I read that if you have a build down the Attribution tree people are able to solo 3-5 mobs at a time no worries. I can't do more than two without swetting...
I am level 38, current build being http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=IiMrmMfkc
What is the rotation I should be looking at?
How do you control your pet? Do you keep macros or just send him from mob to mob?
Any guides for soloing thats worthwhile reading? have found a few on this page and Wiki but they havn't worked for me yet...
Cheers!
- Forums
- World of Warcraft
- Class Discussion
- Tips on soloing
Tips on soloingFollow
personally speaking I never really had that great of luck as an affliction lock in the early levels. For me I went full demo and always had good luck. Some people will swear by affliction though.
One idea would be to give demo a try; it gives you a little more versatility and a couple of nice oh sh*t buttons when things get a little rough.
As far as soloing guides go, don't know of any off the top of my head. Might want to check out the warlock's den, I'm sure someone here could link it for you, I know that that site has a lot of useful info about locks.
In the end though realize that you are only at 38 and probably only have your imp, voidwalker and maybe succubus? Your gear isn't ideal, so I wouldn't worry to much about being able to only hold 2 mobs at a time, you'll be able to take on more mobs as your lvl and gear get better
One idea would be to give demo a try; it gives you a little more versatility and a couple of nice oh sh*t buttons when things get a little rough.
As far as soloing guides go, don't know of any off the top of my head. Might want to check out the warlock's den, I'm sure someone here could link it for you, I know that that site has a lot of useful info about locks.
In the end though realize that you are only at 38 and probably only have your imp, voidwalker and maybe succubus? Your gear isn't ideal, so I wouldn't worry to much about being able to only hold 2 mobs at a time, you'll be able to take on more mobs as your lvl and gear get better
Scholar
24 posts
My normal rotation is to engage a target using Immolate, then Curse of Agony (got macro that triggers Amplify Curse if not on cooldown), then corruption, then Siphon Life, then Fear. After that its either Drain Life, wand, Life Tap or start on second target depending on circumstances. Finish with Drain Sould rank 1.
This works decently, but if I get hit by 4, sometimes even 3, I am dead! And of course I do tend to aggro a lot when using Fear so this happens once in a while. In addition I need to run all over the place to loot corpses... Lately I have started doing the same sequence stated above only without Fear, using Drain Life after the DoT's are up. A bit more downtime but I don't die.
My gear is not twinked or anything but decent for my level. I have a few other characters which can supply gold for gear if its needed (thought I usually don't spend big amounts).
In instances I have been #1 DPS about 50% of the time, #2 rest. Instances are easier though, more used to that gameplay (don't use same rotation ther either obviously).
I have two macros I use regularly in battle. First is for pet control, second to keep Amplify Curse as often as possible (maybe not ideal, but otherwise I forget to use it too often):
#showtooltip
/petattack [target=pettarget,noexists]
/petfollow [target=pettarget,exists]
#showtooltip
/cast Amplify Curse
/cast Curse of Agony
Other comments?
Edited, Sep 7th 2008 8:31am by donThoto
This works decently, but if I get hit by 4, sometimes even 3, I am dead! And of course I do tend to aggro a lot when using Fear so this happens once in a while. In addition I need to run all over the place to loot corpses... Lately I have started doing the same sequence stated above only without Fear, using Drain Life after the DoT's are up. A bit more downtime but I don't die.
My gear is not twinked or anything but decent for my level. I have a few other characters which can supply gold for gear if its needed (thought I usually don't spend big amounts).
In instances I have been #1 DPS about 50% of the time, #2 rest. Instances are easier though, more used to that gameplay (don't use same rotation ther either obviously).
I have two macros I use regularly in battle. First is for pet control, second to keep Amplify Curse as often as possible (maybe not ideal, but otherwise I forget to use it too often):
#showtooltip
/petattack [target=pettarget,noexists]
/petfollow [target=pettarget,exists]
#showtooltip
/cast Amplify Curse
/cast Curse of Agony
Other comments?
Edited, Sep 7th 2008 8:31am by donThoto
What I did while leveling first off was going down the affliction tree. It gives good power to your dots. The style I used was to let the Voidwalker tank while I threw all my dots on the mob. then I would life tap and then drain life. This would leave me at about full health and about full mana. I leveled pretty quickly and didn't really ever die unless I got ganked. There are probably faster ways to go by fearing but I found it was hard to control the mobs and I pulled adds a lot. Hope that helps.
folsomdog
folsomdog
If you're using your voidwalker to hold aggro initially (aka Drain-Hunting), just wait. Don't start DoTs right away. Give him some time to build the hate. Then when it's firmly established, send him after the next target. If you're trying to Drain-Tank (allowing the mobs to aggro you rather than your pet), it's a bit early for that and your build would need to change to a mix Affliction/Demo (something like this).
