[Warlock] Destruction 7.2.5 PVE Guide

[Ayro]

Introduction:


Hello and welcome to the new Warlock 7.2.5 Destruction PVE oriented guide. We will start the guide by explaining the basics such as Base spells and we will go through this slowly to talents choosing, traits, stats priority in different scenarios, macros and eventually we'll reach an opener rotation and what you should really do to sustain the damage output on the target. If I had missed something, do go ahead and point it out to me and I'll edit the topic and add it to the guide.

This particular spec on Warlock have been and will be one of the funniest warlock specs to play. It has been significantly buffed in 7.2.5 and had its Soul-Shard system completely revamped. If you're the type of player that enjoy consistently seeing High Damage Values on the screen than this might just be what have you been searching for. The spec is amazing in both Single Target and Cleave Fights, does surprisingly good in AoE fights (but being honest with you it's nowhere near Affliction, Druids or Hunters), it has an amazing consistency which sometimes might be hard to manage, depending on how much movement is involved in a fight.
Reference for 7.2.5 Buffs/Nerfs and Soul-Shard changes:

Spoiler:

Basic Information

What exactly changed in Patch 7.2.5?

The only thing worth to mention is the Soul-Shard system and I will start elaborating the topic by quoting Blizzard directly:

"Soul-Shards are now divided into 10 Soul-Shard Fragments for Destruction Warlocks, in order to provide more reliable, granular Soul-Shard generation, prevent random overcapping of resources, rein in Soul-Shard generation slightly, and reduce the number of Chaos Bolt being cast."

Their system is mechanically the same with the one used on Mist of Pandaria resource system of Burning Embers with an important aspect added, the graphical user interface.
If you've played Warlock Destruction on 7.1.5 you can remember how annoying it was to overcap your Soul-Shards through Incinerate and Immolate procs. It's not something substantial but they are on the right way.

But how does it work?
-Incinerate now generates 2 Soul-Shard (3 if you're hitting a Critical Strike)
-Immolate periodic damage has a 50% chance to generate 1 Soul-Shard Fragment. 100% chance on critical strikes.
-Conflagrate generates 5 Soul-Shard Fragments.
-Dimensional Rift (artifact active) generates 3 Soul-Shard Fragments.


Base Spells:


Damage Dealing Abilities
Chaos Bolt - Costs 2 Soul-Shards to unleash a blast of chaos, inflicting massive damage to the target.
Conflagrate - Instant cast that deals damage, with a one of the 3 side effects present in the Talents (will get there in a sec)
Immolate - Burns your target, causing moderate fire damage and leaving a DOT that deals extra damage over time.
Incinerate - Cast spell that deals damage when it hits the target, this is your main Soul-Shard generator.
Rain of Fire - Costs 3 Soul-Shards and is an instant cast that deals damage to a target location over 8 seconds. Definitely the best AoE ability after mass Incinerate on high pulls.


Offensive Cooldowns
Summon Infernal - Summons an Infernal at a target location stunning all enemies for 2 seconds. This is here because of the Destruction Golden Trait "Lord of Flames", we'll get to that in a second.
Havoc - Marks a target with Havoc for 10 seconds causing your single target spells to also strike this target


Defensive Spells
Unending Resolve - Makes you take 40% reduced damage for 8 seconds. While this is active you're immune to interrupt and silence effects.
Soul Leech - The single-target damage you deal grants you and your pets a shield that absorbs 10% of the damage dealt for 15 seconds up to 15% of your maximum health.

Pets
Warlocks have access to multiple demons that can do it's bidding. Each pet has a niche and a special ability that can be used via Command Demon.
Summon Imp - Summons an Imp under your command, that casts firebolts from a distance.
Command Demon: Cauterize Master - heals the Warlock for a short amount of health.
Summon Voidwalker - Summons a Voidwalker under your command, that is able to tank mobs and withstand heavy damage.
Command Demon: Suffering - The Voidwalker taunts the target to attack it, and increases the threat generation against the target for 5 seconds.
Summon Succubus - Summons a Succubus under your command, that deals moderate damage and can seduce targets to prevent them from attacking you.
Command Demon: Whiplash - Deals moderate AoE damage and knocks targets back.
Summon Felhunter - Summons a Felhunter under your command, that deals moderate damage, can devour enemies' magic effects, and disrupt their spells.
Command Demon: Spell Lock - interrupts the target.

