DPS Rotation & Cooldowns

This rotation offers a general priority list for Havoc Demon Hunter 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: Midnight Pre-Patch (12.0.0).

Single Target

Ensure Immolation Aura is active before engaging.

• FelbladeView detailsIf Inertia buff is active
• The Hunt
• Death Sweep
• Immolation AuraView detailsIf capped on charges
• Vengeful RetreatView detailsIf Eye Beam is ready
• Eye Beam
• Essence BreakView detailsWhile in Metamorphosis
• Metamorphosis
• Blade Dance
• Annihilation
• Chaos Strike
• Throw GlaiveView detailsIf no other abilities are available

Maintain Immolation Aura uptime and prioritize Felblade with Inertia. Use The Hunt and Eye Beam on cooldown, and align Essence Break with Metamorphosis for burst damage.

AoE

Switch to AoE priority at 2+ targets.

• FelbladeView detailsIf Inertia buff is active
• The Hunt
• Death Sweep
• Immolation AuraView detailsIf capped on charges
• Vengeful RetreatView detailsIf Eye Beam is ready
• Eye Beam
• Essence BreakView detailsWhile in Metamorphosis
• Metamorphosis
• Blade Dance
• Annihilation
• Chaos Strike
• Throw GlaiveView detailsIf no other abilities are available

For AoE, prioritize Death Sweep and Immolation Aura for maximum damage. Use Eye Beam and Essence Break in Metamorphosis for burst.

Cooldowns

• MetamorphosisView detailsUse after Eye Beam and Blade Dance to reset cooldowns
• Eye BeamView detailsUse to enter Demon Form and amplify damage
• Essence BreakView detailsUse during Metamorphosis for burst
• The HuntView detailsUse on cooldown for damage

Use Metamorphosis strategically after key abilities to reset cooldowns. Eye Beam and Essence Break should be used for burst windows, while The Hunt is used on cooldown.

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.