Warlock Double Legendaries in 9.2: Combinations for Affliction, Demonology and Destruction

Posted 2022/02/02 at 1:56 AM by Jaydaa

Memory of UnitySepulcher of the First Ones

The timeline and acquisition of Double Legendaries has changed on the 9.2 Eternity's End PTR. Check out our post below to learn how and when you'll be able equip two legendaries.

Double Legendary Acquisition in Patch 9.2

Our Guide Writers have provided initial thoughts on which Double Legendary combinations you'll likely equip in Patch 9.2. Check out all of our released articles below.

Theorycrafting of Double Legendaries in 9.2

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Disclaimer: All theorycrafting is based on the current tuning of the PTR using all the latest class and systems changes including Double Legendary and a complete 9.2 4-Set Tier bonus. Additional tuning and class changes may dramatically affect the recommendations seen below. This is merely a preview of each spec's Double Legendaries and final recommendations will be published closer to 9.2's launch.XyronicAs a Preface to this baseline guide - I want to note that covenant specific legendaries for warlocks are... bad. Like 2% damage gain at the top end, to a dps loss compared to the best covenant at the low end bad. So unless there are significant buffs to warlock covenant legendaries in the future, you're very likely going to be playing a covenant based off of their soulbind toolkit rather than what the legendary you're equipping gives you. That being said, let's take a look at the legendaries.

Best Affliction Warlock Double Legendaries for Sepulcher of the First Ones

Night Fae: Decaying Soul Satchel & Malefic Wrath

Decaying Soul Satchel is currently the strongest of any of the covenant legendary options. It's seen use in the MDI, is incredibly powerful in mythic+ with the popular Sow the Seeds build, and is generally a pretty good legendary. On single target, it only comes out to a 2% damage increase over a gearset that just isn't using a legendary in place of it, which really isn't great, but also you have to factor in that this scales with how many targets your Soul Rot hits. On 2+ targets, this actually becomes pretty good as far as warlock legendaries go. Malefic Wrath is just a defacto best warlock legendary for anything single target, being the only legendary we have that gives over 10% damage, and honestly probably on two targets as well. With the new set bonus it'll be increasingly easy to not only keep the malefic wrath buff up, but also have shards banked for your burst windows.

Necrolord: Shard of Annihilation & Malefic Wrath

Necrolord is the only covenant I'd only give a second thought to for potentially playing over night fae in progression. The single target damage gained from the soulbind traits has a very small edge over the night fae offerings, although the legendary that necrolord has is slightly worse, with none of the multi-target scaling that decaying soul satchel has to offer. That being said, necrolord does offer a very strong defensive tool in Fleshcraft as a replacement for Soulshape, and something very interesting that necrolord offers is relatively strong execute burst. Remember that Decimating Bolt makes your next 3 Shadow Bolt or 1 Drain Soul cast do a ton of extra damage - the necrolord legendary doubles down on that, giving those same casts a ton of crit chance and crit damage. If there's ever an execute phase where the fight lasts just over a 1 minute interval, necrolord affliction could unironically be a play.

Best Affliction Warlock Double Legendaries for Mythic+

Night Fae: Decaying Soul Satchel & Wrath of Consumption

Yeah. Wrath of Consumption. Let me explain. The new mythic+ affix, Encrypted, spawns 3 extremely low hp mobs (orbs) with every boss, and a ton of small packs. This means for a ton of extra time in the dungeon, you'll have rolling wrath of consumption stacks. Not to mention also that when the 3 orbs die, they also spawn a miniboss that can easily be cleaved down in 30 seconds or so to yet again extend your buff window. I'm not sure if affliction will find its place in the meta this season, but the possibilities seem pretty good. Affliction is already a pumper on AoE like mentioned above with the Decaying Soul Satchel + Sow the Seeds burst damage, but if wrath of consumption can be stacked and kept up throughout the dungeon, affliction might not be such a setback on single target as it currently is. Time will tell.

