Basic Demonology/Destruction (0/41/30) warlock guide

[abhorsenjay]

So with the last patch conflagrate got nerfed, leaving the deep destro warlock spec at a major disadvantage. There are two major specs that most warlocks are using now, one is affliction/destro, the other is demonology/destro. I will briefly explain this demonology destro as it is very easy to play, and it's an easy shift from deep destro. It should be noted however that compared to deep destro one may find this spec to be 'boring'. This will be explained later on.

STEP 1:

The spec:
Talent Calculator - World of Warcraft

you could also use this one (seems to be working well for people)
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent#IZ0Gc...zZVbhqrckV:o0T


STEP 2:

The buffs - well there isn't much to say here at the moment, it is very similar to deep destro. However, you should be using your spellstone not firestone, and haste is more important that crit. I would recommend "Flask of the Frost Wyrm" for an added boost. Obviously fel armor should be kept up at all times as well as the life tap buff - see glyphs.

STEP 3:

The rotation - now you might understand why this is considered 'boring'.


This build takes both Emberstorm and Decimate, with Emberstorm increasing Soul Fire damage by 15%. Spare points in Demonic Tactics further improves nuke damage. Curse of Agony or Curse of Elements, immolate, corruption then spam Incinerate like crazy making sure to pop Demonic empowerment when ever you can (assuming you have modified the spec). Around 35% (or whenever you cast an incinerate under 35%) decimation becomes available. When this happens spam soulfire for the duration of the buff, then cast another incinerate to renew it. In the past this was considered a beginner spec, and mind numbing since you must wait till 35% to really unleash hell. It is imperative, especially on bosses, that you cast corruption to proc molten core.

Decimation: When you Shadowbolt, Incinerate or Soul Fire a target that is at or below 35% health, the cast time of Soul Fire spell is reduced by X% for 10 sec. Soul Fires cast under the effect of Decimation cost no shard.

Molten Core: increases the duration of your Immolate by X sec, and you have a Y% chance to gain the Molten Core effect when your Corruption deals damage. The Molten Core effect empowers your next 3 Incinerate or Soul Fire spells cast within 15 sec.
Incinerate - Increases damage done by Z% and reduces cast time by Q%.
Soul Fire - Increases damage done by Z% and increases critical strike chance by R%.



STEP 4:

Your pet - it will be the felgaurd. Not much to say here, keep your felgaurd alive he will greatly boost your dps. Do not succumb to tanks asking for you to pull out your imp for a stam buff


STEP 5:

The Glyphs

Glyph of Felgaurd:
Glyph of Felguard - Item - World of Warcraft

Glyph of Incinerate:
Glyph of Incinerate - Item - World of Warcraft

Glyph of Life Tap - you should cast lifetap rank 1 before a fight in order to keep this buff up
Glyph of Life Tap - Item - World of Warcraft


EXTRA NOTES:

On trash the spec may be a bit 'iffy' as the trash will die very fast. If you are pulling multiple mobs make sure to proc decimate by finishing off a mob that is just about to die, and using those full 10 seconds of decimate on another mob with full health. Alternatively you could just spam seed of corruption and what not

I did not go into the affliction spec as it's quite a bit more complicated and I have not had as much experience with it. I am currently around 4k dps on bosses in heroics.

Here is an older video (not mine please give credit to the author) of the basic rotation. It should be noted however that in the most recent patch casting a soulfire no longer CONSUMES the decimate buff. As such you can repeatedly cast soulfires within the 10 second span.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNLeoEmhSug]YouTube - WoW 3.1.1 Warlock 0/41/30 Heroic Test Dummy[/ame]


I hope that helps any warlocks struggling to figure out a new spec with regards to the recent nerf, if I have missed anything please let me know I will try to fix it:wave:

EDIT 1: Clarification
EDIT 2: More clarification and posted Gfour's spec

[gfour]

Well, I think I will try it, thx.
I will modify the specc a little ^^

I will test it out and post results I get.

+rep

Edit:
I changed my specc to:
Talent Calculator - World of Warcraft

With more Molten core procs, I get about 33% more damage with Soulfire when target is under 35% Hp also Incinerate gets alot more dmg + speed,
I got about 4000 dps(no soulfire) Will try in instance now and post with soulfire.
Edit: I got up to about 5000 - 5300 dps, no shaman in grp. With an average of 20 000 soulfire crits with a 45% crit ratio.

[abhorsenjay]

Well, I think I will try it, thx.
I will modify the specc a little ^^

I will test it out and post results I get.

+rep

Edit:
I changed my specc to:
Talent Calculator - World of Warcraft

With more Molten core procs, I get about 33% more damage with Soulfire when target is under 35% Hp also Incinerate gets alot more dmg + speed,
I got about 4000 dps(no soulfire) Will try in instance now and post with soulfire.
Edit: I got up to about 5000 - 5300 dps, no shaman in grp. With an average of 20 000 soulfire crits with a 45% crit ratio.

Thanks, glad to see you enjoyed it. I will also try that variation and post my results, at what gear score were you trying this?

Edit: I tried it, working well so far, works better if the boss has more HP

[gfour]

what gear score were you trying this?

Just about 4500 gearscore.

Also agreed bosses needs more hp xD