1. Warlock Guide PVE 3.3.5 WOTLK - for all specs

    Hello warlocks,

    Im about to share with you few little tips of each specs that will increase your dps as warlock.

    A bit about my background as warlock:
    I`ve been playing warlock since wow come out, on retail up to WOTLK. I joined molten/warmane in 2010 having a few breaks throughout the years since the last server wipe I`ve been an active raider here. At the moment I’m in guild we clear 25hc raids regularly some of you may know me, my warlock is called Ceomerlin.
    But enough introductions lets begin.

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    Content


    I - General information for all specs
    - What to do when you move
    - What to track each spec
    - What addons will help you

    II - Suggested Specs + Glyphs than I find optimal
    - Demonology Warlock
    - Hybrid Warlock
    - Affliction Warlock
    - Destruction Warlock


    III - Suggested Rotations with videos, Spell priorities
    - Affliction Warlock
    - Demonology Warlock
    - Hybrid Warlock
    - Destruction Warlock

    IV - Other usefull information
    - Best in slot list
    - Gems
    - Enchants
    - Hit Rating
    - Professions
    - Macros

    V - Haste table


    VI - Most common Q&A

    VII - Motivation pictures from ICC 25 and other raids
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    What to do when you move

    Spoiler: Show
    This goes for all specs:

    1: One of the most important things that is generally applicable to most casters in the game is that THE LESS YOU MOVE THE HIGHER YOUR DAMAGE OUTPUT. Therefore you want to select a position on every boss to keep movement to a minimum. Unfortunately we have to move sometimes, but we can do few things when we are moving that will keep our output high, such as:
    Curse of Doom, Curse of Agony, Corruption, Life Tap and Conflagrate. The perfect scenario is not clipping the dots but to move and put the new ones when they are off.
    Good portal position is a dps gain porting can save a lot of moving on all fights especially Sindi, LK, Halion the last two are the most important, because on the current patch they are the end game bosses so DPS maximisation is crucial.


    2: Like every other class in the game we need to track specific buff`s/proc`s we gain so we can be sure we are gettting the most of them.
    All DOTs and some buff`s/proc`s I would consider tracking would be:



    What to track each spec


    Spoiler: Show
    Glyph of Life Tap - When you have to redo it.

    Eradication - how this will help you, you will know how much time left on the proc. Lets say that there is 1-2 sec left on your life tap glyph buff, and you just casted shadowbolt your Eradication is on 1 sec also, you need to then cast another shadow bolt after that you will cast Life Tap. Even if you can cast 2 more shadowbolts during the effect on this proc is better to do it even life tap buff is off.
    This helps with Haunt also, because you probably notice so far, the further you stay away from the bosses the longer it takes on Haunt to apply the debuff because the spell is flying to the target is not applying instantly like our other dots. So for instance we can cast more shadowbolts if we have the proc because shadowbolt is casting faster.

    Nightfall - you want to track this proc, , its useful on burning phase when the target is under 25%, and we are using drain soul as filler not shadowbolt. Between the drains dots reapplying if you have the proc you can cast instant shadowbolt.

    Tier 4 pieces bonus - Each time your Immolate, Corruption and Unstable Affliction spells deal periodic damage, you have a 15% chance to gain 10% damage done by you and your pet for 10 sec. You want to track this because the nature of Corruption works, it makes a snap on your crit % and any % damage increase at the moment you hard cast corruption on the target. So this 10% more damage you gain from the tier bonus will stay until you let your spell go off, which you should never let happen as a good affliction warlock. You want to do the same thing hard recasting corruption when the target is under 35% and you have tier bonus proc too that way your corruption damage will be 22% stronger.If you don’t recast corruption when the boss is under 35% the talent Death's Embrace which increases damage on the target when is under 35% will not apply for corruption because the way the spell works.

    Tricks of the Trade from rogues - The threat caused by your next damaging attack and all actions taken for 6 sec afterwards will be transferred to the target. In addition, all damage caused by the target is increased by 15% during this time. You can track this as well because it is working the same way like I described the tier 10 4 piece bonus above. If you do it just one time t10 bonus + tot at start and you keep it, your corruption will do 25% more damage for the whole fight, and one more time when the target is under 35% then it will do 37% more damage. Considering that corruption is our 2nd top damage spell on recount/skada this is huge dps for us.




    Hybrid Warlock [H] is for hybrid

    Molten Core [H] - you want to track this proc because when we are not in burning phase 35% under we are using as filler shadowbolt, but when this proc pop up you want to cast 3 Incinerate. Then you go back to shadowbolt spamming until it procs again.

    Glyph of Life Tap - When you have to redo it to keep up the buff.

    Decimation [H]- This is the time when warlock causes the most damage, you need to track this because you can pop this procs from adds, spikes etc. so you can still use it even if the boss is not under 35% very useful on LK.

    Metamorphosis cooldown - You can track this to see when you can use it.

    Immolation - If you are using the glyph for Metamorphosis you can use this 2 times.

    Conflagrate [H] - You can track this to see when you can use it.





    Conflagrate - you want to track this and use on cooldown every time. I personally recast Immolate 1-2sec before Conflagrate cooldown because that way I will get the most benefit from the procs I get from Conflagrate. 3x Incinerate or 2x Incinerate 1x Chaos Bolt with possible Pyroclasm the 6% more damage buff that talent give as. This way I will not waste 1 cast from Backdraft casting Immolate because as we know when this spell is on target Incinerate and Chaos Bolt are doing more damage.


