CREATOR OF THIS GUIDE IS NO LONGER ACTIVE.
In this thread im not going to cover gear/ gem/ talents, but instead will focus mainly on the mashing of the buttons vs every class
Interface
I go for a very minimalist interface, as to not be distracted by floating numbers
some addons I use:
Move Anything
This one is definitely the most important, you can remove/ change basically anything on your interface (hint the name)
for this one i removed "errors and warning display", the red text that appears when you do something like cast when out of range. I found this to be rather irritating and redundant
and i also removed some things that appear like the text when you go into a new zone
my buffs and debuffs are relocated to better fit the position of my minimap (with another better addon, later)
bartender
This one is second most important, but may be a bit overwhelming when you first install it, this is normal
with this addon i set the micro menu (character, spellbook, talents..) to be faded at the bottom left of the screen and comes into view with mouseover so it is out of the way
it basically does everything that moveanything wont do
i removed the bag bar, blizzard's art bar (thing behind your spell buttons) and any other thing (xp bar)
also I set one action bar to be on the right, and normally is action bar 2 (which i have blank) then when I press alt, it will change to another action bar which has things like create healthstone, buff, firestone
OmniCC
This is another big one, it puts text timers on all debuffs of your current target and text timers on your cooldowns, which proves to be very useful
SexyMap
This is the one that i use to reconfigure my minimap, to put it out of the way
on this one I unchecked clamp to screen, but it's scale at .9, deleted the borders it automatically does for you, and set it to fade 100% when im not moused over it
I then went into interface menu under display and set "rotate minimap"
It is a bit difficult to do at first, but it is only my preference so that I can have my entire minimap out of the way for combat purposes
Chatter
It looks a bit screwed up at first, but i used this one to move the chat frame out of the way after configuring it to look like standard chat frame (but a bit smaller)
then I right clicked the chat frame and set the backround hue all the way down, so that it is clear, and also out of the way (I am saying this alot, aren't I)
EpicMusicPlayer
Not really a warlock addon, but im just showing my love for this addon since I like the original warcraft music so much
Also:
if you're going to use recount i'd suggest setting it to hide when in combat so you are not staring at the damage race as you attack
turn off combat text
it is fun to watch yes, but if you're serious about combat its best not to be basking in the glory of your dps
under interface -> names turn off all names except that of enemies, it makes them easier to spot
set your camera so that you can zoom all the way out, it helps a great deal with awareness
turn on enemy health plates
whichever your keybind is for it (v, shift-v, ctrl-v, alt-v) you may need to rekeybind it so that you can change it
this helps very much with click targeting and seeing people behind walls
hide party interface in raid
another thing you can do to create a minimal interface
I may be missing some things, which I may edit in later
basically the only thing you want on your screen is your action bars (only which are necessary, change with bartender if you know your keybinds so well), your target, player frame and pet frame
I cannot express how much this helps in high speed scenarios
Macros
oh yes, this is a big one
heres some macros that I use
/focus [target=mouseover]
#showtooltip
/cast [target=target] devour magic
#showtooltip
/cast [@player] devour magic
using devour magic on any magic spell will dispel it, this includes
pally stun
fear, poly
counterspell
deep freeze
etc.
these are very important, and should be keybinded to something you can do by reflex (mine are shift-mouse wheel up and shift-mouse wheel down)
#showtooltip
/cast [target=focus] fear
#showtooltip
/cast [target=focus] banish
#showtooltip
/cast [@target] spell lock
/cast [@target] seduction
/cast sacrifice
one button use pet abilities
#showtooltip
/use Fel Healthstone
/use Runic Healing Potion
/cast Lifeblood(Rank 6)
oshi button
these are your main macros to use, many other warlocks like to use things such as 1 button macros for firestone, healthstone, but are not really necessary if you have everything keybinded or hidden with bartender which I explained before (press alt to show buttons with buff/ healthstone)
Keybinds
for me, i keep all of my basic attacks with basic keybinds
q e r f c t z x v 1 2
then, for cooldowns and some utilities, (summon demon portal, shadow ward, etc)
and also some other moves which could not be keybinded to the basic keybinds above, I use
shift-w, s-a, s-s, s-d, s-q, s-e, s-r, s-z... so on
I know you may not want to use shift because it is difficult, but after an hour it feels completely natural
then for longer cooldowns, and things i do not use as much, I use ctrl keys, with the same letters above
I've recently started using alt keys for things like banish and summon demon
you get the idea, keybind things based on priority. Have certain easy to use keybinds set aside as reflex keys for things like silence, teleport
PVP scenarios: Destro
this section is basically to give real events to show how to react to certain spells/ scenarios
Im pretty much assuming every class plays the same, but do not assume that yourself, these usually go this way but are often scrambled
VS rogue
prefered pet: succubus
rogue: cheap shot, or garrote
you: pet uses seduce
you: get some distance, apply curse and dots as not to break seduce right away, immolate + conflagrate (conflagrate before he uses cloak of shadows!)
rogue: breaks seduce, cloak of shadows
you:
1. sometimes pet will have another seduce up by now, goes through cloak of shadows (not a bug) if you get lucky you can wait out cloak of shadows, get distance, and reapply dots, if you do you should be able to finish it without trouble at all
2. if not,
rogue: kidney shot, or stealth and cheap shot/ garrote
you: trinket stun, teleport (assuming you have it up and are in range, if not you're bad!)
