Demon Hunter — Havoc
Havoc is a fast, mobile melee spec that pours Fury into Chaos Strike and Blade Dance while opening burst windows with Eye Beam and Metamorphosis. Mobility and Fury flow define the playstyle.
World of Warcraft: Midnight · Season 1
Guide contents
How Havoc Demon Hunter wins
Havoc is a fast, mobile melee spec that pours Fury into Chaos Strike and Blade Dance while opening burst windows with Eye Beam and Metamorphosis. Mobility and Fury flow define the playstyle.
- Role
- Melee DPS
- Stat lead
- Agility then Critical Strike
- Single target
- Aldrachi Reaver
- Cleave / AoE
- Fel-Scarred
Strong when
- Best-in-class mobility and uptime
- Strong burst AoE with Eye Beam and Metamorphosis
- Reliable cleave and magic damage
Stat priority and consumables
Item level and effect strength still matter. Use this ordering to break close choices, then re-check it after major gear swaps.
- 1.Agility
- 2.Critical Strike
- 3.Haste
- 4.Versatility
- 5.Mastery
Agility and item level come first. Critical Strike and Haste are the leading secondaries because they drive Fury generation and Chaos Strike refunds - more resets means more spenders inside your damage windows. Versatility is flat and safe, and Mastery trails for both builds. The order holds for Aldrachi Reaver and Fel-Scarred alike; sim exact gear before committing to expensive crafts.
Flasks, food, potions, weapon oils, and runes for this build.
Opener and priority
Use these as decision priorities, not a rigid cast sequence. Re-evaluate whenever targets, resources, procs, or mechanics change.
Core principles
- Avoid Fury waste: in single target, Fury is spent on Chaos Strike while always keeping enough banked to cast Blade Dance the moment it comes off cooldown.
- Keep abilities on cooldown: Blade Dance, Immolation Aura, and Eye Beam are used on cooldown, with Fury spent during the downtime between them.
- Line up medium cooldowns: Essence Break lines up with every second Eye Beam, and Vengeful Retreat (for Inertia and Initiative) lines up with every Eye Beam.
Fel-ScarredThe current recommendation in all content. Focuses on Eye Beam and Metamorphosis for major burst through Demonsurge - a burst profile that makes Inertia the primary build choice. Single-target and AoE share the same list; AoE simply leans harder on Immolation Aura.
Single-target priority
- 1.Felblade or Fel Rush - if the Inertia buff is up, to proc it
- 2.The Hunt
- 3.Death Sweep
- 4.Immolation Aura - if capped on charges
- 5.Vengeful Retreat - if Eye Beam is off cooldown
- 6.Eye Beam
- 7.Metamorphosis
- 8.Blade Dance
- 9.Annihilation
- 10.Chaos Strike
- 11.Immolation Aura
- 12.Felblade
- 13.Throw Glaive or Fel Rush - when no other abilities are available
AoE priority
- 1.Felblade or Fel Rush - if the Inertia buff is up, to proc it
- 2.The Hunt
- 3.Death Sweep
- 4.Immolation Aura - if capped on charges - in AoE it is a substantial part of your damage, so never sit on 2 charges
- 5.Vengeful Retreat - if Eye Beam is off cooldown
- 6.Eye Beam
- 7.Metamorphosis
- 8.Blade Dance
- 9.Annihilation
- 10.Chaos Strike
- 11.Immolation Aura
- 12.Felblade
- 13.Throw Glaive or Fel Rush - when no other abilities are available
Opener
- 1.Cast Immolation Aura twice, starting about 3 seconds pre-pull.
- 2.Use Potion of Recklessness and any on-use trinkets - never macro them into Metamorphosis.
- 3.Cast Eye Beam.
- 4.Cast The Hunt.
- 5.Cast Felblade.
- 6.Cast Death Sweep twice.
- 7.Cast Annihilation.
- 8.Cast Vengeful Retreat and Metamorphosis.
- 9.Cast Death Sweep.
- 10.Cast Consuming Fire.
- 11.Cast Annihilation.
- 12.Cast Fel Rush.
- 13.Cast Abyssal Gaze, then continue with the normal priority.
