No pets?

Valguarnera · January 24, 2006, 10:59 AM

Am I the only warlock who doesn't use pets at all?

I am now level 34, and with just about all my talents in Demonoligy, I use demon sacrafice.
I kill off my voidwalker, and at about 2.2k hps as my base, I heal 66hps or so, per 4 seconds.
Most one on one mob fights, my healing out paces their damage output.. and I'm talking about
me level 34, them level 35-37.Ã‚ Only problem is adds, which isn't really.. I CoW the one I'm not
concentrating on, so he hits not as hard, and I still finish a fight against two or three monsters with
plenty of health to spare.Ã‚ Worst case, I use a healing potion or my health stone, which now
heals 500hps.Ã‚ With a full dot I kill most monsters in 14 seconds, just as my last Dot is wearing
off.

I play mostly for PVE atm, though I have had some success in PVP when I tried.Ã‚ I think they wonder
how I can take so much abuse, and my hps never seem to drop.Ã‚ :P

I was wondering if anyone else played this way, and does it stop working at a certain point?
Any feedback or comments welcome.Ã‚ I am new to the game, so be gentle

Cheers,

Valg
Level 34 Undead Warlock
Staghelm

Raistln · January 24, 2006, 11:25 AM

I love having fel stamina vs. boss fights. With lifetap and fel stamina and infrequent healings, I can spam shadow burn and shadow bolts for the entire fight long after mages run OOM (out of mana).

As far as this strategy working indefinitely, you have to remember that mobs' damage is going to increase significantly as you move to more difficult zones and instances while HP from your fel stamina does not. Add to that the fact that CoW gives an absolute negative damage vs. a relative one, it's clear that your tanking days are short lived, unfortunately...

It does sound pretty cool tanking at 34 tho; wish I'd have thought of it, but I fell in love with the prospect of having a mana battery at that point (Dark Pact).

cryptana · January 24, 2006, 11:34 AM

Once you level up Demonology to the point where you get the MD buff, you'll never want to be without your pet ever again, I bet. I put way too many points into Demonology to want to run without a pet for more than a few extreme circumstances (for example, your case where I'm fighting MOBs one at a time and want to minimize downtime).

That said, I've heard from some 'locks who are specced SM/DS and swear by it.

Ziblette · January 24, 2006, 12:42 PM

Demonic sacrifice a voidwalker comes in very handy in Alterac Valley where you rarely get heals. It allows you to life tap to your heart's desire and allows you to survive a little longer. You die, no problem, rez in the graveyard and the voidwalker is back to get sacrificed again.

It's also great to sacrifice the voidwalker when you want to enslave other demons, since you can't have an enslaved demon and regular pet at the same time.

But I don't bother sacrificing the succubus or the imp, since soul link and master demonology give you 13% increase to all damage, where as succi's sacrifice only leads to 15% shadow or fire damage increase. And you lose the seduce option or stamina buff.

Get in a group, and you will feel guilty for using anything other than your imp though. With improved imp and +53 stamina, most of the time I just leave my imp on passive so AoE damage doesn't get him and my tank can keep the stamina buff.

Tannenbernie · January 25, 2006, 08:17 AM

My Warlock is 60 and i use Demon Sacrifice VW all the time when soloing. If grinding in Felwood then i can attack 4-6 mobs at once and kill them with DoTs before they overcome my Fel Stamina. I wear a mixture of greens and blues, no epics, 5k HP unbuffed. Every 4 sec i get 150 HP and of course i use the improved lifetap talent.

For fast killing of easy mobs to farm runecloth or whatever else - its perfect. If you attack something strong then use Doomguard or Infernal, they stack with Fel Stamina. I can easily solo a Devilsaur with Fel Stamina alone but to kill a 60+ elite i need the infernal/doomguard for help.

Go Sacrifice ol

Maestrodomus · January 25, 2006, 10:02 AM

Damage will start to outpace Sacrafice at 55+, but it's still nice for occassions, and a must for Enslaving.

Haps · January 25, 2006, 10:27 AM

Tried this method last night and was pleased with it success. I was level 51 in blasted lands killing level 52-53 humanoids. Works really well. I didn't play for very long to have a good look at xp/hr and that kind of thing but I will definately try this again.

And for the life of me I don't know why I never thought of doign this in Mana heavy instances like ST.

Carcophan · January 25, 2006, 12:12 PM

When you're farming mobs (which it looks like that's what you're mostly doing), DSing your VW is tops. That's how I farm.

That said, in other cases, such as PvP or running instances, IMHO, the usefulness of a pet almost always outweighs the DS value. The exception are some specific boss fights where you are not likely to be hit often and need the health restore ability in order to maximize lifetap potential (like in the tiger boss fight in ZG).

Maestrodomus · January 25, 2006, 01:24 PM

I wouldn't mind seeing a Demonic Sacrafice buff.

A full blooded Demonologist gives up quite a bit for Demonic Sacrafice:

30% Damage mitigation
13% Damage Buff
Seduce
Succ DPS (70?)

or

10% physical damage reduction
2000 HP Damage shield

or

+60 to all resists
Dispel
Spell Lock
light DPS

I don't think 130 HP/tick makes up for that.

