Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Rotations, Rotations, Rotations!

Ah yes, where would be today without our rotations? Likely smacking fervently(and might I add quite fruitlessly) at our foes like wildmen of the raging north. It is our rotations that seperate us from them, but if you happen to enjoy doing that, then by all means do so. It is after all your game I suppose.
This post shall be the Warlock one I guess, as I don't particularly feel like typing too much at once, and there is so much to say among all 10 classes. So here goes.

Affliction:
I happen to be currently running Affliction PvE on my Warlock, and have been presently pleased with the results. Since our buff to dmg we received in the coming of patch 3.3, the Affliction lock can now stand up there with other, previously superior, specs.

First off, the pet. Use the Fel Puppy (Felhound). It will be obvious why, when you look at it's abilities. The ability known as Shadow Bite causes shadow dmg (great for bypassing boss armor), has a 2 second cooldown (with the talent for imp. felhound), and gains a dmg increase for each DoT you have active on the target. Nuff said.
Glyphs that should be used are the Glyph of Haunt (increases haunt's bonus dmg by 3%), Glyph of Life Tap (gives a 40 sec. buff increasing spell power by 20% of your total spirit, works with Dark Pact as well.), and Glyph of Quick Decay(causes your haste to make Corruption ticks go faster).
Now down to the nitty-gritty, first off cast Haunt, then Unstable Affliction, Corruption, and Curse of Agony (if you dont have to put Elements up). Once those are up cast Haunt whenever its up, refresh Unstable Affliction and CoA when needed, casting Shadow Bolts when nothing else is going on. Once the target hits 25% health instead of Shadow Bolts, use Drain Soul, the new Warlock "Execution/Killshot".

Destruction:
For pets, use the Imp, given that Empowered Imp helps out so much...ya obvious choice.
Glyphs should be Glyph of Conflagrate (Causes your Conflagrate spell to no longer consume the Immolate DoT), Glyph of Incinerate (increases Incinerate's dmg by 5%), and Glyph of Life Tap (for the aforementioned effect).
The rotation is, Curse of Doom every time it goes off, Immolate, Conflagrate, Chaos Bolt, and Incinerate as a filler when nothing else is going on. Obviously refresh immolate and corruption as needed, and you should be golden.

I hope this guide has helped you steer away from the barbaric instincts that lurk in your soul, for you Warlocks at least, in your pursuit of ever higher DPS.