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http://web.archive.org/web/20100217040249/http://forums.wow-europe.com/thread.html?topicId=12911475&sid=1

0) What is this? 

This is an exhaustive talent FAQ, designed to answer any question you may have about our talent trees. 

The meat of this is section 4, which is a detailed look at the nine outstanding warlock talent builds available to us. Section 1 is a guide on how to place talents for optimum levelling efficiency, while section 5 is a comprehensive list of those talents which you should think twice about before taking. 

The aim of making this post is to stem the tide of 'How's my spec' posts which are posted hourly and drive the interesting discussions off the front page, by giving build advice for any situation. I wanted to create something which helps Johnny Ratemybuild with his talent spec by showing him that the voices of experience will typically recommend switching his points around towards one of the 'Big Nine' builds listed. I also intend to answer the often-asked questions such as 'Is Soul Link good for raiding?', 'What's a good build for Strath/Scholo?' and so on. 

And so, to the table of contents: 

0) What is this? 
1) What to choose when not yet 60 
2) How to get people to review your build 
3) Disclaimer 
4) The nine talent builds of highly effective warlocks 

• [*]a) SM/DS 
  Dark Pact 
  c) SL/NF 
  d) SM/Ruin 
  e) Soul Link 
  f) DS/Ruin 
  g) Conflag/NF 
  h) MD/Ruin 
  i) Conflagrate
  

5) Bad or broken talents 
6) Three example builds that aren't good enough 
7) Abbreviations 
8) Thanks! 
9) Your Questions (will be often added to, check back now and again!) 


1) What to choose when not yet 60 

If you are not yet 60, then don't concern yourself with all the SM/Ruin or Soul Link builds you've heard about. These are optimised for all 51 talent points, you cannot have MD/Ruin without MD and Ruin! Instead, what you should focus on is getting to 60 in a painless and efficient way so you can start experimenting. 

You can level quickly with Affliction or Demonology. Unfortunately most new warlocks will take one glance at the talent trees and start flinging talent points into Destruction just because they imagine themselves doing sick crits. They'll be spending a lot of time sat down waiting for their mana to refill whilst those of you reading this FAQ accelerate to level 60. 

This is because the Affliction 31-point and the Demonology 21-point talents are both excellent sources of mana regeneration; it's up to you which one you go with. Some people level better with Dark Pact, others find DS levelling to be a better fit. To try both and find out for yourself which levelling path suits you better, the best advice the forums can give you is the following: 

i) Work your way down Affliction, taking Improved Corruption first. 
ii) Keep going until you have this build at level 34: http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=Ii0iVRbo 
iii) Respec to this build at level 35: http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=IVZcxhuG0o 
iv) From 35 to 39, get used to the health regen from DS and your improved demons. Put extra talent points into Improved Life Tap and Fel Stamina. 
v) At 40, respec again to: http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=Ii0iVRboVo 
vi) From 40 to 42, get used to playing with Dark Pact. At 42 or so, decide which you prefer out of DS and DP. 
vii) If you pick Dark Pact, work towards build B from section 4 until 60. 
viii) If you want Demonic Sacrifice, respec so you have DS and work towards build A instead. 

ix) When you've reached 60, respec a bunch of times and discover what build suits you!

2) How to get people to review your build 

- Read this FAQ thoroughly. It should answer all your questions and also put right any misconceptions you might have. 
- If your build isn't similar to one of the 'Big Nine' below, then quite simply it could be better. Rest assured the community will have seen a similar build to yours before and already taught the poster what's wrong with it. If you want to use it anyway that's fine, but posting it here will only have people suggesting that you move points around until it resembles one of the great builds detailed below. 
- If your build is similar to one of the 'Big Nine' below, then perhaps you should consider why you're posting it? You already know it's a good build, looking it up in section 4 will suggest what it's good at and how to play it, and you can check section 5 to see if you've included anything you shouldn't. 
- Be polite, and be willing to accept criticism. We know what we're talking about, and if you plan to ignore suggestions and go ahead with what you've got then why post at all?
- Whatever you do, plx d0n't tlak liek th1s lol, kk? If you have problems being understood because you're dyslexic or English isn't a first language then that's absolutely fine. Trying to mangle your request for help by filling it with AOLspeak isn't. 
- Use this talent calculator - http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=I - the official one is ugly and loads extremely slowly. Some people will be put off helping with your build if you link to the official site's calculator. 
- For goodness sake, tell us when you want! So many posts ask 'I like build X but I also wonder about build Y. Which is better?' I can tell you right now that X will be better for some things and Y will be better for others - there is no 'best'. At the very least tell us what you want your build to do (burst damage, sustained damage, survivability, versatility) and where you want to do it. (5-man instances, duelling, raiding, farming, Battlegrounds) 
- There is no teacher like experience. While both this FAQ and the community can tell you what's right and what's wrong with your spec, you will be much more likely to believe it when you've seen it for yourself. So instead of asking us, consider testing it and finding out for yourself! 


3) Disclaimer 

You will not agree with everything in the following build analysis section. 
No-one will agree with everything in that section. 
I do not agree with everything in that section! 

This FAQ will tell you what the community as a whole have found out about each talent build - which situations it's useful in and which situations it doesn't perform well in, your general style while playing it, the strengths you should play to and the weaknesses you should cover. 

However, you or I as an individual will not agree with everything written here, because everyone's experiences with a build will be different. You may not find that Dark Pact works for you, but there are many other warlocks who love it. You might swear by MD/Ruin, but there will be people who have specced it, didn't like it and specced back out. And so, instead of having this guide represent one player's experiences with each build, I have gathered infomation from dozens of warlocks about the strengths and weaknesses of their particular build. 

Also note that these are all superb builds. Just because 'your' build is noted as lacking in large-scale PvP doesn't mean it's bad, it means that some of the other premier talent specs described feature Battlegrounds as a specialty and 'yours' is only lacking by comparison to the best of the best. 
 

I heavily debated including the ratings out of five for each build. It's a very crass way to measure a talent build's effectiveness in a certain field, and also will doubtless lead to people complaining about a rating or two. However, the main purpose of this FAQ is to reduce the number of repetitive talent questions: 'What's a good duelling spec?' 'What's the best build for raiding?' etc. are better answered with a little score showing which builds are better for this task than a talent FAQ which blithely lists the good points of each build with no effort to discriminate between them.

4) The nine talent builds of highly effective warlocks 

A: SM/DS - (30/21/0) 

Spec setup - http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=IA0bVRbkAZfxhzT0o 

Synopsis - This build's claim to fame is as the ultimate farming build. Wherever you're farming cash, be it Maraudon, Dire Maul, Darkwhisper Gorge or Felwood, SM/DS is probably the most efficient way you can be doing it. It even comes with two 'modes' - you can either run around with a sacrificed Voidwalker for a great source of health renewal or you can sacrifice a Succubus and spam DoTs with 25% more damage on everything which moves. The general farming style with SM/DS is to load one mob up with three or four DoTs and then simply move onto the next and DoT that one too as you wait for the first to die. 

SM/DS is also a brilliant build to have in large-scale PvP. With enough opponents you can basically chain-cast DoTs on player after player and then dance around waiting for people to die as your multiple Siphon Life debuffs keep you topped up. A sacrificed VW also works wonders for giving you spare health to Life Tap with, and can refill your health bar substantially if you find yourself out of combat for a bit. 