    What addons will help you

    Spoiler: Show
    Addons that I personally use for tracking are:
    Power Auras Classic
    Video below how to setup power auras with all important buffs/debuffs/curses for warlock.
    Spoiler: Show

    TellMeWhen
    Quartz - To track drains ticks. That way I can see when I can stop the drain right after the tick so I can put my dots without losing ticks on drain soul.


    Suggested Specs + Glyphs than I find optimal

    Demonology Warlock


    Spoiler: Show
    Specs that I find out optimal and why
    Demo 3/51/17
    Other specs:
    If you are hit capped and you don`t need 3/3 Suppression
    0/54/17
    0/52/19
    0/52/19 - Imp one
    this one i think is top DPS spec for Demo


    Glyphs
    1. Glyph of Quick Decay
    2. Glyph of Life Tap
    3. Is between Glyph of Metamorphosis,Glyph of Imp or Glyph of Felguard. I personaly use Glyph of Metamorphosis its overall better if you know how to use 2 x Immolation Aura if you dont do it then use Glyph of Felguard or Glyph of Imp.


    My spec is with just one point in Nemesis because our raid dps is really good and even with improved 3 points there I cannot use 2 demo forms in one boss fights. On fights that are a bit longer I still can use it on start and then again when the burning phase comes such as PP, BPC, BQ, Sindi, LK and Halion.

    3 points in Suppression is needed as you simply can’t find better. You can see this as you put points somewhere where they are giving you more haste, crit and spell power. Because the extra hit that talent gives we don’t need to put gems with hit or use one more item that is giving as hit, that way we can put gems with spell power, haste, crit + one item with crit or haste.

    1 point in Mana Feed this allows your pet to hit with his special abilities all the time.

    0 in Demonic Empowerment the pet damage in this server its really low putting point there will gain you almost nothing.



    Hybrid Warlock

    Spoiler: Show
    Hybrid 0/38/33 or Hybrid 0/40/31
    Glyphs
    1.Glyph of Conflagrate
    2.Glyph of Incinerate
    3.Is between Glyph of Immolate,Glyph of Imp or Glyph of Quick Decay. I personaly use Glyph of Immolate its too good not pick it, increases the periodic damage of your Immolate, Conflagrate and hes dot by 10%.


    Pretty standard one I put 2 points in Pyroclasm because when Conflagrate crit we get the buff for 10 sec which makes as do 4% more damage and this is multiplied by Ruin.
    If you put 2 points in Demonic Tactics you will have flat 4% more crit chance.



    Affliction Warlock


    Spoiler: Show
    Affliction 54/0/17 with less threat, Affliction 54/0/17 if you are hit capped and Affliction 54/0/17 this will save you over 3 life taps per boss

    Glyphs
    1.Glyph of Haunt
    2.Glyph of Quick Decay
    3.Glyph of Life Tap


    Standard one there is 3 dead points where you can put whatever you want and will not make difference.
    This 3 points I choice to put 2 in Improved Drain Soul because I find myself pulling a lot of aggro even with 4+ hunters in the raid and Soulshatter. The 1 point that left I put it in Improved Felhunter



    Desctruction Warlock

    Spoiler: Show
    We can pick over few specs as Destro
    0/13/58, 3/13/55 no hit cap and 0/18/53 top dps one

    Glyphs
    1.Glyph of Conflagrate
    2.Glyph of Incinerate
    3.Glyph of Immolate

    If you play destro you want to pick spec from this 3 they are pretty much standard ones.




    Suggested Rotations with videos, Spell priorities


    Affliction Warlock

    Spoiler: Show

    Spell priorities
    starting rotation - 3sec before pull timer Life tap>Shadowbolt>Haunt>Unstable Affliction>Corruption>Curse of Doom

    after that - dont lose Corruption[you can use drain life just to refresh it, if you see your shadowbolt will not hit target on time to refresh it]>dont lose Haunt debuff,dont lose shadow embrace debuff x3>Unstable Affliction>Shadowbolt>Life tap

    under 25% - dont lose Corruption>dont lose Haunt debuff>dont lose shadow embrace debuff x3>dont lose shadowbolt debuff refresh it only on instant shadowbolt>Unstable Affliction>Drain Soul>Life tap

    ps. keeping shadowbolt debuff only if you are the only warlock in raid, and no mage is doing scorch or they slack.


    Start with life tap and keep the buff on.
    Around 2 sec before pull timer I start to cast Shadowbolt, Haunt, Unstable Affliction, Corruption, Curse of Doom this is so called opener. After that filler Shadowbolt refreshing dots without clipping them. Depending on Haunt flying time you can start cast it when from 1 sec to 4 sec so it can be reapplied right after last tick. Unstable Affliction when the spell is on 1 sec before last tick. When I have t10-4p bonus proc(if I have tot with it even better) I recast corruption.
    Under 35% on target I recast corruption with t4p bonus proc again if tot with it its great.
    Under 25% All stays the same but we start to use drain soul as filler.

