Cataclysm Classic Demonology Warlock PvE Guide

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Welcome to our Cataclysm Classic Demonology Warlock PvE guide. In this article, we will cover everything you need to know about Demonology spellcasting, including talents, glyphs, gearing, and more.

Cataclysm Classic Demonology Warlock PvE Guide

Cataclysm Classic Demonology Warlock PvE Guide: Abbreviations

Abbreviation Meaning 
AfflicAffliction
AoEArea of Effect
BiSBest in Slot
BoABane of Agony
BoDBane of Doom
BoHBane of Havoc
CDCooldown
CoECurse of the Elements
CorrCorruption
CritCritical Strike Rating
DemoDemonology
DestroDestruction
DPETDamage per execute time
FGFelguard
GCDGlobal Cooldown
HoGHand of Gul’dan
ICDInternal Cooldown
ImmoImmolate
Imp SFImproved Soul Fire
IncinIncinerate
IntIntellect
LTLifetap
MetaMetamorphosis
RNGRandom Number Generator
SBShadow Bolt
SPSpellpower

Cataclysm Classic Demonology Warlock PvE Guide: Talents

Demonology

Tier Talent Notes Recommendation 
1Demonic EmbraceAdditional staminaOptional
1Dark ArtsIncreases Felguard damageRequired
1Fel SynergyPassively heals demonOptional
2Demonic RebirthDemon “battle rez”Optional
2Mana FeedProvides significant mana regenRequired
2Demonic AegisIncrease self healingOptional
2Master SummonerReduces demon cast time and mana costOptional
3Impending DoomChance to reduce Meta CD and increase chance to summon a Ebon Imp with BoDRequired
3Demonic EmpowermentDemon “Trinket”Optional
3Improved Health FunnelIncreases demon healing with health funnelOptional
4Molten CoreChance to gain 3 Incinerates at 30% reduced cast timeRequired
4Hand of Gul’danHard nuke and increases demon crit strikeRequired
4Aura of ForebodingStuns enemies hit by HoGOptional
5Ancient GrimloreIncreases guardian durationRequired
5InfernoAllows Hellfire to be channelled while moving and increase Immolate duration by 6 secondsRequired
5DecimationReduces cast time on soul fire by 40% on targets below or at 25% HPRequired
6CremationIncreases Hellfire damage and allows HoG to refresh ImmolateRequired
6Demonic PactIncrease raid/party member’s spellpower by 10%Required
7MetamorphosisHuge DPS cooldown, transforms you into a demonRequired

Destruction

Tier Talent Notes Recommendation 
1BaneReduces cast time on Shadow Bolt and ImmolateRequired (Multi-target)
1Shadow and FlameIncreases Shadow Bolt damage and allows you to inflict the 5% crit debuffRequired
1Improved ImmolateSignificant increase to Immolates damageRequired
2EmberstormReduces Soul Fire and Incinerate cast timeRequired

Affliction

Tier Talent Notes Recommendation 
1Improved CorruptionIncrease Corruption damageRequired (Single Target)

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Cataclysm Classic Demonology Warlock PvE Guide: Glyphs

Prime Glyphs

Major Glyphs

Recommendations:

Minor Glyphs

Cataclysm Classic Demonology Warlock PvE Guide: Demon Choice

Single Target: Currently, the Felhunter is the highest single-target DPS demon.

AoE: The Felguard should still be used in AoE situations.

Cataclysm Classic Demonology Warlock PvE Guide: Stats and Gearing

Stats

Intellect:

Intellect now converts to Spell Damage, which makes all spells stronger. Several factors determine how much benefit they receive, such as the spell coefficients and talents. However, all spells benefit in some way.

1 Intellect provides 1 spellpower (before bonuses), 0.00154% crit, and 17.53 mana.

Hit Rating:

A 102.45 hit rating increases your chance of being hit with spells by 1% until Hit Cap (17% or 1742 Rating). Once the cap has been reached, Hit becomes useless.

