For Those Going Demon . . . HelpFollow

0/53/8

check this spec for lvl.70. personnaly I can't see any better dps spec for demo come tomorrow, the only changes in it I could suggest would MAYBE be replacing imp. health funnel with master summoner.. but this is purely under the assumption that your pet can actually die... which with the 80% reduction to aoe damage and the 30% reduction to damage taken when healthfunneled.. shouldn't be an issue. so yeah, try this spec out for size.

Edited, Oct 14th 2008 10:27am by Jenovaomega

with the changes to avoidance and healthfunnel, you might want to take that talent. it heals for ALOT and the only time your pet should get to low health is if a mob directly targets it due to the healing you give from talents (and T5 2set if you have it)

This is the build I'm aiming for, right now:

0/55/16

I don't care for metamorphosis right now, but I'm in hopes it'll be changed in some way, to make it better. Threw the 1 point into it for now, to save myself a respec later. If I was to place that point somewhere else, it'd probably go into Destructive Reach so my SB would cause less threat. Alternatively, the point I placed in DR could be useful in Shadowburn, if you don't have threat issues, like I do.

My lock is currently lvl 75 and I usually play solo.

Before WotLK, when I went on instants/raids, I would usually be near the top of the DPS list. SoC helps, but also risky to use, due to the threat. Helps getting a few more thousand dmg dealt, but also has a risk of getting all the mobs to target me.

They probably will not change it, though it does need something. When I cen pop Meta, and still get stunlocked to death by a rogue, there's something wrong. When I can pop Meta, and a Warrior can kill me before it wears off when I am Drain Lifing him the whole time and he's Prot, somethings wrong. Tested this in duels. Maybe add some defense, or magic resistance to it.

As for Demo builds. These are looking like 2 of the better ones.

This one is pointless if you have a Ele Shaman running with you, or if you have less than 1400 Spell Power, any Shaman. It does put up good DPS and is a basic SB Spam build. I currently run Heroics with it, as Demonic Pact helps the healer and the mage I normally run with. For trash, just Corr and SB Spam, for bosses, CoA Corr Immo SB Spam refreshing when needed, Life tapping at around 50-60% Mana only if all DoTs are up. Pop Meta for 20% Damage either during a bad phase to get boss out quicker at enrages or just when the tank has firm aggro if neither applies.
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=IZ0xIzsgRqcsguVoE00V

For more personal damage, but no Demonic Pact buff, we change a few things.
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=IZ0xIzsgMq0sxzZVchqr0uV

This focuses on Incinerate not SB, so for Bosses, CoA, Corr, Immo, SB if you get Shadowtrance from Glyph, Incinerate otherwise, refreshing DoTs as needed.

Actually, for a short while in beta it was like Moonkin form. You could shift into it and stay in it, with the incereased armor, and only had select abilities you could use. Prior to that it was mostly the way it is now, except you could only use the Meta abilities and you lost your pet. They settled on it's current form though, which IMO still does not provide enough survivability, which is the one thing we really lack in PvP.

DPS of Demo is fine. If they were to buff it in anyway at this point we would be seriously OP in PvE content. Trust me, I play Demo. In 5-Mans, reg and heroic, I own the Damage Meters.

What Demo needs, to fix Warlock PvP, is survivability. That's it. Have Meta give some Defense, some Stun Resistance and then a decent amount of fire/ice/nature/shadow resistance and we'd be fine I think. If they did that they could even take away the 20% self damage bonus and maybe make being in Meta give the Demonic Empowerment buff to your pet the whole time your in it. The thing is, it was supposed to give us some survivability, and all it really does is act as a crappy trinket.

I've asked some tanks in my guild what they think of my armor rating in Meta. It's something like 16k. They said not only is that low, but with no Defense Rating/Avoidance, it's really no good at all. I was kinda expecting Meta to turn me into a tank for 20 seconds or so. So at the end of the boss fight, if the tank dies, I can actually shift, taunt and hopefully allow the raid to kill. However, even in Meta, I can get 2-3 shotted by Heroic mobs/bosses. This is lame.

