Vengeance Demon Hunter was the strongest Tank option in the entire game towards the end of the Dragonflight expansion, and thanks to some intuitive evolutionary steps for the spec, it has the potential to continue that dominance in The War Within.
Though there are some notable nerfs to be aware of, existing Vengeance players should find that it feels very similar to play this time around. Additionally, almost every Tank spec has seen its self-sustain toolkit reduced in this expansion, and Vengeance is actually in pretty good shape considering that move from the developer.
Both Hero Talent trees are also proving to be effective for the class as a whole, with two distinct playstyles and impressive output that should allow for buildcrafting and more of a situation-specific approach.
With all of that in mind, here’s everything you need to know about building and playing a Vengeance Demon Hunter in The War Within.
Vengeance Demon Hunter Class changes in The War Within
Frailty has been a particular focus for nerfs at the start of this expansion, alongside some of the spec’s outgoing damage abilities. The headline changes relate to Illuminated Sigils, which now grants 12% parry chance against enemies affected by Sigil of Flame, instead of the 15% it was previously. Additionally, it also reduces the cooldown of Sigil of Flame by 5 seconds and adds an extra charge.
Enemies affected by the Frailty debuff now heal the player for 8% of damage done to that enemy, rather than 10%. The Void Reaver talent has also been nerfed, reducing incoming damage by 3% against enemies with Frailty.
Darkglare Boon is now marginally less effective, dropping the cooldown of Fel Devastation by 15-30% and restoring 15-30 Fury (previously 20-40). Lastly, Down in Flames was also hit with the nerf gun, reducing the cooldown of Fiery Brand by 12 seconds instead of the usual 15.
Vengeance Demon Hunter talents, Hero Talents and build
The Demon Hunter talent tree is one of the most effective and important class trees in the game, in terms of active abilities for the player to use. As such, there are plenty of compulsory nodes to work towards, as well as some notable exclusions for the class’ Tank spec.
For our build, we have put points into most active nodes, including Vengeful Retreat, Chaos Nova, Felblade and The Hunt, to cover everything from Mythic+ to Delves. Though abilities like Chaos Nova won’t get much use in raids and difficult dungeon content, it’s a useful defensive option to have in The War Within. That said, it can be ignored, and the points can be redistributed elsewhere if your focus is on group content.
Outside of that, much of the tree is centered on building into Sigils and improving them as much as possible. This culminates in major damage dealer Sigil of Spite, which is nice to have for AoE output and overall threat. Lastly, we have plenty of damage reduction and stat boosts via nodes like Illidari Knowledge and Internal Struggle, as well as on-use contingencies like Darkness when things start to get out of hand.
The Vengeance tree’s unusually poor middle column remains largely untouched in our build, as we pursue the most tangible buffs and staple abilities of the spec. Starting with Fel Devastation, this will be the central focus and integral to everything that Vengeance does in combat.
The first focus is as broad of a damage reduction setup as possible. To achieve this, we spec into nodes that include Deflecting Spikes (increased Parry chance), Fel Flame Fortification (reduced incoming Magic damage) and Painbringer (complete damage reduction).
There are also plenty of active abilities that will play a role in the standard rotation for Vengeance, as well as increasing overall damage output. These include Fiery Brand, Fracture, Spirit Bomb and extra on-use utility options like Sigil of Silence, all of which should get some use in Mythic+, raids and solo content, like Delves.
The tree culminates in Illuminated Sigils, which is absolutely critical to the way the spec functions despite the recent nerfs. Additionally, Soul Carver adds a final salvo to the outgoing damage profile for Vengeance, alongside some final buffs to Frailty, Fel Devastation and Immolation Aura.
Hero Talents
In a slightly unusual turn of events, considering how far clear Aldrachi Reaver was in the beta, both Hero Talent trees are now perfectly viable for both Demon Hunter specs. In fact, we actually recommend Fel-Scarred in our build for everything outside of single-target raid encounters, thanks in large part to the room it allows us to play in different ways.
The prescriptive nature of Aldrachi Reaver and its dependency on glaive abilities will put some people off using it altogether, and Fel-Scarred has happily risen to plug those gaps. The tree itself is remarkably broad in scope for such a small offering, bringing a series of tangible benefits that any Vengeance player should seriously take a look at.
As is usually the case with Hero Talent trees, three choice nodes offer further customization. If you are avoiding Chaos Nova altogether, then you’ll want to lock in Pursuit of Angriness for the extra movement speed, though we went for Wave of Debilitation to complement our build choices earlier on.
The other two choice nodes have real standout options that every Fel-Scarred player should use in the current patch. The first is Set Fire to the Pain, which converts all non-Fire damage to Fire damage before reducing the amount taken by that element by 10%.
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Secondly, we have used Student of Suffering for the sizeable Mastery buff after using Sigil of Flame, which will play a part in the regular rotation for Vengeance.
Aldrachi Reaver is still the more decisive play in raiding scenarios (and arguably in very high Mythic+ because of the damage checks). The passive buffs it provides are undoubtedly strong, and if you lean into playing how it wants you to, then the ceiling is actually very high.
