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Warlocks have gone through whatmight be the biggest overhaulinWoWSeason of Discovery. Even compared to the new Tanking specs available to Rogues and Shamans, and the new Healing potential of the Mage class, Warlock Tanks are in a league of their own, able to easily compete and even beat traditional Tanks at their job.
The backbone of the best Warlock SoD Rune is Metamorphosis, of course, which quite literally turns the Warlock into a shadowy demon with completely new abilities. But there are a lot of other great Warlock Runes that help to flesh things out, too. This guide goes over whatthe best Warlock Tank SoD Runes are, and what makes them so crucial to the Warlock Tank playstyle.
Demonic Grace Effect
Warlock Tanks tend to go into the Demonology Talent Tree and have an Imp out for a little extra DPS. Demonic Grace is an activated ability that gives you and your pet a temporary, but extremely useful, buff to both yourdamage mitigation and DPS output.
On a 20 second cooldown, both you and your pet will gain a 30% boost to Dodge Chance and Critical Hit chance for all attack types for six seconds. Demonic Grace is therefore both a great Defensive that you can cast regularly, and a great way to help generate more Damage and consequently manage Threat better.
Demonic Tactics Effect
Demonic Tactics is a Chest Rune that simply increases the Critical Hit chance for spells cast by you or your Demon by 10%. 10% extra Critical Hit chance ishugein ClassicWoW, and this goes a long way in helping maintain Threat with your unique casting Tank kit.
Aside from a fewtotally Class-changing abilities, the majority of the best Warlock Tank SoD Runes have pretty simple effects. Demonic Tactics is one that doesn’t give you a new button to press, but offers a basic effect that’s too hard to pass up.
Arguably themost iconic rune in the Season of Discovery, Metamorphosis is the backbone of the Warlock Tank SoD build. It massively increases your armor, reduces the chance to get Critically Hit, increases Threat generation, and doubles Mana regeneration from Life Tap. Not only do several of your Warlock spells transform into new Tanking-ready ones, your player model also transforms into a menacing, huge shadowy Demon.
Warlock Tanks are performing extremely well in the Season of Discovery, and a lot of it is because of just how transformative the Metamorphosis ability is – literally and figuratively. It takes a while to unlock, but the journey is well worth having one of the craziest Runes in SoD.
Shadow and Flame Effect
Introduced in Phase Two, the Shadow and Flame Rune is one that provides a simple effect, but one that’s incredibly useful for Warlock Tanks. With this Rune, Warlocks gain 10% increased Fire and Shadow damage for 10 seconds every time they score a Critical Hit with either a Fire or Shadow-based attack.
With decent Gear, and when this Rune is equipped alongside Demonic Grace to boost your Crit chance, Warlocks will almost always have the Shadow and Flame buff up in Boss fights.
Dance of the Wicked Effect
Dance of the Wicked is a Boots Rune introduced in Phase Two that offers an effect like an Activated ability even though it’s a Passive. Whenever the Warlock deals a Critical Hit to an enemy, both they and their Demon gain Dodge Chance equal to their Spell Critical hit chance temporarily. Every time you deal a Critical Hit, you also regenerate 2% Mana.
Like Shadow and Flame, the Dance of the Wicked Rune is at its best when used alongside Crit-boosting abilities like Demonic Grace. Warlocks rarely have issues regenerating Mana, but this also offers another way to keep your blue bar topped up.
