Why Use VW after level 20 ?

Pcheez · March 20, 2005, 02:23 AM

I see level 40+ warlocks walking around slowly killing equal level mobs with big blue , then having a good 1 minute or so downtime between their mana and VW;s horrendously slow mana regen.

The last time i recall using the voidwalker was at level 20, and occasionally when soloing elites. Its just a big sponge, you kill too slow with it in pve, its even less than useless in pvp, and its ugly.

What i want to know is, why does anyone use this pet ? It just doesnt makes sense when you have 3 other pets that are far superior and more efficient at pve/pvp.

Ond · March 20, 2005, 02:36 AM

Heya,

Bear in mind that I'm on a PvE server, so I can't speak for the PvP contingent. (47 warlock)

I don't use my voidwalker much, preferring the Succ or the Felhunter these days. I did put 3 points into Improved Voidwalker so I can pile on the damage while he holds aggro. His aggressive mana use combined with neglible damage output usually confines his use to one of two scenarios for me:

- When I am soloing in risky areas with a good chance of adds, or when I'm going after a named with guards (send him in, burst damage, sac, loot, die/run away).

- When I'm in sort of a lazy mood (or hung over) and the slower and a bit safer pace of VW soloing appeals more to me.

He has his uses, but... Meh.

Mulk · March 20, 2005, 06:42 AM

Okay scrap what I said it's getting late so it took second to catch up with me.

The reason why there having issues is becasue they are lightly specced, if at all in demonology. Typically you can tell the Demonlock from the rest cause we hit things with daggers and swords. Oh and we actually use health funnel and have nearly no downtime. Honestly most downtime is becasue I have to go to the bathroom or want to get a coke. All this supposive downtime you have with the Voidwalker is something I haven't seen yet and I'm level 52.

If it ain't going downhill in Eastern and Western Plaquelands when the other officers drag me there at 52 don't see how it could suddenly get all bad by lvl60.

So in all I'm pretty sure it isn't the pet sounds more like a issue of talents and not having the Voidwalker as a pet you know well.

Mulk

Reysa · March 20, 2005, 06:45 AM

I prefer Big Blue because I can keep up a steady pace. Most of my down-time comes because of stupidity; I still take risks that get me killed once or twice a day. I agree that the VW mana regen rate is a bit slow, but mine doesn't need much. I may take a few hits toward the end of a fight but they are usually over fast enough that that isn't much of a set-back. I do like my bandages, though. Oh, I prefer to solo, and I'm only 54. Things may change at 60, dunno about that.

Mulk · March 20, 2005, 07:13 AM

Oh one little thing. You and many others say that the other pets are better in pve and pvp. The pvp is in many ways obvious but there are counterpoints. But I don't see it in pve unless people are really worried about the 5 extra seconds it may take me to drop a mob.

Yes the Felhunter is bugged and can get mad aggro. But as I said in another post this week you can't count on bugs and ui's to make your pet useful. The Suc can mez and has high dps but no mitigation. Imp is powerful but has no hp so I'm stuck summoning him repeatedly while the affliction Warlocks never use except as a two legged mobile rod of mystical transgrevance.

Plus everything with the exception if the Felhunter is worthless when I'm tanking against my will or by choice. Plus the Voidwalker is nice for lettig me drop Hellfire without hoping the priest remebers to do the shield stuff and heal me.

I don't know I guess if someone is using the Voidwalker to tank and have downtime after every mob I guess they just suck. Cause I'm nothing special here and I can kill em as faster as I can find them. Just remeber not ot label anyone over level 11 using a Voidwalker as a bad Warlock. There are tatics and fightng styles outside what some guy who claims to have been in beta says.

Mulk

*Akasha* · March 20, 2005, 08:56 AM

Moving to Pet section...

Barradda · March 20, 2005, 09:15 PM

Same as the other posters. With ol' blue I can kill mobs non-stop. After I do my DoTs I do mana to hp a few times then drain life with some shadowbolts from nightfall procs. Usually after a fight I am at least 90% health and 80% percent mana. And on to the next mob/crepp I go!

With the AE taunt taking on 2 or 3 mobs at once is nice too.

