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    Scarab Lord Nicola's Avatar
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    Season 15 Discussion + Warlock PvP Guide

    Season 14 Discussion

    Welcome to the Official Season 14 Discussion thread. Feel free to discuss about anything related to Warlock PvP.
    Below you can find a Warlock PvP Guide written by me, containing most of the information you'll have to know to get started.

    If you are not interested in reading the guide and want to skip to the discussion, you can click here.


    A Warlock PvP Guide
    I. Introduction

    Read: Some tooltips might be wrong or not present at this moment. Those will be fixed once 5.4 goes live.

    Welcome to this warlock PvP guide for Mist of Pandaria patch 5.4. Here you'll be learn everything you'll need to know about being a warlock in a Player versus Player environment.
    While this guide will mainly be covering the basics to get started, even as a more experience player you might find some useful information here.
    Feel free to discuss below and contribute to improve this guide.

    II. Table of Content

    • I. Introduction
    • II. Table of Content
    • III. An overview of the 3 specializations
    • IV. Talents
    • V. Glyphs
    • VI. Stats
    • VII. Gems
    • VIII. Enchants
    • IX. Professions
    • X. Resources
    • XI. Spells
    • XII. Pets
    • XIII. Useful macros and addons

    III. An overview of the 3 specializations

    Affliction

    Affliction is the shadow based spec based around spreading damage over time effects, corrupting your enemies and having them suffer in agony. Haunting people to take them into your malefic grasp or swapping souls to make another suffer, it's what you enjoy. You don't blow up your enemies, you make them suffer, giving them a slow and painful death. By using the power of souls you can empowered your abilities to gain an advantage over your opponents.

    Demonology

    As the name says, this specialization is based around demons. You summon demons from the nether, enslaving them to your will and forcing them to do your filthy jobs. From controlling a fel- or wrathguard to even summoning an army of imps, you are a master of demons. And as being a master, by building up demonic fury, you gain the power to metamorph into a demon yourself, giving you several new demonic abilities as well as improving your damaging abilities.

    Destruction

    "Some people just want to see the world burn", that's destruction for you. You control the power of fire. From incinerating everything on your path to turning the rain into fire, wreaking havoc is your thing. During combat you collect Burning Embers bits which will eventually ignite you. With the Burning Embers you have collected, you can use some of your stronger abilities. From completely obliterating someone with a chaos bolt, tapping a Burning Ember to heal yourself or summoning the Flames of Xoroth to resurrect your demon. How you use them is up to you.


    IV. Talents

    Tier 1



    Dark Regeneration
    Pro
    • Strong healing/defensive cooldown
    • Can be combined with healthstone.
    Con
    • No sustained healing due the 2 minutes cooldown.
    Soul Leech
    Pro
    • Can absorb a decent of damage once built up
    • Passive
    Con
    • Hard to build shield up when being focused.
    • Useless against burst if not built up.

    Harvest Life
    Pro
    • A good healing and damage improvement for Drain Life.
    • No cooldown, allowing you to use it whenever you feel like.
    Con
    • Requires you to channel.
    • You'll lose a decent amount of damage

    Conclusion
    In most cases you want to use Dark Regeneration because it functions as an extra defensive cooldown against burst damage. Harvest Life can be used when you don't have to worry about high burst damage and works fairly well as a filler during Dark Apotheosis.

    Tier 2



    Demonic Breath
    Pro
    • Can hit multiple targets.
    • Shorter cooldown compared to the other 2 options.
    Con
    • Melee range
    • Slows are very common already.

    Mortal Coil
    Pro
    • Heals for 15% of your maximum health.
    • 40 yd range.
    • Horror effect, doesn't break on damage and is unaffected by Fear-breaking abilities such as Berserker Rage.
    • Works with Havoc, allowing you to hit 2 targets, however, the healing is not doubled (Destruction only)
    Con
    • Limited to 1 target, 2 if Destruction.
    • Longest cooldown out of the 3 choices.
    • Shares diminishing return with Blood Horror

    Shadowfury
    Pro
    • Shortest cooldown out of the 3 choices.
    • Will stun anyone not immune within the Area of Effect.
    • 40 yd range.
    • Stun, doesn't break on damage.
    Con
    • Shares diminishing return with almost every stun in game.

    Conclusion
    Shadowfury and Mortal Coil are the better choices because it offers you extra Crowd Control. Due how common slows are in PvP, there is no real point in having Demonic breath since the slow is only 50% and requires you to be in very close range.

    Tier 3



    Soul Link
    Pro
    • As long as your pet is active, 20% of the damage you should normally take is transfered to him, in other words, you take 20% less damage.
    • Both you and your pet are healed for 3% of the damage you do.
    • 20% additional health (only with Grimoire of Sacrifice active)
    Con
    • Doesn't work when you don't have a pet or Grimoire of Sacrifice active.
    • Your pet can die if you don't pay attention to its health.

    Sacrificial Pact
    Pro
    • Very strong shield when used with full health.
    • Can be used while crowd controlled.
    • 1 minute cooldown, lasts for 20 seconds.
    Con
    • High health cost which scales with current health.
    • Strength of shield scales with amount of health sacrificed.

