Last night's raid was an interesting experiment in testing our own limitations. Once again I got to take Mara to kill stuff in the face. Sometimes... when Empowered Imp procs and I get a free, instant-cast Soul Fire all I can think to myself is TROGDOR! Burninating all the peoples! And the Trogdor comes in the night!
We steamrolled through the Lower Spire, which has become fairly commonplace for most raids, I think. I spent some time as Destro and some time as Demo and I haven't really been able to determine a difference in dps yet. Destro is predicted to do about 2k more dps (though, presumably, at the highest gear levels), but both specs seem to be about equal to me.
We were able to visit Heroic Lootship. I didn't notice much a difference between it and regular Lootship, except that it lasted longer. And gave better loot. Not being on the healing team, I don't know if either of our Holy Priests played chicken, but I assume they did not.
I guess this isn't being totally fair to the heroic lootship - we did wipe horribly the first time. Mord was trying to glitch Saurfang and ... missed, I guess.
But the second time the glitch was successful. I got to go over to the other ship and BURNINATE things. Totally fun. Those guys at the back of the ships are called Kor'kron Rocketeers and there's two of them. So I burninated one and Takk was all like 'rawr-ninja-rogue-attack' on the other. Stuff died quickly. But, I did notice (unless its a sad RNG thing) that you can't get Empowered Imp procs on the other ship. While, there's nothing in the tooltips or on wowhead that suggests a limited range, I would still assume its a distance thing.
We had with us a baby Boomkin that hit 80 a couple days ago. Andu has been leveling with us for awhile now and I think its particularly interesting to revisit the boss strategies before each fight from the perspective of having never done it before. Really, it wasn't that long ago for most of us and its just interesting to think about your own growth as a raider and a member of a team.
We were kinda mean to Andu. After the Lower Spire we went to visit the Crimson Halls. I really (really really really) wanted us to be successful here. My priest has seen the Crimson Halls twice, but this was my warlock's first visit.
And we wiped. Hard. Several times against the Blood Prince Council. I did get to try to tank Keleseth. Once. Apparently I sucked too hard to try again. And its killing me because I keep thinking about things I could have done better/differently.
The basic idea is: get threat on Keleseth, stay out of melee range, get dark nuclei, keep threat on Keleseth, win.
Helpful spells: Demon Armor, Shadow Ward
Get threat: Empowered Soul Fire (Instant cast), Empowered Searing Pain. (Guaranteed to crit, with +50% crit on Searing Pain for 6 seconds)
There are some suggestions that a warlock's usual rotation generates quite enough threat to keep Keleseth entertained. But otherwise, Searing Pain should do the trick.
Stay out of melee range: Demonic Circle
In general, Keleseth will not move into melee range to attack. He stays at range. However, if you approach him whether purposefully or accidentally, he will probably one-shot you.
Get dark nuclei: Target nuclei, cast Corruption. Using a dot has the advantage of: if someone else accidentally does damage to it, the next tick of the dot will reset its aggro to you. The disadvantage is, of course, the nuclei may die. The part where this starts to break down is now I'm targeted on a dark nuclei and NOW I CAN'T FIND KELESETH.
Lesson 1: Create a Focus for Keleseth.
Keep threat on Keleseth: Searing Pain. Empowered Searing Pain when possible. The problem with this is that, even if you're not retarded like me and can switch targets efficiently, switching between dark nuclei and running around to get in range of dark nuclei and Keleseth affects the amount of time you can spam Searing Pain.
Lesson 2: Get help. When a dark nuclei spawns in nowhereville, have them call it out so you can find it. Even better, have them bring it into range of you, so you can grab it off them. Obviously, this may not be feasible if its on another tank or a healer.
We were eventually successful. At the end, Mord tanked Keleseth and the other paladin tank who was running with us took Taldaram and Valanar. It would have been nice to see the Wand of Ruby Claret, but I'm not devastated that it didn't show up.
But then... we... stopped. To be fair it was getting late and people needed to leave and stuff. But... but... I need to see the Blood Queen on my warlock.
I was a little sad, but we're going to try and pick it up again next week. Our visiting pally tank and holy priest are from Militia's other guild, so it seems they're free on Wednesday nights. Maybe we can make some good progression again and start maybe, hopefully taking a peek at the Lich King.
In case the announcement got skipped at some point: this is Beating your head against a Brick Wall: Hard Mode.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Thursday, October 21, 2010
You Can Has Demons
At raid last night I (finally!) got to bring my warlock back to ICC to burn stuff in the face. It was seriously fun, totally awesome, and I loved it. It's no secret that I enjoy being dps, sitting in the back, nailing that rotation (excuse me, priority list), and watching the big numbers fly. In celebration, today's post is a guide to Demonology Warlocking in the 4.0.
Because this turned out way longer than I expected, here are some breakers:
Other Guides
The Spec
The Glyphs
The Priority
The Stats, Reforing, and Gems
Don't Panic
You'll have to imagine these letters are large and friendly.
I know rolling a warlock can be a daunting idea. We're powerful casters with intimidating minions and a snappy fashion sense. Don't Panic. There are number of warlocks who are more than willing to help out fledgling power-seekers. (You should stay away from the one's who aren't willing, though, they can be mean.) Here we're going to talk Demonology - the unquestioned master of minions.
As a demonologist you will get an exclusive minion - the fearsome felguard. At lower levels he's a fairly capable tank (though in some situations you will still want yourblueberry Voidwalker) and at higher levels he provides some serious melee damage (feel free to take him to dungeons instead of rogues). You will also get an increased chance to create mini-minions from your Bane of Doom spell and a longer duration on your demon guardians. YOU are the pimp of the demon world - rolling with an entire possy of minions. You can even BE a demon, that's how cool you are.
These Aren't the Information You're Looking For
As stated, this all about Demonology. You may want to visit some other guides to get quality information about Destruction or Afflication warlocking. Don't worry. I'll still be here when you decide Demonology is right for you.
Affliction
Poneria over at Fel Concentration and Fulguralis at Killing 'em Slowly had a great discussion about Affliction PvE in the 4.0. Read Ful's post here and Pone's response here.
Destruction
Cynwise at Cynwise's Battlefiend Manual has a fantastic post about Destruction PvE. Find it here.
Growing Up Demo
This guide is aimed at a level 80 warlock in the pre-Cataclysm 4.0. If you're just getting started in the wide world of warlockery, Abi over at Kungaloosh is starting a series of posts about leveling Demo.
