Raiding: Need help in gemming gear

[starlet]

Character Name: Starlet
Armory Link: http://www.wowarmory.com/character-s...tone&n=Starlet

Talent Build: 0/21/40

Quick Info
Health: 9218
Mana:8662
+Damage:878
+Hit:221
+Crit:18.52%
Have you read the gearing guide? Yes.

Items/Slots in need of immediate upgrade:

• Voidheart Gloves (to be replaced with Enslaved Doomguard Grips when i get the badges)
• Vindicator's Silk Cuffs (to be replaced with Guardian's Silk Cuffs when i grind enough honor)
• Voidheart Robe for the badge one, but I feel that I have to buy the badge gloves first.

Upgrades you are currently working on:
List any upgrades you are currently working on and where you are at. For example:

• Enslaved Doomguard Soulgrips - Currently at 40+ badges. Not much time for KZ/Heroics except on weekends.
• Guardian Silk Cuffs - I am at 8k at the moment.

All about you:
We're trying Solarian and SSC instances, but a change in my work schedule messed up my raiding opportunities, so I can only join Gruuls/Mag pugs at the moment. I have had connection problems post-patch which made me unable to join the past KZ runs, delaying my quest to get the badge gloves. Work and family is limiting my game time, just have enough to do dailies and one (usually short) heroic a day.

The ongoing debate about haste vs. crit made me unsure what to do next. I am now in a position to get rid of most of my +hit gems, although I do not know what to replace them with. My GL loaned me some epic gems, which i put on my neck and boots (as i cant see anything i can replace them with in the near future). However, that is it, and I do not think he will loan me any more. I am the main warlock in the group (former utility/afflic warlock, which i enjoyed. no pressure on doing dps. but since the main lock is on an extended leave, i have to step in for dps, which is kind of crappy (5-7th in raids at best), primarily because of poor connection and old pc. i know i can do better.)

So, what do you suggest? I really need help.

[Roast]

speccing 0/21/40 at your gear level can seriously gimp your DPS because of having to gem alot of hit and missing out on valuable +spell damage.

maybe try a 40/0/21 ruin build. it has the big crits you see in 0/21/40, and the (what would seem especially good for you) ever constant damage from DoT's. this could lower the effect of having an unstable connection/PC.

Talent Calculator - World of Warcraft

something like that maybe. Although, if you like 0/21/40 then i would say just farm heroics and 10/25 mans and you will get the gear upgrades soon enough. you could also get new shoulders pretty easily. even T4 is an upgrade, or the ones from heroic magisters. the Cloak from heroic magisters is also good.

your gemming does seem pretty random. try to get the gem set bonuses wherever you can. even +3 spell damage bonus is worth it.

gems like:

Reckless Noble Topaz - Item - World of Warcraft
Glowing Nightseye - Item - World of Warcraft
Veiled Noble Topaz - Item - World of Warcraft

are really nice at Rare level.

i would also reccomend getting +20 spell damage on gloves instead of the crit one. also, buy the head enchant from the Sha'tar AS SOON as you get the rep! grind the rep ASAP. same goes for your shoulder enchant! buy the scryers stuff from the AH and get exhalted.

your weapon also seems like a random choice, based on the places you are farming. get Wub's Cursed Hexblade, Blade of Twisted Visions, or the one from Prince in Kara.

i hope this helps


Uno

[Theleb]

Any build incorporating ruin needs spell hit, doesn't matter if its 21/40 or 0/40/21 or even 40/0/21 - 202 is the way to go however, you have plenty of spell hit so personally I would:

1) Enchant gloves with +20 damage
2) Enchant Subtlety on Cloak (spell penetration is of no use for PvE)
3) Don't worry about collecting haste too much. Although if you're hitcapped with decent crit it is theoretically a "better" stat you can't stack enough of it to be really noticeable until very late T6/Early SWP content.
4) Sha'tar rep grind for the head enchant - GO GO!
5) A Suitable MH (S2 dagger or any of the above) + OH combo (Fetish of the Primal Gods) will give you better results than the divining staff.

