A young warlock needs some help

[Gourmandise]

Hello everyone,

I’m not new to twinking in general but totally new to 20s twink in Shadowlands (didn’t do twinks since MoP) and have some questions! I decided to do a warlock and looking at the armories I see many different things (also related to the difference of equipment between one and another). Also, I didn’t have much luck on the discords for answers so I decided to post something here since I see there’s a lot of activity and maybe I’ll have some answers (I hope).

I’m planning on playing destruction warlock and since I still have some gametime I was able to get some iLvl 28 (some with sockets too), to get some professions up and so forth. At the moment I’m sitting at 11% crit, 17% haste, 43% mastery and 21% versatility with gems and enchants and the PvP trinket equiped (I don’t link the armory yet since it’s my second post on the forum and I saw that it could be seen as a spam). Also, I got all the necklaces from the event even though there’s a chance it will be nerf but for now it gives some possibility. And, I’m farming some rings and equipment in dungeons to have more flexibility with my build (I’ve not any 24-25s to farm legion’s BoE and don’t think I’ll do it since I have 2 weeks of subscription left and will maybe try to gear a second character before it ends).

So my first question would be: what stat to prioritize as a destruction warlock? My guesses would be mastery since it increase damage dealt, but then, critical strike is also good since we only have a guaranteed crit. with Chaos Bolt and not the other spells. Also, since the casting spells are pretty slow, haste doesn’t seem such a bad idea and finally versatility looks like a go to stat for its utility in PvP. So here I am, wondering what should I do thinking all the stat have their worth. That’s why I’m here : since all these thoughts are just on paper because I’ve not been able to try bgs yet, I wanted some insight on the matter to see what I could do to maximize the use of the remaining gametime and to optimize a bit more my character.


Thanks in advance for your answers and also please don’t mind too much my syntaxe or vocabulary since english is not my mother language.


Best regards

 

[Bestworld]

@Funnystrike

 

[Gixxer66]

Welcome !

Can't help with Destro stat priorities - but if you're EU can help with a few Legion dungeon boosts for rings. I tend to run Violet Citadel - easy resets and no endless running about wasting time killing trash, running back to the entrance.

Haven't touched Destro since MoP, have a couple of 20 Affliction Locks. Did try Destro on a training dummy - those cast times ..... no thanks. Much prefer Affliction dot style

Edit: Should have stated Horde only for the dungeon boost.

 

[Boognish]

Crit/mastery if you want massive SF and cbolt crits. I just geared a lock last week w/ 30%+ crit and 50%+ mastery for some casual one shotting and it’s a fuckin blast

 

[Warglave]

30%+ crit and 50%+ mastery

I'd love to see some numbers, not for viability, just trying to get some huge crits for giggles. Mastery is 50% rng so it's hard to find a good compromise setup... plus it's difficult to gear for without winning the BoE lottery.

Crit didnt seem to have too huge an affect on my CB damage, but with mastery being random it's hard to tell too, lol.

Vers was the easiest to stack (using TBC gear) but that is getting up around the DR threshold so not so good there.

Haste is easy to stack, but i wonder how much damage you sacrifice just to shave .5 seconds off a SF cast time...

some insight

Best advice I can give you probably already know: https://www.wowhead.com/item=108902/armored-elekk-tusk?bonus=6691

I'm just trying to get huge crits, not trying to be too serious with it, and trying to align such slow casts with trinket procs is difficult at best... having a huge on-use mastery buff (like 80 outside BG, not sure inside) makes it all so very much easier.

 

[Gourmandise]

Wow! Thanks for all the reply: wasn't expecting that.

Can't help with Destro stat priorities - but if you're EU can help with a few Legion dungeon boosts for rings. I tend to run Violet Citadel - easy resets and no endless running about wasting time killing trash, running back to the entrance.

Yes I'm on EU so the help would be very appreciated (and also it's just more fun to play with other people in general). I also have to do the event quest for the meta gem +12 crit in Outland but can't manage to do it alone (don't even know if it's doable alone). I posted my battle tag on the right topic but don't think it has been updated yet!

Haven't touched Destro since MoP, have a couple of 20 Affliction Locks. Did try Destro on a training dummy - those cast times ..... no thanks. Much prefer Affliction dot style

I understand! The casting time is kinda underwelming but I thought with engineering, some nice trinkets, the invisibility ring, etc. it could still be viable in some way.

Crit/mastery if you want massive SF and cbolt crits. I just geared a lock last week w/ 30%+ crit and 50%+ mastery for some casual one shotting and it’s a fuckin blast

I'll look into that then! With my actual set up I can't really add more mastery outside some rings or new BoEs (that's also why I go for some other rings to have more stats when the invisibility ring is on cooldown, for example) so I'm stuck around 43-45% with what I've got. But, with the engineering goggles I could go to 25% crit. maybe if I get the meta gem from the event quest I refered to earlier. I'm just concerned I'll loose too much versatility since I like not being a glass canon and having some survivability (then of course for that matter warlock is probably not my best bet in terms of survivability and/or movement but with some practice and some of the toolkits we've got it can still be ok I guess).

