PVE Destruction Warlock Guide (TBC 2.4.3)

Welcome to the Destruction Warlock guide for World of Warcraft the Burning Crusade 2.4.3. In this guide, you will learn about playing a Destruction Warlock in dungeons and raids. The guide includes Talents, Gems, Enchantments, Gameplay & Skill rotation tips.

Talents

This build is focused on dealing Shadow damage as it is superior to Fire in most cases. Fire and Shadow build shows great results in Tier 6 raids but that is out of the scope of this guide, as we focus on introducing to early / mid raiding.

Destruction doesn’t have talents like Afflictions Suppression and therefore, hit rating will definitely be a problem in the earlier stages. However, your damage will increase drastically after you increase the hit rating. Due to lack of Hit, it should be considered to spec into Affliction before acquiring a decent level of this stat.

Gems

• Meta: Chaotic Skyfire Diamond
• Red: Runed Living Ruby
• Yellow: Veiled Noble Topaz, Great Dawnstone if Hit is required
• Blue: Glowing Nightseye to activate the Meta Gem

Enchants

• Head – Glyph of Power
• Shoulder – Greater Inscription of the Orb or Greater Inscription of Discipline
• Cloak – Enchant Cloak – Subtlety
• Chest – Enchant Chest – Exceptional Health or Enchant Chest – Exceptional Stats
• Bracers – Enchant Bracer – Spellpower
• Gloves – Enchant Gloves – Major Spellpower
• Legs – Runic Spellthread or Mystic Spellthread
• Boots – Enchant Boots – Boar’s Speed
• Weapon – Enchant Weapon – Soulfrost with Enchant Weapon – Major Spellpower as a cheaper alternative while starting out

Enchanters can also benefit from Enchant Ring – Spellpower on both of the Rings

Professions

As with every DPS class in a raid – Leatherworking gives your group the best bonus. Drums of Battle and Drums of War provide a noticeable DPS increase. This is the option for higher tier raiders.

Tailoring is great for gearing up your new warlock. Look into crafting Shadoweave and Spellstrike sets as they would be with you until T4-T5 items. This option is great for fresh level 70 warlocks looking to improve their gear asap.

Jewelcrafting would give you earlier access to epic gems, but you can unlock them without the profession later on. Note: epic gems bonus does not require the profession, so you can drop it after using the gems on BiS gear.

As mentioned in the Enchants section, Enchanting grants you a unique ring enchant – Enchant Ring – Spellpower. You can use it on BiS rings and then drop the profession while keeping the bonus. Other than that – the ability to do your own armor & weapon enchants.

Gameplay & Rotations

Rotation

Before the fight, use Summon Succubus and then Demonic Sacrifice to receive a buff. You should be using Fel Armor.

Maintain an assigned curse. It will be one of the following: Curse of the Elements, Curse of Recklessness or Curse of Doom.

Maintain Immolate on the target. Re-cast it 1.5 seconds before it expires. Ideally, you should re-apply it right after the last tick. Rest of the time you spam Shadow Bolt

Use Life Tap when needed, preferably while moving since you can’t cast your other spells at that time.

Consumables

• Elixir: Flask of Pure Death
• Potion: Super Mana Potion, Destruction Potion
• Healthstones
• Food: Blackened Basilisk, Crunchy Serpent, Poached Bluefish
• Oil: Brilliant Wizard Oil and Superior Wizard Oil
• Drums (LW): Drums of Battle and Drums of War

Stat Priority

Cap: 202 Spell Hit rating
Prioritization: Spell Hit and Spell Power – Spell Crit – Spell Haste – Stamina – Intellect

Haste increases its value in higher tier raids because it scales with better armor (stats from it) that you will have at later on.