What do we have for AOE

devnulllore

I am a single player and find most AOE's to be effective. I am confused by the current powers. What do we have for any AOE attacks high or low DPS?

devnulllore

I guess I was a bit cryptic. What I am looking for is a good rotation with emphasis on AOE.

kolatmaster

devnulllore said:

I guess I was a bit cryptic. What I am looking for is a good rotation with emphasis on AOE.

Are you looking for Hellbringer or Soulweaver?

IF I remember correctly, and mind you I am still re-learning the names of the powers in regards to which tree they are in, I utilize the following:

Soulweaver - Dreadtheft, Harrowstorm, and Cursed Bite (requires Lesser Curse set up)

Hellbringer - Fiery Bolt, Hellfire Ring, Cursed Bite (requires Lesser Curse set up) and Dreadtheft (is Dreadtheft in Hellbringer? Might be wrong!)

Anyone know if I missed anything?

devnulllore

I'm sorry for the 180 but after some more reading and testing it seems all of the AOE power have been nerrfed to death. Not worth it. I think I am going to settle for single target powers. I am so used to my DC and her AOE's. So for now I am using, Sun Burst, searing javelin and Forge masters flame. Seems to work ok even with many mobs. I use Flame Strike and Guardians of the Faith for my dailies. Still on the fence over class features. I think I will go for any defense.

kolatmaster

devnulllore said:

I'm sorry for the 180 but after some more reading and testing it seems all of the AOE power have been nerrfed to death. Not worth it. I think I am going to settle for single target powers. I am so used to my DC and her AOE's. So for now I am using, Sun Burst, searing javelin and Forge masters flame. Seems to work ok even with many mobs. I use Flame Strike and Guardians of the Faith for my dailies. Still on the fence over class features. I think I will go for any defense.

Well Cleric and Warlock are definitely different playstyles... I've been enjoying the Warlock, but if you like Cleric better rock out as you will!

mat44444

Hi

As far as I can work out Warlocks dps has basically gone - in preview we kept being told we were overperforming, in live just about any other dps does it better. So yeah - another long long long wait to get Warlocks a little love again I guess

kolatmaster

mat44444 said:

Hi

As far as I can work out Warlocks dps has basically gone - in preview we kept being told we were overperforming, in live just about any other dps does it better. So yeah - another long long long wait to get Warlocks a little love again I guess

What rotation/feats are you using and what's the party comp you're losing out in? Have any screen shots? Just looking to help out...

mat44444

That’s very kind of you buts its fine – it’s more the warlocks lacking and the way it works more than anything else

For example
FB, CB, HR
For mobs – just does amazingly less than my other toons easier rotations’ – even my own less geared toons out dps my max warlock – it just silly. But I guess that fits with mod16’s overall

Ask any player who played a dps warlock for a long time – and they all say same thing – we took a big hit this mod.

But thanks for you kind offer – and I hope you enjoy the game

vorphied

All classes took a huge hit DPS-wise this mod; Warlock is no exception. Part of the redesign was to bring down inflated damage numbers for both players and monsters.

I'm finding Warlock to be competitive with similarly equipped DPS thus far. Unfortunately I haven't ran with many experienced and geared Barbies since launch, but TR and Warlock, at least, seem to be extremely close out of the gate (based on informal ACT testing with an experienced TR friend in a smattering of lvl 70 dungeons). The major weakness I'm seeing in Warlock is the constant setup necessary, as opposed to TR's ease of upfront burst.

There are still some bugs that need addressing, particularly the one that's interfering with on-hit procs working properly, and a couple of balancing tweaks I'd suggest (e.g. Fiery Bolt should no longer deal reduced damage to targets other than the primary), but I don't understand the doom and gloom I'm seeing from some fellow Warlocks. The class made it through Preview in a pretty decent position and, at least IMO, still fun to play and not feeling 100% different. The cooldown reduction feat for Soul Scorch is a huge help for making the gameplay feel more fluid.

Many players, regardless of preferred class, are simply not going to like the shift in M16, and that's understandable. If a thing isn't fun to a player, you can't really argue them into having fun. However, I do think that at least some of these players are not having fun because they haven't made themselves open to trying the new way of playing. The pace is a bit slower, but the timing and placement of abilities is much more meaningful. I liked running through entire maps and leaving corpses with the occasional single button press, but the utter lack of challenge can also get old.

mat44444

Hi

I'm finding Warlock to be uncompetitive with similarly equipped DPS thus far

To the point that I have stopped playing a dps – this is not a mod15 to mod16 comparison

But again I am very happy you are enjoying the experience – I am not happy

devnulllore

Cryptic, is it too much to ask for one solid DPS AOE attack? I currently use Fiery Bolt but that only does half damage to 15' distanced mobs

tazz4now

I ran my Barbarian through the new content and am now "trying" to run my warlock, I am getting killed a lot more, I have both paths set up and I can't seem to stop getting killed on either path, I have been playing a warlock since they came out and this is terrible how they nerfed us, even the past nerfs that people complained about were a lot better than this mod, I am going through so many health potions and it isn't helping with the extended cooldowns, I wish they would fix this, it's such a shame that I am finding this character unplayable atm

vorphied

tazz4now said:

I ran my Barbarian through the new content and am now "trying" to run my warlock, I am getting killed a lot more, I have both paths set up and I can't seem to stop getting killed on either path, I have been playing a warlock since they came out and this is terrible how they nerfed us, even the past nerfs that people complained about were a lot better than this mod, I am going through so many health potions and it isn't helping with the extended cooldowns, I wish they would fix this, it's such a shame that I am finding this character unplayable atm

