Warlocks: Post Your Spec

example42

example42

New Member
I had a request to post my build. So here it is. Deedlyt's Build.

I was SM/Ruin previously. This is sort of a hybrid build. My primary purpose was to test the effectiveness of Shadow and Flame. Had I stayed SM/Ruin, this would have been my build.

So, what did I gain and lose with my new build. Well, in the destruction tree I picked up...
  • Emberstorm - It's ok, but right now it only effects Immolate and Conflag. (I rarely use Searing Pain due to agro concerns and Incinerate is not yet trainable.) Pre-patch I almost never used Immolate due to the fewer number of debuff slots. I have now added it to my normal line-up of dots. Of course, it also helps my AoE, but warlock AoE is fairly situational so that's not a huge DPS boost.
  • Soul Leech - This is neat, but I haven't found it to be too useful. It's OK on some fights such as Buru, Huhu, or Vael, but seems to have limited use on trash mobs and most bosses. It might be more useful in 5 and 10 man. I could see this being nice for the Baron in Strat Dead for example. I picked it up hoping it would replace Siphon Life. I'm not sure if it fills that role. It doesn't feel like I'm getting much health from it, but that may be because I almost always have healers keeping me topped off when raiding. I've found it almost useless in PvP. The amount of health you get back isn't that much and I do more DoTing that Shadow Bolting in PvP anyway.
  • Backlash - I picked this up for the crit bonus mostly. The proc is fun. I'm still getting the hang of it, but I will say it procs almost all the time if you are being hit by a hunter or rogue in PvP. The problem is, I'm normally stun-locked to death before I get a chance to fire it if I'm up against a rogue and if a hunter actually hits me, chances are I will be dead before I'm in range to use the proc. Still, I think it has lots of potential in PvP and some in PvE. (Though in PvE if something is hitting you (causing the proc), firing a insta-cast shadow bolt into their face is generally not the best way to shed agro.)
  • Conflagrate - Nice insta-cast direct damage. A good way to add another ~900 damage to an immolation that is about to tick its last tick. Also very useful in PvP. Shadowburn + Conflag = polish off that last 40% of someone's health. In PvE, using conflag with an DoTimer is a must. In initial trial runs, it looks like conflag will make up for the harder hitting DoTs I could have gotten from an SM/Ruin build. Haven't had a chance to test it too much though as I've only been in BWL and lots of stuff there is fire immune.
  • Shadow and Flame - The question is, is the +20% bonus damage to my Shadow Bolt able to replace the +10% to all shadow from Shadow Mastery. The answer? Maybe. If you have more +dmg than the base of your Shadow Bolt, then Shadow and Flame makes for harder hitting shadow bolts. I have about +620 some odd damage right now so Shadow and Flame is pretty good investment. Does it make up for not having Shadow Mastery though since Shadow Mastery effects all shadow damage? No. But I'm relying on Backlash's +crit, Conflag, and a harder hitting Immolate to make up the difference.

So, what have a given up? Harder hitting DoTs, better Drain Life, Nightfall, Siphon Life, and Shadow Mastery. Is it worth it? Probably not as a person who does primarily 40-man content. I think I would be able to squeeze more DPS out of SM/Ruin than the hybrid build. Is the DPS close? Yes, I think so. I was the top warlock in the BWL run I did. (Others were SM/Ruin or 41 Affliction with similar gear). I was second in damage overall. If I do decide to stick with this sort of build, I will probably end up taking points out of soul leech and moving them into Suppression and Improved drain life.

Anyway, this too-long post should get the ball rolling. Anyone else want to chime in? (Sorry for the the typos and grammar errors. It's 3am and I should really be asleep.)
 
Well, I can not get into the details as Deedlyt has but my build just came to me.

I picked up Empowered Corruption and dropped Siphon Life for that fact that Angus mainly comes out for 20+ man raids and did not see much need for the added healing, but the damage from the DoTs seemed a better trade off.

I dropped Searing Pain just because I don't use it. I added Destructive Reach and a point to Intensity to allow me to get the next level. I also added Conflagrate for that extra bit of damage at the end of Immolate.

I am trying my spec out in MC this morning and will post more on how it goes.
 
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John, quick question about your builds. With your SM/Ruin build, I noticed you chose Imp Shadow Bolt. However, in your 8/0/43 build, you chose to go with Cataclysm. Any reason for doing one over the other in certain builds?


Mike, that link didn't come up for me. Can you post it up maybe using WoWhead like John did?
 
