Hi there. Just leveling my warlock alt and wondering this simple question. Can’t seem to find solid info on this anywhere.
Backdraft only affects Incinerate and Chaos Bolt.
So ideally, you should time your backdraft to use it with Chaos Bolt to make the best use of it.
But that is not a strict this-or-nothing rule. Try for yourself, get familiar with the spec first, then work on ‘raid performance’ once you have a generic idea how the spec function and feel.
As mentioned… priority is chaos bolts. Don’t cast chaos bolts without them.Incinerate is second priority by a long shot.
Basically, keep one stack of conflagrate in hand and use up the second stack. If on using conflagrate(1) you have enough soulshards, use chaos bolt. If you dont, keep using ininerate till you fill 35 shards, then use conflagrate(2) which will bring it to 40 and pull out 2 chaos bolts.
If I’ve built enough shards for one, should I cast the Chaos Bolt? Or should I move, and keep building (with Incinerate) until I can cast 2 Chaos Bolts?
Your reply, if taken literally, would mean you think you should hold it until you have a chance for a big nasty burst.
Or is it talents and Azerite Traits that make it worth holding until you can rain down Chaos Bolts in a window of time? I’m curious since one of my alts is a warlock.
It literally doesn’t matter. It’s technically better to use on Chaos Bolt, but it’s even more better to not cap Conflag charges and always be casting. There are way better things to focus on optimizing.
If you already have enough shards for a bolt… shoot one. If you have to build up for it, your backdraft stacks would’ve gone by the time u do.
Do what feels right in the moment… on trash or a mob about to die, shoot as and when you can. On a boss or priority mob or before havoc window wait for 2 in a row. Otherwise you’ll again waste a charge of backdraft. With trash your conflagrate will be up by the time you hit the next pack so doesn’t matter.