When do YOU use Shadowflame?

[FredMaHead]

I use it when i press 'Shift + 5'

[DotDotDot]

The whelps before sindragosa, Aoe capped for seed, so using shadowflame on CD, on the whelps means Moar DPS! as the Dot it leaves behind ticks on them all for nice damage

[tyden49]

The whelps before sindragosa, Aoe capped for seed, so using shadowflame on CD, on the whelps means Moar DPS! as the Dot it leaves behind ticks on them all for nice damage

someone tell me how or even what aoe capped means

on point of the topic its a useless spell i dont think blizzard had the intent to only make this spell useful when glyphed ( which may i add only came out in 3.2 i think)

[Deleted]

About AoE damage caps:

3.3 will significantly alter the manner in which AoE damage cps are calculated. Instead of having a hard cap on the damage done, the maximum damage will be equal to the damage that would be dealt to 10 mobs hit by the ability. For example, if a spell does 1000 damage per target, it would deal 10000 total damage against 10 targets, and that would the maximum damage it could do against any number of targets (before critical effects are taken into account). Against 20 targets, the spell would do 500 damage per target, while against 40 targets the spell would do 250 damage per target. Against 10 or fewer targets, the spell would continue to do 1000 damage per target. Thus unlike pre-3.3 mechanics, the damage cap now scales with gear, the maximum number of targets that can receive full damage no longer scales inversely with gear, and the damage done once beyond target cap now also scales with gear.

Taken from wowwiki article about AoE damage caps

[XepNes]

Meta > charge > immo > seed > shadowflame > rain of fire > im dead for over aggro <3 and still did 11k dps in VH heroic with 4.2k gear score where 3 parts was pvp ^^

[Glnger]

not on my action bar for any spec. pvp/pve.

tbh i forgot about it completely until i read this post. last time i used it might have been right when they glyph for it came out on my pvp destro spec.

[Heltah]

I actually use this spell A LOT when doing Daily HC with my Aff-Lock.

Many people underestimate this spells value. As an Aff Lock its quite hard to get some DMG up in HCs when everything dies so fast. SoC is hardly an option on 3 Mobs (only 4+) so my strategy is:
• Run in and CORR tab every Mob
• When in Melee Range: Shadowflame
• Stay Melee and Hellfire (Recast Hellfire when Eradication proccs)
Results in good burst damage you wouldnt expect your Aff Lock to deal otherwise. (Pray for the Healer being aware and giving you some extra heals ^^)

Cheers

[Velocet]

soc on 3 mobs is pretty viable esp as afflic.

anyway as demo since i don't have many instants, sometimes use it in lk hc (when moving for shadow traps, transitions etc) if i don't need to life tap or refresh corruption/curse.

with halion hc the tactic we use running through the boss every meteor strike i more or less use it off cd, again if i don't need to refresh corruption or life tap.

[Jaesaces]

A little delayed, but I might mention that in the Cata beta, Shadowflame has a fear attached to it. <3

[Marine1]

I use it when I run out of toilet paper.

[Maeno]

The only time to use it is on the first boss in ICC to help take down spikes that are in melee range. Since most people, except hunters, stand in the boss it is fairly easy to help drop the spikes. In HM your better off using SoC.

[CaspianRoach]

When you
1) need to move
2) close to the target
3) ran out of instant cast dps buttons to press
4) good on mana
you can use Shadowflame to add extra dps.

Examples would be:
- opening a pull on lord marrowgar
- chasing the green slime on professor putricide
- running to the tomb to hide on Sindragosa

or

- extremely large mob pulls (sindragosa whelps; vexallus trash; onyxia whelps; temple of ahn'qiraj trash)

Also this spell is very handy when soloing low level content with mobs that can interrupt. Since mob interrupt never misses you, you really don't want to have casting time on spells. Corruption + Curse + Shadowflame and AFK.

[Runc]

Use it a lot in Battlegrounds and Wintergrasp. Also use it when grinding entire families of Mammoths for their chunks - I run through them chucking a Corruption on each one to make them follow me, then turn around and barBQ their trunks off with SF. Yay.

