Destruction Warlock Hero Talent Showdown in The War Within - Diabolist vs. Hellcaller

The War Within Posted 24 days ago by Loozy

Not sure what Hero Talents to play for your spec in The War Within? Check out all the released articles in the 'Hero Talent Showdown' series:
Hero Talent Showdowns in The War Within
Blood DK
Frost DK
Unholy DK
Havoc DH
Vengeance DH
Balance Druid

Feral Druid
Guardian Druid
Restoration Druid
Augmentation Evoker
Devastation Evoker
Preservation Evoker
Beast Mastery Hunter
Marksmanship Hunter
Survival Hunter
Arcane Mage
Fire Mage
Frost Mage
Brewmaster Monk
Mistweaver Monk
Windwalker Monk
Holy Paladin
Protection Paladin
Retribution Paladin
Discipline Priest
Holy Priest
Shadow Priest
Assassination Rogue
Outlaw Rogue
Subtlety Rogue
Elemental Shaman
Enhancement Shaman
Restoration Shaman
Affliction Warlock
Demonology Warlock
Destruction Warlock
Arms Warrior
Fury Warrior
Protection Warrior

For more information on Hero Talents coming in the War Within, check out our Hero Talents Overview.

The War Within Hero Talents Overview

Destruction Warlock in the War WithinHero Talent Showdown: Diabolist vs. Hellcaller Diabolist

Strengths

Weaknesses

Diabolic RitualDiabolic Ritual Hellcaller

Strengths

Weaknesses

WitherBlackened SoulMark of XaviusWhat's Changed? DiabolistDiabolic Ritual HellcallerZevrim's ResilienceMalevolenceWitherAnd the Winner Is...

Class Fantasy & Visuals: Diabolist (Winner)
Neither of the two hero talents really feel like they capture the essence of what Destruction is about, but Diabolist does do a bit more than Hellcaller. With Diabolist, you have some interaction with our cooldown Summon Infernal, adding another layer of power to this. Another core ability of Destruction is Chaos Bolt, and Ruination does a good job making for an alternative strong ability as well in its place.

Fun & Rewarding Gameplay: Tie between both Diabolist and Hellcaller (tie)
Both offer rewarding gameplay in their own ways - Diabolist makes soul shard spending more rewarding, and makes our cooldown Summon Infernal feel more impactful, while Hellcaller gives us a good instant cast in Wither and offers us more spread cleave damage.

Difficulty: Diabolist
Both Hellcaller and Diabolist change your damage profile a bit, but Diabolist gives you slightly more options in terms of optimizing your rotation around the hero talent abilities.
You're able to control your damage gain from Diabolist more than with Hellcaller. This is done by proccing Demonic Art from Diabolic Ritual with the correct spender for that situation, as well as knowing what demon you're able to prog, and casting Ruination where you benefit from it the most.

Defensiveness & Utility: Diabolist and Hellcaller (Tie)
One could argue for either of these to be the winner. At the end of the day, it's going to come down to tuning at the end. Both offer their own takes on defensiveness with Hellcaller granting Zevrim's Resilience and Illhoof's Design, both of which can feel underwhelming at their current value. Diabolists Infernal Vitality and Infernal Bulwark does feel like the better option based purely off of healing value.
When it comes to utility you might be interested in both Aura of Enfeeblement which can situationally be quite useful, although it's unlikely you're ever going to use your Unending Resolve solely to apply curses on everything faster.

Leveling: Hellcaller (Winner)
Leveling as Destruction in The War Within is mainly going to revolve around casting Shadowburn and Wither with Havoc. Wither being an instant cast means we're able to do more damage on the move, pull more stuff together while running and ultimately just feels way better.

Mythic+: Diabolist (Winner)
Diabolist power increases significantly the more shards we spend, and in Mythic+ dungeons we're able to go through quite a few shards with Inferno+Rain of Fire. Hellcaller does better on single-target and cleave, but with dungeons being a lot of AoE, it's unlikely it will compare to Diabolist.

Raid: Hellcaller (Winner)
Hellcaller gives a good boost to our single-target, as well as cleave. Spread cleave especially is something Destruction has been able to do quite well for a long time with Havoc.

Best Overall: Diabolist Hellcaller (Tie)
Both Diabolist and Hellcaller have their own places in the PvE scene. Diabolist does very well in Mythic+ dungeons where we're able to go through many shards and deal damage to large amount of mobs. Hellcaller works well with single-target and cleave, as well as open-world content where damage on movement is something we benefit greatly from.