I initially did not choose imp shadow bolt because most other warlocks I raid with have it (so it's up most of the time anyway). But, the more I thought about it, if I had to re-spec I would pick it up again. Especially with all the new shadow priests stealing the charges. Also, it's good to have on the rare occasion that there aren't 4 warlocks on a TastyLash run.
 
example42 said:
I initially did not choose imp shadow bolt because most other warlocks I raid with have it (so it's up most of the time anyway). But, the more I thought about it, if I had to re-spec I would pick it up again. Especially with all the new shadow priests stealing the charges. Also, it's good to have on the rare occasion that there aren't 4 warlocks on a TastyLash run.
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Which of the two would you recommend having for a person leveling up? Like myself. lol. Would you recommend having the reduced mana cost, or the Imp Shadow Bolt? I don't seem to use but 2 or 3 shadow bolts on each mob so I thought it would be pointless to have Imp SB. But it seemed like everyone has it so I figured it was a must.
 
Yeah, I would be inclined to go Cata while leveling for exactly the reason you mentioned. When leveling you will probably DoT a lot more than SB spam. Of course, if I were leveling again I would probably go demonology, not destruction.
 
If you have a spare moment tonight, or if anyone else does, maybe someone can post up a lvl 30 lock build. Something they might suggest, or what they found to be fun, instead of a lvl 60 build. :)
 
If I was leveling a lock again, I would go this route at L30.

I believe a nice mix of Demonolgy/Destruction works good for leveling. The next few points I would get would go into Demonolgy to finish out Imp Voidwalker.
 
How about something like this for a level 30? 7/8/6
Angus_Og said:
If I was leveling a lock again, I would go this route at L30.

I believe a nice mix of Demonolgy/Destruction works good for leveling. The next few points I would get would go into Demonolgy to finish out Imp Voidwalker.
Click to expand...
 
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Only if you plan to use your blueberry (I hardly EVER do.)

This is EHP's current build. Note that it is at level 56, not 60.

My thoughts: The Destruction-Backlash mechanics are quite nice for soloing. My solo playstyle (aka constant SB spam) works quite well with this setup. I'm not really getting a real "damage" upgrade, but what it is doing is simply putting every fight into fast-forward. I just did U'cha, the big gorrilla quest in Un'Goro, and the fight lasted 4 seconds.
Shadowburn is Sexah.
Nether Protection may have been a waste of my time. It's never ever ever ever procced for me, but then again I've been fighting apes, not elementals.
Soul Leech is okay, but I think it needs to procc more often or heal for more. If I were to respecc, I'd prolly drop it in favor of, say, "Shadow and Flame" or Nightfall for the extra fastbolt mechanics.
 
so is there no love for affliction? I'm leveling affliction/fear/next please with my succ, and it's working quite well...only die on 4+ mobs above my level. Does Destro/Demon have this kind of survivability? or is it just faster?
 
Ok, first off for leveling I hardly ever used fear just from the fact that I can not control it. In a heavy mob area there is a good chance you will die. The void I used alot soloing.

Affliction is a great raid build, I am a 20/0/31 build and placed 2nd in Warlocks behind a 41/0/10 build and third overall on Coretoons MC run Saturday. I leveled doing an Affliction/Destruction build and it is viable while in party, once you get out of party you need to manage aggro and manage it pretty decently. The void, especially before the next book for torment, can loose aggro if your damage is not managed. Also never use searing pain if you do not like to get hit. I think it has the highest aggro factor of any spell.
 
I'm going to be going Affliction as soon as I finish leveling. It's just that for soloing, Backlash > Nightfall by a long shot.

As soon as that changes, I'll be back to an Afflictilock.
 
I tweaked my spec a little tonight. Here is my new spec. I dropped Soul Leech as it didn't seem terribly useful. I picked up Shadowfury and put a few more points into Suppression. I also moved my points from Cataclysm to Improved Shadow Bolt. That's about it.

I've decided to stick with a heavy destruction spec for now as it offers me greater performance in PvP than SM/Ruin (I'm working on getting the GM Mageblade) and it appears to be almost the same damage as SM/Ruin in raids. Honestly, when you are talking about SM/Ruin vs Destruction in raiding, it often boils down to what mobs you are fighting. I top the damage meters in AoEing, but lag a little on multi-dot groups where constant Nightfall procs would give me a nice boost in damage (were I SM/Ruin). SM/Ruin vs. Destruction seems to be a tie on bosses that are not resistant to fire damage. Conflag makes up for nightfall procs and the increased DoT damage SM/Ruin has.
 
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