you: dps him down
rogue: blind, comes into range, mutilate/ backstab
you: death coil, fear
you: dps him down again
(usually dead by now)
rogue: shadowstep/ vanish
you: shadowfury, fear, shadowflame, get distance, dps
rogue: shadowstep/ vanish + cloak of shadows
you: teleport, dps, fear
VS warrior
prefered pet: succubus
warrior: charge
you: pet seduce, get some distance, apply dots first, conflagrate
warrior: charge
you: trinket, teleport dps
warrior: spell reflect
you: curse of weakness (wipe off spell reflect), dps, kite, dps, shadowflame, kite
warrior: charge, bladestorm
you: try to emphasize instant casts as to not take pushback, shadowfury once over, get some distance, kite
you: dps, shadowflame
warrior: charge
you: teleport, dps, dps
VS shaman
enh:
preferred pet: succubus
basically same thing as warrior without charge, faceroll
ele:
prefered pet: felhunter
shaman: dps, wind shear
you: ( do not fear vs shaman) interrupt lava burst, dps
shaman: dps, wind shear
you: interrupt anything with shadowfury, dps
VS priest
shadow:
prefered pet: succubus
priest: instant dots, vampiric touch
you: pet silence vampiric touch, shadow ward
priest: fear, mind blast
you: trinket, shadowfury
priest: silence, dps
you: healthstone, death coil
priest: trinket, dps
I would not teleport on this one unless you have no dots on you, you'd just be letting the priest get free dps off while you sit behind a wall
VS hunter
prefered pet: succubus
hunter: silencing shot/ scatter shot
you: pet seduce
you: close distance, apply curse/ corruption at first as to not break seduce
hunter: disengage, deterrence
you: shadowfury, close distance, shadowflame, instant casts
hunter: wyvern sting/ pet stun/ prep + silencing shot + deterrence
you: death coil, fear, close distance, shadowflame
you: only casting incinerate/ chaos bolt when stacked on the hunter. this goes for the whole fight
this is too complicated of a fight to track accurately, but you get the idea
VS death knight
prefered pet: succubus
many say to use felhunter but i find it much much better to use succubus here, dispelling diseases isnt very effective it seems
death knight: chains of ice, close distance
you: pet seduce, trinket chains, get enough distance so he wastes death grip, apply curse/ corruption, conflagrate
death knight: death grip, chains of ice, probobly anti magic shield
you: teleport, (again, must have this up and slightly distant from where you stand!) dps
death knight: anti-magic zone, wait
you: get distance
death knight: chains of ice, close distance
you: shadowfury, get distance, conflag maybe
you: wait until he gets close again, death coil, dps
VS mage
this is a very fast complex fight, but heres how it goes in an ideal scenario, and mage armor screws over your conflagrate to no end
prefered pet: felhunter
mage: frostbolt rank 1, poly
you: dispel via devour magic macro above, apply instant casts
mage: freeze, deep freeze
you: trinket OR dispel deep freeze (leftmost debuff should be dispelled, most recent), apply instant casts, silence frostbolt, cast immolate during small blanket silence from your pet
you: try to dodge counterspell, get your pet to dispel the blanket silence
you: superdps faceroll, shadowfury for inturrupt here and there
mage: ice block
you: casting fear, waiting for cancel of ice block
you: reapply instant casts, soul fire
usually this cycle will repeat several times, as both classes have trouble dps'ing eachother
VS paladin
ret:
same thing as enh shaman and warrior, but with hand of justice and bubble
VS druid
moonkin:
same thing as ele shaman, but with irritating HoTs and cyclone
feral:
prefered pet: voidwalker (cannot seduce a cat)
druid: pounce
you: voidwalker bubble, apply instant casts, shadowflame, teleport
druid: feral charge
you: death coil, get distance, instant casts, maybe fear, dps
druid, powershift
you, shadowfury once he gets near, maybe fear, get distance, dps
VS warlock
prefered pet: felhunter
i cannot present a scenario for this one, as I'd be speaking for both opponents, and it would create some paradoxes, so heres some things to do in the fight
pet silence his fear
banish pet
shadowfury to inturrupt
fear
death coil his fear
teleport to LoS
you MUST try to keep him from getting an immolate off, so only inturrupt fear and immolate
the fight is basically about creating a lockdown, and keeping him from casting while you're blasting him
VS healers
all healers are about the same when it comes to duals,
what you want to do is save all of your cooldowns, then time all your cooldowns for a lockdown only when they are less than/ equal to 35% health.
this includes
fear
death coil
pet silence their heal
shadowfury
conflagrate, to an extent (use it for the extra super burst when the end is nigh)
also, keep in mind you can banish trees!
PVP scenarios: Affliction
i may more thoroughly cover this section later, but many can assure you destro is much better for the burst and utility, and easy conflagrate
basically, if you get hit you're doing it wrong (this may even go for destro too)
apply dots, and then you show the world the prowess of your LoS abilities
teleport anytime you're being attacked and you also have your DoTs up
instant fear to get distance and LoS more, silence the same things destro silences, use the same pets destro uses
the #1 rule for affliction (and any other warlock, actually) is to keep your portal up and behind a wall at all times
that concludes the tutorial, I'll probably edit the numerous errors and neglectfulness later and add pretty colors to it
Yes, i did make all of this by my self, it was no trouble as i type 90 wpm
leave a comment to tell me things to add
leave a thank-you to let me know i didn't waste time!
yes, I already know that many of you have a serious case of TL/DR
Skrom- Warsong
