MD / Ruin MD / Ruin . General Build Information . Since the revamp of the Demonology talents with patch 1 . 6 , several warlocks have tried putting 30 points into Demonology instead of Affliction to acquire the Master Demonologist talent instead of Shadow Mastery , while still spending 21 points in Destruction to acquire Ruin ; some have found they like this build even more than SM / Ruin . Not only does the Succubus ' s MD buff add 10 % to " all " damage the warlock causes , if the warlock uses Demonic Sacrifice on the Succubus , the 15 % increase in Shadow damage is greater than the 10 % increase from Shadow Mastery . Advantages . The advantages of this build are the increased power and utility of your pets - - since such talents as Fel Intellect , Fel Stamina and Unholy Power improve every pet , while Improved Imp / Voidwalker / Succubus improve specific ones - - and great flexibility , as Master Demonologist and Demonic Sacrifice give a wide range of benefits to select from based on the situation . The radical change in specialization can be almost like respending your talent points , and all it costs is a Soul Shard . Also , Demonic Embrace gives you a large stamina boost . The threat reduction of the imp stacks with the threat reduction of Salvation or Tranquil Air Totems . This combined with Improved Shadow Bolt , Bane and Ruin makes for a tank friendly warlock with high DPS . Disadvantages . The disadvantages of this build are that you become flexible but not versatile - - you can radically change what you excel in just by summoning another demon , but of course only one pet can be out at any one time ; you can never be simultaneously excellent at both offense and defense - - and that many of your talent points are effectively locked away and not in use if you don ' t have a pet out , or if your pet dies . Unless you ' re in a Battleground , you resurrect petless , which means that warlocks are more handicapped than other classes immediately after resurrection , and a Demonology - heavy build emphasizes this - - although it also mitigates it to some extent by providing quick and mana - cheap summons . Whereas Shadow Mastery synergizes well with the Destruction talents , the Succubus - dependent bonuses are the only Demonology talents that synergize this way , meaning that you don ' t get as much out of your Destruction points if you don ' t have your Succubus around . There are other disadvantages of MD / Ruin . In order to match the damage capabilities of SM / Ruin , MD / Ruin specced warlock has to use Succubus and can ' t keep any other pets up . This may be taken unfavorably by warlock ' s group members , because warlocks are liked in part for their Imps ' Blood Pact buff ( + 42 to + 54 Stamina , depending on talents ) . However , lack of Blood Pact is not a big problem for warlock himself , because stamina gained from 5 - point Demonic Embrace talent usually exceeds the benefit of Blood Pact . It should be noted that Demonic Embrace also increases stamina from buffs such as Power Word : Fortitude or Blood Pact . MD / Ruin builds have no points left to spend for Affliction talents , most notably Improved Corruption . MD / Ruin specced warlocks may also have problems in PvP combat against some classes , because they lack an important kiting spell - Curse of Exhaustion ; being less able to keep enemies away , they have to rely on their increased stamina for their survival . Specific Talent Build Examples . Succubus Heavy . Basic Combat Information . Like all Shadow - Ruin builds , shadow damage is your bread and butter . Unlike SM / Ruin , Immolation will see some use because it also gains + 10 % damage from the Master Demonologist talent and generates less initial damage than your Shadow Bolt while still dealing significant total damage . All Succubus . With 8 points in Demonology and 2 points in Destruction dedicated to making your succubus a hooved can of butt - kicking with wings , she constitutes a significant and long - term portion of your DPS in addition to supplying you with a blanket 10 % damage bonus on " everything " you do . Having her out and keeping her out and attacking the target is pretty much vital to this specific build . Imp Heavy . Basic Combat Information . With good Itemization this build is based around working heavily as part of a group . While you won ' t have quite the damage output of the Succubus Heavy build , you ' ll be generating " far " less aggro allowing your DPS to remain a lot more constant . When combined with Life Tap , you can keep up a constant stream of damage for a long time . Imp Heavy . In an end - game group , you ' ll pretty much be limited to casting a single curse ( either CoE or CoS ) and spamming Shadow Bolt s along side your Imp ' s Firebolts . You might find some variety when mobs run by using Curse of Recklessness to reel them in .