This is a basic Warlock guide to get started with. Its an alteration of the guide that i once
heeded. All suggestions and opinions are welcome.
Q: Which race is best?
A:
PvP
Ally: Human and gnome are about even, but I think the human racial is slightly better than gnome.
Horde: Depends on the situation, but undead's WotF seems to be a favorite. Orc can offer stun reduction and Belf has a silence.
PvE
Ally: Humans, have Human Spirit and, thanks to fel armor, this gives sp. Gnome has Expansive Mind which is worth about .3-.4% crit and some mana. Afflocks and demo locks would benefit the most from Human Spirit, gaining anywhere between 3-10sp. Destro on the other hand, could get anywhere between 1-3sp and the crit from Expansive Mind might be closer to .5%.
Horde: Orc, Blood Fury and Command both can increase dps. Belf and undead have no dps increasing racials.
Q: Which Spec/tree is best? What are differences?
A: There isn't a best spec, there is only what spec fits you best. All 3 are great specs, only skill and a few bugs make the difference.
Affliction
Relies on Dots and Drains to deal damage and has several self healing capabilities. Popular for leveling and PvP, but also very good for raiding. Little to no reliance on minions for dps. Most mana efficient caster.
Demonology
Relies on CDs and pets for dps (directly and indirectly). Hardest of the 3 specs to be good at, but is a beastly spec when controlled by a skilled user. This one here is my personal fav.
Destruction
Relies direct damage spells for dps. Very limited survivability; a "kill them before they kill you" style. Reliance on minion depends on the build. Least unique (fire mage with an imp), but also the most easy spec to play.
Q: Which stats do i need?
A: The stats values vary a bit with all 3 specs and what you're doing.
Leveling
SP > Sta > Spirit (ONLY if glyphed) > hit > haste (Aff: only if glyphed) > crit
PVP
Hit (4-6%) > Spell Pen (130) > Resilience > SP > Haste > Sta > Crit > Int
Raid
Affliction - Hit (till capped) > Haste ≥ SP > Spirit (pre-icc) ≥ Crit > Spirit (icc geared)
Demonology - Hit (till capped) > Haste > Crit > SP > Spirit
Destruction - Hit (till capped) > SP > haste ≥ crit > spirit
Q: What is the hit cap?
A: Is different for dungeons and raids. PvP'ers typically aim for the dungeon cap.
Raid - Chance to miss is 83% on bosses so 17% is the hard cap for ALL casters, without talents or racials you need 446 hit rating to reach it.
Soft caps
16% or 420 rating - If there is a Draenei in your group (not raid, GROUP)
14% or 368 rating - 3/3 Suppression(not doing the numbers for 2/3 or 1/3)
13% or 342 rating - 3/3 Suppression + Draenei
11% or 289 rating - 3/3 Suppression + Spriest or Boomkin in the raid
10% or 263 rating - 3/3 Suppression + Draenei + Spriest or Boomkin
Dungeon - Chance to miss is 94% so 6% is the hard cap for all casters and takes 158 rating without talents.
Soft caps
5% or 132 rating - If there is a Draenei in your group (not raid, GROUP)
3% or 79 rating - 3/3 Suppression(not doing the numbers for 2/3 or 1/3)
2% or 53 rating - 3/3 Suppression + Draenei
3/3 Suppression + Spriest or Boomkin puts you at the cap and + Draenei puts you 1% over
Q: What weapons can i use?
A:
Locks can use staffs, daggers, "held in offhand" items, and wands by default. They can also train 1h swords.
Q: Staff vs 1hand+offhand?
A:
Here's the breakdown: Assuming the same item level, staffs typically have higher base stats (stam, int, etc) while daggers/swords+oh have higher combat stats (SP, crit, hit, etc). In other words, staffs have better survivability for PvP and 1h+oh provide better dps for raids.
The *only* exception is donating for the heroic LK staff, I've done the math comparing Archus(H) vs Bloodsurge(H) (I included fel armor (untalented), sp enchants, and non-JC sp gems, also i converted int to crit)
Archus = 1085sp, 141 haste, 1.13% crit
Bloodsurge = 979sp, 71 haste, 1.7% crit
In order to just balance out the sp difference you'd need an offhand with 106sp. Currently, there are only 2 NON-DONOR offhands that matches the sp is Shadow Silk Spindle even though you'd lose only 10 haste and Sundial of Eternal Dusk which gives you 18 more sp from spirit at the loss of 10 haste.