    You’re probably going to say why there is no Curse of Agony. I’m going to say when its good time to use it and why this is a bad curse to use overall.
    A good time to use it is when the target will die under 1 minute, and Curse of Doom is not active on the target. Or you have multiple adds and they are going to live at least 25+sec
    Why Curse of Doom is better than Curse of Agony. COD is ticking after 1m and one COD is doing more damage than 2 COA 5-10% more, 1x shadowbolt is doing less damage than 1 COA if it doesn’t crit 43-7%. In 1m you can put 3 COA that is 3 gcd, on the other hand for the same time you can use this 3 gcd for 1x COD + 2x shadowbolts (shadowbolt + Eradication + black magic casting time is 1.1sec thats almost 1 gcd even shadowbolt + Eradication 1.2sec that is with 1400 haste where decent geared aff warlocks already have).Lets say that this 2 extra shadowbolts you gonna cast over the 2 COA are not going to crit you will make a min of 11%-24% more damage than if you do cast 3x COA in one 1 minute, if they both crit you will do at least 40% more damage. In ICC this will be a dps loss of 40-55k dmg per 1m for lets say 3 minutes and something fight, you are going to lose 150k+ damage done and this seems a lot to me.
    The biggest problem on COA is that the spell don’t have much multiplayes from talents and most important cannot crit.

    How corruption works:

    The stats that do roll are:
    Critical strike chance
    Percentage damage modifiers

    The stats that do not roll are:
    Spellpower
    Haste

    We can buff corruption by:
    Crit buffs:
    Never-melting Ice Crystal
    Focus Magic
    Potion of Wild Magic
    A high Crit weapon

    Percentage Damage:
    Tricks of the Trade
    Devious Minds (4pcT10)
    Death's Embrace

    Here is a short video with dps rotation in action on the new core.
    Spoiler: Show


    Here is a short video with burning under 25% dps rotation in action on the new core.
    Spoiler: Show




    Demonology Warlock

    Spoiler: Show
    Spell priorities

    starting rotation - Shadowbolt>Immolate>Corruption>COD

    after that - Immolate>Corruption>3x Incinerate if you have the proc>Shadowbolt>Life tap

    under 35% - Immolate if the target will die under 24 sec ignore>Corruption if the target will die under 13 sec ignore>dont lose shadowbolt debuff>Soul Fire>Life tap

    ps. keeping shadowbolt debuff is your job you are demo warlock.


    Start with life tap and keep the buff on.
    Around 3-4 sec before pull timer I cast Soul Fire or around 2 sec Shadowbolt, Immolate, Corruption, Curse of Doom. I`m keeping the dots all the time under 35% also trying not to clipping them, as filler I’m using shadowbolt till 35% after that Soul Fire. When Molten Core proc and the boss is not under 35% I’m casting 3x Incinerate.
    When to use your Meta form if the boss is going to die under 3m you want to use your form when you have the Decimation proc. If the boss is going to live more than 4m then you pop it right from start and the 2nd time when you have Decimation. As demo warlock when you are using your Demo form there is no excuses not to be in melee range from the target, only fight in icc hc where you can be away from it is Rotface because of the vile gas.
    Not been in melee range and not using 2 x Immolation Aura + Shadow Cleave is at least 100k+ damage done loss on a single target. If there is more than one target around Immolation Aura will hit them all and Shadow Cleave is hitting up to 3 targets.

    Here is a short video with dps rotation in action on the new core.
    Spoiler: Show

    Here is a short video with burning under 35% dps rotation in action on the new core.
    Spoiler: Show




    Hybrid Warlock

    Spoiler: Show
    Spell priorities

    starting rotation - Immolate>Conflagrate>Corruption>Incinerate>COD

    after that - Conflagrate>Immolate>Corruption>Incinerate

    under 35% - Conflagrate if the target will die under 7 sec ignore>Immolate if the target will not die under 10 sec and you can use Conflagrate right after it, if not ignore>Corruption if the target will die under 18 sec ignore>Soul Fire


    As hybrid I’m using the same rotation as demo with two little changes as filler I’m using Incinerate all the time there is no Shadowbolt in hybrid spec and Conflagrate on cooldown. Burning phase under 35% is the same as demo plus Conflagrate on cooldown. Conflagrate is the spell that is doing the most damage per cast time.
    Keep that in mind and don`t forget to use it on burning phase.
    Spoiler: Show





    Destruction Warlock

    Spoiler: Show
    Spell priorities

    starting rotation - Immolate>Conflagrate>Corruption>Chaos Bolt>Incinerate>COD

    after that - Conflagrate>Immolate>Corruption>Chaos Bolt>Incinerate


    Immolate, Corruption, Curse of Doom, Conflagrate, 1x Chaos Bolt, 2x Incinerate. Don’t let the dot goes off Corruption, Immolate 1-2sec before Conflagrate cooldown then Conflagrate 3x Incinerate and Chaos Bolt if its off cooldown.

    Here is a short video with dps rotation in action on the new core.
    Spoiler: Show



    Best in slot list

    Spoiler: Show
    Head: Sanctified Dark Coven Hood +Purified Dreadstone and Chaotic Skyflare Diamond / Enchant Arcanum of Burning Mysteries
    Neck: Blood Queen's Crimson Choker + Runed Cardinal Ruby or Purified Dreadstone/ Amulet of the Silent Eulogy + Reckless Ametrine
    Shoulders: Sanctified Dark Coven Shoulderpads + Reckless Ametrine / Enchant Greater Inscription of the Storm
    Back: Cloak of Burning Dusk + Runed Cardinal Ruby / Enchant Lightweave Embroidery or Formula: Enchant Cloak - Greater Speed
    Chest: Sanctified Dark Coven Robe +Reckless Ametrine and Runed Cardinal Ruby / Enchant Formula: Enchant Chest - Powerful Stats
    Wrist: Bracers of Fiery Night + Runed Cardinal Ruby / Enchant Formula: Enchant Bracer - Superior Spellpower
    Gloves: Sanctified Dark Coven Gloves+Purified Dreadstone or Runed Cardinal Ruby / Enchant Scroll of Enchant Gloves - Exceptional Spellpower
    Waist: Crushing Coldwraith Belt + Runed Cardinal Ruby, Runed Cardinal Ruby and Purified Dreadstone / Enchant Eternal Belt Buckle
    Legs:Plaguebringer's Stained Pants +Runed Cardinal Ruby,Purified Dreadstone and Reckless Ametrine+ for destro specSanctified Dark Coven Leggings +Purified Dreadstone and Reckless Ametrine / Enchant Brilliant Spellthread
    Feet: Plague Scientist's Boots + Runed Cardinal Ruby and Purified Dreadstone / Enchant Formula: Enchant Boots - Tuskarr's Vitality or Scroll of Enchant Boots - Greater Spirit

