Blackrock Foundry Warlock Style - Normal, Heroic, & Mythic

[Paracel 165]

Alright, tonight I'm delving into HC once again.

I'm sure about our Maidens progress (especially with ilvl hotfix), but then, there is one more challenge for us - Blast Furnace.

It's been a lot of talks regarding talent choice, tactics, priority burst vs AoE and stuff. I'm still pondering about it.

Our damage setup is something like this:
Ranged team : Warlock(me), Balance, BM Hunter, Fire Mage. Probably one more Hunter and one more Fire mage.
Both mages are mediocre at it's best, the most questionable DPS players in our guild. Second Hunter is underskilled and undergeared, but he is catching up.
Melee team: WW monk, UH Death Knight, Fury Warrior, Enh Shaman.

Monk and DK are very good players, while 2 of latter are lacking a bit.
Our tanks are Blood DK and either second DK or Druid.

All our previous kills in Normal we've been OK on both aspects - keeping trash at bay and focusing stuff.
I've been DB at our last and the most sucsessful kill, managing to top both Elementalists and Heart damage.

 

• Are HC trash mobs that high of priority that I should use Cata regardless? Will my ST burst be enough still?
• Is it ok to kill Elementalists within more that one Shield Down?
• Does Destro shines that much? Is Cata an option for Destro, or CR wins hands down?
• Aff here, makes any sense?

Pretty sure I'll figure out what to do when we get there and wipe couple of thousand times. But beforehand I want to have some advice, if you folks don't mean.

Thanks in advance.

A bit of update : Maidens took us more than expected, so we only managed to make 3 empty pulls of Furnace. No real issues shown - fights 2:30 long, with some random stuff happening. Looks like we are lacking everything from DPS to strategy. Still waiting for guidance, Destro spec is ready for tomorrow.

Edited March 23, 2015 by Paracel

[Liquidsteel 279]

For Blast Furnace I wouldn't play Demonbolt. Both Cata and Serv/Serv are fine. Save a Cataclysm for each Primal Elementalist and make sure to just tunnel them every time their shields go down. Spend the downtime DoTing stuff up, and resist the urge to refresh a bunch of Corruptions when the Primal is exposed.

 

Destro you want to be CR/GoSac. My video above was a damn near perfect pull and I think is a perfect example of how to approach the fight as Destruction.

 

Destruction is also very easy and relaxed on this fight. You always have something to Havoc. You can FnB Immolate clumps of adds and chain Chaos Bolts into priority targets, and there's plenty of Shadowburn cleave.

 

Overall, Demonology can pull higher numbers here, but both come out equal on priority target damage.

[Stunlocked 8]

This may seem like a silly question but we haven't quite made it to Blackhand yet (hopefully this week or next) - does Demonic Leap + Glyph of Meteor eliminate the fall damage you take between phases when the floor collapses?  

[Soulzar 42]

Cata. Pet just sits on boss the whole time. Cannons are pretty much a non factor as long as people switch.

 

Bunch of pulls in now, I ended up going DB after some Cata pulls.  The Caveat of people switching to cannons seems to be the weak link here lol.  Every pull me and our Destro lock are 50% of canon dmg, and I still feel they are dieing too slow... which means I need to kick some ranged in the ass.... :D 

[Soulzar 42]

This may seem like a silly question but we haven't quite made it to Blackhand yet (hopefully this week or next) - does Demonic Leap + Glyph of Meteor eliminate the fall damage you take between phases when the floor collapses?  

 

There is no fall dmg between phases, but yes it would.   The Dmg is from him blowing the floor up.  Devos are good to pop for that to mitigate the dmg.

[spikeysquad 50]

Does anyone have some advice for Iron Maidens (hc) please? Grats on your kill Paracel.

 

I am playing Cata and unglyphed DS and yes saving up for the end nuke phase. Before that though my dps is lacking and I have found some issues when comparing logs. Basically though they tend to have an insane amount of CW damage where as I am barely using it but I also don't have the 4 set so I do think that is a decent part of it. I will probably be on the boat but I tend to think my damage is actually better up there than during bomb dancing.

So am I correct in thinking still that with DS CW is better on 2 targets and above? Without DS stick to HoG (unless targets will die before a full 2 stack)? Only other procs I have Synergy naturally then the 690 ring and DuT. I'm getting so confused with all the different posts about saying one thing or another but it seems on logs people are definitely favouring CW over HoG. Perhaps for 3 targets or always?

