Demonology Warlock Guide

[Zlu]

Welcome to Demonology Warlock Guide for WoW Freakz
Because we are so far into the expansion itself, I'll try and keep this as straightforward as possible for the current and the upcoming content, as everyone should be familiar with the changes this class has underwent. Stat priority still remains the same, with Crit/Haste/Mastery/Versatility being prioritized for Mythic+ and Haste/Mastery/Crit/Versatility being prioritized for Raiding. The introduction of Essences opens up numerous possibilities and different playstyles, as well as the builds themselves. So there's really not much that can go wrong. But we'll get to that later

Talent build still remains the same but we'll go over those again, just in case.

Regardless of the item build you're playing, during Tyrannical week and for Raiding, you'll always want to choose Demonic Strength.
While during Fortified week, you can go with Bilescourge Bombers. I personally do not choose Bilescourge Bombers, as it can result in a DPS loss if your tank moves the adds out of the impact position.
Nonetheless, it's a great talent choice. Demonic Strength is just more of a "sure thing" in my opinion and great source of damage, regardless of the environment you're in.

For Tier 2, there's not a better choice than Demonic Calling. The talent is self explanatory, so I will not go into what makes this talent choice the best. Reading its tooltip is enough.

In next Tier, we have Demon Skin, Burning Rush and Dark Pact.
For Mythic+ I tend to choose Demon Skin in order to make it easier for healer, due to extra "tankiness".
Warlock, being the wheelchair class that it is, it benefits a lot from any bonus in movement speed. The faster you get to the point where you need to be, the faster you will be able to go into pumping DPS.
That's what makes Burning Rush so great, but it comes with a price of 4% max HP every second and additional pressure on your healer.
Dark Pact is chosen in situations where you think you might get one shotted due to Boss mechanic. This tier is open to preference, so take a pick.

For Tier 4, best thing you can choose is Soul Strike. It's an instant cast ability which rewards you with 1 Soulshard and isn't affected by GCD.
Summon Vilefiend is not a bad choice, but it's also not the best. It can do a nice amount of damage but it has nearly a 2 second cast time and costs 1 Soulshard.
Feel free to experiment, but I highly recommend going with Soul Strike

This Tier is solely dependant on the situation you're in.
The cooldown reduction from Darkfury can come very handy in Mythic+ but there are always some NPCs which you can't stun, that's where Mortal Coil comes in handy.
It'll incapacitate the NPC regardless of its type. Getting healed for 20% of your max HP is a big plus.
Demonic Circle is solely used for Raids.

The fact that you can get your Soulshards back after using them is HUGE. I can't stress how good Soul Conduit is. Choosing anything else in this Tier would be a huge mistake.

We're at last Tier and while people did experiment with Nether Portal, I find it a bit underwhelming for my taste.
Demonology Warlock is all about "big" Demonic Tyrant, thus choosing Demonic Consumption will make this spec whole.

The introduction of Essences opens up numerous possibilities and different playstyles, as well as the builds themselves. We'll go into which you should be using in which situation and what makes them so great.
All the information will be related to Rank 3 of the essences mentioned.
Vision of Perfection

The fact that you can passively have a Demonic Tyrant spawn for 35% of it's duration (if you are using this essence as your Major) is what makes this essence your BiS.
The damage from the Tyrant itself is not that beneficial, as the 15% damage increase for all your active demons due to Demonic Power and the fact that it freezes your Wild Imps energy for its duration and extends how long will they last is, which is 4 seconds.
Numerous procs back to back can result in a huge DPS boost when using Summon Demonic Tyrant.
Minor of this essence reduces the cooldown of your Summon Demonic Tyrant by 21% and it increases your Versatility by 94. It also heals your for 5% of your max HP whenever it procs.
Whether you decide to use it as a Major or Minor, this is the essence you should prioritize obtaining.
The only downside to this essence is that it is too RNG dependant when using it as a Major.
Memory of Lucid Dreams

Being rewarded with Soulshards for 50% of theirs value just by spending them feels great.
Definitely your BiS but certainly something you want to use as a Major.
Even though Versatility is not something we as Demonology Warlocks should focus on, being rewarded with 388 Versatility is a huge plus, as it increases your overall damage.
Tiny bit of healing for every time it procs is a nice touch. You should definitely prioritize obtaining this as soon as possible.
Worldvein Resonance

If you are using this essence as your Major(which your should), you'll passively have crystals erupting from the ground which will increase your Intellect by 252, as long as you stand within the range of the crystals.
They spawn randomly anywhere from 1-18 seconds and you can benefit only by 4 at the same time.
If someone else within your party is running this, you will benefit from it as well. Cap is still 4 shards though.
Activating the Essence will erupt 3 additional crystals and their value will be increased by 300%
The fact that it has 1 minute cooldown and that it almost perfectly aligns with your Summon Demonic Tyrant is the reason why this is your BiS for Mythic+
You'll have constant sustained amp on your damage and if you're wondering, yes, you should get this essence as soon as possible. It's fairly easy to obtain.
Condensed Life-Force

