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** Warlock FAQ ** [current for 3.3.5]
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Post by
343636
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
asakawa
it under-performs and brings no buffs (no DP, no ISB). since fg/ember was popular blizz have done a lot to buff the deep tree talents to a point where hybrids just can't keep up.
if you want to test these sorts of things without the need for extensive in-game testing give simulationcraft a whirl. there's a sticky with info on how to use it.
Post by
343636
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
USMCDiablo
Why are PvE builds not speced into healthstones? Specifically the Demo build. What advantage does Demonic Embrace give your raid over better Healthstones?
Post by
asakawa
if you want it then go for it. it's not a standard of any lock spec.
Post by
asakawa
i've had the section on professions for a while:
A:
PvE
Professions can be chosen for various reasons but the two main ones are; a) to help raiding, and b) to make money.
I'll only cover the benefits professions give to a raiding warlock. Advice on the money-making side of things can, I'm sure, be found in Wowhead's
professions forum
.
The various professions in WoW essentially boil down into two categories, the good and the bad.
Good:
Tailoring, Jewelcrafting, Enchanting, Alchemy, Leatherworking, Inscriptions, Engineering, Blacksmithing
Bad:
Skinning, Mining, Herbalism
Tailoring
's
Lightweave
enchant for cloaks gives 295 spellpower for 15 seconds with a 45second internal cooldown. This equates to a buff of up to (
295 * 15 / 60 =
)
74sp
, one of the best that is given by any profession.
Jewelcrafting
has the ability to use better gems, notably the
Runed Dragon's eye
. 3 of these gives
48sp
more than using normal gems.
Enchanting
allows us to
enchant our rings
for a total of
46sp
Alchemy
receives the passive buff,
mixology
which increases the effect of a
Flask of the Frost Wyrm
by
47sp
. It also has the extra benefit of doubling its duration, saving you money.
Leatherworking
can enchant bracers with
Fur Lining - spell power
for a
46sp
gain over the normal bracer enchant.
Inscription
has the
Master's Inscription of the storm
providing a
46sp
gain over the Sons of Hodir exalted enchant.
Blacksmithing
can add
extra
sockets
to gloves and bracers. a gain of
46sp
when using epic gems.
Engineering
most notably provides a
Haste enchant
for gloves. Like the tailoring enchant this is a large effect for a limited time but works out as a buff of up to (
340 x 12 / 60 =
)
68Haste
. Engineers also have access to a
cloak enchant
which is better than the normal haste one.
Skinning
is the best of the poorer professions in that at max level it does provide a
+40 crit rating buff
. This is clearly much weaker than the professions listed above but still provides an actual DPS increase for a PvE Warlock.
Mining
gives the passive buff
Toughness
. Great for tanks. Not much use for a raiding lock.
Herbalism
has
Lifeblood
a nice instant cast heal but not much use in end-game.
PvP
note: Please could i get some input from PvPers here?
and i really need to clear up this note on PVPers. i assume that there's not a vast difference between what's good for PvE and PvP except maybe favouring mining's stam a little higher perhaps. do PvPers like or dislike proc based profession perks (engineering hands etc) more of less than PvEers?
hopefully an active and current PvPer will read this and help out.
thanks
Post by
607717
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
asakawa
thanks for the compliments ^_^
1) if you've got a tank that can hold the threat on groups of mobs and 3 or more targets then AoE is great in dungeons. sounds like you're destro so you've got talents to improve rain of fire which is good because you don't have seed of corruption yet ^_^
at max level seed is the better AoE for all warlock specs but i'm not sure if that scaling is true at lower levels. RoF is super efficient though so using RoF when levelling in dungeons is a good idea even at 70 once you get seed.
regarding shadowfury, most tanks rely on getting hit when they first pull and they also will want the freedom to reposition so i would advise against using SF on the pull. it's a useful tool if something looks like it's going for a healer (or you) but best to save it for those occasions.
2) destro doesn't usually level like that. destro can kill single mobs much quicker than the other specs but it struggles to deal with multi-mob pulls. that's just the trade-off you make when you go destro.
