Fights where Grim of Sac is ideal?

[Strife 6]

Had some questions on Sacrifice vs Sup and generally which fights other warlocks are using Sac. Up to this point I've only been running Sup, but find I have some pet issues on certain fights.

 

First, do people ever use Sac with Affliction with the nerf to Sac, or is it mainly a Destro option?

 

Currently I run the follow specs for each fight:

Imm: Destro

Protectors: Aff

Norushen: Aff

Sha: Destro

Galakras: Destro

Iron Jug: Either

Shamans: Aff

Nazgrim: Aff

Malk: Either

Spoils: Destro (this is where we got last week on Normal)

Thok: Aff

 

Haven't done the last 3 yet without flex and stopped on Spoils Normal because of 10 man dps issues last week.

 

I've had issues with pets despawning on Galakras since I do towers, also running Sac on Nazgrim for an interrupt seems helpful because running a Observer means alot of downtime running between mobs if I don't leave it on Nazgrim the whole fight. In general wasn't sure when people have generally found Sac is more useful and worth the small dps loss or when it's a dps gain?

 

As reference, my ilvl is currently 553 and I have normal PBI and Toxic Totem trinkets if that factors into it.

Edited October 10, 2013 by Strife

[Zagam 1,982]

If you have KTT, GoSac > GoSup for all.  KTT is BiS for Destro, so GoSac is a must for all Destro fights.  Typically with the way fights work, this is beneficial anyways.  You'll want Black Blood of Ysaarj and Bindings as Aff, but since you haven't killed Garrosh yet, KTT is fine.  I'd use GoSac as Destro and Supremacy for Affliction.  All the fights you are doing as Aff can be done just as well with Destruction except Protectors and Thok.

[Strife 6]

Awesome thanks, good to know I can run GoSac on destro fights. So basically any fight with Sac as Affliction is going to be a pretty noticable dps loss?

 

Oh and one other quick question, Soul Link or SacPact generally when running Sac? Right now I use SacPact because I like the on-demand defensive cooldown and didn't like my pet sometimes dieing from Soul Link when I took alot of damage. A shield for unavoidable damage seems more useful then 20% extra health but I dunno...

 

I actually like Aff better which is why I play it on fights where both specs are close. I use to play Destro on shamans because I could single handedly take care of slimes in our 10M, but since our Hunter and Mage have geared up more and can handle slimes, I've switched to Aff because I do way more damage to Shaman's then anyone else in the raid.

 

And yea, definately BB for Aff when I get it, I kind of miss Wush because it made the specs more interesting with timing but I only had the normal version. Didn't realize KTT was BiS for destro though over BB + PBI.

Edited October 10, 2013 by Strife

[Zagam 1,982]

Aff GoSac is meh because you're using Aff on fights with lots of DoTing thus decreasing the efficiency of GoSac.  I use Soul Link because I like having 1M HP and the 3% of damage done as HPS.  Also, healthstones heal for more.  I use Sac Pact on Heroic Dark Shamans but haven't had a reason to take Sac Pact on anything else. 

[Strife 6]

Gotcha, thanks.

[Rakupenda 15]

And your Dark Regeneration heals more. Your Siphon Life can hold a bigger shield. Life tap gives more mana per cast. Combined with Voidwalker's Shadow Bulwark or Warrior's Rallying Cry, makes them both even better. Yum.

 

All SacPact gives is a shield equal to your HP every minute at the cost of 25% of it (net 75% hp shield).

 

No mention of Dark Pact though? Hrmph...

 

 

BB is good, but it takes a lot more effort (and often times luck) to get the full effect. If you finish your Chaos Bolts at 6+ stacks it will do more damage than one cast during PBI. (numbers based on WF BB vs WF PBI 2/2    2677 per stack BB vs 13,398 PBI or TT, they are equal at BB's 5 stack, 6+ means a larger Int bonus) PBI gives you a 20 second window to cast them where BB is really a 7 second window if you hold off for the high stacks making it easier to use. One of the big bonuses for PBI is that it will line up with Dark Soul almost every time because of its near-two-minute ICD proc mechanic rather than RPPM proc chance of the other two.

 

BB also has haste as secondary stat which for Destro isn't so great. PBI amplifies haste/mastery/crit  damage and KT is just extra damage.

Edited October 10, 2013 by Rakupenda

[Omaric 246]

All SacPact gives is a shield equal to your HP every minute at the cost of 25% of it (net 75% hp shield).

 

Sacrificial Pact is still *amazing*.  If you're running with GoSac and have 850k+ hp like me, that's an 850k+ hp shield.  Sure you sacrifice 25% of your hp, but you're going to be gaining it back with siphon life and smart heals anyway.  DAS A HUGE SHEELD!

[Strife 6]

True on the BB, although I'm pretty good at timing at this point from all the Wush practice.

 

As far as haste, I could see that being bad eventually, but I currenly spec for Aff/Destro since I play both specs evenly pretty much meaning I hit 10124 haste and then all mastery, at least at normal gear levels I haven't had issues with too much haste yet, although I hear it could be an issue at BiS levels where you'll naturally be around 12K haste.

 

Also does PBI ICD reset on boss pulls? I haven't tested enough since I got it this week so wasn't sure if the ICD was still up from trash (i.e. stuff before Dark Shaman or Nazgrim) if it would reset at pull? Need to pay attention to that next week since I have the ICD on a WA.

Edited October 10, 2013 by Strife

[Omaric 246]

True on the BB, although I'm pretty good at timing at this point from all the Wush practice.

 

As far as haste, I could see that being bad eventually, but I currenly spec for Aff/Destro since I play both specs evenly pretty much meaning I hit 10124 haste and then all mastery, at least at normal gear levels I haven't had issues with too much haste yet, although I hear it could be an issue at BiS levels where you'll naturally be around 12K haste.

 

Also does PBI ICD reset on boss pulls? I haven't tested enough since I got it this week so wasn't sure if the ICD was still up from trash (i.e. stuff before Dark Shaman or Nazgrim) if it would reset at pull? Need to pay attention to that next week since I have the ICD on a WA.

 

I'm pretty sure PBI does *not* reset on boss pulls.  I noticed an extremely late proc on General Nazgrim last night, unless I'm just that unlucky (doubtful).

[JvChequer 43]

BBOY just made my opening extremely amazing at Protectors Heroic last night.

 

Reaching at 1,7kk dps it's golden.

Edited October 10, 2013 by JvChequer