Warlock Survival Tips

[moonserenity29 0]

Hi guys,

I'm a new to warlock (destruction PVE I chose), and I'm having a hard time to survive. Any tips with a certain combo for survival?

Thanks

[Zagam 1,982]

Hard time surviving in PvE?

Don't stand in fire.

Follow mechanics correctly.

Utilize your defensive cooldowns such as Unending Resolve and your Tier 4 Talent.

Use your Healthstones.

Use your Tier 2 talent to CC mobs.

[Cruzan 71]

It's situational depending on what fight mechanic you are trying to survive through. What exactly are you having a tough time surviving?

The basic combo of Sacrificial Pact + your Soul Leech shield is usually enough to live through anything. If the hit is going to be even bigger, or drawn out AoE damage, then Unending Resolve can be used as well.

Heal back up with Mortal Coil and a Healthstone, with Ember Tap being your last resort as Destro.

Dark Bargain can be used situationally instead of Sac Pact, but won't be very common and isn't necessary so far in ToT (Normal, not sure about Heroic).

Warlocks have a crazy amount of survivability and you should probably be the last one dying in your raid on a wipe, unless you're a good raider and stand in the fire when your RL tells you guys to wipe it up .

[moonserenity29 0]

First of all, thanks for replying on my thread.

This is for any kind of situation whether soloing, dungeon or raid

LOL@ stand in the fire. I will never do that.

I used unbound will for my tier 4. I'm in the middle of a decision to use Burning Rush or Unbound Will. I used Burning Rush first, and I was like freaked out because draining of 4% of your life. Unbound Will came handy for me... What are your thoughts about these 2?

I know there's ember tap and healthstone .. just asking what is your thought between those 2.

Edited June 5, 2013 by moonserenity29

[Jenaye 9]

Unbound Will is my personal favorite out of that tier, and I truly do not believe I will ever use Burning Rush, as my hunter does all of our kicking on Tortos unless he's grossly out of range or dead. I also use Sacrificial Pact. The shield is all sorts of powerful, and I personally feel guilty for asking heals to divert mana to me to heal up the damage after using Dark Bargain. Between your personal shield from Soul Leech and Sacrifical Pact, if you're STILL in danger of dying, healthstones and, as they said, ember tap as a last resort. Healthstones should always be available for use and if you're not using your own stones, you're a baddie. I RARELY use Ember Tap, but it is an option is shit has truly hit the fan.

[Vestion 8]

Two words: Soul Leech.

Make a sheild equal to your max hp and laugh as you are untouchable.

[moonserenity29 0]

Jenaye - thanks for your insight.

Vestion - lol. Thanks!

Thanks everyone. I really do appreciate your insights. I'm first timer here and you guys are so helpful.

Edited June 5, 2013 by moonserenity29

[Demyndra 6]

I have a question for fellow locks...

I have finally equipped my LMG... it sat in my bags for 3 weeks!!! So I generally roll Affliction and use Destro on other fights when needed. I find Soul Leech to be amazing for a Destro lock (esp on Megeara), as the shields are big and come quick, however on Affliction I can never seem to get a big, or even medium, shield up, its always being destroyed by some AoE mechanic of some sort because it is so small. Would you consider taking Dark Regeneration over Leech for Affliction?

[Vestion 8]

Soul leech for affli is weak because it builds up from MG, which does low damage compared to incin or shadow bolt. I would recommend dark regen if your affli as you wont notice any survival increases while using soul leech.

[moonserenity29 0]

I want to thank you for your tips. I survived a major wiped on a dungeon a while ago (tank died and mobs goes to me) although I managed to summon my voidlord before the mobs reached me and pumped my summon abyssal. Would you think that summoning the abyssal is the right move aside from using the Unending Resolve + Sacrificial Pac, and Healthstone. or do you use Abyssal and Terrorguard in other way?

Edited June 5, 2013 by moonserenity29

[Zagam 1,982]

I find it hysterical that the Terrorguard/Doomguard's damage is so crappy that it's a discussion point to talk about the Infernal/Abysal as a survival cooldown :D

Seriously, though, you should never use your Infernal/Abysal. Aside from the initial AoE hit and the stun, the AoE damage is paltry, at best. Use your Doom/Terrorguard at the pull or sub 20%. Either is fine.

[Cruzan 71]

Soulshatter is also pretty handy to drop aggro on those mobs you're talking about. Usually will give you time to soulstone the tank if you want, or to burn down some adds or to gtfo. Hopefully the mage in your group gets all the aggro hehe

@Demyndra While Soul Leech may seem worthless for Affliction, over the course of a fight those little shields do add up. I've only looked at a few logs to compare Soul Leech absorbs between the specs and on average (tiny sample size) it was looking to be about 35-40% less effective for affliction vs. destro. Still not a bad talent and I'm not sure, since I can't find logs of people using Dark Regen, how the two compare, but If you're finding an encounter where you are dying during an intense AoE phase (Megaera for example) maybe test out Dark Regen. I would guess the 2 min CD would leave you hanging every once and a while to where you'll be hurting without it, but if you can line that downtime up with a time where a raidwide CD is being used then everything will be fine.

Soul Leech pretty much just becomes a slow and steady mitigation talent for Affl vs. a big "Oh S!@#!" mitigation talent.

Edited June 5, 2013 by Cruzan