Using the Succubus in Instances

[Midnight]

Credit: This post is not mine, I saw it on the Official Euro forums and as so many of us have learnt better than to read them (I'm at work, bored) I thought I would share it here too. The original author is a Warlock named Felbringer (someone should get him over here!) and the original post can be read here. P.S. Wasn't sure if this should be here or in the Macro's section, picked here as there was more too it than just a macro. Post:

Hey there.

Little note about the succubus before I say how to use her- Warlocks already have useful spells that Mages don't, and as such, the Succubus was designed to give Warlocks a quasi-CC with also having her own weaknesses. Indeed, she only lasts 15 seconds, she goes down like a fly and her mana pool is limited; she takes up a demon slot and last but not least she also continously makes that stupid joke that just is not funny!

With that said, properly handled, the Succubus can CC just as well as a Polymorph against Humanoids, but this ability on a warlock naturally requires a little more complex use and awaremess than the Mage's variant.

Focus Targeting and the One-Size Fits All Macro

In order to maximize the effectiveness of the Succubus, you will need to understand Focus.

Apply Focus: /focus
Remove Focus: /clearfocus

Focus is a way to select a target and refer to that target over and over again in a macro, directing spells as that focused target without having to actually target it yourself. This is the crux of using the Succubus well.

First, simply type /focus when targeting the mob you need Charmed, and the mob's frame will highlight and light up. This means you have that target focused.

Then, use this macro:

/cast [target=focus] Seduction

This macro will mean that your Succubus casts her Seduction spell, on the focused target; meaning you don't have to do anything while she takes care of it. All you need to do is push the button when it runs out, which can be bound to any key- it needs to be put on the hotbar and that button keybound via the Keybindings Menu in the main menu. Personally, I have my macro on the key combination Alt+` (the key left of the 1 key).

Now here, we have this macro; a macro that literally ends all other seduction macroes.

/clearfocus [modifier:alt]
/focus [target=focus,noexists]; [target=focus,dead]
/clearfocus [target=focus,help]
/petstay
/petfollow
/stopcasting
/cast [pet:succubus,target=focus,exists,harm] Seduction; Seduction

This macro does the following:

* Upon use, the macro will Focus your target, and have your succubus Seduce it.

* When used for the second time, and your Focused target, i.e. the Seduction target, is alive, it will re-seduce it, regardless of what your current target is. It will not focus your current target, and seduce that; it will re-seduce it's focused target.

* If used during Seduction, it will break the seduction and re-seduce the focused target.

* If clicked while "Alt" is being pressed, it will cancel the previous focus and assign a new focus on your current target.

This one macro is all you need for correct Succubus useage.

Many mobs will have a high Shadow Resistance due to Shadow Protection buffs, or a natural Shadow Resistance. For these mobs, Seduce will very often resist and the mob will run wild. In this case, the Curse spell "Curse of Shadow", lowering Shadow Resistance by 60-80 points, is essential. Placing it on the target prior to the Seduction itself will lower the target's Shadow Resistance to almost zero, allowing easy Seductions time and time again.

Monitoring Seduction

The Succubus' Seduction only lasts 15 seconds, so how can you tell when it's run out? Personally, I use Dotimer, the addon that displays your Damage Over Time's duration in a window. This addon will additionally show the duration of your Succubus' Seduction, or indeed, if it's Seducing at all.

If the Seduction bar is present, then it's being seduced. If it's not, and it should be (or your Succubus is walking around beside you) then it's not seducing, and such, hit the macro. If the Seduce bar is present on your addon, then you can monitor it to know exactly when the Seduce will break, and when a re-application is needed.

There are also addons such as PerlUnitFrames that will allow you to monitor the debuff list of your focused target, in a different unit frame completely. This is equally helpful in knowing exactly what is happening to your focused target- if the target receives a DoT, for example, then you'd quickly get confused as to why your succubus isn't seducing properly.

Two important points to note is that the Succubus sports a severely low health pool. My Succubus has a health pool of almost 3500 health points. This, combined with her low armour, makes her as fragile as glass. Having her near fighting mobs will guarantee certain death, very quickly. Her Seduction has a 30 yard range- that's the distance of a Shadowbolt, Fireball, et cetera- manipulating her position using Stay and Follow to have her out of harm's way while Seducing is critical to her, and thusly your party's, survival.

Additionally, the second important point to note is that the Succubus' Seduced Target, your Focused Target, will have a clear threat list if nothing but your Succubus has directly interacted with it, upon coming out of Seduction. The mob will do one of three things:

A) Attack your Succubus as it is the only entity that has actually interacted with the mob by placing the Seduction debuff on the target.

