How To Improve As Destruction Warlock — The War Within (11.0.5)
On this page, you will find out how you can improve at playing Destruction Warlock in World of Warcraft — The War Within (11.0.5). We list the common mistakes that you should try to avoid and the small details that can greatly improve your performance.
Not Using Rain of Fire Too Liberally
Rain of Fire is a large Soul Shard investment and shifts your damage profile, from focused burst to distributed AoE. The AoE from Rain of Fire is quite significant, provided that targets will stay within the reticle for most of its duration. Remember that at 5+ targets you should use Rain of Fire rather than a Havoc-empowered Chaos Bolt.
Not Refreshing Immolate for Internal Combustion
When playing with Internal Combustion, many players fail to properly manage their Immolate. You should always keep track of your Immolate, as dumping multiple Chaos Bolts will quickly eat up the duration. Try to refresh Immolate when there are 5 seconds or less remaining.
Havoc Preparation
Properly anticipating cleave and putting Havoc to the best possible use can add a lot of damage to your parse. Be sure to lead into Havoc with Soul Shards at the ready. Unless you need to refresh Immolate on the main target, you should apply Immolate before Havoc on the second target. Get right into dumping Chaos Bolts, using Conflagrate charges for quick Soul Shard regeneration.
Cataclysm Usage
Cataclysm applies Immolate, and should be used to apply or refresh that debuff whenever possible. It is common for many players to refresh Immolate out of habit, only to cast Cataclysm moments later and refresh again. While this is not a huge optimization, it definitely pays to remember. Remember Cataclysm cast on cooldown offers almost 50% Immolate uptime.
Changelog
- 21 Oct. 2024: Reviewed for Patch 11.0.5.
- 09 Sep. 2024: Reviewed for The War Within Season 1.
- 21 Aug. 2024: Reviewed for The War Within.
- 23 Jul. 2024: Reviewed for The War Within pre-patch.
- 07 May 2024: Reviewed for 10.2.7.
- 22 Apr. 2024: Reviewed for Season 4.
- 19 Mar. 2024: Reviewed for 10.2.6.
- 15 Jan. 2024: Reviewed for Patch 10.2.5.
- 06 Nov. 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.2.
- 04 Sep. 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.1.7
- 10 Jul. 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.1.5.
- 01 May 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.1.
- 20 Mar. 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.0.7.
- 24 Jan. 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
- 11 Dec. 2022: Reviewed for Dragonflight Season 1.
- 28 Nov. 2022: Reviewed for Dragonflight launch.
- 25 Oct. 2022: Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
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This guide has been written by Motoko, Warlock main since The Burning Crusade, co-admin in the Warlock Discord, and theorycrafter and contributor for LockOneStopShop.
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