Haste Rating:

128.05 haste rating gives 1% spell haste. Haste rating scales multiplicatively with other sources of haste. Haste cannot reduce the duration of the global cooldown below 1.0 seconds.

To calculate the ‘new’ cast time of a spell, use the following formula:

New.Cast.Time=Normal.Cast.Time / ((1 + (Haste.Rating / 12805)) * 5%.Aura * Dark.Intent)

Where 5%.Aura = 1.05 and Dark.Intent = 1.03.

For example, if we take a 2.5 second Normal.Cast.Time and a 950 Haste.Rating, we will get the following:

New.Cast.Time = 2.5 / ((1 + (950 / 12805)) * 1.05 * 1.03) = 2.152 sec

Due to the changes to DoTs, it has become a much more advanced stat. See the Mechanics: Haste section for more information.

Critical Strike Rating:

179.28 crit rating gives 1% to crit. With a Burning Shadowspirit Diamond, crits will do 2.06 times the damage of regular hits. Due to changes made to DoTs, all DoTs can now crit innately.

Mastery Rating:

179.28 mastery provides a 2.3% increase in the damage our demons do and the damage we do while under the effect of Metamorphosis.

Stat Priorities

You should download the Simulationcraft tool and base your decisions around your character. For example, if you use Moonwell Chalice with heroic Firelands gear, Haste will likely be lower than Crit. However, the below order should be correct in most situations.

Int = Hit (to cap) > SP > Haste (1007 Rating) > Mastery > Haste >= Crit

Int = Hit (to cap) > SP > Haste (1573 Rating) > Mastery > Haste >= Crit

Int = Hit (to cap) > SP > Haste (1993 Rating) > Mastery > Haste >= Crit

Reforging

Reforging allows you to exchange 40% of a combat rating already on an item and convert it into a combat rating not already on an item. Example: If an item has Crit, you cannot add more Crit. If it has no Crit, then you could reforge 40% of another rating (Haste, Hit, or Mastery) into Crit. An item with 100 Hit and no Crit could be reforged to 60 Hit and 40 Crit.

Reforging is essentially following the stat priority rules above to reach specific caps and maximize the benefit we receive from secondary stats. For example, for the stat priorities in iLvl 378+ gear, we do the following (in order):

It is important to note that optimizing your reforging may involve reforging away from haste or hitting on gear to get as close as possible to the cap (without going under). 

Gemming

When to Ignore the Socket Bonus

As a general rule of thumb, if the socket bonus is less than 20 Int or 30 of any rating stat, it would be better to ignore the bonus and gem Brilliant Inferno Ruby or Brilliant Queen’s Garnet.

However, to be more accurate, you would need to find the relevant scale factors for your gear setup (Using Simulationcraft) and multiply those scale factors by the stats you would gain with either gem.

Set Bonuses

Bonus Description 
2pcThe duration of your Doomguard and Infernal summons is increased by 20 sec, and the cooldown of those spells is reduced by 4 min.
4pcSoulburn grants a 10% increase to your spell power for 10 sec, and Soul Fire cast with Soulburn active now grants a Soul Shard.

Best in Slot

Normal BiS without Legendary

Slot Item Gemming Reforging 
HeadHood of the Faceless Shroud1x Burning, 1x 40 IntCrit > Hit
NeckFlowform Choker1x 40 IntHaste > Hit
ShouldersMantle of the Faceless Shroud2x 40 IntCrit > Hit
BackNanoprecise Cape1x 40 IntN/A
ChestRobes of the Faceless Shroud2x 40 Int, 1x 20 Int 20 MasteryHaste > Mastery
WristsBracers of Unconquered Power2x 40 IntHaste > Hit
HandsGloves of Liquid Smoke2x 40 IntCrit > Hit
WaistCord of the Slain Champion2x 40 Int, 1x 20 Int 20 HitCrit > Hit
LegsLeggings of the Faceless Shroud2x 40 Int, 1x 20 Int 20 MasteryHaste > Hit
FeetsJanglespur Jackboots2x 40 IntCrit > Hit
Ring 1Ring of the Riven1x 40 IntHaste > Hit
Ring 2Infinite Loop1x 40 IntCrit > Mastery
Trinket 1Will of UnbindingN/AN/A
Trinket 2Cunning of the CruelN/AN/A
WandHungermouth WandN/AN/A
WeaponLightning Rod1x 40 IntN/A

