5.4 Warlock

[Horcored 17]

Hey, i've got a question about locks for the coming 5.4.

I got the meta, but yet not the cloak.

My preformence in the 3 different spec is about equal, so thats not a challenge for me.

Which of the 3 spec will be supperior for most of the fights in SoO with the coming gear in SoO with only LMG?

Will the L.cloak make any difference for which spec to go?

Thanks in advance.

- Horcored

[Omaric 246]

I don't think the cloak will make a monster disparity between the specs.  I'd choose the one you're most comfortable with or find most fun to play.  That said, Affliction and Demonology make better use of the meta gem.

[Horcored 17]

Hmm... I really like destro play, but its been little Underpowered in 5.2 and 5.3, but u think with the increase to CB it can be on lvl with affi and demo?

[Kaboozey 16]

You might wanna check this thread from today:

 

https://www.icy-veins.com/forums/topic/3008-9th-inning-warlock-changes/

 

Most people are going to be Affliction and X... but with the last second changes to Demo/Destro, it could be tight which spec will pull ahead.

[Horcored 17]

Well, lets say i play destro, is haste still gonna be better theoretically for single target or is mastery pushing`?

[Omaric 246]

Be careful of going too much into haste with Destruction, the spec is very prone to GCD capping.  Mastery is fancy and crit seems to be getting more use in 5.4.  I'm going to be testing out a more crit based build this week for Destruction so nobody else has to look like a noob.

[Omaric 246]

I take that back. Demonology with UVLS is still really sexy.

[Horcored 17]

'Might be, but i doubt a 530 ULVS beats all SoO trinks with 561. But i havent really done the math so i mgiht be totally wrong.

[Omaric 246]

'Might be, but i doubt a 530 ULVS beats all SoO trinks with 561. But i havent really done the math so i mgiht be totally wrong.

100% crit dooms too good bro. I picked the the amp trinket from Immersius too. Sexy times galore.

[Horcored 17]

Ahh... ur US ehh? So Jalous =( Still 3 hrs to go here in EU.

So, u think that ULVS is still BiS as of 5.4?

[Zagam 1,982]

I don't think Demonology is very good in 10 man.  Might still be good in 25 man, but Destro/Afflic look like the bread and butter for 10 man.  I'm 8/14 and Destro/Aff gave me good tools to use on each fight and there wasn't really a fight where I thought I'd be better as Demonology.

[Omaric 246]

Ahh... ur US ehh? So Jalous =( Still 3 hrs to go here in EU.

So, u think that ULVS is still BiS as of 5.4?

 

If you want to continue playing Demonology, it's definitely seeming to continue to be a go-to trinket.

 

And Zagam, you don't think you'd rock out harder at least on Fallen Protectors as Demo?  We're only 3/14, so I don't have enough experience yet with the other encounters to see where it might fit in better.

[Twinkielock 15]

I only did a 12 man flex last night and ULVS was up quite often.

[Demyndra 6]

Did anyone else notice their Meta gem proccing like mad? I had so many procs of it last night I was dumbfounded. I also really struggled the first hour or so of raiding with the no casting while moving (other than MG of course)... I guess I should've practiced on the PTR or during 5.3 haha.

[Zagam 1,982]

If you want to continue playing Demonology, it's definitely seeming to continue to be a go-to trinket.

 

And Zagam, you don't think you'd rock out harder at least on Fallen Protectors as Demo?  We're only 3/14, so I don't have enough experience yet with the other encounters to see where it might fit in better.

We one shot Protectors, so I wasn't able to take a 2nd stab at improving my DPS on it.  Considering it's a 3 target fight, next week I expect my DPS to be MUCH higher.  I think I clocked out at 265k as Affliction with the bulk of my multidotting coming early.  I also made a classic mistake in this fight before remembering the change to Soul Swap.  I was still using Soulburn + Soul Swap to apply new DoTs when I really should have been using inhale + exhale.  I smashed myself in the face realizing my Haunt uptime coulda been HUGE.  Demo and Affliction will both be good on this fight.  I just wanted to feel the mechanics first and I guess I'll get a 2nd try next week (or first if we push it on heroic). 

