Destruction Levelling- the path less travelled

You've all seen them: thousands of guides posted on the compendium of knowledge that is the internet, all pointing towards the most popular, and widely considered 'best', leveling builds. You know what i'm talking about; the drain-tanks, the demonologists, the combination's of the two. And yes, they are very good builds. I did, in fact, level affliction all the way from 10 to 60, and found that it was quite possibly the most mana/health efficient experience in the entire game. but...

on the other hand, once the novelty of ending almost any fight totally prepared to jump straight into another wore out, i began to find affliction got rather... dull. I must add that, over the levels, i did frequently respec to try out demonology, and found that was also a bit of a drag.

So, at 60, i did the unspeakable. I respecced destruction.
And I have to say, my initial reaction, upon trying to take down a few mobs, was to throw myself into the twisting nether. It was not, to put it in a nutshell, pleasant. But I persevered- I'd just spent about 80g in total setting destruction up, after all- and found that actually, it was good. More so, in fact. It was fantastic.

Why should i follow this madness?

Why indeed? Well, first and foremost, it is, in my opinion at least, considerably more fun than the common-scrub builds I'd leveled with previously. But i must add, if you simply want to get to 80 as quickly as humanly possible, i'd suggest an affliction build.

If you want to enjoy your 60+ time, however, i'd strongly recommend destruction. The play-style is so different to affli/demo, it really does generate a fresh enthusiasm for playing a warlock. That, and the fact most standard mobs will die inconceivably fast.

So, in a nutshell, pick destruction if you prefer a fun challenge to a quick and easy drag.

ok so... Do we get to see a spec?

you most certainly do. here is my spec at 60.

So, let's take a brief look at this:

bane: Reduced casting time is a most definite win, especially since Immolate and Chaos bolt will be your major casts. Soulfire will see some use, and Shadowbolt will, of course, be very important until incinerate
5/5

Cataclysm: Let's face it, Destruction is NOT perfectly mana efficient, so a 10% mana cost reduction is a no-brainer.
3/3

Molten Skin: You'll be taking on a lot of hits, this will make you a lot less squishy.
3/3

Shadowburn: A nice instant-cast combat finisher, quicker than shadowbolting and will return the soul-shard if you use it to end combat.
1/1

Ruin: A 100% increased critical strike damage. In a nutshell, your crits would be double that of a crit without this talent. Does this really need an explanation?
5/5

Intensity: An absolute must, firstly because you really can't afford to have your casting slowed, and second because it's a prerequisite for Backlash

Destructive Reach: We need an extra talent point to hit the next tier, and a longer casting range means more time for the mobs to reach you. Alternatively, you could put a point into Aftermath if you'd prefer to increase your DoT.
1/2

Backlash: A truly amazing talent. 3% extra crit chance is obvious enough, and a 25% chance to proc an instant-cast shadow bolt. unless the mob has a large amount of health, i generally prefer not to waste time casting a shadow bolt, so this certainly helps boost your damage a bit
3/3

improved immolate: Prerequisite for one of the key talents in this spec, and 30% extra damage-on-hit for Immolate is not to be sneezed at.
3/3

Devestation: 5% increased citical chance is an obvious choice, along with the other talents boosting your crits, this is a truly essential talent.
1/1

Emberstorm: 15% extra damage and reduced cast-time on an important spell, simple enough
5/5

Conflagrate: Instant big-damaging spell. This is one of the key spells in your arsenal, as it's mana cost isn't particularly exorbitant. I'd VERY strongly reccomend getting the glyph- if you have it you can pop this straight away without removing your immolate or shadowflame
1/1

Soul Leech: Absolutely essential if you don't want to stop after every fight. This will proc very often, and will keep you healed not only during the fight, but often helps between pulls
3/3

Improved Soul Leech: Adds an instant mana gain from Soul leech, as well as a nice mana-regen over 15 seconds for you and the group. Net gain of 5% mana for you, which isn't too shabby.
2/2

Pyroclasm: Happens often enough that it's worth picking up, 6% increased damage is great, especially if your next spell happens to be a Chaos Bolt crit...
3/3

Shadow and Flame: increase the spell-power co-efficient on your main spells. I'd suggest putting 3 into this at first, then filling it after you have that most awesome talent, Chaos Bolt.
3/5

Shadowfury: A relatively mana-efficent AOE, certainly good for giving yourself a bit of time to fear those adds, or to finish off a low-health group. Or indeed for fleeing.
1/1

Fire and Brimstone: You'll want immolate up all the time with this talent, and the increase conflagrate crit ties in nicely with Pyroclasm.
5/5

Chaos Bolt: Here we go- the final talent. I'd strongly discourage picking Destruction up before this- This has a third the mana cost of Shadow bolt with over double the damage.
1/1

After this i'd suggest working it out for yourself: certainly some talents like Aftermath and empowered imp could be worth getting, but this build leaves a fair amount of freedom, so it's easily adaptable to your own preferences

All very well, but what of the METHOD?

until such time as i can get some pictures and perhaps a video, you'll have to make do with a description.

This spec optomises primarily on crits and insane damage- NOT sustained fights. Therefore you'll take down most mobs while questing very fast, but may have to drink after longer battles.

Firstly, you'll want Firestone up at all times. Also, make sure you have Demon armor, Healthstone and Soulstone ready, just in case.

As for curse choice- I wouldn't bother with most fights. They're a huge mana dump outside of affliction, and mana is our primary problem. On the occasions when you feel they're necessary, for example in an instance or taking down an elite, i'd strongly suggest Curse of Elements, for the increased spell damage

Ok, now for the rotation. Generally speaking i prefer to do the following rotation on normal mobs my level:

* = only if mobs are low health at this point
** = repeat until immolate has run out or mobs are low health

1. Immolate
2. Conflagrate
3. Chaos Bolt
4. Shadowburn/drain soul*
5. Shadowbolt** then return to top
6. Shadowburn/drain soul*

This will normally kill the mobs by the first shadowburn.

I will add to this soon, feel free to comment with any suggestions