However, this build does fall down when you're grouped in PvE. In your typical 5 man duneons, the mobs will be dying too quickly for DoTs to be worthwhile, so you're often stuck using Shadow Bolt without Bane; not a great idea. And your AoE will also be lacklustre on the occassions where it's needed by your group. This weakness carries on into a raid environment, where the clear majority of your damage comes from spamming Shadow Bolt. The 20% DPS increase you miss out on by not taking Bane is apparent, as well as Ruin and Improved Shadow Bolt. (you will leech other people's charges but not provide your own) 

Solo PvE: 5/5 
Group PvE: 2/5 
Raid PvE: 2/5 
Solo PvP: 2/5 
Group PvP: 5/5 

B: Dark Pact - (32/8/11) 

Spec setup - http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=IA0bVRbkAocxZxxoz 

Synopsis - There's no build that better fits around the 5-man group situation. You can Dark Pact to get mana back without giving the healer a heart attack, you have decent damage but are very unlikely to be pulling aggro due to lacking Ruin, and talents such as Fel Concentration and Demonic Embrace make sure you're not a glass cannon. 

Other warlocks in a raid will love you, as you've got a build which has the Improved Imp talent and yet isn't crippled damage-wise when it has the Imp out. Expect to spend a lot of time with your raid's MT when you're Dark Pact! Unfortunately, while you do respectable damage the lack of latter Destruction talents means you won't be doing spectacular damage, so you'll probably struggle more with this build than others to get your name up in lights on the damage meters. When you're soloing with Dark Pact you'll notice that it's really just a fleshed-out version of the standard levelling build, and while it's quite efficient it certainly does lack versatility. In addition the Dark Pact skill itself scales badly as your level and gear improve; with a decent mana pool of 5000 each cast of Dark Pact restores just 5% of it, not even enough mana for a Shadow Bolt. 

Now as for PvP Dark Pact is quite an interesting study. In a solo or duel situation it basically plays like a gimped SM/Ruin, lacking the explosive damage to be worthwhile. But when you take it out into the BGs, you'll really notice the effect of having all of Improved Imp, Curse of Exhaustion and Demonic Embrace at the same time, giving you a lot of breathing room to survive any errors you make. Dark Pact also comes into its own, allowing for complete mana renewal between battles without compromising your health pool. 

Solo PvE: 3/5 
Group PvE: 5/5 
Raid PvE: 3/5 
Solo PvP: 2/5 

Group PvP: 4/5

C: SL/NF - (20/31/0) 

Spec setup - http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=IA0bVRbZfxhzGxot 

Synopsis - Truly the ultimate king of duels, rivalling even paladins or druids for hanging on to life. Your typical strategy is to load your opponent up with DoTs and then use Fel Concentration to keep draining their life as they futilely chip away at yours. With Soul Link, VW shield(s), Fel Domination and an MD bonus all available as defences for the SL/NF warlock they are extremely hard to beat in a one on one situation. It's also your best chance of surviving against two or three opponents. However, in the BGs your opponents will have a number of targets to choose from; when they see that your health bar just isn't budging they'll just leave you alone and gank the guy next to you, leaving you to wander around spamming DoTs without any real points invested in them. Sure you'll be the last warlock standing, but that also entails seeing the rest of your team being picked off because they're bigger threats than you. 

Another area where SL/NF shines is in solo PvE. Feel free to tag one more mob than you'd normally be comfortable with, when you've got Soul Link and Fel Concentration you'll survive a fair old beating. The earlier points invested in Demonology also mean that your Voidwalker is a semi-competent tank and is useful when you're grinding. SL/NF gives you a very useful breathing space when farming, allowing you to take a few hits from Hederine demons when Fear/Banish is resisted twice - other builds probably would fall over and start corpse-running here. 

Like SM/DS, (the other big build with 0 in Destruction) the lack of Bane really does hurt SL/NF in group PvE. While you may get to tank an encounter now and again, you've been brought along to deal big damage and this build is probably the worst of the nine at this task. Your best bet is to run with a Succubus out for the 13% to all damage, and spam Corruption followed by Shadow Bolts whilst praying for Nightfall procs. It's a similar story in a raid scenario, you're brought along for a damage output which is really hard to match when you've lacking Bane and other Destruction talents which amplify Shadow Bolt's potential. However, you do have the saving grace of 8 versatile MD and DS bonuses, giving you the ability to make up some ground if you're willing to sacrifice or summon the best pet for each fight. The contributors I talked to about this build generally mentioned that it's the most fun build they'd used. 

Solo PvE: 4/5 
Group PvE: 2/5 
Raid PvE: 2/5 
Solo PvP: 5/5 
Group PvP: 2/5 

D: SM/Ruin - (30/0/21) 

Spec setup - http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=AA0bVRbkAZZxx0tr0z 

Synopsis - Ah, the most famous build we have. This is a really solid one with powerful DoTs and nukes. A year ago it seemed that every warlock and their Succubus was SM/Ruin, and even now over half the warlock applications to my guild which I go through have that familiar 30/0/21 build. The enduring quality of SM/Ruin seems to be that there's nothing it's bad at. Great in raids, has everything you'd want for 5-man instance grouping, and is still very impressive in PvP. The key synergy is the combination of 3 instant DoTs and all the talents which improve Shadow Bolt from Destruction, together with a trick or two from Affliction to help you survive. All you're lacking with this build is versatility, some of the SM/Ruin warlocks I spoke to mentioned getting easily bored and having to respec once in a while. 

In PvP, SM/Ruin lends itself very well to seduce-nuking and fear-kiting due to having both Reach talents, so you should have a lot of control when you're in a one on one situation. It's a good build in mass PvP too, as both your DoTs and Shadow Bolts are lethal. 

The weak area of this build is grinding. The glass-cannon aspect really shows itself; you'll have much more problems dealing with unexpected adds than a warlock with some points in Demonology. And this lack of Demonology talents also means you'll spend a fair bit of time drinking, like Conflagrate builds. But these setbacks are pretty minor, and there's a reason why SM/Ruin is the most used talent build out there. 

Solo PvE: 2/5 
Group PvE: 5/5 
Raid PvE: 5/5 
Solo PvP: 3/5 

Group PvP: 4/5

E: Soul Link - (9/31/11) 

Spec setup - http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=Ii0bZfxhzGxotZxx0z 

Synopsis - The all-rounder of the two common Soul Link builds, it sacrifices a tiny bit of PvP survivalility for a couple of useful PvE tools from Destruction. It's still incredible at outlasting people. The trade-off is that while drain-tanking is removed as an option you do get Bane, which makes a marked difference on your group PvE performance. This build is excellent for solo PvP as it combines defence with a nasty bite in the form of Shadowburn. Also good in BGs, and you always have the option to DS a demon for more damage or health regen. But rely on this too often and you'll burn through your shards! 

Soul Link is also a PvE powerhouse. Its strength lies in being able to switch between Soul Link with Succubus for 13% more damage, MD with Imp for 20% less aggro and DSing a Voidwalker for unlimited HP/mana or a Succubus for even more damage. With this build you're not lacking the useful raid tools from Affliction, and the 11 points spent in Destruction give you a firm enough damage base for the pet bonuses to work on. Very solid, very versatile, but it's not going to be topping the damage charts any time soon without Ruin. 

Not so great in 5-man groups, however. You'll almost always need the Imp in these situations (unless you're with guildies or friends) which prevents you from using either Soul Link or DS, and the aggro reduction is generally a waste in normal instances. 

Solo PvE: 4/5 
Group PvE: 2/5 
Raid PvE: 4/5 
Solo PvP: 5/5 
Group PvP: 3/5 

F: DS/Ruin - (9/21/21) 

Spec setup - http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=Ai0bZfxhzT0oZxx0tr0z 

Synopsis - The young pretender to the raiding crown, with DS/Ruin you'll have the highest single-target DPS of any warlock build. Sacrifice a Succubus and not even SM/Ruin can catch you. This also comes with the fantastic variety that DS offers; sacrifice an Imp instead when AoE is on the cards or a Voidwalker if you're learning an encounter and want to be sure you're alive and casting for as long as possible. If you're in a smaller group and are forced to use your Imp then your DPS will be largely reduced, but not completely crippled as the build still has 21 points spent on nuking efficiency in the Destruction tree. 

