1.
Best War Within Talent Builds for Havoc Demon Hunter
Welcome to our Talents Page! Many of the builds listed are popular
recommendations for various different damage profiles that cover all aspects of
endgame content. If you're looking for advice tailoted to Mythic+, check out the
dedicated page below.
2.
Talent Cheat Sheet for Havoc Demon Hunters
In Season 3, Tier Sets come with a twist, each Hero tree has its
own unique bonus focused on its mechanics. While this doesn't have a significant
impact on the ideal builds for Havoc, they do impact some loadouts. For the early
stages of the season while you may not have access to these, we will be covering
recommendations both for with Tier and without Tier. Current
Patch 11.2 recommendations are:
- Raid -
Aldrachi Reaver has the edge due to its flexible
damage profile and free cleave for some encounters, though
Fel-Scarred
is slightly better in pure single-target.
- Mythic+ -
Aldrachi Reaver brings significantly better priority
damage without any single-target sacrifices to build AoE, so is firmly ahead in
keystones.
The Tier Set directly improves
Aldrachi Reaver's funnel niche, while
providing a net increase to almost every key effect it focuses on. The
Fel-Scarred
bonus on the other hand does accentuate its playstyle well (making its single-target
very competitive), but is more general than the targeted benefits.
Quick Start Import Codes:
3.
Havoc Demon Hunter Talent Builds
In the below section, we have split builds up between Hero Talents and and
content types, with a loadout for each. You can use the navigation buttons
to open up a loadout and explanation of the playstyle.
Anywhere you see the
icon on this page, this means it is the recommended choice
4.
Aldrachi Reaver
Fel-Scarred Raid / Single-Target Build
In Season 3, before you have access to the Tier Set
Aldrachi Reaver
is firmly ahead. It brings stronger single-target, better cleave and
has priority target/funnel capabilities as well. Its robust package makes it the
recommended choice in raid content.
Once you get access to your new Tier Set in Season 3, the edge
that
Aldrachi Reaver is slightly smaller. It still comes with a far
better cleave and priority damage toolkit though, which is only made better with
the set. This flexibility keeps it as the recommended choice in raid
encounters.
In Season 3, if you don't have access to the new Tier Set then
Fel-Scarred is a bit behind in raid encounters. Its lower raw
throughput paired with a less flexible damage toolkit means that, while it is
capable of doing well, it can't quite keep up with
Aldrachi Reaver.
After acquiring the Season 3 Tier Set,
Fel-Scarred
becomes much more competitive, having the edge in pure
single-target. Its weaker cleave and issues with
Isolated Prey however
make it slightly less flexible, so is only suitable for certain encounters.
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3.1.
Aldrachi Reaver
Fel-Scarred Build Breakdown
In single-target,
Aldrachi Reaver picks up all of the
Throw Glaive
talents to empower
Reaver's Glaive, and uses
Screaming Brutality
to pull value out of them rotationally. It picks up
Exergy and
Tactical Retreat to further improve
Eye Beam windows. The same
build is currently used before and after acquiring the new Tier Set, as the
synergies are already powerful. Some additional notes are:
In single-target,
Aldrachi Reaver picks up all of the
Throw Glaive
talents to empower
Reaver's Glaive, and uses
Screaming Brutality
to pull value out of them rotationally. It picks up
Exergy and
Tactical Retreat to further improve
Eye Beam windows. While the
Season 3 Tier Set is very strong, it doesn't have any impact on
the recommended build. Some additional notes are:
The
Fel-Scarred rotation in single-target focuses primarily on
optimizing your
Demonic and
Metamorphosis windows. This means
picking up all of the supporting
Eye Beam talents, while avoiding
disruptive movement talents. As a lot of its damage comes from
Annihilation
and
Burning Blades, it also heavily invests in amplifiers for
Chaos Strike. Some additional notes are:
The
Fel-Scarred rotation in single-target focuses primarily on
optimizing your
Demonic and
Metamorphosis windows. This means
picking up all supporting
Eye Beam talents, alongside
Chaos Strike
improvements to empower
Annihilation, which feeds
Burning Blades.