    Dark Bargain
    Pro
    • Grants 8 seconds of damage immunity.
    • Can be used while crowd controlled.
    Con
    • 3 minutes cooldown.
    • After the shield fades, 50% of the damage prevented is dealt over 8 seconds.

    Conclusion
    Dark Bargain is the prefered choice when you have to deal with very high burst due the damage immunity. Sacrificial Pact andSoul Link work very well when you don't have to worry about very high burst.

    Tier 4



    Blood Horror
    Pro
    • Low health cost
    • Horror
    • buff lasts for 60 seconds while only having a 30 second cooldown. Allows early activation
    Con
    • Only triggers on a melee hit, making it only useful against melee.
    • Absorbs prevent it from proccing.

    Burning Rush
    Pro
    • While active, increases your movement speed by 50%.
    • While active, you can not drop below 100% movement speed.
    Con
    • Costs 4% of your maximum health per second, making it very expensive to use.

    Unbound Will
    Pro
    • Functions as a PvP trinket and doesn't share cooldown with the PvP trinket
    • Removes all harmful magical effects on you
    • Low cooldown of 1 minute
    Con

    Conclusion
    Due the high health cost of Burning Rush, it's not the best choice although it will work when you are in need of extra mobility to kite. For ranked PvP, Blood Horror is the superior choice against melee teams while Unbound Will is the way to go for everything else.
    For non-ranked PvP, both are good choices. If you prefer additional defense against melee, use Blood Horror. If you prefer a second PvP-trinket, go with Unbound Will.

    Tier 5



    Grimoire of Supremacy
    Pro
    • Your pet deals 20% more damage, increasing your sustained damage.
    • Your pets gain more health, making them harder to kill
    • Your pets gain superior abilities. The only change that really matters is Mortal Cleave , granting 25% healing reduction compared to Legion Strike granting 10%.
    • Sacrificial Pact can absorb more due more pet health. ( if talented in Sacrificial Pact)
    Con
    • You have to manage your pet.

    Grimoire of Service
    Pro
    • Additional burst damage due having a temporarily second pet.
    • Can be used as an interrupt, stun, defensive dispel or a seduce depending on which pet you summon.
    • Increased fury generation while second pet is up (Demonology only)
    Con
    • Can't control the second pet its abilities. Special move is always used when summoned.
    • You have to manage both your pet.

    Grimoire of Sacrifice
    Pro
    • You don't need to manage a pet, instead you gain a passive damage buff to your single target spells which also increases your cleave potential.
    • You gain 2% of your maximum health per 5 seconds.
    • The special move of your pet and the one you get after using Grimoire of Sacrifice don't share cooldowns. You can use the ability, sacrifice your pet and use it again.
    • You gain 20% extra health (only if talented into Soul Link).
    Con
    • Only access to 1 pet ability.
    • Unable to use pet abilities while crowd controlled nor being able to deal damage aside from damage over time effects.
    • The damage buff does not include Damage over Time effects.
    • Reduced demonic fury due the lack of a pet.(Demonology only)

    Conclusion
    While Grimoire of Service gives you a bit more burst, due the lack of control of the second pet people tend to stay away from it. Aside from a temporarily increase in demonic fury generation for Demonology, it brings very little to the table and therefore you should avoid using it.

    Grimoire of Sacrifice is the preferred choice for Destruction since it improves cleave potential, which is one of Destruction's strengths, and the passive healing adds nicely to the amount of selfhealing destruction already has. As for Affliction, the damage from your Damage over Time effects is not increased and therefore not worth it. Neither is it worth it for Demonology for the same reason as Affliction and the fact that you cripple your demonic fury generation.

    Grimoire of Supremacy is considered as the best choice for both Affliction as Demonology. The reason for this is simple, the other 2 choices have too many cons for these 2 specializations. And as Demonology you want to use the Wrathguard for Mortal Cleave anyway.

    Tier 6



    Archimonde's Darkness
    Pro
    • You can use Dark Soul one time extra or use a double Dark Soul every 4 minutes.
    Con
    • Only 1 charge can be recharged per time, reducing the effectiveness of the talent in longer games.

    Kil'jaeden's Cunning
    Pro
    • You can cast and channel your filler spell while moving.
    Con
    • none

    Mannoroth's Fury
    Pro
    • Increases the area of your main Area of Effect spell by 500% ( = +125% radius) and it's damage by 100%.
    Con
    • Rather useless in most situations.

    Conclusion
    Mannoroth's Fury is rather lacking for PvP and should be ignored.Kil'jaeden's Cunning gives you a decent boost in mobility while Archimonde's Darkness allows you to burst an extra time. Both are good choices and depend mostly on personal preferences and the comp you play with.

    V. Glyphs

    Affliction

    Recommended

    Optional

    Demonology

    Recommended

    Optional

    Destruction

    Recommended

    Optional

    VI. Stats

    Stat Priorities

    Affliction

    Spell Hit (6%) > Haste >= Mastery > 0.5 Intellect > PvP Resilience > Crit > PvP Power

    Demonology

    Spell Hit (6%) > Mastery > 0.5 Intellect > PvP Resilience > Haste > Crit > PvP Power

    Destruction

    Spell Hit (6%) > Mastery > 0.5 Intellect > PvP Resilience > Crit > Haste > PvP Power

    Combination of 2 Specializations.