Haste is easy to stack, but i wonder how much damage you sacrifice just to shave .5 seconds off a SF cast time...

Exactly... I have to try some things too but at the moment most of my iLvl 28 BoE items give haste so I'm a bit stuck with it if i don't find good replacements haha.

Best advice I can give you probably already know: https://www.wowhead.com/item=108902/armored-elekk-tusk?bonus=6691

I'm just trying to get huge crits, not trying to be too serious with it, and trying to align such slow casts with trinket procs is difficult at best... having a huge on-use mastery buff (like 80 outside BG, not sure inside) makes it all so very much easier.

I just got it today! On iLvl 26 even so it's a plus.

Anyway, thanks for all your answers! It gave me a clearer idea: I'll focus on getting some new pieces in Legion dungeons and this meta gem to try some other things! In the end it's about experiment so I'll have to test everything in bgs but with this help I can also focus better on getting the right items. Very appreciated!

Cheers

 

[Warglave]

I also have to do the event quest for the meta gem +12 crit

You can also look for https://www.wowhead.com/item=41285/chaotic-skyflare-diamond on the AH or have it crafted, if you dont get that one. Not 100% it does what the tooltip says (so much doesnt) but if it does it's not awful. Like i said, hard to tell with RNG mastery.

edit- i think it's like 2 crit in game, not 42... I'm more referring to the 3% crit damage buff.

 

[Chops]

I'll focus on getting some new pieces in Legion dungeons and this meta gem to try some other things! In the end it's about experiment so I'll have to test everything in bgs but with this help I can also focus better on getting the right items. Very appreciated!

Best of luck to you. We dont have many chatty warlock mains so sharing your findings could be very valuable to the general knowledge base of the forums. Let us know how it goes!

 

[Hennelorix]

Imo minmaxing crit > stacking mastery.
I use balanced crit/haste/mast/vers gear when playing destro but still my main priority is crit. Tried using fullmast/vers/haste but sadly all these choices sux. Gonna make 50%+ crit gear setup when i'll be subbing again.

 

[ohti]

Imo minmaxing crit > stacking mastery.
I use balanced crit/haste/mast/vers gear when playing destro but still my main priority is crit. Tried using fullmast/vers/haste but sadly all these choices sux. Gonna make 50%+ crit gear setup when i'll be subbing again.

+rep for what this guy says, he's been playing a 20 warlock for as long as I can remember him being around, definitely a good info source.

 

[Warglave]

Imo minmaxing crit > stacking mastery.

It's good for shard generation and CB, but it doesnt help SF damage does it? Beyond the obvious more actual crits.

Asking, not arguing. Noticed your SF in the sig, have you gotten much bigger? Still working outside BG but I've had ~4200 which I'd like to see with zerker inside... only played a few BG so far. Maybe I'll do a few more games today... inspired.

 

[Hennelorix]

It's good for shard generation and CB, but it doesnt help SF damage does it? Beyond the obvious more actual crits.

Asking, not arguing. Noticed your SF in the sig, have you gotten much bigger? Still working outside BG but I've had ~4200 which I'd like to see with zerker inside... only played a few BG so far. Maybe I'll do a few more games today... inspired.

I prefer Flashover cuz of more burst potential for 1v1 without too long casts, SF is just for having fun (but i like it ngl). And ye, you are right - crit wont help you with SF damage directly (but you will have more crits -> more damage )
Yup, i had bigger crits - 12k+ conflagrate at Kotmogu and 5500-6000 crits at EFC or enemy tanks with zerker. Not using saltwater tho.
As i tested on pve dummies crit gives much more value for CB damage. Usually it fluctuates 1400-1700 when trying vers or mast stacking and via crit stacking (40% crit and ~50% mastery is what i have now if not using speednsocket gear) im getting it to 1600-1800 average.

 

[Germinus]

Lvl 20. Afli > destro > demo. Ppl say destruction is better, well yes and no. You can get lucky 1 shot. But afli can do that too. As afli you have way more self heals while dpsing. You can play 2 ways as afli. Top meters or top kills. Ez both ways. Destro is gimped behind hard cast.

 

[Bestworld]

As i tested on pve dummies crit gives much more value for CB damage. Usually it fluctuates 1400-1700 when trying vers or mast stacking and via crit stacking (40% crit and ~50% mastery is what i have now if not using speednsocket gear) im getting it to 1600-1800 average.

The crit on target dummy argument falls kinda short since the value isn't comparable in PvP due to crit just being tuned differently.

Not saying Crit is bad, but stick with arguments that translates into PvP.

 

[Warglave]

SF is just for having fun

That's all I'm after.

 

[Gourmandise]

You can also look for https://www.wowhead.com/item=41285/chaotic-skyflare-diamond on the AH or have it crafted

Yep, I have this one in the meantime (I'll try today the event for the +12 crit. but I have no clue if it's even doable in a two person group even with a level 60, maybe some of you can give me advices on how to nail this event to make the vendor appear?)

