PVP now?

[Nicola]

Fair question. Bloodlust is in our region and pool of battlegroups that we queue into. I'm on Vengeance BG, which is one the four west coast BGs. After a certain time in the Q, it allows us to match against teams in our regions (Bloodlust, Cyclone and Reckoning BGs).

Hope that clears it up/provides proof.

Here is the armory link to our team:
us.battle.net/wow/en/arena/korgath/3v3/Not%20OP/
s209.beta.photobucket.com/user/Canadianpimp06/media/WoWScrnShot_120312_233829.jpg.html

Hmm I see, I'm not from US so my apologies for not knowing which BGs queue up against each other.

[Aruotnof]

I’ve done a lot of 3s as all 3 specs since the 5.1 patch and the CW nerf. I’m currently running Affliction shadowplay at 2300 MMR, so not only am I running something at decent ratings, I get to see what other locks are running at high ratings. NEVER MIND, THERE ARE NO LOCKS AT HIGH RATINGS NOW! (jk ). Here’s my take on the 3 specs currently.

Thanks for your advice! I like PvP, but it´s not my focus at the moment... However I do some arenas weekly. I´ve not tried play with affliction in PvP (MOP)... Always played with demonology. Yesterday I did some Bgs and arenas (2x2) with demonology and I had a good peformance (low MMR). I´ll try next week play with affliction like you said.

During Cata (4.3), I played pvp using affliction (RBG and Arenas) and demonology (duels and World PvP).

[Chainreactor]

Demonology – Don’t fool yourself - Demo was ridiculously overpowered pre 5.1, right up there with mages and warriors. It had the best one-shot macro, the highest overall damage (though AoE damage was a big factor), and a permanent damage reduction with Aura of Enfeeblement. With the patch and the aura gone, Demo was still pretty decent and did even more damage since you didn’t have to put up the aura anymore, but relied heavily on the one-shot macro (which was even more scary with the increased PvP power on weapon change). With the CW nerf, burst is pretty severed and Demo is really a shadow of what it was a couple weeks ago and with the lack of the threat of bursting someone down in a few seconds gone, teams can play much more offensively and put you in bad positions without many repercussions. Demo still has its many positives. The knockoff is amazing, the burst is still good, 25% MS from Wrathguard, almost everything is instant cast/passive damage, and it has decent to high sustained damage.

The problem with Demo is that it just doesn’t excel at anything anymore, even comparing to our other specs, let alone other classes. Destro now has higher burst granted you can get it off (not impossible, esp w/ KJC and some planning). Affliction has better sustained pressure. Demo brings some nice utility on Z-axis maps and the 25% MS. The only thing Demo does better than the other specs though is damage and effectiveness while being trained. Demo can remain at like 90%+ effectiveness when focused while Affliction is like 60% and Destro is around 75%. Because of this though, Demo has the best natural synergy with melee partners that aren’t sat on as often.

Comps Affliction works well in: Warrior/Lock, any comp as before but just not nearly as good.
Score out of 10: 3.5/10 (pre 5.1 score – 9.5/10)

Bro i could be wrong but isnt GoSac the preferred talent choice now in PvP because of the Chaos Wave damage Nerf?

[Aruotnof]

I prefer (Demo) Service or Supremacy in arenas and GoSac or GoSup in RBG/BG.

[Simplexity]

Bro i could be wrong but isnt GoSac the preferred talent choice now in PvP because of the Chaos Wave damage Nerf?

Depends on your playstyle. If you like to set up the perfect burst opportunity then sac works. If your comp or playstyle is more sustain pressure than you should go with Supremacy

[Lulbalance]

I’ve done a lot of 3s as all 3 specs since the 5.1 patch and the CW nerf. I’m currently running Affliction shadowplay at 2300 MMR, so not only am I running something at decent ratings, I get to see what other locks are running at high ratings. NEVER MIND, THERE ARE NO LOCKS AT HIGH RATINGS NOW! (jk ). Here’s my take on the 3 specs currently.

Affliction – I feel that Affliction is probably our best overall spec now, though it’s a far way off from being “good.” The KJC buff helped Affliction the most. Not having playing Affliction in PvP until this week, I was actually surprised how much damage it does. I’m using Sac spec generally and usually sac the Imp to dispel my healer out of any CC. The way damage is in Affliction is way different now – it’s a pretty strong single-target damage spec, but unlike other the other warlock specs and other single-target damage specs (Destro, Warriors, Hunters, etc) – it’s not as reliant on cooldowns/Dark Soul. With the way the game is now, offensive cooldowns and stacking offensive cooldowns is the best way to get kills, but without those cooldowns, it’s very hard to force any major defensive CDs. If you played Demo, you know it’s very hard to get a kill without Dark Soul. That’s not the way Affliction is, even though DS is still good for Affliction. I was actually able to do significant damage all game, but the compromise is you don’t have as much top end burst as Demo/Destro or other burst specs.

The biggest negatives about Affliction are that it’s really cast reliant, the MoP dispel system and it has the least survivability of all warlock specs. Affliction relied on passive survivability like Soul Link and self-healing. The defensive cooldowns we have now, while feel great for Demo/Destro, don’t suit Affliction well because you aren’t going to get many quick kills. The cast reliance isn’t as bad now with the KJC buff, but I could see playing without KJC being a huge pain. The cooldown on dispel is better than facing a shaman in Cata who could dispel a curse + magic and heal their teammate with dispel while dropping totems during the UA silence. But it’s still annoying getting a 10 stack agony get dispelled.

Comps Affliction works well in: DoT caster comps, mage/lock, warrior/lock
Score out of 10 (1 being an ele shaman, 10 being a pre 5.1 warr): 4/10 (pre 5.1 score – 2.5/10)

really great post.. finally someone else who thinks aff is the best of the worst right now.

playing shadowplay aff this season though..would still a pain in the joints. personally i prefer getting carried by a warrior or mage ^.^.