TL DR - 1h+oh is still better, the Heroic LK staff is just cheaper
Q: Which glyphs should i use?
A: For PvP there is too many options so I'm not going to list all of them. Minor glyphs offer no dps so I'm not going to go through those either.
Leveling:
Glyph of Life Tap is great if you can afford it, Voidwalker is recommended if you are using your VW. Shadow Bolt and Corruption are also good.
Raiding:
Affliction: Quick Decay + Haunt + Life Tap
Demonology: Life Tap + Quick Decay/Felguard (for raid sp bonus) + Metamorphosis
Destruction: Conflagrate, Incinerate, Life tap (≥500 spirit), immolate (<500 spirit)
PvP: Must have glyphs
Affliction: Quick Decay + Curse of Exhaustion + Shadowflame (effective against melee) + Siphon life/Haunt
Demonology: Quick Decay + Meta + (whatever u wanna toy with)
Destruction: Conflagrate + Immolate + Chaos Bolt
Q: What are some good Lock addons?
A:
General addons can be found here.
Either Necrosis or LunarSphere are good, but they work better at later levels (like 60+). Necrosis is lock only, but LunarSphere can work for any class. Both are able to track shards.
An addon to track soul shards is very recommended and there are tons to choose from. I prefer Lunar, addons like ammofu are also able to track em.
Dotimer should be a must if you are affliction, not bad for demo/destro as well.
ForteXorcist is a popular raid addon. Includes a DoT tracker and CD timer.
Tinycasterstats is handy to have.
MikScrollingbattletext is good, even just for the alerts. Power Auras Classic and NeedToKnow are popular alternatives.
AKSShardMax is a nice addon to have while leveling; you can set it to keep a minimum amount of shards and delete the extras so your bags don't get cluttered.
Quartz and Castbars are good castbar replacements.
heeded. All suggestions and opinions are welcome.
Q: Which race is best?
A:
PvP
Ally: Human and gnome are about even, but I think the human racial is slightly better than gnome.
Horde: Depends on the situation, but undead's WotF seems to be a favorite. Orc can offer stun reduction and Belf has a silence.
PvE
Ally: Humans, have Human Spirit and, thanks to fel armor, this gives sp. Gnome has Expansive Mind which is worth about .3-.4% crit and some mana. Afflocks and demo locks would benefit the most from Human Spirit, gaining anywhere between 3-10sp. Destro on the other hand, could get anywhere between 1-3sp and the crit from Expansive Mind might be closer to .5%.
Horde: Orc, Blood Fury and Command both can increase dps. Belf and undead have no dps increasing racials.
Q: Which Spec/tree is best? What are differences?
A: There isn't a best spec, there is only what spec fits you best. All 3 are great specs, only skill and a few bugs make the difference.
Affliction
Relies on Dots and Drains to deal damage and has several self healing capabilities. Popular for leveling and PvP, but also very good for raiding. Little to no reliance on minions for dps. Most mana efficient caster.
Demonology
Relies on CDs and pets for dps (directly and indirectly). Hardest of the 3 specs to be good at, but is a beastly spec when controlled by a skilled user. This one here is my personal fav.
Destruction
Relies direct damage spells for dps. Very limited survivability; a "kill them before they kill you" style. Reliance on minion depends on the build. Least unique (fire mage with an imp), but also the most easy spec to play.
Q: Which stats do i need?
A: The stats values vary a bit with all 3 specs and what you're doing.
Leveling
SP > Sta > Spirit (ONLY if glyphed) > hit > haste (Aff: only if glyphed) > crit
PVP
Hit (4-6%) > Spell Pen (130) > Resilience > SP > Haste > Sta > Crit > Int
Raid
Affliction - Hit (till capped) > Haste ≥ SP > Spirit (pre-icc) ≥ Crit > Spirit (icc geared)
Demonology - Hit (till capped) > Haste > Crit > SP > Spirit
Destruction - Hit (till capped) > SP > haste ≥ crit > spirit
Q: What is the hit cap?