3) for destro if you have 2 targets just nuke the first one using the usual priority until it's dead then move to the next target. if there are three then use RoF.
4) destro should aim to kill mobs before they reach you. affliction tanks mobs themselves and doesn't use the pet to tank. the VW's sacrifice can be useful for all specs in various situations but generally those two specs will use their DPS pet and not rely on pet tanking.
5) seems like you're looking specifically at the end-game stat priorities there. when you're levelling things are a lot simpler:
When levelling aim for as much spellpower as possible. Where you can't find spellpower items or to augment the spellpower on an item look for stamina. The order basically goes:
spellpower > stamina >>> everything else.
Int can be useful. Spirit is good after level 62. Crit, hit and haste are fine but shouldn't be sought out.
PvE
hit(until capped) > spellpower > haste > spirit > crit
PvE gearing is a complicated affair and an in-depth analysis has been done by irharry in his thread
The Basics - hit, crit, haste and spelldamage
SP is super important for levelling.
int isn't so important for locks since our health and mana pools are effectively the same thing via life tap.
hope that's covered most of your questions. feel free to ask more if there's anything you're still unsure of.
Post by
607717
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
asakawa
things are a little more complicated with affliction.
firstly, if there's 3 or more mobs then rain of fire until you get seed of corruption (level 70?) then use that from then on. for lower level parties you won't be able to rely on the group to pop your seed before your next one lands so you'll need to tab-seed (that is tabbing through the targets and putting a seed on each. by the time you get back to the first one they'll have popped).
-note: when you reach end-game you can mostly just spam seed on the one target and be confident that they'll pop before your next one lands.
for two mobs it's, in principle, the same thing as destro - nuke the first until it's dead then move onto the second and so on. however since the ideal priority list for affliction relies on the mobs being alive for more than 20seconds (preferably much more) you'll probably have to cut it down a bit and this is where it's difficult to give advice. 2mob trash pulls in dungeons tend to have more health than bigger groups so they will generally last a little longer but typically not a full DoT rotation. you'll get a feel for which spells to use in these cases but if something's not going to live for much more than 10 seconds then you should be thinking about just using SBs.
expect to do less damage on these pulls than destro (or other classes) but don't worry since 2 mob pulls are rare and your 3+ and boss damage will be excellent.
Post by
366611
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
asakawa
i wouldn't say there's a vast difference between destro locks and other classes. what makes PvPing difficult (or challenging and fun) is almost all about the PvP rather than the specific class you're playing. i think the idea is to learn the class abilities well and then play the opponent rather than your own character.
Post by
366611
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
USMCDiablo
Almost all the top Arena Teams are Jewelcrafting and Engineering. I'm not one of them, but I'd assume it has something to do with the rocket items from Engineering, and the awesomeness of Jewelcrafting. Waiting for a Lightweave proc would just be annoying to burst down your opponents or could be wasted if it occurred at a bad time.
Post by
asakawa
a bump to let people know that this thread is still in a constant state of iteration and improvement. updates are all logged in the changelog. today i added a question that gets asked... um... frequently ^_^:
Q: Do I use Corruption as a Destruction Warlock?
A:
The short answer is
No
.
The inclusion of any spell in a talent spec's priority list comes down to a simple question. Does it give more damage for the time i use to cast it than that spec's basic nuke. In the case of Destruction Warlocks, their main nuke is Incinerate and without any talents to boost it Corruption will deal considerably less damage even taking into account the lower cast time (Corruption is instant meaning it uses one global cooldown, Incinerate is a 2.25 second cast with talents).
However, Corruption
does
still have a place on your actionbars as Destruction. Whenever you are forced to move your options for spells to use is quite short and basically consists of:
Curse
Conflagrate
Life Tap
Corruption
This is the new priority list to follow while forced to move by the encounter's mechanics. Basically, if all your core instant abilities are used then corruption allows you to get some damage from otherwise "dead" time.
as ever comments, suggestions, clarifications and corrections are all welcomed.
Post by
230706
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
asakawa
you've actually got 15% hit.
use a couple of gems to get the cap. you could also use the
glove enchant
.
