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: The War Within (11.1.7).

Single Target

Ensure Immolation Aura is active before the encounter begins.

• Death SweepView detailsDuring Essence Break debuff.
• AnnihilationView detailsDuring Essence Break debuff.
• Reavers GlaiveView detailsMaintain 2 stacks of Reavers Mark for burst.
• FelbladeView detailsWith Inertia active.
• Vengeful RetreatView detailsTo trigger Initiative, Inertia, and Exergy.
• The HuntView detailsTo trigger Inertia and Exergy.
• Sigil Of DoomView detailsDuring Metamorphosis.
• Essence BreakView detailsWith Metamorphosis active.
• Eye Beam
• MetamorphosisView detailsIf Eye Beam and Death Sweep are on cooldown.
• Blade Dance
• Chaos StrikeView detailsTo spend excess Fury.

Focus on aligning Essence Break with Metamorphosis and key abilities like Death Sweep and Annihilation. Maintain Reavers Mark stacks and use Eye Beam frequently for Demonic triggers.

AoE

• Death SweepView detailsDuring Essence Break debuff.
• AnnihilationView detailsDuring Essence Break debuff.
• Reavers GlaiveView detailsEmpower Fury Of The Aldrachi by casting Blade Dance second.
• Fel RushView detailsWith Inertia active.
• Immolation AuraView detailsIf at 2 charges.
• Vengeful RetreatView detailsTo trigger Initiative, Inertia, and Exergy.
• The HuntView detailsTo trigger Inertia and Exergy.
• Sigil Of Doom
• Eye Beam
• MetamorphosisView detailsIf Eye Beam, Sigil Of Flame, and Death Sweep are on cooldown.
• Blade Dance
• Chaos StrikeView detailsTo spend excess Fury.

In AoE, prioritize Death Sweep and Annihilation during Essence Break. Use Reavers Glaive to empower Fury Of The Aldrachi and maintain Immolation Aura uptime. Align Metamorphosis with key cooldowns.

Cooldowns

• MetamorphosisView detailsUse during burst phases, ensuring Blade Dance and Eye Beam are on cooldown first.
• Eye BeamView detailsCast frequently for Demonic triggers and AoE damage.
• The HuntView detailsUse on cooldown for burst damage and healing debuff.

Use Metamorphosis during burst phases, aligning with Essence Break and Eye Beam. Cast The Hunt on cooldown for burst and healing benefits.

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.