Hand of Gul'dan Question?

[yetgdhfgh]

Ok im reasonably new to warlocks and my main spec is demo

But i have a question regarding Hand of Gul'dan

Is it better to spam both at the same time or to wait till the dot ticks off then hit it again

I see that if i spam it twice the dot says 2 does that mean its better to hit them both in succession

i seem to be getting conflicting information regarding this some saying its better to hit them in quick succession others saying you should wait till the dot falls off

[Deleted]

" When you use Hand of Gul'dan, it puts the Shadowflame DoT on the enemy. This lasts 6 seconds and can stack up to two times. For DPS purposes, the best way to use Hand of Gul'dan is to wait until you almost have two charges of it, use it once to apply the initial Shadowflame, and use it again before Shadowflame expires in order to gain two stacks of the DoT. This maximises Shadowflame's uptime. "

[Harsesis]

Two charges with a gap between them or two stacks with one each equal out to the same dps over time. The difference is that using both charges right away then waiting for the two to come back is easier to keep track of.

[blgdinger]

Two charges with a gap between them or two stacks with one each equal out to the same dps over time. The difference is that using both charges right away then waiting for the two to come back is easier to keep track of.

That doesn't answer the question at all.

[missbrooklyn25]

As far as i know, you want to let the dot it applies, shadowflame run its course and before it expires/right after re apply guldan again and repeat to keep a high uptime on shadowflame.

[Zinnin]

You want to refresh it before the last tick of shadow flame because of the stacking dot mechanic.

Assuming a tick = 1

Refreshing it before the last tick = 5 ticks of x1 and then 6 ticks of 2x = 17 damage

using it separately = 12 ticks of 1x for 12 damage

using it at the same time = ~1 tick of 1x and 6 ticks of 2x = 13 damage

So, refreshing it right before it falls off gives about 40% more shadowflame damage. Generally this means you Hand of Gul'dan then ~3-4 gcds (two shadow bolts, 3 MC soulfires, 3-4 Demonic slashes) and then Hand of Gul'dan again, depending on your level of haste.

Situations that you wouldn't want to do that would be if you need instant burst AoE damage via Choas Wave, or if you are trying to maintain a large MC stack for burst and are using Imp Swarm (H Spine comes to mind)

[iddqd]

Does a two-stack shadowflame also give double the demonic fury per tick?

[Aeiri]

With my haste levels(BIS gear for this content), HoG-> 2x Shadowbolt or Soulfire -> HoG will refresh it perfectly before the shadowflame dot falls off. That is what I have been using.

[Zinnin]

Does a two-stack shadowflame also give double the demonic fury per tick?

No, it is still 2 fury per tick. However your aim should be to only clip the last tick and 2 fury (even 4 fury if you clip early) is a very small amount.

[Last Starfighter]

No moar warlocks!!!!!!!!!!!!! Too...many........fotm.....aaaaaahhhhhhhh

[Harsesis]

That doesn't answer the question at all.

Is it better to spam both at the same time or to wait till the dot ticks off then hit it again

My explanation shows that it doesn't matter which you do just that hitting it 2 twice and waiting for both is easier to keep track of. So yes it does answer the question.

[Xandy]

You want to refresh it before the last tick of shadow flame because of the stacking dot mechanic.

The ideal time to do this is when Shadowflame is at 2-3 seconds remaining, since the meteor takes about 1 second to hit the target. Also, if you wanted to do this for every Shadowflame you would have to wait for every second HoG charge to be about 4 seconds away before casting the initial HoG.

[Jessicka]

Cast charge 1 -> Cast 2 fillers -> Cast charge 2 -> wait until 5s of cooldown left on 2nd charge and cast charge 1 -> 2 fillers -> Cast charge 2.

Sounds messy, but you can set a Power Aura to pop for that delay on the second charge to make tracking easier and it becomes a piece of cake.

[Grubjuice]

of the various mechanics that add complication to the demonology spec, this is the one i hate the least.

I think clipping Shadowflame rewards really skilled players, whereas stance dancing to put up Doom at the start of a fight or Cursed auras before a fight are just annoying.

[Jessicka]

of the various mechanics that add complication to the demonology spec, this is the one i hate the least.

I think clipping Shadowflame rewards really skilled players, whereas stance dancing to put up Doom at the start of a fight or Cursed auras before a fight are just annoying.

Doom I can put up with, but what I do find annoying is when Corruption falls off in the time between refreshing HoG, activating Meta and all your cooldowns, then starting Touch of Chaos spam; having to drop Meta to reapply Corruption then wait out the cooldown to go back into Meta... Otherwise I guess casting Corruption a fresh is the start of that ramp up for using Meta. :\