While you will never use this essence as your Minor, you'll use it as Major certainly. Very safe and powerful choice for any ST situation.
It spawns Guardian of Azeroth which attacks your target and increase your damage done to it by 5%
In addition, you receive 2% Haste for every time it damages the target, locking it at 10%
I prefer using this essence for Raiding due to very high damage and 10% Haste. It may not seem like a lot, but it's huge and highly beneficial.
You should definitely have it available.
Essence of the Focusing Iris

You'll never use this essence as your Major. You'll only want its Minor, as it increases your Haste by 36 and it stacks up 10 times.
You'll usually use it when running Vision of Perfection as your Major.
Haste is lost when you change your target.
Purification Protocol

The only time you'll use this essence as a Major is when 8.3 content gets released. It's your absolute BiS for Horrific Visions.
It deals high amount of damage to any Aberration, has a chance to instantly kill it, increases your damage by 10% and it heals you. You won't really have a lot of fun 5 masking Horrific Visions without this essence.
The Minor of the essence is only useful at the moment if you are progressing Za'qul.
You should have it available to you.
Breath of the Dying

We'll have this essence available once 8.3 content gets released.
Basically, our damaging abilities have a chance to deal additional fire damage. It's a small DPS boost and it gives 10 Corruption Resistance.
You'll want to use this once 4th slot becomes available.
Essence Build Summary
In most cases, for Raid environment, you're gonna go withVision of Perfection -> Memory of Lucid Dreams -> Essence of Focused IrisOrCondensed Life-Force -> Memory of Lucid Dreams -> Vision of Perfection
For Mythic+ you will goWorldvein Resonance -> Memory of Lucid Dreams -> Vision of PerfectionOrVision of Perfection -> Memory of Lucid Dreams -> Essence of Focused Iris

Now we'll go over your BiS Azerite Traits and which you could/should use in which situation.

Explosive Potential
Your absolute BiS. Whether it be for Mythic+ or Raiding, I highly recommend prioritizing having 3 of these above anything else.
To pass on 1755 Haste would be a sin.

Baleful Invocation
Undeniably another one of you BiS.
Whether it be for Mythic+ or Raiding, I highly recommend prioritizing having at least one, as it rewards you with 5 Soul Shards after using Summon Demonic Tyrant.
Having more than one is a huge plus.

Supreme Commander
Provides you with a nice Intellect boost after your Summon Demonic Tyrant expires and awards you with one Demonic Core stack.
I only recommend using this trait if you are playing Haste/Mastery in conjunction with 3x Baleful Invocation.
Having more than one will be a plus.

Demonic Meteor
Absolutely beautiful trait for your most used ability. It increases the damage of your Hand of Gul'dan and has a 5% chance of refunding spent Soulshards. Great choice for Mythic+

Overwhelming Power
Your damaging abilities have a chance to grant you 25 stacks of these bad boys with each granting you 31 Haste. I highly recommend prioritizing having 3 of these above anything else.
Not having them would be a sin.
Azerite Trait Builds
For Raid environment, you're gonna go with either3x Baleful Invocation -> 3x Explosive Potential -> 3x Overwhelming PowerOr3x Baleful Invocation -> 3x Supreme Commander -> 3x Overwhelming Power
For Mythic+ you will go2x Baleful Invocation -> 3x Explosive Potential -> 1x Demonic Meteor -> 3x Overwhelming Power

In this part we'll go over the most basic rotation.
No matter which item build you're playing, you'll always want to precast Demonbolt before starting Boss encounter.
If you are using Condensed Life-Force, make sure to pop it right after this cast. That way you'll have just enough time to stack up on Imps by the time you've gained 10% Haste and just enough time that it amplifies your Tyrant.
In Mythic+ though, you want to focus on stacking up Wild Imps on pack before Boss encounter and going straight into Summon Demonic Tyrant or building up more Wild Imps if you have Demonic Core stacks and then go into Tyrant.
Follow it up with Call Dreadstalkers and 1 Hand of Gul'dan. We'll implode these 3 Wild Imps that spawn in order to proc Explosive Potential. Because there is a chance that after using your Summon Demonic Tyrant that you'll be awarded with a few stacks of Demonic Core, you'll want to focus on generating as much Soulshards as possible with your Demonbolt and dumping all the Soulshards into your Hand of Gul'dan. After your Tyrant has expired, you'll be stacked up on Wild Imps. Give yourself moment to build up at least 3 Soulshards, use Hand of Gul'dan and use Implosion immediately before the 3 new ones spawn. The reason for this is because you'll have about 15-20 Wild Imps that are about to despawn and it's much more profitable in gambling with Demonic Core, as you might be awarded with multiple stacks, plus you'll refresh your Explosive Potential and be able to go back into pumping DPS. I tend to use Demonic Strength 4 seconds before my Tyrant expires, as that way the 15% damage AMP will be applied to the ability. You can use it right after Summon Demonic Tyrant, it really doesn't matter as long you use it while your Tyrant is active. Use Soul Strike whenever you're in need of a Soulshard. From here on out it just goes "Round&Round".

