Succubus vs Imp [PvE mostly] & 45/16/0

[Shimi]

Hey all, I got a question on my mind, and I bet you guys can help me out a bit with it

My situation:
- teaming up with 1 or 2 friends (mates class' will differ), also instances and the like
- moderate to small amounts of pvp (prob about 80% of the time pve)
- build to work to: http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=IqMrVRfkqtfobxc0I

Now my question is pretty obvious I suppose haha. Whats best to go for in my situation, the Succubus with its CC or the Imp with its stamina buff and pretty decent attack? (The Imp is also more useful combined with Dark Pact?)

The build I'm working towards is Affliction based, based on that I suppose I already have quite alright CC with Imp. Howl of Terror, is Seduce really needed that much? If the Imp comes out better then the Succubus for me, then I think the 3 points in Fel Stamina will go to Imp. Imp, unless I'm adviced otherwise ^^

Also any advice on my talent spec will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for your time!

[gyagyagya]

Firstly, I dunno if you need malediction at all. It's more of a 25 man raid talent min max thing that 2 warlocks in the 25 might have.

So if you want to, you could put those 3 pts into fel dom/master summoner which is a great pvp crutch.

About the pets. We're versatile, unlike hunters. We can change as and when we please. A felhunter is good for pvp too. You don't have to stick with one pet and if you do what I suggested above, you can change whenever you want in an instant.

Seduce is only needed if you're one of few CC available in an instance and there are humanoids.

Fel Int/Fel Stam is really up to you. If you have 10k hp @ 70, that's 300 more mana/hp. Imp Imp gives you almost half that.

[xdiesp]

Go Imp: last time I heard about a lock who was genuinely enthusiastic about his succubus in PVE, was last summer... pratically a million years ago. Go imp primarily because of blood pact and dark pact: don't count on the minion to deal any damage actually, put it on passive - even the succubus wouldn't be packing that much damage after all, and it surely wouldn't be able to tank. However I don't like being restricted to only one minion on my lock and if I ever wanted to jump on full affliction, I would include a voidwalker option in my build like this one: http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=NVMrVRfkqtbocxhzIb (sadly missing fel intellect) for when I play solo. Sure, with drain life and iHot you can already dot anything and watch it die running... but the VW is an extra comfort.

[Shimi]

Thanks for the advice! :D

Malediction is a goner, and the improved summoning is added, it really is the better option indeed. It makes it more viable too to switch more often between pets when needed for the situation, or just resummon at death of pet, and that leaves Malediction pretty much in the dust I suppose

And xdiesp, is there a reason why you chose Fel Stamina over Fel Intellect? Is it just considered to be the better one of the two and because Stamina > Intellect?

The idea of adding Imp. Voidwalker sounds good, but can it hold aggro well enough, also when the mob is dotted up? I guess thats a matter of playingstyle though and you have to adjust yourself to the situation.

[Kerowyn]

Improved VW helps, but you will still pull agro off of him with your dots, it just takes longer. It certainly isn't a must have talent. It's actually more useful for the increase in the sacrifice shield.

So far as pets, use the right one for the job. Succubus if you need seduce or maximum DPS, Felhound if you need anti-magic, VW for a little extra muscle, and imp for extra mana and buffs.

Remember, versatility is what makes us different from mages. Don't feel locked into one pet, learn to use them all. Even with a Felguard build I would use my other pets, when the situation warranted.

[xdiesp]

Shimi: fel intellect gives you 1 more dark pact and a little more mana to you. Fel stamina gives your pet +15% stamina and little more health to you. Considering that you can life tap and probably you have more health than mana, that little more is bigger for fel stamina. And personally I value more the improved survivability of the VW than just an extra DP. About the aggroing abilities of the VW: first, make sure you have upgraded it fully with grimoires; then, improved VW will make his taunts a little better for the matter. I think it should be able to hold aggro on a mob until it's dead, but it won't be able to hold on 2: (after the VW has aggroed all the mobs) when you are done dotting the first, either you fear it and focus on the next (the first will die when running), or you focus on the next right after and you drain life. Not a revolution for an afflilock, but at least you won't have all the mobs pummeling on you from the very start

[Moardin]

Speaking of Malediction, does this work well with a shadow priest? Our guild plans on raiding with one when we are all 70. Having imp. Curse of Agony might be better due to the 5 shadow weaving procs that are easily applied by the shadow priest...

[Lokee]

Originally Posted by xdiesp

Go Imp: last time I heard about a lock who was genuinely enthusiastic about his succubus in PVE, was last summer... pratically a million years ago.

Why spread misinformation? Or is the only Warlock you speak to yourself? The Succubus is HIGHLY useful and used in PvE, especially in instances, hello CC? If you're going to sit here and try to help people, at least have the knowledge behind it. I can't stand such narrow minded views, especially when being passed off as "what to do and not to do".

[xdiesp]

Lokee: you call myself a liar for expressing my view of things and my personal experience (yes, I only met such a guy last summer and it was not me!), but you are bothered my narrow minded people... look in a mirror sometimes? Shimi can make up his mind from all our ideas combined, even if some of them are different... a variety of unconciliable point of views exist out there.