Levels 1-10
Levels 10-20
Cata; lol wut?
Abi also has a post about what we can expect the Demonology spec to look like at 85. Find that post here.
Give it all to me in a picture
Here.
If all you want is basic, distilled information above is the link to my own Demonology build and glyph set. It serves me well.
Lets Break it Down
The link above is not the only way to build a demonologist, so let's start with a break down of the talent tree.
Tier 1
Demonic Embrace: Increases Stamina by 4%/7%/10%. Not a necessary talent for PvE builds, but you may want to spend some of your floater points here.
Dark Arts: Increases damage done by your minion. Necessary. Actually, every warlock spec should put some amount of talent points in this talent. As a demonologist, you will want all of them.
Fel Synergy: A 50%/100% chance to heal your pet each time you do damage. Arguably necessary. Most healers will not be paying attention to your minion and in most boss fights some mechanic or another will lead to your minion taking damage. With 2 points here, you won't have to pay attention to it either.
In a nutshell: Put 3 points in Dark Arts and 2 points in Fel Synergy. Revisit Demonic Embrace if you have floater points later.
Tier 2
Demonic Rebirth: If your minion dies, you can resummon at 50%/100% reduced cast time. Arguably necessary. The only other way to get an instant-cast demon is to spend a Soul Shard. During a boss fight, you should have more interesting things to spend shards on.
Mana Feed: You get mana when your minion crits. Necessary. Since they've changed Glyph of Life Tap (it no longer grants a spell power bonus), it's nice to have ways other than Life Tap to regain mana.
Demonic Aegis: Increases the effects of Demon Armor and Fel Armor. Necessary. You should always be using an Armor, so this talent will always be doing something for you.
Master Summoner: Reduces the mana cost of summoning a minion by 50%/100%. Not necessary.
In a nutshell: Put 2 points in Mana Feed, 2 points in Demonic Aegis, and 2 points in Demonic Rebirth. Revisit Master Summoner if you have floater points later and want to. Personally, I like the Demonic Rebirth/Master Summoner combination. Then, if your demon dies, recasting is not only instant its also mana-free.
Tier 3
Impending Doom: Increases the chance Bane of Doom will summon an Ebon Imp by 10%/20%/30%. Also gives Shadowbolt, Incinerate, and Hand of Gul'dan a 5%/10%/15% chance to reduce the cooldown on Metamorphosis. Necessary. More Ebon Imps = More Damage. Reducing the cooldown on demon form is nice too, especially when the three spells listed are Demonology's primary fillers.
Demonic Empowerment: Does something PvP related to your minion. Not necessary - skip this point.
Improved Health Funnel: Increases health granted to your minion via Health Funnel and decreases the amount of health donated by you. Not necessary - skip this point.
In a nutshell: Put 3 points in Impending Doom. Put 1 point in Demonic Embrace or Master Summoner.
Tier 4
Molten Core: Gives you a 2%/4%/6% chance to gain the Molten Core effect when Immolate deals damage which will empower 3 Incinerates or Soul Fires. Necessary. This used to be when Corruption dealt damage, but has been changed to Immolate.
Hand of Gul'dan: New damage dealing spell. Increases chance targets within 4 yards will be critically hit. Necessary.
Aura of Foreboding: Roots enemies in 4 yard radius around Hand of Gul'dan. Not necessary.
In a nutshell: Put 3 Points in Molten Core and 1 Point in Hand of Gul'dan. I would recommend putting 1 point in Aura of Foreboding. The root could be useful, but I wouldn't spend the extra point in increasing the effect by 1 second. Alternatively, put 1 point in Demonic Embrace or Master Summoner.
Tier 5
Ancient Grimoire: Increases the duration of your guardians. Necessary.
Inferno: Increases the radius of Hellfire and allows channeling while moving. Lolworthy, but necessary for moving down the path.
Decimation: Reduces cast time of Soul Fire by 20%/40% when target is below 25% health. Necessary.
In a nutshell: Put 2 points in Ancient Grimoire, 1 point in Inferno, and 2 points in Decimation.
Tier 6
Cremation: Gives Hand of Gul'dan a 50%/100% chance to refresh Immolate. Necessary. If you can time it right, you only need to cast Immolate once per fight. Then, you can refresh with a spell that also does damage.
Demonic Pact: Increases your spell damage by 2% and the raid's spell power by 10%. Necessary. Additional spell damage and spell power is win.
In a nutshell: Put 2 points in Cremation and 1 point in Demonic Pact. Put the 2 floater points in whatever talents make you smile.
Tier 7
Metamorphosis: Transforms you into a demon. Necessary. This is what we came here for, after all.
The extras
At level 80 you have 5 additional talent points to spend. The Tier 1 talents of the other two trees both have extremely useful talents and you could arguably take any combination of those talents that you want. I personally like the ones from the Destruction tree.
Bane: Reduces the cast time of Shadowbolt and Immolate by .1/.3/.5 seconds. I like this one because I like to cast faster. With Shadowbolt being our filler spell, casting it quicker is always a good plan.
Shadow and Flame: Increases the damage of Shadowbolt and Incinerate and has a 33%/66%/100% chance to cause Improved Shadowbolt debuff. The most popular demonology builds put only 2 points in this talent. However, by doing that, we are relying on a Fire Mage to ensure the 5% crit debuff is on the target OR putting our faith in RNG that 66% is enough of a chance. If you never run with a Fire Mage, you may want to put all 3 points in here.
Doom and Gloom: Increases the crit chance of Bane of Doom by 4%/8%.
Improved Corruption: Increases the damage dealt by Corruption by 4%/8%/12%. All specs are also using corruption at the moment for a net DPS increase. Spending points here will make that dps increase even higher.
Prime Glyphs
Glyph of Metamorphosis: Increases the amount of time you spend as a demon.
Glyph of Immolate: Increases the damage of your primary dot.
Glyph of Incinerate: Increases the damage done by incinerate.
Glyph of Felguard: Increases the damage done by your Felguard's Legion Strike.
The first two are necessary. Of the last two, the Elistist Jerks suggest using the Incinerate glyph for higher dps. I would argue that this dps increase is dependent on your Molten Core procs, so your mileage may vary.
Major Glyphs
Glyph of Shadow Bolt: Decreases the mana cost of Shadowbolt.
