[5.4] Demonology Warlock Guide

[Biomega]

That is correct, though there are some caveats. Your initial Doom will be quite strong, especially if you cast it under BL and metagem proc; refreshing that too early will actually cost you DPS. Given the random nature of procs however it is very difficult to estimate when "too early" is. A rule of thumb is to get decent value out of Pandemic, but that is a sketchy rule at best. It also depends on the ilvl of your UVLS, as higher versions will proc more often. Try and develop an "instinct" or "feeling" for it, that's probably the only way. You'll still get shafted by RNG either way, that's just how Blizzard wants things to be.

You are generally right, though: Doom's purpose is not damage, it's spawning Imps. To that end, 100% crit trumps pretty much any other buff it could have.

[Deleted]

Pretty much. There's scenarios where you may not want to cast it when UVLS goes off just because the boss would go fully immune to all damage, or die, and thus the GCD would be wasted when you could've done something else. That said, UVLS procs rarely enough that you can't really count on it being back up in a certain amount of time.

Also, remember that it's not just the damage of Doom that you have to take into account, but also Imp damage and Imp fury generation that results from a crit tick. That UVLS guaranteed crit tick is probably worth way more than any Int/Mastery buff could be.

the only thing you can count on with UVLS is getting a proc on lei shen during intermission that seems to be pretty much universal lol.

i think it comes down to which kind of UVLS you're using. if it is the lfr version then i would suggest refreshing your 100% crit doom any chance you get, coz it has a very sketchy procrate, the normal and above versions are a bit more reliable and there are situations where you shouldnt refresh like the crit doom you have up from the pull where you have all procs altho only when using a non-lfr version tho.

[Deleted]

is glyph of Shadowbolt still considered 'mandatory'? does it have any affect on RPPM trinkets?

[Sifonology]

is glyph of Shadowbolt still considered 'mandatory'? does it have any affect on RPPM trinkets?

When Shadow Bolt is glyphed game counts 3 bolts as 2 hits on target, 1 for original Shadow Bolt particle, 1 for additional 2 bolts. I wouldn't say it's mandatory but it's something.

[Biomega]

Afaik the effect is almost completely negligible and purely cosmetic. There was (is?) an interaction with new tier set bonuses on the PTR, but we don't know whether that will make it to live. In all likelihood though Blizzard will want to keep minor glyphs from being a DPS increase, and will do something to prevent such interactions.

[Count Zero]

Well, in any event, it's not at all a dps increase -- it's just a very tiny protection against bad rng. More events means rng smooths out.

I mean, yeah, in small sample sizes, it could be a dps increase, but in the long run, particularly with how rppm works, it just makes it slightly more likely your experience doesn't fall to the extremes

[Werst]

You might also see similar results statistically speaking from chanting at your monitor, animal sacrifice (stuffed), playing without pants, and throwing popcorn at the screen. There isn't really any had data to say its an increase its just not a decrease and may smooth out bad RNG very slightly.

[aHeeRo]

So i've had my Meta gem for a few weeks now. Now my main is a hunter, So You go full haste to increase procs, etc. Wondering how the Meta affects warlocks. I play Destro/Demo mainly. Currently im at about 8100 Haste to meet a breakpoint. So wondering if its worth to go into haste or Hold my 10k mastery unbuffed.

http://us.battle.net/wow/en/characte...shini/advanced <- My Lock. I think im doing most things correctly. Just curious about the Meta Gem.

PS. Don't hate on the Main hand Lol. Was better than my raid finder Weapon So ya... :]

[Alarinth]

So i've had my Meta gem for a few weeks now. Now my main is a hunter, So You go full haste to increase procs, etc. Wondering how the Meta affects warlocks. I play Destro/Demo mainly. Currently im at about 8100 Haste to meet a breakpoint. So wondering if its worth to go into haste or Hold my 10k mastery unbuffed.

http://us.battle.net/wow/en/characte...shini/advanced <- My Lock. I think im doing most things correctly. Just curious about the Meta Gem.

PS. Don't hate on the Main hand Lol. Was better than my raid finder Weapon So ya... :]

In your itemlevel, I wouldn't go fully into haste - that becomes better when you can get obscene amounts of it. So for now, I'd stick with your current stat priorities.

