The Warlocks Den - WoW Warlock Discussions

Well hi and welcome to the most basic things you need to do to improve your dps. This will cover probably 90% of the questions out there about why DPS is low. Every thread asking for help it comes down to 3 things. Not enough hit, not knowing what to cast and when, and misused spec points (pvp talents for pve build).
---This shall be a work in progress--- So be sure to let me in on mistakes, changes or additions to said information.

1.0 Hit Rating
---1.1 Required Hit
---1.2 Warlock Gains in Spell Hit
---1.3 Major Hit Increasing Items
2.0 Spell Rotation
---2.1 The Basics
---2.2 Links
3.0 Talent Specs
---3.1 Affliction
---3.2 Demo/Hybrids
---3.3 Destruction
4.0 After all else...
5.0 Credits

1.0 Hit Rating
Properly achieved hit rating is the most important factor playing into a low out of spec(ifications) on the DPS meter.

---1.1 Required Hit
For the best in depth guide into spell hit see: What's the Hit cap Mr. Wolf? - The Warlocks Den Forums

Spell hit - WoWWiki - Your guide to the World of Warcraft

Level Difference.....Base Miss Rate
- 4......................100%
- 3........................99%
- 2........................98%
- 1........................97%
0...........................96%
+ 1........................95%
+ 2........................94%
+ 3........................83%

That means for a Raid Boss (+3 levels) you will require 17% total hit rating between gear, buffs and debuffs.

---1.2 Warlock Gains in Spell hit

The only self attained increase to hit rating is Suppression - Spell - World of Warcraft (3%)
And here are the other non-gear related hit rating increases:
Spriest -> Misery - Spell - World of Warcraft (3% *)
Moonkin -> Improved Faerie Fire - Spell - World of Warcraft (3% *)
Draenei -> Heroic Presence - Spell - World of Warcraft (1%)
* do not stack with eachother

So what does that mean? Well 17% (required hit) - 3% (suppression) - 3% (spriest/moonkin) - 1% = 10% spell hit by gear *minimum* if you have all the other conditions met. That is 263 spell hit rating.

---1.3 Major Hit Increasing Items

I will not cover all the gear that adds hit, there's just too much. But I will cover (at least for now) items to keep a look out for that are great for +hit going into raiding. You will be looking for anywhere from 263 to 446 hit rating from gear. Source - Spell hit - WoWWiki - Your guide to the World of Warcraft

Mark of the War Prisoner - Item - World of Warcraft - (H)VH - Cyanigosa
Enchant Gloves - Precision - Spell - World of Warcraft - Enchanting
Enchant Boots - Icewalker - Spell - World of Warcraft - Enchanting
Water-Drenched Robe - Item - World of Warcraft - (H)VH - Ichoron
Hat of Wintry Doom - Item - World of Warcraft - Tailoring
Necklace of Taldaram - Item - World of Warcraft - (H)OK - Prince Taldaram
Flameheart Spell Scalpel - Item - World of Warcraft - Revered Kirin Tor
Ward of the Violet Citadel - Item - World of Warcraft - 25 Emblems of Heroism
Worg Tartare - Item - World of Warcraft - Cooking, a great boost until you can cap yourself in gear

Don't forget to gem and enchant your gear!

***Another tip: Keep extra items w/ +hit in case you don't have the extra buffs from Spriest/Moonkin/Draenei present to make sure you're capped***

2.0 Spell Rotation
Spell Rotation is a very important part of keeping your DPS maximized.

---2.1 The Basics

1. Stay alive - You can't DPS dead
2. Stay at ranged whenever possible -> 130% threat cap before taking aggro -> you continue following #1.
3. DON'T CLIP DOTS. Ever, ever ever. It is better for a dot to fall of 1 second, then to reapply it 1 second early**
4. Always cast something. If there are 2.5 seconds left before UA (1.5 second cast time) ends, don't just stand there, cast another shadowbolt. This will be better for your dps than waiting.

