Must I lose my felguard?
by Amanda Rivera 
Jul 7th 2007 at 3:00PM
Arie my lock has been speeding toward the level cap at lightning speed. It really is a joy to play a character that can solo with ease. Ever since level 50 Flaaghun my trusty Felguard has been at my side, my pocket warrior, there to shield me from the baddies. It's been sixteen levels, and he is still a large part of my damage, but I am wondering if I shouldn't try something new.
Arie has been all about the pets ever since I created her. In fact, she's one of the characters that I never respecc'd, because Demonology just seemed to be the tree for me. This might have been because when I started playing WoW she was my first character, and I admit I really didn't have an understanding of Warcraft lore nor of the role warlocks actually play. When I did finally understand the evil underpinnings of my character, I shelved her, until I came to grips with my little blond ball of destruction.
Now that I have justified her origins with her class in my own personal lore, I wonder if I should seek out more power from her and leave my trusty Flaaghun behind. I'm not even sure if I need to, but as I understand it Demonology is largely a defensive class, and the real punch to the dps meter lies elsewhere. I currently have 15 points or so in Affliction, but in order to maximize my damage, do I have to part with my dear friend, or is there somehow a viable Demonology spec that will allow me to keep him and blast things to bits with the darkness in my soul?
Filed under: Warlock, Analysis / Opinion
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Tosviolation Jul 7th 2007 3:15PM
Unless you have top notch gear, meaning mostly blues, with everything enchanted and socketed, you are better off with your felguard. Affliction is great when you have tons of +spell damage gear. With sub-par gear, stay demo specced.
Laukidh Jul 7th 2007 3:15PM
Felguard is great for soloing, and I hated to give it up. with the right spec in demonology, you can give yourself a ton of extra bonus damage. If you mostly solo, stick with demonology, no need to give it up.
FriendlySoviet Jul 7th 2007 3:20PM
If you want to take place in the damage meters, going Affliction/Destruction or Destruction/Affliction is where to go. Once you get to the endgame content, people are just going to want you to have your imp out anyway. +66 Stamina is very nice. So if you do want to contribute to the raid, respecc. If you're just soloing, keep to the demonology.
Bonnie Jul 7th 2007 3:24PM
You never need to shelve your pet- it's just a personal choice as to which one you use. When it comes to the spec- yes, demonology is darn near impossible to kill, but that's what is making it so easy to solo. there may be more DPS elsewhere, but there are classes specifically for that. In your guild in raids and the like, your ability to off tank (which if you're not, you should be) and to stay alive (Please say you're using your soulstone on the priest, never yourself) is what is so important. To be a squishy DPS is to be another run-of-the-mill evil mage. No one wants that. What you have right now is a Blonde Bomshell that sits in the background with a smirk on here face cause she knows she can't die. When you're facing a lvl ?? elite (jeeze, if you're like 68 what is he? lol) no matter your DPS, he'll kill you while you run away. With a defenseive spec, you sic your pet on him, run like hell, and resummon him when you're safe. Any non-demonology minion wouldn't make it long enough to let you get away.
Stay as is I say. Not only it is more original, but you have a much greater ability to survive, and a greater utility to PUG's or guild raids. If you talk to your buddies, i'm sure they'll agree.
Mats Jul 7th 2007 3:25PM
Sorry, afraid the felguard has to go. To keep up in raids, you need to be able to pack a punch and be long lasting. All the raiding warlocks in my guild have atleast 41 points in affliction, and most of them came in as other specs and just had to give up, not being able to perform properly with there demo-spec or destro-spec.
But if your just gonna grind, well, might as well keep your felguard then.
Desiree Jul 7th 2007 3:27PM
I had to respec and lose my felguard. I was demonology from level 1-70. I loved my FG. I miss him still for soloing but I went to an SM/Ruin spec for raiding and that's worked out really well for me. It's hard to move on from something familiar but change can be good!