Aldrachi ReaverAdds Reaver's Glaive, replacing Throw Glaive every time you generate and pick up 6 souls. Since the Midnight pre-patch changes it no longer heavily alters the rotation - it is consistent throughput rather than cooldown windows.
Single-target priority
- 1.The Hunt
- 2.Death Sweep
- 3.Vengeful Retreat
- 4.Eye Beam
- 5.Metamorphosis
- 6.Blade Dance
- 7.Reaver's Glaive
- 8.Annihilation
- 9.Chaos Strike
- 10.Immolation Aura
- 11.Felblade
- 12.Fel Rush - when no other abilities are available - Throw Glaive is NOT cast, since Screaming Brutality spends its charges for free
AoE priority
- 1.Chaos Strike - important: if Rending Strike and Glaive Flurry are both up, you MUST spend Rending Strike with Chaos Strike before casting Blade Dance in AoE
- 2.The Hunt
- 3.Death Sweep
- 4.Immolation Aura - if capped on charges
- 5.Vengeful Retreat - before a Fury of the Aldrachi empowered Blade Dance
- 6.Eye Beam
- 7.Metamorphosis
- 8.Blade Dance
- 9.Reaver's Glaive
- 10.Annihilation
- 11.Chaos Strike
- 12.Immolation Aura
- 13.Felblade
- 14.Fel Rush - when no other abilities are available - Throw Glaive is NOT cast, since Screaming Brutality spends its charges for free
Opener
- 1.Cast Immolation Aura 1 GCD pre-pull.
- 2.Use Potion of Recklessness and any on-use trinkets.
- 3.Cast The Hunt - it generates your first Reaver's Glaive. If you already hold one from a previous pull, throw it from range BEFORE The Hunt or it is wasted.
- 4.Cast Reaver's Glaive to apply Reaver's Mark.
- 5.Cast Eye Beam.
- 6.Cast Death Sweep.
- 7.Cast Vengeful Retreat.
- 8.Cast Annihilation.
- 9.Cast Death Sweep.
- 10.Cast Metamorphosis.
- 11.Cast Death Sweep.
- 12.Cast Eye Beam, then continue with the normal priority.
Pre-combat checks
- Havoc has no spec-specific pre-combat steps - the raid buff applies when you attack - so this is a consumables check.
- Apply weapon oil (Thalassian Phoenix Oil) to main-hand and off-hand; it lasts 2 hours.
- Keep your flask (Flask of the Shattered Sun) and food buff active, and use a Void-Touched Augment Rune for extra power.
Major cooldowns
Metamorphosis
- Not a press-and-go button: Chaotic Transformation resets the cooldown of Eye Beam and Death Sweep when you cast it.
- A large portion of your burst happens BEFORE Metamorphosis is cast, so macroing trinkets directly into Meta is extremely bad - potions and on-use trinkets need their own keybind earlier in the opener.
- Follow the opener sequences to set up the pre-Meta rotation correctly.
Advanced tips
Inertia and Vengeful Retreat timing
- With Inertia you line Vengeful Retreat up with every Eye Beam - Tactical Retreat and Cycle of Hatred bring both to a 20-second cooldown.
- The goal is overlapping the 18% damage amp and Initiative crit buff onto Eye Beam and the Demonsurge explosions that follow.
- If you de-sync, keep using Eye Beam on cooldown and hold Vengeful Retreat for the next Eye Beam.
Fel-Scarred specifics
- The primary goal is Eye Beam on cooldown, extracting the maximum number of Demonsurges.
- You will sometimes overcap Fury - that is fine while following the priority; cooldown uptime matters more than perfect Fury efficiency.
- Unspent Demonsurge empowerments are lost if re-triggered by Metamorphosis or Eye Beam - spend them before pressing a button that grants more.
- In AoE, stay close to enemies during Immolation Aura (Flamebound gives it a 10-yard range), especially as it ends so the Ragefire pop lands.
Aldrachi Reaver specifics
- In AoE (2+ targets), always spend Reaver's Glaive empowerments Chaos Strike first, Blade Dance second - Bladecraft makes this 12 Fury of the Aldrachi slashes and funnels priority damage through Wounded Quarry.
- With add spawns coming, hold Reaver's Glaive to empower Blade Dance - the more targets hit, the more efficient your glaives.