    If you plan on playing multiple specializations and you don't want to change gems and reforges, you can use the following stat priority:

    Spell Hit (6%) > Mastery > 0.5 Intellect > PvP Resilience > Haste >= Crit > PvP Power

    Stat Summaries

    PvP Resilience

    Provides damage reduction against all damage done by players, their pets, minions and guardians. PvP Resilience is your main source of damage mitigation and is therefore the most important stat. You start with base amount of 72% and additional PvP resilience will increase this amount, resulting in less damage taken from other players.
    For more information about PvP Resilience, click here.

    Spell Hit (6%)

    The Spell Hit cap of 6% will eliminate the chance for any special ability to miss against other players. To reach the Spell Hit cap, the sum of your Expertise rating and Hit rating has to be 2040. You should try to be as close to this number as possible without going under it as missing 1 single spell can change the whole game.

    PvP Power

    Increases all damage done to players and their pets or minions. Since the scaling is pretty weak, there's no reason to gem or enchant for it.
    For more information about PvP Power, click here.

    Intellect

    Increases damage and healing dealt by all spells and slightly improves critical strike chance.

    Mastery

    Affliction: Mastery: Potent Afflictions increases the damage by your Agony, Corruption, and Unstable Affliction.

    Demonology: Mastery: Master Demonologist increases the damage dealt by your demons and your damage in both caster and Metamorphosis form.

    Destruction: Mastery: Emberstorm increases the damage of your Immolate, Incinerate, Fel Flame, Conflagrate, and any spell that consumes Burning Embers.

    Because Mastery grants a flat damage increase for all 3 specializations, it is considered as the best secondary stat for Demonology and Destruction and since 1 intellect <= 2 mastery, it's worth it to gem Mastery over intellect.

    Haste

    Reduces cast time, which will make it easier to get spells off without getting interrupted, lowers the GCD, and can give extra ticks on Damage over Time effects. Also, thanks to Chaotic Energy, Haste increases Mana regeneration for Destruction Warlocks.

    Haste is considered to be the best stat for Affliction and the second best stat for Demonology since it is more reliable than Crit.

    Crit

    Increases the chance for your attacks to critically hit for additional damage. Also, Chaos Bolt scales with your Critical Hit Chance.

    Crit is considered to be the second best secondary stat for Destruction since it will slightly increase the damage of Chaos Bolt and Burning Ember bit generating abilities will grant double the amount of Burning Ember bits on a Critical Hit.

    VII. Gems

    Meta Socket

    You want to use [Tyrannical Primal Diamond] or [Burning Primal Diamond]. Both are perfectly viable and which one you choose depends completely on personal preference.

    Blue socket

    If you don't have 6% Spell Hit yet, use [Sensei's Wild Jade], otherwise, ignore the socket color and gem [Fractured Sun's Radiance] or [Quick Sun's Radiance].

    Red Socket

    If you need Mastery, the best choice is [Artful Vermilion Onyx].. If you need Haste, use [Reckless Vermilion Onyx].

    Yellow Socket

    If Mastery is your best stat, [Fractured Sun's Radiance] is the way to go. If you are gemming Haste, use [Quick Sun's Radiance] instead.
    Prismatic Socket

    In a Prismatic Socket you should always gem what gives you the best stats which in our case is either Mastery or Haste, meaning you want to use [Fractured Sun's Radiance] or [Quick Sun's Radiance].

    VIII. Enchants

    Enchants by Slot

    IX. Professions

    Profession perks


    Rated PvP

    Recommended
    • Blacksmithing: Offers the highest amount of PvP stats, namely 640 extra Resilience.
    • Jewelcrafting: Offers the second highest amount of PvP stats, namely 320 extra Resilience and 160 extra Intellect.

    Optional
    • Alchemy: Offers 320 extra Intellect.
    • Enchanting: Offers 320 extra Intellect.
    • Engineering: Offers a 1920 Intellect boost on-use for 10 seconds every 60 seconds.
    • Inscription: Offers 320 extra Intellect.
    • Leatherworking: Offers 320 extra Intellect.
    • Tailoring: Offers a 2000 Intellect proc for 15 seconds every 60 seconds.

    Unrated PvP

    Recommended
    • Blacksmithing: Offers the highest amount of PvP stats, namely 640 extra Resilience.
    • Engineering: Offers a 1920 Intellect boost on-use for 10 seconds every 60 seconds in addition to various tinkers such as Nitro Boosts and explosives such as Big Daddy.
    • Jewelcrafting: Offers the second highest amount of PvP stats, namely 320 extra Resilience and 160 extra Intellect.
    • Tailoring: Offers a 2000 Intellect proc for 15 seconds every 60 seconds and the use of Embersilk Nets.

    Optional
    • Alchemy: Offers 320 extra Intellect.
    • Enchanting: Offers 320 extra Intellect.
    • Inscription: Offers 320 extra Intellect.
    • Leatherworking: Offers 320 extra Intellect.

    X. Resources

    All 3 specializations: Mana

    The primary resource of all 3 specializations. Every single spell that doesn't have a secondary resource cost will cost Mana.

