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Affliction Dps, how?Follow

#1 Mar 30 2007 at 8:45 AM Rating: Decent
I'm an affliction lock, 41/20/0. Reason i'm in demonology instead of destruction is because i want imp. imp and imp. healthstone and such to help instance runs and raids. However, i'm facing problem with dps. In instances, i'm usually out-dps by most other members. I'm not really concerned with topping the dps chart because seducing and CC duties are more essential imho. However, without high dps to kill mobs, we're draining on the healer's mp and on 7 pulls, i'm pretty much helpless in dps.

I am with +698 spell damage and looking to improve my gear. Besides improving gears, is there any other thing i can do to improve my dps? The main problem is probably because mobs die faster before dots get the full damage on them. Any inputs from any affliction locks is much appreciated. Thanks

#2 Mar 30 2007 at 9:29 AM Rating: Decent
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Quote:
The main problem is probably because mobs die faster before dots get the full damage on them. Any inputs from any affliction locks is much appreciated. Thanks


you almost awnserd your own quesiton, need to reduce wasted MP? dont cast spells that will not finish, for example CoA is a great boss fighing spell, but not so hot for taking out the trash, the long run will end up with the spell not doning a lot,specialy with CoA.... the dammage is light at the start and heavy at the end(when the mob is dead). more than anyting it is a matter of managing your targets and picking what will do the "Best".

lets drift off topic for a moment.
My point is that some spells will just never run the corse, one of those spells is UA(unless in PvP or a boss fight).... the point i am getting at is that the number one way to boost dammage is to respec, trim the fat and be amazed

I use This Build, it is just a expanded SM/Ruin build, combining the power of ruin, with the effecenty of Affliction. you give up a little bit on Imp Imp, but I find that accaptable when compaired to how much harder I hit.

Shy of a respec, you can try draining more life, do not cast CoA, just Corruption and Immolate(syphon life is an other one to avoid), then tap and drain, just a tatic ajustment will get you more dps, but want to hit hard? Ruin is that good.
#3 Mar 30 2007 at 9:49 AM Rating: Decent
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96 posts
Hey there...
While I agree that SM/Ruin build is great, Im full affliction specced, with alittle in desto and demon. This is the build I use..
http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/classes/warlock/talents.html?3502220512201105512112340000000000000000000505000010000000000000

I am usually always on the top of the list in damage in PVP/Raids, Trash mobs or not, I throw CoA, Corr, Siphon Life, Immolate, and UA. If NightFall procs, i throw a shadowbolt, and drain soul on the weakest mobs. Just make sure Corruption and Sihpon Life stay on mobs at all times. 90% of the time I have my imp on passive and use him as a battery, just having him out for Blood Pact and Dark Pact.
#4 Mar 30 2007 at 9:56 AM Rating: Good
Quote:
I am with +698 spell damage and looking to improve my gear. Besides improving gears, is there any other thing i can do to improve my dps? The main problem is probably because mobs die faster before dots get the full damage on them. Any inputs from any affliction locks is much appreciated. Thanks


Respec, and get Improved Shadowbolt, Bane, and Shadowburn. On trash mobs, you want to hit them with Curse of Shadows and then nail them with Shadowbolts. On boss encounters, make sure you have a good timer addon so you can keep your DoT spell rotation going. When it comes to gear, +spelldmg, +shadow spelldmg, +spell crit rating, +stam, +int.

I can't say it enough, Bane is an impotant talent for any raiding warlock, It bring your shadowbolts inline with a mage's fire and frost bolt, and with Improved Shadowbolt and Master of Shadows, it becomes a solid source of damage on targets that don't live long enough for the full DoT duration, especially when you se Curse of Shadows to lower a target's shadow resistance.

Edited, Mar 30th 2007 1:58pm by Delily
#5 Mar 30 2007 at 6:38 PM Rating: Decent
Lady Delily wrote:


Respec, and get Improved Shadowbolt, Bane, and Shadowburn. On trash mobs, you want to hit them with Curse of Shadows and then nail them with Shadowbolts. On boss encounters, make sure you have a good timer addon so you can keep your DoT spell rotation going. When it comes to gear, +spelldmg, +shadow spelldmg, +spell crit rating, +stam, +int.



Edited, Mar 30th 2007 1:58pm by Delily


Well, i only use Cor and spam SBs for thrash mobs.

Hmm .. actually, as i was posting this thread, i'm thinking of giving up demonology buffs for Bane so that i can throw more SBs per mob. I can always leave the buffs to the demonology locks, as there are plenty in the guild.

One of the reason why i spec affliction is because of gear collection. In affliction spec, i do not have to worry about spell crit and just focusing on +spell dam makes gear selection so much more easier without all the complicated calculations.