Amodeus · March 21, 2005, 05:01 AM

From my experience the VW is better than the Felhunter for tanking hard hitting elite mobs. Even with tainted blood going the Felhunter has about 22 percent less damage reduction and just over half the hitpoints (will have to double check my numbers). That makes enough of a difference that even with two talent points in health funnel I couldn't keep the Felhunter healed fast enough from the damage he was taking. The VW on the other hand held on just fine and health funnel was enough to keep him healed, the caveat though is that if he lost agro it was very very hard for him to get it back. This was at 58 fighting the 55-56 dragonkin elites in Burning steppes.

Against normal mobs that level, the felhunter does just fine even against 3 or 4 of them attacking him, and he holds AE agro better (because of paranoia spam). I have managed to get full volleys of Rain of Fire off without attracting agro, though the Felhunter needs to build agro with crazy Paranoia spam for about 5 sec before this happens, something that I have never been able to do with the Voidwalker. It really comes down to playstyle and technique.

nocturnal · March 21, 2005, 05:43 AM

VW rocks imo. Also depends on the type of mobs, and numbers of them. I'm level 28, and still find myself using the VW most of the time ( i solo 95% of the time may I add). The times he has saved my *** when being jumped by multiple mobs is countless. The succy just doesn't have the hitp, and her damage isnt good enough to counter her shortage in hitp. The imp, well what's the point, the guy gets whacked in 2 blows (unless you're tanking)

VW, DOTs, a fear here and there, and a bit of time is all it takes.

Miretta · March 21, 2005, 11:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mulk

The reason why there having issues is becasue they are lightly specced, if at all in demonology. Typically you can tell the Demonlock from the rest cause we hit things with daggers and swords. Oh and we actually use health funnel and have nearly no downtime. Honestly most downtime is becasue I have to go to the bathroom or want to get a coke. All this supposive downtime you have with the Voidwalker is something I haven't seen yet and I'm level 52.

I'm Demonology specced, and I'm in complete disagreement with you. I can't go for more than four fights or so without having to wait for the big guy to recover his mana. Consume Shadows rarely gets used because mana is invariably lower than health. And if one of his taunts is resisted, then I'm going to get agro.

I also had a rather disconcerting experience last night. I've got the quest "All Along the Watchtowers", or whatever the name of the Alliance quest is that has you lighting torches in the doorways of the towers in Andorhal. I knew that there was no way that I could beat the two elite mobs located at each tower, so I cleared the area in front of the tower, and then charged the VW up to the second elite mob. The idea was that he'd hopefully keep the mobs busy long enough for me to reach the doorway, light the torch, and clear out.

Fat chance of that. I was halfway up the ramp when I belatedly realized he'd just died.

I know its the mobs involved (the two elite skeletons have an extremely powerful melee special), but it was still very, very disturbing that my "heavy" would die so quickly.

March 20, 2005, 02:23 AM	#1 (permalink)
Pcheez Member	Why Use VW after level 20 ? I see level 40+ warlocks walking around slowly killing equal level mobs with big blue , then having a good 1 minute or so downtime between their mana and VW;s horrendously slow mana regen. The last time i recall using the voidwalker was at level 20, and occasionally when soloing elites. Its just a big sponge, you kill too slow with it in pve, its even less than useless in pvp, and its ugly. What i want to know is, why does anyone use this pet ? It just doesnt makes sense when you have 3 other pets that are far superior and more efficient at pve/pvp.

March 20, 2005, 02:36 AM	#2 (permalink)
Ond Registered	Why Use VW after level 20 ? Heya, Bear in mind that I'm on a PvE server, so I can't speak for the PvP contingent. (47 warlock) I don't use my voidwalker much, preferring the Succ or the Felhunter these days. I did put 3 points into Improved Voidwalker so I can pile on the damage while he holds aggro. His aggressive mana use combined with neglible damage output usually confines his use to one of two scenarios for me: - When I am soloing in risky areas with a good chance of adds, or when I'm going after a named with guards (send him in, burst damage, sac, loot, die/run away). - When I'm in sort of a lazy mood (or hung over) and the slower and a bit safer pace of VW soloing appeals more to me. He has his uses, but... Meh.

