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  1. #1

    Warlock PvP FAQ/Guide

    I've been seeing alot of common warlock PvP questions that could easily be summed up in a single forum post.
    Not sure if people don't research sites before asking, but here are some common things I've noticed people consistently asking.

    Q: What race is the best to play?
    A: If alliance human no questions.
    If horde undead, if you are strictly pvping. Orc would probably be the 2nd best option and goblin 3rd.

    Q: What is the best Warlock PvP spec? : Affliction is the only viable PvP spec. I don't recommend playing anything else.
    A: There are many different types of specs, how do I know which to choose? 32/9/0 is what i prefer to run for most comps. You could also run 31/7/3 for MLS or spell cleave. During mage deep freezes an extra 5% crit is really big as it could possibly allow him to run a little less crit or just make sure his deeps always crit. RLS doesn't need the shadow and flame at all due to the HoT talent.

    Your choice of spec is all up to you but these are the common variations.

    Execute damage + Demonic rebirth spec:
    http://www.wowhead.com/talent#IbGroGsGcdcrM:RsMmqV0m

    5% crit + imp fear spec:
    http://www.wowhead.com/talent#IbGrRGsMcdcbMZc:RMsVmq0m

    5% crit + imp life tap spec:

    http://www.wowhead.com/talent#IrGroGsMcdcbMZc:RMsVmq0m

    Q: What glyphs are the best?
    A: UA/corrupt/haunt as prime glyphs and howl of terror. soulswap, and shadowflame as majors. Coex and health funnel are the only minors that matter.


    Q: How do i reforge and gem?
    A: Reforge every piece to haste. No questions asked. Gems are done in one of two ways. +50 int in every slot is one option or going for mostly resil is another choice. With this you will do +25 int +25 resil in every red slot and +67/50 resil in every yellow slot. I choose to go with +50 in everything but my shoulders/chest/boots for the resil bonus and i use a +25 int +25 resil gem in these. You can mix and match if you choose but int and resil are you two best stats so going for the most of which you prefer is best. I am becoming slightly tempted to change from full intellect to go to max resillence. I'm still thinking as its a very big change to change every gem to +50 / +25 25. Its a very hard to decision. Warlocks get trained alot so going more resillence is a good option.

    Q: What is my rotation, and what do i do inbetween this?
    A: Your typical rotation as a warlock will be in some sort of priority, this doesn't mean put one up first, or one up at another time. Unstable affliction isn't always able to be free casted which is why you might want until you have a ideal time to put it up.

    1) Unstable affliction
    2) Haunt
    3) Corruption
    4) Bane of Agony
    5) Repeat on multiple targets if needed. (pets etc)
    6) Drain life is always your filler. Your shadowbite scales with drain life, and Demonsoul does. If you have to fake cast with it, it will always allow you some damage oppose to cancelling a cast.


    Usually in a typical PvP scenerio you won't be able to instantly free cast your whole entire rotation instantly. This forces you to have to fake cast whenever they have counter spells up and interupts that can stop you from casting.

    When an arena game starts, I will try to get in combat if I'm facing a rogue. This will stop a sap on me and aninstant burst onto my team mates. After my portal is down, and I'm in combat, I look for pets to dot up. If after looking for pets and all the previous checkpoints are complete, I'll begin to try to dot up the other team, or talk out strats more so before we engage.

    This is the general rotation or steps when beginning an arena game on a warlock.




    Q:Which pet do I use?
    A: As affliction you should never have anything but a fel hunter out. The shadow bite damage is very needed now and you are only gimping yourself to drop it

    Q: Bane of Agony or Bane of Doom?
    A: Bane of agony all the way. Bane of doom takes way too long to tick and if you are facing any decurser it just
    kills your whole chance of it ticking. Sometimes i mess around with BoD in 2s on holy pally teams with a decurse but
    its generally a bad choice to use.

    Q: Where is the best place for my portal in arenas?
    A: Generally you will want to place your portal in a spot which allows you to get stop the other teams momentum and you can begin to turn it around.
    The best place on each map really depends on the situation you are in at the time of the arena match. here are some positions that seem to work well to me. Be very aware of where the healer is, if he happens to run next to your portal you could do a port instant howl and get him in a full fear straight into
    the open. Try to capitalize on this by maybe getting another easy cc onto them or even doing a hard swap with a howl of terror on the DPS to prevent them from slowly your swap.

    RoV : put it ontop of a pillar so when you port, you port up on top of the map. Be sure to let your healer know so he can keep healing when you port.

    Ruins : Put it on the opposite side of the ruins you will be on. Prevents charge/ss/grip back instantly and gives you a few seconds of breathing.

    Nagrand : behind or to the side of a pillar. Let your healer know so he can position himself correctly based on your port location.