    Demonology and Affliction passively generate 3.2k Mana per second and can use Life Tap to transfer 15% of their maximum health into Mana.

    Destruction on the other hand has no access to Life Tap and is therefore fully dependent on its passive Mana regeneration. Because of this, Destruction is given Chaotic Energy which increased your Mana regeneration with 625% and makes your Spell Haste also increase your Mana regeneration. Fully geared, you'll have roughly 24k Mana regeneration per second.

    Affliction: Soul Shards

    Affliction's secondary resource and is used for the following spells:

    Out of combat Soul Shards regenerate at a rate of 1 Soul Shard per 20 seconds.
    In combat you can use Drain Soul to generate Soul Shards. Every 2 ticks of Drain Soul will generate 1 Soul Shard, while killing your enemy while channeling Drain Soul will instantly generate 4 shards (Unlike 3 as the tooltip says).
    In addition to that, Corruption has a 5% chance to proc Nightfall, granting you 1 Soul Shard.

    Demonology: Demonic Fury

    Demonology's secondary resource and is used to stay in Metamorphosis. While in Metamorphosis, all your spells that normally cost Mana will cost Demonic Fury.

    Out of combat, your Demonic Fury will regenerate/degenerate to 200 at a rate of 10 Demonic Fury per second.
    In combat, you can generate Demonic Fury with the following:
    • Basic pet abilities at a rate of 1 Demonic Fury per 5 Energy used.
    • Corruption at a rate of 4 Demonic Fury per tick, for a total of 36 Demonic fury per Corruption.
    • Landing a killing blow while in Metamorphosis generates 100 Demonic Fury.
    • Drain Life at a rate of 10 Demonic Fury per tick.
    • Fel Flame at a rate of 15 Demonic Fury per cast.
    • Hellfire at a rate of 10 Demonic Fury per tick + 3 Demonic Fury per target.
    • Shadow Bolt at a rate of 25 Demonic Fury per cast.
    • Shadowflame at a rate of 2 Demonic Fury per tick, for a total of 12 Demonic Fury per Shadowflame.
    • Soul Fire at a rate of 30 Demonic Fury per cast.
    • Wild imp's Firebolt at a rate of 5 Demonic Fury per cast, for a total of 50 Demonic Fury per Wild imp.

    Destruction: Burning Embers

    Destruction's Secondary resource. One Burning ember consists out of 10 Burning Ember bits and is required to cast one the following spells:

    Out of combat you will generate/degenerate Burning Embers till you have 1, at a rate of 1 Burning Ember per second.
    In combat, you can generate Burning Ember bits with the following:
    • Conflagrate at 1 Burning Ember bit pet Hit, 2 per Crit.
    • Fel Flame at 1 Burning Ember bit per Hit, 2 per Crit.
    • Immolate at 1 Burning Ember bit per Critical tick.
    • Incinerate at 1 Burning Ember bit per Hit, 2 per Crit.
    • Getting a kill within 5 seconds of using Shadowburn will generate 2 Burning Ember.
    • Rain of Fire has a chance to generate 1 Ember bit per Hit/Crit.

    XI. Spells

    Affliction

    Damage
    • Unstable Affliction: Your highest priority non-instant cast. Keep this up on everyone for damage and to deal a large amount of damage when it gets dispelled.
    • Corruption: Your highest priority instant cast. keep this up on everyone for damage and Nightfall procs.
    • Agony: Your second highest priority instant cast. Keep this up on everyone and for damage.
    • Fel Flame: Use this to deal damage when you are unable to cast anything else.
    • Haunt: Use on targets afflicted by Unstable Affliction, Corruption and Agony for a big damage boost when you have a sufficient amount of Soul Shards.
    • Malefic Grasp: Your main filler spell. Use on targets afflicted by Unstable Affliction, Corruption and Agony when you require a big boost in single target damage.
    • Drain Soul: Your finisher / Soul Shard generator. Use on targets afflicted by Unstable Affliction, Corruption and Agony ( Not necessary if target will die regardless of DoTs) that are at or below 20% health, or use to regenerate Soul Shards at a rate of 1 Soul Shards per 2 ticks.

    Soulburn

    Utility

    Dark Soul
    • Dark Soul: Misery: This is your main offensive cooldown. After activation, use Soulburn: Soul Swap to spread your Damage over Time effects with increased Haste to as many targets as possible. If you have sufficient Soul Shards after spreading your DoTs, apply Haunt on the target of your desire and start channeling Malefic Grasp or Drain Soul for a ton of damage.

    Demonology

    Damage - Caster Form
    • Corruption: Your highest priority cast, keep this up on everyone to build up Demonic Fury.
    • Fel Flame: Use this to deal damage, generate Demonic Fury when you are unable to cast anything else.
    • Hand of Guldan: Use this spell to deal damage and apply Shadowflame. Try to hit as many targets as possible for maximum Demonic Fury generation and damage, and try to keep at least 1 charge of still spell ready in case you need to burst with Chaos Wave.
    • Hellfire: Use when you can hit a large amount of targets (5+) for massive Demonic Fury generation, or to reveal stealth/invisible targets.
    • Imp Swarm: Use when you need extra damage and more Demonic Fury generation.
    • Shadow Bolt: Your main filler spell, use when you are certain you won't get interrupted and don't have Molten Core up.
    • Soul Fire: Your secondary filler spell, use when you are certain you won't get interrupt and have Molten Core up.