January 24, 2006, 10:59 AM	#1 (permalink)
Valguarnera Registered	No pets? Am I the only warlock who doesn't use pets at all? I am now level 34, and with just about all my talents in Demonoligy, I use demon sacrafice. I kill off my voidwalker, and at about 2.2k hps as my base, I heal 66hps or so, per 4 seconds. Most one on one mob fights, my healing out paces their damage output.. and I'm talking about me level 34, them level 35-37.Ã‚ Only problem is adds, which isn't really.. I CoW the one I'm not concentrating on, so he hits not as hard, and I still finish a fight against two or three monsters with plenty of health to spare.Ã‚ Worst case, I use a healing potion or my health stone, which now heals 500hps.Ã‚ With a full dot I kill most monsters in 14 seconds, just as my last Dot is wearing off. I play mostly for PVE atm, though I have had some success in PVP when I tried.Ã‚ I think they wonder how I can take so much abuse, and my hps never seem to drop.Ã‚ :P I was wondering if anyone else played this way, and does it stop working at a certain point? Any feedback or comments welcome.Ã‚ I am new to the game, so be gentle Cheers, Valg Level 34 Undead Warlock Staghelm

January 24, 2006, 11:25 AM	#2 (permalink)
Raistln Subscriber Character Info Raistln 80 Human Warlock Shadowsong US PvE Guild: Atrum Mortis	Re: No pets? I love having fel stamina vs. boss fights. With lifetap and fel stamina and infrequent healings, I can spam shadow burn and shadow bolts for the entire fight long after mages run OOM (out of mana). As far as this strategy working indefinitely, you have to remember that mobs' damage is going to increase significantly as you move to more difficult zones and instances while HP from your fel stamina does not. Add to that the fact that CoW gives an absolute negative damage vs. a relative one, it's clear that your tanking days are short lived, unfortunately... It does sound pretty cool tanking at 34 tho; wish I'd have thought of it, but I fell in love with the prospect of having a mana battery at that point (Dark Pact).

January 24, 2006, 11:34 AM	#3 (permalink)
cryptana Member Character Info Cryptana 60 Undead Warlock Kilrogg US PvE Guild: Forever Kings Profile: CTProfile	Re: No pets? Once you level up Demonology to the point where you get the MD buff, you'll never want to be without your pet ever again, I bet. I put way too many points into Demonology to want to run without a pet for more than a few extreme circumstances (for example, your case where I'm fighting MOBs one at a time and want to minimize downtime). That said, I've heard from some 'locks who are specced SM/DS and swear by it.

January 24, 2006, 12:42 PM	#4 (permalink)
Ziblette Member	Re: No pets? Demonic sacrifice a voidwalker comes in very handy in Alterac Valley where you rarely get heals. It allows you to life tap to your heart's desire and allows you to survive a little longer. You die, no problem, rez in the graveyard and the voidwalker is back to get sacrificed again. It's also great to sacrifice the voidwalker when you want to enslave other demons, since you can't have an enslaved demon and regular pet at the same time. But I don't bother sacrificing the succubus or the imp, since soul link and master demonology give you 13% increase to all damage, where as succi's sacrifice only leads to 15% shadow or fire damage increase. And you lose the seduce option or stamina buff. Get in a group, and you will feel guilty for using anything other than your imp though. With improved imp and +53 stamina, most of the time I just leave my imp on passive so AoE damage doesn't get him and my tank can keep the stamina buff.

January 25, 2006, 08:17 AM	#5 (permalink)
Tannenbernie Member Character Info Powerbernie 70 Human Warlock Runetotem Euro PvE Guild: Shadow Ops Profile: Blizzard Armory Talent Spec: 22/5/34	Re: No pets? My Warlock is 60 and i use Demon Sacrifice VW all the time when soloing. If grinding in Felwood then i can attack 4-6 mobs at once and kill them with DoTs before they overcome my Fel Stamina. I wear a mixture of greens and blues, no epics, 5k HP unbuffed. Every 4 sec i get 150 HP and of course i use the improved lifetap talent. For fast killing of easy mobs to farm runecloth or whatever else - its perfect. If you attack something strong then use Doomguard or Infernal, they stack with Fel Stamina. I can easily solo a Devilsaur with Fel Stamina alone but to kill a 60+ elite i need the infernal/doomguard for help. Go Sacrifice ol

January 25, 2006, 10:02 AM	#6 (permalink)
Maestrodomus Member	Re: No pets? Damage will start to outpace Sacrafice at 55+, but it's still nice for occassions, and a must for Enslaving.

January 25, 2006, 10:27 AM	#7 (permalink)
Haps Member	Re: No pets? Tried this method last night and was pleased with it success. I was level 51 in blasted lands killing level 52-53 humanoids. Works really well. I didn't play for very long to have a good look at xp/hr and that kind of thing but I will definately try this again. And for the life of me I don't know why I never thought of doign this in Mana heavy instances like ST.

January 25, 2006, 12:12 PM	#8 (permalink)
Carcophan Member	Re: No pets? When you're farming mobs (which it looks like that's what you're mostly doing), DSing your VW is tops. That's how I farm. That said, in other cases, such as PvP or running instances, IMHO, the usefulness of a pet almost always outweighs the DS value. The exception are some specific boss fights where you are not likely to be hit often and need the health restore ability in order to maximize lifetap potential (like in the tiger boss fight in ZG).

January 25, 2006, 01:24 PM	#9 (permalink)
Maestrodomus Member	Re: No pets? I wouldn't mind seeing a Demonic Sacrafice buff. A full blooded Demonologist gives up quite a bit for Demonic Sacrafice: 30% Damage mitigation 13% Damage Buff Seduce Succ DPS (70?) or 10% physical damage reduction 2000 HP Damage shield or +60 to all resists Dispel Spell Lock light DPS I don't think 130 HP/tick makes up for that.