Lock Movement

[Edrac]

I still consider myself a newb - hit 70 less than a couple of months ago - and still learning a lot about how to play a lock on a daily basis.

I tried searching the forums but didn't see any threads about movement - that is - moving around the field of play; especially in PvP, but also interested in PvE.

When I see the videos of the uber locks - they are in constant motion. I learned a lot of bad habits solo leveling, and one in particular is to stay pretty stationary most of the time. I've been trying to learn to get more get-along as I'm BG'ing or even out farming, but it's been tough. I tend to stop and have to think about what I'm going to do next if I'm in a heated battle. I can't even imagine getting to the point of the really good locks out there, who don't seem to really stop except for just an instant. So I'm looking for any tips or suggestions. There are only so many instant casts, after all

In PvE, I've gotten myself in a little trouble running around without totally looking around - with some comical (but tragic) results. Mostly I did that when I was playing around with seeing how many mobs I could chain kill.

Also - I started playing with a trackball when I first started (Cordless TrackMan® Optical), and I really love it - much more so than trying to use a mouse. It has multiple buttons, which I've bound, and I feel that it gives me a lot of control and flexibility. I don't think it's a hinderance, but would also like to hear feedback about that. I've keybound strafing - but I also notice that I hardly strafe, and I know I need to focus on that more.

Just thought this might be an interesting thread to start

[zoli]

This is indeed an interesting subject. I’m not all that good at moving either; however I suggest you do most of your moving in pvp (battlegrounds and arenas) in pve I don’t see much use of it other then just staying in range for your spells. I don’t strafe at all… this is probably a very bad thing; I’ve heard that strafing may help a lot against rogues. Problem is that I already have my A and D buttons bound for SifL and Corr (I always start with these!) and I got very used to this.

For movement I just run a lot, jump and turn fast with the mouse. I’m Sl/Sl build, so I stay on the run and apply my 3 instant dots on the target -> SifL, Corr and the appropriate curse (CoEx or Cow on melee and CoT on caster, especially enemy warlocks!), then I have to stop to usually cast a fear, if the target is fear immune then I just drain life or load an immolate to maybe draw a rogue kick/counterspell.

After a successful fear I put CoEx on for a moment and run after my feared target just to stay in range for an immolate load (I don’t have destructive reach, just the grim one), quickly change to Curse of Agony while feared, run after it a little and fear again. But more important then just moving sometimes is to see the big picture, don’t really focus on one target. Usually you will have 2, 3 or more enemy targets around you who will try to grief your healer or root down your melee friend. In these situations I just run around them and use the instant 3 instant dot, fear and forget tactic.

Do this to one target and move to the other do the same, by the time you fear the second, the first fear will surely break anyway. I only stick in battlegrounds to one target if I see that he/she is an imba healer, in that case I’ll try to CC and spell lock that target through the whole fight.

[Demonbane-Warso]

Its unfortunate that you lvled by standing still...but in pvp and pve its so essential to know how to move and continue to dps. My lock is solely for arena so i actually have Boars Speed on my boots. But i have a pve hunter and even in gruusl you have to move from caveins and what-not...when you get into t5 content moving during bossfights can mean the difference in a wipe or lewts . If you wanna get good in arena or just plan pvp you should try to practice motion as much as you can...using sloid sl/sl spec you can use CoEx to avoid a ton of melee damage that would otherwise make you miserable. Just practice running with the mouse...i dont strafe with the keyboard...its only for keybindings. Enjoy being a lock...pvp and pve are EZmode

[Edrac]

Thanks for the replies. Yes it was a terrible habit to get into, but it was so easy to get away with while leveling - especially once I got Felguard. I did, BTW, switch back to SL/SL after playing around with some other specs, although I guess I'll have to switch back and forth with Afflic for raiding with my guild.

So a couple of questions also - had a friend over the other day, who logged into his character, so I could what it looked like to play a Mage. Interesting that some of the interface settings seem to be on the individual PC, so he asked if it would be okay to change things around, which was fine by me. His view of things is very different from mine, including the camera views.

Made me wonder if others out there tweak the camera settings - he had much more of a third person view than me - which is always first person. I also try to have my view set as far back as possible most of the time, where he was much closer to his character. Not sure if 1 is more useful than the other, or if it might be situationally determined.

I tried binding a couple of buttons on the trackball for strafing, but it seems a little awkward, and not natural at all for me yet - hopefully with practice I'll get it down. Is there another way to strafe with a mouse? Strafing seems like something I must learn, since turning my back on a Rogue/Warrier seems like pure suicide. BTW - is there some way to tell when you're in intercept range of a warrier?