Glyph of Life Tap: Decreases the global cooldown on Life Tap.
Glyph of Fear: Causes the target of your fear to tremble in place.
Glyph of Demonic Circle: Decreases the cooldown on Demonic Circle.
The first one is necessary. Again, Shadowbolt is the filler spell for Demonologists, so requiring less mana to cast it is extremely helpful. Glyph of Life Tap is another recommendation from the Elitist Jerks - it would allow you to cast it multiple times in a row which may not endear you to your healer(s). Poneria made a great argument for Glyph of Fear. It causes your target to stay in one place instead of running around and aggroing the entire instance. In a PvE situation, this gives warlocks a more reliable CC. Personally, I like Glyph of Demonic Circle. It lets you teleport to your circle more often, which is useful when Valkyrs are trying to drop you off the side of ICC or when Sindragosa is pulling you to her.
Minor Glyphs
None of these are necessary. Amuse yourself with whatever strikes your fancy. I personally like Glyph of Souls for reducing the mana cost of Ritual of Souls, Glyph of Unending Breath for increased swim speed, and Glyph of Kilrogg for maximum kicks and giggles with the Eye of Kilrogg.
The Priority
Now that I've tossed around terms like 'filler spell' and 'primary dot', lets talk about what that means. WoW has moved away from things that resemble hard rotations and into a world of 'priority casting'. This means, you should case whatever spell or ability is the MOST IMPORTANT and move down the line to the next most important spell until you get to some thing that isn't so important but since you should be casting something you cast it (that's your filler).
Metamorphosis
Immolate
Hand of Gul'dan
Bane of Doom
Corruption
*Immolation Aura
*Shadowflame
Decimation + Soul Fire
Molten Core + Incinerate
Soulburn + Soul Fire
Shadow Bolt
*These spells require you to be in melee range. I don't like to be there, so I usually leave them out of my priority. They will increase your dps, but please look out for cleave and other melee nasties.
What does this all mean? Well, you should start by using Metamorphosis whenever it is off cooldown. It increases your damage by 20% for 36 seconds(glyphed). Then, you should ensure that Immolate is always on your target. Then, you should use Hand of Gul'dan if its off cooldown. Then, Bane of Doom and then Corruption. You don't have to worry about clipping your dots anymore, so you can recast your dots before they fall off. However, casting them too often will lead to a net dps loss. I would recommend recasting them about 1-2 seconds before they fall off for Bane of Doom and Corruption. Immolate should be refreshed through the use of Hand of Gul'dan.
Decimation appears when you hit a target with less than 25% health. At this point, Soul Fire becomes a much quicker cast and that should be the only direct damage spell you cast (continue to cast Bane of Doom, Corruption, Hand, and Metamorphosis as necessary). If Molten Core appears on top of Decimation, continue to cast Soul Fire.
Molten Core appears whenever it feels like it. At this point you should cast three Incinerates.
If all your dots are up and neither Decimation nor Molten Core are up, burn a Soul Shard for Soulburn. This will allow you to cast one instant Soul Fire. (I have Soulburn and Soul Fire macro'd together for this purpose.) Soulburn has a cooldown of 45 seconds, so when its on cooldown cast Shadowbolt.
Clear as mud, right? I recommend practicing on a target dummy to really get a feel for how this all fits together. It can take some work to learn the priority and figure out when its best to cast or recast your dots. I mentioned that its possible to cast Immolate only once per fight and keep it up with Hand of Gul'dan. It is possible. However, it involves casting Hand of Gul'dan almost as soon as it goes off cooldown every time. And, unfortunately, a certain amount of Haste rating is necessary.
The Stats
Prior to the patch a demonology warlock wanted all the spell power they could get their hands on. Essentially, this hasn't changed. What has changed is that spell power will no longer be available on armor and that intellect will directly affect spell power.
So let's just stack intellect! Not so fast, there. Demonology warlocks now heavily rely on the "right" amount of haste.
From the Elitist Jerks:
"There is not an optimal amount of haste so much as particular thresholds for Demo locks to avoid. The first, as Warlocomotif mentioned, is at 10% haste. If you have 9.99% haste, your Immolate will last 13.64 sec, which can make it difficult or impossible to refresh with HoG. ... Here is a list of the thresholds to avoid as Demo locks. Note that you are safe if your haste is equal to or greater than one of these thresholds, but you should try to gain (or possibly lose) haste if your haste is slightly lower than any of these numbers:" 10%, 30% 50%.
Also, don't forget that all casters now have to reach the 17% hit cap on their own (unless they're a Draenei).
So your stat priority looks like this:
Hit (17%) > Haste (10%, 30%, 50%) > Intellect > Spell Power = Mastery
Whats this mastery business? Mastery is a passive bonus you can learn at level 80. For demonologists, this gives us a straight 12% bonus to damage done by our minions and by us in demon form. Then, each point of mastery increases this bonus by 1.5% However, mastery isn't going to start showing up on gear until Cataclysm. The only way to get it now is to reforge your gear.
Reforging
Reforging lets you take 40% of a secondary stat and turn it into a different secondary stat. To get some practice, find your nearest reforger and reforge all of your gear with spirit on it. You don't need spirit at all anymore, so anything you reforge it into will be better than spirit.
The Elitist Jerks recommend starting with Hit and I agree for the most part. You may want to first check that your meta gem is activated (remember that the Chaotic Skyflare Diamond - which you should be using - requires 2 blue gems to activate). The only useful blue gems are now Rigid Majestic Zircon and Veiled Dreadstone. I would recommend grabbing two Veiled Dreadstones and try to match +9 or +7 Spell Power socket bonuses. Then, take your spirit and reforge it into hit until you get 17%. After that, turn it into haste wherever possible and mastery otherwise. You may also consider reforging crit into haste or mastery.
Since I touched on the subject of gems, I want to finish that thought. Brilliant Cardinal Rubies and Reckless Ametrines are your best friends. Veiled Dreadstones are generally only useful for activating your meta, getting to the hit cap, or matching socket bonuses for obsessive/compulsive people. (I'm not taking a dig at people with OCD - I cringe every time I put a gem in the wrong color socket.)
Because this turned out way longer than I expected, here are some breakers:
Other Guides
The Spec
The Glyphs
The Priority
The Stats, Reforing, and Gems
Don't Panic
You'll have to imagine these letters are large and friendly.
