Soul Link, Viper Sting, and Mind Blast
Just got back from St. Louis and I’m itching to get back into the PvP. I did have several opportunities to get online and play a little for some pocket-points, but I didn’t get alot of time to make a lot of distance. My 2v2 (War&Resto. Shaman) went 6-1 to go 1641. We faltered against a Rogue&Priest combo, but that was all. Despite the lag, we managed to quickly deal death to some standard team setups. The only limiting factor is queue time.
My 3v3 B-Team (SL/SL Warlock&Shadow Priest&Marksman Hunter) ran several games last night to go 11-7 (1567). We ran into two occasions where our Shadow Priest d/c’d at the start of the match, but we held in and almost closed out at least one opponent in each of the two handicapped matches. I’m placing high expectations on this team, but our Hunter is severely undergeared. I actually have double his HPs (11k vs. 5.5k). Despite the gear level, we’ve managed to put away several “well-geared” team combos.
We’re quickly finding that our high amount of CCs is allowing us to put many different teams away quickly and effortlessly. In particular, we’re finding it very easy to take out teams with Shaman as the main heal. Our current troubles always seem to stem from teams with Mace Rogues, but as our gear level increases, I think we’ll be able to start making headway quickly.
I’ve decided to buckle to the pressures of SL/SL and see what it can do for me. Like many newbie Warlocks, I’m quickly discovering how lazy and easy this spec. is. After putting up a few dots, I let my team handle the rest of the actual work, while I just pick arbitrary targets and cast fear. Since we don’t have any major CC-breaks (other than Scatter Shot), I have free reign to put dots on their whole team.
I’m finding that SL/SL is a very effective means of survival since my resilience is on the low side (150), but even more interesting is that I’m typically not the opening target as often anymore. Destro. was a great means to pressurize the opposing team, but I quickly discovered that my role in this team setup does not give me much time to raw-cast Shadow Bolt (lol skillcoils and fear).
Like many Warlocks before me, I’m also quickly discovering that Curse of Tongues is an incredibly awesome way to screw up not just Healers, but also other Warlocks and Mages.
Here’s to 1750+ for this week!
-ERP-
December 16th, 2007 at 2:24 am
As a SL/SL ‘lock I can also attest to the fact that it is one of the most lazy/easy arena specs :D! one of my rogue buddies on Shadowmoon with close to the resiliance cap and nice PvP gear (even has S3 weapons!) had me duel him and just put the dots on while he stayed in combat. by the time the last tic of my siphon life wore off he was down to 987 HP (he had 12000ish at the start!)
Obviously its more difficult in arena because they will be using their cloak and possibly be dispelled but just the amount of damage you *can* do with only 6 seconds worth of work is unmatched.
That said, I’m beginning to see the downfalls as well. There are several games where I notice my opponents under 10% health but just can’t finish them off. I notice this mainly in 2s and threes. As a SL/SL you really only have DC as an instant finisher and if you misuse it you’re without solid finishing power. Another thing is that a good priest or paladin will just dispell everything you try to do…even drain mana. I’m still experimenting with throwing on the lowb dots and making them waste their mana, but in twos it feels like a huge waste of time with the other team’s dps free to beat on my healer! As soon as I get above 350 resiliance I’m goona try out UA and see how it works for me!
December 16th, 2007 at 10:06 am
I’ve seen on Arena Junkies alot of people going the 43/7/11 spec (UA/Shadowburn). I’ve tried this spec before in Arena and it’s ridiculously hard to stay alive if your resillience is really low (only had like 70 at the time). That said, it was really easy to beat alot of teams when I wasn’t the focus.
I’ve put some consideration into trying Felguard Spec (+Shadowburn), also. This could allow me some burst potential, while still being Soul Link’d.
December 16th, 2007 at 8:41 pm
As the hunter speaking, its a bit boggling that a hunter with 5.5k HP can get away in any amount of Arena. Theoretically it should be pretty close to a 2-3 shot situation. I only have 30ish resilience, but I think that advantage of this setup is that we don’t rely on proximity at all. So if people are chasing me across the map, the rest of the team can lay in a bit easier. The main issue though is that if they just put a DOT or two on me I’m essentially dead on a time limit. Hopefully with better gear this can be avoided. Another issue is damage gear. Even though I keep up with the S. Priest and Warlock in terms of damage, it goes without saying that my damage can be much higher. I’m essentially wearing greens only. Hopefully though, I’ll get more time to upgrade the gear and allow us to climb higher in the ranks.
But for now, lets continue to work with what we have.
December 16th, 2007 at 10:43 pm
The best part about getting Yukatan geared is that I won’t have to leave SF and heal!
December 16th, 2007 at 11:05 pm
Do you ever really heal, J?
December 17th, 2007 at 8:38 pm
Often.