All 3 specs in raids

[a little Kappa]

We got 4 warlocks in my guild, 2 affli, 1 demo and 1 destro. We seem to be pretty much equal on dps on every fight, with a few exeptions on AoE fights where destro pulls ahead.

What spec is strongest now on single target, and which one of us should respec?

[Deleted]

If you are all doing equal is there a reason to respec?

[a little Kappa]

Yes, if we know what the best spec is, we can adjust and pull more dps.

[Youarefired]

If they're all about the same, but Destro does better on AOE, why not just all go Destro and then you'll all have better AOE while going the same dps as the other specs?

[Deleted]

Theoretically Destro is top atm but Aff will scale better and be top with heroic gear.

But the fights vary and preferred spec varies per fight. For instance Council is just playtime for Aff locks, but Megaera seems nicer for Destro. Demon is awesome on Durumu heroic with those Ice Walls.

[Deleted]

Destro is much better than Demo for Durumu H imo.

[Deleted]

If you want to optimize on fight to fight you need to respec a lot. Some specs shine on different fights. Overall each spec in 510-530 ilvl does around the same DPS. Once you reach 4p t15, demo / destro seems to do rather well too.

It's all about the trinkets!

If you are progressing on a fight and want to improve to the best spec, look at where you need the damage. I never play a spec if its topping meters if we need the damage elsewhere.

[a little Kappa]

If you want to optimize on fight to fight you need to respec a lot. Some specs shine on different fights. Overall each spec in 510-530 ilvl does around the same DPS. Once you reach 4p t15, demo / destro seems to do rather well too.

It's all about the trinkets!

If you are progressing on a fight and want to improve to the best spec, look at where you need the damage. I never play a spec if its topping meters if we need the damage elsewhere.

I get your point but I'd say t15 4p for destruction is crap. 8% CHANCE to proc extra embers, while affli/demo has baseline bonuses and not RNG. I'll be going demo once I got 4p.

[Deleted]

Destro is much better than Demo for Durumu H imo.

I can see why both are strong - but why are it stronger than Demo?

@poster, I am quite certain your favorite spec will net out on top (assuming you have all trinkets).

Otherwise, some encounters favours other specs more, say Demo not as Aff/Des on Horridon, and Aff not as good as Demo/Destruction on Durumu (H).

[Reolac]

So far I've played all 3 specs on Heroic progression, for me Destruction is slightly ahead of Demonology and marginally ahead of Affliction @ 524 with 4 set. As Sparku said it's really down to trinkets, my results are down to because I'm running with Unerring + Volatile.

I really enjoyed Dragon Soul in the aspect of being able to play all three specs during progression, when the numbers are extremely close, such as now it gets really exciting to try and optimize from boss to boss.

From the HC bosses so far:

Jin'rokh: Destruction [single target] - fluiditiy is a debuff so you can't benefit from last second refreshes here.

Horridon: Destruction [single target + cleave] - havoc shadowburn + ember regeneration.

Council: Demonology [4 target spread](or Destruction depending on tactic [2 target cleave]) - 100% Crit Doom on 4 targets (pooling Embers for Sul havoc execute)

Tortos: Destruction [single target + aoe](or Affliction if you need a slow) - havoc shadowburn off dead turtles

Megaera: Destruction [single target + aoe](or Demonology for Carrion Swarm) - ember regeneration

Ji-Kun: It's extremely close here [single target] - pooling embers for nutriment v.s pooling fury/shards for nutriment and refreshing at last second.

Durumu: Destruction [single target + aoe] - ice wall damage + many havoc shadowburns

Primordius: Destruction [single target] - ember generation + many havoc shadowburns

[Deleted]

As Sparkuggz said, it's about where your raid needs the damage. Affliction has a good baseline performance with some amazing abilities like the slow for Tortos and the multidotting for Primordius. Imo all specs are very equal, except for the few exceptions created by tactics/mechanics and you should play whatever you play best. Even if destruction is said to be better for a given fight, if you're bad at destruction and good at demo or affliction, the spec you're good at should still give you a better result.

[Deleted]

i would say it has more to do with the tactics you're using and less to do about the spec if you're about equal in skill with each spec but it is generally true that if you're better or more used to playing 1 spec then you'll tend to get a better result with that spec. personally, i know afflic much better than destro and i consider myself to be about average when it comes to being destro but i still get very decent results with destro, atleast good enough to not feel like i nerf myself when i respec.