Warlock leveling specs - what is bad, and what is optimal?

[Deleted]

I've decided to dust off my old Warlock. I'm at 86, and I'm wondering how I should go about leveling - spec/talents etc., stuff like that. Both for questing, for dungeoning, and - if I get so far - heroics at level 90.

So, a couple of questions - what would be the most optimal spec for soloing/questing? And playstyle (pull one at a time, two at a time, mass pull etc.)?

How about dungeons? I can see all three specs being relatively close here, would that be right? How about playstyles for the different specs when doing dungeons - would I care to SB: SoC (or just ordinary SoC) at all, or should I just multi-dot? And for Demonology - how often should I do Metamorphisis (and when), and should I bother multi-dotting Corruption for the Demonic Power (?) gain?

Thanks in advance - any help is appreciated.

[xskarma]

With so many questions it's hard to answer them all, so I'll just go for the broad one. If you are going to raid with the toon, then it's probably best to go for Affli+Favourite off spec. Play Affli during leveling, use Voidlord, pull mobs with Soul burn: Soul Swap, more at a time if you can handle it, and use Drain Soul as they get low for Shard replenishment, then use shards to pull more mobs with SB:SS. This way you'll learn about Affli for when you start raiding.

If you are just going to do dungeons and random stuff then just pick whatever spec you like best, they'll all work well. All 3 specs have different things that make them stand out during leveling. Demo has superior AoE and with the glyph a tanking stace you can (ab)use for mass mob pulling, Destro has infinite embers through Shadowburn giving 2x Embers for every mob you kill with it, and through the infinite embers also infinite healing through Ember Tap, Affliction has the best multi dot capabilities and almost zero downtime with Voidlord and the best utility in terms of pet resummon, Curse of Exhaustion, Waterwalking etc.

[TiagoRamos]

+1 to xskarma.
I levled using demonology because I always loved demo. And its easy playing correctly. You can pull 3-5 mobs with your FG, he does decent cleave and felstorm damage and agros mobs, you just have to aoe them with 2x hand of guldan+immolation aura

[Regen]

While I'm still below the level in question I will say over the last 5 days in getting to 70 I've tried all three and honestly it's all about the same. Destro is best when you can chaos bolt...which you can't always do so. Demo is good if that's your thing but I'm not a big fan. I've really enjoyed affliction. One, because it's best for dungeons as far as practicing for 90 goes (because aff is the go to spec) and I find it quickest. I throw up my dots on a mob, then the next, then the next, and just make sure I have my void attack each one. He can normally survive 5-7 chained like this without needing heals and the first few start dying while I'm channeling MG on the last few. I've found it to be quickest. Like on the "kill 15 of this thing" quests this method really speeds you up.

[Abysal]

All 3 specs are viable for leveling.

Demo with Glyph of Demon Hunting is an interesting way to level. You become a poor mans tank but with still solid DPS. You can effectively pull 5-10 mobs at a time, pop your AOEs and Harvest of Life.

Destro has almost no down time thanks to insanely fast Mana regen and Ember Tap. If you do it right, you can also do big pulls with Destro. Pull stuff with Rain of Fire, collect them all up, use an Ember on Fire and Brimstone+Immolate, Drop another Rain of fire on the stack of mobs, then Harvest of Life+Ember Tap for basically unlimited Embers and Health. Once mobs start getting to 20%, Shadowburn them for free Embers. For this to work well, you need Harvest of Life, Dark Bargain, and Grimore of Sacrifice Talents. Mortal Coil and Shadowfury are both effective. Also need Glyph of Siphon Life and Burning Embers. For single target, Destro is simple. Just keep generating Embers and then using Chaos Bolt/Shadowburn.

Affliction is basically the same as it's always been. DoTs up, soul swap, burn down. It's the best for 1-2 targets and probably the worst for massive AOE (if you can't down them without having to refresh DoTs).