 

Demo just makes you a slave to that stupid proc.  I loved it and I hated it at the same time.  I felt tied to it because it was absolutely necessary.  It also made raiding not fun for me trying to maximize DPS and just not getting procs.  I finished at some bullshit 220k on Iron Juggernaut because I got ZERO Breath or Wush procs the ENTIRE execute phase.  Of course, boss hits 2% and Dark Soul comes off CD and both trinkets proc.  TL;DR is I'm SO sick of RPPM trinkets that any excuse I can use to get away from them, I'm going to take.  Demo's fun..I love the spec.  I wish UVLS had never been invented.

[Zagam 1,982]

Did anyone else notice their Meta gem proccing like mad? I had so many procs of it last night I was dumbfounded. I also really struggled the first hour or so of raiding with the no casting while moving (other than MG of course)... I guess I should've practiced on the PTR or during 5.3 haha.

The WORST was starting a Drain Soul cast and then moving.  I kept thinking 'wtf, I'm lagging' because I didn't see the Drain Soul beam anymore...then I'm like D'OH, I'm lagging mentally IRL.  It'll take some getting used to for sure.  Just plant for Haunt and Drain Soul. 

 

I saw TONS of Meta procs.  I always heard that 'wooosh' sound indicating Tempus Repit.  I think the reaction we are seeing is the fact our legendary cape's effect also procs the meta gem.  It also procs trinkets.  It procs everything, and it has an RPPM of over 3.5, so it's ALWAYS UP.  Expect lots of random procs in bursts with that cape.

 

Don't tell my raid this, but I actually ate some earth avoidable damage on Iron Juggs because I was mid DS + pot + Breath Drain Soul channel.  I have a bad feeling Affliction is going to make me justify standing in bad shit now :(

[Omaric 246]

Don't tell my raid this, but I actually ate some earth avoidable damage on Iron Juggs because I was mid DS + pot + Breath Drain Soul channel.  I have a bad feeling Affliction is going to make me justify standing in bad shit now

 

Teleprot!!!

[Zagam 1,982]

You mean Teleport?  That costs a GCD...not affordable when I'm trying to stay with my raid in DPS!

 

It was quite funny on that fight...top DPS was 232k, lowest was 218k.  Everyone was pretty tight.

[Strife 6]

Okay since I'm completely new to Aff and didn't start playing WoW until partway through 5.3 and raided primarily as demo with destro on Primordius, what changed from the current guide up right now for Aff?

 

I noticed you mentioned the change to Soul Swap which I saw in the patch notes about a baseline instead of needing a glyph to copy dots now, does that mean I shouldn't always be using Soul Shard + Swap?

 

Are there any major changes I should be aware of for mechanics compared to the current guide? Also how does Fel Flame on Aff compare vs taking KJC and MG? For Destro and Demo I got rid of it since it's pretty much the same damage as our fillers during movement, but wasn't sure if I should stick with AV or KJC + MF was better during more movement heavy fights on Aff, because the new AV seems really good :x

 

I'm going to run LFR ToT 3/4 (4/12 runestones V_V) and Flex SoO tonight to get ready for our normal Thursday raid time, so trying to really get comfortable with Aff and be aware of anything that's not in the current guide

Edited September 11, 2013 by Strife

[Demyndra 6]

Teleprot!!!

A new priest spec... tanking by mind control! Not completely unheard of... Instructor Raz.

The WORST was starting a Drain Soul cast and then moving.  I kept thinking 'wtf, I'm lagging' because I didn't see the Drain Soul beam anymore...then I'm like D'OH, I'm lagging mentally IRL.  It'll take some getting used to for sure.  Just plant for Haunt and Drain Soul. 

 

I saw TONS of Meta procs.  I always heard that 'wooosh' sound indicating Tempus Repit.  I think the reaction we are seeing is the fact our legendary cape's effect also procs the meta gem.  It also procs trinkets.  It procs everything, and it has an RPPM of over 3.5, so it's ALWAYS UP.  Expect lots of random procs in bursts with that cape.

