T16 Warlock Style - Heroic & Mythic

[Lockybalboa 618]

edit: after checking your logs, you weren't in on the kill at all?

 

Our heroic logs are hidden. I've been in on all of our kills and will likely be there for all of the kills to come. Officer, warlock, world class player = raiding4life

 

I raid ten man so we didn't have the option of zerging the boss, that's really only a viable tactic on 25m. A ten man *might* be able to do it but it would need a massive amount of DPS/gear that I don't think many, or any, ten mans have that atm. By the time a ten does have it the fix will have been applied and likely negate the strat for anyone.

[Nikalia 1]

Are any of you changing specs out based on different days/bosses you are on? I'm not talking about dual spec, I'm talking about between actual raid nights are you redoing your specs/stats/gear?

 

I'm Affliction/Destro but thinking about swapping out Destro for Demo --affliction is my baby. It's my favorite to play, but Demo is sounding like it's more viable for a lot of the fights.....demo's my 2nd favorite to play I was just bad at UVLS last tier.

 

All of your guys' notes taken into account perhaps affliction / demo would work out..... HEY ZAGAM DOES I DO HASTE OR MASTERY OR WUT!? /trollface

Edited September 21, 2013 by Nikalia

[Lockybalboa 618]

My aff spec is static, I change out the other spec every now and then for some fights. Destro was a must on H Dark Sham, Demo is a must for H Malk. Demo will likely be a must for Thok, etc.

Edited September 21, 2013 by Lockybalboa

[Vile 9]

I raid ten man so we didn't have the option of zerging the boss, that's really only a viable tactic on 25m. A ten man *might* be able to do it but it would need a massive amount of DPS/gear that I don't think many, or any, ten mans have that atm. By the time a ten does have it the fix will have been applied and likely negate the strat for anyone.

 

Ah, my bad. I thought the zerging strategy was standard practice on Norushen, otherwise I should've mentioned that that's how we do it. 255k without being cleansed did seem too good to be true.

 

Does anyone know if Demonology is very far ahead of other specs if you do the zerging strategy? If not I'll probably try affliction this sunday and report back my findings.

[Lappenforce 0]

Anyone already rolling the 4pc? For me it looks kinda meh though I heard a few saying it's ridiculously strong.

[Lockybalboa 618]

Anyone already rolling the 4pc? For me it looks kinda meh though I heard a few saying it's ridiculously strong.

 

"The 4pc" There are three specs with three different gains from the 4pc. You need to look at the spec before looking at the 4pc.

 

4pc for aff is meh, you roll in so many shards it's not that much of a gain. If you have WF or HWF off items to replace 4pc with, go for it.

 

Demo 4pc is ungodly amazing good. CW and HoG procs are smexy as hell.

 

Destro 4pc is yummy good also, not as awesome as demo 4pc but still good. Getting a CB off during the crit proc is awesome, getting SB after SB after SB off during it is even better.

[Muoric 3]

Our heroic logs are hidden. I've been in on all of our kills and will likely be there for all of the kills to come. Officer, warlock, world class player = raiding4life

 

I raid ten man so we didn't have the option of zerging the boss, that's really only a viable tactic on 25m. A ten man *might* be able to do it but it would need a massive amount of DPS/gear that I don't think many, or any, ten mans have that atm. By the time a ten does have it the fix will have been applied and likely negate the strat for anyone.

I guess it was an alt run then or something, my bad.

Seems a lot of confusion on this boss based on not knowing if people raid 10 or 25 and what tactic they use or plan on using. Somehow assumed the original question was about zerging, but after reading it again I'm not sure. Normal tactic affli def should be viable, but for zerging demo is way better for avoiding the debuff on at least imps.

So in general if you're asking a question spesific to an encounter or what spec to use, I'd suggest everyone state what raid size you're raiding. Some specs/tactics really change based on that.

[Lockybalboa 618]

Okay, 73 wipes and 11 hours of progression later we finally have killed Heroic Malk for US9th.

 

The dude bullies. A lot. So...just expect that. The mechanics are fairly easy, some stuff that will make your warlock life better is to stack the balls out of self heals and CDs. I ran demo with 3/2/2/2/1/1 spec. Glyphs were cookie, DL, and Dark Apoc.

 

All of the healing you get is converted into a shield (think heroic tortose) but because of how the room is and how much the boss likes to BULLY THE CRAP OUT OF YOU RANDOMLY you'll need to be ready for lots of self healing to get your shield on before you get crapped on.