Imo minmaxing crit > stacking mastery.
I use balanced crit/haste/mast/vers gear when playing destro but still my main priority is crit. Tried using fullmast/vers/haste but sadly all these choices sux. Gonna make 50%+ crit gear setup when i'll be subbing again.

Nice thanks! I think I saw your armory (Hennelora I suppose?) and damn you have some nice gear. Today I managed to change a bit my gear in that way and managed (without the +12 crit. meta gem) to reach 29% crit. and 43% mastery. I was able to get rid of some of my haste BoE so the haste dropped at 12% in benefit of mastery/versatility. I also managed to maintain a bit of versatility so I'm at 15% with the Armored Elekk Tusk and 13% if I'm wearing the PvP trinket. I'll farm the three Legion dungeons that loot some crit. / versa. or crit. / mastery rings to have the replacement for the invisibility ring for when it's on cooldown.

I prefer Flashover cuz of more burst potential for 1v1 without too long casts, SF is just for having fun (but i like it ngl).

I also thought about Flashover being more versatile in general because with the fear as the only true control spell it's maybe harder to setup a Soul Fire in a 1v1 (even less in 1v2). But again, didn't have the chance to test all that for now. But maybe with the Cobalt Grenade and/or the Frag Belt (I saw that both don't share the same cooldown so you could throw two grenades back to back and even with DR it could help getting a fear in). Anyway I'll try both and who doesn't love when you are able to hardcast Soul Fire and see the target melt?

Lvl 20. Afli > destro > demo. Ppl say destruction is better, well yes and no. You can get lucky 1 shot. But afli can do that too. As afli you have way more self heals while dpsing. You can play 2 ways as afli. Top meters or top kills. Ez both ways. Destro is gimped behind hard cast.

I'm also making a build for affliction but with what I saw it looks a bit more straight forward with the stats. (stacking mastery for maximum dots damage) so it's mostly about destruction that I was wondering. And I imagine it's as strong (maybe stronger since you don't rely that much on hardcast so you can focus on positionning and keeping mobile while dealing a lot of damage but I always loved the thrill of having to hardcast with all that it implies). But then, I mostly played high level destruction warlock in TBC, WOTLK and Cataclysm so I also had more toolkit to go with (the most noticable being the sedduce ability from the succubus).

Another question I had, less related with warlock in particular but it still fits: is the Spinal Healing Injector worth it? It heals about 400 HP so outside of bgs it can be interesting since we have between 1700 and 2200 HP (as warlocks and from what I saw on the different armories I looked at) but since in bgs we have a lot more health is it really worth not having this second grenade on the belt?

Also, in that same direction, do you guys use or see the use of bandages or healing potions? I leveled up a bit the TBC tailoring for a transmog part and saw that the Neather Wave Bandage heals for 600 and requires level 15. For now I didn't check if other gave more. I imagine that drain life heals way better but I asked myself if maybe there was some potions / bandages that would be useful in general?

[EDIT] Belt engineering related but I was really sad when I saw I couldn't put the Nitro-Boost on my belt...

Cheers

 

[raziel83]

I also thought about Flashover being more versatile in general because with the fear as the only true control spell it's maybe harder to setup a Soul Fire in a 1v1 (even less in 1v2).

Getting a soul fire off in a 1v1 is the easiest thing in the world. Just put seduce on your action bar. Almost no one uses a pvp trinket in this bracket. I've killed so many people with seduce>soulfire or seduce>soulfire> cast fear while SF is in transit so it hits just after SF > chaos bolt. Also flashover requires soulshards, soulfire doesn't.

Another question I had, less related with warlock in particular but it still fits: is the Spinal Healing Injector worth it? It heals about 400 HP

Its a 1200 base heal inside a BG. It scales up to your BG level (29). It's then further buffed by verse. So mine is 1300+. I macro it with health stone so it heals for 2k+ total every 1 min.

 

[Gourmandise]

Getting a soul fire off in a 1v1 is the easiest thing in the world. Just put seduce on your action bar. Almost no one uses a pvp trinket in this bracket. I've killed so many people with seduce>soulfire or seduce>soulfire> cast fear while SF is in transit so it hits just after SF > chaos bolt. Also flashover requires soulshards, soulfire doesn't.



Its a 1200 base heal inside a BG. It scales up to your BG level (29). It's then further buffed by verse. So mine is 1300+. I macro it with health stone so it heals for 2k+ total every 1 min.

Interesting! But isn't seduce not available for 20s twink? I see it's a level 29 skill and I didn't remember unlocking the skills I didn't have when I was scaled in bgs... But if it's the case, damn it's good then.

 

[raziel83]

Interesting! But isn't seduce not available for 20s twink? I see it's a level 29 skill and I didn't remember unlocking the skills I didn't have when I was scaled in bgs... But if it's the case, damn it's good then.

My warlock (in sig) is lvl 20. I'm literally using seduce in BG right now. I wonder if it's because my succ is glyphed to be a shivarra.

 

[Chops]

My warlock (in sig) is lvl 20. I'm literally using seduce in BG right now.

BRB finishing that Talasite stacked Aff lock I keep pretending I'll make