Current Demonology checks: Dread Lord or Felguard
In v0.130.0, Pact of the Nathrezim summons a Dread Lord; its Felseeker inherits Searing Pain upgrades, hits up to six enemies and increases primary-target damage. The inspected text gives a thirty-second base summon interval reduced by cooldown reduction to a thirteen-second floor, with up to two active. Its duration is a runtime rank value, so we do not copy a fixed twenty-second duration from another guide. It is exclusive with Butcher, whose Felguard cleaves and has a stronger low-health target interaction.[1]
Choose the demon branch before drafting the supporting spell. Searing Pain upgrades have an explicit Dread Lord link; they are not proof of an identical Felguard benefit. Earlier Pit Lord recordings describe a different version. This site’s earlier route table below was generic Demonology, not an allocated Pit Lord recipe; its v0.127.0 scope remains stated. No current damage benchmark establishes a winner.[1]
Other current alternatives also exclude each other: Soul Devourer’s Felhunter consumes part of a damage-over-time duration, whereas Soul Link’s Voidwalker scales with damage reduction/bonus health and supplies shielding. Do not combine the benefits of both as if they were one allocated node. Check prerequisites and exclusive choices →[1]
Choose the route for your current character
These are conditional routes assembled from the original client’s talent descriptions. Check prerequisites and the points you have already spent in the game before following an endpoint. [1]
| Route | Talents to inspect | What makes it work | Condition that changes the choice |
|---|---|---|---|
| Affliction | Nightfall → Contagion → Siphon Life → Seed of Corruption | Corruption and Curse of Agony can pass on after a kill. DoT ticks provide healing through Siphon Life. Seed changes the opening spell to Corruption and adds death explosions. | A target must carry your damage-over-time effects; spreading needs a death. Sparse boss encounters do not supply the same chain of kills. |
| Demonology | Demonic Familiar and summon-related talents | An Imp and later summon choices put additional attackers beside you. Support the summon branch you have actually unlocked instead of drafting only for a distant capstone. | Summons and DoT healing are different engines. Owning a pet does not establish that every hit heals you. |
What to prioritise during the run
- With only Shadow Bolt available, use an offered Corruption or Curse of Agony to establish the DoT engine before expecting propagation.
- Once Contagion is active, favour damage over time that can remain on several enemies; move so afflicted enemies die near another target.
- If incoming damage is the problem, check whether Siphon Life is actually allocated. More targets do not substitute for a missing healing talent.
- With Seed selected, adapt around the Corruption start. Do not spend the opening waiting for the default Shadow Bolt to appear.
This is an editorial choice order, not a guaranteed card sequence. The offered upgrades and your current permanent investment still determine which step is available. [1]
When the intended build is not ready
If the spread branch has not opened, use the spells you receive to keep room to move; do not reserve the whole run for a final-tree effect. If packs clear but a boss stalls, prioritise the damage source that is actually hitting that boss rather than counting chain explosions that need adds.
Before changing the whole plan, identify the failure: no room to move, too little recovery, or too little damage on the target. Change the part that addresses that failure, then compare another run with similar talents and equipment.
Check the starter and trigger before copying a build
Baseline starter: Shadow Bolt. Talents can replace it; use the route conditions above rather than treating this as the opening for every developed character. [1]
Do not read “DoT healing” as 1% of your maximum health per tick. The inspected Siphon Life text describes healing from the tick’s damage. Exact rank-dependent damage values are omitted where the client exposes a template.
Record the game version, zone, difficulty, selected capstone, permanent equipment and the card that changed the run. Comparing two different progression states cannot establish that a single spell was better. Use the meter carefully →
Sources & verification
- Aethus · original game ↗ (external website, opens in a new tab) — Original v0.127.0 / d1c85453 public client text inspected 29 October 2026. Single-source menu and talent evidence; no completed run or damage benchmark. English menus and public client text inspected 30 October 2026, build e7d9dd47, resource stamp 98f593b6313e. Single primary source; no full-run, multiplayer or hardware benchmark. Runtime placeholders are not inferred.