 

Use Twilight Ward to soak zones and/or Orbs, mostly just keep it on CD. You'll need it. A lot.

 

I kept getting crapped on during the blood rages, every bloody time, so I took Dark Apoc and just whent tank form for it. The DPS loss is negligible and that phase is all about living. If you have the group DPS to GET to Malk, you likely have the DPS to meet the enrage timer so don't worry to much about the DPS.

 

In Dark Apoc I was spamming SB for DF so I could use my TW as much as possible and filling in the gaps with DL spam. Made it so I took almost no damage during the blood rage. 

 

For a bit we were having me take DB and use it to run around and soak orbs to help clear the room (You NEED people doing this, pallys, rogues, hunters, warlocks) but one of the healers we had in the fight is kind of a moron and couldn't understand that he needed to heal me during the dot so we stopped doing that (btw, anyone knows a resto/ele or a resto/boom that is looking for a top ten guild, I'm looking for one!) Assuming the healer that is covering your zone isn't a mouth breathing, keyboard turning, head-up-his-ass, derptastic, moron, you can use this strat to great effect.

 

This fight is going to be made a total joke with gear, the easy road to victory is wait till the raid is ~560+ and just roflstomp him. 

 

Aff is going to be a little harder to play on this fight just with all of the quick random movement and less damage reduct, destro has nothing to cleave so will do very poorly. Demo was nice because I just build DF as much as I could and then spent 80% of the fight in demo. Also it should be noted that if you need to LT a lot then you won't get this fight. You need to be careful about your mana and when you LT as the LT drains your life and not your shield. Even with full shield the damage can hit you for 50% of your HP at the end phases so being even a little low on HP is very bad.

 

Fun tip if you want phat ranks, there are some target dummys under the boss that you pass as you run up. If your raid is willing you can sit there for a moment and build DF, throw out a load of dooms then run up and pull fast. I was trying it to see how much it was worth in case we hit enrage (we didn't) and was seeing a 40-60k DPS gain from double Dooming 6-8 dummys then running up. Those dooms were without UVLS btw, didn't get a proc and wasn't fishing for one. Just doomed and ran.

 

If you don't want to take that kind of time, throw a few corruptions on the way up. Free DF is free. I started almost every pull with 400-500 DF.

[Annoroth 5]

Also it should be noted that if you need to LT a lot then you won't get this fight. You need to be careful about your mana and when you LT as the LT drains your life and not your shield. Even with full shield the damage can hit you for 50% of your HP at the end phases so being even a little low on HP is very bad.

 

Seemed to me (just from reading/watching) that this was a huge Glyph of Lifetap fight. Is that not the case?

[Lockybalboa 618]

Seemed to me (just from reading/watching) that this was a huge Glyph of Lifetap fight. Is that not the case?

 

I was finding it more useful to use my three other glyphs and then just pick my moment to LT, LTing right AS the blood rage ends worked nicely. But, I still have my ToT 2pc and with AD I was getting double the up time on the reduced DF use in meta thus greatly extending my time in meta making me use hardly any mana.

 

Without the ToT 2pc I think I would have to of dropped a glyph in order to use the LT one.

[Vile 9]

So I tried Affliction on Norushen and it worked out just fine, I ended the fight just shy of 200k. I've seen Demo locks around 215k though but I'm much more comfortable with Affliction so the two for me are probably on par. The point is Affliction is definately viable here.

I also did Sha of Pride as Affliction, with MF specced for Reflection adds. Worked out great! A few things I found beneficial here;

-Run with your self dispel talent (name?) for the nasty debuff. The healers have their hands full with this so anyone who an dispel themselves should.

-Put a portal on your designated prison lock (I guess you don't have this on 10man? But it's very convenient in 25).

-Put a gateway up from your area to where you stack (if you stack) for gifts. This helps greatly with mobility, and saves DPS if you run MF like me.

-Run with the healing tier 1 talent (again, name?). I found that between all the mechanics and the add switching I didn't have much uptime on MG making the Leech talent a bit lackluster (this is an approximation, I haven't looked this up in my logs). This can be used to top yourself off when Swlling Pride is coming up and UR is on cooldown.

-Always use your Twilight Ward when soaking Rifts.