If you really want to min/max your gear I would definately recommend DLing the spreadsheet at WoW Warlock DPS Spreadsheet - that way you can play around with enchants/gems until such time as you have the absolute best set-up possible and you can also plan future gear upgrades - you've not done anything "wrong" per se, you just need a few tweaks here and there.

[starlet]

Originally Posted by Roast

something like that maybe. Although, if you like 0/21/40 then i would say just farm heroics and 10/25 mans and you will get the gear upgrades soon enough. you could also get new shoulders pretty easily. even T4 is an upgrade, or the ones from heroic magisters. the Cloak from heroic magisters is also good.

the shoulders i have are from Tempest Keep trash, and the next upgrade would be the T5 shoulders from Void Reaver. I do think I have the T4 shoulders in the bank, but since C-Pimp rated the Mantle of Elven Kings higher than the Voidheart Mantle (T4), I've been using it. Would the T4 set (i have the voidheart crown, robe, gloves, and mantle) bonus be better than what I am using right now (spellstrike hood, voidheart robe, voidheart gloves, mantle of elven kings)?

I also have the cloak off Prince Malchezzar, which is also rated higher than the heroic magisters one, although if i could find an enchanter who can put subtlety to it, i would.

Originally Posted by Roast

your gemming does seem pretty random. try to get the gem set bonuses wherever you can. even +3 spell damage bonus is worth it.

gems like:

Reckless Noble Topaz - Item - World of Warcraft
Glowing Nightseye - Item - World of Warcraft
Veiled Noble Topaz - Item - World of Warcraft

are really nice at Rare level.

I am trying to get rid of the Veiled Noble Topaz gems as I hit the spell hit cap after getting the Scryer Bloodgem and rings (Fused Nethergon Band and Band of Crimson Fury) so I want to know if I could replace these with +dam/+haste or +dam/+crit. although +dam/+stam gems looks good.

Originally Posted by Roast

i would also reccomend getting +20 spell damage on gloves instead of the crit one. also, buy the head enchant from the Sha'tar AS SOON as you get the rep! grind the rep ASAP. same goes for your shoulder enchant! buy the scryers stuff from the AH and get exhalted.

working on it.

Originally Posted by Roast

your weapon also seems like a random choice, based on the places you are farming. get Wub's Cursed Hexblade, Blade of Twisted Visions, or the one from Prince in Kara.

i wanted to go 1H/OH, rather than the staff, but I am unable to do ZA lately (i just got the staff because everyone is eyeing wub's hexblade and the blade of twisted visions when we did za). i can probably grind for the merciless gladiator's spellblade, but that would push my grind for the guardian's silk cuffs back. so the question is, should i forego the cuffs at the moment and grind for the spellblade?

*** Information added 2 Minutes and 27 Seconds later... ***

lol. posted my reply before i saw your comment theleb. thanks. so, you think i should get s2 blade + offhand (right now i have orb of the primal gods) before i get the guardian's silk cuffs?

[Theleb]

It would certainly be a bigger upgrade to go from staff to a MH/OH combo than from the S3 to S4 bracers (Which require a personal rating of 1575, don't forget).

S2 Spellblade + Orb =

15 hit rating
225 damage
27 sta
18 int
18 Sta
51 shadow
+40 spell damage (enchant)

Compared to the Amani Divining Staff:

58 sta
47 int
+9 damage
+5 haste + 6 damage
+5 damage +6 sta
+40 Spell damage (enchant)
31 crit
217 damage

316 damage/45 sta/18int/15 hit vs 277 damage/64 sta/47int/5 haste/31 crit - and the thing is that with the extra hit from the S2 spellblade you can replace +hit gems with +damage or +haste and get even larger returns (Don't gem for crit), or perhaps sub in a different trinket than the bloodgem.

I would definately get the spreadsheet and check your own stat values to determine exactlywhat choice of gems represents the best DPS increase for you, and do the same with available trinkets until you find the best results.