Here is my current spec. The destruction points float around some, for a while I had intensity and liked it, for a while I had destructive reach and liked it, but more or less that's what I've lived with.
The first build I've been meaning to try is SM/DS, or "shadow maxing" (aka the build that got negative resistances nerfed) and it goes a little something like this. The idea behind this build is to sac a succubus for the 15% shadow damage bonus, then with shadow mastery and the new CoS all your shadow damage will be 35% stronger. The problem I have with this build is that... god damn it I'm not sure I can live without shadowburn. I'll also miss ruin and bane tremendously. Will the bonus multipliers and instant corruption really counteract the slower shadowbolts?
The second build I've been considering is the legendary, tried and true SM/ruin. I'm a bit more amicable toward this build since it keeps all my destruction talents pretty much exactly the same, and basically subs my demo for affliction. My concern is that it has absolutely no mana regen abilities in it at all - I am going to miss the shit out of fel stamina and fel energy.
Any suggestions? Or should I just stick with my current build and start exploiting the jumper cables bug?
Basically, my issue is that I find myself sacrificing my pet almost ALL the time. I didn't start a warlock to be a buffing class, so I don't buy into the necessity of blood pact. Other locks can do that if they want. So if I ALWAYS sac my pet in PVE, MD is really only helping me in PVP, and I only ever use a succubus in PVP and she only gives me a 10% bonus to damage, which I could get from SM. So in my eyes, MD is kinda wasted points. Maradon! fucked around with this message on 02-20-2006 at 02:14 PM.
I've actually considered a respec myself. Remember, you can pull the sacrifice and rez a succubus thing -- Blizzard's warlock rep has come out and said it IS NOT an exploit. That gets you 25% damage right there.
As for destructive reach? YES. I can sit just out of range of some AEs in MC and that is very helpful.
I'm toying around with some specs now, but I'd definitely say keep ruin. The new rank of corruption doesn't seem to be much of an improvement at all (a very small amount of damage, I believe, nothing to make it worth getting instacorruption for) so I wouldn't respec just because of that. If you're itching to respec, though...go for it.
EDIT: this spec seems like it could be very interesting. It gets you instacorruption, improved lifetap, demonic sacrifice, Ruin, destructive reach, intensity, shadowburn...lots of cool stuff.
http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/classes/warlocks/talents.html?05002000000000000235000314200100005050025122000100 Falaanla Marr fucked around with this message on 02-20-2006 at 04:25 PM.
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Falaanla Marring:
I'd say SM and Ruin -- I wouldn't miss Fel Stamina/Demonic Embrace/Fel Energy much. Remember, you'll have improved lifetap and, if you can accumulate a full set of felheart, ANOTHER 15% lopped off the health cost of lifetap. That's mega mana regen.
Wait what? The 8 piece felheart bonus reduces the mana cost of shadow spells. It reduces the health cost of lifetap, too? Sounds like it might be a bug.
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I've actually considered a respec myself. Remember, you can pull the sacrifice and rez a succubus thing -- Blizzard's warlock rep has come out and said it IS NOT an exploit. That gets you 25% damage right there.
Yeah, but the same rep said that it was "extremely rare" which it isn't, so I'm kinda thinking that this bug is going to be fixed very soon despite what he said.
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As for destructive reach? YES. I can sit just out of range of some AEs in MC and that is very helpful.
Helpful, but honestly I'd rather have imp lop or intensity or imp firebolt. Destructive reach is handy, but I can live without it. Besides, my guild currently runs MC start to finish in two and a half hours, so I'm not really worried about improving my MC performance as such.
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I'm toying around with some specs now, but I'd definitely say keep ruin. The new rank of corruption doesn't seem to be much of an improvement at all (a very small amount of damage, I believe, nothing to make it worth getting instacorruption for) so I wouldn't respec just because of that. If you're itching to respec, though...go for it.EDIT: this spec seems like it could be very interesting. It gets you instacorruption, improved lifetap, demonic sacrifice, Ruin, destructive reach, intensity, shadowburn...lots of cool stuff.
Rank 7 corruption is 822 damage. That's about a 23% increase... that's pretty signifigant. The spells that got minor upgrades were shadowbolt (30 damage) and immolate (20 damage).
