So I have started yet another toon, but this one will, perhaps, get to do something none of my other ones have: that is raid. He is my first Alliance character in over a year, so that in itself will take some getting used to. I know the Horde area like the back of my hand, but playing the Alliance feels like a whole new game.
I have done many 5-man instances, but honestly I still feel like a noob with every one I have done. So I need to not only level a new toon rather quickly, I need to practice and hopefully master my class. So I have a few questions to help me become a better player, so that when I do raid, I won’t be the weakest link.
- What are some things one should be doing while leveling to prepare for instances?
- Should I try pre-BC instances to better learn my class, or should I just get to 70 as fast as possible and maybe do run thrus of lower ones then?
- What has someone done that made you pleasantly surprised in a PUG? What have you done that surprised people?
- Now in my case, I am a Demon spec Warlock. I am going that way for leveling. When PUGing, should I automatically give everyone a Healthstone? If there isn’t a Priest who do I Soulstone? Should I offer to do crowd control or just ask which demon they want?
- What are some of the worst things you have seen a Warlock do in an instance that I should avoid? What have you done in an instance that immediately made you smack your head with your palm?
Give a guy and hand and give me an education I won’t soon forget.
Oh, yeah! I’d forgotten about that Flash. It makes the audio so much funnier. REALLY really NSFW.
Phil, most of what the other commenters have stated is spot on. Be cautious with Fear in instances unless you’re certain the mob won’t aggro a nearby group. Healthstones are an automatic win. Soulstone the healer, always. And if you master the art of CC’ing with your Succubus, my hat’s off to you. I’ve tried more times than I care to count and have failed epically every single time.
Also, as a Demonologist, when you get your Felguard and you’re running instances with a mage who’s sheeping or a rouge that’s sapping or a hunter that’s frost trapped a baddie, be sure to turn off Cleave if the CC’d mob is nearby. That is the number one cause for breaking crowd control with a demon lock.
Get a threat meter (Omen) and learn how to juggle aggro between yourself and your pet, this helps a TON when you find yourself in a PUG with a tank that doesnt generate a lot of threat.
Run instances whenever you can, I only had the opportunity to run 8 instances total on the way to 60 on my lock (after BC and the BE lvling craze was over). Instances really break up the monotony of soloing and can be a ton of fun as well.
The biggest surprise I had in a PUG was when the healer actually healed my fragile little succubus (the only thing keeping an angry mob from devouring said healer) instead of letting her die, then spamming ‘wtf aggro’. By the way, you will learn to hate the succubus and her pathetic CC ability as things go on. Hitting her CC target with a searing pain before seduce helps a little, but not enough to make a huge difference if things get out of hand.
Good fear kiting is better than seduce any day. Fearing then toggling Curse of Recklessness and CoE/CoA/CoW to somewhat control the feared mob is an awesome skill to learn, and it actually allows you to fear in an instance instead of seduce. Its always fun to go to Heroic Shattered Halls and be able to kill/CC 2 mobs out of a 6 pull as a lock.
Healthstones are very nice if you have the spare shards (always give one to the tank just in case), Always SS a rez class when you can, unless you like being called a noob. When grouped, start with your imp, unless you were invited to CC, then go with the succubus.
Demonology spec really doesnt come into its own until lvl 50 (Felguard), but really teaches you how to maximize the use of your pet.
I’d personally recommend leveling as Affliction (until 50 or when you hit outlands at 58-60 when tanking in cloth w/o T1/2/3/PVP gear gets messy), the combonation of DoTs, Drains, and (Improved) Syphon Soul really minimize down time. Having near full health and mana at the end of every fight is awesome.
The worst thing I have seen a warlock do in an instance was pull aggro off of the tank, then run away (into another group of mobs), then AOE fear that group (into yet another group) then realize he’s toast, SS himself, DIE, call everyone noobs, watch the group die, pop up, leave group and hearth out.
The biggest *facepalm* was grouping with that same lock 5 lvls later, and watching his felguard DIAF every pull that run, with him yelling at the healer for not healing his all important pet (these things cost shards you know!) instead of the tank .
There are a TON of good resources out there for locks, just look around the net, and see what you come up with.
@Doug – I agree with most of what you’re saying except for one thing: Leveling as Affliction, particularly if you’re ultimate plan is to respec as Demon. Affliction is certainly a useful build, one, however, I don’t care to play. Personal choice and all. But if you spec Aff, get used to spell rotation and damage output for 50+ levels, then respec into Demon, it’s going to take a bit of getting used to, especially considering you now have noticably fewer spells at your disposal and are much more reliant upon your minion.
Again, this may very well just be me, but I’ve always found it easier to stick with one build and adjust accordingly once at 70 for max damage output. Relearning new talents and becoming used to an entirely different spell rotation requires a pretty steep learning curve, one that is more relevant now with the faster leveling between 10-60.
Also, as a Demonologist, healers should throw a tiny bit of love at our minions. Master Demonologist and Soul Link pumps up our damage output by 5%, which is a significant and scalable amount of damage. If our minion dies and Fel Domination is on cooldown, that’s 6 seconds where we’re out of the battle summoning a new minion or recasting spells with 5% less damage. A simple Renew from a Priest should suffice, though if the tank is topped off, a more powerful heal would be much appreciated. It’s why I preach karma to my readers and suggest providing a stack of water or mana pots for my healers.
BTW, if you’re able to switch specs and master the new spec in a short time and be a viable, valuable member of the group, then my hat’s off to you. It’s simply something I’m not good at without a bunch of solo practice to perfect my timing and spell selection.
I can’t recommend http://www.wowmb.net enough for all warlocks
There’s a shitload of information there, and a great community, hands down the best warlock resource on the web imho