Active Mitigation / Rotation

Demon Spikes

Keep active when physical damage reduction is needed. A good rule of thumb is to use a charge when you’re at max (2), and save a charge to counter an enemy’s special attack or to react to unstable health. Only reduces physical damage.

Soul Cleave

Use when you have the Pain and need a heal.

Pain Management

As most of your survival is reactive healing, you should always aim to keep a decent pool of pain available so that you can quickly recover health. If you’re not facing any immediate danger, use that time to save up around 60 to 80 pain. If you have high pain but don’t need healing, use it on Demon Spikes maintenance, Soul Cleave for the damage, or choose a number of talents to spend it.

Soul Fragments

Primarily generated through Shear, these purple orbs spawn far away and are consumed with Soul Cleave. On consumption they provide a small amount of healing. For the biggest heal, build up a full stack of 5 to further boost your Soul Cleave. However, keep in mind that generating Soul Fragments is a lower priority than other resources and mitigation.

Fracture

Generates Soul Fragments. Use if you have a lot of pain but don’t need a heal from Soul Cleave.

Spirit Bomb

Keep active as much as possible for healing that scales with the damage you deal.

Soul Barrier

Use to protect against damage with an absorption shield. It works especially well against damage-over-time effects or frequent small attacks because it will always reduce them by a moderate amount. For the most effective absorb shield, use at five Soul Fragments.

Charred Warblades

Use your fire damage spells when you need minor healing. See the page on Fire Damage interactions for more information.

Fueled By Pain

When you Soul Cleave, there’s a moderate chance that you might gain a short Metamorphosis from consuming Soul Fragments. That will heal you if you’re below 30%, increase your max health and armor, and generate extra pain and Soul Fragments. Use that opportunity to heal yourself, prioritizing Shear for the extra Soul Fragments.

Painbringer

If possible, build up your Soul Fragments and time your Soul Fragment consumers like Soul Cleave right before high-damage events to reduce damage you take.

INFERNAL STRIKE

Use to engage your enemy and to deal AoE damage.

Immolation Aura

Use on cooldown to generate pain and AoE threat. Save for later if you know you’ll need an AoE pickup tool soon.

Shear

Use to fill empty spots in your rotation to generate pain and Soul Fragments.

SIGIL OF FLAME

Use to deal damage to groups. It doesn’t generate any pain or Soul Fragments, so don’t use it if you’re in need of those resources.

THROW GLAIVE

Use to build threat on small groups or individuals at range.

Felblade

Use on cooldown to generate pain.

Razor Spikes

For a personal damage boost, time your physical abilities (Soul Cleave, Shear, Fracture ) while Demon Spikes is active.

Flame Crash

Use Infernal Strike rotationally for extra AoE damage, but be careful not to overlap the DoT of Sigil of Flame (it doesn’t stack).

Concentrated Sigils

For an AoE damage boost, use Sigil of Flame on cooldown with this talent.

Fel Eruption

For personal single target damage, use on cooldown or when you need a large burst of damage.

SOUL CARVER

Use on cooldown to generate extra Soul Fragments.

Fiery Demise

If you don’t need Fiery Brand for defense, you can use it for offense and combine it with your fire damage spells (Immolation Aura, Sigil of Flame, Infernal Strike, Felblade, Fel Devastation, Soul Carver, Spirit Bomb).

SIPHON POWER

If you are able to use Empower Wards to resist a particularly powerful magic attack, then your damage, healing, and dodge are all increased via agility.

Fiery Brand

Damage reduction cooldown. Activate before an incoming attack, or to survive dangerously low health. Without talents it only works on a single target. It has a short cooldown of 1 min with a powerful effect of 40% damage reduction, so don’t be afraid to use it.

Metamorphosis

Health, healing, and damage reduction cooldown. Use when you have dangerously low health to heal to 30%, increase your max health and armor, and rapidly generate pain and Soul Fragments which can be turned into healing via Soul Cleave. Can also be used as a personal damage boost, especially in AoE, because it allows you to use Soul Cleave very often.

Empower Wards

Magic damage reduction cooldown. Use when you expect magic damage. Has a short cooldown, so cast it frequently.

Burning Alive

AoE damage reduction cooldown. Use Fiery Brand in dangerous multi-target situations.

Fel Devastation

Healing cooldown. Use when a big heal is needed or for big AoE damage.

Demonic Infusion

Resource recovery cooldown. Use when you are out of Demon Spikes charges and have less than 40 pain.

Sigil of Misery

Use to incapacitate groups at range that aren’t taking large amounts of damage.

Sigil of Silence

Use to silence or interrupt groups at range.

Razor Spikes

Use your melee attacks to snare while Demon Spikes is active.

Concentrated Sigils

Use to increase crowd control effects against melee targets.

Sigil of Chains

Use to snare, position, or interrupt loosely clumped groups.