Unofficial Warlock FAQ

[Nixia]

Hi fellow warlocks! It looks like alot of people ask the same questions over and over again so i'm going to do a small warlock faq.

Lets start with leveling.

Q: Whats the best leveling spec?

A: Affliction is amazing to level with because of the short downtime. It has alot of self-healing and you can lifetap/dark pact if you run low on mana.

I also recomend you to respec demonology when you are somewere betwin 50 and 55 because you can get the felguard.
Felguard is like an uppgraded verision of the voidwalker, he has more threat per secound, higher damage and a cleaving attack that help him hold aggro on more that 1 mobb.
Demonology is also superb for soloing group quests.
This is a good level 55 build

Q: Ok i'm now level 80 what spec should i use for PvE?

A: PVE Warlocks: A Guide to 3.1 Spex and Rotations
This will answear all your questions about pve specs.

Q: Ok i got my PvE spec, but what about PvP?

A: I'm not going to talk so much about battlegrounds here.
Destruction is the most common PvP spec at this moment but that doesn't mean you have to spec that.
Here is a common Destruction build
Destruction has alot of burst thanks to chaos bolt and conflagrate, but one of these spells can't be used if imolate isn't on the target.
The pets doesn't really matter, choose the one you prefer and benefits your team the most. If your team lack silence go for felhunter, if your team lack cc, go for succubus and if your team lack surival or spells to help you survival go for voidwalker.

Here is a good affliction build
Affliction has slow and steady damage and also self-healing throught siphon life.
The pet you want to use is felhunter because it gives you a silence and also the ability to remove magic effects.

Here is a good demonology build
I can't give much advice here but alot of your damage will come from immolation aura and your felguard.
This spec is very nice in duels against rogues because of the increased armor and reduced stun duration.
I don't suggest this spec but its fun in battlegrounds.

This specs are not nesserary the best spec for your playstyle, you could always change them abit.
Improved Healthstone vs Improved Health Funnel is one example of this. They are both nice talents and you will probably pick one of them, pick the one you like the most.

Q: Crit, haste or spirit for PvP?

A: Destruction and demonology want crit, affliction want haste or crit depending on play style.
Warlocks have pritty low crit chance even if they gem/enchant for crit, but affliction will get 9% on corruption and unstable affliction thanks to Malediction, and thats pritty much all you need.

Q:When do i use the different pets?

A:
Imp = Destruction spec in PvE (maybe for destruction after 3.2... we'll see)
Voidwalker = Some PvP situations when you need more survival, and also when you need a mini-tank for quests/mobbs.
Succubus = Some PvP situations and also when you are affliction in PvE (when doomguard is on cooldown)
Felhunter = Rarely used in PvE but very nice against casters in PvP.
Felguard = Very few situations when you don't use him, he got the highest dps/tps, a stun and cleave. Use him if you have him.

I will uppdate this post when i get more questions so feel free to ask. There are no stupid questions, only stupid answers ^^.

[gherkin]

I always recommend 55 for Felguard. This way you get an extra 5 points to play with in your spec (Suppression, because it increases pet hit rating as well, and in 3.2 it will affect expertise too). Also, you have Intercept (52) and due to gear upgrades he isn't as squishie (and he is really squishie).

[Nixia]

Thanks for your feedback gherkin, i've uppdated my post =).

Keep the feedbacks/questions comming.

[Kreightive]

So what about Demonology for pvp spec? and for Affliction should i be getting gear with CRIT or SPIRT witch benefits me most for pvp, and yes i have 6% hit for pvp

[gherkin]

So what about Demonology for pvp spec? and for Affliction should i be getting gear with CRIT or SPIRT witch benefits me most for pvp, and yes i have 6% hit for pvp

Haste.

Getting off that fear .1s sooner, or that Haunt onto a fully dot'd target, is much more important than the miniscule dps increase crit or spirit will give you. Given the choice between the two, it doesn't really matter. Spirit makes your lifetaps bigger (both a good and bad thing) while your first 200 or so crit rating is wasted due to opponents resilience.

[Kreightive]

So what about a Demonology spec for pvp BG'S/Arena is there any or should i just keep going Alliction or Destro

[soulfunk]

I think metamorphasis should be changed to 'last until cancelled' and have +30% movement speed, but you lose your pet, while in demon form. replace shadow cleave with a whirlwind attack, hits all targets within 8yards;

For all warlocks, replace Hellfire aoe with shadowbolt volley = channelled, shadowbolt all targets in front of caster, within 30yards, every 1sec for 5sec.

also, i really do like the new idea of having multiple imps out at once, kinda like mage mirror-image.

[Nixia]

I think metamorphasis should be changed to 'last until cancelled' and have +30% movement speed, but you lose your pet, while in demon form. replace shadow cleave with a whirlwind attack, hits all targets within 8yards;

For all warlocks, replace Hellfire aoe with shadowbolt volley = channelled, shadowbolt all targets in front of caster, within 30yards, every 1sec for 5sec.

also, i really do like the new idea of having multiple imps out at once, kinda like mage mirror-image.

Please only post questions in this thread.

And thanks Tiva, gherkin and Kreightive for the help/questions.
Please correct and spelling/grammer errors i do (english isn't my first language).