At your level my build was similar and I was chain-pulling (without using Fear) with practically no downtime. I generally don't pull more than two until the first is very near to death. But it's pretty easy to rotate 3 active targets in a chain-pull without too much stress as long as they are not hitting on ya. Just work on your timing so that as one mob is nearly dead, your pet is starting on a new one.
Fearing is a skill that needs practice. Lots, and lots of practice. Nothing anyone can say about that other than learn how to use it and when so that you aren't constantly attracting adds. Personally, I find fear-draining more than a little annoying and inefficient compared to drain-tanking.
Also try using Immolate later in your rotation. It has a lot of initial threat. CoA is a great starter. I recall using CoA, SL, Corr, Imm a lot in the middle levels.
At your level my build was similar and I was chain-pulling (without using Fear) with practically no downtime. I generally don't pull more than two until the first is very near to death. But it's pretty easy to rotate 3 active targets in a chain-pull without too much stress as long as they are not hitting on ya. Just work on your timing so that as one mob is nearly dead, your pet is starting on a new one.
Fearing is a skill that needs practice. Lots, and lots of practice. Nothing anyone can say about that other than learn how to use it and when so that you aren't constantly attracting adds. Personally, I find fear-draining more than a little annoying and inefficient compared to drain-tanking.
Also try using Immolate later in your rotation. It has a lot of initial threat. CoA is a great starter. I recall using CoA, SL, Corr, Imm a lot in the middle levels.
1 post
Hi there,
From my own experience, I'd say stay stick with Affliction. I have a lvl 36 'lock that's Affliction and I'm loving it. Like yourself, at the moment, 2 or 3 mobs is pretty much the limit for me to solo. But that's ok! We don't ~really~ get to shine until 40th lvl when we get our AoE fear - then watch out! Well, ok, not watch out right away, but at 46th lvl, with talent points, we make Howl of Terror instant cast and then we rock!
Here are a couple of links to things I have found helpful while researching what our class can do:
Very good leveling Guide Has some nifty Macro's too! I have been folowing this ones advice myself and find it workijng out great.
The Warlocks Den Very useful place with good forums to read up on whatever you're wondering about.
So, in closing, stick with Affliction - I have almost 0 Down time and have been gaining levels quite quickly (I have lvl'd a Rogue and Hunter to 70 so far) and with few deaths.
Hope that helps and Good Luck!
From my own experience, I'd say stay stick with Affliction. I have a lvl 36 'lock that's Affliction and I'm loving it. Like yourself, at the moment, 2 or 3 mobs is pretty much the limit for me to solo. But that's ok! We don't ~really~ get to shine until 40th lvl when we get our AoE fear - then watch out! Well, ok, not watch out right away, but at 46th lvl, with talent points, we make Howl of Terror instant cast and then we rock!
Here are a couple of links to things I have found helpful while researching what our class can do:
Very good leveling Guide Has some nifty Macro's too! I have been folowing this ones advice myself and find it workijng out great.
The Warlocks Den Very useful place with good forums to read up on whatever you're wondering about.
So, in closing, stick with Affliction - I have almost 0 Down time and have been gaining levels quite quickly (I have lvl'd a Rogue and Hunter to 70 so far) and with few deaths.
Hope that helps and Good Luck!
29 posts
when i was leveling i would send my vw into a pack and then cast dots on his current target. then have him switch targets and dot that one up. continue this till all mobs are dotted then start trying to take down the first mob. i didnt use immolate very much because it causes a bunch of aggro that the blueberry cant handle that well. once you have ua then its really starts getting easier. if they start to aggro, once you have instant howl of terror you will be a killing machine. even if horde try to attack you(assuming they are close to your level!).
Scholar
16 posts
...Assuming you have the points for siphon life at the moment.
Dont forget CoA and siphon life are longer dots that are very effective on a feared targets(howl of terror)cause they can stay on for the full duration while you focus on another target(first target) with things like corruption, immolate and searing pain. Staying alive will become routine after some practice it's getting the most out of the dots that takes some fine tuning in my opinion.
If the whole AFF lock thing isn't working out for you, you could try leveling a warrior to kind of put things into perspective.
I found that Wiki guide ,mentioned a few posts up, when I first started researching locks. I haven't followed it 100% but found it quite helpful.
I was skeptical about giving up my voidwalker for imp around 30 so I resisted till about 40. But by then, even with out immolate in my dot cycle, I could still pull threat off my void extremely easily. I'm sure I could have let him build threat longer before dotting but that would slow kill speed a bit. So I took the leap, summoned my imp, set him on passive and haven't looked back. Well I looked back a couple times.