Out of curiosity, which powers are you running on Warlock for your quests and leveling?

tazz4now

@vorphied on my

Hellbringer build.....
at-will = eldritch blast, hellish rebuke,
encounter = killing flames, fiery bolt, internal flames
daily = tyrannical curse, accursed souls
class feature = no pity, no mercy & flames of empowerment

Soulweaver build......
at-will = eldritch blast, essence defiler
encounter = killing flames, dreadtheft, pillar of power
daily = tyrannical curse, accursed souls
class feature = all-consuming curse, prince of hell

I have tried the other powers and didn't seem to have much luck with mobs, dreadtheft doesn't seem to do much of anything, if you have any suggestions I am open to trying them, this character is my #2 main and I have a lot of old content to finish with it but since the newer quests are easier than the older ones I was hoping to get it to at least lvl 80 and finish the undermountain stuff, thank you for any help


Edit:

I mainly solo and do not run dungeons, but I do he's and help people or accept help, in game, as much as possible

vorphied

tazz4now said:

@vorphied on my

Hellbringer build.....
at-will = eldritch blast, hellish rebuke,
encounter = killing flames, fiery bolt, internal flames
daily = tyrannical curse, accursed souls
class feature = no pity, no mercy & flames of empowerment

Soulweaver build......
at-will = eldritch blast, essence defiler
encounter = killing flames, dreadtheft, pillar of power
daily = tyrannical curse, accursed souls
class feature = all-consuming curse, prince of hell

I have tried the other powers and didn't seem to have much luck with mobs, dreadtheft doesn't seem to do much of anything, if you have any suggestions I am open to trying them, this character is my #2 main and I have a lot of old content to finish with it but since the newer quests are easier than the older ones I was hoping to get it to at least lvl 80 and finish the undermountain stuff, thank you for any help


Edit:

I mainly solo and do not run dungeons, but I do he's and help people or accept help, in game, as much as possible

Some ideas for you based on what has worked for me for Hellbringer AoE specifically:

At-Wills: Hellish Rebuke as your go-to, Dark Spiral Charge as your secondary. When you're solo, you have to give yourself combat advantage with No Pity No Mercy, so you can effectively use Hellish Rebuke as filler to build sparks, then Dark Spiral Charge periodically after mob kills since the potency is quite high when it's properly loaded.

Encounters: Curse Bite, Hellfire Ring, Fiery Bolt. Killing Flames is a single-target power, so you only want it when you know you're facing a boss and not having to deal with significant adds. Your rotation will look like casting Fiery Bolt or Hellfire Ring at the start (obviously Fiery Bolt first if you're pulling them to your position), Curse Bite, then the other encounter to reapply Lesser Curse, then Curse Bite.

Dailies: Your Dailies look fine. I'm not sure whether the math favors Brood or Tyrannical for single target, but Accursed is definitely the strongest AoE.

Class Features: I'd keep NPNM but drop Flames of Empowerment for All-Consuming Curse. In theoryland we shouldn't NEED All-Consuming Curse, but it's immensely helpful to keeping the gameplay smooth.

I'd also make sure to have the Parting Blasphemy feat selected since you'll constantly be removing and reapplying Lesser Curse.


I've played less with Soulweaver, but thus far I like...

At-Wills: Essence Defiler, Dark Spiral Charge
Encounters: Curse Bite, *take your pick of situationally appropriate power*, Harrowstorm. Harrowstorm is really good, and its effects stack if you overlap casts.
Dailies: As above
Class Feature: All-Consuming Curse and whatever you want (personally I like Shadow Walk and Borrowed Time)


EDIT: I can't stress enough that Curse Bite is REALLY good. I don't think Warlock works properly without it tbh.

EDIT-EDIT: Also don't forget about Soul Scorch in Hellbringer. It radiates a minor DoT on all secondary targets in addition to its damage on the primary target, but it also reduces your active cooldowns with one of the final feat options. For Soulweaver, I really like the early feat that converts Essence Drain into a 15-second CD dps/healing AoE that replenishes sparks with a single cast.

tazz4now

@vorphied I have just changed everything to your suggestions on both paths and plan on trying them out today, I very much appreciate your help, anything has to be better than the squishy attacks I have been doing so far, I will let you know what my outcome is by tomorrow, again thank you for your help

vorphied

tazz4now said:

@vorphied I have just changed everything to your suggestions on both paths and plan on trying them out today, I very much appreciate your help, anything has to be better than the squishy attacks I have been doing so far, I will let you know what my outcome is by tomorrow, again thank you for your help

You're very welcome! It's too soon into the mod for anyone to really be the expert, myself included, but hopefully you'll have better success. I'd be interested in hearing if you find anything different that really works for you as well

tazz4now

@vorphied I definitely have to thank you, so far I got through the first expedition where before your help I was having trouble with (and dying frequently) the spiders, I am using much less (almost none) health potions, I wish they'd fix the problem with not seeing what potions you have active lol

now I just have to get used to the different powers, hopefully they also fix the scaling problems so I can go back and finish the lower campaigns and see how I do with these new powers

pitshade

I used that rotation running my warlock through Undermountain and it worked well. Big thing being to alternate between a power with no curse synergy/consume and Curse Bite. Also for any class, slotting at least one healing insignia bonus does wonders for your survivability. Barbarians Revelry and Oppressors Reprieve both work well for me.