Destruction Warlock Guide for The War Within - Dragonflight 10.2.7 (2024)

Last updated on Jun 10, 2024 at 21:10by Motoko55 comments

Welcome to the War Within expansion preview for DestructionWarlock, a resource page where to find changes, Hero talent trees andsome initial assessment on the state of the spec.

The purpose of this page is to offer an up-to-date overview ofhow Destruction Warlock is changing in the forthcoming The WarWithin expansion, as such it is not to be treated as a guide or areplacement, since the current state of tuning is not representative of whatthe final product will be.

Destruction Warlock received a whole talent restructurealongside some changes that altered the Class Tree.

Below are the most notable changes:

• Demonic Circle is no longer baseline;
• Demonic Tactics is a new output node;
• Soul Link has been consolidated as a 2 points node,removing Profane Bargain;
• Inquisitor's Gaze and Summon Soulkeeper node has beenreplaced by Soul Conduit at 1 point of effectiveness;
• likewise Grim Feast has been replaced by a much more appealingnode in Pact of Gluttony.

The introduction of Pact of Gluttony specifically has created a newissue in only 1 or 2 floating point to spare after acquiring all 3 capstonesand output/stamina/health nodes, with a triage situation occurring with thefollowingnodes: Shadowfury, Demonic Circle, Fiendish Stride, Amplify Curseand Banish.

As a result the updated class tree pathing has created a restrictive feel,of not being able to talent into several utilities due how taxing the "core"of the tree is, which coupled with the lack of party wide non-exclusive aurasor utility is going to be detrimental in Mythic+ dungeons.

Moving on the Destruction side, the whole tree has been overhauled, withthe intention of creating a pathing well-rounded and able to tackle mostsituations, progressing from a first gate almost devoid of choices towardsthe third gate which holds most of the options comparatively.

See below a list of the most transformative changes:

• Pandemonium and Cry Havoc have been removed;
• by reducing the amount of points in the firstgate Cataclysm/ Inferno node is more accessible;
• Inferno has been reworked to provide a flat shard costreduction instead of scaling with the number of targets;
• A new talent Indiscriminate Flames now empowerspells Backdrafted;
• a new talent Summoner's Embrace is now sharing the choice nodewith Grimoire of Sacrifice;
• Channel Demonfire has been moved to the second gate, with asingle point Raging Demonfire and a brandnew Demonfire Mastery supplementing nodes;
• Emberstorm is a new addition that reduces Incineratecast time by 20%;
• Shadowburn has received new supporting nodes suchas Blistering Atrophy and Fiendish Cruelty;
• Grand Warlock's Design has been removed,since Summon Infernal is now a 2 minutes cooldown baseline;
• Summon Infernal has been moved to the middle of the secondgate and the following talent Crashing Chaos now shares achoice node with Rain of Chaos;
• Soul Fire has been moved as the third capstone, with thenew Decimation node;
• Dimensional Rift now has 2 new supporting nodesin Dimension Ripper and Unstable Rifts;
• Several 2 point nodes suchas Burn to Ashes, Power Overwhelming, are now a singlepoint nodes;
• Improved Chaos Bolt is a new talent that reduces cast time byhalf a second, alongside a 10% damage increase;
• Chaos Incarnate has been reworked to a slightly weakerversion;
• Avatar of Destruction has also been reworked to summon anOverfiend that casts Chaos Bolts for its duration.

Overall the Destruction tree design feels more consolidated and focused,more cohesive in its intention of augmenting fewer but more meaningfulrotational abilities, and in a way simplify the interactions with the newHero Trees.

The rotation is much more engaging, with Decimationturning Soul Fire in a exciting proc. Thanks to multiple ways tosustain Immolate, opting for Internal Combustion does notfeel as restrictive, especially with the ability to talentinto Channel Demonfire, Cataclysmand Decimation.

Talenting into Internal Combustion is less restrictive than before,since Cataclysm, Decimation and Channel Demonfireall help with Immolate upkeep.

Hero Talents are perhaps the most notable addition to The War Within, witheach spec having access to 2 out of the 3 available for theclass. Destruction Warlock in this case can opt betweenDiabolist and Soul Harvester Hero Talent Trees.

The Diabolist Hero tree is themed around a sequence of Greater Demons thatoffer temporary effects such as damage amplification, shard generation or ahigh damage AoE ability before cycling toward the next one.

The playstyle as such, is influenced by this cadence while not being anintereference in the rotation at the same time. What changes the most is thedamage profile instead, with Gloom of Nathreza directly buffing shardspenders, and higher burst capabilities thanks to Ruination orparticularly in Infernal windows thanks to Abyssal Dominion.

Regarding defensive options and utility, Soul-Etched Circles offersa niche use case while Annihilan's Bellow drasticly increases thefrequency of use of Howl of Terror. Infernal Vitalityand Infernal Bulwark also ties a sustain elementto Unending Resolve which is definitely more enticing than what otherHero Tree currently seem to offer, albeit overall not great.

The Hellcaller Hero tree is themed around Shadowflame and a new Damage overTime effect replacing Immolate in the case of Destruction. As thecenter piece of the tree Wither offers instant cast with no facingrequirements quality-of-life changes, higher Flashpoint uptime andit is the base upon which setup burst window every minutethrough Malevolence. Its unique mechanic is its ability to becomeacute, providing additional damage.

The Playstyle itself is not very transformative, after the most recentredesign of Seeds of Their Demise, with just overall a passive damageincrease.

Regarding defensive options and utility, Warlock hero trees are somewhatlight in that department, with the option to either consolidate the benefitof both Curse of Weakness and Curse of Tongues in thenew Curse of the Satyr or the ability to automatically curse every enemyin 30 yards during Unending Resolve with a very sporadicuptime. The other node is vastly undertuned withboth Zevrim's Resilience and Illhoof's Design providingbasically intangible benefit, if not being even detrimental in the case ofthe latter.

Season 1 Tier Set Bonuses for Destruction Warlock in The WarWithin are the following:.

• Warlock Destruction 11.0 Class Set 2pc — Incineratecritical strike chance increased by 20%. Conflagrate criticalstrike chance increased by 25%.
• Warlock Destruction 11.0 Class Set 4pc —When Conflagrate critically strikes, your Fire damage isincreased by 5% for 6 sec.

2 pieces set bonus offers increased shard generation and has distinctsynergy with Decimation, Conflagration of Chaosand Diabolic Embers.

Due how important is Backdraft for Chaos Boltand Soul Fire, the 4 pieces set bonus will often times directlyincrease the value of Destruction spenders and high damaging spells in singletarget, while providing a passive increase during heavy Rain of Fireusage.

How Good is the Destruction Warlock Tier Bonus in The WarWithin?

If tuned following the general goal of providing between 10 to 15% increasewith the 2 and 4 pieces together, Destruction tier set has a widepracticality, and should perform well in any situation, no matter thedifficulty. The added crit chance offers more consistency when triggeringprocs and also provides increased shard generation which offset the lack ofsecondaries stats in the first tier of an expansion.