While leveling in the Shadowlands, you will encounter four different Covenants; each desperate for your help. In exchange for your aid, they will provide you with a general and a spec-specific ability, as well as a variety of cosmetics such as mounts, pets and armor sets.
Picking the right Covenant is a hard and important decision. This guide will help you decide what the best Covenant is for Demon Hunters.
Your first character of the expansion will need to level through all four Shadowlands zones (Revendreth, Maldraxxus, Bastion and Ardenweald) and pick a Covenant at level 60. Subsequent alts can pick a Covenant at level 50 and do not need to complete all questlines.
Table of Contents
All Shadowlands Covenant Guides
What Covenants are there?
There are 4 Covenants in the Shadowlands
- The Venthyr in Revendreth. Their Sanctum is Sinfall.
- The Necrolords in Maldraxxus. Their Sanctum is the Seat of the Primus.
- The Kyrians in Bastion. Their Sanctum is Elysian Hold.
- The Night Fae in Ardenweald. Their Sanctum is the Heart of the Forest.
Can you switch Covenant?
Yes, you can quite easily leave your Covenant and join another Covenant that you have not joined before. Simple speak to the leader of the Covenant you wish to join in Oribos.
If you left a Covenant and wish to rejoin it, the process is a bit more difficult. The Covenant sees your leaving as a betrayal, and you will have to prove your worth by completing dungeons, world quests, daily quests and more.
Rejoining a Covenant requires two weekly quests, thus takes a minimum of two weeks.
General Covenant Abilities
Each Covenant has a Signature Ability. This is an ability that all members of the Covenant get, regardless of race, class or specialization.
Venthyr Covenant Ability: Door of Shadows
- Wend through the shadows, appearing at the targeted location
- 1 minute cooldown – 35 yd range – 1.5 secs cast
Necrolord Covenant Ability: Fleshcraft
- Form a shield of flesh and bone over 4 seconds that prevents damage equal to 20% of your maximum health. Standing near the corpse of a defeated enemy when the ability is cast will create a larger shield, up to 50% of your maximum health.
- 2 minutes cooldown – 10 yd range – 4 seconds channel
Kyrian Covenant Ability: Summon Steward
- Call your steward to bring you a Phial of Serenity that can be consumed to restore 20% of your health and remove all Curse, Disease, Poison, and Bleed Effects.
Your Steward additionally offers access to a selection of useful amenities, each once per day. - 5 minutes cooldown – instant cast
- The other abilities of the steward are predominantly temporary buffs to stats, movement speed or flat dps/hps increase.
Night Fae Covenant Ability: Soulshape
- Turn into a Vulpin, teleporting 15 yards forward and increasing movement speed by 50%. You may reactivate Soulshape every few seconds to teleport a short distance forward.
While out in the world, this effect has a 12 seconds duration before it wears off, but lasts indefinitely while in a rest area. - 1.5 minute cooldown – instant cast
Demon Hunter-specific Covenant Abilities
Each Covenant also gives you access to a class-specific combat ability.
Venthyr Covenant Ability for Demon Hunters: Sinful Brand
- Brand an enemy with the mark of the Venthyr, reducing their melee attack speed by 30%, their casting speed by 30%, and inflicting (520% of Attack power) Shadow damage over 8 seconds. Activating Metamorphosis applies Sinful Brand to all nearby enemies.
- 1 minute cooldown – 30 yd range – instant cast
Necrolord Covenant Ability for Demon Hunters: Fodder to the Flame
- Commission a duel to the death against a Condemned Demon from the Theater of Pain. Vanquishing your foe releases its demon soul and creates a pool of demon blood that lasts for 30 seconds. Fighting within the pool increases your Haste by 10% and reduces the damage that enemies deal to you by 10%.
- The Condemned Demon counts as a ‘powerful enemy’ for the Necrolord Signature ability (Fleshcraft).
- 2 minutes cooldown – instant cast
Kyrian Covenant Ability for Demon Hunters: Elysian Decree
- Place a Kyrian Sigil at the target location that activates after 2 sec. Detonates to deal (350% of Attack power) Arcane damage and shatter up to 3 Lesser Soul Fragments from enemies affected by the sigil.
- 1 minute cooldown – 30 yd range – instant cast
Night Fae Covenant Ability for Demon Hunters: The Hunt
- Charge to your target, striking them for (455% of Attack power) Nature damage, rooting them in place for 1.5 seconds, and inflicting [(75.9% of Attack power) * 6] Nature damage over 6 seconds to up to 5 enemies in your path.
The pursuit invigorates your soul, healing you for 25% of the damage you deal to your Hunt target for 30 seconds. - 1.5 minutes cooldown – 50 yd range – 1 second cast
Best Covenant for Havoc Demon Hunter
Mythic Plus/Raids
For Havoc Demon Hunters in raiding and mythic+, the Venthyr Covenant is head and shoulders above all the others. Sinful Brand has a low cooldown and does very good damage. If you really do not want to go Venthyr, Kyrian would be the second best pick.
November 23rd update: Venthyr is still the best covenant for havoc DH’s, though Kyrian performs quite well for AOE damage.
PVP
The Night Fae Covenant ability (The Hunt) is absolutely amazing for PVP situations and is by far the best Covenant to pick if you focus mainly on Demon Hunter Arena or Battlegrounds. The other 3 Covenants seem all quite equal in power for PVP. If you do not want to pick Night Fae, I suggest going for Venthyr since that offers more benefits in PVE than Necrolord and Kyrian.
Best Covenant for Vengeance Demon Hunter
Mythic Plus/Raids
For Vengeance Demon Hunters I recommend the Venthyr Covenant for raiding and mythic+. It offers a nice boost to your dps as well as reduces the damage of your enemies by lowering their attack or casting speed. The Kyrian Covenant is also a good option for Vengeance Demon Hunters, providing you with a bit more self healing.
November 23rd update:Venthyr is stronger on single target and Kyrian on AOE – but Venthyr is worse on AOE than Kyrian is on single target. Therefore I now recommend picking Kyrian if you expect to play mythic+, and only go for Venthyr if you’re just planning to raid.
PVP
The Night Fae Covenant ability (The Hunt) is absolutely amazing for PVP situations and is by far the best Covenant to pick if you focus mainly on Demon Hunter Arena or Battlegrounds. The other 3 Covenants seem all quite equal in power for PVP. If you do not want to pick Night Fae, I suggest going for Venthyr since that offers more benefits in PVE than Necrolord and Kyrian.