    Ring1: Ashen Band of Endless Destruction + Reckless Ametrine
    Ring2: Valanar's Other Signet Ring + Runed Cardinal Ruby or Purified Dreadstone / Ring of Rapid Ascent + Runed Cardinal Ruby or Purified Dreadstone
    Trinket1: Charred Twilight Scale
    Trinket2: Phylactery of the Nameless Lich / for Affliction Dislodged Foreign Object
    Main Hand: Bloodsurge, Kel'Thuzad's Blade of Agony + Runed Cardinal Ruby / Enchant Formula: Enchant Weapon - Mighty Spellpower
    Off-Hand: Shadow Silk Spindle
    Wand: Corpse-Impaling Spike + Reckless Ametrine



    Spoiler: Show
    Depend with how much haste rating 1296, 1404 or 1616 you want to play when you reach it, start to gem Potent Ametrine over Reckless Ametrine. In order to reach 1616 haste you will need to put few Reckless Ametrine in red sockets.

    ps.If you are not sure what to gem its better to go for socket bonuses with Purified Dreadstone andReckless Ametrine.


    Hit Rating
    Spoiler: Show
    With BIS gear we will have around 11.30 - 13.00 +% hit rating + 1-3% from talents + 3% Spriest or Boomkin in the raid we will have over 17%.

    Hit table for all casters look like this:
    Raid - Chance to miss is 83% on bosses so 17% is the hard cap for ALL casters, without talents or racials you need 446 hit rating to reach it.
    Soft caps
    16% or 420 rating - If there is a Draenei in your group (not raid, GROUP)
    14% or 368 rating - (3/3 Suppression)
    13% or 342 rating - (3/3 Suppression) + Draenei
    11% or 289 rating - (3/3 Suppression) + Spriest or Boomkin in the raid
    10% or 263 rating - (3/3 Suppression) + Draenei + Spriest or Boomkin
    Dungeon - Chance to miss is 94% so 6% is the hard cap for all casters and takes 158 rating without talents.
    Soft caps
    5% or 132 rating - If there is a Draenei in your group (not raid, GROUP)
    3% or 79 rating - (3/3 Suppression)
    2% or 53 rating - (3/3 Suppression) + Draenei
    (3/3 Suppression) + Spriest or Boomkin puts you at the cap and + Draenei puts you 1% over

    The effect of Hit chance on Critical Hit chance
    Unlike the melee combat system, spell crit makes absolutely no difference to hit chance. All spells, regardless of whether they are treated as binary or not, roll hit and crit separately. Conceptually, the game rolls for your hit chance first, and if the spell hits you have a separate roll for whether it crits.

    Overall chance to crit over all spells cast is thus affected by hit rate. To calculate overall crit rate, multiplying the two chances together:

    crit rate over all spells = crit * hit
    For example, a caster with no spell hit rating gear or talents, against a mob 3 levels higher (83% hit chance), and 30% crit rating from gear and talents:

    crit rate over all spells = 30% * 83% = 24.9%
    In addition, direct damage spells suffer from partial resistance, but again, that has no effect on whether a spell hits or not.

    To clarify: hitting and critting are separate rolls, but in order to crit, you must first hit. Thus, increasing your +hit does increase your crit, indirectly. You could even say it indirectly increases your spellpower (since if you miss, your spellpower stat is irrelevant).


    Professions
    Spoiler: Show
    I think best possible dps wise is Tailoring and Jewelcrafting. Tailoring is top dps ennch we can have.

    Tailoring: Effectively 98 Spell Power: 295 SP proc for 15 seconds and a 50% proc chance, this equates to roughly a consistant +98 spell power assuming it procs right after the Internal Cooldown finishes (45 second ICD). This replaces the 23 haste enchant.

    Jewelcrafting: Effectively 48 Spell Power: 3 Dragons Eye Gems (39SP, 34 Crit, 34 Haste). Generally SP dragons eyes are taken. This equates to 48 Bonus SP compared to normal epic gems.

    Blacksmithing: Effectively 46 Spell Power: 2 bonus gem sockets, 1 on Wrists, 1 on Hands.

    Enchanting: Effectively 46 Spell Power: 2 ring enchants (23×2)

    Engineering: Effectively 68 Haste and 12 Crit with movespeed boost and 27 SP with (useless) parachute because of Mage Slow Fall: (Hyperspeed Accelerators) 340 Haste active with 20% uptime. This replaces the standard 28 SP enchant. (Nitro Boosts) 3 Minute CD movespeed boost along with 24 Crit rating. This replaces the standard 12 Crit rating 12 hit rating or 18 Spirit enchant. (Springy Arachnoweave) Parachute along with 27 SP cloak enchant. This replaces the standard 23 haste enchant.

