08-10-2005, 04:15 PM
First off, I'll start with a couple "mini-builds" where I show common routes to achieve some of the basic warlock talents/functions which can then be incorporated into larger builds.
Drain Tanking
For drain tanking, the goal is to get the talents that increase the damage of drain life, pick up its talent that reduces the chance for it to be interrupted (Fel Concentration) and pick up Nightfall and Improved Life Tap to increase your mana regained by tapping and your damage with the Nightfall proc. My person route through this tree is as follows:
Affliction Talents - 20 points
Improved Corruption rank 5/5
Improved Life Tap rank 2/2
Improved Life Drain rank 5/5
Fel Concentration rank 5/5
Amplify Curse rank 1/1
Nightfall rank 2/2
Ruin
The Ruin talent of the Destruction tree is extremely powerful and adds considerable (streaky) DPS to an end-game warlock who might use Curse of Shadows with Shadow Bolt. There's one change that I see, often, to this build: Some people like to replace Destructive Reach with Improved Lash of Pain. This probably helps your Succubus hold aggro when soloing as well as deal a bit more damage. However, I like the extra range so I usually go with that talent. My choices:
Destruction Talents - 21 points
Improved Shadow Bolt rank 5/5
Bane rank 5/5
Improved Lash of Pain rank 2/2
Devastation rank 5/5
Shadowburn rank 1/1
Intensity rank 2/2
Destructive Reach rank 2/2
Ruin rank 1/1
My Prospective Build
This is the build that I'm currently planning to use. It's a combination of the above two builds but it leaves out Shadow Mastery in order to pick up Demonic Embrace, Improved Lash of Pain, Grim Reach and Siphon Life, which are all very good talents.
One thing to note about this sort of a build: It's tempting to pick up Pyroclasm since it sounds so good on paper. However, it currently is bugged and though I've had the talent for quite a while, I've NEVER seen it proc. So skip it until they fix it. If they do, I'd probably give up Improved Lash of Pain for it.
Affliction Talents - 23 points
Improved Corruption rank 5/5
Improved Life Tap rank 2/2
Improved Life Drain rank 5/5
Fel Concentration rank 5/5
Amplify Curse rank 1/1
Grim Reach rank 2/2
Nightfall rank 2/2
Siphon Life rank 1/1
Demonology Talents - 5 points
Demonic Embrace rank 5/5
Destruction Talents - 23 points
Improved Shadow Bolt rank 5/5
Bane rank 5/5
Improved Lash of Pain rank 2/2
Devastation rank 5/5
Shadowburn rank 1/1
Intensity rank 2/2
Destructive Reach rank 2/2
Ruin rank 1/1
An Alternative End-Game Build
This build is built somewhat as the opposite of the Shadow Mastery/Ruin build. It uses the Demonology Talents to try buff up your pets while being able to use them to increase your damage output/reduce aggro, as needed. The big bonus over the SM/Ruin build is that this one has Demonic Embrace so you should be more effective as an AoE'er, when you use that. However, the downsides are that you don't have improved life tap, you don't have an instant corruption, and you cannot drain tank. Despite this, the damage is good and the Demonology talents are not to be scoffed at. :)
Affliction Talents - 0 points
Demonology Talents - 30 points
Improved Healthstone rank 2/2
Improved Imp rank 3/3
Demonic Embrace rank 5/5
Improved Voidwalker rank 3/3
Improved Succubus rank 3/3
Fel Domination rank 1/1
Master Summoner rank 2/2
Unholy Power rank 5/5
Demonic Sacrifice rank 1/1
Master Demonologist rank 5/5
Destruction Talents - 21 points
Improved Shadow Bolt rank 5/5
Bane rank 5/5
Improved Lash of Pain rank 2/2
Devastation rank 5/5
Shadowburn rank 1/1
Intensity rank 2/2
Ruin rank 1/1
A Future Build
Blizzard has announced that, with the next content patch, Conflagrate, the top tier talent of the Destruction Tree, will be instant cast. This could make it a very effective damage-dealer and something that might be more useful than it is now. Thus, a build I was pondering to test this out was the following build which would use Curse of Elements with Immolate, and Conflagrate to try and deal out big damage. It can also make for an AoE terror considering the extra damage that the AoE's will get from the destruction talents.
The big drawback to this build is that it uses fire damage while lots of the mobs currently in the end-game, including the Molten Core and Blackwing Lair, have fire resistance or immunity. Thus, it might not cut it as an end-game raiding build. However, if more diverse mobs are introduces, it might be a good build to look into and it might actually fair pretty well in the early end-game instances like Scholomance, Stratholme, and Blackrock Spire.
