[Warlock] Why do people say to go felguard at level 50?

WoW Classic Mists of Pandaria Classic Discussion
21

I agree all guys who writes here. Because when you go fg you have to change your playstyle to a more hunterish way. It is not easy to change it instantly.

For example those imps Dottie mentioned should die in 3 ticks of rof and no fg dies in 6 sec. But if you try to dot them all like an affli ofc it will be harder as fg spec.

It is up to you. Try which one is funnier for you, speed is almost the same. Affli needs more active gameplay, fg is just brain dead comfortable both in world and in dungeons. I am a lazy guy so i used fg.

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Mass pull in Affliction spec is usually 5-6 mobs that take 35 seconds to setup & kill, and if things go haywire (aka. chainresists, pvp situation, etc.) may take even longer or force a retreat.

Compare that to pulling mobs in 1s or 2s, without any risk, and annihilating each pull in 10 seconds or less.

The end result of both methods is the same killcount/hour under optimal conditions, and a HIGHER count with demo, because its really good at dealing with sub-optimal conditions. And: it is easier to play, less risky, can deal with tougher opponents even if they cannot be CCed, has much better group-play, is better in PvP and has better cleave in dungeons.

There is another contributing factor:

Mass-Pulls are good and well, but how often are they relevant? Grind is no longer the go-to method of leveling, questing is simply much faster, thanks to the TBC changes. “Get that shiny stone out of that ogre infested cave” is, if you want to do it as quickly as possible, not something affliction excels at…you don’t want the slow plague that withers away an entire cave full of ogres, you want the steel-plated demon pain-train, that punches clear a path, allowing you to walz in and get the shiny gem.

One: The felguard can easily deal with 2-3 mobs. Yes, it is that strong.

Two: You actually have better self-healing, because you have ALOT more SP, and can channel Drain Life without any risk of Spell Pushback, because you are no longer facetanking. Plus, said DL is nearly as good as the affliction-specced one, because you have so much more spellpower…and its good without first setting up 2 additional dots that are half-wasted because mobs usually die before CoA & SL do significant damage.

Three: It isn’t, not by a long shot.

The demo can frontload direct damage without pulling aggro, follow it up by lifedrain, all spells benefiting from the ludicrous SP out of Demonic Knowledge. The Guards damage alone is enough to destroy most mobs.

The time it takes per kill is minimum, the fight is usually over in 3 casts: Immolate, Corruption, Lifedrain.

Other than the reasons outlined above:

  • Raw Power. The spellpower bonus from DK at lvl 50 is likely higher than everything a Warlock has on his gear at that point, and I am talking about warlocks who really cared about collecting SP while leveling. Combine that with the fact that you now have a pet which on its own easily does 1/4 of your dps, and you see why this is absurdly good.

  • Safety. Soul Link is strong, as in, really strong. I regularly survive (Yes, I play demo in raids) things where other caster specs die instantly, allowing me risky positioning, squeeze in that extra cast, etc.

  • Fun. You have a 2m (without spikes) tall demon with a giant axe who can charge, cleave, and smash things with one of the best looking axes in the game as your pet.

  • It’s so much better than affliction in dungeons. I mentioned that before yes, but this demands emphasis. Affliction is really not a prime choice for dungeon content while leveling. Things simply die too quickly for it to be effective. Demo on the other hand isn’t just good, its superb…you have ludicrous amounts of SP, and a ton of not-only-shadow +dmg buffs which increases your hellfire damage, your pet cleaves, your pet can interrupt-charge, your pet can offtank out of control adds, and you get the safety of soul link and a much higher HP pool.

  • You scale extremely well with ALL buffs. Everything that increases your pets hp/mana increases your SP. Everything that increases your HP/Mana increases your Pets stats. Everything that gives you SP, gives your pet more damage. No other warlock specs scales this well from lvl 50 onwards, and if it weren’t for the fact that Destro scales so well with crit, I have no doubt that it would be the dominant WL spec even in SWP.

  • Very engaging gameplay. Probably what I like the most about Demo, and the reason why I main it even now while raiding: Having a pet which is responsible for such a large portion of your performance (its own dmg + the buffs) and must thus be managed properly to get good performance out of the spec, opens up an entirely new facet of the warlock for me.

P.S.

I apologize for a far too long post…I was just looking for a way to pass the time while a steam-download is running :smiley:

3 Likes
23

It’s a good post, almost makes it tempting to try felguard. It just never appealed to me.

I am mostly impressed by the timeframe during which people claim to kill mobs.

I am mostly taking up 1 mob at a time, when convenient two. In the one case one mob I put on UA/Corr/Coa and do a full drain, then drain soul. The 3 dots is 4.5 sec, and then I take 2x5 seconds draining. So thats 14.5 seconds for a single mob. When done I am at 100% HP and mana.

In the case of two mobs I put the dots on one target and on the other,drain life once on the last targeted mob and drain soul the last targeted mob, then drain soul the first targeted mob. That is some 20 seconds for 2 mobs, and doesnt leave me at full HP and mana but more at like 90% or so. However bandaging keeps it up and I still never have to eat.

Sitting at close to 666 spell power in a mix of Naxx/AQ gear.

24

This is exactly how most Affl. leveling fights go for most people.

Yes, one can do masspulls, but here are the catches:

  • they can’t be done everywhere (mob availability, risk, immunities, etc.)
  • most people don’t WANT to do them, because leveling is and should be something doable while watching netflix
  • they are usually pretty pointless when the goal is to finish quests as quickly as possible

Therefore, the normal modus operandi is exactly what you do: Fight one mob at a time. And the felguard build simply excels at that. Its not even that different from Affliction, only quicker: Pet runs in → Corr, Immo, Drainlife, done.

For people who are interested in trying it out, here is a few tips:

At lvl 50, respec into 0/41/0, ignore impr. HS instead take 2/2 IHF and put 1 pt in ManaFeed. Put the point at 51 into Corr (yes, only 1 pt) and then start dumping pts into Destruction. At lvl 60, this is what your build looks like:

https://tbc.wowhead.com/talent-calc/warlock/01-0052030133250101501351-505

Rationale:
Being able to heal the felguard efficiently is more important than having a stronger HS. You will be doing that every 2-3 minutes, compared to using a HS maybe 2-3 times an hour. 2/2 IHF means you need one cast, minimal time/hp lost.
1 Pt in corr brings it down to almost the GCD, it now lines up perfectly with immo. You don’t gain anything substantial by having instant Corr, when you have a reliable tank.
From lvl 58-60 you will want to run Dungeons as well as quests. Having IPS & Bane is essential for this.

25

When i made this thread my warlock was 43, and at that point i could mass-pull with ease but As i was getting closer and closer to 50 i noticed mobs starting to hurt a lot more and also resist a few time, aldo dots starting to cost a lot more mana.

now my warlock is 51 and i’ve played Felguard since 50, and it does indeed feel a lot smoother than affli, and he holds aggro very nicely.

Do not need to take any mana or food breaks either since i know he will keep aggro at all times, unlike voidy.

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Castsequence macro with downranked DoTs ending with wand + Improved VW = Enjoy life while watching Dexter.

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