For the most part it works well. On single target pulls you feel OP. I could kill single target pulls till the cows came home with full health and mana. And full bags from all the damn shards. Really could use some shard chucking addon for that. I checked curse but it seems like all the lock addons haven't been updated in a year and aren't "certified" for current patch.
As for rotation, I always cast Immolate first. I like to get it out of the way due to the long cast time. The other instant cast dots are much easier to cast if you happen to be getting beat on. So, Immo > CoA > SL > Corruption on my main target. Then fear > CoA > SL > Corr on my feared targets. If I'm on multiple I usually leave one un-feared. I let the feared mob run around dot'd while I drain life my main target. I still get overwhelmed sometimes. If a fear gets resisted it can be really annoying. Especially if the mobs hit hard, cast hard, or are a lvl or 2 higher. Howl of Terror can be great but can also be a little messy and never feels like it fears stuff long enough. I don't like to get into situations where I have to use it.
I just love the affliction spec. So much fun. With reasonable gear, at lvl 46, I can grab a lvl 44-47 mob, 4 dot it, and drain life it to death in one (uninterrupted) casting a lot of times and pending mob. Good stuff!
Have fun,
-Shrub
Edited, Sep 10th 2008 4:50am by Shrubbry
I was skeptical about giving up my voidwalker for imp around 30 so I resisted till about 40. But by then, even with out immolate in my dot cycle, I could still pull threat off my void extremely easily. I'm sure I could have let him build threat longer before dotting but that would slow kill speed a bit. So I took the leap, summoned my imp, set him on passive and haven't looked back. Well I looked back a couple times.
For the most part it works well. On single target pulls you feel OP. I could kill single target pulls till the cows came home with full health and mana. And full bags from all the damn shards. Really could use some shard chucking addon for that. I checked curse but it seems like all the lock addons haven't been updated in a year and aren't "certified" for current patch.
As for rotation, I always cast Immolate first. I like to get it out of the way due to the long cast time. The other instant cast dots are much easier to cast if you happen to be getting beat on. So, Immo > CoA > SL > Corruption on my main target. Then fear > CoA > SL > Corr on my feared targets. If I'm on multiple I usually leave one un-feared. I let the feared mob run around dot'd while I drain life my main target. I still get overwhelmed sometimes. If a fear gets resisted it can be really annoying. Especially if the mobs hit hard, cast hard, or are a lvl or 2 higher. Howl of Terror can be great but can also be a little messy and never feels like it fears stuff long enough. I don't like to get into situations where I have to use it.
I just love the affliction spec. So much fun. With reasonable gear, at lvl 46, I can grab a lvl 44-47 mob, 4 dot it, and drain life it to death in one (uninterrupted) casting a lot of times and pending mob. Good stuff!
Have fun,
-Shrub
Edited, Sep 10th 2008 4:50am by Shrubbry
I have been using the passive imp style since I got Dark Pact. I was really getting bored with sending in the voidwalker, since I had already leveled that character to 70 (my main is a hunter). I absolutely love using my imp as a mana battery. It's so much faster and easier than the fel guard, imo (I tried Felguard at level 57, and went back to affliction about 3 hours later).
My usual rotation is Shadow Bolt, UA, Siphon Life, CoA, Corruption, Drain Life until it's dead. However, I can easily take on 3-4 mobs in a non-crowded area by running to my second target while casting the instant DoTs, DoT up the second one, Howl of Terror, DoT up a third mob, fear it, and DoT up a 4th. By time I start DoT'ing up the fourth mob, the first is dead, and the second is getting close. I just start draining life until there is a nice pile of corpses around me. I cast Dark Pact in between mobs as I need it.
The only time I even think about Soul Drain is when I need a new health or soul stone- but even then, I very rarely need either of them.
My usual rotation is Shadow Bolt, UA, Siphon Life, CoA, Corruption, Drain Life until it's dead. However, I can easily take on 3-4 mobs in a non-crowded area by running to my second target while casting the instant DoTs, DoT up the second one, Howl of Terror, DoT up a third mob, fear it, and DoT up a 4th. By time I start DoT'ing up the fourth mob, the first is dead, and the second is getting close. I just start draining life until there is a nice pile of corpses around me. I cast Dark Pact in between mobs as I need it.
The only time I even think about Soul Drain is when I need a new health or soul stone- but even then, I very rarely need either of them.
IMO you can't go wrong with demonlogy or affliction, I level using both builds. I found demonlogy more to my liking but both work well. Affliction all about your rotation not taking aggo away from VW to soon but once you get rotation down it very effect to kill & level with it. I just like demonlogy better because IMO I have more control when thing go wrong.
