6.0 Proving Grounds: Warlock Style

[Zagam 1,982]

Update: 10/3/2014 - After testing Proving Grounds, it appears the monster combinations are the same.  Unsure if this is intended, but if so, the guide will follow suit for Warlords of Draenor short of some different gearing pieces.

 

Talents

 

You don't take any damage in Proving Grounds, so mitigation and damage reduction is unnecessary.  Tier 1 is unimportant.  For T2, I found Shadowfury to be amazingly helpful.  T3 does not matter.  For T4, snag Unbound Will just incase you get tombed by the Amber.  It immediately removes the effect.  For T5, you'll want to take Sacrifice if you're Destruction.  For T6, you'll be using KJC on everything.  Always choose to sacrifice your Felhunter for his interrupting effect.

 

Gear

 

Your Challenge Mode gear is more than adequate.  Remember, your Legendary Cloak doesn't work, and neither does your +500 Intellect gem or your Legendary Meta Gem.  You don't have to replace your cloak since it has a socket, but you'll want to snag a new helm and put a Burning Primal Diamond in the meta socket.  For Trinkets, you'll want non-RPPM trinkets.  I used Relic of Yu'lon and Static-Caster's Medallion which was an AMAZING trinket for content that happens to have waves come in exactly 60 second cycles.  This trinket comes at a low cost of around 1500 Justice Points and can be purchased in Krasarang Wilds with your faction's quartermaster.  In terms of scaling, it works just as Challenge Mode scaling does - your Hit and Expertise values are left alone while your Haste, Mastery, Crit, Stamina, and Intellect are reduced to 463 equivalents.  However, gem sockets are not reduced in quality, so the more sockets on your gear, the more powerful you will be.  However, high gear and gems are not required to be successful here.

 

Bronze

 

Bronze is a very introductory level DPS race.  You should have very little trouble handling each wave.

 

Wave 1 - 1 Large Slayer

Wave 2 - 1 Large Slayer, 2 Small Shielders

Wave 3 - 1 Small Shielder, several small virmen

Wave 4 - 1 Small Slayer, 2 Small Shielders, several small virmen

Wave 5 - 1 Huge Slayer

 

For each wave, just blow them up.  Shielders guard from attacks from the front.  AoE down virmen.  Nothing attacks you, so don't worry about defensive positioning.  Use Havoc liberally and use Shadowburn as often as possible.

 

 

Silver

 

Silver is a slight step up from Bronze but shouldn't present many challenges to anyone who is moderately versed in their Warlock. 

 

Wave 1 - 1 Small Shielder, 1 Small Slayer

Wave 2 - 1 Small Slayer, several small virmen

Wave 3 - 1 Small Amber Shaper, 2 Small Slayers

Wave 4 - 1 Large Amber Shaper, several small virmen

Wave 5 - 1 Large Mystic, several small virmen

Wave 6 - 1 Large Mystic, 1 Large Shielder, 1 Large Slayer

Wave 7 - 1 Small Mystic, 2 Small Shielders, 1 Small Amber Shaper, several small virmen

Wave 8 - 1 Large Slayer, 1 Large Mystic, 2 Small Amber Shapers

 

Silver introduces some Amber Shapers who send an Amber Globule at you.  You can have it hit enemies which then make those enemies take 50% more damage.  Silver prepares you for Gold and Endless mode by introducing each type of enemy you will need to kill except for Banshees and Monkeys which will be seen in Gold.  Attack Shielders from the back, AoE virmen, and interrupt Mystics.  Mystics should always be your priority kill when present in waves.

 

 

Gold

 

Gold introduces Banshees, a type of enemy that comes into the battlefield with a timer set to it.  If that timer expires, it blows up and you fail the round.  Banshees are ALWAYS top priority when they pop out.  Gold also introduces Monkeys, but they are easily handled and not too troublesome.

 

Wave 1 - 2 Small Slayers, 1 Small Amber Shaper

- Kill the Small Slayers by using Havoc and Chaos Bolt.  Let the Amber Globules hit the Slayers.  Finish off the Amber Shaper.

 

Wave 2 - 1 Large Monkey, 1 Large Amber Shaper

- Keep the Monkey under control with Shadowfury and Conflagrate.  Havoc the Amber Shaper and burn the monkey down, dodge the Amber Globule, and finish off the Amber Shaper. 

 

Wave 3 - 1 Small Monkey, 1 Small Mystic, 1 Small Amber Shaper

- Havoc the Monkey, burn the Mystic.  Be sure to interrupt its heal cast.  Dodge the Amber Globules and allow them to hit the Mystic.  Dodge the Monkey's bananas - they reduce hit chance by a large amount.