    Damage - Metamorphosis
    • Chaos Wave: This is your main nuke, use this when you have both charges available. This ability is best used in combination with Dark Soul and/or offensive Trinkets. Try to hit as many targets as possible for maximum damage and more Demonic Fury generation from Shadowflame.
    • Carrion Swarm: This is one of the most interesting abilities you have. Use this for extra damage, to interrupt a spell, to knock someone off an edge or to bring someone out of position. Be warned that Carrion Swarm can hit multiple targets.
    • Doom: Spread this on as many targets as possible for extra damage and to spawn Wild imps on Critical Hits. Stop using Doom if it's being decursed before it can deal damage.
    • Touch of Chaos: Use this to deal quick single target damage when you have sufficient Demonic Fury. Best used in combination Dark Soul and/or offensive Trinkets.

    Utility
    • Metamorphosis: Cursed Auras: Use this to automatically apply the effect of Curse of the Elements or Curse of Enfeeblement within 20 yards range of you, depending on which curse you turned into an aura. Stop using this if it's constantly being dispelled.
    • Demonic Leap: You leap a small distance in the direction you are moving. Use this ability to create a gap or to properly position yourself. Note that you can also leap backwards.
    • Demonic Rebirth: If your current demon dies, you can instantly Summon a new Demon. Use this after your pet has been killed and you want a new one.
    • Metamorphosis: Summon Pet: While in Metamorphosis you can instantly Summon a Demon for 200 Demonic Fury, however, you'll be unable to Summon a new Demon for the next minute.
    • Nether Plating: While in Metamorphosis you have 2.5 times as much armor and the duration of stuns and snares on you is reduced by 35%. Activating Metamorphosis on a good time will result in avoiding a lot of physical damage and getting early out of stuns

    Dark Soul

    Destruction

    Damage
    • Chaos Bolt: This is your main nuke. Use when you have sufficient Burning Embers, best used when you have 3 Backdraft charges in combination with Dark Soul and/or offensive Trinkets.
    • Conflagrate: Use this to deal a decent amount of damage, to generate Burning Ember bits, to apply a 50% snare and to generate 3 Backdraft charges. Try to always have 1 charge available for when you need extra burst damage.
    • Fel Flame: Use this to deal damage, generate Burning Ember bits when you are unable to cast anything else.
    • Immolate: Spread this to every target for extra damage and to generate Burning Ember bits.
    • Incinerate: This is your main filler spell, use this generate Burning Ember bits and to deal damage when you have a Backlash proc or Backdraft charges.
    • Rain of Fire: Use this to deal damage to multiple targets and to generate Burning Ember bits, or use to reveal stealth/invisible targets.
    • Shadowburn: This is your finisher, use this whenever a target is at 20% health or less to try finishing them off which will generate 2 Burning Embers.

    Utility
    • Ember Tap: Use this to heal yourself, amount of healing depends on how much Mastery you have.
    • Fire and Brimstone: Use this to apply Immolate to multiple targets for extra Burning Ember bits generation, or to snare multiple targets with Conflagrate.
    • Flames of Xoroth: Use this to instantly revive your last Demon.
    • Havoc: Casting Havoc on a target will grant you 3 charges of Havoc. At the cost of 3 charges, your next Chaos Bolt will hit the target with Havoc as well. At the cost of 1 charge, any single target abilitypell will hit the target with Havoc as well. This includes abilities such as Fear and Mortal Coil.

    Dark Soul

    Dark Soul: Instability: This is your main offensive cooldown. After activation try to cast as many Chaos Bolts as possible. Due the 30% extra Crit, you'll see a big boost in its damage. If you are unable to cast Chaos Bolt, cast as many other spells as possible for extra damage and Burning Ember bit generation.

    All 3 specializations

    Defensive Cooldowns
    • Unending Resolve: Activating this ability will reduce all damage you take by 40% and make you immune to silences and interrupts. Use this ability when under heavy fire, preferred when the enemy is using offensive cooldowns, and you can't escape with Demonic Circle: Teleport or Demonic Gateway. You can also use this ability offensive to have a better chance at landing an important spell, but it is suggested to use Unending Resolve as a defensive cooldown.
    • Twilight Ward: With the Warlock 4set PvP bonus, Twilight Ward absorbs damage from all magical schools. Try to use Twilight Ward just before a hard Hitting spell lands on you, or use it on cooldown when there is little burst.

    Control
    • Fear: This is your main Crowd Control spell. You can use Fear in many ways, namely: preventing an enemy from attacking you or your teammates, prevent an enemy from healing himself or his teammates, bring an enemy out of position, etc..
    • Banish: Use this to prevent Demon or Elemental pets from acting. Banished Demons and Elementals are invulnerable to both damage and healing and cannot take orders from their master.
    • Howl of Terror: An Area of Effect Fear affecting up to 5 targets. When hit by a damaging attack, the cooldown is reduced by 1 second. This ability is best used to instantly fear one or more targets that are in your melee range.

