Havoc M+ comparison

Iheartdemons (Frostmane) against Lilithibanez (Sargeras), both Fel-Scarred Havoc, in +12 Mythic+ keys from the week of October 6, 2026. Built from Warcraft Logs and the Icy Veins Havoc guide.

The two of you press your main buttons at the same pace. The gap is almost entirely in what happens right after Essence Break.

Altar of Fangs +12

Lilithibanezrun 1 · ilvl 326

313k

Lilithibanezrun 2 · ilvl 325

294k

Iheartdemonsilvl 322

259k

Voidscar Arena

Lilithibanez+13 · ilvl 326

245k

Iheartdemons+12 · ilvl 322

235k

Overall DPS for the whole key, start to finish. Lilithibanez's Voidscar was one level higher and 4½ minutes longer, which pulls his number down, so the two Voidscar runs are closer than they look. Item level is only 3–4 apart, so gear explains little of the Altar gap.

Iheartdemons' quick wins

The short version. Details are further down the page.

Rotation
Two Death Sweeps inside every Essence Break. You average about one Death Sweep for every two Essence Breaks. Lilithibanez gets close to two per window.
Rotation
Hold Essence Break until Blade Dance is about to be ready. You cast it more often than he does (35 vs. 25–30 per key) but get less from each one.
Rotation
Twice as much Felblade. About 1.7 per minute for you vs. 3–4 for him. Use it to come back in after Vengeful Retreat and to keep Fury flowing.
Survival
Respect Dimensional Shred in Voidscar Arena. It killed you at 12:56 of 18:30. It was your only death across both keys.
Gear
Upgrade the two 308 pieces: your shoulders and Resonant Bellowstone. Add a gem to your helm and a second gem to your neck.
Keep doing
Interrupts, Metamorphosis, and spender pace are all on par. 21 interrupts in Altar of Fangs is more than he managed in either of his.

Every run

Per-minute numbers so different key lengths compare fairly.

Player	Key	Time	DPS	Felblade /min	Interrupts	Deaths
Iheartdemons	Altar of Fangs +12	20:03	259k	1.6	21	0
Iheartdemons	Voidscar Arena +12	18:30	235k	1.9	12	1
Lilithibanez	Altar of Fangs +12	18:03	313k	3.5	17	0
Lilithibanez	Altar of Fangs +12	21:50	294k	3.6	14	1
Lilithibanez	Voidscar Arena +13	22:58	245k	4.0	14	0
Lilithibanez	Murder Row +12 (with Holynoodles)	21:08	241k	2.9	24	0

The core spenders are a wash. You both cast Chaos Strike plus Annihilation about 18–19 times a minute and Blade Dance plus Death Sweep about 8 times a minute, with Metamorphosis up 40–45% of the key. You're pressing buttons just as fast. The difference is which buttons land in the right four seconds.

Essence Break windows

Essence Break makes your next four seconds of Chaos Strike, Annihilation, Blade Dance, and Death Sweep hit much harder. What you cast in those four seconds decides how much it's worth.

Run	Essence Breaks	Death Sweeps per window	All spenders per window	Share of damage
Altar of Fangs +12	35	0.4	2.0	8.1%
Voidscar Arena +12	33	0.5	1.9	8.3%
Altar of Fangs +12 (run 1)	25	1.9	3.1	12.0%
Altar of Fangs +12 (run 2)	30	1.7	2.8	10.7%
Voidscar Arena +13	36	1.5	2.7	10.5%
Murder Row +12	25	1.8	2.9	12.0%

Lilithibanez presses Essence Break less often and gets more out of each one. He saves it until Blade Dance is coming back and he has the Fury to spend, then fits two Death Sweeps and an Annihilation inside. Your windows usually contain one Chaos Strike or Annihilation and often no Blade Dance or Death Sweep at all, because Blade Dance is still on cooldown when you press Essence Break.

The rule. Use Essence Break during Metamorphosis when Death Sweep is ready or about to be, with enough Fury for two of them. Then Death Sweep, Annihilation, Death Sweep. If Blade Dance has more than a few seconds left on its cooldown, wait.

Felblade and movement

Lilithibanez casts Felblade twice as often (62–91 per key vs. 33–35) and also uses Fel Rush and Glide more. Felblade generates Fury and brings you straight back to the target after Vengeful Retreat, which also feeds the Fury you need for those double Death Sweeps. If you're stepping back in with a walk or a Fel Rush, swap in Felblade.

You also used Blur about twice as often as he did (12–13 per key vs. 2–6). That isn't a mistake, since Blur costs no damage, and your damage taken in Altar of Fangs sat between his two runs.

Gear

From the Altar of Fangs runs. Item levels differ by only 3–4 overall, so these are small wins.

Slot	Iheartdemons	Lilithibanez
Shoulders	Abyssal Doomhound's Jaws, 308	Abyssal Doomhound's Jaws, 321
Trinket 1	Vile Vial of Volatile Venom, 321	Zul'jin's Guillotine Technique, 321
Trinket 2	Resonant Bellowstone, 308	Vashnik's Sanguine Rancor, 324
Helm gems	None	1
Neck gems	1	2
Weapons	Spellbreaker's Warglaive 331, Thorntalon Edge 321	Aman'muso 334, Spellbreaker's Warglaive 331

Lilithibanez's Zul'jin's Guillotine Technique accounted for 3–4% of his damage in every key. Whether it would beat your Vile Vial depends on your stats, so run both through a sim before chasing it.

Fel-Scarred cheat sheet

Short form of the priority, built around the windows above.

Metamorphosis with The Hunt and Eye Beam lined up, plus potion and trinkets
Essence Break when Death Sweep is ready and you have Fury for two
Death Sweep, Annihilation, Death Sweep inside the window
Eye Beam and Immolation Aura on cooldown
Blade Dance or Death Sweep on cooldown outside the window
Felblade to come back in after Vengeful Retreat or when Fury is low
Chaos Strike or Annihilation to spend Fury
Throw Glaive only when you can't reach a target