Warlock suggestions

[SandDemon]

Anyone from Nurfed want to write up a Warlock guide? Maybe a few different talent builds, talent discussion, leveling guide, etc?

Got a Warlock alt now, want to get some feedback from those that know it more than I do.

[hellion]

dude.

[arch]

There is one already at the US Forums, don't know the link but it's in the Warlock Discussion.

[SandDemon]

If I wanted to read the main forums, I would (and did) - but am still asking the Nurfed Warlock group. The 3 of them (there are never high level warlocks around...) have 3 different builds and curious to their reasoning and suggestions for leveling.

[Coldfire]

I'm personally following Nisstyr's build, and it seems to be working well so far. I have yet to have much experience with PvP, and this is also my first caster class, so I can't offer a whole lot of advice beyond that. There are, however, a number of threads on this board discussing Warlocks that you might check out.

[hellion]

nisstyr's is nice, except i still don't understand why he keeps dark pact. you limit a lot of your pets abilities by using it, even though the pets regen very quickly, they will be out of mana fast. i got my ass handed to me because my succubus didn't have enough mana for a seduce at the proper time.

ruin is hard to justify because i don't crit a lot right now (52) , but when i get some +spell crit gear and go down the destruction line, i'm sure that will change very much so.

also , curse of exhaustion , imo, needs to be made 50% snare when upgraded or else it is too damn weak to justify 5 points into it. 5 points is an ass load that can be used in many other places and CoE is pretty situational.

[hellion]

also i would like to add that i too am using nisstyrs build atm and dark pact is awsome for leveling because A) I'm a cheap bastard and B) there seems to be less downtime than drinking.

i could get around just be voidwalker - > life tap - > life drain too though and raising my wand skill.

[Coldfire]

When I run low on mana I always spam Life Tap and then hit a bandage. Works very, very well. I think Dark Pact is more for a pick me up in a pinch.

[Microdave]

Not one of you answered his question :P I am also looking for a good warlock guide, specfically for PvP, destruction seems to be kind of a farce, if you want crits a rogue would work better. Is improved curse of agony worth it?

[hellion]

um destruction is the path of light .

curse of agony blows for any fight < 30 seocnds.

k.

[Microdave]

How far should one go in affliction then? and if not agony then what curse is best in PvP, exhaustion? shadow for increased damage?

[KungFoo]

Improved curse of agony is crap. Three points to go from 1095 damage over 30s to 1160.7? That's an increase of, what, 2.19 dps? Worthless. Even when amplified you're still gaining only a little under 120 extra damage (1642.5 vs 1741.05), or less than 4 dps. I'd much rather take 2 of those talent points and put them into something like improved healthstone (gain an extra 240 hp; somehow I think I can do more than 120 damage with that) or improved life tap. Not to mention that you'll likely only be using agony in a small percentage of your pvp fights...


Which brings me to your next question, and the answer really depends on a lot of different factors. I mean, your build is going to be one of them: Do you have curse of exhaustion? Are you specced more for shadow damage, or fire? What pet do you have out? And, of course, the class of your opponent plays an enormous role. Here are some general guidelines, which are pretty much how I evaluate a given situation:

Priest: Curse of Tongues, every time. Mitigates flash heal, and completely wrecks mana burn, which is HUGE.

Mage: Generally tongues, although if I think they're an arcane spec that'll spam instants and I'm using a destruction build, I'll use Curse of Elements.

Druid: Does it really matter? CoT vs caster form to slow their damage output/mana efficiency, maybe exhaustion or agony vs a melee form, but this isn't a fight you should be sweating.

Warrior: Amplified or improved CoE if you have it (warriors HATE snares/roots), else agony + kiting.

Rogue: Not a fan of CoE because of the whole sprint thing, my rogue curse order depends on what I'm doing at the moment the fight starts. If I'm running away from the rogue, I'll drop agony until I can get a fear or lull off (could be 15s vs undead with WoF), and then replace it with elements when I'm ready to start nuking; otherwise I'll just lead off with elements+fear.

Warlock: Curse of Tongues. Huge, as they have no spammy instant nukes. Plus, CoT outranges fear.

Hunter: Agony or amplified agony. Either you're being constantly interrupted, making elements/shadow highly inefficient, or you've already feared/lulled/gotten the upper hand, in which case you win by default. Although I suppose exhaustion could be useful if you wanted to run.

Shaman: Generally agony, although fear owns shaman hardcore so shadow/elements are fine alternatives... just get the grounding totem before you start fearing. If I'm really on with my micro I'll overwrite my curse w/ tongues if I think they're about to start to cast a heal or lightning. People really hate that.

Paladin: Lately I've been using curse of elements more against paladins, as I try for a knockout punch from lull before they execute their invuln... plus, they'll generally dispel your curses after about 20s anyway. If you're going for a long, drawn-out fight, you can lead with agony and then drop amplified agony AFTER he's used his invuln(s). Tongues is mostly worthless, since almost all their spells are instant.


I'll probably go into my thoughts on the pros/cons of various builds sometime later, and also a few pvp tips to make you a more completely badass warlock. Or something. Mostly I'm just tired of my rogue friends complaining about how all the warlocks they've dueled are weak and do no damage.

[Microdave]

Excellent, thanks I look forward to seeing your further posts on warlock pvp

[hellion]

my question is:

does tongues slow down the cast speed of a spell that is ALREADY being casted when you apply it ?

[Rekuul']

Ill do a write up sometime soon.

-Rek

[Inconsiderable]

Ill do a write up sometime soon.

-Rek

I love you.

[Coldfire]

Ill do a write up sometime soon.

-RekOh boy oh boy oh boy. *excited* :D