Rich Jul 7th 2007 3:27PM
Unless you are going to raid heavily, stick with Demonology. The damage boost from the Felguard and the right talents, you can burn down 3 or 4 same level mobs in less than 20 seconds. Full affliction is good too but you need to rely more on the DoT and HoTer method. The Felguard gives you the tank and spank method and holds aggro MUCH better than the Voidwalker.
People give me grief about being level 70 and still having the "noob guard". I ignore them, I primarily solo and do the occasional heroic. Don't let anyone who isn't a Lock tell you the Felguard isn't viable for Heroics. It works good as a off-tank if you take off cleave. Its also good for PvP. Nothing more entertaining than getting a stun off intercept on the Mage about to launch something big at you.
Danascus Jul 7th 2007 3:40PM
Demonology is great for soloing. However if you are interested in raiding you are going to have to lose that pet of yours.
Raiding requires at least some high DPS and no matter how strong your pet is, he is going to get destroyed in high level raids.
So what options does that leave you with? Well you can still solo easily with Affliction spec. Your high DPS and drain tanking with drain life/siphon life/death coil will keep you alive even if you are in sticky situations.
Lastly your power comes with your DoT spells and with a possibility of 5 to chose from at once, plus either shadow bolt, wand or drain life on top of that, nothing is going to stand in your way.
Join the Affliction and feel the power!
Mordiceius Jul 7th 2007 3:42PM
The only real lock is a Destruction lock.
Baluki Jul 7th 2007 4:02PM
I was Demo until I got to about lvl. 46 or so. I got kinda bored with the pets (especially since I'm levelling a Beastmaster Hunter at the same time) and was more interested in DoT-and-kite anyway, so I went full Affliction, and it's way more interesting to me.
But enough about me. Basically, do what you want to do. You have a lot of utility as a Demo lock, but if you're just there for DPS, you'll have to respec. For 5 and 10-man dungeons, a Demo lock will do fine. But for the big raids, you're probably going to have to give it up.
What the Demo tree needs is some sort of buff that your party gets when your demon is causing damage, like Ferocious Inspiration for Hunters. (Yea, I know that locks are already overpowered.)
Colin Jul 7th 2007 4:46PM
Are you on Alleria? I'm pretty sure I was grouped with you the other day.
Tony Jul 7th 2007 6:20PM
I've got a 70 Affliction warlock, and another warlock alliance side. I love them and have raided as all specs.
Do what you want. There is a difference in damage (affliction is the best for most boss fights), but not a very huge one and things like your attention to the fight are more important. Much more. Felguard puts out some pretty decent DPS, particularly if you know how to use your Felguard for when he can and can't DPS.
People worry about the specs of DPS classes too much. For a hybrid spec matters a lot because you really can't do the job without the talents. But for pure DPSers... nothing's too horrible.
Noobies Jul 7th 2007 6:21PM
I'm demo specced (7/43/11) and I rock DPS charts in Karazhan / Gruul's Lair. At least in top 5.
Do not get rid of the felguard!
Cakeordeath Jul 7th 2007 6:59PM
Why not ask your guild? If they don't have a problem with you staying Demonology and adding utility through your pets rather than your casting, then I don't see any reason to switch. If they need more dps in their raids, then switching (even temporarily) might be the better choice. Remember, you know your own character better than anyone else, so you can present the pros and cons of both specs to the guild and let them help you decide.
Apollon Jul 7th 2007 7:02PM
I'm also a Felguard lock that spent the rest of my points in affliction. (And coincidentally mine is ALSO name Flaaghun! WEIRD) This is mainly because I play in the arena a lot and I found that demonology kept me alive the longest. But pre-arena I was Affliction all the way and I found that Demonology just can't compare in terms of DPS.
Unfortunately, most of the powerhouse DPS talents of Affliction are deep in the tree. (Empowered Corruption, Siphon life, Shadow Mastery, and Unstable Affliction) Not to mention Dark pact and iHot which are affliction staples.