** For example. Clipping 1 second off Corr means that you lose the last tick, with 3 seconds til the first tick of the new application you have just made it take 5 seconds in between ticks. If Corr falls for 1 second, then it's only 4 seconds between the last tick and the first tick of the new application, an increase in DPS vs. clipping.

---2.2 Links

Affliction rotation -> Help with Affliction DPS and Rotation - Post 3.1 - The Warlocks Den Forums
Demonology rotation -> Help with Demonology DPS and Rotation - Post 3.1 - The Warlocks Den Forums
Destruction rotation -> Help with Destruction DPS and Rotation - Post 3.1 - The Warlocks Den Forums

3.0 Talent Specs
Talent specs are always greatly covered by Fallenman at each major changing patch: Fallenman's 3.1 Quick Raid Spec Rundown! - The Warlocks Den Forums
Lilsteele has a preview of 3.1 specs here: Preview of possibly successful patch 3.1 raiding specs - The Warlocks Den Forums
*NOTE: These specs are all going to be very close to eachother in DPS on LIVE fights. See Simulationcraft on post-3.1 specs - Elitist Jerks for where they show up on Tank and Spank fights. In my links below, glyphs are included.

---3.1 Affliction

While EJ uses 53/0/18 I prefer the route of 53/1/17
How to go about this is in the rotations section above. There's some debate on how to start but basically you want to keep up your dots, use the succubus when melee is possible (imp otherwise), and shadowbolt in between.
Vux's Guide to Affliction - The Warlocks Den Forums is a great source of information on Affliction. (just watch the non-3.1 stuff)

---3.2 Demo/Hybrid

I put hybrid together with Demo because the hybrids have a higher focus in Demo:
0/56/15 - Felguard awesomeness + decimation weaving + Metamorphosis. You'll want to hit Meta, Charge, Immo Aura and continue normal DPS rotation. Use Demonic Circle to teleport out of melee when Immo Aura ends. Note that this sacs some self DPS for raid DPS gain through Demonic Pact.
0/40/31 - This spec forgoes the Felguard and adds Conflag to the mix.
0/41/30 - This would the other way, grabbing the Felguard instead of Conflag. Also see - 0/41/30 Your true friend. - The Warlocks Den Forums
Both of these use Decimation under 30% (3.1.2*, 35% until then) to weave in Soul Fires for a great DPS boost. This can be tricky so I'll let Tragik's thread about it do the talking: Decimation Weaving - The Warlocks Den Forums

---3.3 Destruction

Destruction has already had some ups and downs. Coming into 3.1 on the PTR it looked great.. just to have conflag nerfed. But no fear Destruction warlocks for things look very promising in 3.1.2!
0/13/58 - This is the deep destro build that brings Replenishment to the raid.
3/13/55 - Drops Soul Leech but gains a little extra range and the +hit from Suppression in the affliction tree

4.0 After all else...
So you've got the spec, you've got the hit rating and you've made your eyes bleed perfecting that rotation on the training dummy but it's still not helping? Well there's some more tips that should help.

1. Gear correctly, after hit, the stats for warlocks are SP > haste > crit > Spirit > int. Forget gemming for bonuses too. Unless you need hit, max out those +19 gems. Don't forget head enchants, leg enchants, shoulder enchants and eternal belt buckles!
2. Try a different spec. Maybe you just can't get into it and need something more exciting.
3. Always turn the meters off during a fight. Don't try to go all out in the middle and get yourself dead because you were watching the meters.
4. And keep up with the newest happenings with a simple click of The Warlocks Den Forums. I have that as a favorite on my bar to click and instantly get all the newest threads in the Den to know of changes and new ideas.

If you still have questions to ask please refer to: I need help with my DPS - Thread #2 (Post Patch 3.1) - The Warlocks Den Forums

5.0 Credits
While I did type this all up, true credits go to those in the discussions and the OPs of the other guides: Vux, Tragik, Fallenman, Darkersoul, lilsteele and everyone else here asking the questions and coming up with the new ideas.
Super credits to Akasha for having a place to put all this information.