    Inscription: Effectively 46 Spell Power: This replaces the 24 SP and 15 crit rating enchant from Sons of Hodir.

    Alchemy: Effectively 47 Spell Power: Mixology gives bonus SP on Flask of the Frost Wyrm.

    Leatherworking: Effectively 46 Spell Power: Fur Lining – Spell Power (76 Spell power) replaces the standard 30 Spell power enchant.

    Skinning: 40 Crit Rating: Master of Anatomy

    Mining: Gives Stamina = NOT WORTH

    Herbalism: Only gives a heal = NOT WORTH


    Macros

    Spoiler: Show
    Meta form + immolation aura

    #showtooltip Metamorphosis
    /cast Metamorphosis
    /cast Immolation Aura(Demon)

    Shadow Bolt

    #showtooltip Shadow Bolt
    /petattack
    /cast Shadow Cleave(Demon)
    /cast Shadow Bolt(Rank 13)

    Soul Fire

    #showtooltip Soul Fire
    /petattack
    /cast Shadow Cleave(Demon)
    /cast Soul Fire(Rank 6)

    Incinerate

    #showtooltip Incinerate
    /petattack
    /cast Shadow Cleave(Demon)
    /cast Incinerate(Rank 4)

    Weapon enchant, replace Bloodsurge, Kel'Thuzad's Blade of Agony name with your weapon name

    /cast Grand Spellstone
    /use Bloodsurge, Kel'Thuzad's Blade of Agony

    Weapon enchant, replace Bloodsurge, Kel'Thuzad's Blade of Agony name with your weapon name

    /cast Grand Firestone
    /use Bloodsurge, Kel'Thuzad's Blade of Agony

    We want to focus boss, so when we have to switch on something else we can easy target the boss after that

    /focus
    and
    /target focus

    For LK we focus some of the spirits, valks or other trash to keep Decimation proc on

    /cast [target=focus] Soul Fire(Rank 6)
    and
    /cast [target=focus] Shadow Bolt(Rank 1)
    and
    /cast [target=focus] Shadow Bolt(Rank 13)





    Haste table



    Spoiler: Show
    All the numbers below are without Black Magic

    Shadow Bolt
    1012 haste - 1.7 casting time
    1296 haste - 1.6 casting time
    1616 haste - 1.5 casting time + Power Infusion - 1.3 sec casting time , Bloodlust - 1.2 sec casting time
    1981 haste - 1.4 casting time

    note Power Infusion and Bloodlust dont stack

    Soul Fire
    825 haste - 1.7 casting time
    1097 haste - 1.6 casting time
    1404 haste - 1.5 casting time
    1745 haste - 1.4 casting time


    The Basics:

    Haste rating increases your casting speed, and reduces the global cooldown (as well as reducing the duration of Corruption with Glyph of Quick Decay). It takes 32.79 points of Haste to increase your cast speed by 1%.

    There is a common fallacy that says that haste reduces the casting time of your spells by [Haste]% (meaning 100% haste would reduce all cast times to zero). It does not decrease casting time, but rather increases casting speed. It's difficult to describe accurately, so let me start with the equation that calculates casting times based on haste:

    New Casting Time = (Base Casting Time or Corruption Duration) / (1 + (% Spell Haste / 100))

    100% haste does not reduce all cast times to 0, it doubles your casting speed. You will be casting at 200% of your normal cast speed (reducing all cast times by half). Likewise 200% haste will triple your cast speed.

    This is similar to how increasing the numbers on a car speedometer by X% does not decrease the length of the road by X%, but rather increases the speed at which the car traverses the road.

    There is also a "soft cap" for haste. Haste reduces the Global Cooldown of your spells in exactly the same way as it would reduce the cast time of a 1.5 second spell. The GCD can not be shorter than one second. The basic "soft cap" for haste is therefor 50%. Anything beyond that will not have a substantial effect on spells with a cast time of 1.5 seconds or less.

    This can be extrapolated to include any spell. The amount of haste it takes you to bring the cast time of a spell to one second is the cap for that spell. A 2.5 second spell, for example requires 150% haste to reduce it's cast time to 1 second. In other words [(Cast time - 1)*100]% haste is the cap.

    Additional Sources of Haste:

    3% Improved Moonkin
    5% Wrath of Air Totem
    20% Eradication
    30% Bloodlust/Heroism
    20% Power Infusion

    Your haste from Haste Rating and each haste buff stacks multiplicatively. In other words it's:

    New Casting Time = (Base Casting Time) / (1 + (Haste Rating / 32.79 / 100)) * 1.03 * 1.05 * 1.3 * 1.2 * 1.2)

    NOT: New Casting Time = (Base Casting Time) / (1 + (Haste Rating / 32.79 / 100) + 0.03 + 0.05 + 0.3 + 0.2 + 0.2)

    IMPORTANT NOTE: Cast time reduction is NOT a source of haste. Anything that reduces (or increases) the cast time of a spell (like Bane, Emberstorm, Decimation, Backdraft, and Molten Core) is applied to the base cast time BEFORE haste is taken into account.

    Haste Caps:

    The base cast times for our spells are as follows:



    These two are included for the sake of completion:
    18 Duration of Corruption
    15 Duration of Drain Soul

    The following table shows how much haste rating it takes to bring each base cast time to 1 second given the different possible raid buffs. 0 means you're naturally capped.







    Q: I wanted to add a small trick:
    you are allowed to use a critic potion per combat,so just before engaging the fight use one ,then you will be able to use it again after the cool down.It gives a good dps boost since it's easier for you to time heroism or use it when boss under 35%.