I know rolling a warlock can be a daunting idea. We're powerful casters with intimidating minions and a snappy fashion sense. Don't Panic. There are number of warlocks who are more than willing to help out fledgling power-seekers. (You should stay away from the one's who aren't willing, though, they can be mean.) Here we're going to talk Demonology - the unquestioned master of minions.
As a demonologist you will get an exclusive minion - the fearsome felguard. At lower levels he's a fairly capable tank (though in some situations you will still want your
These Aren't the Information You're Looking For
As stated, this all about Demonology. You may want to visit some other guides to get quality information about Destruction or Afflication warlocking. Don't worry. I'll still be here when you decide Demonology is right for you.
Affliction
Poneria over at Fel Concentration and Fulguralis at Killing 'em Slowly had a great discussion about Affliction PvE in the 4.0. Read Ful's post here and Pone's response here.
Destruction
Cynwise at Cynwise's Battlefiend Manual has a fantastic post about Destruction PvE. Find it here.
Growing Up Demo
This guide is aimed at a level 80 warlock in the pre-Cataclysm 4.0. If you're just getting started in the wide world of warlockery, Abi over at Kungaloosh is starting a series of posts about leveling Demo.
Levels 1-10
Levels 10-20
Cata; lol wut?
Abi also has a post about what we can expect the Demonology spec to look like at 85. Find that post here.
Give it all to me in a picture
Here.
If all you want is basic, distilled information above is the link to my own Demonology build and glyph set. It serves me well.
Lets Break it Down
The link above is not the only way to build a demonologist, so let's start with a break down of the talent tree.
Tier 1
Demonic Embrace: Increases Stamina by 4%/7%/10%. Not a necessary talent for PvE builds, but you may want to spend some of your floater points here.
Dark Arts: Increases damage done by your minion. Necessary. Actually, every warlock spec should put some amount of talent points in this talent. As a demonologist, you will want all of them.
Fel Synergy: A 50%/100% chance to heal your pet each time you do damage. Arguably necessary. Most healers will not be paying attention to your minion and in most boss fights some mechanic or another will lead to your minion taking damage. With 2 points here, you won't have to pay attention to it either.
In a nutshell: Put 3 points in Dark Arts and 2 points in Fel Synergy. Revisit Demonic Embrace if you have floater points later.
Tier 2
Demonic Rebirth: If your minion dies, you can resummon at 50%/100% reduced cast time. Arguably necessary. The only other way to get an instant-cast demon is to spend a Soul Shard. During a boss fight, you should have more interesting things to spend shards on.
Mana Feed: You get mana when your minion crits. Necessary. Since they've changed Glyph of Life Tap (it no longer grants a spell power bonus), it's nice to have ways other than Life Tap to regain mana.
Demonic Aegis: Increases the effects of Demon Armor and Fel Armor. Necessary. You should always be using an Armor, so this talent will always be doing something for you.
Master Summoner: Reduces the mana cost of summoning a minion by 50%/100%. Not necessary.
In a nutshell: Put 2 points in Mana Feed, 2 points in Demonic Aegis, and 2 points in Demonic Rebirth. Revisit Master Summoner if you have floater points later and want to. Personally, I like the Demonic Rebirth/Master Summoner combination. Then, if your demon dies, recasting is not only instant its also mana-free.
Tier 3
Impending Doom: Increases the chance Bane of Doom will summon an Ebon Imp by 10%/20%/30%. Also gives Shadowbolt, Incinerate, and Hand of Gul'dan a 5%/10%/15% chance to reduce the cooldown on Metamorphosis. Necessary. More Ebon Imps = More Damage. Reducing the cooldown on demon form is nice too, especially when the three spells listed are Demonology's primary fillers.
Demonic Empowerment: Does something PvP related to your minion. Not necessary - skip this point.
Improved Health Funnel: Increases health granted to your minion via Health Funnel and decreases the amount of health donated by you. Not necessary - skip this point.
In a nutshell: Put 3 points in Impending Doom. Put 1 point in Demonic Embrace or Master Summoner.
Tier 4
Molten Core: Gives you a 2%/4%/6% chance to gain the Molten Core effect when Immolate deals damage which will empower 3 Incinerates or Soul Fires. Necessary. This used to be when Corruption dealt damage, but has been changed to Immolate.
Hand of Gul'dan: New damage dealing spell. Increases chance targets within 4 yards will be critically hit. Necessary.
Aura of Foreboding: Roots enemies in 4 yard radius around Hand of Gul'dan. Not necessary.
In a nutshell: Put 3 Points in Molten Core and 1 Point in Hand of Gul'dan. I would recommend putting 1 point in Aura of Foreboding. The root could be useful, but I wouldn't spend the extra point in increasing the effect by 1 second. Alternatively, put 1 point in Demonic Embrace or Master Summoner.
Tier 5
Ancient Grimoire: Increases the duration of your guardians. Necessary.
Inferno: Increases the radius of Hellfire and allows channeling while moving. Lolworthy, but necessary for moving down the path.
Decimation: Reduces cast time of Soul Fire by 20%/40% when target is below 25% health. Necessary.
In a nutshell: Put 2 points in Ancient Grimoire, 1 point in Inferno, and 2 points in Decimation.
Tier 6
Cremation: Gives Hand of Gul'dan a 50%/100% chance to refresh Immolate. Necessary. If you can time it right, you only need to cast Immolate once per fight. Then, you can refresh with a spell that also does damage.
Demonic Pact: Increases your spell damage by 2% and the raid's spell power by 10%. Necessary. Additional spell damage and spell power is win.
In a nutshell: Put 2 points in Cremation and 1 point in Demonic Pact. Put the 2 floater points in whatever talents make you smile.
Tier 7
Metamorphosis: Transforms you into a demon. Necessary. This is what we came here for, after all.
The extras
At level 80 you have 5 additional talent points to spend. The Tier 1 talents of the other two trees both have extremely useful talents and you could arguably take any combination of those talents that you want. I personally like the ones from the Destruction tree.
Bane: Reduces the cast time of Shadowbolt and Immolate by .1/.3/.5 seconds. I like this one because I like to cast faster. With Shadowbolt being our filler spell, casting it quicker is always a good plan.