Maximing your output will mostly depend on trial and error, as well as class knowledge. So don't stress yourself if it's not working out.
You'll hit it right once and then you'll know what's it all about

I highly recommend using

Spoiler:

/petattack

and

Spoiler:

/cast [pet:Felguard] Legion Strike

on any of your damaging abilities.
This will highly maximize your output just by having your pet stay on your target at all times.

Here's some Item Builds that I find appropriate for their designated situations.
Mythic+
Head - Visage of Nightmarish Machinations

Shoulders - Spaulders of Miasmic Mycelia

Chest - Petticoat of the Self-Stylized Azerite Baron

Wrist - Cuffs of Grim Conjuration

Hands - Grips of Occult Reminiscence

Waist - Mana-Infused Sash

Legs - Corporeal Supplicant's Trousers

Feet - Boots of Wrought Shadow

Finger - Overclocking Bit Band

Finger - Logic Loop of Recursion

Trinket - Vita-Charged Titanshard

Trinket - Manifesto of Madness

Main Hand - Shgla'yos, Astral Malignity

Off-hand - Uhnish Vwah


Raid
Head - TBA

Shoulders - TBA

Cloak - TBA

Chest - TBA

Wrist - TBA

Hands - TBA

Waist - TBA

Legs - TBA

Feet - TBA

Finger - TBA

Finger - TBA

Trinket - TBA

Trinket - TBA

Main Hand - TBA

Off-hand - TBA


Regardless of the situation, both of these builds are viable, as long as you know which Essences to use.
If you decide to go with Raid build for Mythic+ environment, I highly recommend using Vision of Perfection -> Memory of Lucid Dreams -> Essence of Focused Iris, as you'll be running with
3x Supreme Commander and 3x Baleful Invocation


Once 8.3 content gets released, our primary focus will be ranking up Ashjra'kamas, Shroud of Resolve to rank 15, so that we can benefit the most from our Corruptions.
Having 125 Corruption Resistance will be highly beneficial, as we'll be able to manage the newly introduced mechanics produced by our own Corruptions with much more ease.
Let's look at your BiS Corruptions.

Expedient
Basically, it increases Haste gained from all sources by 12% if you use Tier 3. You'll want to primarily focus on having at least 6 of these bad boys.
They come at the cost of 5000 Echoes of Ny'alotha each and carry 20 Corruption for each one you have.

Severe
It increases Critical Strike gained from all sources by 12% if you use Tier 3. You'll want to primarily focus on having at least 2 of these.
They come at the cost of 5000 Echoes of Ny'alotha each and carry 20 Corruption for each one you have.

Honed Mind
Your damaging abilities having a chance to increase your Mastery by 915 for 10 seconds.
It comes at a price of 7875 Echoes of Ny'alotha and carries 35 Corruption.
You'll want to have only 1 of these.

Infinite Stars
While it carries 75 Corruption, this provides you with insanely high damage of 46,651 and it increases the damage your target takes from it by 25% which stacks up to 10 times.
It comes with a cost of 15000 Echoes of Ny'alotha and being the powerful Corruption it is, you'll use it mostly for 5-Masking Horrific Visions in conjunction with 2 or 3x Expedient, due to its high Corruption and it will be super viable on ST situations.

Optimal Corruption Build
- The Corruption build you'll want to run at almost any time is -
6x Expedient -> 2x Severe -> 1x Honed Mind
This will round you up at 70 Corruption which will be absolutely manageable, as long you have Rank 15 Ashjra'kamas, Shroud of Resolve with 125 Corruption Resistance.

Enchants + Gems + Potions
No matter which build you're running, you'll almost always want to have Mastery enchants on your fingers, as it boosts the overall damage of your pets.
If it makes you lack in certain stat, you can always make it up with gems.

Depending on the build that you're playing, it's logical to use gems to fill up the stat you're lacking in. Some of the gems that are available for us right now are:

- Masterful Sea Currant - 50 Mastery
- Quick Sand Spinel - 50 Haste
- Deadly Lava Lazuli - 50 Critical Strike

Potions are something you'll always want to use in order to create maximum output. For Single Target situations you have 2 choices:

- Potion of Unbridled Fury
- Potion of Focused Resolve

Which potion you're going to use is up to you.

I personally prefer Potion of Unbridled Fury due to fact that it lasts 1 minute and it gives you more than enough time for CLF to build up for you to set-up a Tyrant, whilst initially boosting your DPS by a hint.
When you actually summon your Tyrant, you're free to use Superior Battle Potion of Intellect to boost your Tyrant's damage even further, due to high Intellect it provides.

For any AoE/Cleave situation, you'll be profiting the most from using just Superior Battle Potion of Intellect. Not using it would be a mistake.