CM spec?

[Xag]

Sac pulls ahead for things like bosses and havoc cleaving, and you don't have to deal with the pet being a nuisance (forget to dismiss and pulls a mob while you invis).

And that is what I hadnt thought about. Pets dont go invis.

Thanks!

[dixincide]

Don't over hype it, Warlocks are pretty strait forward in there. And you're very desirable so getting a group shouldn't be hard.
Destruction is the way to go. Shadowfury whenever you get a chance to. And most of the pulls will be AoE so get good at managing embers with Fire and Brimstone and taking advantage of Havoc cleaving through shadowburns. You can easily pull 300k+ when you get good at this without much Challenge mode specific gear.
It helps if you have an addon to enlarge low health mobs so you can mouseover havoc them. Also to note, in a lot of situations you won't get time to immolate all of the mobs, so more often then not you'd be better off just using Rain of Fire (for ember building if you're fighting 5+) and incinerating.

This is what worked for me,
9/9 CM golds on 8 of my characters.

[Xag]

Don't over hype it, Warlocks are pretty strait forward in there. And you're very desirable so getting a group shouldn't be hard.
Destruction is the way to go. Shadowfury whenever you get a chance to. And most of the pulls will be AoE so get good at managing embers with Fire and Brimstone and taking advantage of Havoc cleaving through shadowburns. You can easily pull 300k+ when you get good at this without much Challenge mode specific gear.
It helps if you have an addon to enlarge low health mobs so you can mouseover havoc them. Also to note, in a lot of situations you won't get time to immolate all of the mobs, so more often then not you'd be better off just using Rain of Fire (for ember building if you're fighting 5+) and incinerating.

This is what worked for me,
9/9 CM golds on 8 of my characters.

As I have picked up a couple pieces of BIS CM gear it has really become easier. Im currently 4/9 gold and its increasing quickly. These are a lot more fun than my friends and I had realized.

I need to work on my Havoc SB cleave but due to the lag recently I havent had health bars up for everything. Once I get them on my Lock I was debating getting the Druid set, is guardian good in CMs?

[Turturin the Warlock]

As I have picked up a couple pieces of BIS CM gear it has really become easier. Im currently 4/9 gold and its increasing quickly. These are a lot more fun than my friends and I had realized.

I need to work on my Havoc SB cleave but due to the lag recently I havent had health bars up for everything. Once I get them on my Lock I was debating getting the Druid set, is guardian good in CMs?

No, not compared to prot warriors/brewmasters, or even blood DK's. Guardian Druids and Prot Pallys are sort of the bottom of the tanking barrell for CM's.

THat said, if the rest of your group is decent it is still totally doable. I went 9/9 on my prot pally, I just wouldn't tank sales runs on it (i do those on my prot warrior).

It's also worth noting that the alternatives as druid, particularly feral and boomkin, are also pretty weak for CMs, so to get your gear set for druid guardian may be the best of bad options.

[timmytompadderham]

No, not compared to prot warriors/brewmasters, or even blood DK's. Guardian Druids and Prot Pallys are sort of the bottom of the tanking barrell for CM's.

THat said, if the rest of your group is decent it is still totally doable. I went 9/9 on my prot pally, I just wouldn't tank sales runs on it (i do those on my prot warrior).

It's also worth noting that the alternatives as druid, particularly feral and boomkin, are also pretty weak for CMs, so to get your gear set for druid guardian may be the best of bad options.

I need to work on my Havoc SB cleave but due to the lag recently I havent had health bars up for everything. Once I get them on my Lock I was debating getting the Druid set, is guardian good in CMs?

resto would be the strongest druid spec. The 2 dps specs I wouldn't recommend w/o really good CM gear and experience on the spec and 2 other good dps. Guardian would be okay choice, at least better than dps choices.

[Saiyoran]

As I have picked up a couple pieces of BIS CM gear it has really become easier. Im currently 4/9 gold and its increasing quickly. These are a lot more fun than my friends and I had realized.

I need to work on my Havoc SB cleave but due to the lag recently I havent had health bars up for everything. Once I get them on my Lock I was debating getting the Druid set, is guardian good in CMs?

As a druid, resto is definitely your best bet (pretty strong for carries and golds where you're not doing crazy pulls). Feral is weak (also its melee which is undesirable). Boomkin is also very weak. Guardian is weaker than Warr/DK, but to be honest on low vengeance pulls they are better at surviving than monks (I main a monk in CMs and before anyone jumps on me please note I said low vengeance. At high vengeance gift of the ox becomes incredibly stupid and so does guard, which outpaces anything Guardian has) and far ahead of pally. That said, I have a guildie that sells 9/9 CM carries every single day (it is his full time job believe it or not) two or three times a day on his Guardian druid and he does not have any issues, so if you are more comfortable as guardian than resto you will be fine.

