Demon Hunter Vengeance Rotation & Opener

Data updated 2026-09-06

Built from the current top-100 Mythic parses on WarcraftLogs — the real opener sequences, casts-per-minute and buff uptimes of the best Vengeance players, not theorycraft.

Raid 5 top logs sampled Median kill 6:47
AI coach — raid
How to play: Fracture is your builder (top players: 18.3/min), generating fragments and fury; Soul Cleave and Spirit Bomb spend them. Keep Immolation Aura rolling on cooldown (74.6% uptime), Felblade fills gaps. Don't hoard Demon Spikes — top players hold 87.6% uptime, nearly permanent through physical damage. Watch: Demon Spikes charges and uptime (87.6% is the top-player bar); soul fragment count — Soul Cleave and Spirit Bomb only pay off with fragments banked.

Real Opener Sequences — Mythic boss M2

Sample kills 2026-08-30 – 2026-09-03

First ~12 casts of actual top-ranked kills. Trinkets and racials vary by setup; the skill order is what to copy.

AvadeIllidan · US kill date 2026-09-02 Hero talentAnnihilatorTalents →
FelvixSylvanas · EU kill date 2026-08-30 Hero talentAnnihilatorTalents →
SlickezpzBlackhand · EU kill date 2026-08-30 Hero talentAnnihilatorTalents →
Burst key — from the top parses above Macro commands →
#showtooltip Sigil of Spite
/use 13
/use 14
/cast Felblade
/cast Felblade
/cast Sigil of Spite

A macro can fire only one global-cooldown ability per press — that is the game's limit, not ours. So a burst key is exactly: on-use trinkets + the off-GCD cooldowns top players press in their opener + one opener spell. Nothing else fits.

Off-GCD cooldowns pressed within the first 8 casts by at least 1 of the 3 sampled players, defensives and movement removed. Ends with the first on-GCD opener so everything fires in one press.

Slot 13 / 14: the data cannot tell which slot the on-use trinket sits in, so both are listed; the passive one just prints cannot use.

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Casts Per Minute — Raid Benchmark

Sample kills 2026-08-30 – 2026-09-03
AbilityTop-player CPM
Fracture 17.4
Soul Cleave 16.5
Demon SpikesOff-GCD 5.8
Immolation Aura 4.8
Spirit Bomb 3.6
MetamorphosisOff-GCD 2.2
Sigil of Flame 1.7
Fiery Brand 1.4
Fel Devastation 1.1
Sigil of Spite 1.0
FelbladeOff-GCD 0.8
Throw Glaive 0.7

CPM = median casts per minute across the sampled top kills. If you're far below on a core ability, that's usually the first thing to fix.

Buff Uptimes to Watch

BuffTop-player uptime
Seething Anger 90.8%
Rune of Critical Power 87.6%
Immolation Aura 72.4%
Arcanoweave Insight 71.3%
Fel Flame Fortification 70.8%
Soul Fragments 66.2%
Might of the Void 63.1%
Voidfall 54.0%
Metamorphosis 48.5%
Voidfall 44.6%
Mythic+ Differences 8 top key runs sampled Median run 28:25
AI coach — Mythic+
How to play: Fracture builds soul fragments, Soul Cleave spends them — that loop never stops. Spirit Bomb pays best at 4+ fragments. Don't bank Demon Spikes: press it as physical hits wind up — top players use it at 7/min, near filler frequency. Immolation Aura on cooldown. Watch: absorb your fragments promptly; Demon Spikes must be active the moment physical damage lands — reapply instantly if it drops.

Real AoE Opener — First Trash Pack

Sample kills 2026-08-30 – 2026-09-05

First ~12 casts after the pull starts, taken from actual top key runs: the AoE opener is the first pack of the run, the single-target opener is the first boss. Trinkets and racials vary by setup; the skill order is what to copy.

AlfamyscarsStormreaver · EU kill date 2026-09-05 pull Defier Draghar · 24 enemies Hero talentAnnihilatorTalents →
YoungtakesZul'jin · US kill date 2026-09-05 pull Defier Draghar · 26 enemies Talents →
AvadeIllidan · US kill date 2026-09-05 pull Bribed Captain · 34 enemies Hero talentAnnihilatorTalents →
Burst key — from the top parses above Macro commands →
#showtooltip Immolation Aura
/use 13
/use 14
/cast Immolation Aura

A macro can fire only one global-cooldown ability per press — that is the game's limit, not ours. So a burst key is exactly: on-use trinkets + the off-GCD cooldowns top players press in their opener + one opener spell. Nothing else fits.

Off-GCD cooldowns pressed within the first 8 casts by at least 1 of the 3 sampled players, defensives and movement removed. Ends with the first on-GCD opener so everything fires in one press.

