Warlock - Deep Destro in 3.1 (and why I'm loving it)

[Flowette]

NB - Lots of this has been cadged from EJ. The full thread can be seen here.


Intro

Affliction has been, since the dawn of Wrath, the top DPS spec theoretically speaking. However, this theory has often assumed that all fights are "stand still, refresh DoTs perfectly" and hence it's bloody hard to maintain. In practice, it's very hard indeed to deliver suitable DPS with an Affliction spec. Destro, however, is delivering in a big big way since the last major patch.


Why Deep Destruction?

I'd shied away from Destruction for so long because it just didn't have much "oooh, shiny!" about it. This has been addressed now and, more notably, the tree now delivers more than just substandard DPS in a raid environment. Key plus points:

- easy DoT rotation!
- DPS doesnt disappear if you have to - SHOCK HORROR! - move during a fight.
- big numbers (if you're a crit freak).
- high burst damage.
- fun to play.
- Replenishment baby!
- as a result, very few mana problems.


The Build - 0/13/58


The Glyphs
Glyph of Immolate
Glyph of Conflagrate
Glyph of Incinerate


Stat Priority
Spell Power and Haste Rating are of roughly equal importance, with Crit Rating a distant third. Make sure to use your Grand Firestone. Of course, you really should be hit-capped before worrying about any of this.


Rotation/Priority

Curse of Doom -> Immolate -> Conflagrate [Backdraft starts] -> Chaos Bolt -> Incinerate -> Incinerate [Backdraft ends]. It's a simple enough rotation with many complexities as many of the cooldowns/DoT durations float over each other.

It's a priority system again so once you have your curse and Immolate on the mob, cast Conflagrate and Chaos Bolt on every cooldown and spam Incinerate inbetween. (I've been using Debuff Filters for this, a nice addon which I'll screenshot and link here when I get home)

When the boss has less than a minute to live, drop in a Curse of Agony. (This assumes you're not casting Curse of Elements for the raid buff)

Don't worry about Corruption so much, it's not great but feel free to cast it while you're moving from A to B. Ditto Life Tap, you shouldn't need the mana but if you have to move you might as well get some mana back.


Anything Else?

Not really, just try it out and see if you like it. This is a raid support spec (see the Replenishment) yet it delivers very high DPS. I've been pleasantly surprised and will be sticking with it until the inevitable nerf

[Flowette]

This is a post I'd made on the TL forums a couple of weeks ago, but I think it's got some relevance here too. I'll try and tidy it up a bit over the next few days (more WoWHead links etc.).

If you've got any questions, please fire away

Flow

[Stormez]

Always affliction this affliction that.... I always love to see someone have not just the balls to try it a different way but to be successful at it. I dont believe in the norm being suitable to everyone and I'll be interested to hear more on your thoughts of destro v affliction.

Certainly from the run you were doing with us in maly last night ur dps is certainly strong with destro .. wish i wasnt running around so I could have got a better gauge of it. We haven't really had the luxury of a lock much and it would be nice to have a feel for howmuch superior they are to other classes atm

[Flowette]

We haven't really had the luxury of a lock much and it would be nice to have a feel for how much superior they are to other classes atm

We should be superior, as is Blizzard's intention. Ghostcrawler has stated that their intended hierarchy for DPS is:
1st = Warlocks, Mages, Hunters, Rogues
2nd = Everything else

However, you don't even have to look outside of the guild to see "hybrid" classes such as spriests or arms warriors who kick ass (Sfant evidenced this the other night ).

Each fight has its own little nuances which favour/hinder certain classes and specs, so on one fight you'll see the rogues kicking ass and another the spriests might be topping the charts. However, we should all be able to deliver to some degree

The trick to Destruction, I've found, is that it is easy to maintain DPS. If you have to move during a fight (like, say, every fight in Ulduar) it can be very hard to get back into your rotation. Destro is easy enough to "reset" so to speak and get back into your rhythm.

Re: Affliction, it's high numbers come from being able to maintain a constant stream of damage through refreshing spells/DoTs as soon as they become available or fall off. It has to be nigh-on perfect to work properly. In practice, I've found that it was just too hard to maintain effectively in a boss fight. It does, however, bring a lot of survivability due to the various health returns of Siphon Life and Haunt.

I'm not a fan of deep Demo or the popular 0/40/30 +1 builds, although the former is being used by some of the top guilds for the benefit of Demonic Pact.

Side point: TL's top warlock (DPS-wise) ran with 0/31/40. At the end of the day, it's all about finding a build that suits you and that you have fun playing with. Whatever you settle with, remember that it's over 9000% better than the 1-button spam of TBC 

[kiagon]

I know nothing about warlocks, except they never give me soulstones 

[Flowette]

I was speaking to Vaeli about Destruction last night and sent him a link to EJ.