- Maintain your Reaver's Mark debuff on your primary target at all times - the stack count is only a 6% damage buff per stack and does not multiply Wounded Quarry. It cannot exist on multiple targets; swapping replaces it.
- With Exergy, Vengeful Retreat can be held a few seconds to line Initiative up with Eye Beam or Fury of the Aldrachi, as long as the Exergy buff will not drop; every The Hunt cast extends your leeway.
Talents and hero trees
Use Aldrachi Reaver for the single-target profile below and Fel-Scarred when cleave or adds make its toolkit more valuable.
Recommended starting profiles
Single-target: Aldrachi Reaver
Fel-Scarred is recommended in all content - Eye Beam and Metamorphosis Demonsurge burst define your single-target windows.
- Aldrachi Reaver hero tree
- Stat priority: Agility > Critical Strike
- Interrupt: Disrupt
Multi-target: Fel-Scarred
Fel-Scarred also leads in AoE. Aldrachi Reaver's Reaver's Glaive is steady throughput now: no rotational change in single-target, with a Chaos Strike-first rule only at 2 or more targets.
- Fel-Scarred hero tree
- Prioritize AoE and add-swap talents
- Interrupt: Disrupt
Verified import strings
Start with the profile matching your content. Boss and dungeon tabs in the gear section show the exact loadout used for each ranked result.
Raid Single Target - Aldrachi Reaver
Default raid build for pure boss damage. Aldrachi Reaver rewards the Reaver's Glaive combo - Chaos Strike into Blade Dance - so the build leans on Essence Break windows, Inner Demon, and Shattered Destiny to keep Metamorphosis rolling. Keen Engagement and Army Unto Oneself are the standard hero-choice picks; take Incorruptible Spirit when the fight has sustained rot damage.
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Default key build. Fel-Scarred extends Metamorphosis and adds Demonsurge, so you plan every pull around Eye Beam into Meta with Immolation Aura and Blade Dance carrying sustained AoE. Glaive Tempest adds burst on stacked packs, Soulscar and Burn It Out fill the damage profile, and Master of the Glaive plus Chaos Nova cover the control a route needs.
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Aldrachi Reaver variant for players comfortable weaving movement into the rotation. Inertia (or Exergy on the same row) turns Vengeful Retreat and Fel Rush into damage windows, with Unhindered Assault and Felblade gluing you back onto the target. More APM and more positioning risk for more output - skip it on fights that punish free movement, like Imperator Averzian's rotating melee soaks.
Arena - Burst and Survival (3v3)
Layered escapes wrapped around Eye Beam and Metamorphosis goes. Glimpse makes Vengeful Retreat a defensive, Rain from Above is your hard reset, and Detainment upgrades Imprison into a true setup tool. Swap Reverse Magic for Illidan's Grasp against comps with a kickable kill window; Netherwalk covers the go you cannot avoid.
Complete talent reference
Every class, specialization, and hero-tree talent from Blizzard game data. Active and choice talents stay open; passive nodes remain searchable and expand on demand.
Demon Hunter class tree
Shared class talents, including throughput, control, defensives, and movement.
Active and choice talents
Passive talents
Havoc specialization tree
Every Havoc talent currently exposed by Blizzard game data.
Active and choice talents
Passive talents
Fel-Scarred
Fel-Scarred hero talents, including every active, choice, and passive node exposed by Blizzard.
Active and choice talents
Passive talents
Aldrachi Reaver
Aldrachi Reaver hero talents, including every active, choice, and passive node exposed by Blizzard.
Active and choice talents
Passive talents
Annihilator
Annihilator hero talents, including every active, choice, and passive node exposed by Blizzard.
Active and choice talents
Passive talents
Void-Scarred
Void-Scarred hero talents, including every active, choice, and passive node exposed by Blizzard.
Active and choice talents
Passive talents
Boss and dungeon loadouts
Switch between raid and Mythic+ to inspect the top player for every available encounter: exact talents, source link, item level, enchant and socket counts, and the player's gear.
Pulling the top Warcraft Logs result, exact talents, and equipment for each boss.
Editorial acquisition targets
Use these slot targets when planning drops and crafted pieces. The encounter explorer above remains the source for the exact gear worn by each ranked player.
