On Demonic Circle and Shadowflame

Posted by admin on 12 13th, 2008

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Sorry it’s been so long since I’ve posted, folks. I’ve been stunlocked by finals, and my trinket was in the bank. This took me longer than you might think. I’ve reached level 80 some time ago. I leveled ridiculously fast because I was anxious for Demonic Circle . I was actually one of the first 80s on my server (I’m now on Dentarg. Free transfers!). In fact, I was the first Human Warlock to 80. No achievement for that though; there was already an 80 Gnome Warlock and an 80 Human. However, I was the first Human Warlock on my server to reach 80–I’ll take the silver medal. It’s all semantics anyway. That said, I’ve reached 80, and I’ve fallen in love. With Demonic Circle. Warlocks needed an escape mechanism and Blizzard acknowledged it, as Warlocks should not just tank melee classes. When Kalgan first teased the idea, people were excited. After all, Demonic Circle sounds good on paper. However, once we saw Demonic Circle’s tooltip, we were less than impressed. Our hopes were dashed when we saw the abysmal 40yd teleport range and the lack of stun-breaking on the teleport. As a result, throughout the beta, Warlocks complained that Demonic Circle was insufficient for escaping, given the drastically changed class mechanics. Yet, Blizzard refused to make any changes claiming that not many people have had the opportunity to try it out (they asked people to try it out in beta, and they didn’t like it, but Blizzard said it needed more exposure; I thought that was the point of beta testing–OH THE IRONY!) So now Demonic Circle made it live, and I, though cautious, was somewhat excited because of the potential it has. Admittedly, I think Blizzard was right. Demonic Circle is underrated. PvE Warlocks complained that Demonic Circle offered nothing in PvE. This is because PvE players don’t use things if it isn’t a DPS or HPS increase (you know who you are). I have found, however, that Demonic Circle is really useful in PvE for dodging attacks (and wipes). Take the Loken fight in Halls of Lightning for example. He begins casting a big arcane explosion-like AoE that requires the entire party to get out of range. I could just simply teleport back and keep DPSing while the rest of the party ran around. I was given more DPS time. Therefore, I did some more DPS. Suck it, PvE nerds. The best PvE use for Demonic Circle I’ve found is in The Obsidian Sanctum during the Sartharion fight. At seemingly random intervals, a wall of lava will wash across the area that raid members need to dodge. Depending on the side, there will be an opening in the lava that the raid needs to run to. Because of our positioning, we always dodged the lava from the west side. But when the lava comes from the east, we needed to move to the center of the area. I just placed a circle there and teleported back to the center (interestingly enough, we used my circle as a marker for raid members to move to; +1 usefulness). So while the raid was moving, I was DPSing. All I lost was one global cooldown. PvP Before I give my review of Demonic Circle in PvP. I’d like to clarify that there are three kinds of PvP: Battlegrounds Arenas World PvP Each type of PvP has its own circumstances, so advantages differ from location to location (except for Arenas, which is pure combat). So, let us look at Demonic Circle in each of the three types. In Battlegrounds: Most effective for defense. It’s not hard to use there. You really just need to think ahead, and that’s easy because key battleground objectives are mostly stationary. In AB, you can easily place a circle away from the flag so you can escape. Then you can bandage and return, only to teleport back again. This is very effective, so long as you keep the enemy off the flag. It’s also really useful in WSG for holding the flag at your base. You just place a circle up top, and jump down when the enemy comes then teleport back up and eat/drink. In Arenas: It’s hard to tell at this point. I’ve only done a handful of skirmishes with my Rogue friend. Thus far, it’s been very useful in all arenas, with the exception of Ogrimmar because you can’t place the circle on the lift (bullshit, by the way) and because the arena is relatively open and flat. In World PvP: Overpowered. There, I said it. It’s OVERPOWERED in world PvP. When I first hit 80, the thing I