Destruction Warlock

Ranged DPS (direct damage)Race: GnomeBuild 1.60.1.70753

Destruction is direct damage. Ruin doubles crit damage, Shadowburn and Conflagrate are instant hits, Shadow and Flame boosts both schools, and Incinerate is the capstone. Affliction points add Suppression hit, Improved Corruption and Improved Life Tap.

Starter build and talent order Talent calculator Leveling route Spellbook Enchants & consumables

Rotation

Opener: Curse of Doom on a boss (or Agony on a trash mob), Corruption, Immolate, Shadow Bolt.

Priority: Shadow Bolt with Ruin is the whole spec; keep Immolate up only if you have Improved Immolate; Conflagrate when it is up; Shadowburn to finish. Life Tap for mana.

Cooldowns: Shadowburn as the execute; Soul Shatter is not in Classic's kit, so watch threat and let the tank build it.

Forever notes: The raid DPS tree. The Nov 2 damage pass raised Shadow Bolt; threat is your enemy, so a Tranquil Air totem or a threat-drop plan is part of the rotation.

Stats

Spell Hit to 16%, Fire and Shadow spell power, Spell Crit (Ruin doubles crit damage), Intellect, then Stamina.

Ruin makes crit the best stat after hit; chase it on every slot.

Numbers for every spec and a gear comparer: stat weights.

Where it ranks

See the tier lists for PvE and PvP placement, and Classic vs Forever changes for what Blizzard altered in this class.

Wowhead and Icy Veins keep spec guides of their own: Icy Veins Destruction Warlock, Wowhead class guides. Our rotation notes are editorial, written for the Nov 2 tuning.

Editorial, 2026-11-04; sources linked in the text. Wowhead and Icy Veins guides are referenced, not copied. Data from talentsforever.com (CC BY 4.0), read from the WoW Forever beta client, build 1.60.1.70753. Updated 2026-11-04. World of Warcraft is a trademark of Blizzard Entertainment; this is a fan site.