Affliction Talents - 7 points
Improved Corruption rank 5/5
Improved Life Tap rank 2/2
Demonology Talents - 12 points
Improved Healthstone rank 1/2
Improved Imp rank 3/3
Demonic Embrace rank 5/5
Improved Voidwalker rank 3/3
Destruction Talents - 32 points
Cataclysm rank 5/5
Bane rank 5/5
Devastation rank 5/5
Shadowburn rank 1/1
Intensity rank 2/2
Destructive Reach rank 2/2
Improved Immolate rank 5/5
Ruin rank 1/1
Emberstorm rank 5/5
Conflagrate rank 1/1
Drain Tanking
For drain tanking, the goal is to get the talents that increase the damage of drain life, pick up its talent that reduces the chance for it to be interrupted (Fel Concentration) and pick up Nightfall and Improved Life Tap to increase your mana regained by tapping and your damage with the Nightfall proc. My person route through this tree is as follows:
Affliction Talents - 20 points
Improved Corruption rank 5/5
Improved Life Tap rank 2/2
Improved Life Drain rank 5/5
Fel Concentration rank 5/5
Amplify Curse rank 1/1
Nightfall rank 2/2
Ruin
The Ruin talent of the Destruction tree is extremely powerful and adds considerable (streaky) DPS to an end-game warlock who might use Curse of Shadows with Shadow Bolt. There's one change that I see, often, to this build: Some people like to replace Destructive Reach with Improved Lash of Pain. This probably helps your Succubus hold aggro when soloing as well as deal a bit more damage. However, I like the extra range so I usually go with that talent. My choices:
Destruction Talents - 21 points
Improved Shadow Bolt rank 5/5
Bane rank 5/5
Improved Lash of Pain rank 2/2
Devastation rank 5/5
Shadowburn rank 1/1
Intensity rank 2/2
Destructive Reach rank 2/2
Ruin rank 1/1
My Prospective Build
This is the build that I'm currently planning to use. It's a combination of the above two builds but it leaves out Shadow Mastery in order to pick up Demonic Embrace, Improved Lash of Pain, Grim Reach and Siphon Life, which are all very good talents.
One thing to note about this sort of a build: It's tempting to pick up Pyroclasm since it sounds so good on paper. However, it currently is bugged and though I've had the talent for quite a while, I've NEVER seen it proc. So skip it until they fix it. If they do, I'd probably give up Improved Lash of Pain for it.
Affliction Talents - 23 points
Improved Corruption rank 5/5
Improved Life Tap rank 2/2
Improved Life Drain rank 5/5
Fel Concentration rank 5/5
Amplify Curse rank 1/1
Grim Reach rank 2/2
Nightfall rank 2/2
Siphon Life rank 1/1
Demonology Talents - 5 points
Demonic Embrace rank 5/5
Destruction Talents - 23 points
Improved Shadow Bolt rank 5/5
Bane rank 5/5
Improved Lash of Pain rank 2/2
Devastation rank 5/5
Shadowburn rank 1/1
Intensity rank 2/2
Destructive Reach rank 2/2
Ruin rank 1/1
An Alternative End-Game Build
This build is built somewhat as the opposite of the Shadow Mastery/Ruin build. It uses the Demonology Talents to try buff up your pets while being able to use them to increase your damage output/reduce aggro, as needed. The big bonus over the SM/Ruin build is that this one has Demonic Embrace so you should be more effective as an AoE'er, when you use that. However, the downsides are that you don't have improved life tap, you don't have an instant corruption, and you cannot drain tank. Despite this, the damage is good and the Demonology talents are not to be scoffed at. :)
Affliction Talents - 0 points
Demonology Talents - 30 points
Improved Healthstone rank 2/2
Improved Imp rank 3/3
Demonic Embrace rank 5/5
Improved Voidwalker rank 3/3
Improved Succubus rank 3/3
Fel Domination rank 1/1
Master Summoner rank 2/2
Unholy Power rank 5/5
Demonic Sacrifice rank 1/1
Master Demonologist rank 5/5
Destruction Talents - 21 points
Improved Shadow Bolt rank 5/5
Bane rank 5/5
Improved Lash of Pain rank 2/2
Devastation rank 5/5
Shadowburn rank 1/1
Intensity rank 2/2
Ruin rank 1/1
A Future Build
Blizzard has announced that, with the next content patch, Conflagrate, the top tier talent of the Destruction Tree, will be instant cast. This could make it a very effective damage-dealer and something that might be more useful than it is now. Thus, a build I was pondering to test this out was the following build which would use Curse of Elements with Immolate, and Conflagrate to try and deal out big damage. It can also make for an AoE terror considering the extra damage that the AoE's will get from the destruction talents.
The big drawback to this build is that it uses fire damage while lots of the mobs currently in the end-game, including the Molten Core and Blackwing Lair, have fire resistance or immunity. Thus, it might not cut it as an end-game raiding build. However, if more diverse mobs are introduces, it might be a good build to look into and it might actually fair pretty well in the early end-game instances like Scholomance, Stratholme, and Blackrock Spire.
Affliction Talents - 7 points
Improved Corruption rank 5/5
Improved Life Tap rank 2/2
Demonology Talents - 12 points
Improved Healthstone rank 1/2
Improved Imp rank 3/3
Demonic Embrace rank 5/5
Improved Voidwalker rank 3/3
Destruction Talents - 32 points
Cataclysm rank 5/5
Bane rank 5/5
Devastation rank 5/5
Shadowburn rank 1/1
Intensity rank 2/2
Destructive Reach rank 2/2
Improved Immolate rank 5/5
Ruin rank 1/1
Emberstorm rank 5/5
Conflagrate rank 1/1
-TheDragoon