The spec you posted does look neat, but it lacks either a 10% modifier that could be used in PVP or coex, so it seems like it'd be kinda limp in PVP.
And I wasn't aware the corruption improvement was that nice.
But yeah, I'm throwing around a few spec ideas.
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Nae spewed forth this undeniable truth:
I am SM/Ruin now. I am just learning to play the spec. I was mostly destruction before. I miss not doing tons of aoe dmg, but I am doing tons of dps in shadow now. The instant cast 1700+ shadow bolts are love.
Thebest part? with SM/Ruin, you can still do pretty darn good AE damage 
I'm not even SM/Ruin, because I perfer hard support and ungodly amounts of HP (I rival tanks when buffed) for shits and giggles.
But the Felheart bonus says "Shadow spells". It means all spells that would be on a cooldown if, say, earthshocked during a lightning bolt. I.E., banish, CoD, all curses, lifetap.. Hell, even demon armor and pet summoning is reduced in cost. Another reason to love itemrack: I can slap on felheart, summon a pet and buff in a battle ground, then slap on 5/8 nem and have nice +dam for burst.
But you won't listen to me, because everything I say about warlocks is OMG WRONG, right mara? Heh. ;P
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Falaanla Marr thought this was the Ricky Martin Fan Club Forum and wrote:
Thebest part? with SM/Ruin, you can still do pretty darn good AE damage
my ae dmg before was 264+ now I am lucky if it hits 230 
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Nae's fortune cookie read:
my ae dmg before was 264+ now I am lucky if it hits 230
That's more than enough for anything you'll be doing -- and aren't those shadowbolts oh so yummy now?
The biggest modifier to AoE you get out of destruction is Emberstorm at 10% to fire damage. Sacrificing an imp gets you a 15% bonus to fire damage.
Unbuffed my rain of fire hits for about 260 per pulse. With Burning Wish it hits for 290. The stun and daze abilities that you get in the destro tree are nice, but if the tanks are doing their job they really aren't necessary.
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Delphi Aegis:
But the Felheart bonus says "Shadow spells".
But the felheart bonus says it reduces the MANA cost of shadow spells, not the health cost.
And you neglected to say anything about your talents.
Falaanla Marr fucked around with this message on 02-21-2006 at 10:21 AM.
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Maradon! was listening to Cher while typing:
We had a huge argument about this in guild, and demo sac is better than anything the destruction tree has for AoE damage.The biggest modifier to AoE you get out of destruction is Emberstorm at 10% to fire damage. Sacrificing an imp gets you a 15% bonus to fire damage.
Unbuffed my rain of fire hits for about 260 per pulse. With Burning Wish it hits for 290. The stun and daze abilities that you get in the destro tree are nice, but if the tanks are doing their job they really aren't necessary.
But the felheart bonus says it reduces the MANA cost of shadow spells, not the health cost.
And you neglected to say anything about your talents.
WoW's bonus system is okay, but there are a few flaws, especially when it comes to wording. I don't think any warlock is going to complain that lifetap is affected, and when they updated the sets, NEW spells that weren't affected before got affected by it. So I think they know, and it's intended. Affects health funnel, too, but not the health over time cost.
And as far as the AE goes.. Warlocks have always been a support AE, never a main (Since both are interruptible, unless you're alliance and you and your paladin are specced for it). Why worry about the damage? 
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Over the mountain, in between the ups and downs, I ran into Delphi Aegis who doth quote:
Why worry about the damage?
AoE damage, more than anything else, will put you on the map in terms of absolute contribution, and many guilds gauge performance this way.
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Maradon!'s little brother wrote this stupid shit:
AoE damage, more than anything else, will put you on the map in terms of absolute contribution, and many guilds gauge performance this way.
Any guild that gauges "performance" in molten bore or even BWL soely by damage/healing meters is retarded.
"Hey random_warlock_598, your DPS is low"
"Yeah, but you didn't have to deal with that Enraged Felguard, did you?"
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Peanut butter ass Shaq Delphi Aegis booooze lime pole over bench lick:
Any guild that gauges "performance" in molten bore or even BWL soely by damage/healing meters is retarded."Hey random_warlock_598, your DPS is low"
"Yeah, but you didn't have to deal with that Enraged Felguard, did you?"
You're right, but this doesn't change the fact.