    Curses
    • Curse of Enfeeblement: This is your main curse, just for the same reason PvP Resilience is better than PvP Power, is greater damage reduction better than a little damage buff. Not only that, it is also more beneficial for your team that your enemy will deal less damage and will cast/heal slower than having a little increase in magic damage done.
    • Curse of the Elements: This curse increases magical damage taken by 5%. Only use this if the effects from Curse of Enfeeblement are brought by someone else.

    Utility
    • Health Funnel: Channel this if you know it will prevent your pet of dying. It is often better to resummon a pet in most cases than spending to much time on healing it. However, if you have the glyphed version, use it whenever your pet requires healing.
    • Demonic Circle: Teleport1: Teleport to your Demonic Circle when you want to create a gap between you and your target, to go to a safer spot, to move out Line of Sight of someone, to break snares or roots, etc. Demonic Circle: Teleport can be used regardless of your Demonic Circle being in Line of Sight.
    • Demonic Gateway2: Places 2 Demonic Gateways, one at your current location and one at a chosen location. Anyone in your group can use the Demonic Gateways to teleport from one to another. The Demonic Gateways are best placed in such a way you can easily move to a safer location, for example, from one pillar to another.

    XII. Pets

    Note: The ability you get when using Grimoire of Sacrifice is underlined.

    Imp / Fel Imp

    Abilities
    • Singe Magic: Use to dispel 1 magic debuff on you or your teammates.
    • Cauterize Master: Deals very little damage to you to heal 12% health over 12sec ( Total healing is reduced by Battle Fatigue and Mortal Strike debuffs!). Use whenever you take damage.
    • Flee: Removes stuns and roots on your imp and makes him leap towards you. Use when your imp is out of position, stunned or rooted.
    • Firebolt: Your Imp's basic attack, just leave it on auto-cast.

    When to use
    Use the imp when you are in great need of an extra defensive dispel. When you can rely on other people, you likely won't need it but when playing solo, it's a nice thing to have.

    Felhunter / Observer

    Abilities
    • Spell Lock: Silences your target for 3 seconds. If the target is casting a spell, it will interrupt them and lock the school of the spell he was casting for 6 seconds. Use this to either prevent an important spell, or to interrupt it.
    • Devour Magic: Dispels a beneficial buff on the target, giving 60 energy and healing for a little. You can either leave this on auto-cast for maximum damage and having an easier time, or control it manually to dispel buffs quicker at the loss of some damage.
    • Shadow Bite: Your Felhunter's basic attack, just leave it on auto-cast.

    When to use
    Use the Felhunter as Destruction and Affliction whenever you don't need to use the other Demons. The felhunter is in almost every case the best pet.

    Succubus / Shivarra

    Abilities
    • Whiplash: A ranged knockback that will knock anyone within 5 yards 5 yards back. Use to bring a target out of position or to knock someone off an edge.
    • Lesser Invisibility: Your Succubus is invisible out of combat. Just leave this on auto-cast.
    • Seduction: Your Succubus will seduce your enemy, preventing them from acting. You can either leave this on auto-cast to make your Succubus seduce enemies that stun, silence or feared you, or manually cast it on the target of your desire.
    • Lash of Pain: Your Succubus her basic attack, just leave on auto-cast.

    When to use
    Use the Succubus when you lack a partner that can help you with crowd control (random battlegrounds), or when you have little need for a silence and you abuse Whiplash.

    Voidwalker / Voidlord

    Abilities
    • Shadow Bulwark: Grants the Voidwalker 30% of it's maximum health for 20 seconds. Keep this on auto-cast, but activate it manually if your Voidwalker is being attacked.
    • Shadow Shield: Reduced the damage your Voidwalker takes from physical damage by 60%. Each time the Voidwalker is hit, the shield deals some Shadow damage and its power is reduced with 20%. Just leave this on auto-cast.
    • Torment: Your Voidwalker's basic attack, just leave this on auto-cast.
    • Suffering: The Voidwalker taunts your target. Useless for PvP so keep auto-cast disabled.
    • Disarm: Your Voidwalker disarms your target. Use this to prevent melee damage whenever needed.

    When to use
    Use the Voidwalker when you have no need for a silence and you mainly have physical damage enemies (warrior, rogue, hunter).

    Felguard / Wrathguard (Demonology only)

    Abilities
    • Pursuit: Your Felguard charges your target, increases its movement speed by 30% for 6 seconds and instantly deals 100% weapon damage. This allows your Felguard to easily swap targets and is best left on auto-cast.
    • Felstorm: Your Felguard will spin around, dealing 100% weapon damage to any target within 8 yards for 6 seconds. Use this whenever you need extra damage or whenever your enemies are close together.
    • Axe Toss: Your Felguard will stun the target for 4 seconds. Use this to prevent your target from healing, dealing damage and moving.
    • Legion Strike: Your Felguards basic attack and applies a 10% healing reduction debuff. Just leave this on auto-cast.

    When to use
    Always use the Felguard unless you have no need for the stun, the healing reduction debuff and cleave damage.

    Before you ask, the pet names have the same color as the old Demon Soul.