Slot 13 / 14: the data cannot tell which slot the on-use trinket sits in, so both are listed; the passive one just prints cannot use.

Real Single-Target Opener — First Boss

Sample kills 2026-08-30 – 2026-09-05
AlfamyscarsStormreaver · EU kill date 2026-09-05 pull Melidrussa Chillworn Hero talentAnnihilatorTalents →
YoungtakesZul'jin · US kill date 2026-09-05 pull Melidrussa Chillworn Talents →
AvadeIllidan · US kill date 2026-09-05 pull Kystia Manaheart Hero talentAnnihilatorTalents →
Burst key — from the top parses above Macro commands →
#showtooltip Spirit Bomb
/cast Felblade
/cast Felblade
/cast Soul Fragment
/cast Spirit Bomb

A macro can fire only one global-cooldown ability per press — that is the game's limit, not ours. So a burst key is exactly: on-use trinkets + the off-GCD cooldowns top players press in their opener + one opener spell. Nothing else fits.

Off-GCD cooldowns pressed within the first 8 casts by at least 1 of the 3 sampled players, defensives and movement removed. Ends with the first on-GCD opener so everything fires in one press.

Casts Per Minute — Mythic+ Benchmark

Sample kills 2026-08-30 – 2026-09-05
AbilityTop-player CPM
Soul Cleave 16.8
Fracture 16.7
Demon SpikesOff-GCD 6.7
Immolation Aura 4.7
Spirit Bomb 3.1
MetamorphosisOff-GCD 2.0
Sigil of Flame 1.6
Glide 1.4
Fiery Brand 1.2
Fel Devastation 1.1
Sigil of Spite 0.8
Throw Glaive 0.7
FelbladeOff-GCD 0.5

Mythic+ Buff Uptimes

BuffTop-player uptime
Demon Spikes 96.3%
Devotion Aura 94.4%
Painbringer 93.8%
Seething Anger 87.8%
Immolation Aura 69.6%
Fel Flame Fortification 69.6%
Arcanoweave Insight 68.3%
Soul Fragments 66.3%
Voidfall 55.0%
Metamorphosis 44.8%
Spec macros · 12.1 9 macros

Collected from public Patch 12.1 guides and checked for this patch. Spell names follow the language you selected on this site and must match your game client. If a macro does not work on your client, report it with the button on the card.

Spell names below are shown in this site's language . Your game client must use the same language, or the macro will say unknown spell.
Disrupt (focus)
#showtooltip Disrupt
/cast [@focus,harm,nodead][] Disrupt
Interrupts focus if set, otherwise target
Consume Magic (focus)
#showtooltip Consume Magic
/cast [@focus,harm,nodead][] Consume Magic
Purges focus if set, otherwise target
Demon Spikes + Fracture
#showtooltip Fracture
/cast Demon Spikes
/cast Fracture
Keeps Demon Spikes up while Fracturing (Feed the Demon builds)
Sigil of Flame (cursor)
#showtooltip
/cast [@cursor] Sigil of Flame
Places the sigil at the cursor; swap in any other sigil
Immolation Aura + Infernal Strike (self)
#showtooltip
/cast Immolation Aura
/cast [@player] Infernal Strike
Strike in place with Immolation Aura for First In, Last Out
Infernal Strike (cursor)
#showtooltip
/cast [@cursor] Infernal Strike
Leaps to the cursor without the reticle
Infernal Strike (Ctrl = self)
#showtooltip
/cast [mod:ctrl, @player] Infernal Strike; [nomod, @cursor] Infernal Strike
Ctrl leaps in place, normal press leaps to the cursor
Cancel Blessing of Protection
/cancelaura Blessing of Protection
Removes Blessing of Protection so you can be targeted again
Torment (mouseover taunt)
#showtooltip
/cast [@mouseover,harm,nodead][]Torment
Taunts the mouseover target, otherwise your target
Keybind suggestion by casts per minute

Keybinds are personal — this is not a layout to copy wholesale. What it does say is which abilities you press most, measured from the same top parses above: the more often an ability is cast, the less effort its key should take. Interrupts, defensives and movement are deliberately left out; they barely register in cast data yet must always be within reach, so choose those yourself.

Rows marked Passive are not pressed at all — they fire on their own (auto-attacks, procs) and get no key, even though they top the casts-per-minute table.

KeyAbilityTop-player CPM
1 Fracture 17.4
2 Soul Cleave 16.8
3 Demon SpikesOff-GCD 6.7
4 Immolation Aura 4.8
5 Spirit Bomb 3.6
Z MetamorphosisOff-GCD 2.2
X Sigil of Flame 1.7
C Fiery Brand 1.4
V Glide 1.4
R Fel Devastation 1.1
F Sigil of Spite 1.0
T FelbladeOff-GCD 0.8
G Throw Glaive 0.7

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