Big Dopey Questions From A Repeat Beginner

[DOHicyveins2016 1]

Hi.  I am new to Icy Veins and very impressed with the site; what a resource! Years ago I played WoW quite a lot as an Affliction Warlock and I've recently decided to drop in and see how the game has changed. Yikes. I don't know how to do anything, find anything, or what. So I am looking for some advice from the experts.

First, I play for fun and to see the world. Second, I am probably going to be going solo for awhile (there's nobody around). Third, I am going to play as an Undead Warlock unless that's a terrible idea. And finally I am starting from the start, Level 1. I would like to get through all the game content up to and including the upcoming Legion addition. I have reviewed the more general information in the guides - Addons and such - and I suppose I'd like to get some more personal thoughts on the Warlock game.

Obviously the Spec question is the big one, and I wanted to get opinions - which is the most FUN? I have played around with all three since returning and to be honest they don't resemble the game I remember. By far Afflictions is the majority of my experience, but I'm ready to try something else. Demonology looks interesting but I don't know if it's ideal for soloing. I looked at the guides but they seem to focus on players that are further into the game than I am, and are doing raids. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Also, professions are completely different and I have no idea what to pursue there. With professions I like to think long term - what will be the best choice when I'm level 100? In reading various posts everyone more or less says it doesn't matter what you choose, but I can't imagine that claim is correct; even if the profession provides a small gain it would be worth doing. Again, I am ready to listen to advice and follow it.

AND! If there are any other insights anyone might offer it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you very much.

[Drkdragon 9]

Honestly just hang on for a little bit longer. After pre-patch drops we will be able to give more information. Everything is changing so much with the new expansion that anything we say on the current specs will become useless.

Demonology is changing the most so I would not even play that spec right now if you are looking for something to get familiar with while you wait.

[Zadina 923]

Welcome to Icy Veins and welcome back to WoW!

I am not a Warlock, so I will start with your race and professions. Racials don't impact the game as they did in the past, so you are free to choose whatever you want. I personally find the Undead Warlock combination fantastic and very fitting - nice choice!

As far as professions are concerned, as you read, indeed - like racials - they don't matter anymore. Jewelcrafting will help you craft high level rings and necklace; the JC rings and necks are probably the best for anyone who doesn't raid mythic. Jewelcrafting is quite easy to level if you already had it high, but since you are starting over you probably have to pick up Mining. Tailoring might be a good idea if you want to gear up when you reach 100, but imo it's already easy to get armor in Tanaan Jungle (the equivalent of Timeless Isle in Pandaria, basically an area where you kill rares and do side-events and you get free gear). Lastly, Engineering is a very fun profession: you can craft pets, toys, mounts and stuff like rocket boots etc. Bear in mind that: 1) you can only wear a maximum of 3 crafted items from all professions (it would be too easy otherwise) and 2) professions are changing a bit in Legion, although I am pretty sure they will still not offer bonuses (not like when JC+Enchanting or JC+Blacksmithing was OP).

Now, I haven't played a warlock but I do know some general stuff about them from guildies and many years in the game. Like Dkdragon said, all class specialisations will receive changes in Legion either small or big (like Demo Warlock). I think Destruction lock will not change too much, it is considered the most straightforward of all warlock specs, it's good for leveling and it's quite good for raiding at the moment too. We are planning on introducing a new format on class guides and the first of them (and only one for now) is Destruction Warlock, so you can take a look at it too!

[Damien 1,514]

I always liked Affliction, because it's easy to learn :P It seems that the hot spec is Destruction these days, though.

[DOHicyveins2016 1]

I really appreciate the help. This all makes sense. I see what you're getting at Drkdragon, that's sort of why I wanted to see where the community thinking was. You know what? I'm just going to putter around and try different things for a while, and see what is interesting.

Engineering does appeal to me, and Jewelcrafting didn't even exist last time I played. 

As far as complimentary professions go which pairs do you think work best?

Again, thank you for all the help. It is greatly appreciated.

 

[Zadina 923]

Mining + Engineering, Jewelcrafting, Blacksmithing

Herbalism + Inscription, Alchemy

Skinning + Leatherworking

For casters, Tailoring + Enchanting has always been a thing too, even though the two professions aren't complimentary - unlike the above were the first profession provides the materials for the other ones.

[Damien 1,514]

Engineering is awesome, it's full of cool gadgets :) I've always had it paired with Jewelcrafting

[DOHicyveins2016 1]

Excellent, thank you. So Engineering and Jewelcrafting it is!

This web site is amazing.