 

Wave 4 - 1 Small Monkey, 1 Large Mystic

- Burn the Mystic, Havoc the Monkey.  DPS the Mystic while moving around to dodge the Monkey.  Use Spell Lock and Shadowfury to interrupt the Mystic's heals.  Howl of Terror can also be used as an interrupt.

 

Wave 5 - 3 Small Shielders, 3 Small Banshees

- Introducing the Banshee.  You won't be fond of their call, but you also won't forget it and can't possibly miss it.  Use Dark Soul here.  DPS the Shielders when possible, but switch to the Banshees as a high priority.  Use Havoc liberally.

 

Wave 6 - 2 Small Mystics, small pack of virmen

- AoE the virmen with Rain of Fire.  Use Howl of Terror on one of the Mystics and burn the other down.  Interrupt its heal with Spell Lock.  Turn your attention to the other Mystic when the first is dead.   Interrupt his heal with Shadowfury.  Mop up the center virmen with Fire and Brimstone.

 

Wave 7 - 1 Small Monkey, 1 Small Mystic, 1 Small Shielder, 1 Small Amber Shaper, 1 Large Banshee

- Wave looks intimidating, but it's not.  Use Dark Soul here.  Put Havoc on the Monkey and burn the Mystic.  Kite the Amber Globule into the Shielder.  Try to kill everything quickly so that you can put all your attention on the large Banshee when she spawns. 

 

Wave 8 - 2 Small Amber Shapers, 1 Small Sha

- Use Howl of Terror on one of the Amber Shapers and stand behind it.  DPS the other Amber Shaper and use the one you are standing behind as a shield for the Amber Globule.  Kill the 2nd Amber Shaper and then start DPSing the Sha.  When the Sha's shield is about to go down, queue some Chaos Bolts and decimate him quickly.

 

Wave 9 - 1 Small Monkey, 1 Large Mystic, 1 Small Sha, 1 Small Banshee

- Havoc the Monkey and burn the Mystic like usual.  Interrupt the heal and finish off the Mystic.  DPS the Sha until the Banshee comes out.  Burn it quickly then go back to the Sha if it's still alive.  When the Sha's shield goes down, burn it with Chaos Bolt.

 

Wave 10 - 1 Large Amber Shaper, 1 Large Sha, 1 Small Banshee

-Burn the Amber Shaper while interrupting its creation of the Amber Globule with Spell Lock or Shadowfury.  Kill the Banshee when it spawns.  Start DPSing the Large Sha.  When the Sha's shield has about 3 seconds left, snag the Berserking buff, use your trinket, use Dark Soul, and lay into him with Chaos Bolts. 

 

 

Endless

 

Endless Proving Grounds is your final test and will pit you against 10 different waves that repeat in succession with a duration of 60 seconds each.  Each successive wave will have its base HP increased by 1% continuing infinitely until you fail to meet the time requirement.  Here's what you're dealing with...

 

Wave 1/11/21 - 3 Large Amber Shapers and several Small Virmen

- Stand in the center and open up with Rain of Fire on the small virmen.  Apply Immolate to one of the Large Amber Shapers and use Havoc on it.  Chaos Bolt a different Amber Shaper.  The Amber Shapers will create Amber Globules that will fixate and close in on you.  Have them hit the small virmen in the middle as you continue to kill the Large Amber Shapers.  Finish the Amber Shapers with Chaos Bolt and Shadowburn and keep Rain of Fire down on the virmen.  This should be your easiest wave as a Destruction Warlock.

 

Wave 2/12/22 - 1 Small Mystic, 1 Small Amber Shaper, 2 Large Shielders, 1 Small Banshee

- Open with a Howl of Terror on either of the Shielders.  Pop Dark Soul and use Havoc on the Small Mystic, and blast the defenseless Shielder.  Finish off the Mystic and remember to interrupt his heal with Spell Lock.  The Chaos Bolt should have almost killed him, so finish with Shadowburn.  Have the Amber Shaper lock the other Shielder in Amber as you blow him up.  Finish the Amber Shaper and prepare for the Banshee towards the end of the round. 