    Blade: Behind the pillar or ontop of the bridge depending on what you are doing.

    Sewers : next to stairs and move behind box if you want to move it there. Also move it up if you are moving into them. Don't forget to move it back if you have to play more defensive.



    Q: I can't seem to do anything, the other team is just completely shutting me down, how do i deal with this?

    A: If you are facing a melee cleave, make sure you don't panic.

    Use your portal to your advantage. Make sure you are in demon armor to help
    your healer deal with this damage.

    If you are playing with a rogue/mage then make sure they are doing some sort of peeling to help you get your dots out and not die.

    Whenever you port try to shadowflame before hand.

    Vs a spellcleave, make sure you are very aware of the CDs on interrupts. Focus and be careful. I've had times
    where i couldn't do a single thing and i got very frustrated. Limiting interrupts on cast on you is so huge to keep your momentum up. If things get really out of hand pull back and begin to do more LoSing of casts than usual.



    Q: What trinkets should I use?
    A: From what I've personally used, and from what I've read, I have come to the conclusion that running double cataclysmic PvP trinkets is the best option unless you are able to get a cunning of the cruel. If you feel ballsy in situations where you aren't defending. Running double pve trinkets could be good. any DS trinket probably would work. some still run the rag trinket. I'm not sure which is best.

    Be careful though if you decide to run double pve when you're not a human.


    Q: for my weapons... what do i use?

    A: Heroic rathrak>cata t2/normal rathrak>legendary>LFR rathrak/cata t1.

    Heroic Rathrak is clearly, and by far the best weapon to use. I recommend this to anyone who can get it. The cataclysmic 2200 weapon and normal rathrak are basically equal. What decides what to use depends on what you are doing. If you are running a dotcleave, in lets say rbgs, normal rathrak will be better than the 2200 weapon. In a typical arena situation 2200 weapon will over weigh the rathrak because in arenas there is less targets that your proc can spread to. Because of this and because the resil you gain from 2200 weapon, the conclusion is...t2 for arenas, and normalrathrak for RBGs. The one exception to this is if you are running boomkin lock shaman. (LSD2.0). In this case you want to put out as much damage as possible.

    As many people have asked... Why is Dragonwrath so low on this list?

    The legendary staff is really out dated now. First off, its a 2h. You give up so much resil by using double pve wep slots. 2nd, the spellpower on the staff is very outdated as well. The weapon just doesn't cut it anymore compared towhat else is available. The proc rate, by much research, has been shown to do 3-6% of warlocks overall damage. This is just about on par with the Rathraks damage from the dot.

    Q: What warlock comps are the best to run?

    A: Rogue Lock Shaman(RLS), Mage Lock Shaman(MLS), Mage Lock Pally(MLP), unholy dk, warlock, shaman(shadowcleave),Boomkin Lock Shaman(LSD2.0) are all the best comps to run.
    MLP/shadowcleave are becoming less common and not as viable with the current gameplay. Both can still be ran though to 2300+ I feel.

    Q: Should I be doing 2s?
    A: 2s can still be fun. Typically I prefer to run lock/sham. hpally lock is good and priest lock is ok. Double dps for warlocks is really blah but lock/mage and lock/rogue might be the best lock double dps.



    Q: What’s my job as a warlock in RBGs?
    A: Warlocks in general have a variety of jobs to do. In general you have; CTF offense, CTF defense, node offense and node defense.

    It’s very important while running this type of comp to be very vocal and coordinate well on your CC’s and counter spells. At the beginning of a game, make sure to coordinate with other casters who they will be focusing. Make sure to call out fears and when your targets fear is on diminishing returns. (No longer can be feared.)

    (Warlock on offense in a dot cleave)
    Warlocks during a typical twin peaks/Warsong Gulch game on offense, have a couple of things they have to do/look for. First of all you obviously want to get your damage out. The type of team comp you are running decides how much you do of this. If you are running a dot cleave, then it’s much less important to worry about fears, or much of anything besides ramming damage into the other team. This kind of comp is a lot more gear dependent, and typically you will want to run cunning of the cruel as a dot cleave.

    (Warlock in a more bursty/CC filled comp)
    While if you are running a more single target comp that focuses more on CCing healers and bursting down a single person. It would be much less important to spam dots on everything. In this type of comp it’s much more important to keep your 3 dots, haunt and your fel hunter on the kill target. It’s still very important to dot a lot of targets to keep your damage flowing and slowly wear down the other team, allowing for a swap easier than if they were full life.

