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DS/Ruin Warlock Talents

engine 53f4a3c10,000 iterations12 Octbenchmark on 1 boss · 1 minbeta data: unverified until level 60 opensupdated 12 Oct 2026How this is measured

· 1 boss · 1 min · Pre-raidcommunity build

The build on a one-minute single-boss fight, Tuned 21/11/19 · 1 min, spends its points 21/11/19: 11 in Demonology to reach Demonic Sacrifice, Destruction through Ruin to Agonizing Flames, and the rest in Affliction for hit, Shadow crit and DoT damage.

Tuned 21/11/19 · 1 minOpen in the sim
Human on 1 boss · 1 min · 05410020135-0025003001-0550005103

Every fight has a separately searched tree for each faction. They all share the talents below and trade a handful of points between them.

Why these talents

Demonic Sacrifice carries 11.5 % of your damage by itself, more than any other talent in the build. You summon the Imp and sacrifice it, and the buff it leaves, Burning Shadow, raises your Shadow damage by 15 % for two hours. Forever swapped the Imp's and the Succubus's sacrifices, so the Imp is now the Shadow one. Summoning any demon afterwards cancels the buff.

Bane takes half a second off Shadow Bolt, from 3 to 2.5 seconds, and off Immolate, from 2 to 1.5. You cast a fifth more Shadow Bolts in the same time, and the talent is worth 11.0 %.

Ruin is the other half of the name. It adds 20 % a point to the crit bonus of your Destruction spells, so at 5/5 a Shadow Bolt crit deals twice its damage instead of one and a half times. Forever made it five points on the third row instead of one point on the fifth. It is worth 6.1 %.

Improved Shadow Bolt turns every Shadow Bolt crit into a 12-second debuff that raises your own Shadow damage on the boss by 20 % at 5/5, Corruption and the banes included. Forever took away its charges, so a crit keeps it up for the full 12 seconds and it covers 40.9 % of the fight. It is worth 7.0 %.

Agonizing Flames adds 10 % to all your Destruction damage, Shadow Bolt and Immolate's DoT included, and 10 % crit to Searing Pain. In Classic this talent was Improved Searing Pain and only raised Searing Pain's crit. It is worth 6.3 %.

Suppression, Pandemic and Malevolence are why the remaining points go to Affliction. Suppression is 5 % spell hit for every school, worth 5.2 % because spells miss a raid boss 17 % of the time. Pandemic doubles the crit bonus of Corruption and the banes, as Ruin does for Shadow Bolt, for 2.9 %. Malevolence adds 1 % crit a point to your Shadow spells, which Ruin and Improved Shadow Bolt then pay on. The one-boss builds take all five points, worth 5.0 % over three minutes.

Improved Corruption makes Corruption cast 0.4 seconds faster and hit 2 % harder a point. It is worth 5.7 % here.

Flexible points

These points buy little or nothing, so they are the ones to move.

  • The Demonology path. Demonic Sacrifice needs 10 Demonology points first, and only Fel Vitality among them helps: 15 % more mana, worth 0.5 %. Improved Imp and Unholy Power improve a demon you no longer have and score nothing, and Demonic Embrace gives only Stamina. Any first- or second-row Demonology talents get you there just as well, Demonic Aegis's stronger Demon Armor among them.
  • Cataclysm and Shadowburn. One point each in the three-minute build, worth 0.8 % and 0.7 %. Shadowburn is only cast in the last second and a half there. On the one-minute fight it also goes out on cooldown and is worth 2.9 %.
  • Improved Life Tap. Life Tap gives 20 % more mana, worth 1.6 % over three minutes. The one-minute build leaves it out, because the mana bar lasts the whole fight there.
  • Malediction. 1 % more periodic damage a point, the usual home for a spare Affliction point. On three minutes dropping one point of it costs 2.7 DPS.

What each talent is worth

We price each talent by re-running the build with its points removed, on the same simulated fights. Those prices overlap and won't sum to your total. When you have one point to move, the last-point column says what removing a single point costs.