[Demyndra 6]

Question about Nazgrim... when he goes into defensive stance obviously we stop attacking (pets included), my question is about DoTs.  I assume any DoTs that were on him when he changes stances don't count as "hitting" him, but any that are reapplied do, causing the extra rage gain.  Is this correct?  If so, are you letting DoTs fall off, or keeping them up despite the added rage? 

 

I was trying to re-apply right before Defensive, as I would get the most out of my DoTs, and I only kept refreshing Agony, as I didn't want that to fall off completely... good idea/bad idea?

[Rakupenda 15]

Was Aff for Malkorok. Glyph of Life Tap was a godsend.

 

Glyph of Demonic Circle wouldn't be bad either. 

 

Did anyone try using gateways to mitigate the fall damage? Think if you reacted quick enough and clicked it on the way up it would send you through the gateway instead of letting you fall. Engineer goblin glider in case you get hit up twice. Health Stone after you get hit up to heal the damage taken so that you don't die on the fall (if you can't teleport/slow fall).

 

Demo would probably be better (esp with tier bonuses), but I'm more comfortable with Aff as we're learning mechanics.

 

Was considering to use GoSac with Voidwalker for his bulwark ability. It's a way to "heal" through the shield if needed, like Tortos. There were a few times I dipped to 20% hp, either let it stay active for the 20 sec or click it off instantly for a "heal". GoSac would also add some passive healing and with Soul Link increase your shield's/bulwark's effectiveness. Maybe next week I'll try it out.

 

Mortal Coil for extra healing if you can afford to waste a global. As Locky said, Twilight Ward, Twilight Ward, Twilight Ward.

 

If you're using Soul Link, pay attention to your pet (especially if you're using Imp for healing) during blood rage - it may die from the massive damage you're taking. Bring it into the group for some heals.

 

 

Spoils:

You can solo soak bombs rather than dump 'em on the ground similar to how you solo soaked Lei Shen's Static Shock ability. Stand away from the raid, pop your CDs before the clock ticks noon, and voilla, four bombs soaked at once.

 

If you're switching zones (only doing Klaxxi, for example), use Demonic Circle to pop back up to the starting platform, gateway to get past the center start-up switch...thing (it will slow you if you get near it) and hop back down on the other side.

Edited September 24, 2013 by Rakupenda

[Rakupenda 15]

Question about Nazgrim... when he goes into defensive stance obviously we stop attacking (pets included), my question is about DoTs.  I assume any DoTs that were on him when he changes stances don't count as "hitting" him, but any that are reapplied do, causing the extra rage gain.  Is this correct?  If so, are you letting DoTs fall off, or keeping them up despite the added rage? 

 

I was trying to re-apply right before Defensive, as I would get the most out of my DoTs, and I only kept refreshing Agony, as I didn't want that to fall off completely... good idea/bad idea?

Anything hitting him after the shield goes up (this includes refreshing dots on him) will trigger the effect. Do not refresh anything. Dots already applied and ticking are "under" the shield, and they're fine. Refresh just before he goes Defensive. If they fall off, they fall off. Focus on killing adds and banners, regen some mana, etc. Reapply to him by soul swapping from adds and you'll "keep" your 10 stack of Agony.

Edited September 23, 2013 by Rakupenda

[t3chy 0]

Hi,

Just gotten shamans down and doing progression on GN. Been having sub 10% wipes. Just curious what do u all do to the assassin in GN's encounter. Do you guys face tank it or try to kite it around and risk getting BS?

And any advice on 10%'s extra wave..? Doing 10 mans btw. 

[tassadar 1]

Any updates with regard to recent demo nerfs?

[JvChequer 43]

Any updates with regard to recent demo nerfs?

 

Just ignore all demo tips and focus on Destro and Aff ones.

 

 

Profit.

[Zagam 1,982]

Hi,

Just gotten shamans down and doing progression on GN. Been having sub 10% wipes. Just curious what do u all do to the assassin in GN's encounter. Do you guys face tank it or try to kite it around and risk getting BS?

And any advice on 10%'s extra wave..? Doing 10 mans btw. 

Burn boss if he's sub 10%.  Ignore adds and just kite, CC, stun, slow, etc.  There's no reason to DPS adds when he's so close to death.  Just finish him.  My main raid and my Flex groups never had issues or deaths to this because I call for a burn at 15%.  Still Bloodlust at the start.

 

Any updates with regard to recent demo nerfs?