Will bane alone and probably shadowburn close in the gap that i'm facing right now without +spell crit ratings or would +spell crit rating pawn whatever i'm trying to rectify right now?
#6 Mar 30 2007 at 11:01 PM Rating: Decent
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78 posts
I kinda face the same problem. In instances/raids, I'm being out dps'ed by firemages, hunters (good hunters) and dps rogues.

I have a 41/9/11 build, with imp SB and bane. I normally cast UA, Cor and CoA then SB or Inc and SB again, but the mobs are usually dead before my 2nd SB.

I'll try changing my cast cycle, replacing CoA with CoS, and see how it goes.
#7 Mar 31 2007 at 1:44 AM Rating: Decent
Grumorg wrote:
I kinda face the same problem. In instances/raids, I'm being out dps'ed by firemages, hunters (good hunters) and dps rogues.

I have a 41/9/11 build, with imp SB and bane. I normally cast UA, Cor and CoA then SB or Inc and SB again, but the mobs are usually dead before my 2nd SB.

I'll try changing my cast cycle, replacing CoA with CoS, and see how it goes.


Basically, i did a simple calculation. With NECB, the mob usually dies in the likes of 9s thereabouts. that being said, if u cast corr upfront of the battle, it'll deal half of the damage and that's about an SB for me with my +dam. Hence, its worthwhile to cast corr = SB since its instant. As for the rest of the dots, it is not really efficient to cast them. My proposal is after Corr, start SB-ing and shadow burn when not on cooldown.

It'll be useful to adjust cast cycle according to diff grps. there are grps where the mobs die in the 10+ seconds and in that case, it'll be good to throw in UA b4 spamming SB.

Btw, what's the proportion of CoA ticks per second again? i'll like to calculate the bonus damage from CoS compared to 2 - 3 ticks of CoA. CoS will likely beat CoA but i'm thinking the bonus damage u get on a thrash mob for CoS is probably very little and the 1.5 sec cooldown would probably be better used for another SB.
#8 Mar 31 2007 at 2:32 AM Rating: Decent
Hmm... based on +668 damage, i've calculated and realised that for fights that lasts for 10s or more, it is more worthwhile to use curse of agony than curse of shadow. Assumption: throw CoA > Corr > SB x 2 > shadowburn.

The total +damage if u substitute CoA with CoS is 543.5768 damage with full malediction. for fights that lasts longer than 10s, u'll get 590 damage with CoA and if there's any accident that causes the fight to extend, u'll get more ticks with CoA and henceforth, more damage as CoA has higher payloads towards the end.

That being said, CoS is pretty much a waste of mana. 260 mana for 543.5768 doesnt make sense. Of course the calculations is not comprehensive as u'll get more bonus damage of CoS as the fight extends with ur Corr ticks. But the bonus is a mere 13% compared to CoA with 2 second ticks of increasing damage.

Hope it helps.
#9 Mar 31 2007 at 7:10 AM Rating: Good
The problem with Curse of Agony on trash mobs is that the curse requires time to ramp up. 24 seconds if I remember correctly, and most mobs don't last that long. So while it may do more damage, factor in how much damage it will actually do within those 9 seconds. That's why I suggested using Curse of Shadows, because it will increase your main DD spells, Corruption and SB. Also, the reason for crit rating is not for the damage, it's to increase the chance you'll get an Imp SB debuff.
#10 Mar 31 2007 at 8:02 AM Rating: Decent
Lady Delily wrote:
The problem with Curse of Agony on trash mobs is that the curse requires time to ramp up. 24 seconds if I remember correctly, and most mobs don't last that long. So while it may do more damage, factor in how much damage it will actually do within those 9 seconds. That's why I suggested using Curse of Shadows, because it will increase your main DD spells, Corruption and SB. Also, the reason for crit rating is not for the damage, it's to increase the chance you'll get an Imp SB debuff.


I do understand why you suggested CoS. I guess its different for each lock to calculate the bonus damage off the DD spells and Dot ticks u get off each thrash mobs from CoS and the damage CoA deals.

What i meant was, with my current cycle, Corr + 2 SB + Shadowburn on a thrash mob, CoS is marginally better than CoA for fights <= 9 seconds. Therefore, i concluded that CoA is better if it ever reaches its 5th tick, which is 10 second and it'll deal more damage than the bonus damage CoS gives. In any case where the mob lasts longer than the 10th second, any extra ticks from CoA is a bonus since the payload is higher towards the end. (8.33% for 5th ticks onwards)
Since 9s fights is not a certainty, with a total +spell dam of 668 for myself, i calculated that CoA should be a better choice. But again, it differs from each lock due to different cycles for thrash mobs. Have to really go into the calculations to know what's best. Anyway, you might want to throw in UA instead as it will deal more damage if the mob last past its 3rd tick.