Normal BiS with Legendary

Slot Item Gemming Reforging 
HeadHood of the Faceless Shroud1x Burning, 1x 40 IntCrit > Hit
NeckFlowform Choker1x 40 IntHaste > Hit
ShouldersMantle of the Faceless Shroud2x 40 IntCrit > Hit
BackNanoprecise Cape1x 40 IntN/A
ChestRobes of the Faceless Shroud2x 40 Int, 1x 20 Int 20 MasteryHaste > Mastery
WristsBracers of Unconquered Power2x 40 IntHaste > Hit
HandsGloves of Liquid Smoke2x 40 IntCrit > Hit
WaistCord of the Slain Champion3x 40 IntCrit > Hit
LegsLeggings of the Faceless Shroud2x 40 Int, 1x 20 Int 20 MasteryHaste > Hit
FeetsJanglespur Jackboots2x 40 IntCrit > Hit
Ring 1Ring of the Riven1x 40 IntHaste > Hit
Ring 2Infinite Loop1x 40 IntCrit > Mastery
Trinket 1Will of UnbindingN/AN/A
Trinket 2Cunning of the CruelN/AN/A
WandHungermouth WandN/AN/A
WeaponDragonwrath, Tarecgosa’s Rest3x 40 IntN/A

Heroic BiS without Legendary

Slot Item Gemming Reforging 
HeadHood of the Faceless Shroud1x Burning, 1x 40 IntCrit > Hit
NeckFlowform Choker1x 40 IntHaste > Hit
ShouldersMantle of the Faceless Shroud2x 40 IntCrit > Hit
BackNanoprecise Cape1x 40 IntN/A
ChestRobes of the Faceless Shroud2x 40 Int, 1x 20 Int 20 MasteryHaste > Mastery
WristsBracers of the Banished1x 40 IntHaste > Hit
HandsGloves of Liquid Smoke2x 40 IntCrit > Hit
WaistCord of the Slain Champion2x 40 Int, 1x 20 Int 20 HitCrit > Hit
LegsLeggings of the Faceless Shroud2x 40 Int, 1x 20 Int 20 MasteryHaste > Hit
FeetsJanglespur Jackboots2x 40 IntCrit > Mastery
Ring 1Ring of the Riven1x 40 IntHaste > Hit
Ring 2Infinite Loop1x 40 IntCrit > Mastery
Trinket 1Will of UnbindingN/AN/A
Trinket 2Cunning of the CruelN/AN/A
WandFinger of Zon’ozzN/AN/A
WeaponLightning Rod1x 40 IntHaste > Mastery

Heroic BiS with Legendary

Slot Item Gemming Reforging 
HeadHood of the Faceless Shroud1x Burning, 1x 40 IntCrit > Hit
NeckFlowform Choker1x 40 IntHaste > Hit
ShouldersMantle of the Faceless Shroud2x 40 IntCrit > Hit
BackNanoprecise Cape1x 40 IntN/A
ChestRobes of the Faceless Shroud2x 40 Int, 1x 20 Int 20 MasteryHaste > Mastery
WristsBracers of the Banished1x 40 IntHaste > Hit
HandsGloves of Liquid Smoke2x 40 IntCrit > Mastery
WaistCord of the Slain Champion3x 40 IntCrit > Hit
LegsLeggings of the Faceless Shroud2x 40 Int, 1x 20 Int 20 MasteryHaste > Hit
FeetsJanglespur Jackboots2x 40 IntCrit > Hit
Ring 1Ring of the Riven1x 40 IntHaste > Hit
Ring 2Infinite Loop1x 40 IntCrit > Mastery
Trinket 1Will of UnbindingN/AN/A
Trinket 2Cunning of the CruelN/AN/A
WandFinger of Zon’ozzN/AHaste > Hit
WeaponDragonwrath, Tarecgosa’s Rest3x 40 IntN/A