The Season 3 Tier Set also has a heavy influence, as the 2-piece
both encourages
A Fire Inside and discourages pressing
Blade Dance
as often. This means some talents are switched to support
Immolation Aura
further. Some additional notes are:
-
Cycle of Hatred through to
Shattered Destiny is present in all
builds, providing significantly more
Metamorphosis uptime.
Essence Break is also picked up to provide an additional multiplier
for every other
Demonic trigger.
-
Aldrachi Reaver still picks up a lot of the high power
Chaos Strike
and
Blade Dance modifiers, as a lot of the rotation is spent casting
these as much as possible.
-
On the class tree, it opts to pick up
Sigil of Spite instead of
Collective Anguish in the final gate. This is used as an additional
way to generate a burst of Soul Fragments to trigger
Reaver's Glaive.
Similarly,
The Hunt is always taken to guarantee a free proc every
1.5-minutes.
-
Cycle of Hatred is a major factor for
Fel-Scarred, and is
required in all builds. This effectively doubles your
Demonsurge
triggers from
Eye Beam, and also multiplies the value of other related
talents by increasing the cast frequency.
-
To pair with this, two points in
Blind Fury is taken to amplify its
damage. Alongside that,
Isolated Prey provides another multiplier.
This talent has some issues when secondary targets are involved, but in pure
single-target scenarios is incredibly efficient.
This is even more
true with the Tier Set encouraging
Immolation Aura talents.
-
With the Season 3 Tier Set,
A Fire Inside is required to
maximize
Immolation Aura uptime. That means the value of
Growing Inferno
through to
Ragefire increases, and all are taken. To make room for
this,
Dancing with Fate and
Chaos Theory are dropped.
-
On the class tree, make sure to path through to
Collective Anguish
after the final gate to add a secondary AoE to your
Eye Beam.
The Hunt is picked up as a direct damage cooldown, and leftover points
are spent on
Flames of Fury to increase the value from your
rotational
Sigil of Flame casts.
4.
Aldrachi Reaver
Fel-Scarred AoE / Mythic+ Build
In Season 3, before you have access to the Tier Set
Aldrachi Reaver
is the go-to choice in all AoE content, especially Mythic+. The advantages of
Wounded Quarry for priority target damage, alongside a flexible build
that maintains single-target gives it a unique edge. This is the current
recommended choice:
In Season 3, after getting access to your Tier Set
Aldrachi Reaver's advantages are even more pronounced.
Wounded Quarry
gets stronger due to both bonuses, and its single-target benefits are just as
strong. This firmly makes it the recommended choice:
In Season 3, before having access to the new Tier Set,
Fel-Scarred has a few issues in Mythic+. While it does provide strong
burst AoE potential, it has to sacrifice some single-target to get there. This
is more of an alternative playstyle if you enjoy it:
In Season 3, after acquiring your tier set
Fel-Scarred
does improve in Mythic+, providing strong AoE burst damage. While its
single-target problems do improve in the build, having to sacrifice some key
options to round out its AoE plus the inability to use
Isolated Prey
consistently causes problems. This means it remains a more niche alternative:
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4.1.
Aldrachi Reaver
Fel-Scarred Build Breakdown
In AoE situations, the
Aldrachi Reaver is very similar in single-target,
picking up all of the
Throw Glaive to amplify
Reaver's Glaive and
pairing them with
Screaming Brutality. Movement talents are all mostly
dropped in favour of fully supporting
Immolation Aura for additional
AoE, alongside
Essence Break being switched out for
A Fire Inside.
Without access to the Tier Set, the build still remains very similar due to the
strong synergies for the tree. Some additional notes are:
In AoE situations, the
Aldrachi Reaver is very similar in single-target,
picking up all of the
Throw Glaive to amplify
Reaver's Glaive and
pairing them with
Screaming Brutality. Movement talents are all mostly
dropped in favour of fully supporting
Immolation Aura for additional
AoE, alongside
Essence Break being switched out for
A Fire Inside.
