Not to be confused with Hero classes like Death Knight and Demon Hunter, Hero Talents provide a unique set of passive skills and abilities that allow players to grow in power without adding more talent points to the pre-existing trees. While it is unclear how this system will change (if at all) over the course of the World Soul Saga, it does add some interesting new variety for players to choose from.

Since you can switch between the Hero Talent trees at most any time and there is no cost, it allows you to switch in case one set of Hero Talents are better suited than the other. Warlocks have three Hero Talent trees to choose from depending on what specailizaiton you use. Yet, no matter which option a Warlock goes with, their Hero Talents allow them to further improve upon their destructive abilities in World of Warcraft: The War Within.

WoW War Within Dungeon Art
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Diabolist

Available for Destruction and Demonology Warlocks

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Diabolist is a powerful set of Hero Talents that allow your abilities to temporarily a variety of demons that you otherwise wouldn't have access to. Once on the field, these demons can enhance your spells further. If you've ever wanted to summon a Pit Lord and unleash it upon your foes, this is the Hero Talent tree for you.

First Row

Diabolic Ritual

  • When you spend a Soul Shard, you gain the Diabolic Ritual buff that lasts for 20 seconds. Using abilities that cost Soul Shards subtract one section from the duration of this buff. Once the buff expires, using Chaos Bolt, Rain of Fire, or Shadowburn will summon either a Pit Lord, Mother of Chaos, or Overlord that will then attack your target.

Second Row

Cloven Souls

  • Any enemy damaged by your Overlord takes an additional 5% damage from you and your minions for 15 seconds.

Touch of Rancora

  • After Diabolic Ritual expires, the damage of your Shadowburn, Chaos Bolt, and Rain of Fire is increased by 100% and the casting time is reduced by 50%.

Secrets of the Coven

  • When summoned, Mother of Chaos turns your Incinerate into Infernal Bolt. Infernal Bolt does a massive amount of damage and generates two Soul Shards.

Third Row

Soul-Etched Circles or Annihilan's Bellow

  • Soul-Etched Circles: Casting Demonic Circle: Teleport increases your movement speed by 50% and makes you immune to roots and snares for six seconds.
  • Annihilan's Bellow: The cooldown on Howl of Terror is reduced by 15 yards and range is increased by five yards.

Cruelty of Kerxan or Infernal Machine

  • Cruelty of Kerxan: Summon Infernal grants Diabolic Ritual with a reduced duration.
  • Infernal Machine: Spending Soul Shards while you have an Infernal active decreases the duration of Diabolic Ritual by one second.

Infernal Vitality or Infernal Bulwark

  • Infernal Vitality: You heal for 30% of your maximum health over the course of 10 seconds when Unending Resolve is active.
  • Infernal Bulwark: When Unending Resolve is active, it grants Soul Leech equal to 10% of your maximum health. Soul Leech's an additional 10% amount of damage for eight seconds.

Fourth Row

Flames of Xoroth

  • 2% increase to all your fire damage-related spells and abilities, and your minions deal 2% damage.

Abyssal Dominion

  • Summon Infernal deals an additional 40% damage. When the ability ends, it spawns two smaller Infernals that last for 10 seconds.

Gloom of Nathreza

  • Havoc increases damage from single-target spells by 5%.

Fifth Row

Ruination

  • When summoned, a Pit Lord replaces your Chaos Bolt with Ruination. Ruination hits all targets within eight yards for a colossal amount of Chaos damage and summons a Diabolic Imp.
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Hellcaller

Available for Destruction and Affliciton Warlocks

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In contrast to Diabolist, Hellcaller focuses more on boosting the power of your shadow damage and makes your damage over time especially nasty. With this talent tree, Immolate is replaced by Wither.

First Row

Wither

  • Replaces Immolate. Immediately does Shadowflame damage to the target and then even more Shadowflame damage over 21 seconds.

Second Row

Xalan's Ferocity

  • Your fire spells deal an additional 2% damage and have an additional 10% critical strike chance.

Blackened Soul

  • Spells that spend Soul Shards will increase the stack count of Wither. When applied, new stacks of Wither have a chance to explode for more Shadowflame damage.

Xalan's Cruelty

  • Your shadow spells deal an additional 2% damage and have an additional 10% critical strike chance.

Third Row

Curse of the Satyr or Aura of Enfeeblement

  • Curse of the Satyr: Replaces Curse of Weakness. Increases time between an enemy's attacks by 20%. Enemy casting time increased by 30%. Lasts two minutes.
  • Aura of Enfeeblement: Enemies within 30 yards of you are inflicted with Curse of Tongues and Curse of Weakness when Unending Resolve is active.