TalentPointsWorthIts last point
Demonic Sacrifice1+83 DPS · 11.5 %–
Bane5+80 DPS · 11.0 %+46 DPS · 6.3 %
Improved Shadow Bolt5+50 DPS · 7.0 %+10 DPS · 1.4 %
Agonizing Flames3+46 DPS · 6.3 %+14 DPS · 1.9 %
Ruin5+44 DPS · 6.1 %+8.8 DPS · 1.2 %
Improved Corruption4+41 DPS · 5.7 %+2.1 DPS · 0.3 %
Suppression5+38 DPS · 5.2 %+8.1 DPS · 1.1 %
Malevolence5+35 DPS · 4.8 %+6.9 DPS · 0.9 %
Shadowburn1+21 DPS · 2.9 %–
Pandemic3+21 DPS · 2.9 %+7.0 DPS · 1.0 %
Improved Bane of Agony2+11 DPS · 1.5 %+5.4 DPS · 0.7 %
Amplify Curse1+8.1 DPS · 1.1 %–
each talent’s worth: the build without it, on the same simulated fights · Human

On every fight

The three-boss builds for two and three minutes drop Improved Shadow Bolt, because Shadow Bolt is a small share of your damage there, and take Aftermath: 50 % more initial damage on Immolate, which goes on every boss. They also move Malevolence's points into Malediction and Improved Corruption. Improved Corruption is worth 7.1 % on a three-minute fight against three bosses. The one-minute single-boss build takes Amplify Curse for a 50 % stronger first Bane of Agony, worth 1.1 %, and drops Improved Life Tap.

FightPointsFrom this fight’s build
21 / 11 / 19this fight
20 / 11 / 20+2 Improved Life Tap, +1 Malediction, +1 Cataclysm, −2 Improved Corruption, −1 Improved Bane of Agony, −1 Amplify Curse
20 / 11 / 20+2 Improved Life Tap, +2 Malediction, +3 Improved Imp, +2 Demonic Embrace, +1 Cataclysm, −2 Improved Corruption, −2 Improved Bane of Agony, −1 Amplify Curse, −5 Unholy Power
21 / 11 / 19+1 Malediction, +3 Improved Imp, +2 Demonic Embrace, −1 Amplify Curse, −5 Unholy Power
22 / 11 / 18+1 Improved Corruption, +4 Malediction, +3 Improved Imp, +2 Demonic Embrace, +5 Aftermath, −1 Amplify Curse, −3 Malevolence, −5 Unholy Power, −5 Improved Shadow Bolt, −1 Ruin
22 / 11 / 18+2 Improved Life Tap, +4 Malediction, +3 Improved Imp, +2 Demonic Embrace, +5 Aftermath, −1 Amplify Curse, −4 Malevolence, −5 Unholy Power, −5 Improved Shadow Bolt, −1 Shadowburn
each fight’s talents are searched for it
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DS/Ruin Warlock Talents

engine 53f4a3c10,000 iterations12 Octbenchmark on 1 boss · 1 minbeta data: unverified until level 60 opensupdated 12 Oct 2026How this is measured

· 1 boss · 1 min · Pre-raidcommunity build

The build on a one-minute single-boss fight, Tuned 21/11/19 · 1 min, spends its points 21/11/19: 11 in Demonology to reach Demonic Sacrifice, Destruction through Ruin to Agonizing Flames, and the rest in Affliction for hit, Shadow crit and DoT damage.

Tuned 21/11/19 · 1 minOpen in the sim
Human on 1 boss · 1 min · 05410020135-0025003001-0550005103

Every fight has a separately searched tree for each faction. They all share the talents below and trade a handful of points between them.

Why these talents

Demonic Sacrifice carries 11.5 % of your damage by itself, more than any other talent in the build. You summon the Imp and sacrifice it, and the buff it leaves, Burning Shadow, raises your Shadow damage by 15 % for two hours. Forever swapped the Imp's and the Succubus's sacrifices, so the Imp is now the Shadow one. Summoning any demon afterwards cancels the buff.

Bane takes half a second off Shadow Bolt, from 3 to 2.5 seconds, and off Immolate, from 2 to 1.5. You cast a fifth more Shadow Bolts in the same time, and the talent is worth 11.0 %.

Ruin is the other half of the name. It adds 20 % a point to the crit bonus of your Destruction spells, so at 5/5 a Shadow Bolt crit deals twice its damage instead of one and a half times. Forever made it five points on the third row instead of one point on the fifth. It is worth 6.1 %.

Improved Shadow Bolt turns every Shadow Bolt crit into a 12-second debuff that raises your own Shadow damage on the boss by 20 % at 5/5, Corruption and the banes included. Forever took away its charges, so a crit keeps it up for the full 12 seconds and it covers 40.9 % of the fight. It is worth 7.0 %.

