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October 15, 2009, 02:26 PM
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#1 (permalink) |
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Character Info
Fizzik 80 Blood Elf Warlock Dunemaul US PvP Guild: Ghosts of Damnation Profile: Blizzard Armory Talent Spec: 0/13/58 |
Will affliction be competitive even when buffed
Even though Afflic looks like it's currently coming out as top Warlock dps spec on the PTR (and yes, it is very very early days), I wonder how it will fare if fights continue to be designed as they have been in ToC. Seems that there are few fights where Affliction could win out all other things being equal - main barrier being fight mechanics that require switching targets. Examples - Beasts: snowbolds, Jarraxus: maidens & infernals, Champions: well... the champions, Anub: scarabs & burrowers. Only Valkyrs seems to be an 'Affliction friendly' fight. Admittedly, it's been a while since I played Afflic (like a lot of people, I went deep Destro after Ulduar changes), so what I'm wondering is - for locks who continue to play Affliction through ToC - has add switching gimped your dps significantly in ToC? |
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October 15, 2009, 02:42 PM
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#2 (permalink) |
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Character Info
Bahnek 80 Gnome Warlock Windrunner US PvE Guild: Lords of Karma Profile: Blizzard Armory Talent Spec: 53/0/18 |
Re: Will affliction be competitive even when buffed
I have found the amount of target switching has seriously dampened my ability to reach the DPS levels that I feel I am capable of and geared for. I have found myself going Destro more often in raiding situations as of late.... and I have been a die hard Affliction Warlock since WoW began. Here's hoping that the 3.3 patch pulls all the specs closer together and viable for raiding! |
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October 15, 2009, 02:51 PM
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#3 (permalink) |
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Character Info
Seurot 80 Undead Warlock Arthas US PvP Guild: Remorseless Profile: Blizzard Armory Talent Spec: 3/14/54 |
Re: Will affliction be competitive even when buffed
One thing that keeps me from wanting to go back to Afflic is that its lower damage up initally and then higher damage at 25%, where it supposedly evens out. But as the raid gets more geared, raid dps is higher and higher and the time spent at 25% is less and less. And Afflic lock damage seems partially dependent on how long the 25% execute phase is. So it feels like the more everyone gears out, the more you get nerfed down. Don't know if I want to go back to that. |
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October 15, 2009, 03:07 PM
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#4 (permalink) | |
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Character Info
Fizzik 80 Blood Elf Warlock Dunemaul US PvP Guild: Ghosts of Damnation Profile: Blizzard Armory Talent Spec: 0/13/58 |
Re: Will affliction be competitive even when buffed
Quote:
Off the topic of DS (where haste has a purpose), I suppose having dots effected by haste may make a difference in Afflic's viability, but it looks like now corruption is the only one that will benefit. Don't think that this alone is greater than the loss from switching. |
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October 15, 2009, 04:53 PM
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#5 (permalink) |
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Re: Will affliction be competitive even when buffed
I usually play affliction in Trial while I'm not doing hard modes or anything so I am free to play a spec I enjoy as long as I perform. I've found ways around some of the fights on beasts for gormok It requires trying to multidot Gormok and his snobold only with the snobold being the primary target, The worms well dotting is scary as all hell because they have an aggro dump and don't drop dots so having two chasing you might be a bad idea. Refreshing dots before the stun on icehowl without clipping them too much. Though I did get a 32k drain soul tick that made me a very happy warlock when he slammed into a wall under 25%. Jarraxus I usually corruption and agony the infernals but I usually run with decent enough tanks so as to not pull aggro and get myself killed but other than that not a lot you can do. Twins predotting when there is a special ability coming helps a bit with the shields. Anub I normally get put on orb duty just running like mad dotting them all up so I haven't got much advice for that fight. |
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October 15, 2009, 07:54 PM
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#6 (permalink) |
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Re: Will affliction be competitive even when buffed
It's not so much the switching that's the problem, it's the target health to raid dps ratio. It's the same problem affliction has always had on trash mobs when aoe isn't appropriate. Multiple high HP targets are ideal because the dots can be used to full potential. With mobs that die quick, dots are a waste of time, and there's not much else you can do. Really wish first tick would happen when dot is applied. Affliction has a long ramp up time, whereas destruction has an on/off switch. Sadly, as raid dps increases its inevitable that affliction won't have time to reach its potential. In practice, I still think destro will be more effective and consistent overall, despite what simcraft says. |
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October 15, 2009, 10:40 PM
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#7 (permalink) |
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Re: Will affliction be competitive even when buffed
Ahh touche I completely ignored how short that last 25% usually is. |
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October 15, 2009, 11:18 PM
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#8 (permalink) |
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Re: Will affliction be competitive even when buffed
bump |
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0 members liked this post. 1 members didn't.
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October 16, 2009, 06:12 AM
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#9 (permalink) |
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Character Info
lilsteele 80 Human Warlock Terenas Euro PvE |
Re: Will affliction be competitive even when buffed
I really consider giving affliction a try some of these days. I've not played it since they removed SL and Immolate from the rotation. Even a destro warlock is not as bursty as some other classes that have instant high damage spells. Before everything else, you have to put up Immolate on the target and have conflagrate off cooldown to be bursty. The more adds there are in a fight, the closer those Elemental Shamans come to my dps. Though maybe it's also a skill problem in switching targets smoothly. Anyways, the only fight where I would not use affliction is heroic Jaraxus. It's just too important there to get the portals bursted down. One of my guildmates recently brought his alt-warlock to a ToC 25 run and did an awesome job as affliction. It's not as bad as it looks on the paper, but I think one has to learn how to use it properly. |
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October 16, 2009, 07:14 AM
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#10 (permalink) |
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Character Info
Balzhar 80 Undead Warlock Karazhan Euro PvP Guild: undecided Profile: Blizzard Armory Talent Spec: 0/50/21 |
Re: Will affliction be competitive even when buffed
If I could have my way (and I am a Demo lock) affliction would be #1 for DPS. Logic is simple: There are always tradeoffs when looking at the different talent trees:
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