g2nightmare

Hello, There's an apparent huge issue with gold spammers / gold farmers / botting. After trying to play on the PvE server, I was getting a spam message every two minutes for a gold website. Installing the Spam Throttle addon didn't help since they have found techniques that work against it. A solution would involve a shadow ban technique, that popular websites such as Reddit use to combat bots. Shadow banning involves a 'secret mute' on a player. The player is unaware that they are muted, and their messages are not shown to other users. In a normal ban, the account / character would be deleted, remade with a new name, and then would continue as normal. With a shadow ban technique, the bot will be unaware that it is muted, and continue to attempt to spam messages unknowingly. A bot would not know that it was shadow banned or not. To add to insult to injury, shadow banned users should be able to communicate with shadow banned users. This would avoid gold spammers to verify if they are indeed shadow banned or not -- they would assume everything is normal and everyone is just ignoring them.

It's a PvE guide that's applicable on a PvP server. PvP will happen, but most of the time you are still killing mobs.

You'll want to use the macro after you get a soul bag. I think you have to kill the mob, not your voidwalker / pet.

This is correct. 2 points will reduce 0.8 sec on corruption, which is ~ 1 global cooldown. Instant cast only matters in PvP skirmishes but it won't be game losing or anything. Reducing resist by 10% is just another way of saying "10% increased damage".

It's you! Your post on Nost forums made it seem like you weren't coming back. I asked in your thread comments but didn't hear back -- so I ported most of your information here. If you want the post source, I can take this post down, or we can leave it.

Thanks for your reply. Replies like yours really help the discussion. I've typed my responses under your quotes with >> before my response.

AFAIK, Shadow Damage by far. Then you'll want to get Spell Crit Chance and Spell Hit Chance. Intellect is a bonus -- as 60 intellect = 1% crit chance.

Thanks for your thoughts. I'm aware that Joana's guide is horde only. If you have an alliance guide, feel free to post it here. I did try to make it clear that a Warlock can take on 2 mobs at once, but can take 3 mobs on at once if you want to (it's not recommended). Improved CoA is highlighted in the leveling build, not the raiding build. This leveling build is just in general, a balanced build for PvP combat and PvE grinding. I'll add this to the Addons section.

I don't know if that's true. I had an Admin change the settings so that users can edit their posts. It was locked almost exactly 30 minutes from post creation. I had added some reserves, and then I was able to edit after that. But regardless, I did not think about that.

I can't edit this post anymore until an admin allows for editing.

