04-28-2005, 10:49 AM
Firstly, I think this was a good post about the warlock's exceptional strengths in PvE, as well as the many aggravating issues which make warlocks less fun to play.
I'd like to take issue with one point, however.
I've made the point before, but I'll make it again. Factor in curses and most warlock spells are at par or better than their mage equivalents. And warlock AoE is simply better; the highest DPS AoE in the game.
Yeah, I went there. Everyone always holds up Instant Arcane Explosion as the state of the art of AoE. IAE supposedly has 253 dps vs. the 208 dps of hellfire - clearly better, right?
It would almost be right. But that statement hangs on one critical assumption: that the global spell timer is 1.0 seconds. It isn't. It's 1.5s. IAE can only be fired at most every 1.5s, even though it's instant cast, which puts IAE's damage down to 169 dps. Hellfire, however, correctly pulses once a second, scoring 208 dps.
Yes, that's right. Mages, the class that specializes in AoE damage, don't have the highest DPS AoE in the game. IAE is also less efficient then Hellfire. Yes, Hellfire has drawbacks, but add a fire protection potion and a Concentration aura and mix well to get rid of those. In contrast, there's virtually nothing that a party member can do to make IAE better.
At least there's something warlocks can do besides DPS. Mages are supposed to do it, and yet, somehow, they don't.
I'd like to take issue with one point, however.
Drasca,Apr 28 2005, 03:17 AM Wrote:Spells less powerful than mages? Fine.
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I've made the point before, but I'll make it again. Factor in curses and most warlock spells are at par or better than their mage equivalents. And warlock AoE is simply better; the highest DPS AoE in the game.
Yeah, I went there. Everyone always holds up Instant Arcane Explosion as the state of the art of AoE. IAE supposedly has 253 dps vs. the 208 dps of hellfire - clearly better, right?
It would almost be right. But that statement hangs on one critical assumption: that the global spell timer is 1.0 seconds. It isn't. It's 1.5s. IAE can only be fired at most every 1.5s, even though it's instant cast, which puts IAE's damage down to 169 dps. Hellfire, however, correctly pulses once a second, scoring 208 dps.
Yes, that's right. Mages, the class that specializes in AoE damage, don't have the highest DPS AoE in the game. IAE is also less efficient then Hellfire. Yes, Hellfire has drawbacks, but add a fire protection potion and a Concentration aura and mix well to get rid of those. In contrast, there's virtually nothing that a party member can do to make IAE better.
At least there's something warlocks can do besides DPS. Mages are supposed to do it, and yet, somehow, they don't.