B) Attack the target that has done the most relevant healing.

C) Attack the target that accidentally hit it with a damaging AoE spell.

These three actions are the most common, and they can be circumvented with the use of "Searing Pain", a Warlock ability that takes 1.5 seconds to cast and deals 500-or-so damage. The damage Searing Pain deals is unique in that it will deal twice as much threat as any normal attack. Using Searing Pain on your focused mob prior to Seduction (not during!) will ensure that the mob will attack you; while this doesn't sound like a good idea at first, it will be rapidly learned that it's better to have the mob where it's alot more obvious to you that the seduce has broken or the mob cannot be seduced for any reason than to have it out of sight, knocking your favourite Priest on their hindquarters.

With the combination of both the focus-method-macro and a duration-watch addon such as Dotimer or Natur's Bars, Succubus management is alot easier to swallow.

DoTimer can be found at Curse-Gaming at this URL: http://www-en.curse-gaming.com/downl.../3260/dotimer/

-Fel

[Jazinth]

Thanks Midnight.

This post has everything in it that I have ever discovered in my years of experience and searching the void for optimal Succy techniques.

[Zaun]

Very nice and useful information.

But have to confess I almost totally stopped using the Succy and instead use fear (if possible) together with CoR. Reason is because I want my imp and the my Succy kept dieing...

[cdubaldo]

I'm using a similar macro which includes casting curse of shadows if the "alt" key is pressed. I don't have my macro readily available on hand but I trust it's just another macro line that needs to be inserted.

The macro I'm using also incorporates a notice to my party, telling them about the ongoing seduction and that they shouldn't touch the mob while its on.

BTW, contrary to popular belief, I understand that casting CoS on the mob helps the seduction "stick" troughtout the 15 seconds rather than ensuring that seduction works in the first place.

Same goes for banishing /enslaving (except you have to cast CoS before banishing/enslaving otherwise you won't be able to do so while the mob is friendly (enslave) or banished.

[ryuenza]

I starting using something really Simple that I learned on this website and has made me be re invited to group after group becuase of it.. when you have to CC a mob in an instance all you have to do is hit it with SEARING PAIN then Seduce.. when the seduce wears out will attack you leaving the rest of the group. when you see it coming your way or your attacking something else just have Sauccy RE SEDUCE.. its awsome..

quick notes:

-searing pain
-CoS if you want (i never do)
-Seduce.. Repeat if needed. (if seduce breaks the mob will attack you instead of Suaccy)

[Rubella]

I've seen conflicting reports regarding whether casting CoS after seduction is active has any effect on the active seduction. Some forum posters posit CoS must be in place before seduction lands.

Is there a tool/Add-On that measures CoS effect on a creature?

Thanks!

[Elbuats]

Originally Posted by ryuenza

-CoS if you want (i never do)
-Seduce.. Repeat if needed. (if seduce breaks the mob will attack you instead of Suaccy)

CoS is enough threat to do the same thing...the mob will attack you instead of Succy.

[OzzMan1031]

I have to say, I kinda knew about focus, but never utilized it until I read this thread. I would always swap back to the seduced target just before seduction ran out (what a pain in the @&%). Anyway, I decided to give this macro a try, and I have to say it is exactly what I needed. We ran Shadow Labs with an all Warlock group Saturday night, so I decided to use it for that run. It worked like a charm (ok, maybe a little pun intended ).

I actually used 2 macros, one to set focus and one to cast the seduce once the focus had been set. Fantastic results! I was able to keep the seduction on the focus target with no issues, and still topped DPS for the run.

Top notch job on this macro, and thank you for posting it!

[HoeDing]

Originally Posted by cdubaldo

Same goes for banishing /enslaving (except you have to cast CoS before banishing/enslaving otherwise you won't be able to do so while the mob is friendly (enslave) or banished.

In general I try to put curse of shadows on everything that I am banishing/enslaving/seducing. HOWEVER, in heroics if you plan on putting CoS on banish targets you will need to ask your tank to take one swipe on the banish target before you CoS it. Using CoS is enough to pull aggro on a line of sight pull, and many mobs in heroics run fast enough that they will get to you before you get your banish off which can very easily lead to a dead warlock.

*** Big angry mob crits you for 12587


ps: don't ever pull aggro on bog giants in heroic UB and SV, I've been stepped on for over 17k damage in one shot.

[ravelf1]

might use this in arena