WoW: The War Within Diabolist Warlock Hero Talents guide

Hero Talents are an exciting new direction for the class system in World of Warcraft. Scheduled to arrive with The War Within expansion, there is a lot to be excited about. One of those talent sets is the Diabolist Warlock.

For those who don’t know, Hero Talents are designed to augment the existing talent systems in the game. They should allow for further customization and augmentation to make each individual character feel more unique.

Each class has three Hero Talent trees in total, with players able to select between two of those, depending on which spec they are playing. This changes for Druids, who have access to four, and Demon Hunters, who have two.

One of the new trees on offer to Warlocks is the Diabolist. Here’s everything you need to know.

Diabolist Warlock full Hero Talent tree explained

All Hero Talent trees follow the same format, with a Keystone and Capstone talent at the beginning and end of the tree respectively. In between, there are three rows of talents for players to choose between. Those act as the areas for more significant customization, in this case for either Demonology or Destruction specs. The full list of Hero Talents for the Diabolist Warlock is as follows:

Diabolist Warlock Keystone Hero Talent

Diabolic Ritual: Spending a Soul Shard grants Diabolic Ritual for 20 seconds. While Diabolic Ritual is active, each Soul Shard spent reduces its duration by 1 second. When Diabolic Ritual expires you gain Demonic Art, causing your next ability that costs Soul Shards to summon an Overlord, Mother of Chaos, or Pit Lord that unleashes a devastating attack against your enemies. 

Diabolist Warlock first-row Hero Talents

Cloven Souls: Enemies damaged by your Overlord have their souls cloven, increasing damage taken by you and your pets by 10% for 20 seconds. 

Touch of Rancora: Diabolic Ritual increases the damage of your next ability that costs Soul Shards by 30% and reduces its cast time by 50%. 

Secrets of the Coven: Mother of Chaos empowers your next Shadow Bolt or Incinerate to become Demonfire Barrage. 

• Demonfire Barrage: Channel a barrage of 4 Shadow Bolts or Incinerates toward the enemy target over 1.5 seconds. 

Diabolist Warlock second-row Hero Talents

Choice Node: Soul-Etched Circles and Annihilan’s Bellow

• Soul-Etched Circles: You always gain the benefit of Soulburn when casting Demonic Circle: Teleport, increasing your movement speed by 50% and making you immune to snares and roots for 6 seconds. 
• Annihilan’s Bellow: Howl of Terror cooldown is reduced by 15 seconds and range is increased by 5 yards. 

Choice Node: Cruelty of Kerxan and Infernal Machine 

• Cruelty of Kerxan: Nether Portal, Summon Demonic Tyrant, and Summon Infernal grant Diabolic Ritual and reduce its duration by 3 seconds. 
• Infernal Machine: Abilities that cost Soul Shards decrease the duration of Diabolic Ritual by 1 additional second while your Demonic Tyrant, Nether Portal, or Infernal is active.

Choice Node: Infernal Vitality and Infernal Bulwark 

• Infernal Vitality: Unending Resolve heals you for 30% of your maximum health over 10 seconds. 
• Infernal Bulwark: Unending Resolve grants Soul Leech equal to 10% of your maximum health and increases the maximum amount Soul Leech can absorb by 10% for 8 seconds.

Diabolist Warlock third-row Hero Talents

Flames of Xoroth: Fire damage increased 2% and damage dealt by your demons is increased 2%. 

Abyssal Dominion: Grimoire: Felguard and Cataclysm gain additional effects: 

• Grimoire: Felguard (Demonology) lasts 3 seconds longer and its cooldown is reduced by 30 seconds. 
• Casting Cataclysm (Destruction) summons an Overfiend that casts Chaos Bolt 2 times at 80% effectiveness before departing. 

Gloom of Nathreza: Hand of Gul’dan deals 15% increased damage for each Soul Shard spent. Enemies marked by your Havoc take 5% increased damage from your single target spells. 

Diabolist Warlock Capstone Hero Talent

Ruination: Summoning a Pit Lord causes your next Hand of Gul’dan or Chaos Bolt to become Ruination. 

• Ruination: Call down a demon-infested meteor from the depths of the Twisting Nether, dealing Chaos damage on impact to all enemies within 8 yards of the target and summoning 3 Wild Imps. 

That’s the complete list of Diabolist Warlock Hero Talents. This guide will be updated as The War Within nears launch, to reflect the most powerful builds and interesting combinations.

Make sure to check out our other Hero Talent guides below:

Colossus Warrior | Keeper of the Grove Druid | Dark Ranger Hunter | Frostfire Mage | Oracle Priest | Elune’s Chosen Druid | Wildstalker Druid | Herald of the Sun Paladin | Scalecommander Evoker | Trickster Rogue | Templar Paladin | Diabolist Warlock | Rider of the Apocalypse Death Knight | Deathbringer Death Knight | Aldrachi Reaver Demon Hunter | Druid of the Claw Druid | Pack Leader Hunter | Flameshaper Evoker | Spellslinger Mage | Shado-Pan Monk