To the guides?  I don't think there were any particular "play Demo only" fights except for Thok in order to bypass his interrupt mechanic.  Now, you'll play another spec but need to rely on instant casts during his high speed interrupt phase.  Say hello to your Fel Flame button while standing still again. 

 

This will make any multi-target fights you were considering Demo with UVLS be Affliction-based fights.  Fights like Klaxxi and Protectors, you'll want more multi-dotting than Destruction can give and it'll be clearly superior to Demo.

[Rakupenda 15]

Spoils:

The monk adds (green crate) do NOT give shards. They sit at 1 hp and despawn leaving behind their buff. Don't waste your time Drain Soul-ing them. By the time they're about to die, the sparks should be spawning from the other side. Switch to them and replenish your shards there instead.

 

Recommend two Dark Souls talent. One on the pull, one on the big add. Another one will come up for second big add.

[Darkie 0]

To the guides?  I don't think there were any particular "play Demo only" fights except for Thok in order to bypass his interrupt mechanic.  Now, you'll play another spec but need to rely on instant casts during his high speed interrupt phase.  Say hello to your Fel Flame button while standing still again.

 

That's misleading. Yes, fel flame is most convenient, but since interrupts come at predictable times, it's fairly easy to weave in your normal spells without much loss, and fel flaming is usually a dps loss.

 

At the very fastest, he casts his interrupt every 2.4 seconds, which is plenty to get some Malefic Grasp channeling in. The real trick is hitting esc or /stopcasting just before he finishes his 0.7sec cast of Deafening Screech. That way you can re-cast malefic grasp straight after, rather than using fel flame and wasting a gcd worth of time out of your 2.4second window.

 

Obviously same applies for destro, but I guess nobody would really play destro on thok.

[Nyanchan 2]

That's misleading. Yes, fel flame is most convenient, but since interrupts come at predictable times, it's fairly easy to weave in your normal spells without much loss, and fel flaming is usually a dps loss.

 

At the very fastest, he casts his interrupt every 2.4 seconds, which is plenty to get some Malefic Grasp channeling in. The real trick is hitting esc or /stopcasting just before he finishes his 0.7sec cast of Deafening Screech. That way you can re-cast malefic grasp straight after, rather than using fel flame and wasting a gcd worth of time out of your 2.4second window.

 

Obviously same applies for destro, but I guess nobody would really play destro on thok.

 

 

I don't know about your guild's strategy, but for us, there comes a time when i cannot even fire a spell cuz he spams the interrupt, so i have had to spam demon form instant.

 

And for some reason timers seem to be off.

Edited September 25, 2013 by Nyanchan

[Lockybalboa 618]

At the very fastest, he casts his interrupt every 2.4 seconds.

 

Very, very wrong.

 

The rate of his energy regen is always going up with each cast, it's only reset after you push the phase and Thok goes in to the focus/kill Jailers phase.

 

It doesn't take long for him to build up to the point where he is spamming the interrupt so fast that ONLY insta cast spells work.

 

If your guild isn't seeing this, then you likely have weak-ish healers that can't keep the raid up for long enough to see the phase. 

[JvChequer 43]

In my 10man core we pushed until 23 stacks at the beggining of the fight.

 

The amount of interrupt was insane xD

[Darkie 0]

Dunno, I'd like to see some logs then, cause even on BL's hc kill, his interrupt frequency doesn't get faster than 2.something seconds (with up to 28 stacks). The same was with our guild on our first kill last week when we went up to about 22.

[Zagam 1,982]

Dunno, I'd like to see some logs then, cause even on BL's hc kill, his interrupt frequency doesn't get faster than 2.something seconds (with up to 28 stacks). The same was with our guild on our first kill last week when we went up to about 22.

Logs aren't going to show that.  Actually participating in the fight will do that.  It's pretty clear that those of us who have downed it experienced interrupts that happen MUCH more frequently than a 2.x interval.  He globals the interrupt after so many stacks, so, no, advising the use of Fel Flame is not misleading.  You're not going to be rotating MG and a cancel button because MG will lock you out of ALL of your Shadow spells leaving you with 2 seconds of nothing.  There's just no way you're going to rotate MG and cancel back and forth for 30+ seconds.  If you pay attention to Spark's casting bar at around 20 stacks, he can't get off a 1.4 second Soul Fire and gets Fire locked.