Build an army of imps and demons, then cash it in under a 1-minute Demonic Tyrant.
Damage
Gear: Method.ggBuilds: Archon consensus, M+ This Week (+7–+19)Updated 10/29/2026 by Guild guides
Playing
Demonology spends Soul Shards on Hand of Gul'dan and Call Dreadstalkers to fill the field with demons, and refills shards with Shadow Bolt and instant Demonbolts from Demonic Core. Summon Demonic Tyrant is on a 1-minute cooldown, and the Apex talent Dominion of Argus turns each Tyrant into a long window where Hand of Gul'dan summons extra demons and refunds shards.
Difficulty
Shard and Demonic Core management is simple once learned, but every minute you are setting up the next Tyrant: holding shards, timing Dreadstalkers and tracking which Diabolic Ritual demon comes next.
Pick any button below to follow it through the guide: where it sits in the opener, which rung of the priority fires it, and every mistake it is part of.
1Shadow Bolt
2Demonbolt
3Hand of Gul'dan
420sCall Dreadstalkers
51mSummon Demonic Tyrant
62mGrimoire: Imp Lord
730sPower Siphon
815sImplosion
9Infernal Bolt
0Ruination
s130sAxe Toss
s23mUnending Resolve
s31mDark Pact
s445sMortal Coil
s51mShadowfury
s610sDemonic Gateway
s730sDemonic Circle: Teleport
s810mSoulstone
Rotation
What do I press?
Press order
1Call Dreadstalkers0.0s
2Shadow Bolt2.0s
3Demonbolt4.0s
4Hand of Gul'dan5.5s
5Demonbolt7.0s
6Demonbolt8.5s
7Summon Demonic Tyrant10.0s
8Hand of Gul'dan12.0s
9Hand of Gul'dan13.5s
10Implosion15.0s
11Ruination16.5s
12Infernal Bolt18.0s
13Hand of Gul'dan20.0s
14Power Siphon21.5s
15Demonbolt23.0s
Call Dreadstalkers0.0s
Fires because it is ready.
0s5s10s15s20s25s
Summon Demonic Tyrant
One press per global at base haste (1.5s), longer for casts. Real pulls drift with haste and procs; the order is what matters.
Cooldowns and when to use them
1-minute cooldown. Cast it at 5 shards with Dreadstalkers out; Dominion of Argus then rewards every Hand of Gul'dan you fit into the portal.
What the simulations press
Executed every time the actor is available.
pet.demonic tyrant.active or fight remains<22
diabolic ritual
demonic soul
From SimulationCraft's warlock_demonology.simc, changed Aug 30, 2026. This is what the simulations behind most guides press; conditions are shown as SimC writes them.
What top players actually cast
Below are the opening rotations from a small sample of recent top Demonology Warlock rankings for Altar of Fangs. You can use this to compare to your own opener and find potential points of improvement. Note that the opener for some specs may vary based on when certain buffs proc.
DemonboltProcInstant · +2 Soul ShardsInstant while you have Demonic Core (up to 4 stacks, from Dreadstalkers and dying imps). Spend cores before they cap; keep one for movement.
Hand of Gul'danSpender1.5s cast · -3 Soul ShardsYour main spender: drops Wild Imps on the target. Cast it at 3+ shards.
Call DreadstalkersSpender2s cast · 20s cd · 12s long · -2 Soul ShardsTwo Dreadstalkers (plus a Vilefiend with Summon Vilefiend). Use on cooldown; with Reign of Tyranny you can hold it a few seconds so Tyrant extends them.
Power SiphonBuilderInstant · 30s cd · +2 Demonic CoreSacrifices two Wild Imps for two Demonic Cores. Use it when you are low on cores; with To Hell and Back it also summons an Imp Gang Boss.
ImplosionSpenderInstant · 15s cdThrows up to 6 Wild Imps at the target as an AoE explosion. With To Hell and Back it is worth pressing at 6+ imps even on one target.
Infernal BoltProc2s cast · +3 Soul ShardsDiabolist: the Mother of Chaos turns your next Shadow Bolt into this. Cast it when you have room for the shards.
RuinationProc1.5s castDiabolist: after the Pit Lord, your next Hand of Gul'dan becomes Ruination, a free meteor that summons imps.
Cooldowns
Summon Demonic TyrantCooldown2s cast · 1m cd · 15s longYour 1-minute burst. With Dominion of Argus it opens a portal where every second Hand of Gul'dan summons an extra demon and refunds a shard. Diabolist casts it at 5 shards.
Grimoire: Imp LordCooldownInstant · 2m cd · 20s long · -1 Soul ShardSummons an Imp Lord for 20 seconds and cleanses a harmful effect off you. The usual pick over Grimoire: Fel Ravager.
