Demonology, correct use of procs? (43 replies to this topic)

hahaha, no need to re-read.  That's what I enjoy about Warlocks...chaos within our rotations!  If Demo were given an ability to instantly apply Corruption, it's AoE would get instantly out of hand.  Trinket procs are just a bonus with Demo...you don't manage Corruption as Touch of Chaos does that for you and Doom should only be cared about once every 90 seconds.  Affliction is easy to master...it's only got what, 6 buttons to worry about?  Demo is much more intricate...we'll see how the parsing comes.  I'm horrible in C++ language, so I'm waiting on the boys at Simcraft to finish building the new gear into the models.  I don't care about their stat weights and such...I want to come up with those.  Mine are always different than theirs anyways.

Jonnyb, on 28 February 2013 - 07:55 PM, said:

you don't HAVE to do all that. I put Corr on like 3 targets, don't use Doom at all, and use Immo Aura + Harvest Life... couple that with HoG when I have it and pet AoE.... I pull top AoE numbers while yawning.... If I actually TRIED (using Doom, putting Corr on more targets, using Void Ray)... it'd be DUMB.

I've personally always loved Warlock because it was a skill based class more so than a lot of others. Lots of managing DoTs and pets, creating macros and what not... It's been fun. I am happy that Demo is so not straight forward. It's keeping me thinking and makes me know I can always be better! Hell I'm pulling like 70k now in crap gear (I only LFR... don't feel like giving up my life for raiding anymore) and the warlock in my guild I often run with is only pulling 76k as affliction in WAY better gear than me (he has a weekly raid, uses flasks and double pots of which I refuse to do in LFR). Granted... he should be doing more, I don't know what he's doing wrong. But it makes me feel good that I tend to sit near the top of the meters in a spec everyone says is shit now. With 5.2 I'll get to laugh in all their faces my hard work will pay off!

Zagam, on 28 February 2013 - 08:26 PM, said:

I totally agree with you on the corruption thing, it would be functional, but out of hand,
After tonights raid I think I got it slightly better, just need to get used to it.

One thing I found was that I was holding back using HoG if I had dark soul coming up in 30 secs, unsure if this is the right thing to do.
I was also using Meta whenever I used my 2nd HoG, which left me never ever having this 700-800 DF phase that is expressed in most guides.
That being said when I used meta on my 2nd HoG I think I was dumping all my DF.

Zagam, on 28 February 2013 - 07:12 PM, said:

I guess I don't read any other forums besides looking at MMO-C's blue tracker so I haven't seen a lot of QQ going on, but I can definitely imagine that it's there in full force. I don't mind not using GoSac. It definitely made life a lot easier and I've always liked the idea of me bringing the damage and not my pet, but in the end it doesn't matter.

I've been running Demo as much as I can here in 5mans and LFRs and a random Sha group or two. Its fun! I'll have to agree with someone who posted earlier that I'll find myself sitting there not knowing what to do at times, but I'll chalk that up to not being accustomed to the spec yet.

My current playstyle concerns:
1) I'm worried that I'm doing things that maybe I shouldn't be. I'm not 100% sure on that yet, but I'm doing things like switching to Meta after casting a 2nd HoG and refreshing Corr with ToC then popping out. Every minute my procs line up and I'll jump in to meta to burn DF and ToC spam while they're active. Often I'll get to a DS phase with 500-600 DF which is definitely a fair amount that can last me for most of the duration, but its just not optimal and I'll have to Meta dance at the end to ensure I can apply Doom before DS wears off.
2) I still don't have a 4pc so my Doom runs out at an awkward time before DS comes off CD, forcing me to jump in to Meta and reapply 10-15 seconds before DS is ready. This is something that most people will be facing as they drop their t14 4pc in 5.2 so I'm sure strategies will come out to handle that better. Is it okay to let Doom drop form your target for the 4-5 seconds it would take to set up your burst phase?
3) Ending a DF burn phase can be awkward in that I'm never 100% sure when I'm going to be out of DF. I'll be spamming ToC then be forced out of Meta in to a shadowbolt cast when I should probably be casting a soulfire to use up a MC proc. Are you guys manually exiting Meta once you get low or are you waiting to get kicked out? Would it be worth it to throw a cancelaura macro on to Soulfire to help with this?

Again these aren't complaints, just hitches in the playstyle that I haven't figured out yet.

Overall Its definitely a high performing spec and Its probably not something people should be judging until they get their buffs. Players seem to be worried about how they're performing, or that they don't have burst, but they forget that they'll be getting a huge boost in 5.2 which is why we're practicing now. I'm more concerned about getting the mechanics/fundamentals down before 5.2 hits so I can properly judge how the changes feel to me personally once the patch goes live. If it turns out that I'm still way better at playing Aff than Demo, to a point where my damage output is noticeably better in Aff, I'll probably stick with it.  I want to make sure I'm playing Demo at a competent level to be able to make that call though.

Edited by Cruzan, 01 March 2013 - 12:59 AM.