    XIII. Useful macros and addons
    Read:All macro's and addons listed in the guide are suggested by posters. Feel free to post your own macro's and addons and they'll be added.

    Addons

    Macros

    General

    Pet control macro: By Dunedains
    Code:
    /petattack [@pettarget,noexists,nomod]
    /petfollow [@pettarget,exists][mod:alt]
    /petmoveto [mod:alt]
    Description: Commands pet to attack current target. If alt is held, commands the pet to follow if you have a target or to move to a specific location if you have no target.

    Fear macro: By Phoenexis
    Code:
    #showtooltip
    /cast [nomod] Fear
    /cast [mod:alt,target=focus] Fear
    /cast [mod:ctrl,target=mouseover] Fear
    Description: Fears target, fears focus when pressing ALT, fears mouseover when pressing CTRL.

    Enfeeblement macro:By Phoenexis
    Code:
    #showtooltip
    /cast [nomod] Curse of Enfeeblement
    /cast [mod:shift,target=focus] Curse of Enfeeblement
    Description: Enfeebles target, enfeebles focus when pressing SHIFT.

    Grimoire of Service focus silence macro:By Phoenexis
    Code:
    #showtooltip
    /tar focus
    /cast Grimoire: Felhunter
    /targetlasttarget
    Description: This macro will let you control your grimoire of service's felhunter silence. By using it, the additional felhunter that you summon will target your focus and spell lock him instead of your main target.

    Felflame macro:By Phoenexis
    Code:
    #showtooltip
    /cast [nomod] Fel flame
    /cast [mod:alt,target=mouseover] Fel Flame
    Description: Casts Fel Flame on target, casts Fel Flame on mouseover when pressing ALT (great for breaking totems/keeping targets in combat)

    Banish macro:By Phoenexis
    Code:
    #showtooltip
    /cast [target=mouseover, exists] Banish; Banish
    Description: What this macro will do is cast banish on your mouseover if you have one, otherwise it will banish your main target. Great in arenas seeing as you can banish elementals/demons without having to target them.

    Normal all in one Demon macro:By Phoenexis
    Code:
    #showtooltip
    /cast [mod:shift,@focus] Spell Lock; [mod:ctrl,@mouseover] Spell Lock; Spell Lock
    /cast [mod:shift,@focus] Seduction; [mod:ctrl,@mouseover] Seduction; Seduction
    /cast Disarm
    /cast [nomod,@player] Singe Magic; [mod:ctrl,@mouseover] Singe Magic
    Description: Macro for normal demons (without Grimoire of Supremacy). Casts Spell Lock/Seduction/Disarm on main target and Singe Magic (Imp dispel) on the warlock, casts Spell Lock/Seduction on focus when pressing SHIFT, casts Spell Lock/Seduction/Singe Magic on mouseover when pressing CTRL.

    Supremacy all in one Demon macro:By Phoenexis
    Code:
    #showtooltip
    /cast [mod:shift,@focus] Optical Blast; [mod:ctrl,@mouseover] Optical Blast; Optical Blast
    /cast [mod:shift,@focus] Mesmerize; [mod:ctrl,@mouseover] Mesmerize; Mesmerize
    /cast [mod:shift,@focus] Disarm; Disarm
    /cast Sear Magic
    Description: Macro for improved demons (with Grimoire of Supremacy). Casts Optical Blast/Mesmerize/Disarm on main target and Sear Magic (AoE dispel), casts Optical Blast/Mesmerize/Disarm on focus when pressing SHIFT, casts Optical Blast/Mesmerize of mouseover when pressing CTRL.

    Affliction

    Demonology

    Demonology supremacy all in one macro:By Phoenexis
    Code:
    #showtooltip
    /cast [mod:shift,@focus] Axe Toss; [mod:ctrl,@mouseover] Axe Toss; Axe Toss
    /cast [mod:shift,@focus] Optical Blast; [mod:ctrl,@mouseover] Optical Blast; Optical Blast
    /cast [mod:shift,@focus] Mesmerize; [mod:ctrl,@mouseover] Mesmerize; Mesmerize
    /cast [mod:shift,@focus] Disarm; Disarm
    /cast Sear Magic
    Description: Macro for improved demons (with Grimoire of Supremacy). Casts Optical Blast/Mesmerize/Disarm/Axe Toss on main target and Sear Magic (AoE dispel), casts Optical Blast/Mesmerize/Disarm/Axe Toss of focus when pressing SHIFT, casts Optical Blast/Mesmerize/Axe Toss on mouseover when pressing CTRL.

    Destruction

    Havoc macro:By Phoenexis
    Code:
    #showtooltip
    /cast [nomod] Havoc
    /cast [mod:shift,target=focus] Havoc
    /cast [mod:ctrl,target=mouseover] Havoc
    Description: Havocs normal target, Havocs focus when pressing SHIFT, Havocs mouseover when pressing CTRL.



    [1]If requested, a whole section on how to properly use this spell can be added.
    [2]If requested, a whole section on how to properly use this spell can be added.
    Last edited by Nicola; 2014-01-28 at 10:22 PM.

  2. #2
    Harvest Life needs an update.