 

Thanks to everyone who posts with advice on how to tackle fights. It really does help others 

[Liquidsteel 279]

CW is something you just need to find your own rhythm for. Some people use it religiously even on single target and do fine, others barely use it on 2-3 targets and also do fine.

 

I'm not 100% sold either way, however I enjoy using CW in the following scenarios:

 

1 target and I have excess Fury coming out of a DS burn phase, or boss is close to dying. Also if you cap charges during DS.

2+ targets and I have Dark Soul or BMC at high stacks or a combination of many short term procs that HoG cannot take advantage of.

 

Otherwise I like to use HoG.

[spikeysquad 50]

Thanks Liquid and that makes sense; I wasn't taking into account that HoG would miss buffs. Ok, more tries this week :) 

[theoldthug 0]

Could someone please explain Chaotic Resources

[Stunlocked 8]

Could someone please explain Chaotic Resources

It's a talent that varies by spec.  You should probably check out the sticky posts for each spec and then post there if you have further questions. 

[theoldthug 0]

Can someone explain "For Destruction in higher ilvl, Chaotic Resources with Grimoire of Sacrifice is your go to for every encounter."  What talent for tier 7

[Liquidsteel 279]

Archimonde's Darkness.

[Hellespont 0]

Having joined the warlock train during Destro's reign in MoP, I want to disrupt the Demo/Aff monotony with a little Chaos Bolt action.

 

I was breaking the fights down by ST vs Cleave/AoE and using Affliction for ST/Hans&Franz, Demonology for the rest. After seeing some interesting opinions on Destro's role in ST and selective burst encounters, my interest has been piqued. I have two questions:

 

Is there a target stat req for Destro to be truly viable on Patchwerk style fights, or tier limitations? I'll post my armory for direct answers to these.

 

And, I'm seeing a lot of GoSyn recommendations in this topic. The last I read, the RNG nature of the talent made it less viable/lower output (due to high maintenance) compared to the controlled and perfectly timed burst (2m on every CD, as well as Shards of Nothing) of GoServ. Is there a mastery "break point" for GoSyn to step up over GoServ, or I am just misunderstanding each talents' place? I have been taking GoServ/DServ IF I decide to run Demo over Aff for ST, and using GoServ/Cata for any encounter with enough targets to make Cata worthwhile.

 

On the subject of Destruction, just to get ahead of any responses, will Charred Remains be the optimal choice for ST AND multi-target situations?

 

Here's my armory, at the time I'm posting this, I'm sitting at 677 with only one tier piece (chest) if that changes any delayed responses:

 

http://us.battle.net/wow/en/character/Arthas/Tar%C3%A5thiel/advanced

[Liquidsteel 279]

GoSyn simply scales better with you as a player. It was already preferable mid way through Highmaul on stuff like Tectus so you should be fine to stick with GoSyn. 

 

That's not to say that you can't use GoServ. In fact, GoServ is likely far more consistent in delivering burst where you need it, but good RNG GoSyn pulls ahead. With great RNG... GoSyn is miles ahead (lining up with Cata and CW spam usually).

 

For Destro, the general trend is once you have 4 set and GSR. This isn't 100% mandatory and likely someone could come along with maths to say otherwise, but really it's rather irrelevant. If you want to try Destro then go ahead.

[Hellespont 0]

GoSyn simply scales better with you as a player. It was already preferable mid way through Highmaul on stuff like Tectus so you should be fine to stick with GoSyn. 

 

That's not to say that you can't use GoServ. In fact, GoServ is likely far more consistent in delivering burst where you need it, but good RNG GoSyn pulls ahead. With great RNG... GoSyn is miles ahead (lining up with Cata and CW spam usually).

 

I'll give it a shot tomorrow night. Going off of what you told me, and the rest of this thread, Thogar and Maidens should be good places to test the merits of each (one requiring more direct damage, and one with more worry free cleave).

 

I have to say, seeing people list Destro as viable makes me happy: CR looks like a really fun talent.

 

Thanks for the help!

[lawrence131 0]

quick question about Gsyn - do you meta/SF/CW dump during procs as your standard ST rotation if you're not in a phase that needs to build up resources for burst like stone pillars or primal elementalists? 