Shadow and Flame: Increases the damage of Shadowbolt and Incinerate and has a 33%/66%/100% chance to cause Improved Shadowbolt debuff. The most popular demonology builds put only 2 points in this talent. However, by doing that, we are relying on a Fire Mage to ensure the 5% crit debuff is on the target OR putting our faith in RNG that 66% is enough of a chance. If you never run with a Fire Mage, you may want to put all 3 points in here.
Doom and Gloom: Increases the crit chance of Bane of Doom by 4%/8%.
Improved Corruption: Increases the damage dealt by Corruption by 4%/8%/12%. All specs are also using corruption at the moment for a net DPS increase. Spending points here will make that dps increase even higher.
Prime Glyphs
Glyph of Metamorphosis: Increases the amount of time you spend as a demon.
Glyph of Immolate: Increases the damage of your primary dot.
Glyph of Incinerate: Increases the damage done by incinerate.
Glyph of Felguard: Increases the damage done by your Felguard's Legion Strike.
The first two are necessary. Of the last two, the Elistist Jerks suggest using the Incinerate glyph for higher dps. I would argue that this dps increase is dependent on your Molten Core procs, so your mileage may vary.
Major Glyphs
Glyph of Shadow Bolt: Decreases the mana cost of Shadowbolt.
Glyph of Life Tap: Decreases the global cooldown on Life Tap.
Glyph of Fear: Causes the target of your fear to tremble in place.
Glyph of Demonic Circle: Decreases the cooldown on Demonic Circle.
The first one is necessary. Again, Shadowbolt is the filler spell for Demonologists, so requiring less mana to cast it is extremely helpful. Glyph of Life Tap is another recommendation from the Elitist Jerks - it would allow you to cast it multiple times in a row which may not endear you to your healer(s). Poneria made a great argument for Glyph of Fear. It causes your target to stay in one place instead of running around and aggroing the entire instance. In a PvE situation, this gives warlocks a more reliable CC. Personally, I like Glyph of Demonic Circle. It lets you teleport to your circle more often, which is useful when Valkyrs are trying to drop you off the side of ICC or when Sindragosa is pulling you to her.
Minor Glyphs
None of these are necessary. Amuse yourself with whatever strikes your fancy. I personally like Glyph of Souls for reducing the mana cost of Ritual of Souls, Glyph of Unending Breath for increased swim speed, and Glyph of Kilrogg for maximum kicks and giggles with the Eye of Kilrogg.
The Priority
Now that I've tossed around terms like 'filler spell' and 'primary dot', lets talk about what that means. WoW has moved away from things that resemble hard rotations and into a world of 'priority casting'. This means, you should case whatever spell or ability is the MOST IMPORTANT and move down the line to the next most important spell until you get to some thing that isn't so important but since you should be casting something you cast it (that's your filler).
Metamorphosis
Immolate
Hand of Gul'dan
Bane of Doom
Corruption
*Immolation Aura
*Shadowflame
Decimation + Soul Fire
Molten Core + Incinerate
Soulburn + Soul Fire
Shadow Bolt
*These spells require you to be in melee range. I don't like to be there, so I usually leave them out of my priority. They will increase your dps, but please look out for cleave and other melee nasties.
What does this all mean? Well, you should start by using Metamorphosis whenever it is off cooldown. It increases your damage by 20% for 36 seconds(glyphed). Then, you should ensure that Immolate is always on your target. Then, you should use Hand of Gul'dan if its off cooldown. Then, Bane of Doom and then Corruption. You don't have to worry about clipping your dots anymore, so you can recast your dots before they fall off. However, casting them too often will lead to a net dps loss. I would recommend recasting them about 1-2 seconds before they fall off for Bane of Doom and Corruption. Immolate should be refreshed through the use of Hand of Gul'dan.
Decimation appears when you hit a target with less than 25% health. At this point, Soul Fire becomes a much quicker cast and that should be the only direct damage spell you cast (continue to cast Bane of Doom, Corruption, Hand, and Metamorphosis as necessary). If Molten Core appears on top of Decimation, continue to cast Soul Fire.
Molten Core appears whenever it feels like it. At this point you should cast three Incinerates.
If all your dots are up and neither Decimation nor Molten Core are up, burn a Soul Shard for Soulburn. This will allow you to cast one instant Soul Fire. (I have Soulburn and Soul Fire macro'd together for this purpose.) Soulburn has a cooldown of 45 seconds, so when its on cooldown cast Shadowbolt.
Clear as mud, right? I recommend practicing on a target dummy to really get a feel for how this all fits together. It can take some work to learn the priority and figure out when its best to cast or recast your dots. I mentioned that its possible to cast Immolate only once per fight and keep it up with Hand of Gul'dan. It is possible. However, it involves casting Hand of Gul'dan almost as soon as it goes off cooldown every time. And, unfortunately, a certain amount of Haste rating is necessary.
The Stats
Prior to the patch a demonology warlock wanted all the spell power they could get their hands on. Essentially, this hasn't changed. What has changed is that spell power will no longer be available on armor and that intellect will directly affect spell power.
So let's just stack intellect! Not so fast, there. Demonology warlocks now heavily rely on the "right" amount of haste.
From the Elitist Jerks:
"There is not an optimal amount of haste so much as particular thresholds for Demo locks to avoid. The first, as Warlocomotif mentioned, is at 10% haste. If you have 9.99% haste, your Immolate will last 13.64 sec, which can make it difficult or impossible to refresh with HoG. ... Here is a list of the thresholds to avoid as Demo locks. Note that you are safe if your haste is equal to or greater than one of these thresholds, but you should try to gain (or possibly lose) haste if your haste is slightly lower than any of these numbers:" 10%, 30% 50%.
Also, don't forget that all casters now have to reach the 17% hit cap on their own (unless they're a Draenei).
So your stat priority looks like this:
Hit (17%) > Haste (10%, 30%, 50%) > Intellect > Spell Power = Mastery
Whats this mastery business? Mastery is a passive bonus you can learn at level 80. For demonologists, this gives us a straight 12% bonus to damage done by our minions and by us in demon form. Then, each point of mastery increases this bonus by 1.5% However, mastery isn't going to start showing up on gear until Cataclysm. The only way to get it now is to reforge your gear.
Reforging
Reforging lets you take 40% of a secondary stat and turn it into a different secondary stat. To get some practice, find your nearest reforger and reforge all of your gear with spirit on it. You don't need spirit at all anymore, so anything you reforge it into will be better than spirit.