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Introduction Hello, my name is Firra and I'm pretty much a new Warlock player. Don't let that discourage you from reading further. The aim of this post/thread is to provide a one-stop shop for all things Warlock; how to level, any useful macros and addons, the best gear to have, and any other miscellaneous things. I will try to fix any typos and add any suggestions provided by you, the community, in the comments. I've been doing a lot of research into Warlock and I want to provide a central source for my findings for everyone. I want to give a huge shout out to Xashe (from Nostalrious) as I read and took a lot of inspiration from his/her guide. If it wasn't for him/her, I wouldn't have ported and added to his guide. Additionally, another shout out to Guybrush for all of his wonderful work on Warlock gear spreadsheets. This guide will focus mainly on PvE, with some elements of PvP during your leveling grind. Prerequisites Addons Below are some useful addons for Warlock and in general: Chronometer Bagnon Lazypig Mobinfo2 Questie Leveling Guides For leveling, I recommend following Joanna's guide, as it has really stood the test of time as being one of the best leveling routes. There's also an addon that helps leveling, called Vanilla Guide. Macros This is a Drain Soul macro; use this when you get a soul shard bag. It will delete a soul shard from the bottom right corner of your left most bag, which we will put as our soul shard bag. Use this macro as a finishing blow to every mob, as Improved Drain Soul will give you a 10 second buff to gain some mana back. /cast Drain Soul(Rank X) /run local a=GetBagName(4); if a=="Core Felcloth Bag" or a=="Felcloth Bag" or a=="Soul Pouch" or a=="Box of Souls" or a=="Small Soul Pouch" then PickupContainerItem(4,GetContainerNumSlots(4)) DeleteCursorItem() else end Replace X in the macro with your current version of Drain Soul. This is a Shoot (wand) macro; You can bind it to a mouse key and spam it without turning off your attack. Casters are at a disadvantage because right clicking will default to using your staff instead of a wand. /script if not IsAutoRepeatAction(X) then CastSpellByName("Shoot"); end Replace X with the position of the skill on your hotbar (not to be confused with your keybinding). Chapter 1: Leveling Congratulations! You have chosen to play Warlock, now it's time to start leveling. Just grind your quests until level 10, and do your thing. Nothing special here. When you hit level 10, drop what you're doing and immediately and go complete the first checkpoint, listed in the Checkpoints section. Killing Mobs Ideally, you want to send your Voidwalker in to start tanking a mob, DoT it up, and when it's almost dead, send your Voidwalker in for a different mob. Rinse and repeat. Your goal is to kill kill kill without stopping. Sometimes, you have to kill 2 mobs at once. If this happens, one mob should be DoT'd and tanked with your Voidwalker. The other should be DoT'd and be feared. The moral of the story is to just DoT everything. Be careful using any lifegain including Siphon Life and Drain Life when you are attempting to kill 2 or more mobs, as you will draw healing aggro. If the kill is quick (< 20 seconds), just use DoT with Siphon Life and Corruption and use your wand. If it's a longer kill (> 20 seconds), DoT with Siphon Life, Curse of Agony, and Corruption. Only reapply Corruption if needed, for mana efficiency. Checkpoints (>> DO THESE <<) Level 5 - Select Professions: See the Professions chapter. Level 10 - Quest: The Binding - This grants you the voidwalker, which will be your best friend until level 60. If you do not have the voidwalker at level 10, you are doing it wrong! Level 31 - Quest: In Search of Menara Voidrender - This quest gives you the Enchanted Gold Bloodrobe that can last you well into your 40s. Level 35 - Quest: Knowledge of the Orb of Orahil - Make sure you take the The Completed Orb of Dar'Orahil route and grab the orb! This will last you quite a long while, and the active use is decent. Level 40 - Quest: Summon Felsteed - Free mount. Level 40 - Craft: Shadoweave Set - Craft / buy these items from level 37 to 44. This set is very useful and will last you into your 50s. Level 50 - Quest: An Imp's Request - Take the Abyss Shard! It's forever useful. Skills It's important to save your money as you are leveling; Warlocks don't need to purchase a mount, but we can spend our money on gear, so it's a very good idea to start saving now. Only purchase the following skills: Corruption Curse of Agony Siphon Life Life Tap Shadow Bolt Demon Armor Soulstone Healthstone Additionally, only