Post by
fuhrerschein
asawaka,
I'm not as much of an expert at PvP as some of the members here I'm sure, but since you wanted some input, engineering is very common in PvP. In bg's you can use the rocket boot enchant (which also gives 24 crit), the frag belt(which deals dmg and incapacitates enemies for 3 sec) and the hand rocket (which can also be used in arenas) which adds great burst.
As far as procs go, I've kept lightweave on my pvp cape for now, because it usually procs right at the beginning of an arena so I can try and burst them down quickly with added SP(since im destro this is conveinent :) )
hope this helps
Post by
asakawa
it does help, thanks.
i've made a few changes so we now have:
Q: What are the best professions?
A:
Professions can be chosen for various reasons but the two main ones are; a) to help you main end-game activity, and b) to make money.
I'll only cover the benefits professions give to a raiding/PvP warlock. Advice on the money-making side of things can, I'm sure, be found in Wowhead's
professions forum
.
The essential benefits of each profession are:
Tailoring
's
Lightweave
enchant for cloaks gives 295 spellpower for 15 seconds with a 45second internal cooldown. This equates to a buff of up to (
295 * 15 / 60 =
)
74sp
, one of the best that is given by any profession for PvE.
Jewelcrafting
has the ability to use better gems, notably the
Runed Dragon's eye
. 3 of these gives
48sp
more than using normal gems.
Enchanting
allows us to
enchant our rings
for a total of
46sp
Alchemy
receives the passive buff,
mixology
which increases the effect of a
Flask of the Frost Wyrm
by
47sp
. It also has the extra benefit of doubling its duration, saving you money.
Leatherworking
can enchant bracers with
Fur Lining - spell power
for a
46sp
gain over the normal bracer enchant.
Inscription
has the
Master's Inscription of the storm
providing a
46sp
gain over the Sons of Hodir exalted enchant.
Blacksmithing
can add
extra
sockets
to gloves and bracers. a gain of
46sp
when using epic gems.
Engineering
most notably provides a
Haste enchant
for gloves. Like the tailoring enchant this is a large effect for a limited time but works out as a buff of up to (
340 x 12 / 60 =
)
68Haste
. Engineers also have access to a
cloak enchant
which is better than the normal haste one. Engineers also have access to items and enchants which don't directly increase DPS but have utility.
Skinning
is the best of the poorer professions in that at max level it does provide a
+40 crit rating buff
. This is clearly much weaker than the professions listed above but still provides an actual DPS increase for a PvE Warlock.
Mining
gives the passive buff
Toughness
. Great for tanks. Stam is nice for PvP. Not much use for a raiding lock.
Herbalism
has
Lifeblood
a nice instant cast heal but not much use in end-game PvE.
PvE
The various professions in WoW essentially boil down into two categories, the good and the bad.
Good:
Tailoring, Jewelcrafting, Enchanting, Alchemy, Leatherworking, Inscriptions, Engineering, Blacksmithing
Bad:
Skinning, Mining, Herbalism
PvP
PvPers can make more use of Engineering's long list of toys (such as
frag belts
and
rocket boots
). Jewelcrafting is favoured highly and more use is found for Mining's stamina and Herbalism's heal than in PvE.
i'll revisit the wording since it trips over itself a bit but suggestions for how to improve the PvP bit are still very much welcome.
Post by
Ksero
Q: Do the different warlock specs have different gear requirements?
A: No.
All the major warlock specs follow very similar stat weightings meaning that there is no such thing as "affliction gear" or "destruction gear". While the various specs get slightly more or less from a given stat, the stat priorities remain largely the same for all specs.
Hit(to cap) ► SP ► haste ►crit ► spirit
At higher gear levels this flow chart gets a little strained with destruction builds finding crit overtake haste and raid-buffing demonology builds highly favouring spirit. See disclaimer on page one.
Q: What stats should I look for on gear?
A: As ever the stats you want are different for levelling, PvE and PvP.
PvE
hit(until capped) > spellpower > haste > spirit > crit
I noticed that your 2 sections have contradictory data, just thought I'd give you a heads up.
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