Season 13 discussion & Warlock PvP Guide.

[docterfreeze]

Hey, recently rolled a lock, going demo PvP at 90 for a change of pace since my DK is getting boring...

Anyhow, I find soul fire very underwhelming.

3.8 second cast... oh boy... here it comes!.... 703 damage at level 48 in full BoAs! uh.... hooray?

I looked at some 90 warlock pvp videos and soul fire hits for around 30k-40k and training dummies... pretty pathetic.

Is there any reason to use this thing ever? if it was instant cast when molten core procs then maybe I would look at it differently...

[Nerraw]

Hey, recently rolled a lock, going demo PvP at 90 for a change of pace since my DK is getting boring...

Anyhow, I find soul fire very underwhelming.

3.8 second cast... oh boy... here it comes!.... 703 damage at level 48 in full BoAs! uh.... hooray?

I looked at some 90 warlock pvp videos and soul fire hits for around 30k-40k and training dummies... pretty pathetic.

Is there any reason to use this thing ever? if it was instant cast when molten core procs then maybe I would look at it differently...

You don't cast Soul Fire outside of Molten Core procs. At that time it's better than shadow bolt. Other than that, don't use it.

[Nicola]

Yep, really no point using soul fire unless you have molten core procs and you've nothing better to cast. While the damage is rather low, it has one big advantage over shadow bolt, namely, it's in the fire school. It's less likely to get interrupted as all your other spells are part of the shadow school.

[Avada Kedavra]

Item - Warlock PvP Set 4P Bonus (New) Increases damage done by your Agony, Corruption, Doom, Immolate, and Unstable Affliction by 10%. (Old 4pc bonus becomes 2pc)

Since our current 4piece is moving to the 2piece, whats is going to happen to our current 2 piece. (Reduces the CD for unending resolve by 20 seconds)

I am hoping it will be baked in, worse thing is if we lose the reduction completely.

Is this a overall buff with a side of nerf?

[Morictan]

Hey all,

Quick question if you don't mind. I just dinged 90 and I'm starting the long PVP gear-grind. I'm Destruction spec, and my question is, should I talent GoSac or GoSup? Which is better for someone who's trying to gear like me (I'll mainly be doing random BGs and a little bit of 2v2 arena).

As a follow-up, if I should go GoSac, which demon should I sacrifice. Likewise, if I should go GoSup, which demon should I normally use?

Finally, I assume that if I go GoSac, I should talent Dark Bargain; and if I go GoSup, I should talent Sacrificial Pact? Is this correct?

Sorry for the long-winded post. Thanks for all the help!

[pokeadott]

The UE CD reduction was always pretty awful. This is a good buff - still not enough to give us the pressure we're used to as Aff, but it helps a bit anyway. Weirdly, Aff (esp if youre using the PvE valor trinket) has some of the best opener burst around with procs+DS and SS on 2 or 3 + UE/MG. It's a total gimmick, and doesn't work well, but you feel pretty good for those 10 or so seconds before you go back to useless mode.

[Banawani]

Buff and they will change the number depending on how competitive locks are in PVP. Basically it solves their problem of balancing PVP without destroying PVE and vice versa.

[Simplexity]

Really good change for us, I'm happy with this for sure. I wonder if it affects UA dispel damage as well.

[docterfreeze]

Seems kinda strange to me that demo gets their hardest hitting ability at such a high level...

[Nicola]

Moved this to the PvP thread.

I'd say it's a nerf. The 10% increase is barely enough to off-set the 25% nerf to corruption they did a while ago, and I think we can all agree that our damage pre-corruption nerf was too low.
While the 20 sec cooldown reduction on Unending Resolve wasn't that amazing either, I'd say it is better then this.

[Viggers]

Moved this to the PvP thread.

I'd say it's a nerf. The 10% increase is barely enough to off-set the 25% nerf to corruption they did a while ago, and I think we can all agree that our damage pre-corruption nerf was too low.
While the 20 sec cooldown reduction on Unending Resolve wasn't that amazing either, I'd say it is better then this.

maybe yeah, but as was said earlier, it allows them to balance dot damage in PvP and PvE seperatley. while its on the PTR im viewing it as simply increased by x% , with x being number that will be balanced later

[Griffeth]

the x% really gives them wiggle room that they need for PvP. I expect to see the number go up before 5.3 is realeased. Somewhere around 15% is probably a solid start.

[Morictan]

Hi all,

Is there a PVP macro guide somewhere that someone could point me to? If not, does anyone have any specific Warlock PVP macros they use? (Not looking for "focus" macros or anything specific to arenas, just looking for some general ones, like casting dark regen then popping HS, etc).

Thanks.

[Griffeth]

There are a few macros on the PvP sites like NextLevelPvP and Skill-capped that you can probably snag. Otherwise Macros are rather simple to write so I am sure you can come up with some that you need if you cant find them.

[Nicola]

I really should add Macros to the guide, but I'm way to lazy to make my own macros somewhat understandable :/

Also

All other trinkets above ilevel 502 have on-use effects reduced by 50%, but have a 100% increase to duration when used in a Battleground or Arena.

+

[Unerring Vision of Lei-Shen]

= 8 Seconds of +50% Crit

It's very nice they give us the time now to effectively get a Chaos Bolt off

[Morictan]

Thanks. I'll play around with the macros.

I do, however, have one "play-style" PVP question: How do you all "juke" a fake cast in order to have your opponent burn their silence? What spell do you use? After you start casting, how long do you wait to stop casting? Do you just use a "stop-casting" macro that you created? Basically just trying to figure out the mechanics of this and best way to do it. (If it helps, I play Destro spec).

Love the guide. Thanks!

[Nicola]

As destruction I mainly fake with chaos bolt and fear, as affliction with MG and fear, other spells are usually ignored, having stop casting bound to my mouse.
As for when to stop with casting, it really depends on whoever you are playing against. Some people try to interrupt as fast as possible, other try to interrupt midway or as late as possible. It's a matter of figuring out the interrupt behavior of the other player and adapting to it, but for those moments I don't know it yet I usually cancel after ~0.5 sec.

[Griffeth]

The best way is to do a /stopcast bind. You can do the same with hitting escape but it will sometimes drop target and that is just anoying to say the least.

Rather sad about the nerf to the PvE trinkets with on-use. Havnt gotten a chance to play with the 100% crit chance on Chaos Bolts. Wonder if they are going to do the same for the proc trinkets.

[Nicola]

Rather sad about the nerf to the PvE trinkets with on-use. Havnt gotten a chance to play with the 100% crit chance on Chaos Bolts. Wonder if they are going to do the same for the proc trinkets.

Currently the 100% trink is not too amazing because it only lasts 4 seconds. It's too little time to set up a chaos bolt so unless already you have a perfect window to cast one, it will likely get wasted. 50% crit with 8 sec duration is still very strong and makes it a lot easier to get a chaos bolt cast.

[Griffeth]

Is this pvp gear change live on the PTR and has anyone tested it vs damage on live for affliction? If so can you post your results. If not I will try to get some time in tonight or tomorrow and do some dummy testing/controled arena testing.