tailoring (Crafted) |
| Ring 1 | Seer's Signet | The Scryers — Exalted |
| Ring 2 | Ashyen's Gift | Cenarion Expedition — Exalted |
| Trinket 1 | Icon of the Silver Crescent | 41 Badge of Justice |
| Trinket 2 | Quagmirran's Eye | Heroic Slave Pens — Quagmirran |
| Weapon | Greatsword of Horrid Dreams | Heroic Shadow Labyrinth — Murmur |
| Wand | Nether Core's Control Rod | Heroic Mechanar — Nethermancer Sepethrea |
Best endgame gear from SSC, Tempest Keep, Hyjal, Black Temple, and Sunwell Plateau. Prioritize spell hit cap > spell damage > haste > crit.
| Slot | Item | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Head | Helm of Burning Righteousness | Sunwell Plateau — Kil'jaeden |
| Neck | Amulet of Unfettered Magics | Sunwell Plateau — Brutallus |
| Shoulders | Mantle of the Malefic | Black Temple — Mother Shahraz |
| Back | Tattered Cape of Antonidas | Sunwell Plateau — Kil'jaeden |
| Chest | Robe of the Malefic | Black Temple — Illidan Stormrage |
| Wrists | Bracers of the Malefic | Sunwell Plateau — Kalecgos |
| Hands | Gloves of the Malefic | Hyjal Summit — Azgalor |
| Waist | Belt of Divine Inspiration | Sunwell Plateau — M'uru |
| Legs | Leggings of Calamity | Sunwell Plateau — Felmyst |
| Feet | Boots of the Malefic | Black Temple — Teron Gorefiend |
| Ring 1 | Ring of Omnipotence | Sunwell Plateau — M'uru |
| Ring 2 | Band of the Eternal Sage | Hyjal Summit — Exalted |
| Trinket 1 | The Skull of Gul'dan | Black Temple — Illidan Stormrage |
| Trinket 2 | Shifting Naaru Sliver | Sunwell Plateau — M'uru |
| Weapon | Sunflare | Sunwell Plateau — Kil'jaeden |
| Offhand | Chronicle of Dark Secrets | Sunwell Plateau — Felmyst |
| Wand | Wand of the Demonsoul | Black Temple — Teron Gorefiend |
Essential Destruction Warlock macros for TBC Classic. Focus on burst damage and threat management.
Shadow Bolt + Trinkets
#showtooltip Shadow Bolt
/use 13
/use 14
/cast Shadow Bolt
Pops both trinkets with Shadow Bolt for burst phases.
Soulshatter Emergency
#showtooltip Soulshatter
/stopcasting
/cast Soulshatter
Emergency threat dump. Stops casting and instantly reduces threat by 50%.
Life Tap + Dark Pact
#showtooltip Life Tap
/cast [mod:shift] Dark Pact
/cast Life Tap
Life Tap by default, shift-click for Dark Pact. Efficient mana management.
Seed of Corruption
#showtooltip Seed of Corruption
/cast [@mouseover,harm,nodead][@target] Seed of Corruption
Casts Seed on mouseover targets for faster AoE application on trash packs.
- Use Soulshatter proactively — Warlocks generate immense threat and Soulshatter has a 5-min cooldown.
- Life Tap between pulls, not mid-fight — let healers top you off during downtime.
- Don't forget to sacrifice your pet (Imp for fire, Succubus for shadow) — the damage buff is huge.
- Don't use Seed of Corruption on single-target fights — it's strictly an AoE spell.
- Hit cap is 16% (202 rating). With Suppression talent (Affliction), you need less from gear.
- Destruction Warlocks are the #1 DPS in TBC — you will consistently top damage meters with proper play.
Meta Gem
— +12 Spell Critical Strike, +3% Critical Strike Damage. Requires more blue gems than yellow.
Gem Priority
Use Runed Living Ruby (+9 Spell Damage) in red sockets. Use Veiled Noble Topaz (+4 Spell Hit / +5 Spell Damage) in yellow sockets until hit capped. Use Glowing Nightseye (+5 Spell Damage / +6 Stamina) in blue sockets to activate meta requirement.
Enchants
Flasks & Elixirs
Food
Other
