What are the basics to making the Felguard/Lock relationship a success?

[Ischade]

OK I'm looking for some info. Apparently I suck at demonology. My first warlock was demonology and I remember it being great for PvE.

Well I respecced demo just to help run my 53 paladin through Dire Maul and grab some Mp5 gear.

So, the Felguard is dying to the groups of satyrs in less time then it takes for my paladin to drop Holy Light on him. The Holy Paladin will stay alive getting beat on at level 53 for about 15 seconds. The Felguard lives maybe 3-4.

This is with the talent reducing his damage taken and soul link active.

So for those of you who solo BrD and Dire Maul, are you doing it with the Felguard out or as a SL/SL build?

I am finding myself able to survive more as 40/0/21 then a FG build. Now I know most of this is probably because of how comfortable I am with the affliction style build. So I'm just wondering, what strategies am I missing here?

[Maltyrius]

Have as few mobs beating on him as possible. He can tank but he is not intended to be an instance beater.

Banish one satyr; let the others run to you a bit to make room; send in FG; keep backing up and then chain fear one throughout the pull. Just make sure you have plenty of room for the feared target to run amok.

[Terraxia]

So many questions so little time.

Ok, so I just turned 60 and it’s my first toon on WoW. Up to this point I have been working on getting to 41/20/0. I loved the affliction and the life regen made mana management a breeze. Then I got to Outland at 58 and it was suddenly not that easy anymore. I was not dealing out the damage I needed to deal out with Voidy to be efficient and had many close calls. I also got the impression that Voidy was not as strong as I thought he was.

So I started to read here (btw and off topic, one of the best sites ever) and other places and decided to respec and aim for 20/41/0 and get The Felguard. I have the 41 points in Demonology done and up to Improved Life Tap and Soul Siphon on the affliction side. Last night was my first time with this Spec 8 )

I like the Felguard DPS. It’s truly fantastic, but I have no idea how to play with it. I’m a complete mess with mana management and hp management. I spend a lot of time eating. My question is, what are the basics to making the Felguard/Lock relationship a success?

Am I looking to kill fast (DoT/ShadowBolt Spam)?
How do I reduce my down time?
What kind of gear goes best with Felguard?
What Spell combos should I work through on every mob?

Any other tips and advice would be appreciated.

[Akasha]

Title changed to something more descriptive.

[Laerok]

Well, I'm no expert, but here is the way I do it.
I basically use a "hunter-lock" type - maybe not the fastest, but it is fairly efficient for low down time (IMHO)
I either send in FG and cast Curse of Agony, or pull with Curse of Agony (if need to seperate a MOB) and then send FG
Corruption
Immolate
Life Tap
Drain Life
Wand if necessary

About every third MOB I health funnel (if FG is low) before I Drain Life
I very rarely SB, the MOBs are usually just dead before (or soon after) Curse of Agony finishes.

I'm not an expert on gear, but I always look for STA and INT, and now have been getting damage bonus as well.
I mostly solo (and on a PVE server), so I haven't done many instances.
I'm still learning (this is my first character), but I just got to 69 this morning. I hope this helps some, although many on here have much more experience and a vast amount of knowledge. I just know what has been working for me

[Kryptix]

Originally Posted by Laerok

Well, I'm no expert, but here is the way I do it.
I basically use a "hunter-lock" type - maybe not the fastest, but it is fairly efficient for low down time (IMHO)
I either send in FG and cast Curse of Agony, or pull with Curse of Agony (if need to seperate a MOB) and then send FG
Corruption
Immolate
Life Tap
Drain Life
Wand if necessary

About every third MOB I health funnel (if FG is low) before I Drain Life
I very rarely SB, the MOBs are usually just dead before (or soon after) Curse of Agony finishes.

I'm not an expert on gear, but I always look for STA and INT, and now have been getting damage bonus as well.
I mostly solo (and on a PVE server), so I haven't done many instances.
I'm still learning (this is my first character), but I just got to 69 this morning. I hope this helps some, although many on here have much more experience and a vast amount of knowledge. I just know what has been working for me

this sums it up nicely, although, i took the 2 points in the talen improved drain life.... when you finish off a mob with it, it returns like 5% mana or something. I had no down time at all, except when i had to health funnel to FG. oh and i did pick up improved health funnel over the improved healthstone. i may also suggest at least 2/3 in mana feed for the mana hungery demon, specially if you like to leave cleave on. 10/41/0 is where i started at 60, and moved to 20/41/0 at 70, soon after respeced for more end game stuff... stick with it, the FG is an awesome demon!

[Kneehighdps]

I found Felguard ALOT more efficient when I had 3 points in Demonic Resilience

What I did was stack up 2-3 dots and just go wand crazy. Seemed to work perfectly, never ever stopped. Hp and mana was always fine. Getting improved drain soul just made everything even faster :D

[SirSigmundFreud]

I just got my felguard recently, but what seems to work is...

Send pet in
Corruption and Curse of Agony (on same cooldown cycle if Corruption isn't instant)
SB (if you feel you can do so w/out gaining aggro, otherwise skip)
Life tap
Drain life

If you are going after a higher level mob (5 levels higher than you or so)

Send in felguard
2 curses (same as before)
Alternate drain life and health funnel to keep felguard and you at full health.

[Terraxia]

Thanks! This is very helpful.

[Pervlock]

I do pretty much the same as Laerock, goes fast, goes easy, and foods go bad in my bags :P

dont waste space on drinks much IF you carry at all, just lifetap yer mana up and get food to get yer life up works great to
Saves bagspace anyway