[aHeeRo]

In your itemlevel, I wouldn't go fully into haste - that becomes better when you can get obscene amounts of it. So for now, I'd stick with your current stat priorities.

I was talking to a Lock in Arathian Knights(US13th) And he was saying that it's can go from fight to fight depending on length and other factors. Like Lei Shen i'd guess is a heavy mastery fight for increased Pet/AoE damage. But thank you for the quick reply.

One Other question when does it become good if ever to stack like 11k+ haste only if you're gear can support it?

[Woz]

One Other question when does it become good if ever to stack like 11k+ haste only if you're gear can support it?

Whenever your gear can support it.

Honestly, the best answer to your question would be to get the 8100 breakpoint then rest into mastery with however low your haste can get until you can easily hit 14166 haste with gems/gear. If you wanted a more "hybrid" reforging you could go 9778 haste, rest into mastery (for the Affliction Corruption breakpoint).

[aHeeRo]

Whenever your gear can support it.

Honestly, the best answer to your question would be to get the 8100 breakpoint then rest into mastery with however low your haste can get until you can easily hit 14166 haste with gems/gear. If you wanted a more "hybrid" reforging you could go 9778 haste, rest into mastery (for the Affliction Corruption breakpoint).

That is currently what i'm reforging/gemming for. Thats what i figured. I mean this is my alt but i still like to be competitive on my alts. So trying to learn the ins and outs.

Thanks again for all the answers.

[Sifonology]

In your itemlevel, I wouldn't go fully into haste - that becomes better when you can get obscene amounts of it. So for now, I'd stick with your current stat priorities.

Even with absurd amount haste(16.3k is the most I can push at the moment), isn't going for 14k breakpoint and dumping rest into mastery would be more benefical?

[Werst]

I did a haste vs mastery reforge analysis in simC around the 14-16K haste ballpark and think the high point on the graph was around 15.1-15.2K though I'd take it with a grain of salt.

[fujiapples]

Hello there!
Can somebody explain me the Imp swarm + DS optimized haste cap suggested by Gahhda?(~14153 haste)I dont understand the reason behind this number.Im troll warlock sitting at 15k haste.
For example: Battle starts,im using DS+Imp swarm under all procs,IS's cd at this point is a bit less than 1 min.After 1 min into fight imp swarm's cd is up,but its cooldown is around 1.4min and DS's cd will be up in 1 min.
If i use imp swarm now,it will not be up for DS.If i hold it for DS,where is reason for that haste cap?

[Biomega]

I believe that it's not a sure thing, but will allow for an extra use if you get a timely metagem proc. If you don't then it's business as usual.

[Mazda]

Almost beat xploit on H DA tonight. So many tears when I saw I was 3k lower.

[Samariel]

So I picked up Demo recently for funs. Noticed the felguard and his GoServ double don't seem to be generating fury during felstorm when messing with openers on a training dummy. I'm always fury starved on opener so this caught my eye. Guessing it's negligible because everyone uses the felguard anyway, but haven't been able to find much discussion about which pet to use for demo, so I'm wondering if worthwhile to use anything else on single target.

I have four piece and UVLS from normals, if it's relevant to anything. Don't have the meta-gem.

[EvreliaGaming]

Hello there!
Can somebody explain me the Imp swarm + DS optimized haste cap suggested by Gahhda?(~14153 haste)I dont understand the reason behind this number.Im troll warlock sitting at 15k haste.
For example: Battle starts,im using DS+Imp swarm under all procs,IS's cd at this point is a bit less than 1 min.After 1 min into fight imp swarm's cd is up,but its cooldown is around 1.4min and DS's cd will be up in 1 min.
If i use imp swarm now,it will not be up for DS.If i hold it for DS,where is reason for that haste cap?

It's nothing to do with getting an extra cast of Imp Swarm off. It means in the gap between Imp Swarm and DS coming off cooldown, an extra Imp will spawn from Demonic Calling.

[Teye]

It's nothing to do with getting an extra cast of Imp Swarm off. It means in the gap between Imp Swarm and DS coming off cooldown, an extra Imp will spawn from Demonic Calling.

You know, IF you happen to go a full minute without a Meta Gem Proc.