[Nixia]

I was talking about pvp but yes you are right, haste > crit for pve.
I edited the post to make i clear that i mean pvp, thanks for your feedback.

[Blardy]

Once you get geared though spirit offset pieces are quite nice for more spell power. I got both full furious spirit and crit offset and currently trying crit as affliction to see how good it is but i love my spirit to get 2700+ sp. I easily get 3k+ from buffs in 5s.

[roguewan]

I think metamorphasis should be changed to 'last until cancelled' and have +30% movement speed, but you lose your pet, while in demon form. replace shadow cleave with a whirlwind attack, hits all targets within 8yards;

For all warlocks, replace Hellfire aoe with shadowbolt volley = channelled, shadowbolt all targets in front of caster, within 30yards, every 1sec for 5sec.

also, i really do like the new idea of having multiple imps out at once, kinda like mage mirror-image.

I think rogues should have plate.

[spec]

Q: Crit, haste or spirit for PvP?

A: Destruction and demonology want crit, affliction want haste.
Warlocks have pritty low crit chance even if they gem/enchant for crit, but affliction will get 9% on corruption and unstable affliction thanks to Malediction, and thats all you need.

i dont see why that question is even there?

as warlock you should be gemming resilience/stamina/spellpower, and of course, the mandatory spell penetration.

You might aswell put "should i gem for attack power or agi?" as they are just as common.

The pets you want to use are succubus or voidwalker, choose the one you prefer and benefits your team the most.

i dont even play destruction, but the felhunter is always the pet of choice, especially for arena.

[Darklordace]

Q: Crit, haste or spirit for PvP?

A: Destruction and demonology want crit, affliction want haste.
Warlocks have pritty low crit chance even if they gem/enchant for crit, but affliction will get 9% on corruption and unstable affliction thanks to Malediction, and thats all you need.

Affli should go for crit imo. Malediction counter the average resi, which means crit chance on player target is pretty much equal to your displayed crit chance. Affli doenst have much burst, so more crit leads to more rng burst.

[Exorte]

Affli should go for crit imo. Malediction counter the average resi, which means crit chance on player target is pretty much equal to your displayed crit chance. Affli doenst have much burst, so more crit leads to more rng burst.

more haste means more Eradication
haste> crit to affli

[Darklordace]

I dont use eradication. My spec: http://www.wowhead.com/?talent#IMxMrurAkVVMhkt0Gbhkhb

[linros]

i dont even play destruction, but the felhunter is always the pet of choice, especially for arena.

not true. vs stealth void is not bad.
and succy depends on setup. i play lock mage and the cc from succy is realy needed there

[gherkin]

I dont use eradication. My spec: http://www.wowhead.com/?talent#IMxMrurAkVVMhkt0Gbhkhb

You're insane. Haste is badass for all specs because you do more in the same amount of time.

Case and point: In 3.1 they changed Eradication to be 30% chance to crit with a shadowbolt. Just about every scrub warlock, myself included, didn't care. But there were a few really good threads decrying this change to be a heresy and a crime. Guess who started it? Any warlock 1900+. Guess what happened? Change didn't go through.

I tend to watch what doesn't happen more than what does. Gladiators aren't as vocal, but they're usually right.

[Darklordace]

I am 2k rated myself. And thats not thanks to haste. Lets say u have 300 haste, 3 sec shadowbolt becomes 2.7 sec-ish. If you are not able to cast a 3 sec shadowbolt than theres a high chance u cant get a 2.7 sec of either. And eradication is 30% cast speed, not 30% SB crit. And tbh 10% more DoT damage + 30% less HoT healing and start pillar humping > 0.3 reduced cast time and an occasional temporary 30% haste. But thats just my playstyle. Ill rather go with more RNG burst while pillar humping. But imo if u do decide to go for haste i think it benefits more in 3s/5s than 2s.

[gherkin]

I am 2k rated myself. And thats not thanks to haste. Lets say u have 300 haste, 3 sec shadowbolt becomes 2.7 sec-ish. If you are not able to cast a 3 sec shadowbolt than theres a high chance u cant get a 2.7 sec of either. And eradication is 30% cast speed, not 30% SB crit. And tbh 10% more DoT damage + 30% less HoT healing and start pillar humping > 0.3 reduced cast time and an occasional temporary 30% haste. But thats just my playstyle. Ill rather go with more RNG burst while pillar humping. But imo if u do decide to go for haste i think it benefits more in 3s/5s than 2s.

In re-reading my post, I see that I implied that you weren't a good player. That was not my intent, sorry.

I more meant that a vast majority of high rated players found eradication haste to be highly critical to their success, and did not want blizzard to change it to critical strike rating. I always think about .9s fears and unstable afflictions, rather than the random burst you get from dot crits. The way I view dot crits is just a way to screw with the enemy healer, rather than a way to finish the target off.

[Blardy]

i dont see why that question is even there?

as warlock you should be gemming resilience/stamina/spellpower, and of course, the mandatory spell penetration.

You might aswell put "should i gem for attack power or agi?" as they are just as common.

i dont even play destruction, but the felhunter is always the pet of choice, especially for arena.

Actually succy/void are used alot. Even imp at times, less now since rets dont kill pets in a global.