The Elitist Jerks recommend starting with Hit and I agree for the most part. You may want to first check that your meta gem is activated (remember that the Chaotic Skyflare Diamond - which you should be using - requires 2 blue gems to activate). The only useful blue gems are now Rigid Majestic Zircon and Veiled Dreadstone. I would recommend grabbing two Veiled Dreadstones and try to match +9 or +7 Spell Power socket bonuses. Then, take your spirit and reforge it into hit until you get 17%. After that, turn it into haste wherever possible and mastery otherwise. You may also consider reforging crit into haste or mastery.
Since I touched on the subject of gems, I want to finish that thought. Brilliant Cardinal Rubies and Reckless Ametrines are your best friends. Veiled Dreadstones are generally only useful for activating your meta, getting to the hit cap, or matching socket bonuses for obsessive/compulsive people. (I'm not taking a dig at people with OCD - I cringe every time I put a gem in the wrong color socket.)
Monday, October 18, 2010
The Squishy Deathknight
Alternative Title: Outdated post is outdated.
I want to try tanking. I've mentioned this before, but it's been a couple weeks now so I thought it might warrant repeating. I have a damage dealer and a healer and now I would like to have a tank.
So I dusted off my Death Knight. And I know - I know - that DK tanks can be a total nightmare for a healer. I remember that from leveling Aioka; I had some truly terrible pug DK tanks.
Regardless, my DK is a level 63 and my next highest crunchy character is a level 36 and I'm lazy. More than that, I've been reserving the level 36 (my paladin) to level with my friend's rogue.
When I started with Feight (oh way back when) I started spec'ing her as blood. I remember doing some of the quests in Silithus and having a blast with the Dancing Rune Weapon. And the creepy little blood worms were actually a plus too. I was always amused when they popped up.
But, I decided that if Feight was going to be a tank prior to the next big patch she needed to be Frost. And I know each DK tree can "technically" be a tank - Takk, especially, is a really good Blood tank - but Frost is recommended for a leveling tank.
So I went out and I did it. I found a nice leveling build and guide and spent the money to respec and to get the glyphs that were deemed necessary.
And then... rather than jump into the random dungeon finder, I went back out to solo quest. Damn, I'm a wuss.
Let me just tell you, solo questing as a Frost tank sucks. I died all the time. And, while it was probably a good opportunity to learn how to manage my tanking cooldowns, I got tired of it very quickly.
I complained a little about it in guild. I mean, really now, I'm a Death Knight. I was one of the Lich King's chosen. I'm invincible. ... Right?
Takk did have some sage advice: "Well, at some point you have to stop expecting to solo group quests."
Huh? But I'm a Death Knight.
Regardless, a proper crunchy should have an offspec, right? I mailed Feight some gold for a dual spec, but rather than go back to my blood dps spec I picked up unholy. Unholy uses diseases (i.e. DoTs) and a pet (the permanent ghoul) to lay waste to enemies. Look! I'm a warlock in plate!
So, I've done some more dungeons since then. As Unholy. (Still a wuss.) I've tried to get all the nooby DK things out of my system like using Death Grip on mobs. "I r not the tank. I do not get to grip things unless the tank asks me to." Repeat as necessary.
Aaaaand.... entering a dungeon with my ghoul on aggressive. Or, using Death Coil on a completely untapped pack because I had the Runic Power and wasn't paying enough attention to which group we were attacking. Lord, I felt like a proper Deathtard.
My biggest problem is probably that, because I'm crunchy I have an automatic "protect the squishies" complex. If something is attacking the healer, I MUST get its attention so that the healer will not take a dirt nap. To be fair, this is not completely unlike my reaction when on Mara. Better the warlock die than the healer. Except. Don't tell any other warlock I said that. Ever.
But now, its even worse. When the tank takes a dirt nap, I start thinking: I wear plate! I can tank the rest of this group down! Which has yet to succeed. I did remember to switch on Frost Presence though. ... Or maybe that was the problem.
Takk was super awesome in giving me advice about rotations and stuff. I was like "Halp, I have only two AoEs, my AoE dps will be teh SUCK." And Takk was all like "Lawl, my unholy AoE dps is the shiznit, here is how to do it gud." And I was all like "That sounds super complicated, how will I ever succeeeeeed?"
Or... you know... something like that.
Of course, here we are one week later and patch 4.0.1 has dropped and this is all completely beside the point. But its about the journey, amirite?
I want to try tanking. I've mentioned this before, but it's been a couple weeks now so I thought it might warrant repeating. I have a damage dealer and a healer and now I would like to have a tank.
So I dusted off my Death Knight. And I know - I know - that DK tanks can be a total nightmare for a healer. I remember that from leveling Aioka; I had some truly terrible pug DK tanks.
Regardless, my DK is a level 63 and my next highest crunchy character is a level 36 and I'm lazy. More than that, I've been reserving the level 36 (my paladin) to level with my friend's rogue.
When I started with Feight (oh way back when) I started spec'ing her as blood. I remember doing some of the quests in Silithus and having a blast with the Dancing Rune Weapon. And the creepy little blood worms were actually a plus too. I was always amused when they popped up.
But, I decided that if Feight was going to be a tank prior to the next big patch she needed to be Frost. And I know each DK tree can "technically" be a tank - Takk, especially, is a really good Blood tank - but Frost is recommended for a leveling tank.
So I went out and I did it. I found a nice leveling build and guide and spent the money to respec and to get the glyphs that were deemed necessary.
And then... rather than jump into the random dungeon finder, I went back out to solo quest. Damn, I'm a wuss.
Let me just tell you, solo questing as a Frost tank sucks. I died all the time. And, while it was probably a good opportunity to learn how to manage my tanking cooldowns, I got tired of it very quickly.
I complained a little about it in guild. I mean, really now, I'm a Death Knight. I was one of the Lich King's chosen. I'm invincible. ... Right?
Takk did have some sage advice: "Well, at some point you have to stop expecting to solo group quests."
Huh? But I'm a Death Knight.
Regardless, a proper crunchy should have an offspec, right? I mailed Feight some gold for a dual spec, but rather than go back to my blood dps spec I picked up unholy. Unholy uses diseases (i.e. DoTs) and a pet (the permanent ghoul) to lay waste to enemies. Look! I'm a warlock in plate!
So, I've done some more dungeons since then. As Unholy. (Still a wuss.) I've tried to get all the nooby DK things out of my system like using Death Grip on mobs. "I r not the tank. I do not get to grip things unless the tank asks me to." Repeat as necessary.