I actually don't have the legendary cape yet, as I didn't have enough time to get all four celestials down. So thats great to know it'll proc even more. MOAR REPIT!!!!

Also, I want to complain about Immerseus' room... I raid ten man with an Spreist and EleShammy... and STILL had issues of losing 5% haste buff because of the sheer amount we had to spread to cover the oozes.

Lastly, ( I know, I know...shut up already) for those using AffDots, did you all figure out how to make the number timers display? I had issues with the "shrinking pie graph" all night... I just want the actual number of time remaining on the DoTs.

[Omaric 246]

You mean Teleport?

 

Der!  Just like dragon is actually dargon.

 

Okay since I'm completely new to Aff and didn't start playing WoW until partway through 5.3 and raided primarily as demo with destro on Primordius, what changed from the current guide up right now for Aff?

 

I noticed you mentioned the change to Soul Swap which I saw in the patch notes about a baseline instead of needing a glyph to copy dots now, does that mean I shouldn't always be using Soul Shard + Swap?

 

The biggest change is Soul Swap: Inhale/Exhale.  Now you can get super powered DoT's on multiple targets and save your Soul Shards for Haunt.  The only thing you lose is the duration on the DoT's while you're spreading them out.  There is no difference in this case from pulling them from the initial target to all the others, or pretending you're a slow motion chain lightning AIDS epidemic by going:

 

Target 1 - SB:SS > Inhale Target 1 > Exhale Target 2 > Inhale Target 2 > Exhale Target 3 > and so on....

 

All of these targets will have the same duration left on their DoT's and you now have the choice of casting Haunt on multiple targets or saving them for a priority target.  Once you learn how to deal with this your Affliction damage will increase happily.

[Twinkielock 15]

We one shot Protectors, so I wasn't able to take a 2nd stab at improving my DPS on it.  Considering it's a 3 target fight, next week I expect my DPS to be MUCH higher.  I think I clocked out at 265k as Affliction with the bulk of my multidotting coming early.  I also made a classic mistake in this fight before remembering the change to Soul Swap.  I was still using Soulburn + Soul Swap to apply new DoTs when I really should have been using inhale + exhale.  I smashed myself in the face realizing my Haunt uptime coulda been HUGE.  Demo and Affliction will both be good on this fight.  I just wanted to feel the mechanics first and I guess I'll get a 2nd try next week (or first if we push it on heroic).

My affliciton theory crafting is a little (lot) bit rusty. Does inhale no longer remove the dots from the first target?

[Zagam 1,982]

My affliciton theory crafting is a little (lot) bit rusty. Does inhale no longer remove the dots from the first target?

It does not. 

[Rakupenda 15]

My affliciton theory crafting is a little (lot) bit rusty. Does inhale no longer remove the dots from the first target?

Correct.

 

It acts similar to how the glyphed version used to, except you can't hang onto it for very long (3 second inhale duration), there's no cooldown, and the durations of the dots are identical to the ones you're copying.

[Strife 6]

K I've been practicing on the dummies for like 15 minutes straight, think I have the basics down. Couple questions though.

 

Other then the opener, if alot of trinkets proc I'm assuming you use SB:SS instead of manually applying the 3 dots?

 

Also how does exhale work, does it copy the dot strength from your current target or copy them based on what your current procs are?

 

Say I proc my meta and Wush +10 and use SB:SS, then my meta and wush falls off. Do all my inhales/exhales copy the Meta + Wush dots from the first target or copy the dots but apply them as if I had no procs on? From affdots, it looks like the copy is based on my current procs, not what the original dots were, but want to double check.

 

Finally does anyone ever really use Fel Flame on Aff in 5.4 or is it either KJC on heavy movement fights with MF or AV and just reapplying/copying dots on low movement or heavy add fights?

 

Thanks for your help.

Edited September 11, 2013 by Strife