help needed - leveling a warlock from scratch

[hlx]

hi there,
with my guild almost at 20lvl I am preparing to level me a warlock. Having not much clue how to come about this I figured I will ask here.

First some assumptions:

• I'm talking about leveling form level 1 to 85, NOT from 80 to 85
• Assume full pve heirloom set (guild back and head + normal ones)

couple of questions:

• what is desired spec for solo play ?
• what is desired spec for 5man play ?
• is there a point in levels from 1-85 when a different spec takes over due to dps/mobility/fun ?
• any particular recommended pets I should be using for different specs??
• is pvp play viable for of leveling at some point? if so around what levels?

any help you can give me is much appreciated,
thank you

[Abandon]

I actually started this myself about two weeks ago. I went with Affliction as my main spec and when I hit level 30 I took Demonology for the Felguard to tank in situations where I couldn't kill things solo. Glyph of Soul Swap basically means you kill everything in ten seconds with one button, and it's very handy in dungeons. Before I was high enough level to learn Soul Swap, Glyph od Drain Soul basically means you don't have to Life Tap at all, so it's an obvious choice, along with Glyph of Corruption as a Prime.
Honestly though, with the new levelling design and heirlooms along with the guild perks, you should just pick whichever spec you have fun with and go with it.
For pets, I've been using the Succubus since she gets initial aggro since it takes a few seconds for my Dots to start ticking, at which point they are already almost dead and they generally keel over when they reach me.

[Keilith]

Good choice on leveling a warlock. Now for the bad news. It can be boring. You will kill stuff too fast and have virtually no challenge. When you do have a challenge you have many tools to overcome them.

Affliction is how I leveld. You dont have the output on damage and kill slower but your survivability is super high. Your self heals keep you going with no down time.

Demononogist, with the level 10 getting the big pet now hejust tanks for you and you dot and sit.

Destruction, the bursty spec. Chose this one for 5 manning IMO so tyou can get some damage on the trash. The other specs rely too much on dots and trash doesn't live that long.

You can level in any of them. Demon has the besrt for killing speed. Destruction has too much down time. (though with life tap and soul harvest its not alot) Affliction kills slowly but you can kill a shit load of stuff at once and stay alive. dot dot tab dot do tab dot dot drain

[hlx]

I was using affli up to 20lvl and it seemed fun at the beginning but i got bored rather quickly. I spent more time looting the corpses than killing stuff but feeling of running to the middle of camp and killing everything there was indeed fun.
I am tempted to try destro as I can imagine with full heirlooms mobs will die fast. am i right?
not sure about demonology and the fun factor of it (feels too much like a hunter to me)

[sulmith greysin]

this is eerily similar to http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/...r-from-scratch

[hlx]

this is eerily similar to http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/...r-from-scratch

yep i thought asking for hunter advise here wouldn't sit well with the lock community

[casby]

Demo in the early levels is pretty great as your pet does most of the work. But it can be a mana hog if you're not careful.
Destro is nice because it's a quick burn for most mobs. Though handling multiple mobs can get hairy at times.
Afflic gives you good survivability but it can get uber boring. All the time spent waiting for stuff to die can get really monotonous.

Ever since the nerf to self-healing in Affliction, its become a little less desirable for leveling imo. You used be able to literally run around, tagging everything in sight (worked even better with more mobs), and jump around and watch as all the damage you took was immediately returned in health. Which meant fast grinds. Now not so much.

Personally I enjoy destro and I never have any down-time mana issues. And even then, there's a LifeTap and Soul Harvest. <10 seconds and your right back up.

[Ekkoeu]

I tended to utilize my fears (3) and pet quite a bit; makes quests that would be for a group solo able.

[hlx]

hi there OP here,
played my lock over the weekend a bit went from 20lvl to 30lvl and here are my findings

• tried Destro and although it worked rather well in instances, it wasn't best one for questing. maybe it is just me but it felt it lacks mobility and efficient way to kill many mobs at a time
• Demonology feels a bit too much as a hunter to me but got that as an offspec at 30lvl
• I'm in love with Affliction again. There is nothing like running to the middle of the camp, dotting stuff and watching them die. health is not an issue as when i get low I just stop pulling new mobs and drain those who are not yet dead
• I haven't tried pvp yet so not sure what will work best for me

thanks for all your help,
cheers

[Kwontanamo]

Demo or Affli works all the way up to 85. Destro is viable once Incinerate opens up at 64. Each spec has virtually no downtime now its just a matter of style and preference. Demo is the best aoe puller with lolstorm/hellfire, Aff is the best chain puller with soul swap and constant dot self-heals, and Destro can burst a mob down in under 5 seconds. Questing can be done in any spec but I'd recommend demo for 5 mans. Hellfire/Felstorm cuts dungeon times in half

[Odyseas]

hi there,
with my guild almost at 20lvl I am preparing to level me a warlock. Having not much clue how to come about this I figured I will ask here.

First some assumptions:

• I'm talking about leveling form level 1 to 85, NOT from 80 to 85
• Assume full pve heirloom set (guild back and head + normal ones)

couple of questions:

• what is desired spec for solo play ?
• what is desired spec for 5man play ?
• is there a point in levels from 1-85 when a different spec takes over due to dps/mobility/fun ?
• any particular recommended pets I should be using for different specs??
• is pvp play viable for of leveling at some point? if so around what levels?

any help you can give me is much appreciated,
thank you

Spec: I would say demo or affli. Both are good, just pick the one you enjoy the most.
5manspec: Spec doesnt matter if you are doing 1-60 dungeons, but I would suggest not to pick affliction because its quite slow for trash. So, destro or demo.
Q3: Um, not for me.
Pets: Felhunter for affli, felhunter for destro and felguard for demo.
Q5: I started doing some PvP(only the random daily tbh) with my warrior at level 53 and I must say its pretty awesome, you get like 5 bars when you win so ye totaly do the random daily until the given experience isnt worth it anymore.

If I was starting a new warlock right now, I would buy dualspec and spec affli for leveling and demo for instances.

I hope this was helpful.