 

Wave 3/13/23 - 2 Large Monkeys and several Small and Large Virmen

- Stand outside of the center and have Fire and Brimstone already activated.  You should pre-emptively pop your Static Caster's trinket and pre-cast Rain of Fire on the center.  Use Conflagrate, Shadowfury, Conflagrate, Immolate, and then start moving and casting Incinerate on the entire pack.  The mobs should literally melt.  Turn off Fire and Brimstone, Havoc one of the monkeys, and DPS the other.  You should be able to finish each monkey off with 3-4 Incinerates and a Shadowburn.  When you finish them off, finish any remaining virmen from the center. 

 

Wave 4/14/24 - 1 Large Amber Shaper, 4 Large Shielders, 1 Large Banshee

- Stand in between the spawn point of 2 of the Large Shielders and cast Howl of Terror when they spawn.  Move behind one of the Shielders.  Cast Havoc on the Amber Shaper and Chaos Bolt the Shielder you did not stand behind while the one you stand behind gets trapped in Amber.  Finish both Shielders off and move behind a 3rd one while the Amber Shaper sends Amber at you.  Trap the 3rd Shielder in Amber, hit it with a Chaos Bolt, and finish it off.  As you move to the 4th Shielder, finish off the Amber Shaper and finish the 4th Shielder.  If you move quick, you can have this room finished before the Banshee pops up.  If the Banshee pops up, she is your ultimate priority.  A Chaos Bolt and a Shadowburn should suffice.  This wave can be problematic on Wave 24 when their HP is increased substantially.  I advise using one of the DPS powerups available on the ground for this wave. 

 

Wave 5/15/25 - 1 Small Monkey, 1 Small Mystic, 1 Small Sha, 1 Small Banshee

- Put Havoc on the monkey and start spamming the Mystic.  Use Spell Lock when it begins casting its heal and finish it off while avoiding the bananas being thrown.  Finish the monkey off and start building Embers on the Sha.  A Small Banshee will pop up.  Havoc the Sha, Chaos Bolt the Banshee, and go back to the Sha.  When the Sha has 2 seconds left on its shield, activate Dark Soul and your trinket and start launching Chaos Bolts.  2-3 of them should send this guy packing. 

 

Wave 6/16/26 - 2 Large Mystics and several small virmen

- Put Rain of Fire down on the center and use Howl of Terror on one of the Large Mystics.  Use Chaos Bolt on the other Large Mystic and Spell Lock him when he casts his heal.  Finish him off quickly with another Chaos Bolt or two and keep Rain of Fire on the small virmen.  Switch to the other Large Mystic and stun his heal with Shadowfury.  Finish him off and finish off the virmen in the center with Fire and Brimstone

 

Wave 7/17/27 - 3 Large Shielders, 2 Large Amber Shapers, 1 Small Monkey

- This wave gave me most of my fits until I figured out how best to deal with it.  Use Howl of Terror in between one of the Shielders and one of the Amber Shapers.  Stand on top of the Amber Shaper - this forces the other Amber Shaper to continuously pelt the Shielder in the center with Amber.  Burn the monkey down ASAP.  With the monkey down, pop Dark Soul and your trinket, Havoc the still feared Amber Shaper, and Chaos Bolt the Shielder in the center with the Amber debuff.  Finish both targets off, and move behind either Shielder to kill it with the Amber debuff.  Wittle the Amber Shaper down while waiting for the Amber to hit the Shielder.  If the Shielder isn't shielding from your spells, attack it instead.  This wave is tight and requires EXTREME precision on what to kill.  This is the best method I found, although it was by FAR my most troublesome wave.

 

Wave 8/18/28 - 1 Large Mystic, 2 Large Slayers, 3 Large Banshees

- This wave can be tight from a DPS perspective, but you shouldn't have to move at all.  Burn the Large Mystic as fast as possible.  Apply Havoc to one of the Slayers and use Chaos Bolt on the Mystic.  Spell Lock its cast and keep Immolate applied to the Slayers.  Finishing off the Mystic before the first Banshee pops up is super important.  Take care of the Banshee, finish the Slayers, and then use Havoc on the 2nd Banshee.  The 3rd Banshee will spawn soon after the 2nd spawns, so cleave them together.  Utilization of Havoc is a MUST for this wave to be handled properly. 

 

Wave 9/19/29 - 1 Large Monkey, 2 Large Slayers, 1 Large Shielder, 1 Large Amber Shaper, 1 Large Banshee

- This is a relatively relaxing wave if you time your abilities well.  Open up with a Howl of Terror on the Shielder to leave it vulnerable.  Immediately start blasting the monkey using Shadowfury to stun it.  Once the Monkey is down, use your trinket and Havoc the Large Amber Shaper and use Chaos Bolt on the Shielder.  Use the Amber Globules to take out both Slayers as you finish off the Shielder and Amber Shaper.  A Large Banshee will show up, but she should be relatively easy to smoke as you are cleaning up the remainder of the adds.  In Wave 29, the Amber Shaper may still be alive, so use the Amber Globule to make the Banshee take increased damage.