With the Season 3 Set the build remains the standard loadout for
the tree, with no stronger swaps available. Some additional notes are:
The
Fel-Scarred tree in AoE situations still heavily orients itself
around
Metamorphosis and
Demonic, aiming to maximize burst in
these windows. This means
Cycle of Hatred and supporting
Eye Beam
talents are always taken, alongside
A Fire Inside and
Immolation Aura
for strong, consistent AoE damage. It relies on
Burning Blades to cover
its single-target needs for Mythic+. Having no access to the Season 3
Tier Set has no strong influence on the build choices. Some additional notes
are:
The
Fel-Scarred tree in AoE situations still heavily orients itself
around
Metamorphosis and
Demonic, aiming to maximize burst in
these windows. This means
Cycle of Hatred and supporting
Eye Beam
talents are always taken, alongside
A Fire Inside and
Immolation Aura
for strong, consistent AoE damage. It relies on
Burning Blades to cover
its single-target needs for Mythic+. Having the Season 3 helps
to cover single-target by providing a way to convert
Immolation Aura
into more
Burning Blades, but has no influence on build choice. Some
additional notes are:
-
On the class tree, it opts to pick up
Sigil of Spite in the final
gate. This is used both for burst AoE and an additional way to generate Soul
Fragments for
Reaver's Glaive. Similarly,
The Hunt is always
taken as a way to guarantee a proc in key moments
-
Movement talents are an optional pick-up in AoE, though their performance
benefit is small enough that avoiding them is generally better. If you want to
use these, switch
Serrated Glaive and
Looks Can Kill for both
Tactical Retreat and either
Inertia or
Exergy. Often
the execution requirements to line these up during busy pulls isn't worth it,
so bear that in mind if you're uncomfortable.
-
Essence Break is also an optional pickup for extra burst in exchange
for the second point in
Chaotic Disposition. This trades consistency
for burst (and requires better execution), and is usually paired with the
burstier movement talents for more multipliers.
-
Immolation Aura provides a significant portion of
Fel-Scarred's
AoE damage, so all related talents (except for
Isolated Prey) are
taken.
Screaming Brutality is also used to apply
Burning Wound
to targets efficiently. Lastly,
Flamebound is also taken on the
Hero Tree choice node.
-
Movement talents are also avoided, as
Fel-Scarred benefits from being
able to set up burst quickly. Removing the extra danger and execution
requirements from having to rotationally cast
Vengeful Retreat
significantly reduces risk in larger pulls.
-
As many
Eye Beam related damage amplifiers are picked up as possible,
most importantly
Blind Fury,
Looks Can Kill and
Collective Anguish.
The only exception is
Isolated Prey, which unfortunately cannot be
activated nearly often enough to justify the point.
5.
Aldrachi Reaver
Fel-Scarred Delves Build
Aldrachi Reaver is well suited to Delves due to the high volume of
Soul Fragment generation for sustain. It can handle larger pulls comfortably,
though the extra management that
Reaver's Mark requires can be awkward in
some situations. Aside from that, it's still an excellent pick.
In Delves,
Fel-Scarred leans heavily into dealing explosive burst
damage very frequently, making it well suited for this type of content.
Pairing that with high uptime on
Metamorphosis for high self-sustain
with
Soul Rending makes the build very comfortable, and is the
recommended choice.
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4.2.
Mythic+
Mythic+ can potentially require a mix of specific AoE and Single-Target
talents, depending on affixes and other variables. If you want more detailed
advice about the selections (especially those relating to Utility), check
out the dedicated page below:
4.3.
Havoc Demon Hunter Hero Talents
Havoc has two distinct Hero Talent choices available that, as covered in the
above sections, drastically alter your gameplay goals depending on which you pick.
A brief description of each is:
Aldrachi Reaver - grants access to
Reaver's Glaive which
is triggered via consuming Souls, which initiates a combo sequence. Depending on
the order of your next
Chaos Strike and
Blade Dance, a bonus effect
will trigger and you will gain a powerful buff. This happens frequently throughout
combat, giving extra damage windows and a focus on your main strikes.
Fel-Scarred - focuses heavily on
Metamorphosis and
Demonic, causing the first use of many Havoc abilities after entry to
trigger a high damage
Demonsurge pulse.