PvP however is a different story, where DS/Ruin tends to flounder. Your DoTs aren't the best, so if you sacrifice a pet you're basically left chucking Shadow Bolts around and hoping that a couple connect before people turn their attention to you. The build can seduce-nuke quite well, but lacks both the extra damage and the tricks that SM/Ruin would have available. 

But switch to solo grinding and this build is a monster again. You can flip between awesome nuking prowess and the health regen from a Voidwalker depending on the kind of mobs you're grinding. Add to that the efficiency talents of Improved Corruption, Suppression and Improved Life Tap and you see your grinding speed ramped up another notch. While Shadow Bolt spam is a large part of DS/Ruin, the nature of Demonic Sacrifice means it's hard to get bored with this build. 

Solo PvE: 5/5 
Group PvE: 3/5 
Raid PvE: 5/5 
Solo PvP: 2/5 

Group PvP: 2/5

G: Conflag/NF - (19/0/32) 

Spec setup - http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=AA0bVMbZZxx0tr0tt 

Synopsis - If you tend to walk into a pitched PvP battle and think 'I want to blow the heads off as many of these guys as I can before dying' then Conflag/NF is the best build for your style! You'll have every instant-cast nuke available to the class together with the power and the range to make retaliation difficult. In large-scale PvP you'll want to spam everyone available with Corruption and then run around nuking at 36 yards from a menu of Searing Pain, Immloate, Conflagrate and Nightfall procs. In PvP this build is fast, exciting and explosive. 

Different story in PvE however. When grinding you'll be spending a lot of time sat down and drinking - although high-damage, this build plows through mana quickly with no built in regeneration skill. And with no points in Demonology you're extremely fragile so unexpected adds can be a real problem. 

In raids you have to choose between letting Immolate tick for as long as possible before using Conflagrate (it'll more often than not be knocked off by another debuff) or hitting Conflag as soon as Immolate lands, which will run you out of mana quickly without getting much benefit from your Immolate damage. Nightfall also has has fewer applications with fewer targets to apply Corruption to. This build has the potential to be a good raiding spec, but will only show its real power when the debuff limit is increased in the expansion. Conflag/NF tends to do OK in smaller groups though. You'll have the debuff space to Immloate the mob and spray Corruption on everything in sight, while keeping the luxury of a tank to protect your fragile self. 

Solo PvE: 2/5 
Group PvE: 3/5 
Raid PvE: 2/5 
Solo PvP: 4/5 
Group PvP: 5/5 

H: MD/Ruin - (0/30/21) 

Spec setup - http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=AZfxhuMxoxZxx0tr0z 

Synopsis - With MD/Ruin you combine the unrivalled defence and versatility of a Demonology build with the nuking capability of SM/Ruin. If you can keep a Succubus alive then you get 10% extra to all damage (not just shadow) together with the option of using Demonic Sacrifice to kick things into overdrive. And for aggro-sensitive fights (especially for Horde warlocks) you have the 20% aggro-reduction from your Imp, allowing you to keep pumping out the damage long after the other nuking builds are wanding or dead. However when you're looking at sustained damage, it's actually a very close finish between Soul Link and MD/Ruin - instant Corruption and Improved Life Tap do make up for the reduced crit damage. 

MD/Ruin also does well in 5-man groups with its powerful nukes, good stamina and versatility. You'll be putting out valuable damage, you provide a lot of utility from first tier Demonology and you can easily control your aggro output based on how good your tank is. The 8 DS and MD buffs are also of real use when grinding, although the lack of great DoTs and mobility will hinder you. 

For PvP, the build heavily lends itself to seduce-nuking, especially with the crucial extra 30% duration on that third Seduce. But in BGs you'll find yourself missing some of the Affliction techniques you may be used to, like CoEx, Fel Concentration and (most importantly) instant Corruption. 

Solo PvE: 3/5 
Group PvE: 4/5 
Raid PvE: 4/5 
Solo PvP: 3/5 

Group PvP: 2/5

I: Conflagrate - (7/8/36) 

Spec setup - http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=AV0bZcxZVxotMxtt 

Synopsis - This is a very solid build which is decent for any purpose. You get great nukes, excellent burst damage and important goodies from the two other trees. Compared to other warlock builds, the only area it's really lacking is in solo PvE, where aside from running out of mana often, you have few options to deal with any adds you get when grinding as you lack Demonology's defences or Affliction's tricks. 

In PvP, this build can use Searing Pain as its main nuke, and very well with the appropriate talents to back it up, (you can actually spend 28 points in Destruction solely on talents which improve Searing Pain!) but the real strength is in the 31-point talent Conflagrate. Burst damage is so important in PvP, and killing someone with Shadow Bolt -> Immolate -> Conflagrate for thousands of simultaneous damage before they can heal will save you on many occasions. 

In PvE you can act like a mage, with all the pros and cons which that entails. But when grinding solo you lack the snares a mage would have (unless you've picked Aftermath and are very lucky with procs) so be prepared to take a beating now and then - Demonic Embrace and Improved Imp help a little in this respect. Conflagrate is a nice build to have in 5-man groups, with excellent damage output, good AoE potential and the ability to switch between fire and shadow spells. Raiding should be more promising in the future for the Conflagrate warlock as the two recent 40-man instances allow you to use fire spells properly. However, the 16-slot debuff limit does hinder your use of Immolate. 

Solo PvE: 2/5 
Group PvE: 4/5 
Raid PvE: 3/5 
Solo PvP: 4/5 
Group PvP: 3/5 


5) Bad or broken talents 

Here is a list of talents which are not worth taking regardless of spec: 

- Improved Curse of Weakness - Spending three points to boost a rarely used spell (especially at 60) by a trivial amount. 
- Improved Drain Soul - Will trigger rarely to never in groups, restores a pitiful amount anyway. 
- Improved Drain Life - Bugged, adds 7 DPS to the spell whether you have 0 or 700 +damage gear. 
- Improved Curse of Agony - Bugged, adds 2.5 DPS to the spell whether you have 0 or 700 +damage gear. 
- Improved Drain Mana - If you're using Drain Mana, you're trying to drain their mana, not do some trivial damage. 
- Improved Health Funnel - Remember the last time you wished your Health Funnel had been a little quicker? Me neither. 
- Fel Intellect - Spends five points to increase your pet's maximum mana by a trivial amount. Perhaps lets you Imp do one more Firebolt before being oom. 
- Fel Domination - This is a good talent, but it's important to clarify that it's useless unless you take Master Summoner as well. A 0.5 second summon has many uses, a 4.5 second summon doesn't. 
- Unholy Power - There's only one demon of ours that does physical damage to speak of, and we don't often use her for that. Only take this if you're getting Master Demonologist. 
- Improved Enslave Demon - Large talent point investment for a meagre boost to an enslaved demon's power. It'll still break control, but might last a further 3 seconds. 
- Improved Firestone - Makes no real difference to a skill we don't even use. 
- Improved Spellstone - It's a lacklustre improvement to a skill with so few uses. And it's in tier 7. 
- Aftermath - It's a mild snare. It's unreliable. It's on the same tier as Bane. 
- Improved Lash of Pain - Miniscule improvement to the Succubus' mediocre damage output. 

- Pyroclasm - That's a 26% chance for a single stun. Provided of course that they're kind enough to stay in your AoE for the entire duration and without your channelling being interrupted.

6) Three example builds that aren't good enough 

Here are a selection of builds which come up time and time again despite lacking some crucial aspect. Also included is the advice the warlock community give each spec, hopefully this information will help you when making your own build. 

MD/Siphon - (21/30/0) - http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=IA0bVRboZfxhuMxox 

There's really no reason to take Siphon Life over Soul Link, especially considering how hard Soul Link is to dispel now. The damage from Siphon Life is not worth it in most PvE situations, and in PvP you're much better off with the ultimate warlock defensive skill. Go with SL/NF instead. 

Trispec - (19/21/11) - http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=AA0bVkbZfxhzT0oZxx0z 

Trispec builds like the one above do not excel at anything. Your raid DPS would be mediocre at best, there's no clear strategy for PvP and the entire spec is crippled if you're asked to have the Imp out. Make your mind up what you want to do and spec either SM/DS or DS/Ruin. 

