5.4 Demonology Tips and Quirks

[Zagam 1,982]

They nerfed Hellfire and Immo Aura, but that's ok.  If you're doing AoE, Mannoroth's Fury buffs those by 100% anyways!  Just be sure to actually use the ability.

 

Felstorm and Shadowflame weren't nerfed.  Should be good to go.

[Soulzar 42]

Demo performed very well for me on all AoE fights so far with exception to Spoils.  I was finding myself Fury starved to AoE as frequently as required and there was not enough single target between AoE parts of fight to bank enough fury to abuse demos burst.  Adds don't live long enough for Doom to do its magic which greatly lowers demo overall dmg.   I probably could have got better at pooling and bursting with more practice but I quickly switched to Destro.

 

With the amount low HP adds and target switching, Destro performed much better for me.  Tons of opportunity to cleave with Havoc and shadowburn, which fueled a ton of embers.

[Omaric 246]

I played with UVLS in the Flex raid I ran this weekend and was pleasantly surprised at the number of procs.  My skepticism has been shedded.  It seems to proc on the VERY first tick of damage.  I strongly suggest NOT pre-casting a Soul Fire or Shadowbolt.  The opener I found most optimal was to do CoE, Dark Soul, Berserking, Grim of Service, Corruption, Hand of Guldan, Hand of Guldan, Meta -> Doom -> Soul Fire til I get a 2pc proc -> Touch of Chaos spam.

 

My UVLS procs almost as soon as the first HoG lands.  However, because of the casting animation, I have time to pinch off the 2nd one and UVLS shows up right as that is coming down.  Popping into Meta gives 2 stack of Shadowflame the 100% crit bonus and modified by Metamorphosis.  I only cast ONE Doom because I'm being a little DF hungry fishing for 2pc procs.  The number of UVLS procs I'm seeing makes casting only one Doom sufficient, but I'm sure there will be some RNG where you don't get another proc within a minute.  Something tells me they let temporary Haste procs buff the proc rate of UVLS...whether it was intended or a bug...I almost always got a proc within or directly after a Tempus Repit proc.  Hard to say.

 

Where's the Imp Swarm?  You make me a sad panda.

[mediocregatsby 18]

not having 2pc t15 is really shitty. can't stay in meta at all during the opener, and casting soulfire during meta will just drop you out so fast. imp swarm might help with that but if it's a sustained DPS loss then probably not worth it.

 

also not sure how i should be using 2pc t16 bonus. ideally i spend the entire proc in meta, but with the fury starvation problem, i certainly can't be casting soulfires in meta hoping for a proc because i'll just drop out of meta by the time i get one. 

 

feels like if you don't have 2pc t15 but you do have 2pc t16, you need to spend all molten core procs in caster form, then as soon as you get a fiery wrath proc you go into meta and spam TOC until you're out.

[mediocregatsby 18]

btw, casting FF as filler instead of shadowbolt is out, right?

[Zagam 1,982]

Yes, mana cost was doubled via a hot fix.  Not sure if Void Ray's DF cost is still 100% higher...hopefully not.  80 DF for a lackluster ability is rather poor.

[mediocregatsby 18]

pretty sure VR is still doubled. ran a flex last night and i basically had to avoid VR spamming completely or i'd be out of meta before my MF+immo was even halfway done. super sad.

[Zilthy 36]

I would agree, VR is barely worth casting at this point, far too much fury consumption for the damage.  Between the fury cost and no longer refreshing dots, VR is a completely worthless skill at this point in time.

[Omaric 246]

It depends.  If you have a pile of mobs it can definitely be worth it.  You'll get more bang than throwing out ToC's in a pure AoE situation.  I think that will all change though once we start getting our T16 4-piece, since VR can't proc our fancy ass bonus HoG's.

[Kazistrasz 216]

So, what are we doing in terms of openers once 2pc T15 is gone? We obviously can't go straight into exploding the boss, even with Imp Swarm.

[Omaric 246]

So, what are we doing in terms of openers once 2pc T15 is gone? We obviously can't go straight into exploding the boss, even with Imp Swarm.

 

I will be.

 

With the help of my trusty friends, Felguard and Felguard 2.