Not

Notwarlock

Best Demonology Warlock Double Legendaries for Sepulcher of the First Ones

Covenant: Decaying Soul Satchel & Wilfred's Sigil of Superior Summoning

Wilfred's Sigil of Superior Summoning is just miles ahead of any other legendary available to Demonology due to the strength of Summon Demonic Tyrant and that the majority of our damage profile is centered around having this hard hitting cooldown available to us. Decaying Soul Satchel even in a pure single target situation provides some benefit to our Demonic Tyrant and if Soul Rot hits any additional targets during the fight you are very very happy.

The only other legendary that is usable (but still 4% or more behind) in single target is Grim Inquisitor's Dread Calling which does close the gap a little bit due to us having an extra Dreadstalker but a 4% difference between these options is by far enough to be very disinterested in using it.

Covenant: Shard of Annihilation & Wilfred's Sigil of Superior Summoning

If you have chosen to play Necrolord the same differences apply between the two best legendaries; Wilfred's Sigil of Superior Summoning and 3%+ behind Grim Inquisitor's Dread Calling. Even when compared to the best setup for Night Fae it is within 1% damage so still certainly playable in most single target situations. The use of Shard of Annihilation does have a small impact in talent choices where you would want to play Wicked Maw over Summon Vilefiend but again the difference is minimal (within 1% of each other).

The other two covenants, Venthyr and Kyrian are, quite simply, just not worth exploring at this time even when using two legendaries.

Best Demonology Warlock Double Legendaries for Mythic+

Covenant: Decaying Soul Satchel & Grim Inquisitor's Dread Calling
Covenant: Shard of Annihilation & Grim Inquisitor's Dread Calling

When you start adding in the additional Dreadstalker we get from our two-piece tier bonus you start to really see the added benefit of buffing each cast of them from Grim Inquisitor's Dread Calling. The extra Dreadstalker + hitting multiple enemies with Soul Rot paired with the damage bonus from Grim Inquisitor's adds up quickly and is definitely the strongest option for Fortified weeks of Mythic+ where you are spending the bigger part of time on trash. You do lose some power against bosses with this setup but your overall should be considerably higher.

Of course playing with Wilfred's Sigil of Superior Summoning is also an option especially on Tyrannical weeks where you will want to have the big power gain against bosses. There are also definitely some enemies even on Fortified weeks that having your Tyrant available more often is a big benefit as well so the choice will predominately come down to your preference and group composition.

Loozy

Loozy

Best Destruction Warlock Double Legendaries for Sepulcher of the First Ones
Looking at the four covenants and their respective legendaries going into patch 9.2 and Sepulcher of the First ones, as a Destruction Warlock there mainly two viable options.

Night Fae: Decaying Soul Satchel & Cinders of the Azj'Aqir

The set bonus for Destruction Warlock largely revolves around generating and spending as many shards as you can, making extra shard generation a viable source for extra damage output. The legendary effect from Decaying Soul Satchel is unlikely to change much about this, as the uptime on the effect is so small. The strength of this legendary lies in cleave, where you're able to apply Soul Rot to multiple enemies, stacking up the hast and crit buff, and then dealing as much damage as you can in those 8 seconds. Ideally, this means either a big Cataclysm, or a well prepared Havoc with multiple casts of Chaos Bolt. Alternatively, this can mean a strong few casts of Rain of Fire.

This is not the most exciting legendary combination, as there's really no big interaction going on. This setup is basically empowering the strength of your character a few percent, but is very limited by the type of encounter you're facing, and how many stacks of Decaying Soul Satchel you're able to generate. That being said, Night Fae is really strong as a covenant in raids, due to its soulbind trees, but also the signature ability Soulshape which can be extremely useful. So it's likely we will still see Night Fae as a strong contender when choosing your covenant as a Destruction Warlock in Sepulcher of the First Ones.

Necrolord: Shard of Annihilation & Cinders of the Azj'Aqir

As mentioned above in the Night Fae section, this tiers set bonus revolves around generating and spending as many shards as you can, and again there is not really any exciting interaction with the Necrolord legendary. The Necrolord legendary however, has proven to be very powerful on its own when it comes to damage numbers. In its nature, the Necrolord Warlock revolves around execute damage, and with an increasingly scaling damage % against lower health enemies, this legendary only makes this more true. The bonus from Shard of Annihilation is just an extra buff to the Decimating Bolt buffed Incinerate casts. The strength in this bonus is both on single, and on two targets where you're able to utilize Havoc well.

