DPS Rotation & Cooldowns

This rotation offers a general priority list for Demonology Warlock abilities, along with key cooldowns at the bottom. It's based on a standard build and is here to help while we work on a smarter, build-aware system. If you are very new to the game or this class, we added info on the new assisted rotation features at the bottom of this guide. Updated for the latest patch in World of Warcraft: The War Within (11.2).

Single Target

Ensure Summon Demonic Tyrant is ready to extend active demons.

• Summon Demonic TyrantView detailsExtend all major demons and at least 3 sets of 3 Wild Imps.
• Grimoire FelguardView detailsUse on cooldown.
• Summon VilefiendView detailsUse on cooldown, delay for Tyrant setup if needed.
• Demonic StrengthView detailsUse on cooldown.
• Bilescourge BombersView detailsUse on cooldown.
• Call DreadstalkersView detailsUse on cooldown.
• Hand Of GuldanView detailsUse with 4-5 Soul Shards.
• Hand Of GuldanView detailsUse with 3 Soul Shards if Infernal Bolt is triggered.
• DemonboltView detailsUse with 2+ stacks of Demonic Core.
• Power SiphonView detailsUse with 2 or fewer Demonic Core stacks.
• Shadow BoltView detailsUse to generate Soul Shards.

Maintain active demons by using Summon Demonic Tyrant strategically. Use Grimoire Felguard, Summon Vilefiend, and Demonic Strength on cooldown. Generate and spend Soul Shards efficiently with Hand Of Guldan and Shadow Bolt.

AoE

• Summon Demonic TyrantView detailsExtend all major demons and at least 3 sets of 3 Wild Imps.
• Grimoire FelguardView detailsUse on cooldown.
• Summon VilefiendView detailsUse on cooldown.
• Call DreadstalkersView detailsUse on cooldown.
• Demonic StrengthView detailsUse on cooldown.
• Bilescourge BombersView detailsUse on cooldown.
• Hand Of GuldanView detailsUse with 4-5 Soul Shards.
• Hand Of GuldanView detailsUse with 3 Soul Shards if Infernal Bolt is triggered.
• ImplosionView detailsDetonate Wild Imps on 2+ targets.
• DemonboltView detailsUse with 3+ stacks of Demonic Core.
• Power SiphonView detailsUse to generate Demonic Core.
• Shadow BoltView detailsUse to generate Soul Shards.

For AoE, prioritize Summon Demonic Tyrant to extend demons, followed by Grimoire Felguard and Summon Vilefiend. Use Implosion to detonate Wild Imps on multiple targets and maintain Soul Shard generation with Shadow Bolt.

Cooldowns

• Summon Demonic TyrantView detailsExtend active demons and boost their damage.
• Grimoire FelguardView detailsSummon a powerful Felguard for burst damage.
• Summon VilefiendView detailsSummon a Vilefiend for additional damage.
• Demonic StrengthView detailsEmpower your Felguard for AoE damage.
• Bilescourge BombersView detailsDrop a damaging area effect.

Use Summon Demonic Tyrant to extend and empower demons. Activate Grimoire Felguard and Summon Vilefiend for burst damage, and Demonic Strength for AoE scenarios.

New to Class? Try Assisted Rotation

Patch 11.1.7 introduced new features that make it eaiser to pick and play new characters. These new settings can be enabled from settings » gameplay enhancements:

• Single-Button Assistant
• Assisted Highlight
• Cooldown Manager

If you are new to World of Warcraft or a certain class, enabling Assisted Highlight and Cooldown Manager can help you learn which abilities to prioritize and use.

While the Single-Button Assistant can be a much easier and more accessible way to play the game, it does come with a slight performance hit due to a small GCD penalty, as you will have to wait 25% longer in between spells and abilities.

To see which specs are best with the Single-Button Assistant feature, you can check out our DPS Rankings which uses SimC to sim every class using this feature.