[Guide] 2.4.3 Destruction Warlock PvP Compendium

[Vicarious]

Alright, with the risk of sounding retarded I'll say that according to the constructive criticism listed above I need to put more work/get more in depth at the "In Combat" section.

Am I correct?

That would be a start. Try to not only include your perspective as a warlock, but your opponents perspective as well. What is he doing, why is he doing it, and how can you counter it.

Go ahead and give me the whole lap, not just the start so I can get to work.

Now I fully understand what has to be done with the In Combat section, it's going to take a hella lot of time but it should be worth it when the complete thing is out.

Of course, but still more detailed than any SF guide I've seen yet.

[Horrorfever]

I am working on the In Combat section as we speak. I think once it's completed it is going to be some pretty neat stuff and furfill that depth thing you both mentioned.

In the meantime go on and throw ideas and criticism regarding the other sections, especially the Demon thing.

[Horrorfever]

• 
  

  Warriors are one of the easiest opponents for you as a destruction warlock, simply becouse of Seduction. Do not always rely on that too and therefore never underestimate a warrior. A good warrior can still anihiliate you in seconds due to your low armor and lack of defences. Your job against a warrior is to try to keep him controlled as much as possible with seductions and other control abillities such as Shadowfury and Death Coil, while of course giving him all the DPS you have. In the opener, where you will hopefully get a seduction try to position yourself in kiting range. You can do two kiting methods against a warrior. The first and in the bast case scenario is that he will not hamstring you and therefore not lower your movement speed, in this case you should use the seduction time to position yourself at max range before you start casting and chaining him down. The second one is the version where you will get charged and hamstringed on opener. In such case getting max range is imposible, instead position yourself in a rogue kiting position - not close enough to be hit by his melee abillities and not too far in order to avoid getting charged. Whenever you are death coiling him, try to chase him before stopping to cast in order to avoid a potential trinket and charge. Watch out for Spell Reflections, they can be the game changer for him. Pet Control may be crucial, do your best not to get your pet feared.

• Always use Curse of Weakness on his Spell Reflect. (It will give you -attack power, irrelevant debuff to you)
• Place your Succubus to stay somewhere near the fight, yet make sure that she is out of range of his fear, but in range for a Seduction. (Once he uses his fear you may get her into the fight for the sake of Soothing Kiss)
• Curse of the Elements is your best use against a warrior, simlpy becouse it's a damage fight. (With Curse of Agony you risk ruining potentially needed seductions.)
• Use your PvP trinket for a hamstring freeze due to IMP Hamstring talent or a stun. (If you are reaching low hp)
• [Linken's Boomerang] kicks ass against warriors. (due to the disarm effect)
  
  
  
• A good paladin will cleanse immolate, so conflagrate instantly after one.
  
  HOLY

  A holy paladin is another easy target for you, yet do not underestimate him again. A good holy paladin may extend the fight for so long untill you eventually find yourself OOM and on low hp - basicly helpless. Both the Succubus and the Felhunter can do the desired effect against a Holy Paladin, even thought a Felhunter is preferable due to the simple fact that your Succubus will most likely find herself OOM in late fight and potentially when you need her most. You will not OOM a Holypaladin, therefore try to mana conserve somehow, using more of Searing Pain due of its low mana cost sounds like a good idea. Try to keep Curse of Tongues refreshed whenever you need it in order to prevent him from quick healing. Another good advice is not to use your cooldowns - such as shadowfury and death coil for the sake of a destru chain and burst, but instead use them to interrupt his healing attempts, since even if you have Curse of Tongues up - it is still pointless if you have nothing to interrupt the heal with. Your best bet is to try to save your death coil for after his bubble, since its pretty useless before that if you look at the big picture. Watch out for Fear/Seduction DR - you don't want to find yourself trying to interrupt a heal with one of them and get an "Immune" combat text in return.