ES/DS - (0/21/30) - http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=NZfxVdM0oZVVbxMxzx 

This build has been suggested by a few warlocks for the possible 25% extra to fire as well as Ruin. However, Conflagrate and being able to have a pet out easily outweigh the boost from DS apart from a few very rare situations. In PvP Conflagrate is exceedingly useful, and in groups/raids you have no spammable spell which takes advantage of the bonuses. Swallow your dreams of enormous Searing Pain crits and take a Conflagrate build. 


7) Abbreviations used 

AoE – Area of Effect 
BGs - Battlegrounds 
CoA - Curse of Agony 
CoD - Curse of Doom 
CoEx - Curse of Exhaustion 
CoR - Curse of Recklessness 
CoS - Curse of Shadows 
CoT - Curse of Tongues 
CotE - Curse of the Elements 
CoW - Curse of Weakness 
DoT - Damage over time spell 
DP - Dark Pact 
DPS - Damage per second 
DS - Demonic Sacrifice 
ES - Emberstorm 
HP - Hit points (health) 
MD - Master Demonologist 
MT - Main Tank 
NF - Nightfall 
Oom - Out of mana 
PvE - Player vs Environment 
PvP - Player vs Player 
SL - Soul Link 

SM - Shadow Mastery

8) Thanks! 

(First few names are gratefully thanked for interesting posts on the EU and US forums, for editing help with this document, or for helping to battle the Rate My Build tide on the old forums. Then listed and thanked are the dozens who spared time and valuable in-game build experience to help with the construction of this FAQ.) 

Aiidoneus, Mosh, Psy, Maso, Mekkapiano, Pyron, Cromfel, Carighan, Mute, Voltari, Graguk, Spiritreaper, Flybane, Majagruu, Xahny, Yami, Sjan, Dracx, Deck, Anxiety, Raabe, Shancy, Craven, Emod, Megalomaniac, Geko, Antharas, Zorlock, Morticai, Coitsu, Anexus, Merion, Vijkstraus, Budziker, Draid, Sauronku, Souls, Xina, Chaosnova, Eon, Aestus, Valdorik, Dimok, Alexander, Megan, Overburn, Asmodan, Widow, Demonify, Bruja, Evild, Mortem, Fizben, Alyssian, Talula, Josev, Xan, Margulis, Emnity, Frase, Blavod, Felius. 


9) Your Questions 

Q: What's a good build for raiding? 
A: If you're out-aggroing your MT (Horde warlocks especially!), MD/Ruin or Soul Link. If aggro is not a concern, DS/Ruin. If aggro is not a concern but you're obliged to have your Imp out, SM/Ruin. 

Q: What's a good spec for Dire Maul/Scholo/Strath etc? 
A: Dark Pact and SM/Ruin are great in this situation. Good damage, fine utility, not hampered by having an Imp out. 

Q: What's a good farming/grinding build? 
A: SM/DS is the king for this scenario, but DS/Ruin and either Soul Link build also perform fine, if a little slower. 

Q: What's a good build for Battlegrounds? 
A: If you want to run around grabbing enormous amounts of killing blows, Conflag/NF or SM/DS work great. If you want to stick around forever and get loads of HKs, a Soul Link build is what you want. 

Q: What's a good duelling spec? 
A: SL/NF is the ultimate here, you should beat almost anything one on one with this build or standard Soul Link. Specs with Conflag also do well in duels, and are arguably more exciting. 

Q: What flexibility is there when making builds? 
A: Affliction is pretty rigid, due to the number of bugged or bad talents you have to avoid. The main choice is whether to pick CoEx or finish off Suppression for warlocks who put lots of points into that tree, it depends on how important PvP is to you. The points in early Demonology are pretty much interchangeable between Improved Healthstone/Imp/Voidwalker/Succubus and Fel Stamina, so just choose what suits. Destruction is the most open of the trees, with only a couple of bad talents. If you're only going for Ruin though, you should probably stick to the Destruction trees shown. Also, some builds have a couple of unspent points when you've got the essentials, such as two extra for Soul Link (usually go into Suppression or Devastation) one extra for Conflag/NF (either goes towards Amplify Curse or making Emberstorm 5/5) and a whopping seven for Conflagrate when you've spent the standard (7/5/32). So yes, there is of course leeway even in these tried and tested builds. 

Q: What about talents in The Burning Crusade? 

A: I encourage build speculation, but this FAQ will focus solely on talent options which are available in-game. Rest assured then when TBC has been released and we've had a chance to see the actual merits of these new talents this topic will be extensively overhauled.

Edited March 2, 2014 by фткyн

[BlazeDevil 0]

Отличный обзор, только калькуляторы не открываются (

[Arniz 0]

Господа, не подскажете, в чем лучше всего пвешить? Привлекает дестро-ветка, но я не знаю, насколько она тут играбельна. 

[Rumbi 0]

Хмм

Edited July 24, 2014 by Rumbi

[фткyн 1469]

см/руин дс/руин

[Arniz 0]

Спасибо, но нельзя ли расшифровать написанное для чайника? Я просто впервые играю на классике и даже не представляю, что значат вот эти "см" и проч. Гугл, видимо, тоже.

[antidot 1356]

Спасибо, но нельзя ли расшифровать написанное для чайника? Я просто впервые играю на классике и даже не представляю, что значат вот эти "см" и проч. Гугл, видимо, тоже.

 

http://web.archive.org/web/20100217040249/http://forums.wow-europe.com/thread.html?topicId=12911475&sid=1

0) What is this? 

This is an exhaustive talent FAQ, designed to answer any question you may have about our talent trees. 

The meat of this is section 4, which is a detailed look at the nine outstanding warlock talent builds available to us. Section 1 is a guide on how to place talents for optimum levelling efficiency, while section 5 is a comprehensive list of those talents which you should think twice about before taking. 

The aim of making this post is to stem the tide of 'How's my spec' posts which are posted hourly and drive the interesting discussions off the front page, by giving build advice for any situation. I wanted to create something which helps Johnny Ratemybuild with his talent spec by showing him that the voices of experience will typically recommend switching his points around towards one of the 'Big Nine' builds listed. I also intend to answer the often-asked questions such as 'Is Soul Link good for raiding?', 'What's a good build for Strath/Scholo?' and so on. 

And so, to the table of contents: 

0) What is this? 

1) What to choose when not yet 60 

2) How to get people to review your build 

3) Disclaimer 

4) The nine talent builds of highly effective warlocks 

[*]a) SM/DS 

Dark Pact 

c) SL/NF 

d) SM/Ruin 

e) Soul Link 

f) DS/Ruin 

g) Conflag/NF 

h) MD/Ruin 

i) Conflagrate

5) Bad or broken talents 

6) Three example builds that aren't good enough 

7) Abbreviations 

8) Thanks! 

9) Your Questions (will be often added to, check back now and again!) 

1) What to choose when not yet 60 

If you are not yet 60, then don't concern yourself with all the SM/Ruin or Soul Link builds you've heard about. These are optimised for all 51 talent points, you cannot have MD/Ruin without MD and Ruin! Instead, what you should focus on is getting to 60 in a painless and efficient way so you can start experimenting. 

You can level quickly with Affliction or Demonology. Unfortunately most new warlocks will take one glance at the talent trees and start flinging talent points into Destruction just because they imagine themselves doing sick crits. They'll be spending a lot of time sat down waiting for their mana to refill whilst those of you reading this FAQ accelerate to level 60. 