 

Wave 10/20/30 - 1 Large Sha

- This is the money wave where you get to test your burst.  As soon as the wave starts, activate your Doomguard.  Begin building Embers on the Sha using Chaos Bolt ONLY when you have 4 Burning Embers.  When the Sha has 2-3 seconds left on his shield, burn Dark Soul, your trinket, and gather the last remaining Berserker icon on the ground.  Push 4 super Chaos Bolts into the Sha to finish him off.  You'll get 15 seconds of rest after this wave going into the next set of waves. 

 

I hope you had as much fun with these as I did!  I know they are frustrating as all hell at times when things don't line up, but keep trying.  The Proven Assailant is a very nice title as a reward for your efforts!

[Oldtrout 7]

I got my best score while desperately needing a piss the entire time, so there's another tip

Edited March 3, 2014 by Oldtrout

[mediocregatsby 18]

last time i checked i had the high score for locks on my realm. could have squeezed out more waves but once you get past 40 waves it takes like a fucken hour just to get back up there so it's not really worth the effort.

 

once you get in the super high waves, theres a trick you'll need:

1. time the end of the 9th waves such that you kill the amber shaper last, right after he finishes casting amber globule

2. let yourself get hit by amber globule and immediately unbound will out of it

3. immediately switch your t6 talent from KJC to archimonde's. there is no movement on the 10th wave and the double DS can make the difference

 

helps a lot if you don't have ideal CM gear like myself but still want to bust into the higher waves

[Annoroth 5]

If you're not using/can't get Static Caster's, I'd highly recommend a Relic + Light of the Cosmos combination, both in PGs and CMs. 

[Zagam 1,982]

I agree for Relic + LotC for CMs, but for Proving Grounds, not having the Static Caster's Medallion is a major opportunity lost.  It has an on use timing of every 60 seconds which lines up with every single wave.  It's silly not to snag it since it costs measly Justice Points.  It doesn't take long to get the rep required with the faction that sells it, either. 

[Deamux 4]

Thanks for this, there is this holy pala in my guild bragging about he got to 25 waves. Time to beat him! :D

[Zagam 1,982]

Bragging about 25 waves?  Psh, not even a title.  I heard Holy Paladins have HUGE barriers to overcome in Proving Grounds, though...

 

I'm gearing up a Priest and Druid to do the Endless Healing Proving Grounds and a Brewmaster for the Tank version.  Goal is to become the Proven Healer and slap that on my Warlock.

[Oldtrout 7]

how 'bout getting proven tank WHILE on your warlock

[Zagam 1,982]

Impossible.  Gold has been achieved by some, but they are crazy demi-god Warlocks.  I'd literally sign away a kidney to any Warlock who pulled off 30 waves as a Warlock tank.

[Lockybalboa 618]

http://www.wowprogress.com/char_statistics/field.pg_tank/class.warlock

 

Ya, fawk trying that shit. Mad props to the one guy who has done it, unless they did it when it was bugged/weird/faked the rank. Would love to see a video of it.

[kcwm 0]

Can I ask why you run GoSac? I found gosup to be better for PG. Also it made it a bit easier sometimes if you wait to shadowburn out an amber shaper until the last few seconds so the amber globule is still up when the next wave spawns. Although this is what I was doing when I got my highest score and I missed my shadowburn with 14.97% hit so I was a bit upset that I wiped.

[Zagam 1,982]

Because the emphasis is on Chaos Bolt and Shadowburn.  GoSup requires pet switches (takes time) and your Imp doesn't do much damage on multiple targets.  The liberal use of Havoc and your Ember consumers validates GoSac.  For waves past 30, using your Amber Globule trick is probably required, but for 30 waves, it is not.  I think having that extra bit of pressure or stress in the middle of 30 minutes is more draining than giving the player 5-10 seconds to regroup and think about the next wave.

[kcwm 0]

Yeah I guess it is, but I remember wiping at around 53 with gosac and making it past quite easily with gosup, but that could have just been user error. That trinket would be really good and I might give it another go with it. Also I didn't find keeping the amber globules up to be a thing that I aimed to do, it just happened a few times and really helped while I was in the 50s and 60s. 

