Tier Sets
Demonology Warlock Season 1 Tier Set Bonus:
- (2) Set Bonus: Your primary demon deals 5% increased damage and your Shadow Bolt damage is increased by 50%
- (4) Set Bonus: Shadow Bolt has a chance to enrage your primary Felguard, increasing the damage of their next Legion Strike by 300%
Both the 2 and 4 set makes demonology in The War Within (11.0) a very shadow bolt focused spec. Luckily we have talents such as Rune of Shadows and Sacrificed Souls being easily accessible in the demonology talent tree, making it less “annoying” to have to cast more shadow bolts than we are used to from previous expansions.
It is still a less mobile spec than the “good old times” when we were swimming in demonic core procs but overall it feels ok when the shadow bolt cast time is as low as it is.
demonology warlock Best in Slot Gear
You should still prioritize the gear you use by running a sim for your character, but the lists below will give you a good idea of what items are considered good for Demonology Warlock, and help you target the right content for each piece of loot.
IMPORTANT NOTE: In almost EVERY single gearing scenario you will want to craft a 2h staff with the darkmoon sigil ascension embellishment. This is not “technically” BiS, but it's a huge power spike and it saves a ton of gilded crests compared to upgrading a myth track weapon from the vault (should you have one available). Ultimately, it should be replaced as a 639 Main hand with 636 offhand is slightly better, but the difference is so small that it should be the last thing you think about.
Overall Best Gear
| Slot | Item | Source |
| Head | Devotee’s Discarded Headdress | Rasha’nan |
| Neck | Sureki Zealot’s Insignia | The Silken Court |
| Shoulders | Hexflame Covern’s Altar | Rasha’nan |
| Cloak | Wings of Shattered Sorrow | Rasha’nan |
| Chest | Hexflame Coven’s Ritual Harness | Broodtwister Ovi’nax |
| Wrist | Concecrated Cuffs (/w Writhing Armor banding) | Tailoring |
| Gloves | Hexflame Coven’s Sleeves | Sikran, Captain of the Sureki |
| Belt | Hexflame Coven’s Dormant Eye | Catalyst |
| Legs | Hexflame Coven’s leggings | Nexus-Princess Ky’veza |
| Boots | Assimilated Eggshell Slippers | Broodtwister Ovi`nax |
| Ring | Key to the Unseeming | The Bloodbound Horror |
| Ring | Seal of the Poisoned Pact | Queen Ansurek |
| Trinket | Spymaster’s Web | The Silken Court |
| Trinket | Ara-Kara Sacbrood | Ara-Kara, City of Echoes |
| Main Hand | Flawless Phase Blade | Sikran, Captain of the Sureki |
| Off Hand | Vagabond’s Torch (/w Darkmoon Sigil: Ascension) | Crafting |
Best Gear from Raiding
| Slot | Item | Source |
| Head | Devotee’s Discarded Headdress | Rasha’nan |
| Neck | Sureki Zealot’s Insignia | The Silken Court |
| Shoulders | Hexflame Covern’s Altar | Rasha’nan |
| Cloak | Wings of Shattered Sorrow | Rasha’nan |
| Chest | Hexflame Coven’s Ritual Harness | Broodtwister Ovi’nax |
| Wrist | Concecrated Cuffs (/w Writhing Armor banding) | Tailoring |
| Gloves | Hexflame Coven’s Sleeves | Sikran, Captain of the Sureki |
| Belt | Shattered Eye Cincture | The Bloodbound Horror |
| Legs | Hexflame Coven’s leggings | Nexus-Princess Ky’veza |
| Boots | Assimilated Eggshell Slippers | Broodtwister Ovi`nax |
| Ring | Key to the Unseeming | The Bloodbound Horror |
| Ring | Seal of the Poisoned Pact | Queen Ansurek |
| Trinket | Spymaster’s Web | The Silken Court |
| Trinket | Mad Queen’s Mandate | Queen Ansurek |
| Main Hand | Flawless Phase Blade | Sikran, Captain of the Sureki |
| Off Hand | Vagabond’s Torch (/w Darkmoon Sigil: Ascension) | Crafting |
Best Gear from Mythic+
| Slot | Item | Source |
| Head | Crown of Enfeebled Bodies | Grim Batol |
| Neck | “Emergency Stop” Keychain | The Stonevault |
| Shoulders | Hexflame Covern’s Altar | Great Vault/Catalyst |
| Cloak | Anvilhide Cape | The Stonevault |
| Chest | Hexflame Coven’s Ritual Harness | Great Vault/Catalyst |
| Wrist | Concecrated Cuffs (/w Writhing Armor banding) | Tailoring |
| Gloves | Hexflame Coven’s Sleeves | Great Vault/Catalyst |
| Belt | Hexflame Coven’s Dormant Eye | Great Vault/Catalyst |
| Legs | Hexflame Coven’s leggings | Great Vault/Catalyst |
| Boots | Membranous Slippers | The Dawnbreaker |
| Ring | Stichflesh’s Misplaced Signet | The Necrotic Wake |
| Ring | Circle of Bone | Grim Batol |
| Trinket | Unbound Changeling | Mists of Tirna Scithe |
| Trinket | Ara-Kara Sacbrood | Ara-Kara, City of Echoes |
| Main Hand | Arachnoid Soulcleaver | Ara-Kara, City of Echoes |
| Off Hand | Vagabond’s Torch (/w Darkmoon Sigil: Ascension) | Crafting |
Trinkets
The trinket that really stands out (as it does for many other specs) is Spymaster’s Web. Get this trinket!
This is a list of the best trinkets in order.
Single Target:
- Spymaster’s Web
- Mad Queen’s Mandate
- Candle Confidant (only if you can be in melee range of the boss the whole fight)
- Ara-Kara Sacbrood
- Empowering Crystal of Anub’ikkaj
- Unbound Changeling
- Ovinax’s Mercurial Egg (if you can micro manage stacks)
AoE:
- Spymaster’s Web
- Ara-Kara Sacbrood
- Ovinax’s Mercurial Egg (if you can micro manage stacks)
- Empowering Crystal of Anub’ikkaj
- Unbound Changeling
Embellishments
Darkmoon Sigil Ascension + Writhing armor band seems to be the best choice for pretty much every scenario. The Darkmoon Sigils can only be crafted on weapons or offhands and therefore locks your choices a bit.
The easiest way to deal with this is to craft a 2h int staff with the Darkmoon Sigil: Ascension and a normal low budget cloth item with Writhing armor band.
Remember that if you have 24 renown with any faction you can get a free enchanted runed harbinger crest, as well as from the storyline to kill Queen Ansurek. The questline requires you to have completed the campaign once on your account; the starting quest and how to complete it can be found in the Free Heroic Runed Harbinger Crest guide.