This is because the Affliction 31-point and the Demonology 21-point talents are both excellent sources of mana regeneration; it's up to you which one you go with. Some people level better with Dark Pact, others find DS levelling to be a better fit. To try both and find out for yourself which levelling path suits you better, the best advice the forums can give you is the following: 

i) Work your way down Affliction, taking Improved Corruption first. 

ii) Keep going until you have this build at level 34: http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=Ii0iVRbo 

iii) Respec to this build at level 35: http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=IVZcxhuG0o 

iv) From 35 to 39, get used to the health regen from DS and your improved demons. Put extra talent points into Improved Life Tap and Fel Stamina. 

v) At 40, respec again to: http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=Ii0iVRboVo 

vi) From 40 to 42, get used to playing with Dark Pact. At 42 or so, decide which you prefer out of DS and DP. 

vii) If you pick Dark Pact, work towards build B from section 4 until 60. 

viii) If you want Demonic Sacrifice, respec so you have DS and work towards build A instead. 

ix) When you've reached 60, respec a bunch of times and discover what build suits you!

2) How to get people to review your build 

- Read this FAQ thoroughly. It should answer all your questions and also put right any misconceptions you might have. 

- If your build isn't similar to one of the 'Big Nine' below, then quite simply it could be better. Rest assured the community will have seen a similar build to yours before and already taught the poster what's wrong with it. If you want to use it anyway that's fine, but posting it here will only have people suggesting that you move points around until it resembles one of the great builds detailed below. 

- If your build is similar to one of the 'Big Nine' below, then perhaps you should consider why you're posting it? You already know it's a good build, looking it up in section 4 will suggest what it's good at and how to play it, and you can check section 5 to see if you've included anything you shouldn't. 

- Be polite, and be willing to accept criticism. We know what we're talking about, and if you plan to ignore suggestions and go ahead with what you've got then why post at all?

- Whatever you do, plx d0n't tlak liek th1s lol, kk? If you have problems being understood because you're dyslexic or English isn't a first language then that's absolutely fine. Trying to mangle your request for help by filling it with AOLspeak isn't. 

- Use this talent calculator - http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=I - the official one is ugly and loads extremely slowly. Some people will be put off helping with your build if you link to the official site's calculator. 

- For goodness sake, tell us when you want! So many posts ask 'I like build X but I also wonder about build Y. Which is better?' I can tell you right now that X will be better for some things and Y will be better for others - there is no 'best'. At the very least tell us what you want your build to do (burst damage, sustained damage, survivability, versatility) and where you want to do it. (5-man instances, duelling, raiding, farming, Battlegrounds) 

- There is no teacher like experience. While both this FAQ and the community can tell you what's right and what's wrong with your spec, you will be much more likely to believe it when you've seen it for yourself. So instead of asking us, consider testing it and finding out for yourself! 

3) Disclaimer 

You will not agree with everything in the following build analysis section. 

No-one will agree with everything in that section. 

I do not agree with everything in that section! 

This FAQ will tell you what the community as a whole have found out about each talent build - which situations it's useful in and which situations it doesn't perform well in, your general style while playing it, the strengths you should play to and the weaknesses you should cover. 

However, you or I as an individual will not agree with everything written here, because everyone's experiences with a build will be different. You may not find that Dark Pact works for you, but there are many other warlocks who love it. You might swear by MD/Ruin, but there will be people who have specced it, didn't like it and specced back out. And so, instead of having this guide represent one player's experiences with each build, I have gathered infomation from dozens of warlocks about the strengths and weaknesses of their particular build. 

Also note that these are all superb builds. Just because 'your' build is noted as lacking in large-scale PvP doesn't mean it's bad, it means that some of the other premier talent specs described feature Battlegrounds as a specialty and 'yours' is only lacking by comparison to the best of the best. 

 

I heavily debated including the ratings out of five for each build. It's a very crass way to measure a talent build's effectiveness in a certain field, and also will doubtless lead to people complaining about a rating or two. However, the main purpose of this FAQ is to reduce the number of repetitive talent questions: 'What's a good duelling spec?' 'What's the best build for raiding?' etc. are better answered with a little score showing which builds are better for this task than a talent FAQ which blithely lists the good points of each build with no effort to discriminate between them.

4) The nine talent builds of highly effective warlocks 

A: SM/DS - (30/21/0) 

Spec setup - http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=IA0bVRbkAZfxhzT0o 

Synopsis - This build's claim to fame is as the ultimate farming build. Wherever you're farming cash, be it Maraudon, Dire Maul, Darkwhisper Gorge or Felwood, SM/DS is probably the most efficient way you can be doing it. It even comes with two 'modes' - you can either run around with a sacrificed Voidwalker for a great source of health renewal or you can sacrifice a Succubus and spam DoTs with 25% more damage on everything which moves. The general farming style with SM/DS is to load one mob up with three or four DoTs and then simply move onto the next and DoT that one too as you wait for the first to die. 

SM/DS is also a brilliant build to have in large-scale PvP. With enough opponents you can basically chain-cast DoTs on player after player and then dance around waiting for people to die as your multiple Siphon Life debuffs keep you topped up. A sacrificed VW also works wonders for giving you spare health to Life Tap with, and can refill your health bar substantially if you find yourself out of combat for a bit. 

However, this build does fall down when you're grouped in PvE. In your typical 5 man duneons, the mobs will be dying too quickly for DoTs to be worthwhile, so you're often stuck using Shadow Bolt without Bane; not a great idea. And your AoE will also be lacklustre on the occassions where it's needed by your group. This weakness carries on into a raid environment, where the clear majority of your damage comes from spamming Shadow Bolt. The 20% DPS increase you miss out on by not taking Bane is apparent, as well as Ruin and Improved Shadow Bolt. (you will leech other people's charges but not provide your own) 

Solo PvE: 5/5 

Group PvE: 2/5 

Raid PvE: 2/5 

Solo PvP: 2/5 

Group PvP: 5/5 

B: Dark Pact - (32/8/11) 

Spec setup - http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=IA0bVRbkAocxZxxoz 

Synopsis - There's no build that better fits around the 5-man group situation. You can Dark Pact to get mana back without giving the healer a heart attack, you have decent damage but are very unlikely to be pulling aggro due to lacking Ruin, and talents such as Fel Concentration and Demonic Embrace make sure you're not a glass cannon. 

Other warlocks in a raid will love you, as you've got a build which has the Improved Imp talent and yet isn't crippled damage-wise when it has the Imp out. Expect to spend a lot of time with your raid's MT when you're Dark Pact! Unfortunately, while you do respectable damage the lack of latter Destruction talents means you won't be doing spectacular damage, so you'll probably struggle more with this build than others to get your name up in lights on the damage meters. When you're soloing with Dark Pact you'll notice that it's really just a fleshed-out version of the standard levelling build, and while it's quite efficient it certainly does lack versatility. In addition the Dark Pact skill itself scales badly as your level and gear improve; with a decent mana pool of 5000 each cast of Dark Pact restores just 5% of it, not even enough mana for a Shadow Bolt. 

Now as for PvP Dark Pact is quite an interesting study. In a solo or duel situation it basically plays like a gimped SM/Ruin, lacking the explosive damage to be worthwhile. But when you take it out into the BGs, you'll really notice the effect of having all of Improved Imp, Curse of Exhaustion and Demonic Embrace at the same time, giving you a lot of breathing room to survive any errors you make. Dark Pact also comes into its own, allowing for complete mana renewal between battles without compromising your health pool. 

Solo PvE: 3/5 

Group PvE: 5/5 

Raid PvE: 3/5 

Solo PvP: 2/5 

Group PvP: 4/5

C: SL/NF - (20/31/0) 

Spec setup - http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=IA0bVRbZfxhzGxot 

Synopsis - Truly the ultimate king of duels, rivalling even paladins or druids for hanging on to life. Your typical strategy is to load your opponent up with DoTs and then use Fel Concentration to keep draining their life as they futilely chip away at yours. With Soul Link, VW shield(s), Fel Domination and an MD bonus all available as defences for the SL/NF warlock they are extremely hard to beat in a one on one situation. It's also your best chance of surviving against two or three opponents. However, in the BGs your opponents will have a number of targets to choose from; when they see that your health bar just isn't budging they'll just leave you alone and gank the guy next to you, leaving you to wander around spamming DoTs without any real points invested in them. Sure you'll be the last warlock standing, but that also entails seeing the rest of your team being picked off because they're bigger threats than you. 