If you want to find more details regarding how each hero talent works, you can
check our detailed hero talents page:
5.
PvP Talents (War Mode)
"War Mode" is an optional feature that enables open-world PvP
encounters that confer some benefits when active:
- Grants access to PvP talents in the open world.
- 10% increase in World Quest rewards at max level.
- 10% more experience gained while leveling.
- Earn Conquest Points which can reward gear every week.
With the benefits of War Mode for leveling and PvE content, it is
recommended to enable the feature to maximize your leveling and rewards at
the maximum level. However, you will open yourself up to open-world PvP, so be
aware of hostile enemy players who could interfere with you; this is a
risk you will have to decide on your own if you want to take.
If you are interested in doing PvP as a Havoc Demon Hunter or
want to know the basics of Havoc PvP gameplay and decision-making, check
out our dedicated PvP guide.
5.1.
Havoc Demon Hunter War Mode Talents
In this section, we will rank the PvP talents for leveling and playing in
open-world PvE scenarios.
5.1.1.
Havoc Demon Hunter PvP Talents
Generally, the selections are made to optimize your ability to kill enemies
faster, increasing your pace when moving through content.
Chaotic Imprint will always buff Chaos damage dealt, such as
Chaos Strike and
Eye Beam. Great to pair with talents such
as
Soulscar due to the conversion to magic damage.
Unending Hatred is just free Fury generation as you will take damage
in the open world.
Sigil Mastery reduces the cooldown of sigils, such as
Sigil of Flame and
Sigil of Spite, which can be a small DPS gain
if these talents are taken.
Alternatively you can take
Blood Moon for a small bit of extra
self-healing, or
Rain from Above as an emergency disengage tool.
Reverse Magic,
Detainment,
Cover of Darkness,
Cleansed by Flame and
Glimpse all have minimal uses in
PvE, due to it being very focused on crowd control tools or pressuring
enemy players into spending more resources than they would otherwise want
to.
6.
Changelog
- 04 Aug. 2025: Updated for Patch 11.2.
- 15 Jun. 2025: Reviewed for Patch 11.1.7.
- 21 Apr. 2025: Reviewed for Patch 11.1.5 - moved Aldrachi AoE build back to low movement options due to ease of execution.
- 04 Mar. 2025: Shifted Aldrachi Reaver AoE toward picking Inertia.
- 24 Feb. 2025: Updated for Patch 11.1.0.
- 15 Dec. 2024: Reviewed for Patch 11.0.7, added recommended tags.
- 21 Oct. 2024: Reviewed for Patch 11.0.5.
- 09 Sep. 2024: Updated to reflect new Fel-Scarred recommendations.
- 21 Aug. 2024: Updated for The War Within.
- 23 Jul. 2024: Updated for The War Within Pre-Patch.
- 07 May 2024: Reviewed for 10.2.7.
- 22 Apr. 2024: Updated for Season 4 with new talent options.
- 21 Mar. 2024: Reviewed for Patch 10.2.6, strongest builds remain the same but alternatives kept.
- 15 Jan. 2024: Reviewed for Patch 10.2.5, small recommendation cleanups around AoE final point choices.
- 13 Nov. 2023: Slight change to T30 AoE build tips and added low movement T30 single target.
- 06 Nov. 2023: Updated for Patch 10.2
- 04 Sep. 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.1.7, changed AoE recommendation to Glaive Tempest/Ragefire, restructured page.
- 10 Jul. 2023: Updated for Patch 10.1.5, added individual sections and the No Movement build recommendation.
- 01 May 2023: Builds updated to account for Patch 10.1 changes, including Serrated Glaive as an option.
- 20 Mar. 2023: Reviewed and updated for Patch 10.0.7.
- 24 Jan. 2022: Reviewed and updated for Patch 10.0.5.
- 11 Dec. 2022: Reviewed for Dragonflight Season 1.
- 28 Nov. 2022: Updated for Dragonflight launch.
- 24 Oct. 2022: Updated for Dragonflight Pre-Patch.
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