    A:
    Spoiler: Show
    Yes we can use pre pull :

    Nevermelting Ice Crystal - that is like 20% crit more, after we use it we change back to our normal trinket, the buff that trinket is giving it stays when we change trinkets.
    - this is like 2% crit and something more.
    That way we will have 22%+ crit on corruption till we lose it.


    Q: Hey, I have a question, which spec would do best in NON-ICC raids? like ToC, naxx, VoA, 5 man heroic dungeons, etc? Is there one spec that performs better over the rest? I kind of like hybrid spec the best.

    A:
    Spoiler: Show
    5 man heroic dungeons - definitely demo, because we can burst every boss with demo form its easy 10-17k. Hardly we will go a lot over 10k with other specs.

    ToC, Naxx - Depend on the boss fight, but because we are over geared for this fights mainly more burst specs will pull you a bit ahead. Destro, Demo, Hybrid, on fights where you can proc Decimation from adds hybrid, demo will pull you way more than rest of the specs. Aff spec its also good but potentially will do less.

    VoA - without doubt demo, hybrid you can proc Decimation from orbs and use soul fire all the time as filler there is nothing better we can have.


    Q: Which spec is most viable as a fresh level 80 and in which point should i switch spec? Any ranking of the specs i think i saw in forum that affliction best endgame dps some say demo is best.....

    A:
    Spoiler: Show
    I would say if there is some kind of ranking pve for me its gonna look like this:
    that rank is based on gear required for the spec to show good result

    Destruction - is the most easy one to play and less gear depending its perfect for fresh 80 level, with good gear and end game gear its still a pretty good as dps.

    Hybrid demo/destro - It is the same as destruction very easy to play, with good dps results. I`ll play that spec when i reach 5.8gs+

    Demonology - I find out Demonology the most hardest spec to play, to play it good and to show good results, not to be in the raid just for the Demonic Pact ignoring your dps. I`ll play that spec when i reach 5.9gs+

    Affliction - A bit harder than destro and hybrid but easier compare to Demonology. This spec is the most gear depending. I`ll start play it when i reach 6.2gs+


    If we talk about pure dps it will be different most likely because depend how good each of the spec`s above you can play really good. Affliction even with the not working correct talent its number 1 dps output (hybrid and destro have talent that is not working correct also). Demonology, Hybrid and Destruction specs are really close to each other you will not find huge difference.


    Q: There isnt even decent amount of spirit in the warlock to use the Life Tap glyph.. and considering the new core, Glyph of corruption + Nighfall talent is much much much better than then Life tap glyph, imo.
    A:
    Spoiler: Show
    Glyph comparison all the info is from elitistjerks.
    The numbers are with BIS gear which don't have any spirit on it, according this information is still around 10 times better.


    Glyph of Quick Decay 471.24 / 648.38 dps
    Adding haste rating to Corruption - the best glyph by far at the moment.

    Glyph of Life Tap 248.97 / 324.74 dps
    As you would lifetap 1.5 times a minute anyway, this glyph gives a huge spellpower increase at no costs. Even when you don't need the mana the GCD is worth it (think of general vezax here. Downgrading the spell to rank 1 is a smart action for situations like that). As a side effect, the impact of this glyph makes spirit an even better damage stat.

    Glyph of Haunt 88.36 / 89.87 dps
    Increasing the Haunt effect by 3% is an 2.5% increase to all your dots and results in about 1.2%-1.5% overall damage increase, which is quite good for a single glyph.

    All other glyphs are inferior to these:

    Glyph of Curse of Agony 30.51 -> 37.04 -> 62.86 dps
    There are two more heavy ticks when you use this glyph. The damage amount coming from spell power does NOT change per tick (but of course the DPCT changes). The damage plus from the additional ticks is constant and can be computed like this: base dps unglyphed = 1740/24s = 72.5 dps. base dps glyphed = (1740 + 2x389)/(24+4)s = 89.93 dps. So the glyph gives a constant 17.43 dps increase here. Furthermore, you gain (60/24 - 60/28)s = 0.358s per minute because you have to recast CoA less often. In this time, you can cast your filler spell, giving you another 784.6 / 1176.3 dpm or 13.08 / 19.61 dps.

    Glyph of Corruption 12.49 dps -> 19.47 -> 36.01 dps
    This glyph increases the proc chance of Nightfall by 4% (or by 3.96% if it really is multiplicative and you have talent points in Nightfall - it does not make a measurable difference and none will ever know). The effect is not very good dps-wise. As a side note, this means that the talent Nightfall is not very good dps-wise, either.

    Glyph of Shadow Bolt 10.94 dps -> 14.14 -> 20.24 dps
    This one is quite weak - mana costs are just not really important to a warlock.

    Glyph of Unstable Affliction 0 dps -> 0 dps
    Decrease Base Casting time of UA by 0.2s (before haste. This works like the talent bane for sb/immo.) Unfortunately, it does not lower the GCD for Unstable Affliction. Your cast will be followed by a 0.2s GCD and so, the Glyph will not give any DPS increase.


    Q:Hello, I'm playing a warlock on Lordaeron server so we're far away at BiS. Since this is my first warlock, even at 4.3k gs, i would like to ask some questions about the rotation.
    I watched your videos on Affliction, and i noticed that you always let Unstable Affliction expire before you put a new one. Why don't you refresh it like Haunt for example, some seconds before it expire?