Aaaaand.... entering a dungeon with my ghoul on aggressive. Or, using Death Coil on a completely untapped pack because I had the Runic Power and wasn't paying enough attention to which group we were attacking. Lord, I felt like a proper Deathtard.
My biggest problem is probably that, because I'm crunchy I have an automatic "protect the squishies" complex. If something is attacking the healer, I MUST get its attention so that the healer will not take a dirt nap. To be fair, this is not completely unlike my reaction when on Mara. Better the warlock die than the healer. Except. Don't tell any other warlock I said that. Ever.
But now, its even worse. When the tank takes a dirt nap, I start thinking: I wear plate! I can tank the rest of this group down! Which has yet to succeed. I did remember to switch on Frost Presence though. ... Or maybe that was the problem.
Takk was super awesome in giving me advice about rotations and stuff. I was like "Halp, I have only two AoEs, my AoE dps will be teh SUCK." And Takk was all like "Lawl, my unholy AoE dps is the shiznit, here is how to do it gud." And I was all like "That sounds super complicated, how will I ever succeeeeeed?"
Or... you know... something like that.
Of course, here we are one week later and patch 4.0.1 has dropped and this is all completely beside the point. But its about the journey, amirite?
Thursday, October 14, 2010
It was better not knowing
As I'm sure everyone is aware, the huge patch dropped on Tuesday. Last night's raid was a bit lolful as a result, but overall successful. I wasn't sure if I was going to make it, because this week is incredibly hectic. And when it started to look like I might be able to make I planed to go on my priest. I knew precisely what I wanted out of my Discipline spec and the mechanics haven't changed overmuch - just my efficiency with them.
Not that I don't know precisely what I want out of Mara's specs. I just want considerably more time to spend analyzing her gear and rotation before jumping into a raid. A weekend project, perhaps.
However, in the realm of honesty, that's not the only reason I wasn't ready to log on to Mara. I got wind of a terrible tragedy earlier in the week. My demons have gone missing... to be replaced by impostors... and I didn't want to face that.
I read an interesting short story last week about two people who get caught in a Time Loop. They are forced to repeat the same day over and over again. The physics of this (theoretical or invented, I'm not completely sure having not done any research) is quite intriguing. The Time Loop is centralized to their neighborhood. That is, the rest of the world is moving on quite normally but their neighborhood is isolated and forced into an infinitely repeating loop of one Thursday.
This starts to cause a build up of entropy and heat and things start to break down. Things don't really fall apart... they just disappear. Small things first - like papers, pens, etc. Then books, chairs. Eventually walls. There are holes in things. But not like holes you can see through or put a finger through... holes in the reality.
Then the same thing starts to happen to people. And the main character starts dreading waking up each Thursday morning. Because he doesn't know what will be different. What will be missing today? Who will be missing today?
The reason this story is so compelling - quite apart from the interesting physics and the suspenseful and evoking storyline - is that is exactly how I felt when I found out the demon names had been reset.
I didn't want to log in and discover my companions of several years were now gone. I didn't want to be another warlock posting in the lost and found:
"Have you seen my Flaag? He's a cantankerous dude with a huge axe, but he's been protecting me from Big and Scaries for 30 levels now."
"Missing: one dutiful felhunter named Shaan. Tries to eat Ice Barriers off me when I poke Sindragosa with a stick. Cannot finish ICC without him."
Its really very hard to explain, but this has devastated warlocks. The good news is the demon names will revert to what they were before the patch on the next maintenance day. The impostors are temporary.
I still don't know which of my demons are currently taking a vacation, but its a huge relief to know they will be coming home on Tuesday. It was better not knowing who was missing. It will be easier to face the impostors knowing that my minions will be back soon.
Not that I don't know precisely what I want out of Mara's specs. I just want considerably more time to spend analyzing her gear and rotation before jumping into a raid. A weekend project, perhaps.
However, in the realm of honesty, that's not the only reason I wasn't ready to log on to Mara. I got wind of a terrible tragedy earlier in the week. My demons have gone missing... to be replaced by impostors... and I didn't want to face that.
I read an interesting short story last week about two people who get caught in a Time Loop. They are forced to repeat the same day over and over again. The physics of this (theoretical or invented, I'm not completely sure having not done any research) is quite intriguing. The Time Loop is centralized to their neighborhood. That is, the rest of the world is moving on quite normally but their neighborhood is isolated and forced into an infinitely repeating loop of one Thursday.
This starts to cause a build up of entropy and heat and things start to break down. Things don't really fall apart... they just disappear. Small things first - like papers, pens, etc. Then books, chairs. Eventually walls. There are holes in things. But not like holes you can see through or put a finger through... holes in the reality.
Then the same thing starts to happen to people. And the main character starts dreading waking up each Thursday morning. Because he doesn't know what will be different. What will be missing today? Who will be missing today?
The reason this story is so compelling - quite apart from the interesting physics and the suspenseful and evoking storyline - is that is exactly how I felt when I found out the demon names had been reset.
I didn't want to log in and discover my companions of several years were now gone. I didn't want to be another warlock posting in the lost and found:
"Have you seen my Flaag? He's a cantankerous dude with a huge axe, but he's been protecting me from Big and Scaries for 30 levels now."
"Missing: one dutiful felhunter named Shaan. Tries to eat Ice Barriers off me when I poke Sindragosa with a stick. Cannot finish ICC without him."
Its really very hard to explain, but this has devastated warlocks. The good news is the demon names will revert to what they were before the patch on the next maintenance day. The impostors are temporary.
I still don't know which of my demons are currently taking a vacation, but its a huge relief to know they will be coming home on Tuesday. It was better not knowing who was missing. It will be easier to face the impostors knowing that my minions will be back soon.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Sidetrip
Sorry, ICC is closed for renovations. No admittance.
Or, it could be and I wouldn't know the difference. Raid last night started auspiciously with our raid leader informing us that he was sick and would not be able to play. Puts us down either a tank or a healer right off the bat and is particularly inconvenient seeing as we... you know... rely on his leadership, being a raid leader and all.
I'm afraid you get a rather one-dimensional view of my fellow raiders when stories are told this way. Because Mord is also an incredibly sweet and supportive guy and signs off with things like "please don't hate me for not coming". So it sucks that he's ill on personal level; not a "dangit, now I can't raid" level.