[Xag]

Thank you for all the responses. With how little damage I take in heroic dungeons on my guardian Im a little surprised they arent better but its all good. We had a feral in our run through temple of the jade serpent and still got gold. I can totally see why feral isnt exactly desired as even with an ilvl in the 530s on my druid AOE can be rough.

But this is the lock forum, I didnt mean to take the topic off locks but I really do appreciate the feedback.

[Novx]

people saying that destro is miles above demo for cm's are simple warlocks who more likely than not jumped on the warlock bandwagon in MoP so lack experience and skill with other specs. Demo was by FAR the dominant spec in MoP early on, it does also run on a resource that mobs give fuel for, and despite being nerfed considerably in ToT is still a very competitive spec to play in cm's. Anyone who actually knows how to play the spec does the same as they do as destro. I've done 9/9 realm best and have done cm gold carries as both specs, and either is 100% solid.

That being said, it should be mentioned in this thread that aff is terrible in comparison for cm's, can be played for golds like any spec of any class can, but I wouldn't even think about doing gold carries as aff.

What? You understand that at the start of the xpac Demo was an amazing spec and Destro was shit and now it is the other way around. Just because someone was good 2 years ago doesn't make it nearly as good today. Demo is perfectly fine for CMs, so is Destro, so is Aff, but don't sit here and say that everyone who disagrees with your point of view, which is wrong, is a bandwagon idiot.

[Soulzar]

Demo is not weak by any means, I did my 9/9 as demo back when I did them. Demo has a bit of a better toolkit for Control with a 10s CD AoE interrupt to pair up with Shadowfury and your felguard axe toss, but outside of that, destros toolkit is hard to rival. Shadowburn Fueling your embers for days!

[Zevoa]

Pull all the things, pop all the cd's and win; add in Kafa Press for that one big pull in every dungeon.

Here's my CM set: http://us.battle.net/wow/en/characte...Zevoa/advanced

[fiestatastic]

What? You understand that at the start of the xpac Demo was an amazing spec and Destro was shit and now it is the other way around. Just because someone was good 2 years ago doesn't make it nearly as good today. Demo is perfectly fine for CMs, so is Destro, so is Aff, but don't sit here and say that everyone who disagrees with your point of view, which is wrong, is a bandwagon idiot.

I do understand that. When cm's were first introduced, demo was significantly better than destro. After the nerfing it's still on par, slightly lower in some parts, but is actually slightly higher on some parts (mobs that you can stand in melee and have a boss be shortly after). I was shooting down ppl who were saying everyone absolutely MUST play destro and nothing else, because even though demo isn't the obvious 100% clear choice any more, it's still comparable and viable even for cm carrying.

[Teye]

As mentioned, if you're going for Gold, play whatever spec you want. Its extremely easy with 5 decent players. If you're aiming to carry for sales or for records, play Destro OR Demo. Its all about knowing how to play, not what class you're playing.

[FurtyIRL]

As mentioned, if you're going for Gold, play whatever spec you want. Its extremely easy with 5 decent players. If you're aiming to carry for sales or for records, play Destro OR Demo. Its all about knowing how to play, not what class you're playing.

The same holds true for any aspect of WoW. If you enjoy Marksman hunter the most, it's probably the ideal progression candidate, right?

NO

[Teye]

The same holds true for any aspect of WoW. If you enjoy Marksman hunter the most, it's probably the ideal progression candidate, right?

NO

Except, CMs are not heroic raid progression. They're laughably easy as a DPS and only moderately challenging as a Tank or Healer. The point is, getting Gold has nothing to do with playing the spec that does the most DPS. It has to do with playing your class correctly, and performing instance mechanics correctly. If you're truly aiming for a server first time, then play the spec that's doing the most damage. Currently, that may be Destro, but it was Demonology not long ago, and Demo is just barely behind Destro and is even ahead of it on certain pulls. The isn't the comparison of Arms and Fury as a top 10 US level. Its just CM gold, lol.

Cute attitude though, Duality or not.