Another area where SL/NF shines is in solo PvE. Feel free to tag one more mob than you'd normally be comfortable with, when you've got Soul Link and Fel Concentration you'll survive a fair old beating. The earlier points invested in Demonology also mean that your Voidwalker is a semi-competent tank and is useful when you're grinding. SL/NF gives you a very useful breathing space when farming, allowing you to take a few hits from Hederine demons when Fear/Banish is resisted twice - other builds probably would fall over and start corpse-running here. 

Like SM/DS, (the other big build with 0 in Destruction) the lack of Bane really does hurt SL/NF in group PvE. While you may get to tank an encounter now and again, you've been brought along to deal big damage and this build is probably the worst of the nine at this task. Your best bet is to run with a Succubus out for the 13% to all damage, and spam Corruption followed by Shadow Bolts whilst praying for Nightfall procs. It's a similar story in a raid scenario, you're brought along for a damage output which is really hard to match when you've lacking Bane and other Destruction talents which amplify Shadow Bolt's potential. However, you do have the saving grace of 8 versatile MD and DS bonuses, giving you the ability to make up some ground if you're willing to sacrifice or summon the best pet for each fight. The contributors I talked to about this build generally mentioned that it's the most fun build they'd used. 

Solo PvE: 4/5 

Group PvE: 2/5 

Raid PvE: 2/5 

Solo PvP: 5/5 

Group PvP: 2/5 

D: SM/Ruin - (30/0/21) 

Spec setup - http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=AA0bVRbkAZZxx0tr0z 

Synopsis - Ah, the most famous build we have. This is a really solid one with powerful DoTs and nukes. A year ago it seemed that every warlock and their Succubus was SM/Ruin, and even now over half the warlock applications to my guild which I go through have that familiar 30/0/21 build. The enduring quality of SM/Ruin seems to be that there's nothing it's bad at. Great in raids, has everything you'd want for 5-man instance grouping, and is still very impressive in PvP. The key synergy is the combination of 3 instant DoTs and all the talents which improve Shadow Bolt from Destruction, together with a trick or two from Affliction to help you survive. All you're lacking with this build is versatility, some of the SM/Ruin warlocks I spoke to mentioned getting easily bored and having to respec once in a while. 

In PvP, SM/Ruin lends itself very well to seduce-nuking and fear-kiting due to having both Reach talents, so you should have a lot of control when you're in a one on one situation. It's a good build in mass PvP too, as both your DoTs and Shadow Bolts are lethal. 

The weak area of this build is grinding. The glass-cannon aspect really shows itself; you'll have much more problems dealing with unexpected adds than a warlock with some points in Demonology. And this lack of Demonology talents also means you'll spend a fair bit of time drinking, like Conflagrate builds. But these setbacks are pretty minor, and there's a reason why SM/Ruin is the most used talent build out there. 

Solo PvE: 2/5 

Group PvE: 5/5 

Raid PvE: 5/5 

Solo PvP: 3/5 

Group PvP: 4/5

E: Soul Link - (9/31/11) 

Spec setup - http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=Ii0bZfxhzGxotZxx0z 

Synopsis - The all-rounder of the two common Soul Link builds, it sacrifices a tiny bit of PvP survivalility for a couple of useful PvE tools from Destruction. It's still incredible at outlasting people. The trade-off is that while drain-tanking is removed as an option you do get Bane, which makes a marked difference on your group PvE performance. This build is excellent for solo PvP as it combines defence with a nasty bite in the form of Shadowburn. Also good in BGs, and you always have the option to DS a demon for more damage or health regen. But rely on this too often and you'll burn through your shards! 

Soul Link is also a PvE powerhouse. Its strength lies in being able to switch between Soul Link with Succubus for 13% more damage, MD with Imp for 20% less aggro and DSing a Voidwalker for unlimited HP/mana or a Succubus for even more damage. With this build you're not lacking the useful raid tools from Affliction, and the 11 points spent in Destruction give you a firm enough damage base for the pet bonuses to work on. Very solid, very versatile, but it's not going to be topping the damage charts any time soon without Ruin. 

Not so great in 5-man groups, however. You'll almost always need the Imp in these situations (unless you're with guildies or friends) which prevents you from using either Soul Link or DS, and the aggro reduction is generally a waste in normal instances. 

Solo PvE: 4/5 

Group PvE: 2/5 

Raid PvE: 4/5 

Solo PvP: 5/5 

Group PvP: 3/5 

F: DS/Ruin - (9/21/21) 

Spec setup - http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=Ai0bZfxhzT0oZxx0tr0z 

Synopsis - The young pretender to the raiding crown, with DS/Ruin you'll have the highest single-target DPS of any warlock build. Sacrifice a Succubus and not even SM/Ruin can catch you. This also comes with the fantastic variety that DS offers; sacrifice an Imp instead when AoE is on the cards or a Voidwalker if you're learning an encounter and want to be sure you're alive and casting for as long as possible. If you're in a smaller group and are forced to use your Imp then your DPS will be largely reduced, but not completely crippled as the build still has 21 points spent on nuking efficiency in the Destruction tree. 

PvP however is a different story, where DS/Ruin tends to flounder. Your DoTs aren't the best, so if you sacrifice a pet you're basically left chucking Shadow Bolts around and hoping that a couple connect before people turn their attention to you. The build can seduce-nuke quite well, but lacks both the extra damage and the tricks that SM/Ruin would have available. 

But switch to solo grinding and this build is a monster again. You can flip between awesome nuking prowess and the health regen from a Voidwalker depending on the kind of mobs you're grinding. Add to that the efficiency talents of Improved Corruption, Suppression and Improved Life Tap and you see your grinding speed ramped up another notch. While Shadow Bolt spam is a large part of DS/Ruin, the nature of Demonic Sacrifice means it's hard to get bored with this build. 

Solo PvE: 5/5 

Group PvE: 3/5 

Raid PvE: 5/5 

Solo PvP: 2/5 

Group PvP: 2/5

G: Conflag/NF - (19/0/32) 

Spec setup - http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=AA0bVMbZZxx0tr0tt 

Synopsis - If you tend to walk into a pitched PvP battle and think 'I want to blow the heads off as many of these guys as I can before dying' then Conflag/NF is the best build for your style! You'll have every instant-cast nuke available to the class together with the power and the range to make retaliation difficult. In large-scale PvP you'll want to spam everyone available with Corruption and then run around nuking at 36 yards from a menu of Searing Pain, Immloate, Conflagrate and Nightfall procs. In PvP this build is fast, exciting and explosive. 

Different story in PvE however. When grinding you'll be spending a lot of time sat down and drinking - although high-damage, this build plows through mana quickly with no built in regeneration skill. And with no points in Demonology you're extremely fragile so unexpected adds can be a real problem. 

In raids you have to choose between letting Immolate tick for as long as possible before using Conflagrate (it'll more often than not be knocked off by another debuff) or hitting Conflag as soon as Immolate lands, which will run you out of mana quickly without getting much benefit from your Immolate damage. Nightfall also has has fewer applications with fewer targets to apply Corruption to. This build has the potential to be a good raiding spec, but will only show its real power when the debuff limit is increased in the expansion. Conflag/NF tends to do OK in smaller groups though. You'll have the debuff space to Immloate the mob and spray Corruption on everything in sight, while keeping the luxury of a tank to protect your fragile self. 