    A:
    Spoiler: Show
    Unstable Affliction - make dmg on hes last tick that is why we dont want to refresh it unless expire.
    Haunt - make dmg only when hits the target. After that we just have debuff on target that makes our dots do more dmg with %. We recast Haunt to keep that debuff not to make dmg with it because damage itself its really low.
    Imagine Haunt like Shadow Bolt when shadow bolt hit the target it makes dmg and after that we have debuff on the target that increase our crit chance with 5%


    Q: One more question is what happens with the curses when you have more than 1 warlocks in the raid. Only one warlock can use CoE since multiple don't stack. What about the others? CoA? or CoD?

    A:
    Spoiler: Show
    If you dont have this buffs Ebon Plaguebringer (unh death knight), Earth and Moon balance dudu, then one of the warlocks have to use COE. If you have one of this classes with this specs then general rule is if the target its going to live more than one 1m we are using COD, if its going to live less COA.


    Q: First of all thank you for not just making this guide but staying active on the thread as well.
    Now i have a couple of questions. As a demo lock, one can stack either crit or spirit, right? And when i heard this i was all aboard for stacking spirit. But i don't know how. I am decently geared. My gs is 5,7.

    A:
    Spoiler: Show
    H! you have few options.

    1st you can go with normal gear haste&crit as mages. This option comes with good raid buff and best possible personal dps, demo warlocks can pull and all other specs also.
    2nd you can go mixed gear few off part`s haste&crit and few with spirit + other stat. This option comes with just a tiny better raid buff and less personal dps.
    3rd you can go full off parts with spirit. This option comes with best possible raid buff and worst possible personal dps.
    Enchants&gems are the same for all 3 types.

    The way you gonna gear your warlock depend on you. But don't expect to have priority on spirit items over healers and other classes that this gear is bis for them, because for warlock spirit + haste or crit is not a bis item. Is it worth to go full spirit as demo warlock. General answer is YES but that depend exclusively on other players in the raid. If they are not good as healers or spell power dpsers, raid will not notice some difference. The better they are, the better difference raid will notice.

    You rarely gonna see any full spirit warlock in end game guilds in this server. Most likely you will see mixed geared or full mage style. The chance to see good demo warlock in raids its`s really low most of them will pull above the tank dps and they will be happy with it. Raid leaders sadly are not pushing this players to improve so as long they are alive and don't forget to attack with pet, they will be happy.

    I personally will not advice you to go with sprit items over your bis list which you can find in my guide. If you can put your hands on spirit items until you are still gearing that's fine.


    Most common spirit off parts are:

    Neck - Bone Sentinel's Amulet
    Back - Greatcloak of the Turned Champion
    Waist - Lingering Illness
    Ring - Memory of Malygos
    Off hand - Sundial of Eternal Dusk
    Wand - Nightmare Ender



    Q: Demo Lock Glyphes:
    I was using life tab, quick and decay and meta.. but with the latest update they fixed meta glyp. we cant get benefit from immo auro when demo form is over.
    So my question : which glyp can be replaced instead of meta ??? (fel guard maybe ? )

    A:
    Spoiler: Show
    Lets compere the glyph`s from my last data as demo warlock this week`s LOD.

    Total damage 9.342 millions for 14 minutes.

    Glyph of Felguard - 9% from that are pet damage - 848 k if it was with the glyph + 169k and thats if this 20% attack power more reflect directly on damage.The reality is not like this more like 8-12% or in between 10% or 84k.

    Glyph of Immolate - Immolation dot damage - 764 k if it was with the glyph + 76k more.

    Glyph of Corruption - I was looking the data from WOL last 3 raids on lich king for Shadow Trance proc and its save to say that this procs 1 time on every one minute. So for 14 minutes fight that will be 14 Shadow Trance my average hit on shadow bolt is 15.5k. Since normal casting time on shadow bolt is between 1.5 - 1.6 sec. For every 3 shadow bolts we will have 1 clean. Or that makes 5 more shadow bolts for total damage of 77.5k.

    [Glyph of Metamorphosis] - Now lets see how actually this effect as. If you spec with 3 points in Nemesis that reduce the cooldown to 2m and 10 sec.For 14 min fight we will have 6 demo forms. 6 demo forms * 6 sec each more are 36 sec more with 20% more damage done on all spells.
    Lets say you are average warlock that pull 11k on LOD 20% from that is 2.2k* 36 sec = 79.2k

    Average shadow cleave hit is 8k and we will have 6 more = 48k (just one extra hit on LK + 3 valks = 24k)

    Average immolation aura hit 3.6k, full durations is 10sec for 15 hits, or for 6 sec we will have 8 hits.6 meta forms with 8 more hits each =48 hits * 3.6k per hit =172.8k

    Total damage from this glyph is 300k
    Now keep in mind that decent demo warlocks are not pulling 11k on LOD, and shadow cleave is hitting up to 3 targets, not to say immolation aura is hitting all targets around you without limit. So if you use all correct the actual damage from that glyph is way more than 300k. There are more factors that come into my mind but this few basic i give you is enough i think.

    I hope this clears how good this glyph is and is it worth it to change it.



    Videos from ICC 25 and other raids

    More gameplay from Warlock POV you can find on my youtube.


    Video on RS
    Demonology Warlock
    Spoiler: Show

    Video on LOD
    Affliction Warlock
    Spoiler: Show

    Demonology Warlock
    Spoiler: Show






    Why I’m sharing this with you guys, because I’m really sick of seeing all the warlocks failing to pull decent dps. In almost every guild they see warlocks simply as support class as demo so they pick just 1 warlock on runs. That’s why I write this few tips that will help you on your road claiming the recount/skada charts by improving your game play and warlock understanding in general.I really hope this will help out so we can get back on track.