Enchants

Slot Enchant Comments 
Head60 Int/35 critArcanum of Hyjal – Guardians of Hyjal revered
Shoulders50 Int/25 hasteGreater Inscription of Charged Lodestone – Therazane exalted
Back50 IntEnchant Cloak – Greater Intellect
Chest20 statsEnchant Chest – Peerless Stats
Wrists50 IntEnchant Bracer – Mighty Intellect
Gloves65 masteryEnchant Gloves – Greater Mastery
Legs95 Int/80 StamPowerful Enchanted Spellthread
BootsRun speed/35 mastery or 50 hit or 50 hasteEnchant Boots – Lavawalker / Enchant Boots – Precision / Enchant Boots – Haste
BeltExtra socketEbonsteel Belt Buckle
Weapon500 Int ProcEnchant Weapon – Power Torrent
Offhand40 IntEnchant Off-Hand – Superior Intellect

Professions

Name Benefit 
EngineeringTinkers now stack with normal enchants. Synapse Springs tinker to gloves provides 480 Int for 10 seconds with a 60 second CD. This averages to an 80 Int bonus. Engineering also provides further perks such as Flexweave UnderlayNitro Boosts and Grounded Plasma Shield have a chance to fail and cause serious adverse effects, and are not reliable in a raid situation.
Leatherworking130 Int to bracers in place of 50 Int, giving an 80 Int bonus.
JewelcraftingBrilliant Chimera’s Eye in place of 3 Brilliant Inferno Ruby or Brilliant Queen’s Garnet gives 81 Int (51 Int over Epic Gems).
BlacksmithingExtra sockets into wrists and gloves provides 2 additional Brilliant Inferno Ruby‘s or 2 Brilliant Queen’s Garnet‘s, providing an 80/100 Int bonus.
AlchemyMixology, combined with Flask of the Draconic Mind provides an 80 Int bonus.
Enchanting40 Int to each ring provides an 80 Int bonus.
Inscription130 Int/25 haste shoulder enchant is an 80 Int bonus over the regular enchant.
TailoringLightweave Embroidery gives 580 Int for 15 seconds on a 64 second ICD. This averages to 135.9 Int, which replaces the normal 50 Int enchant, providing only a 85.9 Int bonus. Tailoring currently gives the greatest DPS increase of all the professions.
HerbalismLifeblood is now a DPS cooldown providing 480 haste for 20 seconds on a 2 minute CD. This averages to an 80 haste bonus.
Skinning80 crit.
MiningStam, useless from a DPS perspective.

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Consumables

Flask: Flask of the Draconic Mind or a Cauldron of Battle

Food: Severed Sagefish Head / Seafood Magnifique Feast

Potion: Volcanic Potion (Pre-pot and use during Bloodlust/Heroism)

Races

Alliance

Worgen
Gnome
Human
Dwarf

Horde

Orc
Goblin
  • Time is Money – Passive 1% spell haste.
  • Rocket Jump – Activates your rocket belt to jump forward. 2 minute cooldown. Shares cooldown with Rocket Barrage.
  • Rocket Barrage – Launches your belt rockets at an enemy. 2 minute cooldown. Shares cooldown with Rocket Jump.
Troll
  • Berserking – Increases your casting speed by 20% for 10 seconds. 3 minute cooldown.
  • Da Voodoo Shuffle – Reduces the duration of all movement impairing effects by 15%.
Blood Elf
  • Arcane Torrent – Silence all enemies within 8 yards for 2 seconds and restores 6% mana. 2 minute cooldown.
Forsaken
  • Will of the Forsaken – Removes any Charm, Fear and Sleep effect. 2 minute cooldown.