Hatefury Rituals or Blackheart Tactics

  • Hatefury Rituals: Wither has a shorter duration but does 30% additional damage over time.
  • Blackheart Tactics: Blackened Soul has a chance to apply two stacks of Wither instead of one. Wither does an additiional 20% damage.

Zevrim's Resilience or Illhoof's Design

  • Zevrim's Resilience: Increases the healing from Dark Pact.
  • Illhoof's Design: Soul Leech absorbs an additional 15% of your maximum health, but you immediately lose 10% of your maximum health.

Fourth Row

Mark of Xavius

  • Wither does an additional 25% damage. In addition, stacks gained from Blackened Soul do 2% more damage.

Seeds of Their Demise

  • When a target with Wither reaches 20% or less health or Wither reaches eight stacks, Wither deals more damage to the target until one stack remains.

Mark of Peroth'arn

  • Wither deals an additional 10% damage from critical strikes. When Wither lands a critical strike, it has a chance of gaining a stack.

Fifth Row

Malevolence (Active Ability)

  • 1 Minute Cooldown. When active, enemies afflicted with Wither take additional damage, and it goes up to six stacks. For the duration of Malevolence, your Haste is increased by 8% and spending Soul Shards grants an additional stack of Wither on the target.

Soul Harvester

Available for Demonology and Affliction Warlocks

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Soul Harvester adds some unique features to Soul Shards while increasing the damage of both Shadowbolt and Malefic Rapture along with providing increased Shadow damage across the board. Further down the tree, you can even pick talents that boost the effects of both your Healthstone and Soulstone.

First Row

Demonic Soul

  • Soul Shards have a chance to contain a Succulent Soul. Succulent Souls boost the damage of your Malefic Rapture by 20% and does an additional amount of shadow damage.

Second Row

Necrolyte Teachings

  • Increases the damage of Shadow Bolt and Drain Soul by 20%. Nightfall boosts the damage of these two abilities further.

Soul Anathema

  • When Demonic Soul deals signifcant shadow damage over 10 seconds.

Demoniac's Fervor

  • Targets affected by Unstable Affliction take 100% more damage from Demonic Soul.

Third Row

Gorebound Fortitude or Friends In Dark Places:

  • Gorebound Fortitude: Increases the healing of your Healthstone by 30% and boosts your maximum health for 12 seconds.
  • Friends in Dark Places: Dark Pact shields you for an additional 50%.

Shared Fate or Feast of Souls:

  • Shared Fate: Killing a target causes its soul to hit nearby enemies, dealing Shadow damage over time.
  • Feast of Souls: Upon killing a target, your Soul Shard has a chance to be a guaranteed Succulent Soul.

Eternal Servitude or Gorefiend's Resolve:

  • Eternal Servitude: The cooldown on Fel Domination is reduced by 90 seconds.
  • Gorefiend's Resolve: Soulstones restore an additional 40% health and 80% mana when used.

Fourth Row

Wicked Reaping

  • Demonic Soul deals an additional 10% damage. Nightfall causes an additional amount of Shadow damage to your target.

Quietus

  • Damage from Soul Anathema is increased by 25% and does damage 20% quicker. Nightfall triggers either Shared Fate or Feast of Souls, depending on what you chose.

Sataiel's Volition

  • Corruption deals damage 25% faster. In addition, Haunt grants Nightfall.

Fifth Row

Shadow of Death

  • Soul Rot is empowered and causes it to grant three Soul Shards, all of which will be a Succulent Soul.

Which Hero Talent Tree is Best?

The best Hero Talent tree will vary based on which specialization you are. If you are Demonology, the recommended Hero Talent is Soul Harvester. For Destruction, you will want to go with Hellcaller. Finally, for Affliction, you will want to choose Soul Harvester. Keep in mind that these recommendations are intended for high level endgame. If you are just doing LFR or Normal difficulty raids, or if you don't raid at all, then it will matter less which Hero Talents you use. In that scenario, use whatever suits your preferred play style.

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World of Warcraft The War Within
World of Warcraft: The War Within
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Released
August 26, 2024
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WHERE TO PLAY

DIGITAL
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Base Game
World of Warcraft
Developer(s)
Blizzard
Publisher(s)
Blizzard
Franchise
Warcraft
Platform(s)
PC