Raid acquisition targets
Mythic+ acquisition targets
Enchants
Choose enhancements after your equipment is settled. Secondary-stat enchant choices move with your current stat mix and the content you are preparing for.
Gems
Socket into the current stat priority, then re-check after major equipment swaps rather than treating a gem choice as permanent.
Embellishments
Crafted effects are capped at two equipped embellishments. Lock these in only after deciding which crafted slots survive your next raid or Mythic+ upgrades.
Utility, defensives, and movement
Your Demon Hunter toolkit is part of the rotation whenever it prevents lost uptime, lethal damage, or an enemy cast.
Defensives
Elite mobility from Double Jump, Fel Rush, and Vengeful Retreat; Darkness is a raid-wide dodge cooldown.
Interrupt: Disrupt - grab a focus-interrupt macro on the Havoc macros page.
Interface and macros
Use interface changes only when they expose a decision sooner: resources, procs, defensives, dispels, interrupts, and encounter assignments.
Focus interrupt
#showtooltip Disrupt
/cast [@focus,harm,nodead][] DisruptWhat improves results
- Never Fury cap - dump with Chaos Strike
- Always Eye Beam into Metamorphosis, never cancel it early
- Keep Immolation Aura on cooldown for Fury and AoE
- Use Fel Rush and momentum for uptime, not just movement
Common mistakes
- Capping Fury
- Delaying or clipping Eye Beam
- Using The Hunt purely as a travel button
- Dropping Immolation Aura uptime
FAQ
5 quick answersWhat is the best Havoc Demon Hunter stat priority in Midnight Season 1?
Agility first, then Critical Strike > Haste > Versatility > Mastery. Crit and Haste drive Fury generation and Chaos Strike refunds, which is where Havoc's output actually comes from. The order is the same for both hero trees; sim before buying expensive crafted pieces.
Which Havoc hero tree should I use?
Aldrachi Reaver for single-target and pure boss fights - it revolves around the Reaver's Glaive combo of Chaos Strike into Blade Dance. Fel-Scarred for Mythic+, cleave, and AoE fights, where extended Metamorphosis and Demonsurge win the big windows.
What is the Havoc opener?
Sigil of Flame and Immolation Aura for Fury, Eye Beam to enter Metamorphosis, Essence Break inside Meta if talented, then Chaos Strike and Blade Dance to dump Fury, with The Hunt for extra burst. Pot and on-use trinkets go inside that window, not before it.
When should I use Felblade?
Only when you genuinely need Fury. Chaos Strike - Annihilation inside Metamorphosis - is your default button. If you are pressing Felblade often during cooldown windows, you are pooling wrong.
What does Havoc bring to a Mythic+ group?
High sustained AoE, the best mobility in the melee bracket, and real utility: Disrupt on a short cooldown, Chaos Nova and Imprison for stops, Sigil of Misery on the class tree, and Darkness for party-wide damage events.
Guide Updates
- Jul 31, 2026Initial full Havoc guide: four builds, raid and Mythic+ gear paths, encounter decisions for the Season 1 bosses, and consumables for 12.0.7.
- Jul 31, 2026Source trail: stat order, hero-tree leans, and Disrupt verified against the Season 1 spec playbook; every ability and talent name checked against the Havoc action list, active talent data, and PvP talent data.
- Jul 30, 202612.0.7 patch review completed: no changes to the Havoc priority - Aldrachi Reaver remains the single-target default and Fel-Scarred the Mythic+ default.
Talents by enemy class
Pick an opponent to see the pressure your PvP build must answer. The baseline comes from this spec's current arena build when one is published.
Grip setups, anti-caster pressure, and sustained melee uptime.
Mobility, anti-slow, and physical or magic mitigation.
Keep an answer for grip-based isolation and do not spend movement before the Death Knight commits their control chain.
Layered escapes wrapped around Eye Beam and Metamorphosis goes. Glimpse makes Vengeful Retreat a defensive, Rain from Above is your hard reset, and Detainment upgrades Imprison into a true setup tool. Swap Reverse Magic for Illidan's Grasp against comps with a kickable kill window; Netherwalk covers the go you cannot avoid.
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