Solo PvE: 2/5 

Group PvE: 3/5 

Raid PvE: 2/5 

Solo PvP: 4/5 

Group PvP: 5/5 

H: MD/Ruin - (0/30/21) 

Spec setup - http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=AZfxhuMxoxZxx0tr0z 

Synopsis - With MD/Ruin you combine the unrivalled defence and versatility of a Demonology build with the nuking capability of SM/Ruin. If you can keep a Succubus alive then you get 10% extra to all damage (not just shadow) together with the option of using Demonic Sacrifice to kick things into overdrive. And for aggro-sensitive fights (especially for Horde warlocks) you have the 20% aggro-reduction from your Imp, allowing you to keep pumping out the damage long after the other nuking builds are wanding or dead. However when you're looking at sustained damage, it's actually a very close finish between Soul Link and MD/Ruin - instant Corruption and Improved Life Tap do make up for the reduced crit damage. 

MD/Ruin also does well in 5-man groups with its powerful nukes, good stamina and versatility. You'll be putting out valuable damage, you provide a lot of utility from first tier Demonology and you can easily control your aggro output based on how good your tank is. The 8 DS and MD buffs are also of real use when grinding, although the lack of great DoTs and mobility will hinder you. 

For PvP, the build heavily lends itself to seduce-nuking, especially with the crucial extra 30% duration on that third Seduce. But in BGs you'll find yourself missing some of the Affliction techniques you may be used to, like CoEx, Fel Concentration and (most importantly) instant Corruption. 

Solo PvE: 3/5 

Group PvE: 4/5 

Raid PvE: 4/5 

Solo PvP: 3/5 

Group PvP: 2/5

I: Conflagrate - (7/8/36) 

Spec setup - http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=AV0bZcxZVxotMxtt 

Synopsis - This is a very solid build which is decent for any purpose. You get great nukes, excellent burst damage and important goodies from the two other trees. Compared to other warlock builds, the only area it's really lacking is in solo PvE, where aside from running out of mana often, you have few options to deal with any adds you get when grinding as you lack Demonology's defences or Affliction's tricks. 

In PvP, this build can use Searing Pain as its main nuke, and very well with the appropriate talents to back it up, (you can actually spend 28 points in Destruction solely on talents which improve Searing Pain!) but the real strength is in the 31-point talent Conflagrate. Burst damage is so important in PvP, and killing someone with Shadow Bolt -> Immolate -> Conflagrate for thousands of simultaneous damage before they can heal will save you on many occasions. 

In PvE you can act like a mage, with all the pros and cons which that entails. But when grinding solo you lack the snares a mage would have (unless you've picked Aftermath and are very lucky with procs) so be prepared to take a beating now and then - Demonic Embrace and Improved Imp help a little in this respect. Conflagrate is a nice build to have in 5-man groups, with excellent damage output, good AoE potential and the ability to switch between fire and shadow spells. Raiding should be more promising in the future for the Conflagrate warlock as the two recent 40-man instances allow you to use fire spells properly. However, the 16-slot debuff limit does hinder your use of Immolate. 

Solo PvE: 2/5 

Group PvE: 4/5 

Raid PvE: 3/5 

Solo PvP: 4/5 

Group PvP: 3/5 

5) Bad or broken talents 

Here is a list of talents which are not worth taking regardless of spec: 

- Improved Curse of Weakness - Spending three points to boost a rarely used spell (especially at 60) by a trivial amount. 

- Improved Drain Soul - Will trigger rarely to never in groups, restores a pitiful amount anyway. 

- Improved Drain Life - Bugged, adds 7 DPS to the spell whether you have 0 or 700 +damage gear. 

- Improved Curse of Agony - Bugged, adds 2.5 DPS to the spell whether you have 0 or 700 +damage gear. 

- Improved Drain Mana - If you're using Drain Mana, you're trying to drain their mana, not do some trivial damage. 

- Improved Health Funnel - Remember the last time you wished your Health Funnel had been a little quicker? Me neither. 

- Fel Intellect - Spends five points to increase your pet's maximum mana by a trivial amount. Perhaps lets you Imp do one more Firebolt before being oom. 

- Fel Domination - This is a good talent, but it's important to clarify that it's useless unless you take Master Summoner as well. A 0.5 second summon has many uses, a 4.5 second summon doesn't. 

- Unholy Power - There's only one demon of ours that does physical damage to speak of, and we don't often use her for that. Only take this if you're getting Master Demonologist. 

- Improved Enslave Demon - Large talent point investment for a meagre boost to an enslaved demon's power. It'll still break control, but might last a further 3 seconds. 

- Improved Firestone - Makes no real difference to a skill we don't even use. 

- Improved Spellstone - It's a lacklustre improvement to a skill with so few uses. And it's in tier 7. 

- Aftermath - It's a mild snare. It's unreliable. It's on the same tier as Bane. 

- Improved Lash of Pain - Miniscule improvement to the Succubus' mediocre damage output. 

- Pyroclasm - That's a 26% chance for a single stun. Provided of course that they're kind enough to stay in your AoE for the entire duration and without your channelling being interrupted.

6) Three example builds that aren't good enough 

Here are a selection of builds which come up time and time again despite lacking some crucial aspect. Also included is the advice the warlock community give each spec, hopefully this information will help you when making your own build. 

MD/Siphon - (21/30/0) - http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=IA0bVRboZfxhuMxox 

There's really no reason to take Siphon Life over Soul Link, especially considering how hard Soul Link is to dispel now. The damage from Siphon Life is not worth it in most PvE situations, and in PvP you're much better off with the ultimate warlock defensive skill. Go with SL/NF instead. 

Trispec - (19/21/11) - http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=AA0bVkbZfxhzT0oZxx0z 

Trispec builds like the one above do not excel at anything. Your raid DPS would be mediocre at best, there's no clear strategy for PvP and the entire spec is crippled if you're asked to have the Imp out. Make your mind up what you want to do and spec either SM/DS or DS/Ruin. 

ES/DS - (0/21/30) - http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=NZfxVdM0oZVVbxMxzx 

This build has been suggested by a few warlocks for the possible 25% extra to fire as well as Ruin. However, Conflagrate and being able to have a pet out easily outweigh the boost from DS apart from a few very rare situations. In PvP Conflagrate is exceedingly useful, and in groups/raids you have no spammable spell which takes advantage of the bonuses. Swallow your dreams of enormous Searing Pain crits and take a Conflagrate build. 

7) Abbreviations used 

AoE – Area of Effect 

BGs - Battlegrounds 

CoA - Curse of Agony 

CoD - Curse of Doom 

CoEx - Curse of Exhaustion 

CoR - Curse of Recklessness 

CoS - Curse of Shadows 

CoT - Curse of Tongues 

CotE - Curse of the Elements 

CoW - Curse of Weakness 

DoT - Damage over time spell 

DP - Dark Pact 

DPS - Damage per second 

DS - Demonic Sacrifice 

ES - Emberstorm 

HP - Hit points (health) 

MD - Master Demonologist 

MT - Main Tank 

NF - Nightfall 

Oom - Out of mana 

PvE - Player vs Environment 

PvP - Player vs Player 

SL - Soul Link 

SM - Shadow Mastery

8) Thanks! 

(First few names are gratefully thanked for interesting posts on the EU and US forums, for editing help with this document, or for helping to battle the Rate My Build tide on the old forums. Then listed and thanked are the dozens who spared time and valuable in-game build experience to help with the construction of this FAQ.) 

Aiidoneus, Mosh, Psy, Maso, Mekkapiano, Pyron, Cromfel, Carighan, Mute, Voltari, Graguk, Spiritreaper, Flybane, Majagruu, Xahny, Yami, Sjan, Dracx, Deck, Anxiety, Raabe, Shancy, Craven, Emod, Megalomaniac, Geko, Antharas, Zorlock, Morticai, Coitsu, Anexus, Merion, Vijkstraus, Budziker, Draid, Sauronku, Souls, Xina, Chaosnova, Eon, Aestus, Valdorik, Dimok, Alexander, Megan, Overburn, Asmodan, Widow, Demonify, Bruja, Evild, Mortem, Fizben, Alyssian, Talula, Josev, Xan, Margulis, Emnity, Frase, Blavod, Felius. 