Best Destruction Warlock Double Legendaries for Mythic+

Night Fae: Decaying Soul Satchel & Cinders of the Azj'Aqir/Wilfred's Sigil of Superior Summoning

The legendary bonus from Decaying Soul Satchel is noticeably more exciting on Mythic+, as you will very likely be able to consistently get more value from it. You're able to line up your Cataclysm burst onto a pack of mobs with multiple stacks of Decaying Soul Satchel, and then following it up with either Rain of Fire or Chaos Bolt casts. Night Fae is, and will likely always be the strongest covenant for Mythic+ in the first place, as the soulbind traits you get here are just way too good to pass up: First Strike. This also plays very well with the rotation of opening on a pack with Soul Rot -> Cataclysm -> Rain of Fire/Chaos Bolt. This is all on a relatively short cooldown as well, meaning you're likely to have it on many packs throughout the entire dungeon.

I have chosen to put two legendaries under the same bulletpoint in this section, and that's because your choice of legendary when playing a Destruction Warlock in Mythic+ will largely depend on the player. Some players and groups are able to get very big value out of Wilfred's Sigil of Superior Summoning, but if you're not doing a very organized run, you're likely better off playing Cinders of the Azj'Aqir. The interactions with Decaying Soul Satchel are very minor and don't matter enough to make separate descriptive sections.

Comment by HydroflexIs venthyr destro in M+ just completely bricked after the nerf?Comment by DhrallIs venthyr destro in M+ just completely bricked after the nerf?Comment by LockdesTalking about generating as many shards as possible as destro - wouldn't maybe Embers of the Diabolic Raiment be viable? I could imagine this would boost the set bonus best.Comment by forcakeIs venthyr destro in M+ just completely bricked after the nerf?Comment by J00tiiTalking about generating as many shards as possible as destro - wouldn't maybe Embers of the Diabolic Raiment be viable? I could imagine this would boost the set bonus best.Comment by majkosIs venthyr destro in M+ just completely bricked after the nerf?Comment by EkkaIs venthyr destro in M+ just completely bricked after the nerf?Comment by kenyololIs venthyr destro in M+ just completely bricked after the nerf?Comment by SoifonIs venthyr destro in M+ just completely bricked after the nerf? Hey guys, I want to play a Role Playing Game, but I want there to be only one role.Comment by StahlitzMan wowhead seriously needs some new writers. Xyro is once again as far off on affliction as one can be, and who is Loozy?

1) Affliction is currently !by far! the weakest warlock spec in terms of both aoe and st output on ptr. Our set bonus is literally the worst one in the game and our legendary options not named malefic wrath (which is still a pain in the butt to execute) are extremely weak and boring. Aff is in a terrible spot for 9.2 and desperatly needs some tuning done.

2) Destruction, just like any other warlock spec on both live and ptr, does NOT use Korayn as Soulbind. Dreamweaver is the best Covenant for all specs in all contents.

But this article aint about class performance, but about double lego options. Its basically DSS plus anything you would play instead of DSS. For every single spec. Necro ST is a thing, but its not far enough ahead to justify missing out on both soul shape and podtender for progression. Nec would need to be 10+% ahead in ST to have people even consider going that route.Comment by VSozonovIs venthyr destro in M+ just completely bricked after the nerf?Comment by BeraninMan wowhead seriously needs some new writers. Xyro is once again as far off on affliction as one can be, and who is Loozy?

1) Affliction is currently !by far! the weakest warlock spec in terms of both aoe and st output on ptr. Our set bonus is literally the worst one in the game and our legendary options not named malefic wrath (which is still a pain in the butt to execute) are extremely weak and boring. Aff is in a terrible spot for 9.2 and desperatly needs some tuning done.