    I`m always open for new things and improvements if you feel you have something to share with warlock community feel free to do it or even arguing my tips. Feel free to discuss below and contribute to improve warlock community.

    Wish you all the best.
    Edited: March 3, 2020 Reason: remove some broken pic links

  2. I'm just here to commend you on a guide well made and excellently formatted :D.

    There's a very tiny handful of people I've played with who I'd want to make a guide for others, and OP is easily one of them.

  3. Nice to see someone helping the kids, giving back to the community!

  4. Warlock community - The gift that keeps on giving! Great tips for the kids tho.

  5. Great guide, better than all the others. Good work.

  6. I got a question, when I am about to start a fight as an affliction lock, should I pop my offensive cooldowns (haste pot, haste glove enchant, orc Blood Fury) at the very START? or should i cast shadowbolt, haunt, and then dots first?

    also, when I use my offensive cooldowns, should I refresh corruption again to get the haste pot/glove effect?

    and lastly, should i refresh corruption when I get bloodlust/heroism? and is it bad to use haste pot along with bloodlust/heroism? I have 1311 haste unbuffed.

    Thank you for your help.

  7. If you want read again aff section i describe how corruption is working and why we need to re apply it.

    I got a question, when I am about to start a fight as an affliction lock, should I pop my offensive cooldowns (haste pot, haste glove enchant, orc Blood Fury) at the very START? or should i cast shadowbolt, haunt, and then dots first?
    You want to pop all cds when you apply all of your dots.

    also, when I use my offensive cooldowns, should I refresh corruption again to get the haste pot/glove effect?
    No you refresh corruption only when you have t10 4p bonus and one more time after 35%.

    and lastly, should i refresh corruption when I get bloodlust/heroism? and is it bad to use haste pot along with bloodlust/heroism? I have 1311 haste unbuffed.
    I will use crit/sp pot over haste one, but if you are using haste one is fine too. If you use crit/sp one and cast corruption the spell will have 2%+ more crit until you lose that corruption or recast it again.
    Edited: November 9, 2015

  8. No you refresh corruption only when you have t10 4p bonus and one more time after 35%.
    Unless I'm mistaken, the +12% bonus damage from the target being under 35% should apply dynamically, much like with debuffs such as Earth and Moon.

  9. Unless I'm mistaken, the +12% bonus damage from the target being under 35% should apply dynamically, much like with debuffs such as Earth and Moon.
    Yes for the rest of our dots but not for corruption.


    For corruption:
    Haste and Spell power apply dynamically.
    Crit and % damage dont. Thats why this 2 can be stacked before casting corruption.


  10. Yes for the rest of our dots but not for corruption.


    For corruption:
    Haste and Spell power apply dynamically.
    Crit and % damage dont. Thats why this 2 can be stacked before casting corruption.
    I just tested this on a mob and my corruption for the +12% damage bonus from being refresh with Drain Life after 35%.

  11. I just tested this on a mob and my corruption for the +12% damage bonus from being refresh with Drain Life after 35%.

    That is interesting i test it yesterday in icc 10 normal and damage stays the same under 35% like it was over 35%. But i didn't try to refresh it with drain life, only with drain soul and shadowbolt.
    Are you sure that the damage was correct and not just some trinket, ring proc that push a bit the damage on corruption, because with that low health pools mobs have, it can happens.

  12. I wanted to add a small trick:
    you are allowed to use a critic potion per combat,so just before engaging the fight use one ,then you will be able to use it again after the cool down.It gives a good dps boost since it's easier for you to time heroism or use it when boss under 35%.

  13. Nope, spellpower values were consistent throughout. Mostly because the toon I tested this on was a 3.3k gs trinketless warlock with no procs of any kind available. I tested this on a Pustulent Horror in Icecrown, since they have large health pools and most are bugged to just stand still while you kill them, and casted only Corruption + Drain Life, since Shadow bolt and Haunt provide debuffs that increase DoT damage. Corruption ticks after 35% automatically went up from 958 to 1073 without any re-application. Which is about exactly 12%.

  14. I wanted to add a small trick:
    you are allowed to use a critic potion per combat,so just before engaging the fight use one ,then you will be able to use it again after the cool down.It gives a good dps boost since it's easier for you to time heroism or use it when boss under 35%.
    Yes we can use pre pull :

    Nevermelting Ice Crystal - that is like 20% crit more, after we use it we change back to our normal trinket, the buff that trinket is giving it stays when we change trinkets.
    Potion of Wild Magic - this is like 2% crit and something more.
    That way we will have 22%+ crit on corruption till we lose it.
    With full buffs in ICC and focus magic, my corruption crit 88-92% of the boss fight.

    Nope, spellpower values were consistent throughout. Mostly because the toon I tested this on was a 3.3k gs trinketless warlock with no procs of any kind available. I tested this on a Pustulent Horror in Icecrown, since they have large health pools and most are bugged to just stand still while you kill them, and casted only Corruption + Drain Life, since Shadow bolt and Haunt provide debuffs that increase DoT damage. Corruption ticks after 35% automatically went up from 958 to 1073 without any re-application. Which is about exactly 12%.
    I will test it in next 25hc run i know around how much i pull, and ill give a try without recasting under 35%. It will be good if we can save one gcd, for something else.

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