Making the switch to main my Lock - Never played end game before, help?

[Vinho]

So the title, along with my Avatar & Signature should help give some background to what I'm trying to do here!

My lock is 88 and there's really not a whole lot of room in my 10 man guild for melee especially for heroic progression, so I've decided to sit my rogue and finish off my lock.

I'm currently destro and am wondering if - what I've been hearing so far is correct - that Affliction is hands down the top damage spec to play?

Is that the case for a fresh 90 at 440 ilvl gear the same as it would be for a 475? If I stay destro will there be a big difference between specs as far as damage goes? And can anyone recommend some quick either beginner / advanced tips for maximizing damage throughput for a new lock?

Any input / comments / reading material posted is very much appreciated, thank you for your time!

Edit: I've noticed simcraft has affliction as top dps for all classes let alone warlock specs - but I know that it is tuned for T14 BiS, Does it still apply to lower ilvls?

[Deleted]

Hi Vinho !
First of all congratulations for that great choice of playing a lock as main, you will see that it is a very fun and unique class to play.
Concerning the spec, you can check on world of logs that every spec is playable even in HM, and some destro locks are pulling very high numbers even though it is the spec know as the lowest damage dealing one at the moment.
I would recommand to test all 3 specs, then choose 2 you're the most comfortable with, stick with them and switch depending on the encounter between those 2.
All the information you need to start playing, improve your dps and raid efficiency is inside the stickies in the warlock section. Read the 3 spec guides and all the pages of discussions there.

[xskarma]

If you are looking at heroic progression I'd go with a Affli/Demo set up, unless you are totally sold on Destro. Just read through the stickied guides at the top of the board. While the information in the OP if the Destro/Demo guide aren't very up to date anymore, the Affliction guide is up to date, but it's mostly the discussion in the thread itsself that should be of use to you.

These threads should also give you some further insight and tips

Method's Sparkuggz kill video thread: http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/...ose-interested

Got some valuable insight by some top end locks.

Collection thread of experiences and comments of people raiding as Destruction: http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/...as-destruction

Pretty much THE destro thread, if you like Destro enough to stick with it and want to know more.

[Deleted]

Congrats on making the best decision you'll ever make in wow these lock forums are amazingly helpful so you wont have a problem sorting out an issue if you get one, firstly... The 3 specs are totally different, destro for burst, but low damage throughout the fight, affliction has very nice burst, and very nice damage throughout the whole fight, demo has got very nice burst if cd's are all popped, but given the change in resources, we now dont have a 2min cd for meta, once in meta your mobility is amazing... Just depends really how you like each spec but as nerlin mentioned, try all 3 specs, see what you like... Warlocks are in a very very nice place atm.. Im affliction/demo, haste to 4717 for that extra corruption tick, then full out mastery for aff, and remember, if you're affliction, you dont need 15% hit, were able to have around 13% hit, just have quick reactions just incase... Goodluck on choosing a spec, destro isnt really viable as much as the other two, but play what you enjoy

[Vinho]

I appreciate the feedback, and not going to lie -- not sure if you guys ever wander to the rogue forums on mmo-champ but they're very lack luster. They used to be cool but slowly seeping life... could be because rogues are only mid range... have fallen hard since we've wielded our cata oranges!

I've got lots of reading to do thx for the heads up I may keep destro just because I like it's burst, and I'll likely try our affliction I think --

I also raid lead, so imo I'm looking for one of the more simpler yet effective rotations for either class. I remember back in the day affliction had the most crazy rotation / priority system in existence, but I think Blizzard has simplified it since then?

[Fuqup]

Quick primer of strengths and weaknesses of warlock specs:

affliction: good sustained damage, good burst when cds are up excellent scaling (good at low gear levels and gets better as you get more gear), good damage control via haunt manamgement, decent execute, amazing burst aoe if you have ample setup time (eg lots of adds spawn but they all need to die no earlier than 10 seconds after spawning), king of heavy multidotting with quick to die targets thanks to instant dots + infinite shard generation (prime example: will of the emperor). Decent movement, takes planning and skill. Bad aoe rampup, bad for consistent damage (no shards for haunt = bad dps). This is your go-to spec for fights, and has a decently high skill cap regarding things like watching weapon procs for haunt usage. Abuse the fact that you get 4 shards back when drain souling a target as it dies, so manage shards accordingly. Despite high-ish skill cap, can be played well even without perfect play.

demo: good burst, good damage control (pop in and out of meta as necessary), amazing movement while in meta, amazing burst toe (immo aura, hand of guldan, felstorm, harvest life, grimoire of extra felguard, infernal, pet aoe benefits from demo's dark soul.... and so on), decent multidotting if targets will be alive for 30 secs or so. Bad consistent damage due to cd/meta dependency but good overall single target. Really bad movement outside of meta due to long casts. Being good at demo requires fury management and therefore knowledge of the fight. Great single target alternative if you aren't good at aff, though much higher skill cap plus unintuitive rotation, and lots of utility/situational buttons so have lots of keybinding space .

destro: amazing chaos bolt burst, very strong burst and sustained aoe, great execute, decent cleave damage w/ havoc. Subpar movement dps, worst single target of warlock specs but not at all terrible, bad multidotting. Key to this spec is using fire&brimstone and havoc really well. Lowest skill cap by faso good for beginners.

Sorry for formatting, im on my phone. Imo get comfortable with affliction and demo, but destro can sub for demo (and is better on some fights for aoe).