Endgame warlock PvE questions

[Xentro]

Hey all,

I just recently joined Nostalrius (I have played on many vanilla private servers before). I'm levelling a warlock and I love it. I just love how true this class feels in vanilla, especially compared to it's current state on retail. But anyways, while levelling I was reading forums and looking for info on how to play at level 60 in raids/dungeons and I came across a few questions.

First of all, since there are limited debuff slots (some people I contacted in-game doubted this was even a thing a Nostalrius, but on the forums I read it's true) is it worth improving the power of your DoT's? For example taking Nightfall and Imp CoA when you may not be allowed to use your DoT's in the fight anyways. Also, along these lines, if DoTting is not allowed in PvE do we, warlocks, not lose a key part of what we are? The burning and corrupting enemies slowly is what being a warlock is all about, right?

Second of all, I read there are 2 main viable specs in PvE right now, SM ruin and DS ruin. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but this is what I read everywhere. Some sources say DS does more damage and is the superior spec. Other people say that with SM you can have Blood Pact for more stam. Does choosing DS/SM depend on whether or not your raid needs Blood Pact? Why is DS so good when you improve your pet through the talents in the demo tree to then sacrifice it entirely?

And my last question is also spec-related. Are there SM/DS ruin builds that are viable in both PvE and PvP. Let's say my main focus would be to dps in raids but I'd also like to be able to kill a tauren when I see him or win a bg if that's possible.

Thanks in advance, Xentro

[dirtyhoudini]

Good questions, I'm wondering the same things

[Guybrush]

If your only purpose is raiding, its not worth it investing in DoT talents. This is what makes the DS build better than SM, instead of 10% damage + dots you're taking 15% damage.

DS is pretty weak in pvp though, while SM is decent. So if you're looking for a balanced build for both modes I would go SM.

Ideally your raid composition should be 1 SM lock for imp buff and the rest all go DS.

[brendanv]

a bit of this was talked about in another thread over here > https://forum.nostalrius.org/viewtopic.php?f=40&t=14958

but to answer some of your questions shortly, anything you read about sm doing more is beyond the 8 debuff limit. as it stands, sm really only does better then ds/ruin in raids on about 2 fights. its not quite as huge a margin between the specs now that they got rid of the DS/MD/Ruin spec that demo was rocking. warlock rotation in raids atm is, put your designated curse up, and shadow bolt spam. one guy summed it up best in the other thread saying, if youre ds/ruin in anything outside of raids, youre going to have a bad time. sm doesnt fuck you if you have to be imp lock, and its good for all around world shenanigans

[nervous]

roll sm/ruin. you won't be totally gimped if you want to pvp, and the amount of burnout at level 60 is unreal so you might be thrown in the tank group.

[brendanv]

but i poops on everyone as sm/ruin? except some hunters, my bane.

[nervous]

but i poops on everyone as sm/ruin? except some hunters, my bane.

just use a succubus. they're easy unless the gear difference is fuckin massive. seduce hunt, throw amp'd CoW/r1 cor/siphon life on pet, close to melee distance and HoT, then keep him in range with exhaustion.

only things you have problems with as a succi lock are fel hunter locks and shadow priests because of lmao 0% hit versus 60 flat SR

[onekiu]

This should cover your questions.