At level 40 would Destro become a viable leveling spec if leveling with a healer friend?
If youāre duoing anything is possible, but conserving mana and multidotting is going to be better still.
Potentially. Iād probably go straight AOE spec at that point, get the stuns and uninterruptible chance and hellfire large packs youāve pulled with corruptions. Use imp on passive for blood pact and fire shield yourself.
EDIT: Pally would be best with uninterruptible aura, and almost infinite heals. Priest also a solid choice.
What talents you choose depends on server type.
Maybe.
I went for some demo to get a cheap and dirty double sacā¦ but Iāve never had to use it. Oddly, on an undead lock I took to 52, I did. But this guy, Ram, hasnāt even had to summon after a sac.
But destro is great for leveling. I have rapid fire imp and he is a beast. Stunning/dazing aoe is nice too, esp. if you dot up while mage aoeās, then you rain.
Imp lifetap is nice but very overratedā¦ as is imp lifedrain.
Fastest grind is using bandages and bolts after 2 dots, and using your horror on cooldown. Draintank is nice, but sooooooo slow. Trust me. This is like the 8th lock Iāve leveled un classic.
Yes, trust the level 47 Lock instead of the speed runners/detailed guides with math breakdowns.
At 60 once BWL comes out, there actually is a super imp build thatās super viable for raiding. The problem with imp is that he runs out of mana and then is unable to attack. He does have a ton of dps potential though.
Imp lifedrain is actually a bit overrated, but imp lifetap is not. It saves globals/health.
I believe Tin is arguing for efficient leveling, while Orcasms is supporting speed leveling.
If you never want to bandage or drink, then drain away. If you want to hit 60 sooner, sbolt and horror.
Btw, deathcoil is insanely efficient in practice. Insanely. Instant cast trading mana for dmg + health? Its like a lifetap that deals dmg and ccās. Its like the (mtg) black lotus of wow. Every deck should have one.
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Efficiency = Speed. You might kill INDIVIDUAL mobs faster, but you wonāt kill 100 mobs faster.
100%
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How many toons have you gotten to 60 in classic? I have over 200 lock levels in classic.
Never trust someone who uses the ābut Iām 60 and you are notā argument. They are displaying limited intelligence off the bat.
Lol the thread started off with people giving their opinions then sure enough at the bottom itās just debates 
Try it. It comes down to how often you bandage per x mobsā¦ obv.
Now, in the last 3-4 actual weeks Iāve had 2 different locks grinding the same spots at the same levels in similar gear.
I used to advocate the drainlife. But its not even closeā¦ get some sbolts and coils in there and mix in bandages with lifetaps and you are a machinegun.
At the end of the day youāre a lock, youāre going to crush leveling.
Drain tanking is just objectively the fastest. That may or may not matter to you.
Lol donāt drag me into this. Shadowbolt is really bad for leveling.
How about we stay away from ad hom arguments.
I refuse to go away. I will, however, stealth.
PS - I did like your comment about CNN.
Thanks, everybody. Iāll take the time to sift through all of the arguing/debating later on today to find posts that are relevant.
Well, Iām glad the convo is still civilā¦ it veered dangerously for a miment there.
I believe that while draintanking may appear faster, it doesnāt account for the time/waste of drain life, and the inefficiency of its coefficient, while you can max first aid very quickly. Sbolt, however, has a godly coefficient that can make a frost mage jealous.
Soā¦ pushing + shadow dmg gear, plus keeping first aid maxed (and knowing when bandaging is boosting xp/hr vs not), and using sbolt to speed up kills, the time saved by sbolt more than makes up for the efficiency of drain life.
Thatās not to say its a static comparison. Earlier on, draining is much better. But around level 40 or so, sdrain overtakes tdrain.
edit: my rule of thumb is, if Iām taking it on the chin frequently enough that my hp is going down from anything other than lifetap or a spell crit, from mob to mob ( as opposed to it going down during combat), Iām being inefficient.
I would think itās viable.
