Destro 0/21/40 shadow build & gear help

[VuuK]

Let me just start by saying I was only destro up until level 60 (yes leveld it to 60 with FULL destro 5/5/x) and havent been more than 11 points destro ever since.

But recently Im reconsidering going Pve and ofc speccing destro/sac shadow build.
Now my pve gear has mostly been affliction based so I have hardly any spellcrit (like 10-12% unbuffed). My question is how much spellcrit and spellhit would you recommend (untalened) should I have before I consider going this build? Also any gear links and talent suggestions would be nice.

Currently I have pvp gear equipped in my armory profile and my prepaid ran out () so Ill just tell you quick what I have.

-Around 1185-1200 shadow damage unbuffed
-Around 120-131 spellhit (varies because I use 5 rings that I shift around Asheyan Gift, Violent Signet of the Archmage, Spectral Band of Innervation and Seal of the Exorcist )
- and around 10-13% spell cirt (think its 12% of the top of my head + ring shuffle)

Talent build I was thinking about;
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=AZdxczIbzZEx0tr0khhi

Still thinking either 5/5 cataclysm and 1/5 imp. immolate or vice versa (but since its shadowbased dont see the point really in imp. immolate.)

Excuse the hectic style of writing, Id appirciate any help you can give me on this subject.

Thanks, VuuK.

P.s. I realize this might not be the appropriate forum since it is also about talents but most of my post is about equipment so I posted it in here.

[r3volver]

I prefer the affliction playstyle, but was falling behind in DPS as we progressed through SSC and The Eye. Once I spec'd shadow destruction it was immediately a HUGE improvement to my dps.

I was a little confused at first about ideal cast rotation and itemization, but the warlock dps calculator helped a lot. I found that even with a succubus sac'd and a ton more shadow damage than fire, immolate still has a better damage per cast time than shadow bolt. The ideal rotation is curse, immolate, shadow bolt spam, and your talents should optimize those abilities.

As for itemization, you absolutely need to cap your hit. For this build Hit > Damage > Shadow Damage > Crit, so itemization is actually not that different from an affliction/destruction build. That spreadsheet I linked will also help you determine how to rank items. This thread was also helpful.

[VuuK]

So basicly the spellcrit I have now plus talents is ok I should look more for spell hit?

Wow that theads rather useful cant belive it I never saw it heh.
Ye i prefer affliction myself but getting tired of it in pve.

[cdubaldo]

Originally Posted by r3volver

The ideal rotation is curse, immolate, shadow bolt spam, and your talents should optimize those abilities.

Sorry it's not directly related to the subject but wouldn't you also include corruption in your spell rotation. I know it won't benefit from talent points invested in the destruction tree but:
1/ it's a dot which is nice to cast when the boss is about to disapear or make you move
2/ it's will benefit from the +15% shadow bonus you receive on sacrifying your succubus
3/ I believe it's more efficient in general from a DPS standpoint not to bypass Corruption including in a 0/21/40 build.

[Reds]

Unless you spec for corruption to be instant, your dps will drop if you start casting it.

I usually cast immolate then whatever curse I'm casting, and then spam shadowbolt untill immolate is about to run out, then conflagrate. I'm not sure if that's the best thing to do dps-wise for me, but it's working out good for me.

I think you should get somewhat more +crit before you spec destruction, atleast 16% not counting talents.

[cdubaldo]

I found Reds' comment on corruption interesting, so I made a quick calculation. Please correct me if I'm wrong :

Assumption : 0/21/40 build, +1000 gear spell damage, same miss rate accross all spells (affliction and destruction), 25% crit chance with talents.

I believe the spell damage coefficient is 0.93 for corruption is (as shown here : http://www.wowwiki.com/Formulas:Plus_damage_and_Plus_healing#Over_Time_Sp ell). Therefore, casting corruption will result in 900 base damage + 1000 * 0,93= 1,830. Considering the 2 second cast time, we're looking at a corruption DPS of 915/sec not including global CD.

A SB which lands but does not crit is 572 base damage + 1000 * 1.06= 1,632. My 1.06 coefficient is from this discussion:http://www.wowmb.net/forums/showthread.php?t=18706 and takes S&F into consideration.

Taking into consideration the 25% crit chance, your SB will hit on average 2,189. Considering the 2.5 second castime, we're looking at a SB DPS of 875/sec not including GCD

So it SEEMS that including corruption in your destro cast sequence is recommended at least until you reach a crit and/or +damage increase which would tip the balance.

Does anybody care to validate my calculations?

[anzu]

Yes you are right mate. Ive done this calculation before when i had respecced destruction for a short period of time and indeed corr is worthwhile including in your cast cycle. I had an inkling it did anyway and always included it in my cast cycle.