I have tried to not pull more than 2 mobs until I got to Outlands and got geared up a little bit. That's when I knew I could handle it.
I am 41 point Affliction and have been soloing with the Succubus as soon as I got her.
Here is my strategy for 3-pulls:
set a 1st kill target and put your big dot on it (the one with a cast time, like UA or Immolate). Set the pet on this target.
From that point on I have agro on all targets, so spell push-back is a menace. I use only insta-DoTs from that point on.
On main target, I put a full set, Siphon Life, CoA, Corruption. On the remaining targets, usually only 2. Usually Siphon Life (very important for keeping your health up) and Corruption (for the Nightfall procs).
The speed you can do this is limited by Global Cooldowns. If you are too low on health after setting all this up, then the mobs you pulled are too tough.
Then for me, it's just a matter of continually doing Drain Life on the 1st target, split up by Insta-ShadowBolts when the Nightfall proc hits. You will get some interruption to the Drain Life, so it's not very mana efficient, but it is necessary to keep yourself alive while the DoTs tick :-)
I renew DoTs on the 1st target when they drop off, but I don't bother with renewing them on secondary targets unless my health is still high, and I can spare a GCD or 2 (but this is unlikely with 3 mobs, unless they hit like wet cardboard).
Howl (+ bandage, Healthstone, health pot) is good if your health is dropping too quickly. Even Death coil returns a chunk of health and eases incoming damage for a bit.
Hope this helps.
I am 41 point Affliction and have been soloing with the Succubus as soon as I got her.
Here is my strategy for 3-pulls:
set a 1st kill target and put your big dot on it (the one with a cast time, like UA or Immolate). Set the pet on this target.
From that point on I have agro on all targets, so spell push-back is a menace. I use only insta-DoTs from that point on.
On main target, I put a full set, Siphon Life, CoA, Corruption. On the remaining targets, usually only 2. Usually Siphon Life (very important for keeping your health up) and Corruption (for the Nightfall procs).
The speed you can do this is limited by Global Cooldowns. If you are too low on health after setting all this up, then the mobs you pulled are too tough.
Then for me, it's just a matter of continually doing Drain Life on the 1st target, split up by Insta-ShadowBolts when the Nightfall proc hits. You will get some interruption to the Drain Life, so it's not very mana efficient, but it is necessary to keep yourself alive while the DoTs tick :-)
I renew DoTs on the 1st target when they drop off, but I don't bother with renewing them on secondary targets unless my health is still high, and I can spare a GCD or 2 (but this is unlikely with 3 mobs, unless they hit like wet cardboard).
Howl (+ bandage, Healthstone, health pot) is good if your health is dropping too quickly. Even Death coil returns a chunk of health and eases incoming damage for a bit.
Hope this helps.
Shrubbry wrote:
I was skeptical about giving up my voidwalker for imp around 30 so I resisted till about 40. But by then, even with out immolate in my dot cycle, I could still pull threat off my void extremely easily. I'm sure I could have let him build threat longer before dotting but that would slow kill speed a bit. So I took the leap, summoned my imp, set him on passive and haven't looked back. Well I looked back a couple times.
I'd be very skeptical about replacing your voidwalker at any time. All that's necessary to make the VW effective is a bit of aggro control. Slower kill speed = smaller amount of gold spent on repairs. If you add up all the slowness I've gotten in 70+ levels you might get 1 hour total, because there is also very little downtime between mobs. A one-hour difference in getting to cap is trivial - my toons spend more time fiddle-farting at the AH or selling to vendors or raising professions than the total difference in speed of kills.
Quote:
my toons spend more time fiddle-farting at the AH or selling to vendors or raising professions than the total difference in speed of kills.
I don't know about you, but when I actually want to AoE farm, I can clear out an area in Netherstorm (as in, a Manaforge and some extra) in ~5-10 minutes, if it's not busy at that time. And that's raid specced (no iHoT or Nightfall). If I were to use my VW instead, it's probably take about as long as it does with me shadowbolt spamming as I do now - about twice as long. Overall, the money you make from the vendor loot/greens will more than cover your repair bills.
I think you're underestimating the difference in time it would take, though. I can tell you right now that the time it took me to get from 64-65 was far less than the time it took me to get from 63-64, when I was still using my voidwalker. Affliction warlocks, Shadow priests and Hunters are widely regarded as the fastest levelers because of the lack of downtime. Both Aff locks and Spriests use a drain tanking method, as well.
Recent Visitors: 89
All times are in CST
Anonymous Guests (89)
- Forums
- World of Warcraft
- Class Discussion
- Tips on soloing
© 2024 Fanbyte LLC