Poster: Maso at 2/1/2006 4:58:38 PM PST
Subject: In-Depth Warlock FAQ! (2/13/06) |
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This is a work in progress, and I'm low on time, so it won't be done for a while... but here goes:
This Warlock FAQ is designed for players who know the basic concepts of the class (ie Soul Shard system, what Warlocks can wear, etc). It is not (yet) made to be a "beginner's guide" to the Warlock, more like a "reference guide" to those who have questions about the class.
Basically, I'm tired of posting the same answer to the same question every 30 minutes on this forum.
Please feel free to add any links, information, questions, and feedback to this FAQ post. This is meant to represent the opinions and ideas of the Warlock community, not just myself.
I do not take credit for writing this FAQ, only for starting it; this is a community effort.
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Warlock FAQ (2/5/06)
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Table of Contents
A. Creating a Warlock
B. Leveling a Warlock
C. Speccing a Warlock
D. Gearing a Warlock
E. Other issues
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Section A: Creating a Warlock
Q: What is the best race of Warlock?
A: As with every other class in the game, you should not choose your Warlock based on its racials. If you want to talk purely on functionality, it depends...
For Alliance, it really doesn't matter all that much. Humans get added faction bonuses and Perception. Gnomes get Escape Artist and a tiny bit of extra mana.
For Horde, it's a little trickier. Orcs get a little stun resistance and an insignificant 5% damage bonus to pets. Undead get Cannibalize and WoTF. Cannibalize is a powerful ability for Warlocks, because of Lifetap, which means you're indirectly replenishing your mana pool as well when you use it. WoTF is, well, WoTF, and it's quite a significant racial. It all depends on which classes you hate more: Rogues or Warlock/Priest/Warriors.
Q: Warlock or Mage/Hunter?
A: All play similar roles in end game PvE, besides the water/stones/summoning/portals/peeling stuff. No one on this planet can tell you which class you'll like better for sure; it is up to YOU to decide what you think is fun.
Q: I like to deal shadow damage. Warlock or Priest?
A: If you like to heal, play Priest, because you're going to be doing a lot of healing no matter how much you argue to your peers. If you don't wanna heal, play Warlock.
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Section B: Leveling a Warlock
Q: What is the best grinding build?
A: Dark Pact, with Improved Corruption, Nightfall, and Fel Concentration along the way. Here is the what is considered the best build for Dark Pact, provided by Psy:
(Going up the Aff side, then Dest, then Demo): http://www.wowhead.com/talent/?NA0bVRbkAosxZxx0z
People argue that a DS build is better for the grind. Statistical data (also courtesy of Psy) shows that Dark Pact is the way to go.
Here is the statistical data on Dark Pact vs. DS: http://www.saichotictech.net/Others/Warlock/DP.html
Thanks to Psy for the calculations and data.
That data aside, the main argument that Dark Pact Warlocks have against DS is that not only does Dark Pact benefit from higher mana regeneration, but it also benefits from better grinding talents such as Improved Corruption, Fel Concentration, Nightfall, and Improved Lifetap.
Q: What is the best method of grinding? What pet should I use for grinding? What is "drain tanking?
A: "Drain tanking" is generally the most efficient method of grinding as a Warlock. Basically, you're using Fel Concentration to help you use Drain Life on the mob until it dies, while your Succubus is beating on it and DoT's are ticking on it. Here is the general "drain tank" strategy:
1. Locate mob. Succubus should be out, with no auto-casts activated.
2. Open up with Immolate/Shadow Bolt.
3. Stack CoA and Corruption
4. Mob is in your face. Send succubus to attack.
5. Drain Life. Drain Life. Drain Life. Shadow Bolt if Nightfall procs.
6. Mob is dead. Dark Pact to regain mana. Succubus should have no auto-casts activated so that all of her mana can be used for Dark Pact and the emergency Seduce.
This strategy, of course, is made to be used with the Dark Pact build, linked above.
Some Warlocks incorporate Siphon Life into their Drain Tanking strategy. The common consensus is that Siphon Life is only mana efficient if it lasts its entire duration. That means it can be added if you're fighting a tough mob.
Q: Help, I can't get my VW to keep agro! Is he bugged?
A: No, he just sucks at holding agro on you. On the levels before each rank of Torment, you'll be pulling agro off him extremely easily, even with Improved Voidwalker talent. Most Warlocks decide to forget the idea of having your pet tank for you, and go with the Succubus instead.