    (Warlock’s job on defense in a CTF game)
    If you are put on defense in a CTF game, your overall goal is to obviously peel for the defense. Typically you will have 1-2 healers and a Flag carrier to peel for. Before this however, you need to make sure your portal is in the proper location. Typically on WSG, I put it on the 3rd floor. This allows me to port to all 3 levels depending on where the flag goes. Now that your portal is set up, you are properly ready to defend your flag.

    Depending on what the offense does, you can either start dotting + adding curses or do an early howl of terror, trying to get as many people in it as possible. Then you begin your dots. Your main goal while on defense is to get the most damage possible out, while stopping the other player’s damage from your healers or Flag carrier.

    If you are put on Defense in a node game, your defense job is a lot different than if you are on defense in a CTF game. There are a couple of huge changes. Typically you will be put at lets say, on Eye of the Storm, by yourself. You will want to make sure you have a portal out, soul link up (obviously) soul stone on yourself, a healthstone and be semi far from the flag. This will prevent a rogue from sapping you and instantly taking the flag easily. It might also allow you to save your PvP trinket.

    One of the BIGGEST things is to call out the second you see someone. Yell, Type, do whatever possible to tell your team someone is on you. You should not be able to 1v1 a rogue at all. You should be able to buy time for your team to get there.

    These are the general strategys for RBG's that are typically what i feel is best to do in RBGs. If i find anything else i think to change i will, but overall this is the best for general RBG strats.

    Common Warlock macros for RBGs/Arenas.

    These are the following ones I can't play without and i would recommend everyone to use.

    Focus spell lock; ( will use your pet's counterspell if in range, on your focus target) Note, your pet will run to the target if hes not in range. be careful of this.
    /cast [target=focus,exists,nodead, pet:felhunter] Spell Lock; Spell lock

    Devour magic your current target with your fel hunter
    /cast devour magic


    Focus soul swap; ( will inhale dots off of, or exhale dots onto your focus target if in range)
    /cast [target=focus,exists,nodead] soul swap; soul swap

    Pet resummon ( soulburn resummon pet)
    /cast soulburn
    /cast summon felhunter


    These next few are very important macros for arenas and i recommend anyone trying to speed up your reaction times to use these.

    /focus [@arena1]
    /focus [@arena2]
    /focus [@arena3]


    these 3 macros will make your focus one of the enemies in order from top to bottom as they appear in the arena match..

    Top person = arena 1
    middle person = arena 2
    bottom person = arena 3

    I really love these macros so much. They just increase your speeds with focuses and scanning through the enemies without losing your target. I love to do this to instantly change my focus to interupt a crucial spell or even just to easily change my focus for a convinent curse of tongues/soul swap.


    These 3 macros do the same as the focus ones above, but instead it changes your target and not your focus.

    /target [@arena1]
    /target [@arena2]
    /target [@arena3]


    Focus Curse of Tongues; ( will put curse of tongues on your focus target)
    #showtooltip Curse of Tongues
    /cast [target=focus] Curse of Tongues

    Focus fel flame; ( fel flames your focus target to refresh Unstable affliction) I like to do this so i can manage 2 UAS without having to change my target.

    /cast [target=focus,exists,nodead,] fel flame; fel flame

    Focus Fear; I personally never adjusted to this, on my mage i already used focus poly etc but for some reason on lock i never adjusted to focus fear. I highly recommend it still to everyone as a very important macro in any type of PvP.

    #showtooltip
    /cast [target=focus] Fear

    mouse over banish will banish your target you currently have your cursor moused over)
    #showtooltip Banish
    /cast [target=mouseover] Banish


    I can't think of anything else but I will answer any questions if asked.
    Last edited by Zeusy; 2012-02-28 at 11:35 PM.

  2. #2
    Deleted
    Quote Originally Posted by Zeus11456 View Post
    ...Affliction is the only viable PvP spec...
    You might want to consider rephrasing that I can foresee 10 pages of discussion on that topic :P

  3. #3
    I really don't see any reason to change this. Affliction is the only spec that is worth a thing in pvp.
    Trying to argue it is pointless. Destro has no dispel protection and the damage without being dispelled is still awful
    Demonology is just killed by any cc on the pet and really just doesn't work.
    Last edited by Zeusy; 2012-02-11 at 10:58 PM.

  4. #4
    Deleted
    It's ur call m8!

    Might want to put the questions in bold so it's easier to skim through and find the answer to whatever you're looking for.

  5. #5
    thanks i changed that.

  6. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by Zeus11456 View Post
    Q: What warlock comps are the best to run?[/B]
    A: RLS, MLS, MLP, shadowcleave, LSD2.0 are all the best comps to run.
    MLP/shadowcleave are becoming less common and not as viable with the current gameplay. Both can still be ran though to 2300+ I feel.
    I have no idea what RLS, MLS, MLP, shadowcleave etc mean....

