Hello and Help!

[Whistle]

As of this writing I am the newest member of these forums by registration date, however I have been reading here a long time. My all time favorite post being Canadianpimp's appraisal of Malfeasance DPS in Gruul's. It was so eye opening that it changed the way I played the game. This site by far is the most intellectual site for WoW on the web IMHO.

Anyway I have hit 70 (finally) and the game is brand new again and I find myself overwhelmed with what is awaiting me in 70's-Land. So of course The Warlock's Den is where I have come for guidance. I have several questions for you seasoned vets out there.

1) Next logical step...
Dungeons or BGs or Arena for gear?

2) Is there a reference specifically for what gear is the absolute best for a specific talent line or is the gear just Lock specific?

3) Will affliction be a viable talent line whether I am in PvP or PvE @ 70 and beyond (when I say viable once I am geared it would be nice to get invited to dungeons)?

4) My professions are Herbalism and Alchemy, are these the most beneficial for a 70 lock? I took them understanding the existance of "The Alchemist's Stone" which increases healing effects up to 40% I believe? (I haven't repped up with Sha'tar yet to get the stone) I also didnt want to wait for someone to make the potions I would need...

Anyhoo that's it for now and thanks in advance!

Whis†le

[snackereen]

1) If you don't have acces (yet) to high level instances like Karazhan/BT/MH, my advice would be to improve your gear by doing BGs or Arena.
Furthermore, try to do find some groups doing heroic dungeons (which will improve your gear, too, despite farming faction reputation for the enchants.

2) gear depends on talents (or vice versa ^^). An example: if you aim for destruction, you need (among other stats) a high amount of +crit, which is almost absolutely useless playing a demo or aff build (DOTs can't crit). I think you get the idea.
Those topics are also covered in several threads, e.g. here and here . I searched for "destro spec gear" (which received a lot more hits than I expected ;))

3) of course. Rule of thumb (from somewhere within here): destruction shines on from MH/BT having the dungeon-set bonus
But there are also demo/aff WLs out there doing MH/BT, so it depends on your gear, your skills and your group setup.
Neith posted a great overview (from a personal point of view)


4)I also am Herb/Alchi and I still like it (never changed). You can make your own pots which is very fine for instances and you don't have to buy the expensive stuff from the AH. It is not the preferred money-making profession, but it worked fine for me.

[Malevevely]

Check out the library section for CPimps guide for gear. A few arena pieces are ok for pve however the best gear comes from heroic badges if you do not raid. 41/0/20 is a nice intro raid build that will serve you well until you get the hit/crit to support demo or destro talent builds. Herb/alch is fine the sorcerers alchemist stone is a great trinket. There are threads that specifically address each of your issues try the tag search function in the forum and they pop up pretty quickly.

[Theleb]

My goodness, so many questions

1) Choose the best gear from Canadian[imp's gear guide. Its a mixture of BG's/Dungeons/Raids/Badges and Craftables so where you actually go to acquire said gear, or how you do it is very much down to you.

2) CP's guide is designed for 21/40 BUT in conjunction with Leuliers spreadsheet WoW Warlock DPS Spreadsheet you can make infomed choices about how beneficial the items are to other specs.

3) Affliction is fine, perhaps a little squishy in PvP but with the availability of gold these days you can easily spec into a more PvP friendly spec if you're grinding battlegrounds for any length of time.

4) Herbalism and Alchemy are fine. You can min/max more but unless you're seriously raiding its not worthwhile in my opinion when that combination yields plenty of cash returns and also plenty of consumables for raiding.

Try reading through the various guides in the Library - they cover just about every topic you can possibly imagine that has relevance to playing a Warlock and will certainly aid in your education at 70.

[Barghbq]

1) If you're going mainly PvP, do BG's and Arenas. Otherwise, just do the daily BG to get the few pieces you'll need off of Cpimp's guide.

There's a section in the guide (might be the first version) on how to get +1000 spell damage without setting foot in a raid. Read it, follow it, learn to hate Slabs as you grind for the chest and shoulders (since you're not a tailor). I did this and entered Kara with 1100 shadow, 202 hit, and 999 exalted with Lower City.

2) & 3) For the gear you'll be getting to start off, Affliction is probably your best choice. Sure, your dots won't tick all the way down on instance trash, but you still have Shadowbolt. Also, the run-dot-run strategy does well in BG's (as long as you remember that it's not your job to kill the enemy. Your job is to whittle them down and keep them off of your healers).

Following Cpimp's gear guide will eventually take you to the point where you can comfortably switch to destro.

4) If you're happy with your professions, that's all that matters. Raid consumables actually sell well, as do the high-end herbs. I would suggest, though, checking the AH to see if Mana/Health potions are listed for less than you could get for selling the ingredients. If so, buy the pots, sell the herbs, and enjoy your profits.

[Whistle]

Wow! Thanks fro all the info! It's a great rainy day for reading in The Den so I think I will be for awhile! Also money isn't a problem, I learned how to farm the AH early on and have never looked back. I usually try to keep 7 to 10,000 gold available but in this last push to 70 I loaned out 4k and spent 2k on all that I needed for pots, a soulcloth vest, Scryer's Bloodgem, and signet, and my basic bird....so I gotta get to making money. At least I have a bunch of stuff to AH from Darkmoon Faire! It figures Darkmoon and my push to 70 coincided so I couldn't work it like normal

Again thanks for all the info! You gusy keep writing and I'll keep reading! Also any alliance Locks on Quel Dorei wanna gimme some tips in person I'm on after 9p.m. CST!

Whis†le

[Vandrenth]

Affliction is making a comeback in arena's since season one :P
if you really want to play it, it's easy shadowcomping 3's or 2's with ua lock/spriest or ua lock/spriest/resto sham

[magicmatt]

about question 4:
Keep alchemy for the stone that gives...64? i think spell damage from exalted with SSO and drop herbalism for tailoring for shasoweave set or ,what alot of locks do, is to take engineering for the destruction holo gogs