Having thunked about it, it would be suitable to link it here too: Elitist Jerks - 3/15/55 Destro Build

That link gives you all the info you need should you want to try out deep destruction, but lack the necessary +hit to be able to pull it off properly; it puts 3 points in Suppression to help you reach the hit cap, at the expense of the talents that provide Replenishment.

Worth 5 mins of your time if you fancy raiding as a destro lock

[Decayed]

Having been off the scene with my warlock for a while, I am still using the deep destro spec. I know my application is still on pending but am interested in what the best spec is at the moment whether I am accepted or not :)

I hear demonology has some new found dps? Does it now match, or even better destro?

If anyone has a few hybrid specs that can pull the dps around, could they link them, so I can see if they fit my play style?

Any advice regarding the current destruction build, whether or not the rotation has changed or been adapted (other than conflag now being a dot)?

And finally, How do we all feel about the warlock pvp specs?


I'm sorry it's a lot of questions, but I really do want to do some playing around and theorycrafting to push my dps to the sky!

Thanks in advance,

Decayed (Adam)

[Flowette]

*sneaks in from the shadows*

Hello!

Having been off the scene with my warlock for a while, I am still using the deep destro spec. I know my application is still on pending but am interested in what the best spec is at the moment whether I am accepted or not

Deep Destro has hardly changed (conflag nerfs/buffs notwithstanding) and the playstyle is as it was back in 3.1. It's a competitive and flexible build that's still delivering big, big numbers. It's also fun to play (don't get me started on affliction ).

You're running the 3/14/54 build I see, a solid build for when you're lacking +hit. How long have you had this for? Your gear seems to have passed this now and you'd probably be just as good with a 0/13/58 build (same thing really but with that lovely Replenishment). It's not a huge difference, I just hate that Life Tap glyph with a vengeance and prefer having a steady return of mana Points are largely interchangeable but this build has served me well.

If you go with that build, remember you'll need about 13% hit (you're at 13.27% at the moment, this is good) with a boomkin/spriest present. Without, you'll need 16% with this build (boohoo).

Glyphs: just change LT for Immolate. Rest are fine.

I hear demonology has some new found dps? Does it now match, or even better destro?

Yes, yes it does but only with ridiculously good gear. I've seen it done very well (rarely) and very ... not so well (a lot). There's no doubt that it's fun, but personally I think it's one for 25-man raids; I just don't see how it'll benefit a 10-man raid scenario properly when you compare it to deep affliction or deep destro. Still, fun > results (most of the time!).

Any advice regarding the current destruction build, whether or not the rotation has changed or been adapted (other than conflag now being a dot)?

Conflag has a DoT component now, rather than being the overpowered nuke that it once was. It's still awesome

Rotation/Priority:
Firstly, are you on Curse of Elements duty? If so, CoE. Then:
Immolate
Curse of Agony if mob won't last 60 seconds | Curse of Doom if it will   (ignore curses on packs of trash, just AoE)
Conflagrate
Chaos Bolt
Incinerate <-- this is your "filler" spell. Use it when all the others are up or on cooldown.
(Only use Corruption when you've got to move from A to B, or when you know that you won't be able to DPS a target for a few seconds.)

Comments:
Immolate has the biggest bearing on your DPS so keep it up at all times. There's no set-in-stone rotation so it's kinda flexible without being too confusing to make give you braincry. Try using addons such as DoTimer or ButtonTimers to help you manage your cooldowns, I prefer the latter.

And finally, How do we all feel about the warlock pvp specs?

I run away!

No, in all seriuosness I haven't a clue. Destro works well in Wintergrasp and the like because of its high burst damage and high mobility; Demo may lack the "oomph" but will certainly give you more survivabilty.

Pro PvP tip: don't let people see you. We're awesome when they're looking the other way.

Affliction

I'll dig up an Affliction write-up for you from our forum when I've cleaned it up a bit. In short, it's theoretically higher (ZOMG BIG NUMBAHS!!!1!) and in sustained-DPS fights it's a clear winner. I just don't like it. It's too hard for your DPS to drop off in a high-movement fight (such as any in ICC).

If you want any tips, collar me in-game and I'll be happy to help. I'll probably be on Flowette, Kerviel or Madoff

Good luck!

Flow

*sneaks back before hungry Batbears arrive*

[Decayed]

Hey Flow, thanks a huge amount for your detailed reply, has really helped me see where I should be heading next! Having to have a bit of downtime for WoW atm, but should be back online more next week.

I did like my 3% extra hit, as I have used that spec since I hit 80, but the mana regen sounds far more tasty, no more tapping in the middle of fights!

As for the build and rotation, it all sounds very similar and my hotkeys won't have to make very many changes.

Pvp, I still use deep affliction, whack the dots up, hit my fear and watch them run around whilst I drain their life: " N3RF LOCKS PL1X"

I guess it's skill and gear thats makes your dps fly to the top of recount, the spec on every class is only ever going to be so good, so practice and gear up I shall!

If I have any further questions i'll /w ingame, thanks for all your help

Adam (Progression)