[Alarinth]

Except, CMs are not heroic raid progression. They're laughably easy as a DPS and only moderately challenging as a Tank or Healer. The point is, getting Gold has nothing to do with playing the spec that does the most DPS. It has to do with playing your class correctly, and performing instance mechanics correctly. If you're truly aiming for a server first time, then play the spec that's doing the most damage. Currently, that may be Destro, but it was Demonology not long ago, and Demo is just barely behind Destro and is even ahead of it on certain pulls. The isn't the comparison of Arms and Fury as a top 10 US level. Its just CM gold, lol.

This, pretty much. There are also certain pulls where you do have time for respecs, and using that dark soul in a separate spec can be a very good thing. Room before Rattlegore comes to mind. Candice as destro, trash before Rattle as Demo, Rattle as destro. 3 dark souls in 2 minutes, and one aoe pull as demo that destro simply cannot match (without popping CDs, which you should be saving for Rattlegore).

[FurtyIRL]

Except, CMs are not heroic raid progression. They're laughably easy as a DPS and only moderately challenging as a Tank or Healer. The point is, getting Gold has nothing to do with playing the spec that does the most DPS. It has to do with playing your class correctly, and performing instance mechanics correctly. If you're truly aiming for a server first time, then play the spec that's doing the most damage. Currently, that may be Destro, but it was Demonology not long ago, and Demo is just barely behind Destro and is even ahead of it on certain pulls. The isn't the comparison of Arms and Fury as a top 10 US level. Its just CM gold, lol.

Cute attitude though, Duality or not.

Sorry, how does a time-based event not have anything to do with playing the spec that does the most DPS? And it's been Destro, forever. Don't feed people misinformation, especially people asking for advice on the best way to prepare themselves for gold. The attitude that I find cute is that someone asks for advice on 'what would be the best spec for challenge modes' and 'Is there any big differences between the specs?' and your response is 'it's about what class your playing'. Yeah man, that's the attitude right there. Go get 'em.

This, pretty much. There are also certain pulls where you do have time for respecs, and using that dark soul in a separate spec can be a very good thing. Room before Rattlegore comes to mind. Candice as destro, trash before Rattle as Demo, Rattle as destro. 3 dark souls in 2 minutes, and one aoe pull as demo that destro simply cannot match (without popping CDs, which you should be saving for Rattlegore).

This is straight up wrong. Not only is Destro likely better AoE for the majority of groups out there but you want to be going into Rattlegore with full embers. As far as examples go that is a really bad one (you shouldn't be spec switching period).

I get that you probably enjoy demo — it's my favorite spec too — but are you serious? The OP professed to only recently leveling a warlock, and you're going to advise him to play a spec that's not only significantly more complex but also inferior in every respect? Ok.

[Alarinth]

If you can stop being passive-aggressive and twisting my words, you'll be able to see that I basically said to do what the poster above me said, which was this...

destro, int gems, gosac
also bis list

Pretty much what Dnusha said. However, if you want to try real hard, prepare Demonology as your offspec, and spec into it for gigantic aoe pulls, and then back into Destruction. Dark Soul has spec-specific cooldowns, so you can use them independently.

I never told him to play demo as mainspec for challenge modes, as that is both inferior and more difficult. However, I said that playing demo for certain pulls can be a benefit, which I still stand by.

Regarding Rattlegore; fair enough, I stand corrected on that one.

[FurtyIRL]

If you can stop being passive-aggressive and twisting my words, you'll be able to see that I basically said to do what the poster above me said, which was this...

I never told him to play demo as mainspec for challenge modes, as that is both inferior and more difficult. However, I said that playing demo for certain pulls can be a benefit, which I still stand by.

Regarding Rattlegore; fair enough, I stand corrected on that one.

Name one pull where spec swapping is a benefit.

[Deleted]

Name one pull where spec swapping is a benefit.

There is no pulls where swapping is a benefit

[Turturin the Warlock]

Except, CMs are not heroic raid progression. They're laughably easy as a DPS and only moderately challenging as a Tank or Healer. The point is, getting Gold has nothing to do with playing the spec that does the most DPS. It has to do with playing your class correctly, and performing instance mechanics correctly. If you're truly aiming for a server first time, then play the spec that's doing the most damage. Currently, that may be Destro, but it was Demonology not long ago, and Demo is just barely behind Destro and is even ahead of it on certain pulls. The isn't the comparison of Arms and Fury as a top 10 US level. Its just CM gold, lol.

Cute attitude though, Duality or not.

He's answering the OP's question, you are not. The OP didn't ask what spec was the most fun for challenge modes, or if all specs were viable for challenge modes, he asked which was best. There's a clear answer. Your attempt to claim some sort of "elitism" by folks providing a direct answer to a specific question asked by the OP is downright silly.