Cataclysm Classic Demonology Warlock PvE Guide: Spell Rotations

Spell Priority

Single Target Spec

Spell Condition 
SoulburnT13 4pc Set Bonus
Metamorphosis
Demon Soul
Immolation AuraMetamorphosis
Immolate
Bane of DoomIf target will be alive atleast 15sec
Corruption
ShadowflameMelee Range
Hand of Gul’dan
IncinerateMolten Core
Soul FireDecimation
Incinerate

Multi-target Spec

Spell Condition 
SoulburnT13 4pc Set Bonus
Metamorphosis
Demon SoulFelguard
Immolation AuraMetamorphosis
Immolate
Demon SoulFelhunter
Bane of DoomIf target will be alive at least 15sec
Corruption
ShadowflameMelee Range
Hand of Gul’dan
IncinerateMolten Core
Soul FireDecimation
Shadow Bolt

Explained

The first thing to note is that you will want to have your Felguard out when you enter an encounter. Once the encounter begins and your Felguard attacks the boss, use Felstorm and Demon Soul. Once Felstorm has ended, you will want to summon a Felhunter using Soulburn unless the fight is AoE-heavy.

Demonology’s primary concern is Metamorphosis. Generally, Metamorphosis should be used on CD unless you are delaying it so it can be used alongside trinkets such as Moonwell Chalice. If you have the T13 set bonus, Soulburn should be cast on cooldown, along with Soul Fire, so the shard is replenished. Demon Soul should be used on cooldown.

Immolate and Corruption should have as close to 100% uptime as possible. This is also true for Bane of Doom, however this should only be cast if the target is going to live for more than 15 seconds.

Hand of Gul’dan should be used on cooldown. Incinerate should be used when Molten Core procs, even during Decimation. When the target reaches 25% HP Decimation will proc, Soul Fire will then become the filler spell.

If safe, Shadowflame should be used on cooldown while in melee range. However, it is not worth running a long distance into melee range. In addition, Metamorphosis: Immolaton Aura should be used in melee wherever possible.

If all of the above is done, revert to Incinerate (Single Target) or Shadow Bolt (Multi-target) until a higher priority option becomes available.

Cooldowns

Metamorphosis

One of the changes made to Metamorphosis is the introduction of the Impending Doom talent. This means that our Metamorphosis ability will have an ever-changing cooldown that must be closely monitored.

Currently, Sims is showing the possibility of this cooldown being as low as 85 seconds (Heroic T13). However, the number will vary greatly depending on RNG, cast times (gear), and movement.

As a general rule, you want to use this as often as possible (i.e., on cooldown) to guarantee potential uptime isn’t wasted. However, with good encounter knowledge, I would suggest doing so if you can safely line this up with important events such as Bloodlust/Heroism and Decimation.

There are rare situations where Metamorphosis should be delayed, the most common of which is when used alongside the trinket Moonwell Chalice.

Meta and Mastery

Mastery values are ‘snapshotted’ when Metamorphosis is cast, meaning that the damage increase provided by mastery does not change during Metamorphosis even if temporary mastery buffs wear off. This makes temporary mastery buffs provided through trinkets and items very powerful if they can be lined up with Metamorphosis. However, this is not always the case, so these trinkets/items should be tested and valued individually.

Demon Soul

Demon SoulFelguard increases your spell haste by 15% and fire and shadow damage done by 10% for 20 seconds. This spell should generally be used on cooldown and should be lined up with “On-Use” trinkets, trinket procs, bloodlust/heroism, and potions as often as possible.

Demon SoulFelhunter increases periodic shadow damage dealt by 20% for 20 seconds. As this spell only affects Bane of Doom and Corruption, its priority is much lower than that of the Felguard’s Demon Soul. It is still recommended you stack this effect with that of trinkets/potion/Bloodlust/Heroism where possible.