March 20, 2005, 06:42 AM	#3 (permalink)
Mulk Member Character Info Nivekoo 60 Gnome Warlock Argent Dawn US RP Profile: Blizzard Armory	Why Use VW after level 20 ? Okay scrap what I said it's getting late so it took second to catch up with me. The reason why there having issues is becasue they are lightly specced, if at all in demonology. Typically you can tell the Demonlock from the rest cause we hit things with daggers and swords. Oh and we actually use health funnel and have nearly no downtime. Honestly most downtime is becasue I have to go to the bathroom or want to get a coke. All this supposive downtime you have with the Voidwalker is something I haven't seen yet and I'm level 52. If it ain't going downhill in Eastern and Western Plaquelands when the other officers drag me there at 52 don't see how it could suddenly get all bad by lvl60. So in all I'm pretty sure it isn't the pet sounds more like a issue of talents and not having the Voidwalker as a pet you know well. Mulk

March 20, 2005, 06:45 AM	#4 (permalink)
Reysa Member	Why Use VW after level 20 ? I prefer Big Blue because I can keep up a steady pace. Most of my down-time comes because of stupidity; I still take risks that get me killed once or twice a day. I agree that the VW mana regen rate is a bit slow, but mine doesn't need much. I may take a few hits toward the end of a fight but they are usually over fast enough that that isn't much of a set-back. I do like my bandages, though. Oh, I prefer to solo, and I'm only 54. Things may change at 60, dunno about that.

March 20, 2005, 07:13 AM	#5 (permalink)
Mulk Member Character Info Nivekoo 60 Gnome Warlock Argent Dawn US RP Profile: Blizzard Armory	Why Use VW after level 20 ? Oh one little thing. You and many others say that the other pets are better in pve and pvp. The pvp is in many ways obvious but there are counterpoints. But I don't see it in pve unless people are really worried about the 5 extra seconds it may take me to drop a mob. Yes the Felhunter is bugged and can get mad aggro. But as I said in another post this week you can't count on bugs and ui's to make your pet useful. The Suc can mez and has high dps but no mitigation. Imp is powerful but has no hp so I'm stuck summoning him repeatedly while the affliction Warlocks never use except as a two legged mobile rod of mystical transgrevance. Plus everything with the exception if the Felhunter is worthless when I'm tanking against my will or by choice. Plus the Voidwalker is nice for lettig me drop Hellfire without hoping the priest remebers to do the shield stuff and heal me. I don't know I guess if someone is using the Voidwalker to tank and have downtime after every mob I guess they just suck. Cause I'm nothing special here and I can kill em as faster as I can find them. Just remeber not ot label anyone over level 11 using a Voidwalker as a bad Warlock. There are tatics and fightng styles outside what some guy who claims to have been in beta says. Mulk

March 20, 2005, 08:56 AM	#6 (permalink)
Akasha	Why Use VW after level 20 ? Moving to Pet section...

March 20, 2005, 09:15 PM	#7 (permalink)
Barradda Lurker	Why Use VW after level 20 ? Same as the other posters. With ol' blue I can kill mobs non-stop. After I do my DoTs I do mana to hp a few times then drain life with some shadowbolts from nightfall procs. Usually after a fight I am at least 90% health and 80% percent mana. And on to the next mob/crepp I go! With the AE taunt taking on 2 or 3 mobs at once is nice too.

March 21, 2005, 05:01 AM	#8 (permalink)
Amodeus Lurker	Why Use VW after level 20 ? From my experience the VW is better than the Felhunter for tanking hard hitting elite mobs. Even with tainted blood going the Felhunter has about 22 percent less damage reduction and just over half the hitpoints (will have to double check my numbers). That makes enough of a difference that even with two talent points in health funnel I couldn't keep the Felhunter healed fast enough from the damage he was taking. The VW on the other hand held on just fine and health funnel was enough to keep him healed, the caveat though is that if he lost agro it was very very hard for him to get it back. This was at 58 fighting the 55-56 dragonkin elites in Burning steppes. Against normal mobs that level, the felhunter does just fine even against 3 or 4 of them attacking him, and he holds AE agro better (because of paranoia spam). I have managed to get full volleys of Rain of Fire off without attracting agro, though the Felhunter needs to build agro with crazy Paranoia spam for about 5 sec before this happens, something that I have never been able to do with the Voidwalker. It really comes down to playstyle and technique.

March 21, 2005, 05:43 AM	#9 (permalink)
nocturnal Member	Why Use VW after level 20 ? VW rocks imo. Also depends on the type of mobs, and numbers of them. I'm level 28, and still find myself using the VW most of the time ( i solo 95% of the time may I add). The times he has saved my *** when being jumped by multiple mobs is countless. The succy just doesn't have the hitp, and her damage isnt good enough to counter her shortage in hitp. The imp, well what's the point, the guy gets whacked in 2 blows (unless you're tanking) VW, DOTs, a fear here and there, and a bit of time is all it takes.