Utility Abilities
I won't talk about utility abilities such as Fear or Banish since those are quite self explanatory.


Talents:

Below you will find my talent specialization recommendation for the following Scenarios: Single Target, Cleave and High Mythic+



Talent Discussion

Level 15:


-The best choice here would really be Backdraft, it is highly recommended to take it because of it's cast time reduction of Chaos Bolt and Incinerate(Your Destruction core-abilities. One that is doing a high percentage of your dps and one that is used as your Soul-Shard generator) which also synergises well with the NH 2P Bonus (Chaos Bolt reduces the time of your next Chaos Bolt by 40%)
-Generally Roaring Blaze(increasing your Immolate damage by 25% on the target until has expired or is refreshed) requires a high amount of preparation before actually using it. The aim is to buff the Immolate damage at least TWICE with Conflagrate, before the 11 seconds mark.
-Shadowburn is not really good right now, so you should avoid using it.

Level 30:


-Empowered Life Tap is the best option if theres a lot of AoE in a fight or you dont have really good gear with specific legendaries. It buffs all your damage which you do by 10%.
-Eradication is the strongest option when using Feretory of Souls(the waist legendary). It is working amazingly with Havoc.
-Reverse Entropy is really weak, but it might be better than the other two talents for beginners (mechanically speaking).

Level 45:


-Demonic circle is the most iconic talent for PvE raids, giving you a huge advantage (movement-wise), providing you a high dps increased if used properly. Eg.: Demonic inquisition. You can avoid the large purple pools that gives you torment by teleporting to a different location instantly and continue with your rotation.
-Mortal Coil is really situational, it can be useful sometimes since it heals you and fears the target (can also be used with Havoc), but it's not good during raids.
-Shadowfury is a go talent for Mythic+ especially when your group is missing hard cc'ers like Warriors. This way you can provide a second stun (Shares the same CD as Sephuz's Secret legendary).

Level 60:


-Cataclysm is the best AoE Talent for Mythic+ in the short-fight Scenario with more than 4-5 Targets. It synergises perfectly with Channel Demonfire.
-Fire and Brimstone is the other best AoE Talent for Mythic+, but this time it is used for longer fights that are having more than 4-5 Targets. It synergises perfectly with Rain of Fire.
-As seen above, Soul Harvest is used for Single Target and Cleave. It is a really good choice since it's providing an add-in to your burst (Increases your damage and your pets damage) and it especially steals the spotlight during DPS check bosses or encounters.

Level 75:


-Fights such as the Krosus Encounter are beneficiary for Demon Skin, since there is not much of a movement going on for you. Constant damage goes hand to hand with this talent.
-Burning Rush is similar to Demonic circle. It does help you avoid mechanics quicker, therefore you're able to go back to DPS quicker.
-Dark Pact is really the best choice here, especially when you're trying to soak high damage pulls. Such as Elisande's Ephocheric's Orb

Level 90:


-Grimoire of Supremacy is a NO. You should not waste a burst cooldown. Only good for leveling.
-Grimoire of Service is providing you with a burst cooldown. It is perfect for raids and it synergises well with Soul Harvest.
-Grimoire of Sacrifice is just perfect for AoE during M+ pulls, especially when there are more than 4 targets.

Level 100:


-As mentioned before Channel Demonfire it synergises just perfectly with Cataclysm in M+ and also works really well in both ST and Cleave situations. Currently it's the most versatile Destruction talent.
-Wreak Havoc is the best and undisputed cleave talent for Warlock generally. It works amazingly in fights that are having between 2 and 3 targets. It should be always taken in this kind of situation (Eg.: Demonic Inquisition).
-Soul Conduit it synergises perfectly with Rain of Fire. It is also really good when used with Eradication but it's kinda RNG. If you want consistent DPS during raids, I would chose Channel Demonfire.