Agonizing Flames adds 10 % to all your Destruction damage, Shadow Bolt and Immolate's DoT included, and 10 % crit to Searing Pain. In Classic this talent was Improved Searing Pain and only raised Searing Pain's crit. It is worth 6.3 %.

Suppression, Pandemic and Malevolence are why the remaining points go to Affliction. Suppression is 5 % spell hit for every school, worth 5.2 % because spells miss a raid boss 17 % of the time. Pandemic doubles the crit bonus of Corruption and the banes, as Ruin does for Shadow Bolt, for 2.9 %. Malevolence adds 1 % crit a point to your Shadow spells, which Ruin and Improved Shadow Bolt then pay on. The one-boss builds take all five points, worth 5.0 % over three minutes.

Improved Corruption makes Corruption cast 0.4 seconds faster and hit 2 % harder a point. It is worth 5.7 % here.

Flexible points

These points buy little or nothing, so they are the ones to move.

  • The Demonology path. Demonic Sacrifice needs 10 Demonology points first, and only Fel Vitality among them helps: 15 % more mana, worth 0.5 %. Improved Imp and Unholy Power improve a demon you no longer have and score nothing, and Demonic Embrace gives only Stamina. Any first- or second-row Demonology talents get you there just as well, Demonic Aegis's stronger Demon Armor among them.
  • Cataclysm and Shadowburn. One point each in the three-minute build, worth 0.8 % and 0.7 %. Shadowburn is only cast in the last second and a half there. On the one-minute fight it also goes out on cooldown and is worth 2.9 %.
  • Improved Life Tap. Life Tap gives 20 % more mana, worth 1.6 % over three minutes. The one-minute build leaves it out, because the mana bar lasts the whole fight there.
  • Malediction. 1 % more periodic damage a point, the usual home for a spare Affliction point. On three minutes dropping one point of it costs 2.7 DPS.

What each talent is worth

We price each talent by re-running the build with its points removed, on the same simulated fights. Those prices overlap and won't sum to your total. When you have one point to move, the last-point column says what removing a single point costs.

TalentPointsWorth
Demonic Sacrifice1+83 DPS · 11.5 %
Bane5+80 DPS · 11.0 %
Improved Shadow Bolt5+50 DPS · 7.0 %
Agonizing Flames3+46 DPS · 6.3 %
Ruin5+44 DPS · 6.1 %
Improved Corruption4+41 DPS · 5.7 %
Suppression5+38 DPS · 5.2 %
Malevolence5+35 DPS · 4.8 %
Shadowburn1+21 DPS · 2.9 %
Pandemic3+21 DPS · 2.9 %
Improved Bane of Agony2+11 DPS · 1.5 %
Amplify Curse1+8.1 DPS · 1.1 %
each talent’s worth: the build without it, on the same simulated fights · Human

On every fight

The three-boss builds for two and three minutes drop Improved Shadow Bolt, because Shadow Bolt is a small share of your damage there, and take Aftermath: 50 % more initial damage on Immolate, which goes on every boss. They also move Malevolence's points into Malediction and Improved Corruption. Improved Corruption is worth 7.1 % on a three-minute fight against three bosses. The one-minute single-boss build takes Amplify Curse for a 50 % stronger first Bane of Agony, worth 1.1 %, and drops Improved Life Tap.

FightPointsFrom this fight’s build
21 / 11 / 19this fight
20 / 11 / 20+2 Improved Life Tap, +1 Malediction, +1 Cataclysm, −2 Improved Corruption, −1 Improved Bane of Agony, −1 Amplify Curse
20 / 11 / 20+2 Improved Life Tap, +2 Malediction, +3 Improved Imp, +2 Demonic Embrace, +1 Cataclysm, −2 Improved Corruption, −2 Improved Bane of Agony, −1 Amplify Curse, −5 Unholy Power
21 / 11 / 19+1 Malediction, +3 Improved Imp, +2 Demonic Embrace, −1 Amplify Curse, −5 Unholy Power
22 / 11 / 18+1 Improved Corruption, +4 Malediction, +3 Improved Imp, +2 Demonic Embrace, +5 Aftermath, −1 Amplify Curse, −3 Malevolence, −5 Unholy Power, −5 Improved Shadow Bolt, −1 Ruin
22 / 11 / 18+2 Improved Life Tap, +4 Malediction, +3 Improved Imp, +2 Demonic Embrace, +5 Aftermath, −1 Amplify Curse, −4 Malevolence, −5 Unholy Power, −5 Improved Shadow Bolt, −1 Shadowburn
each fight’s talents are searched for it