    I am not a huge pvper but I would like to try get into it. I haev liek 4k resil right now so I know that is enough to do decently in arena.

    P.S. Please dont be an ass because I dont know the PVP language... THANKS!!

  7. #7
    RLS, MLS, MLP, shadowcleave are team make up names.

    RLS stands for Rogue lock shaman
    MLS = mage lock shaman
    MLP = mage lock pally
    Shadowcleave is warlock dk rshammy/hpally.

    Usually when you read about arena you will see these acronyms which stand for comp names.

    Usually you put the melee in the first letter, then the caster dps than the healer. Some people like to change this
    around a little bit just like how PHDK is in the opposite order. (paladin hunter death knight)

    You will also find some names like Kung Fu cleave which you just have to ask what that stands for because people come up with new names daily.
    Last edited by Zeusy; 2012-02-12 at 05:01 PM.

  8. #8
    I'd like to recommend having the topic renamed from "pvp" to arena. This guide has some, but still very little use in regards to rbgs.

  9. #9
    Going to add some RBG small things once i finish the list, i didn't have enough to make it worth posting yet.
    Last edited by Zeusy; 2012-02-12 at 05:43 PM.

  10. #10
    You could also link to the spec and the glyphs on a talent builder.
    Quote Originally Posted by Dj
    your a Gnome, how the heck does it feel to suck that badly?
    Quote Originally Posted by Xtacle
    Gnomes are awesome, and piss people off, how does it feel to die to a tiny pink puffball?

  11. #11

  12. #12
    Brewmaster Olianda's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Zeus11456 View Post

    You will also find some names like Kung Fu cleave which you just have to ask what that stands for because people come up with new names daily.
    There's also some wacky ones, that makes sense AFTER it's explained to you. Some people on the Eu Forums came up with two:

    Hitlercleave: Two Unholy DKs and a healer, because Unholy = evil
    Stalincleave: Two Frost DKs and a healer, because Unholy is evil, and it's cold.
    Quote Originally Posted by Puck View Post
    I find it quite disheartening that I got an erection just by reading "Cowboy boots".
    Quote Originally Posted by Anodur View Post
    The greatest generation is long dead? Last I checked, Miley Cyrus, Kanye West, Rebecca Black, and One Direction are all still kickin'...

  13. #13
    I hope you keep working on this. It's been a while since there's been a decent PVP warlock guide anywhere.

  14. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by Nerraw View Post
    I hope you keep working on this. It's been a while since there's been a decent PVP warlock guide anywhere.
    That's true. I was looking for one when I made my earlier comment, I found several but all were at least one year old and incomplete
    Quote Originally Posted by Dj
    your a Gnome, how the heck does it feel to suck that badly?
    Quote Originally Posted by Xtacle
    Gnomes are awesome, and piss people off, how does it feel to die to a tiny pink puffball?

  15. #15
    Pretty much i'm updating it as i think of more frequent questions or when asked. Feel free to post here with questions or message me.

  16. #16
    Quote Originally Posted by Zeus11456 View Post
    I really don't see any reason to change this. Affliction is the only spec that is worth a thing in pvp.
    Trying to argue it is pointless. Destro has no dispel protection and the damage without being dispelled is still awful
    Demonology is just killed by any cc on the pet and really just doesn't work.
    It really depends on how you determine "viable". If you're looking for the best warlock spec, yeah it's hard to beat one of the most broken specs in the game. If you're looking for a spec competitive with other classes as a whole, then Destruction is definitely viable.
    Verily, thou shalt rejoice in the house of the tentacle.

  17. #17
    Whether or not affliction is broken or not doesn't matter. Destro is not a spec worth trying if you play to try to go anywhere in PvP. Its damage is way too low and a dispel by any healer shuts it down completely. Playable to 2200+ in either? yeah sure every spec you can do that. Its not recommended and really no point and trying to bring this up or argue it. MoP it might make a huge come back with the redo of the warlock mechanics.

    ---------- Post added 2012-02-14 at 12:57 AM ----------

    updated with RBG strats.

  18. #18
    What meta to use? I'm guessing its burning shadow spirit but it doesn't hurt to have confirmation
    Quote Originally Posted by Dj
    your a Gnome, how the heck does it feel to suck that badly?
    Quote Originally Posted by Xtacle
    Gnomes are awesome, and piss people off, how does it feel to die to a tiny pink puffball?

  19. #19
    Quote Originally Posted by russ555 View Post
    What meta to use? I'm guessing its burning shadow spirit but it doesn't hurt to have confirmation
    yeah, thats correct.

  20. #20
    I have a question. I read/heard somewhere SB is normally only used when procced. What filler would be better to use between dotting things up if needed? Drain Soul/Life?

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