Is Mastery the way to go?

[Deleted]

Crit is the overall best stat for destruction, but seeing how powerful Demo / Affli is on some bosses, would enchanting mastery be the way to go? Or shall i stick to crit? I have no problems playing another specc, just want to know what you guys aim for!

[Taalyn]

The general consensus is crit for single target, mastery for cleave/AoE. Since we do a fair amount of cleaving and Mastery is good for Affliction and Demo, you can enchant Mastery so that if you switch specs you'll be unnoticeably better.

[Zaroch]

With the recent buff to Havoc mastery got a little better than before

[Deleted]

The general consensus is crit for single target, mastery for cleave/AoE. Since we do a fair amount of cleaving and Mastery is good for Affliction and Demo, you can enchant Mastery so that if you switch specs you'll be unnoticeably better.

Would you take a demo or afflicton offspec? Im thinking about affliction cuse of the playstyle

I think i'll be going mastery then!

[DeadmanWalking]

I noticed today that certain world first guilds destro warlocks are high in mastery but almost every piece of gear they have has multistrike on it, This may be due to the luck of the loot draw but I'm doubting it.

[striderZA]

I noticed today that certain world first guilds destro warlocks are high in mastery but almost every piece of gear they have has multistrike on it, This may be due to the luck of the loot draw but I'm doubting it.

That and gearing options in Highmaul are extremely limited.

[Taalyn]

Would you take a demo or afflicton offspec? Im thinking about affliction cuse of the playstyle

I think i'll be going mastery then!

I have a Demo offspec for fights like Tectus and Twins where there's more movement than KJC can handle.

[Deleted]

It seems that mastery is denfinetly a very viable option, for the "multi"purpose, Instead of stacking crit and beeing stuck as destro, you stack mastery and can change to whatever you want, and it's not that far behind Crit, and after todays fix as stated above, it seems to have gotten even more valuable!

[Brotherdark]

I've seen most people stacking crit for destro and mastery for affliction.

[Extremity]

Mastery is great for AOE situations, especially ones where you can maintain your embers and not worry about losing them mid-F&B (usually 5-6+ targets).

Right now, as it was in MoP, crit is pretty much king for single target Destro. You have to look beyond it's flat DPS weight and consider the fact that it's also an ember generation talent. Throughout MoP, crit was the best stat while gearing, with Mastery taking over overall further down the road. At very high end-game gear Haste started to move up in priority, at least until BD GCD cap.

Right now, Crit and Mastery are both great in terms of DPS and their weights are actually quite close, but the fact that Crit is also am ember generation increase should play a MAJOR part when you decide which to go with. If both are close but one generates more embers and the other doesn't, I think the choice is clear.

[Deleted]

I've been running full mastery for a while now.
If a piece has crit on it I'm fine with that but sockets and enchants are mastery.
Crit being #1 is a result of pure single target simulations and considering the mechanics of actual boss fights in Highmaul this will only be a problem at mythic butcher. But Since my guild will be at butcher in January at best, we will most likely outgear it and I'm willing to take a small hit on potential max dps or just spec demo/affliction for that fight.

For every other fight it's either Destruction dominating due to havoc in which case mastery is great, or my demo off spec, which also likes mastery, takes the lead.

Crit was interesting for challenge modes so you could be able to sustain aoe for a little while after RoF got nerfed. When I got 8/8 gold I abandoned stacking crit, went full mastery, accept the rest and avoid versatility like the plague.

[Deleted]

For every other fight it's either Destruction dominating due to havoc in which case mastery is great, or my demo off spec, which also likes mastery, takes the lead.

Pretty much what im thinking aswell, i think that mastery is the better overall stat for highmaul cuse of the fights, as mastery works for both affli and demo aswell!

I can see crit pulling ahead of mastery on butcher but i think thats pretty much it and seeing how strong affli /demo gets singletarget with some more gear i think i'd debate going with any of those two!

[Scrogglez]

Stupid question but when I cast havoc should I use my CB of x3 incinerate? I know below 20% you should use shadowburn but what about otherwise?

[Deleted]

Stupid question but when I cast havoc should I use my CB of x3 incinerate? I know below 20% you should use shadowburn but what about otherwise?

I normally split the Chaos bolts if you have 2 or more embers, otherwise i split incinerates and conflags! That's just me tho!

[ZakAtack]

I normally split the Chaos bolts if you have 2 or more embers, otherwise i split incinerates and conflags! That's just me tho!

Yeah, basically the same here. Now that Havoc has such a short CD and we're still in early expac gear, you're not going to be able to CB every time. Adds an element of decision making, do you want to build up embers or spend them.

OT: I spent first couple of week with a Mastery build, then went Crit for a week, and now went back to Mastery. Crit helped me build embers a bit faster for sure, but felt stronger with Mastery. Honestly don't have hard numbers, just felt weaker with Crit.

[bio347]

Right now, Crit and Mastery are both great in terms of DPS and their weights are actually quite close, but the fact that Crit is also am ember generation increase should play a MAJOR part when you decide which to go with. If both are close but one generates more embers and the other doesn't, I think the choice is clear.

Well, the fact that crit generates embers is going to be part of the stat weight in itself, if you're going by simcraft or what have you. So value-wise, they are what they are and what, specifically, they do is already included in that: crit causes more embers, but mastery causes the ones you get to hit more harderer.

That said, this early in the gear curve, the ember generation probably feels better with crit (particularly if you're still feeling the effects of the SoO -> WoD transition) and so it may be preferred simply on that.