The first choice node grants a great opportunity to reset rotation or fill in gaps when cooldowns begin to affect our contributions in encounters. As such, we went with Unhindered Assault, which allows Vengeful Retreat to reset the cooldown of Felblade.
Incorruptible Spirit grants an additional absorb shield based on healing in the second slot. Our final choice node is a toss up depending on whether you want the extra AoE damage provided by Preemptive Strike. The other option there is Keen Engagement, which is great for keeping Fury topped up when resource management gets difficult.
Stat priority
The kings of movement in World of Warcraft need plenty of Agility to do what they do, so that is the primary stat to look out for when gearing up. From there, our recommended stat priority for Vengeance Demon Hunter is as follows:
- Haste
- Critical Strike
- Versatility
- Mastery
Though the precedence these stats take will vary somewhat depending on which activity you wish to pursue, the order will generally not change unless the class undergoes a major redesign. Haste is the major priority because it reduces the global cooldown and allows more uptime to mitigate for yourself while tanking. It also reduces the individual cooldowns of abilities like Demon Spikes, Immolation Aura and Felblade.
Critical Strike is also very important for the twofold benefits that it offers. The first is that it obviously increases the player’s chance to hit critically, but it also converts to Parry rating for Vengeance, meaning that your survivability should noticeably increase when your crit rating is high. Versatility is also nice to have as a generic damage and healing buff, as well as overall damage reduction, further increasing how tanky the spec can be.
Rotation
Playing Vengeance Demon Hunter is all about the intelligent use of Fury and Souls, as well as popping abilities as soon as they come off cooldown. As such, there will be a certain amount of reactivity on your part that could take some time to master, but it is well worth doing if you’re looking to get the most out of this impressive tank spec.
We have designed the following rotation under the presumption that you are using the Fel-Scarred Hero Talent tree. This means there is a significant focus on the bonuses provided to Fel Devastation and Metamorphosis by Demonsurge, Violent Transformation and Demonic Intensity.
- Sigil of Flame
- The Hunt
- Spirit Bomb where possible
- Immolation Aura
- Infernal Strike
- Fel Devastation
- Metamorphosis/Fracture depending on Fury availability
- Soul Cleave
- Fiery Brand
- Sigil of Spite
The above will work for most group encounters or boss fights with additional adds, as well as more generally in PvE content. That said, there are other ways to increase your potency in pure-single target engagements as a more general rotation. The best way to do this is to start with Metamorphosis, before instantly hitting Spirit Bomb.
Then, use Infernal Strike to close the distance (saving The Hunt for later in the rotation). From there, it’s a case of using Fiery Brand, Sigil of Flame and Fel Devastation, alongside more passive damage dealers like Immolation Aura. It’s all a bit situational but as one of the more intuitive specs to play, it’s quite easy to understand what is working as intended.
Vengeance Demon Hunter tier set breakdown
For this first season of World of Warcraft: The War Within, Vengeance Demon Hunters will have access to the Screaming Torchfiend’s Brutality tier set. This is entirely centered on Sigil of Flame and works well as part of the broader build we have discussed in this guide. The 2 and 4-set bonuses for Vengeance are as follows:
- 2-Set – When you attack a target afflicted by Sigil of Flame, your damage and healing are increased by 2% and your Stamina is increased by 2% for 8 sec, stacking up to 5.
- 4-Set – Sigil of Flame’s periodic damage has a chance to flare up, shattering an additional Soul Fragment from a target and dealing (60.72% of Attack power) additional damage. Each 40 Fury you spend reduces its cooldown by 1.0 sec.
Both of these won’t affect how the spec actually plays too much, but it does provide the opportunity for nearly 100% uptime on Sigil of Flame. The big thing to watch out for here is Fury management, as it pertains to the cooldown reduction offered by the 4-piece bonus. Though resource issues aren’t as bad as they used to be, you will need to be very aware of your abilities and how much they cost.
Gems and Enchants
As is usually the way with Enchantments in modern World of Warcraft, there are plenty of options to choose from, but only one or two that really stand out. For most scenarios, we recommend the following additions to each gear slot:
| Slot | Best Enchant |
| Cloak | Enchant Cloak – Chant of Burrowing Rapidity |
| Chest | Enchant Chest – Crystalline Radiance |
| Bracers | Enchant Bracer – Chant of Armored Speed |
| Legs | Stormbound Armor Kit |
| Boots | Enchant Boots – Scout’s March |
| Ring – Regular | Enchant Ring – Radiant Haste |
| Ring – Cursed | Enchant Ring – Cursed Haste |
For the reasons we explained in the Stat Priority earlier, we have gone for a series of Enchants that either provide significant boosts to our primary stat or secondary options like Haste. In the gem slot, you’ll want to go for the Culminating Blasphemite thanks to the percentage Critical Effect bonus it provides based on the number of unique Algari gem colors.
That’s our complete guide to playing Vengeance Demon Hunter in WoW: The War Within Patch 11.0.2. Check out our Tank tier list to see how the spec is performing in The War Within right now. If you’re considering changing roles, we also have a full breakdown of DPS and Healer specs.