    Oh, and Blood Horror doesn't work on pets anymore IIRC. Plus, it's probably worth mentioning absorbs keep it from activating as well. I remember quite a few of us being puzzled about it seemingly not working for a while.

  3. #3
    nice guide. what are your/everyones thought on what spec will be good for arena and with one for rated bg?

  4. #4

  5. #5
    i think you need to relook at your glyphs.

    because glyph of soul swap is turned into glyph of havoc.

    and Glyph of Imp Swarm summons 4 imps instead of 5.

    and is there a reason you didn't list http://ptr.wowhead.com/item=50077 as recommended glyphs? i'm sure it will have its use in random/rated bg.

  6. #6
    What would be the best spec to play semi casually with a Resto Shaman 2vs2 arena?

    I leaning thou demo, I find the MS(-25% healing) from Wrathguard makes a difference when facing a healer team, to win mana regen wars, and Succubos vs 2vs2 damage for CC.

    I wanted to try aff to abuse Harvest Life, but I feel It wont make a difference with a healing partner, should be sweet with 2 dps but my gf isn't comfortable with DPS for some reason... girls...

  7. #7
    Deleted
    Great guide, looking forward to kick ass in PvP once more.
    Didn't notice the Wrathguard's MS debuff was way better than the Felguard's one, the more you know.

    There is just one slight mistake: Fel Flame won't extend Corruption and Immolate anymore in 5.4, right?

  8. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by Saveiro View Post
    Great guide, looking forward to kick ass in PvP once more.
    Didn't notice the Wrathguard's MS debuff was way better than the Felguard's one, the more you know.

    There is just one slight mistake: Fel Flame won't extend Corruption and Immolate anymore in 5.4, right?
    yep. alot of info was taking from the season 13 guide. but he keeps changing it. so if we keep reporting mistakes/changes its fine

  9. #9
    Do we have any math for a) equivalency between pvp power and other stats (eg 1x int = 3x pvp power) or any consideration to how pvp power impacts our defensive heals/absorbs? Even though the legendary meta does not proc vs players as much how do you feel about it for aff (say w' a T15 tier hit/mastery w' yellow socket helm)? I was toying with it and even though it was infrequent compared to pve it still was a lot of pain when it went off....especially if you were able to get a cast off.

  10. #10
    Deleted
    There is just one slight mistake: Fel Flame won't extend Corruption and Immolate anymore in 5.4, right?
    right, It wont

  11. #11
    Scarab Lord Nicola's Avatar
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    It's easy to miss those things but you are right. As long as you report those things, I can easily edit it.

  12. #12
    Deleted
    I can't notice in Bg the 15% buff to CB. I'm aware of the increase of baseline resilence but the damage is lower than 5.3

  13. #13
    Scarab Lord Nicola's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by dunedains View Post
    I can't notice in Bg the 15% buff to CB. I'm aware of the increase of baseline resilence but the damage is lower than 5.3
    The resilience buff is resulting in a 20% damage reduction compared to 5.3. From 35% damage taken to only 28%.

  14. #14

    [5.4 Aff PvP] How to?

    Can you guys please help me figure the basic setup of how we pvp with the new Archimonde Darkness and changes to Soul Swap?

    Do we use SB:SS at all to start spreading our dots and then SS again to a secondary target (let's say 2v2 arena)?
    Or should we cast the 3 DOTs and save shards for Haunts as much as possible? Do you use Haunt before applying the dots or after? How do we use Dark Soul now that it has 2 charges? Thanks for a noob warlock who is undusting his alt as everything changes

  15. #15
    I think that you should wait till the season starts for a proper answer, but i also really think that its situational as for who you are playing with and against :-)

  16. #16
    Use SB SS to dot target 1, then SS them to target 2. Saves you a shard to blast with haunt which hits like a truck now.

  17. #17
    Glyph of Siphon Life heals for 0.5% max hp btw, not 20% damage done.

  18. #18
    Stood in the Fire meekus's Avatar
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    You can also SB:SS an already full dotted target as trinket(s) are up, to allow for some long lasting, hard hitting dots to be spread.

  19. #19
    This thread seems to be dying so let's put some life back into it( and hopefully more into warlock pvp discussions on these forums).

    I'm interested in discussing Soul link vs other talents, seeing how it compares to the other talents in that row in terms of survivability in arena.

    the new drain life talent ( along with the glyph ) seems to be appealing for affliction this would also be a fun discussion , could also relate both SL and new drain life to see if a sl/sl 2.0 version can work in MoP.

    done some duels now with affli using SL, seems to me that I'm surviving much better than lets say using sac pact atm,maybe it's due to S13 gear and new resilience changes , so will have to wait and see how things go in arena in S14 gear.

    Anyways, what are your thoughts on this ? anyone done some detailed testing ? share your thoughts and ideas

  20. #20
    Scarab Lord Nicola's Avatar
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    The thread is not dying, it's just that season 14 has yet to start. At this very moment, soul link is very strong though since you take roughly 29% less damage compared to 5.3, or even up to 36% if you use the glyph of eternal resolve, with scaled down gear that is.

    About drain life. The healing is strong, the damage is a bit meh and I'm fairly sure there will be people complaining about getting draintanked by DA warlocks soon, but right now it's too early to tell how good, or bad it will be.

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