Chaos Bolt

Chaos Bolt is a Warlock spell that deals direct damage to the target. It has a shorter cast time than either Incinerate or Shadow Bolt, and a higher spell power coefficient. In PvE, this spell should always be on cooldown.

Talents
Bane will lower the cast time of Chaos Bolt by up to .5 seconds at max rank.

Backdraft will lower the cast time (three charges) of Chaos Bolt by up to 30% at max rank after a successful Conflagrate is cast.

Fire and Brimstone increases damage of Chaos Bolt to targets affected by Immolate by 6% at max rank.

Chaos Bolt is a Destruction spell, and thus gains the benefit of the talents Cataclysm (talent), Shadow and Flame and Soul Leech.

Tips and tactics

 * Chaos Bolt pierces through Fire resistance
 * Chaos Bolt pierces through Absorption effects (i.e. Mana Shield, Anti-Magic Shell).
 * Chaos Bolt pierces through resist effects (i.e. Cloak of Shadows)
 * Chaos Bolt damage is reduced normally by Damage reduction effects (i.e. Pain Suppression. Something to note here is that Cheat Death describes the talent as a damage reduction but the actual game mechanic it's an absorption thus Chaos Bolt pierces through Cheat Death.
 * Chaos Bolt does NOT penetrate full immunities (Divine Shield and Ice Block). It is NOT deflected by Deterrence.
 * Chaos Bolt does 6% additional damage to targets that are afflicted with Immolate if you have taken the talent Fire and Brimstone, so this spell should always be cast on your opponent before Chaos Bolt. Following up with Conflagrate deals massive burst damage. Even better, pick talent Backdraft and use the Glyph of Conflagrate. Cast Immolate, Conflagrate (proccing Backdraft) and Chaos Bolt (now with 30% reduced cast time). This sequence is sure to reduce most non-elite mobs to a smoking pile of ash! Works well in PvP too.
 * Curse of the Elements increases magic damage done to a target by 8% and should also be applied prior to casting Chaos Bolt in fights of sustained damage.
 * This spell is particular fun in Karazhan where the mana-shielded mobs in the Curator-boss is a major nuisance - bring a Destro-lock and one-shot them with Chaos Bolt.

The resilience myth
It appears as if the whole resilience thing was just a myth. Ghostcrawler said that the developers could not find anything that affected resilience and Chaos Bolt has never bypassed it.