Warlocks

[bonemage]

I have a level 48 warlock, and he is currently mostly destruction. I find Ruin to be one talent I can't live without, but I will be respecing as I have some wasted in destruction and no longer plan to pursue conflagrate, as I don't really see it's use. Mine is more of hybrid, and as I'm a huge voidwalker fan, I'm pursuing improved voidwalker. Here's my talent spec:

Destruction Mastery
Improved Shadow Bolt Rank 5
Bane Rank 5
Devastation Rank 5
Shadowburn Rank 1
Intensity Rank 2
Improved Searing Pain Rank 3
Ruin Rank 1
Destruction Total: 22

Affliction Mastery
Improved Corruption Rank 5
Improved Life Tap Rank 2
Improved Drain Life Rank 5
Fel Concentration Rank 5
Amplify Curse Rank 1
Nightfall Rank 2
Siphon Life Rank 1
Affliction Total: 21

Demonology Mastery
Improved Healthstone Rank 2
Demonic Embrace Rank 3
Improved Voidwalker Rank 3
Demonology Total: 8

Total Points Spent: 51
Level Required: 60

I went for talents for skills that I use. I solo and do instances in a party. It's important to use talents that compliment your play style. My advice is that Shadowburn is a super skill, and you should get that first, and improved corruption (to make it instant) is a must in my book as well, and do that either before you start destruction or right after, the 5 levels will go by quickly. I use life tap like crazy to fight longer and to reduce downtime. As warlocks heal life quicker due to demon skin/armor, to not use life tap wastes time. Whether or not you spend talent points on it, you should be sure to use it either way. A full health bar without a full mana bar is a waste on a warlock.

I realize that I miss the high end talents with my spread, but it matches my playstyle. But, getting shadowburn and improved corruption are not a waste no matter what you do with everything else. Plus, by the time you have both of those you will have a pretty good idea on what you do and don't like to use, which may help you. I don't think conflagrate is that cool, though you could burst damage fairly well at the end, but likely not burst damaging as well as nightfall proc will allow you to do.

Note: I do PvE, and my build focuses on that. For PvP, it's a tougher call, with good arguements for any tree. However, a Ruin talent enhanced crit with shadowbolt/shadowburn coupled with curse of shadows is a beautiful thing. However, that tactic in PvP requires fear kiting or seduction to get those off, as shadowburn's cooldown will require you to do both. From what I've read, most PvP users get shadowburn, but go no deeper than that in the destructions tree.