Doomguard

Summon Doomguard summons a Doomguard (guardian pet) to fight alongside you for 65 seconds on a 10-minute cooldown (95 seconds on a 6-minute cooldown with 2pc T13).

The Doomguard scales with some of your stats: spellpower, mastery, hit, and crit. Therefore, timing your Doomguard summon with trinket procs, enchant procs, and potions is essential for maximizing DPS. In most cases, the best way to achieve this is to simply summon your Doomguard ~10-12 seconds into the fight, as all procs are off cooldown and available before the pull.

The Doomguard does not scale with percentage-based damage increases or haste.

Dark Intent

First and foremost, you should gauge the needs of your group. They should always come first when learning raid fights or playing with undergeared healers. You should consider applying it to DPS classes when you hit enrage timers or wipe because the boss has a burn phase you didn’t complete. I’ll leave this up to you.

Healer Rankings

Rank Class Condition 
1Restoration Druid
2Holy PriestRaid Healing
3Restoration Shaman
4Holy PriestTank Healing
5Discipline Priest
6Holy PaladinGlyph of the Long Word

DPS Rankings

Rank Class 
1Shadow Priest
2Fire Mage
3Balance Druid
4Elemental Shaman
5Frost Mage
6Arcane Mage
7Feral Druid
8Feral Druid (Hit Cap)
9Survival Hunter
10Retribution Paladin
11Combat Rogue
12Unholy DK (2H)
13Assassination Rogue
14Frost DK (2H)
15Marksman Hunter
16Beast Mastery Hunter
17Enhancement Shaman
18Frost DK (1H)
19Unholy DK (1H)

Personal Rankings

Rank Class Uptime 
1Balance Druid99%
2Shadow Priest98%
3Survival Hunter98%
4Feral Druid95%
5Feral Druid (Hit Cap)93%
6Fire Mage88%
7Frost Mage82%
8Assassination Rogue76%
9Elemental Shaman74%
10Unholy DK (1H)72%
11Beast Mastery Hunter69%
12Combat Rogue66%
13Arcane Mage62%
14Unholy DK (2H)60%
15Marksman Hunter57%
16Enhancement Shaman55%
17Retribution Paladin46%
18Frost DK (2H)41%
19Frost DK (1H)40%

AoE and Multiple Targets

The strong point for Demonology. You will want to use FelguardFelstorm, and Shadowflame in almost every AoE situation. In situations with 6 or more targets, you will achieve the best results through channeling Hellfire. In situations with 5 or fewer targets, muti-dotting with Immolate and Corruption before channeling Hellfire will yield more significant results.

For more controlled multiple-target damage, tab targeting non-cc’d mobs with Immolate and Corruption and then proceeding with a single target rotation on each mob until it is dead will be the most optimal way of dealing damage.

Cataclysm Classic Demonology Warlock PvE Guide: Mechanics

Haste and DoTs

The way DoTs work has changed. In addition to all DoTs benefiting from haste innately, haste now reduces the time between ticks. Haste only reduces the DoTs duration until an extra tick is received.

The change to the Inferno talent reaching the haste “thresholds” for Immolate is no longer critical. Attempting to achieve any of these thresholds will not significantly increase DPS. However, these values and how to calculate them are still good to know. Reaching the haste thresholds for Corru[tion does provide an increase and should generally be achieved.

This applies to all of our DoTs except BoD. However, the haste required to achieve this extra tick will differ between DoTs. To calculate the haste necessary to achieve an additional tick, we would need to calculate the time between ticks, specific to 3 decimal places.