purchase the Voidwalker books. You can buy the upgrades to the other demons later when you turn level 60. It's also cheaper to do it this way too, as buying a level 6 skill book will automatically learn levels 1-5. Talent Points Levels 10-16: Affliction 10 - 11: Improved Corruption (2/5) 12 - 14: Suppression (3/5) 15 - 16: Improved Drain Soul (2/2) Levels 17 - 24: Demonology 17 - 18: Improved Healthstone (2/2) 19 - 21: Demonic Embrace (3/5) 22 - 24: Improved Voidwalker (3/3) Levels 25 - 47: Affliction 25 - 27: Improved Corruption (5/5) 28 - 30: Improved Curse of Agony (3/3) 31 - 32: Improved Lifetap (2/2) 33 - 34: Nightfall (2/2) 35 - 36: Grim Reach (2/2) 37: Suppression (4/5) 38: Siphon Life (1/1) 39: Suppression (5/5) 40: Amplify Curse (1/1) 41 - 42: Fel Concentration (2/5) 43 - 47: Shadow Mastery (5/5) Levels 48 - 60: Demonology 48 - 49: Demonic Embrace (5/5) 50: Fel Domination (1/1) 51 - 54: Fel Intellect (4/5) 55 - 59: Unholy Power (5/5) 60: Demonic Sacrifice (1/1) Level 60 Finished Build When it's all said and done, your build will look like this. Chapter 2: Professions If you PvP and don't plan to do any raiding, take Engineering. If you PvE, take Tailoring. Those are the only rules. Your 2nd profession is really up to you. As for your second profession, here are some choices / highlights: Gathering Herbalism - Easy to do while leveling. See node, gather node. Good source of income. Mining - Easy to do while leveling. See node, gather node. Good source of income. Skinning - Not worth doing on a Warlock, unless you are supporting another character. Production Alchemy - A good source of income if you can land a few rarer recipes. Also takes a buisiness-like mind and mentality to watch the auction house and know when to buy and sell. Also gains access to transmutes. Blacksmithing - Not worth doing on a Warlock, unless you are supporting another character. Enchanting - Unless you land a very rare recipe (+30 spellpower / +55 healing), you are only going to be making money off tips. Leatherworking - Not worth doing on a Warlock, unless you are supporting another character. The reason we take tailoring for PvE is for the Robe of the Void, which is one of the best pre-raid chest pieces and can last you deep into the raid progression. Additionally, the Bloodvine items (Vest | Legs | Boots) from Zul'Gurub will be Best in Slot until Naxxramas. If you are PvPing, Engineering is useful for items such as Bloodvine Goggles. Chapter 3: Gear In general, prioritize your gear by Shadow Damage -> Spell Crit Chance -> Spell Hit Chance -> Intellect. Below are spreadsheets for the best Warlock gear, broken down by patch. Since Elysium will be released in this way, you can change spreadsheets as the patches get released. To use the spreadsheet, download a local copy. You can update your gear, buffs, and talents to see how much overall DPS you can provide. Patch 1.2: Mysteries of Maraudon - Patch 1.2 Spreadsheet Patch 1.3: Dire Maul - Patch 1.3 Spreadsheet Patch 1.5: Battlegrounds - Patch 1.5 Spreadsheet Patch 1.6: Blackwing Lair - Patch 1.6 Spreadsheet Patch 1.7: Zul'Gurub - Patch 1.7 Spreadsheet Patch 1.8: Dragons of Nightmare - No gear upgrades. Patch 1.9: AQ20 / AQ40 - TBD Patch 1.10: Storms of Azeroth - TBD Patch 1.11: Naxxramas - TBD Chapter 4: Enchants and Consumables Don't be cheap! Make sure you get the proper enchants on your gear, to ensure progression and maximising DPS output. Enchants: Head: Hoodoo Hex (18 sp / 10stam) > Arcanum of Focus (9 sp) Shoulder: Zandalar Signet of Mojo (18 sp) Back: Greater Resistance (+5 resist all) Chest: Greater Stats (+4 stats) > Major Mana (+100 mana) Wrist: Greater Intellect (+7 int) > Superior Stamina (+9 sta) Hands: Riding Skill Legs: Hoodoo Hex (18 sp / 10 stam) > Arcanum of Focus (9 sp) Feet: Minor Run Speed Weapon: Spell Power (+30 sp) Consumables: Flask of Supreme Power - Recommended for progression Elixir of Shadow Power Greater Arcane Elixir Elixir of Greater Firepower Brilliant Wizard Oil Rumsey Rum Black Label Chapter 5: Raid Talents You should respec when you are ready to do dungeons and raids full time. You can keep the same leveling talents if you need to continue grinding money, reputation, or gear. Choose one of the two options, whatever suits your preference: SM / Ruin - DoT everything with Corruption and spam Shadow Bolts. Pros: Siphon Life allows for you to survive outside of dungeons and raids. Cons: Lower overall DPS than DS / Ruin 5/5 Shadow Mastery DS / Ruin - Sacrifice your succubus and spam Shadow Bolts. Pros: Higher overall DPS than SM / Ruin, Can use Curse of Shadows instead of Curse of Agony Cons: Glass cannon 5/5 Improved Corruption OR 5/5 Suppression