So the short answer is yes, if you do want the DPS that affliction can offer, you'd have to give up the Felguard. :(
I found, however, that if you spend the bare minimum 41 points to get the felguard, you can go deep enough into the affliction tree to get some useful talents (Nightfall and either Grim Reach/Empowered Corruption... whichever you prefer)
To echo many of the comments above, I wouldn't recommend specing affliction until you have a lot of +spell dmg, do instances regularly, and/or intend on raiding. The felguard is great for PvP, soloing, and farming (no repair bills!) so stick with him for as long as you want! Don't let any warlock tell you otherwise.
Acariquara Jul 7th 2007 7:32PM
DON'T get rid of him. My spec is 9/41/11 and I usually top the DPS meters in my guild. Sure, 1300+ shadow damage helps, but I got it raiding as a Demo Lock. I tried Affliction twice, and it was meh. Nice damage, but less survivability will do 0 dps while you are a corpse on the ground.
Really, take a look at my spec.
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=AVMMZogczIizMeszxx0z
Affliction:
5/5 Improved Corruption - no brainer there.
2/2 Improved Drain Soul - 10% less threat from your dots AND mana return when farming for shards make you unstoppable. Combine this with Shadowfury and you can farm without stopping for Mana and without using Life Tap (!!)
2/2 Soul Siphon - Great for farming also, works wonders when grouping with other locks (each tick of Drain Life heals me for ~600)
Demonology Highlights
1/2 Improved HS - Raiding talent - I want to be different from the 0/2s and 2/2s so I can provide ANOTHER HS (you can have up to 3 in your bags as long as they are different ones)
2/2 Improved Health Funnel and 3/3 Demonic Resilience are REQUIRED if your Felguard is to survive in Raid/Heroic instances.
2/3 Mana Feed - So your Felguard can spam Cleave and rarely run out of mana...
5/5 Dem Sac - If everything else fails :)
I completely bypassed Demonic Tactics. Crits don't help your damage so much as they help your aggro spikes. You want to provide constant, high damage, being second or third on KTM/Omen and never first :)
3/3 Demonic Knowledge - 200 "free" spell damage = teh sexxy!
1/1 Soul Link - 20% Damage mitigation is good, but not as good as 5% across the board damage boost for you AND your pocket warrior.
Demonology
Improved Shadow Bolt and Bane - Excellent talents that synergize well. Not only you will cast Shadow Bolts faster, but if they crit, you will gain a 12% damage boost to all Shadow spells, and the four "charges" won't be consumed by DOTs.
Shadowfury is a nice finisher for when you don't have time to cast another Shadow Bolt - essentially a shard-free ~1k direct damage spell, when used correctly.
Also with this build you can do ANYTHING, from PVE solo to PVP to PVE Raiding.
Acariquara Jul 7th 2007 7:34PM
Sorry - I meant 1/1 Dem Sac ;)
5/5 Master Demo is also a great boost to your DPS or threat mitigation, I meant to include that.
novel Jul 7th 2007 9:31PM
lol; i tried it when i had restarted playing again after taking a year off, and immediately ditched the spec back to sm/ruin
why? the felguard says it himself "too pathetic to fight your own battles"
these things are why people are screaming warlocks are so overpowered, and I was embarresed to be seen with one after it's apparent this pet was in fact that ...OP'd, so i guess i like to fight my own?
DontLetsStart Jul 7th 2007 11:01PM
Most people who think demonology does crap damage aren't combining the felguard's dps with the warlock's. So long as the felguard isn't being killed, even on paper demonology comes out as the highest dps spec. In practice, it's probably even better, because the felguard doesn't suffer from lag and always hits his abilities right on the cooldown.
On the other hand, if the felguard dies, then demonology does horrible damage.
Angus Jul 9th 2007 10:10AM
A friend has a 0/40/21 spec. He calls it the shadow cannon
Basically you take everything you can that makes your imp better and gives you bonuses while it's alive.
You put it on passive and it is a giant improved fort buff.
The 21 points in destruction mean you throw huge shadowbolts and enjoy it when you do. You life tap to keep yourself at about even between mana and life. He said something about feeling bad about not having a pet contribute but stopped every time he saw a 6K shadowbolt crit...