I am Demo in PvE gear. Armory me and see. I'm the only Barclande. It's drops from Heroics/Regular 5-mans and some quest rewards. Previously I had been running Meta/Ruin, and the mage I usually run with, who out gears me, could beat me on trash, but not bosses. Now I am Felguard/Emberstorm, and I am untouchable on the meters. My g/f, a Hunter, comes very close, but I am usually on top by 0.1%.

If you gear for PvP, you'll do bad in PvE. If you gear for PvE, you'll do bad in PvP. You can't wear PvP gear and then say your PvE DPS sucks because of your spec. I carry two sets, one for PvP one for PvE.

The point is, I already tear apart the damage meters as Demo in PvE gear, if they buff the damage of the Demo tree, I would be way overpowered. We would then be pigeon holed into Demo Specs the way we used to be pigeon holed into Demo Sac/Destro specs.

Wear gear for what you are doing, not your perceived vision of what your spec is for. All specs can now perform well in PvP and PvE, but you need to be geared for what your doing.

Edited, Dec 8th 2008 1:33am by Lathais

technically, we don't know what spec is supposed to be for what anymore, as there were major changes with the expansion. What they are moving to, is all specs being viable for all types of play, depending on your play style. So while YOUR perception is a Demo lock shouldn't be able to out DPS another lock in equal gear, that's just your perception, and honestly is flat out wrong.

Quit thinking that Demo is what YOU want it to be, and look at it for what it is. You also really need to stop putting your perception out there as if it is fact. Because your wrong.

EDIT:

Ok, now that I have some time, let's totally destroy your idea that Demo is only for survivability and prove that it can be good DPS.

Let's look at the talents that help Survivability.

Demonic Embrace - Yes, Sta adds Survivability. However, it's also one of our main stats and used to add to our longevity. Also, being in the first tier, it is for all specs to take if needed, not just Demo Locks.

Fel Vitality - Same points as Demonic Embrace really.

Soul Link - Yes, this is survivability, however, it's been nerfed. It adds some, but not a lot. It was also moved up in the tree so that it could be accessible to all Specs.

Demonic Resilience - Ok, resilience, yes, a PvP stat, but it also adds to our pets survivabilty so he can stay alive in boss fights.

All in all, yes, there's some survivability there, but it's all low in the tree in order to be accessible to other specs, not just Demo.



Now, let's look at what Demo adds to Damage:

Demonic Brutality - Felguard Damage. Yes, it adds to VW taunt, and makes soloing elites easier too, but the main reason a Felguard spec takes it is increased damage.

Unholy Power - All about pet damage.

Master Demonologist - Yet more damage.

Demonic Knowledge - Spell Power = Damage.

Demonic Tactics - Crit, more damage.

Demonic Pact - Raid Damage Buff.

Meta - Armor yes, but ask a tank, Armor isn't what they look for to be more survivable, they want Defense and Avoidance more. 20% Damage bonus, extra trinket basically.

So as you see, as you get deeper into Demo, the more it improves your Damage.


In Summary, low Demo can add Survivability to an Affliction or Destruction Spec, but deep Demo yields some excellent DPS.

Edited, Dec 8th 2008 11:30am by Lathais

The point is though, that the majority of the survivability talents are in low tiers, meaning they are for a sub tree. The deep talents all improve damage, making deep demo builds about damage, and builds that sub Demo about survivability.

Most of the talents deep in any tree help DPS. The early talents in each tree do different things.

Look at it this way:

Affliction specs are for damage and have some buffs/debuffs they provide, along with longevity. For PvE they will sub Destro to increase their SBs. For PvP they will sub Demo for Survivability.

Destro specs are for Fire Damage. For PvE they will sub Affliction for some utility/damage. For PvP they will sub Demo for Survivability.

Demo Specs are about incresing your damage stas and your pets damage. For PvE they will sub Destro for extra damage. For PvP they will sub Affliction for SiLi and more survivability.


Also, NEVER DO AN INSTANCE IN PvP GEAR. WEAR PvE GEAR FOR PvE. Pretty simple concept.

Edited, Dec 8th 2008 1:08pm by Lathais

Still, if you were wearing PvE gear you'd be doing ALOT better. What was your DPS, because in Heroics I'm always 1.8k-2k+ DPS as Demo.

I haven't done heroics or raids much, but in reg instances my demo lock is usually always the top on the DPS chart.