Traits:


Path of Building
Below you'll find the easiest and most efficient way to power up your Destruction Artifact.


-There are 2 Traits that are historical for the general gameplay of the class. One would be Lord of Flames which CD is being used at the start of your burst (has a 10 minutes cooldown).
-The other one would be Flame Rift which is applying a second dot on your target (besides the damage over time ticks, it also sends out fireballs to the target, therefore it synergises well with Soul Harvest, so try opening rifts in between your burst for a maximum efficiency).

The Best in Slot Relics that you should prioritize are:

-Burning Hunger for Immolate critical strike chance.
-Chaotic Instability for Chaos Bolt damage.
-Fire and the Flames for Incinerate cast speed.
-Please keep in mind that the Spell Power added by Intelect is also really important as a Destruction Warlock


Stats priority:

Intellect > Haste > Mastery > Critical > Versatility

-Intellect is the most important stat for a Destruction Warlock as it increases the damage of your spells, this is why Destruction Warlocks just want as high item level gear as possible.
-Haste is important for Destruction due to its capability to help you generate more Soul-Shards through game mechanics such as decreasing the cast speed of spells (Incinerate), reducing the cooldown duration of spells (Conflagrate) and increasing the number of ticks of Immolate (DOT spell).
-Mastery is one of the most important stats on 7.2.5 due to the T20 4P bonus (Chaos Bolt always gain maximum benefit from your Mastery:Chaotic Energies. Mastery: Chaotic Energies explanation: It increases your damage dealt by a random amount as well as reducing damage taken by a random amount. Its between 0 and the maximum amount which dpeends on your mastery rating.
-While Critical Strike is increasing the overall critical chance of all of your abilities it also has a massive impact on the damage of Chaos Bolt (Not as massive as T20P 4P Mastery bonus tho).
-Versatility is just offering you a flat damage increase and damage reduction. Unimportant.


Rotation:


Basic Burst Opener:
Summon Demon:Imp>Life Tap>Life Tap>Prepot>Incinerate(3 sec before pull)>Immolate>Immolate>Soul Harvest>Dimensional Rift(only if Lessons of Space and Time is equiped)>Grimoire of Service:Imp>Summon Infernal(works best with BL/Whispers proc)>Chaos Bolt>Conflagrate>Dimensional Rift>Channel Demonfire>Conflagrate>Chaos Bolt>Incinerate>Chaos Bolt or Life Tap

-ALWAYS maintain Immolate on your main target
-You normally use Incinerate as a filler
-You always have to use Life Tap to mantainEmpowered Life Tap. You can cast this when you have to move
-Use Channel Demonfire on cooldown
-Cast Dimensional Rift while you're moving or have nothing else to cast. You should do it if there are more than one charges unless you use Lessons of Space and Time, in that case you should keep it and cast Conflagrate then use it in before Chaos Bolt.
-Cast Conflagrate to generate Soul-Shards and never let them cap to 2 while having your T19 2P Equiped
-Usage of Rain of Fire should be influenced by the number of targets. Always 3+


Useful Destruction Macros:




-Demonic circle Initial Cast and Aura Cancelation:

Spoiler:

#showtooltip Demonic Circle
/cancelaura Demonic Circle
/cast Demonic Circle

-Rain of Fire cast on cursor:

Spoiler:

#showtooltip
/cast [@cursor] Rain of Fire

-Demonic Gateway cast on cursor:

Spoiler:

#showtooltip
/cast [@cursor] Demonic Gateway

-Burning Rush Initial Cast and Aura Cancelation:

Spoiler:

#showtooltip
/cast Burning Rush
/cancelaura Burning Rush

I will be posting an update about legendaries and weakauras, soon. I'll also try to give you guys specific links for Spells fresh out of the Freakz Database.
#1 Update: I've updated the spells/talents/traits with forum interface tooltips (Fresh out of Freakz Database)

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