As for the critical part, Imp SB buff from crits shouldnt matter as much for thrash mobs since it will die soon anyways. Besides, without ruin for affliction locks, +spell crit would pretty much be a waste. Furthermore, the Imp SB buff have a binary spell chance to resist too. Therefore, +spell hit should be a better choice over crit but that's just from my assumptions and some readings done on the web. Not too sure if its entirely true.

Hope this helps all the afflicton locks out there. =)

#11 Apr 01 2007 at 8:13 AM Rating: Decent
I'm usually top dps in boss fights in heroics and Karazhan, and always in the top 2-3 for the entire run.

I've been doing a lot of respec experiments and have found that for 5-mans and Raids you can find yourself doing the most DPS with a UA based spec. I have found a 41/3/17 to be most effective:

http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=NqMMiRfkVtbocZxx0pM

In addition, this build works wonderfully for grinding with the same cast sequence below.

Imho scrap all concern about using CoS. That really works best with mixed builds that involve demon sacrifice to max out shadow damage. I have found putting the 2pts to get 10% more dmg from CoA makes all the difference not only vs. trash, but especially in boss fights - and I don't really have to alter my cast sequence for mobs that much.

UA is always my first cast, since the 2 sec cast time is burned right when the tank is acquiring aggro/dropping sunders, then my imporved CoA, Corr, Siphon Life, Immolate, and SB. At this point, you've dropped every DoT in the ******** and now have the option of another SB, Incinerate (for ***** and giggles usually), DL, and reapplying any expiring DoTs.

Sure, trash mobs are going to die fast, but there are going to be several of them (CC is truly overrated), so only do UA, CoA, Corr, and start DL and maybe you'll get a Nightfall Proc, and move on to the next mob and get that 2sec UA cast started asap Just be careful when you apply UA so you dont pull aggro.

Another reason for the cast sequence is to get CoA out asap, and to spread the expirations, UA 18sec, CoA 24sec, Corr 18sec, Siphon 30Sec. With these expiring you'll find ample opportunity to spam SB in between each recast, and an incinerate from time to time for fun.

It's really important to get destructive reach, not only to have the range (more time for mobs to die/stay out of most bosses blast radius), but the 10% threat reduction will continue to allow you to DoT like crazy, spam bolts, and keep aggro on the tank.

I run this build in arena with good success due the instant HoT (i'd prefer aome adjustments), but since im a raider, this is the best there, great for grinding, and acceptable for PvP.

#12 Apr 01 2007 at 8:18 AM Rating: Decent
Also, gear up for max shadow dmg. I recommend shadowweave tailoring for the frostweave set, doing heroics to get the Orb of the Soul Eater off hand. Karazhan has a nice neck piece drop as well. And for gems, just go with as much +spell dmg as possible.
#13 Apr 01 2007 at 9:39 AM Rating: Decent
mikeswim wrote:

Sure, trash mobs are going to die fast, but there are going to be several of them (CC is truly overrated), so only do UA, CoA, Corr, and start DL and maybe you'll get a Nightfall Proc, and move on to the next mob and get that 2sec UA cast started asap Just be careful when you apply UA so you dont pull aggro.


Hmm .. i dont't quite agree that CC is overated. In heroics for 4 - 7 pulls, the tank is not going to last. (provided he can keep aggro on ur buffed dots on multiple mobs) Even if the tank can take hits, the healer's mana is going to be very strained and aggro on healer is another concern.

While CC slows down instance runs, i feel that it is more of an insurance and makes things run more smoothly. Just my 2 cents.
#14 Apr 01 2007 at 10:49 AM Rating: Decent
Yeah, in heroics, cc required, totally agree, in easy mode, pfft.
#15 Apr 01 2007 at 6:23 PM Rating: Decent
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357 posts
I have another question along the same lines.

I constantly here about affliction warlocks taking down adds and such, like the constant adds in the dark portal, or the adds at the last boss in hellfire citidel. I have tried before but failed everytime. I'm not talking about multiple adds at once, i have no problem with that, but the steady flow of adds that need to go down quick. I don't seem to have the burst damage or right stragedy to do this succsesfully. Any help would be appriciated.
#16 Apr 02 2007 at 12:12 AM Rating: Decent
Well if you mean something like the add flow in Black Morass then an easy way or atleast the way i did when i was affliciton spec was corr and siphon on the a few then fear and switch. for most adds those 2 would finish it before it got back to me and small group i just seed up 2 or 3 and its done.
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