If you do plan to use the VW though, know that you're going to have to control your agro. Many people don't learn about this concept until many days of /played past 60. Limit your damage so that the mob will keep hitting the VW. Some Warlocks argue, however, that if you do this, the VW will cause downtime anyway because of his low mana regeneration and reliance on mana to hold agro... and also because if you're limiting agro, you're limiting damage, which means you're killing mobs slower.
The VW still has his uses. He's better at handling multiple mobs at once. His shield is decent for accomplishing certain tasks. He can serve as a ghetto offtank in instances up to Mara.
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Section C: Speccing a Warlock
Q: Is Improved Drain Soul any good?
A: No. YOU have to get the killing blow in order for it to proc. If anybody in your group/raid or your pet gets the kill, no Improved Drain Soul proc for you. You have to finish the mob while channeling Drain Soul. You also have to wait 5 seconds for yourself to go out of combat before it starts to tick well at all. And finally, Spirit is generally not considered an important stat for Warlocks at all, so your regen is going to suck anyway. I wish it were a good talent too.
Q: Do Shadow Mastery, Master Demonology, and Demonic Sacrifice apply AFTER or BEFORE +dmg gear?
A: All of them apply AFTER gear. This was confirmed by some calculations, made by Psy.
http://www.saichotictech.net/Others/Warlock/Modifiers.html
Thanks to Psy for the data and calculations.
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Section D: Gearing a Warlock
Q: Staff or sword/dagger + offhand?
A: I have never understood how this could ever have been a serious question to anybody. Nowadays, if you ask this, you're going to get flooded with "LOOK IT OVER" and crap from fans of Kralnor.
The answer to this question is simple: use whatever you have access to that provides the best stats. You lose very little from swapping from one to the other... it's not like you have to respec in order to wear a staff.
As far as it goes in a general sense, the best combination to use depends on which stats you favor most. Generally, you get more +sta and +int from staves, but more +dmg from sword/dagger + offhand.
If you carry a lot of offhands with different uses and resistances and stuff, 1h+offhand is actually more versatile since you can switch your offhand as you need to. It also lets you use Spellstones, which are pretty good at small scale pvp if you want to bother with them.
Q: Which stats should I go for?
A: PvE: +dmg > +crit > +sta > +int. PvP, depends on your build. SM/Ruin and MD/Ruin builds GENERALLY go with tons of +damage. Conflag and high Destruction builds GENERALLY go with a mix of a lot of +damage and +crit. Soul Link builds GENERALLY get a lot of +sta, with some +dmg added in when they can fit it.
But that's only in general. It's up to you to decide what pieces you like best. I know some SL Warlocks who go with a lot of +dmg, and it's pretty good.
Q: How does +dmg gear work? How much does it affect [insert spell here]?
A: Thank you to the Warlocks who posted this information for me after this thread was created.
+dmg gear adds a certain % of the listed damage accordingly to the casting time and nature of the spell. The green "+21 Shadow Spell Damage" and the often seen blue "Equip: Increases damage and healing done by all/shadow/fire spells by 21" both have the same exact effect, besides the school that is being increased in damage.
Here are the percentages for each spell in terms of how much they benefit from +dmg gear:
Shadow
Shadow bolt 85%
Shadowburn 43%
Corruption 100%
Curse of Agony 100%
Soul Drain 50%
Drain Life 50%
Drain Mana 0%
D.Mana's Dmg 20%
Death Coil 23%
Siphon Life 50%
Health Funnel 0%
Curse of Doom 100%
Fire
Searing pain 43%
Rain of Fire 35%
Hellfire 30%
Immolate's Nuke 20%(from the original post or 35% according to Psy, but I have never checked).
Immolate's DoT 57% (or 68%?)
Conflagrate 40%
Soul Fire 100%
Siphon Life, Drain Life, and Death Coil receive smaller bonuses because they are drain type spells that do damage and heal you.
Good mods (on www.curse-gaming.com) that will help show things related to +dmg:
CasterTips
SpellTips
SpellDamage
Theorycraft (my current favorite, though support is lacking for Warlocks)
[NOTE: Some of these numbers look a little funny... particularly RoF and Hellfire. If someone can clarify this, I will change it.]
Q: Do Don Rodringo's Band and Rune of Perfection lower resistances below zero?
A: No. They still have their uses, however, against mobs with high SR like Lucifron, Baron Geddon, hunter pets, players in T1/2 armor, etc.[ post edited by Maso ]
Formerly known as Masochist.
Name policy > me
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