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 and you have at least 3 sets of 3 Wild Imps active.

• Summon Demonic TyrantView detailsExtend all major demons and Wild Imps.
• Grimoire FelguardView detailsUse on cooldown.
• Summon VilefiendView detailsUse on cooldown.
• 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 2+ Soul Shards and Infernal Bolt triggered.
• DemonboltView detailsUse with 2+ stacks of Demonic Core.
• Power SiphonView detailsUse with 2 or fewer Demonic Core stacks.
• Hand Of GuldanView detailsUse with 3 Soul Shards.
• Shadow BoltView detailsUse to generate Soul Shards.

Focus on maintaining active demons and extending their duration with Summon Demonic Tyrant. Use Grimoire Felguard, Summon Vilefiend, and Demonic Strength on cooldown. Generate and spend Soul Shards efficiently with Hand Of Guldan and Shadow Bolt.

AoE

• 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 2+ Soul Shards and Infernal Bolt triggered.
• ImplosionView detailsDetonate Wild Imps on 2+ targets.
• DemonboltView detailsUse with 3+ stacks of Demonic Core.
• Power SiphonView detailsGenerate Demonic Core.
• Shadow BoltView detailsUse to generate Soul Shards.

For AoE, prioritize Grimoire Felguard and Summon Vilefiend on cooldown. Use Implosion to detonate Wild Imps on multiple targets and maintain Soul Shard generation with Shadow Bolt.

Cooldowns

• Summon Demonic TyrantView detailsExtend demon duration and boost their damage.
• Grimoire FelguardView detailsSummon a powerful Felguard for burst damage.
• Demonic StrengthView detailsEmpower your Felguard for AoE damage.

Use Summon Demonic Tyrant to extend demon durations and amplify their damage. Activate Grimoire Felguard and Demonic Strength for burst phases or 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.