Demo Questions

[Vexosis 0]

Hello everyone!

I am currently running a destruction spec and have been since level 1. I'm going to try some normal/heroic raiding soon I had a few questions mostly about Demonology and how well it holds up against Destruction.

Around what iLvl does Demo shine and how difficult is it to really get the feel and fun out of the spec?

If the DPS isn't there what keeps you playing demo?

How different is the gear, like do I have to change up my destruction gear completely for demo gear?

Right now my Destruction spec is enjoyable it just seems bland at times and from what i've seen having a crap ton of imps just looks fun. I've tried to read up on the specs but some of the information is overwhelming so I'm just hoping someone can lay it down in front of me so I can decide if its the route I want to take.

Thanks for the help, I really appreciate it!

[Zagam 1,982]

Item level does not mean anything to a spec's performance. Your comfort, knowledge, and ability to execute the specialization properly will determine how well it shines. The DPS for Demonology is more than fine. You wear the same gear as you do any of the other specializations. What part of Demonology is overwhelming that you are asking for more help on?

[Vexosis 0]

Well i'm mostly trying to understand the play style a little bit since it seems so different compared to Destro. I read your guide and since I've barely begun to play Demo I'm not sure how to manage my focus. The overwhelming part is having basically a new class to learn, in a sense, because the play style will be different and im trying to wrap my head around how Demo will play. Is it fast paced/spur of the moment ability activations or is it following rotation and waiting for trinket procs?

I played a mage for years and their rotations are just boring to me and Destro is starting to fall in line with that, so i'm trying to basically get something more interactive if that makes sense.

Edited June 20, 2013 by Vexosis

[Zagam 1,982]

To really maximize your character, no rotation is not fast. Everything is knowing exactly what ability comes after the global you are on. Warlocks are no different. Destruction has less opportunities for mistakes. Affliction and Demonology can be hurt quite a bit by a rotational mistake. Start slow and work your way up. Best way to find out if you'd like it is to change your spec and try it.

[Vexosis 0]

Thanks for the advice, I think its what I'm going to do today after work. I like the idea of risk vs reward in the rotations and while I understand some things are dependent on RNG, the idea that if you do what you're supposed to do at the right time will bring about a good DPS increase sounds good to me.

Edited June 20, 2013 by Vexosis

[Zagam 1,982]

There is no risk vs reward when experimenting with a spec. It's a game, and it should be fun! It's all reward! :D

[Rrasis 13]

when I first switched over to Demo I played with the test dummies a little bit but what really helped was queing into LFR's. that first week i probably ran each ToT LFR 2-3 times trying to get the hang of the spec in a raiding situation. by the time I started actually raiding with it I was fairly comfortable with the spec and was able to concentrate more on the mechanics and less on which button am I going to push next.

[Vexosis 0]

I figured i'd check in after checking out Demo and I have to say damn. This is way more fun to me right now and its not as hard as I thought it would be. I reforged all my gear and got all the enchants/gems I needed and I can do some crazy dps. In a scarlet monastery I can do over 100k dps on bosses. Raiding I'm still falling a little behind but I am still keeping up with other classes and only a little behind some Destro warlocks in LFR. Thanks for the help guys I'm loving it.

[Omaric 246]

I figured i'd check in after checking out Demo and I have to say damn. This is way more fun to me right now and its not as hard as I thought it would be. I reforged all my gear and got all the enchants/gems I needed and I can do some crazy dps. In a scarlet monastery I can do over 100k dps on bosses. Raiding I'm still falling a little behind but I am still keeping up with other classes and only a little behind some Destro warlocks in LFR. Thanks for the help guys I'm loving it.

Are you solo Q'ing into dungeons? Be careful not to let the random people buff skew your numbers.

[Vexosis 0]

Yeah I was, im sure it has affected my numbers a good bit but its still been way higher than my solo q with Destro. Raiding numbers are higher as well than my Destro parses were so all in all i've been pretty happy with changing.

[Skyrge 9]

Welcome to the dark(er) side Vex. I recently made the same switch and one very basic thing that helped me was simply comparing the two "rotations" to their destro counterparts. Popping DS, Bloodlust, or have major trinkets procs? you're going Meta and making the most out of that demonic fury instead of throwing Chaos Bolts. No procs, DS on CD? its caster form and building as much fury as possible just like trying to get up to 3+ embers on destro so you can max out that burst when Breath, Wush, or whatever you've got does proc or DS comes off CD. This is a reallly basic way to look at it, but it helped me get started. I, like Rrasis did a lot of lfr that week which helped a lot. There are a few more intricacies (the opener, and the HoG,fill,fill,Hog/Meta bit, etc.) but everything you need is on these forums. I personally am having a blast, hope you do too.

Edited June 23, 2013 by Skyrge

[Vexosis 0]

Okay, im coming back with some new questions. A big one is what macros do you guys use to maximize efficiency? I managed to pick up the macros for the Council fight but in general I think I need to work on some other mouse over macros or something to get doom/corruption up on multiple targets. After getting UVLS last night I realized I needed to find a way to get doom up asap with procs if it doesn't proc on the opening rotation.