2) Destruction, just like any other warlock spec on both live and ptr, does NOT use Korayn as Soulbind. Dreamweaver is the best Covenant for all specs in all contents.

But this article aint about class performance, but about double lego options. Its basically DSS plus anything you would play instead of DSS. For every single spec. Necro ST is a thing, but its not far enough ahead to justify missing out on both soul shape and podtender for progression. Nec would need to be 10+% ahead in ST to have people even consider going that route.Comment by Stahlitz
I agree with you for the most part but are we playing the same game with affliction AOE? DSS and sow is still insanely good.Comment by Dartx4Man wowhead seriously needs some new writers. Xyro is once again as far off on affliction as one can be, and who is Loozy?

1) Affliction is currently !by far! the weakest warlock spec in terms of both aoe and st output on ptr. Our set bonus is literally the worst one in the game and our legendary options not named malefic wrath (which is still a pain in the butt to execute) are extremely weak and boring. Aff is in a terrible spot for 9.2 and desperatly needs some tuning done.

2) Destruction, just like any other warlock spec on both live and ptr, does NOT use Korayn as Soulbind. Dreamweaver is the best Covenant for all specs in all contents.

But this article aint about class performance, but about double lego options. Its basically DSS plus anything you would play instead of DSS. For every single spec. Necro ST is a thing, but its not far enough ahead to justify missing out on both soul shape and podtender for progression. Nec would need to be 10+% ahead in ST to have people even consider going that route.Comment by XmenttorI agree with Affliction analysis

but demo and destro for M+ is incorrect and authors should do more researches and simcrafting rather then spilling nonsense.Comment by FrozzypixNo it's not. Most of players even won't feel difference at all.Comment by lockdotgodits true.the problem with affliction in ptr is the tier set is very weak in ST and completely useless in mythic plus aoe . on live mythic plus we arent meta aoe but we are good with STS even though in mythic plus are ST for bosses is the worst.most classes in ptr have a big dps boost now from their tier set and non cov leggo. so why we were good not great in mythic plus on live we have been surpassed by most classes by large amount of dps. just sticking with warlocks demo with 3+ targets gains 30% damage increase in ptr and destro gains almost 40% 3+ target . affliction ptr 3+ target 7.2%. and in ST demo and destro gain double the dps increase then affliction.there are lots of videos of great warlocks playing affliction in ptr even with wrath of consumption in mythic plus and its bad. you are still doing 9.1.5 damage say 11k to 13k average total damage at end of dungeon while most other dps classes including demo and destro averaging 16k to 20k. even though it angers me a well known streamer is correct that affliction is "swamp a**" tier in 9.2 as it stands.Comment by orca2017what about the if I am a kyrian void elf destro warlock dont I matter at all.?Comment by StahlitzMan wowhead seriously needs some new writers. Xyro is once again as far off on affliction as one can be, and who is Loozy?

1) Affliction is currently !by far! the weakest warlock spec in terms of both aoe and st output on ptr. Our set bonus is literally the worst one in the game and our legendary options not named malefic wrath (which is still a pain in the butt to execute) are extremely weak and boring. Aff is in a terrible spot for 9.2 and desperatly needs some tuning done.

2) Destruction, just like any other warlock spec on both live and ptr, does NOT use Korayn as Soulbind. Dreamweaver is the best Covenant for all specs in all contents.

But this article aint about class performance, but about double lego options. Its basically DSS plus anything you would play instead of DSS. For every single spec. Necro ST is a thing, but its not far enough ahead to justify missing out on both soul shape and podtender for progression. Nec would need to be 10+% ahead in ST to have people even consider going that route.Comment by SawordThis really seems off base im not exactly sure what these writers are thinking, no mention of wilfreds in destro single target at all? or even madness? the tier set almost guarantees we wont be running roaring blaze anymore which makes cinders lose a ton of value. Im also confused on why you would bring up aff sustain aoe in m+, burst aoe is far more valuable as packs dont last a long time and your dots are a core part of your aoe damage at all. Running synergy or even malefic rapture for bosses would give you a much more valuable dps output.