• Swap between Curse of the Elements & Curse of Tongues according to the situation.
• Try to first-aid yourself during his bubble.
• Save your PvP trinket for late fight and after his bubble for the sake of a survival attempt of his interruption and therefore a kill. (since it will not make a difference before bubble)
• Late fight, Lifetap in advance. (otherwise you risk finding yourself OOM during a nuke attempt and therefore fail it)
  
  SHOCKADIN

  The shockadin is way harder than the holy paladin for you, simply becouse just like you can destroy him in seconds - so can he. A good Shockadin will most likely prefer Wings instead of a Bubble, but don't rely on that. Due of the fight expected to be shorter than one with a Holypaladin and him expected to prefer to do more DPS than healing - a Succubus is preferable. Try to get the first hit with an early seduction, if he decides to do the same thing he will most likely stun you and begin his bursting - pay attention that a good shockadin will kill you in five seconds. Here is what you can try to do against his bursting attempts: The perfect idea is to seduce him the moment he stuns you and begins bursting you down. Then, he will most likely use his pop his PvP trinket in order to carry on with the nuke. Once he does that you have two options: What I believe is the best one is to trinket whatever is remaining of his stun, instantly death coil him and healthstone yourself in order to avoid another quick burst and a suprising loss, and afterwards continue destru chaining him down. Due to his preference of wings and early pvp trinket - he is defenceless. Blow your full CDs and give him everything you've got, just make sure to get a kill. Since if you don't you will also find yourself defenceless and risk him comming back at you but this time to finish you off. The second one is to perform another seduction during the moments that remain of his stun. The problem I have with this one is that.. yes you will save a PvP trinket, but you will be unable to finish your destru chain to to the DR of your Seduction and Fear, therefore he will most likely survive and come back. You will have a PvP trinket but no abillities to counter his with afterwards making it completely wasted. The previous sentence is however the best option if he prefers to bubble instead.

• Swap between Curse of the Elements & Curse of Tongues according to the situation.
• Use your PvP trinket only for a kill opportunity. (unless it's crucial for your survival)
• Make sure to pull your Succubus away in order to get it back invisible if he bubbles. (then he cannot fear it)
• Try to first-aid yourself and don't be shy to use a healthstone. (don't wait for low HP to healthstone, it may be too late)

Here is what I have done so far, way better than the current stuff, isn't it?

[Horrorfever]

UPDATED SECTIONS 5,6 & 7!

Added more depth just as the constructive criticism above pointed to may be needed.

Check them out, what do you think?

[Vicarious]

I play against Rets a totally different way, also you have a little note in the Ret section stating to use corruption if you have improved but they will just cleanse it like immolate, no point. I prefer felhunter against a Ret paladin because he simply can't heal at that point, also Devour Magic removes HoJ and Repentance (and once those are gone, Vindication and Judgements). Additionally you can blanket silence in your favor, preventing a cleanse on an immolate for example if you want to land an incinerate conflagrate combo (I advise only using these blanket silences early since you want to interrupt heals later). I keep curse of agony on him the whole time because a lot of the duel is keeping your distance from him rather than spamming casts while he's in your face, and agony HURTS towards the last ticks, no matter your spec. DoT pressure is a key part of warlock no matter your spec, and if you feel it's time to CC curses can ALWAYS be changed. So Devour the Repentance (especially if he doesn't Judge you first, then Devour has 100% chance to drop the Repentance) and trinket Hammer of Justice, meanwhile using all your combos and CD's (with agony up) to make him bubble, at that point he has to stop and heal so you can gain all the distance you need, then you can pretty much kill him on his way to you after bubble. I've never lost to a Ret this way, even when they use engi shit.

[Horrorfever]

1000 views, only so few comments!

[Horrorfever]

Minor edits there and there.

Made the In Combat section more.. eye-friendly while adding more images instead of having it as a huge wall of text.


Looking to perfect this, but I need some constructive criticism to help me, anyone?

[aocch1]

Very nice guide. thank you.

[Falseroll]

you did a very good job there horror.
we could had more forms of gameplay's if many stuff here were working in the way as they used to work :p.
up up!
this stuff will have a long travel!
cheers!

[Exaggeration]

Ayyyyy, Horror actually doing something to benefit others without any special treatment. Honestly very surprising. -Quenched.