 

Edit:  Basically though, you're probably going to get knocked out of Meta for a bit.  You may get 5-6 seconds of Meta time during the intial 10 second CD.  At 10 seconds you can pop back in, but you can probably wait another couple of seconds for some more DF depending.  DS lasts 20 seconds so it's all good.

[mediocregatsby 18]

hey man, felguard #1 has a NAME

 

.... i think mine is juthoon but really i have no idea.

[Omaric 246]

hey man, felguard #1 has a NAME

 

.... i think mine is juthoon but really i have no idea.

 

Demon profiling at its worst people.

[Zilthy 36]

So, what are we doing in terms of openers once 2pc T15 is gone? We obviously can't go straight into exploding the boss, even with Imp Swarm.

 

I could be wrong here, but once T16 is acquired, fully staying in meta fully for the opener will no longer be as desirable anyway, since Soul Fire usually procs like mad also.  Will wish to take advantage of that bonus.

[Omaric 246]

You'll still want to be in Meta as much as possible, since most of your buffs will be active during the opener. If you get lucky with a T16 2-piece proc it will be even more ridiculous.

[QuazzieM 0]

Hey Guys,

 

I've needed to switch to this character for raid/loot balance from my hunter and I'm trying to get it and myself up to the same level that I could play my hunter at.

We downed the first 4 bosses of SoO last week and I have to admit I wasnt at all impressed by my dps I only switched to demo this week from destro but I just think I missing something. I have a pretty crappy mixture of gear which I assume isn't helping my cause, but I thought for this week, I'll make sure that I've gemmed and reforged correctly and then post some logs after the raids if I'm still crap (chances are high)

 

My characters armory is http://us.battle.net/wow/en/character/nagrand/Impdogg/advanced

 

From what I've read, do I need to drop the blue sockets int/hit for hit/mastery and use 320mas for the orange sockets?

Edited September 17, 2013 by QuazzieM

[Muoric 3]

If your damage is crap it's not about the gems, it's about pushing the right buttons. Harsh truth, but...

That said, you have a lot of crit. Which UVLS undermines and you'd want to get rid of. But I assume you know this already.

Simmed your character and got as scale factors:

int 7,78

haste 3,71

mastery 4,28

crit 3,51

so yeah, you want to swap to sensei's for blues, artful for reds and fractured for yellow sockets.

The biggest thing really is to see when you have a UVLS proc, everything else flows from that. And with everlasting affliction gone, you prob want to refresh doom everytime when it procs.

I'm no master demonologist myself really, but if it helps it took me about 100 pulls on lei shen to get a hang of the spec. So if you've only now switched from destro, I'd give it a bit more time and hit the dummies for more target practice.

[Zilthy 36]

You'll still want to be in Meta as much as possible, since most of your buffs will be active during the opener. If you get lucky with a T16 2-piece proc it will be even more ridiculous.

 

*nod* that is understandable, although currently, I am not able to sustain meta 100% during the opener, let alone firing off a few soul fires while in meta, even with the T15 2 piece bonus. That could be that I am doing something wrong, or it could be the loss of one imp from imp swarm.  I intend to try out the Grimiore of Service as you have mentioned, and see how that works out.

 

The opener that has been working the best for me so far is a modified version of what was in the 5.3 guide (Might still be the same, I need to look at it again) but:  Curse of Elements, Hand of Gul'dan, Dark Soul + imp swarm, Corruption, Wrathstorm, Hand of Gul'dan, (go meta) Doom, 2 - 3 Touch of Chaos (usually UVLS procs by this time) Doom, touch of chaos until been in meta 8 seconds or so, drop meta, soulfire 2 - 4 times (depending on how much haste proc) them back to meta with ToC or Soul Fire as demonic fury permits (And, wherever convenient in there, summon Terroguard, unless saving for end of fight)

 

Granted, it does not always work that way, sometimes UVLS fires early, and I will skip a 2nd HoG or even Corruption to get the 100% crit doom up as pandemic or multi dot (depending on the fight).

 

*shrug* I am very much a newbie, and learning a lot from your posts, and many others, but it seems to me, that will be the way to go in order to take advantage of UVLS doom crits, and T16 bonuses, sort of blend the two together.

[QuazzieM 0]

If your damage is crap it's not about the gems, it's about pushing the right buttons. Harsh truth, but...