Tick.Speed.Required = (Base.Frequency * Base.Tick.Speed) / (No.of.Ticks – 0.5)

Where No.Of.Ticks is the number of ticks you would like to achieve. For example, if we wanted to apply this to Immolate (With Inferno, 7 sec Base Frequency, 3 sec Base Tick Speed), wanting to achieve 2 additional ticks (9), we would do the following:

Tick.Speed.Required = (7 * 3) / (9 – 0.5) = 2.471 seconds

From here, we can calculate the percentage of haste required to achieve this tick speed using the following formula:

Haste.Percent = (Base.Tick.Speed / (Tick.Speed.Required + 0.00049999)) – 1

Therefore:

Haste.Percent = (3 / (2.471 + 0.00049999)) – 1 = 0.21432909

So, what haste rating should you be aiming for? Immolate (with Inferno) gains extra ticks at 7.161994%, 21.432909%, 35.715902%, etc. So, to determine the haste required in a raid situation with all raid buffs, including Dark Intent, we will use this formula:

Haste.Rating = ((Haste.Percent / 5%.Aura / Dark.Intent) – 1) * 12805.716

For example, the haste required to gain 2 additional ticks (21.4% haste) is as follows:

Haste.Rating = ((1.21432909 / 1.05 / 1.03) – 1) * 12805.716 = 1573 rating

Therefore, the haste thresholds are (raid buffed):

Extra Ticks % Rating Goblin 
17.2%00
221.4%15731431
335.7%32643105
449.9%49514776

Our other DoTs also benefit from gaining extra ticks. The haste thresholds for our other DoTs are below:

Corruption:

Extra Ticks % Rating Goblin 
18.3%210
225%19931846
341.7%39703804
458.4%59455745

Shadowflame:

Extra Ticks % Rating Goblin 
116.7%1007870
250%49544778
383.4%89118696
4116.6%1283812584

Other DoT Mechanics

DoTs, Buff and Debuffs

When a DoT is applied, the following rules are applied:

The only known case where the above is not true is with the 5% Crit Debuff (Shadow and Flame/Critical Mass). This debuff follows rules similar to those of player buffs.

As a general rule of thumb, it is not recommended you recast a DoT early (i.e., clipping, except the information provided in the ‘DoT Refreshing’ section of this thread), even when you have additional procs that weren’t present on the original cast. This will effectively lower that DoTs overall DPET for that encounter despite the extra damage done due to the proc.

DoT Refreshing

Another change to DoTs is how DoTs behave when reapplied or refreshed. If a DoT is refreshed between the 2nd last and last tick, the DoTs duration will be extended to include the previous tick. For example:

Corruption (unaffected by haste) has an 18-second duration, dealing damage every 3 seconds (6 ticks). If you refresh Corruption at 16 seconds (2 seconds till the last tick), the new Corruption applied to the target will have a duration of 23 seconds and will tick 6 times.

What this means is that you can ‘clip’ a DoT without losing the last tick of that DoT (and the damage that the last tick provides), making it much easier to have a 100% uptime on all DoTs. One thing to note is that if a DoT is refreshed using this method, then the last tick inherits the stats of the new DoT (See ‘DoTs, Buffs and Debuffs’).

Pet Twisting

Under certain circumstances, changing your Demon routinely throughout an encounter is beneficial. This is called Pet Twisting. The only current circumstance is when you use the trinket Moonwell Chalice and delay Metamorphosis to line up with this trinket.

The basic idea of this is as follows:

This continues until the fight is over or until you have no soulshards left, in which case you should continue to use your Felhunter.

The reason we do this is because of the way the Felguard’s Demon Soul stacks with Metamorphosis and Moonwell Chalice.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is There a Haste Cap?

Technically, there are multiple. See the Mechanics: Haste section of this guide for more information.

Should I Use the Infernal or Doomguard?

 Doomguard for Single Target, Infernal for AoE.

I Changed My Spec, and My New Spec Gives Me More Dps on a Training Dummy!

What you do on a training dummy is irrelevant. Not only is your sample data far too small to rule out RNG, but you’re also missing many buffs/target debuffs that will change how specific talents perform.

Conclusion

We hope that our Cataclysm Classic Demonology Warlock PvE guide has provided you with the necessary insights on how to effectively play this class in Cata Classic. If you found this article helpful during your journey in Azeroth, please let us know by leaving your comments below.

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