SM / Ruin Full Title : Shadow Mastery / Ruin Trees Involved ( Points ) : Affliction ( 30 ) / Destruction ( 21 ) General Build Information . Until the revamp of the Demonology tree in the 1 . 6 patch , for a long time , SM / Ruin build was considered the king in terms of DPS by many . ( Whether DPS is the primary consideration is up to the individual warlock . ) This build implies 5 / 5 points in Shadow Mastery , and 1 / 1 point in Ruin . This requires 30 points in Affliction and 21 points in Destruction , leaving no room for any Demonology talents at all . Apart from Shadow Mastery , there weren ' t any other really necessary talents in the Affliction tree . However , Talents such as Improved Life Tap , Siphon Life , Improved Corruption and Nightfall usually form part of the Affliction background . In Destruction , there was not much free room : Bane , Shadowburn , Devastation , and , of course , Ruin were quasi - necessary . Additionally , Improved Shadow Bolt and Destructive Reach were highly favored . With the revamp of the Demonology tree in the 1 . 6 patch , a new build with strikingly similar playstyle , named MD / Ruin , evolved . Advantages . The advantage of the SM / Ruin build is its high burst damage and DPS . Especially in PvP , where burst damage often is favored . Especially so - called double - crits ( normal crit + crit through negative resistances ) resulted in huge crits , even higher if preceded by another crit . The combination with Shadowburn gives the opportunity powerfully finish off enemies . In a large fight , the warlock can quickly put Corruption on a number of enemies , which is highly likely to cause Nightfall to activate , probably several times , doing enormous burst damage . If mana is low , it can easily be regained with the combination of casting Siphon Life on multiple targets and then casting Life Tap . This build can contain almost all important talents for a normal DoT - Warlock , and as such it is possible to seamlessly switch from nuking to dotting . Disadvantages . There is a conflict with the Ruin talent and the affliction tree . Ruin will improve the value of critical hits , but the affliction tree add several points on DoT s that do not get critical hits . The disadvantages are the sustainability and survivability problems . Shadow Bolt spam costs a relatively large amount of mana , reducing the Warlock ' s mana pool quite fast . Although the build does provide means to handle this ( Improved Drain Life and Fel Concentration combined with Improved Life Tap to convert the drained health into mana ) , it does keep you from nuking . Additionally , while being attacked in melee , it is almost impossible to get off a Shadow Bolt . Warlocks don ' t have much in terms of defense , but what they do have centers primarily around talents in the Demonology tree , such as Demonic Embrace and Soul Link , as well as some of the Master Demonologist and Demonic Sacrifice effects , and this build contains none of them . The build almost completely ignores upgrades to the warlock ' s pet , with the exception of Improved Firebolt or Improved Lash of Pain . Finally , a factor to consider with regards to this build is its aggro management ( or lack thereof ) . In this area , SM / Ruin is about as bad as it gets . In addition to high overall damage , it also results in frequent bursts of damage , which can cause incredible aggro . This increasingly becomes a problem post - Molten Core because damage capabilities of Warlocks grow faster than aggro holding capabilities of Warriors , and consequences of pulling aggro become increasingly dire . At this stage Warlocks often respec from SM / Ruin either to MD / Ruin for Master Demonologist imp buff , or even to SM / DS build to rely on constant , sustained damage . Specific Talent Build Examples . Drain - Tank Capable . Basic Combat Information . Typical Combat . Many people rely on drain - tanking instead , as it allows more fluid levelling . Max Range . 2 points in both Destructive Reach and Grim Reach give all your spells an extra 6 meters of range which , when combined with Bane , can give you an entire extra Shadow Bolt when the mob starts running after you . Improved Succubus . By reducing the cooldown of your Succubus ' Lash of Pain from 12 seconds to 6 , you allow her to better hold aggro . With practice she will be able to hold a mob ' s attention until your second , or even third , Shadow bolt ( not counting crits ) allowing those few vital " free " shots before you finally pull aggro . = At level 70 = Two very different versions of this build have emerged since the advent of The Burning Crusade . Both build upon the basic SM / Ruin template and take Dark Pact , changing only the 9 remaining points . With the first version , the spare points are used to bolster the warlocks solo capability , by filling up parts of the Affliction tree that had to be skipped before , and by moving into the demonology tree to improve survivability . http : / / www . wowhead . com / ? talent = IqMRiRfkqzZ0xZxx0tr0z The second variation places all those extra points in Raid friendly talents , such as Malediction , Improved Healthstone and Shadow Embrace . http : / / www . wowhead . com / ? talent = NeMr0RftqzcZbZxx0tr0z Since the philosophies behind the 2 variation are different , its worth noting that the Talents taken to build up to SM are also different . The 2 examples given are just 2 variations ( see else where for the merits of 2 points in Suppression and Improved Corruption )