The sad truth is, however, that raid night tends to fall apart when he's not there. This is probably not a healthy place for our guild to be in.
We thought we might tag along with Militia's other guild, because a couple of us had an ICC-lockout that had only Sindy and Arthas left to face. That had the potential to be awesome! Except that they weren't planning on sending invites until 10, whereas I usually pass out in front of my computer around 11/11:30. Sleep. It is important.
It later turned out that they went off to do Ulduar Hard Modes instead, anyway. To be fair, this is also something I would like to do. Though it looks about as unlikely as fighting Arthas.
Dru found out we weren't planning on tackling ICC right away and bailed to play on another character. This was rather disappointing to me on several levels. At the time we were still planning on getting a group together either to wipe against Sindragosa for a few hours or to start a fresh run.
I think this took the last bit of wind out of our sails. I spent some time following a stupid orc around while he throws stuff at me. This doesn't go so well for me. I hate that stupid quest.
"Prepare a funereal pyre! Marariel has challenged Skyshatter!"
I have nothing to say to you, Skyshatter. I hope you die.
And it sucks because this quest nets you a whopping 1000 reputation with the Netherwing. I need... less than that to hit exalted. I've done all my dailies for today and the only thing stopping me from getting my new shiny RIGHT NOW is a stupid orc with a totally unfair 310% flying speed. Haxx.
It's obviously time to do something else in wow. So, at myinsistence suggestion, we took everyone who was online to the Molten Core.
That's right. Good old Molten Core. The instance that took 40 level 60 players days to down. It's good for 11 bosses of varying (though seemingly simple) mechanics. At level 80, four people can take a leisurely (though lengthy) tour through the underground lava pits that house one of the elemental planes most fearsome denizens. Ragnaros.
This is largely the reason I wanted to make sure that MC is something I got done before the expansion hits. I don't know if it has been confirmed or not, but there's good reason to believe that Ragnaros will be packing it up and heading back home. Where he will magically gain 25 levels, a crapton of health and probably new and unique abilities with which to smash raids in the face.
The Eye of Divinity dropped from the Majordomo. This is one of the key ingredients to the Benediction staff and starts the beginning of a beautiful and sad quest. If you have to opportunity, I highly recommend taking your priest to complete this quest.
Other residents of the Core were kind enough to drop pieces of the Felheart Raiment. To be honest, I'm probably unreasonably excited about this. Especially since my bank is already cluttered with old quest items, cloth, enchanting mats, a set of Tier 9, and some handy off pieces (just in case). To add a set of Tier 1 (especially if I collected all 8 pieces) is a tad silly.
But, you know what? I am a tad silly. And I wanted it. I look lovely, right?
I also picked up a matching sword.
And Enchant Weapon: Spellpower. Actually useful for BoA items.
I find it amusing that the human character models look so terribly benign even with giant horns coming out of their heads. "Would you mind awfully if I stacked a few DOTs on you before applying my Shadowbolt to your face?"
Or, it could be and I wouldn't know the difference. Raid last night started auspiciously with our raid leader informing us that he was sick and would not be able to play. Puts us down either a tank or a healer right off the bat and is particularly inconvenient seeing as we... you know... rely on his leadership, being a raid leader and all.
I'm afraid you get a rather one-dimensional view of my fellow raiders when stories are told this way. Because Mord is also an incredibly sweet and supportive guy and signs off with things like "please don't hate me for not coming". So it sucks that he's ill on personal level; not a "dangit, now I can't raid" level.
The sad truth is, however, that raid night tends to fall apart when he's not there. This is probably not a healthy place for our guild to be in.
We thought we might tag along with Militia's other guild, because a couple of us had an ICC-lockout that had only Sindy and Arthas left to face. That had the potential to be awesome! Except that they weren't planning on sending invites until 10, whereas I usually pass out in front of my computer around 11/11:30. Sleep. It is important.
It later turned out that they went off to do Ulduar Hard Modes instead, anyway. To be fair, this is also something I would like to do. Though it looks about as unlikely as fighting Arthas.
Dru found out we weren't planning on tackling ICC right away and bailed to play on another character. This was rather disappointing to me on several levels. At the time we were still planning on getting a group together either to wipe against Sindragosa for a few hours or to start a fresh run.
I think this took the last bit of wind out of our sails. I spent some time following a stupid orc around while he throws stuff at me. This doesn't go so well for me. I hate that stupid quest.
"Prepare a funereal pyre! Marariel has challenged Skyshatter!"
I have nothing to say to you, Skyshatter. I hope you die.
And it sucks because this quest nets you a whopping 1000 reputation with the Netherwing. I need... less than that to hit exalted. I've done all my dailies for today and the only thing stopping me from getting my new shiny RIGHT NOW is a stupid orc with a totally unfair 310% flying speed. Haxx.
It's obviously time to do something else in wow. So, at my
That's right. Good old Molten Core. The instance that took 40 level 60 players days to down. It's good for 11 bosses of varying (though seemingly simple) mechanics. At level 80, four people can take a leisurely (though lengthy) tour through the underground lava pits that house one of the elemental planes most fearsome denizens. Ragnaros.
This is largely the reason I wanted to make sure that MC is something I got done before the expansion hits. I don't know if it has been confirmed or not, but there's good reason to believe that Ragnaros will be packing it up and heading back home. Where he will magically gain 25 levels, a crapton of health and probably new and unique abilities with which to smash raids in the face.
The Eye of Divinity dropped from the Majordomo. This is one of the key ingredients to the Benediction staff and starts the beginning of a beautiful and sad quest. If you have to opportunity, I highly recommend taking your priest to complete this quest.
Other residents of the Core were kind enough to drop pieces of the Felheart Raiment. To be honest, I'm probably unreasonably excited about this. Especially since my bank is already cluttered with old quest items, cloth, enchanting mats, a set of Tier 9, and some handy off pieces (just in case). To add a set of Tier 1 (especially if I collected all 8 pieces) is a tad silly.
But, you know what? I am a tad silly. And I wanted it. I look lovely, right?
I also picked up a matching sword.
And Enchant Weapon: Spellpower. Actually useful for BoA items.
I find it amusing that the human character models look so terribly benign even with giant horns coming out of their heads. "Would you mind awfully if I stacked a few DOTs on you before applying my Shadowbolt to your face?"
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