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Ozymandias

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on: May 16, 2005, 12:41:26 pm
I'm currently working towards the following build:

Destruction 11 Pts
Improved Shadow Bolt 5/5
Bane 5/5
Shadowburn 1/1
 
Affliction 23 Pts
Improved Corruption 5/5
Improved Life Tap 2/2
Improved Drain Life 5/5
Fel Concentration 5/5
Amplify Curse 1/1
Grim Reach 2/2
Nightfall 2/2
Siphon Life 1/1
 
Demonology 17 Pts
Improved Imp 3/3
Demonic Embrace 5/5
Improved Voidwalker 3/3
Improved Succubus 3/3
Fel Domination 1/1
Master Summoner 2/2

And was wondering if those Warlocks with more endgame experience qould care to give comment?

I might be prepared to give up the two points in Grim Reach for something else.

This build takes ito account the Demonology buffs that are possibly on the way in v1.5 (harder pets, lower mana cost).
 
Are any of the '31-point' talents worth sacrificing Shadowburn for?



Saxif

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Reply #1 on: May 16, 2005, 01:21:08 pm
Keep Shadowburn its an insta and comes in very handy in PvE and PvP, its imo the best Talent in any of the trees.  Despite Nightfall giving insta Shadowbolts, i prefer Shadowburn for the simple reason you dont have to rely on luck to use it, and its low mana as all talent spells are.

Personally i tried Nightfall and didn't find it that useful, it didn't often proc in PvP, in PvE i usually had the situation under control and so never needed to use a Shadowbolt, i typically use Life Tap (turn health into mana), then Drain Life, which does damage with no loss of mana, once all 3 dots are on a mob i'd do that twice then finish with a Sword and Firestone.  This is a very mana efficient way of killing mobs.

Grim Reach and Destructive Reach are both very good talents, I have Destructive but thats cos I am heavily spec'd into Searing Pain.  Either are useful, both would rock.

If your taking Improved Imp then you really want to be taking Improved Firebolt, makes an Imp deadly, at my lvl he does roughly 100 damage a second, not including crits.

Fel Dom and Master Summoner are a nice combo, i'd very much like to go for them, however you have Improved Imp/VW/Succubus, i'd recommend only taking improvements in Imp and VW.  Typically i dont use my Succu for xp as it cant hold aggro or for PvP cos of the Soul Shard cost.  You'd prolly imo be best off investing those 3 points elsewhere, Ruin if you can get it is a very nice ability, especially when you use your DD spells in combination with the appropriate debuff i.e Curse of Elements or Curse of Shadow.

Seems to me that your set up nicely to do a spot of drain tanking, on the whole its a good xp set up from what I have heard, and mana efficient when use right.  You should be able to go through mobs with a minimum of downtime, however imo some tweaking might make it better.

<Currently thinking of something amazing to write ...>


Ozymandias

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Reply #2 on: May 18, 2005, 09:43:37 am
Cheers.

The ImpSucc points were only invested to get me up to 15 points - enough for Master Summoner.  It's either that or put them into Fel Intellect - not sure that's as much use though.

To get the Imp Fireball would mean probably sacrificing Grim Reach or Nightfall...  I like Nightfall, but you're right about its usefulness.  I normally don't bother with a SB when it procs during normal PvE fights except against the harder / multiple mobs.  It will normally trigger in a fight (drain life, corruption and siphon life all giving chance to proc).  IN Zerg PvP it'll be popping all the time (corr / siphon life on multiple Alliance - especially once Siphon Life becomes insta-cast!).

I could drop the grim reach for it, but I'm sure that's quite handy in the mass-PvP raids.  I remember having to get far too close (and very noticeable) to the alliance groups when we were raiding in Arathi.

It's certainly something I'd consider though.

The build isn't the highest DPS, but I think it's flexible enough for PvE and PvP without having to respec too many times.

Not too worried until I get to lvl60 anyway - they'll all be nerfed before then!



Ozymandias

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Reply #3 on: May 18, 2005, 09:47:00 am
Is Curse of Exhaustion really pointless without extra points in Imp CoEx?



Saxif

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Reply #4 on: May 18, 2005, 10:35:42 am
Grim Reach is useful, i'd keep it over Imp Firebolt.

CoE I have never used so i dont know about that one, i've only ever had it put on me once and it slowed me right down ... though i dont know if this was CoE or ICoE.

<Currently thinking of something amazing to write ...>


Ozymandias

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Reply #5 on: May 19, 2005, 11:53:02 am
I'll have a play about once I get higher levelled. (Though the talents might have been changed beyond recognition by then!)

I currently have CoEx (no improvements), so will take a good look at it some time.  If there's anyone around my level fancies a couple of duels to test - let me know!

If I find it useful I'll probably have to drop a point of Grim Reach for it.
Actually, playing around with the talent calculators shows I can drop Imp Life Tap instead - I'm not sure that the extra 10% makes a massive difference.

*shrug*

I might just go Soul Link or SM / Ruin build instead :O)

Do you think I can live without Shadowburn?



Saxif

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Reply #6 on: May 19, 2005, 12:29:36 pm
When it comes to PvE in a couple of weeks i think there will be slightly less ganking as there will be a BG for all lvls.  

CoE is used to stop ppl getting away from you, its not alot of use on mobs (especially as CoR stops them from running), but imo i'd prefer to take a talent that makes me better at killing or increases your chance of survival.  At least in grps ppl who run away should be forgotten about, rule no#1 of grpvsgrp combat if someone runs away let them get away and concentrate on ppl who are still about fighing, if you chase chance is you'll run the risk of getting split from your grp and dying.

I am tempted to go Soul Link, but a poor selection of Demon talents made me change my mind, now with the buff that tree has been given it seems a more tempting option, especially with the 40% mana reduction for summoning new pets.

I'm Ruin and Fire atm, its a bit of a no brainer, the main focus is damage.  However  You wont come close beating a mage for pure DPS, this doesn't mean you cant beat them in a fight, especially if you have your VW out (or any pet really), as your defense can out last their offense.

Imo i rate Shadowburn as one of the best talents period, its a low mana insta, useable once every 30 secs, i have been able to use it twice in a fight before, so i always start off with it in PvP.  Its essential as far as i am concerned, however i dont often use it in PvE as i only seem to get a shard back even when i use it to finish, 30% of the time.

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Ozymandias

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Reply #7 on: May 20, 2005, 12:53:26 pm
Yeah - there's a couple of issues with Shadowburn - it *has* to be the spell that deals the killing blow (not easy after you've dropped multiple DoTs!) *and* you need to make sure that there's no other shards in your main Backpack.

I'm sure it's on the list of things to be fixed.

Looking forward to Battlegrounds - with a bit of luck the l33t ganking Counterstrike kiddies will be too busy playing CTF to visit Booty Bay.