A: Is different for dungeons and raids. PvP'ers typically aim for the dungeon cap.
Raid - Chance to miss is 83% on bosses so 17% is the hard cap for ALL casters, without talents or racials you need 446 hit rating to reach it.
Soft caps
16% or 420 rating - If there is a Draenei in your group (not raid, GROUP)
14% or 368 rating - 3/3 Suppression(not doing the numbers for 2/3 or 1/3)
13% or 342 rating - 3/3 Suppression + Draenei
11% or 289 rating - 3/3 Suppression + Spriest or Boomkin in the raid
10% or 263 rating - 3/3 Suppression + Draenei + Spriest or Boomkin
Dungeon - Chance to miss is 94% so 6% is the hard cap for all casters and takes 158 rating without talents.
Soft caps
5% or 132 rating - If there is a Draenei in your group (not raid, GROUP)
3% or 79 rating - 3/3 Suppression(not doing the numbers for 2/3 or 1/3)
2% or 53 rating - 3/3 Suppression + Draenei
3/3 Suppression + Spriest or Boomkin puts you at the cap and + Draenei puts you 1% over
Q: What weapons can i use?
A:
Locks can use staffs, daggers, "held in offhand" items, and wands by default. They can also train 1h swords.
Q: Staff vs 1hand+offhand?
A:
Here's the breakdown: Assuming the same item level, staffs typically have higher base stats (stam, int, etc) while daggers/swords+oh have higher combat stats (SP, crit, hit, etc). In other words, staffs have better survivability for PvP and 1h+oh provide better dps for raids.
The *only* exception is donating for the heroic LK staff, I've done the math comparing Archus(H) vs Bloodsurge(H) (I included fel armor (untalented), sp enchants, and non-JC sp gems, also i converted int to crit)
Archus = 1085sp, 141 haste, 1.13% crit
Bloodsurge = 979sp, 71 haste, 1.7% crit
In order to just balance out the sp difference you'd need an offhand with 106sp. Currently, there are only 2 NON-DONOR offhands that matches the sp is Shadow Silk Spindle even though you'd lose only 10 haste and Sundial of Eternal Dusk which gives you 18 more sp from spirit at the loss of 10 haste.
TL DR - 1h+oh is still better, the Heroic LK staff is just cheaper
Q: Which glyphs should i use?
A: For PvP there is too many options so I'm not going to list all of them. Minor glyphs offer no dps so I'm not going to go through those either.
Leveling:
Glyph of Life Tap is great if you can afford it, Voidwalker is recommended if you are using your VW. Shadow Bolt and Corruption are also good.
Raiding:
Affliction: Quick Decay + Haunt + Life Tap
Demonology: Life Tap + Quick Decay/Felguard (for raid sp bonus) + Metamorphosis
Destruction: Conflagrate, Incinerate, Life tap (≥500 spirit), immolate (<500 spirit)
PvP: Must have glyphs
Affliction: Quick Decay + Curse of Exhaustion + Shadowflame (effective against melee) + Siphon life/Haunt
Demonology: Quick Decay + Meta + (whatever u wanna toy with)
Destruction: Conflagrate + Immolate + Chaos Bolt
Q: What are some good Lock addons?
A:
General addons can be found here.
Either Necrosis or LunarSphere are good, but they work better at later levels (like 60+). Necrosis is lock only, but LunarSphere can work for any class. Both are able to track shards.
An addon to track soul shards is very recommended and there are tons to choose from. I prefer Lunar, addons like ammofu are also able to track em.
Dotimer should be a must if you are affliction, not bad for demo/destro as well.
ForteXorcist is a popular raid addon. Includes a DoT tracker and CD timer.
Tinycasterstats is handy to have.
MikScrollingbattletext is good, even just for the alerts. Power Auras Classic and NeedToKnow are popular alternatives.
AKSShardMax is a nice addon to have while leveling; you can set it to keep a minimum amount of shards and delete the extras so your bags don't get cluttered.
Quartz and Castbars are good castbar replacements.
