ok, here it is. it focuses on making the most out of my pets, putting me in a supporting caster/indirect damage dealer position.
sacrifices need to be made to get to both master demonologist and ruin, so i have to skip some useful abilities. in my comments, i seldom mean something wouldn't be nice to have, even when i criticize how useful it actually is.
demonology
tier 1 -
improved imp 3/3;
demonic embrace 3/5. i wouldn't bother with
improved healthstone, as the healing bonus is negligible to higher levels, unless you really plan to have low total health points, which i don't. i don't max out
demonic embrace because i mean to keep spirit my highest characteristic, as warlocks may end up having to wait for way too long between enemies unless mana/health regeneration are super-fast. on the other hand, the low levels really benefit from the stamina boost, and if you make them your first 3 talent point spent you don't have much layover time between investing in
demonic embrace and moving on to better things. i'd suggest maxing out
improved imp next, ending with tier 1 complete at level 15.
tier 2 -
improved voidwalker 3/3;
fel intellect 3/5. again, i'm leaving
health funnel completely out of this, since it seems to risky to me to go through such trouble just to save a pet. if the imp is attacked, this means i'm in serious trouble anyway, and the vw/succubi/felhunter can take care of themselves long enough for me to think of something better than wasting health on prolonging their agony. i admit the ability is not useless itself, but i don't care enough to boost it. i wish i could max out
fel intellect, but as it is i prefer to boost the pets' health later on. besides, mana is not a must for the vw, who's sometimes wasting buckets of it in the useless effort of attracting the aggro of mobs who are already pounding hard on him, or mobs who are very resistant/immune/hate me for no reason. as to when to get these, i'd still say right away and before spending any point in destruction: you're done by level 21, which means you have two powerful pets by your side to help you stay out of danger until you level up some more.
tier 3 -
improved succubus 3/3;
fel stamina 5/5. what i'm leaving out here is
fel domination (and, consequently,
master summoner on tier 4). i'm not sure i understand why, at this point, i should be drooling at the idea of saving mana/time to summon my pets. again, if i'm forced to summon in a situation where i don't have time to recover afterwards, i'm
already in a bad place and time. i tend to do all of my summoning away from the field, and if a battle ends with a pet dead, i try to get to (relative) safety instead of struggling on relentless. ok, so maybe not slowing down can help me reduce the layover, or get through some escort missions. all things considered, though, it all seems terribly underpowered compared to maxing out my succubus and making all of my pets more resilient. however, before investing in this tree again, i'm usually inclined to spend 11 points in destruction (see below) to improve my damage output and my speed, all the way to the extremely useful
shadowburn. therefore, these points should be spent between levels 32-39.
tier 4 -
unholy power 5/5. with
master summoner out of the question and
master demonologist in sight, it's compulsory to max out in this further improvement for my pets. i'd recommend spending four more points in destruction (see below) before doing this though, as it will make the overall developmet of the demons more robust and complete. so, i plan to get these points between levels 43-48.
tier 5 - no points spent here.
improved firestone and
improved enslave demon are simply not worth the investment. if you compare their bonus to that given by lower-tier abilities i chose, you'll notice how these are either very temporary or relying on circumstance. i'm not keen on investing points in boosting activities i'm not sure i'll rely on in the foreseeable future.
demonic sacrifice is another matter entirely, as it does indeed provide a pretty interesting bonus for 30 minutes, for the rather small price of sacrificing your pet. there are, however, a couple of annoying drawbacks that make me avoid this ability. the first is that the vw bonus does not cumulate with the vw ability to sacrifice itself (himself?) to grant the warlock a temporary shield, thus making one of the two redundant. the second is that the bonus expires as soon as i summon a new pet. i haven't spent 60% of my talent points in demonology to prance around the world
demonless for a whole 30 minutes, like the silliest idiot in the universe. if it's some sort of "last chance" saving grace, it should last less and be more effective. if it's not, why suggest i can get to tier 5 in demonology and develop a petless playing style?
tier 6 -
master demonologist 5/5. finally, we're there. i wouldn't really want to wait until level 60 to get the bonus from this ability, so i'd go for it between levels 49-54.
destruction
tier 1 -
improved shadow bolt 5/5. having to stay at a minimum to reach
ruin, i had to sacrifice either this or
cataclysm. i chose the latter mainly because the 5% reduction is not going to make
that much of a difference later on, and i can always compensate at lower levels with keeping a high value in spirit. also, intellect is likely going to end up being my second-highest characteristic anyway, giving me plenty of mana. also, using
drain mana as often as possible while the voidwalker beats up the baddies is an excellent way to regenerate quickly. besides, in the light of what we've said about our guild going to have a shadow-specced priest, the bonus to shadow damage is really worth getting. there's however no need to rush to complete this tier, since basically what it means is you'll have to dual-
shadow bolt the enemy quickly, and few mobs are worth the exhausting procedure before level 20. so i'd spend these points between levels 21-26.
tier 2 -
bane 5/5. it's not so much that
aftermath has no use, but you can't really go far without
bane, especially once you've seen how mind-numbingly slow your
shadow bolts are. this is also a reason to get this ability maxed out as soon as possible after tier 1 is complete, since you don't want to take two hours to dual-bolt the unfortunate mob. therefore, i'd go for it between levels 26-31.
tier 3 -
improved firebolt 2/2;
improved lash of pain 2/2;
devastation 5/5;
shadowburn 1/1. i'm maxing out in all of the abilities on this tier. while the first two complete your pets' improvement and can probably wait levels 39-42 to complete,
shadowburn is important and easy to achieve, so i'd get it at level 31 to 32. the damage it does is impressive for that level, and it may even pay you back for the shard used, which is very important at lower levels.
devastation, on the other hand, can probably wait to complete until demonology is done and over with, so i'll buy it between levels 54-59.
tier 4 - no points spent here.
searing pain is for desperate times, given the threat it creates, so i won't bother improving the chances that it doesn't get me killed right away.
intensity and
destructive reach focus on wide area spells that are not really helpful for a warlock's crowd control problems, and i only use them when victory is either taken for granted or depending on factors like someone else's skill or luck (will that paladin kill at least two mob before all five of them decide the guy in the cloth making flames fall from the skies should be their biggest problem?).
tier 5 -
ruin 1/1. and that's all, of course.
it's a very good recipe to become one of the classes with highest direct damage, even though it leaves you hanging there when it comes to defending yourself and recovering strength. it doesn't really bother me that my curses are not very effective due to lack of points in affliction: curses are to use against single mobs when i solo, and kill them otherwise, or to cast on a mob someone else is killing off, while i sit back and relax or take care of someone else. they'll do their job regardless of the intensity.
end of the long rant. as an aside, i have to say playing a warlock is really entertaining, and people shouldn't give up too soon: some situations are really... different when tackled by warlocks.