Hero Talent Feedback DiabolistHellcallerWitherWitherBase Destruction Warlock Gameplay & TalentsShadowburnChannel DemonfireSoul FireDecimationIncinerateImmolateConflagrateChaos BoltRain of FireHavocShould You Play Destruction Warlock in the War Within?Rain of FireInfernoShadowburnDimensional RiftWitherConflagrateSummon InfernalFatSharkYesLock One Stop Shop@LoozyWoWHero Talent Guides for the War Within Launch

Blood DKFrost DKUnholy DK

Havoc DHVengeance DH

Balance DruidFeral DruidGuardian DruidRestoration Druid

Aug EvokerDevastation EvokerPreservation Evoker

BM HunterMM HunterSurvival Hunter

Arcane MageFire MageFrost Mage

Brewmaster MonkMistweaver MonkWindwalker Monk

Holy PaladinProtection PaladinRetribution Paladin

Discipline PriestHoly PriestShadow Priest

Assassination RogueOutlaw RogueSubtlety Rogue

Elemental ShamanEnhance ShamanRestoration Shaman

Affliction WarlockDemo WarlockDestro Warlock

Arms WarriorFury WarriorProtection Warrior

Comment by BeraninUh...destro looking a little weirdComment by BillientWrong title. Says it's for warlock but has all shaman info. Unless site is bugged...Comment by EyevyIt's showing with Enchantment shaman hero talents, I do suppose the destro warlock guy doesn't even play destro any more so he posted what we should be playing 😆,

Can't we just get some one who actually plays the spec, last time loozy posted about destro locks it was taken down Beacuse it was so bad and only like 5 sentences compared to every other person's view on other specs which were proper articals with comparison and he had to re-do it all again.Comment by BlahajadeI didn't realise destro got reworked this heavily, i'm looking forward to playing it even more now :DComment by Vail91In conclusion - reroll enhancement Shaman.Comment by lehan96a Sharlock would be really coolComment by zomgzbased wowheadComment by VelarianaDestruction warlock? This article is clearly about the enhance shaman hero specs.Comment by SilverizedI somehow get the feeling this isn't destruction :pComment by R136a1The Enhancement Shaman article was already posted 8 days ago.Comment by NovusBovusThe Fel Lords have SPOKEN Elemental is the new Chaos! All Hail our Ele-Fel Lords!Comment by NecrofelTo WoWHead lead or whatever, could you please give all warlock content to Kalamazi? More than half of your warlock content writers have no idea what they are talking about, and some don't even play warlock anymore. Kalamazi is a decent, non-controversial and actually knows what he is talking about for ALL 3 specs.Comment by AuzsiThis spec is dead and blizzard made it clear they have no intent to improve it.Comment by ManafoldI feel that the author neglected the hell out of mentioning all the synergies that Destruction has with Wither. Anything that was good with Immolate is now good with Wither but to an even better degree. Internal Combustion is a real option that feels way better with wither than it did with Immolate and does a hell of a lot more damage. Channel Demonfire works off of wither. Catacylsm applying wither. You have a few talents that increase the damage of wither such as Roaring Blaze,Comment by XmenttorThis spec is dead and blizzard made it clear they have no intent to improve it.Comment by wingthor1880It would be nice if these articles could showcase the different visuals for each hero talent.Comment by FiftysevenTo WoWHead lead or whatever, could you please give all warlock content to Kalamazi? More than half of your warlock content writers have no idea what they are talking about, and some don't even play warlock anymore. Kalamazi is a decent, non-controversial and actually knows what he is talking about for ALL 3 specs.Comment by FiftysevenTo WoWHead lead or whatever, could you please give all warlock content to Kalamazi? More than half of your warlock content writers have no idea what they are talking about, and some don't even play warlock anymore. Kalamazi is a decent, non-controversial and actually knows what he is talking about for ALL 3 specs.Comment by DegnoCalling aura of enfeeblement a "decent utility effect" is REEEEEEEEALLY strange, since it's just badly designed, absurdly weak AND useless.Comment by orca2017well thank you for the totally neutral info....so basically we can go either way.. one is not really heads and tails above the other...Kalamazi is a decent, non-controversial and actually knows what he is talking about for ALL 3 specs.I 1000000% agree