I still have to look at my keyboard for certain spells and actions at times (re-speccing several times didn't help). I have the obvious spells on the default numbers, and the action bar above is bound to the F keys - also have most of my spells bound by letter - F for Fear, E for Exhaustion, etc - I find I have to think less that way). But I'm open to ideas to make moving around more fluid. I also haven't played with macros - I tried a couple and messed things up a bit, so I thought I might do that at some later date.

Any additional hints or tips are much appreciated.

[cyan10101]

geez use spaces in your posts. Makes it less painful to read

[chemical whore]

Originally Posted by cyan10101

geez use spaces in your posts. Makes it less painful to read

lol i was thinking the same thing.

but anyway, i don't strafe at all. i run w/ the mouse. it helps having a good mouse. i use a Logitech G5 w/ the max weight in it and a mouse pad w/ a "control" surface. the dpi is set as low as it goes (400dpi i think).
it's made a huge difference for me. no lag. no jerkiness. it feels smooth as butter. (FPS's get the "speed" pad, much higher dpi, but same mouse weight)
i've used trackballs b4 (never for gaming though) and i can't even imagine how that would be a good idea. . . but to each his own i guess.

i don't do anything special or amazing in my movements.
i run, turn a lot, back-peddle.
my UA spec lets me just DOT+Fear+Run. i love it.

i wouldn't bother w/ macro's. the only macro's i use currently are:
/cast amp curse
/cast Curse of Agony,CoE
and
/target self
/devour magic
(although, i wonder if there is a better way to do the devour magic...)

definitely don't try to set up a spell rotation macro; tried it, doesn't work.

the best thing you can do is get used to your key-bound spell layout. so your fingers will react and smash the right spell w/o you needing to think about it.
i have my dots lined up in the order i cast them. after a while my fingers know: "/cast 2,3,4; spell 3 dropped, reapply 3 . . . "
there's not enough time to think.
ultimately, it comes down to your ability to have quick reactions under the high pressure.

[Edrac]

Just a quick update - lol - yes I did a terrible job with run-on sentences and paragraphs - my apologies.

I have been working on strafing - and I have to say - it is KING. learning how to strafe, especially being able to turn and move at the same time has been a HUGE difference maker for me. Of course nothing will help when you have 3 rogues and 3 warriers on top of you - but for 1:1 or 1:2 this has been a huge revelation to me. I never really did what i would call true kiting before - but now it is truly easy - i never knew what it meant to kite a warrier and totally frustrate him while I burned him to the ground before the last couple of days.

On a counter note - i was accompanying a guildmate - 66 warrier tonite, and an Undead Lock totally OWNED me - i hate losing to another Warlock without putting up at least a really good decent fight - but she really kicked my butt. I usually try to keep track of other players so I can look them up in Wowarmory - but I didn't write down here name. If she recognizes me - she has all rights to laugh and mock me! If you're a member here and on Frostmane - feel free to get your kicks in!

If anyone does happen to take notice of this thread - I am very curious about why I see all the videos of top Locks jumping all the time - what is the advantage? It doesn't seem to do much for me - but it must do something for the locks in the videos since they all do it SO much! Does Jumping do anything more than make it harder to mouse click on a player?

But honestly - it's a great reminder to me that learning to be really good at PvP shouldn't be easy - that I am more than happy to get my butt kicked along the way to being good. After all - it's not like playing a Rogue - where you can be half-assed and still think you're a GREAT player. BTW - I love leveling up my Rogue - it is so incredibly easy compared to any other class I'm leveling up! Why fight mobs when you can just stealth past them all and take the easy way!

[Tomey]

Movement has been a concern for me as well. I played Everquest for four years and running around when a mob was on you was a no-no. Stand still and take the beating until the tank could get it off you. I did not do much PVP there so I am at a big disadvantage in WoW.

I use my mouse to move (right & left buttons) and cast using hotkeys. I strafe (rarely) using right mouse button and right/left arrow keys. I never really jump because I am usually to concerned with getting spells off and, frankly, I am not sure of what the benefit is either.

Where I run into problems using this method is when I try to do multiple things at once (ie. get succi or puppy on a target to seduce/spell lock while trying to dot up another target). Typically I find myself ethereal at the closest GY before I can start a drain. Of course, this is also because I just recently respecced to sl/sl and have not gotten the hang of it yet. I sooo miss my Felgard. Macros and focus target(s) are proving to be a bit much for me as well.

I suppose I am not answering anything here, just echoing the question: Why jump?

[Theleb]

One other piece of advice regarding movement further to the above - Boars Speed Enchant is godly for PvP or PvE.

[Gritz]

Jumping + Mouse movement is great for PvP kiting: Run jump spin DC/NF spin - as long as you are finished turning before you land - you lose little or no speed.