That said, you have a lot of crit. Which UVLS undermines and you'd want to get rid of. But I assume you know this already.

Simmed your character and got as scale factors:

int 7,78

haste 3,71

mastery 4,28

crit 3,51

so yeah, you want to swap to sensei's for blues, artful for reds and fractured for yellow sockets.

The biggest thing really is to see when you have a UVLS proc, everything else flows from that. And with everlasting affliction gone, you prob want to refresh doom everytime when it procs.

I'm no master demonologist myself really, but if it helps it took me about 100 pulls on lei shen to get a hang of the spec. So if you've only now switched from destro, I'd give it a bit more time and hit the dummies for more target practice.

 

Thanks for your input I really appreciate it... when I say crap I mean I think I was sitting at around 180k for Sha of Pride. Which isnt great as I would think that I should be able to do better.

This week was the first time I've even specced into demo and we only get a chance to look at the first 4 bosses for a total of 40-50 pulls so I have no doubt that most of the issues is my actualy playstyle.

 

I just wanted to make sure that I've covered all my basis for the raid this week so I can plough through the logs and see how bad I really am

[Zilthy 36]

If your damage is crap it's not about the gems, it's about pushing the right buttons. Harsh truth, but...

 

I agree, and as you have said, Zag has said, and many others have said, it really is true.

 

I am a relative newbie to raiding (Well, more truthfully, probably very much a newbie since now almost only 3 months raiding seriously) but I got to see this particular lesson up close, first hand, and pushed in my face.

 

I was way below expectations of this group for DPS (rightfully so) and I told myself it was gear, reforging, etc.... and I spent a small fortune in gold, reforging, re-gemming, et al.  One of the first few nights, we had a sub/pug warlock come in and join us.  This warlock was 15+ ilvls lower than me, but blew me away in dps.

 

No amount of gemming/reforging is going to do that.

 

After chatting with him a bit, and sitting down at the target dummies, I took some time, and really started practicing, and getting a feel for the priority (I prefer priority, vs rotation: rotation can easily become static, and sometimes I need to change depending on the situation).

 

What I found that worked for me, was practicing that priority (rotation) to the point, where it was ingrained enough, that I was no longer reacting to things that occurred during battles, but responding.  It's sort of like playing an instrument, if you are thinking "what note to play next (what skill to use next)" it is going to be hard to play/perform well.

[Khalam 3]

Hi,

 

Recently I wanted to learn demo for aoe fights since its affli weakness (main spec). I tried demo on Galakras and was doing 170-200k dps, when I switched back to affli dps increased to 250-300k.

 

When should I apply corruption to all targets? I know it should depend on number of adds and how they would live.

When in meta should I use ToC or VR after recent nerf?

When should I use immolate aura (number of adds)?

How much time does it take for Doom to do 1^st tick? Is it still worth to cast doom even if its only for 1 tick?

 

EDIT

Any1 have streams of Demo on new SoO bosses?

 

Regards

Edited September 17, 2013 by Khalam

[Zagam 1,982]

Doom should always be applied if it'll tick at least one time.  The time it takes for Doom to tick once depends on your Haste.  Its base duration is 60 seconds with an interval of 15 seconds.  If you get to the next breakpoint, you get 5 ticks, so the interval drops to 12 seconds.

 

Don't use Void Ray.

 

Don't apply Corruption to mobs that will die before it wears off.  Void Ray no longer extends duration of Corruption anyways.

 

Immolation Aura should be used any time you have adds to cleave, especially with Mannoroth's Fury.

[Annoroth 5]

Demo opener question:

 

What are the primary drawbacks of not pre-casting Soulfire during the opener? It it just the mana cost without MC?

Edited September 17, 2013 by Annoroth

[Zagam 1,982]

If you pre-cast Soul Fire, you risk UVLS proccing as soon as that spell lands.  You kinda want to get a bit of fury built up first so that you can pop into Meta and stay in there a while.  Immediately using Meta to get your Doom up throws the opener off quite a bit. 

[JvChequer 43]

Demo opener question:

 

What are the primary drawbacks of not pre-casting Soulfire during the opener? It it just the mana cost without MC?

 

To UVLS don't proc to early.