spell everything when to move on

[Ajatar]

Just curious to find out when to stop working on one spell "thing" and work on another.

For instance when should i stop concentrating on spell damage and work on hit. I understand its different for the spec's but im not sure when i should be stopping and changing.

any help would be much appreciated.

[Balroq]

Well, That is a really vague question. I would say your first task is to maybe research a little more into what each spell "thingy" is and what it affects. Your best bet would be to go to canadianpimps "gearing your warlock" guide and give it a thorough read. It should answer all your questions. I don't have the link but its under the guides section on the main page.

[Ajatar]

at the moment my character has 1035 spell damage self buffed i want to know what i should work towards, so i for instance i stop at 1300 spell damage and then move on to hit.

spell damage cap or optimium dps range =
spell hit = 95 for affliction and 202 for desto
spell crit =
spell haste =


just want to know when i should stop and what priority they should take?

[Malevevely]

hit>damage>haste>crit>>int>>>stam generally the same for all locks for specific answers and analysis either post a rate my gear thread, spreadsheet it yourself, search other rate my gear or haste threads on the forum.

[mcgee84]

Build a trash set and a boss set. Your boss set needs to be hit capped asap.

[Valcoris]

Trash set: 63 hit
Boss set: 202 hit

Those are your hit caps for your two sets. The trash set is based on trash being a max level of 72 which I believe is accurate.

My understanding is that once you get to 202 hit you then prioritize damage>crit/haste.

Now that priority is a little blurry but let's assume your affliction wanting to move to destro.

Although 1k shadow damage is the point most often used I personally waited till 1.2k self buffed. My reason for this is 1k shadow damage seemed too easy to attain and I was pushing for shadow damage in an affliction build anyway. So theoretically once you get 1k shadow damage your good to start looking at other stats but I suggest waiting for a little more.

At that point it is about getting your crit to the right level. Numbers on this have a really wide range depending on who answers. Usually falling between 15-25% crit. Now this part confuses me to be honest. With no talent points spent I have 12.3% crit. However, if I spec 0/21/40 I go up to a 15.4% crit rate. Now if I understand the theory right I am about 2.7% to low in crit to go destro but I'm not so sure I am understanding the theory correctly.

Now I've made the switch anyway. I personally do a lot more damage 0/21/40. This may mean that I don't play the affliction build well. It may mean that the theory and the reality don't match up perfectly.

[ydnandrew]

Originally Posted by Valcoris

Now I've made the switch anyway. I personally do a lot more damage 0/21/40. This may mean that I don't play the affliction build well. It may mean that the theory and the reality don't match up perfectly.

I think you hit the nail on the head there. I have seen a number of inferior geared 0/21/40 warlocks out damaging very well geared UA specced locks. The thing is you can check the spreadsheets and they will tell you that destro beats affliction before you hit 20% crit, or 7% haste, or whatever other stat people like to stick to.

I waited longer than most warlocks to switch from UA to destro, so my gear was pretty solid. Therefore when I saw my average boss dps increase from 750 to 1000 it wasn't that big of surprise.

As for the OP, when you switch your focus from 1 stat to another depends on a number of variables, therefore it is different for everyone. Technically you don't really build up just one stat at a time, you work on them all together.

If you're a fresh 70 and only have 500-600 spell damage (this is where I expect a fresh 70 to be just from quest rewards and maybe an instance drop or two) then you probably would rather focus on increasing your damage more before you concentrate on spell hit. However if you have an opportunity for the spellstrike set, boots of incantations, or whatever else out there that has a bunch of hit don't pass it up just because there is something else that has a few more points of damage. You're going to need to be well rounded in the end, so make a list of realistically attainable gear based on what you do. If you only run heroics then focus on crafted items, drops and badge gear. If your guild is progressing through T5 into T6 then look at the best items available there and make your wish list accordingly based on your ultimate goal in terms of stats.

I would personally prefer to wait a few extra weeks to get a big upgrade to a piece of gear rather than getting a couple small ones along the way. It saves me time and gold having to enchant and resocket everything and it also keeps me focused on the ultimate prize instead of becoming content with lesser gear.

You'll find numerous threads listing stats you should aim for, but it goes something like this:
spell damage: as much as possible (1k is usually a minimum goal)
spell haste: as much as possible (I started noticing a difference around 3%)
stamina: as much as possible (high end raids prefer 10k health minimum)
intellect: as much as possible
crit: 25-30% (with talents)
spell hit: 202

Just remember to keep things in balance. 25% crit with 0 spell hit doesn't do you much good. Likewise 202 spell hit with 400 spell damage won't matter much either.

[Devicus]

Generally, load up on hit gear as it provides plenty of spell damage too. Prioritise hit till capped and spell takes care of itself largely. The crossover for destro is supposed to be 20% tooltip after destro talents, meaning 17% from gear, 3% from backlash, devastaion doesn't change the tooltip.

However as said above, it's easier to play destro, to be an affliction lock pushing out "ideal" dps or even within 100DPS of that is nearly impossible, while a destro lock will do a lot closer to their "spreadsheet" damage because there's less to screw up.

Also remember that DPS as recorded, even on WWS is not worth relying on, account for damage on time. When I did the switch I went from 800-900 DPS 95-100% on to 1100 DPS 85-95% on, meaning my actual damage gain was pretty small. However I've geared up and push 1300 out now, while I know my affliction damage would have gone up by maybe 50 at most.

Destro is superior to affliction above that amount of crit at all times. However you'll do more damage if you instead chase hit first, because at the same "gear level" you'll do more damage. Initially this means affliction will be better even despite the effect above. As you hit cap and your shadow sits around 1000, if you have a* a little* crit gear destro won't suck horribly and obviously will pull up fast and then shoot off.

Anyway I think the OP was looking for "chase spell and hit to about 1000 spell and hit cap then chase crit till you're a bit clear of 20% tooltip after speccing destro, after that just run the numbers yourself and work out which items give the best DPS increase when upgrading. "

[badkarma138]

Originally Posted by Ajatar

spell hit = 95 for affliction and 202 for desto

for affliction, if you have suppression maxed out, you only need 76 hit for boss fights.

5 points in suppression = 10%.
16% hit is capped, so you need 6% more.
12.6 hit = 1%
12.6 * 6 = 75.6

Obviously if you have more hit you can take fewer points in suppression.