Warlock Alt Question

[Alath]

I'm just starting to play my lock again, he's level 40 and I'm wondering what a good leveling Destro spec and rotation would be. Also, what kind of gear I should look for. This is really my first caster class past level 10, so I'm kind of nub when it comes to them. :-[

[Haylen]

good leveling Destro spec

wat.

[Deleted]

the best lvling specc is affli, up to when you can get felguard. You do this up to lvl 70 where you respecc to a hybrid specc Affli/FG. With Affli/FG you have nearly no down-time, since you will be able to heal yourself with Corr/SL.

[Verth]

Destro is clearly only for PVP situations or people who like big numbers in PVE. You'll have like 70% downtime in destro. Don't try it.

[Bakis]

agree with the others, leveling a warlock is pretty straight forward.
you start out as affe and when you get felpuppy level as felguard/siphonlife, with this you will have 0% downtime except when soloing elits

[Vashta]

felpuppy=/=felguard

[Bakis]

felguard is cute, hence puppy, at leats in my eyes.

felhunter is only up when pawning loladins and DK's with devour magic in pvp

[gherkin]

I disagree with just about everyone in this thread. 3.1.0 made destruction a viable leveling spec, especially at level 40. Affliction is still a good spec of course, but I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss Destruction these days. If the man wants to level this way, let him. It's not that bad anymore.

1) Conflag is a great spell to cast now
2) Soul Leech is on par with Siphon Life since its stamina based instead of spell power based (stamina easier to get at 40 than spell power)
3) 10% mana reduction from talents makes the cost-effectiveness on par with Affliction at the same level.

Use your succubus and double target foes. Have her offtank (she'll live long enough for you to regain aggro, turn off Seduction and Soothing Kiss). Immolate both, Shadowbolt one to death, Conflag & Shadowbolt the other. Use corruption and agony if this doesn't kill things fast enough. Shadowfury to interrupt casts.

Big baddie? Voidwalker + health funnel for... 40 seconds or so, then blow the crap out of him.

[Deleted]

I disagree with just about everyone in this thread. 3.1.0 made destruction a viable leveling spec, especially at level 40. Affliction is still a good spec of course, but I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss Destruction these days. If the man wants to level this way, let him. It's not that bad anymore.

1) Conflag is a great spell to cast now
2) Soul Leech is on par with Siphon Life since its stamina based instead of spell power based (stamina easier to get at 40 than spell power)
3) 10% mana reduction from talents makes the cost-effectiveness on par with Affliction at the same level.

Use your succubus and double target foes. Have her offtank (she'll live long enough for you to regain aggro, turn off Seduction and Soothing Kiss). Immolate both, Shadowbolt one to death, Conflag & Shadowbolt the other. Use corruption and agony if this doesn't kill things fast enough. Shadowfury to interrupt casts.

Big baddie? Voidwalker + health funnel for... 40 seconds or so, then blow the crap out of him.

this is what makes destro a slower lvling specc then affli/FG. Because this is mana leeching. Yes, you will have mana regen from talents but it isn't enough. WHen you go Affli/fg, you will have zero downtime and can kill up as many mobs as you like, if there are enough close to you ofc, without dying. THAT is what makes affli/FG a superior specc to lvl with then destro.

[gherkin]

this is what makes destro a slower lvling specc then affli/FG. Because this is mana leeching. Yes, you will have mana regen from talents but it isn't enough. WHen you go Affli/fg, you will have zero downtime and can kill up as many mobs as you like, if there are enough close to you ofc, without dying. THAT is what makes affli/FG a superior specc to lvl with then destro.

1) I never said affliction was inferior, I never said that destruction was superior. I simply said it was more viable now than it ever has been
2) In nothing but quest greens at level 40 I would argue that it is comparable to Affliction (not better, just comparable)
3) The original poster did not ask about an Affliction or Felguard spec, and did not ask about popular opinion. S/he asked about Destruction and I answered.

[Devaston]

Well, I prefer destro lvling, been doing it since 56 in vanilla. Just love the fast killing. With the mana and health restoring talents you should have no problem keeping your mana. Just lifetap and keep nuking, only thing is that I always had is Fel armor which ofcourse returns alot of health.

I wouldnt worry to much about gear tbh, just take anything you can get.

Rotation that I used was Shadowbolt/ incinerate/ chaosbolt - immolate - shadowbolt/ incinerate - conflag - at this point mobs are dead or close enough to proc backlash to finish them off. (you might want to turn this around because of the new talents that boost chaosbolt on targets inflicted with immolate)

Pet to use doesnt matter much. Used imp alot because im lazy and never had shards :P(also, the imp does alot more damage since its ranged and mobs die fast) But succubus works aswell i gues, I would say with auto seduce on. You will be fighting alot of 1on1 and when the rogue apears to gank your ass it usually works in your favor.

About talents, all i can say is be sure to get soulleech/ imp soulleech and just take what you want next to it :P

[gherkin]

I wouldnt worry to much about gear tbh, just take anything you can get.

This is also a reason why Destruction is good. I've leveled several warlocks, a couple in beta, at various points in this games history. One of my beta warlocks was level 67 when I started and had ~400 spell power (I don't include Fel Armor). When I dinged 68, I respec'd multiple times to figure out what worked for me:

400 Spell Power, lvl 68:
Affliction - I had to dot things twice or stand and nuke while dots ticked just so I could output enough damage to offset my health losses.
Felguard - Really good, the felguard more than made up for my gear deficiencies, as well as the Demonic Knowledge talent. Still took too long to kill things.
Destruction - Not as good as FG, but better than affliction. "Stand and nuke" worked better and I had less incoming damage.

Then I got gear.

800 Spell Power, lvl 70
Affliction - Viable again! Very close calls a few times, but once you get into the groove of tagging 4-5 mobs in one run then 2-3 mobs and drain tanking to recover its excellent.
Felguard - I kicked ass and took names. Borean Tundra took 2.5 hours tops, including running around.
Destruction - Not as good as Affliction, but was able to keep up without insane drinking intervals.

I tried again at 77, and Affliction was the clear winner, with Felguard a close second.

The moral of the story being: no gear? Destruction or Felguard. Gear? Affliction or Felguard. Since these tests, destruction damage has only gone up, mana costs have only gone down, and regeneration methods have gotten better.

[Dhrizzle]

Destruction was certainly fun when I levelled with it in vanilla, though as it was my first character I can't really say how good it was compared to others.

I was a bit more knowledgable for my 60 - 70 stint and destruction kicked ass then. If you can use Improved Drain Soul you should have close to zero down-time, in fact with the changes to fel-armour it should be dead-on zero.

Levelling 70-80 with the hp5 from fel-armour I didn't even need to use Imp. Drain Soul, just the occasional life-tap to top up.

[Bakis]

The moral of the story being: no gear? Destruction or Felguard. Gear? Affliction or Felguard

I miss one thing tho, Felguard let our warlocks being able to solo basicly all grpquests when leveling. In Northrend I think I counted 3 grpquests where I had to get a grp cos I couldnt heal the felguard enough compared to the damage it took. Affliction is nice to level with I agree but when elitemobs are kept in mind, Felguardspecs are the clear winners

[frester]

my 0.02$

if you want to have fun go dest

if you want lvl go fg/aff