[spikeysquad 50]

Not a simple answer but ideally you should never cap fury/MC/HoG stacks (the latter you might be saving). I haven't got to mythic so no clue how Kromog works but having just killed Blast Furnace (heroic) basically I would suggest that it's the same as preparing for DS. The gist being work out what you need for your ST burns (or even AoE burns if needed) and how far away it is then you can work out how much you can (and should) spend in the mean time. In this situation though with a priority target better to be over cautious I think though and for Blast at least Dotting everything up during the "down" phase gave me a lot more strength for the nuke (though I was still quite fail compared to others somehow).  

[spikeysquad 50]

So next boss is Beastlord (mythic). Only had 3 wipes so far on them but wow it was a bit of a crazy mess and insane MC procs so after some extra advice please beyond what is on the first page. So as we have a bunch of padders I am going Demo DemServ/GoServ and focusing on the boss and mounts. When's the optimal time for DS? I know to save one, GoServ and potion for the last phase after Faultline's death. Can I get two in here or do I use one early on Faultline and get fury again for the burn/BL on Darmac? What about for the rest of the fight? Should I use DS to burst the dismounted beasts? Or does it not really matter and I just burst as and when I have the resources?

 

Speaking of all this I probably should watch some videos and maybe my questions will be answered. I suppose also as per usual dot all spears, make sure they are dead pre fire phase and get the HoGs/CWs on boss and adds (ideally).   

Edited April 23, 2015 by spikeysquad

[Liquidsteel 279]

Use that second Dark Soul in final phase. It's a really tight burn where EVERYONE has to nuke the boss as hard as possible.

[spikeysquad 50]

Ok thanks for the advice and hopefully will have a decent plan for Sunday :) 

[spikeysquad 50]

So just curious about Hans & Franz mythic. On Heroic 2 of the specs are pretty close (for me anyhow). But I guess due to the Smart Stampers ToC wins out over unnecessary Affliction DoT refreshes?

Edited May 6, 2015 by spikeysquad

[Soulzar 42]

So just curious about Hans & Franz mythic. On Heroic 2 of the specs are pretty close (for me anyhow). But I guess due to the Smart Stampers ToC wins out over unnecessary Affliction DoT refreshes?

 

For smart stamper phase I have fury pooled and refresh dooms/corruptions that have fallen off the one that had left the fight when he gets back, then use 20s darksoul and dump 3 CW's as we move from first stamper to the second stack point, cataclysm.. and then cast soulfires between movement and any 4p CW procs I get.

 

For non smart stamper phase I only ToC spam during specific stamper patterns that i want to be more cautious on, but generally hard cast this phase.

 

One of my fave fights to open on... Doomguard, corruption both.. then Cata into triple CW bomb..yumm

Edited May 6, 2015 by Soulzar

[spikeysquad 50]

Thanks Soulzar for the reply and for the tips

 

Just curious but why on this fight do you use unglyphed DS with Cata? Though at one stage I did the same on Iron Maidens for the longer burst in execute and overall the fight did actually feel better to me. Does pushing a certain phase make it easier for the kill perhaps?

 

Personally I tend to think that I will go with DemServ. At first on this fight (normal/heroic) I always played Cata but I just found the timings to be off. I was waiting too much for both brothers or when I was about to Cata it was move time again. Also as someone who tends to move too much I can admit that the big pet probably makes up the slack a little bit (and will even more so on mythic) so yes overall I have nearly always done better with DemServ.

 

P.S. What, if anything special, do people go with for defensive cooldowns? 

Edited May 6, 2015 by spikeysquad

[Soulzar 42]

Its basically just the flow of the fight.  I specifically want a full Darksoul for the crazy stamper phase at 60%-40%

 

10s darksouls value is being able to use it every time you cast cata, however the nature of the phases in this fight has you sitting on Cata for a bit at times, so I find strong DS burns for specific phases works best.

 

These days, I just run Glyphed UR for passive 10% and soul link 20% for a full 30% for pretty much everything.  Stampers one shot, so no need for any defensives here, and you will be stacking with your ranged camp for the leap attack, which is more frequent than every minute so the passive DR on everything is better than a full absorb on one every minute.

[spikeysquad 50]

That makes sense Soulzar so thanks for replying.  

 

Yeah I currently have that talent/glyph set up so no changes needed there.