[DOHicyveins2016 1]

8 hours ago, Damien said:

Engineering is awesome, it's full of cool gadgets :) I've always had it paired with Jewelcrafting

Hey Damien, quick question - so you just bought everything you needed from the Auction House? What was that experience like?

[Damien 1,514]

3 hours ago, DOHicyveins2016 said:

Hey Damien, quick question - so you just bought everything you needed from the Auction House? What was that experience like?

You can definitely make a lot of profit making stuff by buying the mats off of the AH. There's an initial investment to level up the profession, but it's not that big, especially right now with prices being super low before the new expansion. Also, you get a lot of mats "for free" in your garrison.

[DOHicyveins2016 1]

Here's the thing - Level 1 and I have have no idea what a "garrison" is, lol. What I'll do is just grab Engineering and Jewelcrafting and hit the auction house to see what's up with buying the sort of low level components I'll need. My concern is that - as with players - I will not find much that will do me any good since I'm basically in an abandoned part of the gaming world. I appreciate the help.

[Damien 1,514]

Garrison is something you'll get when you reach Warlords of Draenor. Don't worry about it for now, though. While leveling up, you'll make plenty of gold through quests and reselling materials that you'll gather from killing monsters (stuff from older expansion is rare enough because not many people bother farming it, so it usually sells quite well). Once you hit Level 100, it's super easy to level up professions. So if I were you, I wouldn't invest too much into my professions until I'm Level 100.

[Damien 1,514]

Or you can take 2 gathering professions, like Mining, Skinning or Herbalism. This way, while leveling up you can gather a lot of mats that you'll resell and you'll be stocked with Gold by the time you reach 100. I hadn't realized before that you were still leveling up :P

[DOHicyveins2016 1]

I do have access to quite a bit of gold through a maxed Alt. If it came down to it I could just snag a pile or two from him. So I don't need to worry too much about accumulating gold, thankfully. I suspect that I may not see a lot of the very low level mats in quantity, unless I make them. Investigating that now. This could be a real problem for the game's economy - I just don't see many new players (or old players) running around the Undercity.

I cannot believe how much has changed. When I think of the amount of time and effort that went into satisfying game mechanics that do not even exist anymore, it's just strange. That said, I am having fun.

[DOHicyveins2016 1]

6 hours ago, Damien said:

Garrison is something you'll get when you reach Warlords of Draenor. Don't worry about it for now, though. While leveling up, you'll make plenty of gold through quests and reselling materials that you'll gather from killing monsters (stuff from older expansion is rare enough because not many people bother farming it, so it usually sells quite well). Once you hit Level 100, it's super easy to level up professions. So if I were you, I wouldn't invest too much into my professions until I'm Level 100.

That makes a lot of sense. A lot. I even remember building up piles of what I needed and just spending an hour leveling something. I think I had tailoring, but it certainly didn't do me much good; I remember I was getting much better gear than I could make myself through other sources. It seems like professions are sort of an afterthought, but I still would like to be able to get something interesting done with them.

[DOHicyveins2016 1]

Just an observation about Demonology as it exists in the game now - very dicey and under powered until you get Hand of Gul'dan, at which point bodies hit the floor.

There is a level of complexity to Demonology  I am really enjoying, though I haven't really got it figured out yet. Worth a try if you're thinking about rolling something from scratch. Hopefully this won't change with Legion.

 

[Drkdragon 9]

 

15 hours ago, DOHicyveins2016 said:

Just an observation about Demonology as it exists in the game now - very dicey and under powered until you get Hand of Gul'dan, at which point bodies hit the floor.

There is a level of complexity to Demonology  I am really enjoying, though I haven't really got it figured out yet. Worth a try if you're thinking about rolling something from scratch. Hopefully this won't change with Legion.

 

LIke I said in my other post. Demonology is changing completely. Not even remotely close to how it is now. I recommended not playing it because if you did end up enjoying it you were just working your way into heartache.

[DOHicyveins2016 1]

On 6/19/2016 at 11:15 AM, Drkdragon said:

LIke I said in my other post. Demonology is changing completely. Not even remotely close to how it is now. I recommended not playing it because if you did end up enjoying it you were just working your way into heartache.

I understand Drkdragon. I am actually ok with that at the moment. I have never played anything but Affliction, and since returning I've rolled an Destruction Lock to check that out, and now I'm horsing around with Demo. I just wanted to see what it was like. I may respec and go back to one of the other disciplines at some point. Honestly, though I put in a couple of years prior to this I feel like I'm new to the game. I will probably fool around with a little bit of everything and then decide when I get Legion. I certainly appreciate the advice, thank you and by all means keep it coming.