wanted to do most was abuse Demonic Circle, so I did. I placed my circle atop the walls of Horde towns in various zones and dotted lowbies. Occasionally I’d jump down to incite melee, and then teleport back and laugh at the Warriors spinning around on the ground like 8 year olds with spastic achilles’ tendons. Since I can fly to places, it’s nice to put the circle in trees, on rocks, and especially on stumps. Why I Like It It’s just so much fun. Plain and simple. There is nothing more satisfying than knowing you’ve outsmarted your opponents. It does require foresight and careful planning, but when it works, it works. It’s also very fun to undermine opponents’ CC tactics. As soon as I am Death Gripped , I teleport in the air and watch the stupid Death Knight sit around like a jackass while my DoTs melt his skull. Keep in mind that you can use it to teleport away from spells that require the opponent to be in front. If you teleport just before the cast finishes so that the caster needs to be facing you, you effectively dodge the spell. This works very well against Mages . On top of the fun factor, Demonic Circle synergizes very well with other Warlock spells, namely Fear and Curse of Exhaustion . Curse of Exhaustion will buy you more time when you teleport. In addition, this is a great way to beat up melee. Since Fear actually moves enemies, it can help give you the time you need to distance yourself from your newly-placed circle (when you’re jumped). The Complaints The biggest complaints about Demonic Circle are as follows: Short range, which forces you to constantly recast it. It doesn’t break stuns. It requires foresight. While I do feel the range is a bit short, I feel that it’s not that bad if you plan ahead properly. I see Warlocks on the forums calling for a 100yd range. That’s just ridiculous. It is obnoxious that it doesn’t break stuns. With the trinket on cooldown, it’s significantly harder to beat Rogues (and I’m saving all my cloth for Tailoring; haven’t got the chance to make Frostweave Nets ). This spell works very well if you have moderate intelligence. Otherwise, you’ll find yourself never using it. If you know how to use it, it yields a tremendous payoff. Besides, if it was easy, we’d all be Mages. Simple Fixes As I said before, a 100yd range on this would be ridiculous. Something like 50-60yds is not ridiculous. It’s a little absurd how frequently I need to place the circle, especially since the teleport button doesn’t fade out when I’m out of range. In addition to a range extension, Warlocks are asking for a stun break. While this certainly would not be an overpowered change, I also don’t think it’s that necessary. As we all know, when you’re getting stunlocked by a Rogue, you always trinket the Kidney Shot. Most Rogues leave you a split-second window between the Cheap Shot and the Kidney Shot. In this time, I usually try to drop an instant Howl of Terror . However, sometimes you really do need to escape. Spam that teleport button during the Cheap Shot. If you’re good, you can get it between the two stuns. Otherwise, trinket and then teleport. So, therefore I ask Blizzard: Remove the global cooldown from the teleport. They did this for Hunters’ Disengage , claiming that it should feel like an escape mechanism when you need to get away. Teleport should feel like an escape mechanism. There’s nothing reactionary about it. You need to stop casting to use it, or wait 1.5 seconds where any number of CCs can hit you. On that note, everyone, please create the following macro: /stopcasting /cast Demonic Circle: Teleport Demonic Circle would be that much better if the teleport was off the global cooldown. It’s nothing too fancy or overpowered. In fact, it makes sense. Final Thoughts I’m having a lot of fun with Demonic Circle. While others are dissatisfied, I am not. Good job Blizzard, you’re almost there. If you can tweak it a little bit, you can make it a staple for the Warlock class. Oh, I almost forgot to discuss Shadowflame : Shadowflame Scary stuff, right? But seriously, it’s atrocious. I only use it on other Warlocks in PvP so I don’t have to cry alone. Post from: Yet Another Warlock Nerf . On Demonic Circle and Shadowflame Similar Posts: I’m calling it now Patch 3.0.8 Notes Update Shine On You Crazy Pink Diamonds 7 Upcoming Warlock Nerfs I’m not feeling the magic (and I’m not alone)

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