Iāve been leveling as affliction, but because of preference and not optimization (because idk whatās optimal for leveling locks). I think affliction is the coolest spec, and so far questing has been a breeze. Iāll send in the voidwalker, apply DoTs, and then Fear and DoT another mob while my voidwalker and DoTs finish off the first mob.
I can usually survive when I accidentally pull 3-4 mobs but definitely have to drink/eat afterwards. When I just focus on one target at a time, I donāt have to stop and drink but like every 10ish mobs (assuming theyāre in my level range of plus or minus 2 levels) which is really amazing.
I can solo an elite mob my level if I can keep it constantly feared and without pulling other mobs, but actually struggle to kill mobs that are 4-5 lvls higher than me. My voidwalker canāt hold aggro even if I let him fight for a few seconds before applying DoTs, and once I pull aggro and they resist Fear Iām way too squishy even with voidwalker sacrifice. I guess thatās how it should be though. Iām not complaining.
Also, Iām not usually worried about being ganked (unless by a higher level) which is very nice as Iām on a PvP server during phase 2. There are times when an alliance will start attacking me while Iām currently on a mob, and landing a single Fear (or two if they have the PvP trinket already) on the other player allows me to recover pretty well.
Iām only lvl 35 so I havenāt gotten into the more difficult zones, but Iāve definitely gotten a feel for how incredibly easy it is to level a warlock compared to many classes.
I havenāt played around with destruction spec, but they will still have many of the same tools as an affliction warlock while leveling at least. Iād imagine they probably have to be more concious of soul shards and maybe theyād more consistenty cast spells during a fight instead of DoTs/wanding which might make them stop to drink a little more. But maybe Iām wrong on that, because I really think that theyād still have most of the same tool kit as affliction.
10/10 would recommend leveling a warlock
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/vanish! muwahahahahaha
I leveled in destro. It works if youāre blowing up things 2 levels below you. I try to kill the mob before it hits me, juggling threat from myself and the imp.
I personally think itās the funnest way.
I had around +120 fire power at level 30-35. Fiery wrath warlock.
Imp pulls while you make space between yourself and the imp. Curse of elements and corruption to not pull aggro yet. Shadowbolt followed by immolate and a searing pain and shadow burn.
Yeah, thatās always been the problem with warlocks no matter what version of WoW you are playing. Multi-dotting just doesnāt cut it. Youād think it would; but, AoE always wins out. Took me a long time to figure that out.
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Spoiler alert - melee spec. Hereās what I did while leveling:
10-30 affliction - I geared myself towards drain tanking and nightfall, but got a little bored of the DoT and drain style
30-48 destruction - ruin is really heavy and fun for me. Very mana inefficient, but just get some mage water when you log in. Was not a deal breaker for me. very fun for pvp, especially when you get conflagration and even practice seduce & conflag combos
48-58 melee spec - demonology & affliction (basically traditional SL) - I got soul link, improved firestone, thrash blade and fiery weapon. This was my favorite spec to level. The procs were very frequent and thrash blade gives chance to double attack. Melee auto attack, procs, big pet damage and ticking dots had me frequently topping Details dps charts in ZF, Mara, ST & some BRD. Very little mana usage and fun/useful demonology talents. Able to mitigate a lot of damage from soul link while meleeing - voidwalker for even more mitigation, usually used succ for 10% to all dmg (yes, including melee and procs). Nightfall procs ramped up the damage, but I only got that at 56 & 57
58-60 sm/ruin - kind of cool especially in a group where you can cast corruption on a lot of targets in one pull to nightfall proc between shadow bolt spam, but not as fun as the prior specs and overall boring to me
60 - destruction - 0/17/34 - improved VW sac, fast pet summon (almost instant VW sac) and improved succubus, healthstone and more sta. Conflag build and, with a bunch of stacks of mage water, was great in 5-10 mans and pvp. most group mobs donāt live long enough for full use of dot ticks from my experience anyway
If I could change one thing, I would have explored melee spec and play style at much lower level. thrash blade is great for it (mid 40s), but, in retrospect, I would have wanted to try out many weapons with chance on hit, fiery and firestone
Either way, any spec works if you have fun doing it and make accommodations.
Hope this helps and best of luck!
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