[Zagam 1,982]

Just get a weakaura string for notifying you of Perfect Aim proccing. From there, just learn to monitor and react to it. Stopcasting macros and such are overkill. As long as you're not half asleep playing, you should have no problem fitting in 2 globals in a 4 second window.

[Darthsoul 3]

As we are pushing closer to Heroic Council progression Im noticing my Council dps is fairly low as most other fights I'm pushing ranking or ranking even w/o LMG. But I'm assuming I'm doing something wrong on this fight. Here's my strat, I use gosac and drop my imp swarm. Then on opener I generally try to get two crit dooms up by either tab targeting or actually mouse clicking the target. Then throughout the fight when I get Uvols procs I apply as I can. I never seem to get this large imp party that I've read about so obviously something is wrong. Do I need to set up macros for each boss to help with my crit doom application? Or is my LFR Uvols hurting me that badly with the lower procs and I should just stack haste for this one fight? Also, I know this is a demo thread but is affliction easy on this fight? I run it for Heroic Tortos and do okay usually 80 to 90% of rank limit, maybe I can just run that.

[Omaric 246]

If you really want to pump out some DPS, then aim for at least 3 crit Dooms out of the gate, rather than 2. If you aren't able to get the 4th, then drop a normal Doomx2 on that one, so that when you get another UVoLS proc you can take advantage of Pandemic a bit.

Afflliction I feel would have a lot more micromanagement, but it's still very competitive.

Here is that macro again that Sifon posted awhile back to help you get those Dooms out:

#showtooltip

/stopcasting

/use [form:0]Metamorphosis;[form:1]

/use [@boss1] corruption

Make 4 similar macros with boss1, boss2, boss3, boss4, bind them at 4 close buttons mine are F1 to F4, when Perfect Aim procs, F1-F2-F3-F4, and you have 4 Dooms on 4 bosses, it switches to meta itself but you have to leave manually.

Edited June 26, 2013 by Omaric

[Zagam 1,982]

Alright, here's my secret. I haven't exposed it yet, but today is the day. Got yourself that Turnip Punching Bag from questing? It has 750M HP, can be dropped anywhere, doesn't die, and allows you to generate resources. Drop this before a Council attempt or build to 1000 Demonic Fury and pull early. Don't waste time with Imp Swarm at the beginning. You're going to open up with a potion, Dark Soul, one Hand of Guldan, and then Meta. If the worlds align themselves, you will apply Doom to one target and as HoG connects, Perfect Aim procs. Apply Doom again to this target for a 135 second duration Doom, then immediately get your next 3 bosses with 100% crit Doom. This is going to do some insane things, especially because you should be popping Bloodlust at the start.

It sucks you don't have your LMG yet...that extra 30% Haste is 8 extra Imps in the first 15 seconds. When Hand of Guldan connects and Perfect Aim procs, so will all your Int trinkets, LMG, etc...you'll be over 100% Haste. Each 90 second Doom you put up will be ticking 10-12 times depending on your Haste and it'll be ticking every 7-8 seconds. After Perfect Aim wears off, drop out of Meta, put Corruption on all the things, find your main target, pop Imp Swarm, HoG, Meta, and cast Soul Fire for an hour. You'll have so many Imps that you won't be able to run out of Demonic Fury. They also will proc Molten Core giving you charge after charge after charge as well as asinine damage. You'll gain 4 Imps every 7 seconds this way. If you don't get Perfect Aim at the beginning, it's a potential loss of over 300k DPS. It's that significant. Hopefully on your best attempt, you get that damn proc.

[Omaric 246]

You suggest building up to 1000 DF before the fight, but the chances of UVoLS proc'ing during that time seems high.

[Zagam 1,982]

You suggest building up to 1000 DF before the fight, but the chances of UVoLS proc'ing during that time seems high.

Pet attacks, friend.

[Omaric 246]

Clever girl.......

[Darthsoul 3]

How do I get this again if I've already destroyed it?

[Omaric 246]

How do I get this again if I've already destroyed it?

That awkward moment when you tell your kid that Fluffy won't ever be coming back.

Edited June 26, 2013 by Omaric

[Zagam 1,982]

Clever girl.......

Showing our age with a Jurassic Park quote.

[Zagam 1,982]

How do I get this again if I've already destroyed it?

Try the item restoration feature. Never delete treats Blizzard gives you. Take a guess how many people I've confused with my Magic Banana when they go 'WTF made me fall over?!'

[Zagam 1,982]

Try the item restoration feature. Never delete treats Blizzard gives you. Take a guess how many people I've confused with my Magic Banana when they go 'WTF made me fall over?!'

Boy, taken out of context...yikes.

[Twinkielock 15]

Wouldn't the training dummy do the same thing? Also how long does it take for your pet to attack it's way to 1k fury?