Survival
Unending ResolveDefensiveInstant · 3m cd · 8s long25% damage reduction and immunity to interrupts; Dark Accord shortens the cooldown, Strength of Will makes it 40%.
Dark PactDefensiveInstant · 1m cd · 20s longTrades current health for a larger shield. Your first defensive, pressed before damage at high health.
Mortal CoilDefensiveInstant · 45s cdFears one enemy for 3 seconds and heals you.
Utility
Axe TossInterruptInstant · 30s cdYour Felguard's interrupt (Command Demon): stuns and interrupts for 4 seconds.
ShadowfuryUtility1.5s cast · 1m cd · 3s longArea stun for 3 seconds.
Demonic GatewayMovement2s cast · 10s cdGroup portal; Soulburn makes it instant.
Demonic Circle: TeleportMovementInstant · 30s cdTeleport to your circle; Diabolist's Soul-Etched Circles gives it Soulburn's snare and root immunity for free.
DiabolistRaid and Mythic+All of the top 50 Mythic+ Demonology players run it, and Method and Maxroll both rate it slightly ahead in raid. Diabolic Rituals summon an Overlord, Mother of Chaos and Pit Lord in turn, and Abyssal Dominion makes the Tyrant window much stronger.
Soul HarvesterSituationalMore sustained, proc-based damage through Succulent Souls and Demonic Soul, and Tyrant gives 3 shards. Close to Diabolist but behind in current tuning.
50 of the top 50 Mythic+ players run Diabolist (4002–4248 rating). Murlok.io
Mythic+
154,519 logs · 2026-11-05T12:00:00Z
Consensus loadoutRecommended
Popularity 98.7% heatmap match · 98.7% heatmap match
Recommended loadout is the closest match to Archon’s aggregate popularity across top parses — not a single one-off key.
Sample size: 154519 top parses. Only talents in the recommended loadout are drawn.
Class
Specialization
Hero
Only talents in this loadout are drawn (Diabolist). Hover a node for its Wowhead tooltip.
Across 154,519 logs. A talent has to show up in at least 40% of them before it is part of the build.
Gear
What do I wear and enchant?
Stats for Mythic+
1Intellect
›
2Crit
›
3Haste
›
4Mastery
›
5Vers
Left to right — highest priority first. Sim your character when secondaries are close.
Based on data in the last 2 weeks, the stat priority for Demonology Warlock looks to be Intellect > Crit > Haste > Mastery > Vers. However, there may be bias based on what gear is available to players.
What the top Mythic+ players actually have
Haste25% +984
Critical Strike28% +967
Mastery47% +912
Versatility4% +219
Average secondary stats of the top 50 Mythic+ players (4002–4248 rating), from Murlok.io, updated 8 hours ago.
4×piece set: Demonology Warlock16×slots
Best in slot from Method.gg. Every slot is on the figure. Point at a piece to light it.
Wear 4 tier pieces. The 4-piece bonus is what this spec is tuned around.
2-piece: Wild Imp Damage increased by 10%. Implosion damage increased by 20%.
4-piece: When their energy depletes, Wild Imps have a 20% chance to fling themselves at their target and Implode at 250% effectiveness to their main target and 225% effectiveness to other targets.
Patch 12.1.5
HeadTierBiS
Venomkeeper's Horrific Cowl
Ula'tek
NeckBiS
Aqirbane Reliquary
Ula'tek
ShoulderTierBiS
Spires Of The Damned Necrolyte
Lost Explorers/Catalyst
BackBiS
Silken Voodoo Drape
The Coiled Altar
ChestTierBiS
Damned Necrolyte's Rattling Robes
Vashnik the Malignant/Catalyst
WristBiS
Martyr's Bindings /w Arcanoweave Lining
Crafted
HandsTierBiS
Damned Necrolyte's Charred Grasps
Catalysted From The Coiled Altar
WaistBiS
Ethereal Netherwrap
Voidscar Arena
LegsTierBiS
Damned Necrolyte's Leg Bindings
Sszorak
FeetBiS
Cackling Soultreads
The Coiled Altar
Finger 1BiS
Apex Brute's Claw Ring
Sszorak
Finger 2BiS
Band Of The Swarmcaller
Kith'ix
Trinket 1BiS
Stormbound Emblem Of Dazar
King's Rest
Trinket 2BiS
Twisted Horror's Tendril
Kith'ix
Main HandBiS
Jan'thrazet, The Soul Fang
Ula'tek
Off HandBiS
Aln'hara Lantern /w Hunter's Ritual Stone
Crafted
Log meta from Archon · updated 2026-11-05T12:00:00Z
Best-to-good single-target order from Liquid Armory (Oct 12, 2026). Filled marks = higher on the list. Your own gear can change the order — sim before you buy.
Sunfire Silk Spellthread
Mark of the Worldsoul
Rite of the Hash'ey
Indecipherable Eversong Diamond
Flawless Quick Garnet