9) Your Questions 

Q: What's a good build for raiding? 

A: If you're out-aggroing your MT (Horde warlocks especially!), MD/Ruin or Soul Link. If aggro is not a concern, DS/Ruin. If aggro is not a concern but you're obliged to have your Imp out, SM/Ruin. 

Q: What's a good spec for Dire Maul/Scholo/Strath etc? 

A: Dark Pact and SM/Ruin are great in this situation. Good damage, fine utility, not hampered by having an Imp out. 

Q: What's a good farming/grinding build? 

A: SM/DS is the king for this scenario, but DS/Ruin and either Soul Link build also perform fine, if a little slower. 

Q: What's a good build for Battlegrounds? 

A: If you want to run around grabbing enormous amounts of killing blows, Conflag/NF or SM/DS work great. If you want to stick around forever and get loads of HKs, a Soul Link build is what you want. 

Q: What's a good duelling spec? 

A: SL/NF is the ultimate here, you should beat almost anything one on one with this build or standard Soul Link. Specs with Conflag also do well in duels, and are arguably more exciting. 

Q: What flexibility is there when making builds? 

A: Affliction is pretty rigid, due to the number of bugged or bad talents you have to avoid. The main choice is whether to pick CoEx or finish off Suppression for warlocks who put lots of points into that tree, it depends on how important PvP is to you. The points in early Demonology are pretty much interchangeable between Improved Healthstone/Imp/Voidwalker/Succubus and Fel Stamina, so just choose what suits. Destruction is the most open of the trees, with only a couple of bad talents. If you're only going for Ruin though, you should probably stick to the Destruction trees shown. Also, some builds have a couple of unspent points when you've got the essentials, such as two extra for Soul Link (usually go into Suppression or Devastation) one extra for Conflag/NF (either goes towards Amplify Curse or making Emberstorm 5/5) and a whopping seven for Conflagrate when you've spent the standard (7/5/32). So yes, there is of course leeway even in these tried and tested builds. 

Q: What about talents in The Burning Crusade? 

A: I encourage build speculation, but this FAQ will focus solely on talent options which are available in-game. Rest assured then when TBC has been released and we've had a chance to see the actual merits of these new talents this topic will be extensively overhauled.

Смотрим 3-6 тэги, если понадобится - идёт в гугл транслейт.

И всего-то двумя сообщениями выше вашего вопроса.

[Arniz 0]

Там, как я понимаю, общий гайд, а меня интересовали индивидуальные особенности данного сервера. Нагуглить билд я в состоянии, но в этой теме писали о том, что какие-то таланты не работают, потому и спрашиваю. 

 

Кроме того, ссылки на калькулятор талантов, как уже отметили выше, не открываются.

[antidot 1356]

Неработающих талантов не знаю ни у лока ни у других классов (вот разве что с шаманами не в курсе). Индивидуальные особенности сервера - это играющие на нём люди

 

Например, из 4 тэга...

 

 

SM/Ruin - (30/0/21) 

Solo PvE: 2/5 Group PvE: 5/5 Raid PvE: 5/5 Solo PvP: 3/5 

Group PvP: 4/5

http://www.wowprovider.com/?talent=11226005_9_845c240502201005s505d5122000100

Есть варианты, как раскидать проходные таланты в афли ветке (агония импрувед, амплифай, етц), но я предпочитаю такой вариант...

В дестро ветке эти 21 таланта жёстко фиксированы, плясать с бубном стоит только если соберёшься качать дипдестро.

Edited July 24, 2014 by antidot

[фткyн 1469]

См/руин гибкий - можно бегать с любым петом - от него толком ничего не зависит, можно взять курсу на замедление.

А в дс/руин тебе постоянно прийдется сакрафайсить пета для баффа, имхо дс/руин веселее но в пвп делать в нем совсем нечего.

[Arniz 0]

Пвп не особо интересует - хотелось бы посмотреть на старые рейды. так сказать, в актуале. А то на офе сейчас их можно зачистить в полтора 60.

[antidot 1356]

См/руин гибкий - можно бегать с любым петом - от него толком ничего не зависит, можно взять курсу на замедление.

А в дс/руин тебе постоянно прийдется сакрафайсить пета для баффа, имхо дс/руин веселее но в пвп делать в нем совсем нечего.

Имхо, замедление для лока бесполезно. Удивляют еще и те локи, которые вкачивают афтермач. Сам такое делал только в упоротом пвп-билде на спам сиринг пейнов.

[фткyн 1469]

Курса в афли, ну.

[antidot 1356]

Курса в афли, ну.

А я о чём?

Курса бесполезна против тех, на кого она нужна. типа друлей, а против рог лучше что-нибудь типа импрувнутого викнеса взять.

[Qutuzoff 1057]

А я о чём?

Курса бесполезна против тех, на кого она нужна. типа друлей, а против рог лучше что-нибудь типа импрувнутого викнеса взять.

Всегда думал что против рог нада проюзать все трини на спд и макс обдотать)

[antidot 1356]

Всегда думал что против рог нада проюзать все трини на спд и макс обдотать)

Нее, Генри, мы тут пляшем про сферическое в вакууме пвп на основе талантов, которые можно взять в афли ветке)

[Heathen 24]

А какие, по вашему, таланты можно взять в аффликшн ветке кроме замедления?

3/5 Suppression дает ПвП хит кап.

Imp. Drain Life бесполезен.

Imp. Drain Soul бесполезен.

Imp. CoW добавляет 6,2 редукта.

Imp. CoA бесполезен.

Imp. Drain Mana бесполезен.

 

Все остальные таланты можно вкачать до сифона, после чего нужно еще 4 таланта до SM. Это либо 3 Imp. CoA, 1/5 CoEx. Либо 4/5 CoEx.

 

CoEx очень полезен на ВСГ, в ассисте и в отборе.

CoW добавляет небольшой бафф курсе, которая полезна только в дуэлях перед столицей, против пары классов.

[Xudojnik 904]

С чего ты взял, что хиткап для спеллов это 6%?

Расскажи почему Imp CoA бесполезен.

[Heathen 24]

ПвП хиткап - 5%.

 

Imp CoA не скалируется от СПД, дает бонус к базовому урону доты. Около ~60 урона за всю длительность доты.

[Xudojnik 904]

ПвП хиткап - 5%.

Это всего лишь твои слова.

Можешь привести полную выкладку теорикрафта?

 

То, что СоА не скалируется, конечно не ок, но для того, чтобы получить +60 урона за всю длительность доты, тебе надо собрать чуть больше 110 дополнительного спд.

Edited July 26, 2014 by Xudojnik

[Heathen 24]

http://blue.cardplace.com/cache/wow-general/4978724.htm

Архив синих постов от Близ. Базовый спелл хит против цели равного уровня - 96%. Так что я был не прав, нужно еще меньше.

 

А то, что КоА плохо скалируется, это не значит что талант полезный. Тем более учитывая то, что большую часть урона КоА наносит ближе к концу. А это 24 секунды.

[antidot 1356]

А смысл от замедления? Оно тут же декурсится, ибо у орды флаги успешно таскают друиды и маги.

Имхо, продуктивнее вложить в импрувед дрейн лайф и получить прибавку в 35.5. Или в тот же викнес (снижение урона до 37 единиц), а остатками добить сапрешн. "Избыточный" хит будет убирать уже резисты цели.

Edited July 26, 2014 by antidot

[Heathen 24]

Замедление можно использовать против вражеского ассиста, а не самого ФК. Или на вражеских игорков, гонящихся за дружественным ФК.

35 статичного урона за 5 очков - не ок.

 

А работают ли тут бинарные спеллы не знаю. На баг трекере есть незакрытая тема на счет этого.

[фткyн 1469]

Избыточный хит? Резисты цели?

[antidot 1356]

Избыточный хит? Резисты цели?

Не забываем читать кавычки)