Welcome to our Mists of Pandaria Classic (MoP Classic) Destruction Warlock Class Guide for Phase 1, it focuses on getting you up to speed with the Spec for PvE content, Dungeons and Raiding. The guide includes key information for what has changed going into MoP, the best Talent builds, Major Glyphs, your Rotation, Gearing and Consumables for Destruction Warlock.
Table of Content:
What’s New for Destruction Warlock in Mists of Pandaria Classic?
Warlocks have changed a lot through the history of WoW, and Destruction as a specialization struggled to find its place, often stuck between a true spell caster and a DoT specialization. In Mists of Pandaria, Blizzard tries to help them find their identity as a bursty spellcaster with a lot of changes:
- Burning Embers are a new resource you use to cast spells. They come from Incineration and are used on Chaos Bolt to deal damage.
- Demon Soul has been replaced with Dark Soul: Instability.
- Demonic Gateway is a new mobility spell.
- Fel Armor is now passive.
- Unending Resolve is a new defensive cooldown.
Is Destruction Warlock Good?
Yes, they are very good. They bring the usual Warlock utility package that’s always wanted in PvE, and they also bring a lot of damage. They are one of the best casters in phase 1, and are scaling pretty well in the following phases. If you want a safe and easy pick in MoP Classic, Destruction Warlock is a very good choice.
Best Talents & Glyphs for Destruction Warlock in MoP Classic
With the new revamped talents, we will provide you with 2 talent builds, one for Dungeons and one for Raiding. Don’t forget that, with the new talents, a lot of utility options can change depending on fights.
Destruction Warlock Raiding Talent Build
Destruction Warlocks don’t have a lot of choices in their Talent tree. Sacrificial Pact, Soul Leech, Burning Rush, Grimoire of Sacrifice are pretty much locked in and better than their counterparts. You can try and play with Grimoire of Supremacy and the Observer, it could be a bit better in pure single target, but it’s very close and Grimoire of Sacrifice scales better. The only changes you are going to make are Mortal Coil for Shadowfury when you need AoE Crowd control, Archimonde’s Darkness for Kil’jaeden’s Cunning when you need to move a lot in a fight, and Archimonde’s Darkness for Mannoroth’s Fury in heavy AoE when you need to maintain Rain of Fire but don’t need to cast Fire and Brimstone.
Best Destruction Warlock Raid Glyphs
Regarding Major Glyphs, you will want to obtain Glyph of Siphon Life and Glyph of Healthstone.
Other Major Glyphs you can consider are Glyph of Eternal Resolve, Glyph of Soulstone and Glyph of Demonic Circle.
No Minor Glyphs are really worth considering, play what you like the most.
Destruction Warlock Dungeons & Challenge Mode Talent Build
The logic in the Dungeon Build is pretty much the same as the raiding build. Shadowfury is usually better because you will want to make big pulls and control adds to help your tank and your healer. For Destruction, Mannoroth’s Fury doesn’t seem very good because it doesn’t work with Fire and Brimstone. Whereas Archimonde’s Darkness is useful in ST and AoE, making it a better CD for Dungeons.
Best Destruction Warlock Dungeon Glyphs
Regarding Major Glyphs, you will want to obtain Glyph of Siphon Life and Glyph of Healthstone.
Other Major Glyph you can consider are Glyph of Eternal Resolve, Glyph of Soulstone and Glyph of Demonic Circle.
No Minor Glyphs are really worth considering, play what you like the most.
Rotation for Destruction Warlock in MoP Classic
Single Target Rotation & Priority
- If you play with Grimoire of Sacrifice, sacrifice your demon. If you play with Grimoire of Supremacy, invoke your Observer.
- Maintain Curse of the Elements (if you are assigned to it).
- Use Dark Soul: Instability on Cooldown.
- Use Summon Terroguard / Doomguard on Cooldown.
- Maintain Immolate.
- Use Shadowburn during Execute.
- Cast Conflagrate to not overcap on charges at 2 charges.
- Cast Chaos bolt as much as possible during Dark Soul: Instability.
- Outside of CDs, cast Chaos Bolt with 3+ Burning Embers.
- Cast Conflagrate.
- Cast Incinerate.
Regarding your opener, cast Incinerate 2 seconds before pull, then Immolate, spend all your Conflagrate, cast Dark Soul: Instability, use Incinerate until you can chain 2 Chaos Bolt, and then proceed with normal rotation.
AoE Rotation & Priority
In AoE, the rotation is pretty much the same. Maintain Rain of Fire on the pack and Immolate on all your targets. Use Havoc to spread Chaos Bolt during the usual single target rotation. If there is more than 4 targets, you need to play with Fire and Brimstone, and the rotation is as follows:
- Maintain Immolate on all targets.
- Use Conflagrate.
- Cast Incinerate.
Best Gear & Stats for Destruction Warlock in MoP Classic
Best in Slot aren’t as big in Mists of Pandaria Classic. Reforging is the new hype, so you can tailor your gear better than before.
The gear you should aim for are: Trinkets, Tier Sets and Weapons.
The best weapons you can find pre-raid in the first phase are:
- Inscribed Crane Staff, from Inscription.
- Je’lyu, Spirit of the Serpent, from Sha of Doubt, Temple of the Jade Serpent.
- Headmaster’s Will, Darkmaster Gandling, Scholomance.
The best off-hands you can find pre-raid in the first phase are:
- Inscribed Red Fan, from Inscription.
- Bottle of potent potables, from Hoptallus in Stormstout Brewery.
- Scroll of Whispered Secrets, a BoE.
The best trinkets for Destruction Warlock are:
- Relic of Yu’lon, from Inscription.
- Vision of the Predator, from Striker Gad’ok, Gate of the Setting Sun.
- Ghost Iron Dragonling, from Engineering.
- Flashfrozen Resin Globule, from Vizier Jin’bak, Siege of Niuzao Temple.
MoP Classic Destruction Warlock Stat Priority
Your best stat is Intellect, which should be your first priority. Then, Hit Rating and Expertise to reach a 15% chance to hit.
After that, you want to stack Mastery to inflict as much damage as possible. Critical Strike Chance and Haste are just a bit behind and have the same value.
Best Consumables, Enchants & Gems for Destruction Warlock in MoP Classic
The following tables outline the recommended Consumables, Enchants and Gems for Destruction Warlock in Raiding and Dungeon content.
Consumables
Type | Consumable |
Food | Mogu Fish Stew, Spiced Blossom Soup |
Flask | Flask of the Warm Sun |
Potion | Potion of the Jade Serpent |
Enchants
Item | Enchant |
Shoulder | Greater Crane Wing Inscription |
Back | Enchant Cloak - Superior Intellect |
Chest | Enchant Chest - Glorious Stats |
Wrists | Enchant Bracers - Super Intellect |
Hands | Enchant Gloves - Greater Haste |
Legs | Greater Cerulean Spellthread |
Feet | Enchant Boots - Pandaren’s Step |
Weapons | Enchant Weapon - Jade spirit |
Off-Hand | Enchant Off-Hand - Major Intellect |
Gems
Type | Gems |
White | Burning Primal Diamond |
Yellow | Artful Vermilion Onyx |
Red | Brilliant Primordial Ruby |
Blue | Veiled Imperial Amethyst |
Prismatic | Brilliant Primordial Ruby |
We hope this guide helped you improve your Destruction Warlock Gameplay and better understand the spec. To check out all of our MoP Classic content, such as Class Guides, Tier Lists and more, you can browse our full library of MoP Classic Guides.