[Zagam 1,982]

Props - because fuck going past Wave 30.  I didn't even try that hard and got back to Wave 36 or something before I just became exhausted.  I'm not good at sitting still for 45+ minutes in a row.  Can't do it at work - can't do it in Proving Grounds lol

[Oldtrout 7]

One of the reasons I dislike Garrosh as a fight is that it's so long before things become difficult so getting practice in just takes ages. Going for a high score in PG just takes that to another level.

 

The first (and only) time I got past 30 waves was when I got to 64. I was only aiming for 30, but decided to just carry on. If I were to do it again, my new aim would be obviously have to be at least 64. Although being better at destro now than I was then, and also having more suitable items like the medallion, I really couldn't motivate myself to sit down and do something that'll feel completely pointless for the first 70 minutes, even though I know I could better my score.

 

Though I am tempted to try out tanking endless. I got tank gold in full dps gear so maybe switching in some tanking trinkets, gems and enchants could make tackling the seemingly impossible at least a fun venture.

Edited March 10, 2014 by Oldtrout

[JvChequer 43]

I Could only do 26 waves, Need to change some gear and change Head to get Static Meddalion + crit meta gem.

Wave 7 and 9 for me are harder, have really some troubles at it.

[Zagam 1,982]

Have you tried approaching the waves as I've put them out above?

[mediocregatsby 18]

i would also recommend gosup. put the observer on passive and manually pick targets for him so he's not wasting time switching targets or hitting small adds. having his interrupt as its own spell can be crucial in the later waves.

[Zagam 1,982]

i would also recommend gosup. put the observer on passive and manually pick targets for him so he's not wasting time switching targets or hitting small adds. having his interrupt as its own spell can be crucial in the later waves.

Passive and manually pick targets?  He has travel time - this is a DPS loss.  You only need one interrupt, and the control of having it through Command Demon is much easier than having a pet do it, especially if he's chasing something and goes out of range.

 

Most of your damage done in proving grounds is single target and has a priority that just cannot be commanded in a pet.  You'd also have to move your Imp to attack the Shielder mobs.  No matter what kind of control you have over your pets, nothing is as good as using your own spells to switch targets.  GoSac makes Shadowburn, Incinerate, Conflagrate, and Chaos Bolt 15% more powerful and is ultimately much more influential when trying to take out mobs. 

 

GoSup is very doable and the differences are rather small, but I'd argue Sacrifice over Supremacy for PG and CMs.

[mediocregatsby 18]

there comes a point in the later waves you really cant afford to stop a high-proc chaosbolt cast to interrupt the healer with your gosac silence. you need the interrupt by itself. i just manually pick targets for my pet during cast times and i never have him run across the room to a far target, so he has no down time. best to shift him off a target once its below 20% since you can just finish it off yourself and your pet has no contribution at that point. 

Edited March 10, 2014 by mediocregatsby

[Zagam 1,982]

Either way, the difference is negligible since I did it with Sacrifice and you do it with Supremacy and both have cleared 30 waves.  Each has its own planning and I'd never get caught with my pants down mid-Chaos Bolt cast and miss an interrupt.  For going higher waves, there might be a more right answer, but I think we can just rest it that both are perfectly viable.  I still think Sacrifice is easier.

[Strife 6]

Anyone try endless wave 30 with Affliction btw?

[Zagam 1,982]

Oh god, that makes me shudder.  Affliction was ok back in 5.0 when Sacrifice buffed stuff 50%.  Controlling a pet here sounds awful.  I think it would be ok for a lot of the packs where you have 3-4 targets, but the big pack of monkeys would be draining in time consumption.  It would also be trying to kill the bomber shriekers in a timely fashion.  As Destro, you can just Havoc and CB and not lose time.  As Affliction, you'd likely have to toss a Haunt and focus her down while trying to get your Soul Shards back.  It's definitely doable, but ugh, it'd suck (at least in my opinion.)

 

Here's an example on how to do it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsGfLHbv9u4

[Strife 6]

Oh yea I'd agree it sucks way more, was just interested if anyone had done it, thanks for the vid!

 

I was most worried about the huge Sha guy, monkey's don't seem too bad since you don't need to plant much as Aff.

 

Was mainly just wondering since I like Demo and Aff way more than Destro

Did my green fire back in the day on Demo instead of Destro also.

 

That video didn't make it seem too bad though, might give it a try.

Edited March 21, 2014 by Strife

[Kink 2]

Has anyone attempted tank gold yet? I found tank silver to be extremely easy as dark apotheosis, but I'm thinking the damage vs rush requirement in gold may be too much.

Edited March 26, 2014 by Kink