Tags
5-mans, Affliction, backlash, bubble, build, casters, cataclysm, Corruption, daily, Demonology, destro, destro build, Destruction, DK, dps, Fel Flame, Immolate, incinerate, john rambo, Love Tokens, Mage, Pally, PvE, PvP, raiding, soulfire, speccing, spells, Uldum, utility, Voidwalker, Voidwalker Sacrifice, Warrio
There was something brute about Pixiie Lock this morning. Something about the way she moved…
It reminded me of a scene from Rambo – not sure of which one, but there’s one particular scene where Rambo is holding this huge tank gun in his hands, bullets feeding through with the other hand and him firing it whoever the enemy was. It is a wonderful scene – everything about Rambo is wonderful, but what else would I say about my favorite movie trilogy of all time?
So, Pixiie Lock had a certain Ramboesque air about her this morning. She went to do her Love Is In the Air dailies and stood, high up in the Uldum mountains ready to destroy another chemical wagon. Standing in the middle between the first three wagons as you enter the area, Pixiie Lock, armed with her trusty sidekick Kuppep, dotted and turned, dotted and turned, as gracefully and unapologetically as John Rambo, killing all the Crown members in site.
That’s what makes the art of warlockery exactly that; an art. Yes, mages have their critical hits and their explosive shots, but to me, as casters, they’re definately more the utility caster role because they are so versatile. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to do a whole Warlock v Mage post, because I like mages, and have one myself. But it is important to know when choosing to play a caster role, to understand what playstyle you enjoy more. As I mentioned before, my lock as my main is used for everything, but somehow in PvP I just feel too slow. On my mage however, I have all these different tricks and spells to use to help me in various situations, and quickly. Somehow, it’s easier to not get ganked as a mage in PvP, but that is only my perception (and maybe I’m just not that good at PvP, who knows?)
That being said, a warlock does have versatility, but in different ways. Some of the spells in my spellbook are probably not used that often. Whether that is due more to inability to use the item often, or never, which a few spells have, or whether they’re more a situational use, such as soulstones is something for discussion, but it is extemely important as a warlock to know when and how to use these situational abilities to maximise your utility within that role (whether it be through PvP, raiding, 5 mans etc).
That’s why I found the Rambo analogy so fitting for this morning’s daily run. I watched as dk’s, mages, priests, pally’s and the like, ran around trying to mob and pull aggro to grab the ads. I literally just stood there and tabbed from target to target that had formed as a circle around me (about 5 or 6 of them) and then dotted them with Corruption. By the time I came back to my first one it was down to half health (with the assistance of Kuppep) and from here I could then make the call. If low enough, Fel Flame, if 3/4, cast Immolate, or if procced Soulfire or Incinerate (I like having the 1 point in Backlash for a quick return of Incinerate – once again, entirely a utility decision on my part).
Once this recast was done, all the ads had died, and within a few seconds, I had amassed 5 or 6 Love Tokens. So, my point is, we may not have the plate armor of a Warrior or DK or Tank, we may not be able to heal ourselves or bubble (which we can actually do with a Voidwalker Sacrifice), but we can use what we have at our disposal quickly and efficiently. And this is what being a Warlock is all about. Especially with the changes that were made with Cataclysm, Warlock speccing has become so much more even between the three specs, providing them all with a balanced ability to be Pure DPS and play a utility role. The advantage of all three is their ability to be used as both PvE and PvP specs; of course some such as Affliction and Demonology may have more benefit in PvP than over something like a destro build, but whose to say you couldn’t use a Destro build if you felt most comfortable with it? There’s no right or wrong answers right now with being a Warlock, because as a Warlock, you can fulfil alot of important roles for your team mates and guildies at the moment.
The point is Warlocks are exciting and interesting to play, and the more Rambo analogies I have with it, the more I will love it.