[Willeonge]

I use it to barf on guildies.

[Daoran]

Simple. Everytime I have to move and don't need to (re) cast my other instant spells: Corruption, CoA, CoE or SB/Nightfall.

[xsistor]

PvE heroes canning useful abilities...

It's great with a glyph for pvp... even without a glyph it's a good instant dmg/nuke when you're being hit by some melee in your face.

And in PvE demo, immol aura, charge into a group, shadowflame, followed by SoC or RoF or whatever else.

[Deleted]

i have it glyphed so mainly use it for pvp (Affli) to slow melee or for desperate burst if its close in a 1v1 situations. sometimes i use it in dungeons (Destro) for a quick conflag on trash in close quarters. compared to a lot of other abilities classes recieved in the level 70's for wrath (the mighty lava burst for example) its needed some love tbh, especially seeing blizz took ages to fix the thin cone mistake. cant say i like the graphics too much, and it can be hard to tell if youve hit someone, but i like the shadow direct/flame dot style of it. may (most likely will) become more useful when it gets horror on it. id lke if the talent where destruction spells do more damage on immolated targets applied to this too for when theres a few (less than ideal for hellfire, but more than 1) mobs with low health so you could shadowflame then lob a few incinerates on them, otherwise the incinerates feel wasted on anything without an immolate, which isnt ideal for short burst situations (im looking at you, HoS tribunal).

[Lydian]

When running in pve (if im close enough to the boss)

[MerinPally]

My girlfriend does it when shes trying to attract my attention in game, bout it.

[Emaluri]

Way to add anything the least bit useful to the conversation.

Such a constructive post. You've certainly wow'd me with your thourough knowledge of the game and it's mechanics, and with your amazing awesomeness. Thank you for enlightening everyone in this thread with the vast amount of information you've provided us.

Neither of you have contributed with these posts, either, while the post you're attempting to (feebly) attack actually made a point. Any affliction warlock that attempts to AoE in that way (and, in truth, any warlock who AoEs like that) is a very, very bad player who does not understand their abilities and does not realize how to play in an even remotely proper manner. Let's break it down point by point.

I actually use this spell A LOT when doing Daily HC with my Aff-Lock.

Many people underestimate this spells value. As an Aff Lock its quite hard to get some DMG up in HCs when everything dies so fast. SoC is hardly an option on 3 Mobs (only 4+) so my strategy is:

Any number of mobs more than 2 creates a situation to use AoEs. Seed of Corruption is a 1.5s cast, it's not difficult to spread it across 3 targets and they all explode for a plump amount of damage.

• Run in and CORR tab every Mob

You spend 4.5s locked by the GCD, assuming you get all 3 targets in a row, never tabbing back to an already-Corruption'd target. You could cast 3 Seeds in this time if you aren't running.

• When in Melee Range: Shadowflame

The damage on this is minor, at best, and certainly not "burst"-worthy. The dot isn't much better, considering it's Fire damage, which as an Affliction warlock you have few, if any, bonuses for.

• Stay Melee and Hellfire (Recast Hellfire when Eradication proccs)

You're in melee range, so any cleaves or errant mobs have zero problem finding you. Not that you'll be pulling threat off of any tank better than a little bunny rabbit with an evil glare. Hellfire is so laughably weak that even Demonology, the spec that it's supposed to be for, uses Rain of Fire instead. The closest thing to "burst" that you'll encounter is when the mobs do a short range AoE or cleave and your health, ticking with that AND Hellfire, bursts down to nothing.

Results in good burst damage you wouldnt expect your Aff Lock to deal otherwise. (Pray for the Healer being aware and giving you some extra heals ^^)

Hardly. By the time you even get to start Hellfire in this, your Seeds could have burst and you could be applying new ones or widdling off any potential survivors - and by AoEing properly, you don't unnecessarily distract the healer with your ridiculous attempts at your silly method.

The best (and only helpful) use of this skill is glyphed in PvP.


tl;dr

All three of you are not very intelligent, and even though Dethh's post was inane, devoid of any significant worth, and flamebait at its worst, it was right on the money.

It's good for PvP.